CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- A piece of the Corps' history was immortalized here today when an M110-A2, self-propelled howitzer, also know as the "eight inch," was the first of many historic artillery weapons dedicated to the Historical Gun Park on N Street, adjacent to 10th Marine Regiment Headquarters.
The M110 was driven onto the display pad by Master Gunnery Sgt. Miguel Colon of Orlando, Fla., who recently retired as the regimental field artillery chief, 10th Marines, 2d Marine Division.
Traditionally, gun parks are big, open fields where artillery weapons are stored and worked on, but this gun park was developed to memorialize the weapons used by Marine Corps artillerymen throughout history, said Col. Henry T. Gobar, commanding officer of 10th Marines.
"We did this so that maybe 20 or 30 years from now, any Marine who worked in artillery can bring their grandkids and show them the weapons they used," said Staff Sgt. Jeff Price of Stow, Ohio, 10th Marines ordnance chief.
The M110 took about eight months to acquire, repair and paint for the park, said Colon.
According to Price, several different weapons will be dedicated to the park in the near future.
"By this summer we should have four pieces in our little museum," said Price. Many of the weapons that will be put in the park have to be transported from reserve units or saved from scrap metal yards, said Price.
"The weapons we use now will be here soon; so when the PFCs (private first class) and lance corporals of today are master gunnery sergeants, they can tell their Marines about the M198s they used to use, and they'll be able to show them."