Camp Hamilton Veterans Memorial Park

Leon Llewellyn was a Navy recruiter in the 1970s in Bakersfield. He was affectionately called Lee-lee by his friends. Leon served in Vietnam and Diego Garcia, where he worked as a Seebee extending the air strip on the atoll so that it could land B-52s. On of MGySgt (Ret) Glenn Denton’s favorite stories about Leon as a camp out at Camp Hamilton. The night started with a large group and a keg of beer, but the rain caused all but two men to leave. As daylight arrived, Leon and Glenn did not want to leave. With their trucks parked side by side and ponchos as cover, the two men played cards for the rest of the day. Just as Leon finished his Navy enlistment, the Seabee decided to join the Marine Corps as a commissioned officer, which required Leon to earn his last credits through CSU Bakersfield. His study group included students in Porterville. On Labor Day weekend in 1979, he went to Porterville to study group. As his way back, a truck lost it brakes at Hwy 65 and Famoso. According to Glenn, Leon was such a happy