Chronicling Oakland and Bayonne past is historian's joy.

As box after box is opened, the long-forgotten images and papers pour out.

Oakland Army Terminal as it looked in the Korean War ... Bayonne Terminal photographs from World War II ... scenes from the big moves of the Vietnam War.

And more recent image's: Pictures from the Oakland, Calif., transportation facility in the past 36 years as the Military Traffic Management Command's Western Area ran it. Other boxes contain photos of MTMC activities at Bayonne, N.J.

The work is clearly a labor of love for Mike Bellafaire, Command Historian.

"This is what my job is all about," said Bellafaire. "Just finding these pictures is its own compensation."

Bellafaire is now busy at one of his most complex projects since coming to work at MTMC in 1998.

The task is daunting.

The former Army Materiel Command historian has begun the official chronicling of documents, reports, photographs, and related artifacts amassed during the 58-year history of the Oakland and Bayonne terminals. The facilities were closed by the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission in September 1999.

The heritage of the two facilities had been temporarily stored in 55 boxes at the library of the U.S. Army Transportation School, Fort Eustis, Va.

Bellafaire has now completed a preliminary assessment of the materials.

Many of the boxes are treasure troves of photographs and documents chronicling the service members and ships that passed through the installation.

Some boxes have limited value. They contain common administrative materials, redundant reports and Army procedural manuals.

"Some of these manuals have found a new home in the Transportation School Library," said Bellafaire.

The review began Feb. 13.

As of now, Bellafaire has moved 33 cartons to MTMC Headquarters for additional analysis and review. The best materials will be saved in MTMC's permanent historical files.

"I will make this material available to all researchers, whether in units in the command, other military services, or the private sector," said Bellafaire.

The collection has provided some big surprises. For example, 10 boxes contained unsorted photographic negatives that will require intensive review.

"There are photographs here I've never seen before--some from the earliest days of the Oakland Army Terminal," said Bellafaire. "I didn't know some of these photos existed."

As an example, the includes a great series of of early construction at in 1941--prior to Pearl Harbor.

One of the historian's biggest goals is to get some of the compelling Oakland photographs displayed in MTMC Headquarters conference rooms.

"Ultimately, the photographs represent a timeless memory," said Bellafaire. "They are priceless."

Bellafaire has his own memories. He was present for the official closure of MTMC's Eastern Area on Sept. 23, 1999.

As ceremonial cannons were fired and the garrison flag came down for the final time on the New York Harbor terminal, Bellafaire found himself a participant in history.

"It was a very poignant moment," said Bellafaire. "The Army was ending its presence in Bayonne after more than 50 years, never to return.

"That's what makes this collection all the more important--it's the photographic imagery that will keep the memory of MTMC's terminals in Bayonne and Oakland alive."