On Memorial Day 2026

 

"True patriotism is usually born of great sacrifice,

 and is never the result of selfishness."

~Napoleon Hill

As we stop today, to reflect and meditate on the heroes that have served their country and their better angles, I share with you some Motown jazz to make your day a little more relaxing. I am so grateful to my daddy and my father-in-law for their sacrifices during WWII, and to my brother during the Vietnam war. They were men who answered a higher calling from their county, for freedom and democracy.

Gentlemen, I will be forever be grateful for your service.

"Let their remembrance be as lasting, as the land they honored."

~Daniel Webster

Round Robin Challenge: History

USS San Francisco Memorial (Damaged Bridge Wings)
Lands End (Outer Richmond)
San Francisco, California
September 4th, 2013

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all lessons that history has to teach."

~Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays

RRC: History!

 

For my post on the subject History, I decided to visit, or actually revisit, the USS San Francisco Memorial, which sits in the Outer Richmond district of San Francisco, near Lands End. I first visited the memorial about 10 years ago, and I did a few photos that day, but I didn't know much about how the full history or how significant the service of the USS San Francisco had been in World War II. Over the last few years I have done some reading about it, and it has stuck in my consciousness when contemplating the wars America has engaged in, particularly since 9/11. World War II, and our involvement in it, was so different than most of the wars we have been in since. No war should be the first choice of the men who make these decisions, but unfortunately some things are inevitable.

I am hoping that we are not sitting on the precipice of yet another war in the middle east, but somehow it feels like the people at the top, the ones who can decide between diplomacy and international law, over war, have their minds made up no matter what I think. I have heard my father-in-law say many times... "I went to war so my children wouldn't have to!" He is a veteran of World War II, so I can understand his ire at the fact that history, sometimes in the worst ways, just keeps repeating itself! Okay, I am done now. Here, in photographs, taken at the beginning of September of this year, is the story of the USS San Francisco, and her place in wartime history...

USS San Francisco And The Battle Of Guadalcanal

 

I decided to post the photos in black and white because it just seemed most appropriate.


Okay, now that you have seen my take on History, be sure to visit all the Round Robin participants. Just click the link at the top of this entry to be redirected to the official Round Robin blog where you will find the list of participants, and all the information you need to play along! :)

~Mood: Reflective

~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 79~ RRC: That's Odd

"There are two sorts of curiosity... the momentary and the permanent. The momentary is concerned with the odd appearance on the surface of things. The permanent is attracted by the amazing and consecutive that flows on beneath the surface of things."


-~Robert Lynd


RRC: That's Odd


One of my favorite things to do is travel along the Pacific coastline here in the Bay Area and take all the gorgeous scenery in. There is a particular spot, on the San Mateo County coastline, that I enjoy and am awestruck by, no matter how often I see it. It's Devil's Slide just south of Pacifica, California. The short stretch of highway has been featured in film, but it also holds an interesting spot in history. As you come down the steep highway slope, you can't help but be awestruck by the natural beauty, but you might also be caught a bit off guard by just how narrow and steep the slope is. If you are going south on HWY1, you have the ocean on the right and almost no shoulder at all. It's gorgeous, but scary at the same time.


 


Now, here is where it all get's really interesting, and ODD. As you turn the corner you see above, you come around the side of the cliff and off to the right, on a wider cliff over the ocean, you will see a really ODD shaped dwelling, or is it a garage of some sort?  Maybe it's the worlds largest birdhouse? It could be a storage shack maybe. Ohh... I know, I bet it is a dream home of a wealthy eccentric, that found out they didn't fancy living precariously on not just any cliff, but Devil's Slide cliff. Could that be it? Ummm... well... no. That ODD little building is actually something much less spooky. In a weird way, that building might be described as a kind of lighthouse. Well, that's how I think of it anyway.




According to Wikipedia, it's called a Base End Station. These little dwellings were used in World War II by the U.S. Coast Guard Artillery as part of the fire control systems for locating the positions of attacking ships and controlling the firing of seacoast guns, mortars, or mines to defend against them. Wow! It is sometimes easy to forget that during that era, the enemy could pretty much walk, or swim, up to America and give us the WHAT FOR. I don't remember hearing anything about this kind of thing in history class, and I don't remember my parents mentioning it either. But can you imagine what it must have felt like to see it being built for the sole purpose of coastal defense?


 


Suddenly the natural beauty of the ocean, and the sandy beaches and the amazing wildflowers of the California Pacific coastline, has this strange, ominous, watchtower of sorts, heavily armed, and ready to fire on ships and submarines that might come to do us harm. I can definitely see the need for it, and I can see how it must have been a relief to know it was there looking out for us, but at the same time I think I would have felt really sad that it had ever been necessary at all. I think the people who lived in that area, during the 1940's probably felt the same way we do now, when he are faced with some of the choices that needed to be made in post 9/11 America.





The earliest of these Base End stations were built in the late 1800's and were used until about 1946, and then were closed, later to be sold off to private land owners. There is perhaps as many as 100 of this type of structures surviving across America, the ones inland used primarily for early detection of fires, but there could have been a number of different Base End operations sectioned off per floor. I am not sure when this Base End station was built on Devil's Slide, there isn't a lot of information about it, but it's seems it was sold to a private owner in 1983. It's possible that the state of California owns it now, as there is currently a bridge and tunnel is being built to replace the Devil's Slide section of roadway due to erosion and frequent landslides during the winter months.

 



I will miss driving on Devil's Slide after the new bridge and tunnel through the mountains opens. I love that drive, especially on sunny summer and autumn afternoons. The water below can look like crystal. It shines and seems to be so calm you could walk on it. And the natural beauty of the wildflowers and the occasional awesome bird, can make for a relaxing, peaceful drive. I understand the need for the bridge through the hills, it will be safer and more reliable, but as you know I am hopelessly in love with the Bay Area, and I hate for anything to change. Especially if there is a change that there might be a negative environmental impact. And believe me, there was some debate about that, but after many years of impact studies, the bridge project was a go.


The bypass is scheduled to be finished this fall, and after that time the only access to the Devil's Slide area will be by trail for hiking and for bike access. I will be looking forward to taking that on in the summer of 2012, and perhaps at that time I will finally be able to see the Base End station up close. And you know, I will have my camera in hand!

:)


If you can, feel free to join in with this week's Round Robin Challenges, I know Karen would be thrilled to have you play along. Just click the link at the top of this post, to be redirected back to the official Round Robin blog. You can also find a list, and the links to, the other participants in this challenge!


~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 22~ The Final Countdown

“God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right, even though I think it is hopeless.”


~ Chester Nimitz

 

 If the United States falls under attack our job is to defend her in the past, present and future. 

~Capt. Yellend (The Final Countdown)


It was a big day for me, and my cameras. Alan and I decided to go to San Francisco to watch the aircraft carrier the Nimitz depart the Golden Gate. The Nimitz had come through the Golden Gate last week, as part of the celebration for the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. We weren't able to go to the celebrations, which was disappointing, but being able to see the Nimitz depart made up for it.


I kinda have a special place in my heart for the Nimitz because it was pretty much the star of one of my favorite movies, The Final Countdown. I don't even know how many times I watched that movie with my dad. 100... 200 maybe... at least 20 for sure. There were several movies that dad and I never missed, and The Final Countdown was right at the top. 


My dad has been gone all most 17 years, but sometimes it feels like he is her with me. I know he would have plenty to say about the state of today's politics. He would have HATED... ahem... strongly disliked George W. Bush. He would have thought Sarah Palin was a twit... to put it kindly... and I think he would be missing Keith Olbermann as much as I do. LOL. He and I had long talks about politics. He was the one who taught me that it's not enough to know how or what you feel about about something, you had to know why you felt the way you did.


It wasn't always easy being my father's daughter... but I know that I am a stronger person for it. I can better understand at my current age what he was trying to teach me, and I try to remember to thank him every day. Although there were some genuinely horrific times in my childhood, I now mostly remember the bowls of popcorn, and the movie rentals. It was a good time. It was the best time. He would have loved seeing that gorgeous ship going under the Golden Gate, just as he did when he left for Asia, during WWII, when he was serving as a merchant marine. Today, he was there with me... smiling... and I could almost hear him asking me to" fix a BIG bowl of popcorn... extra, extra butter... the real stuff... and DON'T TELL MOM!" :)



The Final Countdown (IMDB)

The Final Countdown (Wikipedia)

Chester Nimitz (Wikipedia)

~Me :)


If you would like to join me in my quest to post A Photo A Day For 6 Months, please feel free to jump right in! Just post your photo, come back here with the direct link back to it, and I will include your link with tomorrow's blog post.


Now, go see what my pal Kat has posted...


Kat
http://inmydreamssfk.blogspot.com/2012/05/mental-health.html

Applauding The Vagina or The Woman Who Wouldn't Be President

"My idea of feminism is self-determination, and it's very open-ended; woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do."

-Ani DiFranco

A couple of weeks ago, I paid a visit to the Rosie The Riveter Memorial in Richmond, California. As far as I know it is the only such memorial in honor of the idyllic WWII icon. It might be small in size, but it packs a punch by way of the powerful images of real women who did more then their share for America. My mother was one of those ladies. She didn't talk much about that time of her life, but I know she counted those years among her most rewarding, both for supporting her country on the home front, and handling herself against the gender discrimination of the men working alongside her.

As I looked at the photos that were displayed in the memorial, of WWII women working in all kinds of industries, I wondered how those women got up every day and went off to the shipyards and the airplane hangers and faced making a much lower wage then the men who had occupied the same jobs in the months before we were plunged into war? It was socially demanded to expect hard work and patriotism from those ladies, and it was taken for granted that if she was both, she would accept the lower pay with supreme gratitude. It wasn't wonderful, but it was expected, and to a certain degree it worked for those of that era.

Here we are, 60 some years later, and women are still making much less then their male counterparts. In fact, women make only about 77% of what men do. Why is that? I can remember the bra burning, and NOW posters of the late 60's and 70's. The debate continued somewhat into the 80's, but by the time the 90's rolled around, you really didn't hear too much about it anymore. Why did the push for equality lose steam? Did we give up? And here's a question for you... are all vagina's created equal?

It disturbs me that there is such a push to put a woman in office, that we will consider voting for any woman who might end up on the ticket. I am hearing on the news, and from other sources, that women in this country will vote for the Republican ticket for no other reason then there is a woman on it. Somehow, to me, that takes all the hard work that women have done since the beginning of the Women's Suffrage Movement, and turns it to something a lot less powerful... something almost trivial.

It seems to me, the push for equality meant more then just putting a woman into a position traditionally held by a man, it meant showing the world that a qualified woman could not just hold those positions, but indeed excel in those jobs. I don't personally believe that Sarah Palin is qualified for the office of vice president. I believe that voting for her would mean a serious setback for the woman's movement in general, in that she is against not just Roe v Wade, but she is also against abortion even in cases of rape or incest. It makes no sense to me.

It shocked me when I heard on World News Tonight the other evening that women showed up for a John McCain rally simply because Sarah Palin was there. They wouldn't have come to hear anything from the contender for president, but they would to hear from the woman. The woman who wouldn't be president. And the really strange thing is, to date, she has said very little about what she stands for outside of Alaskan politics. In fact, more false rumors have been circulated about her, rather then the truth, because she has refused interviews. Although she has agreed to an interview with ABC's World News Tonight anchor, Charles Gibson, for tomorrow, Thursday, September 11th. I have to wonder about the timing.

Look, here's the thing. If we (women) vote this lady into office for no other reason then she is a woman, we will be setting ourselves back 200 years. The war in Iraq is not "God's will" as she asserts, anymore then WWII was. That isn't just a stupid notion, it is a deadly one. War is pretty much mankind made. She grins and waves her NRA card with such glee, and then preaches family values while combining the two into a family activity by shooting animals for sport with her children. When some nut goes on a rampage with a gun and kills an innocent person, is that "GOD's" will also? And while she didn't actually engage in book banning, she posed the question to the librarian in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, and isn't that sad? There is one other thing about her that really disturbs me. You know that rumor about her belonging to a group that sought to succeed from the union? Well, she never belonged to that group, but her husband did. Sigh.

When you add it all up... is that really who you want in the White House? As I stood, looking at the photos of women who weren't defined by their politics, working side by side for a greater good, I felt inspired, but when I go home, and listen to women of my own generation willing to throw all that hard work that came before us away, I just feel empty. And to a certain degree... embarrassed that we would follow in the steps of some men, who would vote for someone solely because of their gender. It's a waste of the privilege of voting.

Interesting Reading...

Votes For Women Timeline

Why Do Women Earn Less?

-OndineMonet
"Rosie The Riveter Memorial"
Richmond, California
September 3, 2008
Afternoon

Memorial Day 2007

Their silent wounds have speech
More eloquent than men;
Their tones can deeper reach
Than human voice or pen.

-William Woodman

U. S. Military Casualties of War

World War II - 300,000

Korean War - 23, 3000

Vietnam - 58, 226

Iraq - 3, 455... To date

"There never was a good war or a bad peace."

-Benjamin Franklin

"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war."

-Donald Rumsfeld

"You cannot be on one hand dedicated to peace, and on the other hand, dedicated to violence. Those two things are irreconcilable."

-Condoleeza Rice

"Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny exercised "for the good of it's victims" may be the most oppressive."

-C.S. Lewis

If you haven't had the chance to visit the Iraq War Memorial, in Lafayette, California, you really should. It is a very moving tribute to the fine men and women we have lost to this terrible war. The sign indicating the lost is updated each Sunday. While the memorial has been made into a subject of controversy, what I see is the truth, and a reminder of what the human cost of war really is.

Inside Bay Area: Lafayette War Memorial Reminds Us Of War's Cost

-OndineMonet
Lafayette War Memorial
Lafayette, California
May, 2007
Afternoon