Happy Veteran's Day Dad

In January of 1999, I unexpectedly received a packet of letters from an aunt. A brief note inside explained that they had been written by my late father to his family while he was stationed overseas. My grandmother had kept the letters which ultimately survived both his death in 1995 and her own in 1997.  My aunt (my grandmother's executor) wrote me that she thought the letters would interest me, as I had lived in Germany for a while in the early 90’s.

The Army drafted my father in 1951 at age 19, under the Universal Military Training and Service Act, in which all men 19-26 were subject to 24 months service in the US Army. After induction at Ft. Sheridan, Il, and basic training at Ft. Knox KY, and even more specialized training at Fort Campbell KY,  he was sent overseas and stationed in Germany until the end of 1953, serving with the 141st Tank Battalion in the US Army. His insignia:

The Army was involved in the Korean war at the time, and President Truman believed that the war might be a ploy to concentrate all American resources on the Korean peninsula, thus leaving western Europe open to invasion by the Soviet Bloc. The Berlin Airlift had already occurred in 1948, along with the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1948. NATO was created in 1949 because of the perceived Soviet threat towards Western Europe. After the start of the Korean war, the United States deployed 4 divisions to Europe, culminating in the creation of the USAREUR in 1952. By this time, the US role in Germany had officially changed from an occupying force into an allied defender of the newly-formed German Federal Republic (West Germany). The 141st’s major task was to ferry US tanks to the Czech border to offset the Russian maneuvers occurring there. According to other soldiers in the battalion, the tanks were always fully armed and loaded, ready for war.
When my father's unit arrived in Germany in July of 1952, the barracks had not yet been built. Because of the rapid deployment of all these units and their associated personnel, there was a serious lack of adequate facilities at Fliegerhorst and they were initially posted to an old Luftwaffe barracks at Nellingen for a month [see the map below for locations].

The cities in red are places he was stationed or visited while in the service in Germany 1952-53:

And here is how Germany was carved up at the time:

I'm thinking about posting letters from his entire time. They trace the mind of a young man serving his country, albeit as a draftee of the times.  He saw no direct combat heroism,  though his older brother, then serving in Korea, did. There are many names of living people here to protect, and I'm going to edit these letters a bit. Here is what he wrote after arriving at Fort Sheridan for basic training:

October 31, 1951 [post marked 11/01/51]
Fort Sheridan, IL

Dear Mom and Dad,

I left Mil. At 4:00 o'clock Tue. afternoon for Fort Sheridan Ill. It took 2 hrs. They gave us about $200.00 worth of clothes today. Army life hasn't been to rough but they tell us it will be later. We are going to stay here about 7 days. There was 41 of us when we left Mil. Most of the guys we are with are 21 and over. We have been having good eats. Feel like I am already gaining weight. We are going to have tests all day tomorrow, shots Friday and maybe shipped out Mon.

P.S. a G.I. party Fri night Scrub the Barracks. The weather down here has been cool but no snow yet. When my check comes for the last 3 days work at C. take it and the 20 in my green box and put it in the bank. We should be getting $20.00 advanced pay this week yet. Seems like I've been gone a month. I hope everything is O.K.

V.

The Rediscovery of San Francisco Bay

Mystery shrouds the discovery of the San Francisco Bay like a thick fog. The Bay lay "undiscovered" for over two hundred years, despite Spanish, Portuguese, and English ships plying the coast, one after another. The Bay was finally "discovered" 240 years ago this week by the Portola Expedition of 1769.  In the words of the Editor of the book The Discovery of San Francisco Bay: The Portola Expedition of 1769-1770:

From Cabrillo's voyage along the California coast in 1542 to the Portola Expedition's discovery of San Francisco Bay in 1769 is such a terribly long time that one might well think the Spanish lacking in skill, curiousity, something. Why didn't they find what is now to us an obvious entry to this wonderful inland sea? There are several answers. One is that during a considerable part of the year the Golden Gate is hidden by fog. Another is that, in the days of small sailing ships, dependent entirely upon the winds for propulsion, sea captains had a need and duty to stay well away from the coast, lest an adverse wind blow them onto rocks and shallows and wreck their ships. A third reason is the peculiarities of geography--of the lay of the land. From outside the Golden Gate the entrance is practically invisible.  From most angles, either Angel island or Alcatraz island is in direct line of view [from the sea], and thus make the opening appear to be a solid coast line. Even when the islands do not conspire to obscure the view into the bay, the crest of the Berkeley hills lines up so well with the sides of the Golden Gate as to create the impression of nothing but land.

I'd like to offer a fourth possibility: the Bay was known but remained a well-guarded trade wind secret. The evidence? --explorer Miguel Costanso's own words--see below.

The Portola expedition had marched northwards from San Diego in July of 1769, mainly hugging the coastline (they were searching for the fabled Monterey Bay and didn't want to miss it).  When they got to the San Francisco peninsula (after about three and a half months), they marched up along the seacoast, at first missing the southern arm of the Bay to the east because of the separating mountains and hills.  On Tuesday, October 31, they halted near present day Portola National Monument, south of present-day Pacifica, somewhere near the first little notch jutting out of the seaward side of the lower San Francisco peninsula (see map below):

From atop San Pedro Mountain, the explorers saw to the northwest a bay formed within a point of land (present-day Point Reyes) that opened towards them (Drake's Bay). Farther out to the west, they saw several islands (the Farallon Islands). To the east of Drake's Bay, and much closer they saw what appeared to be the mouth of a channel (the Golden Gate).
The explorers were carrying with them the sailing directions of Cabrera Bueno, a Phillipino and veteran trans-Pacific sea voyager; it seemed to them that they had arrived at what Bueno called the Bahia de San Francisco:

Thursday, 2 November [1769]: Several of the soldiers requested permission to go hunting, as many deer had been seen. Some of them went quite a long way from the camp and reached the top of the hills so that they did not return until after nightfall. They said that to the north of the bay they had seen an immense arm of the sea or estuary, which extended inland as far as they could see, to the southeast; that they had seen some beautiful plains studded with trees; and that from the columns of smoke they had noticed all over the level country, there was no doubt that the land must be well populated with natives. This ought to confirm us more and more in the opinion that we were at the port of San Francisco, and that this was the estuary of which the pilot Cabrera Bueno spoke; we had seen its entrance between some ravines while descending the slope of the bay. In regard to this, in his sailing-directions, Cabrera Bueno uses the following words: 'Through the middle ravine, an estuary of salt water enters without any breakers; coming in, you will find friendly Indians, and you will easily obtain fresh water and fire-wood.'

We also conjectured from these reports that the scouts could not have passed to the opposite side of the bay, as it was no mere three days' undertaking to make the detour rounding an estuary, the extent of which was greatly enlarged upon to us by the hunters.

Trees And Other Things Indigenous

(continued) The explorers continued their quest northwards, seeking the legendary Monterey Bay. As they travelled farther north and further into the fall season, the terrain became more and more lush as the weather worsened. Along the way, several in the party had fallen ill and had to be carried and cared for by the healthier and stronger. Here they describe setting forth from a point near present day Watsonville.
[text from The Discovery of San Francisco Bay. The Portolá Expedition of 1769-1770]:

Sunday, 15 October [1769] We set out from Laguna del Corral-a name given to it on account of a piece of fence that was constructed between the lake and a low hill in order to keep the animals penned in by night with few watchmen. We marched very slowly so as to cause the sick as little distress as possible; we contrived to carry them on side-saddles, as the women in Andalusia travel. We proceeded for a league and a half and halted near another small pond in the bottom of a narrow and very pleasant little canyon, with plenty of firewood and pasture.
The road was somewhat difficult. We directed our course to the north-northwest, without withdrawing far from the coast, from which we were separated by some high hills very thickly covered with trees that some said were savins.[1] They were the largest, highest, and straightest trees that we had seen up to that time; some of them were four or five yards in diameter. The wood is of a dull, dark, reddish color, very soft, brittle, and full of knots.

Old growth redwoods can still be found south of San Francisco, but only in state-protected enclaves, such Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains. I recall many enjoyable hikes there in the late 1990's with my wife as we debated whether to start a family or not (I won the debate).
Years later, we took our kids on a family camping trip in 2005 to the Redwoods National Park which is located in the very northern most part of the state. The trees did not disappoint.

[1] Sevins = red cedar. Palomar Mountain, about 35 miles east from us in Oceanside, hosts cedar trees that resemble small redwoods.

Some Things Are Just Indigenous to California

Continuing with excerpts from The Discovery of San Francisco Bay. The Portolá Expedition of 1769-1770--[but first, could somebody please straighten me out regarding Spanish orthography? I've read both Portolá and Portolà-which is it?]

The Portola Expedition was the first European land exploration of Southern California. They travelled by foot and hoof from San Diego to San Francisco and many points in between. Along the way, they encountered scores of friendly Indian encampments (villages really). Here are Miguel Costansó's first impressions of those first Americans:

Both the men and the women are of good figure and appearance, and are fond of painting and staining their faces and bodies. They use large tufts of feathers, and hairpins that they put through their hair with various ornaments and coral beads of different colors.

The men go entirely naked, but when it is cold they wear long capes of tanned otter skins, and cloaks made of the same skins cut into long strips, and turned in such a manner that all of the fur is on the outside. They then weave these strips together, making a fabric, and give it the form mentioned above.

The women are dressed with more modesty, wearing around the waist tanned deerskins, which cover them in front and back more than halfway down the leg, and a little cape of otter skin over the body. Some of them have attractive features.

Polygamy is not permitted among these people; the chiefs alone possess the right to take two wives. In all of their towns there was noticed a class of men who lived like women, associated with them, wore the same dress, adorned themselves with beads, earrings, necklaces, and other feminine ornaments, and enjoyed great consideration among their companions. The want of an interpreter prevented us from ascertaining what kind of men they were, or to what office they were designed; all suspected however, a sexual defect or some abuse among those Indians.

Gaspar de Portolà Explores Santa Monica and the San Fernando Valley

More from The Discovery of San Francisco Bay. The Portolà Expedition of 1769-1770 (the diary of Miguel Costansó). Having crossed the entire Los Angeles basin from south to north (and having experienced several minor earthquakes), the explorers found further progress northwards blocked by a mountain range extending east to west in both directions. They resumed their journey having camped somewhere near the present-day UCLA campus [footnotes are mine]:

Saturday, 5 August [1769]: The scouts who had set out to examine the coast and the way along the beach returned shortly afterwards with the news of having reached a high, steep cliff, terminating at the sea where the mountains end, absolutely cutting off the passage along the shore. [1] This forced us to seek a way through the mountains, and we found it, although it was rough and difficult. We then set off from the Ojos del Berrendo[2] in the afternoon, and, directing our course to the northwest towards the point where there seemed to be an opening in the range, we entered the mountains through a canyon formed by steep hills on both sides. [3] At the end of the canyon, however, the hills were somewhat more accessible and permitted us to take the slope and, with much labor, to ascend to the summit, whence we discerned a very large and pleasant valley. We descended to it and halted near the watering-place, which consisted of a very large pool. Near this there was a populous Indian village, and the inhabitants were very good-natured and peaceful. They offered us their seeds in trays or baskets of rushes, and came to the camp in such numbers that, had they been armed, they might have caused us apprehension, as we counted as many as two hundred and five, including men, women, and children. All of them offered us something to eat, and we, in turn, gave them our glass beads and ribbons. We made three leagues on this day's journey. To the valley we gave the name of Santa Catalina; [4] it is about three leagues in width and more than eight in length, and is entirely surrounded by hills.

[1] Pacific Palisades at Santa Monica.
[2] "Ojos de Agua del Berrendo"--Antelope Springs--was a watering place so-named the previous day because the explorers had caught a wounded antelope there.
[3] Sepulveda Pass.
[4] The San Fernando Valley. Santa Catalina is now the name of an island west of Los Angeles.

Sepulveda Pass as it appears today, channeling the 405 freeway:

Losing Site of the Mission?

One interesting book on my shelf is called The Discovery of San Francisco Bay. The Portolá Expedition of 1769-1770. The book is a translation of the diary of Miguel Costansó, who was a soldier/engineer on that historic expedition. The title of the book refers to the fact that the Portolá expedition is credited with discovering the San Francisco Bay, that great natural harbor which lay hidden for more than two centuries after the first Europeans sailed up the coast of California. Costansó kept a very detailed diary and provides us with a mind's eye glimpse of what southern California looked like before californication. Here's his description of the valley where I live:

Tuesday, 18 July [1769]: The watering-place found by the scouts was little more than two leagues from Santa Sinforosa,[1] a distance that we covered in the afternoon. The country over which we passed was also hilly. The place where we halted was exceedingly beautiful and pleasant, a valley remarkable for its size, adorned with groves of trees and covered with the finest pasture. It must have been nearly a league wide, and different canyons opened into it on the north and northeast. The watering-place consisted of a pool or marsh of considerable extent. We camped on rising ground within the same valley, towards the west.[2] We gave the name San Juan Capistrano to the valley.[3]

[1] Now called Buena Vista Creek, northeast of Carlsbad. Highway 78 runs parallel to Buena Vista Creek.
[2] The San Luis Rey de Francia Mission was built at this site in 1789. The Mission was named after King Louis IX of France , the patron Saint of the third order of Franciscans (aka St. Louis).
[3] Our valley is no longer called San Juan Capistrano; that name now belongs to a mission and town about 35 miles farther north.

The mission used to cover about 6 acres. Little by little, they've sold off the acreage. Over the years, the surroundings have become a mixture of commercial and residential development. But despite the change, the place retains its original mission: they're still Franciscans with an active community parish. Link

[update: more historical stuff on the SLR Mission here.]

Rock Band Rocks!

Today, September 9th, Harmonix Music Systems released the Beatles's music catalog as part of the Rock Band video game. If you're unfamiliar with "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero," you probably don't have or know any teen or pre-teen kids (actually I first learned about it from our wild and crazy 30-something DINK neighbors).

We have the Wii version of "Guitar Hero." The Wii version is like the "Rock Band" video game, that is, the game allows one to play the guitar, vocal, bass, and drums for many popular songs. Of course you have to have the Guitar Hero "guitars" and drum kits that are adaptable to the wiimotes.

Guitar Hero has been derided by some because it doesn't really foster learning the guitar. Allegedly, Jimmy Page is withholding release of Led Zeppelin's catalog because he is upset that kids aren't learning guitar, but rather a simulated version of it. Also sayeth Page:

Obviously, there have been overtures made to Led Zeppelin, but if you start with the first track on the first album, ‘Good Times Bad Times,’ and you think of the drum part that John Bonham did there, how many drummers in the world can actually play that, let alone dabble on a Christmas morning? link.

He'll come around, mark my words, just give it a few more years, and a few lackluster sales of compilations.

But it's true: the "guitars" in Guitar Hero have no strings, only a right hand strum pick and a left hand set of buttons that allow you to "fret" notes and chords. On the other hand, the drum set- up for Rock Band features a set of four pads and a bass drum.

In my experience, the Rock Band drum simulator actually requires you to have or develop the same motor skills that it takes to play real drums. The drum set even resembles the sort of practice pads that real drummers use in lieu of a real set. So screw Page and Led Zeppelin for the time being.

Another great rock drummer was of course Keith Moon. Whereas John Bonham had controlled precision, Moon was all over the place, almost the essence of chaos. Moon had a top heavy, splashy style, having a much higher center of gravity than Bonham. Moon played double bass drums, forgoing the high hat cymbal for much of his playing style and sound. When I think of Keith Moon playing, I picture him riding his cymbals and tom toms and with both feet stomping his double bass drums.
Here's a video that gives you a good look at how "Rock Band" drums actually work: