This afternoon I enjoyed watching a good portion of San Diego’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade. Every January, MLK’s dream of racial equality is celebrated downtown in one of the largest parades of its kind in the United States. The parade route runs down Harbor Drive on San Diego’s waterfront.
I got a whole lot of photos. Please feel free to share and enjoy them!
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Today, an estimated 5000 people turned out for the public memorial service celebrating the life of the late Jerry Coleman. The service took place at Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. “The Colonel” had been the central figure in the Padres baseball organization for over four decades. Jerry’s broadcasting voice will be missed by generations of fans. An excellent argument can be made that he was the most loved public figure in the history of our city.
I apologize that my camera isn’t of the highest quality. I do hope you enjoy a few images that I captured.
Dick Enberg noted that the stage was located on Jerry’s favorite spot: second base. After the playing of the National Anthem by the Marine Band, F-18 fighter jets roared overhead in the missing man formation.
After speeches by Randy Jones, Bob Chandler, Ron Fowler and Ron Roberts, fan-favorite former Padres player Tim Flannery sang his own stirring composition about Jerry Coleman, the man who hung the stars.
Joe Torre received great applause when he related a few humorous and touching old Yankees stories, and spoke of Jerry Coleman’s heroism and humility.
Ted Leitner, Jerry’s broadcast partner for many years, brought laughter and tears with his intimate accounts of a baseball legend’s modest personality and funny quirks. He concluded that Jerry Coleman was the best man he’d ever known.
After a salute by the Marine Corps, a T-6 SNJ aircraft from 1942, similar to the one Coleman flew in World War II passed overhead to honor the former Marine.
Jerry’s daughter Chelsea then spoke about her dad. She said that all he really lived for was his country, the game of baseball, and the people he loved. Dick Enberg concluded the memorial by saying that we all were fortunate to be part of the legacy of Jerry Coleman.
I loved the cheerful voice of Jerry Coleman. The good humor, dignity and optimism it conveyed during Padres broadcasts were an important part of my life. I listened to that voice for over thirty years.
Jerry Coleman was a remarkable man. He was both a genuine war hero and genuine baseball superstar. There was nothing phony or inflated about his life achievements. And he remained humble. He didn’t have a trace of conceit. He simply loved life, his family and country.
In a world where many self-centered people are hungry for fame, and make fools of themselves to achieve it, I think it was the humility of this truly legendary man that made him so loved by ordinary San Diegans. That and his simple good humor.
I never met him. But losing Jerry Coleman feels like losing a friend.
52 U.S. Navy submarines were lost at sea during World War II. 3,505 submariners lost their lives.
At NTC Liberty Station, the 52 Boats Memorial remembers the sacrifice of these men.
The unique memorial runs along two beautiful walkways, and consists of 52 American Liberty Elm trees, 52 flags and 52 black granite markers. The history of each submarine and the names of lost crew members are recounted for future generations to remember.
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Hundreds of colorful tiles encircle a large playground at Liberty Station. Each tile was carefully painted by a child. This one contains a special message.
Banners celebrating Italian American Academy Award winners are on display up and down India Street in San Diego’s Little Italy. Here are some photos…
One great thing about Little Italy, a lively neighborhood in downtown San Diego, is the abundance of public art. Should you ever walk down India Street past the many coffee shops, restaurants and art galleries, you’ll almost certainly find yourself lingering in front of a colorful mural. They seem to be everywhere.
I recently strolled down India Street and took these photos:
This handsome bust is the central feature of Piazza Basilone, a small urban space with tables, umbrellas and a fountain at the corner of India and Fir Street in Little Italy.
A plaque beneath the bust begins with the following words:
GUNNERY SERGEANT JOHN BASILONE
NOVEMBER 4, 1916 – FEBRUARY 19, 1945
SERGEANT JOHN BASILONE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ENLISTED MARINES TO BE AWARDED THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR OF WORLD WAR II. HE WAS ALSO POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED THE NATIONAL CROSS.
HE WAS BORN TO ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS, SALVATORE AND DORA BASILONE, IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK. HE AND HIS TEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS GREW UP IN RARITAN, NEW JERSEY. RESTLESS AND ADVENTUROUS BY NATURE, JOHN ENLISTED IN THE ARMY AT THE AGE EIGHTEEN AND WAS ASSIGNED TO GARRISON SERVICE IN THE PHILIPPINES.
AFTER HIS HONORABLE DISCHARGE FROM THE ARMY, BASILONE RETURNED TO RARITAN. AS THE STORM CLOUDS OF WAR GATHERED, JOHN BELIEVED HIS PLACE WAS WITH THE FIGHTING FORCES. IN JULY 1940 HE ENLISTED IN THE MARINE CORPS.
IT WAS ON GUADACANAL THAT SERGEANT BASILONE ACHIEVED HIS PLACE IN MARINE CORPS HISTORY, BECOMING ONE OF THE FIRST ENLISTED MARINES TO BE AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR OF WORLD WAR II; THE NATION’S HIGHEST AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM AND CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY IN ACTION.
During the Battle of Guadalcanal, Basilone held off 3,000 Japanese troops after his unit was almost entirely destroyed. He was later killed in action on the first day of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
This unique fountain is just a few feet away.
The above photo of the Shelter Island pier is interesting to me. I like how the angled concrete pilings, reflected on San Diego Bay, seem to project in three dimensions downward into the rippled water.
The light blue structure that you see is vacant. In the past it has been the home of a small fishing store and cafe. To its left you can see an aircraft hangar at Naval Air Station North Island.
When you stand on Shelter Island and gaze south beyond the pier, you can spy the distant Coronado Islands on a clear day.
The Coronado Islands (not to be confused with nearby Coronado) are four barren islets just west of Tijuana, Mexico. The home of numerous sea birds, sea lions and sea elephants, they are mostly uninhabited. A few Mexican caretakers live on the largest island and maintain a modest lighthouse.
Life at eye level can be so darn busy that I often forget to look upward. Occasionally I remember there’s a world above me. Here are a few recorded glimpses.
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