(Photo credit: Mark Krancer) Memorial Park is a historic city park located on the north side of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. Following World War I, the Rotary Club of Jacksonville created the park to commemorate the Floridians who died in WWI, with a large copper statue serving as a memorial. At the statue’s base, a time capsule was interred on December 24, 1924, containing a scroll with a list of the Florida [...]
In August of 1939, Albert Einstein and other scientists sent a letter to then U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt warning of a Nazi program that could develop a nuclear bomb. In response to this threat, Roosevelt authorized the Manhattan Project to proceed under the guidance of General Leslie Groves, the development of America's first nuclear weapon. President Roosevelt died on April 12th of 1945, and Harry Truman assumed his presidency, during the first month of which [...]
In the months immediately following the December 7th attack in 1941 on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, American resolve was codified into a call for action. Something had to be done quickly to send a message to Imperial Japan that they were not out of our reach. Payback was coming. In this photo is what appears to be a Japanese Aichi D3A1 Dive Bomber taking up an attack angle for another run [...]
When we think of U.S. Naval Aviation, most of us immediately picture the mighty aircraft carriers, decks bristling with a wide array of aviation assets that can take to the sky at a moment’s notice. But aircraft carriers, as impressive as they are, are not the only vessels to launch and recover aircraft while underway at sea. In fact, they were not the first to do so either. Navies worldwide began launching and recovering aircraft [...]
At one point in history, it was unheard of for women to go to war. The movie industry reinforced depictions of the stereotypical wife or sweetheart remaining home, crying into her hanky while her man went off to war, time and time again. The actual reality of those times is anything but that. It is estimated between 400 and 750 women disguised themselves as men and fought on the front lines during the American Civil [...]
Tragedy at MacDill AFB Situated strategically four miles south of Tampa, Florida, at the end of a peninsula that separates Old Tampa Bay from Hillsborough Bay is MacDill Air Force Base. Established on May 24th, 1939, for the Army Air Corps, it was initially called Southeast Air Base, Tampa. The base has overseen a variety of missions that continue today. However, this article focuses on only a short period at the outbreak of World War [...]
There are few accounts of Christmas at the Light Stations across the country. One of these accounts is from Bette McCormick Olli who grew up at Grand Traverse Lighthouse. Her story gives a eyewitness record of how Keepers and their families balanced family life with duty to keeping the light shining. We hope that you enjoy her account and remember that, even today, we have men and women serving across the world sometimes with or [...]
The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum received the tail section of a World War II-era plane that washed up along South Ponte Vedra Beach during the recent nor’easter. The initial findings suggest that the part came from a F4F Wildcat, an aircraft produced by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation mostly based on aircraft carriers. The section includes a tail hook suggesting it was carrier-based. As the plane came in for a landing, the tail [...]
The reality of war on America’s own East Coast was a shock to its residents, and it was no different for the people of St. Augustine. The United States Navy kept the news of the U-boat attacks under wraps while they scrambled to take defensive action, and action they did take. In February of 1942, the USS Roper (DD-147), a Wickes-class destroyer returned to Norfolk, VA, after successfully performing escort duty to Londonderry, Ireland. [...]
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