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DECEMBER 1, 2010
PEARL HARBOR’S FINAL RESTING PLACE THE ERIE CANAL A LITTLE SHORT OF MADNESS AMERICA’S FUN FOODS
PHILLY CHEESESTEAK
AMERICAN PATRIOT PEARL HARBOR THE TEARS OF THE ARIZONA
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6 THE PENTAGON
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AMERICAN LANDMARK
THE ERIE CANAL A LITTLE SHORT OF MADNESS
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
THIS WEEK IN AMERICAN HISTORY
PEARL HARBOR THE TEARS OF THE ARIZONA
The USS Arizona is the final resting place for more than 1,000 crewmen of this ill-fated battleship who died at Pearl Harbor on the infamous day of December 7, 1941. The Arizona is a memorial to all military personnel killed during the Japanese surprise attack. Today, it consists of the mid-portion of the sunken battleship, divided into three parts: entry and assembly rooms; an area for ceremonies and general observation; and the shrine room, where the names of those killed on the Arizona are engraved in a marble wall. 4 AMERICAN PATRIOT
A formal memorial was first conceived in 1943, while the war in the Pacific still raged. In 1949, Hawaii, then a territory, established the Pacific War Memorial Commission to advance the cause. In 1950, Admiral Arthur Radford, Naval Commander in Chief, Pacific, ordered that a flagpole be erected over the sunken ship and a commemorative plaque was placed at the base of the flagpole. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the creation of a more extensive memorial in 1958.
VISITOR CENTER.
Construction was completed in 1961 with public funds appropriated by Congress and private donations, and it was dedicated in 1962. Said architect Alfred Preis at the time: “Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory... The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones of sadness have been omitted to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses ... his innermost feelings.” To this day, oil can still be seen rising from the wreckage to the surface of the water. The oil seeping is sometimes referred to as “the tears of the Arizona.”
The museum brings visitors closer to the sights and sounds of the attack on Oahu, with personal memorabilia, dramatic photographs, artifacts of the battle and other exhibits.
Recently, concerns have arisen about the deterioration of the Arizona’s bulkheads and oil tanks from saltwater corrosion. The National Park Service has undertaken an ongoing program closely monitoring the condition of the submerged vessel. Further, the National Park Service, as part of their Centennial Initiative celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016, is developing a “mobile park” to tour the continental United States to increase exposure of the park. The mobile park will also collect oral histories of the attack on Pearl Harbor. VISITING THE ARIZONA Every year over 1.5 million people visit the USS Arizona Memorial. Add to that number the hundreds of thousands of folks who visit the other Pearl Harbor Historic sites: the USS Bowfin Submarine Park and Museum, the Battleship Missouri Memorial and the new Pacific Aviation Museum. It includes:
A portal for visitors planning to tour the USS Arizona Memorial, as well as the other Pearl Harbor sites. When guests enter the visitor center, they are asked to line up for a timed ticket, which provides free admission to the USS Arizona Memorial. While waiting for the tour to begin, many visitors take a self-tour of the visitor center and its many attractions, which include the 23-minute film. MUSEUM.
BOOKSTORE.
The bookstore is filled with over 120 book titles relating to the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as the Pacific War effort. There are over 50 videos, audio tapes, posters and other mementos of the USS Arizona, the Pearl Harbor Attack, and War in the Pacific. EXHIBITS.
Near the water’s edge, the Interpretive Exhibit Panels invite visitors to imagine the experience of that tragic day, by superimposing descriptive images of Pearl Harbor as it was in 1941 across the panorama of the busy port as it appears today. Nearby is the Remembrance Exhibit, which pays tribute to the men, women and children, who were not on the USS Arizona that fateful morning, but whose lives were extinguished during the attack. STORYTELLING .
Most days, one or more Pearl Harbor survivors can be found at the visitor center sharing stories and remembrances with visitors. MEMORIAL TOUR.
When the time that appears on their ticket is called, visitors assemble at the Contemplation Circle for a brief orientation by a Park Ranger followed by a shuttle boat ride to the memorial. The tour of the USS Arizona Memorial itself includes an orientation and a self-guided exploration of the memorial culminating with the shrine room.
THE PENTAGON AMERICAN LANDMARK The Pentagon is the epicenter of American military power and strategy. Was its unique five sided shape built to maximize internal communications or to minimize possible attack or for some other weighty reason?
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Turns out the answer is no on all accounts. The building’s origin can be traced to a 1941 congressional hearing, when Congressman Clifton Woodrum demanded an "overall solution" to the Department of War's “space problem.” In response, the government purchased a parcel of land, a former dairy farm, that just happened to be pentagon-shaped. Thus, the unique shape. The Pentagon was approved and constructed
square feet and houses 17.5 miles of corri-
at a rapid pace, in anticipation of the U.S.
dors. Main floors are divided into five “rings,”
entering World War II. The contracts for
senior most officials occupy the interior
construction were approved, ironically, on
ring. The Pentagon is assigned six zip codes,
September 11, 1941 and the ground was bro-
has its own metro station, houses a mini-
ken the same day. A minimum of steel was
mall and a suburban style food court. A five
used in its construction, due to the short
acre courtyard sits in the center of the com-
supplies owing to the war effort. A reinforced
plex, known unofficially by its gallows-humor
concrete structure by necessity, the Pentagon
nickname, “Ground Zero.”
was constructed using 680,000 tons of sand dredged from the Potomac River. A rarity
The Pentagon has been actively at the center
among municipal buildings built during the
of history on several occasions. During the
20th century, the Pentagon contains no mar-
Vietnam War, it was the focal point of several
ble; Italy, the main source of marble at the
prominent anti-war protests and sit-ins. At
time, was an enemy of the U.S.
the close of the war, the fourth floor was bombed by the Weather Underground. As
Such an unremarkable birth seems unfitting
most people are aware, on September 11,
for a building that has become an icon of
2001, terrorists flew an American Airlines Jet
American power, a landmark of modern archi-
into the pentagon, killing 65 passengers
tecture, headquarters to 23,000 top defense
and 125 occupants of the Pentagon. The
employees, and tragically, a target of terror-
site of the attack was quickly rebuilt, and
istic aggression. The five-sided, five-storied
a memorial and chapel now occupy the
building covers an area of about 6,500,000
hallowed ground.
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The most dangerous animals in the forest don’t live there.
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THE ERIE CANAL A LITTLE SHORT OF MADNESS
When work was completed on the Erie Canal in October 1825, a “Grand Celebration” was marked by a massive cannonade, blasts were fired in succession the length of the waterway from Buffalo to New York City. The firing lasted 90 minutes, spanning the canal’s 360 miles. New York Governor Dewitt Clinton led a flotilla of boats down the canal to Port of New York in a remarkable ten days, then an unheard of speed for a cross-state trip. On arrival, the Governor poured a glass of Lake Erie water into New York Harbor, ceremonially marking a “Wedding of the Waters.” It was an unlikely celebration. Although the need to link the ports of the East with the rapidly growing West had been known for the better part of a century, the cost and engineering challenges were overwhelming. George Washington tried and failed a Potomac linked to the West; numerous other companies were chartered for similar ends, all declaring bank-
ruptcy. It was a scandal when entrepreneur Jesse Hawley, a bankrupt grain shipper who envisioned the Erie Canal while in debtor's prison, gained Governor Clinton's support for a try in 1817. The project was mocked as “Clinton's Folly” and a "“Ditch.” President Jefferson called Hawley’s plan “a little short of madness” and rejected it outright.
The Canal would be built with seven million dollars from New York’s treasury, an unheard of sum. The engineering and construction would have to be accomplished by novices; the United States didn't have civil engineers and the laborers, mostly from Northern Ireland, lacked experience. Brilliant solutions were conceived on the fly, from soil excavation methods to devices built for the felling of trees. More than 1,000 men would die of Swamp Fever near Syracuse, stopping construction. Homes along the construction route were accidently crushed by falling trees and rocks. The completed canal had immediate impact. It cut transportation costs by 95 percent and instantly opened Eastern and European markets to the rich markets of the Midwest and vice versa. New York City became the national center of trade and commerce, Buffalo grew from a village to a bustling city, fortunes were made and new territory was opened. In the golden era for the canal, 360 boats were passed daily, helping develop dozens of cities along its path. Its legacy would be immortalized in the writings of Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. For a brief moment in time, it was America’s superhighway from the heartland to the coast.
The Canal would eventually succumb to the railroad system, and by the late 1800's the traffic fell to a fraction of what it was decades earlier. The modern Erie Canal is operated by New York State, and still remains a viable shipping route for objects too large for rail or highway. Along some portions of the old canal route, a tourism industry is growing, with small hotels and tourist spots catering to hikers, bikers, history buffs and boaters.
LISTEN TO THE FAMOUS ERIE CANAL SONG
A M E R I CA’ S F U N FO O D S
PHILLY CHEESESTEAKS At any given time, regardless of hour, weather or time of year, there will be two long lines formed at the intersection of 9th and Passyunk streets in downtown Philadelphia. That's where Pat's and Geno’s, archrivals in the cheesesteak trade, compete for the culinary affections of a calorie-loving clientele. For some, loyalty lies with the originator, Pat's (shown above), which first sold chopped steak on a hot dog bun in 1930 and has sold millions since. For others, it is the blindingly bright-lit Geno’s, an eatery which would appear more at home on the Jersey Shore than the gritty neighborhood immortalized in the classic movie “Rocky.” The debate has raged in the city of Brotherly Love for over half a century. 10 AMERICAN PATRIOT
The cheesesteak is classic American cuisine, conceived by enterprising food vendors as a more satisfying solution than hot dogs or hamburgers for a workingman's lunch. It has been recreated, reinvented, and exported; there a numerous interpretations available from greasy spoons to high-brow eateries. In Philadelphia, one could start the day with a simple street-cart cheesesteak for breakfast, stop by a pizza shop for a pepperoni pizza cheese steak for lunch, and conclude the day at Barclay Prime for the kobe beef and taleggio cheesesteak (the last would cost upwards of $100 and comes with Champagne). But for a classic Philadelphia cheesesteak, the ingredients are straightforward and (mostly) agreed upon by the fundamentalists. It starts with the beef. The roll is important. But it is the choice of cheese that allows for the greatest leeway in interpretation: a classic cheesesteak is topped with Kraft Cheez-Whiz; other acceptable cheeses include provolone or white American cheese. During the 2004 Presidential campaign, John Kerry, in a series of photo-ops attempting to counter his elitist image, ordered a Pat's Steak with Swiss cheese. He was roundly mocked. The Philadelphia cheesesteak ordering process follows a rigid structure, and is necessary to follow for adequate service and street cred. If one wanted a cheesesteak topped with cheez whiz and onions, for example, it is phrased “Cheesesteak With,” to subtract onions “Cheesesteak Without;” for provolone, “Provolone Steak With/ Without.” For the novice, directions are clearly posted at the ordering counter.
Though most visitors will flock to Pat's and Geno's (shown above), there are several other well-regarded spots to try, often off of the beaten path:
TONY LUC’S OLD PHILLY STYLE Oregon Avenue Between Front Street and I-95
The stadium favorite, this is a mandatory stop on the way to a Phillies or Eagles game. ISHKABIBBLE'S 337 South Street A renowned hole in the wall, Ishkabibbles boasts a broad menu and the best chicken cheesesteak in the city. JOHN'S ROAST PORK 14 East Snyder Avenue Little more than a shack in the middle of an industrial area, this is a blue collar favorite. LEO'S 1403 Chester Pike, Folcroft PA The king of the suburbs is famous for its massive portions and reputation.
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NORMAN LEAR TV GROUNDBREAKER
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Norman Lear is credited with broadening the scope of television content. With such groundbreaking television series as All in the Family, Maude, and Sanford and Son to his credit, Lear helped usher in an age of enlightenment in American entertainment, where sensitive social and political issues could be discussed in popular media. Lear was born in New Haven CT in 1922. He attended Boston’s Emerson College, but dropped out in September 1942 to join the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Lear received a Decorated Air Medal for his wartime achievements and, upon leaving the service, married and started his career as a writer and producer in New York City making $40 dollars a week. In 1971, lightening struck. Lear created a situation comedy series that would change television programming. Based on a British comedy show about working class experiences and values, Lear and partner Bud Yorkin secured the American rights to the idea and introduced “All in the Family” on CBS. With Carroll O'Connor starring as Archie Bunker, the show’s episodes and dialog broke taboos, as it confronted and explored the ethnic, racial and sexual prejudices of the day, and tackled political and social issues. The conservative, illeducated and grumpy Bunker delivered conventional stereotypes, which were softened by the good-hearted common sense of his wife (Jean Stapleton was Edith Bunker), and the pointed arguments of his liberal son-in-law, perpetual student and Polish-American son-in-law Mike Stivic (played by Rob Reiner). In an interview years later, Lear said that he was trying to break through the blandness of popular entertainment: “The biggest problem in comedy was Mom's
dented the car, and how do we keep Dad from finding out, or the boss is coming to dinner and the lamb roast is ruined. We paid attention to our children. We paid attention to our marriages. We paid attention to the newspapers we read and the culture. And we chose our subjects from all these things that were influencing us.” Lear and Yorkin created several successful and edgy spin-off shows based upon characters that originally debuted on All in the Family. This included “Maude” as a thoroughly liberated modern woman, “The Jeffersons,” as an upwardly mobile African-American story with a bigot of its own in laundry owner George Jefferson, an Afro-centric comedy about a junkyard entitled “Sanford and Son,” and the suburban surrealist dark comedy “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.” Lear’s influence and political vision has carried way beyond television. As a philanthropist, humanitarian and advocate of generally liberal causes, Lear has founded several nonprofit organizations including People For the American Way; the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication; and the Business Enterprise Trust. In 1999, President Clinton bestowed the National Medal of Arts on him, stating: “Norman Lear has held up a mirror to American society and changed the way we look at it.”
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”
— FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT F R O M H I S P E A R L H A R BO R ‘A D AY T H AT W I L L L I V E I N I N FA M Y ’ S P E E C H
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THIS WEEK IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
1884.
WA S HI N GTON MO NU M EN T C OM P L ET ED
Washington DC workers completed construction of an impressive monument to the nation's first president, George Washington. A private society began fundraising in 1832, building began in 1848, and it took until 1884 to find the money and complete the project. It is made of 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air. The monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion; today 800,000 people visit the monument each year.
AMERICAN PATRIOT 15
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