Posted on Apr 16, 2017
Which historic military sites have been the most memorable for you?
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Since many of us have the opportunity to travel the world and visit historic battlefields, which sites would you say have been the most memorable for you? For me, it has to be Belleau Wood with a good Marine buddy of mine, and the site where the 3rd Infantry Division adopted the nickname, ''Rock of the Marne'' in Mezy, France.
Edited 7 y ago
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 298
I once sailed over "Iron Bottom Sound" in Savo Sea. Kind of impactful knowing how many ships had been sunk below us. Stateside, Gettysburg has to be at the top of the list. Would really like to see the Normandy invasion memorial in France.
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I haven't been to any of these famous places mentioned in various other posts however, there are some here in the San Francisco bay area that I visit whenever I get a chance. Probably the olds in SF bay is Alcatraz Island which was a military installation dating back to the Civil War. This was long before it became a Federal Penitentiary. ALso in the same area is Angel Island near the Marin County side of the bay. I have also visited Fort Point many times. Fort Point is along the coast starting at about where the Golden Gate Bridge South Land is and moving southward a short distance along the coast. This was an artillery installation originally constructed during the Civil War, updated and put to work again during WWI and finally was update once more during WWII. So that would be both Fort Point and Fort Riley. The following link will tell you more about the coastal protection installations.
https://www.cnet.com/news/a-tour-of-sf-bays-hidden-military-fortifications/
At the Presidio of San Francisco a few of the original machine gun bunkers remain in place although non-functional. On the north side of the Golden Gate, up in the Coastal Range there is an old NIKE missile site that has been preserved and is open to the pubic for tours. You can follow this link:
http://nikemissile.org/site_sf88.shtml
I have been a few times and it is just like any one of our Tac sites in Korea. This is by far my most liked historical military site in our region.
https://www.cnet.com/news/a-tour-of-sf-bays-hidden-military-fortifications/
At the Presidio of San Francisco a few of the original machine gun bunkers remain in place although non-functional. On the north side of the Golden Gate, up in the Coastal Range there is an old NIKE missile site that has been preserved and is open to the pubic for tours. You can follow this link:
http://nikemissile.org/site_sf88.shtml
I have been a few times and it is just like any one of our Tac sites in Korea. This is by far my most liked historical military site in our region.
A tour of SF Bay's hidden military fortifications
Road Trip at Home: For more than a century, the U.S. considered San Francisco its most important Pacific port, so it installed countless forms of coastal defenses between the Civil and Cold wars.
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PVT Mark Brown
The link for the NIKE site didn't seem to take, so here it is:
http://nikemissile.org/site_sf88.shtml
http://nikemissile.org/site_sf88.shtml
Nike Missile Launch Site SF-88L, San Francisco, California, restored. Now open to visitors by the National Park Service.
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Cpl Gabriel F.
Waiting on transport ordered to Treasure Island. Had a great view of Alcatraz from a broken window of a WW II wooden transport barracks.
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PVT Mark Brown
Cpl Gabriel F. - First class military accommodations. We were all blessed with such magnificent boarding during our Vietnam preparation. Ft. Lewis is another good example of semi-well preserved wooden barracks heated with the finest smelling coal hear man could find.
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Growing up in England I had the privilege to visit many of the airfields that took part in the Battle of Britain (Biggen Hill, Northolt, Oakington, etc). While visiting mainland Europe, I visited Dachau concentration/death camp and also Bastogne. From a naval standpoint, USS Hornet (recovered the Apollo 11 capsule) and USS Laffey (hit by six Kamikaze's and did not sink).
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I have seen a few battlefields as I travel around however, nothing so far that tops Pearl Harbor and visiting the USS Arizona Memorial. Too many service members lost their lives that day and their names are chiseled on a wall for all to see and pay their respects. The Battle of Pickett's Mill near Atlanta, GA. is the next up for me as I read about what took place there during the Civil War on May, 27, 1864. As a class we then took a field trip to see Pickett's Mill battle ground and walked around to discussed what happened and the results of the battle at different terrain points.
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In the USA...Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, Antietam...those would have to rank as the top ones. Overseas? Wake Island, Midway Island, Iwo Jima (thank you USMC for allowing me to tag along), Belleau Wood, Bastogne...yeah, I'm a history geek; I could go on and on...those are some I've been blessed to visit.
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I have three. Living in West Reading,PA. I naturally have visited Gettysburg and Valley Forge. I learn something new each time that I visit. My final spot is at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This man could have been any one of us.
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Shiloh does it for me. Five of my GG Grandfathers fought there numerous of their brothers, uncles, fathers, and sons. I have either visited the battlefield or lived near the boundaries of the Park for over 60 years. I have spent untold hours tracing unit progress, studying the terrain and trying to imagine what leaders thought. My mother showed me a spot at Rhea Springs where the Mississippi Brigade Crossed. My GG Grandfather's brother was killed just beyond the crossing. My mother tells of her grandmother taking her to the exact spot as a child and pacing from the ford to a spot perpendicular to a large stone, then pacing off the stone and placing both their hands on the spot they recovered her uncle's body. They live a few miles from the battlefield and went to find him after the battle was over. I placed my hand there and and realized what hallowed ground was.
Also the positions near Lanzareth where Lt Lyle Bouck and his I&R Platoon of the 394th Regiment held off a German Parachute Division for nearly an entire day gives me that same sense of awe at the hallowed ground these men chose to stand on.
Also the positions near Lanzareth where Lt Lyle Bouck and his I&R Platoon of the 394th Regiment held off a German Parachute Division for nearly an entire day gives me that same sense of awe at the hallowed ground these men chose to stand on.
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There are two. In the states it is hands down Arlington National Cemetery for obvious reasons. The WWII memorial in Bastogn, Belgium is really impressive also.
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