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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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Editorial—Midway Museum a salute to San Diego

San Diego has its share of tourist attractions, some of which reflect the city’s history and culture.

The Flower Fields in Carlsbad offer a whiff of our booming agricultural industry, while the town of Julian gives the taste of a turn-of-the-century gold-mining town, not to mention a slice of apple pie. And of course there is Old Town, the Presidio and the county’s missions, reminders of our cultural heritage.

We do not, however, have a destination where one can go to drink in the city’s vast military history. Sure, we see Navy ships on our bay and off our coast every day, and military aircraft from Miramar and North Island frequently buzz overhead.

Perhaps that’s part of the problem. Because San Diego is so closely linked with the military on a daily basis, we take our history for granted.

That can change later this week if the California Coastal Commission allows a floating museum in San Diego Bay dedicated to our military. The aircraft carrier USS Midway, which played a vital military role for more than five decades, would once again serve its nation proudly as a tribute to the men, women and machinery used to defend America’s interests.

San Diego’s hotels and restaurants annually host hundreds, if not thousands, of military-themed events. From ship and squadron reunions to the annual air show, military tourism generates a fair portion of our annual $3.8 billion in tourism dollars.

The Midway museum would only enhance the experience for visitors, while offering new opportunities for residents as well. Much like the Star of India is a favorite field trip for the county’s schoolchildren, the Midway too would be a hands-on history book for youngsters as well as their parents and grandparents.

The proposed museum’s detractors complain the Midway, which was commissioned in 1945 and served through the Persian Gulf War, would become an eyesore along San Diego’s bayfront, that it would clutter the skyline.

The ship indeed would be a looming presence at Navy Pier near the foot of Broadway. But rather than detract from our waterfront or block anyone’s view, that conning tower rising above the 1,000-foot-long deck would pay tribute to our city’s proud military legacy.

And who hasn’t marveled at the aircraft carriers moored at North Island while taking a harbor cruise? What child hasn’t craned his neck looking from a car window along Harbor Drive through the haze of San Diego Bay as the carriers silently await their next missions? Even old Navy hands, dwarfed by the magnificent ships as they sail their small vessels around the bay, cast a knowing, reverent eye their direction.

When the state coastal commissioners gather this week in Los Angeles, we urge they cast a “yes” vote for the USS Midway’s site plan. It’s a tribute to our military history that is long overdue.

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