Free Republic

Saturday, August 20, 2005 The Ugly Face of Sedition I note that while it is supremely selfish of the nation to continue asking wartime sacrifice only from its all-volunteer armed forces and their families, there is another side that is even uglier. The ugly, seditious scum of anti-Americanism that in one way, shape or form aides and abets America's enemies. Whether they anticipate the gloirous socialist revolution, and thus find it necessary to form a reluctant alliance with radical Islam, or actually embrace our enemies in the belief that the greater evil is American capitalism, these seditious insects have no...

By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer Sat Aug 20,12:24 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO - The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II to Korea to the Persian Gulf. It carried President Franklin Roosevelt home from the Teheran conference of allied leaders, and four decades later, suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents. Veterans groups and history buffs had hoped that tourists in San Francisco could walk the same teak decks where sailors dodged Japanese machine-gun fire and fired 16-inch guns that helped win battles across the South Pacific. Instead, it appears that the retired battleship is...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II to Korea to the Persian Gulf. It carried President Franklin Roosevelt home from the Teheran conference of allied leaders, and four decades later, suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents. Veterans groups and history buffs had hoped that tourists in San Francisco could walk the same teak decks where sailors dodged Japanese machine-gun fire and fired 16-inch guns that helped win battles across the South Pacific. Instead, it appears that the retired battleship is headed about 80 miles inland, to Stockton, a gritty agricultural...

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors today voted 3-8 against a resolution urging the San Francisco Congressional Delegation to support the permanent berthing of the USS Iowa as a museum at the Port of San Francisco. The congressional delegation secured $3 million in 2000 to move the USS Iowa, which was present at the signing of the treaty between Japan and the U.S. in 1945, from Rhode Island to the Bay Area, the proposed resolution says. A study commissioned by the Port of San Francisco concluded that the ship would attract more than 500,000 people during its first year at...

A decade-long project spearheaded by veterans and naval enthusiasts to bring the battleship USS Iowa to San Francisco's waterfront failed to gain the support of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. After a wrenching debate, supervisors voted 8-3 to reject a resolution urging congressional leaders to fight to bring the 48,000-pound vessel here, citing concerns such as possible costs incurred for maintaining and housing the World War II battleship; the disinclination of taxpayers to support a military monument; and the ongoing discrimination against gay Americans by the armed services. Supporters, including the Historic Ships at Memorial Square, a nonprofit, and...

The Navy wants to let go of its last two battleships. But a group called the United States Naval Fire Support Association is doing its best to torpedo that plan. Both sides are firing salvos across newspaper op-ed pages. The issue: Does a weapon that was born in the 19th century and came to maturity in the 20th century still have a role in the 21st? The answer could well decide whether the battleships Iowa and Wisconsin rejoin the fleet-in-being - or whether they'll join their sister ships Missouri and New Jersey as floating museums to an age gone by.

"There is no weapon system in the world that comes even close to the visible symbol of enormous power represented by the battleship." -- Retired Gen. P.X. Kelly, USMC WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Those words of the former Marine commandant resonate with me. In 1969, gunfire from the battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) saved my rifle platoon in Vietnam. During her six months in-theater, the USS New Jersey's 16-inch guns were credited with saving more than 1,000 Marines' lives. The North Vietnamese so feared the ship that they cited her as a roadblock to the Paris peace talks. Our leaders, as...

The 10-year fight to bring the battleship USS Iowa to San Francisco's waterfront is heating up once more, with an East Bay congressman offering some competition and The City set to instate a policy for historic ships at the port. A handful of veterans and naval enthusiasts have long fought to bring the 48,000-pound ship, or one of its sister vessels, to the San Francisco Bay. In 1996, The City lost its bid, supported by then-Mayor Willie Brown and the port, to house the USS Missouri. On Tuesday, the Port Commission is considering a policy that would set out requirements...