Free Republic

CARLSBAD ---- After giving their lives in the line of duty more than 30 years ago, North San Diego County's fallen Vietnam War veterans have been honored with a large memorial in Carlsbad that was formally dedicated Saturday. A crowd of about 100 people attended the ceremony for the first memorial specifically for the 124 veterans known to have direct ties to North County. The ceremony was complete with special guest speakers, plus the Army and Navy Academy's color guard and band ---- including a bugler who played taps. "Sacrifice without remembrance is unconscionable," said retired U.S. Air Force Lt....

CARLSBAD ---- What started out as a local high school history teacher's dream was unveiled Thursday as a memorial to Vietnam veterans in a brief ceremony that made even stoic men cry. Slightly more than 7 feet tall and carved of polished black granite, the block letters on the North County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monument tell those driving along Highway 101 to "Never Forget." On the California-shaped memorial, the names are randomly etched ---- from Charles D. Henricks to Van J. Joyce ---- and the towns are all mixed in --- from the shores of Solana Beach to the mountains...

OCEANSIDE – The Top Gun House will be a waiting room for a restaurant at the city's premier resort, Mayor Jim Wood told 180 people attending a Chamber of Commerce-sponsored dinner last night. Wood showed a rendering of the 400-room beachfront hotel, proposed by S.D. Malkin Properties of San Diego. City officials decided last year that it would be more effective to save the Top Gun House than to face possible Coastal Commission opposition and a lawsuit if it were not included in the project. Malkin had promised to incorporate the 1887 home, used in the “Top Gun” film starring...