Leave history alone
I was shocked upon receiving an e-mail about a citizen visiting the new World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. He did not live through that war, however, noticed an older couple who were upset because the best part of Roosevelt’s speech, “Yesterday, December 7, l94l, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked”¦” The speech ends with “so help us God,” which has been deleted on the memorial.
I agree with the man when he said, “Who gave them the right to change history?” Since the founding of the USA it has been under God. Isn’t it illegal to misquote a speech given by a famous American? I understand that 14 percent of our country is populated by people who don’t believe in God. Why do the rest of us cater to them? It is a free country, but history is unchangeable.
Unbelievers may believe what they want, but should leave history alone. My parents immigrated to America, but I was fortunate enough to be born here and as far as I am concerned, we are a nation “under God, with liberty and justice for all.”
Ada May Powers, Point Loma

Thanks to those who made OB workshop happen
Many thanks to our neighbors and business owners who took the time to attend the OB Community Workshop with Kevin Faulconer on March 21st. We had a terrific turnout of interested OB residents and merchants.
A special thanks to the Masonic Center for giving us a place to meet. The Masonic Center is an important asset in Ocean Beach and gives us a local spot to hold many important meetings and fund-raisers. And another special thanks to Kevin Faulconer for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to participate in our workshop.
The four organizations that organized this event are now working to compile the information from the workshop. Within a week or so, we will post the results from the workshop on www.OceanBeachSanDiego.com and City Councilman Kevin Faulconer pledged to put it on his website within a couple of weeks. Also, please watch for more information in the Beacon.
We are all fortunate to live and/or work in a community where people actually get involved, volunteer and make a difference. The suggestion was made that we try to get together a few times a year to assess where we are on our work plans for Ocean Beach. That sounds like a great idea to us.

Curt Lutz, OB Community Development Corporation
Denny Knox, OB MainStreet Association
Mark Shields, OB Town Council
Tom Gawronski, OB Planning Board

Lindbergh’s fine
The San Diego airport issue can be presented as a news item that would appear to the reader as recent. As a San Diego native of 59 years, I would like to comment on this high priority issue. The airport was never designed for the traffic we have today. During WWII, the runway was built some eight-feet-thick to accommodate bombers, such as the B24 and later the B36.
Lighter commercial aircraft were few in comparison to today. For at least 59 years, San Diego has had vast land available to build a large airport. Year after year, the developers pushed politicians towards hotels, motels, shopping centers and housing projects to include golf courses and parks. Now we are flat out of enough land ” it’s that simple.
Taking the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot would not even come close to a second runway, but it could make more developers money for hotels and a few houses or maybe a shopping center. Don’t be fooled by the people who say they are looking into the airport issue and the millions of needless dollars spent to search. North, South and East Counties are out, period.
We need to use the existing runway for short flights in California and to other cities in California for connections to flights to other states and overseas. This worked with no problem in the earlier years and will work now.
Paul Daughtery

Buy, don’t steal, Miramar
The Regional Airport Authority, instead of trying to steal Miramar from an uncooperative Navy, might offer to buy it.
Instead of considering $15 billion to build a high-speed train to somewhere or nowhere, offer $15 billion to the Navy. Instead of looking at new sites that will cost $10 – $20 billion to develop, see if Adm. William Guest was right. See if the military, given the constraints imposed by Congress on military capital spending, would be more receptive to selling facilities, as the admiral said, for enough money to build state-of-the-art facilities on dirt cheap land elsewhere.
At one time, the Federal Airport Trust Fund (AATF) had more than enough money to pay for a new airport for San Diego. Maybe the trust fund still has some money left for San Diego to help pay the military for Miramar.

Fred Schnaubelt, Former City Councilman