-
Tunnel to Marin Headlands Closed
The tunnel on Bunker Road from Alexander Avenue in Sausalito towards the Marin Headlands is closed for construction. Please follow the detour signs to Conzelman Road (just above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge) to go up over the hill. More »
-
Muir Beach (but not nearby Muir Woods) parking lot closed June-November 2013
Muir Beach parking lot will be closed from June-November 2013 due to construction. Restrooms or nearby parking will not be available at Muir Beach during this period. Pacific Way is closed except to residents. Check back for updates or call (415)561-3054 More »
-
CAUTION: Post Storm Damage to Coastal Trail
The Presidio Coastal Trail segment just north of the Pacific Overlook and adjacent to Lincoln Blvd remains CLOSED indefinitely. We have posted signage to alert bicyclists and hikers and with information for safe trail alternatives. More »
The Men Behind the Guns
|
Seventeen "batteries" of about 125 soldiers each, manned the Harbor Defenses of San Francisco during the war. These highly trained men maintained and fired the guns, plotted ranges, and staffed the base end stations. Early in the war, they lived at the remote gun batteries and base end stations for weeks at a time. Moral often suffered as they tried to maintain a high state of readiness through long periods with little to do. 
Battery D manned the two six-inch guns at Battery Chamberlin, located at the Presidio of San Francisco. They slept and ate at the battery early in the war.
Photo courtesy of California Military History Museum
Part of San Francisco harbor defenses in 1942, the all-African-American 54th Coast Artillery Regiment (Colored) fires a 155 mm gun in one of the few armed roles allowed these men. African-American soldiers during World War II had a very different military experience than their white soldier counterparts as the US Army's official policy of segregation reflected American society at that time. During and after World War II, civil rights groups worked tirelessly to balance the army's racial inequalities and injustices.
PARC, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
After Pearl Harbor, all the posts within the Harbor Defense of San Francisco were placed on high alert, meaning that the soldiers had to man their guns at a moment's notice. At Fort Cronkhite, located in the Marin Headlands, that meant that the men had to sleep underground in a temporary corrugated metal shed, similar to a quonset hut, that was built into the side of Wolf Ridge.
PARC, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Red Cross Cookie Brigade visits Battery Chamberlin. Stuck at the batteries for weeks at a time, soldiers looked forward to visits from Red Cross girls and USO entertainers.
PARC, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
After a month or more in the field, the men were brought back for a week at Fort Scott, where they could eat off of china, take a hot shower and relax in the day room. Most of the Harbor Defense posts provided recreational opportunities such as libraries, gymnasiums and even bowling alleys.
Photo courtesy of the California Military History Museum
|
Did You Know?
Two-meter-long tube worms and other vent creatures thrive in total darkness in the Galapagos Rift, where seawater is 400 degrees Celsius and pressures are unbelievably high.