Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Perry Smith wrote in Saturday's Chronicle that Augusta has quietly become something of a Navy town, with increasing numbers of sailors stationed at Fort Gordon. And this past weekend, the USS Dyess Association was here to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the commissioning of the ship bearing the name of Augusta native and war hero Lt. Col. Jimmy Dyess.
What a contrast to San Francisco, whose city supervisors last month voted 8-3 against letting the famed battleship USS Iowa retire at the city's Fisherman's Wharf for the enjoyment and education of tourists.
It seems the city is ashamed of the U.S. military.
"Very petty decision," is how California's U.S. senator and former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein termed the vote. She had found $3 million to tow the Iowa from Rhode Island to San Francisco. Now, the ship appears headed upriver to Stockton, Calif., and a more patriotic community.
City leaders cited the war in Iraq and the military's stance on gays, among other things. But at bottom, it's an unseemly ignorance of the fact that freedom isn't free.
It takes a special sort to turn your back on men and women who have fought and died to protect you and your family.
It's beyond petty, Sen. Feinstein. It's reprehensible, at best.
Too bad the Iowa couldn't retire in Augusta, a growing retirement center.
We may not have the dock space for it. But there's a lot more space in our hearts.
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