$15.00
Artillery at the Golden Gate: The Harbor defenses of San Francisco in World War II.
By Brian B. Chin
Artillery at the Golden Gate tells the story of the “concrete soldiers,” the US Army coast artillery men who manned the huge seacoast rifles and underwater minefields, guarding the San Francisco harbor during World War II.
Artillery at the Golden Gate: The Harbor defenses of San Francisco in World War II.
By Brian B. Chin
“I looked again at the thick fog and the scrub hills of Fort Cronkhite, and wondered who had been here before me, and why they had built these old military structures.”
“Between the two world wars, the U.S. Army emplaced huge coastal defense guns on these barren hills overlooking the Golden Gate and the “concrete soldiers” waited for the attack of enemy battleships that never came. This much was clear to the weekend visitors of post-war generations. The sightseers came to the abandoned Army forts and clambered atop the old gun positions in search of incomparable Pacific vistas. On anniversaries of the December 7th Pearl Harbor attack, television news crews from the city also trekked out to the forts at the Golden Gate. As the video cameras rolled, the news reporter would stand before an old emplacement, and in a condescending tone, talk of the war jitters that supposedly overtook San Franciscans on that date of infamy. Smiling smugly, the reporter relished the irony that the Army had prepared its artillery defenses at great effort without ever having the occasion to fire a shot against the enemy fleet that never showed up.”
So begins Chin’s book, Artillery at the Golden Gate.
Artillery at the Golden Gate tells the story of the “concrete soldiers,” the US Army coast artillery men who manned the huge seacoast rifles and underwater minefields, guarding the San Francisco harbor during World War II.
Artillery at the Golden Gate recreates the atmosphere of wartime San Francisco, and recounts in vivid detail the life of the army coast artillery men stationed in a world full of full-alerts and combat discipline within sight of San Francisco.
Based on interviews with veterans and supported by official records, press accounts, and over 170 historical photographs, this book paints a rich mosaic of memorable army personalities and their intriguing experience in the war time port city.
Publisher : Hole in the Head Press; None edition (2019)
Language : English
Paperback : 176 pages
ISBN-10 : 0976149477
ISBN-13 : 978-0976149477
Dimensions : 9 x 0.3 x 8.5 inches
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