CALL to DUTY

Quarterly Newsletter, February 2023

A Note To Our Newsletter  Subscribers

Dear Friends:

Public interest and media coverage for our Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum (CCVMM) continues to increase. As a recent example, the classic rock radio station 93.3 KZOZ generously selected CCVMM for their annual KZOZ Takeover fundraising event on Friday, December 2, 2022.  This year’s KZOZ Takeover was sponsored by Coastal Community Builders.  Callers took over the airwaves from 6am to 6pm, with $20 song requests, plus extra donations here and there, raising $5,275 for the museum!

CCVMM’s volunteer staff and many docents took turns at the station talking live on air about a variety of museum related topics, including our mission, Central Coast military history, current displays and upcoming events. I was especially pleased and honored to be scheduled in the morning, directly following Tim Haley, a Marine veteran who served in Vietnam and was Founding Director of our museum (2002). Tim gave the history about the early efforts of local veterans in collaboration with SLO City to get approval for a museum and a location to house it. I was especially impressed to hear about the dedication of our museum “Founding Fathers” to collect special Central Coast military memorabilia from our local area over the years. Overall, December 2, 2022 was a VERY special day for CCVMM. We owe a big ‘Thank You’ to KZOZ’s crew for all their hard work and to Coastal Community Builders for their generous sponsorship and support.

If you have not already renewed or signed up for a 2023 CCVMM Membership, I have included information at the end of this Quartlery Newsletter to do so. For an annual payment of $40, your membership will help support the museum and all we are doing. We currently have no paid positions, all that goes on is done so by the volunteer service of dedicated, talented community volunteers. As a 501c3 nonprofit, we depend on donations, memberships, business sponsorships and grants to continue thriving and serving our community members and veterans! Thank you to all who continued to be supporters and thank you in advance for those who are ready to sign-up as 2023 members for $40.

CCVMM Outreach Director,
John Molinari

Is this real history or is it truly an urban myth? While we would like to believe the story is true, we ran this story by our friend R.J. Hansen, a local veteran with an incredible amount of knowledge about Central Coast history, and board member of SLO Sub Vets. Below you will see a 1949 photo showing the conversion of the former Hwy 1 into two Southbound lanes. You will also see the two “new” Northbound lanes with the FULL rock dividing them.

Acording to R.J. the circulating stories that the rock was being used for WWII naval target practice is……urban myth.  The military wouldn’t have used a firing target so close to a populated coastal area during WWII. Yes, there are “blast points” due to the 1956 era construction of the new south bound lanes of Hwy 101. These resulted from the need to move the rock back to construct the lanes and keep the original Hwy 1 for local traffic. There were no structures on the ocean side at the time, so they were able to strategically “blast” the rock away. According to R.J., this is an urban myth.

Do you have a story to share about this rock or the WIII target practice myth? If you have any other local military stories you would like verify or debunk, please contact the museum and we will try to help discover if it’s urban myth or true Central Coast military history. Call (805) 543-1763 or email ccvmm.programs@gmail.com to share.

On January 17, 1991, Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm, as the US along with other coalition countries began a massive bombing campaign against the Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussein. Today we honor the 697,000 U.S. servicemembers who answered the call and we remember the 200+ brave men and women who didn’t make it home. They will never be forgotten.

Our museum has recorded almost 500 stories of Central Coast and visiting veterans, including a dozen with men and women who served during the Persian Gulf War, in partnership with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.

If you or a veteran you know is interested in sitting down with our trained interviewer to record the story of their service experience, please contact the Veterans Museum through the online contact page on our website: www.vetmuseum.org  or call (805) 543-1763.

“History, Stories and Dialogue”.
Episode 2:  Remembering Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona

We had a full room attend the museums’ Night Out at the Museum educational presentation on National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, December 7, 2022.  This was the second presentation of the Museum’s educations series “History, Stories, and Dialogue” focused on Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona, followed by the unveiling of a new permanent artifact at the museum recently acquired from the National Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii.

Our CCVMM museum President/Director Bart had worked with the USS Arizona Memorial Museum Association throughout the prior year in the hope of obtaining an available artifact for display in the museum. His efforts were rewarded and they bequeathed to us a small, but symbolically significant piece of the USS Arizona’s sunken superstructure. Our CCVMM Programs Team (Chuck Belmont, Steve David and Sarah Twisselman) started the evening’s program with a stirring remembrance of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

The presentation included video interview clips from three Central Coast Veterans who had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, recounting their harrowing experiences that fateful day. These clips came from our museum’s digital archives, containing around 500 recorded video interviews collected over the past 20 years through our ongoing Veterans History Project.

Also included were pre-recorded interviews discussing the how the attack on Pearl Harbor affected the Central Coast of California. These were presented by two local historian/ authors, Jim Gregory (multiple award-winning WWII Central Coast history books) and Stewart McDowell author, Sinking of the SS Montebello – When WWII Came to the Central Coast).

Following the presentation, our 48 guests were witness to Bart unveiling the special artifact, where it will remain on  display in a WWII Pearl Harbor exhibit. It should be noted that CCVMM is one of very few U.S. museums to receive such a donation from the Arizona Memorial Association, which is now on permanent display in our museum for all of our Central Coast community and tourists to experience.  We are honored to be a recipient of such an artifact, and encourage you, your families, and friends to come in and appreciate this piece of our history.

For those who weren’t able to join us, a link to view the presentation is coming to our CCVMM YouTube page by Summer 2023.

— Volunteer Needed — If you or someone you know is looking for a volunteer opportunity with the museum, with interest in creating multi-media history presentations in PowerPoint, we are seeking a creative assistant to support our programs team with quarterly educational presentations. An intermediate level of video editing skills is required. If this sounds like something you are interested in, we’d like to meet you! Please introduce yourself via email at ccvmm.programs@gmail.com.

The museum celebrated their annual Veterans Day on November 11^th in coordination with the American Legion Post #66, who served up hot dogs for all to enjoy, and some bounce house fun for the kiddos (and a few adults). Many of our local veteran supporting organizations joined with info booths to share about their services, including: SLO Legal Assistance, Association of the United States Army, New Life K-9’s, Bill Crewe with Central Coast Veterans Helping Veterans, and our next door neighbors, San Luis Obispo County Veterans Services Office.

The Military History of the Central Coast was the day’s theme, with many new special exhibits and displays to view. Those who came were treated to the experience of a special temporary exhibit for that day, honoring the 54^th Coast Artillery during WWII, curated and presented by local military historian Erik Brun – who was dressed to impress wearing a WWII military uniform.

Many of our docents were on hand to assist visitors and answer questions as visitors toured the museum.  Another new display honors San Luis Obispo High School graduates who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Vietnam War. Many visitors stopped and spent extended time at this emotional display, researched and co-curated by CCVMM volunteer and local author, Lynne Ludwick (The Box). This display is still on exhibit at the museum.

We would like to give a shout out to those who attended with military vehicles for all to enjoy throughout the parking lot. Several military jeeps and trucks owned by Central Coast veterans arrived and their owners were answering questions from adults and children about these special vehicles. Thank you to the following: Kalvin and Jenna Kelly with a green 1952 Dodge M-37; Frank Simon with a grey WWII Ford GPW Jeep and trailer; Chuck Sharps with a green 1945 WWII Willis MB Jeep; Steve Sletten with a tan 1987 Humvee; George Peterson with a 1908’s tan (2 ½) truck.

One of our event sponsors, SLO AX CO , based in Atascadero, brought their mobile axe throwing trailer and donated free throws to veterans. Quite a few, including our very own museum President/Director, Bart Topham hit a bulls eye! It was a lot of fun to watch from the heckling bar, and even more fun to throw. Also, local historian and author Jim Gregory shared his books and stories surrounding Central Coast during WWII with visitors. The flow of visitors was steady, and by the end of the day over 250 people had signed the museum log.

We are thankful to all those who joined us to celebrate our Central Coast Veterans and history!

Visits during the trip included stops at the Air Force Memorial, Women in Military Service for America Memorial, Seabees of the U.S. Navy Memorial, U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima Memorial), and National World War II Memorial.

The final stops of the day were at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial. Eight of our veterans served during the Vietnam conflict and were never properly welcomed home. Most of them had specific panels and names they planned to visit – for others it was still too painful a memory.

While working on a teaching credential, he received a draft notice, ensuring a ticket to Vietnam. He quickly headed to the naval recruiter’s office to join the reserves. He completed officer candidate school, and was assigned to the USS Cavalier APA37, a 492-foot Bayfield-class attack transport ship, launched in 1943 and scrapped in 1969; a ship that earned 14 battle stars from 3 wars – WWll, Korean and Vietnam.

Allan received several promotions, and as a lieutenant in 1965, he was released from active duty to serve at the Naval Drill Center located at the SLO County Regional Airport. He completed his teaching credential at that time and resigned from the Navy in 1967.

He taught in the English department at Atascadero High School for six years, then worked 36 years for the Atascadero News as a writer, photographer, and editor.  He also wrote a weekly column for the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

Now retired, Allan turns blocks of pine into amazingly accurate reproductions of Navy ships, spending months sanding little pieces of pine into tiny stairs, life rafts, guns, and everything else that makes up a Navy ship.  Due to retirement and to a long ago 10-month duty aboard the USS Cavalier, his love of woodworking and his love of naval ships finally converged.

Special thanks to our volunteer Steve David (who wears many hats at the museum as a Docent, Programs team member and CCVMM’s photographer) for sending this article that appeared in the Honor Flight Central Coast California November newsletter:

We love it when the dots connect with an ideal outcome. Such was the case when Paso Robles resident Diane Burkhart contacted Honor Flight board member Maggie Cox late last summer. Diane relayed that her dad, WWII veteran and Paso Robles resident David Thompson, had a large size model of the USS Hyman destroyer he had served aboard in the Pacific during the war. David was ready to pass the model on to a new home, and Diane thought Honor Flight might have an idea for the model’s next berth.

As luck would have it, Maggie had recently been treated to a tour of the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum in SLO and noticed all kinds of donated items in the museum. She was a guest of docent Steve David, a Navy veteran who served during the Vietnam War Era and is actively engaged in both the museum and the local Navy SLO SubVets alumni group.

Maggie contacted Steve to see if the museum might be interested in exhibiting the USS Hyman replica. Steve went to work researching the destroyer and working with the museum curator to see if it could be a good addition to the museum’s offerings. Fast forward to recent weeks, where Steve met Diane and her dad at his home in Paso Robles and took possession of the model, now proudly on display at the Veterans Memorial Museum. In the words of daughter Diane: “It’s the perfect outcome – an honorable home for a treasured keepsake.” Thank you to Diane, her dad, David Thompson, and Steve David, who all made it come together.

By: Dan Pittaway, Marketing Director

Our Veterans Museum counts on the welcomed assistance of the good citizens of San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara Counties to keep the doors open and lights on. The support of our local business community is key to accomplishing our mission. Here are quotes from two
of our wonderful sponsors about the Museum:

Bill Thoma from Thoma Electric said:

“Thoma Electric, Inc. is so proud to be a part of the Central Coast Veterans Memorial organization. They have done so much to honor our veterans but most importantly, they remind us each day how lucky we are here because of the sacrifices that each veteran made for our safety, security, and freedom! We are in total awe of what veterans have done on our behalf as citizens of the free world! God’s Blessings to those that have served us through the wars that we have fought. The museum (now 21 years old) on Grand Avenue at the Vet’s Hall, is a “jewel” for generations to be educated by, and for all to be proud
of.”

Stacy Korsgaden from Farmers Insurance in Grover Beach said:

“Thank you veterans for all you have done to protect our freedoms and thank you San Luis Vets Museum for preserving our history for future generations.”

The Museum would also like to welcome our two newest local sponsors: Brad Davis from Davis Autobody in Atascadero and Rudy Bachmann from Specialty Construction Inc. in San Luis Obispo.

The last words about Veterans and the Veterans Museum this quarter come from Bill Thoma:

“You guys do important work.”

Thanks go to Thoma Electric, Stacy Korsgaden of Farmers Insurance, Davis Auto Body and Specialty Construction Inc. and all of our other honored sponsors.

Given that we are a 501c3 nonprofit organization, run solely by community volunteers, we are dependent upon and immensely grateful for all those who donate their time and talents to keep things growing and thriving at the museum. We truly are a volunteer museum family!!

We would like to start giving shoutouts to exemplary CCVMM volunteers in each newsletter in our new “Volunteer Shoutout” section.

In this edition, we would like to begin with a shoutout to Sandra McGregor. Sandra has worked at the Central Coast Memorial Veterans Museum (CCVMM) for over 15 years, continuing to serve as our Secretary. However, her actual role is so much more than that.

She has been instrumental in organizing, planning, and implementing many museum activities. A special note of what she has meant to CCVMM is the fact that she donated and catalogued hundreds of books for use as reference materials in our library, to be used by students, interns and others working on military history research projects.

Her unofficial title of “Sargent Major” given by staff and docents only begins to acknowledge Sandy’s dedication, commitment and importance.

“Anytime I have needed help, I have turned to Sandy, who is always more than willing and capable to assist” JM

• February 28, 2023
  CCVMM Speaker Series: Military Historian Erik Brun
• March 16-19
  The Wall That Heals – San Luis Obispo

  We are currently seeking volunteers to sign-up for shifts at the wall. The wall opens the night of March 15th after midnight, and remains open 24-hours day and night until after the closing ceremony on March 19th.

  Please visit the event webpage for TWTH-SLO to learn more, donate to support the event or sign-up as a volunteer: https://vetmuseum.org/the-wall-that-heals

• March 28, 2023
  CCVMM Speaker Series: David Blakely
• May 31, 2023 
  Memorial Day: Remembrance Ceremony & Special Exhibit

CCVMM Speaker Series Schedule & Early Registration:

• February 28, 2023 at 2pm

Erik Brun presents on the 54th Coast Artillery during WWII 
1:00 pm – Museum opens for pre-presentation tours
2:00 pm at the American Legion Post #66

Learn more about this presentation and availability for early registration to museum members here: Sign-Up to Attend

• March 28, 2023 at 2pm

David Blakely presents on the  experiences of his father, Lt. Col. Everett Blakely, a B-17 pilot.
This illustrates the changes and implementation of air war strategy during the early part of American bomber involvement in WW II.

1:00 pm – Museum opens for pre-presentation tours
2:00 pm at the American Legion Post #66

Learn more about this presentation and availability for early registration to museum members here: Sign-Up to Attend

Time to RENEW or JOIN!
For assistance with becoming a museum member or renewing your membership, please email: ccvmmus@gmail.com or call (805) 543-1763.

Three options to choose from for 2023 membership:

• Membership Option 1: $40/year – Membership Fee (annual)
• Membership Option 2: $40/year – Gift Membership to another individual (annual)
• Membership Option 3: $500 – Lifetime Membership Fee (one-time)

Please sign-up or renew your membership by February 28, 2023   Your membership contribution allows the museum to continue serving its mission. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and annual membership fees support our general operations.

Members can stay abreast of changes at the museum and the results of our preservation, outreach, and education efforts by receiving our quarterly newsletter, Call to Duty.   Members also gain early sign-up access to limited seating events and programs hosted by CCVMM.

A CCVMM Membership is also the perfect Christmas or Birthday gift to a veteran or community member in your life.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving, knowing their membership helps perpetuate the future of the museum, continuing to preserve  Central Coast Veteran stories and artifacts for future and current generations.

HOW TO GET STARTED: 
Step 1. Complete our online Membership Registration Form – simply type in your info and click submit:  2023 CCVMM Membership Form
Step 2. Pay the membership fee:

• If paying by Credit Card/ Pay Pal:  You can pay your membership fee online through our “DONATE” button on the website: www.vetmuseum.org
• Credit card or Paypal is accepted, here is the direct link:  Pay Online Here
• If paying by Check:  Please address checks to “Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum” and in the MEMO note “2023 Membership”

If you have questions regarding membership, please call the museum (805) 543-1763or contact our membership coordinator at ccvmmus@gmail.com.

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Copyright © 2022 Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum (CCVMM), All rights reserved. CALL to Duty – Newsletter, September 2022