Banner Honoring Vice Admiral Stockdale
Third and Fourth Streets west of Orange Avenue were designated as “The Coronado Avenue of Heroes” in a resolution passed by the City Council at its October 7, 2014 meeting. The council also approved implementation of a companion Hometown Banner Program. The resolution passed by the City Council recognized that Coronado and the Navy have shared the Coronado peninsula for almost 100 years and that Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) is the birthplace of naval aviation. Further, the resolution noted that hundreds of thousands of men and women, who have served the country in the armed forces, have traveled through Coronado along Third and Fourth Streets and that the creation of an avenue of heroes will be an on-going tribute to their service and sacrifice.
As stated in the draft brochure for the banner program, “the inspiration for the Coronado Avenue of Heroes came spontaneously with the movement of two Navy SEALs to their final resting place. The news spread quickly. The local Rotary Club passed out American flags. Schools were dismissed and teachers brought students to line Fourth Street to honor the fallen service members. As the procession approached the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, just beyond the tollbooth in the center divide, a lone Navy SEAL stood for hours at attention, saluting as he waited for the passage of his comrades. At that moment it was clear Third and Fourth Streets were already an Avenue of Heroes.”
The companion banner program complements the designation of The Coronado Avenue of Heroes. It is a cooperative effort between the city and the Third and Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association (TAF), the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Coronado Historical Association. It is modeled after similar programs in Huntington Beach, Torrance, and Lancaster, California and other cities around the nation.
It will be kicked off at a ceremony on Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11, 2014. Two banners will be unveiled at the Stockdale Gate to NASNI at the western end of Third Street. One banner will honor Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, who is the namesake of the gate. The other banner will feature Lt. Theodore “Spuds” Ellyson, who was designated Naval Aviator No. 1, on March 4, 1913.
Banner Honoring Lt. Ellyson
The event will conclude at the Glenn Curtiss House at the corner of Third Street and Alameda Blvd. Curtiss was an early aviation pioneer and is considered to be the father of naval aviation. He established his flight school on North Island in 1911 and built the residence for his family soon thereafter. His first group of students included Lt. Ellyson who was ordered to report to North Island “to receive instruction in the manipulation of the Curtiss biplane.” Ellyson had been a submariner and upon receiving his new assignment remarked “there is only one thing better than submarine work and that is aviation.” Ellyson had the distinction of enrolling as Curtiss’ first pupil at the new school. 
Right: Curtiss Residence at the Corner of Third Street and Alameda Boulevard
Following the kick off on Veterans Day, applications will be taken for the banners that will be placed on the 20 light poles along Third and Fourth Streets between Orange Avenue and NASNI. Banners will be displayed for approximately six months. They will be changed on or about Veteran’s Day in November and Memorial Day in May.
Candidates for banners need to be past or present residents of Coronado, who have honorably served or who are presently serving in any branch of the US Armed Forces and may be living or deceased. Applications for a banner may be submitted by a family member of the candidate, Coronado businesses and organizations, or military commands. Applications submitted on behalf of a living candidate need to include the signed approval of the candidate. If the candidate is deceased, the approval of a relative of the deceased candidate should be provided, if possible
The applications for banners will be reviewed and ranked, and banner recipients will be selected by a committee that is comprised of six members. Two members each will be named by the Coronado Historical Association, the Coronado chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and the Third and Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association (TAF). In addition to the six members of the committee, the city shall have an ex officio member whose role will be to insure that the process for evaluating and ranking the applicants for banners is conducted according to the established procedures.
Applicants will be categorized and ranked by the selection committee according to the following criteria: killed while on active duty and performing his/her duties in the military; decorations for heroism, i.e., Congressional Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, etc.; noteworthy status or accomplishment while serving in the military, e.g., Sailor of the Year, first naval aviator or astronaut; participation in a major engagement, i.e., TET offensive, battle for the Chosin Reservoir, attack on Pearl Harbor, etc.; years of service; and highest military rank achieved.
In order to provide a reasonable breadth of qualified candidates, the committee may allocate the total number of available banners among the various selection factors such as those involving heroic actions, significant service, historically important individuals, and those known for unique accomplishments. Candidates will be assigned to one of the categories described above based on the extent that they satisfy the criterion. Candidates will then be ranked within each category, in a manner determined by the committee as being appropriate for the category.
Based on the ranking received by each of the candidates, the recipients of the banners will be determined. The rankings of the other candidates will be updated in the next cycle, based on the replacement of banners every six months. New applications will be evaluated and the rankings will be updated accordingly, except that rankings within a category established by random selection shall carry over to subsequent cycles. The committee may also consider approving banners to honor specific military units and activities, squadrons and ships presently or previously located or home ported in Coronado.
The City of Coronado will fund the program. Expenditures will include a one-time cost of approximately $1,500 for banner hardware and $6,000 to purchase the 20 banners and approximately $1,500 for the labor, equipment and traffic control each time the banners are installed and removed, which is anticipated to be twice a year. In addition, the city will contribute $500 toward the banner kick off ceremonies on Veterans Day.
Other city activities will include promoting the program; establishing a website that will include the application form and contain biographies of current and former banner recipients; accepting banner applications; contracting for the fabrication, installation and removal of the banners; and coordinating with Caltrans. In conjunction with the participating community organizations, when the banners are taken down, the city will provide the banners to the sponsors and will hold ceremonies to honor the banner recipients and their sponsors on or about Veterans Day and Memorial Day to coincide with the installation of new banners every six months.
The artwork for the banners and the brochure for the banner program has been provided, pro bono, by John Weimann.
Additional Note Regarding Applications: The plan is for application forms to be made available immediately after the kick-off ceremony for the program on Veterans Day,Tuesday, November 11. The event will begin at 10AM at the Stockdale Gate to NASNI. Everyone is encouraged to attend. For additional questions, contact the City of Coronado.
John Tato
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
