The public is invited to the dedication of the Avenue of Heroes and the initiation of the Coronado Hometown Heroes Banner Program on Tuesday, November 11, Veterans Day. The ceremony will be held in front of the Visitors Center at the Stockdale Gate to Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) beginning at 10 am.
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 Heroes 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 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.
Officials with the City of Coronado, VFW Post 2422, the Third and Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association, and the Coronado Historical Association worked together to create the Avenue of Heroes and Hometown Heroes Banner Program and will be on hand at the ceremony. Mayor Casey Tanaka; Naval Base Coronado Commanding Officer Captain Christopher E. Sund; Mr. Chuck Lucas, Post Commander, VFW Post 2422; and special guests will unveil the first two banners. 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.
The Coronado High School Navy Junior ROTC will present the colors. The national anthem will be sung by a student from the Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA). Local kindergarten singing group, the Radical Rabbits, led by teacher Nancy Ratcliffe, will entertain with patriotic songs along with the horn section from CoSA.
Following the dedication ceremony there will be a reception at the Curtiss/Burgos House, which is located at the corner of Third Street and Alameda Boulevard, immediately in front of the Stockdale Gate. Glenn 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.
Left: Curtiss/Burgos House
At the Curtiss/Burgos House entertainment will be provided by singer/guitarist, James Cramer, who was voted Nashville Singer of the Year in 2013 and is on active duty at the Amphibious Base. The Coronado Historical Association will have history display boards about aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and the house. Kidology will have an activity table for the children with airplane gliders that they can assemble. There will be lemonade and coffee, and Kellee Hearther’s daughters Jessie, Katie, and Jamie will host their annual bake sale to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project and the Naval Medical Center San Diego Recreation Therapy Program. The Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York, will send brochures, and the Wounded Warriors Project will donate items to give away.
Check the City’s website, www.coronado.ca.us, for more information about the Avenue of Heroes and the Hometown Heroes Banner program. Applications will be accepted for the banner program for candidates living or deceased, who live or have lived in Coronado, and who have honorably served in any branch of the military. Applications for a banner may be submitted by a family member of the candidate, Coronado businesses and organizations, or military commands.
Applicants will be categorized and ranked by a selection committee consisting of members of the Coronado VFW Post 2422, the Third and Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association, and the Coronado Historical Association. The committee will establish evaluation criteria that may include the following: killed while on active duty and performing his/her duties in the military; decorations for heroism, e.g. Congressional Medal of Honor or Navy Cross; 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, e.g. TET offensive, battle for the Chosin Reservoir or attack on Pearl Harbor; years of service; and highest military rank achieved. Applications will need to include documentation that establishes satisfaction of the foregoing criteria.
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.
John Tato
Staff Writer
eCoronado.com
