2001: Without a Parachute

I ended my commemorative chronicle with the sixtieth anniversary in 1996, but the process goes on. At the performance of Pasiones in Oakland in 2001, over a dozen veterans took the stage (see Figure 28). Four times a year, the Volunteer reports on activities around the country. Memorial monuments have been dedicated in Madison, Wisconsin, and Seattle, Washington (see Figure 29). The San Francisco post has secured a plot of land on the Embarcadero for a substantial monument that will be of national significance. It is being designed by Walter Hood, a UC Berkeley professor of landscape architecture, and artist Ann Chamberlain. The Post has raised approximately $150,000 toward the monument, and they are now seeking approval at the community level, which is proving difficult to obtain. Commemorative events continue annually in New York, Oakland, and other cities.

The struggle for recognition goes on as well. On Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12, 2001, a plaque almost identical to those placed on the memorials in Madison and Seattle was to be installed in the New Hampshire statehouse. State Senator Burton Cohen, a member of the ALBA board of governors, had received the approval of the House Facilities Committee, and the bronze plaque had been struck. Peter Carroll, veteran Lou Gordon and his wife, and the family of a New Hampshire veteran had all traveled to Concord to attend the unveiling. They were disappointed: