Current Home Front News
For over 70 years, a series of towers has stood on the shore of the Delaware coast. The towers were used in World War II to help defend the U.S. from enemy ships; crews kept a watch on the ocean and would have alerted the Army at Fort Miles had the enemy ever been spotted.
Three of the towers are going to be refurbished in a joint project between the Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation, Fort Miles Historical Association, and the Delaware State Parks.
“We want to restore the towers internally and externally so that people can enjoy the history of the towers and see the vistas from the top,” said Ernie Felici, the chairman of the Delaware Seashore Preservation Foundation.
The three towers are all located along Route 1. Tower 1 is on Fenwick Island. Tower 2 is in Bethany. The third tower is just south of Dewey Beach.
“Right now, we are focusing on Tower 3,” said Felici. “We want to be able to open it up to the general public. The location is perfect.”
The site of Tower 3 already has a beach house with a public restroom and parking. According to Felici:
“Our overall goal, however, is to open the area to weddings and events, like with the Indian River Life Saving Station, but right now we are just focused on the restoration. Once that is finished then we will focus on the other activities. The major cost is the stairway system and the internal parts of the tower. We need to secure the stairway for the weather.”
The engineering costs to restore the tower will be the most expensive. The reconstruction of the concrete exterior is a minor cost.
“We have done a preliminary engineering study and we had positive results,” said Felici. “Right now, they are doing a drainage study because, through the years, sand has accumulated at the base.
The groups are currently seeking funds and grants to help in the effort. Felici says that the fundraising efforts are going well.
For the past two years, the Delaware Coastal Preservation Foundation has been named a beneficiary of the Coastal Delaware Running Festival. The Festival is a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon.
The three towers are included in the Fort Miles Historical Association. There is hope that raising interest in the towers will increase interest in the fort and the history of the region during World War II.
From War History online.
Click on images to enlarge.
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U.S. Air Force Day – 1 August Air Force Song
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In the Denver Area –
Madison Jonas, editor and researcher will represent the IHRA (International Historical Research Associates) at the History Camp to discuss General Walker’s disappearance of 5 January 1943. Check HERE for further details or the IHRA web site.
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In the Ohio Area –
Anne T. Bell would like everyone to know about a re-enactment of the amphibious landings at D-Day on this 19-20 August. For further information, Please check out the official site.
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Military Humor – via the Reader’s Digest –
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Farewell Salutes –
William Almon – St. Louis, MO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, West Point, 11th Airborne Signal Corps
Earl Bosse – Ada, OH; US Navy, WWII
George Davies – Manukau, NZ; RNZ Air Force # NZ427262, WWII, ETO, 75th Sq/RAF Bomber Command, POW
Donald Knudsen – Hopkins, MI; US Army, WWII
Donald Lamb – LeGrand, IA; US Army, 11th Airborne
Claire Poisson – Lowell, MA; WWII, Brooklyn Navy Yard
Denis Sheils – brn: IRE/Philadelphia, PA; US Army, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Lt. Col. (Ret.)
Richard Sonnenfeld – Oklahoma City, OK; US Army, WWII, Bomb disposal unit
Peter Tomaino – Utica, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO
Ronald Williams – Sydney, AUS; RA Navy # 33579, Korea, Petty Officer (Ret.)
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Posted on August 1, 2016, in Current News, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged 1940's, family history, History, Military History, Military humor, Research, Teaching, veterans, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 76 Comments.
I love historical remains so found this really interesting, I hope they succeed with the fundraising and restoration.
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We think alike, Hayley. Thank you.
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Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
Loved hearing the Air Force song especially with words. The ending was beautiful.
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Thank you for sharing this post with your readers!
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xx
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This was such an interesting post. Like others, I’m concerned about the historical illiteracy of our society in general, and every attempt to reclaim and preserve a portion of the past has my support.
My memory isn’t very clear, but i do believe there was a tower in my home town that was used by the Civilian Air Patrol to help keep an eye on things. That would have been the late 40s and early 50s, of course: post WWII but perhaps pre-Korea. I have to chuckle a bit — by the time any aircraft made it to the Iowa cornfields, it’s probable that someone else would have noticed them. But in a way, it was the involvement of citizens that was the point, more than actually spotting a plane. People were willing to give of themselves to protect the country. Too bad that’s such a rare quality today.
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I remember, as a kid on Long Island, we had air-raid sirens going off every noon and 6pm. I’ve been hunting around this morning for you and came up with this.
http://fcit.usf.edu/wwii/warcomes.php
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O seară binecuvântată, inimilor!
An evening blessed hearts!
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Thank you, Ileana.
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GP, What a coincidence that you posted about the towers in DE & I just did my post on Dewey Beach!!! We know the towers well over these many years! Excellent piece! I learned so much re what’s going on to restore & preserve them. Are you familiar with similar towers at Sandy Hook, NJ, also known as Gateway National Park? I used to run history field trips there including Fort Hancock as a history teacher. I’ve been in one of the towers there. They were supposed to restore the large gun emplacement. Great job here. And nice not to lose touch with you!!! Phil
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No, I didn’t know about Sandy Hook, Phil. Thanks for the heads-up. Do you have a post on them? It’s been a while since we talked, I agree, but I remember that you were a history teacher and enjoy your input. Enjoy your vacation, but don’t be a stranger!
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GP, No, I never thought of a post on my field trip experiences….Good idea.
Just Google around & I am sure you will find better than I can offer!
Good luck with that!
Right now I am consumed with fixing the old 1885 Dutch Colonial, where we have lived for 41 years, to sell. See my previous post, “Repair & Replace, No. 2, No Sell!”
Thanks for your genuine friendship & understanding. Phil
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Thank you for your support and friendship as well, Phil.
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You might be interested in this: http://www.archives.gov/research/military/navy/treasures-ww2.html
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Whoa! I started to get lost going from file to file. Thank you very much.
Believe it or not, I was just on my over with this site:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/world-war-japanese-maps-discovered/
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Wow, these are fascinating! Thanks for sharing! So glad the cartographers didn’t destroy these maps.
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I hope there’s some in there you can use!
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LOL at the incoming cartoon.
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I take it, the cartoon reminds you of someone?
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As the kindergarten teacher used to tell the kids about their mouths: “Zip it, lock it, and put it in your pocket.”
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Thanks my friend for posting the D-Day reenactment information. Could you change the date to August 19- 20, please? 10- 20 would be a very long reenactment. 😎
I just copied your post and used it on mine. . . lazy me!
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Sorry about the typo – Ill fix it immediately.
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You are the best!
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You’re making me blush, Anne.
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Ha ha ha!
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So good they keeps the towers for renovation.
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Yes, it is good, Mary Lou. I hope more people will save our history.
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Thank you 4511.
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I always enjoy reading articles where installations like these are refurbished for posterity, even though they do represent a bleak time in history’s past, visual evidence is always a great reminder of what once was.
Cheers gp.
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Nicely put, Ian. Perhaps if we remind ourselves often enough, history will not repeat this episode.
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I always appreciate efforts to preserve objects of historical value, G. I, for one, think we are doing a better job of it today than we used to. –Curt
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I agree. I think we finally discovered the importance of remembering history. I does tend to repeat.
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Over and over and over…
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I remember that Air Force song! I hope they can save these old buildings.
I have walked the grounds of Camp Adair here with a friend who was able to tell me somewhat what was where. Not much left of it now except it is a park operated by ODFW where people can view wildlife, walk or go running.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Adair
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Well, if the history couldn’t be saved, at least the area became a park and not some huge building or parking lot. Nice of your friend to give you the tour, now someone will remember.
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Reblogged this on KCJones.
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Thank you, Penny. I hope some interest comes out of all this.
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Nice to see WWII restorations extend beyond aircraft. Even old buildings have a historical value.
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I believe so and I was very happy to see this being done. Thanks for dropping by.
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I’d never heard of these towers. Seems a bit old-fashioned now , doesn’t it ?
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Of course, today we have satellites to tell us where everyone is. But what if we lost technology? Still, I don’t think they’ll ever be used again except to help explain and teach history.
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fascinating; we have a lot of similar towers around the UK coast many now converted to homes and other uses. Some go back as far as the Napoleonic wars (Martello Towers).
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That’s great – talk about recycling, eh?!!
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Excellent news. It is really important to preserve WW2 buildings before it is too late. We have virtually nothing here as regards RAF airfields….or indeed those used by the Eighth Air Force. There’s about ten or twenty years left, and then things really will start to fall to pieces. Love the two cartoons!
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Especially here in the States, John. So much gets torn down rather than repaired – ya gotta make sure to have more chrome & glass skyscrapers, parking lots and highways!!
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Learned something new again from you. I had no idea there were watch towers along the Delaware coast during WWII.
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I’m very happy to know that I bring something new to the story of our past, Bev. I sure don’t want to get as rigid and boring as some of my history lessons used to be!! haha
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So interesting. When I lived in the SF Bay area I used to walk the Marin Headlands to look at all the fortifications which were to thwart an invasion of Northern California. (Civil War, WWI and WWII) There is even a decommissioned NIKE base. Of course, the Presidio is close by and beautiful.
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A lot of history in that area! You are privileged to have seen those sights.
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I’ll say. 🙂
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Love the video! The a couple of vertical climbs and the shooting flares in the last scene are awesome!
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I thought they brought a bit of perspective to the words of the song. Thanks for listening.
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Good to see these preservation efforts. Also, thanks for adding our HistoryCamp promo!
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I’m just sorry I won’t be there!
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Excellent Post, Everett! So glad they are going to renovate the towers and preserve history.
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Thank you, Kathy.
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It’s good to see them spending money to preserve a bit of history.
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You don’t see that very often any more!!
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Glad to hear Delaware is promoting history rather than–OK, I’ll skip the ending to this sentence. And, I love the song. It’s still inspirational.
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Thank you, Jacqui. I know what you mean about preserving the history. And, like you, the songs get to me for each and every one of them!!
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That is a wonderful project. We have/had outlook towers all over the coast of Great Britain. They make us think about why we needed them.
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That’s good to know, Kerry. So many can’t understand why they should be saved. Thank you for sharing that.
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It’s a good idea to keep this towers. We all have to remember this time…. it’s important, specially now…
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You can sure say THAT again!!
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I’m sure these towers saw a lot of action when the German Wolfpack roamed the Eastern shipping lanes.
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And roam they did, Adam, all up and down the Canadian and American coastline and into the Gulf of Mexico!
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I am so glad we are doing these projects. Seems like today’s generation has very little understanding of what has been done to ensure their freedom. It’s getting too far removed and we need to keep educating them on what it’s really like to have freedom and fight for it and how much different the world would be today had we not done what we did.
Happy Air Force Day! 😀
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You hit the nail on the head with that remark, Mrs. P. It seems far too many of them have the Givmee disease – give me this, give me that….they think it’s all about them and them alone.
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They have not experienced or had to endure what soldiers during war time have had to endure. It’s beyond comprehension.
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So true.
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It’s good to keep these things alive, they are an important piece of history .
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So true, I wish everyone felt that way!
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A great project.
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I thought so, saving history.
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A great plan to renovate and revitalise these relics of WW2. They will be very educational for future generations.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We raze so much of the past to make room for chrome and glass skyscrapers, parking lots and highways – I’m thrilled to see work like this! Thanks for dropping in, Pete.
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