San Diego Navy Pier's proposed Wings of Freedom sculpture
The proposed plan for the Navy Pier in San Diego has caught the public’s attention. The Navy Pier will be turned into a park to pay tribute to the military. This idea sounds rather iconic and worthy of change for San Diego. However, there is another addition to the Veterans’ Park that residents are not too happy about—the proposed 500-foot “Wings of Freedom” sculpture is anything but small and many residents are complaining that the enormous wings will block the view of San Diego’s Bay.
The plan calls for the transformation of Navy Pier into Veterans’ Park with additional parking and an amphitheater for the San Diego Symphony. The project is estimated to cost $68 million of which a San Diego philanthropist agreed to pay $35 million in favor of the park.
The Midway Museum President and CEO Mac McLaughlin said, “I think this is a very bold vision. It’s an exciting vision. The iconic structure at the end… we feel would bring more of the public down to the bay and come to represent San Diego in the future.”
Although McLaughlin loves the idea of an iconic sculpture, Co-Chairman of the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition, Ian Trowbridge, differs in his views of the sculpture telling 10News that it will not be iconic, just ugly. The final revisions are open to the public—anyone who is not in favor of the 500-foot sculpture on the Navy Pier should speak now! The final decision will be made at the December 13th meeting of the Port’s Board of Commissioners.
The United States military has begun to consider the significant criminal threat posed by gang members joining the military. As many gang members have been infiltrating every branch of American military, they are becoming more knowledgeable about weapons, violence, and war and are bringing their new-found training and military experience to the streets. These gang members are more dangerous than ever before—their military training paired with corrupt and destructive views will be a combination for disaster if this type of training is continually allowed to gang members.
An example of this cruel gang related abuse fell upon an innocent 25-year old Army Sergeant named Juan Johnson, who was found in a park dead nearby his Germany base in July 2005. He had gone to the park for an initiation ceremony of a well-known Chicago-based street gang called the Gangster Disciples. During the initiation, Sergeant Johnson was beaten by eight other soldiers and left to die.
The problem is still prevalent almost 7 years after the death of Sergeant Johnson. FBI reports portray evidence of a brisk increase of gang activity in the U.S. military; so much that the FBI report addresses the issue as “a threat to law enforcement and national security.” In one of the more recent FBI reports, four pages are devoted to the military gang involvement listing about 50 gangs with members holding military backgrounds.
The problem is also popping up in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gang symbols and graffiti can be spotted on blast walls and Humvees. If this problem does not get resolved or find a quick solution, America’s streets will have certified killers on their hands with inadequate police officials to fix the problem. The United States needs to find a means to resolve this issue before it’s too late—what do you think America needs to do?
