Travelers World RV Resort - San Antonio, TX

 Traveler's World RV Resort - San Antonio, TX

The Alamo is a historic Spanish mission and fortress compound built in the 18th century by Roman Catholic missionaries in what is now San Antonio, Texas.

Originally named the Misión San Antonio de Valero, it was one of the early Spanish missions in Texas, built to convert American Indians to Christianity. The mission was secularized in 1793 and then abandoned. Ten years later, it became a fortress housing the Second Flying Company of San Carlos de Parras military unit, who likely gave the mission the name Alamo ("poplar trees"). During the Texas Revolution, Mexican General Martín Perfecto de Cos surrendered the fort to the Texian Army in December 1835, following the Siege of Béxar.

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. The battle has been memorialized by countless movies, TV shows and stories told to coon skin hat wearing children across the country.

Texians, some of whom were legal settlers, but primarily illegal immigrants from the United States, had killed or driven out all Mexican troops in Mexican Texas.

About one hundred Texians were then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led by eventual Alamo co-commanders James Bowie and William B. Travis. On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexicans, led by President General Antonio Lopez de
Santa Anna, marched into San Antonio de Béxar as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas. For the next 10 days, the two armies engaged in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand an attack by such a large force, Travis wrote multiple letters pleading for more men and supplies from Texas and from the United States.  However, the Texians were reinforced by fewer than a hundred men. The United States had a treaty with Mexico at the time. Had the US supplied troops and weapons, it would have been an overt act of war against Mexico.

Following a 13-day siege, in the early predawn morning hours of March 6, the Mexican army of nearly 2,000 men advanced on the Alamo. The Texians were awakened from an exhausted sleep to the war cries of the Mexicans as they attacked the Alamo. After repelling two attacks, the Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian fighters withdrew into interior buildings. Those who were unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Between 5-7 Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed. By 6:30am, the Mexican army had defeated and killed the remaining Texians. The Alamo had fallen and the Texians were slain.   Chaos reigned as the Texians all lay dead and the Mexicans continued to fire their guns into the dead bodies.  Several noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked both a strong rush to join the Texian army and a panic, known as "The Runaway Scrape", in which the Texian army, mostly settlers, and the government of the new, self-proclaimed but officially unrecognized Republic of Texas fled eastward toward the U.S. ahead of the advancing Mexican Army.

Santa Anna's refusal to take prisoners during the battle inspired many Texians and Tejanos to join the Texian Army. Motivated by a desire for revenge, as well as their written desire to preserve a border open to immigration and the importation and practice of slavery, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the conquering of the Mexican state by the newly formed Republic of Texas.

There was quite a bit of construction going on in the area. Renovations are a never ending and costly task to maintain these historical sites.

The Alamo Cenotaph, also known as The Spirit of Sacrifice, is a monument in San Antonio, Texas, commemorating the Battle of the Alamo of the Texas Revolution, which was fought at the adjacent Alamo Mission. The monument was erected in celebration of the centennial of the battle, and bears the names of those known to have fought there on the Texas side.

The shaft rises sixty feet from its base which is forty feet long and twelve feet wide. The monument was erected in grey Georgia marble and pink Texas granite. It was entitled The Spirit of Sacrifice and incorporates images of the Alamo garrison leaders and 187 names of known Alamo defenders, derived from the research of historian Amelia Williams.

At first, I was a tad concerned and unsure what she was reaching out for... but thankfully, it was a G rated handshake. 

 Since their early childhood, every good Tennessean takes pride in the Davy Crockett stories and        memorabilia. Most little boys in TN have been the proud owner of a coon skin hat and a toy rifle.

We had recently watched the miniseries "Texas Rising" before we got to San Antonio. It gave us some insight to many of the things we saw and read here at the Alamo. The relationship between Santa Ana and Emily was a little more real to us having seen the miniseries vs just reading the signage. We were glad we had watched the miniseries prior to actually visiting the Alamo. It has been a really long time since high school American history class for both of us.

 

                Bowie is likely more famous for the knives bearing his name as he is for his military prowess.

Lisa, harnessing her inner Vanna White, found the flag that honors the Tennessee volunteers who were killed at the Alamo. You can take the girl out of TN, but you cannot take the TN out of the girl.

We watched a video that showed how the wall was painted during the battle of the Alamo. While doing  repair work, they have uncovered many of the original design details and art work which had been hidden under years and years of paint. They left several of their discoveries in various stages of restoration to show a timeline and changes over the years. 

This is how the Sacristy would have appeared in 1772. Old, original paintings and writings were uncovered during restoration projects over the years.

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National Museum of the Pacific War

The Admiral Nimitz Foundation was established in 1964 (as the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Naval Museum, Inc.) to support a museum honoring Fredericksburg's native son, Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces, Pacific Ocean Area.

On May 8, 1976, the 130th anniversary of the founding of Fredericksburg, the Japanese government gifted the museum with the Japanese Garden of Peace. The garden was designed by Taketora Saita as a replica of the private garden of Gensui The Marquis Tōgō (1848–1934), the main Imperial Japanese Navy commander in the Russo-Japanese War. Fleet Admiral Nimitz personally admired the Marquis Tōgō, having previously helped to establish a war memorial to the Japanese admiral.

The outdoor Plaza of the Presidents was dedicated in September1995, the 50th anniversary of Fleet Admiral Nimitz' acceptance of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63). The plaza is a tribute to the ten United States Presidents who served during World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Commander in Chief), Harry S. Truman (Commander in Chief), General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower (Army), John F. Kennedy (Navy), Lyndon B. Johnson (Navy), Richard Nixon (Navy), Gerald Ford (Navy), Jimmy Carter (Navy), Ronald Reagan (Army) and George H. W. Bush (Navy). Carter and Bush are the last surviving presidents who served in WWII.

Bush later reflected that "terrifying experiences" of war helped him to become a man: "I have often wondered why me, why was I spared when others died." Obviously, Bush had great things yet to accomplish when the war was over. Survivors guilt is a very real thing for many veterans returning from war. Unfortunately, it haunts many veterans and interferes with their ability to find peace and resume post war civilian life. Not all survivors are able to find that peace and resume post war life. Suicide remains the 13th leading cause of death for veterans overall. It is the second leading cause of death for veterans over the age of 45. There is one number that defines the way Americans view veterans- 22. As in 22 vets commit suicide every day. The Marines suffer the highest rate of suicide among all US military services, followed by the Army, who runs a distant second.

We had been to this museum this past Spring.  We had met Pat and Deb Chasse in San Antonio for the USS Lapon Reunion.  They wanted to see this museum.  Since we had visited in the Spring, we have done extensive research on Mark's Dad and the 32nd Red Arrow Division.  References to his division brings us both an intense sense of pride even greater than we had prior to our nomadic lifestyle. On his dad's birthday in 2024, we will have a dedication ceremony to memorialize his service to our country. We have invited the entire Rivard clan. We hope they will attend this service as his memorial is unveiled and dedicated in his honor. We previously bought a memorial at the National WWII museum in New Orleans. This museum has a section dedicated to the Pacific theater of the naval fleet which made it a logical place to honor him.

Mark's Father was wounded/shot in combat on December 12, 1942 in New Zealand, as a member of the 32nd Division.  He returned to service after his injuries healed.

A picture of the 32nd Red Arrow Division soldiers was taken in New Guinea during the push to Buna. We have no way of knowing if his dad is in any of the pictures of his division.  

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The contract to build Lapon was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, in October 1963 and her keel was laid down there in July 1965. She was launched in December 1966, and commissioned in December 1967.

Upon commissioning, the Lapon reported to Commander, Submarine Force, United States Atlantic Fleet for duty, with her home port at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia. Mark was in the submarine service on the Lapon during his time in the navy.

Honors and awards:

Meritorious Unit Commendation 1968

Meritorious Unit Commendation 1969

Presidential Unit Citation 1969

Navy Expeditionary Medal (Sub Specop)

Submarine Division 62 Battle Efficiency Award (Battle "E") 1969

Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for Operational Proficiency for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet 1970

Submarine Division 63 Battle "E" 1970

Navy Unit Commendation 1973

Meritorious Unit Commendation 1979

Submarine Squadron 6 Anti-submarine warfare (ASW)/Operations "A" 1979

Submarine Squadron 6 Engineering "E" 1979

Meritorious Unit Commendation 1982

Submarine Squadron 6 ASW/Operations "A" 1982

Meritorious Unit Commendation 1983

Navy Battle "E" 1983

Meritorious Unit Commendation 1985

Navy Battle "E" 1985

Arctic Expedition Ribbon (Ice Exercise (ICEX) 88) 1988

Navy Battle "E" 1991

She was decommissioned in August 1992.

The USS Lapon crewmembers have a reunion every 2 years. This time the reunion was held in San Antonio, Texas.  This was the reason for this trip to San Antonio. Every reunion, the list of the Lapon's surviving Submariners, diminishes. This was a particularly hard reunion for us, as it is the first reunion without Mark's best friend, Tony Liberatore. The previous reunion we spent a full week camping with Tony and Diana. We never dreamed it would be our last visit with him. He passed away just a mere few months after the reunion. We are so thankful we had that week with them. It gave us some great memories to cherish.

 The youngest to serve on the Lapon are now in their 50's. Most of the original "plank owners" (the first crew aboard the Lapon at the time of the commissioning) have now passed away. The commissioning was now 56 years ago, making the youngest plank owners now at least 76.

We enjoyed this Mexican restaurant so much, we ate there twice. We went once ourselves, then returned another day with several of his navy buddies. Don surprised us all and treated us to dinner here. This restaurant is located right on the Riverwalk near the hotel where the reunion was held. We spent time with Harry and his wife last year in Philly- unfortunately, she was unable to attend this reunion.

The glare from those sconces definitely blurs out whoever is unfortunate enough to stand in from of one.

These various crewmembers of USS Lapon, each attended the 2023 reunion.  Since we lost Tony so soon after the last reunion, the camaraderie is now even more significant to us. Many of the Lapon's crew is now on "eternal patrol", but Tony's passing was just so much more personal for us. Mark lost a brother, not just a crew member. We are only gifted a few of those types of friends in our lifetime. We lifted a drink in his honor. He will live on in our memories. We were at a celebration of life for Tony last year. We were thankful to spend some quality time with his family. Diana did an amazing job pulling the celebration together during our visit. We felt honored. 

We dedicate this reunion to Tony. May he rest in eternal patrol.......... He may be gone, but he will never be forgotten. We love you, brother, We love you.

Salute...

The next reunion in 2025 will be held in Springfield, Missouri where the sail is currently located. A VFW there has the Lapon's sail/conning tower as part of their veteran's memorial park. We were there this summer to see it. Branson is not terribly far away from Springfield, so I am sure we will be able to return to a show there. We really enjoyed Branson much more than we were expecting this summer. We were able to squeeze in 5 shows while there. We truly have enjoyed the dinner/theater type shows- some more than others, of course. Most of the shows in Branson do not include dinner. It is much more cost effective to eat elsewhere then attend the show. We enjoy both types of shows despite one being more pricey. It is very rare for me to verbalize that concept... I typically run away from the pricier options.