Chicago's Soldier Field a Fitting Memorial to Our Veterans

Or, is it Soldiers Field as I usually call it?

From Wikipedia.

I started writing about this venerable site in today's Cooter's History Thing blog.  This is where Chicago's Veterans Day ceremony will be held today.

The design of Soldier Field is Neoclassic style with Doric columns rising above the east and west sides.  I am so glad they kept the columns after its interior was demolished and rebuilt with that huge bowl thing in 2002.

The stadium cost $13 million to build, a very large sum of money for a sporting venue at the time.  By comparison, the  the L.A. Memorial Coliseum cost $1 million.

In its earliest configuration, 74,,280 spectators could be seated with additional seating that could raise attendance to 100,000.  Now, attendance is limited to 61,500.

A Marine Corps Thing-- Part 2

I found out the young people, recent high school graduates were all Marine Corps recruits and would in a short time be at basic training at Camp Pendleton, California (Gomer Pyle's home base).

These were squared away boots, already well on their way to being Jarheads. A devoted group of drill instructors stayed close to them, barking orders. Each of these wore tee shirts with "Pain is just weakness leaving the body." Looking at these incoming people shows that the Corps will continue to be the best fighting arm of our military. Like another tee shirt said, "The most dangerous weapon in the world is a Marine with his rifle."

A couple boots still had long hair for a bit longer. The coming fodder for Marine barbers who don't worry about style. There were a few girls as well.

The recruits got together for a talk from a wounded Marine from Afghanistan, but I was too far away to hear what he was saying.


SOLDIERS FIELD

I got my first personal look at the new Soldiers Field and it is impressive. The seats are much closer than what they used to be, where you almost needed binoculars just to see the field, let alone the players.

More to Come. --RoaadDog


LIVING NEAR CHICAGO...The Eisenhower (Ike), the former Congress Expressway, is our daily version of NASCAR.

A Marine Corps Thing-- Part 1

Last week, friends Kevin and Kelly mentioned that they had been invited to Soldier Field in Chicago for a Marine Corps day involving a new class of recruits and change of command for the Chicago Recruiting Station.

This morning, we left way to early, at 6:14 via the Chicago Metra train from Fox Lake, Illinois, to Chicago's Union Station ($14 round trip) and then we did the CTA ($5 round trip with transfers) to Soldiers Field for the event.

The drill instructors had the new recruits doing PT, Marine Corps for Physical Training. Boy, did that bring back some memories as they exercised and did the shouts. I was a member for six weeks back in the summer of 1971, 40 years ago.

I was at Quantico, Virginia, in PLC, Platoon Leader Class. Six weeks between sophomore and junior year, six more the next summer and when I graduated I would be commissioned a second lieutenant and then go to basic training for six months and then, most likely to Vietnam.

Fortunately, the war ended right before I graduated, so I didn't have to go.

More to Come. --RoadDog


LIVING NEAR CHICAGO...The wrought iron on windows in Englewood, Lawndle and Austin are not ornamental.