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A few words about the Crane weapons station where we stayed... it's a beautiful place (in spite of its mission) that has its roots in the WPA of the 30's and WWII. It is probably at the top of Rumfeld's base closure list.
The government converted it from a park/reservoir to a weapons station when the war in Europe was underway in anticipation of it involving the US. Its location was far enough inland to be safe from attack.
The lobby of the quarters we stayed in has original pieces from the USS Constitution. We learned that all the white oak that is used for the ship's restoration comes exclusively from the Constitution Grove of white oak on the base.
Moving on, Colleen caught my cold and we rested all day Thursday to help her recover. I'm grateful for her perseverance.
Friday we left Crain and spent the afternoon in Bloomington. Colleen rested while I walked around the campus. It's still a beautiful place but the community of Bloomington has out grown it's infrastructure which detracts significantly.
Of the attached photos, one will be of the house my dad built right before the war started and where I lived for until the ripe old age of 2.
We spent Friday night at another apparently innocuous place, Camp Atterbury, where I was born.
It belongs to the Indiana National Guard but in WWII it was the largest military hospital in the US with over 85,000 wounded receiving treatment. Many medical advancements occurred here during that period.
It also was the "home" to Italian and German POW's. The Italians in particular felt guilty because their lives as American prisoners was so much better than they had known back in Italy.
The Italians were allowed to build a chapel which still stands. It was almost destroyed twice for political reasons, the last time after the Waco massacre.
Yesterday we came up here to Chicago to see old college friends Dave Baker and Carla and Jerry Fortier.
We had a nice dinner last night in Naperville with Dave and will see Carla and Jerry later today in Crystal Lake.
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