Remember The Alamo!

[gotribego26]

Not knowing references to "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" is a sad indicator of the decline of cultural literacy.

At least in my mind.

Not knowing the real significance of the Alamo is even sadder. I've been to two locations in my life where I literally felt the presence of history and souls in the area and the Alamo was one of them.

I'm in the camp that says the development around it spoils the whole feeling. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I'm generally a history buff but I can name lots of places I've been where the presence of history far exceeded the Alamo

Point du Hoc/Omaha Beach (I still get chills thinking about it - I'm not sure how I would have done if Saving Private Ryan had been filmed before I went in 1984).
The Arizona Memorial
Gettysburg
The Trench of Bayonets - Verdun Forest
Piskariovskoye Cemetery - St. Petersbrug - the mass grave for victims of the siege of Leningrad

[littlebeast13]

I think the one's guy's main beef with the Alamo (And he's a Vietnam vet who has an appreciation for history) was that apparently (And I have never been to the Alamo, or even Texas, to know firsthand) the Alamo, or what is preserved of the Alamo, is surrounded by a conglomeration of more modern buildings..... like the proverbial "park" in the middle of a downtown area. "There ain't no way Davy Crockett fought here!" the guy said......

Sure he did. The Messicans were hiding right over there, behind the Starbucks...

Well, sure. The Alamo is in the middle of downtown San Antonio, a city of 1.1 million people.

What did he expect?

Well, that would kind of ruin the significance if you ask me.....

lb13

[ulysses5019]

Perhaps they should go to John Wayne's Alamo Village:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Village

[MarleysGh0st]

I think the one's guy's main beef with the Alamo (And he's a Vietnam vet who has an appreciation for history) was that apparently (And I have never been to the Alamo, or even Texas, to know firsthand) the Alamo, or what is preserved of the Alamo, is surrounded by a conglomeration of more modern buildings..... like the proverbial "park" in the middle of a downtown area. "There ain't no way Davy Crockett fought here!" the guy said......

Sure he did. The Messicans were hiding right over there, behind the Starbucks...

Well, sure. The Alamo is in the middle of downtown San Antonio, a city of 1.1 million people.

What did he expect?

If he visits Washington, he may feel the same way about the White House. TV shots always frame it properly to preserve its grandeur, but from a distance it's dwarfed by all the other government buildings around it.

[littlebeast13]

Sure he did. The Messicans were hiding right over there, behind the Starbucks...

Well, sure. The Alamo is in the middle of downtown San Antonio, a city of 1.1 million people.

What did he expect?

If he visits Washington, he may feel the same way about the White House. TV shots always frame it properly to preserve its grandeur, but from a distance it's dwarfed by all the other government buildings around it.

I can't speak for my co-worker, but I would expect the White House to be surrounded by lots of other buildings. It's most definitely a urban historical landmark....

I would not expect the Alamo to be surrounded by anything but dirt and rocks and tumbleweeds.....

lb13

[MarleysGh0st]

I would not expect the Alamo to be surrounded by anything but dirt and rocks and tumbleweeds.....

Because nothing has changed anywhere since 1836!

[littlebeast13]

I would not expect the Alamo to be surrounded by anything but dirt and rocks and tumbleweeds.....

Because nothing has changed anywhere since 1836!

Did they build a bunch of high rises in the Grand Canyon?

lb13

[MarleysGh0st]

I would not expect the Alamo to be surrounded by anything but dirt and rocks and tumbleweeds.....

Because nothing has changed anywhere since 1836!

Did they build a bunch of high rises in the Grand Canyon?

lb13

No!!! Vertical rock walls make such difficult building sites...

They do have that suspended walkway with the see-through floor suspended over the canyon, though.



And, if you want to talk about the history of the Alamo and San Antonio, Wikipedia says they were both founded about a century before the battle took place, so it's not like the townies moved in to take advantage of its potential as a tourist trap.

[andrewjackson]

Because nothing has changed anywhere since 1836!

Did they build a bunch of high rises in the Grand Canyon?

lb13

No!!! Vertical rock walls make such difficult building sites...

They do have that suspended walkway with the see-through floor suspended over the canyon, though.



And, if you want to talk about the history of the Alamo and San Antonio, Wikipedia says they were both founded about a century before the battle took place, so it's not like the townies moved in to take advantage of its potential as a tourist trap.

Right. The Alamo was always in the middle of town. About 7,000 people lived in San Antonio in 1836. That was a big city. Charleston, SC was the 10th largest city in the U.S. at the time with around 30,000 people.

[tanstaafl2]

I think the one's guy's main beef with the Alamo (And he's a Vietnam vet who has an appreciation for history) was that apparently (And I have never been to the Alamo, or even Texas, to know firsthand) the Alamo, or what is preserved of the Alamo, is surrounded by a conglomeration of more modern buildings..... like the proverbial "park" in the middle of a downtown area. "There ain't no way Davy Crockett fought here!" the guy said......

Sure he did. The Messicans were hiding right over there, behind the Starbucks...

Well, sure. The Alamo is in the middle of downtown San Antonio, a city of 1.1 million people.

What did he expect?

Which at the time of the battle was some distance from the downtown San Antonio of that day. But being stoned can make one miss the subtleties of historical significance I suppose...

[tanstaafl2]

Not knowing references to "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" is a sad indicator of the decline of cultural literacy.

At least in my mind.

Not knowing the real significance of the Alamo is even sadder. I've been to two locations in my life where I literally felt the presence of history and souls in the area and the Alamo was one of them.

I'm in the camp that says the development around it spoils the whole feeling. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I'm generally a history buff but I can name lots of places I've been where the presence of history far exceeded the Alamo

Point du Hoc/Omaha Beach (I still get chills thinking about it - I'm not sure how I would have done if Saving Private Ryan had been filmed before I went in 1984).
The Arizona Memorial
Gettysburg
The Trench of Bayonets - Verdun Forest
Piskariovskoye Cemetery - St. Petersbrug - the mass grave for victims of the siege of Leningrad

Interesting how ones individual historical and cultural perspective can color things. Haven't been to Omaha Beach or Verdun (yet) but certainly have been to the Arizona Memorial, Gettysburg (and many other Civil War battlefields including Sharpsburg which gets less press but was about as significant and certainly as bloody). Each of those places had their own unique impact. Different from the Alamo to be sure but not more or less significant. The "Hanoi Hilton" had a somewhat similar if slightly less strong impact.

I have also been to Piskariovskoye Cemetery, the killing fields of Cambodia, the sacrificial Cenote Sagrado in Chichen Itza and other similar places I can't recall at the moment. Each fascinating in its own way but not quite the same as those places in some way connected to my personal cultural perspective.

One exception would be Auschwitz. Hard not to be moved there despite a lack of a personal cultural connection.

[silvercamaro]

One exception would be Auschwitz. Hard not to be moved there despite a lack of a personal cultural connection.

Although I haven't seen Auschwitz, I've been to Dachau. Like you, I had no "personal cultural connection." Shortly after arriving, however, I spotted a photograph of a young woman with a baby in one arm and a little boy holding her other hand. The children appeared to be the exact ages of my sons at that time. I identified with the mother and, from that moment on, everything I saw became "personal" for me. To this day, memories of that visit still stir my emotions.