The world's largest swastika at Coronado Navy Base in San Diego
September 25, 2007
San Diego is the home of the largest military installation in the world. In addition, the U.S. military in
San Diego is the biggest polluter in the country. And, the military does not have to adhere to any environmental regulations.
A little known fact is that San Diego is also the home of the largest swastika in the world: maybe the largest
one every built. An amalgamation of buildings on the Coronado Naval Amphibian Base built almost 40 years ago depicts the Nazi
symbol. Don’t forget, the NavySEAls are trained at Coronado. They are the super-elite of special forces who have created
havoc for many people in Afghanistan and Iraq.
According to Logan Jenkins, in an article called "Building Design Comes Back to Haunt Navy," published on
September 24, 2007 in the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Designed by prominent San Diego architect John Mock, the original blueprint consisted of two central buildings
"and a single L-shaped 3-story barracks," according to the Navy’s official account.
The plan called for the L-shaped building to be repeated three times at 90-degree angles from the central
building. After the groundbreaking, Navy officials experienced a classic "Oh, no!" moment.
Viewed from above, the buildings known as NAB Complex 320-325 formed the outline of a massive swastika, an
ancient symbol forever stigmatized by Hitler’s Third Reich.
These days, painting a swastika on public buildings constitutes a hate crime. What do you say about buildings
that form a swastika?
After the initial blunder was found, the subject was not brought up. After all, no one on the ground could
tell that the buildings formed a swastika. Last year, the search engine Google offered a free program called "Google Earth"
that provides aerial views of almost the entire Earth. Now, the swastika stood out like a sore thumb if someone zoomed in
on the Coronado base. Technology unlocked the Navy’s gaffe.
The Jewish community of San Diego has become enraged by the swastika. The San Diego Jewish Times, as
well as the director of the San Diego Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Morris Casuto, have complained to the Navy over the configuration
of the buildings. Also, Congresswoman Susan Davis, D-San Diego, who is Jewish, jumped on the bandwagon.
There are a few ironies here. In the past, Casuto has failed to support other minority groups who have
had gripes with the government in issues of denigration. In fact, he has used hateful words to describe other non-Jewish activists.
Last year, Phil Paulson, who took on the city of San Diego over an illegal taxpayer-paid Christian cross, died. For years,
Paulson, an atheist, supported every minority in San Diego who had a case of discrimination. Paulson once told me that he
called Casuto to get his endorsement for taking on the city of San Diego. Casuto not only told him that he would not support
the case, but he added, "Atheists are assholes." So much for a rabid proponent of civil rights.
Casuto and Davis are enraged about the buildings, yet neither has publicly chastised those SEAls who have
killed innocent people in foreign lands. Jesse Ventura, the pro wrestler-turned-governor of Minnesota, was a Navy SEAl, When
asked in an interview about his military experiences, he declined to answer. He told the reporter that he and his comrades
did many nasty things that should not be made public.
Again, we have lack of logic as well as misdirection. The same people who are up in arms about buildings forming
a swastika have not uttered a word about the misdeeds of those people who use the buildings when they mistreat humanity. In
today’s Iraq, we are witnessing the golden days of U.S. special forces, including the SEAls, in their ability to create
devastation and death without accountability.
I’ll take the swastika-like buildings any day over the slaughtering of thousands of innocent humans
performed by the SEAls and other U.S. military special forces.
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