Fade Away

Today after nearly 120 years, the federal government has finally closed Fort Lawton.  It has spent most the last 40 years as Discovery Park, but in corners here and there a fort still existed.  It really never was particularly an important fort, in 1938 the Army offered to sell all 700 acres for $1 to the City of Seattle.  The City couldn't afford the up keep so they declined.  It's finest and darkest hours came in World War II, as tens of thousands of men embarked on ships to far away islands in Pacific.  I have meant several old timers over the years that had been stationed there during the war before shipping out.  The conversation was almost identical, I would say I was from Seattle and they would say that they were there during the war at Fort Lawton.  Then I would tell them it was a park now and they would say that it rained too much.  One guy, an ex-patriot, I met in Mexico that owned a coffee shop, enjoyed Seattle and the weather, he was there in July and August of 1945, he was due to ship out right after VJ day but never had to go. 
Today the flag was lowered for the last time.  The land it is sanctuary within the city and hopefully it will stay that way.  Before the housing bubble burst the mayor talked of housing on the reclaimed land, lets hope it remains 700 acres of mostly open space.