At Miramar National Cemetery’s 13th annual Memorial Day ceremony, the director of San Diego State University’s Center for War and Society spoke of how he held D-Day troops in awe — citing the Americans’ “superhuman strength” at Omaha Beach.



“I’d seen combat in Iraq, but this seemed near impossible,” said the director, history professor Gregory A. Daddis.


In the audience of 400 were four World War II veterans, three of whom leave Wednesday for Normandy, France — for the 80th anniversary commemoration of D-Day.

The trip is “a form of love,” said 97-year-old Army veteran Andre Chappaz, one of the travelers.

“The people in the surrounding cities (of Normandy), they love us,” he said. He looks forward to relating to the French people.

Joining Chappaz will be Calvin Shiner, a 101-year-old Army Quartermaster Corps veteran, and Max Gurney, a 102-year-old Army veteran.

They will be awarded the French Legion of Honor.

As featured speaker, Daddis linked the fight 80 years ago to free Europe from the Nazis to President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, known as the “Four Freedoms Speech.” 



But in a departure from traditional Memorial Day remarks, retired Col. Daddis suggested that FDR’s dream of freedom from fear has yet to be realized.



Rather just memorializing the end of WWII and “only venerating those celebrated Americans of the Greatest Generation who are here today, perhaps we should pause and ask how that conflict truly helped fulfill Roosevelt’s dream of a world in which aggression was no longer possible,” Gaddis said.



He asked: Was the United States and the larger world truly free from fear?



“Historical records suggest not so much,” Gaddis said.

• Listen: Retired Army Col. Gregory Daddis speaks at Miramar National Cemetery

He told how Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin seemed only “a new Hitler, with a better mustache.”



“Mustaches aside,” he said, “the fear was real even for the Greatest Generation fresh from winning a war in the name of democracy and freedom.”



He told how Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy by the 1950s gained national attention by “arguing the United States was engaged in a final all-out battle against its atheistic communist foe.”



Daddis, who served in the Army for 25 years and once taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, said McCarthy struck a chord with many Americans.



His “long preamble” served to tee up “a rather uncomfortable proposition” — that Americans have been in a state of perpetual war (including the Cold War) for more than eight decades.



”The number of soldiers needed to fight these wars has certainly varied over time as has our collective interest level,” he said. “But it seems undeniable that our modern definitions of freedom are inherently linked with words like security and defense and military readiness. And yes, war.”



Such a truth should give Americans pause, Daddis said.



“Is it possible that being in a constant state of war inhibits rather than promotes our own freedoms and the freedoms of others?” he asked. “Could it be that war is a deterrent rather than a promoter of liberty and freedom?”



He said these questions “cut to the very heart of our national identity.”



Being in a persistent state of conflict for the eight decades since 1941 “has shaped what it means to be an American,” he said.



He challenged his audience not just to honor the sacrifices of war dead “but to emulate them.”



“It takes courage to fight against fear — and not just abroad but at home,” Daddis said. “It takes courage to turn away from the partisan attacks that divide us [and] instead seek ways to unify us as Americans. 



”It takes courage, dare I say, to think about the resources we spend on maintaining if not enlarging the military-industrial complex and how those resources might be reprioritized for the good of all humanity.”

Greta Hamilton, director of Miramar and Fort Rosecrans national cemeteries, said during Sunday’s ceremony: “The cost of war is incalculable. We can never repay the families who have lost loved ones in defense of this nation.”

Recalling that more than 156,000 Allied troops executed the largest invasion in modern history on D-Day resulting in the deaths of 2,501 American troops, Hamilton said soldiers willingly stepped into harm’s way, knowing that they might not see family members again.

“We have an obligation to remember and honor every one of them,” she said. “D-Day is among the most noteworthy days of sacrifice, overcoming impossible odds, displaying steadfast devotions to a noble cause.”

Julie Duhaut-Bedos, consul general of France, told the veterans: “We will never forget your unwavering courage, which helped forge the deep and solid alliance between the United States and France that endures to this day.”

Veteran Shiner, speaking to Times of San Diego, said of D-Day: “I was so busy running … scared … working and could hardly think. The hardest was getting back alive.

“I prayed many days, many nights.”

About returning to Normandy, Shiner said: “I just can’t tell you how good it makes me feel.”

Veteran Gurney, who in 1942 took part in Operation Torch, a North African prelude to D-Day, said after the ceremony that he hopes for peace in the world.

“I believe in humanity,” he said. “You have to keep the faith.”

Three previously injured San Diego Wave players returned to the pitch Friday evening against Bay FC. But the team fell 2-1 to Bay at PayPal Park in San Jose.

Defender Naomi Girma earned her first start since April 27. Defender Abby Dahlkemper came in as a second-half substitute for Girma.

Midfielder Sofia Jakobsson came on as a substitute in the 65th minute. Girma had been out since April 12 and Dahlkemper last played on April 19.
 
Kyra Carusa opened the scoring for San Diego (3-4-2, 11 points) in the 23rd minute with her second goal of the season, tied for the team lead.

Midfielder Savannah McCaskill hit a corner kick that was bouncing in the box before finding the feet of Carusa. The San Diego native was able to connect with the ball and hit a first-time shot into the bottom left corner. 
 
Bay FC (3-7-0, 9 points) pulled one back in the 55th minute by way of Scarlett Camberos to find the equalizer. The home side then grabbed the go-ahead goal through an own goal that garnered through the pressure of Bay forward Racheal Kundananji in the 87th minute. 

“We’ve got to start changing our mentality,” said head coach Casey Stoney. “We’ve got to find a way to win. They scored one goal, and we went to pieces. We can’t afford to do that.”

Alex Morgan (lower leg), Jaedyn Shaw (lower leg) and Makenzy Doniak (lower leg) were unavailable for Friday’s match.

San Diego travels to face Angel City on Thursday, May 23, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The match will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

The San Diego Wav won a record third consecutive home match, scoring 2-0 against expansion team Utah Royals Wednesday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

San Diego’s Jaedyn Shaw shot a penalty goal past Mandy Haught after a handball call against Paige Monaghan in the 35th minute.

In the 77th minute, Shaw intercepted a ball near the midfield line and slotted a ball to forward Makenzy Doniak, whose left-footed kick found the far post corner.

“We were extremely motivated to go out there and work to win and get three points at home,” Shaw said after the match.

They were the second goals of the season for both Shaw and Doniak.

Shaw’s assist on Doniak’s goal in the 77th minute marked the first time the 19-year-old has both scored and assisted in a match. 

Despite injury absences of five starting players, including defenders Naomi Girma and Abby Dahlkemper, players helped maintain a clean sheet for goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.

Striker Alex Morgan has been out with an ankle injury suffered April 19 during a 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride.

On her Instagram page Wednesday, Morgan posted: “Post-training ice for the ankle. Recovery going well and hoping to be back [very] soon.”

It was the second of three matches this week for the Wave (3-3-1, 10 points).

Defender Sierra Enge earned her first start and appearance of the regular season. The Cardiff native played the entire match for her hometown club. 

Forward María Sánchez made her first Wave start, playing 70 minutes. The Mexican National Team captain was acquired via trade from Houston Dash on April 20. 

San Diego Wave FC hosts NJ/NY Gotham FC at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 12, at Snapdragon Stadium in the club’s AAPI Night, presented by Mostra Coffee. The match will be broadcast on NWSL+.

Robert Rohrbach was on a Hell Week run with fellow SEAL candidates when the urge to quit hit. A nearby comrade pulled him into the middle. Now two buddies were holding him up.

The moment passed and so did his impulse to drop out.

It’s called the 30-second period, he says — when you reach the point of giving in, if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, time disappears and you forget that you thought you couldn’t make it.

At least that’s how 80-year-old Rohrback remembers it. One of the two helpers dismisses the story.

Was it a hallucination amid sleep deprivation? Rohrbach isn’t sure.

Famously secretive about their missions, retired SEALs on last weekend’s Honor Flight San Diego journey to Washington confided how they survived intense training and what the public gets wrong about their warrior brotherhood.

Their mystique.

Rohrbach was part of a 90-member Navy Special Warfare Operator group on the three-day journey, several of whom reflected on what it means to be a SEAL. These included Frogmen, Underwater Demolition Team members and Boatsmen.

“We are not big hairy monsters,” the retired SEAL said when asked the biggest misconception about his cohort — some who served in the elite group’s first decade (SEAL teams were developed in 1962).

“We’re ordinary people,” he said. “Most have a great sense of humor and a terrific drive.”

Twice a year, Honor Flight San Diego takes around 90 veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit war memorials that honor their service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Among those on the journey were Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Mike Thornton and Walter “Ditti” Dittmar, force master chief of Navy Special Warfare Command. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro met the San Diego contingent at the FDR Memorial.

But it’s the renewed connections and quality time with former comrades that has proven to be a huge part of the trips’ meaningful — even lifesaving — nature. Plus the enthusiastic homecoming at journey’s end.

In April, it was Naval Special Warfare members — “the men with green faces,” the “silent ones” — to be recognized.

“That we’re all big, brawny bad guys” was retired SEAL Gene Peterson’s response to the misconception question.

“I’m a little puny guy,” said Peterson, 76. “I was only 150 pounds when I went in. I wasn’t some great big brute, but I was able to carry the boat and stuff because my head didn’t hardly touch the boat and the big guys had to carry it.”

Peterson went on to spend 30 years as a Los Angeles Police Department officer.

‘One of the Nicest Guys’

Retired warfare operator Andy McTigue’s reply to the misconception question: “That we’re all killers, and were killers after the fact — and we’re not.”

“I’m one of the nicest guys that you’ll ever meet,” he said, adding that he has been compared to Mr. Rogers.

All of the military men on the trip back East, except for an 89-year-old Korean War era operator, served one or numerous Vietnam combat tours of six months each. Comrades remarked at a dinner presentation in Baltimore that that generation of warriors is considered by counterparts to be the strong initial foundation of the force.

Some told of hours-long firefights and seeing others in their unit die. Others spoke of their reconnaissance and engineering tasks. Many stories were shared only among themselves.

Some in wheelchairs had visible reminders of their willingness to fight oversees. Others gave hints about past animosities or internal battles. (At Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, one SEAL was heard saying: “I have scars, but these days I have so many wrinkles, they cover them up.”)

Those interviewed expressed pride without regret for their arduous, dangerous work in Southeast Asia. They had satisfaction that they followed their training and completed their missions. And used that knowledge throughout their lives.

“The stuff that I’ve done, the places I’ve gone — just unbelievable,” said retired SEAL Allan Starr of Redmond, Oregon. “We go where we’re told to go, and what your goals are, and what you’re able to do. So I just loved it.”

Was it hard on my family? he asked and answered.

“Yes, when the phone rang you maybe have 30 minutes … to be at work,” Starr said. “And you can’t tell … where you’re going, what you’re going to do, when you’re coming back.”

Rohrbach’s skills put him in the spotlight when he helped retrieve Apollo 11 and 14 astronauts after splashdown. For Apollo 11 — the first moon landing — he wore a special face mask with filter to protect against possible “moon germs.”

For Apollo 14, he summoned the helicopter to get Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa back to land.

So what’s the makeup of a SEAL? And who made it through notorious Hell Week in the 1960s and 1970s? And how? Can you look at a recruit on Day 1 and predict whether he’ll graduate?

Rohrbach thinks not.

“Some of the fastest and smartest guys couldn’t make it, and it’s not that they weren’t capable,” said Rohrbach, who was in Navy uniform until 1998.

“It’s because they really didn’t want it badly enough to bear up under the pressure,” he said. “It’s not worth it (to them).”

It’s the risk-reward equation, and some thought the extreme training wasn’t worth becoming a SEAL, he explained. “You have to be willing to put up with anything and everything in order to achieve the goal of graduating.”

The long runs, hours-long swims, sleepless nights and freezing waters are well known.

And that ordeal included mental harassment, he said. He recalled feeling devastated when he was told early on that he was the “worst person to ever go through training.”

He perked up when — after relaying the story to a fellow trainee in chow hall — the man said an instructor told him the same thing the day before.

Mental Toughness Key

All those interviewed agreed that the mental component played a larger role than the physical.

Rohrbach recalls the morning after his first day of pre-SEAL training in Coronado.

“The next morning, I couldn’t get out of bed. Every inch of my body ached,” he said. Despite that he crawled out of bed and into the shower, and returned to training.

Rohrbach had skin grafts on both ankles following a childhood accident. Those grafts opened up with the continuous rubbing of his military boots during runs. Told by medical personnel that he should just give up, he followed an unofficial suggestion to cut a hole in the back of his boots, cover the hole with a black sock and lower the hems on his pants.

That got him through SEAL training, but his bogus claim about shark bites creating the boot hole wasn’t true. Yet it got him past a curious superior.

Veteran Starr recalled that wherever troops were on the move, they ran — as a class leader sang cadence. One trainee quit after 30 minutes, he said.

“I’m going: ‘Holy crap, we haven’t even gotten started, and now this happens,” he said.

Starr watched as, one by one, candidates quit. But he just persisted, telling himself: “I’m going to get through this, I can do this, I can do this.”

But once you get through BUD/S (SEAL) training, he said, “there isn’t anything you think you can’t do. You just go and, like I said: If you break your leg, we just [apply] a couple wraps of duct tape on it and send you down the road.”

Of training, Peterson recalls: “I mean I had several times where I blacked out because of the cold. And one time I remember crawling out of the water, getting on the back of the truck and that’s the last thing I remember until I’m sitting on the bus with my gun.”

After he took a shower and got cleaned up, he went out to the range.

‘Never Quit’ Stance

“I don’t remember anything in between,” he said. “It’s the same type of attitude when you go out in combat — never quit.”

Retired Cmdr. R.J. Thomas was knocked out of a Seawolf helicopter when it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire over South Vietnam. Once on the ground, using the fallen pilot’s gun, he prevailed in a gunfight that avoided capture of him and others.

He was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery.

The public thinks SEALs are “some kind of Superman,” he said, “and in a way they are, but it has very little to do with physical capabilities. It’s mostly mental. It’s having the right attitude and the ability to believe in yourself that there’s nothing that’s impossible if you put your mind to it.”

Thomas’s specialty was marksmanship — he won multiple Navy titles.

“Doesn’t matter how good a parachutist or swimmer or runner or hand-to-hand combat person you are,” he said. “If you can’t win the gunfight when you have one, it’s all for naught.”

So Thomas became a shooting trainer. He developed all SEAL Team sniper forces, close-quarter battle courses, “all of the, you know, sub-gun training — all of that stuff. I developed all of that for the SEAL team.”

And that’s what he’s most proud of.

“Half the guys sitting at this table, I taught how to shoot,” he said at a Baltimore hotel banquet hall. “There are no less than 20 SEAL Team people that I trained who are now distinguished or double-distinguished with a rifle and pistol.”


Retired SEAL Chuck Chaldekas recalled that doubts crept in during training.

“There are always questions of that sort,” he said. “On Friday nights every week. I would call home, talked to my parents. After describing things I did, my mother would say, ‘Well, I’m confident that you can make it through this training.’ And who was I to question that?”

Special warfare operators on the D.C. trip went on to be mayors, police officers, novelists, judges and businessmen.

Peterson said his training “gave me the confidence to do what I needed to do to handle the situation when I was doing the LAPD work, to approach people, talk to people be able to do stuff with them [and] understand how to work with people.”

“That gave me the confidence to understand how to work with people when they have problems,” he said.

Said David Walker, a Seabee embedded with a SEAL team: “We’re just ordinary guys that just have that grit that just won’t quit…. Focus on what you want and keep working towards it and you’ll get there.”

Walker was a police officer and chaplain in the San Jose area for 24 years.

Ground Zero Volunteer

As part of that duty, he volunteered to assist at New York City’s Ground Zero after 9/11.

“Another thing I learned — and I solidly believe this — [is] that each one of us … here today is here for a purpose,” the 77-year-old said. “And I know that there are a couple times that I should have been killed and I wasn’t.”

Walker said comrades once even thought he was dead, and worked on him for about a half-hour to revive him.

“We got hit with a rocket round, and I got through that, and the guy that was standing by (a short distance away) got killed and I survived it,” Walker said. “We’re all designed for a purpose, and we have a calling in our lives.”

Walker, who turned 19 on his first day of boot camp, said that in his team’s free time, the group built a sewer system for an orphanage. They also retrained some captured soldiers, teaching them how to maintain and operate farm machinery as well as trade skills.

Veteran Andy McTigue, whose service dog, Selkie, accompanied him to D.C, said his time in Vietnam led him to train service dogs for veterans for a living. Selkie is trained to respond to a medical emergency.

McTigue said the pairing of dog and veteran is meant to better the owner’s life and prevent service members’ suicides.

McTigue supported Department of Transportation rules prohibiting mere emotional support dogs on airlines.

Chaldekas talked about how being trained as a SEAL has benefited him: “It taught me that regardless of the problems that you see in life, if you expend a little bit of energy and stick to what you plan to do, you will succeed. You’ve been tested and tasked to do unusual things — for the general populous — but once you do those things a couple of times, it’s like any other task.

“But the confidence that you develop with those family members, brothers of yours, let you know that you can reach a little bit further down and succeed at what you are trying to do.”

Rohrbach said many things have changed since he finished BUD/S Class 49. Weapons and equipment have evolved. Elbow and knee pads are now available, he said.

Now Better Prepared

He believes new trainees are better prepared psychologically, and mental health staff is on board in addition to daily medical reviews.

Rohrbach’s sons Christopher and Ed joined him in the Navy as they went on to command SEAL teams themselves, so they’ve had the ability to compare notes on their service. Also two grandchildren have been accepted at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Son Ed was his guardian on Honor Flight. Rohrbach commissioned both sons before retiring.

Training is longer than it was for Vietnam-era vets, Rohrbach said. Whereas he and his peers had only 29 weeks plus a probationary period, today’s SEAL trainees go through a year of readiness before receiving their trident at graduation.

“Someone once told me they teach us how to do 10 times more than we think we can do,” he said. That way SEALs may find some tasks easier compared to Hell Week.

“I love the explosives and the weapons and the jumping and diving,” Rohrbach said. “It was all exciting. Every day was different. You never knew what you were going to do, or where you would be or how long a day it would be. Sometimes the days would be a couple of days, one after the other.”

SEAL training has an attrition rate of 75%-80%, according to the Navy.

The fighters learn their limits. “I know I can stay awake for three days and still function,” Rohrbach said. “I know I can swim six or seven miles.”

Then shorter distances don’t feel so daunting later.

Rohrbach wrote letters to five best friends, saying: “This is the last letter you will receive from me until I graduate.”

Whenever he felt miserable, he thought: “I don’t want to send the letter saying I quit. It gave me a feeling of can’t-let-them-down. You said you were going to do it, now you’re going to do it.”

Medal of Honor recipient Thornton spoke to the group last weekend in Baltimore.

Thornton said he wears his Medal of Honor for “all the people who didn’t come back.”

“We’ve always been there for each other,” said Thornton, who was honored for saving the life of his superior during an hours-long firefight in 1972. “We never ran. We protected each other.

“We’re a team. And I’ll tell you one thing — we’ve been in a lot of fights together in Vietnam and we stood together. We sure as hell didn’t care what the odds were in Vietnam.” 

In a match rife with penalty cards, the San Diego Wave fell 2-1 to host Seattle Reign despite forward Kyra Carusa’s first goal of the season.

Ten penalty cards (eight yellow, two red) were given, surpassing the most (eight in 2015 and 2018) in any National Women’s Soccer League match.

The cards were evenly distributed with five to each team.

“We should have won the game,” said head coach Casey Stoney, “and there’s no excuse for that, but we don’t have time to sulk.”

She added: “Ultimately, we have chances. We have shots on goal, and they’re not good enough.”

The Wave (2-2-1, 7 points) was without injured veterans Alex Morgan, Naomi Girma, Abby Dahlkemper and Sofia Jakobsson. Melanie Barcenas also was out with an injured hip.

San Diego provided pressure immediately to begin the first half. In the ninth minute, Reign forward Tziarra King was issued a red card after referee Danielle Chesky consulted with VAR and determined there was violent conduct.

Just two minutes later, the Wave opened the scoring when defender Kennedy Wesley’s well-placed free kick landed in the box and bounced around until finding the feet of Caursa.

The San Diego native took one shot that rebounded off the crossbar but fell directly back to Carusa, who was there to finish the chance with a volley.
 
Seattle landed an equalizer in the 35th minute when an errant touch was intercepted by forward Bethany Balcer, who slipped it into the goal, past goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.

Forward Veronica Latsko directed a free kick with her head for the game-winning goal in the 89th minute. 

Kristen McNabb received a red card in the 90+ minute after a confrontation with a Seattle player. 
 
Forward Elyse Bennett and defender Kaitlyn Torpey earned their first regular season starts of the season.

The Wave continues a three-game week, returning home to face Utah Royals on Wednesday, May 8, at Snapdragon Stadium. The match will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

Hundreds of family members, military veterans and other well-wishers heard the national anthem sung three times Sunday before the latest Honor Flight arrival at San Diego International Airport.

It was a special salute in advance of a special homecoming.

As in Navy special warfare operators, mostly retired SEALs.

Ninety Vietnam veterans between the ages of 72 and 89 got the festive, cheering, flag-waving welcome home they never had more than 50 years ago when many in a divided nation held servicemen and women in contempt.

Sunday afternoon’s escalator ride down at Terminal 2 saw salutes from Navy personnel and allied groups. Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts held signs of support.

• Related: Monumental Mission: SEAL on Honor Flight to D.C. Aims to Help Coronado

Saluting back — and first down the escalator with his wife, Rainey — was retired Lt. Mike Thornton, 78, who received the Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon in 1973.

Thornton served four tours in Vietnam.

“And every time I came back, it got worse and worse and worse,” he said. “So I think [service members] felt very bitter about how they were treated when they came back.”

Before the all-volunteer-organized trip, which began early Friday morning, Thornton told Times of San Diego he counsels fellow Vietnam veterans: “Be proud of who you are; be proud of what you did.”

Family members who hadn’t accompanied the veterans on their flight to Baltimore (and visits to Washington memorials and monuments) savored hugs and kisses near Baggage Claim.

Tears flowed on both sides of a cordoned off path.

As Scouts collected donations for the next charter-plane trip, an announcer noted this was the first Honor Flight devoted to Navy SEALs.

Previous flights in the nationwide network — since 2010 in San Diego — focused mainly on World War II and Korean War veterans.

First in a series of reports on the latest Honor Flight.

Retired SEAL Chuck Chaldekas is flying with Honor Flight San Diego this weekend to see military memorials in Washington, D.C., and connect with his brotherhood.

But on his mind will be a lesser-known monument in Coronado — one that honors 2,564 fallen Navy and Coast Guard members who served in Vietnam, which he thinks deserves greater national attention.

The 76-year-old Coronado resident plans to meet with the director of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to seek support for maintenance of the Vietnam Unit Memorial Monument on Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.

About 90 former Navy SEALs, underwater demolition members and boatsmen from the Vietnam War era are the latest veterans group to make the three-day trip to D.C., starting Friday to honor their former counterparts and receive a jubilant homecoming at the airport Sunday.

The Coronado monument consists of a curved wall with 26 plaques, each with 100 names of sailors and Coast Guard members who died during the Vietnam War.

A memorial obelisk and display of three styles of military boats used in that war also are there.

Chaldekas is president of the monument board of directors. A small staff maintains the grounds and gives tours. Graduations of new Special Warfare Combatant crewmen and changes of command take place there.

It is of educational and historical significance to honor and remember fallen brothers, Chaldekas said.

The concept for the project was an idea from a long-haul trucker who served two tours in Vietnam as a PBR sailor.

He thought military buddies who didn’t make it back alive deserved to be honored and spoke to fellow veterans about it. Eight years later, after 50 men gathered information and materials, the monument was established in May 2005.

Refurbishing Watercraft

Looking forward, Chaldekas wants to build a kiosk to honor 2,600 members of the 9th Infantry Division who played an integral part in their missions in Southeast Asia.

He also needs funding to refurbish the three displayed watercraft — Patrol Craft Fast (also known as Swift boats after the manufacturer), a River Patrol Boat and a Command and Control Boat.

All are on loan from the Heritage and History Command to the Mobile Riverine Force Association, Swift Boat Sailors Association of America, and Game Wardens Vietnam to the Future.

Of special interest to Chaldekas are three names on the plaques, members of Echo platoon of SEAL Team 1 who served with him and didn’t return home alive.

“That’s my reason for being here,” he said in an interview this week.

He regularly keeps in touch with the families and fulfilled a promise to visit their graves back East.

Camaradie with his fellow retired SEALs is what Chaldekas most look forward to this weekend in Washington.

Although members of classes of two SEAL group have met together regularly for lunch over the years, he hasn’t seen other members of his brotherhood in many years.

“When you go through the type of training that we went through, and you experience the things in combat or everyday work, you develop a family-type situation,” he said.

Seeing his SEAL Family 

This weekend, he said: “I’m going to see family members.”

“There are lot of things that most people don’t see or hear about that we know about, and that’s what keeps us together with a close hold.”

What were Chaldekas’ SEAL tours like?

“My job is like your vacation,” he said.

“Who is paid to go dive in the ocean and see all the denizens and great sights under water? Who gets to jump out of airplanes? Who is required to do physical training for an hour to two hours every morning and then take off for a run on the beach?”

He asks: “Is that a job or is that a vacation? We all enjoyed the jobs that we did. Sometimes you get into tight situations now and again in applying your trade, but everybody has a problem with that now and again.”

That was not Chaldekas’ first plan.

‘Job I Enjoyed Most’

He intended to serve in the Navy for two years, seeing sights his father had viewed in his military duty.

But one day in the Plan of the Day, Chaldekas saw a message that said the Navy needed people to jump out of airplanes, run down the beach and swim in the ocean.

“I fancied myself an athlete,” he said. “Twenty-five years later, I retired from the Navy doing the job that I enjoyed most in life — and I have the scars to prove it.” 

He has suffered from ischemic heart disease and has had 13 surgeries.

Another major part of the Coronado monument are the Vietnam-era Navy boats.

When the U.S. entered the Vietnam War, he said, a shortage existed of the types of boats needed to patrol the Southeast Asian coast and rivers and tributaries.

Coast Guard members were needed to precede other troops because they had usable 82-foot Cutter patrol boats. At that time, the Vietnamese Navy consisted of 125 ships and boats with nearly half of them sail-powered, he said.

So the Navy had to turn to business to develop boats to meet the environments of Vietnam.

Swift Industries had boats that went between small towns in Louisiana and Mississippi that were used by the oil industry, Chaldekes said, and 100 boats built by Swift were used in Vietnam.

Small crafts were needed to stop materials, personnel, explosives and weapons from flowing into South Vietnam, he said. They had a success rate of 95%.

River Patrol Boats were needed for streams and tributaries and Command and Patrol Boats aided with the transportation of large numbers of troops.

The smaller boats were equipped with machine guns and grenade launchers.

More information about the monument and how to donate can be found here.

Lackluster play and an ankle injury suffered by Alex Morgan spelled trouble Friday night for the San Diego Wave in a 1-0 soccer loss to host Orlando Pride.

It was the first road loss for the local club since Aug. 25, 2023, which was again against the Pride.

The Wave has scored only two goals in the first four games of regular season. Friday the team made only one shot on target vs. Pride’s eight attempts.

The only goal of the game, which Wave head coach Casey Stoney called a “comedy of errors,” occurred in the first half.

It started with Pride’s Summer Yates in the 26th minute. Angelina picked off a ball outside the Wave box, taking a touch before sending it wide to Kerry Abello. Pride is 2-0-3 with 9 points.

The Orlando midfielder then hit a cross that fell on frame and was pushed away by San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, but the rebound landed at the feet of Yates, who finished it to give the Pride the lead at Inter&Co Stadium.

Pride extended its unbeaten run to five games.

The Wave’s best chance happened in the 82nd minute when midfielder Savannah McCaskill received a ball over the top on the attack. McCaskill hit a pass out of the air that fell to Alex Morgan.

Morgan hit the ball on frame, but it was saved by defender Emily Sams before ultimately being grabbed by Orlando’s goalkeeper. Morgan injured her ankle on the play, and with San Diego having used all substitutes, the team played the final eight minutes and added time with 10 players.

Morgan hobbled off the pitch in pain and watched from the bench until the match ended.

Abby Dahlkemper said of Morgan after the match: “She’s doing OK. And she’s obviously a huge, important piece to our team. And she’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Defender Naomi Girma returned to the starting lineup after missing last week’s game in Louisville due to a thigh injury. She had 98.5% passing and eight clearances before being subbed in the 58th minute. 

The highlight of the match for San Diego (1-2-1, 4 points) was a regular-season-high seven saves on the night by goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, including a one-on-one save against Orlando second-half substitute Barbra Banda, a Zambian star in her NWSL debut.

“I think it was very slow in the first half, like you say too many giveaways,” Stoney said. “You turn the ball over to a team like that, then they got their talent. They’re going to hurt you.”

Stoney concluded that her players made too many unforced errors.

The club has been on the road for 10 days (including a tie with Racing Louisville last weekend) and international players have missed some Wave practices.

But Stoney said: “No excuses — we’ve got to be better.”

A broadcast announcer’s opinion was that Wave players were “flummoxed” by the Pride’s play.

San Diego next hosts Bay FC at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, April 27. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Tickets are available here. 

Selfie lovers, rejoice. You now have 33 “cut-out” photo areas at The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch.

The fields off Interstate 5 carved out such areas years ago so visitors could be in the midst of the dramatic rows of ranunculus. But people could still be seen breaking the rules by stepping over green tape that asks them not to trample the blossoms.

This year, the fields have expanded the number of selfie spots and it’s been a “huge success,” said Fred Clarke, general manager at The Flower Fields.

Win-win for the petals and the lovers of flora.

And with the abundance of rain (aka free irrigation), it has been a good growing season, and attendance is up slightly over last year.

“I have been here 18 years,” Clarke said, “and it is the best crop we have grown.”

With the 2024 theme of “Spring into Color,” the flower fields include 55 acres of Giant Tecolote ranunculus that are now in full bloom. But visitors can also see snapdragons, daisies, sweet peas, nasturtiums, orchids and a variety of other flowers.

Activities Saturday include:

• Flower Flow Yoga, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
• Pressed Flower Art Workshop, 9-11 a.m.
• Mosiac Frame Workshop, 9 a.m. -noon
• Picnic & Flowers, 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
• Cool Rush band, 1-5 p.m.

On Sunday:

• Painting at The Carlsbad Flower Fields with Leoangelo Art, 9 a.m. -noon
• Floral Hoop Décor Workshop, 9 a.m.-noon
• Picnic & Flowers, 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
• Cool Rush band, 1-5 p.m.

Upcoming highlights are Kid’s Day on May 5 and Mother’s Day on May 12 — the last day of the flower season at the fields will include colorful Ballet Forklorico dancing by students from Rancho Buena High School.

Kid’s Day features BMX performances, bubble making, ballooning and face painting.

In addition, adjacent to the fields, children can visit the Carlsbad Mining Company where people can find polished gemstones using the miner’s old method of sluicing water through boxes of sand. They can also enjoy Santa’s Playground and the sweet pea maze.

Mother’s Day hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

There will be increased shade structures, expanded semi-private picnic spaces, reserved parking, and a private entrance for the Picnic & Flowers on the holiday.

Participants will have complimentary wagon rides, an extended menu featuring kid-friendly bites, live music, and a dedicated family-fun zone with interactive games.

Each family on Mother’s Day will receive individual boxes with a diverse tasting menu, including kid-friendly options. Food items will include a range from Cucumber Chive and Chickpea Smash sandwiches to a variety of seasonal side salads, a deconstructed charcuterie basket and a fruity dessert.

Other activities in the coming weeks are Sunset Wine Tasting & Music, Meditation and Sound Healing Workshop, Flower Crown Workshop, Charcuterie workshop, Graze at the Fields, Drawing sunflowers and a Brownie and Daisies.

Single ticket admission is $23 for adults, $21 for seniors 60+, and military; $14 for children 3–10, and free for children under three. Season passes are $48 for adults, $44 for seniors 60+, and $28 for children 3–10. Group tours are available.

Buying one adult ticket and getting one free child ticket is available on Mondays through the end of the season.

Tickets are available here.

Visiting on weekdays is considered the best time to visit to avoid crowds.

Sixteen-year-old Kimmi Ascanio and Kennedy Wesley made their NWSL debuts for San Diego Wave FC Saturday in a 0-0 tie with Racing Louisville.

Ascanio, signed offseason to a three-year contract, came in as a substitute in the second half. On the international stage, Ascanio has been a mainstay since 2022 with the U.S. Youth national teams.

Wesley, 23, was drafted with the Wave’s first-round draft pick (13th overall) in the 2024 NWSL Draft. 

Star defender Naomi Girma was unavailable for the game following a thigh injury in international play against Japan last week. 

Wave head coach Casey Stoney praised both new player after the match, saying she thought Wesley played with “maturity and creativity. … I’m gonna play her because she’s good enough to play. I think if you’re good enough you’re old enough.”

“She’s such a fantastic player overall,” Stoney said of Wesley. “I’m really proud of Kennedy coming in and filling those (Girma) shoes… I thought she stepped in brilliantly.”

The Wave (1-1-1, 4 points) earned one point in its first road trip of the season.

Louisville (0-0-4, 4 points) nearly scored when former Wave player Taylor Kornieck Flint hit the ball into the net, but the goal was called back because of an offside Louisville player.

Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan made the biggest save of the night in the 87th minute when Louisville’s Emma Sears hit a cross into the six-yard box that found Racing substitute Ary Borges. The Brazilian’s header required a diving save from Sheridan to deny the opportunity and earn her fourth save of the 2024 campaign. 

Wave forward Sofia Jakobsson had a good but unsuccessful attempts on the net in the 9^th and 61^st minutes.

Jakobsson received a ball inside the box and hit a curving shot to the far post that went just wide.

Wave dominated possession in the first have but waned somewhat in the second.

“We looked tired,” Stoney said. “It just didn’t quite work tonight.”

Stoney added that playing at Lynn Family Stadium is a “difficult” pitch.

The Wave remain on the road as the club travels to Orlando to face the Pride on Friday, April 19, at Inter&Co Stadium. The match kicks off at 5 p.m. on Amazon Prime.