Big Guns Make Bad Neighbors
I say, Muffy, that deuced gunnery is flattening the bubbly! Old Ironsides’ la-di-da waterfront condo neighbors want to muffle the guns … a.m. and p.m. salutes to the flag, unsettling. Boston Herald:
Miffed residents of a posh condo complex have invited the commanding officer of the USS Constitution over for a glass of wine so he can hear for himself that the frigate’s twice-daily cannon blasts - a tradition dating to 1798 - are “more disruptive to the neighborhood than you might have imagined.”
Commanding Officer Timothy Cooper received the most recent complaint two weeks ago from neighbors suggesting naval officers assigned to the historic vessel eliminate the morning and evening blasts on weekends, reduce the size of the gunpowder charge and turn down the volume of the national anthem recording played during the daily flag raising and lowering ceremonies.
“The residential population and congestion of this area has (sic) grown significantly and, it seems to us, that the cannon charge/noise is excessive,” the unidentified resident first wrote in an Aug. 26, 2009, letter obtained by the Herald.
High-end condominium developments have sprung up across from the Charlestown Navy Yard over the past decade, transforming the once hardscrabble waterfront into a toney enclave.
“Over the summer, we have entertained several times, and we have had guests sit up in shock when the cannon goes off,” the resident wrote. “It has also awakened them at 8 a.m. while they are vacationing and then blasted them again at sunset.”
Good Lord! It positively bruised the Chardonnay. Startled Fi-Fi. Gave Veronica the vapors!
The ship’s spokesman, Petty Officer First Class Eric Brown, said halting the cannon fire - or even delaying it - would undermine a time-honored patriotic ritual that draws tourists from land and sea. “It’s as much a part of Boston as the Red Sox and Cheers,” Brown said.
More so. It’s been here longer than either of them. Boston-built in 1797, based here for much of her career, with periodic excursions into the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Those guns brought the Barbary pirates to heel, forced HMS Guerriere to strike her colors and dismasted HMS Java. Among others.
Other nearby residents agreed, including 52-year-old Elizabeth Ames, who lives in a luxury development called The Nautica.
“This is the heart of the city’s history,” Ames said. “If you don’t like it, don’t live here.”
It’s a variation on the “Sound of Freedom” dispute, which is what happens when people move in next to military air bases. It also happens when people move out to the country, seeking bucolic surroundings, and then try to shut the farms down. In this case, it’s the sound of two centuries of American freedom, twice a day. Next thing you know, some Barbary pirates pop up on the horizon, they can’t get enough of it. Hang on a sec … we do have Barbary pirates on the horizon. I guess this means we’re officially in the post post-9/11 era. Post-Barbary pirate era, whatever.
The rail of Constitution, by the way, is where the first United States Marine was killed in action. Lt. William Bush, Aug. 19, 1812, musket shot in the face while preparing to board HMS Guerriere in the action that earned Constitution the nickname “Old Ironsides.”
Two centuries later, United States Marines are still engaged, still taking fire, this time alongside our British cousins.
Donate via Team Marines. All proceeds go to buy laptops and specialized electronics for war-wounded vets.
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Topics: America, Boston, guns, history, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:26 am on Saturday, November 7, 2009
7 Responses to “Big Guns Make Bad Neighbors”
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November 7th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden has a piece on those annoying “sounds of freedom”: It’s a variation on the “Sound of Freedom” dispute, which is what happens when people move in next to military air bases. In this case, it’s the sound of two centuries of American freedom, twice a day. Next thing you know, some Barbary pirates pop up on the horizon, they can’t get enough of it. Hang on a sec … we do have Barbary pirates on the horizon. I guess this means we’re officially in the post post-9/11 era. Post-Barbary pirate era, whatever. [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 10:36 am
May God Bless Elizabeth Ames and all those like her.
November 8th, 2009 at 10:54 am
[...] Jules Crittenden finds some whiners in Charleston, SC, who are upset with a long, loud tradition [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
We are a nation of whiny crybabies. No wonder we have the Whiner-in-Chief for president.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:02 am
[...] are a couple of fun links for you to check out today: jules crittenden has a great post on those annoying ’sounds of freedom’. and cassandra has the winners of the [...]
November 9th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Easy answer? Fire the salute to starboard rather than port.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
No, the easy answer is one we used to say when I was a young Marine:
“Toughski Shitski…as they say in the Russian Marines”
From the Novel “Tell It To The Marines” (can’t remember the author’s name)