They Went Out, but They Didn't Come Back

The Maritime Memorial Park in Astoria, Oregon was consecrated on this date (August 14, 1993) to pay tribute to the local lives that spent their careers at sea - some of which, never came home. Located directly under the Astoria-Megler Bridge (featured in such films as The Goonies, Free Willy, Kindergarten Cop, and The Ring Two), the wall of remembrance is chalked full of stories of the dangerous and sometimes interesting life of sailors and crews that work the open water. Among those featured are the crew of the U.S.S. Astoria (lost in World War II), the coast guard and merchants that were lost where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean (see Mouth of the Columbia River), and a captain of a halibut fishing vessel who freely spoke of his encounters with a large sea monster (nicknamed Colossal Claude locally, but known worldwide as Cadborosaurus or Caddy). The memorial was a filming location for the upcoming horror film, Crimps, by local filmmaker Mick Alderman.

Read about their accounts at Dark Destinations.

-Casey H.

A Rather Unusual Obelisk

Those that take a leisurely stroll through the Little Rock Arsenal in Little Rock, Arkansas might stumble across a very odd dedication. Some distance behind the famed Tower Building in the park area stands an obelisk that was erected on this date in 1927 by the Arkansas Medical Society. The white obelisk commemorates the first human dissection in the state of Arkansas, which apparently was done on the very spot the obelisk now stands in 1874. A human dissection obelisk is but one of the intriguing stories of the Little Rock Arsenal. It is also well known as the birthplace of General Douglas MacArthur, hosted first the Confederate Army and later, the Union Army (who incarcerated the "Boy Hero of the Confederacy" here before his execution), in the midst of the Civil War, and is believed to be haunted by guests and staff alike to this day.

Read more about the Little Rock Arsenal.

On a completely unrelated note, today is also the anniversary of a fictional milestone as well. On May 12, 1984, a T-800 cyborg assassin arrived from the future with the intent of executing a waitress by the name of Sarah Connor. Fortunately for her, a human resistance fighter named Kyle Reese was also sent back who successfully thwarted the machine's plans. Ironically, 25 years later, the character of Sarah Connor is facing a "termination" of a different sort as executives at the Fox Network debate bringing the television show, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, back for another season despite struggling ratings.

-Casey H.

The Demolition of the Sylvia Likens House

We just received notice that the house in Indiana where Sylvia Likens was slain (see The Sylvia Likens House) is currently being demolished. The demolition which started on April 23rd, is going to allow a local church to build a parking lot in its place. The change has come as a relief to some in the neighborhood, both because the house had become a site of recent illegal activity and because it served as a painful reminder of the horrifying abuse that happened there in the 1960s. The murder case had re-emerged into the national consciousness in recent years thanks to the films An American Crime (2007) and Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (2007), reminding people of the horrible things that can happen when people who witness abuse fail to report it to authorities and instead allow it to escalate.

The city of Indianapolis erected a memorial to Sylvia Likens in 2001. The back of the memorial bears a message about how the death of Sylvia Likens caused a change in laws in an attempt to prevent the same thing from happening again. It also bears a promise of vigilance by the Indianapolis Police Department in matters of child protection. The memorial stands in a peaceful clearing in a local park where visitors can reflect on the incident and the lessons learned from it.

Pay your respects at the Sylvia Likens Memorial.

-Tom G