Memories of Wars Past : Memorial Services Under Gray Skies Honor War Dead

Memorial Day, the traditional gateway to the good times of summer, was celebrated in quiet fashion in San Diego on Monday, tempered by gusty winds and scattered spritz that seemed more a prelude to winter than summer.

Monday’s news was how many persons did not go to the beach for requisite barbecues and volleyball games. Traces of rain fell in most parts of the county Monday--0.09 at Palomar Mountain, the county’s wettest spot--as an upper level low pressure system moved through the region. It was more a day for hot chocolate and brandy than soda pop and cerveza.

More than 750 people attended a blustery ecumenical Memorial Day service at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma, and twice that many people ran in the eighth annual Coronado Memorial Day 10K benefit, won by San Diegan Jay Larson with a time of 31:25.

Held Piece of Plywood

The California Highway Patrol said six motorists were killed over the weekend in traffic accidents, including a 29-year-old man who died Monday from injuries he suffered late Saturday afternoon when he fell from atop the trunk of a car he was riding in Lemon Grove.

The county coroner’s office said Larry D. Battell, address and occupation unknown, was attempting to hold a piece of plywood while sitting on the trunk of a sedan when he fell to the street in the 2400 block of Buena Vista Avenue and suffered internal injuries.

Five other people died in traffic accidents, four on Friday night: Richard E. Wilson, 50, of Santee, who lost control of his truck and hit a utility pole in Southeast San Diego; Robert P. Arnold, an 18-year-old Navy petty officer, whose motorcycle collided with a California Highway Patrol car while involved in a high-speed chase, and two Phoenix residents, James K. Gipson and Patricia Van Spriel, both 44, whose truck rolled down an embankment on westbound Interstate 8 near Alpine. A Camp Pendleton Marine, Lance Cpl. Richard E. Smith, 22, died Sunday morning after he apparently fell asleep at the wheel while driving on Interstate 5 north of Oceanside. Four passengers, all of them Marines from Camp Pendleton, were taken to area hospitals with moderate injuries.

An annoying and chilling onshore wind peaking at times at more than 30 m.p.h. made for lousy surfing conditions and kept all but the hardiest beachcombers away, lifeguards said Monday afternoon.

Like ‘Victory at Sea’

“It’s pretty dismal out here,” said San Diego city lifeguard David Mico. “And the water’s so bad, it looks like Victory at Sea.”

County lifeguard Mike Brown said from Solana Beach that it seemed the beaches had died Monday “for lack of interest.”

“There’s only a few die-hards out here,” he said.

Del Mar lifeguard supervisor Jim Lischer said the wind was so strong there were no rescues on his beaches. “The surf was rough enough to push anyone in trouble back onto the beach,” he said.

Oceanside lifeguard captain Matt Stephens said his department recorded six rescues, however, as swimmers were unable to cope with the choppy waters and strong rip tides.

A small craft advisory was issued early in the day Monday and assistance was given to several boaters in difficulty, lifeguards in Oceanside, Del Mar and San Diego reported.

Winds peaked at about 30 m.p.h. at Lindbergh Field on Monday and about 26 m.p.h. at the Miramar Naval Air Station. Temperatures throughout most of San Diego County reached into the mid-60s--65 at Lindbergh Field, 63 in Oceanside, 67 in Escondido and 64 in El Cajon. In Borrego Springs, the temperature hit 92, still under partly cloudy skies.