b'W e l c o m e !THEUSSLEXINGTONISACOASTALBEND TREASUREANDANATIONALthe magnificent landmark that many of us see on a daily basisand if their care TREASURE not for the steel of its structure, or the power of its guns, or even the le- for their constituents well-being matters 1/10 as much to them as the survival of thality of its fleet of fighters and bombers. It is a treasure for its heroic crews. Havingthe Lex meant to its commanders and crew, Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend enjoyed the privilege of being educated in the history of the Lex and its connectioncould at last meet its potential, like our neighbors to the north.to Naval aviation by retired U.S. Navy Captain Steve Banta, former commander ofAs one who attended UT Austin back in the late 1980s, I found it heartbreakingNaval Air Station Corpus Christi and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, on thebitter-sweet, more accuratelyto drive down South Congress Avenue last year, for occasion of the anniversary of the ships commissioning, I found a new appreciationthe first time in many years. What was back then a dilapidated and dangerous, for the bravery, ingenuity and resilience of its crews in World War II. aged and dirty zone occupied by drug dealers and prostitutes, is today a continu-Named in honor of CV-2, the first USS Lexington that was lost in 1942, CV-16 en- ous mile-or-so of uninterrupted, beautiful, new, clean and occupied retail, restau-tered the war against a Japanese navy that had enjoyed numerous victories ear- rant, entertainment, and residential development.ly-on. The new Lex suffered major damage from a nighttime torpedo strike, an er- While its naive to expect that improvement on the level of South Congress can ror attributed to the ships captain. Avoiding catastrophic loss, the quick-thinkingbe expected on its own, as an oasis of gentrification, the process starts with im-and innovative crew welded shut damaged compartments that were taking onproving the regions broader economy. Thats what Austin has done over the past water and fabricated a make-shift steering system that would get them back totwo decades, and now it is one of the most dynamic cities in the world. In the Pearl Harbor under ships power. Greater Corpus Christi Area, and mostly on land that is annexed by the City, even After months in repair, and after the first of four erroneous reports of its sinking byin counties other than Nueces, $53 billion in industrial investment has and is being Japanese propagandist Tokyo Rose, the Lex returned to battle in the Pacific. Theinjected into the regional economy. Lack of money and opportunity are not the brave crew of the USS Lexington led major victories against the Japanese, leadingreasons why our growth is so far behind that of most of the other big cities in Texas.up to the Battle of the Philippine Sea, dubbed the Great Marianas Turkey ShootWhile those reasons are multiple, complex, and deeply ingrained, the solutions are during which its pilots and gunners took down some 300 enemy planes and allnot. Developments underway in the area are proof that positive growth is possible, but wiped out Japans capacity for naval warfare. Even after being struck in a Ka- despite artificial obstacles presented by corrupt or incompetent public employees, mikaze attack by a Japanese Zero, and again being reported sunk by Tokyo Rose,or the famed Good Ole Boy, pay-for-play system that kept Tilman Fertitta out, or the the crew of the USS Lexington dubbed the ship The Blue Ghost and carried on togenerational spite that ran Bob Rowling out, or even organized protectionism that the greatest naval victory in history. ran off Johnny Morris Bass Pro Shops and Intrawest Resorts. If leaders emerge who The citizens and leaders of Corpus Christi, as the largest city and center of the Tex- care first about the greater good of their constituents, like Roy Miller and the crews as Coastal Bend, should find inspiration from the great heroes who served aboardof the Lex did, than anything is possible for Corpus Christi.The Editor20THE COASTAL BEND GUIDE TheCoastalBend.com'