Paperback
Retail Price: $55.95
To mark the closure of Fort Ord and its subsequent reuse by the City of Marina in California, Fort Ord Poetry and Song presents the Fort Ord story.
This collection of poetry and song chronicles the story of Fort Ord—not only during World War II, but also in the years before and after, right up to the reestablishment of the “City” of Fort Ord as part of Marina, California. With anecdotes and humor, the collection is based on the chronological outline of the Fort Ord Panorama, a weekly newspaper. The contrast between pre-war poetry and the patriotic poetry of World War II is striking, and the post-war poetry consists of themes of drunk driving and the Vietnam era of drugs, alcoholism, racial strife, and public discontent. The book concludes with the reduction of forces after Vietnam and minor wars like Grenada and the Persian Gulf. Fort Ord closed in September 1994, but its long and storied history is captured forever in Fort Ord Poetry and Song.
Paperback
Format: 8 x 10 Color Paperback, 559 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (May 30, 2021)
ISBN10: 1977241565
ISBN13: 9781977241566
Genre: POETRY / American / General
Howard Gustafson was born in 1953 in Germany to military parents abroad. He has a vast knowledge of Fort Ord and the city of Marina as he has resided there since 1958. As a military dependent he delivered the Fort Ord Panorama newspaper, cashiered for the NCO Club system, and worked at the Soldier’s Club (Stilwell Hall), the Presidio of Monterey, and the Main NCO Club. Howard received his Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force in 1974 and graduated from California State University, Fresno, in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree. A geologist and engineer for 35 years, Fort Ord Poetry and Song is his debut collection. 
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