As a child living in the Philippines outside of Manila during World War II, Tom Crosby and his family were captured by Japanese soldiers and held as civilian prisoners of war for three years.
Eight years after being rescued by U.S. military personnel in 1945, Crosby and his brother joined the U.S. Navy in 1953 to give back to the community that saved them. On Sunday, the 90-year-old dropped some of his personal belongings into a time capsule at Liberty Station during a centennial celebration honoring the opening of Naval Training Center San Diego, where he attended boot camp.
“It’s very special because at the Naval Training Center where I graduated from, we learned more than just defending the country,” Crosby said. “We learned discipline, we learned a lot of self-improvement things. People don’t think of it, but that training is something that I carried on.”
Hundreds of people — many of them families dressed in coordinating Halloween costumes — attended the centennial event and Halloween bash to trick-or-treat, enjoy live music, play yard games and celebrate the history of Liberty Station, which now is a civilian community hub.
The time capsule, which will be opened in 2048, contains a proclamation from Mayor Todd Gloria, a copy of the original Corky McMillin Companies proposal to develop Liberty Station, and a package from Crosby including a signed POW flag. It also holds two letters from seniors at Rock Academy, a copy of the 2001 yearbook for High Tech High’s Liberty Station campus, and a can of a Stone Brewing pilsner specially brewed in honor of the centennial, among other items.
From left, Gary Jacobs, founder of High Tech High schools; Chuck Leslie, head of schools at Rock Church; Tom Crosby, a graduate from Naval Training Center in 1953; Joe Haeussler, executive vice president of Pendulum Properties; Lisa Johnson, president and CEO of NTC Foundation, and Amy Wall, general property manager of Hines, bury a time capsule during the centennial celebration of Liberty Station at Point Loma on Sunday.
(Kristian Carreon / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Naval Training Center San Diego opened in 1923, drawing nearly 2,000 visitors. The 504-acre former naval base was closed in 1997 when the Navy moved its basic training to Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois.
The former military base was renamed in 2001 when it became a civilian redevelopment project, complete with homes, retail and arts spaces and public parks.
Liberty Station Director Laurie Albrecht said that staying true to the area’s history as a naval base was important during the two-year planning process in preparation for the 100-year anniversary.
“When you see closed bases, sometimes they’ve been developed for other military aspects, sometimes they were totally destroyed and built up, but this was taking historic buildings and re-purposing them,” she said.
Among the centennial guests on Sunday was Craig Noble, a 73-year-old Chula Vista resident who attended basic and advanced training at NTC San Diego. The hereditary member of the Military Order of the World Wars went on to serve on a submarine tender based in Italy before returning to San Diego to learn computer programming.
“Every time I come here it’s kind of like coming back home,” Noble said, before jokingly adding, “but I wouldn’t want to have to live here again under the conditions that I had back in ’73.”
