Monday, October 10, 2005
Your Superhero History Moment
Minutemen Memorial
Battalion Park has several statues and plaques to fallen heroes of all sorts, but the largest is the Minutemen Memorial. Five bronze statues stand atop a marble pedestal, depicting the first Pacific City superteam: The Minutemen. Originally started by Amazing Woman, Red Ace, and Mercury, the Minutemen served in every theater of WWII though they concentrated on the Japanese threat. They gained and lost members over time until they numbered five in 1958: Red Ace (Super strong war hero), The Shield (Alien with a golden force shield), Vesper (Formerly the villainous Mind Maiden), The Eagle (Weapons expert with mechanical wings) and Raptor (Eagle’s former sidekick Wing). On July 4, 1958, they stopped a plot by Reichmaster (II) to turn the entire city into mind-controlled Nazi zombies but at the cost of their own lives.
The city erected the Minutemen Memorial Complex in 1960. It consists of the north end of Battalion Park, with the bronze statues surrounded by plaques and changing holographic displays of everyone who ever served with the Minutemen. Their former base atop Superior Tower now houses the Minutemen Museum, which holds a re-creation of their main meeting room, a theater constantly showing their various Movietone News clips, interviews and press conferences. On Saturdays and Sundays the theater shows the restored version of 1975’s ‘Minutemen’ and 1998’s ‘Front Line’ for a minimal charge. There is also a gift shop and a trophy room (The trophy room is filled with replicas after the incident with Count Catastrophe's Disaster Staff).
