The community of Vanport was a public housing project once located between
the city of Portland, Oregon and the Columbia River, what is now the site of
Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway. Construction began in
August 1942 to house the workers at the wartime Kaiser Shipyards in Portland
and near-by Vancouver, Washington. It was home to 40,000 people, making it
Oregon’s second-largest city at the time, and the largest public housing project
in the nation.

The city was destroyed at 4:05 p.m. on May 30, 1948, when a 200-foot section 
of the dike holding back the Columbia River collapsed during a flood, killing
fifteen people. The city was underwater by nightfall leaving its inhabitants
homeless.

The Indianapolis 500 is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
since its inception in 1911. The race has always been scheduled on or
around Memorial Day. Since 1974, it has been scheduled for the Sunday
of Memorial Day weekend. The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in
Racing, is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, comprising
three of the most prestigious motorsports events in the world.

The inaugural running was won by Ray Harroun (below) in 1911. The Indy 
race celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, and the 100th running was
held today.

NOTE: ROOKIE ALEXANDER ROSSI WON THE 100TH RUNNING OF
THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 TODAY.

(FoxNews) – The last American combat flag from the Vietnam War is being put
up for auction.

War hero Army Col. Chester Bailey McCoid took the large flag with him when
he became the last ground force soldier to leave the South Vietnam port city
of Da Nang on March 29, 1973, a month before the fall of Saigon.

According to the Washington Examiner, the flag is being sold by the Maryland
auctioneer Alexander Historical Auctions. The live and online auction of the
flag and other historic mementos is slated for this week on Tuesday and
Wednesday.

Bill Panagopulos, president of the auction house, called the flag “a historic
relic from a war which still stirs controversy at its very mention.” He expects
the flag to fetch at least $10,000 or as much as $50,000. 

CAMILLE BOHANNON

 
Mt. St. Helens as it looks today from downtown Portland, Oregon.

DAVID MELENDY

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790)