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It was the American novelist Thomas Wolfe who popularized the maxim, “You can’t go home again.” Wolfe understood that “home” is essentially a concept and frame of mind and not just a physical place. Adults who have spent a lot of time away from home can tell you Wolfe was right. Still, Wolfe certainly capitalized on his nostalgia for his home town of Asheville, North Carolina. I’m about to do likewise.

A death in the family recently brought me back to my home state of Delaware. As long as I was there, I decided to check out Riverfront Wilmington, a revitalized section of the city along the Christina River.

All the time I was growing up, there was nothing there but dilapidated buildings and deserted warehouses — remnants of the busy industrial area it once was. No one ever went there. Now people do. There is a well-kept, security-patrolled walkway along the bank of the river. It leads to all sorts of amenities — including restaurants, hotels, an event center, and a minor league baseball stadium.

I had wanted to see this remarkable example of urban renewal ever since President Biden had made the Riverfront’s new Chase Event Center his election headquarters and was televised speaking from there. But I had another reason — a personal one. The main industry in that area had been the Dravo Shipyard. At its height during World War II, Dravo had employed 10,500 people. By war’s end, it had built and launched 88 Navy ships, ranging from destroyer escorts to landing craft. And my mother had worked there.

It was mother’s first job after high school. Forget Rosie the Riveter. Mother was never cut out for skilled or manual labor; she always guarded against chipping her nails. She did clerical work. And she must have enjoyed working for Dravo. She told me it was all-hands-on-deck for a party every time they launched a ship. But when the war ended, so did her job.

The planners of Riverfront Wilmington obviously realized that Dravo’s proud contribution to the war effort had been ignored for too long. Two of the shipyard’s large cranes remain standing. They tower above the complex. The road leading into Riverfront Wilmington is named Shipyard Road, and the walkway ends at Dravo Plaza — the entrance to which is marked by two brightly painted mock-up cranes forming an archway with their booms.

As I walked along, I found myself imagining my mother’s presence and wondering what it was like to live through a time when the country was unified. Americans back then were willing to commit themselves to a cause greater than themselves.

I also found myself thinking of another shipyard — the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (PSNS) in Bremerton, Washington. We moved here from Bremerton, and I’ve been following the fate of an iconic shipyard crane there. It was built in 1932 by Dravo employees from their Wilmington and Pittsburgh shipyards. And it has long stood as a proud reminder of the role the shipyard has played, and continues to play, in our nation’s defense. The Navy now intends to tear it down to make way for a new drydock. I wish they would reconsider. Relics and monuments of the past are important — provided they commemorate a heritage we can all agree on. The PSNS crane does.

A former enlisted Marine and a Vietnam veteran, Palm retired from the Marine Corps as a major and went on to an academic career. He lives in Forest and can be contacted at majorpalm@gmail.com.

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