Gulf of California

* An interesting sidelight can be added to your March 24 article on the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. When World War II started, the War Department was trying to rebuild the depleted American military machine. According to military historian, J.D. Morelock, Chief of Staff George Marshall and other officers were “frantically trying to mobilize and rearm the U.S. Army� (“Generals of the Ardennes�).

At one point, the U.S. thought that the country might be invaded from the West or East coasts. A plan was made to transport President Franklin D. Roosevelt from Washington to a hideaway near Cienega de Santa Clara on the northern end of the Gulf of California. From there, a submarine would take him to a safe location where the war could be conducted by radio or wireless. But the invasion did not occur, and these hurried plans became a minor tidbit of World War II history.

KENNETH LARSON

Los Angeles