San Luis Obispo was founded in 1772 as a mission in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains on California's Central Coast. The city that grew from a rustic pueblo, with its scattering of adobe buildings, today has a wealth of architectural styles. From the simple barns of the outlying farm community, to the grand hotels and lively saloons kept busy by the Southern Pacific Railroad depot, and back full circle to the Mission Revival style edifices of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo's architecture has echoed its history. Motor travel brought the world's first motel to this half-way point on California's historic Highway 101, and the famously zany tourist attraction, the Madonna Inn.

Camp San Luis Obispo, founded in 1928 amid the starkly beautiful rolling hills north of San Luis Obispo, has an ideal central California location. It is the original home of the California National Guard and remains today the Guard's principal training facility. In 1941 the U.S. Army commandeered the post, enlarging it to over 10,000 acres for the training of half a million soldiers and 42 infantry divisions. Salinas Dam, 20 miles away, was built to provide a dependable source of water for the troops. Reverting to the state after major conflicts, the camp is also the headquarters for the U.S. Army Reserve, California Specialized Training Institute, and a host of agencies and academies. It remains on the frontline for modernizing the military into the 21st century.

Camp San Luis Obispo, founded in 1928 amid the starkly beautiful rolling hills north of San Luis Obispo, has an ideal central California location. It is the original home of the California National Guard and remains today the Guard's principal training facility. In 1941 the U.S. Army commandeered the post, enlarging it to over 10,000 acres for the training of half a million soldiers and 42 infantry divisions. Salinas Dam, 20 miles away, was built to provide a dependable source of water for the troops. Reverting to the state after major conflicts, the camp is also the headquarters for the U.S. Army Reserve, California Specialized Training Institute, and a host of agencies and academies. It remains on the frontline for modernizing the military into the 21st century.

Young Sylvia Mendez never expected to be at the center of a landmark legal battle. Young Aki Munemitsu never expected to be sent away from her home and her life as she knew it. The two girls definitely never expected to know each other, until their lives intersected on a Southern California farm in a way that changed the country forever. Who are Sylvia and Aki? And why did their family stories matter then and still matter today? This book reveals the remarkable, never-before-told story—based on true events—of Mendez vs. Westminster School District, the California court case that desegregated schools for Latino children and set the stage for Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education at the national level.

Camp Roberts, in the Salinas Valley, is one of Californias largest military training camps. Named for a heroic World War I tank driver, it took the threat of global war in 1940 to kick-start its construction. Soon Camp Roberts had a capacity to house and train 23,000 men. During the war, almost half a million men trained here. Row upon row of wooden buildings, replete with churches, stores, a hospital, and an amphitheater where A-list stars performed, made it a mobilized city of 45,000 at its peak. In 1946, it became a ghost town overnight. Revived during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, it passed into National Guard control in 1971. However, all branches of the military continue to train here, and the camp has renewed relevance for troops bound for the Middle East.