Richard Scott was still a young man when World War II came crashing into California on December 7, 1941, Sheriff “Mac” McDermott, with his characteristic flair for the dramatic, rode his horse up to the La Paloma Theater in downtown Encinitas. He electrified the matinee audience by shouting for the movie to stop and the house lights to be switched on.

Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. For the first time since 1918, the nation was at war. Many of the men and women in the youthful audience had already been trained in aircraft recognition. Now they sprang from their seats and raced their bicycles to pre-planned observation posts. Mac set up a telephone communication system based on a carnival “Wheel of Fortune.” Since every spin randomly rang phones at the outposts, vigilance was assured. However, within a few weeks Richard Scott notified Sheriff McDermott of an unanticipated problem.

Most of the Corps of Observation “spotter” positions were too far inland to directly view the ocean horizon. The two of them started pouring over terrain maps in the sheriff’s office when they suddenly realized that the solution was already at hand.

In 1933, at the same time Encinitas’ American Legion Post # 416 had been dedicated, US Geodetic Monument “WHITE” was established on the Leucadia Overlook. Its panorama of the Pacific was pristine and the land around it was kept clear of foliage by Federal mandate. The Station White observation post was constructed early in 1942, with Richard Scott as the chief spotter.

But within a number of months, when Mr. Scott was incapacitated by polio, local women jumped at the chance to take over his observation chores. Most were thinking of their deployed sons, boyfriends and husbands as they ceaselessly scanned the horizon. Station White soon became a female convocation point where women from all over San Diego County could share their mutual anxieties and find reassurance while personally contributing to the war effort.

It’s because of this uniquely female cultural experience that World War II’s Station White Panorama was rediscovered and preserved in the 21st Century. In 2003, when their sacred viewpoint was threatened by a housing development, women from all over the county summoned the polio-stricken Richard Scott out of retirement to memorialize the observation post’s precise location. They then initiated a campaign to preserve the panorama with the help of local veterans and a legendary female dachshund.

“In 2003, when a developer proposed a four-lot subdivision near the observation post, the Planning Commission imposed height restrictions on the homes, fences and landscaping.

In 2005, the developer began building the homes. Around that time, the Veterans campaigning for support of the historical designation added Daisy, the dachshund to their arsenal.

They took their mascot on door-to-door campaigns as a goodwill ambassador, and her charm worked dazzlingly…” San Diego Union Tribune, August 16, 2007, by Angela Lau

But when Daisy sacrificed herself protecting her puppies from coyotes on June 11, 2015, a grateful community decided to honor her. Although the original memorial plaque wording (on file at the Encinitas Planning Commission) had not mentioned any non-humans, now it was decided that no one’s name would be larger than Daisy’s.

“Daisy disappeared that year, presumably killed by a coyote, but she earned a place on the plaque for helping to save the view corridor.” (Ibid)

The dedication ceremony was shifted from Memorial Day to June 11, 2006, the first anniversary of her departure.
The following words are inscribed on the bronze plaque:

“Presented by the North County Veterans and their mascot Daisy, the Dachshund who saved Station White.”

By, San Dieguito American Legion Post Historian