Editing Fleet Week (section)

==History==
The first Fleet Week was celebrated in [[San Diego]], [[California]], during the 1935 [[California Pacific International Exposition]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sandiegohistory.org/calpac/35expo11.htm |title=California Pacific Exposition San Diego 1935-1936 &#124; San Diego History Center |access-date=2011-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019195745/http://www.sandiegohistory.org/calpac/35expo11.htm |archive-date=2011-10-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The years between [[World War I]] and [[World War II]] saw an increasing military build-up in both [[Japan]] and [[Germany]], while the [[communism|communist]] [[Soviet Union]] (USSR) was given over to the wave of [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] [[nationalism]]. Most United States citizens experienced little sense of urgency about foreign developments because of [[isolationism]] and concerns with the ongoing [[economy|economic]] [[Great Depression]]. However, then-[[United States President|U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], a former [[Assistant Secretary of the Navy]], was intent on expanding the U.S. Navy in response to world political trends. A major [[aircraft]] company was moving to [[Lindbergh Field]], (today more commonly known as [[San Diego International Airport]]). In this atmosphere, Fleet Week was born.

At 11 a.m. on May 29, 1935, a [[color guard]] of the U.S. Marine Corps led a [[parade]] across [[Cabrillo Bridge]] to Plaza del Pacifico, where the [[Flag of the United States|U.S. flag]] was raised to open the Exposition officially. At 8 p.m., Roosevelt spoke by telephone and designated two selected [[orphan]]s to press the buttons turning on the lights which bathed the grounds in color. In his remarks, heard over the [[loudspeaker]] system, Roosevelt said: "The decision of the people of San Diego thus to dedicate the California Pacific International Exposition is, I believe, worthy of the courage and confidence with which our people now look to the future. No one can deny that we have passed through troubled years. No one can fail to feel the inspiration of your high purpose. I wish you great success."

During Fleet Week in June 1935, 114 [[warships]] and 400 [[military aircraft|military plane]]s arrived under command of U.S. Navy [[Admiral]] [[Joseph M. Reeves]], [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[United States Fleet|U.S. Fleet]]. It was described as the mightiest fleet ever assembled under the U.S. flag. It included forty-eight [[battleship]]s, [[cruiser]]s and [[aircraft carrier]]s, with more than 3,000 [[commissioned officers]] and 55,000 [[enlisted rank|enlisted]] men. The U.S. Navy men visited the Exposition and, in turn, thousands of San Diegans and other fairgoers were guests on the various ships.