Daily Lesson

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him."

                                   Leo Aikman

I guess all of y'all have read/heard about the interracial couple that was denied a marriage license by a Justice of the Peace in Hammond, Louisiana. They went to my home town of Greenville, SC and got a license. The parents of the bride lives in Greenville. The couple was supposed to have a fancy-schmantzy wedding but decided to elope to Greenville and are supposed to get married this past Saturday. I contacted a friend in Baton Rouge and he says that there is no state law preventing interracial marriage, in fact it is against state law to prevent it. That Justice of the Peace allowed his own racial prejudice interfere with his profession. It ain't his call anyway.

Down in Conway, SC (near Myrtle Beach) at Carolina Forest High School there was a killing. It seems that Carolina Forest has a "Resource Officer" on the staff. I don't know what his function is but he is armed. Anyway, a few days ago an 11th grade student asked to have a private conversation with him. They went into an empty office and the student whipped out a knife and stabbed the officer. The officer pulls out his hog-leg and fired more than once and killed the kid. I will have to stand up by the officer on this one. The kid knew right from wrong and he had to know the officer was armed and it was more than likely he would defend himself. That would be like me attacking a combat marine with a kitchen fork. What the hell was that kid thinking? Someone of any age that attacks me with a weapon does so at their own peril. Anyway, both the officer and the kid were taken to a local hospital where the officer was treated for a stab wound and the kid was pronounced dead.

Back in March of 2006 Debra and Kevin Perkins of Seneca, SC were missing from work for several days and the cops went to their house to look for them. They found 32 year old Jason Carter, the son of Debra and stepson of Kevin, but they did not find them. An extended search found Debra and Kevin shot to death and wrapped in plastic down in a corner of the basement. Jason admitted to the shootings. This past week the court found Jason not guilty because he is crazy as hell. The judge sent Jason to an asylum for four months and then they will make a determination as to his sentence. I am in understanding about people going off the deep end and doing something rash. I think it could happen. What should be done with them after that requires more wisdom that I have.

The South Carolina Gamecocks played Alabama Saturday and lost. The Cocks had many, many opportunities to win that game but their offense was impotent. Their defense was top notch.

Clemson played Wake Forest at Clemson. Clemson squeaked by the hapless Demon Deacons.

Good news:

Bill and Melissa Gates has contributed $120 million in nine grants to give assistance to emerging countries to help the small farmers get more production, better marketing and faster turn-around on their crops. Gates said that he believed that this is the only viable avenue to stop world hunger. By the way, this is not the first time Bill and Melissa have contributed to this cause. In fact they have given over $1.3 billion.

This date in history October 19

1781    On this immortal day, after eight years of blood, sweat, toil and tears the British Army of 8,000 soldiers and sailors commanded by General Charles Cornwallis surrenders to the Patriot army commanded by General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia essentially ending the Revolutionary War in the United States. There were a few sea battles and skirmishes elsewhere afterward but the land war in America was over. Earlier in mid-September Cornwallis had retreated with his ragged army from the Carolinas after being bled white by several engagements with US General Nathaneal Greene. Greene did not win any of the engagements but made the British pay a tall price for each victory. Cornwallis decided to head back toward New York and the umbrella of British General Sir Henry Clinton and his troops. Cornwallis decided that it would be prudent to travel north up the east coast so as to have the British Navy close by for supply and reinforcements. The only problem was that the French fleet had arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay first and established a blockade the British navy could not breach which essentially isolated Cornwallis. Cornwallis and his troops dug in on Gloucester Hill near Yorktown. Washington sent the Marquis de Lafayette and 5,000 troops to cut off a retreat to the south and Washington and his troops sealed off a retreat to the north. With the French controlled Chesapeake Bay at his back, Cornwallis had no option but to surrender or risk total annihilation. On the afternoon of this day, Cornwallis feigned sickness and under a white flag sent his second in command, Colonel John O’Hara out with his sword. As the British troops stacked their arms their band played “The World Turned Upside Down.” In 1783 the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris which recognized the United States as a free and independent nation.

1864    Earlier CSA General Jubal Early and his army had free rein up and down the Shenandoah Valley and that aggravated the hell out of US General U.S.Grant and felt that Early was a threat to his flanks while having Petersburg, Virginia under siege. Grant sent US General Phillip Sheridan and 30,000 troops to neutralize Early. After a couple of battles near Winchester, Virginia, Sheridan lost contact with Early and did not know exactly where he and his army were. Sheridan was called to Washington for a conference and while he was gone, Early and his troops launched a surprise attack near Cedar Creek, Virginia. The stunned Yankees reeled backward for three miles before establishing a line a defense that slowed but did not stop the retreat. For reasons only known to Early, he slowed the advance and surrendered some of the advantage he had enjoyed. One of Early’s division commanders, CSA General John B. Gordon, was beside himself with anger and urged Early to pursue his advantage and annihilate this Yankee army while he had the chance but Early was unmoved. General Sheridan was on his way back from Washington and while passing through Winchester heard the sound of the battle and spurred into a gallop. He began running into some of his troops in retreat and ordered them to turn around and begin a counter-attack. Because Early had slowed his advance, the counter-attack succeeded and Early’s army was driven from the field while losing the greatest majority of their artillery. After this debacle Early was never a viable force in the Shenandoah Valley again allowing Sheridan to destroy the crops in the field. Early never explained why he slowed the advance but it cost him and the Confederacy a hell of a lot.

1812    In June of 1812 Napoleon Bonaparte and his enormous army of 500,000 launch an attack on Russia. This was the largest army ever assembled up until that time. The Russian army knew it would be fruitless to combat such an enormous army and set about a campaign of delay, harassment and destroying anything of use ahead of the Frenchmen. On September 10, Napoleon arrives at Moscow but finds no one home. The Russians had evacuated the entire city and they weren’t done yet. A day or two after Napoleon’s arrival, he started seeing flames and soon the entire city was ablaze which denied Napoleon and his army shelter for the infamous Russian winter which was already upon them. On this date, Napoleon decides that he had better head for the house and turned his army west and sets out. If there was ever hell on earth it was Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow with the Russian army nipping at his heels every step of the way. There is no use in me telling ya’ll what hell those troops suffered before arriving back in Europe. The Russians got ahead of them and burned each and every bridge they had to cross heading west making Napoleon’s engineers and his troops stay a little longer in the numbing cold of the winter while they rebuilt bridges. The final analysis was that Napoleon arrived back in France with only 100,000 of the original 500.000 troops. Even with this famous disaster known to the world, Adolph Hitler tried the same thing in 1942 with nearly the same result. Dictators with visions of glory are all the same, they seek fame and power at the expense of other’s lives.

A brief biography:

This is a short biography of a famous name in the Marine Corp. Daniel “Dan” Joseph Daly was born in Green Cove, New York in 1873 and joined the Marines in November of 1899. Daly wanted to get into the Spanish-American War but the war ended when he was in basic training. He was a small man being about 5’-6” and weighed about 130 pounds but during his career in the Marines Major General John A. Lejeune said called him “the most outstanding Marine of all time.” His commanding officer Major General Smedley D. Butler said of Daly “He was the fightingest Marine I ever knew, it was an object lesson to have served with him.”  After missing the Spanish-American War he was sent as part of Marine expeditionary force to China during the Boxer Rebellion. He was assigned the task of protecting the wall at the American legation. Left alone with only a bayoneted rifle, he was shot at by snipers and the wall was finally stormed by dozens of attackers. Daly held his ground and fought off the assault single handed. After the attackers retreated, there were 36 corpses either on the ground or lying across the wall. For his action here he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He achieved the rank of Gunnery Sergeant making him essentially a platoon leader. His next action was in Haiti during a rebellion. Daly’s platoon was surrounded by a group of raiders and the Marines knew they were in deep shit if they did not get more firepower. That night Daly snuck through the raider lines, located a machine gun that the Marines had to abandon the day before, and brought the gun and ammo back to his platoon undetected. The next morning the raiders attacked but were met not with the rifle fire of a few Marines but the withering fire of a machine gun. The raiders retreated post haste and Daly received his second Congressional Medal of Honor. And finally, at the age of 45, he and his platoon were part of the legendary Marine action at Belleau Wood in WWI. His platoon was pinned down by an avalanche of German artillery getting chopped to pieces. Daly went from man to man, machine gun position to machine gun position cheering his men. Finally, Daly ordered a bayonet charge and rose up and yelled the immortal words “Come on you sons-of-bitches, do you want to live forever?” Daly was wounded three times during this campaign. He was offered a commission more than once but refused saying “I had rather be an outstanding sergeant rather than an ordinary officer.” As you might suspect, he received a hell of a lot of publicity which he scorned and called all the hubbub a lot of foolishness. Daly never married and did not drink. His bride was the Marine Corp. His only known sin was that he smoked a pipe stuffed with plug tobacco. There are many other acts of bravery and valor attributed to Daly beside these few examples above, Daly was the definition of an “Iron Man”. Strangely, his commanding officer Major General Smedley Butler also received two Congressional Medals of Honor for separate actions. After retirement Daly worked as a guard in a Wall Street bank. Daniel Joseph Daly died on February 6, 1937 in Glendale, Long Island, New York. There is a US Navy destroyer named for him. His remarkable record as a fighting man is unequaled in the annuls of Marine Corp history. I thought it would be nice to remember our brave military guys in a favorable light during these difficult and trying times.

Quotable quotes:

When asked why she never married, Gloria Steinem said “I cannot mate in captivity.” Hey Gloria, I damn sure can and have offsprings to prove it.

“Why do men get married? So they don’t have to hold their stomachs in anymore.” Red Skelton. Shut up, Red

“Basically my wife was immature. She would come into the bathroom while I was in the tub and sink all of my boats.” Woody Allen

“Guys will sleep with a bicycle if it had the right color lip gloss on.” Tori Amos Hey Tori, I like black lip liner also.

“Why did God create men, because a vibrator can’t mow the lawn.” Madonna

You have to admire this broad, she really knows how to market herself.

Births and deaths:

1895    US writer Lewis Mumford is born. “Men of courage do not need weapons, but they may need bail.” Nearly all of the US Marine Commandants say the same thing.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow