Daily history

Good morning,




Quote of the day:

“Happiness is the sole purpose and meaning of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

Aristotle



A few days ago down in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina a 46 year old man invaded a home about midnight. It is the home of his ex-wife. She has taken another man in her life and moved him in. The invader shot his ex-wife in the arm and then emptied the pistol into the torso of his ex-wife’s new lover…except he saved one round for himself and blew his own brains out. I don’t get it. All he had to do was just move on.



Then down in Pendleton, SC a man walked out of a biker bar named The Twisted Spoke and was walking next door to a convenience store. Suddenly a pickup truck comes roaring out of the dark and runs the man down and speeds off. The man dies of his injuries. The driver of the pickup was identified as the ex-husband of the dead man’s girlfriend. Like I said, I don’t get it.



Next is a Medal of Honor citation lest we forget the courage and bravery of our military. Here it is:



                                    SALOMON, BEN L.



Captain Ben L. Salomon was serving at Saipan, in the Marianas Islands on July 7, 1944, as the Surgeon for the 2d Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division.



The Regiment's 1st and 2d Battalions were attacked by an overwhelming force estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks attempted in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Although both units fought furiously, the enemy soon penetrated the Battalions' combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties. In the first minutes of the attack, approximately 30 wounded soldiers walked, crawled, or were carried into Captain Salomon's aid station, and the small tent soon filled with wounded men. As the perimeter began to be overrun, it became increasingly difficult for Captain Salomon to work on the wounded. He then saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting one of the wounded soldiers lying near the tent. Firing from a squatting position, Captain Salomon quickly killed the enemy soldier. Then, as he turned his attention back to the wounded, two more Japanese soldiers appeared in the front entrance of the tent. As these enemy soldiers were killed, four more crawled under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, shot another, and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear. Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and rushed out of the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it. When his body was later found, 98 dead enemy soldiers were piled in front of his position. Captain Salomon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.



This date in history September 1



1862    On this the day after the Union army, General John Pope commanding, received a monster ass-kicking in the Battle of Second Manassas by CSA General R.E. Lee; Lee was not satisfied and sought complete annihilation of those Yankees. Pope’s army was heading east toward Washington, about 25 miles away, as fast their fat little legs could carry them, asses in hand. Lee sent Stonewall Jackson and the 2nd Corp with Col. J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry as a screen, north, then east and them south to try and cut off the retreat of the Yankees and catch them in envelopment before they were able to get behind the Washington defenses. The US General-in-charge being Henry Halleck sitting behind a desk in Washington sent a message to Pope to make sure he protected Centerville most of all. Jackson was aware of this order and by-passed Centerville and finally US General Isaac Stevens launched a partially successful attack on Jackson’s troops at Chantilly, Virginia and scattered a Louisiana unit but soon after General Stevens received a fatal head wound and the Confederates counter attacked and drove those Yankees back. All of this was taking place during ferocious thunderstorm with much thunder and lightning. Additionally, US General Phillip Kearney was scouting ahead on horseback trying to locate the Confederates in very dense cover. He came upon a line of Union infantry who told him to go no further because the Rebs were just a few feet ahead. Kearney responded with, “I don’t see any.............” That sentence was cut short by a Confederate musket ball in the throat and he was killed. The battle was over in 90 minutes and the rainstorm persisted. Lee finally determines that envelopment is not possible and turns his army north into Maryland toward a small village name Sharpsburg near a small creek named Antietam.



1985    Seventy-three years before the largest and “most safe” ocean liner in the world, the “Titanic”, departs England, makes a short stop in Ireland and then heads out across the North Atlantic for New York. About half way over, the mighty ship strikes an iceberg that rips a hole in the ship above the flood proof bulkheads. The Marine engineer that designed the ship was aboard because this was the Titanic’s maiden voyage goes below and looks at the damage and then goes to the ships captain, Captain John Smith, and tells him that the ship is fatally damaged. Captain Smith orders the ship abandoned which was severely mishandled which resulted in the death of over 1,200 souls. The ship finally rose up almost vertical, broke into two pieces and disappeared beneath the waves. On this date a joint French/US expedition aboard the research vessel “Knorr” locates a promising sonar target on the bottom of the ocean near the last reported position of the Titanic. The expedition was led by world famous explorer Bob Ballard. The crew sends down an undersea exploratory vessel named “Argo” to find out what was down there in the 17,000 feet of water. The first thing found was a gigantic boiler that was known to be aboard the Titanic and they just followed the debris field until they came upon the bow of the Titanic itself. The Argo brought back photos never before seen of this great ship.



1775    On this date American Representatives Richard Penn and Arthur Lee bring a document that had been called “An Olive Branch” document to British Lord Dartmouth to be forwarded to King George III. The document had been written by one of America’s best wordsmiths in John Dickenson. In short the document accused Parliament and other politicians of imposing insufferable laws and taxes on the American colonies without the knowledge of the King. The document stated that the colonists want their grandchildren to be raised under the wing of the King of England and suggests that the king should intervene in the colonist’s behalf. Well, King George decided that he was too busy and disinterested in anything the Colonists had to say and the document was never opened. He should not have done that because a year later the Colonists delivered the Declaration of Independence which called King George III everything but a white man and said they did not want any part of him ever again. Thus began eight years of pain, suffering and bloodletting and did indeed result in the birth of the mightiest nation this planet has ever seen.



1981    On this date 15 year old Eric Witte shoots and kills his father while he is lying on the couch. Eric claimed it was an accident when he slipped on a carpet while carrying a .22 rifle. The plea was accepted and Eric was released. A couple of years later the grandmother of Eric and his brother Butch was killed with a crossbow. The police look closer at the Witte Family and come to find out that Eric and Butch’s mother Hilma had told the boys that their father was going to divorce her and that she and the boys would end up in the street so they had to kill their father. She had been trying for years with valium and rat poison but it took the rifle to get the job done. They were living in their grandmother’s house and good old Hilma told the boys that their grandmother was going to kick them out of the house so she would have to be killed also. She tasked Butch with that mission and he chose the crossbow. After skewering Grandma, the family went to court to see if the boys could receive disability benefits because of the loss on their father. Then they come home and cut up Grandma with a knife and chainsaw and then spread the body parts all over northern California and continue to forge the signature of Grandma on her Social Security checks and cashed them for several months. They were finally found out, tried and convicted. Butch and Eric got 10 and 5 years respectively and were released in 1991. Good old Hilma got 90 years. I hope she never sees light of day again.



1802    Even back in these days we had scandals. On this date the Richmond Register printed information stating that Thomas Jefferson had a mistress which was a slave named Sally Hemmings. It also stated that he had sired several kids via this liaison. The article pointed to Sally’s son John that had “a remarkable resemblance to Jefferson”. After this Jefferson exposed the fact that Alexander Hamilton had a clandestine adulterous relationship with the wife of one of the prominent politicians to which Hamilton eventually confessed. Jefferson never freed Sally but he did free Sally’s sons and daughters. Sally Hemmings walked away a free woman in 1826 after the death of Jefferson. Recent DNA tests prove without a doubt that there are ancestors of the Jefferson/Hemmings tryst walking the earth as we speak. In Thomas Jefferson’s defense, none of this action took place until after Jefferson’s wife Martha had died. I hate politics.



Born today:



1868    US writer Frank Hubbard. He said “Sometimes the only time you see men with their wives is after they are indicted.” Especially politicians.



1939    US comedienne Lily Tomlin. She said “If love is the answer, would someone please re-phrase the question.”



Died today:



1715    King Louis XIV of France. He said “Has God forgotten all that I have done for him?” This French King was known as “The Sun King” or “Louis the Great” for all the beautiful additions he made to his country and victories his armies enjoyed. He ruled for 77 years.



1975    French writer Francois Mauriac. He said “A man’s mind is like an old palace. The owner lives is just a few rooms and blocks off the rest of the rooms where he never goes.” That is a deep but accurate thought.





Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow