Daily history

Good morning,




Quote of the day:

“Happiness is not found in possessions and gold; Happiness is found only in the soul.

Democritus



A few days after D-day a trumpeter/bugler came ashore and was playing Reveille in the morning and Taps at night. On one particular night his commander told him to not play Taps because they knew of one particular Germen sniper out there that they had not been able to locate. The trumpeter known as “Captain Jack” decided to play anyway, except he played Lili Marlene, which is almost the national song of Germany. Jack was not shot at but the next morning a team of Allied soldiers brought in 15 German prisoners and one of them said in broken English, “Who played the trumpet?” Captain Jack said that he was the trumpeter and they shook hands. The prisoner said that when he heard Lili Marlene He thought of his girl friend, his brothers and sister, his parents and grandparents and decided that he had rather live and surrendered. In this case, music made the difference.



Down in the swamps around the Santee-Cooper lakes in southeastern South Carolina there is an overburden of American alligators and a tightly controlled hunt is being allowed this year. The Wildlife authorities sold permits and tags with peculiar rules such as no rifles allowed. All alligators if taken by boat, the gator must be brought alongside the boat and dispatched with a hand gun. If the gator is taken from land, the gator must be brought to shore before being dispatched with a hand gun. It seemed kind of weird to me but that were the rules. For reasons unknown, a young woman from Massachusetts applied for and received a permit and tag. This girl found a gator with the help of a guide and dispatched a monster, y’all. This critter was over 11 feet long and weighted about 1,100 pounds. If it is not a state record it ought to be.



Apparently the destruction attributable to the wreck of the Deepwater Horizon oil well is not over. In the last two or three days a horrendous fish kill occurred in a bayou in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Thousands upon thousands of fish are rotting on the surface while the clean-up is in progress. The reports are that a wave of crude came in the bayou on the incoming tide and it was all over. Another report is that within several hundred yards of the Deepwater Horizon the bottom is cover with a layer of crude and includes thousand of dead shrimp. As we know, shrimp are bottom feeders.



This past weekend 31 immigrants from all over the globe completed the process and took the oath of allegiance to the United States and became citizens. The ceremony took place in the amphitheater on the property of poet/writer Carl Sandburg near Flat Rock, North Carolina. These people I welcome with open arms. It is the fence jumper, river swimmers and drug dealers that cross our borders illegally that need to be eliminated….permanently.



This date in history September 21



1945    Henry Ford II takes over at Ford after the sudden death of his father. The company was rapidly approaching bankruptcy and needed help. The first thing Henry II did was fire the Personnel Chief Harry Bennett who for years had used strong armed tactics and a anti-union stance that made Ford famous for bad labor relations. Henry had virtually no management training or experience and he knew it. So he hired several young financial wizards led by Robert McNamara known as the “Whiz kids”. Among these young guys was a Princeton graduate named Lee Iacocca. As we all may or may not remember Robert McNamara later became the Secretary of Defense under JFK and Iacocca became president of Chrysler. The “whiz kids” saved Ford from bankruptcy and the rest is history.



1954    The movie Sabrina debuts starring Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn. This was a change of character for Bogie in which he played a sophisticated businessman turned Romeo. Bogie normally played the role of a tough criminal or hard-ass private detective. During WWI Bogie joined the navy and was injured in the face during an attack on his ship resulting in his hard looking face and small lisp. He gave us many milestone movies like Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, To Have and Have Not and the movie he won an Oscar for Best Actor in African Queen. Bogie was a heavy smoker and the expected happened in 1958 when he died of lung cancer. It was a loss for all of us.



1961    The US 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces is activated at Fort Bragg, NC by President JFK. Kennedy was very interested in this unit and came to visit. While there he specified that the unit was to be used to train the Vietnamese people to do their own counter-insurgency work. He also allowed them to wear a special headgear, the Green Beret. The 5th Special Forces Group went to Nam in 1964 and assumed responsibility for all Special Forces. They zeroed in on the mountain people known as the Montagnards and trained them extensively. By 1970 there were about 42,000 men and women trained by the Green Berets in Nam and the Green Berets transferred responsibility to the South Vietnam Border Rangers for the rest of the war. The 5th was withdrawn from Nam in February of 1971. The Green Berets executed their mission magnificently but sadly it seems that it was all for naught.



1938    The incredible happens when a category 3 hurricane strikes New England. As with all Atlantic hurricanes the storm began off the west coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands. It became a hurricane as it approached the Leeward Islands and was reported to the US Weather Service by a ship. The hurricane headed for the Carolinas coast but suddenly turned north and followed the eastern seaboard. The US Weather Service thought the hurricane would dissipate over the colder waters but the storm was over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and held together. The howling storm came ashore over Long Island, NY with virtually no warning for the residents. As house by house was disintegrated by the onslaught and some of the residents were washed out to sea and were never seen again. The storm arrived at New London, Connecticut at high tide with 40 ft waves preceding it. New London was nearly leveled with many injuries and death. The next city in the path of this monster was Providence, Rhode Island and after all was said and done there was 13 feet of water in the city. This sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The hurricane dissipated over Nova Scotia. Hurricanes were not named in those days so this disaster is just known as the Storm of 1938. The final totals were: 600 dead, 9,000 homes destroyed and 15,000 damaged, 3,000 ships sunk. There hadn’t been a hurricane in New England for 100 years and I guess the residents were not worried about them. They do now.



1942    The first B-29 Super Fortress goes on a test flight in Seattle, Washington. The bomber was an idea dreamed up by US Gen. Hap Arnold that wanted a bomber that could lift nearly its own weight and have a range of 3,000 plus miles. Boeing got the contract and delivered the bomber in minimum time. This bomber was instrumental in ending the war in the Pacific as the B-17 Flying Fortress was in ending the war in Europe during WWII. I guess the 2 most famous B-29s were the Enola Gay and Bock’s Car. The morning of August 6, 1945 saw the Enola Gay over Hiroshima, Japan and the morning of August 9, 1945 saw Bock’s Car over Nagasaki, Japan. Bock’s Car got its name from the pilot John Bock but on this day the pilot was Major Charles Sweeney.



Born today:



1821    English writer H.G. Wells. He said “Every time I see an adult riding a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” It will take a lot more than that for me to lose my despair.



1928    US Representative (OH) John Ashworth. He said “I am not of the breed of sheep that will follow a bellwether over a precipice.” Me neither.



1947    US writer Stephan King. He said “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” Almost everyone has a demon in their sub-consciousness.



1950    US comic Bill Murray. He said “I am a nut, but not just any nut.” You are right there, Bill.



1954    US drummer Phil Taylor. He said “We go home afterward safe in the knowledge that we have deafened a few.” Not this horse, Phil.



1966    Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland (son of Donald.) After being awarded the Golden Globe award he said “Now I know how Charlie Sheen felt. I’ve lost all feeling in my lower half.” I really enjoy his performance in “24”.



Died today:



19BC    Roman writer Virgil. He said “It does not bother the wolf as to how many sheep there are.” That sounds like Robert E. Lee to me.



1947    US sportscaster Harry Carey, Sr. He said “There goes Steve Bullett into left field and he is getting congratulations from everybody. He and his sister are parents of a new baby.” Harry, how is that again?



Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow



Goodbye from the land high temperatures, high gas prices and low morals. Just kidding.