Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Love denied is a blight on the soul we owe God.”

                    William Shakespeare

I have diverted a little from exploring the history of the native Americans ending with the massacre of 153 half starved old men, women and children from a Sioux tribe led by chief Black Kettle on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1890. This massacre was courtesy of the United States Cavalry who suffered no combat injuries. One of these brave men fell off his horse and broke his wrist. This was the last “armed” engagement between the native Americans and the US Army. Reading of this action was so disgusting that I had to move to another arena.

I decided to re-introduce myself to South Carolina's contribution to the American Revolution and Francis “The Swamp Fox” Marion in particular. This man was a genius in guerrilla warfare. He would quickly strike British encampments from ambush, do as much damage as he could and then disappear into the nearby Great Pee Dee Swamp. The British would not follow Marion into that morass because they knew that the foliage was so thick that an ambush could and probably would be waiting for them before they knew it. Marion and his immediate superior Nathaneal Greene needed the same things...money, guns and ammo, horses and food...they had plenty of water, believe me. Greene became so short of money to pay his troops that he financed his entire battalion with his own money making him totally broke by the end of the war. The Americans recognized what this great man had done for the United States and gave him two gigantic plantations...one in Georgia and one in South Carolina. He moved into the one in Georgia near Savannah and sold the one in South Carolina to recoup some of his losses. Greene was a General in the Continental army but Marion was a leader of a mounted guerrilla unit and essentially recruited his own men and they stole or captured food, guns, ammo and horses. One of Marion's best friends and a damn fine cavalry officer was Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. This man was the father of Robert E. Lee. Marion's biggest loss of personnel was at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, SC. He was joined with the Continental army in this engagement and his unit loss was 56. This was not a guerrilla strike, it was a rank and file attack that was typical of infantry engagements of the time. Marion came from a privileged family from the Georgetown, SC area but he certainly could not finance even a raider group like this one. He realized that the United States would not have much, if not any money to reward his troopers for their service during this conflict so he did this. He offered freedom to slaves that volunteered to join his militia. Then he offered his soldiers one or two slaves after the war if they volunteered. It is thought that Marion shortened the Revolutionary War by years because he kept the British army off-balance in and around the major seaports of Charleston, Savannah and Georgetown thus depriving them of supply and reinforcements....but he did deal in human rewards of other humans. Who knows what was in Marion's mind other than freedom...I think it was that he felt he had to do whatever was necessary for victory. By the way, there is a book out titled “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”. If you want to know what our ancestors were capable of read this book. The author is Dee Brown...it will change you. One more thing, General Greene spelled his first name “Nathaneal” rather than Nathaniel as is the norm. There are several towns and cities named for him including Greenville, SC and Greensboro, NC...Remember Wounded Knee.

                 This Date in History August 7

1942 On this date the United States Marines made their first of many amphibious invasions of WWII. The 1^st Marines were tasked with capturing the partially completed airfield on the Japanese held island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. This operation was known as Operation Watchtower. The Marines landed and captured the airfield almost unopposed because the Japanese did not know of the landing due to bad weather grounding their patrol planes. But once the Japanese had found that over 11,000 Marines were dug in on and around the airfield they unleashed a ferocious counter-attack that persisted for days and weeks. The American Marines had never witnessed such unfettered savagery. The Marine commander stated “I have never seen anything like it. These people just will not surrender.” Finally the military command in Tokyo decided they could not continue to pay the price in blood for that airfield and ordered a withdrawal. The Japanese withdrew so secretly that the Marines did not know they had left until their patrols began running across abandoned fortifications and ammo dumps. What I did not mention was that after the Marines had made the original landing, their supply ships spotted some Japanese warships approaching and weighed anchor and left those Marines on their own. The Japanese warships did not leave; they bombarded the Marines with naval gunfire day and night for months. But the Marines held on and were responsible for killing 26,000 Japanese soldiers to 1,600 of their own. Eventually, American warships showed up and a running naval battle began. The waters east of Guadalcanal have so many ships that were sunk (24 American and 24 Japanese) that area is named “Iron Bottom Sound”. The first Medal of Honor given to a Marine in WWII was given to Sgt. John Basilone during this battle. I will attach his commendation to this lesson.

1947 Earlier a Norwegian anthropologist named Thor Heyerdahl had proposed that the Polynesian Islands had originally been populated by people from the west coast of South America by riding westward on the prevailing current. To prove his point he built a boat out of available wood (primarily balsa) on the west coast of South America and lashed the logs together with fibers available to him there. He also built a thatched sail and a rudder. After he had finished he had a boat that was a bout forty feet square and he named it the Kon-Tiki. He loaded food and water enough for three months at sea and he and four others set the boat adrift and got aboard. On this date after 101 days at sea and covering 4,300 miles having been blasted by storms and harassed by sharks the Kon-Tiki washed ashore on a small island south of Tahiti proving Heyerdahl’s theory as being feasible. What an adventure that would have been. Heyerdahl filmed most of the trip and assembled a movie named “Kon-Tiki” for which he won an Oscar.

2006 Earlier the Russian navy had begun an exercise off the Kamchatka Peninsula that included a small, seven man Priz mini-submarine. The mini-sub got tangled up with underwater telephone and telegraph cables that hopelessly ensnared the sub’s propeller. This was only four years after a full sized Russian sub name the Kursk was lost in the Barents Sea primarily because the Russians refused to ask for help. Well, on this one the Russians immediately asked for help from the Americans, Great Britain and Japan. The sub was in water so deep that divers could not reach it so they tried to drag the sub into shallower water so the diver could reach it but the cables were anchored so heavily that this was not possible. Finally Great Britain unwrapped one of their newest underwater rescue vessels and went down and cut the mini-sub free and the crew men were rescued just minutes before the exhaustion of their oxygen. Russia caught hell from the marine community because even after losing the Kursk four years earlier they had not perfected any underwater rescue technology.

1836 On this date future Confederate General Evander Law is born in Darlington, South Carolina. Evander was raised in a privileged family and attended the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina (are you listening, Jim?). He was recognized as a potentially superb military officer by his peers and the staff at the Citadel and sure enough, he was. His pre-war career was as a military instructor at the Citadel and at Kings’ Mountain Military Academy, South Carolina. He then moved to Tuskegee, Alabama to open a military school there but the Civil War erupted and he joined the 4^th Alabama Regiment. He saw action immediately at the Battle of 1^st Manassas, Seven Days and Antietam. He was slightly wounded at 1^st Manassas but after showing his skill and bravery at Antietam, he was promoted to Brigadier General. He was cited for bravery yet again at the Battle of Fredericksburg when he had his horse shot out from under him and jumped up and continued the charge leading his men on foot. He ended up under the command of General James Longstreet with whom he had many a squabble. He was in General John Bell Hood’s division at Gettysburg and assumed command when Hood was wounded on the attack on Little Round top. Hood’s division was sent to assist the Confederates at Chickamauga and once again assumed command after Hood was wounded there also. Law was seriously wounded at Cold Harbor but he recovered just in time to be with CSA General Joseph Johnston when he surrendered to the forces of US General William Sherman in Charlotte, NC. After the war he moved to Bartow, Florida and joined the staff of a military school he had founded. He died in 1920 at the age of 84. He was the last General to have served in the Civil War. What a rewarding and exciting life this man had even though he was not well known.

Born today:

1885 US actress Billie Burke. She said “Age doesn’t mean anything unless you are a cheese.” Or another cheese.

1904 US diplomat and Nobelist Dr. Ralph Bunche. He said “There are no warlike peoples, just warlike leaders.”

Died today:

1957 US comic actor Oliver Hardy. He said “I don’t know very much but I know a little about a lot of things.” Oliver was a funny guy, especially with Stan Laurel.

2005 US anchorman Peter Jennings. He said “Some people still try to pretend that news anchors are reporters.” Peter died of lung cancer. He just could not give up those cigarettes.

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR to

SERGEANT JOHN BASILONE
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action against enemy Japanese forces, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving with the First Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, in the Lunga Area, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on October 24 and 25, 1942. While the enemy was hammering at the Marines' defensive positions, Sergeant Basilone, in charge of two sections of heavy machine guns, fought valiantly to check the savage and determined assault. In a fierce frontal attack with the Japanese blasting his guns with grenades and mortar fire, one of Sergeant Basilone's sections, with its gun crews, was put out of action, leaving only two men able to carry on. Moving an extra gun into position, he placed it in action, then, under continual fire, repaired another and personally manned it, gallantly holding his line until replacements arrived. A little later, with ammunition critically low and the supply lines cut off, Sergeant Basilone, at great risk of his life and in the face of continued enemy attack, battled his way through hostile lines with urgently needed shells for his gunners, thereby contributing in a large measure to the virtual annihilation of a Japanese regiment. His great personal valor and courageous initiative were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

/S/FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

A side note:

Sergeant “Manila John” Basilone was selected to come back to America and tour the country selling War Bonds. He did that for a short while and then requested to return to his unit.

He was killed shortly after coming ashore on Iwo Jima.

Where do we find such men?

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow