Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

After being elected Prime Minister at the start of WWII Sir Winston Churchill stood before Parliament and said “As I have told this body and others joining this Government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Robert L. Howard was born in 1939 and raised in Opelika, Alabama. He joined the army in 1956 at the age of 17. If there was ever a person that found their niche in life it was Robert L. Howard. Howard ended up in Vietnam at a Sergeant First Class in the MACV/SOG, better known as Special Ops. These guys pulled off some of the most hairy combat missions ever attempted. His under strength 60 man recon team was acknowledged to be one of the most decorated in United States history with five Medals of Honor, including Howard. In fact Howard had been nominated for the Medal of Honor three times during his five tours in Vietnam but Congress passed a law in 1917 that there could only be one Medal of Honor per person. All of his superiors and people under his command said that he deserved them all. It was his leadership in an attempt to rescue a fellow Green Beret that had been cut off in Cambodia that got him recommended for his third. He was promoted to 1^st Lieutenant from Sergeant First Class in 1969 and remained an outstanding and inspirational military leader throughout his entire 36 year career and was eventually promoted to full Colonel. Colonel Howard ended up with more medals that the immortal Audie Murphy in WWII. In short, it is Colonel Howard that is the most decorated soldier this country has ever produced. There was a United States Marine named Daniel Daly that fought during the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion that was awarded two Medals of Honor but the display of valor and courage by Colonel Howard is unequaled in United States military history. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971. The reason he is relatively unknown is because the Vietnam War was an unpopular one and many soldiers were not given the honor they deserved. In addition to the Medal of Honor Colonel Howard was awarded The Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, eight Purple Hearts, I am going to repeat that, eight Purple Hearts and many, many other medals of occupation.

Here is his citation for the Medal of Honor:

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Lt. Howard (then SFC.), distinguished himself while serving as platoon sergeant of an American-Vietnamese platoon which was on a mission to rescue a missing American soldier in enemy controlled territory in the Republic of Vietnam. The platoon had left its helicopter landing zone and was moving out on its mission when it was attacked by an estimated 2-company force. During the initial engagement, 1st Lt. Howard was wounded and his weapon destroyed by a grenade explosion. 1st Lt. Howard saw his platoon leader had been wounded seriously and was exposed to fire. Although unable to walk, and weaponless, 1st Lt. Howard unhesitatingly crawled through a hail of fire to retrieve his wounded leader. As 1st Lt. Howard was administering first aid and removing the officer's equipment, an enemy bullet struck 1 of the ammunition pouches on the lieutenant's belt, detonating several magazines of ammunition. 1st Lt. Howard momentarily sought cover and then realizing that he must rejoin the platoon, which had been disorganized by the enemy attack, he again began dragging the seriously wounded officer toward the platoon area. Through his outstanding example of indomitable courage and bravery, 1st Lt. Howard was able to rally the platoon into an organized defense force. With complete disregard for his safety, 1st Lt. Howard crawled from position to position, administering first aid to the wounded, giving encouragement to the defenders and directing their fire on the encircling enemy. For 3 1/2 hours 1st Lt. Howard's small force and supporting aircraft successfully repulsed enemy attacks and finally were in sufficient control to permit the landing of rescue helicopters. 1st Lt. Howard personally supervised the loading of his men and did not leave the bullet-swept landing zone until all were aboard safely. 1st Lt. Howard's gallantry in action, his complete devotion to the welfare of his men at the risk of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

He was not here by accident

This Date in History November 13

1775 On this date Continental General Richard Montgomery captured Montreal, Canada without firing a shot. At the direction of General George Washington, Montgomery had been tasked with the capture of Montreal that was a marshaling place for the British army to get organized for forays into the Colonies. The British Governor/General Guy Carleton had escaped to Quebec City. Earlier a Continental army commanded by Ethan Allen had launched a fragmented and undermanned attack on Montreal that failed with Allen being captured by the British and sent to prison in Pendennis Castle in Cornwall, England. The upside was that the British Governor/General Carleton would not split his defensive units to counter the probe coming from Montgomery’s troops which allowed Montgomery to get into position unmolested. Once his position was established the British realized that they could not successfully defend Montreal and surrendered. The Continental’s next objective was Quebec. Montgomery decided that he would launch a two pronged attack with him leading one prong and the other led by Continental Colonel Benedict Arnold. The attack was launched during a blizzard and was well coordinated but British Governor/General Carleton had been made aware of the attack and was prepared and waiting. Carleton’s troops fired a devastating artillery and rifle barrage at Montgomery’s unit approaching from the west and Montgomery was killed early on and that attach was stalled. Carleton then turned his attention to Benedict Arnold’s troops attacking from the north and Arnold suffered a severe leg wound. Patriot Colonel Daniel Morgan immediately assumed command and the attack continued and the first line of defense was breached. At this point Morgan halted the attack to await reinforcements that were supposed to be on the way. The reinforcements were late and that allowed the British to re-group and Morgan’s attack was repulsed. The Patriot army retreated to the St. Lawrence River and crossed back in the Colonies. Benedict Arnold supervised the crossing, wounded leg and all, and after making sure that all of the troops were on their way, Arnold shot his horse and crossed the river in a canoe. Benedict Arnold was an enigma, ya’ll. He was a superior military field commander but his vanity and pride got in the way and he betrayed his country. His act of treason hurt his commander, George Washington, more than anyone.

1861 Earlier A. Lincoln had appointed George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac and on this date, President A. Lincoln and the Secretary of War Hay came by McClellan’s house to chat with him about strategy against the CSA Army of Northern Virginia led by the legendary General Robert E. Lee. After their arrival they discovered that McClellan was not in so they sat and waited for about an hour. Little did they know that McClellan had came home very soon after their arrival and after learning that Lincoln and Hay were waiting, went to his bedroom and retired without speaking. After finding this out, Lincoln and Hay departed but the seed of mistrust had been planted. McClellan had written to his wife that Lincoln was “a well-meaning baboon” and Secretary Hay was an “inept puppy”. McClellan was an arrogant bastard but later events proved that it was he that was the “inept puppy” after R.E. Lee handed his ass to him on more than one occasion and the “well meaning baboon” fired his young ass.

1953 As incredible as it seems a woman named Mrs. Thomas White who was on a school board in Indiana, recommended the school board remove the accounts “Robin Hood” from the shelves of the public school libraries. She said it was a bad influence to the children because it fostered taking from the rich and giving to the poor which was the basis of Communism. She also sued the school boards for not condemning the Quakers because of their passive attitude and refusal to fight. Even more incredibly the affected school boards took her seriously and even considered her recommendations. These were the days of everybody being afraid of the “Red Menace” or that there was a predatory Communist behind every tree that were just days away from taking over the country surreptitiously. She also condemned the classic books “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo and “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck as having Communist leanings. The Governor of Indiana jumped in and defended the Quakers but wanted no part of the book dispute. As some of ya’ll may know, the main culprit in the legend of Robin Hood was the Sheriff of Nottingham along with King John. The very first mention of Robin Hood or a variation of the spelling thereof was found in literature dating back to 1229. The Sheriff of Nottingham, Robin of Loxley and several other characters are mentioned therein. When the current Sheriff of Nottingham heard about the turmoil in Indiana, he wrote the school board and assured them that Robin of Loxley was no Communist. It just goes to show you how inane censoring literature can get. We laugh about it now but then it was a serious matter. Reading any form of literature is optional and so is believing what it says is fact. We must have freedom of thought and expression or we invite anarchy.

1970 A relatively small cyclone slammed ashore in East Pakistan, which is present day Bangladesh, but the mountainous terrain funneled the tidal wave into a relatively small area and therefore the tidal wave grew to a monstrous 32 feet. The resulting deluge killed 200,000. The local governments were so overwhelmed that later it was though the actual count was actually 500,000 or maybe even one million. This was not the first nor would it be the last storm that killed thousands of people in this area. As ya’ll can imagine, all the corpses were not found and therefore not buried, but the tigers found them and feasted. They developed a taste for us and when the corpses were gone, many man-killing tigers roamed the landscape looking for the “long pig”.

1941 Earlier in 1935 the US Congress passes the Neutrality Act which forbade and United States registered vessels to deliver arms to any and all belligerent nations, meaning those countries at war. Congress in those days was almost entirely for neutrality and keeping the United States out of any foreign war. After seeing what Hitler was doing in Europe and what the Japanese were doing in the Pacific they knew that war including the United States was on the near horizon and repealed the Neutrality Act on this date. 24 days later the Japanese launched the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the United States was indeed catapulted into the bloodiest war in the history of mankind.

Births and deaths:

1929 US writer George Higgins is born. He described a woman thusly “She had rouged her cheeks the color of a Pontiac Firebird and had a feathered appliance in her ears that resembled a surfcasting jig that is especially attractive to Striped Bass.” I think I know this woman.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow