Wednesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

A few years after realizing that he was worth about $20 million he said “I wish everybody could get anything they ever wanted then they would realize that this is NOT the answer.”

                         Comedian/actor Jim Carrey

A while back the father of one of the people killed in the shootings in Santa Barbara, California somehow received air time to express his grief saying the politicians are at fault for his sons death. He said that tighter gun control should have been enacted after the Sandy Hook massacre. The Sandy Hook shooter was under treatment for a mental illness and his relatives knew he was on the edge of being out of control. Why is those that treated the shooter for mental illness not at fault? Why was the shooter allowed to walk the streets in that condition? Suppose the mentally ill person had used a machete, a dagger, bow and arrow or a can of gasoline? Who would be at fault then? I understand that the father is emotionally distraught but how did he gain air time to express his personal outrage about firearms? I think we all know why....it is clearly the influence of the anti-gun lobby over there to your left.

My favorite bartender said this “There are three things we will not discuss at this bar...that is religion, politics and Justin Bieber.”

In further remembrance of Memorial Day, here is another Medal of Honor citation.

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

SERGEANT WILLIAM G. HARRELL
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following.

CITATION:
"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Leader of an Assault Group, serving with the First Battalion, Twenty-Eight Marines, Fifth Marine Division, during hand- to-hand combat with enemy Japanese at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, on 3 March 1945. Standing watch alternately with another Marine in a terrain studded with caves and ravines, Sergeant Harrell was holding a position in a perimeter defense around the company command post when Japanese troops infiltrated our lines in the early hours of dawn. Awakened by a sudden attack, he quickly opened fire with his carbine and killed two of the enemy as they emerged from a ravine in the light of a star-shell burst. Unmindful of his danger as hostile grenades fell closer, he waged a fierce lone battle until an exploding missile tore off his left hand and fractured his thigh; he was attempting to reload the carbine when his companion returned from the command post with another weapon. Wounded again by Japanese who rushed the foxhole wielding a saber in the darkness, Sergeant Harrell succeeded in drawing his pistol and killing his opponent and then ordered his wounded companion to a place of safety. Exhausted by profuse bleeding but still unbeaten, he fearlessly met the challenge of two more enemy troops who charged his position and placed a grenade near his head. Killing one man with his pistol, he grasped the sputtering grenade with his good right hand and, pushing it painfully toward the crouching soldier, saw his remaining assailant destroyed but his own hand severed in the explosion. At dawn Sergeant Harrell was evacuated from a position hedged by the bodies of twelve dead Japanese, at least five of whom he had personally destroyed in his self-sacrificing defense of the command post. His grim fortitude exceptional valor and indomitable fighting spirit against almost insurmountable odds reflect the highest credit upon himself and enhance the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

He lost both hands, y'all.

This Date in History May 27

1831 In 1822 the Ashley fur trapping expedition departed Saint Louis headed up the Missouri River. Included in the expedition was two men named Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger. These two men play an immense role in the settling of the west. Jim Bridger was more of a mountain man/trapper and Jedediah Smith was more of an explorer. Bridger was shown the legendary South Pass in southern Wyoming by the Shoshone which allowed pioneers and their heavily laden wagons and carts to cross the Rocky Mountains into Oregon and California. Bridger also was the first Caucasian to lay eyes on the Great Salt Lake. Some of his friends dared him to track down the end of a nearby creek and off he went. The creek emptied into the Salt Lake. Bridger had thought it was an inlet of the Pacific Ocean because of its salty taste. Bridger had a great memory for topography and was depended on greatly as a guide to others. But it was Smith who explored Oregon in depth and survived three or four attacks by the Indians in Oregon. He also explored the northern part of California. Smith wrote down everything he saw which proved to be invaluable to the people that followed. Even though Jim Bridger found out about the South Pass he chose not to tell a lot of people about it but Smith told in detail how to get to the Pass and the Oregon Trail was born. After Smith found out that his mother and sister had died he decided to move back to Saint Louis and open a mercantile store and write a complete book about his explorations, But before he could get started a trader offered him a deal he could not refuse. He wanted Smith to guide a wagon train full of trade goods to Santa Fe. Smith agreed and off they went. Smith probably was over-confident about his skills and was eager to get back to Saint Louis knowing that the Santa Fe Trail was well marked and well used. After they got started Smith decided to depart from the Trail and head down the Cimarron River which would cut off about 300 miles. Smith was confident that he would be able to find potable water on the shortcut. Fresh water sources on the Santa Fe Trail were known and the wagon train left with enough water to get them to the first water hole but now they were off the trail. On this date the potable water became dangerously low and Smith sent seven men, including himself, in different directions to find water. While Smith was hunting water in central Oklahoma near the Canadian River a Comanche war party found him first. Smith was tortured and killed but his body was never found. We know that he was killed because of the account given by the Comanche and some items known to belong to Smith were seen for sale in Santa Fe. That is what being over confident and impatient will do for you and what a waste of a soul with the spirit of an explorer.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.