Al's
Most Recent
Quote
of the day:
During
WWII shortly after D-Day the Allies invaded southern France near St.
Tropez to drive out the Germans. After a short but intense battle
the Germans retreated. A Canadian soldier reported that through the
smoke and mist came a Frenchman in a tuxedo. He was carrying a
silver tray with several tulip glasses and a bottle of champagne and
said “Welcome, but if I could offer a little criticism...you are
late.”
Speaking
of WWII, I once did an essay on the bombing of Hamburg, Germany in
the summer of 1943. The Germans had bombed London for 73 straight
days hoping to break their bulldog spirit but they failed and
discontinued the raids. In retribution the English and American air
forces mounted a horrendous raid on Hamburg. They sent over 1,000
bombers both day and night and dropped a mixture of high explosives
and incendiary bombs making firefighting useless. An unbelievable
firestorm resulted with the temperature reaching over 1,000 degrees
and the wind rushing into the center of the blaze at 120 MPH.
Children and small adults were swept into the center. It was so hot
that the asphalt on the roads liquefied making escape impossible.
There were instances of people running away just igniting like a
torch and disappearing. Hundreds of people died of asphyxiation
because all the oxygen was being consumed by the fire. About 45,000
people died that day in Hamburg. The Germans cordoned off the city
so others would not see this hell on Earth and be discouraged. It was
the day that Hamburg died.
I
addition to the book Guns,
Germs and Steel I
am also reading Mayflower
by
Nathan Philbrick. This book was also the winner of a National
Book Award. It
goes into the minutest detail as to what happened to the Pilgrims
that settled a village in 1620 that later became Plymouth,
Massachusetts. The fresh water source for the village was named Town
Creek. The creek emptied into Cape Cod Bay and had seasonal rushes
of spawning fish that were easily caught. The mouth of this creek
was also a stopping point for ducks and geese on their migrations
north and south. The governor of the Pilgrims was William Bradford,
a gifted and “hands on” administrator. His most important duty
was to make peace with Massasoit, the chief of the local Indian
coalition. To do this he needed a translator and that turned out to
be a native of this area named Squanto. How Squanto learned English
is a story in itself and will come a little later on. On one
occasion an Indian covered with sweat from running arrived at
Plimouth (their spelling) and told Bradford in sign language that
Squanto had been captured and was probably dead. He also said that
without a “tongue” (translator) to be used with the other tribes
the settlement was doomed. Bradford agreed and he and his second in
command along with the fiery Miles Standish and ten armed men set out
for the village where Squanto was captured by the local “sachem”
or chief. It was about 40 miles and was tough going without horses.
The Pilgrims arrived at night during a steady rain which muffled
their movements and they surrounded the house where the majority of
the tribe slept. Standish and company burst in and demanded the
sachem and/or Squanto. The sleeping Indians awoke in a panic and
told them that the sachem was not there and Squanto was indeed alive
and delivered him to Bradford. Bradford returned to Plimouth with
Squanto in tow and the settlement was somewhat safe once again.
After that first horrible and deadly winter, Bradford made peace with
Massasoit and the villagers were taught how to survive in this
strange land and there was a celebration. It was late September or
early October that Bradford sent Massasoit a large pot of stewed
English peas as a show of appreciation for his help. Bradford knew
that the settlement was there to stay and sent five men to paddle out
into the bay and do some “fowling” meaning shooting down whatever
ducks and geese they could. The fall migration was underway and the
sky was black with birds. In a half day the “fowlers” returned
with enough birds to last the settlement a week. The fowlers used
“fowling pieces” which is now known as shotguns. The next
morning Massasoit showed up with over a hundred of his warriors and
five freshly killed deer as thanks for the peas. A feast ensued with
the deer and the birds on spits over an open fire. There also were
turkeys and fish along with recently harvested vegetables. Over 150
years later this became known as Thanksgiving. I can assure you that
there was no picnic tables with white tablecloths and silverware.
They sat on the ground around a fire and ate with their fingers and
knives. But as I said, they were there to stay.
On
another occasion two servants became angry with each other and
engaged in a duel. Both were injured but not killed. Bradford knew
that he needed men and could not risk losing anyone and sentenced
these guys to be tied together at the feet and neck for a week which
forced them to cooperate with each other. That sentence had an
effect and duels went away in the settlement while Bradford was
alive.
This
Date in History January 1
1781 On this date
1,500 infantrymen known as the “Pennsylvania Line” serving under
Patriot General Anthony “Mad Anthony” Wayne gathered up their
gear near Morristown, N.J. and headed home because their enlistments
had expired. I forgot to mention that more than half of them were
drunker than Cooter Brown. Anyway, soon after they left Wayne they
were approached by emissaries from British General Sir Henry Clinton
offering them a complete pardon and all the back pay the US owed them
if they would join the British army. Instead they turned south and
attacked and captured Princeton, N.J. They then headed toward
Philadelphia and the US Congress. But before that they sent some
emissaries back to see General Wayne who had been following them.
They had not given up on the Patriotic cause but felt they had
grievances. When they met with Wayne they handed over the emissaries
sent by British General Clinton and Wayne promptly hanged them. At
the meeting with Wayne, it was agreed that those with expired
enlistments could go home but Wayne offered a 30 day furlough and a
handsome bonus for those that re-enlisted. Nearly half of them
accepted the offer to re-enlist and were sent to fight with the
Southern Army. A week or so later a group of about 200 Patriot
troops from New Jersey heard about this deal and decided to mutiny
themselves and barter for the deal that Wayne issued. Only this time
the troops were under George Washington and George rounded up the two
ring leaders and stood them up in front of a firing squad. That kept
the Continental army together for the present. But even at that,
there were more colonists fighting with the British than with George
Washington. What enormous character this man must have had to have
continued and prevailed. I must believe he was not here by accident.
1973 On this night a
28 year old school teacher named Kathy Cleary decided to bring in the
New Year at Tweed’s Bar of the upper west side of Manhattan, while
there she met a man named Joe Willie Simpson. Simpson was
dangerously disturbed but appeared to be a pleasant and affable young
man to young Miss Cleary. Kathy and Joe Willie agree to go to Joe
Willie’s place for the rest of the evening; it was there the other
Joe Willie emerged. It seems that Joe Willie is a suppressed
homosexual at heart which makes him a hater of women. Joe Willie
ended up strangling Kathy and stabbing her numerous times then
sexually mutilated her. This event was the theme of the book and
movie titled “Looking for Mister Goodbar”. The book was written
by Judith Rossner as a warning about what could happen during the
so-called “sexual revolution”. By the way, before Joe Willie
Simpson came to trial he hanged himself in his cell.
Thanks
for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
