Al's
Most Recent
Quote
of the day:
“Life
is too short to deny yourself fried fatback once in a while.”
Anonymous
The
long awaited Iowa caucus is upon us. I hate politics, especially
when one candidate quotes what another said ten years ago or longer.
Any psychologist will tell you that everyone is influenced by their
daily experiences. I would like to see a show of hands of everyone
that has the same opinions, likes and dislikes, train of thought and
emotional balance, etc. they had ten or fifteen years ago. That's
what I thought, me neither.
I
am back to reading the history of pirates. Does anyone know the
difference between Buccaneers and Corsairs? Buccaneers were pirates
in the Caribbean and Corsairs were pirates in the Mediterranean.
By
far the most successful pirate in the western hemisphere was
Bartholomew Roberts...better known as “Black Bart”. He was a
Welshman and a member of a legal ship's crew when it was captured by
pirate Howell Davis, also a Welshman. Davis discovered Robert's
navigating skills and made him and offer he could not refuse. He
offered him a position as a member of his crew or be killed. Roberts
thought it over and decided that a life of adventure, absolute
freedom and one brawling party after another was better than the
alternative. Soon after that Howell Davis and a few of his crew were
killed in an ambush and Roberts was elected captain. That's right
y'all...a pirate ship crew elected their captain. He decided that he
would make his headquarters on the Cape Verde Islands. These islands
are off the west cost of Africa at the point closest to the
Caribbean. He would raid the ships coming south from Europe headed
for the Gold Coast, meaning that part of the African coast where
slave trading abounded. Those slave ships headed from there to the
Caribbean and the Americas would have to pass close to the Cape Verde
Islands once again northwest bound. Over a period of time Roberts
had captured many ships and kept the ones that were in the best shape
as his flag ship and he always named his flag ship the Royal
Fortune.
He ended up with four ships in his personal pirate fleet.
The
English Admiralty was desperate to stop this piracy and sent one of
their best admiral, Chaloner Ogle, aboard the warship HMS
Swallow
on dedicated mission to stop Bartholomew Roberts . He finally found
the Royal
Fortune during
a roaring thunderstorm near Cape Lopez, Africa but attacked anyway.
Roberts saw him coming, went below and changed clothes. He
reappeared in a scarlet waistcoat, scarlet trousers, white stockings
and a white hat with a red feather, a heavy gold chain bearing a
large gold diamond encrusted cross around his neck. He stood on the
rail and directed the gunfire of his own cannons and muskets. He was
cut down by a sniper and fell over the side and was never seen again.
He was 39 years old. The really strange part is that his pirate
flag was black of course, with Roberts and a skeleton holding up an
hour glass. He evidently had a premonition. By the way, there was
also a “Black Bart” in American west legend that specialized in
robbing stage coaches.
Here
is an instance of how people’s lives change in an instant never to
be the same again.
A
Marine sergeant on Iwo Jima was assigned the duty as guard of the
Company CP (command post) during the first night of that infamous
battle. Very shortly after taking his post a Japanese soldier
attacked with his bayoneted rifle. The Marine was able to parry the
attack and threw the Japanese soldier to the ground. The soldier
pulled out a hand grenade and tried to throw it at the Marine. The
Marine was able to wrestle the grenade from the Japanese but the pin
had already been pulled. The Marine grabbed the soldier in a “bear
hug” holding the sputtering grenade against the soldier’s back.
The grenade exploded taking the Marines hand and most of his arm with
it. The Japanese was literally cut into. The Marine later said that
just before the grenade exploded, he and the soldier were so close
that they were touching noses and looking at each others eyes only
inches apart. He said that the look on the soldier’s face stayed
with him forever as well as the smell before and after the explosion,
even the texture of his uniform.
This
Date in History February 1
1781
Earlier British General William Cornwallis and his cavalry
commander the infamous Colonel Banastre Tarelton were beginning to
realize that the war in the Carolinas and Georgia was lost and began
moving north to join with the other British troops in New England.
Cornwallis had left his encampment in Camden, South Carolina earlier.
But he turned around when he found out about the slaughter of the
British/Loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain, NC. Finally
Cornwallis determined that it was safe enough to move north and the
evacuation began. Awaiting him on the north side of the Catawba
River at Cowan’s Ford in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (a
short distance south of Charlotte) was 600-800 North Carolina militia
commanded by Brigadier General William Lee Davidson. Davidson’s
father was an Ulster-Scot Presbyterian minister that had immigrated
to the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. He then moved to what is now
Iradell County, North Carolina. Davidson had his troops away from
the river a considerable distance in case Tarleton should cross at
another location and attack the militia from the rear and pin them
against the river. Finally, Cornwallis and his army arrived, supply
wagons and all. The noise of the wagons awakened the sleeping guards
and they open fire. The noise brought General Davidson running and
almost instantly he is killed by a musket ball to the heart. The
militia put up a spirited fight but Cornwallis had his army cross in
two columns, infantry/cavalry in one column and the wagons in the
other. The crossing is successful and Cornwallis continued north.
In 1835 General Davidson’s son, William Lee Davidson II, donated
land to the Concord Presbytery in his father’s name. On this land
was built the present day Davidson College.
1943
In July of 1942 the Japanese landed on one of the islands in the
Solomon island chain named Guadalcanal. They went there to build an
airfield to provide air support for their ships invading the
Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. The Americans responded to
the Japanese by invading all five of the islands but the heavier
force went to Guadalcanal because of the airfield. Fortunately, it
was bad weather and the Japanese patrol planes could not get off the
ground and the 11,000 Marines assigned to Guadalcanal landed
undetected and therefore there was no battle at water’s edge.
After the outnumbered Japanese on Guadalcanal discovered the Marines
had landed they retreated to the west end of the Island but very soon
the Japanese landed reinforcements and evened the odds. The Marines
took the airfield within two days of landing but kicking the rest of
the reinforced Japanese off the island became one of the major
battles in WWII and is a milestone in the history of the United
States Marines and the United States Navy. Throughout the whole time
the Marines were on Guadalcanal the US Navy battled the formidable
Japanese Navy for control of the seas around the island. There were
so many ships of both sides sunk north and east of the island that it
became known as “Iron Bottom Sound”. The US Marines had no
experience in jungle warfare unlike the Japanese that had been jungle
fighters for years. There were several major battles that almost
every time resulted in hand-to-hand fighting. The American
commanders had never seen anything like it. One of them wrote “I
have never seen nor heard of anything like this. These people simply
refuse to surrender”. The American Marines became accustom to mass
killing on a regular basis. Finally on this date six months after
landing the Marines sent out a patrol and did not make contact with
the Japanese. They then did a detailed search and found no Japanese
anywhere on the island. They had secretly evacuated at the direction
of the Emperor. The battle may have lasted much longer but the US
Navy was able to put 48 to 90 fighter/bombers on the airfield which
provided air support for the ground troops. The main fighting force
for the Marines was the 1st
and 7th
Regiment. After the island was secure a news reporter came ashore
and approached a ragged Marine and asked where the headquarters of
the 1st Marines was. He said “Mister, there ain't no more First
Marines”. War is hell, y'all.
Thanks
for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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