Friday

                      Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Civilian politicians make policy, not Generals.”

President Harry Truman when firing US General Douglas MacArthur.

Here is a little of my ancestry on my father's side. I know nothing earlier that this census report of 1910. My Grandfather was 33 years old living in Cross Anchor, South Carolina with my Grandmother who was 22 years old. He worked in the card room of a local cotton mill and my grandmother was a house wife. They had a daughter named Nora and a son named Roy who was from from my Grandfather's previous marriage. Here is a few facts to put thing into perspective. My Grandfather was born one year after Little Big Horn. He was 5 years old when Jesse James was murdered. My Grandmother was two years old when the Massacre at Wounded Knee occurred. Makes me feel old...but I am old. Thanks again to Mr. Ralph McGlasson for his research.

              This Date in History June 24

1997 On this day the United States issues its final report on the 1948 incident at Roswell, New Mexico. The locals in the area had reported that a space ship in the shape of a disc had crashed in the desert on a ranch owned by J. J. Brazell. While riding patrol on the ranch, Brazell ran across some scattered metallic debris and two bodies, one alive and the other dead. His descriptions of the bodies are what you imagine them to be today. Big head, small torso, large almond shaped eyes, almost no nostrils or lips, very short and skin with a greenish tint. The local newspaper printed that it was indeed a “flying saucer” and the bodies were those of alien beings. Well, United States Air Force officers and other government officials descended on Roswell and the alleged crash site like locusts and spirited away any scrap of evidence including the bodies. The next day the local newspaper reported that it was a high altitude balloon that had crashed with two dummies that were to be used for high altitude parachute tests. And that is the report that was issued on this date as the “official’ report on the incident and the US government would no longer discuss the incident. There are two things that keep my interest alive when it comes to this and that is soon after the Government officials departed the Roswell area, a hangar at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio became restricted with an armed AP’s guarding it. Wright-Patterson was noted for its medical facilities on site. Another thing was the extraordinary activity near Grooms Lake, Nevada. This place eventually became the infamous Area 51. By the way, if you have “Google Earth” software, you can crank in ‘Grooms Lake” or just look at the west central area of the Nevada desert and , Voila!, there is an airport with two very, very long runways and various and assorted buildings in a place where the US Government says that there is no such place. I look at it frequently and can see aircraft on the ground but I am unable to determine what kind. Secret bases always make me suspicious.

1675 After fifty years of relative harmony the settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Wampanoag tribe began to have disharmony. It all started when the Indians found out that they had a “mole” in the tribe. A “mole” is one that spies on his tribe for the British. Anyway the mole was discovered and killed. This angered the British and they captured and killed three of the tribe. Well, not to be out done, the chief of the tribe named King Phillip sent an attack group to the new English settlement of Swansea, Massachusetts and killed every air-breather there, including birds and livestock. Well, y'all know what happened next. A young war broke out between the tribe and the settlers known as King Phillip’s War. Soon the whole of New England was involved in destroying Indian villages and the Indians destroying settler’s villages. It was a massacre on both sides. The settlers accidentally burned a Narragansett village which brought them onto King Philip’s side and the war was escalated. The Narragansett were easily overcome but King Philip was another story. That tribe was finally brought under control but not before King Philip was found in his secret headquarters in Rhode island and was assassinated by yet another British ”mole”. After this the settlers finally gained control as peace again prevailed.

1812 After Czar Alexander I rejected the “continental” plan as described by Napoleon Bonaparte making Napoleon the ruler of the European continent, Napoleon assembles what he calls the “Grand Armee” in anticipation of the invasion of Russia. Napoleon has amassed over 500,000 troops for this adventure. On this day, the invasion began. Napoleon made the same mistake Hitler made 30 years later. He waited too long before advancing. The result was that winter arrived before their objectives were met. When Napoleon and his army arrive at the gates of Moscow and Petersburg in the middle of the winter, he smelled smoke and soon all of Moscow was an inferno. The Russians had move out into the countryside carrying their extra food and supplies with them and burned any building that could be used as shelter denying Napoleon and his army protection from the fierce Russian winter that was already upon them. Napoleon had no choice but head back to France. The Russian army was waiting. At nearly every bridge the Russians would wait until the majority of the troops were across and then burn the bridge stranding some of Napoleon’s troops on the other side where they were massacred by the awaiting Russians. Napoleon arrived back in the Balkans with just over 100,000 troops. That right folks, he had lost 400,000 troops. This adventure by Napoleon is one of the worst military disasters in recorded history.

1853 As one might expect, the California gold rush brought a lot of gold seekers but it also brought a hell of a lot of bandits one of which was Joachim Murrieta and his number one henchman “Three Fingered” Jack. Joachim and Jack were raising hell with the gold miners and were named “The Terror of the Stanislaus” meaning the Stanislaus River. The miners finally got fed up and hired a group of professional man-hunters to bring Joachim and Jack to justice. Joachim became this vengeful because he came to the Stanislaus River from Mexico to pan for gold but because of his Mexican heritage, he was beaten, his claim stolen and his wife repeatedly raped. After all of this Joachim formed his own gang of Mexicans and sought his revenge. Anyway, the man-hunters hired by the miners departed Stockton, California seeking Joachim and his gang. It was reported that the man-hunters found Joachim and his gang near El Tajon Pass. On this day they arrived back in Stockton and spiked the head of Joachim Murrieta on top of a lamp post and hung the hand of Three Fingered Jack on a string below. They explained that it was a lot easier to do it this way than to have to bring them in alive.

Born today:

1842 US writer Ambrose Bierce. He said there are four kinds of murder. “Felonious, excusable, justifiable and praiseworthy.” Does anyone know a person that fits the last two?

1915 English astronomer Sir Fred Doyle. He said “Space is not that far away. You can reach it in your car in a couple of hours if you drive straight up.”

1946 US enonomist Robert Reich. He said “In Washington it is dog eat dog. In academia it just the opposite.”

        Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow