Thursday

                           Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Eva sang for my wedding. I really had to coax her out to sing. She was really shy about singing in front of a large crowd, but she went ahead and did it. It was just Eva and her guitar and she sang Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Everyone thought it was a strange song for a wedding but I really liked the song and I think Eva liked it, too. After she finished everybody was crying and would go up to her and say ‘Eva, what a great job’. She would always graciously say, ‘Thank you’ but she was very uncomfortable with all those compliments.”

                                  Ruth Murphy, friend of Eva Cassidy

A good friend of mine named Dortha from Killeen, Tx sent me an unsolicited biography of Eva because she knew how much I admire her. Dotty died a while back of Cystic Fibrosis. I don't think I will ever get over this one.

Trivia question of the day:

Who played deputy Chester Goode on “Gunsmoke”?

For a while now I have been seeing a couple come into my favorite diner. She is well groomed and drives a Mercedes convertible, he is obviously on edge for reasons that I could not figure out. One day he abruptly left and she and I began talking. I came to find out that he is a retired Marine Lt. Col. and a Mustang. He has six Purple Hearts a Distinguished Service Medal and earned a Navy Cross in Nam...he also suffers from PTSD. Today they came in and I called him over and said that I had read his Navy Cross citation and thanked him. He said "It was my honor". That got to me, y'all. You would have to read the citation to understand what that man went through. For the rest of the time he was there he was staring out into space or holding his head in his hands. I think he was reliving that experience in Nam. I wish I had not mentioned it. BTW a Mustang is a person that joins the Marines as enlisted and ends up an officer. This man has courage and is a Patriot. He is deserving of everyone's respect, especially mine.

                   This Date in History   November 29

1864 In 1851 tribes of the Cheyenne and Arapaho signed a treaty with the United States at Fort Laramie, Wyoming that granted the lands between the Arkansas River and the Nebraska border to the Indians. Soon thereafter gold was discovered in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and that treaty was broken so the miners could use the Indian lands as a means of passage to Colorado. By 1861 the conflict between the Indian and the miners/settlers has reached a fever pitch. The United States called for another treaty to prevent massacres on both sides from breaking out. In this treaty in 1861 the Cheyenne and Arapaho ceded much of their lands in return for an annual payment and the promise of food at selected US Army forts. In fact, the Indians were encouraged to camp near Army forts, especially in the winter. After this treaty, Cheyenne chief Black Kettle moved his tribe near a fort in Colorado but was told by the fort commander that there was better hunting near Sand Creek so Black Kettle moved his peaceful tribe to that location. Since the outbreak of the Civil War the available military in the state of Colorado was minimal because of the troops that were brought into the US Army actions in the war. The Governor of Colorado organized more and more local militias to deal with the hostile Indian tribes. Soon after Black Kettle moved to Sand Creek on this date, the village was attacked by a Colorado Militia headed by a Colonel Chivington and the village was all but wiped out. There were 148 Indians killed to 9 of the militia. More than half of the dead Indians were women and children. Chivington had eyes for the Governorship of Colorado and thought that this massacre of innocent people would enhance his chances. He wasn’t done yet. His troops chose to cut out/off many of the genitalia of the dead and rode through the nearby towns waving them as trophies. Initially, Chivington’s attack was praised but when the facts came out as to what really happened a wave of disgust swept through the area and Chivington abandoned his political ambitions and all but disappeared from the face of the earth, and rightly so.

1950 In June of 1950 troops of the country of North Korea invaded the independent country of South Korea. Two days later, President Harry Truman stated that the United States will send troops to assist South Korea because South Korea was a member of SEATO, an organization of mutual military assistance in case of war. After American troops arrived the whole of the South Korean Army and some of the US military were cornered at the southeast corner of the Korean peninsula with their backs to the sea. The combined forces of South Korea and the US among others drove the North Korean troops back across the peninsula into North Korea and up close to the Chinese border. China had already warned that any approach to their borders by the Allied forces would be viewed as a hostile act and would be very provocative. The head military commander General Douglas MacArthur said they were bluffing. On this date, about 250,000 Chinese troops swarmed across the North Korean border and enjoined the Allied forces and began yet another drive back into South Korea. General MacArthur criticized the Truman administration for not allowing him to use nuclear weapons. Harry Truman called MacArthur to Midway for a conference. Harry told the General that civilians make policy, not the military, fired him and brought in General Matthew Ridgeway.

1967 On this date the sitting Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara resigned. In 1964 McNamara had backed and even encouraged the escalation of the conflict in South Vietnam. But over a period of time McNamara saw the futility of continuing prosecuting the war, we were going nowhere. About a week before McNamara had handed the President, Lyndon Johnson a list of recommendations relative to the war in Vietnam. And they were: Freeze the present troop levels; stop the bombing of North Vietnam, hand over the prosecution of the war more to the South Vietnamese army. President Johnson rejected any and all of his recommendations so McNamara resigned and became an officer with the World Bank. Johnson brought in Clark Clifford to replace McNamara. It is too bad that Johnson did not listen to McNamara or maybe we could have saved the lives of several thousand brave Americans.

Quotable quotes:

“Never eat more than you can lift”.

Miss Piggy

“The next time you feel like complaining, remember that your garbage disposal eats better than most people of the world.”

                                                       Robert Orben

Born today:

1949 US comedian Gary Shandling. He said “I am too shy to express my sexual needs except on the phone with people I don’t know.”

1971 US “Baywatch” star Gerry Lee Nolan. She said “All you have to do is eat right, get plenty of exercise and a breast implant and you will look just like us.”

1832 American writer Louisa Mae Alcott. She said “Housekeeping ain’t no joke.” You can say that again for all of the bachelors in the world.

Answer to the trivia question:

Deputy Chester Goode was played by Dennis Weaver.

                      Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow