Musings and History

Quote of the day:
Future Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal was aboard a ship offshore from Iwo Jima during that epic battle. Shortly after the Marines had landed and endured an avalanche of slaughter delivered by the Japanese, a squad of Marines fought their way to the top of the extinct volcano known as Mount Suribachi and raised an American flag. All of the ships blew their ship's whistles and horns and there was a loud shout from all the Marines on the island. Forrestal said “That will ensure existence of the United States Marines for the next 500 years.” The image of the flag raising on Suribachi is the soul of the United States Marines. Iwo Jima is the only battle where the US Marines suffered more casualties than they inflicted.

Trivia question of the day:
“Who was the German commander of their lead tank column in the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge?” Answer at the end of the blog.

Speaking of combat here is something I did not know.
There are 14 nations that have women in combat units, the United States is not one of them until very recently. There were two women attempting to become a US Army Ranger. The could not handle the physical requirements of the final test but they made them Rangers anyway. The reason that if it became US policy that women are required to fight in combat units then they would have to register for the draft like the men and would not have a choice. The politicians don't want to see their sweet little girls in the draft in time of war.

             This Date in History   December 26

2004 On this date at 8:06a Indonesian time a large slip in the earth’s crust occurred when a continental plate southwest of the Indonesian archipelago, dropped about 15 feet for a length of about 50 miles. This event generated an enormous amount of energy that spread rapidly throughout the Indian Ocean and displayed itself as one of the most devastating series of tsunamis or tidal waves in recorded history. The hardest hit was several different beaches in Thailand which was just a short distance north and east of the tectonic event. Then the waves traveled across the Indian Ocean and came ashore on the east coast of India and Bangladesh and traveled on to the east coast of Africa to a lesser extent. There were many home movies made at the resorts in Thailand and it was scary to watch as the water on the beaches retreat to the horizon and then come storming back with a vengeance in three or four waves. I have a mental image a little kid on the beach after the water had disappeared and then when the tsunami arrived it washed that kid inland like a rag doll. She did not survive. I fact there was in the vicinity of 350,000 deaths attributed to these tsunamis world wide. We will never know exactly because the small villages up and down the coast that simply disappeared. One strange thing was the people on the beaches in Thailand saw their dogs, cats and even goats and cattle run for high ground even before the water retreated. They knew what was going on.

1908 On this date the first black American Jack Johnson won the World Heavyweight boxing title by knocking out Canadian Tommy Burns in 14 rounds near Sydney Australia. Johnson held the title until 1915 and was hated and reviled by boxing fans in the United States because he did not fit in the typical “Jim Crow” image Americans had of the back man. Johnson drove fancy cars and wore fancy clothes and had a white wife, flashed gold teeth and had several overlapping affairs with different women, all white, which further inflamed the prejudiced. Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas in 1878. He dropped of the school in the fifth grade and began working on the docks in Galveston. Not long thereafter he began his career as a boxer. In those days boxing was divided into black and white divisions and Johnson became the “Black Heavyweight Champion” on 1903. In 1904 Johnson issued a challenge to the White Heavyweight Champion, Jim Jefferies. Jefferies was not interested. It was not until 1908 that White Heavyweight Champion Tommie Burns granted Johnson the match in Australia which Johnson won. It wasn’t long before the sports reporters began writing about a “Great White Hope” to get the Heavyweight Championship back into white hands. Johnson was one of the best defensive boxers in history. He was also a devastating slugger when the opportunity presented itself. In 1910 Jim Jefferies agreed to come out of retirement and challenge Johnson. Johnson was the only boxer that Jefferies ever faced that knocked him off his feet. In the 15th round Jefferies’ corner threw in the towel and it was all over. Johnson faced several challengers and defeated them all. In 1912 Johnson was convicted of transporting an unmarried woman across state lines for “immoral purposes”. This law was implemented to stop prostitution and white slavery not to stop a night club owner and World Champion from taking his white secretary out for a weekend tryst. This was clearly an instance of law enforcement using the law for their own prejudicial purposes. Johnson was released pending an appeal. Johnson decided to get the hell out of Dodge and fled to Europe where he lived in exile for seven years and continued to defend his title in Europe and he became a very rich man. In 1915 he fought Jess Willard in Havana and was defeated. Some thought that he had thrown the match hoping the charges against him would be dropped. He returned to the United States into the waiting arm of U.S. Marshals. He did a year of hard time in a prison in Kansas then he was released and he tried boxing again but he had lost a step and was not effective. His fortune went away and he ended up working in carnival side shows. He died in an automobile accident in 1945. He was 67 years old. I don’t know what lesson we can learn from this man’s life except “Don’t flaunt it and take the money and run.”

1820 On this date Moses Austin received permission from Spanish officials to bring 300 families into Spanish territory and establish a settlement. Initially the Spanish refused but after further persuasion by Austin they agreed to grant 200,000 acres for this settlement. Delighted, Austin went back into the United States and began recruiting families to his settlement which was in the lower reaches of the Colorado and Brazos rivers. Unfortunately, Moses died before he could get back to his proposed settlement so his son Stephan F. Austin stepped in and continued fulfillment of his fathers dream. The first settlers arrived in December of 1821 and within a decade the settlement numbered 25,000 people. As you might suspect, the settlers had no love for the Spanish and in 1836 they became part of the Republic of Texas and eventually one of these United States. By the way, the settlement is now the Texas state capitol of Austin.

1944 On this date tank units of General George Patton’s 3rd Army broke through the German army encirclement of the Belgian city of Bastogne. This city was a major objective of the German Army when they launched a surprise assault out of the Ardennes Forest that later became know as the Battle of the Bulge. The city was defended by 18,000 Americans mostly of the 101st Airborne. During the encirclement the troops defending Bastogne eventually very nearly ran out of food, water and ammunition at the same time. They also were ill-dressed for the bitterly cold weather. After the breaking of the siege the long hard task of pushing the Germans back to where they came from began. Patton pulled off one of the greatest maneuvers in military history. His 3rd army was driving east toward Germany 100 mile south of Bastogne when the German assault began out of the Ardennes. Patton was able to turn his army 90 degrees to the left and attack the German encirclement of Bastogne. That was an amazing feat considering the logistics involved making that happen. In spite of the brilliance of Patton in rescuing the 101st many of those proud paratroopers said “We were not f----k---g rescued, we were relieved.”.  By the way, if I am not mistaken, the leader of the tank column that broke through to the city was Colonel Creighton Abrams, later to become a four star General and has a modern tank model named for him.
Answer to the trivia question:
The leader of the tank column in the German breakout in the Battle of the Bulge was Joachim Peiper. He was tried for crimes against humanity in the Nuremburg trials because of the Malmedy massacre. (look it up).

            Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow