This Date In History, The Southern Version

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Tuesday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed often and for the same reason.”
Harold Wilson

Trivia question of the day:
Who played John Kennedy in the movie “PT-109”?

A while back an Asian man flew into Sydney, Australia from Beijing to visit his girlfriend that he had broken up with the year before. She met him at the airport and took him to her apartment for a bite to eat. As you might suspect, she made some soup... Asians are big on soups. Without his knowledge, she loaded four sleeping pills into his soup and very soon he was taking a nap that was close to a coma. She took off all of his and her clothes and sat down straddle of his chest facing his head. She produced a butcher knife and stabbed him in the jaw just nicking the aorta and again in the upper arm. She then turned around facing his feet and exorcised any and all appendages below his crotch. She was not done yet. She remained seated until this man bled out and was arrested. I have heard that “hell hath no fury” statement before, but girl, lighten up, it had been a year for crying out loud. Now you are going to spend life without parole in the joint for premeditated murder, at least that is what it would be here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

84 year old Carol Knight was opening up her restaurant in Johnston, South Carolina (been there, farming community) when a 55 year old man that was a convicted sex offender walked into the restaurant and told Carol that this was a hold up. Carol made the mistake of not believing him and laughed. This enraged the intruder and he began beating the crap out of Carol yelling “give me the money”. Carol knew that she did not have a chance but she began fighting back the best she could. She took several blows that cost her black eyes and cut lips. I am sure she will heal physically, but not mentally. She still says that she has nightmares about the intruder. Eventually an employee came to work and saw the blood and called 911. The intruder was arrested and is spending much time in the Saluda County Jail with no bail available. I want all of you to close your eyes and imagine your mother or grandmother trying to scratch out a living with her restaurant in small town South Carolina and this happening to them. What would you do if you got to this animal first? I don’t want to think about it….yes I do.

This Date in History February 23

1778 On this date the Prussian Baron Frederich von Steuben joined General George Washington in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The Baron had been recommended by the French minister of war to Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, in turn recommends him to George Washington. Baron von Steuben was the son of a famous Prussian General and became an officer in the Prussian army himself at the age of 17. Frederich proved to be an able officer and distinguished himself in combat more than once and was promoted rapidly from the infantry to the general staff of the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great. For reasons unknown, after reaching the rank of captain he was discharged from the army. I might be able to shed some light on this event. He was a flaming homosexual albeit a brilliant military commander and would hold staff meeting on a regular basis that was attended by all the younger officers. Toward the end of the meeting the King would walk by and drop a handkerchief in one of his younger officer’s lap. This officer had the duty to stay an extra hour with the King after the meeting was ended. Perhaps Frederich von Steuben finally resisted the advances of the King, who knows. Anyway, almost immediately after arriving at Valley Forge he began intensive training of the troops emphasizing rock-hard discipline. He also educated the troops on simple hygiene. The American troops knew nothing about this and therefore many troops were lost to disease. He insisted that the latrines be on the opposite side of the camp than the eating facility. But in fact, the troops had no latrines at all; they just took care of business wherever they felt like it. Frederich also insisted that the latrines be on a down slope away form the camp. Eventually the American troops departed Valley Forge a proud and competent fighting machine. Frederich did not speak English but did speak French so Alexander Hamilton and Nathaniel Greene interpreted his French into English. He authored a handbook for the American military parts of which are still in use to this day. The arrival of this man into the America army was none too soon. The American army had been having its ass handed to it for two years and the morale was very low. But now the pendulum began to swing the other way and our independence was finally on the horizon.

1940 After years on the back roads and railroads of America during the grinding depression of the 1930’s, on this date Woody Guthrie wrote the song This Land is Your Land. Woody was born in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1912. When the depression came in 1929, Woody and millions of others hit the road looking for work and whatever they could find to stay alive. It was during this time that Woody wrote many, many songs about the poor and downtrodden during this trying time. In 1937 he went to California to try to become a country/western singing star. He appeared on a few radio programs singing traditional folk songs. But eventually he was able to do some of his own songs and that put him on the charts. He became the chronicler of the people that had been through the depression and his words and music showed that he had been there and done that. His success took him to New York City but WWII broke out and his career was put on hold while he was in the Merchant Marine. After the war he returned to NYC and tried to resurrect his career and again he was on his way up when in 1954 he was struck down with Huntington’s disease. This was the same illness that took his mother’s life. While bedridden he was visited by many musicians among which was Bob Dylan. Woody died in 1967 in New York City and was cremated with his ashes being spread across New York City. His home town of Okemah, Oklahoma put up a headstone with his name on it anyway. Many have tried to copy Woody’s style and music, few if any have succeeded.

Born today:

1824 US writer George William Curtis. He said about one of his rivals “He is so old his blood type has been discontinued.” I am A+ and don’t y'all forget it.

1914 US actor Zachary Scott. He said “As you grow older the only things you regret is the things you didn’t do.” This is why I am burning the candle at both ends, y’all.

1928 US writer Michael Harrington. He said “Clothes make the poor invisible. America has the best dressed poverty the world has ever known.” I have never thought of that. Get picture in your mind of the people in poverty in India and how they dress.

Died today:

1998 US comic Henny Youngman. He said “I read where drinking shortens your life, so I gave up reading.” I miss Henny...George Burns too.

Answer to the trivia question:
Cliff Robertson played John Kennedy in the movie "PT-109".

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

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Monday, February 22, 2021

Monday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“Holding anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
Buddha

Trivia question of the day:
What was Jackie Bouvier Kennedy's job first out of college? Answer at the end of the blog.

A while back investigations by federal and local authorities led them to raid a house in a quiet community in a middle income neighborhood in Charlotte, NC yielded 400 pounds of pot and $1 million in cash. Five Latinos were arrested on site three of which were illegal aliens from Mexico. The liberals would just say “They are here just trying to make a better life.” BTW...If they had escaped and made their way to a “sanctuary” could law enforcement go in after them?

Last Friday a 37 year old woman over in Gastonia, NC rammed a police cruiser and kept going like nothing had happened. The cops finally got her stopped and tested her for alcohol and then arrested her for DWI. The cops knew this girl by her first name; this was her seventh arrest for DUI. The cops knew that her license had been revoked long ago and asked her where she got the car. She said that she took her husband’s car without his knowledge...for a trip to the liquor store.

This Date in History February 22

1777 On this date Georgia heavyweight politico Archibald Bulloch is found dead under mysterious circumstances. The ongoing opinion was that he was poisoned. Bulloch was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1730 to a minister father named James, and a Puritan mother named Jean. Bulloch was educated at the College of South Carolina Law School (present day University of South Carolina) and opened a law practice in Charleston. In 1764 Bulloch moved to Savannah, Georgia and married Mary De Veaux, the daughter of a powerful judge and landowner. Bulloch began dabbling politics and was elected to the Georgia Commons House of Assembly in 1768 and eventually into the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1776 when it became obvious that Georgia would be invaded by the British, Bulloch was elected 1^st President and commander of the Georgia Militia and gave him essentially Carte Blanche to do what he wanted to combat the English invaders. He was given what were essentially dictatorial powers. It was soon thereafter he showed up dead. The reason and cause of his death was never determined. Bulloch was the great-great-grandfather of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy named his first son Archibald in honor of his ancestor. Bulloch County, Georgia is also named in his honor.

1819 Finally the disposition of the lands in Florida is determined on this date. Spanish Minister Don Luis du Onis met with American minister John Quincy Adams and signed over Florida to the United States. The United States received these lands just for the debts owed by Spanish to the settlers. Spain had a claim on Florida ever since the days of Pensacola and Saint Augustine settlements in the 16^th century.

By the way, Saint Augustine is advertised as the oldest continuously occupied European city in the USA. It was founded in 1565. Pensacola was founded in 1559 but a hurricane came three years later and the city was destroyed and the site abandoned.

1847 The United States and Mexico had been squabbling over the ownership of Texas for several years. Finally, President James K, Polk who believed heavily in western expansion for the United States sends the US Army into Mexico. A 15,000 man Mexican army commanded by General Santa Anna meets up with the recently landed 5,000 man America army commanded by General Zachary Taylor at Angostura Pass and the first day of the Battle of Buena Vista began. Santa Anna sent over an emissary under a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the Americans. In typical Taylor fashion he responded with “Tell the son-of–a-bitch to go to hell.” Santa Anna began a two pronged attack on Taylor’s position. Taylor organized the greater majority of his artillery onto one of the prongs. One of the commanders of an artillery unit was “Stonewall” Jackson. Taylor then sent Colonel Jefferson Davis and his hawk-eyed Mississippi sharpshooters to attack the other prong. We all recognize Jefferson Davis as later on being the President of the Confederacy. The American artillery on the left flank and the sharpshooters on the right flank lay down a blistering fusillade and Santa Anna decided to retreat. Apparently Santa Anna did not learn his lesson because he again confronted Zachary “Old Rough and Ready” Taylor at the Battle of Monterrey and has his ass handed to him again even though he had Taylor outnumbered. In 1848 Zachary Taylor running as a Whig defeated the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

2006 On this date the largest robbery in the history of Great Britain occurs at the Kent bank depot. This evening two men dressed as policemen grab Securitis Bank president Colin Dixon as he was leaving the bank and persuade him to get into the car with them. They then drive to Dixon’s home and kidnap his wife and son and drive to a remote barn and a third person takes the wife and child into the barn and then reassured Colin Dixon that they would kill his wife and child if he did not cooperate. They go back to the bank and Dixon leads the other two through the bank’s security system and the two robbers tied up and gagged 14 other bank employees. They then load 53 million pounds into a van and drive away. The take was the equivalent of about 107 million US Dollars. Eventually one of the banks workers got loose and notified the police. The police put out a net for the robbers but to no avail because most of the loot was in used bills. The bank put out a reward of 2 million pounds with no takers. There were a few people arrested but they were all released. The police were able to recover only 20 million pounds but the majority of the loot is still out there.

1942 Things did not look good for the allied forces in the Philippines. The Japanese were running rampant across the Island of Luzon and were forcing the American army into a smaller and smaller perimeter ending up on the Bataan Peninsula. At this point the Commander of the American forces, General Douglas McArthur, was ordered out of the Philippines by the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt. McArthur hesitated at first as he was prepared to fight to the last with his troops but on this date he conceded and boarded a PT-boat and was taken to New Guinea and eventually Australia where he began planning his return.

Born today:
1732 George Washington...The father of our country...I do not believe he was here at this point in time by accident.

1857 Robert Baden-Powell...The founder of the Boy Scouts...He said “A Scout always smiles and whistles no matter the circumstances.” Obviously Mr. Baden-Powell had never been involved in a divorce action.

1892 Edna St. Vincent Millay...American writer...She said “It is not true that life is one damn thing after another, it is the same damn thing over and over.” Obviously Ms. Millay has been involved in at least one divorce action.

1900 Luis Bunuel...Mexican film maker...He said “Thank God, I am still an atheist” No comment.

Answer to the trivia question:
Jacqueline Bouvier's first job out of college was an inquiring reporter with the Washington Times-Herald newspaper.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

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Friday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.”
Norman Mailer

Trivia question of the day:
In the United States has a cabinet member been arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned, if so who? Answer at the end of the blog.

This Date In History February 19

1777 On this date The United States Congress releases a promotion list to Major General and they were Thomas Mifflin, Andrew St. Clair, William Alexander, Adam Stephen and Benjamin Lincoln. Conspicuous in his absence was Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. It was Benedict Arnold that was instrumental in the United States successes at the Battles of Ticonderoga and Saratoga; he was also very skillful in saving all of his command in their retreat from Montreal. But on this particular promotion list he was absent and a few of his juniors were promoted ahead of him. Arnold immediately submitted his resignation much to the chagrin of General George Washington. In those days the US Congress felt it necessary to spread the General officer promotions equally among the states so as to keep some kind of equality. This meant that they did not promote due to merit and leadership, they promoted along political lines. I cannot think of worse criteria for promotion and neither could George Washington. Washington raised hell with Congress to no avail but he was able to talk Benedict Arnold out of his resignation but unbeknownst to Washington, the damage had been done. Arnold had his feelings hurt and to get back at the United States, he offered West Point, New York to the British for 20,000 pounds sterling. Had the British been able to take control of the armaments at West Point, they could have isolated New England from the rest of the country; a serious tactical situation would have arisen for the US. Fortunately, Arnold’s accomplice John Andre’ was captured with the details of the deal in his boot. When Arnold found out about the capture of Andre, he fled to an English warship and asked for asylum. He was accepted and spent the rest of the war fighting against his friends and compatriots as a British Major General. After the war he went to London where he died destitute in 1801. What an ignominious end to a great military leader that got his feeling hurt.

1847 Back in August of 1846 a wagon train of 86 people arrived at Fort Bridger, Wyoming from Springfield, Illinois headed for California. The unofficial leader of the wagon train was George Donner. For some reason the wagon train chose to go on the recently blazed train known as the Hastings Cutoff rather than the tried and true California Trail blazed by Jim Bridger. They believed the new trail was shorter and would save time. The trail was a bit shorter but the terrain was much rougher and cost them time instead. In October the wagon train was caught on top of the Sierra Nevadas and the snows came locking them in. It was on this date that a rescue party from California reached what was left of the survivors. We all know how they survived.

1894 Sixteen years before one of the meanest gunfighters on record is caught, tried and convicted of murder and was given life in a Texas prison. John Wesley Hardin killed his first man at the age of 15 and the trail of bodies continued from then on. Strangely, it was in a gunfight where the other man fired the first shot and missed and Hardin fired and did not miss but he was arrested for murder. Hardin escaped from prison and headed for Abilene where his friend Wild Bill Hickock was sheriff. Wild Bill accepted Hardin and allowed him to stay over for a few days. In the hotel room where he was staying, there was a loud snoring man in the next room. Hardin pulled out his trusty .44 and shot through the wall killing the noisemaker. Even Hardin knew that Wild Bill would not sit still for that and Hardin hit the road. He ended up on a passenger train stopped in Pensacola, Florida when a Texas Ranger named John Armstrong captured Hardin and took him back to Texas to do his prison time. That’s right folks, I said a Texas Ranger who had no authority in Florida who took Hardin back to justice. Anyway, Hardin goes to prison, studies law and indeed becomes a lawyer. On this date after sixteen years he was given a pardon and set up a law practice in a small town in Texas but that was too boring so he hit the road. He ended up in El Paso and was recognized by a relative of someone he had killed. The relative walked up behind Hardin standing at a bar and shot him in the back of the head point blank. The sheriff of El Paso did not even arrest the relative; they did not want Hardin’s type in town anyway.

1945 On this date the United States Navy/Marines begins Operation Detachment. This operation was to capture the Japanese Island of Iwo Jima. This island was needed to eliminate the Japanese from notifying mainland Japan of US air strikes coming from Guam. It was also needed for the returning bombers to have a place to land for fuel if needed and if they were damaged. The Japanese commander chosen to defend Iwo Jima was General Kuribayashi one of Japan’s best commanders and during the upcoming battle he proved it. Japan realized the importance of this island. He carved defenses both above and below the ground. He summoned the finest mining engineers in Japan to dig the underground emplacements and personally oversaw the construction of those above ground emplacements. I think everyone knows what dimension of the slaughter of human beings occurred after the US Marines landed. The Japanese were well lead, well spirited and well armed. Kuribayashi had prepared well and his defenses were formidable and exacted a terrible price from the US Marines. Even though the US Navy fighters controlled the skies over Iwo Jima and the Japanese had no answer for the thunderous and continuous naval bombardment, the final question was as to who had the strongest will, Kuribayashi’s army or the United States Marines. It was the Marines that prevailed virtually on will power alone. It helped a lot when the United States flag was raised on the tallest peak on the island, a dormant volcano name Mount Suribachi which was seen be all the Marines on the island and by the support ships at anchor. For some reason the Secretary of the Navy, James Forestal was aboard one of the ships at anchor and upon seeing the flag rising he said “This will ensure the existence of the United States Marines for the next 500 years.” A loud cheer went up when the flag was raised and a photo was taken of the raising that is to this day the symbol of the spirit of the US Marines. General Kuribayshi’s showed some class when he sent his last message to Tokyo read “Our munitions have been destroyed, we have not eaten nor drank for five days, but out spirit is good, we will mount a final attack tonight. May Japan exist for a thousands years.” Then it was all over except for mopping up. This struggle went down in history as one of the most savage battles ever fought and is a milestone in the history of the United States Marine Corps.

Born today:

1924 One of my favorite movie stars Lee Marvin. He said “Ah stardom! You work hard and end up having a star on a sidewalk in Hollywood. You go by the next day and there is a pile of dog shit on it. That says it all, baby”.

Answer to the trivia question:
The answer is yes. Albert Fall was the Secretary of the Interior during the Warren G. Harding administration. Three known oil fields in California and Wyoming were set aside to be used by the US Navy during time of war. For a bribe of about $385,000 he allowed 2 oil companies to drill on one of them named the Teapot Dome in Wyoming. He did a year in the joint.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

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