On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on May 31:
1469 Manuel I king of Portugal (1495-1521) during era of exploration
1557 Theodorus I (Fedor Ivanovitsj) czar of Russia (1584-98)
1701 Alexander Cruden compiler of a concordance to King James Bible
1810 Horatio Seymour Governor (Union), died in 1886
1818 John Albion Andrew Governor (Union), died in 1867
1819 Walt Whitman West Hills NY, poet (Leaves of Grass)
1837 Stephen Dodson Ramseur Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1837 William Henry Fitzhugh "Rooney" Lee Major General (Confederate Army)
1857 Pius XI [Ambrogio DA Ratti] Italy, 259th Roman Catholic Pope (1922-39)
1861 Emily Perkins Bissell welfare worker (1st christmas seal drive, 1907)
1872 Charles G Abbot US, astronomer (Constant Sun)
1872 William Heath Robinson England, illustrator/cartoonist (Don Quixote)
1892 Gregor Strasser German pharmacist/NSDAP-Reich organization leader
1894 Fred Allen Cambridge MA, comedian (Fred Allen Radio Show)
1898 Norman Vincent Peale Ohio, clergyman (Power of Positive Thinking)
1908 Don Ameche Kenosha WI, actor (Cocoon, Trading Places)
1912 Henry M "Scoop" Jackson (Senator-D-WA)
1920 Edward Bennett Williams lawyer/team owner (Redskins, Baltimore Orioles)
1921 Robert Arthur Ley UK, sci-fi author (Telepath, Power of X)
1922 Denholm Elliott London England, actor (Alfie, Cuba, Doll's House, King Rat)
1930 Clint Eastwood San Fransisco CA, actor (Dirty Harry)/mayor (Carmel CA)
1931 John Schrieffer US physicist (Nobel 1972)
1934 Jim Hutton Binghamton NY, actor (Ellery Queen)
1937 Vladislav Ivanovich Gulyayev Russia, cosmonaut
1938 Peter Yarrow New York NY, (Peter, Paul & Mary-Puff the Magic Dragon)
1939 Terry Waite Anglican Church envoy/Lebanese hostage
1941 Johnny Paycheck Greenfield OH, singer (Take This Job & Shove It)
1943 Joe Namath Beaver Falls PA, NFL QB (New York Jets), the $400,000 man (1969 Superbowl)
1943 Sharon Gless Los Angeles CA, actress (Chris Cagney-Cagney & Lacey)
1944 Mick Ralphs guitarist (Mott the Hoople, Bad Company)
1946 Rainer Werner Fassbinder German director (Marriage of Maria Braum)
1948 Rhea Perlman Brooklyn NY, actress (Carla-Cheers, Zena-Taxi)
1950 Tom Berenger Chicago IL, actor (Big Chill, Gettysburg)
1960 Chris Elliott New York NY, actor/comedian (Get a Life, David Letterman Show)
1961 Lea Thompson Rochester Minnesota, actress (Back to the Future, Space Camp)
1965 Brooke Shields New York NY, model/actress (Blue Lagoon, Suddenly Susan)
1971 Sarah O'Hare model (Cosmopolitan-Jan 1994)
Thanks Snippy. I can't hear Taps without getting teary eyed. I've played it three times so far. Spiderboy wanted to hear it a second time as well.
Happy Memorial Day, snippy!!
"Tales of Bold Patriots!!"
(To be sung to Cream's "Tales Of Brave Ulysses")
You thought the Lib'ral DemRATS...would bring US down forever...
But we'll rise above Left's treason...RAT's wish violence on our own!!
Yes, the passion of the FRee...pierce thru LIES of bumblin' bureaucRATs...
As we shed our Lib'ral leeches...by slashing Fed'ral programs...
Power's wicked weilders torture...those who seek to live in FReedom...
The heroic Reagan's calling you to build a shining City!!
Next, you'll see Jewel's tanned body...dripping of Left's essence...
But her foolish statements're hollow...We Fight Fer Liberty!!
So when DemLib'rals gather...FReep down RATS' vile sedition...
Proudly FReep Dem Lib'rals...with the issues 'cuz we're Right!!
Once-mighty tyrant's nekkid...once FReedom's been delivered...
Sheeple want to inflict Justice...RATS'll do hard time or be buried!!
Our "game" is Righteous Justice...and we'll FReep DemRATS to Hell!!
Kerry knows folks cannot stand him...'cuz he LIED about his comrades!!
Purple Hearts fer mild abrasions...Hanoi Johnnie shirked his duty...
Fled home early...LIED to Congress!!
The Righteous rise up proudly...we'll Liberate THIS Country!!
Folks, you need to join the FReepers...as we stand against Left's Terror!!
Mudboy Slim (5/31/04)
Thoughts on Memorial Day 2004
Why is this Memorial (or Decoration Day) weekend different from past holidays? We are at war but we were at war last year. Soldiers have died but soldiers died last year and the year before and every year since 1941, in hot wars and in the cold war. I have not lost family or friends or even know anyone who has lost family or friends. Yet this day I feel a loss more than I have in the past. I have not been called upon to sacrifice; there is no rationing, no tax increases, no shortage of essential and non-essential items. Yes, gas is a little higher, it is not excessive and minor changes in driving habits can overcome the increase at the pump.
As I watched the dedication of the World War 2 Memorial, I pondered the sacrifices Americans made during that war. There were boys from the farms of Iowa who had never seen an ocean fighting off Okinawa. There were boys who had never left the city fighting in the jungles of Guadalcanal. There were black soldiers flying over Italy or liberating concentration camps in Germany who could not use the same water fountain at home, housewives who became pilots and nurses, Nisei who fought with the 442nd Infantry in Italy while some of their parents were interned. Many grew up too fast, some never had the opportunity to grow up but all gave all they could to see America victorious in a war against tyranny and oppression. I think of the Sullivans, whose blue stars turned to gold for five sons in one evening. I cannot imagine what that must have felt like and how family can recover from such a loss. But they did. To paraphrase Tom Hanks, they went to war, did their job, came home, and looked to the future. The soldiers who came home put the war in the past and looked to the future. The freedoms of the future were what they had sacrificed and died for and there wasnt any point in dwelling in the past. Many who returned went on to accomplishments never dreamed of prior to their service.
That was Saturday and Sunday was the Washington D.C. Memorial Day celebration. Again, for me, it was different from past years. The tributes to the dead and wounded were honorable and without rancor or politics. How refreshing.
I thought again of World War 2 and the sacrifices on the home front everybody endured. The focus was on victory but no one knew when. In March of 1942, victory was not a shining beacon in the night, rather a single lit match lost in the vastness of the universe. But we prevailed, we overcame, we adapted, and we won.
Today, I will read and remember and, perhaps, play an historical wargame. But there will be a difference in the game. The pieces will no longer be just little squares or icons with numbers and odds. They will represent soldiers and sailors and marines and airmen I have read about, soldiers I have served with in my past. The game will no longer be about just winning, but winning with as little loss of life as possible. The units have come alive.
I was fortunate enough to attend the 60th anniversary of the attack on Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. At the end of the ceremony, everyone took an orchid from the bowl. On the orchid was the name of someone who had died that day. We tossed the orchid into the harbor and watched them float in the same waters where so many had died, overshadowed by the white of the Arizona Memorial.
This is for FC2 George Calvin Ford, who died on U.S.S. Oklahoma on December 7th, 1941. May God hold him in the palm of His hand until the sea gives up her dead.
Every war with fascism is our business
chrenkoff 1 June 2004 Interview Transcript -Polish television channel TVN24
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