[snippy_about_it]

Cher Ami died of his multiple war wounds on June 13, 1919--less than a year after he had completed his service to the United States Army Signal Corps. Upon his death a taxidermist preserved the small pigeon for future generations, a bird with a story that became an inspiration to millions over the years.

Today, visitors to the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. can still see Cher Ami, preserved for history alongside the French Croix de Guerre with palm that was awarded to him by the French government. In the years following Cher Ami's death, there were rumors the bird had also been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Though there is ample documentation that General John J. Pershing did in fact, award a "silver medal" to the brave carrier pigeon, there is NO record of the DSC being awarded.


This World War I vintage (1918) picture came off the Signal Corps wall around 1945. It depicts cameras attached to birds before flying over enemy lines.


Actual Message Carried by Allied Military Pigeon in World War Two

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Educational sources;
www.homeofheroes.com

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Sunday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.

If you'd like to drop us a note you can write to:

The Foxhole
19093 S. Beavercreek Rd. #188
Oregon City, OR 97045

[alfa6]

Yee Haw Sunday Pigeon Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[StarCMC]

Good morning Snippy! I hope this is ok - I have a couple of items I'd like to post here ~ one for entertainment/reflection and an announcement for all Vietnam vets and their families. *HUGS!

[StarCMC]

 

 

 

The Song of the Patriot
(Johnny Cash & Marty Robbins)

(Click for music)

I’m a flag waving, patriotic nephew of my Uncle Sam
A rough riding fighting Yankee man
I love mom and apple pie,
And the freedoms that we all enjoy across this beautiful land
I work hard and I fight hard for the old Red, White, and Blue
And I’ll die a whole lot harder if it comes to where I have to.

I’m a flag waving, patriotic nephew of my Uncle Sam
A rough riding fighting Yankee man.
And when I see old Glory waving
I think of all the brave men who have fought and died for what is right and wrong.
And when I see old Glory burnin', my blood begins to churnin'
And I could do some fightin’ of my own.

I don’t believe in violence, I’m a God fearing man
Bul I’ll stand up for my country just as long as I can stand.

Cause I’m a flag waving, patriotic nephew of my Uncle Sam
A rough riding fighting Yankee man.
I’m a flag waving, patriotic nephew of my Uncle Sam
A rough riding fighting Yankee man.

And I enjoy the liberty of being what I want to be and achieve any goals that I can
I was taught to turn the other cheek, but daddy used to say
Walk soft and pack a big stick, but never walk away.

I’m a flag waving, patriotic nephew of my Uncle Sam
A rough riding fighting Yankee man
And When I see old Glory waving
I think of all the brave men who have fought and died for what is right and wrong.
And when I see old Glory burnin', my blood begins to churnin'
And I could do some fightin’ of my own.

Cause I love all my brothers and were proud of our group
We’ve got the greenest country here on God’s green earth
I’m a flag waving, patriotic nephew of my Uncle Sam
A rough riding fighting Yankee man.

 

 

 

[StarCMC]

ATTENTION:  VIETNAM VETS!

 

Thirty years have passed since the end of the Vietnam War. During those three decades, the brave men and women who served in that conflict have never been given the recognition they deserve for their heroic sacrifices in service to our country. Now, the time for that recognition has come. Welcome Home…America’s Tribute to Vietnam Veterans will be the homecoming celebration they never received.

This first-ever national event will take place June 13-June 19, 2005 in Branson, Missouri. Including veterans, their families and friends, 100,000 participants from across the country are expected to attend.

For Vietnam Veterans and their loved ones, and our nation, this celebration is profoundly important. By honoring those who answered their country’s call during a difficult time in our nation’s history, the legacy of duty, honor and country will be passed on to America’s sons and daughters who will be called to serve in the future. It’s an idea whose time has come.

 

For more information, click here!

 

[Samwise]

The Stevie Wonder song will never sound quite the same to me.

[The Mayor]

March 6, 2005

Keep The Organ Playing

Read:
1 Corinthians 12:20-26

Those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. -1 Corinthians 12:22

Bible In One Year: Deuteronomy 20-22

Many years ago an accomplished organist was giving a concert. (In those days someone had to pump large bellows backstage to provide air for the pipes.) After each song, the audience applauded heartily. Before his final number, the organist stood and said, "I shall now play . . ." and he announced the title. He sat down and adjusted his music. With feet poised over the pedals and hands over the keys, he began with a mighty chord. But the organ remained silent. Just then a voice was heard from backstage: "Say 'We'!"

In the Lord's work, there is plenty of room for personal achievement. Our abilities are God-given, and the Holy Spirit helps us to excel in what we do best. But a self-sufficient spirit that overlooks the contributions of others can ruin it all. No Christians have ever climbed the ladder of success alone. With them were mothers, fathers, friends, a husband, a wife, or children who prayed, sacrificed, and did what they could to help.

Aware of our deep indebtedness to others, we should be grateful for their vital role in the Lord's work in and through us. A note of sincere thanks, a word of honest recognition, or a thoughtful deed of love will help to "keep the organ playing." -Dennis De Haan

Two Christians working for the Lord
Should keep this goal in mind:
Give praise for what the other does-
To your success be blind. -Branon

It's amazing what can be accomplished when you don't care who gets the credit.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
The Church We Need

[Valin]

Birthdates which occurred on March 06:
1405 Johan II King of Castille
1475 Michelangelo Buonarroti painter/sculptor/architect (David, Pièta)
1619 Cyrano de Bergerac dramatist (A Voyage to the Moon)
1787 Joseph von Fraunhofer Germany, physicist (studied Sun's spectrum)
1791 Anna Claypoole Peale painted miniatures
1806 Elizabeth Barrett Browning poet (Sonnets from the Portuguese)
1812 Aaron Lufkin Dennison father of American watchmaking
1820 Horatio Gouverneur Wright Major General (Union volunteers)
1831 Philip Henry Sheridan Albany NY, Major General (Union Army)
1835 Charles Ewing Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1883
1885 Ring Lardner US, writer (You Know Me Al)
1893 [Walter] Furry Lewis father of the blues
1898 Jay C Flippen Little Rock AR, actor (Ensign O'Toole, Jet Pilot, Killing, Thunder Bay)
1900 Robert "Lefty" Grove baseball pitcher (300 game winner)
1906 Lou Costello Paterson NJ, comedian/actor (Abbott & Costello)
1923 Ed McMahon Detroit MI, TV host (Johnny Carson Show, Star Search)
1924 William H Webster US, judge/head FBI/CIA
1926 Alan Greenspan economist/Presidential advisor (Federal Reserve Board)
1927 Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr Shawnee OK, USAF/astronaut (Mercury 9, Gemini 5)
1927 William J Bell Chicago IL, soap opera creator (Young & Restless)
1929 Ho Dam North Korean Secretary of State (1970-83)
1929 Thomas S Foley (Representative-Democrat-WA, 1965-94)/majority whip/Speaker of House
1937 Valentina V Tereshkova-Nikolayev 1st woman in space (Vostok 6)
1939 Christopher Bond (Senator-R-MO)
1940 Willie Stargell outfielder/1st baseman (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1971 National League homerun leader)
1944 Mary Wilson Detroit MI, vocalist (Supremes-Where Did Our Love Go)
1945 Rob Reiner Bronx NY, actor/director (All in the Family, Stand By Me)
1946 David Jon Gilmour Cambridgeshire England, rock guitarist (Pink Floyd-The Wall)
1959 Tom Arnold Ottuwa IA, comedian (Roseanne, True Lies)
1964 Cher Butler Garland TX, playmate (August, 1985)
1968 Marty Morgan Minneapolis MN, 180½ lbs greco-roman wrestler (Olympics-96)
1972 Shaquille O'Neal Newark NJ, NBA center (Magic, Lakers, Olympics-gold-96)

---

Deaths which occurred on March 06:
0766 Chrodegang church reformer/bishop of Mainz, dies at about 50
1616 Francis Beaumont Elizabethan dramatist, dies (birth date unknown)

1836 Davy Crockett US pioneer (Alamo), killed in battle at 49

1888 Louisa May Alcott US author (Old-fashioned Girl), dies at 55
1900 Gottlieb Daimler designed 1st motorcycle, dies at 65
1917 Jules HPFX Vandenpeereboom premier of Belgium (1899), dies at 73
1932 John Philip Sousa US composer (Stars & Stripes Forever), dies at 77
1933 Anton J Cermak US mayor of Chicago, murdered
1954 Louis Zimmermann violinist, dies at 80
1964 King Paul I of Greece (1947-64), dies at 62
1965 Margaret Dumont [Daisy Baker] actress (Animal Crackers), dies at 75
1967 Nelson Eddy US baritone/actor (Phantom of the Opera), dies at 65
1970 William Hopper actor (Paul Drake-Perry Mason), dies at 55
1973 Pearl S Buck author (Good Earth-Nobel 1938), dies at 80
1976 "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom light-heavyweight box champion (1932-34), dies at 71
1982 Ayn Rand author-philosopher (The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged), dies in New York at 77
1986 Georgia O'Keeffe US painter (Flowers), dies at 98
1994 Max Schubert winemaker, dies at 89
1994 Melina Mercouri Greek actress (Never on a Sunday), dies at about 68
1997 Michael Manley Jamaican Prime Minister (PNP, 1972-80, 89-92), dies
1998 Adem Jasari Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader, killed

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 CARPENTER HOWARD B.---YOUNGSTOWN OH.
1968 ANSELMO WILLIAM F.---DENVER CO.
1968 COLOMBO GARY LEWIS---YAKIMA WA.
1968 LOPEZ ROBERT---SEATTLE WA.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 06/16/00]
1968 MITCHELL GILBERT L.---TEHACHAPI CA.
1968 NELSON RICHARD C.---DREXEL HILL PA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 07/17/84]
1968 RIOS NOEL L.---NEWARK NJ.
1968 SEWARD WILLIAM H.---ATLANTA GA.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 06/16/00]
1969 COLEMAN JIMMY L.---GOODWATER AL.
1969 MC DONNELL JOHN T.---FORT WORTH TX.
1970 HUMMEL JOHN F.---BARSTOW TX.
1971 MILLINER WILLIAM P.---LOUISVILLE KY.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
1079 Omar ibn Ibrahim al-Chajjam completes Jalali-calendar
1255 Pope Alexander IV permittes Mindaugas to crown his son as king of Lithuania
1323 Treaty of Paris
1447 Tommaso Parentucelli succeeds Pope Eugene IV as Nicolas V
1460 Treaty of Alcacovas-Portugal gives Castile Canary Islands for W. Africa
1521 Magellan discovers Guam
1665 Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society starts publishing
1728 Spain & England sign (1st) Convention of Pardo
1775 1st Negro Mason in US initiated, Boston
1799 Napoleon captures Jaffa Palestine
1808 1st college orchestra in US founded, at Harvard
1810 Illinois passes 1st state vaccination legislation in US
1816 Jews are expelled from Free city of Lubeck Germany
1820 The Missouri Compromise, enacted by Congress, signed by President James Monroe.
1831 Edgar Allen Poe removed from West Point military academy

1836 3,000 Mexicans beat 182 Texans at the Alamo, after 13 day fight (Remember the Alamo)

1853 Giuseppe Verdi's Opera "La Traviata" premieres in Venice
1857 Dred Scott Decision: Supreme Court rules slaves cannot be citizens
1861 Provisionary Confederate Congress establishes Confederate Army
1862 Battle of Pea Ridge AR (Elkhorn Tavern)
1865 Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida
1865 President Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Ball
1886 1st US alternating current power plant starts, Great Barrington MA
1886 1st US nurses' magazine, The Nightingale, 1st appears, New York NY
1896 1st auto in Detroit MI, Charles B King rides his "Horseless Carriage"
1899 "Aspirin" patented by Felix Hoffmann
1902 Census Bureau forms
1918 US naval collier "Cyclops" disappears in Bermuda Triangle
1919 NHL Championship: Montréal Canadiens beat Ottawa Senators, 3 games to 1 with 1 tie
1921 Police in Sunbury PA issue an edict requiring Women to wear skirts at least 4 inches below the knee
1922 Babe Ruth signs 3 years at $52,000 a year New York Yankee contract
1924 British Labour government cuts military budget
1930 Brooklyn's Clarence Birdseye develops a method for quick freezing food
1933 FDR declares a nationwide bank holiday
1933 Poland occupies free city Danzig (Gdansk)
1940 1st US telecast from an airplane, New York NY
1943 Sukarno asks for cooperation with Japanese occupiers
1945 Assassination attempt on Höhere, SS Police führer Rauter
(SS Brigadefuhrer Dr. Eberhardt Schongarth immediately ordered reprisals and a total of 263 people were shot. A Special Court of Justice in the Hague sentenced Rauter to death and he was executed March 25, 1949. Schongarth was tried by a British Military Court, found guilty on another war crime charge, sentenced to death and was hanged in 1946)
1946 France recognizes Vietnam statehood within Indo-Chinese federation
1947 XB-45, 1st US 4-engine jet bomber, makes 1st test flight, Muroc CA
1957 Ghana (formerly Gold Coast) declares independence from UK
1959 11th Emmy Awards: Playhouse 90, Jack Benny Show, Raymond Burr
1959 Farthest radio signal heard (Pioneer IV, 400,000 miles)
1960 President Sukarno disbands Indonesia's parliament
1962 US promise Thailand assistance against communist aggression
1964 Constantine succeeds Paul I as king of Greece
1964 Elijah Muhammad renames Cassius Clay, Muhammad Ali
1964 Liz Taylor's 3rd divorce (Eddie Fisher)
1965 1st nonstop helicopter crossing of North America, JR Willford
1966 Barry Sadlers' "Ballad of the Green Berets" becomes #1 (13 weeks)
1967 Muhammad Ali is ordered by selective service to be inducted
1967 Stalin's daughter Svetlana Allilujeva asks for political asylum in US
1972 Jack Nicklaus passes Arnold Palmer as golf's all-time money winner
1974 An Italian loses a record $1,920,000 at roulette in Monte Carlo
1978 Hustler publisher Larry Flynt shot & crippled by a sniper in Georgia
1981 Walter Cronkite signs-off as anchorman of "The CBS Evening News" (How can I miss you when you won't go away)
1982 NBA highest scoring game: San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171-166(3 OT)
1982 Susan Birmingham makes loudest recorded human shout (120 dB)
1985 Enos Slaughter & Arky Vaughan are elected to baseball Hall of Fame
1985 Mexican authorities find body of US drug agent Enrique C Salaazar
1985 Mike Tyson KOs Hector Mercedes in 1 round in his 1st pro fight
1985 Yul Brynner appears in his 4,500th performance of "King & I"
1988 3 IRA suspects were shot dead in Gibraltar by SAS officers
1990 SR-71 sets a transcontinental record, flying 2,404 miles in 1:08:17
1991 Following Iraq's capitulation in the Persian Gulf conflict, President Bush told Congress that "aggression is defeated; The war is over" (or not)
1994 Vice President Al Gore and White House adviser George Stephanopoulos, appear on the Sunday TV talk shows to blame Republican sniping for much of the furor over Whitewater.(Nothing here. Move along)
1998 1st time the British flag is flown over Buckingham Palace
1998 Matt Beck, an angry lottery accountant kills 4 at Connecticut state lottery
1999 Ta Mok (72), aka "the butcher," the one-legged last senior leader of the Khmer Rouge, was arrested.
2001 Bill Mazeroski was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with former Negro League player Hilton Smith.
2002 It was reported that a 3-year study of heavy marijuana users showed that long-term pot smoking impaired brain function (Oh Wow man, like heavy duty)
2003 Pres. Fidel Castro was elected a sixth term.

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Ghana : Independence Day (1957)
Guam : Magellan Day/Discovery Day (1521)
US : Stoneware Pottery Appreciation Day
US : National Pet Sitters Week
US : Aardvark Week Begins


Texas : Alamo Day


Civilized and Polite Behavior Among Citizens Month in China.

---

Religious Observances
old Roman Catholic : Feast of Ss Perpetua & Felicitas, martyrs (now 3/7)
Panamá : Jesus Nazarene of Atalaya
Anglican, Roman Catholic : Ember Day

---

Religious History
1629 In Germany, the Edict of Restitution ordered that all church property secularized since 1552 be restored to the Roman Catholic Church.
1735 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'The renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. It is not to be done in a day. We have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to pull down.'
1759 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'There is a wonderful mystery in the manner and circumstances of that mighty working, whereby God subdues all things to himself, and leaves nothing in the heart but his pure love alone.'
1919 Death of Julia H. Johnston, 70, American Presbyterian Sunday School leader. She penned about 500 hymns during her lifetime, one of which is still sung today: "Grace Greater Than Our Sin" (a.k.a. "Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord").
1933 Death of Amos R. Wells, 71, pioneer U.S. Christian educator. From l901 until his death, he was editor of "Peloubet's Notes for the International Sunday School Lessons."

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"Ocean: A body of water occupying two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills."

[Iris7]

"Mr. Charles Whittlesey was a lawyer in New York..."

Major Whittlesey was a WALL STREET lawyer in New York City, and quite well off. Not the sort of guy you would expect to volunteer for infantry duty these days, eh?

Major Whittlesey never regained his good humor after the Lost Battalion experience. Too many of his men, good men, HIS men, lost. Killed himself in 1922, as I recall, jumped off of a passenger ship in the night. Left a note. To me, his reason is very easy to understand. He missed his dead guys.

[PhilDragoo]

Go to this page and click on Cher Ami for photo zoom.

The Lost Battalion 1 of 3

Following the November 11th Armistice, many of the doughboys returned home in time for Christmas, Lietuenant Colonel Whittlesey himself arriving back in his home state for the holidays. On Christmas Day a ceremony was held on Boston Common, and the Medal of Honor pinned to the tunic of the mild-mannered, New York attorney. It was the first Medal of Honor of World War I to be presented to a member of the United States Army. Lieutenant Holderman's Medal of Honor was announced in War Department Orders two years later.

The story of the Lost Battalion became perhaps the most talked about and written about event of World War I, growing more sensational with each retelling. Sadly, the bare facts alone were sufficient to inspire. Americans have always sought for heroes, and Charles Whittlesey was hesitantly thrust into that role. But, as surely as we need heroes to inspire us, a sad fact of human nature is that heroes also inspire jealousy and often resentment. Yesterday's hero, all too often becomes today's whipping boy.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Whittlesey was honorably discharged from the United States Army the day before his Medal of Honor was announced. He attempted to return to the practice of law, but the legend of the Lost Battalion would not let him go. There were rumors and innuendo that Whittlesey was himself, personally responsible for the tragedy. Some pointed to the minor error in the map coordinates he had sent back by carrier pigeon, others claimed the unit had been trapped only because the Major had overzealously pushed his soldiers ahead of all others. The fact that Major Whittlesey had simply followed orders to the letter, no more and no less, or that the general location of The Pocket was well known in headquarters, could not stop these sad rumors.

In 1921 the reluctant hero boarded the S.S. Toloa, a vacation liner to Cuba, to escape the war that wouldn't end from him. During the voyage he penned a letter bequeathing the original copy of the German surrender request written by Lieutenant Prinz to his friend, George McMurtry. He left his Cross of the Legion of Honor to his closest friend, former classmate at Harvard, and law partner J. Bayard Pruyn. On November 27, 1921 Charles Whittlesey finally completed his escape from The Pocket of a steep slope in the Argonne Forest when he leaped from the rail of the S.S. Toloa and vanished forever in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean.

vickers

1945 Assassination attempt on Höhere, SS Police führer Rauter
(SS Brigadefuhrer Dr. Eberhardt Schongarth immediately ordered reprisals and a total of 263 people were shot. A Special Court of Justice in the Hague sentenced Rauter to death and he was executed March 25, 1949. Schongarth was tried by a British Military Court, found guilty on another war crime charge, sentenced to death and was hanged in 1946)

HOLLAND

DE WOESTE HOEVE
(March 6, 1945)

On the night of March 6, a BMW car, carrying the SS General Hans Albin Rauter, was ambushed, his driver and orderly being killed. Rauter was seriously wounded . Some hours later, the damaged car was found by German troops and Rauter was taken to the St. Joseph-Stichting hospital on the outskirts of Apeldoorn where he recovered after a series of blood transfusions. Soon after the ambush, the SD arrived and what followed was one of the most notorious war crimes ever committed in Holland. In charge of the investigation was SS Brigadefuhrer Dr.Eberhardt Schongarth, who immediately ordered reprisals. One hundred and sixteen men were rounded up and transported to the scene of the ambush where they were all shot dead, their bodies being buried in a mass grave in Heidehof Cemetery in the village of Ugchelen . In Gestapo prisons all over Holland, prisoners were taken out and shot in reprisal for the ambush. In all, a total of 263 people had been shot in reprisal. The irony was, that the Dutch underground fighters had intended to ambush and steal a German lorry, and had no idea that the car they shot up contained a German General. Rauter himself survived the war. He was arrested by British Military Police in a hospital at Eutin and turned over to the Dutch. Before a Special Court of Justice in the Hague, he was sentenced to death and on March 25, 1949, he was executed by firing squad in the dunes near Scheveningen Prison. Schongarth was tried by a British Military Court, found guilty on another war crime charge and sentenced to death. He was hanged in 1946.

Toen kwam er, naar later bleek, een grijsgroene B.M.W.-personenauto cabriolet, waarin de Hogere S.S. und Polizeiführer Hans Albin Rauter, zijn chauffeur en de Oberleutnant Exner zaten.

Shoot him.

Patch him up.

Shoot him again.

Surely we can do this with the likes of Saddam Hussein--along the lines of Groundhog Day.