Replies

Lt. Richard Winters

After more than a month of combat in Normandy, Easy was pulled out of the line in July and returned to England on July 12. The 101st Airborne Division spent the remainder of the summer preparing for a series of missions that were all canceled as Allied forces raced across occupied France. In September the 101st was one of three airborne divisions that took part in the Allied effort to seize a bridgehead over the Rhine. Following the drop in September, the division fought a series of small battles along its corridor of "Hell's Highway" in Holland before moving to positions along the southern band of the Lower Rhine River, known to the men of the 101st as "the Island." It was here, on October 5, 1944, where Winters led an attack that prevented a German breakthrough of thinly held American lines.

The Island leaves memories that I have never forgotten. We went up to the dike along the Rhine River to relieve the British. I was sent up ahead of the men and had an opportunity to witness a British attack. The officers walked with the men across this field. They all walked. Nobody took evasive action; nobody tried looking for cover or anything. They walked, the officers with their side arms in their holsters and the men with their rifles in their hands, going across a wide-open field. The Germans just cut them to pieces. I never saw anything like it. It was like a battle from the Civil War. It was very noble, very brave and unbelievably foolish. We had to replace them, and I had a tremendous front to cover. So the only thing I could do was place strongpoints at certain places along the dike and then cover the spaces in between with patrols.

It was on October 5 at a place we called the crossroads. Earlier that evening one of my patrols had encountered a large number of Germans and been forced to withdraw. When they reported in to me what they had encountered, I decided to take a group out to stop these Germans from infiltrating our lines. When we got to the spot where the Germans were and I could see how many there were, I immediately gave a hand signal back to the men in the squad I had with me to follow me up to the dike. As they came up to me, I assigned each a target. I stepped back and in a quiet stage whisper said, "Ready, aim, fire." We eliminated all of our targets. At this point we are on the German side of the dike, and there are other Germans on the other side of the road leading to the Rhine River that intersects with the dike.

There was only one thing to do. I withdrew my men to an adjoining gully to assess the situation. I got in touch with company headquarters and told them to send up the reserve platoon. After I was joined by another platoon and some additional machine guns, I went off by myself a little way to assess the situation and decide what to do. My group was the only thing separating the Germans from the rear of my battalion. So I decided we must charge them. I returned to the gully where the rest of the platoon was, and after ordering fixed bayonets, which makes every man have a second thought, I signaled when to throw a smoke grenade. This was the order to charge. As I leap off and begin the charge I am pretty pumped up. In fact, I have never been more pumped up in my life. I ran faster across the field separating us from the Germans than I have ever run in my life. All the men in the company are behind me, but they seem to be moving so slow. Nobody seemed to be moving normally, only me. When I got up to the road where the Germans were, there was a German in front of me, so I shot him. I then turn to my right, and there I see a whole company of Germans. I began firing into them, and they seemed to be moving so slow and then the rest of the company joined me. As the boys said later, it was a duck shoot. They never had a target like that before. We had caught two companies of SS soldiers pinned to the dike, and as they retreated we poured fire into them, and then I called in artillery fire. We destroyed those two companies.

I remember when I was interviewed for the movie, I told one of the writers that as I shot the German, he looked up at me and smiled. Well, I kept going with my story, but later, as it turns out, the writer wanted to play up the thing about the smile. He wanted to play that up as a flashback, the type of bad flashbacks you can have. I have flashbacks every day. But the writer wanted to play up that point. And that is why in the series that German is portrayed as a kid and why later on when I am in Paris they portray me looking at this kid on the train and having another flashback. It's stupid, but I didn't get the chance to review the scenes.

Winters believes his ability to inspire men to follow him into harm's way on the dike in Holland and elsewhere was attributable to his bedrock beliefs in basic leadership qualities.

The qualities you are looking for in a leader include: Does the individual have the respect of the men? How do you get the respect of the men? By living with them, being a part of it, being able to understand what they are going through and not to separate yourself from them. You have to know your men. You have to gain their confidence. And the way to gain the confidence of anybody, whether it's in war or civilian life or whatever, you must be honest. Be honest, be fair and be consistent. You can't be honest and fair one day, and the next give your people the short end of the stick. Once you can achieve that, you will be a leader.

It's a matter of adjusting to the individual, and you do this every day. You don't have just one way of treating people; you adjust yourself to who you are talking to. I might talk to one person one way, someone else another. Ambrose had spent a good deal of time thinking about leaders and leadership. He had it about right. If you have character, that means the guy you are dealing with can trust you. So when you get into combat, and you get in a situation such as we were in along the dike in Holland, when I gave the orders, "Ready, aim," and this cook who had been in the unit only a short time but was experiencing his first combat action interrupted and said, "Don't talk so loud!" nobody else there was thinking about anything except what he had been told to do. They trust in you, have faith in you and they obey right now, no questions asked.

You get it done by making a decision quick, getting to it and getting the thing done. Don't sit back and let the other guy make a decision that will put you on the defensive. Make up your mind quickly and get it done, right or wrong. Were you going down the tube, like running across that damn field? I could have been caught in the middle of the field if the Germans had been on the ball, and lost every goddamn man in that platoon. In some ways we lucked out.

Another character who features prominently in the story of Easy Company is Captain Ron Speirs, who took over Easy Company outside of Bastogne when Lieutenant Norman Dike froze in the field during an assault and Winters turned to Speirs and commanded him to "take the company in!" Two of the stories that have circulated about Speirs were that he shot some German prisoners in Normandy and, later, one of his own sergeants.

Speirs was very effective. He got the job done. But if you were around and talked to the men who worked under him, he was never liked.

Now, he could turn around and walk away and talk to someone at my level and be a completely different guy. He could take orders. He was very likable.

The stories about him are true. When I first heard, I was speechless. What he did was unbelievable, inexcusable. If you talk to somebody in today's Army, they would say, well, how come he wasn't court-martialed? Well, you needed every man you had. Those guys that goofed up, didn't measure up, you couldn't just get rid of them. You needed the body, because if you lose that body, then somebody else has to shoulder twice the burden. You needed every body you could get. At Foy, he was the first officer I saw when I turned around. It could have been anybody, but it was Speirs. I didn't ask, "OK, would you mind taking over?" No, I just turned around, saw him and said take over. It was just a roll of the dice that he was standing there when I needed someone.

Through the course of his campaigns with Easy Company, Winters developed a great affection for his men and his men for him. He led them and, despite his affection, commanded them.

You maintain close relationships with your men, but not friendship. You have mutual respect for one another, but yet you have to hold yourself aloof, to a degree. If you are too friendly, it works in a negative way when you need to discipline your men. You can have your men's respect and friendship, but there is a point where you have to rise above this relationship and make sure they are following the orders that are in effect for everybody. In leading groups effectively, you have to rise above camaraderie. You have to be fair to everyone. Everyone must know that they are treated equally.

Winters acknowledges different styles of leadership and cites the ability of men to lead through fear, such as Speirs and E Company's first commander, Herbert Sobel. He asserts, however, that the most effective leader will have quiet self-confidence and self-assurance that ultimately commands the respect of the men.

In Sobel's case it was in training, and in Speirs' case it was in combat. It is impossible to imagine what would have been the result if we had been led into battle by Sobel. He had driven the men to the point of mutiny, and, more important, he had lost their respect. If he had been in command, more men would have died in battle. Speirs had the men's respect. He had my respect. We both knew he would get the job done.

If you can, find that peace within yourself, that peace and quiet and confidence that you can pass on to others, so that they know that you are honest and you are fair and will help them, no matter what, when the chips are down. I was never one for officers' parties. And in my diary I would keep asking myself why am I sitting here when the others are out at parties. I am at the Barnes home studying my manuals. I'm reading and educating myself. Getting ready. But before the evening is over, I will pick up and read a novel before I go to sleep. Now, a good guy would have been out at all those parties. The pressure of being a good fellow oftentimes brings people to what? You can be a good fellow, get along with everyone and not be a good leader. Sure, I was a good fellow during the day. I joked and palled-around with the other officers, but then in the evening I would go home and I could be myself.

I was fortunate enough to fall in with the Barnes family. They were wonderful people. For the nine months prior to the invasion, I was there and studied, developing my own personality, my own personal perspective on command. Most of the other officers never had that. It was a chance for self-analysis. If you listen and pay attention, you will find that your own self-consciousness will tell you if you are getting off track. Nobody will have to tell you that what you are doing is incorrect or ineffective. If you take advantage of opportunities for self-reflection, and honestly look at yourself, you will be able to be a better leader.

At age 86 (snippy note: now 87) Dick Winters lives in Hershey with his wife of 56 years, Ethel. He receives hundreds of letters a month, many of which come addressed simply to "Major Richard Winters, Hershey, Pa.," and he attempts to respond to each one, with Ethel's help.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

American History Magazine

For an excellent thread and further education revisit this thread from last year
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Lt. Richard Winters at Brecourt Manor - (6/6/1944) - Jan 21st, 2004

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 03:
0039 Lucan Cordova Spain, Latin poet (Bellum Civile)
1718 John Montague 4th Earl of Sandwich, inventor (sandwich)
1793 Stephen Fuller Austin colonized Texas
1801 Karl Baedeker Germany, published travel books
1816 Jubal Anderson Early Lt General (Confederate Army), died in 1894
1818 Gustavus Adolphus DeRussy Brig Gen (Union volunteers), died in 1891
1826 Jasper Adalmorn Maltby Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1830 Esten Cooke John (Confederate Army), died in 1886
1833 Edward Dorr Tracy Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1844 Mehmed V Reshad sultan of Turkey (1909-18)
1852 Mutsuhito 122nd emperor of Japan (1867-1912)
1857 Michail V Aleksejev Russian general (WW I-chief of staff)
1880 Edmond Barrett heavyweight wrestler (Olympic-bronze-1908)
1903 Walker Evans US, photographer (Fortune Magazine)
1908 Bronko Nagurski NFL fullback (Chicago Bears)
1909 James Reston columnist (NY Times)
1918 Bob Feller pitcher (Cleveland Indian, 3 no-hitters)
1918 Russell B "Kingfisher" Long (D-Sen-La)
1919 Bert Freed NYC, actor (Rufe-Shane)
1922 Charles Bronson Pennsylvania, actor (Death Wish, Dirty Dozen)
1930 William H Dana pilot (X-15)
1931 Monica Vitti Rome Italy, actress (Tigers in Lipstick)
1933 Ken Berry Moline IL, actor/dancer/TV personality (F Troop, Mayberry RFD)
1933 Michael S Dukakis (D-Gov-MA) (1988 Presidentidential Candidate)
1935 Jeremy Brett actor (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
1943 Ken Holtzman Cub/Oriole/Yankee pitcher (2 no-hitters)
1948 Lulu (Marie Lawrie) Glasgow Scotland, singer/actress (To Sir With Love)
1949 Larry Holmes heavyweight boxing champ (1978)
1952 Roseanne Barr Arnold Salt Lake City, comedienne/TV star (Roseanne)
1953 Dennis Miller Pittsburgh PA, comedian/TV host (SNL, Dennis Miller Show)
1954 Adam Ant [Stuart Goddard], punk rocker (If I Strip For You)
1954 Kevin P Chilton Los Angeles CA, major USAF/astronaut (sk: STS-49)

1954 Godzilla, Japanese monster
An Exclusive Interview with Godzilla, Hosted by Malachi Pulte!
http://www.heptune.com/Godzilla.html

1955 Phil Simms NFL quarterback (NY Giants, Superbowl 1986)
1959 Dolph Lundgren actor(?) (Rocky IV)
1959 Timothy Patrick Murphy Hartford CT, actor (Dallas, Glitter)

Deaths which occurred on November 03:
0361 Flavius Julius Constantius II, 1st Byzantine Emperor, dies at 44
1378 Jan II ruler of Polanen/Leck/Breda, dies
1639 Martinus de Porres Peru saint (patron of social rights), dies at 69
1864 Antonio Gonsalves Dias Brazilian national poet, dies at sea
1926 Annie Oakley dies
1962 Harlow H Curtice President of General Motors (1953-8), dies at 69
1990 Mary Martin actress (Peter Pan), dies at 76
1996 Jean-Bedel Bokassa, dictator of Cent Africa Rep (1967-79), dies at 75

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
03-Nov-2003 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Private 1st Class Rayshawn S. Johnson Tikrit (N of) - Salah ad Din Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

03-Nov-2004 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Charles Joseph Webb Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

On this day...
0644 Kalief Omar I injured during assassination attempt
1394 Jews are expelled from France by Charles VI
1507 Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint Lisa Gherardini ("Mona Lisa").
1534 English parliament accepts Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII church leader
1620 Great Patent granted to Plymouth Colony
1679 Great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet
1762 England & Spain signs Treaty of Paris
and Spain acquires Louisiana
1791 Battle at Wabash: Indians assault Gen St Clair/killed 637 soldiers

1783 Washington orders the Continental Army disbanded
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS
http://earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/farewell/text.html

1813 US troops under Gen Coffee destroy indian village at Talladega Ala
1820 Cuenca, Ecuador declares independence
1839 1st opium war-2 British frigates engage several Chinese junks
1862 Battle between gunboats at Bayou Teche, Louisiana
1862 Dr Richard Gatling patents machine gun(gatling gun) in Indianapolis
1863 Battle of Grand Coteau, GA
1867 Battle at Mentana: French/Vatican troops defeat Garibaldi
1868 1st black elected to Congress (John W Menard, Louisiana)
1868 Ulysses Grant (R) wins presidential election over Horatio Seymour (D)
1883 Race riots in Danville Virginia (4 blacks killed)
1883 Battle of El Obeid (The Sudan). Mahdi defeats Egyptian army under General William Hicks
1885 Tacoma vigilantes drive out Chinese, burn their homes & businesses
1888 Jack the Ripper kills last victim (or did he?)
1896 William McKinley (R) defeats William Jennings Bryan (D) for President
1899 Jim Jeffries retains heavyweight boxing title over Sailor Tom Sharkey
1900 1st national automobile show opens at Madison Square Garden (NYC)
1903 Colombia grants Panama independence
1908 William Howard Taft (R) elected 27th President over William Jennings Bryan
1916 Treaty establishes British suzerainty over Qatar
1917 1st class mail now costs $0.03
1918 Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolves
1918 Poland proclaims independence from Russia after WW I
1928 Turkey switches from Arabic to Roman alphabet
1930 1st vehicular tunnel to a foreign country (Detroit-Windsor) opens
1930 Bank of Italy becomes Bank of America
1931 1st commercially produced synthetic rubber manufactured
1936 President FDR wins landslide victory over Alfred M Landon (R)
1946 Emperor Hirohito proclaims new Japanese constitution
1952 Clarence Birdseye markets frozen peas
1952 Egypt protests German retribution payments to Israel
1953 "Sacrifice fly" reactivated in baseball (1939)
1953 1st live color coast-to-coast telecast (NYC)
1954 Linus Pauling wins Nobel Chemistry Prize
1955 Alabama woman bruised by a meteor
1955 Australia takes control of the Cocos Islands
1956 "Wizard of Oz" 1st televised (CBS-TV)
1957 USSR launches Sputnik 2 with a dog (Laika), 1st animal in orbit
1964 LBJ (D) soundly defeats Barry Goldwater (R) for President
1964 Robert Kennedy, brother of the slain president, is elected as a senator from New York.
1968 NY Jet Jim Turner kicks 6 field goals to beat Buffalo 25-21
1970 Salvador Allende inaugurated as President of Chile
1973 Good Morning America premiers on ABC (David Hartman & Nancy Dussault)
1973 Mariner 10 launched-1st Venus pics, 1st mission to Mercury
1979 5 mortally wounded during anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstration in NC

1979 63 Americans taken hostage at US Embassy (Teheran, Iran)

1982 Detroit blocks 20 Cleveland Cavalier shots tying NBA regulation game record
1983 Jesse Jackson launches his 1st campaign for Presidency (D)
1984 3,000 die in 3 day anti-Sikh riot in India
1986 Lebanese magazine Ash Shirra reveals secret US arms sales to Iran
1986 President Machel killed in air crash in Mozambique
1988 Pakistan claims it downed Afghan warplane
1988 Reagan signs credit-card disclosure-bill
1988 Soviet Union agrees to allow teaching of Hebrew (Gosh that was awefully nice of them)
1988 Talk-show host Geraldo Rivera's nose is broken as Roy Innis brawls with skinheads at TV taping
1989 Minnesota Timberwolves' 1st NBA game, lose to Seattle, 106-94
1991 NYC Marathon winners are Salvador Garcia (Mex) & Liz McColgan (Scot)

1992 Bill/Hillary Clinton elected US President (ushering in the era of honest ethical government. From now on they'll be no more selling secrets to foreign governments, being...serviced in the oval office, firing longtime WH office staff just to put political cronies in, stealing FBI files on political enemies, no more arresting of people who boo the president, rapeists will no longer be allowed inside the WH, condoms will no lomger be used as Christmas tree decorations, from now on campaign contribution from foreign goernment will be BANNED, and as for turning the WH into a motel 6 not while Bill & Hillary are there, no sir!

1993 President Clinton joins his wife, Hillary, in attacking the health insurance industry.
1994 Susan Smith of Union, S.C., is arrested for drowning her two young sons, nine days after claiming the children had been abducted by a black carjacker.

2001 Osama bin Laden, in a taped message, called the U.S. led attack on Afghanistan a war against Islam. (wanna bet?
2001 Arkansas beat Mississippi 58-56 in seven overtimes in the longest NCAA college football game in history, four hours and 14 minutes.
2002 North Korea was reported ready to negotiate its newly disclosed nuclear weapons program with the United States, including the dismantling of its uranium-enrichment facilities. (riiiight)
2002 Karl Rove causes a 7.9 earthquake hit Alaska 90 miles south of Fairbanks.
2002 6 al-Qaida suspects were killed in Yemen when the car they were travelling in was struck by a missile from a US Predator drone. Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, a suspected al-Qaida leader, was among the dead along with Kamal Derwish, a member of the Lackawanna, NY, sleeper cell.
2003 Saudi police battle terrorists in the streets of the holy city of Mecca, killing two of the suspects and uncovering a large cache of weapons. Police arrested six al-Qaida suspects.
2004 President Bush's campaign declared victory over Democratic Sen. John Kerry and claimed a second term in the White House, but Kerry refused to concede until all ballots were counted in the undecided state of Ohio.
2004 Republicans tightened their grip on the US Senate adding 4 seats to hold 55. Democratic Leader TOM DASCHLE of South Dakota defeated...eighty-sixed...vanquished...foiled by Rep. John Thune.

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

Ecuador : Cuenca's Independence Day
Japan : Culture Day
Panama : Independence Day (1903)
Texas : Father of Texas Day (1793)
Dominica : National Day
Belgium : Grand Festival of St. Hubert
US : Sandwich Day
Housewife's Day
International Doll Collectors Month

Religious Observances
RC : Memorial of Blessed Martin de Porres, confessor (opt)
Chr : Commemoration of St Hubert, bishop of LiŠge, patron of hunters
RC : Commemoration of St Malachy, Irish bishop
Ang : Commemoration of Richard Hooker, priest
RC : Feast of Blessed Martin de Porres, confessor

Religious History
0753 Death of St. Pirminius, first abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Reichenau (located in modern Germany). His name endures today as author of a book entitled "Scarapsus," which is the earliest known writing to contain the Apostles' Creed as it is worded in its present form.
1631 English clergyman John Eliot, 27, first arrived in America, at Boston. He afterward became the first Protestant minister to devote himself to evangelization of the American Indian.
1784 English clergyman Thomas Coke, 37, first arrived in America, at New York City. He was the first Methodist bishop to come to the New World.
1818 Pliny Fisk, 26, set sail for Palestine. Ordained by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Fisk became the first American missionary to journey to the Near East.
1925 The Pentecostal Ministerial Alliance was organized at St. Louis, MO. It became the forerunner of a new denomination, established in 1932 as the Pentecostal Church, Inc.

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

Scientists Find Fossils in Sexual Union

Nov 3, 7:57 AM (ET)

LUCKNOW, India (AP) - This was no one-night stand. Scientists in India say they have discovered two fossils fused together in sexual union for 65 million years.
The findings were published in the October edition of the Indian journal "Current Science," which said it was the first time that sexual copulation had been discovered in a fossil state, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
But voyeurs will need a microscope to view the eternal lovers.

The fossils are tiny swarm cells, a stage in the development of the fungus myxomycetes, also known as slime molds.
The cells reproduce by "fusing," Ranjeet Kar of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow reportedly told PTI. Once the cells fuse, long, threadlike appendages known as flagella, are lost, he said.

Finding the fossils in a fused position and with their flagella shed, is evidence that the two cells were having sex, Kar said.
"The sexual organs being delicate and the time of conjugation short lived, it is indeed rare to get this stage in the fossil state," the study said.
The cells were discovered in a 30-foot deep dry well in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Thought for the day :
"There's nothing wrong with being shallow as long as you're insightful about it."
Dennis Miller

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 09:
1731 Benjamin Banneker Ellicott MD, black mathematician/surveyor (Wash DC)
1802 Elijah P Lovejoy American newspaper publisher/abolitionist
1818 Ivan Turgenev Russia, novelist/poet/playwright (Fathers & Sons)
1825 Ambrose P Hill Lt General (Commander 3rd Corps, ANV)
1841 Edward VII king of England (1901-10)
1850 Lewis Lewin Germany, toxicologist/father of psychopharmacology
1886 Ed Wynn Philadelphia PA, comedian (Ed Wynn Show)
1898 Paul Robeson actor/singer/football star (King Solomon's Mines)
1903 Gregory Pincus inventor (birth control pill)
1905 James William Fulbright (Ex-Sen-D-ARK.)
1907 Burrill Phillips Omaha Nebraska, composer (Play Ball)
1913 Hedy Lamarr actress (Ecstacy, Samson & Delilah)
1915 Sargent Shriver Dem VP candidate (1972)/directed Peace Corp
1918 Florence Chadwick swimmer (Swimming Hall of Fame)
1918 Spiro Theodore Agnew (R) 39th VP (1973-77), crook
1921 Viktor Chukarin USSR, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1952, 56)
1931 Whitey Herzog baseball manager (St Louis Cardinals)
1932 Carl Perkins singer (Blue Suede Shoes, Honey Don't)
1934 Carl Sagan NYC, astronomer/author/professor (Cosmos, Broca's Brain)
1935 Bob Gibson Cardinal pitcher (Cy Young/NL MVP 1968)
1936 Mikhail N Tal USSR, world chess champion (1960-61)
1942 Tom Weiskopf Ohio, PGA golfer (British Open 1973)
1945 Roger Lee Jones WV, child molester (FBI Most Wanted List)
1948 Sharon Stouder US, 100m butterfly swimmer (Olympic-gold-1964)
1951 Lou Ferrigno Brooklyn NY, body builder/actor (Incredible Hulk)

Deaths which occurred on November 09:
1874 Israel Bak created 1st hebrew printing press, dies
1952 Chaim Weizmann 1st President of Israel, dies at 57
1953 Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud founder of Saudi Arabia, dies (born c 1880)
1953 Dylan Thomas author-poet, dies in NY at 39
1967 Charles Bickford actor (Johnny Belinda, Virginian), dies at 68
1970 Charles DeGaulle French President, dies at 79
1970 William L Dawson (Rep-D-Ill), dies at 84
1976 Billy Halop actor (Bert Munson-All in the Family), dies at 56
1978 Joe Wong actor (Ken Murray Show), dies at 75
1980 Victor Sen Yung actor (Bonanza, Bachelor Family), dies at 65
1985 Helen Rose costume designer, dies at 81
1988 John Mitchell former Attorney General, dies of heart attack in Washington
1991 Yves Montand actor, dies at 70 from a heart attack
2000 Hussein Abayat, a West Bank terrorist commander, was killed by a missile from an Israeli helicopter gunship
2003 Art Carney, actor (b.1918) died

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
09-Nov-2003 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Nicholas A. Tomko Iskandariyah (W of) - Babil Hostile - hostile fire - RPG attack

09-Nov-2004 14 | US: 14 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal Abraham Simpson Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant David M. Caruso Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant John Byron Trotter Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Staff Sergeant Todd R. Cornell Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - RPG attack
US Staff Sergeant Russell L. Slay Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Nathan R. Wood Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Nicholas D. Larson Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Corporal William C. James Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Juan E. Segura Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant Lonny D. Wells Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Command Sergeant Major Steven W. Faulkenburg Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Specialist Travis A. Babbitt Baghdad (southern part) Hostile - hostile fire
US Master Sergeant Steven E. Auchman Mosul - Ninawa Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack
US Major Horst Gerhard "Gary" Moore Mosul - Ninawa Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack

Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

On this day...
0694 Spanish King Egica accuses Jews of aiding Moslems; sentences them to slavery
1526 Jews are expelled from Pressburg Hungary by Maria of Hapsburg
1720 Rabbi Yehuda Hasid synagogue set afire
1799 Napoleon becomes dictator (1st consul) of France
1821 1st US pharmacy college holds 1st classes, Philadelphia
1853 Origin of Carrington rotation numbers for rotation of the Sun
1857 Atlantic Monthly magazine 1st published
1858 1st performance of NY Symphony Orchestra
1861 Battle of Piketon, KY
1862 US Grant issues orders to bar Jews from serving under him (quickly rescinded)
1864 Sherman designs his "March to the Sea"
1864 1st export of goods from Burrard Inlet, BC to a foreign country
1872 Fire destroys nearly 1,000 buildings in Boston
1877 American Chemical Society chartered in NY
1904 1st airplane flight to last more than 5 minutes
1906 President Theodore Roosevelt leaves Washington, D.C., for a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico, becoming the first president to make an official visit outside of the United States
1913 Storm "Freshwater Fury" sinks 8 ore-carriers on Great Lakes
1918 Bavaria proclaims itself a republic
1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates after German defeat in WW I
1924 Miriam (Ma) Ferguson becomes 1st elected woman governor (of Texas)
1927 Giant Panda discovered, China
1930 1st nonstop airplane flight from NY to Panama
1932 Hurricane storm wave sweeps over Santa Cruz del Sur Cuba kills 2,500
1935 United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization.(CIO)
1938 "Kristallnacht" (Crystal Night)-Nazi stormtroopers attacked Jews
1938 Al Capp, cartoonist of Lil' Abner creates Sadie Hawkins Day
1946 Pres Truman ends wage/price freeze
1950 White Sox release Luke Appling, who had been a Sox since 1930
1953 Cambodia (now Kampuchea) gains independence within French Union
1953 Supreme Court rules Major League baseball exempt from anti-trust laws
1961 PGA eliminates Caucasians only rule
1961 USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 30,970 m
1965 5:16 PM, massive power failure in New Engl, & Ontario (NY blackout)
1965 Willie Mays named NL MVP
1967 1st unmanned Saturn V flight to test Apollo 4 reentry module
1970 Trial of Seattle 8 anti-war protesters begins
1971 John List kills family & moves to Colorado
1973 Fire at Taiyo department store, kills 101 & injures 84 (Kumamoto Japan)
1973 Ringo releases "Ringo" album
1976 UN General Assembly condemns apartheid in South Africa
1980 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declares holy war against Iran
1982 Sugar Ray Leonard retires for the 1st time
1983 Discovery flies from Vandenberg AFB to Kennedy Space Center
1984 Vietnam Veterans Memorial ("3 Servicemen") completed
1985 Gary Kasparov (USSR) becomes World Chess Champion at age of 22
1988 MLB All-Star team beat Japan 8-2 in Nishinomya, (Game 4 of 7)
1989 The Berlin Wall is opened after dividing the city for 28 years.
1990 President Bush announces DOUBLING of US forces in Gulf
1993 Serbian army fires on school in Sarajevo, 9 children died
1997 Algerian terrorists disguised as policemen slit the throats of 28 civilians in 2 separate attacks in the northwest
2000 Democrats threw the presidential election to the courts, claiming “an injustice unparalleled in our history.”
(Sore-Loserman)
2001 Northern Alliance forces under Gen. Rashid Dostum claimed the capture of Mazar-e-Sharif.
2002 450,000 marched through Florence in a protest against globalization and U.S. policy in Iraq....and the high price of birkenstocks

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

Pakistan : Iqbal Day
Tunisia : Arbor Day/Tree Festival Day
Turks & Caicos Island : Peacemaker's Day
US : Hire A Veteran Week (day 4)
US : Womens Veterans Recognition Week (Day 4)
Chaos Never Dies Day
One Nation Under God Month

Religious Observances
RC : Dedication of Church of Lateran (Basilica of Our Savior), Rome
RC-Vatican City : Feast of Dedication of Church of Lateran, Rome

Religious History
1538 German reformer Martin Luther declared: 'It would be a good thing if young people were wise and old people were strong, but God has arranged things better.'
1800 Birth of Asa Mahan, American educator and Congregational clergyman. President of Oberlin College in Ohio from 1835_1850, Mahan was instrumental in establishing interracial college enrollment and in the granting of college degrees to women.
1836 Birth of Christian business traveler Samuel Hill. In 1899 Hill, John Nicholson and W.J. Knights co_founded the Gideons, a Christian organization that ministers through distribution of the Scriptures. To date, the Gideons have placed over 12 million Bibles and 100 million New Testaments.
1837 British philanthropist Moses Montefiore, 52, became the first Jew to be knighted in England. Montefiore was a banking executive who devoted his life to the political and civil emancipation of English Jews.
1938 The worst Jewish pogrom in peacetime Germany took place as Nazi thugs led a "spontaneous" campaign of terror. During the night 267 synagogues were plundered, 7,500 shops were wrecked, 91 Jews were killed and 20,000 others were arrested and sent to concentration camps. It was afterward known as "Kristallnacht" because of the thousands of windows broken.

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

Golfer makes his way across UK

A golfer has played his way across Britain.
David Sullivan played his way from John O'Groats to Land's End in 70 days taking 247,387 strokes reports The Sun.

David from Oxted, Surrey is hoping to raise £250,000 for charities - and get in the Guinness Book of Records.

Thought for the day :
"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."
Guillaume Apollinaire

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 10:
1483 Martin Luther Eisleben, Germany, founded Protestantism
1668 Francois Couperin Paris France, composer/organist (Concerts Royaux)
1683 George II king of England (1727-60)
1730 Oliver Goldsmith Ireland, novelist/dramatist (She Stoops to Conquer)
1759 Frederich von Schiller Germany, poet/lyricist (Ode to Joy)
1793 Jared Kirtland US, physician/naturalist/reformed penitentiaries
1834 Jos‚ Hernandez Argentina screenwriter (Martin Fierro)
1834 Wager Swayne Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1902
1861 Robert TA Innes Edinburgh Scotland, astronomer (Proxima Centauri)
1879 Nicholas Vachel Lindsay US, poet (Gen William Booth enters Heaven)
1879 Vachel Lindsay Springfield IL, poet (Johnny Appleseed)
1880 Sir Jacob Epstein sculptor (Adam, Jacob & the Angel)
1882 Frances Perkins 1st woman Cabinet member (Secretary of Labor 1933-45)
1889 Claude Rains London, actor (Invisible Man, Casablanca)
1895 John Knudsen Northrop aircraft designer (Northrop Air)
1919 Clyde (Bulldog) Turner NFL center (Chicago Bears)
1919 George Fenneman TV announcer (You Bet Your Life)
1919 Moise Tshombe President of Katanga, then premier of the Congo (Zaire)
1925 Richard Burton South Wales, actor (Cleopatra, Virginia Woolf)
1930 Clarence M Pendleton Jr chairman of US comm on Civil Rights (1981-88)
1935 Ronald E Evans St Francis KS, Captain USN/astronaut (Apollo 17)
1935 Roy Scheider Orange NJ, actor (All That Jazz, Jaws)
1937 Albert Hall Boothton Alabama, actor (Trouble in Mind, Ryan's 4)
1944 Dave Loggins singer (Please come to Boston)
1945 Donna Fargo NC, country singer (Happiest Girl in Whole USA)
1946 David Stockman Reagan's ex-budget director
1948 Greg Lake rock guitarist (Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Tarkus)
1949 Ann Reinking Seattle, dancer/actress (All the Jazz, Micki & Maude)
1950 Jack Scalia Brooklyn NY, actor (Berrengers, Hollywood Beat)
1955 Jack Clark Pennsylvania, all star outfielder (Giants, Cards, Yanks, Padres)
1956 Sinbad comedian/actor (Different World, At the Apollo)
1959 MacKenzie Phillips Alexandria VA, actress (Julie-1 Day at a Time)
1961 Junior [Norman Giscombe], R&B singer (Mama used to Say)
1970 TheBigB was not (repeat NOT) born on this day. Because IF he were that would mean he would be THIRITYFIVE YEARS OLD and this is not possible, there is no way he could be this OLD...enfeebled....antediluvian... primordial...doddering....superannuated.
Therefore as a duly authorized represenative of THEM we declare this as BigB's UNbirthday
"The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left." ~Jerry M. Wright

Deaths which occurred on November 10:
0461 Leo I the Great, Pope (440-61), dies
1285 Pedro III king of Aragon, dies
1444 Wladyslaw III Warnenczyk king of Poland/Hungarian, dies in battle
1779 Joseph Hewes US merchant/signer (Decl of Independence), dies at 49
1865 Henry Wirzm Confederate prison supt executed for excessive cruelty
1938 Kemal Ataturk, [Mustafa Kemal], general/president/founder of modern Turkey, dies at 57
1981 Abel Gance French movie director, dies at 92
1982 Leonid I Brezhnev Soviet 1st sect, dies of a heart attack at 75
1985 Pelle Lindbergh Philadelphia Flyer's goalie, dies in drunk driving accident
1992 Chuck Connors US basket/baseball player(Boston Celtics/ Montreal Royals)/actor (The rifleman), dies
1994 Carmen McRae [Clark] US jazz singer/pianist, dies at about 73

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
10-Nov-2004 9 | US: 9 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal Wesley J. Canning Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Private 1st Class Dennis J. Miller Jr. Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - RPG attack
US Staff Sergeant Michael C. Ottolini Balad (near) - Salah ad Din Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Romulo J. Jimenez II Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Aaron C. Pickering Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Staff Sergeant Gene Ramirez Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Erick J. Hodges Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US 1st Lieutenant Dan T. Malcom Jr. Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Petty Officer 3rd Class Julian Woods Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire

Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

On this day...
0461 St Leo I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1444 Battle at Varna, Black Sea: Sultan Murad II defeats Crusaders
Battle of Varna, 1444

This brief description of the Battle of Varna in 1410 is part of a letter written to the pope. The failure of Hungary's allies to come to her assistance is also bitterly condemned.
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/endmiddle/bluedot/varna.html
1567 Battle at St-Denis: French govt army vs Huguenots
1630 Failed palace revolution against Richelieu government in France
1674 Dutch formally cede New Netherlands (NY) to English
1775 US Marine Corps established by Congress
("God has a hard-on for Marines because we kill everything we see! He plays His games, we play ours! To show our appreciation for so much power, we keep heaven packed with fresh souls! God was here before the Marine Corps! So you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the Corps! Do you ladies understand?"
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman)
1782 In the last battle of the American Revolution, George Rodgers Clark attacks Indians and Loyalists at Chillicothe, in Ohio Territory.
1801 Kentucky outlaws dueling
1808 Osage Treaty signed
1864 Kingston, GA burned during Sherman's March to Sea
1864 Austrian Archduke Maximilian became emperor of Mexico
1871 Stanley presumes to meet Livingston in Ujiji, Central Africa
1891 1st Woman's Christian Temperance Union meeting held (in Boston)
1898 Race riot in Wilmington NC (8 blacks killed)
1908 1st Gideon Bible put in a hotel room
1917 41 suffragists are arrested in front of the White House
1918 Independence of Poland proclaimed by Jozef Pilsudski
1919 1st observance of National Book Week
1919 American Legion's 1st national convention (Minneapolis)
1926 Vincent Massey becomes 1st Canadian minister to USA
1928 Hirohito enthroned as Emperor of Japan
1940 Pittsburgh & Philadelphia play a penalty free NFL game
1945 College football's #1 Army beats #2 Notre Dame 48-0
1945 Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald liberated by US
1945 General Enver Hoxha becomes leader of Albania
1951 1st long distance telephone call without operator assistance

1954 Iwo Jima Memorial (servicemen raising US flag) dedicated in Arlington

1954 Lt Col John Strapp travels 632 MPH in a rocket sled
1957 NFL record crowd (102,368), '49ers vs Rams in LA
1960 Senate passes landmark Civil Rights Bill
1963 Gordie Howe takes over NHL career goal lead at 545
1968 Launch of Zond 6, 2nd unmanned circumlunar & return flight
1969 "Sesame Street" premieres on PBS TV
1971 US table tennis team arrived in China
1974 2nd meeting of Giants-Jets, Jets even series at 1 with 26-20 OT win
1974 Montreal Candiens shutout Washington Capitals 11-0
1975 Ore ship Edmund Fitzgerald & crew of 29 lost in storm on Lake Superior
1975 PLO leader Yasser Arafat addresses UN in NYC (Ain't gonna do that no more)
1975 UN General Assembly approves resolution equating Zionism with racism
1976 Utah Supreme Court OKs execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore
1977 Major Indoor Soccer League officially organized (NYC)
1980 Dan Rather refuses to pay his cabbie, CBS pays the $12.55 fare
1984 Miami Hurricanes blows 31-0 lead in 3rd quarter lose to MD 42-40
1986 River Rhine (Germany) polluted by chemical spill
1988 Orel Hershiser wins NL Cy Young award unanimously
1989 Guerrillas battle with government forces in El Salvador

1989 Germans begin punching holes in the Berlin Wall

1989 Word Perfect 5.1 is shipped (patches soon follow)
1990 Lebanon releases 2 French hostages (Camille Sontag & Marcel Coudari)
1991 Marty Glickman broadcasts his 1,000th football game
2084 Transit of Earth as seen from Mars
2001 Taliban officials confirmed that the Northern Alliance had captured the Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, while President George W. Bush told the United Nations General Assembly that the time had come for countries to take swift and decisive action against global terrorism.
2002 The House voted to allow President Bush to take unilateral military action against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq without conditions beyond Congress being informed almost immediately.
2004 WTO decides that old American laws prohibiting gambling over wires that cross state lines violate global trade rules for the services sector.

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

India : Guru Nanak's Day-1st teacher of the Sikhs
Indonesia : Hero Day/Youth Day
Iran : Death of Iman Ali Day
US : Womens Veterans Recognition Week (Day 5)
Goddess of Reason (French observance).
Forget-Me-Not Day
International Drum Month

Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of St Andrew Avellino, confessor
Ang, RC : Commemoration of St Leo the Great

Religious History
1766 In New Brunswick, New Jersey, Queen's College was chartered under the Dutch Reformed Church, to provide education "...especially in divinity, preparing [youth] for the ministry and other good offices." The present name of the school, Rutgers University, was adopted in 1924.
1770 French philosopher Fran_'__ois Voltaire, 75, uttered his famous remark: 'If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.'
1871 Following seven months of searching, foreign correspondent to the "New York Herald" Henry M. Stanley succeeded at last in locating Scottish missionary David Livingstone in Ujiji, Central Africa. Stanley prefaced his encounter with these words: 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume.'
1952 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'I believe that, in the present divided state of Christendom, those who are at the heart of each division are all closer to one another than those who are at the fringes.'
1977 It was announced that Pope Paul VI had ended the automatic excommunication imposed on divorced American Catholics who remarried. (The excommunication was first imposed by the Plenary Council of American Bishops in 1884.)

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

Ostrich on loose tramples car in bid for freedom

Nov 9, 2:40 PM (ET)

NICOSIA (Reuters) - A runaway ostrich that eluded police caused severe damage when it attacked a Mercedes car during a three-hour rampage.
"Somehow it got out of its pen. We sent two patrols after it, but in the meantime it caused some damage to the bonnet and bumper of a Mercedes before we caught it," a police official in Cyprus said.
The ostrich caused considerable damage when it pounced on the car, the daily Phileleftheros reported.

The ostrich is the largest of birds and can weigh at least 400 pounds. It is also the fastest creature on two legs and can run up to 43 miles per hour;
"It took us more than three hours to catch it," the police official said.

Thought for the day :
"Dare to be wrong and to dream."
Friedrich von Schiller