November 2009 - Argghhh!

Today is a good day for the Medal. Not that many, and no one died in the earning of them. There are five Medals today, half the average, spread from the Civil War to the Philippine Insurrection and ending up, thus far, with World War II.Civil War. Henry Barnum was a tough man. Shot in the hip at Malvern Hill, he was left for dead and was captured by the Confederates. Returned to Union lines, he joined a new regiment and spent the rest of the war missing service as his wound was worked on, returning...

Heartless Libertarian, who even as we speak is fighting the fight, sends greetings: Ya'll have some extra turkey, and make sure you put extra butter on the mashed potatoes for me, OK? And root for whatever team is playing against the Cowboys! Well, here at the Castle, we'll be having a standing rib roast, but we're with him on that Cowboys thing!

Having been in the "Bidnez" the video below brought back a torrent of memories...

Just some general thoughts on Thursdays shooting and things I've seen or heard or read...It wasn't near as long after as I expected, but, as always, when there is a mass shooting that receives mass publicity, somebody always follows up. At work, a television was on CNN who was reporting on the shooting and pointing to the Ft. Hood massacre with a subtitle of "Blood Thirsty Society?"Uh...no more than any other societies and a much less than many. The title did have my eyebrows shooting...

...and the reaction of media elites and the usual suspects in think tankery and academia, who dare not note any connection between Major Hasan's religious preferences and his possible motivations for his actions, and who abjure we knuckle-dragging rednecks from doing the same -I agree, to a point. To a point that Timothy McVeigh's actions didn't mean that Catholics are to blame for what McVeigh did.Or that evangelicals are to blame for what Scott Roeder did - oh, wait, Ellen Goodman says...

The Medal lives up to the daily average of circa 12 with 11 awards for deeds on this day in history. The Medal got a slow start, not unusual since 19th Century wars tended to slow down as winter approached - but once the Medal starts, it gets rolling during the Phillipine Insurrection and doesn't slow down until Vietnam, with stops in WWI and WWII along the way.Philippine Insurrection, two Medals for the same fight. GALT, STERLING A.Rank and organization: Artificer, Company F, 36th Infantry,...

I'll catch up on the missed ones over the week. I just needed a break! There are 18 Medals awarded on this day in history, spanning from the Civil War to Korea. Two were posthumous, and two were long-after-the-event catch-ups - Corporal Smith and Sergeant Ohata.15 Medals during the Civil War for two fights - one with "US Colored Troops" at Honey Hill, South Carolina, where much heroism was displayed for little result, and the other the hugely significant battle at Franklin, Tennessee...

It is now the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month over here.Ninety-one years ago, the War to End All Wars came to an uneasy halt. That war didn't end all wars, despite the hopeful chirping of the idealists -- it merely set the stage for a bigger global war, which , in turn, set the stage for the global war John and Dusty and I fought, although in different theaters, in different decades.Four decades ago, today, at just about this time, I was just getting to know my theater...