November 2009 - Argghhh!

There are seven Medals awarded for actions on this day in our history militant, and a very interesting group of heroes it is. We start with a second award, have a combat swimmer, three Medals for trying to *prevent* a battle, a heroic medic, and we end up with one "very tough 'Rican", as Boq would say.Indian Campaigns. We met Captain Baldwin before, on 12 July, when he earned his first Medal during the Civil War.BALDWIN, FRANK D. SECOND AWARD Place and date: At McClellans Creek, Tex...

The Medal takes today easy. Only one award, during World War II, and it's not posthumous. The only better day the Medal could have would be zero awards...World War IIBRITT, MAURICE L. Rank and organization: Captain (then Lieutenant), U.S. Army, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: North of Mignano, Italy, 10 November 1943. Entered service at: Lonoke, Ark. Born: 29 June 1919, Carlisle, Ark. G.O. No.: 23, 24 March 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life...

This panel followed the Band of Brothers , and in some ways it was a bracing reality check. There is so much to be proud of in how America conducted itself--both home and abroad--during World War II, but when we hold the entire panorama up to scrutiny, it makes the failings of that time seem even starker. While the men of Easy Company were being held to the highest standards of training, with the expectation that they would play a vital role in the war, another group of men were being held to the...

The Franks have lost the foremost of their band, They'll see no more their fathers nor their clans, Nor Charlemagne, where in the pass he stands. Torment arose, right marvellous, in France, Tempest there was, of wind and thunder black,With rain and hail, so much could not be spanned; Fell thunderbolts often on every hand, And verily the earth quaked in answer back From Saint Michael of Peril unto Sanz, From Besencun to the harbour of Guitsand;No house stood there but straight its walls must crack...

Yesterday, I posted the first of three essays about my father-in-law. It was appropriate to the day, but I didn't get it done until late; thus, this after-the-fact notice. If you care to read it, click here . -- SangerM

Bad Cat Robot has a comix jones, and she's taken a page from John's playbook by mercilessly and continuously busting my chops gently chiding me from time to time, so in order to get her off my %$#@! case enliven her Sunday morning, we present, without further ado, Number Ten in the Series.Yeah, yeah, I *know* what "Numbah Ten!" connotes in a certain SouthEast Asian cultural context.Accuse *me* of eating cheesy bean burritos, will ya?...

...living Holders of the Medal of Honor. There are 100 Senators. When I joined the Army, there were 293 living Holders. There's good news and bad news in that - the good news is... we haven't had to fight the kinds of wars that produce large numbers of Medals. The bad news, is that empirically, the Services seem to be gravitating to making it harder and harder to earn a Medal without dying during the act. But that's a different rant. From the American Legion:Comrades: Col. Lewis Lee Millett...

There are five Medals awarded for actions on this date, spread from the Civil War to World War II.Civil War. Lieutenant Marland demonstrates an old chinese maxim "When on death ground, fight!"BARNUM, HENRY A. Rank and organization: Colonel, 149th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Chattanooga, Tenn., 23 November 1863. Entered service at: Syracuse, N.Y. Born: 24 September 1833, Jamesville, Onondaga County, N.Y. Date of issue: July 1889. Citation: Although suffering severely from wounds...