Posted on 01/06/2013 1:02:44 PM PST by Lowell1775
We all remember the famous line delivered by the fictional Walt Kowalski played by Clint Eastwood. Walt, was a recently widowed UAW worker and Korean War veteran. Delivered from behind a freshly charged and precisely aimed M-1 Garand to a trespassing Asian gang member rolling in Walt's begonias' one night.....it definitely got the point across. As Walt would say later to three other wayward "utes" picking on a young girl as he calmly leveled his M1911 at them with a sneer....."Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have f#$ked with? That's me."
Such men really exist....we have all met them....hell there might even be a few among us that could be them. You never know......eh?
For some reason of late, my thoughts turned to an April morning in Massachusetts circa 1775....in various reading, I turned up another dangerous old man in American history that bested my previous favorite who was John Burns of Gettysburg fame.
First a bit about Burns...In 1863 at age 70, Burns grabbed his circa 1812 flintlock musket used 50 years before in the War of that same name and fought all day as a Union irregular alongside and amongst the Federal's Iron Brigade. After the first day of the battle, darkness found Burns wounded seriously in the arm and the leg with several more minor strikes to his chest. Taken prisoner as he lay helpless, Burns was repaired by Reb physicians and later nurtured by his family....Burns recovered and lived another 10 years unaffected by his adventure. In 1903, a statute was erected to him by the town of Gettysburg.
Now the EVEN more dangerous old man I was until now unaware of dates to the American Revolution. It was on April 19, 1775 on the road back to Boston from Lexington and Concord Massachusetts.
Over 14,000 militia mustered that day as they chased the British Regulars back from Concord bridge towards Boston. The youngest was 13. The oldest was 78 and was enrolled on the alarm list from Menotomy Massachusetts. His name was Samuel Whittemore, a 78-year-old veteran of three American wars in the King’s service.
From: http://www.bob-owens.com/page/2/ It is a linear blog, so you may have to page down and back to find it as time goes by, but
"While Lord Percy’s relief column from Boston attempted to link up with the British Regulars under attack by colonial militias, Whittemore set up behind a low stone wall near his home and attacked the 47th Regiment of Foot by himself.
Whitemore’s aimed fire did enough damage to the column that an assault was ordered upon his position.
Whittemore is documented to have killed one man from this assaulting force with his musket, then killed one and severely wounded another with horse pistols he’d removed from the body of French officer he’d dispatched decades before. Whittemore was in the act of drawing his ornate French Calvary saber—again, taken from another French officer who “died suddenly” according to Whittemore, more than 20 years before—when half his face was shot away at point-blank range. Whittemore’s horrified relatives watched from a distance as the nearly 80-year old patriarch of their clan was bayoneted thirteen times by the Redcoats, and left for dead in a pool of his own blood.
When his kin came forward to collect his body, they found that despite having half his left cheek shot away, and pierced by 13 bayonet wounds, Samuel Whittemore was attempting to load his musket to fire again on the rapidly disappearing column of Regulars.
A doctor was summoned, and he reasonably concurred that no one could survive the brutal wounds Samuel Whittemore suffered in his spirited defense of his fellow colonists. The doctor treated his wounds as best the primitive medicine of the day allowed, and sent Whittemore home with his family to die in peace. And yes, Samuel Whittemore did die… 18 years later, on February 3, 1793."
Read a slightly more colorful account at
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/whittemore.html
and a scholarly work at....
http://dwhitmore.thewhitmorefamily.com/internet/samwhit.htm
and from the Sons of the American Revolution.....
http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/whittemore.html
No way I would EVER step on Sam's yard either.
So again, please forward to any other old dawgs you might know. It wouldn't hurt the pups to read it either. Grrrrr....woof.
Sure its a little profane, but hilarious.
Thank you JoProBono
I never figured out how to post the pics on FreeRep.
This one says it all for any age and all times!
I first heard of Whittemore from the instructors at an Appleseed shoot which is very heavy on the period since they are part of the Assn of Revolutionary War Veterans. Got more detail from the musket shooter at the Old North Bridge in June...seems that he didn’t set up behind a wall, as all his neighbors beseeched him, but as a vet of the French Indian wars, attacked the column and did his musket and pistol damage. The Redcoats having been shot up for the whole trip back and losing half their company were pretty vengeful and all were armedwith three foot bayonets which they used. Evidently the doctor had the neighbors load him up on a door from a nearby house and moved to be tended to. I think the story includes not only surviving but having another child before passing away years later...some serious testosterone in those warriors!
YMMV
They were Free and marched with the Militia to Concord and Lexington. My Uncle Charlie, a typical East Boston Irishman who hated everyone not Irish, except me, and Blacks in particular said, “I can't say anything against them, they helped us to be us.”
A role model for us older guys who think we probably won’t have role to play in the next drama.
Crazy old man strength - don’t mess with it!
There are a lot of old military vets who have already risked their lives for this country and would now gladly give their life to preserve this country for their grandchildren.
We loved that movie.
John Burns was quite angry at the Rebs. John had a shoe store there in Gettysburg and the Rebs broke into it during the night and stole all available boots and shoes that fit.
“Age and guile beat youth and innocence every time.”
My Father was such a man. He frankly could get by doing things I never would. One time he shot the tires out of a thief’s car. The guy made it a mile or so on the rims.
I am not sure how much of it was his heredity since his Father killed a guy in a gun fight. I also suspect the fact that he served in combat in WWII may have changed him.
I was thinking that I would never have run out and shoot out the guys tires. I would have defended myself but Daddy could be just plain crazy.
I would not have messed with him period.
Schedules are in the process of being set but you can search for your state to see what's available. I highly recommend taking part. It's fun for the whole family, you'll learn the proper way to shoot accurately and you'll learn a little more about your nation's history.
Here's a short video about what goes on at an Appleseed weekend.
Which movie is that, please?
Gran Torino. CE played Walt Kowalski.
Gran Torino. CE played Walt Kowalski.
Yes, researched it already. Can’t get it on Netflix without extra subscription cost. Rats.
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