.......

Of the many acts of resistance to the savage Nazi occupation of Poland, the 1944 Warsaw Uprising was the biggest. Almost sixty years on, the heroic, yet ultimately tragic, events of the autumn of 1944 remain firmly lodged in the national memory, at once a piece of history whose interpretation remains controversial and a potent source of national self-definition.

The immediate circumstances of the Uprising were dramatic. With Nazi forces reeling under the impact of the determined push west launched by the Red Army in mid-1944, a German withdrawal from Warsaw began to seem a possibility. The Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army) or AK as they were commonly known, the largest of the Polish resistance forces (indeed, with over 400,000 soldiers, the largest resistance force anywhere in Europe) were thereby confronted by an agonizing dilemma. On one side, they were being strongly urged by the Allies to co-operate actively with advancing Soviet forces in driving back the Nazis. On the other, news of the treatment being meted out to AK units in areas of eastern Poland already liberated by the Red Army served to confirm the long-held suspicion that there was little, if any, room for the AK or its political backing – the Polish government-in-exile in London – in the Soviet scheme of things to come, a fact chillingly symbolized in news of the Soviet detention of AK units in the ex-Nazi concentration camp at Majdanek.

Throughout the second half of July, AK Commander Tadeusz Komorowski, known as Bór, hesitated over which course of action to take. With the arrival of the first Soviet tanks in the eastern suburbs of the city (Praga), the decision to launch a single-handed attack on the Germans was taken and on August 1, the main Warsaw AK corps of around 50,000 poorly armed troops sprang an assault on the city centre. For the first few days the element of surprise meant AK forces were able to capture large tracts of the city centre. By August 5, however, the tide was already beginning to turn against them. Supported by dive bombers and hastily drafted reinforcements, Nazi troops under the command of ruthless General von dem Bach-Zelewski began the task of clearing out the insurgents. Partisans and civilians alike were treated as legitimate targets for reprisals by the fearsome collection of SS and Wehrmacht units – including three battalions of half-starved Soviet POWs, an "anti-partisan" brigade made up of pardoned criminals and the notorious RONA Red Army deserters brigade – assembled for the task. The Nazi recapture of the Wola district, the first to be retaken on August 11, was followed by the massacre of over 8000 civilians. Even worse followed in Ochota, where over 40,000 civilians were murdered. Hospitals were burned to the ground with all their staff and patients; during the initial attack, women and children were tied to the front of German tanks to deter ambushes, and rows of civilians were marched in front of infantry units to ward off AK snipers.

With German troops and tanks systematically driving the beleaguered partisans into an ever diminishing pocket of the city centre, the decision was made to abandon the by now devastated Stare Miasto. On September 2, around 1500 of the surviving AK troops, along with over 500 other wounded, headed down into the city sewers through a single manhole near pl. Krasinski – an event imprinted firmly on the national consciousness as much thanks to Wajda's legendary film Kanal, a stirring 1950s rendition of the Uprising, as to its symbolic depiction in the contemporary Warsaw Uprising monument. Fighting continued for another month in the suburbs and pockets of the city centre until October 2, when General Bór and his troops finally surrendered to the Germans, 63 days after fighting had begun. Heavy AK casualties – around 20,000 dead – were overshadowed by the huge losses sustained by the city's civilian population, with over 225,000 killed during the fighting.

Warsaw - Late September, 1944

With the AK and eventually almost the entire population of Warsaw out of the way, Nazi demolition squads set about the task of fulfilling an enraged Hitler's order to wipe the city off the face of the map, dynamiting and razing building after building until the city centre had to all intents and purposes ceased to exist, as confirmed in the photos taken when the Soviets liberated Warsaw in January 1945.

Of the many controversial aspects of the Uprising, the most explosive, in Polish eyes at least, remains that of the Soviet role. Could the Red Army have intervened decisively to assist or save the Uprising from defeat? Throughout the postwar years, the official Soviet line combined the (arguably accurate) claim that the Uprising was a mistimed and strategically flawed diversion from the goal of driving the Germans west in 1944 with absurd ideological denigrations of the AK as reactionary, anti-Soviet nationalists whose actions were a betrayal of the anti-Nazi cause. Certainly Soviet action, or lack of it, during August 1944 was fertile ground for subsequent Polish misgivings about Stalin's real intentions. The Soviet tanks that had reached Praga, for example, sat idly by throughout September 1944 as the Germans pounded the city across the river. Equally significantly, on several occasions the Soviet authorities refused Allied access to Soviet airbases for airlifts of supplies to the beleaguered insurgents, and the secret telegram correspondence between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the time reveals a Stalin deeply scornful of the whole operation, arguing on one occasion that sooner or later "the truth about the handful of criminals who started the Warsaw disturbance to take over power, will become known to all".

The remnants of the Home Army Surrender

Crudely stated, a common Polish interpretation of all this was that Stalin had simply allowed the Germans to do what his future plans for Poland would have anyway necessitated – the systematic annihilation of the sections of Polish society that formed the core of the AK forces with their uncompromising commitment to a free, independent postwar Poland. With sentiments like these around, it's not surprising that the Warsaw Uprising has remained, if no longer a taboo subject, then certainly a continuing area of disagreement in Polish–Russian relations.

Tensions surfaced visibly during the solemn fiftieth anniversary commemorations of the start of the Uprising, held in the city throughout August 1994. In a move widely criticized in Poland, particularly among older sections of Polish society, President Walesa invited his Russian and German counterparts to participate at the opening ceremony held in Warsaw on August 1. While the German President Roman Herzog accepted the invitation (reportedly under the mistaken impression that the 1943 Ghetto Uprising was being commemorated) and made a speech asking Polish forgiveness for the country's treatment at the hands of the Nazis, Russian President Boris Yeltsin declined the invitation, sending a lower-level aide instead, giving rise to the wry popular quip that the Russians had accepted the invitation but decided to stay in Praga instead.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
www.polishresistance-ak.org/4%20Article.htm
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Warsaw Uprising (Aug-Oct, 1944) - August 1st, 2003

............

Warsaw Uprising Memorial

The Warsaw uprising against German occupation broke out on August 1, 1944. It was started by 23 thousand poorly armed soldiers of the Home Army of the Warsaw district under the command of General Antoni Chrusciel, code named "Monter." Other underground units and Warsaw citizens joined the insurgents. Asserting control, civilian and military structures under the command of the Polish government in London began functioning openly, organizing administration, medical, services and rescue squads. A massive inflow of volunteers swelled insurgent ranks to 50 thousand troops. What began as an enthusuastic and spontaneous outbreak of fighting became a 63-day heroic struggle for liberation of the city by the home army's own forces before the Red Army, whose units had already reached the suburb of the Praga district, entered the capital.

The most poignant of all the statues in Warsaw is that of the Little Soldier, reminding us that young boys and girls fought alongside their older brothers.

To quell the insurrection, German troop reinforcements soon increased the 16 thousand-man local garrison to 50 thousand army, SS and police units, including units notorious for their cruelty and atrocities. The supremacy of the German military equipment was overwhelming. Air Force, Panzers and artillery were used against the insurgents' rifles, pistols, grenades and petrol bombs. High millitary technology and brutality battled hope and unswerving will to fight the enemy.

The Warsaw uprising monument. Detail of insurgent unit.

Fighting bravely, the insurgents captured the centre of the city with the Old Town and the Vistula embankment, as well as several other districts of Warsaw, including Powisle, Zoliborz, parts of Wola, Ochota, Mokotow and a few sites in Praga, but they failed to seize the bridges and the Okecie Airport. They succeeded in capturing some German arms and ammunition and some groups of insurgents went to the woods near Warsaw to continue their battle from there. But contrary to all expectations, the Red Army remained in their positions on the outskirts of Warsaw and did not assist the insurgents.

The second group of figures, "Exodus," represents a withdrawl by the canals

After 3 days of fighting, German forces seized initiative. Launching massive attacks by tanks and from the air, they started destroying insurgents' strongholds. They also began a program of mass extermination aimed at Warsaw's civilian population. Soon, the city was burning and the strength of the insurgent-held areas was weaker and weaker.

On September 14, the 1st Polish army, which formed part of the Red Army, entered the Praga distirict of Eastern Warsaw, its two battalions joined the insurgents and fought by thier side in the Czerniakow area, but attempts to seize bridgeheads in the Powisle and Zoliborz districts failed.

Lacking food and ammunition and weaking by the Red Army's failure to cooperate, the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Army, General "Bor" Tadeusz Komorowski, surrendered on October 2, 1944. The insurgents became prisoners of war and the population of Warsaw was deported, some to labor and concentration camps. The deserted city was looted, destroyed and burned, and the Old Town, with its beautiful architecture was razed.

More than 40 thousand Polish insurgents and about 180 thousand civilians were killed or wounded. A large number of allied pilots flying air-drop missions were also killed. On the German side, an estimated 25 thousand troops were killed, wounded or missing in action.

The Warsaw uprising monument was unveiled on Krasinski Square, a site of fierce fighting, on August 1, 1989. It was designed by Professor Wincenty Kucma and architect Jacek Budyn and erected with donated funds. It consists of two groups of sculptures, a commemorative wall and an insurgent center. One group of sculptures depicts an attack by an insurgent unit and the other an "Exodus," and withdrawl by canals. The original entrance to the canal is marked by a commemorative plaque.

The monument is maintained by the Association of Warsaw Insurgents.

Additional Sources:

www.humboldt.edu
http://wings.buffalo.edu
www.polandinexile.com
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu
www.biega.com
http://travel.yahoo.com
http://panzer_web.tripod.com
www.allempires.com

The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 commenced on August 1. It was on that date that the Polish underground, the Armia Krajowa (Home Army), aware that the Soviet Army had reached the eastern bank of the Vistula River, sought to liberate Warsaw. Because the last thing the Soviets wanted to deal with was an armed and victorious Polish non-communist military force, they halted their offensive. They remained on the opposite bank of the river but provided no assistance or aid to the Uprising. Instead they gave the Germans free reign to suppress it. It is estimated that during the ensuing 63 days, 250,000 perished in the ruins of Warsaw. Eventually, the Home Army surrendered to the Germans. After the Germans forced all the surviving civilian population to also leave the city, Hitler ordered that any buildings left standing be dynamited. In the end, 98% of buildings in Warsaw were destroyed

Captured German prisoners of war being marched off under Home Army guard

Many Poles blame the failure of the uprising on the Russians. After the Tehran Conference Russo-Polish relations were believed to be improved. The AK on the eve of the uprising was aware that the Soviet Army was approaching Warsaw. They expected them to enter anywhere between August 1st and August 4th. Unfortunately, the Soviets did not enter Warsaw until January 1945, five months later.

Adults and children building a barricade at the corner of Dluga and Klinski Streets

Many Polish historians say that the Russians purposely waited until the AK was suppressed so that they would be able to enter and take Warsaw for themselves. While the Soviets probably did want to take Warsaw, this was a secondary objective. Their first objective was to drive the Germans as far west as possible and occupy as much Polish and German territory as they could in a short period of time. Therefore, it was an inconvenience for them to stop at the outskirts of Warsaw to wait for three months if they were physically able to advance.

The Russians claim that they were stopped by the German Army. By the time the Russians reached Warsaw the Germans had sent four extra tank divisions to stop the advancing Russians. General Heinz Guderian stated, "We Germans had the impression that it was our defenses that halted the enemy rather than a Russian desire to sabotage the Warsaw Uprising." It was the perception of the Russians that a military halt would allow the United States and England to seize the bulk of German territory. The Soviet gains would then depend upon the location of the Russian Army at the end of the war.

The Warsaw Uprising fell short of its goal. But the blame can not be focused on any one nation or group of people. The blame falls on everyone. Roosevelt could have taken more time and influence to negotiate the future boundaries of Poland instead of depending on the UN to settle the Polish question. The English, who would not take a stand on most issues without the approval of the United States, could have taken a firmer stand against Russian Diplomacy. The Polish government in London also failed to provide the AK with pertinent information. Because the main concern was weapons, ammunition and possibly ground support the Soviets would not have provided these due to their objective to take Warsaw. They opposed the Polish government in exile and they wanted to occupy as much territory as possible. They could not have accomplished this if they collaborated with the AK It was foolish to think that the Soviets would have provided the Poles with guns and ammunition which later could have been used against them. This is one reason why the Russians failed to recognize the AK as a combatant group. Independent national interest ultimately led to the failure of the Warsaw Uprising.

Moreover, I believe the Uprising was worthwhile, no matter that it failed. Unfortunately many people died during this rising, but many people would have died without the uprising. Some may ask, why not wait for the Soviets to liberate Poland? The answer is simple. Russia invaded Poland in 1939. They were hostile to them throughout the war killing tens of thousands of Polish officers. Only when Germany attacked Russia in 1941 did the Soviets look at Poland as an ally. After Germany was no longer a threat to Russia, Stalin once again began eliminating Polish resistance. The question should be why was the Polish government so naive as to depend so much on Stalin's Army? Under Soviet liberation Poland was allowed to keep its name but its soul was stolen from them.

The Uprising was worthwhile because it established Polish identity in a time when Poland was practically wiped off the map. Peaceful negotiations obviously did not accomplish the desired results, Resistance was the only option opened to the Poles. They wanted independence as they have always wanted it in the past and no one was able to give it to them or even help them achieve it. Poland gained its independence after World War I through the Treaty of Versaille. After World War 11, Poland was not afforded this luxury. I believe the resistance movement and every other act of independence throughout history, on the part of the Polish nation is an example that Poland exists and will always exist in body, mind and spirit. And it is in my opinion that these acts of resistance led to the liberation of Poland in the 1980's.

Martin Stankiewicz

Warsaw Uprising Cross
(Warszawski Krzyz Powstanczy)

Instituted by act of Parliament of July 7, 1981. Awarded to all military and civilian participants of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Conferred also on Poles and foreigners who gave the uprising their support.

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!

It's Friday. Good Morning Everyone

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

Polska Walczaca

Thanks for revisiting the Warsaw Uprising, Snippy.

Your dad was there. And Poland is grateful to him and all who fought. How could we not remember. ;-)

Thank Snippy. Good Night.

Thanks for the PING...any AMERICAN PATRIOT treads on the "up and coming" list to look for?

Early morning Bump for later reading

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper foxhole.

I'm entertaing guests. My sister came down from Georiga with her son. They're visiting my aunt and her family who's visiting from California.

July 30, 2004

Keep At It!

Read: Isaiah 55:6-13

My word . . . shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please. —Isaiah 55:11

Bible In One Year: Psalms 51-53; Romans 2

They know Tom Dotson pretty well in the prisons of Michigan. They ought to. He spent more than a decade behind bars.

Tom gave his testimony at the annual banquet for prison chaplains in Muskegon, Michigan. He said he had grown up in a Christian home but had rebelled and rejected the gospel. His wife, who sang at the banquet, stayed with him in spite of his repeated failures. A prison chaplain faithfully worked with him, Tom genuinely surrendered to Jesus Christ, and his life was changed.

Dotson urged Christian workers,“Continue on in your ministry with people like me, no matter how frustrating. We may have lots of setbacks. But don’t give up. There’s power for change in even the most frustrating person through the sacrifice of Christ, the One who really sets us free.”Then, looking right at the chaplain who had patiently witnessed to him, Tom said tenderly,“ Thank you for not giving up on me."

God will “abundantly pardon”all who come to Him (Isaiah 55:7). His powerful Word can bring change (v.11), freeing men and women from the prison of sin (John 8:32).

Are you about to give up on someone you think will never change? Don’t! Keep at it! —Dave Egner

Be not weary in well-doing,
Though your labors cause you pain—
There could never be a harvest
Without sowing of the grain. —Anon.

Instead of giving up on a person, give that person to God.

Great thread, snippy. Still high on the adrenaline from yesterday's news about my daughter.

Good morning ladies and gent. It's Friday!

Friday Foxhole FReeper Flag-o-gram

Today's Foxhole flag is from SAMWolf

Sam's "temporary" installation. The ultimate goal is a 120 foot pole with a 20ft X 30ft PATRIOT sized flag.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on July 30:
1818 Emily Bront‰ England, novelist (Wuthering Heights)
1815 Thomas Jackson Rodman, Bvt Brig General (Union volunteers)
1837 Elon John Farnsworth, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1863
1855 James Edward Kelly US, sculptor "Sculptor of American History"
1857 Thorstein Veblen US, economist (Theory of the Leisure Class-1899)
1863 Henry Ford Dearborn Township, Mich, auto maker (Ford)
1880 Robert Rutherford McCormick US, editor/publisher Chicago Tribune
1887 Timothy Mara NFL owner (NY Giants)
1889 Vladimir Zworykin electronics engineer/inventor, father of TV
1890 Casey Stengel NY Yankee (1949-60) & 1st NY Met manager
1899 Gerald Moore England, pianist (Am I Too Loud)
1909 Cyril Northcote Parkinson England, historian (Pursuit of Progress)
1924 William Gass Fargo, ND, novelist, philosopher (Omensetter's Luck)
1929 Christine McGuire Middletown Oh singer (McGuire Sisters-Sugartime)
1929 Sid Kroft Athens Greece, puppeteer (Barbara Mandrell Show)

1930 Thomas Sowell, author/activist/really smart guy

1933 Edd "Kookie" Byrnes LA, actor (77 Sunset Strip, Jack the Ripper)
1934 Bud Selig, owner (Milw Brewers)/acting baseball commissioner
1934 Ben Piazza Ark, actor (Blues Brothers, Ben Casey, Dallas)
1936 Ralph Taeger Richmond Hill NY, actor (Klondike, Acapulco, Hondo)
1936 George "Buddy" Guy, US blues guitarist (Stone Crazy)
1939 Eleanor Smeal heads National Organization for Women
1939 Peter Bogdanovich director/producer (The Last Picture Show)
1940 Patricia Schroeder (Rep-D-Colo)
1941 Count Desmond (Edward Benjamin) Binghamton NY, sword swallower
1941 Paul Anka Ottawa Ontario, singer (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)
1945 David Sanborn saxophonist (David Letterman)
1947 Arnold Schwarzenegger Austria, body builder/actor/politican (Commando, Terminator)
1947 William Atherton Ct, actor (Real Genius, Ghostbusters, Class of 44)
1950 Frank Stallone NYC, actor (Barfly, Outlaw Force)
1956 Delta Burke Orlando Fla, actress (Suzanne-Designing Women)
1958 Daley Thomas London, Decathalete (Olympic-gold-1980, 1984)
1958 Kate Bush Plumstead England, singer/songwriter (Wild Things)
1963 Monique Gabrielle LA Cal, actress (Bad Girls 4, Amazon Women on Moon)
1977 Suangsuda Rodprasert, Miss Thailand Universe (1997)

Deaths which occurred on July 30:
0579 Benedict I, Italian Pope (575-79), dies
1718 William Penn, English Quaker/colonizer
1771 Thomas Gray, English poet ("Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"), dies at 54
1863 George Crockett Strong, US Union gen-mjr, dies of injuries at 29
1865 George Wright, US Union brig-general, dies at 61
1898 Otto von Bismarck, German "Iron" chancellor, dies at 83
1912 Mutsuhito, 122nd emperor of Japan (1867-1912), dies at 60
1914 Jean Jaur‚s leading socialist, assassinated in Paris
1918 Chaim Soloveitchik, Rabbi of Brisk, talmudic scholar, dies
1967 Alfried Krupp, German industrialist, dies at 59
1983 Howard Deitz MGM executive, dies at 86 of Parkinson's disease
1983 Lynn Fontanne Broadway's premier actresses, dies at 95
1993 Edward B A M Raczynski, Polish pres-in-exile (1979-86), dies at 97
1996 Claudette Colbert, actress (Happened One Night), dies of stroke at 93

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 BISCAILUZ ROBERT LYNN MIDWAY CITY CA.
1967 BYARS EARNEST RAY HOUSTON TX.
1967 FREDERICK DAVID A. COLUMBUS OH.
1967 WATERMAN CRAIG H. REHOBOTH MA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/08/93]
1968 BEYER THOMAS J. FARGO ND
1970 BROWN DONALD A. PHOENIX AZ.
1970 CHAVEZ GARY A. NEW YORK NY.
1972 BRECKNER WILLIAM J. JR. SEBRING OH.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 1998]
1972 PRICE LARRY D. ORLANDO FL.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED

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

On this day...
0579 Benedict I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0657 St Vitalian begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1178 Frederick I (Barbarossa) Holy Roman Emperor crowned King of Burgundy
1419 Anti-Catholic Hussites, followers of executed reformer Jan Hus, stormtown hall in Prague and throw Catholic councillors out the windows
1619 House of Burgesses Virginia formed, 1st elective US governing body
1729 City of Baltimore founded
1733 Society of Freemasons opens 1st American lodge in Boston
1792 500 Marseillaisian men sing France's national anthem for 1st time
1822 James Varick becomes 1st bishop of Afr Meth Episcopal Zion Church
1836 1st English newspaper published in Hawaii
1839 Slave rebels, take over slaver Amistad
1844 1st US yacht club organized, NY Yacht Club
1863 Pres Lincoln issues "eye-for-eye" order to shoot a rebel prisoner for every black prisoner shot
1864 Battle of the Crater: Gen Burnsides fails on attack of Petersburg
1874 1st baseball teams to play outside US, Boston-Phila in British Isles
1878 German anti-semitism begins during the Reichstag election
1878 Russian assault on Plevna Turkey, 7,300 Russian casualties
1889 Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "The Naval Treaty" (BG)
1902 Anti-Jewish rioters attack funeral procession of Rabbi Joseph (NYC)
1905 M Wolf discovers asteroid #570 Kythera
1908 Around the World Autombile Race ends in Paris
1909 US Army accepts delivery of 1st military airplane
1911 J Palisa discovers asteroid #716 Berkeley
1913 Conclusion of the 2nd Balkan War
1916 G Neujmin discovers asteroid #951 Gaspra
1916 German saboteurs blow up a munitions plant on Black Tom Island, NJ
1928 George Eastman demonstrates 1st color movie
1932 G Van Biesbroeck discovers asteroid #2253 Espinette

1935 1st Penguin book is published starting the paperback revolution

1942 FDR signs bill creating women's Navy auxiliary agency (WAVES)
1942 German SS kills 25,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia
1943 Last Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney movie released (Girl Crazy)
1944 US 30th division reaches suburbs of St-Lo Normandy
1946 1st rocket attains 100 mi (167 km) altitude, White Sands, NM
1948 Professional wrestling premiers on prime-time network TV (DuMont)
1949 British warship HMS Amethyst escape down Yangtze River, having been refused a safe passage by Chinese Communists after 3-month standoff
1951 Ty Cobb testifies before the Emanuel Celler committee, denying that the reserve clause makes peons of baseball players
1951 E L Johnson discovers asteroid #2718
1954 Elvis Presley joins Memphis Federation of Musicians, Local 71
1956 US motto "In God We Trust" authorized
1960 1st AFL preseason game Boston Patriots defeat Bills in Buffalo (28-7)
1963 British spy Kim Philby discovered in Moscow
1964 US naval fire on Hon Ngu/Hon Mo North Vietnam
1965 LBJ signs Medicare bill, which went into effect following year
1966 US airplanes bombs demilitarized zone in Vietnam
1966 Beatles' "Yesterday... & Today," album goes #1 & stays #1 for 5 weeks
1967 Race riot in Milwaukee (4 killed)
1968 Beatles' Apple Boutique closes, entire inventory is given away
1968 Wash Senator Ron Hansen makes 1st unassisted triple-play in 41 years
1969 Barbra Striesand opens for Liberace at International Hotel, Las Vegas
1970 Smirnova discover asteroid 1835 Gajdariya, 2032 Ethel & 2349 Kurchenko
1971 George Harrison releases "Bangladesh"
1971 Japanese Boeing 727 collides with an F-86 fighter killing 162

1971 US Apollo 15 lands on Mare Imbrium on the Moon

1975 Teamsters Pres Jimmy Hoffa disappears in suburban Detroit
1976 Kate Smith made her last public appearance, singing her trademark number, God Bless America on a TV program honoring the U.S. Bicentennial.
1976 Japanese beat Russian for Olympic gold in woman's volleyball
1980 The Israeli Knesset passed a law reaffirming all of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state
1980 British New Hebrides becomes independent & takes name Vanuatu
1983 Official speed record for a piston-driven aircraft, 832 kph, Calif
1983 Weight lifter Sergei Didyk of USSR jerks a record 261 kg
1984 Alvenus tanker at Cameron La, spills 2.8 million gallons of oil
1988 Jordanian King Hussein renounces sovereignty over West Bank to PLO
1988 Ronald J Dossenbach begins world record ride, pedaling across Canada from Vancouver BC, to Halifax, NS (13 days, 15 hr, 4 min)
1990 5 Bank of Credit & Commerce members found guilty of money
1991 MTV announces it will split into 3 channels in 1993
1995 Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt enter basaeball's Hall of Fame
1996 Tommy Lasoda retires as LA Dodger manager
1997 Terrorist double suicide bombing in Jerusalem, kills 14

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

Cuba : Day of Martyrs of the Revolution
France : Marseillaise Day (1792)
Thailand : Asalha Puja
Virginia : Crater Day (1864)
Gilroy, California : Garlic Festival ( Friday )
[Virginia] Crater Day
Vanuata Independence Day (from Britain and France).
National Lamb and Wool Month

Religious Observances
Buddhist-Bhutan : Buddha's 1st preaching
Christ : Commemoration of SS Abdon & Sennen, martyrs
RC : Memorial of Peter Chrysologus, bishop & doctor
Ang : Commemoration of William Wilberforce

Religious History
1629 The Puritans of Salem, Mass. appointed Francis Higginson as their teacher andSamuel Skelton as their pastor. The church covenant, composed afterward by these two men,allowed into communion only those who could prove a sound doctrinal knowledge and anexperience of grace in their lives.
1718 Death of William Penn, 74, English Quaker and founder of American colony ofPennsylvania. Penn permitted in his colony all forms of public worship compatible with monotheism and religious liberty.
1822 Pioneer church founder James Varick, 72, was consecrated the first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
1956 By an act of Congress, signed by President Eisenhower, 'In God We Trust' becamethe official U.S. motto.
1976 Death of Rudolf Bultmann, 92, German Bible scholar and one of the three majorpioneers of modern form 'criticism' (i.e., 'analysis') of the New Testament Gospels.

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

Thought for the day :
"Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals could believe them"

Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
DO NOT EVER ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until your personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.

Letters To God From The Dog...
Dear God,
More meatballs, less spaghetti.

Dumb Laws...
Idaho:
Illegal for a man to give his sweetheart a box of candy weighing less than fifty pounds.

How To Annoy Osama bin Laden If You're Invited To A Dinner Party At His Secret Afghan Lair...
Correct him when he ends a sentence with a preposition.

Morning alfa6.

Good morning everyone!
Friday in the FOXHOLE!

Morning E.G.C.

I'm going to be leaving for the day in a bit. Going up to the Seattle area for the day. See you all later tonight.

Good morning Mayor.

Have enough coffee there to fill a thermos?