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Posted on 03/06/2005 7:51:24 AM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 Carrier Pigeons Probably the most famous of all the carrier pigeons was one named Cher Ami, two French words meaning "Dear Friend". Cher Ami several months on the front lines during the Fall of 1918. He flew 12 important missions to deliver messages. Perhaps the most important was the message he carried on October 4, 1918. Mr. Charles Whittlesey was a lawyer in New York, but when the United States called for soldiers to help France regain its freedom, Whittlesey joined the Army and went to Europe to help. He was made the commander of a battalion of soldiers in the 77th Infantry Division, known as "The Liberty Division" because most of the men came from New York and wore a bright blue patch on their shoulders that had on it the STATUE OF LIBERTY. On October 3, 1918 Major Whittlesey and more than 500 men were trapped in a small depression on the side of the hill. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, many were killed and wounded in the first day. By the second day only a little more than 200 men were still alive or unwounded. Major Whittlesey sent out several pigeons to tell his commanders where he was, and how bad the trap was. The next afternoon he had only one pigeon left, Cher Ami. During the afternoon the American Artillery tried to send some protection by firing hundreds of big artillery rounds into the ravine where the Germans surrounded Major Whittlesey and his men. Unfortunately, the American commanders didn't know exactly where the American soldiers were, and started dropping the big shells right on top of them. It was a horrible situation that might have resulted in Major Whittlesey and all his men getting killed--by their own army.  Major Whittlesey called for his last pigeon, Cher Ami. He wrote a quick and simple note, telling the men who directed the artillery guns where the Americans were located and asking them to stop. The note that was put in the canister on Cher Ami's left leg simply said: "We are along the road parallel to 276.4. "Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. "For heaven's sake, stop it." As Cher Ami tried to fly back home, the Germans saw him rising out of the brush and opened fire. For several minutes, bullets zipped through the air all around him. For a minute it looked like the little pigeon was going to fall, that he wasn't going to make it. The doomed American infantrymen were crushed, their last home was plummeting to earth against a very heavy attack from German bullets. Somehow Cher Ami managed to spread his wings and start climbing again, higher and higher beyond the range of the enemy guns. The little bird flew 25 miles in only 25 minutes to deliver his message. The shelling stopped, and more than 200 American lives were saved...all because the little bird would never quit trying. On his last mission, Cher Ami was badly wounded. When he finally reached his coop, he could fly no longer, and the soldier that answered the sound of the bell found the little bird laying on his back, covered in blood. He had been blinded in one eye, and a bullet had hit his breastbone, making a hole the size of a quarter. From that awful hole, hanging by just a few tendons, was the almost severed leg of the brave little bird. Attached to that leg was a silver canister, with the all-important message. Once again, Cher Ami wouldn't quit until he had finished his job.  Cher Ami became the hero of the 77th Infantry Division, and the medics worked long and hard to patch him up. When the French soldiers that the Americans were fighting to help learned they story of Cher Ami's bravery and determination, they gave him one of their own country's great honors. Cher Ami, the brave carrier pigeon was presented a medal called the French Croix de guerre with a palm leaf. Though the dedicated medics saved Cher Ami's life, they couldn't save his leg. The men of the Division were careful to take care of the little bird that had saved 200 of their friends, and even carved a small wooden leg for him. When Cher Ami was well enough to travel, the little one-legged hero was put on a boat to the United States. The commander of all of the United States Army, the great General John J. Pershing, personally saw Cher Ami off as he departed France.  Back in the United States the story of Cher Ami was told again and again. The little bird was in the newspapers, magazines, and it seemed that everyone knew his name. He became one of the most famous heroes of World War I.      |
It was sunny here again today, in the 60's. We had a good day of steady customers and lookers so our little advertising try produced what we wanted. Now we just have to expand and keep it going!
BTW, I have been looking at some Vickers Vimy Pics and I am pretty sure that it is a Vimy. The box kite tail and the nose skid seem to be prominent ID features of a Vimy.
G'nite all, we have a small thunderstorm moving through at the moment.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
On November 24, 1921, Whittlesey booked passage on the S.S. Toloa, a steamship owned by the United Fruit Co. bound for Havana. Prior to this, he had put his affairs in order and paid the rent to his landlady for the following month. On November 26th, after having stayed up late drinking and talking with other passengers, Whittlesey walked to the rail of the ship and jumped overboard. None of his friends or relatives had known about his travel plans and were thus disbelieving when the news arrived from the captain of the ship that Whittlesey had been lost at sea and that he had left behind letters to those close to him. The letters were addressed to his parents, his brother Elisha, his brother Melzar, his uncle Granville Whittlesey, and to his friends George McMurtry, J. Bayard Pruyn, Robert Forsyth Little and Herman Livingston, Jr. None of the letters revealed the reason for his suicide and the recipients refused to make them public. Several theories existed at the time as to what had pushed Whittlesey to such depths of depression. Those close to him believed that his death could be counted among the War casualties in as much as it was his sensitivity to the constant reminders of the destruction of the War that drove him to suicide. Some believed that his suicide was caused by feelings of guilt: the possibility that he had given incorrect coordinates to the 'Pocket', thereby causing friendly fire, or having refused to surrender to the Germans, leading to increased loss among his men. Others believed that it was his modesty and inability to adjust to the life of a hero that caused the depression that eventually ended his life. Whatever the exact reason may have been, it is clear that Whittlesey's death was indirectly related to the unhappiness which befell him after his experiences in the War.
Remember the Alamo bump!
Oh it's clear now. You are correct, perfect fit!
Following the November 11th Armistice, many of the doughboys returned home in time for Christmas, Lietuenant Colonel Whittlesey himself arriving back in his home state for the holidays. On Christmas Day a ceremony was held on Boston Common, and the Medal of Honor pinned to the tunic of the mild-mannered, New York attorney. It was the first Medal of Honor of World War I to be presented to a member of the United States Army. Lieutenant Holderman's Medal of Honor was announced in War Department Orders two years later.The story of the Lost Battalion became perhaps the most talked about and written about event of World War I, growing more sensational with each retelling. Sadly, the bare facts alone were sufficient to inspire. Americans have always sought for heroes, and Charles Whittlesey was hesitantly thrust into that role. But, as surely as we need heroes to inspire us, a sad fact of human nature is that heroes also inspire jealousy and often resentment. Yesterday's hero, all too often becomes today's whipping boy.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Whittlesey was honorably discharged from the United States Army the day before his Medal of Honor was announced. He attempted to return to the practice of law, but the legend of the Lost Battalion would not let him go. There were rumors and innuendo that Whittlesey was himself, personally responsible for the tragedy. Some pointed to the minor error in the map coordinates he had sent back by carrier pigeon, others claimed the unit had been trapped only because the Major had overzealously pushed his soldiers ahead of all others. The fact that Major Whittlesey had simply followed orders to the letter, no more and no less, or that the general location of The Pocket was well known in headquarters, could not stop these sad rumors.
In 1921 the reluctant hero boarded the S.S. Toloa, a vacation liner to Cuba, to escape the war that wouldn't end from him. During the voyage he penned a letter bequeathing the original copy of the German surrender request written by Lieutenant Prinz to his friend, George McMurtry. He left his Cross of the Legion of Honor to his closest friend, former classmate at Harvard, and law partner J. Bayard Pruyn. On November 27, 1921 Charles Whittlesey finally completed his escape from The Pocket of a steep slope in the Argonne Forest when he leaped from the rail of the S.S. Toloa and vanished forever in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean.
1945 Assassination attempt on Höhere, SS Police führer Rauter
(SS Brigadefuhrer Dr. Eberhardt Schongarth immediately ordered reprisals and a total of 263 people were shot. A Special Court of Justice in the Hague sentenced Rauter to death and he was executed March 25, 1949. Schongarth was tried by a British Military Court, found guilty on another war crime charge, sentenced to death and was hanged in 1946)
HOLLANDDE WOESTE HOEVE
(March 6, 1945)On the night of March 6, a BMW car, carrying the SS General Hans Albin Rauter, was ambushed, his driver and orderly being killed. Rauter was seriously wounded . Some hours later, the damaged car was found by German troops and Rauter was taken to the St. Joseph-Stichting hospital on the outskirts of Apeldoorn where he recovered after a series of blood transfusions. Soon after the ambush, the SD arrived and what followed was one of the most notorious war crimes ever committed in Holland. In charge of the investigation was SS Brigadefuhrer Dr.Eberhardt Schongarth, who immediately ordered reprisals. One hundred and sixteen men were rounded up and transported to the scene of the ambush where they were all shot dead, their bodies being buried in a mass grave in Heidehof Cemetery in the village of Ugchelen . In Gestapo prisons all over Holland, prisoners were taken out and shot in reprisal for the ambush. In all, a total of 263 people had been shot in reprisal. The irony was, that the Dutch underground fighters had intended to ambush and steal a German lorry, and had no idea that the car they shot up contained a German General. Rauter himself survived the war. He was arrested by British Military Police in a hospital at Eutin and turned over to the Dutch. Before a Special Court of Justice in the Hague, he was sentenced to death and on March 25, 1949, he was executed by firing squad in the dunes near Scheveningen Prison. Schongarth was tried by a British Military Court, found guilty on another war crime charge and sentenced to death. He was hanged in 1946.
Toen kwam er, naar later bleek, een grijsgroene B.M.W.-personenauto cabriolet, waarin de Hogere S.S. und Polizeiführer Hans Albin Rauter, zijn chauffeur en de Oberleutnant Exner zaten.
Shoot him.
Patch him up.
Shoot him again.
Surely we can do this with the likes of Saddam Hussein--along the lines of Groundhog Day.
I got a chance to guard a Blackbird. "Sarge, what the (blank) is that?. You don't need to know, and it was never here, understand troop!"
"BTW, I have been looking at some Vickers Vimy Pics and I am pretty sure that it is a Vimy."
DRAT! Wrong again! Well there's alot to be said for consistency.
Shoot him.
Patch him up.
Shoot him again
Surely we can do this with the likes of Saddam Hussein
Works for me.
Or we could simply release him, after leaking just where and when.
Then of course there's always the lottery plan, a buck for a chance to shot the sob.
Oh looky, it even comes with mirrors!
OMG I love it! WOW Wneighbor, that is some mean machine you have there.
When I was younger, I thought that the album was quite dreary and pessimistic, though I loved the music and listened to it WAY too much (I considered myself an existentialist). I wore out 2 albums and 5 cassettes.
Now when I listen to it I am moved, because so much of what is warned against therein has come to pass.
...along the lines of Groundhog Day.
I like it!
Hey, something we have in common!
Sign her up!
She's an absolute DARLIN'!
You GO, bittygirl!
Nah, really, Snippy, he wanted to be with his men. I know. I had many dreams that I am with those guys. Dumb, really.
Last time they told me to get lost, do my duty, stop living in the past, that I didn't fit in with them anymore. The dead are not dead, you see.
Never have had the dream since.
BTTT!!!!!!
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