Posted on 05/06/2005 10:08:51 PM PDT by snippy_about_it
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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I'm afraid I don't know enough to make a choice. I know the names, Nimitz, Spruance, Halsey, etc. But I don't know enough about each of them on a grand scale. Hopefully I'll learn a lot from our great minds discussing their choices here at the Foxhole.
Adm. Chester Nimitz Bump for the Freeper Foxhole.
More later
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Morning!
Nimitz. :-)
This prayer, and several versions related to other branches of our military, was written by my sister and I quote: "for all military personnel - past, present and future - and in memory of my father, William M. Adams, Sr. 1938-1965, who died overseas while stationed in the US Army. Safe in the arms of Jesus. I love you, Daddy!"
The prayer was originally sent to the President and made it's way to a Chaplain from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who read it at the Veterans Day service in 2001 shortly after 9/11.
She also had the privilege of having the prayer read and posted on-board the USS Enterprise in 2002. ~PSG
Roman emperors saw torture as a legitimate way to put muscle and teeth into their laws. They were known to bind the body of a murder victim to the back of his killer. Under penalty of death, no one was allowed to release the condemned criminal. This terrible practice calls to mind the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 7. It's as if he felt that something dead was strapped to him and accompanied him wherever he went. As children of God, we long for purity and holiness, yet at times we feel helplessly bound to the "dead body" of our flesh. Even though we are new creatures in Christ and we know that the physical body itself is not evil, the tendency to sin is always with us. This causes us to cry out with the apostle, "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (v.24). Paul answered his own cry in chapter 8. He said that through the forgiveness of Christ we are freed from eternal condemnation (v.1). Then by the strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit we are empowered to do the will of God (v.9). And someday in heaven these mortal bodies of ours will be redeemed (v.23). We are not hopelessly bound by the flesh. Praise God, Christ broke the power of sin! We can serve Him in newness of life. -Mart De Haan
Too strong, it seems, for us to bear; But Jesus says, "Look unto Me. I broke sin's power, so don't despair." -D. De Haan To overcome sin, starve the old nature and feed the new.
Knowing God Through Romans |
Raymond Spruance. One of the empirical proofs God loves the United States was the illness that kept Halsey from commanding at Midway.
That quote is from when Halsey sailed into Pearl Harbor several days after the attack.
He also had a "colorfull" statement with regards to Hirohito and a white horse but I don't recall what it was, will have to see if I can find it later.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
An imperfect analogy but Halsey would be to Patton as Spruance was to Bradley.
Spruance, IMHO had the ability to see most of the possibilities of a situation and pick out the one that would yield the best results. Midway, is about the only time I can think of when Spruance took an uncalculated risk when he launched his aircraft when he did.
An intersting scenario would have been if Spruance had been in command at Leyte Gulf instead of Halsey, eh.
Regards
alfa67 ;>}
Adm. Chester Nimitz would get my vote for the best admiral for his work in pulling together the Pacific Fleet after Pearl Harbor and seeing the completion of the Pacific Campaign.
About the only gaffe that I can attribute to Adm. Nimitz would be the issuing of the conflicting orders to Adm Halsey in the Leyte Gulf operation. Halsey was given the task of both protecting the landing fleet AND the destrruction of the IJN if it should appear. Halsey, being Halsey, upon the sighting of the IJN "bait" carriers north of the Phillipines took off after the "bait" leaving the San Bearnadino Straight unguarded. This almost lead to diaster if not for the efforts of the "Taffy" escort carriers and thier escorts.
More later, maybe, as I need to go log some blanket drill. 12 hours of frivolity and fun is almost more than I can stand.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Regards and Good Morning, er I mean Night, oh whatever
alfa6 :>}
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on May 07:
1530 Louis I Condé French prince/leader of hugenots
1574 Innocent X [Giambattista Pamfili] 236th Roman Catholic pope (1644-55)
1763 Josef Poniatovski Polish general/marshal of France
1774 Sir Francis Beaufort naval officer; devised wind force scale
1812 Robert Browning London England, poet (The Pied Piper)
1826 Varina Howell Davis 1st lady (Confederacy), died in 1905
1827 Francis Engle Patterson Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1832 Carl G Neumann German mathematician/physicist (Neumann-functions)
1833 Johannes Brahms Hamburg Germany, composer, enjoys a good lullaby
1840 Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Votkinsk Russia, composer (The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, 1812 Overture)
1861 Rabindranath Tagore Hindu poet/mystic/composer (Nobel '13)
1885 George "Gabby" Hayes Wellesvile NY, actor/heartthrob (In Old Santa Fe, El Paso)
1892 Archibald MacLeish Glencoe IL, political essayist/poet/dramatist (JB)
1892 Josip Broz Tito WWII partisan, leader of Yugoslavia (1943-80)
1901 Gary Cooper Helena MT, actor (2 Academy Awards-Sergeant York, High Noon)
1909 Edwin H Land inventor (instant photography (Polaroid))
1917 William Geoffrey Biddle bomb disposal expert
1919 Eva (Evita) [Duarte] Perón Argentina, 1st lady/actress
1922 Darren McGavin Spokane WA, actor (Night Stalker, Tribes, Turk 182)
1923 Anne Baxter Michigan City IN, actress (Myra-Marcus Welby, Victoria-Hotel)
1930 Aviard Gavrilovich Fastovets Russia, cosmonaut
1931 Teresa Brewer Toledo OH, singer (Put Another Nickel In)
1933 Johnny Unitas NFL QB (Baltimore Colts, San Diego); one of the greats
1934 Willard Scott weatherman (Today)
1944 John Heard actor (Pelican Brief, CHUD, Radio Flyer, Big)
1950 Janis Ian [Janis Eddy Fink] New York NY, rock vocalist (At 17, Society's Child)
1951 Robert Hegyes Metuchen NJ, actor (Underground Aces, Welcome Back Kotter)
1952 Derek Taylor rocker (Let it Be, Beatles Anthology)
1959 Tamara E Jernigan Chattanooga, PhD/astronaut (STS 40, 52, 67, 80)
John Paul Jones
A founder of the U.S. Navy
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/traditions/html/jpjones.html
John Paul was born at Arbigland, Kirkbean, Kirkcudbright, Scotland, 6 July 1747. Apprenticed to a merchant at age 13, he went to sea in the brig Friendship to learn the art of seamanship. At 21, he received his first command, the brig John.
After several successful years as a merchant skipper in the West Indies trade, John Paul emigrated to the British colonies in North America and there added "Jones" to his name. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, Jones was in Virginia. He cast his lot with the rebels, and on 7 December 1775, he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Continental Navy, serving aboard Esek Hopkins' flagship Alfred.
As First Lieutenant in Alfred, he was the first to hoist the Grand Union flag on a Continental warship. On 1 November 1777, he commanded the Ranger, sailing for France. Sailing into Quiberon Bay, France, 14 February 1778, Jones and Admiral La Motte Piquet changed gun salutes the first time that the Stars and Stripes, the flag of the new nation, was officially recognized by a foreign government.
Early in 1779, the French King gave Jones an ancient East Indiaman Duc de Duras, which Jones refitted, repaired, and renamed Bon Homme Richard as a compliment to his patron Benjamin Franklin. Commanding four other ships and two French privateers, he sailed 14 August 1779 to raid English shipping.
On 23 September 1779, his ship engaged the HMS Serapis in the North Sea off Famborough Head, England. Richard was blasted in the initial broadside the two ships exchanged, losing much of her firepower and many of her gunners. Captain Richard Pearson, commanding Serapis, called out to Jones, asking if he surrendered. Jones' reply: "I have not yet begun to fight!"
It was a bloody battle with the two ship literally locked in combat. Sharpshooting Marines and seamen in Richard's tops raked Serapis with gunfire, clearing the weather decks. Jones and his crew tenaciously fought on , even though their ship was sinking beneath them. Finally, Capt. Pearson tore down his colors and Serapis surrendered.
Bon Homme Richard sunk the next day and Jones was forced to transfer to Serapis.
After the American Revolution, Jones served as a Rear Admiral in the service of Empress Catherine of Russia, but returned to Paris in 1790. He died in Paris at the age of 45 on 18 July 1792. He was buried in St. Louis Cemetery, which belonged to the French royal family. Four years later, France's revolutionary government sold the property and the cemetery was forgotten.
In 1845, Col. John H. Sherburne began a campaign to return Jones' remains to the United States. He wrote Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft and requested the body be brought home aboard a ship of the Mediterrean Squadron. Six years later, preliminary arrangements were made, but the plans fell through when several of Jones' Scottish relatives objected. Had they not, another problem would have arisen. Jones was in an unmarked grave and no one knew exactly where that was.
American Ambassador Horace Porter began a systematic search for it in 1899. The burial place and Jones' body was discovered in April 1905. President Theodore Roosevelt sent four cruisers to bring it back to the U.S., and these ships were escorted up the Chesapeake Bay by seven battleships.
On 26 January 1913, the remains of John Paul Jones were laid to rest in the crypt of the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Md. Today, a Marine honor guard stands duty whenever the crypt is open to the public. Public visiting hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
And a slightly different take on John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (1747-1792)
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3020/jones.html
William "Bull" Halsey, I respect his agressiveness, he knew what needed to be done and nothing stopped him from accomplishing it.
. . . our ships searched east of Samar for other stragglers and for our airmen who had ditched the day before. We found no Jap ships, but Japanese swimmers were as thick as water bugs.
I was having breakfast when Bill Kitchell burst in and cried, "My God Almighty, Admiral, the little bastards are all over the place! Are we going to stop and pick 'em up?" I told him "Not until we've picked up our own boys."
. . . when we had recovered all the Americans, I ordered our destroyers "Bring in cooperative Nip flotsam for an intelligence sample. Noncooperators would probably like to rejoin their ancestors and should be accommodated." (I didn't want to risk their getting ashore, where they could reinforce the garrison.) The destroyers brought in six.
[From 'Admiral Halsey's Story' by Halsey & Bryan]
"Halsey had the knack of appointing extremely intelligent officers to his staff, on whom he relied for decision- making. On only rare occasions did he overrule them. 'Admiral Halsey's strongest point,' wrote a staff officer, 'was his superb leadership. While always the true professional and exacting professional performance from all subordinates, he had a charismatic effect on them which was like being touched by a a magic wand. Anyone so touched was determined to excel."
[From "Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey Jr" by James E. Merrill]
No golf this AM . . . I took yesterday off and played. Just gonna mow the yard, do some planting and hang out with my wild birds.
I'm afraid I don't know enough to make a choice.
That's my excuse . . . I also thought it was the reason I wasn't pinged this morning. ;^)
PAUL BOURGET: Life can never be entirely dull to an American. When he has nothing else to do he can always spend a few years trying to discover who his grandfather was.
MARK TWAIN: Right, your Excellency. But I reckon a Frenchman's got a little standby for a dull time too; he can turn in and see if he can find out who his father was.
Last week Bill O'Reilly interviewed Richard Chesnoff, author of The Arrogance of the French: Why They can't stand us and Why the Feeling is Mutual." It turns out the French can't stand the Brits, Spaniards, Germans, Italians . . . the list goes on. But when O'Reilly asked Chesnoff (who maintains a cottage in the French country side), "how do the French feel about themselves?" Chesnoff replied, "in my village, they say the worst foreigner's come from Paris."
I guess all we can conclude is if God ever gives the world an enema, He'll give it through France.
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