The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - Drummers, Warriors and Storytellers - May 24th, 2005

Army Magazine | July 2002 | Gen. Donn A. Starry, U.S. Army retired

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

The Legacy of Drummers, Warriors and Storytellers

The great Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe once characterized society’s need for three kinds of people. He called them drummers, warriors and storytellers. Drummers, Achebe said, are those who develop a deep understanding of the past, a realistic appraisal of the present, then drum up enduring causes for the future. Warriors are those who go forth to fight military, political and even social battles for great causes, perhaps many times if necessary, demonstrating thereby the enduring worth of the causes. Storytellers recount what happened -- tell the story of great events.

Relief of Bastogne

Of the three, Achebe said storytellers are the most important, for it is their version of what happened that is recorded as history.

Notwithstanding that suggestion of how history becomes what it is, we also note that seldom in one person do we find all three of these people -- drummer, warrior, storyteller -- but when we do, that happy juxtaposition more often than not makes the history they tell what it might not be from the hand of a non-drummer, non-warrior.

In the entrance hall to the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor, there is a wall designated as the International Commanders Wall. On it are displayed five splendid Jody Harmon prints of famous armor commanders of the 20th century. Certainly all you conscientious armor leaders have gone there, sat on your camp stools before that wall and studied those five portraits hoping to learn something from the lives and deeds of those five great men.

I had intended to ask someone to name those five heroes. But I learned from a recent survey of college senior history students in the 10 leading U.S. universities that a large percentage of them had identified the American commander at the battle of Yorktown in the American Revolution as Ulysses S. Grant. Some even believed the Yorktown battle was fought within a few days of the battle of Gettysburg, and that the two battles were what caused President George Washington to send Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders to Cuba to unseat Castro. So perhaps I should avoid embarrassment and just identify the five men on the commander’s wall for you.


Israeli Centurion tanks counterattacking against Syrian forces during the "October War" of 1973.

Who are they?

One is a German; two were U.S. Army general officers; two were general officers in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), both commanders of the IDF Armored Corps. The German, of course, is Field Marshal Rommel. The U.S. officers are Gen. George Patton (the elder) and Gen. Creighton Abrams (the elder). The Israeli officers are Gen. Israel Tal (Talik) and Gen. Musa Peled.

Why are their portraits there?

They are there because each of them in his own way was first a drummer, then a warrior -- several times over -- then a storyteller, either firsthand or by the hand of a remarkable biographer. If you take away from your study of the wall nothing more than that metric by which you might judge yourself, your time will have been well spent.

May I just illustrate?



We probably know Field Marshal Rommel best from his son Manfred’s version of his father’s war diaries, The Rommel Papers, edited by Liddell Hart. But Rommel himself wrote a book called Infanterie greift an from his experience as an infantry battalion commander in World War I. Translated into English as Infantry Attacks, it literally means to seize the initiative at tactical and operational levels with tactical and operational maneuver. Based on his own storytelling, Rommel became a drummer for seizing the initiative and a warrior who did just that at tactical and operational levels, leading to his striking successes in World War II. You will find his ideas deeply embedded in what we called "AirLand Battle" -- the doctrine that was so successful in the 1991 Gulf War -- for it came from lengthy study of Infanterie greift an.

Both Generals Patton and Abrams were warriors whose exploits need no comment. But each was also a drummer and a storyteller in his own unique way. Gen. Patton kept extensive records, from which Martin Blumenson published two volumes of The Patton Papers, and he and others have written excellent biographies. And firsthand from Patton we have Paul Harkins’ edition of Patton’s memoirs, War As I Knew It, and from that book we have Patton’s dictums regarding causes -- tactical and operational, the fighting of battles and campaigns, the winning of wars.



Although he himself disdained record keeping and did not live to write his own memoirs, Gen. Abrams’ story found a remarkable storyteller. His story is recounted in Bob Sorley’s superb books Thunderbolt and A Better War. As I commented in a review of Thunderbolt, had Gen. Abrams commanded in Vietnam sooner, that war would surely have had quite a different and much happier outcome, for he had quite a different cause to drum than had his predecessor.



Musa Peled’s cause was the survival and independence of the state of Israel, and to that end he fought in all of his country’s wars. A graduate of the armor school at Fort Knox, during his active service he would become commandant of the Israeli Defense Force Command and General Staff College and commander of the IDF Armored Corps. His story is writ large in the several histories of his division’s relief of the beleaguered garrison brigades on the Golan Heights in the early hours of the Yom Kippur war. Quite soon after the Syrian attack began, Musa’s division started north. He himself arrived first; the Northern Command commander instructed him to put his battalions, one at a time, into the breaches in the defenses of the 188th Brigade, most of whose battalions had been rendered noneffective. Musa demurred, saying his division should take the initiative, attacking into the left flank of Syrian echelons coming down the road from Damascus towards crossings over the Jordan. Prime Minister Golda Meir was called; Gen. Bar Lev was sent to referee; Bar Lev sided with Musa; with about a fourth of his division still en route, Musa attacked. Within four hours nearly 600 Syrian tanks were destroyed along the front; Musa’s division was across the Green Line, its lead brigade heading for Damascus. The Syrian attack was destroyed. When word came that the Soviets were moving their airborne divisions to marshalling airfields inside the Soviet Union, the Israelis shut down the attack at the outskirts of Damascus, but their remarkable operational maneuver had saved Israel.



Talik, like Musa, is a veteran of all his country’s wars. Drummer for tactical and operational level maneuver, Talik also became drummer for an Israeli designed, engineered and built tank, the Merkava. It is, perhaps without question, the tank in the world inventories of tanks that most closely matches concepts of employment visualized by its user. By many standards, it is the best tank in the world -- designed, engineered and built under the firm hand of Talik.

So you see, despite different cultures, nationalities, backgrounds and generations, these five great warriors tell a consistent story. What are its important elements?

We tend to see them all as men of action, leaders who led from the front, set the example, seized the initiative. They were all that indeed, but more besides.

First, they were profound students of the art of war at the tactical and operational levels -- the history of war.

Second, from their studies they formed quite clear concepts of what was needed in order to fight and win, at tactical and operational levels, in the first and succeeding battles of the next, not the last, war.

Third, they were all convincing teachers of the lessons of their study and experience. They recognized the need to persuade the many of what the few had learned the hard way.

Finally, they all saw the training and education of leaders as key. To them leadership was an art, an art required by the ever-present need to identify and train leaders for the next generation of soldiers and wars.



Both Musa Peled and Gen. Abrams would remark many times that soldiers are a constant; they will do what they have been taught and trained to do and do it as well as their leaders have taught them to do it. When things go wrong, look to the leadership.

Remember that as you contemplate these great men from your camp stool perch in front of that wall. Remember also, that in the history of the mechanization of battle, which is the history of war in the 20th century, many, if not most of the drummers and their causes, of the warriors and their exploits, of the storytellers and their remarkable stories, came directly or in some cases roundabout from this old camp where we assemble tonight -- Fort Knox.

For Lt. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee was a drummer. While a warrior, he did not live to fight battles which were the target of his causes. But many, if not most, of his subordinates did. Those subordinates, in their World War II operations, refined the causes for which Gen. Chaffee drummed. And while the realized cause was in the end the work of many, Gen. Chaffee was the drummer and would-be warrior. His story, in a modest way, is set forth in Camp Colt to Desert Storm: The History of U.S. Armored Forces. From tanks in World War I to the end of Desert Storm 1991, it is the story of the mechanization of our army. There George Hofmann and I are editors and storytellers, along with Bob Sorley, Bob Sunell, Phil Bolté and Oscar Decker. The drummers, warriors and storytellers for what became AirLand Battle began life right here at Fort Knox. For from the dismal aftermath of the Vietnam War, no more than a handful of determined drummers, warriors and storytellers fashioned the ideas, the organization, the battlefield operating systems, and the training and education systems for soldiers, and especially for leaders, for the magnificent force which would fight and win the Hundred Hour War in 1991.

That is your legacy from all of us; those who have been and those who are still drummers, warriors, storytellers. What legacy will you leave to the generations of soldiers, leaders and armies who will fight the battles yet to come?

[SAMWolf]

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel "The Desert Fox" is probably the best known German Field Marshal of World War II. He served in France, Italy and Romania in the German Army during the First World War. He won the Pour le Merite, Imperial Germany's highest decoration, for his actions in the Battle of Caporetto.

Between the wars, he served as an instructor at the Infantry School at Dresden, commanded the German War Academy, and wrote "Infanterie greift an" (Infantry Attacks), a study of infantry tactics, based on his experiences in World War One, which was highly praised as a text for junior officers.



He was selected to command the Fuehrer's bodyguard during the annexation of the Sudetenland and remained to Hitler's staff for the invasion of Poland. He commanded the 7th Panzer Division with distinction in the Battle of France, and was given command of German forces sent to assist the Italians in North Africa, which became the Afrika Korps. On arrival, he started a series of brilliant battles in which he drove the British back hundreds of miles and gained him the nickname of "Desert Fox". At EL Alamein, he came close to taking Egypt and the Suez Canal, but, with his supply lines stretched to the limit, he could not make the final push, nor could he match the reinforcements that were poured into his opponent, General Montgomery. With an enormous numerical advantage in tanks, and assisted by the Allied landings at Casablanca, Montgomery forced Rommel back and eventually, out of Africa.


Commander of the 7th Pz.Div in France (1940)

Rommel served briefly in Italy (1943-44) and then in France, where he greatly strengthened the defenses the Allies would face in the Normandy Invasion. He planned to hold the Allies on the beach, until he could counterattack with his panzers to push the invaders back into the sea; but when he tried to bring up the forces needed for this counterattack, he could not convince Hitler to release them before it was too late. A few weeks later, Rommel was wounded by a strafing fighter and sent home to recover.



On 20 July 1944, Hitler was nearly killed, when a bomb, placed in his headquarters by an officer of the German Army, exploded. The plot involved many of the highest officers in the Army, and no one was safe from the Gestapo in the weeks which followed. Rommel was one of those implicated in the "20th of July plot", but, as he was a popular hero, a public trial could get embarrassing, even for the Nazis. Instead, he was told that if he killed himself, his participation in the plot would be overlooked and his family would be safe. Rommel accepted and was given a hero's funeral.

[SAMWolf]

George Patton was born in 1885 in California. Like Omar Bradley, he was educated at the American Military Academy. He graduated from here in 1909. In 1916, he served as an aide-de-camp to General Pershing in his expedition against the Mexican Pancho Villa who had crossed the American/Mexican border and sacked the town of Columbus in New Mexico. Many Americans were not aware that President Woodrow Wilson had even sanctioned this campaign and Patton was to be linked with such 'daring-do' throughout his military career.



By the end of the First World War , Patton had established a tank training school and it was in armoured warfare that Patton was to make his name. One of the training officers at this camp was a young Dwight Eisenhower.

Patton commanded American forces in Morocco, Tunisia and Sicily between 1942 and 1943 and in early 1944, he was given command of the American Third Army. Patton played a key role in the use of armour after the successful landings at D-Day. Armoured warfare speeded up the Allies advance across western Europe and Patton always seemed to be ahead of any other Allied armoured group. His tactics were uncompromising but undoubtedly successful. Montgomery was known to have commented that Eisenhower seemed to favour requests for equipment by Patton as opposed to British generals in the thrust across Europe. But, if true, Eisenhower probably had the evidence to favour Patton, especially after the heroic failure at Arnhem.



The 3rd Army Group broke through the Germans defences at Normandy and it cleared a path across northern France and in March 1945, it crossed the River Rhine and moved into mainland Germany and from there into Austria.

After the war in Europe ended in May 1945, Patton was made military governor of Bavaria but was removed from this post when he was accused of being too soft on the Germans. Certainly, by the time the war in Europe had ended, Patton saw the might of the Russians as more of a threat than the defeated Nazis. Patton was killed, the result of a road crash, in late 1945 aged 60.


A Sherman of Patton's 3rd Army passes through the Siegfried Line

A forceful and outspoken man, Patton made as many enemies as friends. Popular among his troops for his uncompromising leadership, he could also be harsh and only expected results from the men under his command.

---

Creighton Abrams graduated from West Point in 1936 and served with the 1st Cavalry Division from 1936 to 1940, being promoted to first lieutenant in 1939 and temporary captain in 1940.

He became an armored officer early in the development of that branch and served as a tank company commander in the 1st Armored Division in 1940.

During World War II, he served with the 4th Armored Division, initially as regimental adjutant (June 1941-June 1942) then as a battalion commander (July 1942-March 1943), and regiment executive officer (March 1943-September 1943) with the 37th Armored Regiment. A reorganization of the division created a new battalion, the 37th Tank Battalion, which he commanded through March 1945 when he was promoted to command Combat Command B of the division. During this time he was promoted to the temporary ranks of major (March 1943) and lieutenant colonel (September 1943).

During much of this time his unit was at the spearhead of the 4th Armored Division and the Third Army, and he was consequently well known as an aggressive armor commander. By using his qualities as a leader and by consistently exploiting the relatively small advantages of speed and reliability of his vehicles he managed to defeat German forces who had the advantage of superior armor, superior guns and better trained troops.



Following the war he served on the Army General Staff (1945-1946), as head of the department of tactics at the Armored School, Fort Knox (1946-1948), and graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth (1949). He was briefly promoted temporary colonel in 1945 but reverted to lieutenant colonel during WW II demobilization.

He commanded the 63rd Tank Battalion, part of the 1st Infantry Division, in Europe (1949-1951). He was again promoted to colonel and commanded the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (1951-1952). These units were important assignments due to the Cold War concern for potential invasion of western Europe by the Soviet Union. He then attended and graduated from the US Army War College in 1953.

Due to his service in Europe and his War College tour, he joined the Korean War late in the conflict. He successively served as chief of staff of the I, X, and IX Corps in Korea (1953-1954).

Upon return from Korea he served as chief of staff of the Armor Center, Fort Knox (1954-1956). He was promoted brigadier general and appointed deputy chief of staff for reserve components at the Pentagon (1956-1959). He was assistant division commander of 3rd Armored Division (1959-60) and then commanded the division (1960-62) upon his promotion to major general.



He was then transferred to the Pentagon as deputy chief of staff for operations (1962-63), then was promoted lieutenant general and commanded V Corps in Europe (1963-1964).

He was promoted general in 1964 and appointed vice chief of staff of the Army (he was seriously considered as a candidate for chief of staff at that time). Due to concerns about the conduct of the Vietnam War, he was appointed as deputy to General William Westmoreland, head of the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam, in May 1967. He succeeded Westmoreland as commander in June 1968. His tenure of command was not marked by the public optimism of his predecessors, who were prone to press conferences and public statements.

Following the election of President Richard Nixon he implemented the Nixon Doctrine referred to as Vietnamization. Vietnamization was designed to wind down the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and have South Vietnam responsible for executing the war.

He was appointed Chief of Staff of the United States Army in June 1972 but was not confirmed by the Senate until October 1972 due to political repercussions involving disobedience by one of his subordinate commanders. He served in this position until his death in September 1974. During this time he began the transition to the all-volunteer Army.

Abrams was known as an aggressive and successful armor commander. General George Patton said of him, "I'm supposed to be the best tank commander in the Army, but I have one peer: Abe Abrams. He's the world champion." His unit was requently the spearhead of the Third Army during WW II. Abrams was one of the leaders in the relief effort which broke up the German entrenchments surrounding Bastogne and the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

He was noted for his concern for soldiers, his emphasis on combat readiness, and his insistence on personal integrity.

The M1 Abrams main battle tank is named in his honor.

Additional Sources:

en.wikipedia.org
www.euronet.nl
www.historylearningsite.co.uk
www.arlingtoncemetery.net
encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
www.jewishsf.com
www.armorart.com
www.jodyharmon.com
www.luftwaffe39-45.historia.nom.br
www.pattonhq.com

[SAMWolf]

Israel Tal, Israel Defense Force general known for his knowledge of tank warfare. Tal was a brilliant armor tactician and as an armored-division commander he implented his tactics very successfully and achieved great victories.



Tal was armored-division commander during the Sinai War, the Six Day War and Yom Kippur War in the southern front of Sinai Peninsula.

The Israeli government decided in 1970 that it needed an indigenous tank-building capacity. General Israel Tal led a development team which took into consideration Israel's unique battlefield characteristics and lessons learned from previous wars, and began the development and building of Israel's Merkava tank.

Israel Tal is considered among the five greatest armor commanders in history and his picture appears in Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor "Wall of Greatest Armor Commanders" along with Moshe Peled (also Israeli), American George S. Patton and Creighton Abrams and German field-marshal Erwin Rommel.

---

Musa Peled most recently served as an adviser to the defense minister and headed a panel on the privatization of defense industries under the Netanyahu government. He was director-general of Rafael, the arms development authority, from 1987 to 1992, when he retired after learning he had cancer.


Centurions and M3 Halftracks move towards the Golan Heights

Peled joined the Haganah in 1941. He was a Golani commander who reached Eilat in the War of Independence.

Despite breaks in his military service during which he helped develop Nahalal, he served in all of Israel's wars, including the 1967 Six-Day War as deputy commander of the division that captured the Golan Heights and part of the West Bank.

In 1973, Peled led a counterattack against the Syrians on the Golan Heights, a psychological breakthrough that signaled the tide of the war was beginning to turn.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

---

Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

---

We here at Blue Stars For A Safe Return are working hard to honor all of our military, past and present, and their families. Inlcuding the veterans, and POW/MIA's. I feel that not enough is done to recognize the past efforts of the veterans, and remember those who have never been found.

I realized that our Veterans have no "official" seal, so we created one as part of that recognition. To see what it looks like and the Star that we have dedicated to you, the Veteran, please check out our site.

Veterans Wall of Honor

Blue Stars for a Safe Return

---

UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

---

LINK TO FOXHOLE THREADS INDEXED by PAR35

[Victoria Delsoul]

[radu]

Good evening/morning everyone!

To all our military men and women past and present, military family members, and to our allies who stand beside us
Thank You!

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



It's TreadHead Tuesday!


Good Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.
If you'd like to drop us a note you can write to:

Wild Bird Center
19721 Highway 213
Oregon City, OR 97045

[snippy_about_it]

Free Republic Treadhead Ping





Delta 21;mostly cajun ;archy; Gringo1; Matthew James; Fred Mertz; Squantos; colorado tanker; The Shrew; SLB; Darksheare; BCR #226; IDontLikeToPayTaxes; Imacatfish; Tailback; DCBryan1; Eaker; Archangelsk; gatorbait; river rat; Lee'sGhost; Dionysius; BlueLancer; Frohickey; GregB; leadpenny; skepsel; Proud Legions; King Prout; Professional Engineer; alfa6; bluelancer; Cannoneer No.4; An Old Man; hookman; DMZFrank; in the Arena; Bethbg79; neverdem; NWU Army ROTC; ma bell; MoJo2001; The Sailor; dcwusmc; dts32041; spectr17; Rockpile; Theophilus;humblegunner


************Snippy, I bequeath to you the FR TH PL.

148 posted on 08/24/2004 11:39:45 AM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4 (I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.)

Good morning, fall in. :-)

[snippy_about_it]

Neat article today Sam. I remember our trip to the Patton Museum. Neat.

[PAR35]

Potential future Saturday forum material here. Who was the greatest armored commander of all times. Fewer choices than with the aircraft last weekend, but the potential for more heated debate.

As to the top 5 given, I'll have to do some research, but it seems like there should be at least one Russian on the list, and possibly another German. And I don't know that I would rank Abrams that high, but I only remember him from Viet Nam.

Since I'm several time zones to the east, I'm gone until in the morning.

[Wneighbor]

G'mornin'

Nice tread thread. I saw some treaded vehicles while I was in Alabama. Thought of ya'll all when I saw 'em too!!! But, there, it was Treadhead Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. Heh, the kids live on post at Redstone Arsenal. I like saying that - they live at an arsenal. I dunno, sometimes I think I'm just not a "normal" mom! LOL

[Iris7]

Sometimes in the abstraction of analysis we lose sight of reality itself. Individuals are reality. The "group" is an abstraction. As they say, character is destiny.

This post did a fine job of pointing out this truth.

Never thought much of Westmoreland. A personally ambitious man, not as bad as Maxwell Taylor, but bad enough. Have affection for Creighton Abrams.

Rommel was a very fine leader with firm insight. One can say the same for George S. Patton.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[alfa6]

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[The Mayor]

May 24, 2005

Change The Word?

Read:
2 Timothy 3

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable. -2 Timothy 3:16

Bible In One Year: Psalm 130-132

The Bible, God's written Word, changes lives. Its message of salvation makes the most profound change, of course, but Scripture can also change the way we treat others. It can provide a firm foundation for society with its clear teachings on institutions such as marriage, family, and the church.

But what happens when what the Bible clearly says-as understood for centuries by learned believers and scholars alike-is rejected? Those who reject its teachings try to change the Word.

Two Greek words can help explain this: eisegesis and exegesis. Eisegesis is the process of reading into a passage something that is not there-inserting a meaning that flows from a personal agenda. By contrast, exegesis means drawing from the passage the clearly intended meaning, using context, other Scripture passages on the same topic, and legitimate tools of understanding such as Bible commentaries.

Instead of trying to change God's Word to fit our own ideas, let's allow the Word to change us. As we read His Word and obey it, the Holy Spirit will transform us into the kind of people God wants us to be.

Don't change the Word-let it change you. -Dave Branon

The Lord has given man His Word,
His will He has made known;
Let man not try to change that Word
With words that are his own. -D. De Haan

The Bible-eternal truth and never-fading beauty.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Can I Really Trust The Bible?
Studies In Contrast

[GailA]

Good morning..it's Tuesday and my day off and I'm going to my quilt guild meeting.

[Soaring Feather]

Good Threadhead morning!

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on May 24:
0015 Julius Caesar Germanicus Roman commandant
1544 William Gilbert Essex England, physicist (researcher into magnetism)
1605 Nikon [Nikita Minin] patriarch of Russian-orthodox church
1650 John Churchill 1st duke of Marlborough, English general strategist
1738 George III king of Great-Britain (1760-1820)
1743 Jean-Paul Marat France, revolutionist
1753 Oliver Cromwell Burlington NJ, black who served with Washington
1794 William Whewell British philosopher (History of Inductive Science)
1803 Charles Bonaparte Corsican/French prince of Canino/Musignano
1810 Abraham Geiger theologian/author/leader of Reform Judaism
1811 Charles Clark Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1877
1816 Emanuel Leutze US, painter (Washington Crossing the Delaware)
1816 Robert Seaman Granger (Union Army Brevet Major General, died in 1894)
1819 Victoria Alexandrine London England, Queen of Great Britain (1837-1901)
1854 Louis Mountbatten Admiral (WWI)
1866 Armando Frid Argentina, lived until July 28 1990 (124 years)
1870 Jan Christian Smuts proponent of Commonwealth & League of Nations
1891 William F Albright US old testament scholar/archaeologist
1893 W H Walter Baade German/US astronomer (Andromeda)
1895 Samuel I Newhouse US millionaire publisher (Parade, Vogue, Glamour)
1898 Kathleen Hale British children book writer/illustrator (Orlando)
1905 Mikhail Sholokhov USSR, writer (And Quiet Flows the Don, Nobel 1965)
1910 Margers Zarins composer
1918 Coleman A Young civil rights leader (Mayor-D-Detroit)
1934 Jane Byrne (Mayor-D-Chicago)
1938 Tommy Chong Edmonton, Alberta, comedian/actor (Cheech & Chong, Leo-That 70s show)
1941 Bob Dylan [Zimmerman] Duluth MN, singer/songwriter (Rainy Day Women #12 & 35)
1943 Frank Oz Muppeteer (Grover, Yoda)
1943 Gary Burghoff Bristol CT, actor (Radar-MASH)
1944 Patti LaBelle [Holt] Philadelphia PA, singer (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade)
1945 Priscilla Presley Brooklyn NY, actress (Jenna-Dallas, Naked Gun)
1951 Ronald A Parise Warren OH, PhD/astronaut (STS 35, STS 67)
1955 Rosanne Cash Memphis TN, country singer (I Wonder)
1971 Troy Barnett NFL defensive end (New England Patriots)
1982 Baby Boy Samane South Africa, son of Christina, heaviest known viable baby (22 lbs 8 oz/10.2 kg)

---

Deaths which occurred on May 24:
1153 David I King of Scotland, dies
1543 Nicolas Copernicus astronomer, dies in Poland
1851 Stanko Vraz [Jakob Frass] Slavic poet (Grammatica), dies at 40
1861 Elmer Ellsworth US warrior (Chicago Zouaves), shot to death at 23
1861 James T Jackson US landlord (doodde EE Ellsworth), shot dead)
1879 William Lloyd Garrison abolitionist (Liberator), dies at 73
1941 Lancelot Holland British Vice-Admiral ((WWII/Hood), dies in battle
1959 John Foster Dulles US Secretary of State (1953-59), dies at 71
1963 Elmore James blues guitarist, dies at 45 of a heart attack
1974 Duke Ellington composer/bandleader/pianist, dies of cancer at 75
1981 George Jessel US comedian/America's toastmaster general (Diary of Young Comic), dies from a heart attack at 83
1986 Stephen D Thorne Lieutenant Commander USN/astronaut, dies in a plane crash at 33
1991 Gene Clark folk-rocker (Byrds-Tambourine Man), dies at 49
1993 Milton O Thompson astronaut (Dynasoar, X-15), dies at 66
1994 Yehuda Mor-Mirkovsky Israeli kibbutz-founder, dies at 96
1995 Harold Wilson British PM (1964-70, 74-76), dies of cancer at 79
1995 Mike Pyne jazz Pianist, dies at 54
1996 Alexander Langsdorf physicist, dies at 83
1996 Jack McCarthy kiddie show host (Popeye), dies of cancer at 81
1997 Edward Mulhare actor (Ghost & Mrs Muir), dies of lung cancer at 74

---

GWOT Casualties

Iraq
24-May-2004 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Specialist Beau R. Beaulieu Taji (Camp Cooke nr. Baghdad) Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack
US Private 1st Class Owen D. Witt Ad Dwar (near) Non-hostile - vehicle accident



Afghanistan
A Good Day

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White

---

On this day...
1086 Abbott Dauferio/Desiderius becomes Pope Victor III
1153 Malcolm IV becomes king of Scotland
1487 Imposter Lambert Simnel ceremony crowned as King Edward VI of Dublin
1626 Peter Minuit buys Manhattan from Indians for trinkets, valued at $24 (or not)
1658 Battle of Dunes (Spanish-French War) fought
1689 English Parliament guarantees freedom of religion for Protestants
1726 People's revolt due to increase in gin/brandy tax
1738 Methodist Church is established
1809 Dartmoor Prison opens to house French prisoners of war
1815 George Evans discovers Lachlan River, Australia
1818 General Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola FL
1822 At Battle of Pichincha, Bolívar secures independence of Quito from Spain
1824 Pope Leo XII proclaims a universal jubilee
1829 Pope Pius VIII issues his program for the pontificate
1830 "Mary Had A Little Lamb" is written
1830 1st passenger rail service in US (Baltimore & Elliots Mill, Maryland)
1844 Samual FB Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" (1st telegraph message)
1846 General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey in Mexican War
1854 Anthony Burns, slave, arrested by US Deputy marshals in Boston
1854 Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, 1st Black college in US forms by Prebyts
1856 Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas
1861 Alexandria VA occupied by Federal troops
1861 Major General Benjamin Butler declares slaves "contraband of war"
1862 Westminster Bridge across Thames opens
1866 Berkeley CA named (for George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne)
1883 Brooklyn Bridge opened by President Arthur & Governor Cleveland
1884 Anti-Monopoly party & Greenback Party form People's Party in the US
1890 G. Train & S. Wall circle world in record 67 days, Tacoma-Tacoma
1899 1st auto repair shop opens (Boston)
1902 Cleveland's Bill Bradley is 1st American League-er to hit a homerun in 4 consecutive games
1902 Empire Day 1st celebrated in Britain
1915 Thomas Edison invents telescribe to record telephone conversations
1916 Conscription begins in Britain
1916 French driven out of Fort Douaumont after 500 killed or injured
1916 Last British-Indian contract workers arrive in Suriname
1916 US pilot William Thaw shoots down a German Fokker
1921 1st parliament for Northern Ireland elected
1921 British Legion is formed
1928 Record 12 future Hall of Famers take the field, as Yankees beat A's 9-7
1930 1st woman to fly from England to Australia solo, lands (Amy Johnson)
1930 Babe Ruth homers in both games of a doubleheader, giving him 9 in one week
1931 1st air-conditioned train installed-B&O Railroad
1936 Dutch bishops forbid membership of Nazi party
1940 Dutch army demobilizes
1940 Dutch Queen Wilhelmina speaks on BBC radio
1940 German tanks reach Atrecht France
1941 Bismarck sinks British battle cruiser HMS Hood, 1,416 die 3 survive
1943 Admiral Dönitz stops U-boat in Atlantic Ocean
1943 U-441 shoots Sunderland seaplane down over Gulf of Biskaje
1944 Enver Hoxha becomes head of Albania anti fascists
1944 Icelandic voters severe all ties with Denmark
1951 Racial segregation in Washington DC restaurants ruled illegal
1951 Willie Mays begins playing for the New York Giants
1953 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Doctor Mellifluus
1954 1st rocket attains 150 mile (241 km) altitude, White Sands NM
1954 Dr Peter Murray Marshall becomes 1st black to head an AMA unit
1954 German airline Lufthansa forms
1954 IBM announces vacuum tube "electronic" brain that could perform 10 million operations an hour!
1957 Anti American riots breakout in Taipei, Taiwan
1958 President Batista opens offensive against Fidel Castro's rebellion
1958 UP & International News Service merge into United Press International
1959 1st house with built-in bomb shelter exhibited (Pleasant Hills PA)
1959 Empire Day renamed Commonwealth Day in England
1961 27 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson MS
1961 Explorer (12) fails to reach Earth orbit
1962 M Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 launched into earth orbit
1963 1st Lockheed A-12 to crash, CIA pilot Ken Collins ejects safely
1964 Longest homerun (471') in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium (Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins)
1965 Supreme Court declares federal law allowing post office to intercept communist propaganda is unconstitutional
1967 AFL grants a franchise to the Cincinnati Bengals
1968 Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithfull arrested for drug possession
1968 President De Gaulle proposes referendum & students set fire to Paris bourse
1969 Beatles' "Get Back" single goes #1 & stays #1 for 5 weeks
1974 Dean Martin Show, last airs on NBC-TV
1975 Soyuz 18B carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 4
1976 1st commercial SST flight to North America (Concorde to Washington DC)
1976 Muhammad Ali TKOs Richard Dunn in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1977 USSR President Podgorny resigns
1979 Billy Martin issues a public apology to Reno sportswriter Ray Hagar
1980 Iran rejects a call to the World Court to release US hostages
1981 Bobby Unser wins, loses, & wins a controversial Indianapolis 500
1983 Supreme Court rules government can deny tax breaks to schools that racially discriminated against students
1984 Detroit Tigers win American League record 17th straight road game
1986 Margaret Thatcher becomes 1st British PM to visit Israel
1986 Reginald Huffstetler treds water for 985 hours
1988 John Moschitta set record for fast talking: 586 words per minute (Someone needs a life)
1988 Porntip Nakhirunkanok, 19, of Thailand, crowned 37th Miss Universe
1989 "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade" premieres
1989 French war criminal Paul Touvier arrested in monastery in Nice
1989 New York Yankee pitcher Lee Gutterman sets record of pitching 30-2/3 innings before giving up his 1st run of the season
1993 Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia after 30-year civil war
1993 Kurd rebellion kills 33 soldiers & 5 citizens in Turkey
1993 The archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, was shot to death at Guadalajara's airport when his car was caught in a shootout between rival drug cartels.
1997 Telstar-5 Proton Launch, Successful
1997 In Afghanistan forces of the Taliban swept into Mazar-E-Sharif, the last opposition stronghold.
2000 Israeli troops pulled out unilaterally from south Lebanon, ending 18 years of occupation.
2000 The state of Maryland dismissed its wiretapping case against Linda Tripp after a judge disallowed most of Monica Lewinsky's testimony.
2000 Isiah Thomas, Bob McAdoo and Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt were elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
2001 Democrats gained control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1994 when Vermont Sen.(Jumpin) James Jeffords abandoned the Republican Party and declared himself an independent.
2001 Erik Weihenmayer (32) of Golden, Colorado, became the 1st blind person to reach the top of Mt. Everest. Sherman Bull of New Canaan, Conn., became the oldest person to reach the peak. 94 climbers reached the summit over 4 days
2003 Chen Yongfeng (20), was arrested in Wenzhou China on charges of killing and dismembering 10 people
2003 Coalition forces captured two more wanted Iraqis: Sayf al-Din al-Mashadani, No. 46 on the list and Sad Abd al-Majid al-Faysal, No. 55.

---

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

ancient Rome : Quando Rex Comitiavit; a. d. ix Kal. Junias
Bahamas, Belize, Gibraltar, Lesotho, Turk & Caicos : Commonwealth Day
Bulgaria : Education Day/Enlightenment & Culture Day
Ecuador : Battle of Pichincha (1822)
England : Victoria Day/Empire Day (1819)
France : La Fete des Saintes Maries
National Escargot Day
Alchemy Day
Kirtland Warbler Day.
National Strawberry Month

---

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, help of Christians
Orthodox : Feast of SS Cyril & Methodius, evangelizers
Lutheran : Commemoration of Copernicus, teacher
Lutheran : Commemoration of Euler, teacher
Anglican : Commemoration of Jackson Kemper, 1st missionary bishop in US
Anglican : Commemoration of 1st Book of Common Prayer
Feast of SS. Donatian and Rogatian, martyrs.

---

Religious History
1738 English founder of Methodism John Wesley underwent his famous religious conversion at Aldersgate Chapel in London. Later, in his journal, Wesley reflected under this date: 'I felt my heart strangely warmed....'
1752 According to a note inscribed in his Bible, Robert Robinson, 16, was "born again" ("renatus") under the preaching of English revivalist George Whitefield. Robinson later authored the hymn, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing."
1892 Birth of Earl B. Marlatt, American religious educator and hymnologist. In 1926 Marlatt penned the hymn, "`Are Ye Able?' Said the Master," to be sung in a consecration service at Boston University's School of Religion.
1930 Pioneer linguist Frank C. Laubach, while serving as a Congregational missionary, wrote in a letter: 'As one makes new discoveries about his friends by being with them, so one discovers the "individuality" of God if one entertains him continuously.'
1950 In Boston, during its annual gathering, the Northern Baptist Convention formally changed its name to the American Baptist Convention. Twenty-two years later, in 1972, the denomination changed its name once more, and became the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.

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

---

Thought for the day :
"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

[SAMWolf]

Morning Snippy.

Two in before you, getting tired? ;-)