HALF-CENTURY ANNIVERSARY

I knew I'd been extremely lazy about blogging in the recent past, but, WOW - -   Nearly a year since my last! 

In a similar vein to my last post - -  we are rapidly approaching the half-century mark since President Kennedy was slain in Dallas.  Yeah, that should go without saying.   The TV people and the print media are warming up for their blitz of publicity, I assume just to imply that they are properly respectful concerning the event.  No, they shouldn't just ignore the significance.  I'm simply not sure that those of us who lived through late November 1963 can tolerate all the "celebrations" and special programming and extra editions to sell ads and souvenirs and trinkets.

I shudder to think that I might for some reason be compelled to drive into Dallas during the "event."  If I'm fortunate, I'll be able to avoid it. 

Perhaps it will seem to you that I'm ignoring a historical occasion.  Not at all.  I'm not trying to convince anyone, least of all myself, that I have forgotten that traumatic time.  I'd simply rather recall it in my own way, without a bunch of others telling me how to think of it. 

If you have no first-hand recall of those unhappy days and weeks, please don't forego the opportunity to wade through at least some of the feature stories this November.  Most of them may be trash, but many will be worthwhile.  Don't forget:  There was a VAST store of misinformation and erroneous reporting circulated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination.  I hope the "new" stuff doesn't all merely rehash-and-repeat the now-refuted material.  Over the ensuing decades, much of that has been set straight.  By the same token, new and even more exciting conspiracy theories have been promulgated, some even less logical than the old ones.  Please consider the sources of what you read this year.   

If you want to believe in conspiracies, if you like to exercise healthy skepticism concerning what the Dot Gov tells you, there is much more, 'way fresher, and FAR better documented material available now.   And, we have ready access to countless items of information through the Internet.  Please, don't stop reading and thinking and discussing.

22 NOV 2012

For me, there's a double significance to this date.

Primarily, it is the Thanksgiving holiday. I have many things for which to be grateful, most having to do with family and friends. Life’s not perfect, but things are SO much better than they might have been.

Holly’s lovely daughter is hosting the holiday dinner today, a first for her. She is betrothed to a fine young man. Holly’s son has the duty today and lives too distant to come visit for only one day anyway. David, my younger son will be present, but Matt has other commitments today.

I am reminded that 22NOV is the 49^th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It seems that most generations have some signal event, one from which we can date ‘most everything that went before or came later. Everyone alive and aware on certain dates can tell where they were and what was happening when they heard of the Pearly Harbor attack, or the terrorist acts of 11SEP2001.

My first such recollection came with the murder of our president. I was a college student at TCU in Fort Worth, and worked full time at a major hospital as a surgical technician. That day, I was running late for my lunch break, having been asked to assist Doctor Joe Wise with removal of a woman’s gall bladder. I was flattered that the old surgeon respected my ability enough to ask for me to help him. In retrospect, perhaps he simply appreciated that I was tall enough to see what he was doing, without getting in his way. It was a simple enough procedure, and it wasn’t necessary to tie up another surgeon as first assistant.

Of that procedure, I recall only that it was proceeding smoothly and that we were something over halfway done. Mrs. Ruby Sargis, RN, was the surgical department supervisor. She stepped inside the door of our OR, holding a mask to her face. She said something like, “President Kennedy has been shot. It happened in downtown Dallas.” She has no other information but said she’d let us know when she learned more.

Doctor Wise was a solid professional, and I like to think that the rest of the staff were steady. We broke no speed records in completing the cholecystectomy, but neither did we tarry. Later, we took turns watching the few (two?) television receivers in the OR suite, but we took care of business. Some employees were released early. As I recall, I finished my shift..

I’ll not rehash the history of that day and those following. If you don’t recall the history, it’s easy to find huge gouts of information --and MISinformation-- on the ’net. None of my observations or memories are of historical value. I’d been within a mile or two of the president as he left Fort Worth an flew to Dallas that morning. I was something over 30 miles distant when he was killed. My activities during that time were of interest only to me, and perhaps a few friends. It was a significant day in my life, but in no way due to anything I did or said.

I’m glad that this Thanksgiving is so much happier that the one in 1963.

JPG

Trafalgar: Significant Battle and Death of a Hero

Two hundred two years ago, on 21OCT1805, British Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson led 27 ships of the line into collision with 33 French and Spanish ships of the line off SW Spain near Cape Trafalgar. While bringing the fleet into battle formation, Nelson sent the famous signal, England expects that every man will do his duty.

When the smoke cleared, the Franco-Spanish fleet had lost 22 ships, some 5,700 killed and wounded, and 7,000 taken prisoner. The British sustained 1,685 casualties and lost no ships.

It was the pivotal naval conflict of the Napoleanic Wars, and indeed of the XIX century. The massive losses of ships and skilled sailors was devastating to the French and Spanish coalition, and confirmed Napolean's recently taken decision not to invade England.

Admiral Nelson was felled by a musket ball late in the battle, after victory was already attained. He died a few hours later, climaxing his long and glorious career. He had played crucial roles in the battles of Cape St. Vincent, The Nile, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Copenhagen, and was a national hero long before Trafalgar.

Honored with statues and other memorials in several locations, the most famous is Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square in London.

The 18 foot statue of Nelson stands atop a 151 foot granite column. The statue and bronze decorations below the upper platform were cast from British and French cannon used in the battle.

Happy Birthday, Bobby

As a career Peace Officer (ret.) with a historical bent, I am interested in the background of a lot of cop stuff.


The London Metropolitan Police was established on September 29, 1829, by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel. His names provided early nicknames, "Peelers" or "Bobbies," for members of the force. It was the third official non-paramilitary city police force in the world. The predecessors were the City of Glasgow Police (1789) and the Paris Police (1667 –1789 under the monarchy, and reformed under Napolean I in 1800.)

Most police historical references of which I'm aware tend to stress the London “Met” as being “the origin of modern municipal police.” This takes a bit of creative interpretation, but it is accepted useage. There were earlier efforts to provide a police presense in London, but they were not organized on a citywide basis.

London Bobby on traffic duty, 1950s