Lost and Found – June 30th Edition

What to remember about June 30th…

• 1775  Continental Congress establishes 69 Articles of War
• 1859  Charles Blondin 1st person to cross Niagra Falls on a tightrope
• 1908  Huge atmospheric explosion above Tunguska region of Russia
• 1943  MacArthur launches Operation Cartwheel in the South Pacific
• 1953  1st production Chevy Corvette driven off the assembly line
• 1959  Actor Vincent D’Onofrio born in Brooklyn, New York
• 1971  All 3 cosmonauts of Soyuz 11 mission die on re-entry
• 1985  Remaining 39 hostages released from TWA flight 847; passenger and U.S. Navy diver Robert D. Stethem was tortured and murdered by the Hezbollah / Islamic Jihad hijackers on June 15th
• 1998  Defense Department announces that Vietnam War service member burried in the Tomb of Unknowns has now been identified as USAF 1lt Michael J. Blassie; his remains are returned to his family

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Lost and Found – June 29th Edition

What to remember about June 29th…

• 1613  Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre is destroyed by fire
• 1776  Constitution of Virginia is adopted
• 1861  Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning dies
• 1886  Famed African-American photographer James Van Der Zee is born in Lenox, MA; leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance
• 1897  Chicago Colts (Cubs) set record for most runs scored in a single game; 36-7 vs. Louisville
• 1967  Israel removes barricades in Jerusalem reuniting the city
• 1972  SCOTUS rules in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty unconstitutional; in 1977 new guidelines make it legal once again
• 2003  Actress Katharine Hepburn dies at 96 in Connecticut

Kitten versus Pitbull. We KNOW who wins this one.

There is a magnet on my refrigerator that says “Cats were once worshiped as gods and they have never forgotten!”  Watch this video and enjoy the bonus Guns n Roses soundtrack.

(Hat Tip to Ace of Spades)

Lost and Found – June 28th Edition

What to remember about June 28th…

• 1776  Thomas Hickey convicted and executed for mutiny, sedition, and conspiring with the enemy; Washington signs the death warrant
• 1778  Mary “Molly Pitcher” Hays replaces her wounded husband on the battlefield as cannon crew helping win the Battle of Monmouth
• 1836  James Madison dies; 4th President of the United States, “father” of the Constitution; husband of Dolley Madison
• 1914  Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria is shot to death beginning a chain of events leading to World War I
• 1919  Treaty of Versailles is signed; ends World War I
• 1953  Assembly begins in Flint, MI on the 1st Chevrolet Corvette
• 1978  SCOTUS rules in University of California v. Bakke that he be admitted to the medical school; ruled against reverse discrimination
• 1997 Boxer Mike Tyson bites off ear of Evander Holyfield’s ear
• 2000  6-year old Elián González sent back to Cuba

INS Border Patrol agents take 6-year old into "protective custody"

Lost and Found – June 27th Edition

What to remember about June 27th…

• 1829  James Smithson dies leaving his estate to the United States of America; leads to establishment of the Smithsonian Institution
• 1844  Founder and leader of the Mormon religion Joseph Smith Jr. and his brother Hyrum are murdered by a mob in Carthage, Illinois
• 1864  Battle of Kennesaw Mountain; Union forces defeated but Confederate forces must withdraw towards Atlanta once more
• 1880  Author/activist/lecturer Hellen Keller born in Alabama
• 1927  Bob “Captain Kangaroo” Keeshan born in Lynbrook, New York
• 1942  FBI arrests the last of 8 Nazi sabateurs sent to the U.S.
• 1973  John Dean tells Senate Watergate Committee about the “enemies” lists kept by the Nixon White House

Lost and Found – June 26th Edition

What to  remember about June 26th…

• 1804  Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches mouth of Kansas River
• 1819  Major General Abner Doubleday born; popularly believed to be the inventor of baseball
• 1844  President John Tyler marries Julia Gardiner in New York
• 1862  Confederates attack Mechanicsville; begins Seven Days’ Battle
• 1917  American Expeditionary Forces arrive in Europe
• 1945  50 delegates sign charter forming the United Nations
• 1948  In response to Soviet blockade of West Berlin the 1st planes depart from England and West Germany for the Berlin Airlift
• 1963  President John F. Kennedy speech at Berlin Wall declaring “Ich bin ein Berliner” or “I am also a citizen of Berlin.”
• 1996  SCOTUS orders Virginia Military Institute to admit women
• 2000  Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics announce “working draft” of the human genome

(editors note – Kennedy flubbed the grammar completely changing the meaning.  The actual translation of “Ich bin ein Berliner” is “I am a pastry/donut”.  The enthusiastic German audience understood and responded to what he actually meant.)

Lost and Found – June 25th Edition

What to remember about June 25th…

• 1788  Virginia becomes 10th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution
• 1868  Florida conditionally re-admitted to the United States
• 1876  Battle of Little Bighorn;   Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat Custer led forces in Montana
• 1900  English Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten is born
• 1910  Congress passes the Mann Act; makes it illegal to transport any girl or woman across state lines for “any immoral purpose”
• 1942  Lt. Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower takes command of U.S. forces in Europe; later becomes commander of all allied forces for D-Day
• 1950  North Korean Peoples (KPA) army crosses the 38th parallel and invades South Korea; Korean War begins
• 1991  Slovenia and Croatia both declare their independence and secede from the formerly Soviet controlled Yugoslavia
• 1993  Kim Campbell sworn in as 1st female Canadian prime minister
• 2009  Singer Michael Jackson dies at age 50 in Los Angeles

Remembering Custer's Last Stand - Encyclopedia Britannica

Dishonorable Conduct Mr. President

The Medal of Honor is the highest decoration for valor in combat that any member of the armed forces of the United States can be awarded.  In the 150 years since the creation of this award, fewer than 3500 officers and enlisted men of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard have been recipients.  So extraordinary are their acts of valor, fewer than 100 recipients have survived to be awarded the Medal.  We can never repay their sacrifices.  We can only honor their deeds and their memories.

One would think that the President of the United States would be cognizant of these facts.  After all, the Medal of Honor is (usually) presented by the President on behalf of Congress.  And considering that this President has only had the solemn responsibility to present this award 4 times since March 2009, you would think that he coud be bothered to remember the names of which recipients were fallen and which remain with us.

Yesterday President Obama had the opportunity to address the troops of the 10th Mountain Division and this is what he had to say “First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.”  (video here)

In fact, SFC Monti was killed in 2006 during the action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.  Here is the video of the ceremony at which President Obama made the presentation to the family of SFC Jared C. Monti on September 17, 2009.

On November 16, 2010, President Obama did present the first non-posthumous Medal of Honor recipient of the War on Terror to SSGT Salvatore Augustine Giunta.  The video of the ceremony is here. 

All veterans deserve our support, recognition, and respect.  However, there should be a special solemn significance attached to the actions and sacrifices of those who have earned our nations highest award for valor.  A President that would as Commander-in-Chief expect nothing less than all the respect due his office, should do no less than attempt to accurately remember these honored warriors.

This dishonorable conduct requires a personal, public apology from President Obama.  At the end of yesterdays political speech announcing the beginning of troop reductions in Afghanistan he had the gall to close saying “Know that your Commander-in-Chief has your back.”  Appalling.  Disgraceful.  Callous.

The Medal of Honor - All 3 Versions

For more information on the Medal of Honor and the heroes that have earned this award, please visit the Congressional Medal Of Honor Society website or the Medal of Honor Museum aboard the USS Yorktown in South Carolina .

Thanks to Blackfive for the heads up on yesterdays speech.  Link to the article.

Lost and Found – June 24th Edition

What to remember about June 24th…

• 1314  Robert the Bruce leads Scottish forces to victory over Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn
• 1885 Future President Woodrow Wilson marries Ellen Axson
• 1901  1st exhibition of works of Pablo Picasso in Paris
• 1941  President Franklin D. Roosevelt pledges all possible support for the Soviet Union
• 1953  John F. Kennedy proposes to Jaqueline Bouvier
• 1993  Yale professor David Gelernter is 2nd injured in just two days by a mail-bombing; leads to formation of Unabomber Task Force

Lost and Found – June 23rd Edition

What to remember about June 23rd…

• 1845  Congress of Texas votes in favor of annexation by U.S.
• 1862  Confederate General Robert E. Lee meets with his corps commanders to plan his assault on the Army of the Potomac
• 1931  Wiley Post and navigator Harold Gatty begin first flight around the world in a single engine aircraft
• 1940  Hitler tours Paris; orders destruction of WWI monuments
• 1956  Gamal Abdel Nasser elected 1st president of Egypt; Egyptian constitution ratified and Islam becomes official state religion
• 1972  Title IX goes into effect for American educational institutions
• 1989  Tim Burton’s movie “Batman” released; Michael Keaton stars
• 1993  Lorena Bobbitt “mutilates” her husband after alleged assault