The bugle echoes shrill and sweet, But not of war it sings to-day. The road is rhythmic with the feet Of men-at-arms who come to pray.
The roses blossom white and red On tombs where weary soldiers lie; Flags wave above the honored dead And martial music cleaves the sky.
Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel, They kept the faith and fought the fight. Through flying lead and crimson steel They plunged for Freedom and the Right.
May we, their grateful children, learn Their strength, who lie beneath this sod, Who went through fire and death to earn At last the accolade of God.
In shining rank on rank arrayed They march, the legions of the Lord; He is their Captain unafraid, The Prince of Peace . . . Who brought a sword.
“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today”
Inscription on the memorial to the dead of the British 2nd Infantry Division at Kohima.
The upcoming Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, is a time of fun here in the US. However, it should also be a time of memory. Memorial day is derived from the Latin “memoria”, memory, and we are duty bound this weekend to remember those who died in our defense, and who left us with a debt which can never be repaid. One aid to memory can be films, and here are a few suggestions for films to watch this weekend.
10. 300-This may seem like an odd choice, not involving Americans, and a fairly bizarre retelling of the battle of Thermopylae. However, it celebrates the idea of never forgetting those who died for their country. “Go tell the Spartans passerby, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie”. So wrote Simonides, the greatest poet of his time, in tribute to the Spartans who fell at Thermopylae. The speech of Dilios at the end of the film, which may be viewed here, reminds us of our duty to remember those who laid down their lives for us, a message to be recalled this weekend.
9. They Were Expendable (1945) John Ford and John Wayne tell the story of the doomed PT Boat crews that fought against overwhelming odds during the invasion of the Philippines in 1941-42. The film has a gritty downbeat feel, appropriate to the subject matter, but an oddity for a film made during the War.
8. Hamburger Hill (1987)-Content advisory: very, very strong language in the video clip which may be viewed here. All the Vietnam veterans I’ve mentioned it to have nothing but praise for this film which depicts the assault on Hill 937 by elements of the 101rst Division, May 10-20, 1969. It is a fitting tribute to the valor of the American troops who served their country in an unpopular war a great deal better than their country served them.
7. Porkchop Hill (1959)-Korea has become to too many Americans The Forgotten War, lost between World War II and Vietnam. There is nothing forgotten about it by the Americans who served over there, including my Uncle Ralph McClarey who died recently, and gained a hard won victory for the US in one of the major hot conflicts of the Cold War. This film tells the story of the small American force on Porkchop Hill, who held it in the face of repeated assaults by superior forces of the Chinese and North Koreans. As the below clip indicates it also highlights the surreal element that accompanies every war and the grim humor that aspect often brings.
6. Glory (1989)-A long overdue salute to the black troops who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Robert Gould Shaw the white colonel who led the 54th Massachusetts died at Fort Wagner in the assault of the 54th. He was buried by the Confederates with his black troops. His parents were given an opportunity to have his body exhumed and returned to Boston for burial. Their reply was immortal: We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers….We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company – what a body-guard he has!
One of the last major engagements in the South during the American Revolution, the siege of Ninety-Six was conducted between May 22, 1781 and June 18, 1781. Ninety-Six acquired its unusual name from the mistaken belief that it was ninety-six miles from the nearest Cherokee Village. The “British” who garrisoned Ninety-Six were all American Loyalists, 550 experienced troops from New York, New Jersey and South Carolina under Lieutenant Colonel John Cruger.
The Americans were about 1,000 men under Major General Nathaniel Greene, the commander of American forces in the South. (more…)
On May 23, 1861 Virginia held its referendum on Secession. The results were 132, 201 to 37, 451 opposed. The referendum was voted down in most of the counties that would eventually form West Virginia, and the stage was set for a civil war within the Civil War in Virginia, as ultimately 29,000 Union troops would be raised in West Virginia. Here is the text of the Ordinance of Secession approved by the referendum: (more…)
Samuel Morse achieved historical immortality as the inventor of the telegraph. Alfred Vail is a victim of that historical obscurity that envelopes the vast majority of people who have ever lived, but in his case unjustly.
Son of the industrial who made the Speedwell Ironworks into one of the most technologically advanced ironworks of its day. From 1832-1836 Vail attended college at New York University, studying theology. At New York University on September 2, 1837 he witnessed an early demonstration of the telegraph by Morse. Vail signed on to work with Morse for a 25% share in the profits and convinced his father to help fund the project. Vail signed an agreement with Morse by which the name of Morse alone would appear on any patents based on developments made by Vail of the Morse telegraph. It should be noted that Vail gave no indication at any time that he thought he was being treated unfairly by Morse.
Vail’s work vastly improved the telegraph of Morse, and Vail has a better claim than Morse to the title of inventor of the Morse code. Vail’s assistant William Baxter wrote about this in later years: (more…)
Something for the weekend. Get Off The Track! by the Hutchinson Family Singers, a family group of singers who were very popular in the North during the 1840’s, 1850’s and 1860’s. They were fiery abolitionists and this song became the anthem of the crusade against slavery in the US. (more…)
It is easy to forget that Washington in Lincoln’s day bore little relationship to the Washington of our day. In many ways the Washington of Lincoln’s time was still a small town, ill-prepared for the avalanche of rapid growth forced on it by the War. The classic account of Washington during the Civil War is Margaret Leech’s Reveille in Washington, published, ironically, in 1941, just as Washington was about to undergo another rapid period of expansion during World War II. (more…)
Hattip to Pat McNamara for his post on Longstreet’s conversion which inspired this post.
Lee referred to James “Pete” Longstreet as his “Old War Horse”. One of the most talented corp commanders of the Confederacy, Longstreet’s memory was long blackened in the South after the War due to Longstreet becoming a Republican and working as surveyor of customs at the port of New Orleans in the Grant administration, and by the efforts of a coterie of former officers of the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Jubal Early, who blamed Longstreet for the defeat at Gettysburg. The vituperation that he received mattered little to Longstreet who throughout his life did what he thought was right no matter what other people might think. In 1874 he became adjutant general of the Louisiana militia. In an uprising of the White League he was wounded and taken prisoner in his own customs house. His captors gave the rebel yell. The wounded Longstreet looked at them with disdain and said, “I have heard the yell before.”(more…)
(Off topic. I originally posted this on The American Catholic, and I thought our Almost Chosen People readers might like it.)
I went to see the Thor movie yesterday with my family and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Thor was one of the more original superheroes devised by Marvel in the Sixties. Doctor Donald Blake, on a vacation in Norway, stumbles into a cave where he finds Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, disguised as a walking stick. Striking it he is transformed into Thor, god of Thunder. As Thor, Blake finds that he has super strength, can fly by flinging Mjolnir and hanging on, that Mjolnir is close to indestructible and will return to Thor after he throws it, that he can produce lightning and thunder by striking the ground with Mjolnir, etc. After a few issues, Thor went to Asgard and met the rest of the panoply of the Norse pantheon, including his father Odin, and his adopted brother Loki, god of mischief and eventually god of evil.
In his early years Thor had adventures on Earth, or Midgard as the Norse referred to it, and in Asgard and the other nine realms of Norse mythology. An early feature of the series was Tales of Asgard, where episodes of Norse mythology were re-enacted, sort of Marvel Comics meets Classics Illustrated. Eventually Thor spent most of his time in Asgard, his secret identity of Donald Blake going by the board, especially after Thor learned that he had always been Thor and that Odin had placed him on Midgard in the guise of Donald Blake in order to teach him humility. Thor was one of my favorite comic book series as I was growing up in the Sixties. I was fascinated by the Norse mythology background and I found the Thor stories to be more imaginative than the more prosaic and formulaic superhero adventures of most of the other comic book series. I also found the quasi-Shakespearean language in which Thor and the other Norse “gods” spoke to be a hoot!
Though thou be truly pure of heart – in thine innocence, thou art fair misguided! The true guru thou seekest doth lie within thyselves! Heed you now these words: ‘Tis not by dropping out – but by plunging in – into the maelstrom of life itself – that thou shalt find thy wisdom! There be causes to espouse!! There be battles to be won! There be glory and grandeur all about thee – if thou wilt but see! Aye, there will be time enow for thee to disavow thy heritage – yea, thou mayest drop out fore’er – once Hela herself hath come for thee! But, so long as life endures – thou must live it to the full! Else, thou be unworthy of the title – Man!(more…)
Though thou be truly pure of heart – in thine innocence, thou art fair misguided! The true guru thou seekest doth lie within thyselves! Heed you now these words: ‘Tis not by dropping out – but by plunging in – into the maelstrom of life itself – that thou shalt find thy wisdom! There be causes to espouse!! There be battles to be won! There be glory and grandeur all about thee – if thou wilt but see! Aye, there will be time enow for thee to disavow thy heritage – yea, thou mayest drop out fore’er – once 
Donald R. McClarey
Paul Zummo
Almost Chosen People 