Pearl Harbor.

 

During this festive season, take a moment to remember those who gave their lives today - December 7, 1941. 2,402 lives lost in sacrifice to our country. 

Read more!

"Reveille!" swatches. Costumes.

Read more!

Flag Day...thanks to Wisconsite Bernard J. Cigrand.

In 1885, a Waubeka, WI school teacher named Bernard J. Cigrand placed a 10 inch, 38- star flag in a bottle on his desk then assigned essays on the flag and its significance.

In June 1886 he made his first public proposal for the annual observance of the birth of the flag when he wrote an article titled, “The Fourteenth of June” in the old Chicago Argus newspaper.

On the third Saturday in June, 1894, the first general public school children’s celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating. It's been celebrated on June 14th ever since.

The rest is, as they say, history.

(NOTE: Great Moments in Flag Day history. On June 14, 1908, Theodore Roosevelt was dining outside Philadelphia, when he noticed a man wiping his nose with what he thought was the American Flag. In outrage, Roosevelt picked up a small wooden rod and began to whip the man for "defacing the symbol of America." After about five or six strong whacks, he noticed that the man was not wiping his nose with a flag, but with a blue handkerchief with white stars. Upon realization of this, he apologized to the man, but hit him once more for making him "riled up with national pride.")

Read more!

Patriots' Day.

The North Bridge, or Old North Bridge, in Concord, Massachusetts, the site of the Battle of Concord, the first battle day of the Revolutionary War.

April 19. Patriots' Day is a civic holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. It is observed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and state of Maine (once part of Massachusetts), and is a public school observance day in Wisconsin.

I taught today (in Wisconsin) and there was no mention anywhere of Patriots' Day at school. I wonder if they talk about it in the Texas school system? A newspaper account of the battle (above).

Read more!

Geo. Washington takes the oath of office.

From the acclaimed mini-series, "John Adams" . I've posted this before, and I realize it doesn't have a 4th of July significance per se (it does represent the birth of our country's formal leadership), but it's so poignant that I tear up every time I watch it.

Read more!

Largest July 4th Fireworks Display in America.

Ooooooooooo! Ahhhhhhhhhh! Pause the jukebox above while watching this.

Read more!

Flag Day.

It's Flag Day today. Honor it. Men and women have died for it.

Read more!

Gettysburg and "casualites".

I'm watching "Gods and Generals", the prequel to "Gettysburg".

The Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War is considered to be the bloodiest 3-day battle in American history. But just to clarify, the casualty count INCLUDES wounded, captured and missing - it's not all those killed). It's always bothered me that "casualties" is slightly misleading - people think over 50,000+ soldiers died in three days at Gettysburg. Almost 8,000 were killed. That's a big difference.

Union casualties were 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured or missing). Confederate casualties are more difficult to estimate. Many authors cite about 28,000 overall casualties, but the definitive 2005 work, Regimental Strengths and Losses, documents 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured or missing).

Read more!

HBO's "John Adams" continues winning ways.

I've blogged about this exceptional mini-series several times - when I first began watching it, regarding the portrayals of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington (there's a must-see video clip in this link)- and I will continue to blog about it until every American citizen has seen it. :)

The series cleaned up again at the Golden Globes Sunday - winning four awards including Tom Wilkinson (Best Supporting Performance by an Actor In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television- Ben Franklin), Paul Giamatti (Actor) and Laura Linney (Actress). Earlier in the year, "John Adams" won 13 Emmys (same actors won the same awards.

In my opinion, one of the best television mini-series of all-time - right up there with "The Holocaust", "Band of Brothers", "Roots" and a personal favorite, "The Last Convertible". I purchased the DVD as a Christmas gift for my family (no word on whether they've watched it or not).

The players, left to right, top to bottom: Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson, David Morse as George Washington, Paul Giamatti as John Adams, Laura Linney as Abigail Adams and Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin.

It's worth the investment. Get it. Everyone else is.

Read more!