Friday, May 2, 1975. Hold outs.

Flag of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

The ARVN surrendered in the Battle of Long Xuyên, An Giang, the last South Vietnamese soldiers to do so.

Heavily criticized throughout the American period of involvement in the war, the ARVN had been engaged in fighting prior to largescale US involvement and while its conscript troops often did lack motivation, it's best units were good. The final fighting in 1972 demonstrated both qualities, with the ARVN coming apart in the northernmost section of South Vietnam, but putting up a stout fight outside of and in Saigon.  Frankly, the American Army had enormously declined in quality during the war and by the time the US withdrew in 1972 it was largely an ineffective fighting force.

Henry Kissinger wrote a memo:

25 year old Smokey the Bear, a black bear at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., was retired from service as a living symbol of fire prevention.

Last edition:

Thứ Năm, ngày 1 tháng 5 năm 1975. Chiến tranh Việt Nam kết thúc.* Thursday, May 1, 1975. The conclusion of the Vietnam War. Jeudi 1er mai 1975. Fin de la guerre du Vietnam.

Labels: 1950s, 1955, 1970s, 1975, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, baseball, Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Growing up in the 1970s, Khemr Rouge, North Vietnamese Army, South Vietnam, Sports, Viet Cong, Vietnam, Vietnam War

Saturday, March 14, 1925. Spring.

France's Senate Finance Committee voted to keep its embassy at the Vatican, over the wishes of Prime Minister Édouard Herriot.

The Council of the League of Nations expressed its hopes that Germany would join the body.

Last edition:

Friday, March 13, 1925. Tennessee prevents evolution in schools.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, Calvin Coolidge, Cuba, Diplomacy, Education, Evolutionary Biology, law, Protestant, religion, Tennessee, The Press, United States

Going Feral: Bear

Going Feral: Bear: 

Bear

"Bear" is one of the oldest words in the Proto Indo European language group.  It's one of the hand full of words that comes down to us through the ages.

There's a reason for that.

Bears are dangerous.

Here's a recent headline:

Woman mauled by bear after her dog chased cub up a tree

Attack was in a Vermont condo complex near Stratton Mountain. Bears were also dining on pumpkins in the area.

Most of these articles go on to explain that black bear attacks, which is what the bear in question was, are "rare".

And they are.

Grizzly bear attacks, FWIW, are not.  We have a few in the state every year.  There's been at least three this year.

But attack a black bear will, and while rare, they do occur.

Poster Saturday. Bears are dangerous.

 

Rights of Nature

I support reintroducing grizzly bears.

To the Cheesman Park neighborhood of Denver, more specifically.  And nobody can talk me out of it.

Blog Mirror: KARELIAN BEAR DOGS: HUNTER TURNED PROTECTOR

 

KARELIAN BEAR DOGS: HUNTER TURNED PROTECTOR

Monday, August 24, 1914. The Great Retreat and Winnie The Pooh.

 

The Great Retreat began.  French and British units began withdrawing, with British cavalry providing cover in the Action of Elouges.

The French 1st and 2nd Armies stopped the German offensive at Lorraine.

The Germans entered Gerbéviller and destroyed 80% of its buildings.

Lt. Harry Colebourn of The Fort Garry Horse purchased an orphaned bear cub at a train stop in White River, Ontario.  He named the bear Winnipeg Bear, which became Winnie for short and became the model for Winnie the Pooh.

Colebourn, a veterinarian, entrusted the bear to the London Zoo in 1915 when his unit deployed to France.  He determined to let the beloved bear remain there after the war, where it lived out the rest of its life.  Colebourn returned to private practice in Canada, retired at age 58 in 1945, and died at age 60 in 1947.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 23, 1914. Maurice James Dease

Labels: 1910s, 1914, Austro Hungarian Army, Battle of Tannenberg, Battle of the Frontiers, Belgium, British Army, Francs-tireurs, Heroes, Imperial Russian Army, Ireland, Mons, New Zealand, United Kingdom, World War One