Thursday, April 19, 1945. Broadcasting from Belsen.

Army machine gunners on Okinawa, April 19, 1945.  Not the visible rear sight on the M1917 machine gun and the high angle the gun is being used at.

The Battle of the Seelow Heights ended in Soviet/Polish victory.

The US 1st Army took Leipzig.

Robert Cappa, the famous photographer, took a series of photos in an event that occurred in this battle, in which a tank crewman who was manning a machinegun in a building was killed by a German sniper.  The bloody scene and the soldier's lifeless body is the recalled photograph.  A nearly as dramatic photo of another crewman stepping over him to man the gun is not as well recalled.

Richard Dimbleby broadcast the conditions of Belsen on the BBC.

The Battle of Odžak began in Croatia between Yugoslav Partisans and the Axis aligned Croatian Armed Forces.  The last battle to be fought in the Second World War in Europe, it would continue until May 25.

Pyinmana, the base of the Japanese aligned Burma Defence Army, fell to the 5th Indian Division.

Japanese Gen. Sōsaku Suzuki, age 53, was killed in action in the Philippines.

Nazi Party member Fritz Wächtler,  age 54, was executed by the Nazis for desertion over the surrender of Bayreuth. The charge was unjust and due to rivalry on the part of other Nazis.  

It's amazing to think of this sort of infighting when it should have been obvious they'd all be facing trials by the victors soon.

The U-251, U-548 and U-879 were sunk.

Johnny Kelley won the Boston Marathon.

Last edition:

Wednesday, April 18, 1945. The death of Ernie Pyle.Labels: 1940s, 1945, Adolf Hitler, Army, Canadian Army, Heroes, Mussolini, Okinawa, The Holocaust, The Press, The written word, Waffen SS, World War Two

Wednesday, April 18, 1945. The death of Ernie Pyle.

Journalist Ernie Pyle was killed by machinegun fire on  Ie Shima.

Looking much older, and having lived a hard life, he was 45 years of age.  He was beloved by soldiers.  A lawyer I long practiced with had a photograph of himself with Pyle just before the landing on le Shima.

18 year old Joseph Frederick Merrell performed the actions that would result in his being awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.

He made a gallant, 1-man attack against vastly superior enemy forces near Lohe, Germany. His unit, attempting a quick conquest of hostile hill positions that would open the route to Nuremberg before the enemy could organize his defense of that city, was pinned down by brutal fire from rifles, machine pistols, and 2 heavy machine guns. Entirely on his own initiative, Pvt. Merrell began a singlehanded assault. He ran 100 yards through concentrated fire, barely escaping death at each stride, and at point blank range engaged 4 German machine pistolmen with his rifle, killing all of them while their bullets ripped his uniform. As he started forward again, his rifle was smashed by a sniper's bullet, leaving him armed only with 3 grenades. But he did not hesitate. He zigzagged 200 yards through a hail of bullets to within 10 yards of the first machine gun, where he hurled 2 grenades and then rushed the position, ready to fight with his bare hands if necessary. In the emplacement, he seized a Luger pistol and killed the Germans that had survived the grenade blast. Rearmed, he crawled toward the second machine gun located 30 yards away, killing 4 Germans in camouflaged foxholes on the way, but himself receiving a critical wound in the abdomen. And yet he went on, staggering, bleeding, disregarding bullets that tore through the folds of his clothing and glanced off his helmet. He threw his last grenade into the machine gun nest and stumbled on to wipe out the crew. He had completed this self-appointed task when a machine pistol burst killed him instantly. In his spectacular 1-man attack, Pvt. Merrell killed 6 Germans in the first machine gun emplacement, 7 in the next, and an additional 10 infantrymen who were astride his path to the weapons that would have decimated his unit had he not assumed the burden of the assault and stormed the enemy positions with utter fearlessness, intrepidity of the highest order, and a willingness to sacrifice his own life so that his comrades could go on to victory.

27 year old Cpl.  Edward G. Wilkin performed the actions that would result in his being awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.

He spearheaded his unit's assault of the Siegfried Line in Germany. Heavy fire from enemy riflemen and camouflaged pillboxes had pinned down his comrades when he moved forward on his own initiative to reconnoiter a route of advance. He cleared the way into an area studded with pillboxes, where he repeatedly stood up and walked into vicious enemy fire, storming 1 fortification after another with automatic rifle fire and grenades, killing enemy troops, taking prisoners as the enemy defense became confused, and encouraging his comrades by his heroic example. When halted by heavy barbed wire entanglements, he secured bangalore torpedoes and blasted a path toward still more pillboxes, all the time braving bursting grenades and mortar shells and direct rifle and automatic-weapons fire. He engaged in fierce fire fights, standing in the open while his adversaries fought from the protection of concrete emplacements, and on 1 occasion pursued enemy soldiers across an open field and through interlocking trenches, disregarding the crossfire from 2 pillboxes until he had penetrated the formidable line 200 yards in advance of any American element. That night, although terribly fatigued, he refused to rest and insisted on distributing rations and supplies to his comrades. Hearing that a nearby company was suffering heavy casualties, he secured permission to guide litter bearers and assist them in evacuating the wounded. All that night he remained in the battle area on his mercy missions, and for the following 2 days he continued to remove casualties, venturing into enemy-held territory, scorning cover and braving devastating mortar and artillery bombardments. In 3 days he neutralized and captured 6 pillboxes single-handedly, killed at least 9 Germans, wounded 13, took 13 prisoners, aided in the capture of 14 others, and saved many American lives by his fearless performance as a litter bearer. Through his superb fighting skill, dauntless courage, and gallant, inspiring actions, Cpl. Wilkin contributed in large measure to his company's success in cracking the Siegfried Line. One month later he was killed in action while fighting deep in Germany.

The First Canadian Army captured the eastern end of the IJsselmeer causeway, trapping German forces in the western Netherlands.

5,000 concentration camp prisoners were loaded aboard the immobilized ocean liner Cap Arcona in the Baltic.

Waffen-SS General Karl Wolff met with Adolf Hitler and disclosed his negotiations with the Allies. 

Hitler told him to get better terms.

German Gen. Hans Källner was killed in action in Czechoslovakia.

Mussolini, with mistress Clara Petacci in tow, went to Milan to establish his government there.

Last edition:

Tuesday, April 17, 1945. Flak Bait.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Australian Army, baseball, Battle of the Hongorai River, Empire of Vietnam, Franklin Roosevelt, German Wehrmacht, Netherlands, New Guinea, Ruhr, Vietnam, Winston Churchill, World War Two

Friday, March 16, 1945. Luzon Language Edition.

Yank had a feature on the Battle of the Bulge.

Ingrid Bergman was the centerfold.

Franklin Roosevelt stated in a press conference that Americans would need to sacrifice so that food could be shipped to countries devastated by war.

"Men of the 5th Inf. Div., U.S. Third Army, file through Nazi roadblock into the newly captured town of Corweiler, Germany. 16 March, 1945. 5th Infantry Division. Photographer: T/5 Robert J. Schneider."

The 41st Infantry Division landed on Basilan, Philippines

The U-367 hit a mine and sank northeast of Danzig.

Last edition:

Thursday, March 15, 1945.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Operation Springi Awakening, Upper Silesian Offensive

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

In a uniquely American struggle, due to the strong influence of Evangelical Protestantism in the country, the Tennessee General Assembly approved the Butler Act, which prohibited public schools from teaching evolution.

CHAPTER NO. 27

House Bill No. 185

(By Mr. Butler)

AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.

Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each offense.

Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.

Passed March 13, 1925

W. F. Barry,

Speaker of the House of Representatives

L. D. Hill,

Speaker of the Senate

Approved March 21, 1925.

Austin Peay,

Governor.

Calvin Coolidge held a press conference.

The Hay-Quesada Treaty between Cuba and the United States was ratified by the U.S. Senate, recognizing that the Isla de Pinos was the territory of Cuba.

Last edition:

Thursday, March 12, 1925. Passing of Sun Yat-sen. British rejection of the Geneva Protocol.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, China, Crime, Ireland, Isolationism, League of Nations, Nazi Party, Populism, Sex, Sun Yat-sen, The relationship between men and women, United Kingdom

The 2025 Wyoming Legislative Session. Week 5. Starting with some fresh air.

February 10, 2015

Senate Joint Resolution 2 failed

That's really good news.

Here's how the votes went:

Ayes: Boner, Dockstader, French, Hicks, Hutchings, Ide, Kolb, Laursen, McKeown, Olsen, Pearson, Salazar, Smith, Steinmetz, Biteman

Nays: Anderson, Barlow, Brennan, Case, Cooper, Crago, Crum, Driskill, Gierau, Jones, Landen, Nethercott, Rothfuss, Schuler, Scott

Excused: Pappas

Absent:

Conflict:

Total: Ayes: 15 Nays: 15 Excused: 1 Absent: 0 Conflict: 0

An effort to reconsider was made, here's how it went: 

Vote recorded: 2/10/2025 1:52PM

Ayes: Anderson, Boner, French, Hutchings, Hicks, Ide, Kolb, Laursen, McKeown, Pearson, Salazar, Smith, Steinmetz, Biteman

Nays: Barlow, Brennan, Case, Cooper, Crago, Crum, Dockstader, Driskill, Gierau, Jones, Landen, Nethercott, Olsen, Rothfuss, Schuler, Scott

Excused: Pappas

Absent:

Conflict:

Total: Ayes: 14 Nays: 16 Excused: 1 Absent: 0 Conflict: 0

Driskill, who had originally voted no, returned to no.  He deserves to stay in the legislature. What the crap was Anderson thinking?  Good for Olsen's position on that one, and Dockstader's.

February 11, 2025

The Trib, which has been experiencing difficulties, reported Thursday's passage of a reading on the land bill today, making them days late on the story. 

Wyo File was up to date:

Senate kills resolution demanding takeover of federal land in Wyoming

Tie vote defeats measure despite efforts to dilute demand by excluding Grand Teton National Park, national forests, monuments and historic sites.

cont:

And another bad bill bites the dust:

Wyoming Senate sinks immigrant crackdown bill amid questions over legality, impact

Senators quickly dispatched a controversial bill that drew outcry from religious leaders, immigrant families and activists.

February 15, 2025

Running a summary is too confusing right now, so I'm going to forego it this week.

All three of Wyoming's Congressional folks praised Elon Musk and Trump this past week. That's predictable.  What isn't is the impact the sloppy firings are going to have.

SF 124 went down in flames this week.  It would have required local sheriff's offices to cooperate with ICE, which turned out to have an estimated cost of $1M.  At least one sheriff's office stated it didn't care what the legislature passed, it wasn't going to to it. 

HB 276 went down for the same reason.

Last edition:

The 2025 Wyoming Legislative Session. Week 4. Land grabbers, we don't need no education, and political myopia.

Labels: 2020s, 2025, 2025 Wyoming Legislative Session, 2026 Election, Economics, Education, Populism, Public Land, The Liz Cheney Maxim, Wyoming Freedom Caucus

Friday, December 5, 1924. Shades of the modern Middle East

The Sultanate of Nejd, ruled by Abdulazia Ibn Saud defeated the Kingdom of Hejaz in Mecca itself.  Hejazi forces remained thereafter only at the port of port of Jeddah.

The State of Syria (Dawlat Sūriyā) was created within the French Mandate for Syria by Decree No. 2980.  This united the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus under one common native assembly and administration.

Of course, in what was united, things are current disunited.

The State of Syria was smaller than contemporary Syria, in that it did not include the Alawite State.

The Italian fascists introduced legislation bringing about press censorship.

Last edition.

Thursday, December 4, 1924. Greed.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 at the Movies, Movies

Saturday, October 11, 1924.

Last edition:

Friday, October 10, 1924. Senators take the series.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 World Series, baseball

Sunday, September 25, 1774. Clementina Rind.

Cementina Rind, age 34, died in Williamsburg, Virginia. She was the first female printer in North America, having assumed the role of publisher of the Virginia Gazette upon the death of her husband the prior year.  She left five children.

This is interesting for a variety of reasons, including the common early arrival of death in the 18th Century, and that women did occupy roles that would surprise us.

Last edition:

Friday, September 23, 1774. The York Tea Party.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, Colonial North America, Maine

Sunday, August 13, 1944. Finnish victory, German retreat.

The Red Army took  Võru and Valga but was defeated in the  Battle of Ilomantsi.

Destroyed Soviet T-26 and dead Soviet soldier, Battle of Ilomantsi.

The 3d Army took Argentan. Gen. Bradley halts its further advances in that direction.

Germans begin to evacuate the Falaise Pocket in earnest.  10,000 troops make it out by the end of the day.

105mm self-propelled howitzer gets a cleaning from its crew, having been in the Siege of Brest, France.  Pvt. John B. Siirila, Berkeley, Cal.; and Cpl. Robert Silverman, San Francisco, Cal., are poking the gun cleaning rod in and out. Pvt. Ed DeSimmons, Atlantic City, N.J., cleans the machine gun. Pvt. Bert Lavaro, Potsdam, N.Y., wipes the howitzer barrel, as Sgt. William Entrekin, Tallapoosa, Ga., tests the field telephone. 83rd Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division. 13 August, 1944.

The submarines USS Flier hit a mine in the Balabac Strait and sank.

The U-270 was sunk by the RAAF in ht eBay of Biscay.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 12, 1944. Appreciating the Falaise Gap.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Falaise Pocket, Franklin Roosevelt, George S. Patton, Normandy, Operation Pluto, Operation Tractable, Petroleum, Radio, U.S. Air Force, Winston Churchill, World War Two

Wednesday, July 16, 1924. First news story on Big Foot to go nationwide.

BIG HAIRY INDIANS BACK OF APE TALE – MOUNTAIN DEVILS’ MYSTERY GROWS DEEPER – GIANTS SAID TO ROAM HILLS – SHAGGY CREATURES KILL GAME BY HYPNOTISM, IT IS SAID – VENTRILOQUISM IS USED – REDMEN’S EDITOR AT HOQUIAM GIVES THEORY OF REPORTED ATTACK AT SPIRIT LAKE

BY JORG TOTSGI, CLALLAM TRIBE, Editor of the Real American, Hoquiam Washington.

HOQUIAM, Wash., July 15. — (Special.) — The big apes reported to have bombarded a shack of prospectors at Mount St. Helens, are recognized by Northwestern Indians as none other than the Seeahtik Tribe of Indians. Seeahtik is a Clallam pronunciation. All other tribes of the Northwest pronounce it Seeahtkeh. Northwestern Indians have long kept the history of the Seeahtik Tribe a secret, because the tribe is the skeleton in the Northwestern Indians’ closet. Another reason the Indians have never divulged the existence of this tribe is that the Northwestern Indians know the white man would not believe the stories regarding the Seeahtik Tribe.

These facts are corroborated by Henry Napoleon, Clallam Tribe; L.J. James, Lummi Tribe; George Hyasman, Quinault Tribe.

GAME KILLED BY HYPNOTISM

Every Indian, especially of the Puget Sound Tribes, is familiar with the history of these strange giant Indians, as they are sometimes referred to by local Indians. Shaker Indians of Northwestern Oregon, who attended the Shakers’ convention on the Skokomish Reservation on Hood Canal last year, related to the writer their experience with the Seeahtik Indians.

Oregon and Washington Indians agree that the Seeahtik Indians are not less than seven feet tall and some have been seen that were fully eight feet in height. They have hairy bodies like a bear. This is to protect them from the cold as they live entirely in the mountains. They kill their game entirely by hypnotism. They have great supernatural powers. They also have the gift of ventriloquism, and have deceived many ordinary Indians by throwing their voices.

SEVERAL LANGUAGES USED

These Indians talk, beside the bear language of the Clallam Tribe and the bird language. The writer was told by Oregon Indians during his research work among them last year that the Seeahtik Tribe can imitate any bird of the Northwest, especially the bluejay, and that they have a very keen sense of smell. Oregon Indians at times have been greatly humiliated by the Seeahtiks’ vulgar sense of humor.

The Seeahtiks play practical jokes upon them and steal their Indian Women. Sometimes an Indian Woman comes back. More often she does not, and it is even said by some Northwestern Indians that they have a strain of the Seeahtik blood in them. Oregon and Washington Indians differ in regard to the Seeahtiks’ home. The Oregon Indians assert they made their home in or near Mount Rainier, while the Puget Sound Indians say they live in the heart of the wilderness at Vancouver Island, B.C.

“BIG BEAR” SPEAKS

Henry Napoleon of the Clallam Tribe came upon one of the members of the Seeahtik Tribe while out hunting on Vancouver Island. He related this story to the writer:

“I had been visting relatives near Duncan, B.C. and while there I had been told many stories of the Seeahtiks by the Cowichan Tribe of British Columbia and warned by them not to go too far into the wilderness. However, in following a buck I had wounded I went in farther than I expected. It was at twilight when I came across an animal that I believed to be a big bear but as I aimed at him with my gun he looked and spoke to me in my own tongue. He was about seven feet tall and his body was very hairy. As he invited me to sit down, he told me that I had come upon him unaware and that his mind had been projected to distant relatives of his, otherwise he (Mr. Napolean) would never have been seen.”

STRANGE MEDICINE USED

“After we talked for some time he invited me to the Seeahtik’s home. Though it was now dark, yet the giant Indian followed the trail very easily; then we began an underground trail and after hours of travel we came to a large cave, which he said was the home of his people, and that they lived during the winter in the different caves on Vancouver Island.

He also told me that the reason they were not seen very much was because they had a strange medicine that they rubbed over their bodies so that it made them invisible and that combined with their wha-ktee-nee-sing or hypnotic powers, made them very strong Tamanaweis men. They also told me that they could talk almost any Indian language of the Northwest. The next day they led me out and just at twilight I came out of the underground trail and they accompanied me to within a mile of the Indian village I was staying at.”

TRIBE HELD HARMLESS

The Seeahtik Tribe is harmless if left alone. However, if one of their members is injured or killed they generally take 12 lives for the one. This the Indians of the Northwest have learned, and even though the Seeahtik Tribe steal all their dried meat or salmon, or even steal their women, the Puget Sound Indians will not try to retaliate, for once the Clallam Tribe in righteous indignation captured a young man of the Seeahtik Tribe at Seabeck Wash., and took him across the Hood Canal to Brinnon, where other Clallam Indians were camped.

Kwainchtun, the writer’s own grandfather, kept telling the Clallams to be careful of the Seeahtik’s supernatural powers, but he was only laughed at. It was later told by Kwainchtun, that while they were still 20 yards from the shore the young Seeahtik made a mighty leap and immediately made for the mountains.

CLALLAMS ARE KILLED

Kwainchtun warned his people that they should move but again he was laughed at. That very night the Seeahtik Tribe came down and killed every Clallam there but Kwainchtun, who had moved his family across the canal. The Oregon and Washington Indians of the present believed that the Seeahtik Tribe was just about extinct, as it was 15 years ago since their tracks were last seen and recognized at Brinnon, Wash., where the giant Indians came every Fall to fish for salmon in the Brinnon River.

However, Fred Pope of the Quinault Tribe and George Hyasman were fishing for steelheads about 15 miles up the Quinault River, one day in September four years ago, when they were visited by Seeahtik Indians. Mr. Hyasman said he heard and recognized their peculiar whistling before they approached us and in the morning we found that they had stolen all the steelheads we had caught. Therefore, the Indians of the Northwest after reading an account of the “big apes” attacking a prospector’s shack immediately recognized the Indians referred to in The Oregonian as the Seeahtiks, or giant Indians.

Some Indians of the Northwest say that during the process of evolution, when the Indian was changing from animal to man that the Seeahilk did not absorb the “Tamanaweis” or soul power, and thus he became an anomaly in the Indian’s process of evolution.

Their sence of humor is vulgar and obscene as many ordinary Indians have told the writer, therefore, the Northwestern Indian is ashamed of this tribe, which is generally referred to as the skeleton in the Northwestern Indian’s closet.

The Oregonian, July 16, 1924.

The story was then picked up by the Associated Press. 

US flyers flew from Paris to London.

The London Conference opened to address the Dawes Plan.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 15, 1924. The Free State frees prisoners.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Army, British Empire, Diplomacy, Ireland, Irish Civil War, Irish Free State, Italian Empire, Somalia

George F. Will: Opinion Biden might exit, but rising distrust of institutions seems here to stay

 

Opinion 

 Biden might exit, but rising distrust of institutions seems here to stay

Sunday, June 25, 1899. The Great Wall of China Hoax.

Four reporters in Denver concocted a tale about American businesses that had a contract to demolish the Great Wall of China to construct a road.  The reporters were Al Stevens, Jack Tournay, John Lewis, and Hal Wilshire, of the Post, the Republican, the Times, and the Rocky Mountain News.  The plot was hatched due to a chance meeting while hoping to catch a legitimate news story.  

The fable has proven to have been legs, and has occasionally been revived as a supposedly true story.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, June 21, 1899. Treaty No. 8.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, Canada, First Nations, Native Americans, Western Canada

Giving up on the weekend news shows.

I've always really liked them.  Meet The Press and This Week respectively.

But recently, it's become almost pointless to listen to them.

The political guests tend to be complete hacks.  Any GOP guest is going to support anything Trump says, or refuse to answer while stating something else. The Democrats aren't much better. And now the panels are the same way.  The Republican panelist won't say anything critical of the GOP, nor will the Democratic panelist say anything critical of the Democrats.

Sic transit Gloria Mundi.

Well, maybe I'll try Face The Nation.  It seemed to be holding up better.

Sunday, June 14, 1874. Calling for an Indian War.

The American people need the country the Indians now occupy; many of our people are out of employment; the masses need some new excitement….The depression prevails on every side. An Indian war would do no harm, for it must come sooner or later.

Bismarck Tribune, June 14, 1874

Last prior edition:

Blog Mirror: May 15, 1874: Harvard and McGill Invent American Football

Labels: 1870s, 1874, Blog Mirror, Education, football, Sports

Saturday, June 3, 1899. Death of Strauss.

 

Johann Baptist Strauss II, popular Austrian composer, died at age 73.

Pel & Ploma commenced publication.

I know nothing about it whatsoever, but the illustration is really cool.

You would have thought the Wild Bunch heist north of Rock River would have been front page news, but nope.

Renegade Indians in Jackson Hole. . . . 

Last prior edition:

Friday, June 2, 1899. The Wild Bunch Robs the Overland Flyer at Wilcox and the Philippine Republic declares war on the United States.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, 1900s, 1906, Crime, Philippine Insurrection, Philippines, Railroads, Rock River Wyoming, The Wild Bunch, Wyoming, Wyoming (Rock River)