Wednesday, May 4, 2011

[1626 - Peter Minuit, Dutch colonist, arrives on the island of Manhattan]

[1796 - Horace Mann, educator, father public
education, born in Franklin, Massachusetts]

          
[1909 - Howard Da Silva (Silverblatt), actor, born in Cleveland, Ohio]

      
[1928 - Maynard (Walter) Ferguson, jazz musician, bandleader, born in Verdun, Quebec (now part of Montreal)]

[1929 - Audrey (Kathleen Ruston) Hepburn,
actress, born in Brussels, Belgium]

   
[1942 - Battle of the Coral Sea, the first aircraft carrier vs. aircraft carrier battle, begins]

[1945 - Kamikaze attacks damage 6 U.S. Navy ships off Okinawa]

   
[1970 - National Guard troops kill four unarmed students engaged in an anti-war protest at Kent State]

Abbreviated Justice

Oppose we should any Military Tribunal,
Yet, on occasion, it could prove useful.
Some neighbors of mine should be taken there.
To answer for their crimes beyond compare.

Now stand before me, beaten and dirty.
Was it your dog barked at oh-dark-thirty?
Seek not mercy, I have reached conclusion.
Your sentence shall be summary execution.

And you sir, as you whimper and stammer,
It was zero-six-ten when I heard your hammer.
You broke my slumber without compassion.
Now meet your fate in similar fashion.

Now, Gunny, come and take them away.
Yet courtesy show them before you slay.
If they the blindfold should refuse.
Offer last cigarettes, to those who choose.

William's Whimsical Words:

Oops, now I have offended the Smoke Free Execution folks.

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