Tuesday, June 17, 2008

[1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill)]

[1871 - James Weldon Johnson, poet, songwriter, born in Jacksonville, Florida]

[1880 - Carl Van Vechten, journalist, photographer, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa]

[1882 - Igor (Fedorovich) Stravinsky, composer, born in Oranienbaum, Russia]

[1898 - Navy Hospital Corps established]

[1902 - Sammy Fain (Samuel Feinberg), Oscar-winning composer, born in New York City]

[1904 - Ralph (Rexford) Bellamy, actor, born in Chicago]

[1910 - Red (Clyde Julian) Foley, country singer, born in Blue Lick, Kentucky]

[1914 - John (Richard) Hersey, Pulitzer Prize author, born in Tianjin, China]

 
[1923 - Elroy 'Crazy Legs' Hirsch, Pro Football Hall of Famer, born in Wausau, Wisconsin]

[1928 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly across Atlantic Ocean]

Murder Made More Palatable

Wartime comes; there is need of killing.
Governments seek men ready and willing.
How distract the troops from what they do?
How remove from them each dear taboo?
How rid them of civilization's veneers, and
Persuade them to kill without shedding tears?

Each wartime leader faces a challenge.
History will judge him by this evolution.
So seek all the answers to the question.
So strives each one for a resolution.
The old ways promise the best solution.

You kill not men but inferior beings;
Creatures unworthy of your feelings.
You slay not any of your fellow man.
You simply execute our God's plan.

As you steel for the life you take.
So you a widow or an orphan make.
Consider not those consequences.
Dull your minds; numb your senses.

As we destroy our first victim.
Remember always this simple dictum.
Killing is right if the cause is just.
It can't be murder if they're not like us.

William's Whimsical Words:

It's hard the first time you pull the trigger.
Each time thereafter gets a little bit easier.

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