Saturday, June 17, 2017
![Bunker (Breeds) Hill battle scene](pix/bunker-hill.jpg)
[1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill takes place between British regular and American rebels (actual location: Breed's Hill)]
![Songwriter James Weldon Johnson](pix/johnson-james-weldon.jpg)
[1871 - James Weldon Johnson, poet, lawyer, songwriter, born in Jacksonville, Florida]
![Photographer & Writer Carl Van Vechten](pix/van-vechten-carl2.jpg)
[1880 - Carl Van Vechten, photojournalist, born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa]
![Conductor Igor Stravinsky](pix/stravinsky-igor3.jpg)
[1882 - Igor (Fedorovich) Stravinsky, composer, conductor, born in Oranienbaum, Russia]
![Navy Hospital Corps logo](pix/hospital-corps_logo.jpg)
[1898 - US Navy Hospital Corps is established]
![Composer Sammy Fain](pix/fain-sammy2.jpg)
[1902 - Sammy Fain (Samuel Feinberg), Oscar-winning composer, born in New York City]
![Actor Ralph Bellamy](pix/bellamy-ralph-port.jpg)
[1904 - Ralph (Rexford) Bellamy, actor, born in Chicago]
![Singer Red Foley](pix/foley-red3.jpg)
[1910 - Red (Clyde Julian) Foley, country singer, born in Blue Lick, Kentucky]
![Author John Hersey](pix/hersey-john4.jpg)
[1914 - John (Richard) Hersey, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, born in Tianjin, China]
![Singer Terry Gilkyson](pix/gilkyson-terry2.jpg)
[1916 - (Hamilton H.) Terry Gilkyson, songwriter, singer, born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania]
![LA Rams Hall of Famer Elroy 'Crazy Legs' Hirsch](pix/hirsch-elroy.jpg)
[1923 - Elroy 'Crazy Legs' Hirsch, Pro Football Hall of Fame LA Rams receiver, born in Wausau, Wisconsin]
![Pioneer Aviator Amelia Earhart](pix/earhart_amelia.jpg)
[1928 - Amelia Earhart is the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean]
Murder Made More Palatable
![Iraqi soldier pleading to be taken prisoner](pix/iraqi_prisoner.jpg)
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 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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