PzLdr History Facts

[apples]

http://www.oradour.info/

http://www.oradour.info/ruined/ruined.htm

was curious...found these. Thank you for posting.

[apples]

I miss him too. I remember my stepfather used to watch his old movies. Black and white movies in the early mornings when he couldn't sleep. Hellfighters one of my fav John Wayne movies. Heck most of them are my favs!

Once Johnny Carson had a trash truck driver on. He used to be the trash pickup for John Wayne. He said he found a script and on it it asked the time for Wayne to show up on the set. The trash truck driver said the time was at your convenience Mr Wayne.

[PzLdr]

1775: The Battle of Bunker Hill [actually Breed's Hill]:

After their catastrophic hammering on the road back from Lexington and concord, the British regroup at Boston, and the Patriot militias converge on the city, cutting it off by land, and moving forward to occupy [and fortify] a position on bunker hill. however, they occupy the wrong hill. Breed's Hill, smaller, and forward of bunker hill is where they wind up. They hastily dig entrenchments [to the admiration and amazement of the British generals], and prepare for battle.

The British have almost all the generals at Boston that will conduct the Revolutionary War from the British side. there's Thomas Gage, Henry Clinton, William Howe, and Johnny Burgoyne. Howe will lead the attack they decide upon.

The British launch an amphibious attack, landing to the southeast of the Rebels, forming up, and advancing on the fortifications. To their shock and chagrin, they meet a hail of fire ["Don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes"] that not only stops them cold, and drives them back, but takes out an inordinate amount of officers [an American practice that will bedevil the British for the entire war].

The Redcoats re-form   and advance again, with the same result. The Patriots, however, are, by now increasingly low on ammunition, and have made futile efforts at re-supply. The British now storm the colonists' redoubts at the point of the bayonet, the British weapon that will terrorize the Americans for much of the war. Those colonists not killed flee. among the dead is Dr. Joseph Warren, one of Massachusetts' leading rebels. But British losses are much heavier, and the British soon abandon their plans to break the land blockade. Within a short time, the American Army will have a commander, George Washington. Shortly after that, the Americans will do another overnight fortification job, this time on the Dorchester Heights, where they will emplace captured artillery from Fort Ticonderoga, brought cross country by Henry Knox. Since the guns command Boston Harbor, and since the lad approach to Boston is still in Rebel hands, the British are forced to abandon, and evacuate Boston. The war is well and truly on.

1876: THE BATTLE OF THE ROSEBUD

It occurred eight days before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and that debacle did much to distract both the citizenry and the Army from George Crook's worst moment, the Battle of the Rosebud.

In the Spring of 1876, the U.S. Army was ordered to bring in all the non-reservation Lakota and Cheyenne still on the Northern Plains. The plan called for three converging columns, commanded by Alfred Terry [from the East], John Gibbon [from the West], and George Crokk [from the South]. There were several problems with the plan. First, they didn't know where, in the exceedingly large area of operations, the Indians were. Second, communication between the columns would be problematic, relying on couriers largely "flying blind". and third, there was a dearth of fighting experience against Indians in the command structure. Gibbons had little, Terry had none. the only two officers on the expedition with any significant experience fighting Indians were George Armstrong Custer [a subordinate of Terry, and George Crook.

George Crook probably had more experience fighting Indians than most of the Army officer corps combined. He had fought Indians in the northwest. He had made his bones fighting the Apache and Yavapi in the southwest [the Apache called him "Nantan Lupan"-the Grey Fox]. So he seemed the ideal commander for the expedition. turns out he wasn't.

On 17 JUNE, Crook was marching north when he halted the column for rest and consolidation. His men unsaddled their horse and made breakfast, sdespite warnings from Shoshone and Crow scouts that a large number of Sioux and Cheyenne were nearby. Crook either disbelieved the reports, or believed the Indians would not attack. In either case, he was wrong.

Soon, Crow and Shoshone scouts rode in from the north, yelling that the Sioux were coming. And they were, over a thousand Sioux and Cheyenne, under the command of Crazy Horse. They caught Crook and his men flatfooted. And to make it worse, Crazy Horse had imposed some lind of discipline on his horsemen. they didn't fight in massed formations, like the Army, but neither did they attack in a disorganized mass.

Crazy Horse seemed to have an absolute victory in his hands. Except for the scouts. the Shoshone and Crow had set up in defense forward of the U.S troopers picnic breakfast. They blunted the Sioux-Cheyenne attack, and then countercharged, buying enough time for the soldiers to react and organize a defense.

the battle raged for several hours before the Indians withdrew. Crook had suffered fairly serious losses. But it was what he did next that was inexplicable. Retreating back to his supply point, Crook failed to notify ANYBODY of his defeat, or the size and location of the Indians he had fought. In fact, in the immediate aftermath of the battle, he told no one anything. So, neither Gibbon nor Terry was aware that there was no longer a southern column working its way north. And Custer was unaware that Crook had been engaged by a force of Indians at least twice the size of the whole Seventh Cavalry [ it was actually much larger than even that], nor where they were.

Crook eventually returned to fighting the Apache in Arizona and New Mexico, but fell afoul of Phil Sheridan, botched the capture of Geronimo [he did most of the work, Nelson Miles would get the credit], and was relieved at his own request. Bu his nadir occurred on the Northern Plains, at the Rosebud.

[PzLdr]

1864:

Off the French port of Cherbourg, the U.S.S KEARSARGE engages the notorious Confederate raider C.S.S ALABANMA in a battle that results in the sinking of the Confederate ship. ALABAMA, one of the Confederacy's best known warships [along with the raiders FLORIDA and SHENANDOAH], had been built in Great Britain [Liverpool], and armed off the coast of Ireland. commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, she had gone on to terrorize Union merchant shipping to the point where a severe disruption of merchant shipping was likely.

ALABAMA had been in Cherbourg for repairs and re-supply after months at sea. KEARSARGE, having caught Semmes with his pants down, as it were, waited for ALABAMA to emerge and join combat. Semmes took up the challenge. KEARSARGE was able to triumph, according to Semmes, because she hung chains down the side of her hull to deflect, or minimize the effect of ALABAMA's shot. Semmes escaped capture when he was rescued from the water by a British yacht that had arrived to watch the battle. At the end of the war, he commanded, as an Admiral, naval infantry in the retreat from Richmond.

Great Britain, on the other hand, was forced to pay a VERY large claim against it by the United States, for the damage caused by the Confederate raiders, all of which had been built by the British. The British government had also, under U.S. pressure, during the war finally stopped the building of warships for the Confederacy, when the halted the construction of two "Rams" for Jefferson Davis.


1944:

Its official name is the Battle of the Philippines Sea, but it has come down to us by the more commonly known sobriquet of "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot", because it spelled the effective end of Japanese Naval air power in the Pacific.

By 1944, the Japanese were still searching for the 'decisive battle' they held so dear. Coupled with the necessity to defend the Marianas, the "outer ring" of their defensive perimeter, they decided to combine their carrier air power with island based aircraft to fight the Americans. the Americans, with a staggering preponderance in men, material and experience were more thasn ready to engage. but the American commander, Raymond Spruance fought a defenasive air battle, in the sense that, using his radar and picket ships, he let the Japanese come to him. And they did. In waves. and the Americans shot them down. in waves.

By the time the battle was over, the Japanese had lost close to 500 aircraft, over 300 from their carriers. to add insult to injury, two of their fleet carriers, the brand new TAIHO, and SHOKAKU of Pearl Harbor and Coral Sea fame, were sunk. By U.S. submarines.

And while Spruance received some criticism [undeserved] for a perceived lack of aggressiveness, Japan's naval air power back was broken. When the Japanese made their last effort of the war, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the action was carried out by what remained of their surface fleet. What carriers Japan still possessed were used as a sacrificial bait to draw Halsey awat from the battle area.

[PzLdr]

On this date, in 1953, after a lifelong commitment to communism, at least a decade of spying for the Soviet Union, and acting as a transit station for nuclear secrets from the Manhattan Project, which allowed the U.S.S.R to build an atomic bomb some four to five years ahead of schedule, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing.

The Rosenbergs, who had been involved in two spy rings Julius, codenamed 'Liberal' and 'Engineer' by his NKVD handlers, had been engaged in industrial espionage while working for the U.S. Army Signal Corps from the mid 130s on. When his brother-in-law, David Greenglass, was stationed at Los Alamos, in the machine shop, Ethel importuned him to help the cause, and had him furnish diagrams and designs of items he was fabricating, which the Rosenbergs forwarded to the Soviets.

The Rosenbergs, along with such luminaries as Donald Maclean [of the Cambridge Five], were exposed by the Venona transcripts, which were not used at their trial. And although promised mercy if the 'rolled' on their comrades and handlers, Julius and Ethel preferred death for the 'cause'. They got their wish. 

[PzLdr]

He had come up in the world of crime partnered with Meyer Lansky. Lansky was the brains, Siegel was the muscle. He wasn't stupid, but he wasn't Lansky. Still, the "Bug and Meyer" gang was a success in Prohibition, and became even more successful as a result of reuniting with a friend from their teen years on the lower East Side, Charles "Lucky" Luciano.

Luciano, a Sicilian who believed in making money with anyone, Sicilian or not, and Lansky were incredibly tight. And Benjamin Siegel was right there with them. Siegel, who preferred "Benny" to "Bugsy" [a sobriquet that meant 'Crazy'] was a handy addition to Luciano's ability to strike at his enemies within Italian organized crime, since he wasn't known to them. Siegel was, most likely, one of the men who murdered Salvatore Marranzano, giving Luciano control of the Italian mob. He may have ben in on the killing of Joe "The Boss" Masseria before that. Whether he was or not, Siegel had a well deserved reputation as a stone cold killer.

But as crime got organized, and flourished, Siegel rose through the ranks of 'management' due to his close association with Lansky and Luciano, to the point where the Commission sent him to take over, and run, the criminal operations on the West Coast. It was while traveling to his new assignment that Siegel discovered Las Vegas, home of legalized gambling [Lansky's true love], and propsed that the mob, working through straw men, build a casino to both pull in, and launder, cash.

It was a great idea, but it was the beginning of the end for Siegel. Siegel, neither an architect, nor engineer, kept tearing down and rebuilding the "Flamingo", to the point where the cost overruns were in the millions. On top of that, there was strong evidence that Siegel and his girl friend, Virginia Hill, were skimming from the funds, and later, the take. then there was the West Coast Racing wire service. The mob stood to make a great deal of money on west coast horserace bets, if they knew who won what in real time, via the wire. Siegel refused to share. Bad mistake.

Normally, the killing of a mobster of Bugsy Siegel's stature was a major event. And it required the highest authority to authorize it. So, after his deportation to Italy, Charlie Luciano showed up in Cuba, to check on his casino investments with Lansky, and to chair a commission meet on Siegel [It was during this Cuban interlude that Frank Sinatra showed up with a suitcase with 300 large for Lucky from the States]. Whether he sought to save his longtime friend, or how much Lansky may have argued on his behalf is unknown. What is known is that with Luciano leading, the vote was to kill Bugsy Siegel.

The hit occurred at Virginia Hill's house in Beverly Hills. Siegel was shot through a window with a rifle while speaking to an associate [Miss hill was not at home]. The crime was never solved.

Siegel has lived on through crime movies and TV documentaries. And the very day he died, Lucky Luciano's men took over the flamingo.

[PzLdr]

He was coming off a series of incredible victories, capping over a year of combat in the Libyan desert. Newly promoted Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had begun the year where he had begun the year before, at El Agheila. After driving the British out of Italian Libya in the Spring of 1941 [save for the fortress port of Tobruk], Rommel had spent the rest of that year trying, unsuccessfully, to take Tobruk, and staving off, successfully, until November, British efforts to drive him back.

Operation Crusader did just that, and by January Rommel was at his own start line. But then, just as in 1941, things gave signs of going his way. As in 1941, Churchill ordered his front line troops stripped units, sending them this time to Singapore instead of Greece. the troops he left were 'green', and in need of a refit. Plus Rommel had gotten his first new tanks and fuel in months.

So, in February, Rommel bounced the British again, retaking Benghazi and driving to the British defense line at Gazala, west of Tobruk. Gazala was a series of brigade 'boxes' [fortifications], with barbed wire strung between them. Each box contained infantry, and was supported by artillery. But the British still hadn't figured out armor [they never would], and the tanks were held in brigade size reserves, scattered behind the lines. Additional problems were presented by the fact that the left end of the line was 'up in the air', anchored on nothing, and that some of the 'boxes' were positioned where they couldn't provide mutually supporting fire. Still, with over 800 tanks, including the American made 'Grant [75mm Sponson gun, and 47 mm turret gun], the British commander, Neil Ritchie, thought he was in good shape. He was wrong.

By the time Gazala was over, Rommel had destroyed most of the 800 tanks, unhinged the Gazala Line, put the 8th Army to flight, and captured Tobruk in a day. He then pursued the British into Egypt, where in a battle one by bluff and guile, he again stampeded them east, this time from Mersa Matruh. And then his luck ran out. The CG, Claude Auchinleck relieved Ritchie, took personal command of 8t6h Army, and stopped the British retreat at the railroad stop of El Alamein. His right flank rested on the Mediterranean, his left on a massive quicksand bog called the Quattara Depression. For the first time in the desert war, Rommel was to face a position he couldn't flank. And he did it with men and machines worn down by fighting, fuel and trucks from Tobruk, and facing terrain features [Rusewait Ridge, for one], that were fortified, and astride any potential flanking move from Rommel's right. And the British had air superiority over not only the battlefield, but also over Rommel's supply lines as well.

The result, while not a forgone conclusion, was  predictable. The Germans were beaten back. Rommel was sent on sick leave, while both sides fortified their fronts.

But Auchinleck fared little better. He was relieved of his command by Winston Churchill, with the acquiesense of the CIGS, Alan Brooke [Being an Indian Army man didn't help]. And using his plans, but not giving Auchinleck any credit, the new CG of 8th Army, Bernard Law Montgomery went on  to defeat Rommel's subsequent attacks on El Alamein, and then counterattacked, driving the Germans back across Libya for the last time. 

[PzLdr]

By the middle of June, 1940, the British were fairly well convinced that the French were gearing up to surrender to the Germans. German panzer columns were ripping their way southward to the Spanish border, and to the rear of the Maginot Line. And one concern of the  British arising from this potential [soon to be actual] surrender was the disposition of the French Fleet.

A combination of old and modern battleships, cruisers, etc., the tonnage of the French Navy was approximately 40% of the the Royal Navy. In sum, France had the second largest Navy in Europe.

And so, Operation Catapult was born. Its purpose was to neutralize the French Fleet, despite assurances from its commander, Admiral Darlan, that it would never fall into German hands. And so, the British offered three basic options [when they offered options at all] to the French: Join the Royal Navy's fight against the Germans [in violation of the armistice with the Germans, sail the ships to Britain, where they would be interned, sail them to the Caribbean where they would be disarmed and turned over to the Americans for the duration. There was also the fourth option of scuttling.

Catapult started in early July. Parts of the plan went more easily than others. French ships in British home harbors were boarded by armed British parties, and seized. Loss of life was minimal [two British and one Frenchman died on the submarine [biggest in the world] SURCOUF. French naval units in Alexandria agreed to internment after negotiation.

But Catapult is synonymous with the battle of Mers al Kabir in Algeria, and to a lesser degree with Dakar. And there, nothing went right.

The British presented their demands. Wile negotiations were still ongoing, ARK ROYAL launched an air attack that was beaten back with the loss of two British airmen [the only losses the British suffered]. Ad then the HOOD and two British battleships opened fire. The older battleship BRETAGNE was sunk. the newer battleships PROVENCE and DUNKERQUE [somewhat ironic] were damaged and run aground. STRASBOURG and four destroyers escaped to Toulon. At Dakar, HMS HERMES launched an air attack on RICHELIEU on July 8th, seriously damaging her. there were intermittent air strikes from 3 JUL onward].

The French lost over 1,000 dead. They undertook retaliatory air strikes against Gibralter with little effect. The British accomplished their objective. And for a substantial period of time, they turned an ally into an enemy. And for a longer period of time, even into future generations, Catapult poisoned British- French relations.

[jafo2010]

And from this point forward, the French could not be trusted.

Of particular note, the first troops the USA engaged in the European Theater were French, not German.  Somehow, this bit of history is often lost.  The French are the last people I would ever trust!

[PzLdr]

One could make the argument the British couldn't be trusted, either. Darlan assured them the French fleet would never be allowed to fall into German hands. When Hitler invaded Vichy in the aftermath of TORCH, the French scuttled their fleet at Toulon. Aside from the Gibralter air raids, the French took no further actions against the British. Meanwhile, the British sent armed parties, with no negotiation, aboard French ships in British home ports to seize them,  and engaged in perfunctory negotiations [except for Cunningham at Alexandria] at Mers el Kabir - with a French fleet trapped in port, and refusing to believe their erstwhile former ally would fire on them

And remember, the Brits had not included the French in their little plan to exit the combat in Northern France at Dunkirk [where a French rear guard allowed the Brits and a large number of French to evacuate [they did send further, reinforcements to France for the battle of France [Rommel bagged the 51st Highlanders at St. Valery].

And remember, when we landed in North Africa, [1] We were allied with the British, whom the French had no reason to love, [2] We were not at war with France. It was THEIR territory we invaded, and [3] We could have landed in  Libya, which would have put us right behind Rommel, who was retreating.

I have no great love for the French, but the phrase "Perfidious Albion" exists for a reason.

[PzLdr]

In a macabre happenstance, two of the major movers behind the Declaration of Independence [one of whom was its author, and both of whom were former Presidents] die.

John Adams, second President of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson, his successor, had become bitter enemies during Adams' administration [relations had soured during Washington's second term]. Adams had even left the Capitol before Jefferson's swearing in, and neither man spoke or communicated with each other for years.

But a reconciliation arose when Jefferson wrote Adams after the death of one of his children, and a lively correspondence developed between the former rivals. And 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, both men, within hours of each other, died; a great loss to America, and the world.

[PzLdr]

They had originated as one of the largest bands of the Apache. They had migrated south with the rest of the Apache into Texas, but had eventually gone their own way, sundering the tribal bond, and becoming an Indian tribe in their own right. They became enemies of their cousins, although, initially, they behaved the same, and although they called themselves Dineh ["The People"], they became known as the Navajo.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Navajo allied, at times with the Spanish, and even the Comanche, to attack their erstwhile cousins. As a result, the Apache were largely driven west, into New Mexico and Arizona [exceptions were the Jicarilla, the Lipan, the Kiowa-Apache and, to a degree, the Mescalero]. The Navajo themselves controlled a large area in the areas known as "The Four Corners", centered on a natural fortress known as the Canyon de Chelly [de Shay], and they began to engage in large scale animal husbandry [sheep], farming [fruit trees, etc.], weaving, and silversmithing.

But lest anyone think they weren't related to the Apache, the Navajo acquired many of their sheep raiding the settlers, both Spanish and Anglo for their livestock, horses, etc. And at the start of the American Civil War, things, from the Navajo perspective, were looking exceptionally good. The U.S Army had pulled out of their home range, Cochise's Apaches were raising hell in Arizona and New Mexico, and the field appeared clear for some livestock acquisition. So the Navajo began to raid, in force, and over New Mexico the settlement's ranches and farms. It was their undoing.

During the year 1862, the United States Army was forced to pay attention to the southwest. Aside from the apaches and Navajo, the Confederates sent a force from Texas to occupy both New Mexico and Arizona. Cochise largely took care of the Rebels in Arizona, but a relief column under MG Carleton was dispatched from California to reclaim the U.S. territories. The Rebels having been driven off at Glorietta Pass, Carleton turned his gaze on his Indian problem. His gaze fell on the Navajo.

Carleton had an excellent weapon at hand to deal with them, Christopher 'Kit' Carson. A LTC in the New Mexico Volunteers, he was uniquely qualified to deal with the Navajo. A legendary Mountain Man, he had guided Fremont during his explorations. He had run a trading post among various tribes. He had been an Indian agent. And he had fought Indians in the past. So on this day, in 1863, Carson took the field against the Navajo.

Carleton had decided to concentrate the Navajo on a reservation at Bosque Redondo, well outside of the Navajo homeland, and the sight of their sacred mountain. They refused to go. It was Carson's job to make them change their minds. And although he despised what he was doing, he did.

The key was Canyon de Chelly. Knowing the Navajo felt they could raid with impunity, then vanish into their fortress canyon to ride out the retribution, Carson decided to take that sense of security away from them.

When the Army entered the Canyon, the Navajo literall climbed up on the sandstone spires with food and water, expecting the Army to leave. It didn't. Instead, Carson cut down their orchards, burning the trees. He slaughtered their livestock, burned their hogans, and, if  the Navajo fired on his men from their lofty perches, he answered with a few rounds of artillery. If the Navajo chose to fight on the canyon floor, he fought and beat them.

The result was foreordained. Any sense of security the Navajo had was destroyed in the Canyon de Chelly. Hungry, hounded, with no relief in sight, they surrendered under Chief Bonito. They were then marched, under horrendous conditions to Bosque Redondo where they were dumped, until 1864 when, in return for  their agreement never to engage in war or raiding again, they were given a reservation in their homeland, in sight of their sacred mountain.

Carson's campaign did not sit well with him, and aside from advocating for the Navajo, he got out of the Army as soon as he could.

And the Navajo? They became one of the few success stories of the Reservation system. Their reservation has actually expaqnded over the years, fueled by land purchases made by the tribe. Their culture is vibrant, and still exists. Navajo folk art, jewelry, rugs and blankets command premium prices. And the Navajo, who once fought the United States, have served proudly in U.S. military, contributing significantly to victory in WW II with their "Code Talkers". 

[PzLdr]

1099: The First Crusade: Jerusalem falls to the Crusaders.

After some 400 years of Muslim aggression that has seen a Christian presence overwhelmed in Asia Minor, the Mediterranean littoral, Iberia, the Middle East, the Holy Land and other Christian lands, Europe finally responds after a plea for help from the Byzantine Emperor, and a call to arms by Pope Urban the II.

Jerusalem had passed from the control of the Muslim Egyptians to the more fanatical Seljuk Turks, with the oppression of Christian citizens increasing accordingly. That, coupled with  Turkish military pressure on Byzantium, led the Pope to call a Crusade.

The first Crusade was actually two Crusades. the first off the mark was composed of children, and then peasants. More a mob than anything else, it made its way to Islamic territory where the 'crusaders' were slaughtered by the Turks. the second expedition was a horse of another color. Lured by promises of remission of all sins, a chance for glory, wealth, and lands in the East, many second sons, knights and even Lords organized themselves into an army and headed for the Holy Land by an overland route. Led by Godfrey of Buillon, Raymond of Tolouse and Bohemond, some 4,000 heavy cavalry, and 25,000 infantry descended on the Islamic outlands in 1098.. After taking Nicea, winning the battle of Doryleum, and taking Antioch by siege, the remnants of the Crusaders [some 1,200 horse and 12,000 infantry] descended on Jerusalem in 1099. On July 14th, they took it by storm, and following the practice they had taken at Nicea and Antioch, they proceeded to massacre every Muslim and Jew they found in the city.

The Seljuks, caught on the back foot, made several ineffectual efforts to rout the Crusaders. All failed. And the Turks' defeats gave the Christians time to set up independent kingdoms across the Holy Land, with Bohemond crowned King of Jerusalem.

1789:  BIRTH OF THE FIRST FRENCH REPUBLIC- THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE:

After misgovernment on a massive scale since the reign of his father, Louis XVI, aka, "Louis the Locksmith", brings France to the brink of revolution with even greater mismanagement. With a treasury emptied by the American Revolution and France's war with England,  his dismissal of the Estates General when they refused to raise taxes without reforms, the economic shambles France found itself in, and his own ineptitude, Louis prsided over a barrel of gunpowder awaiting a spark. that spark was the storming of the royal prison, the Bastille, by a mob of Frenchmen on July 14th, 1789, intent on freeing the prisoners, many of them political, bering held by the Royalists. The storming of the Bastille led to more rioting, a rising, and eventually the overthrow of the dynasty. Louis and his wife, caught trying to flee Paris, were subsequently guillotined. And the Republic that was proclaimed led to the Directorate of Robespierre and Danton, more bloodshed in the terror and eventually Emperor Napoleon I. Gotta loved the French...

DEATH IN THE OLD WEST:

1881 - Henry McCarty, a fine New York City boy [Hell's Kitchen], a/k/a Henry Antrim a/k/a William Bonney a/k/a "The Kid", who has come down to us as "Billy the Kid", is shot to death by Sheriff Pat Garrett at Pete Maxwell's ranch house.

The Kid, who had been pursued for some three months after his escape from the Lincoln County Jail which resulted in his murder of two deputies was shot by Garrett when he entered the house in his stocking feet, and carrying a butcher knife, but no guns. His last words were reputedly "Quien Es?" The answer was Garrett.

1882 - Jonny Ringo is found in a canyon near Tombstone with a bullet wound in his head. Ringo, a gunman of such speed and notoriety that Doc Holliday refused to fight him, had drifted to Arizona when things became too hot for him in Texas. His death was ruled suicide by the coroner, although there were several suspects in his demise, including "Buckskin" Frank Leslie. to add to the confusion, Wyatt Earp later claimed he killed Ringo.

1918: THE DEATH OF TR'S YOUNGEST SON:

Quentin Roosevelt, youngest son of former President Theodore Roosevelt, is killed when his fighter plane is shot down by the Germans. They give him a full military funeral when they find out who he is. Quentin was the last of TR's sons to reach the front, but the first [and only one in WW I] to die. His death deeply affected his father. His older brother Ted will finish the war as a Colonel. In WW II as a brigadier general he will be assistant division commander of the 1st Infantry Division in North Africa and Sicily, where, along with divisional commander Terry De La Mesa Allen, he will be relieved of command by Omar Bradley. As Assistant Divisional commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Ted Roosevelt will be the only U.S. general to land on a beach [Utah] on D-Day. Up for divisional command, Roosevelt has a heart attack and dies outside of Cherbourg. He was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on D-Day, making he abnd father [San Juan Hill] one of only two sets of father-son CMOH awardees [the other is Arthur and Douglas MacArthur].

[apples]

In a macabre happenstance, two of the major movers behind the Declaration of Independence [one of whom was its author, and both of whom were former Presidents] die.

John Adams, second President of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson, his successor, had become bitter enemies during Adams' administration [relations had soured during Washington's second term]. Adams had even left the Capitol before Jefferson's swearing in, and neither man spoke or communicated with each other for years.

But a reconciliation arose when Jefferson wrote Adams after the death of one of his children, and a lively correspondence developed between the former rivals. And 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, both men, within hours of each other, died; a great loss to America, and the world.

Wow.....Thank you PzLdr!

[apples]

Thank you both for another fine history lesson!!