Now they say the Democrats are fighting amongst themselves because of the Obama-Clinton race for the nomination. Hillary is behind in the delegate count, but because of her (and Bill’s) sense of entitlement, they can’t take defeat and get on with business. Somebody once said, “I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” I believe that is where we are at with the situation: too many people are a little afraid of the young, half-black, short on experience Obama. I’m sure he would do fine. I know for certain he is a rational orator.
History tells us that Harry Truman admired the story of Cincinnatus, a citizen soldier in old Roman times. Cincinnatus found contentment in his humble farming occupation, but known to have leadership ability, he was asked to lead his country in a time of peril. After the danger passed, he insisted on returning to his farm rather than remaining in an authority position which he could easily have retained.
Both the Bush and Clinton families hold different values from Cincinnatus, and, instead of returning to quiet private lives, they want to retain power, even if it means passing it back and forth. A couple years ago the Bush brother who was governor of Florida was being mentioned as potential presidential material. How about Chelsea?
Another quotation can bring a conclusion to my thesis: “Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” Wolfgang von Goethe.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Meuse-Argonne
The Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering is scheduled again for the Memorial Day weekend, May 24-25, in Medora, and I am getting ready to participate again. It must be a case of some hidden desire I have to get up in front of an audience and perform something I’ve written. Whatever the motivation is, I have enjoyed doing it. I’ve been in attendance several other years, too, but I do not remember hearing many presentations that relate to the memorial holiday. I thought I would set out to bring something to the event that was holiday related, and after searching about I finally stumbled onto something that I am developing.
My Grandpa Sandvig was a World War I veteran and fought in the bloodiest battle in U. S. history — The Battle of Meuse-Argonne. I knew from records that he was a member of the 91st Infantry Division, 362nd Regiment. A bit of research told me many of the men in it were cowboys from Wyoming and Montana, so it became known as the “Wild West Division.” One more bit of Western lore became attached to that outfit, too. They adopted as their battle cry, “Powder River, let ‘er buck” from a river running through those states, which was sometimes said to be a mile wide and one inch deep. At any rate, the cowboy connection has been made, and I am at work developing the idea.
A great resource I have acquired is the recently published book To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918. Numbers associated with this battle have boggled my mind. The 91st Division alone suffered 4,700 casualties in the short period of September 26-30. The whole affair was made more vivid in my mind after reading Grandpa’s September 26 journal entry in the blank leaves of the small Bible he carried: “6 in the morning. We started the drive about 20 K.M. west of Verdun and we were in 17 days...” Over one million American soldiers fought here on a 26 mile front suffering 120,000 casualties including 26,000 dead.
Yes, I have found the cowboy connection I wanted for the Poetry Gathering. I just hope I can do justice to it from the humble viewpoint I bring to it.
My Grandpa Sandvig was a World War I veteran and fought in the bloodiest battle in U. S. history — The Battle of Meuse-Argonne. I knew from records that he was a member of the 91st Infantry Division, 362nd Regiment. A bit of research told me many of the men in it were cowboys from Wyoming and Montana, so it became known as the “Wild West Division.” One more bit of Western lore became attached to that outfit, too. They adopted as their battle cry, “Powder River, let ‘er buck” from a river running through those states, which was sometimes said to be a mile wide and one inch deep. At any rate, the cowboy connection has been made, and I am at work developing the idea.
A great resource I have acquired is the recently published book To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918. Numbers associated with this battle have boggled my mind. The 91st Division alone suffered 4,700 casualties in the short period of September 26-30. The whole affair was made more vivid in my mind after reading Grandpa’s September 26 journal entry in the blank leaves of the small Bible he carried: “6 in the morning. We started the drive about 20 K.M. west of Verdun and we were in 17 days...” Over one million American soldiers fought here on a 26 mile front suffering 120,000 casualties including 26,000 dead.
Yes, I have found the cowboy connection I wanted for the Poetry Gathering. I just hope I can do justice to it from the humble viewpoint I bring to it.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Just emptying my head
How about a joke today. A drunk comes in and orders five shots of Crown Royal, “Quick!” He slams down 1, 2, 3, without stopping to take a breath. The bartender says, “Hey, slow down, that’s expensive sipping whisky.” As the drunk slams down the 4th, he says, “You’d drink fast, too, if you had what I’ve got!” “Well, what’ve you got?” The drunk slams down the 5th, “Seventy-five cents.”
. . .
I agree with the old farmer who told me one time, “The trouble with a milk cow is she won’t stay milked.”
. . .
Ole had been drinking much too often, so Mrs. Larsen suggested that Lena rent a devil’s costume and try to scare him into sobriety. Lena thought that was a fine idea and rented a devil’s suit at the costume shop. The next time Ole came home drunk, there was the Devil waiting for him at the door. “Who are you?” Ole asked. “I am the Devil,” said Lena in a disguised voice. “Vell,” said Ole, “shake hands, brother, ‘cause I married your sister.”
. . .
There isn’t much out of the ordinary happening at our household lately. One remarkable occurrence was the sunrise this morning. At first it reminded me of a live coal in a fire, then as it rose, pink and orange shades glowed all over the eastern sky. With the early spring temperatures coming now, it won’t be long before the trees in the valley will start to bud and leaf and turn beautiful, as it does every year. Many people want to share the beauty of the river, evidently, as there is more and more housing development occurring all the time on the bluffs and along the banks.
. . .
Mary got a new computer system set up and running. The prices of them has definitely dropped, but we decided to go with their set-up costs, software, and warranty which about doubled the purchase price. So much for cheap computers!
. . .
I agree with the old farmer who told me one time, “The trouble with a milk cow is she won’t stay milked.”
. . .
Ole had been drinking much too often, so Mrs. Larsen suggested that Lena rent a devil’s costume and try to scare him into sobriety. Lena thought that was a fine idea and rented a devil’s suit at the costume shop. The next time Ole came home drunk, there was the Devil waiting for him at the door. “Who are you?” Ole asked. “I am the Devil,” said Lena in a disguised voice. “Vell,” said Ole, “shake hands, brother, ‘cause I married your sister.”
. . .
There isn’t much out of the ordinary happening at our household lately. One remarkable occurrence was the sunrise this morning. At first it reminded me of a live coal in a fire, then as it rose, pink and orange shades glowed all over the eastern sky. With the early spring temperatures coming now, it won’t be long before the trees in the valley will start to bud and leaf and turn beautiful, as it does every year. Many people want to share the beauty of the river, evidently, as there is more and more housing development occurring all the time on the bluffs and along the banks.
. . .
Mary got a new computer system set up and running. The prices of them has definitely dropped, but we decided to go with their set-up costs, software, and warranty which about doubled the purchase price. So much for cheap computers!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
...so few words
On our recent trip to the southeast part of the country we passed through Independence, MO and stopped to tour the Truman Presidential Museum and Library. While browsing through the many exhibits, I stopped and lingered for several minutes in front of a pencilled message that he had written to the Secretary of War giving his authority to use the atom bomb on the Japanese homeland in World War II. It simply said, “Sec War, Suggestions approved. Release when ready but not sooner than August 2. HST.” The date August 2, I’ve gone on to discover, was when he’d be on the way home from a meeting with Stalin and Churchill at the Potsdam Conference. He did not want them to know of his intentions while they still met and did not want them to react before that meeting adjourned.
At any rate, I thought that I would like to have had a photograph of that message which is being displayed behind glass, but photographs were not permitted. Not long ago we attended a fund-raising supper at Bismarck St. Mary’s High School where I entered a room where they were also sponsoring a used book sale. There I spotted the historian David McCullough’s biography entitled Truman and promptly bought it. In the photograph section of that book was a picture of the note, and I have spent some time reading and pondering that brief note and all the power its simple message expressed:
So much said with so few words!
That message poured a heady brew
which rose, foamed and overbrimmed
its turbid glass and flooded
those victim cities with waves
of fire and death. A firm hand
holding humble pencil wrote
this enjoining command. Kill
them to save American
lives went the argument, and
as written, so it was done.
At any rate, I thought that I would like to have had a photograph of that message which is being displayed behind glass, but photographs were not permitted. Not long ago we attended a fund-raising supper at Bismarck St. Mary’s High School where I entered a room where they were also sponsoring a used book sale. There I spotted the historian David McCullough’s biography entitled Truman and promptly bought it. In the photograph section of that book was a picture of the note, and I have spent some time reading and pondering that brief note and all the power its simple message expressed:
So much said with so few words!
That message poured a heady brew
which rose, foamed and overbrimmed
its turbid glass and flooded
those victim cities with waves
of fire and death. A firm hand
holding humble pencil wrote
this enjoining command. Kill
them to save American
lives went the argument, and
as written, so it was done.
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