True Heroism

This man is an ordinary person, who in his 20s, used his two week vacation to do something extraordinary. Not to relax, not to recharge, not to serve himself, but to serve others. It's worth the 15 minutes to watch his tale.

Gettysburg: The History Channel

In the beginning of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in Pennsylvania. The History Channel recently had a 2-hour documentary on the subject.  Regardless with which side your sympathies lie, some of the statistics are staggering.

In this 3-day battle, almost 50,000 men were killed or wounded. If this were to compare in today's population, that would be the equivalent of 6 million men. And these were all American men.

Nearly 25% of the men who came to the battle were killed or wounded.

While watching the reenactments and listening to the words of the soldiers that were memorialized and sent home to their families, I wondered at the motivation of the men. Battle conditions were incredibly fierce. Soldiers trudged across open fields into artillary fire, knowing that if they were hit by the cannon shot, it would mean almost certain death or dismemberment. Was is dedication to the cause? Was it bravery? Was it that in the heat of battle, there was no other choice but to move forward?

As General William Tecumsah Sherman famously said, "War is hell." I am sure it is necessary at times, but hell nonetheless.

Quote of the Day: Abraham Lincoln

In honor of Memorial Day:

Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. Familiarize yourslves with the chains of bondage, and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them.

Abraham Lincoln

Born on This Day: Hans Christian Anderson

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a prolific Danish author of fairy tales. I still have my much-loved copy of tales from my childhood. Many hours were spent losing myself in his marvelous stories.

In Minot's Scandinavian Heritage Park, there is a wonderful sit-by statue that I think really captures the whimsey of Andersen.

My favorite fairy tale was always The Snow Queen. What was yours?

Lincoln's Birthday

We are indeed going through a trial--a fiery trial. In the very responsible position in which I happen to be placed, being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father, as I am, and as we all are, to work out His great purposes, I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to His will, and that it might be so, I have sought His aid--but if after endeavoring to do my best in the light which He affords me, I find my efforts fail, I must believe that for some purpose unknown to me, He wills it otherwise.
~Abraham Lincoln, October 26, 1862


If you intend to go to work, there is no better place than right where you are.
~Abraham Lincoln, November 4, 1851

Lincoln

Like a gaunt, scraggly pine

Which lifts its head above the mournful sandhills;

And patiently, through dull years of bitter silence,

Untended and uncared for, starts to grown.

Ungainly, laboring, huge,

The wind of the north has twisted and gnarled its branches;

Yet in the heat of mid-summer days, when thunder clouds ring the horizon,

A nation of men shall rest beneath its shade.

And it shall protect them all,

Hold everyone safe there, watching aloof in silence

Until at last, one mad stray bolt of the zenith

Shall strike it in an instant down to earth.

~John Gould Fletcher

from Silver Pennies 1926

On This Day in History: Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor, the event that got America off the fence regarding the "War in Europe", was 66 years ago today.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: The attack wrecked two U.S. Navy battleships, one minelayer, and two destroyers beyond repair, and destroyed 188 aircraft; personnel losses were 2,333 killed and 1,139 wounded. Damaged warships included three cruisers, a destroyer, and six battleships (one deliberately grounded, later refloated and repaired; two sunk at their berths, later raised, repaired, and restored to Fleet service late in the war). Vital fuel storage, shipyards, and submarine facilities were not hit.

And here is an interesting (and somewhat surreal) photo perspective. This was taken from a Japanese plane early in the attacks:

On this Day: the Death of Robert E Lee

Robert E. Lee, one of my favorite people in history, died on this day in 1870, at the age of 63. The son of a governor, he was a complex man who loved his country deeply. Here are some quotes which illustrate my regard for the man:

• On his faith: My chief concern is to try to be an humble, earnest Christian.


• On learning: The education of a man is never completed until he dies.


• On Bill Clinton (okay, I made that part up): I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.


• On temptation: Whiskey - I like it, I always did, and that is the reason I never use it.


• On the loss of the Civil War: We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.

A Small Town 4th

Happy day after the fourth! We enjoyed at day at Roosevelt park, where there was music, a trip into the zoo, and the dedication of a visually unappealling, but otherwise moving memorial to honor North Dakota's Congressional Medal of Honor winners. The governor was there to speak at the dedication, as well as one of the medal recipients, whose acts of courage during the Vietnam war were nothing short of miraculous. Here is the article from the Minot Daily News.

One of the highlights of the day for me was a speech by a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator (below) who did a really great job, and presented one of Roosevelt's moving speeches.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
~Theodore Roosevelt "Citizenship in a Republic,"Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Mount St Helens, May 18, 1980

When I was 8, it seemed that the entire year was filled with news from Mount St Helens. All spring we heard that the mountain was going to erupt, that there were rumblings and shakings and that the beast was awakening. And on Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, it woke with a vengance. Even 150 miles to the north we felt the eruption...our first thought was that it was a larger than normal sonic boom from the local Boeing plant. But my dad flipped on his police scanner and it was announced on the air.

Below is a shot of the mountain the day before the eruption, and a view from the same location, weeks later. The two things I remember most were the man (Harry Truman) who wouldn't leave his home on the mountain that he shared with his precious kitties, and that I was pretty disappointed that the ash headed every direction but north. And I thought ash would be cool. In hindsight, we were spared a lot of damage and work.





There is a creation museum by the mountain that is operated by my childhood pastor and his lovely wife, Lloyd and Doris Anderson. Check out their 7 Wonders website for some great resources on creation, geology and how what happened at Mount St Helens in a very short period of time blows some evolutionary theories out of the water.

And here is an amazing video of the eruption.