The Vacation – Day 2

Day two of The Vacation is coming to a close and things are still good. We haven’t killed each other yet and, for the most part, still like each other. We took two trips to the Lazy River today and it’s hard not to have a good day when you get to take two trips to the Lazy River. We also got to take a nap… I don’t know how much Mary Ruth liked it, but I know the rest of us loved it.

I was thinking today about vacations we used to take with my cousins when I was growing up. We’d go to an old mountain/lake house in the middle of nowhere, Georgia. Some memories from those vacations include:

*I don’t think the place had a phone.

*The water went under the house.

*No TV

*The shower was worse than anything I would ever see in college… and I saw some bad stuff in college.

*Mom would spend time each day reading a book to us… usually something on my summer reading list for school.

*There were woods next to the house that Louis and I would go exploring in.

*There was a spot in the woods that we called the “Great Wall of China”… looking back, it probably wasn’t that great of a wall… and it had nothing to do with China.

*How in the world could our parents let us go off on our own like that?

*The world seemed to be a better place back then.

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private Robert W. Ammerman (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 12, 1864 at Spotsylvania, Virginia. His citation reads:

Capture of battle flag of 8th North Carolina (C.S.A.), being one of the foremost in the assault.

Corporal Frank L. Anders (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 13, 1899 during the Philippine Insurrection. His citation reads:

With 11 other scouts, without waiting for the supporting battalion to aid them or to get into a position to do so, charged over a distance of about 150 yards and completely routed about 300 of the enemy who were in line and in a position that could only be carried by a frontal attack.

Technical Sergeant Beauford T. Anderson (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 13, 1945 in Okinawa. His citation reads:

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. When a powerfully conducted predawn Japanese counterattack struck his unit's flank, he ordered his men to take cover in an old tomb, and then, armed only with a carbine, faced the onslaught alone. After emptying 1 magazine at pointblank range into the screaming attackers, he seized an enemy mortar dud and threw it back among the charging Japs, killing several as it burst. Securing a box of mortar shells, he extracted the safety pins, banged the bases upon a rock to arm them and proceeded alternately to hurl shells and fire his piece among the fanatical foe, finally forcing them to withdraw. Despite the protests of his comrades, and bleeding profusely from a severe shrapnel wound, he made his way to his company commander to report the action. T/Sgt. Anderson's intrepid conduct in the face of overwhelming odds accounted for 25 enemy killed and several machineguns and knee mortars destroyed, thus single-handedly removing a serious threat to the company's flank.