Congrats

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private George N. Galloway (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 8, 1864, at Alsops Farm, Virginia. His citation reads:

Voluntarily held an important position under heavy fire.

Commissary Sergeant John Galloway (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 7, 1865, at Farmville, Virginia. His citation reads:

His regiment being surprised and nearly overwhelmed, he dashed forward under a heavy fire, reached the right of the regiment, where the danger was greatest, rallied the men and prevented a disaster that was imminent.

Artificer Sterling A. Galt (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on November 9, 1899, at Bamban, Luzon, Philippine Islands. His citation reads:

Distinguished bravery and conspicuous gallantry in action against insurgents.


Congrats to my good friends Michael and Adrian on the birth of their baby boys this past Tuesday. Brayard Benjamin (6lbs, 10oz… 20in) and Belton Shepard (7lbs, 11oz… 21in)… WOW, that’s quite the tag team there. They now hold the Providence Baby Tag Team Belts as the first twins born into our class. Good luck to Michael and Adrian as they go for the rest of the titles: the Providence: You Know Where Babies Come From, Right? (shortest time between births, not counting twins. The title is currently held by me and The Wife with just 1 year, 5 months and 6 days between Susie and Daniel); the Providence Fastest to 3 (currently held by my friends KC and LA from Our Life… 3 kids in 3 years, 7 months and 10 days); and, perhaps a new title, the Providence Fastest to 4. All it will take is one more set of twins by early November 2013. I think I can speak for KC when I say we’ll be pulling for them.

I’m sure by now you’ve all had time to read Sonny’s post about some historical battles fought in the upstate during the Revolutionary War (which I’m sure brings back some memories for my friend KC). Anyway, I’m going to tell you a little known fact about those battles. As Sonny said, things weren’t looking good for the Patriot forces leading up to those battles… but that all changed when Major Ferguson of the British Army threatened the Americans. It wasn’t so much the threat, but the way he said it: “If you yankees don’t stop fighting, I’m going to hang your officers and burn your houses”. The problem for ol’ Fergie (as he was known back then) is that the Americans didn’t really hear the threat. See, it’s all about knowing your audience. Think about it… he was in upstate South Carolina. I imagine (as I’ve imagined most of what I’ve just typed) it went something like this:

Major Ferguson: “If you yankees…”

Patriot Soldiers: “What’d that sumbitch just call us?”

And the rest, as they say, is history…

For any of you kids out there who might one day have to write a paper on this, feel free to use what I just told you. If your teacher doesn’t like it, tell him/her to prove it didn’t happen this way.


Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for all the dads out there (except the deadbeat dads, of course). I’m lucky in that I know a lot of great dads (including my own) and I often think about them when faced with situations with my children. There are a number of times when something comes up with my kids and I stop and think “What would Dad do? How would Uncle Keith handle this? How about Uncle George? What would DG do if he were here?” Usually by this point the moment has passed and it’s too late for me to do anything… but at least I didn’t do the WRONG thing. So I’ve got that going for me.

Of course I can’t let this Thankful Thursday go by without saying how thankful I am of my Dad. I can remember how he used to always take me to Sonny’s baseball games and how he would always give me a kiss before he took Sonny hunting. And I’ll never forget how he’d let me go out in the backyard to stand behind Sonny while they played catch. Dad let Teresa Lynn drive a 64 ½ red convertible Mustang when she was in high school… I drove a 1983 Ford Ranger (What’s that? Oh yeah… we still had the Mustang).

Of course this stuff isn’t as bad as it might sound. I had a lot of fun at Sonny’s baseball games and he didn’t take me hunting back then because if there was a hunting accident, he didn’t want me to be the one hurt (Sonny he could do without… I’m just guessing). And I wouldn’t have become such a good baseball player if I hadn’t had to catch all the balls Sonny missed while in the backyard with Dad. As for the car, let’s face it… with everything else I had going for me in high school, if I had driven the convertible then there’s a good chance my oldest child would be a teenager looking at what colleges to attend in the near future. Besides that, the ’83 Ranger was a beat up old truck that belonged to my grandfather before he died… it was the perfect vehicle for a high school boy. I could go on and on because Dad really did do a great job (with me at least… I think the jury is still out on Sonny and Teresa Lynn) but I’m going to save some of this stuff for December… I can’t tell you all of the 70 things about Dad right now.

So thank you to Dad… and thank you to all the other dads out there who love their children.