Wow…

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Second Lieutenant Sherrod E. Skinner, Jr. (US Marine Corps) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 26, 1952, in Korea. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as an artillery forward observer of Battery F, in action against enemy aggressor forces on the night of 26 October 1952. When his observation post in an extremely critical and vital sector of the main line of resistance was subjected to a sudden and fanatical attack by hostile forces, supported by a devastating barrage of artillery and mortar fire which completely severed communication lines connecting the outpost with friendly firing batteries, 2d Lt. Skinner, in a determined effort to hold his position, immediately organized and directed the surviving personnel in the defense of the outpost, continuing to call down fire on the enemy by means of radio alone until his equipment became damaged beyond repair. Undaunted by the intense hostile barrage and the rapidly-closing attackers, he twice left the protection of his bunker in order to direct accurate machine gun fire and to replenish the depleted supply of ammunition and grenades. Although painfully wounded on each occasion, he steadfastly refused medical aid until the rest of the men received treatment. As the ground attack reached its climax, he gallantly directed the final defense until the meager supply of ammunition was exhausted and the position overrun. During the 3 hours that the outpost was occupied by the enemy, several grenades were thrown into the bunker which served as protection for 2d Lt. Skinner and his remaining comrades. Realizing that there was no chance for other than passive resistance, he directed his men to feign death even though the hostile troops entered the bunker and searched their persons. Later, when an enemy grenade was thrown between him and 2 other survivors, he immediately threw himself on the deadly missile in an effort to protect the others, absorbing the full force of the explosion and sacrificing his life for his comrades. By his indomitable fighting spirit, superb leadership, and great personal valor in the face of tremendous odds, 2d Lt. Skinner served to inspire his fellow marines in their heroic stand against the enemy and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Private Clayton K. Slack (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 8, 1918, near Consenvoye, France. His citation reads:

Observing German soldiers under cover 50 yards away on the left flank, Pvt. Slack, upon his own initiative, rushed them with his rifle and, single-handed, captured 10 prisoners and 2 heavy-type machineguns, thus saving his company and neighboring organizations from heavy casualties.

Private Joseph A. Sladen (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 14, 1864, at Resaca, Georgia. His citation reads:

While detailed as clerk at headquarters, voluntarily engaged in action at a critical moment and personal example inspired the troops to repel the enemy.


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I’m a little behind on some things, so let me start by sending a big THANK YOU to my Labor Day Aunt and Uncle (Janie and DG) and my mom and dad (Mom and Dad) for their donations to the Walk to End Alzheimer’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m sure the rest of you are thisclose to donating! Don’t wait! Avoid the rush and donate now!

I’m sure by now you have seen/heard the news about Walter Scott (the North Charleston man shot and killed by a police officer). You may have even seen the video of the shooting. All I can say is, “Wow”. I admit that I will usually give the police officer the benefit of the doubt in situations like these (in fact, I did just that when I first saw the news of the shooting on my phone while at the lake house). It’s not that I think every cop is a saint… far from it. I know there are “bad apples”… but when I first see the news that a cop has shot someone, I assume there was a good reason. I also usually have a “wait and see” type attitude when it comes to stuff like this. But I’m not sure what is left to wait and see here. Now, I fully believe that this (now former) officer should have his day in court… I’m just not sure how that day could end without hearing “Guilty as charged”. Maybe it will… but it shouldn’t. I have had some people tell me that we haven’t see all of the evidence yet and that we don’t know all of the facts yet, and they are 100% correct. But based on the evidence I have seen, I really can’t think of what evidence there could be left to see that wouldn’t lead me to believe this guy shot a man who was “running” (if you could even call it running) away from him (unarmed). And really, I can’t let this go about the running thing. People have asked, “Why was he running”. Well, I don’t know. It seems like it was a bad move on his part, but it’s not like he was running AT the officer. He was running away… very slowly. When I played baseball, we used to call that a “booty-trot” (not sure why, but that’s what we called it). If we had to run laps as a team, we had this unspoken agreement to all “run” at about the same (slow) pace. We would LOOK like we were running, we just wouldn’t be using too much energy. It would only work if everyone did it. If you had that one guy who decided to jog (or just walk at a fast pace) then we would all be busted. I say all of this to tell you that when I saw the video of Walter Scott “running” that was the first thing I thought of. I’ve seen little old ladies walking in the mall faster than that. All of this makes it hard for me to believe the cop had to shoot. I’m not even sure he had to run after him… he could have just walked fast and caught up to him in about 20 to 30 yards. I’m not even trying to be funny here… I really can’t see the need to shoot. Maybe I’m wrong… I guess there’s a first time for everything.


Dad and I went out to the James Island Baseball field this past Wednesday night to watch my Trojans beat the West Ashley Wildcats. West Ashley made some mistakes that JI was able to take advantage of. Hopefully the game tonight will be a good one. Right now West Ashley is on top of the region standings… it would be big if JI could give them their second conference loss. Anyway, while we were at the game we couldn’t help but notice some things had changed out there…


Before Pics

A look toward the 3rd base line

This is the area leading to the baseball field (behind the visitors side of the football field

A look at the field

Now Pics

A view from behind the 3rd base dugout looking away from the school (so the baseball field is on the right... unseen in this picture)

Still behind the 3rd base dugout, but now looking toward the school (so the field, still unseen, is on the left)

Look at the right side of the first "Before" pic... I'm standing where the woods were (taking a picture of the baseball field from behind the left field fence

A look from behind the first base line

The new softball field is on the right... If you look way back there, I believe they are going to put a practice (practice?!) soccer field and something else (tennis courts?).  In all honesty, I had no idea there was this much space behind the baseball field.  My mind is blown.  BLOWN!

The new softball field

I'm not exactly pleased with where they have these on display... but at least they are out there.

This new building (still being worked on on the inside) is between the baseball field (behind the first base dugout) and the football field.  It will have real restrooms.  I'll have to go to a game next season just to use one of them...

Another pic from the softball field facing the baseball field

One last pic of the new softball field/area