That's where?

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Captain William D. Dickey (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on June 17, 1864 at Petersburg, Virginia. His citation reads:

Refused to leave the field, remaining in command after being wounded by a piece of shell, and led his command in the assault on the enemy's works on the following day.

Sergeant David Dickie (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 22, 1863 at Vicksburg, Mississippi. His citation reads:

Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."

Staff Sergeant Robert H. Dietz (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on March 29, 1945 at Kirchain, Germany. His citation reads:

He was a squad leader when the task force to which his unit was attached encountered resistance in its advance on Kirchain, Germany. Between the town's outlying buildings 300 yards distant, and the stalled armored column were a minefield and 2 bridges defended by German rocket-launching teams and riflemen. From the town itself came heavy small-arms fire. Moving forward with his men to protect engineers while they removed the minefield and the demolition charges attached to the bridges, S/Sgt. Dietz came under intense fire. On his own initiative he advanced alone, scorning the bullets which struck all around him, until he was able to kill the bazooka team defending the first bridge. He continued ahead and had killed another bazooka team, bayoneted an enemy soldier armed with a panzerfaust and shot 2 Germans when he was knocked to the ground by another blast of another panzerfaust. He quickly recovered, killed the man who had fired at him and then jumped into waist-deep water under the second bridge to disconnect the demolition charges. His work was completed; but as he stood up to signal that the route was clear, he was killed by another enemy volley from the left flank. S/Sgt. Dietz by his intrepidity and valiant effort on his self-imposed mission, single-handedly opened the road for the capture of Kirchain and left with his comrades an inspiring example of gallantry in the face of formidable odds.


Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for being able to laugh at myself… specifically when it comes to my, how shall I say, shortcomings when it comes to geography. I think it’s good when people can admit when something just isn’t there thing… and geography just isn’t mine. Still, there are times when I amaze even myself. My troubles go back many years to when I was in middle school. I remember it like it was yesterday. My friend DG was going on a run one Labor Day weekend and I decided to go with him (on my bike). He pointed out a place he wanted to run to and I told him no problem, I could get him there. I almost got him there… I think we only ended up about a mile from where he wanted to go. Not bad if you overlook the fact that we probably started a half a mile from where he wanted to go… and if you overlook the fact that we only ended up a mile from our target because we hit the harbor. Thank God we were on an island or we may have ended up 5 miles off target. So that was the first time I knew I had a problem. Later in life I would realize my problem when I noticed I was never able to drive to my Uncle Keith’s house without driving by the State House. While he does live in the Columbia area… he doesn’t really live that close to the State House. Oh, and it wasn’t like I was trying to drive by there… I just always ended up going by there. Lastly, when I was in college I would sometimes drive to visit Sonny. I never went the same way. I wanted to… I was just never able to. The Wife would say, “Well, does any of this look familiar?” To which I would reply, “YES! It all looks familiar! I’ve been lost so much I’ve seen EVERYTHING between Rock Hill and Sonny’s house!”

So it came as no shock to me the other day when I looked at a map of the good ol’ US of A. I have to admit, Detroit is closer to the east coast than I thought. I always pictured it due north of Texas. I didn’t realize San Diego was that close to Mexico or that San Francisco and Los Angeles aren’t right next to each other (ok, I found that one out while talking to Jeremy one night on the ride back from Rock Hill). For some reason, I pictured Vermont being on the left of New York. I had absolutely no clue that Boston is north of New York City. I also thought they were closer to each other than they are. And even though I’ve been to The Lake House multiple times, it wasn’t until sometime last year that I realized it isn’t near the cost of Georgia.

So geography isn’t really my thing. But that’s ok. I’m thankful I can laugh about it. I’m also thankful that maps have words on them and I’m able to read. Besides, I do know some things about geography… I know how to get to James Island and I know how to get to Rock Hill. I know that Columbia is the capital of South Carolina, Raleigh is the capital of North Carolina, Atlanta is the capitol of Georgia and that Cuba is the capital of Florida. And really, that’s all I need to know about US (or World) geography.