HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALLY!!!!!!

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Lieutenant Commander Walter Atlee Edwards (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on December 16, 1922 in the Sea of Marmora, Turkey. His citation reads:

For heroism in rescuing 482 men, women and children from the French military transport Vinh-Long, destroyed by fire in the Sea of Marmora, Turkey, on 16 December 1922. Lt. Comdr. Edwards, commanding the U.S.S. Bainbridge, placed his vessel alongside the bow of the transport and, in spite of several violent explosions which occurred on the burning vessel, maintained his ship in that position until all who were alive were taken on board. Of a total of 495 on board, 482 were rescued by his coolness, judgment and professional skill, which were combined with a degree of heroism that must reflect new glory on the U.S. Navy.

First Sergeant William D. Edwards (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on August 9, 1877, at Big Hole, Montana. His citation reads:

Bravery in action.

Sergeant Alan Louis Eggers (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on September 29, 1918, near Le Catelet, France. His citation reads:

Becoming separated from their platoon by a smoke barrage, Sgt. Eggers, Sgt. John C. Latham and Cpl. Thomas E. O'Shea took cover in a shell hole well within the enemy's lines. Upon hearing a call for help from an American tank, which had become disabled 30 yards from them, the 3 soldiers left their shelter and started toward the tank, under heavy fire from German machineguns and trench mortars. In crossing the fire-swept area Cpl. O'Shea was mortally wounded, but his companions, undeterred, proceeded to the tank, rescued a wounded officer, and assisted 2 wounded soldiers to cover in a sap of a nearby trench. Sgt. Eggers and Sgt. Latham then returned to the tank in the face of the violent fire, dismounted a Hotchkiss gun, and took it back to where the wounded men were, keeping off the enemy all day by effective use of the gun and later bringing it, with the wounded men, back to our lines under cover of darkness.


We at I’m just sayin… would like to wish my Labor Day cousin Sally and very Happy Birthday! We hope that Will and the kids help her have a great day!


The I’m just sayin… Know Your South Carolina Athlete

The Athlete we are going to look at today is Michael Jenkins. While Jenkins is from Kingston, North Carolina, he is honored in this spot today for his time as a shooting guard at Winthrop University. His first two seasons at Winthrop were… well… bad. And I’m being nice when I just say bad. I don’t really follow recruiting that closely, so I had no idea what to expect from MJ. That is, until Jeremy told me that Jenkins was a great 3 point shooter. I remember him shooting more air balls and bricks his first two seasons than I do him making shots. I do remember him playing good defense… because that was the only reason I could see him getting to play. He sure didn’t seem to be able to score a lot. Heading into his junior season (06-07), Winthrop signed perhaps its most hyped recruit ever (who happened to also be a shooting guard). Going to the first game of the season, I fully expected to see this freshman get a lot of playing time. I will go so far as to say I had kind of wanted MJ to leave after his sophomore season to free up his scholarship. So there we are at the first game of that season and Jenkins ties a school record for 3 pointers in a game (12). I believe he could have broken the record, but was taken out of the game because WU had such a huge lead in the second half. The hyped up freshman ended up red-shirting that season while MJ set a Winthrop record for made 3 pointers in a season with 100. Jenkins was an absolute stud his last two seasons at Winthrop. He was great shooting the ball and his defense always stayed at a high level. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say he was a big reason for Winthrop’s success those two seasons. I don’t think he was the type of player who would make a bad team great… but he was the type to make a bad team good and a good team great. He was that rare “scoring” guard who took pride in his defense. While at Winthrop, MJ was on 4 Big South Championship teams and the first (and so far only) Winthrop team to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. MJ made the All-Big South team twice and made the all tournament team once (in 2008 when he was the tournament MVP). Jenkins is a member of the 1,000 point club at Winthrop with 1,253 points. Of those 1,253 points, 975 were scored in his junior (502) and senior (473) seasons.

After playing at Winthrop, Jenkins has played professional basketball in Europe. While I know it’s not the NBA, I have to say MJ has done quite well over seas. And in all honesty, I believe he would do a fine job in the NBA. I don’t know if he’ll ever get the change (I doubt he will), but I know there are teams in the NBA who could use a player like him. They just aren’t smart enough to realize it… which might explain why they are in the position they are in. Anyway, congrats to MJ for being this weeks I’m just sayin… South Carolina Athlete You Should Know.