Sergeant Marcus M. Haskell (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on September 17, 1862, at Antietam, Maryland. His citation reads:
Although wounded and exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy, at the risk of his own life he rescued a badly wounded comrade and succeeded in conveying him to a place of safety.
Private First Class Joe R. Hastings (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 12, 1945, at Drabenderhohe, Germany. His citation reads:
He fought gallantly during an attack against strong enemy forces defending Drabenderhohe, Germany, from the dug-in positions on commanding ground. As squad leader of a light machinegun section supporting the advance of the 1st and 3d Platoons, he braved direct rifle, machinegun, 20mm., and mortar fire, some of which repeatedly missed him only by inches, and rushed forward over 350 yards of open, rolling fields to reach a position from which he could fire on the enemy troops. From this vantage point he killed the crews of a 20mm. gun and a machinegun, drove several enemy riflemen from their positions, and so successfully shielded the 1st Platoon, that it had time to reorganize and remove its wounded to safety. Observing that the 3d Platoon to his right was being met by very heavy 40mm. and machinegun fire, he ran 150 yards with his gun to the leading elements of that unit, where he killed the crew of the 40mm. gun. As spearhead of the 3d Platoon's attack, he advanced, firing his gun held at hip height, disregarding the bullets that whipped past him, until the assault had carried 175 yards to the objective. In this charge he and the riflemen he led killed or wounded many of the fanatical enemy and put 2 machineguns out of action. Pfc. Hastings, by his intrepidity, outstanding leadership, and unrelenting determination to wipe out the formidable German opposition, cleared the path for his company's advance into Drabenderhohe. He was killed 4 days later while again supporting the 3d Platoon.
Captain Smith H. Hastings (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 24, 1863, at Newbys Crossroads, Virginia. His citation reads:
While in command of a squadron in rear guard of a cavalry division, then retiring before the advance of a corps of infantry, was attacked by the enemy and, orders having been given to abandon the guns of a section of field artillery with the rear guard that were in imminent danger of capture, he disregarded the orders received and aided in repelling the attack and saving the guns.
This is my 600th post and, like you, I am worried about my friend Jenn over at Courtyard. Did she start a different blog (that she posts to) and just forget to tell me? Does she no longer read the internet? Has she run out of things to talk about (and if so, could she not talk about boat shoes and great things that are yet to be done in this city)? I could give her a call, but I don’t think the House of Clark takes calls after an Auburn loss. Perhaps she has simply forgotten that she has a blog? All the more reason for you to join my team in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s… just visit the link below.
http://act.alz.org/goto/imjustsayin
Or, if you “just” want to give, you can click on the link below.
http://act.alz.org/goto/greghorres
So here’s a question… who had the better win in Week 1… Clemson or USC? On one hand, Clemson only has ACC speed and yet they were able to beat a team with SEC West speed (which, as you’ll remember, is the faster of the super-fast SEC speeds). So you’d think they had the better win. After all, USC “just” beat a team with the slower SEC speed. But is that really true? Does the SEC divide speed by division or location? If it’s by division then I’d have to say Clemson had the more impressive win. But if it’s by location then I believe Vandy is farther west than Auburn (meaning they would be faster), which would make USC’s win more impressive.
Before we get to my weekend, I have a few people to thank… Thanks to Jane and AJ, Teresa Lynn, and my good friend and fellow blogger KC (who, even at an advanced age, remembers to post something quarterly to Our Life) for their recent donations. My team is in 4th place right now… I’d like to make a run in these last few weeks at first place. I need your help to do that. Please give!
As for my Labor Day Weekend… We left Summerville about 1:00 on Friday and made it to the lake house at about 6:00 (we stopped to eat supper and pick up some groceries… otherwise, we would have made it at 5:00). I think that was a record time for us with the kids. At least, it felt like a record time. The following people attended this year:
G1’s: Mom/Dad; Janie/DG; Ralice/Paul
G2’s: Sonny/Cougar; Teresa Lynn; Me/The Wife; Chandler; Jane; Sally; Jason/Julie; Ruth/Pete
G3’s: Allison, Austin, Leah, Ansley, Meredith, Mary Ruth, Susie, Daniel, Bliss, Mac, Annagray, Kenneth, Reece, Kyler.
Saturday was the big Labor Day Weekend Championship. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but as I was lining up my putt on the 18th green, the only thing going through my mind was:
“Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole!”
Then as we walked back to the car, all I could think of was:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have been to the Great Wall of China, I have seen the Pyramids of Egypt, I’ve even witnessed a grown man satisfy a camel. But never in all my years as a sportscaster have I witnessed something as improbable, as impossible, as what we’ve witnessed here today!”
You see, friends, Sonny and I beat DG and Paul like they were a couple of rented mules. We played skins (lowest score wins the hole… if there’s a tie for the lowest score then that hole is carried over to the next hole). Sonny and I won a combined 12 holes while DG and Paul combined for 6. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say this is Sonny’s greatest sporting accomplishment ever (and it’s on my list). I’m looking at getting us a trophy or at least a couple of t-shirts. To be fair to DG, he won all 6 holes for his team. To be fair to Paul, he didn’t play… it was just me, Sonny and DG out there. Individually, the 3 of us tied with 6 holes each… too bad for DG this was a team event. Oh, before I forget (like I’ll ever forget), I birdied a Par 3 (that had a lot of water between the tee and the green). It was an honest to goodness 2 shot birdie. I had a great time out there with the two of them.
The rest of Saturday was spent in the pool with my little fish Susie. Mary Ruth was hanging with the big kids in the “big pool” while I was in the “little pool” (the hot tub turned off) with Susie and some of the other little kids. Susie loves the pool. She loved showing me how she could shut her eyes when she jumped in the water.
Saturday night was all football all the time. The media room is a great place to watch a football game. The cabana is also a great place to watch a game (at least this time of year).
I think my favorite part about Sunday was sitting in the conversation area with a lot of the group and trying to piece together the history of this thing we have. I wish I’d recorded it because it was funny. The only thing I think we could all agree on is that we went to Ocracoke Island in 1989 (but the Janie branch of the family couldn’t make it because Sally had The Fever). So there we sat for hours and hours trying to figure out where we went this year or that year. Some of us were there for the whole time but others would come and go. Whenever someone would walk by, we’d ask… “Do you remember where we went in 19__?” and almost always the answer would be “Well, we went to Ocracoke in 1989 but Janie and them couldn’t make it because Sally had The Fever”. My humble advice to any of you out there who find yourself in a little tradition like this Labor Day thing we have… Take lots of notes and pictures. It was fun talking about all of the places we had been. At least one isn’t around anymore (I don’t think)… and even if it was, I’m pretty sure we couldn’t physically fit in it (even if we were all standing up). The lake house we stay at now has more entertainment in one room than we had in the whole house back then. It was great talking about where we started and then looking around at where we are now. For the most part, I would say my favorite years have always been the years when we all were staying under the same roof. That’s followed closely by years when everyone could make it.
I know I’m leaving some things out… I should have taken notes. Overall, it was a great weekend. I had a great time. I think this was the first year in a few years (maybe longer than that) that all of the “original” kids were there.
At least we have less than 360 days left until the start of Labor Day Weekend 2013. The countdown has started! I’m already looking forward to it.
The I’m just sayin… Quote of the Week
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. - Coach John Wooden
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