HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Specialist Fifth Class John J. Kedenburg (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on June 13, 1968, in the Republic of Vietnam. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp5c. Kedenburg, U.S. Army, Command and Control Detachment North, Forward Operating Base 2, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), distinguished himself while serving as advisor to a long-range reconnaissance team of South Vietnamese irregular troops. The team's mission was to conduct counter-guerrilla operations deep within enemy-held territory. prior to reaching the day's objective, the team was attacked and encircled by a battalion-size North Vietnamese Army force. Sp5c. Kedenburg assumed immediate command of the team which succeeded, after a fierce fight, in breaking out of the encirclement. As the team moved through thick jungle to a position from which it could be extracted by helicopter, Sp5c. Kedenburg conducted a gallant rear guard fight against the pursuing enemy and called for tactical air support and rescue helicopters. His withering fire against the enemy permitted the team to reach a preselected landing zone with the loss of only 1 man, who was unaccounted for. Once in the landing zone, Sp5c. Kedenburg deployed the team into a perimeter defense against the numerically superior enemy force. When tactical air support arrived, he skillfully directed air strikes against the enemy, suppressing their fire so that helicopters could hover over the area and drop slings to be used in the extraction of the team. After half of the team was extracted by helicopter, Sp5c. Kedenburg and the remaining 3 members of the team harnessed themselves to the sling on a second hovering helicopter. Just as the helicopter was to lift them out of the area, the South Vietnamese team member who had been unaccounted for after the initial encounter with the enemy appeared in the landing zone. Sp5c. Kedenburg unhesitatingly gave up his place in the sling to the man and directed the helicopter pilot to leave the area. He then continued to engage the enemy who were swarming into the landing zone, killing 6 enemy soldiers before he was overpowered. Sp5c. Kedenburg's inspiring leadership, consummate courage and willing self-sacrifice permitted his small team to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy and escape almost certain annihilation. His actions reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.

Master Sergeant Woodrow W. Keeble (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 20, 1951, in Korea. His citation reads:

Master Sergeant Woodrow W. Keeble distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy near Sangsan-ni, Korea, on October 20, 1951. On that day, Master Sergeant Keeble was an acting platoon leader for the support platoon in Company G, 19th Infantry, in the attack on Hill 765, a steep and rugged position that was well defended by the enemy. Leading the support platoon, Master Sergeant Keeble saw that the attacking elements had become pinned down on the slope by heavy enemy fire from three well-fortified and strategically placed enemy positions. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Master Sergeant Keeble dashed forward and joined the pinned-down platoon. Then, hugging the ground, Master Sergeant Keeble crawled forward alone until he was in close proximity to one of the hostile machine-gun emplacements. Ignoring the heavy fire that the crew trained on him, Master Sergeant Keeble activated a grenade and threw it with great accuracy, successfully destroying the position. Continuing his one-man assault, he moved to the second enemy position and destroyed it with another grenade. Despite the fact that the enemy troops were now directing their firepower against him and unleashing a shower of grenades in a frantic attempt to stop his advance, he moved forward against the third hostile emplacement, and skillfully neutralized the remaining enemy position. As his comrades moved forward to join him, Master Sergeant Keeble continued to direct accurate fire against nearby trenches, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Inspired by his courage, Company G successfully moved forward and seized its important objective. The extraordinary courage, selfless service, and devotion to duty displayed that day by Master Sergeant Keeble was an inspiration to all around him and reflected great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Coppersmith Philip B. Keefer (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 20, 1898, on board the USS Iowa. His citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. Iowa off Santiago de Cuba, 20 July 1898. Following the blow-out of a manhole gasket of that vessel which caused the fireroom to be filled with live steam and the floor plates to be covered with boiling water, Keefer showed courageous and zealous conduct in hauling fires from 2 furnaces of boiler B.


Before we get to the main part of the post, I must tip my cap to the Mayans and quote R.E.M. “It’s the end of the world as we know it… and I feel fine”.

Today we’d like to wish my Dad a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! To honor this date, we’re going to look at 70 things about Dad (and what was going on in the world when he was born).

1. Dad is older than rocks… or, at least he’s older than Howard’s Rock in Clemson’s Death Valley. Howard’s Rock was set up in Death Valley in September 1966… well AFTER Dad had graduated from Clemson.

2. I’ve never known Dad with dark hair.

3. I have a little scar on my right hand (you can still see it if the light hits it the right way) from when we both went for a foul ball at a James Island High School baseball game back when I was about 10 or 11 years old (his fingernail dug into my hand as I grabbed the ball a split second before him). Odd that I still have that scar after 20 years but I’ve got nothing to show for rolling my truck.

4. Dad used to like having Teresa Lynn scratch his head.

5. He would yell at us if we tried to tickle his feet.

6. I once heard Dad and Sonny talk about modifying a big wooden wardrobe to make it an entertainment center. They were speaking in Math, which sounds a lot like English but I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

7. Dad knows just enough about computers to want to try and use them.

8. He’s changed his house enough that only one or two rooms are the same as they were when he and Mom moved in.

9. I could probably count on one hand the number of times he missed one of my baseball games. That might not sound like a big deal to you, but I remember the times he left the house around 5:30 or 6:00 AM to head up to Columbia for meetings then made the trip down to Beaufort or Hilton Head to watch a high school baseball game then head home and wait up for me so we could talk about the game and then leave the house again the next morning at 5:30 or 6:00 to head up to Columbia for more meetings. So to me, it’s kind of a big deal.

10. Dad has 1 brother… a younger brother… my Uncle Keith.

11. Since Uncle Keith was born, Dad has never had his own room. He shared a room with Uncle Keith growing up, then he had a roommate in college, then he got married. There might have been a little bit of time between one of those things when he had his own room, but for the most part, he’s shared a room.

12. He graduated from Clemson College (his, I believe, was the last class to graduate before it became Clemson University). Based on his stories, it snowed an awful lot up in Clemson back then and all buildings were uphill. They also had classes non-stop from 7am to 7pm Monday – Saturday and Sunday was spent all day in church.

13. He has 3 children… Sonny, Teresa Lynn and his favorite (Me).

14. He’s still married to his first wife.

15. He has a lake house with my Mom and her cousins Jim and Deeny. Great, big house… Perfect for a family reunion or to get away with a large group of friends. Click here to check it out.

16. Coach McKissick was well into his coaching career at Summerville High School when Dad was born. (*Note: There is a chance this isn’t true… I didn’t have a lot of time to research it. But it felt right, so I decided to include it).

17. There were no Nobel Prizes awarded the year Dad was born.

18. World War II was well underway when Dad was born.

19. The great classic movie Casablanca premiered about a month before Dad was born.

20. The first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated the by Enrico Fermi the same month Dad was born.

21. Dad was born around the same time as the Battle of Guadalcanal.

22. Japan defeated Allied forces in the Philippines earlier in the year Dad was born.

23. About 11 months before Dad was born, the Nazis decided that the “final solution to the Jewish problem” was relocation and later extermination.

24. Helmut Schenk became the first person to escape from a stricken aircraft with an ejection seat.

25. The first (official) American forces arrived in Europe (landing in Northern Ireland) the year Dad was born.

26. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (aka, FDR… aka, Frankie D… aka, F Del Roo) signed an executive order directing the internment of Japanese Americans and the seizure of their property the year Dad was born. He also signed an executive order allowing the US military to define areas as exclusionary zones. Those zones affected the Japanese on the West Coast and Germans and Italians (primarily) on the East Coast.

27. Michael Crichton (best selling author) was born the same year Dad was born.

28. The Doolittle Raid took place the year Dad was born.

29. Battle of the Coral Sea (first battle in naval history where 2 enemy fleets fight without seeing each other's fleets) took place the year Dad was born.

30. The first African-American seamen were taken into the United States Navy the year Dad was born.

31. The Battle of Midway took place the year Dad was born.

32. Anne Frank made her first entry in her new diary the year Dad was born (she was 13).

33. Walt Disney released the film Bambi the year Dad was born.

34. King George VI was King of the United Kingdom when Dad was born.

35. The Alaska Highway was completed the year Dad was born.

36. The Battle of Stalingrad happened the year Dad was born.

37. The United States of America consisted of 48 states when Dad was born.

38. Dad was born 82 years (and 1 day) after South Carolina left the Union.

39. He was born about 74 years after South Carolina rejoined the Union.

40. When Dad was born, James Island was still mainly farms/plantations.

41. Operation Torch was fought the year Dad was born.

42. Capitol Records was founded by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs the year Dad was born.

43. The album Holiday Inn by Bing Crosby was released the year Dad was born.

44. The Top 5 Songs (in order 1-5) when Dad was born were: White Christmas by Bing Crosby; Moonlight Cocktail by Glenn Miller; (I’ve Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo by Glenn Miller; Tangerine by Jimmy Dorsey and Jingle, Jangle, Jingle by Kay Kyser.

45. Some famous people in music born the same year as Dad include: Country Joe McDonald, Edwin Starr (War), Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane), Graham Nash (The Hollies, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Carole King, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Bobby Rydell, Tammy Wynette, Curtis Mayfield, Paul McCartney (The Quarrymen, Wings and I think some little garage band called the bugs or something like that… Beatles, I think… maybe that’s it… The Beatles), Brian Wilson (a little group called The Beach Boys), Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead), B. J. Thomas, Isaac Hayes, Richard Street (The Temptations), Melvin Franklin (The Temptations), Lee Greenwood, Jimi Hendrix, Dave Clark (The Dave Clark Five)

46. Other famous people born the year Dad was born: Muhammad Ali, Sandra Dee, Peter Tomarken (host of Press Your Luck).

47. The US War Production Board halted the manufacturing of television and radio equipment for consumer use the year Dad was born.

48. Rogers Hornsby was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame the year Dad was born.

49. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 1 in the World Series the year Dad was born.

50. The Kansas City Monarchs beat the Homestead Grays, 4 games to none in the Negro League World Series the year Dad was born.

51. Byron Nelson won The Masters the year Dad was born.

52. Sam Snead won the PGA Championship the year Dad was born.

53. The US Open and the British Open were not played the year Dad was born due to a little misunderstanding we in the business (and by the business I mean the industry) like to call WWII.

54. Richard Manning Jefferies was the governor of South Carolina the year Dad was born. When Governor Burnet R. Maybank resigned in November 1941 to serve in the United States Senate, Lieutenant Governor J. Emile Harley succeeded to office. Harley, suffering from throat cancer, died less than three months later, and Jefferies succeeded him as governor on March 2, 1942.

55. Burnet R. Maybank and Ellison D. Smith were the US Senators from South Carolina when Dad was born.

56. L. Mendel Rivers*, Hampton Fulmer, Butler B. Hare, Joseph R. Bryson, James P. Richards, John L. McMillan** were all US Representatives from South Carolina when Dad was born. (*Note: He still held the same office when Sonny was born; **He still held the same office when Sonny AND Teresa Lynn were born).

57. Henry Whilden Lockwood was the Mayor of Charleston when Dad was born.

58. Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper was released the year Dad was born.

59. The following were Academy Award Winners the year Dad was born:

Best Picture: Mrs. Miniver - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Best Director: William Wyler - Mrs. Miniver

Best Actor: James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy

Best Actress: Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver

Best Supporting Actor: Van Heflin - Johnny Eager

Best Supporting Actress: Teresa Wright - Mrs. Miniver

60. Dad was born just 6 years after the Baseball Hall of Fame was established.

61. Dad was born 1 year after Lou Gehrig died.

62. There were only 27 men in the Baseball Hall of Fame when Dad was born.

63. Dad was born 5 years before Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

64. Dad was born 5 years before the United States Air Force became a separate branch of the military under the National Security Act of 1947.

65. Dad was born 27 years before the US sent a man to the moon.

66. The CIA was formed almost 5 years after Dad was born.

67. The Basketball Hall of Fame was established 17 years AFTER Dad was born.

68. Heck, the game of basketball was invented only 51 years before Dad was born.

69. Dad was born 21 years before the Pro Football Hall of Fame was established.

70. Dad was born the same year Clemson’s Memorial Stadium was built (capacity was 20,500)… It was 6 years after Dad was born that Lonnie McMillian gave the field the nickname “Death Valley”. The Legendary Coach Frank Howard was coach of the Tigers back then. 11 years after Dad was born, the Atlantic Coast Conference was formed.

Now, let us take a look at 70 pictures of Dad.


70 Pictures of Dad

Dad with his Granddaddy (MaMa's dad).

Uncle Keith, MaMa, Da, Mom and Dad before Uncle Keith and Aunt JoJo's wedding.  Note how Da looks in this picture because you will notice he looks pretty much the same in future pictures (even though they were taken years or decades later).

Dad - 1st Anniversary

Da, Great-Granddaddy, Dad and Sonny

Sonny and Dad

Dad, Mom, Teresa Lynn and Sonny at home

Dad, Mom, Sonny and Teresa Lynn - at home - This was a sad looking family PG (Pre-Greg)

Mom, Dad, Sonny and Teresa Lynn - They sure had an ugly son back then.

Dad - about to try out for the Bee Gee's... But hey, it looks good on him.

Dad, Sonny and Da

Dad - Don't make fun of the shirt... he probably still has it.

I think this was his birthday around the mid-1970s...

Mom, Dad, Teresa Lynn and Sonny - Sonny's birthday

Mom, Dad, Teresa Lynn and Sonny - I love looking at the clothes and furniture in these old pics

Dad over at MaMa and Da's house

The 3 funniest men in my life - Dad, Da and Uncle Keith

HEY LOOK EVERYONE!  I'M IN THE FAMILY NOW! - Here we see Dad holding his favorite (me), Teresa Lynn, Mom and #1 in your programs but #2 in their hearts - Sonny

I don't think I'm speaking out of turn when I say that I make this picture worth having.  Dad, Mom, Me, Sonny and Teresa Lynn in our church picture

Mom and Dad at Aunt Yvonne's first apartment

Mom and Dad on their anniversary (don't remember which one)

Mom, Teresa Lynn and Dad - Sonny took this picture

The whole family (back then) - Teresa Lynn, Me, Dad, Sonny, Great-Granddaddy (seated), MaMa (behind Sonny), Mom, Aunt JoJo, Uncle Keith, Jason, Scott and Da

This picture is brought to you by Aunt Yvonne.  Half of Sonny, Mom, Me (with my long hippie hair), Teresa Lynn, Dad and reflection of Dad

Dad and Uncle Keith with some of their cousins...

Mom, Sonny, Me, Teresa Lynn and Dad - outside our home - early 1980s - and yes, I do think it looks like Teresa Lynn is picking her nose.

Teresa Lynn and Dad with his special birthday cake

Dad and Mom at Dad's 40th birthday party

Dad - in Aunt Sister's backyard

Deeny, Mom, Mary Beth (in the back), Jim and Dad after getting caught in the rain in New York City

Mom and Dad at Ashley River Baptist Church

Sonny and Dad around the early 1990s

Dad with Me in the backyard - I'm holding a trophy I got for all of the books I read over the summer that year. Yes, I still have the trophy.  You can tell in this picture that Dad is proud to have at least one son who is able to read.

Dad wearing a hat that he loved... and Mom hated

Dad, Mom, Teresa Lynn, Sonny, Me and the greatest dog ever... Dach

Dad on his birthday with a pair of his famous reading glasses (I think he had about 30 pairs of these glasses around the house)

Dad with MaMa and Mom

Dad and Mom

Dad - on his birthday - not sure which one (50 something)

Dad at a family reunion in 1997

Dad, Me, Mom and Sonny on November 14, 1992

Dad, Sonny, Mom, Me and Teresa Lynn

Dad and MaMa

Granny, MaMa, Teresa Lynn, Da, Dach (wearing a tie), Me and Dad

Me, Dad, Mom and Teri - my guess is Father's Day 1997

Me, Mom and Dad - pretty much standing in the same spot that some of the earlier PG pictures were taken - the house sure has changed over the years.

The Wife, Me and Dad in our first apartment

Mary Beth, Alan, Kami, Me and Dad on the subway in New York City after seeing the Statue of Liberty - I am SICK - I mean, I feel REAL BAD (got motion sick on the visit to Lady Liberty). Dad got me a water and let me lean on him...

Mom, Dad, Me, Teresa Lynn and Brent - all of us in our Sunday best... well, except Dad.

Mom and Dad - see, Dad can dress up

Mom, Me and Dad at my graduation from Winthrop

Ansley and Dad

Austin and Dad

Dad - Labor Day 1999

Dad - Labor Day 2000

Dad and Allison

Brent, Sonny, Me and Dad

Dad - Thinking "How great would it be if Teresa Lynn and Sonny were more like Greg"

Dad on a cruise ship

Dad at Aunt Yvonne and Uncle George's house

Me and Dad

Dad with my Labor Day Uncles DG and Paul

Leah and Dad

Mom, Sonny and Dad

Sonny, Dad, Cougar, Mom, Me, Teresa Lynn and Brent - At the wedding of a Labor Day family member (not 100% which one) - DG took this picture... counting using his middle finger (that explains the look on Teresa Lynn's face)

Teresa Lynn and Dad before Sonny's wedding (I think)

Uncle Keith, MaMa and Dad... showing me how they watched TV when they were growing up...

Me, Dad, Austin and Sonny - 2002

Easter 2011 - Susie, Ansley, Mary Ruth, Leah, Meredith, Allison, Austin, Dad, Me, Sonny, Cougar, Mom, The Wife, Daniel, Teresa Lynn, Brent and Susan...

Teresa Lynn, Meredith and Dad...



Mary Ruth, Mom, Susie, Dad and Daniel - in Branchville 2012...



Happy Birthday Dad! We love you!