Helen Dortch Longstreet Birth Anniversary 2011

Today is April 20, 2011. On this day, back in the year 1863, Helen Dortch Longstreet was born. Helen was the second wife and widow of Confederate General James Longstreet. Helen was known as the "Fighting Lady" because she was involved in a number of causes including the creation of Confederate monuments, civil rights and the protection of the environment. In addition, she was a Rosie The Riveter during World War II.

In honor of her birthday, I thought that I would dig into the archives and pull out a few items ...

Here is an Associated Press photograph, most likely from the year 1958:


Here is a Life Magazine from December 27, 1943 with an article about her ...











With her husband, James:


Here are a three letters and a check. This blog entry can also be considered a brief signature study since there are three variations of her signature in this collection ...

There is VERY interesting content in this letter:










My video tribute to Helen Longstreet:

Walter Breuning Passed Away On Thursday At The Age Of 114

I found out about Walter Breuning's passing just before I went to a concert on Thursday night. Although Walter was already a Super-Centenarian, it seemed as if he would be around for many more years to come since he was doing so well. He was on no medication, he got around on his own with no trouble and still granted interviews and visits at his home in Great Falls, Montana. Walter Breuning had the distinction of being the last living American male born in the 1800s and the last male born during the Presidential Administration of Grover Cleveland. One of the lesser-known facts about Walter was that he did sign up to fight in World War I in 1916, yet, he was not called to duty.

Some of you will recall I posted about Walter back in 2009. One month prior to that I received an autograph from him through the mail. Here is the link:
http://michael-the-researcher.blogspot.com/2009/09/worlds-oldest-man-walter-breuning-turns.html

Since Walter allowed people to meet him, I was trying to schedule a visit. I looked at flights to Montana as recently as last month.  I could never work it out. It would have no doubt been an amazing experience.

This link features a brief interview with Walter when he was 110 (a link with additional videos can be found below the screen): http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/Breuning/index.html

Many more videos of Walter can be found on youtube, and there are many articles about him on the web.

Walter's passing means that there are only three living people left who were born in the year 1896: Besse Cooper of the United States, Chiyono Hasegawa of Japan and Venere Pizzinato of Italy. His passing also means that there is only one living male left who was born in the nineteenth century: Jiroemon Kimura of Japan (coincidentally today is Jiroemon's birthday).

Harry Coover, Inventor Of Super Glue, Passed Away At The Age Of 94

Harry Coover, born on March 6 1917, passed away on March 26, 2011. Although he passed on last month, I have used Harry Coover's product, and it has helped me out so I wanted to post a tribute for him despite the time that has elapsed. He discovered the compound that would later be marketed as Super Glue and Instant Krazy Glue. Many of you will remember the commercial with the man wearing a construction hat that was glued to a beam while he was hanging from it. The fact that is not as well known is perhaps the most important use of the product - it was administered to seal and patch soldiers' organs and wounds in the Vietnam War. In 2010, current United States President Barack Obama awarded Coover with the National Medal Of Technology And Innovation. Coover held no less than 460 patents. While Harry Coover has passed on, his invention will be around for some time to come. RIP.

Links of interest ...

1. http://www.webcitation.org/5uGAL9vWJ

2. https://youtu.be/JFbEsgLx0xk

Today Begins The American Civil War Sesquicentennial

Hello everyone. Today is the day the first shots of the War Between The States were fired. In honor of the day, I wore a Civil War tie from morning until night. Since youtube has many amazing and extraordinary videos pertaining to the Civil War , I thought I would embed a few of them. They range from archival footage of Reunions to interviews with "Real Children" of Civil War Veterans and I will close with a video from the conflict's Last Survivor.

On this day, the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War, I thought it proper to post this fantastic video with some amazing footage of actual Civil War Veterans. This video features clips from the 75th Anniversary Of Gettysburg Reunion from 1938. These people were actually in that conflict in the 1860s!! Very touching and moving. I know you will love it.  https://youtu.be/VgLUmiRLqW8

The real original authentic Rebel Yell from someone who was there!!  https://youtu.be/m1byof4IAHk

Awesome footage! Check out the people dancing and playing music!  https://youtu.be/7k4PMogA3ho

Incredible archival footage here: https://youtu.be/MIJaxu3w4-U

INCREDIBLE MEETING RIGHT HERE!!! MUST SEE!! Two guys whose fathers were actually in the Civil War and on opposite sides. See what they say to each other!! This was filmed quite recently (10-10-2009). I, myself, was in touch with a few "Real Children" of Civil War Vets in recent years too.  https://youtu.be/TLDDvim_F2w

True Union son and True Confederate son meet for the first time.  https://youtu.be/N4_EYr-wK80

Two "Real Sons" from last year. Their fathers were born in the 1840s!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGV54ZxxeZI

Here is an actual immediate son of a Union Veteran. He discusses his father's experience in the Civil War. This clip is a real treasure for all of us.  https://youtu.be/GoR2AuLPK5A

Finally ...

The sun has set on this 150th Anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. I decided to end the evening with the last ... the absolute last undisputed survivor of the War Between The States, Albert Woolson. He was a drummer boy during the conflict and lived from 1850 to 1956. This is a very sincere and touching video. NEVER FORGET Albert and all of the War's participants.  https://youtu.be/5Td4xzS6r2E

The 150th Anniversary Observance will last until April of 2015, and I will be showing all of you photographs of relics and giving you information on the many commemorative events as they are scheduled. Bless you all. Good night.

The American Civil War Sesquicentennial Begins In Mere Minutes ...

My friends: In less than ten minutes, the United States Of America will reach the date of April 12, 2011 and thus witness the 150th Anniversary of the most somber and solemn day in American History ... the beginning of our Civil War or War Between The States. On April 12, 1861, the first shots of the War were fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

I hope this day will be one of remembrance, thought and reflection for you. I invite all of you to visit a Civil War historic site or visit a cemetery that has a number of Veterans of the conflict interred therein on the twelfth.

Bless you all on this Sesquicentennial.

Operation Overlord: Assault On Vierville-Sur-Mer World War II Reenactment At Fort Mifflin On April 9, 2011

Fort Mifflin hosted another World War II reenactment yesterday ... this one being from D-Day (The Battle Of Normandy). It was specifically the Assault On Vierville-Sur-Mer in France which originally took place on June 6, 1944.



The 78th U.S. Infantry Division was involved in addition to other groups. The reenactors and living historians were very knowledgeable about their respective areas. Several camps were set up throughout the Fort. I toured the camps before and after the actual battle reenactment.

The photographs you see are from my first tour of the camps, the battle and my second tour of the camps ...



















































































I picked these brass shell casings up after the event:


The 78th provided this World War II reproduction notice (with a facsimile Dwight D. Eisenhower signature):


More photographs can be found at this link: http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u213/portaltothepast/Reenactments/World War II/Assault On Vierville-Sur-Mer 4-9-2011

Here is a video showing some of the reenactment:

<iframe width="425" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9VfDgTIcAvc" title="Operation Overlord: Assault On Vierville-Sur-Mer World War II Reenactment Held On 4-9-2011" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The video's url:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VfDgTIcAvc

At times I was holding the camcorder in one hand and the camera in the other!!

Upcoming events for the 78th Infantry can be found here: http://www.78thinfantry.org/Missions.htm