My Top 5

As 2010 winds down, there are many lists being compiled, the best of the year stuff. I thought, how about a list dealing with battlefield studies? Not only studies published in 2010, but all-time. Only the definitive apply here. Looking for the best of the best! Are you game?

There are only 2 restrictions. First, the US (or Colonies) had to be involved directly. Second, I ask that the study be limited to only one campaign/battle.

My list is heavy with CW titles, since that's my main focus. My Top 5 are as follows:

5 -- Ed Bearrs' Vicksburg trilogy

I agree that Ed's writing is Sahara dry. However, Bearrs' Vicksburg study is a classic. In the word's of Ian Fleming's most famous character, it is a martini, shaken not stirred, and delivered in a champagne goblet. I can't see anyone EVER being more definitive when it comes to Vicksburg. It is not an easy or entertaining read. It is only for the most devout battlefield stomper and historian.

4 -- William Shea's Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign

Released in 2009, it is the youngest. This is required reading for the Stamp Guys summer 2011 Trans-MS trip. Thanks Pete for putting this together. My CW bucket list will be cut in half!

3 -- Richard B. Frank's Guadalcanal

What a massive undertaking! A lot more indepth than my first historical read, the diary of journalist Richard Tregaskis. I tried to think of another definitive WW2 book, but drew a blank. But then again, I am not as learned on the conflict as others in our group.

2 -- Frank O'Reilly's The Fredericksburg Campaign: Winter War on the Rappahannock

A tour by Frank and a read of this study will make one quite proficient on Fredericksburg. This is my favorite CW city, equidistant between Richmond & DC.

1 -- John Hennessy's Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas

IMHO, this is the BEST battlefield study ever written. Bar none! Jamie, the Stamp Guys' founding father, is prominently mentioned in the acknowledgements. It has all the important ingredients -- AOP's Fifth Corps and Zouaves! But seriously, I wish Mr. Hennessy would take time off from his NPS job to write again. His last book was a masterpiece!

Comments welcome.

Mike

Ft. Stephenson Wrap-up

Most, if not all, of the items posted here came courtesy of the following wonderful website:

http://www.sandusky-county-scrapbook.net/FtStephenson.htm

Another URl to check is:

http://www.archive.org/stream/93danniversaryof00keel#page/n3/mode/2u

 

This site is too cool. If prompted to do so, it will read the book for you.

 

Mike

 

 

More Ft. Stephenson

Lt. Col. Shortt repoted by Croghan as "dead in the ditch:"

In 1909-10 Col. Webb C. Hayes of Fremont corresponded with the Shortt family in England. Three of James S. Shortt's children were then deceased, the son (unmarried) and two daughters. The daughter then living there was the widow of Col. Robert Armstrong. She owned an oil painting of her grandfather Lt. Col. Wm. C. Shortt, painted when he was in the 24th Regiment. By her kindness a photo of it, reproduced above, was sent to Col. Hayes. (The name is correctly spelled Shortt.)

If Webb Hayes were alive today he'd be a "Stamp Guy."

Festooning/Ft. Stephenson After Action Reports

The after action report of Major Croghan states:

LOWER SANDUSKY, August 3, 1813,

General Harrison

Dear Sir:The enemy made an attempt to storm us last evening, but was repulsed, with the loss of at least two hundred killed, wounded, and prisoners. One Lieutenant Colonel (Short), a Major, and a Lieutenant, with about forty privates, are dead in our ditch. I have lost but one in killed and but few wounded. Further statements will be made you by the bearer.

GEO. CROGHAN
Major, Comdg. Fort Sandusky

P.S. - Since writing the above two soldiers of the of the 41st Regiment have gotten in, who state that the enemy have retreated. In fact, one of their gun-boats is within three hundred yards of our works-said to be loaded with camp equipage, &c.- which they in their hurry have left.

GEO. CROGHAN

A true copy,

John O'Fallon

Aid-de-Camp.

And the Brits put their spin on the event:

[From a newspaper clipping in the Hayes Scrapbooks vol. 12, p. 16]

HEADQUARTERS, ST. DAVIDS,

NIAGARA FRONTIER 25TH AUG., 1813

My Lord:
Major General Proctor having given way to the clamour of our Indian allies to act offensively moved forward on the 20th Ultimo, towards the Enemy, with about 350 of the 41st Regiment, and between three and four thousand Indian warriors, and on the 2d instant attempted to carry by assault the Block Houses and works at Sandusky, where the enemy had concentrated a considerable force. He however soon experienced the timidity of the Indians when exposed to the fire of musketry and Cannon in an open country, and how little dependence could be put upon their numbers. Previous to the assault they could scarcely muster as many hundreds as they had before thousands, and as soon as it had commenced they immediately withdrew themselves out of reach of the Enemy's fire; - they are never a disposable force; - the handful of His Majesty's troops employed on this occasion, displayed the greatest bravery, nearly the whole of them having reached the Fort and made every effort to enter it, but a galling and destructive fire being kept up by the enemy within the Block houses and from behind the picketing which completely protected them, and which we had not the means to force, the Major General thought it most prudent not to continue longer so unavailing a contest. He accordingly drew off the assailants and returned to Sandwich with the loss of 25 killed, as many missing, and about 40 wounded. Amongst the former are Brevet Lt. Colonel Shortt, and Lieut. J. G. Gordon of the 41st Regiment.

I have the honor to be, My Lord, Your Lordships most obedient and most humble servant,

George Prevost.

To the Right Honorable Earl Bathurst, &c.

"Festooned With Portraits" or, A Stamp Guys Trip to Fremont, Ohio

On Sunday, December 12, 2010, Tim, Mike, Pete and I (Jamie) set out for a trip to Fremont, Ohio, to tour the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, on the grounds of the Hayes home at Spiegel Grove.  Tim, Pete and I had stopped there on our way up to Put-in-Bay on July 25 (see previous Stamp Guys blog entry) to visit the graves of the 19th President and his wife. We were very  impressed by the grounds.  Later that day, at the Perry Monument in Put-in-Bay, we discovered that Fremont was the site of a critical American victory in the War of 1812 when on August 1, 1813 Major George Croghan and 160 U.S. Regulars defended Fort Stephenson against a large force (2,000+) of Indians under Tecumseh and British Regulars (400+), including units (such as the 41st Foot) that had fought under the Duke of Wellington on the Iberian Peninsula against Napoleon, under General Proctor.   This double whammy was all the reason the Stamp Guys needed to return to Fremont for a full day of touring.

Mike drove from Pickerington to Westerville, where he met up with Tim and me. We drove to Delaware and picked up Pete at 9:00 am, and then headed north on Route 23. As soon as we cleared Delaware (the birthplace of Rutherford B. Hayes), the drizzle turned into sleet and then quickly converted to snow, which began to stick to the ground (and road) almost immediately.  As we made our way northwest, the snow got heavier and the roads began to get a little slick. We had planned to get off Route 23 in Upper Sandusky, and then travel north through Tiffin (where William Henry Harrison was ensconsed in Fort Senaca on August 1, 1813) and then "up" the Sandusky River (which runs from south to north into Lake Erie) to its navigable headwaters at the town of Fremont, which was called Lower Sandusky in 1813. However, the nervous Columbus natives in the vehicle (a 2006 four wheel drive Ford Expedition)  prevailed upon me to continue up Route 23 to Findlay, so we would have much more four lane highway rather than twisty two-lane country roads.  When we turned off the four lane and headed through the F towns (Findlay, Fostoria and then finally Fremont), the snowfall got heavier and actually obliterated most of the road signs facing us as we travelled east toward our destination.  We had a lot of fun guessing what the snow-covered signs might have to say, and we had to make a couple of course adjustments on the fly when we were finally able to see the odd uncovered route sign that indicated we were not quite on the right road. Luckily, Pete had brought along his Ohio Gazeeter Map, and he was able to expertly find course-correcting routes. Lou Wallace my ass! 

We arrived in Fremont about 11:40 am, and parked in a snow covered lot at the Hayes Center. The ground crew was working hard, and had cleared the roads within Spiegel Grove of their snow, and had also cleared the many walking paths.  Since the Museum and Home were not scheduled to open until Noon, we headed to the grave site set back in the Grove.  When we got there, we were surprised to find a Master Lock on the gate.  We were able to walk around the fence to get a somewhat obscured view of the graves, and of the stone marking the final resting spot of Webb Hayes, the President's second son. Webb was an extraordinary soldier; he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts in the Phillipine Insurrection.  As we found out during the tour of the Museum and the House, Webb Hayes may have been an even better forager/scrounger than a soldier, based on the booty and spoils of war that he sent home. Despite the disappointment of not being able to get inside the fence to the graves,Tim did find some consolation in the friendly advances of a brown squirrel (obviously a female).

We then headed back to the magnificent Hayes home, where the kind docent allowed us to spend a few moments on the spacious front porch out of the driving snow as we waited the last few minutes for the Museum and House to open.    At noon, we strolled through the snow over to the Museum, bought our tickets ($11 with a AAA discount) and then spent some time in the museum gift store (where Mike and I bought hat pins) before heading back over to the Home for the 12:30 guided tour.  The tour started right on time, and was supposed to last 45 minutes. However, since the four Stamp Guys were the only folks in the tour, the knowledgable tour guide expanded the time frame for us.  The home is going through a renovation to remove design features (wallpaper, paint, light switches, power outlets, curtains etc.) added in the 1940's and 1950's and to return the home to its 1880's appearance when Rutherford and his wife Lucy returned with their family from the White House. Luckily, the home stayed in the Hayes family until it was donated in 1965 to the Foundation that runs it now, so the Foundation has pictures of every room from the 1880's era.   The tour guide explained in detail how they are matching fabrics for couches and wall coverings.  The neat thing about the Home is that all of the furniture is original, as well as the protraits, knick-knacks and Victorian bric-a-brac. 

As the tour guide showed us one room (Mrs. Hayes bedroom), she explained that the walls were bare because the electricians were working on removing 1920's wiring to replace it with more modern wiring.  She showed us a picture of what the bedroom looked like when Lucy Webb Hayes occupied the room, noting the Victorian era tendency to cover up every square inch of the walls with portraits, pictures and sundry articles.  Tim then blurted out the quote of the day "You mean, if we come back after you finish the renovation, these walls will be festooned with portraits?" Now, if the kind tour guide thought that a bunch of middle age guys from Central Ohio who were visiting the Hayes home on a snowy late Fall Sunday during a Cleveland Browns game were perhaps questionable in their orientation, Tim's comment certainly cemented her view of the cut of our collective jib.

We completed our tour of the remainder of the house, which included many excellent portraits of the family, including a life size portrait of Hayes as the President, and a great portrait of Webb Hayes, who looks like a Teddy Roosevelt clone.  In addition to his MOH, Webb was also awarded the Order of the Dragon by the Imperial government of China for his work in the China Relief Expedition (also known as the Boxer Rebellion). One room of the house had an old carpet, worn nearly threadbare, woven with a huge dragon design.

After completing our house tour, we headed back over to the Museum to thoroughly review its contents.  We watched the movie (which was on a continuous loop, so we started five minutes in to the 15 minute film, and then watched the first five minutes at the end).  The movie was good and informative, if a little dry.  In the museum itelf, we were impressed by the many displays of Rutherford's items, including all of his officer shoulder boards from his Civil War service when he advanced from Major of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry to Major General (brevet).  The museum included the flag of the 23rd OVI, which impressed the heck out of us Civil War aficianados.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the Museum was the "gun room" which included many firearms and other curios collected by "Rud" and Webb over the years.  The personal weapons of General George Crook, the colleague of Rud during the Civil War and the "godfather" of Webb, are part of the collection.  Swivel guns captured from Phillipine pirates, the capstan of The Maine, a gunner's leather thimble from the Bonhomme Richard and a cannon captured in China that was made by the Tartars in approximately 1650 were only some of the jaw-dropping items in this collection. 

We completed our time at the Museum with a review of an "odds & ends" display of some of the more esoteric items included in the Hayes collection and a trip to a large downstairs room with a Christmas-themed model train display.  Then, we headed outside into the snow & cold to find the Fort Stephenson site.

We drove through snowy Fremont toward the site of the battle, which is only a few blocks from the Hayes Center. Of course, we didn't ask for directions and relied upon our review of maps in the Hayes Museum that described the 1813 clash of arms.  Funny, but there were a few minor changes in the lanscape between 1813 and 2010, so we had to meander through slush-filled side strets as we searched for the site.  We knew that the Birchard Library had been built on the former site of Fort Stephenson, and that there was suppossed to be a monument in a park next to the site.  I had seen pictures of the Birchard Library online, and it looked like a large and impressive structure; frankly, I expected that it would dominate downtown Fremont. Reality, however was pleasantly different. Downtown Fremont actually has a number of large, impressive structures, handsomely set on sweeping boulevards with large lawns facing quaint squares filled with monuments and memorials.  Luckily, the snow and the on-going Browns game conspired to keep vehicular traffic to a trickle, so we had time to pause, ponder, pontificate and point as we looked for the Fort Stephenson site.  Finally, we saw a roadside plague with language indicating it was a British artillery position.  We stopped and got out, and read the marker. 

 The sign indicated where the Fort site should be, but we couldn't see the Library or monument because of an intervening modern commercial building.  However, we wandered into a park across the street from the sign, and then were able to clear the obstruction and finally see the snow encrusted monument, with an artillery piece sitting at its base.

The Battle of Fort Stephenson gets very little publicity, even in detailed accounts of the War of 1812.  I don't think the battle was even mentioned in my 7th Grade Ohio History class at Auburn Road Middle Schoool in Painesville Township, Ohio. The links provided here will give you a good explanation of the battle, which deserves to be rescued from obscurity as we approach its bicentennial.  The powerful British-Indian force was supported by artillery and by gunboats on the Sandusky River.  The enemy force had inspiring leadership in the legendary Shawnee Tecumseh, and hard-bitten, European-trained & equipped fighters who cut their teeth agains the best Napoleon could throw against them in the 41st Regiment of Foot.  They were faced by a group of U.S. solders that they outnumbered 15 to 1, led by a young Major (age 21) who had received orders to retreat from the equally legendary William Henry Harrison (subordinate captain to "Mad" Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1794 and the victor at Tippecanoe over the Tecumseh-led confederation in 1811). Yet, despite these factors, Major George Croghan led a masterful, determined defense, moving his sole artillery piece (chistened "Old Betsy" by the soldiers) from place to place in a deadly game of cat & mouse with the experienced British gunners.  After Croghan instructed Betsy to cease firing and to be hidden, Tecumseh demanded that General Proctor send his redcoats in an assualt against the Fort. Croghan then ordered Betsy to be placed in a position OUTSIDE the fort to enfilade the expected frontal attack, and the poor guys from the 41st marched right into the cunning Major's trap.

Map of the Battle of Fort Stephenson - August 2, 1813 as published in THE HISTORY OF THE WELSH REGIMENT - 1719-1914. Birchard Library now stands on site of old fort. Ravine is Croghan Street.

Their reception by the brave defenders convinced Proctor that he couldn't capture the fort, and the powerful force retreated back toward Detroit.  A little over five weeks later, Oliver Hazard Perry won his epic vicory on Lake Erie, and a about a month after that fateful September day, Proctor surrendered his force to Harrison near Thamesville, Ontario, leaving Tecumseh to fight alone and meet his fate in a Canadian swamp. Fort Stephenson needs to be visited by everyone who has an interest in the history of this part of the country; it was a key turning point in the War, and helped seal forever the suzerainity of the United States over Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

We drove from the sign marking the British artillery position to the Fort site, and walked the grounds of the Library.  Interestingly, the Library was built by Rutherford Hayes' Uncle Sardis, who must have been one heck of a businessman.  He also paid for Rud to go to college (Kenyon) and law school (some dreary place in Cambridge, Massachsetts) and built Spiegel Grove as summer home!  The grounds of the Birchard Library contain a monument topped by a Civil War soldier, but dedicated to solders of several eras, including the defenders of Fort Stephenson (see photos). 

We then approached the artillery piece at its base and found out that we were in the presence of History.  The piece is Old Betsy.  Not a reproduction. Not some random tube selected by a grudging bureaucrat from his inventory in an Army arsenal.   Old Betsy!!!!! The same metal that hurled projectiles that tore through the ranks of the red-coated regulars; the same smooth bore whose roar was heard by Tecumseh.  Sitting quietly in the open, in a park-like setting on a hilltop outside a library in Fremont, Ohio,  is a piece of history that should thrill you.  

Old Betsy certainly thrilled us.  We took our pictures, grinning like fools in the cold as we shared the Stamp Guys brotherhood of being at places that were turning points in the great flow chart of human experience; all of us, whose families and co-workers shake their heads in bemusement, clucking their tongues over our nerd-like interest in long dead shadowy figures who don't resemble the latest gossip-rag description of toned abdominal-muscled humanity;  who wonder why we stand in now-quiet fields, mud-spattered legs cut by brambles and crawling with ticks as yellowjackets angrily buzz our ears, to get the same view of a distant woodline that long-forgotten, confused and exhausted young men toting heavy smoothbore muskets had when they were thrust into the maw of combat; and who stare at places like the slope in front of the Birchard Library, which is now a modern asphalt street travelled by thouands of vehicles a year whose drivers have no idea that their tires are gently presurring the blood-drenched soil beneath the pavement. 

We left the Birchard Library site and drove across the Sandusky River to get a perspective on where the British gun boats would have been positioned. Interestingly, these same gun boats would do battle with and be captured by Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie.

We then returned to town; hit an Arby's for a late lunch, and then drove through the drifting snow to Columbus, warmed by the rembrances of our great day in Fremont.



The Buckeye Stamp Quest 2010: Alpha & Omega (or James A. Garfield and William Howard Taft NPS Sites)

On June 5, 2010, I was in Mentor, Ohio for the funeral of my friend's mother.  I grew up in Painesville Township, Ohio, just east of Mentor on Route 20, and I toured Lawnview, the home of President James A. Garfield, with my grade school class from Clyde C. Hadden Elementry School.  As a 12 year old, I was thrilled by the story of Brigadier General Garfield riding through the Confederate Army of Tennessee to stand tall with "Pap" Thomas on Snodgrass Hill, where Thomas earned his sobriquet "The Rock of Chickamauga."  [SIDE NOTE: The Civil War monument on the Town Square in Painesville is an obelisk with names of four battles, including Chickamauga, so apparently some Painesville boys were there with Garfield. In fact, Garfield gave a speech at the dedication of the monument].  When I found out that the bearded, staid Garfield also went by the nickname "Jamie" in the 19th century, I knew I had found a guy I could look up to.  On the other hand, the 12 year old Jamie was less than thrilled to walk through room after boring room in an old house that looked like my Grandmother decorated it. 
Lawnview was not a NPS site when I visited in 1972, so I didn't feel entitled to get a stamp until I took the time to tour the site again.  Therefore, I got up early on the morning of the funeral service and toured the site, which was less than a mile from the Brunner Funeral Home (which also held the funerals of both of my parents). The Park Service has gathered several monuments, busts and plaques regarding Garfield to line a walkway leading up to a museum that has been built in a barn-like structure behind the house. This is where you get your stamp (see below). 

The museum covered all phases of Garfield's life, from his birth in a log cabin in Geauga County, Ohio (the last President so born), to his hard scrabble education, to his meteoric rise to the top of the newly-formed Republican party in the late 1850's, to his Civil War service, post-war economic success (which allowed him to acquire the stately home), his long tenure in the House of Representatives and finally his ill-fated presidency.  There were a number of cool relics related to his assasination and long, lingering march to death, including the last letter he wrote to his mother, telling her that he was feeling better every day. The museum also had a great diorama of Snodgrass Hill, and the NPS ranger on site (a young woman) was able to answer correctly a number of Quiz Bowl questions from me about Garfield's service that day (she did not buy into any romanticized tripe about Garfield courageously riding through volleys of lead while his commander, Major General William Starke Rosecrans, cowardly headed for the rear).

After the great tour of the museum, I joined a guided tour of the house and found out that the 50 year old was not so different from the 12 year old.  The tour was fine, but nothing special; perhaps I had seen all there was to see in 1972!

After touring Lawnview, I atteneded the memorial service and reception at the Assemblies of God Church in Mentor-on-the-Lake, where the Reverend James Porostosky is the Pastor. Jim is the cousin of my great friend Scott Kalman, whose mother's (Margaret Porostosky Kalman)  life we were celebrating.  When the reception drew to a close, it was about 3:00 pm, and I headed home for Columbus.  Since I was so close to Lake Erie, I grabbed the Shoreway (Route 2) and headed toward downtown Cleveland, intending to get Route 71 there.  As I headed west, my thoughts drifted over the comforting word's from Pastor Jim's eulogy about his beloved aunt, and the sad & tragic death of Garfield, and I suddenly realized that I would be driving close to Garfield's final resting place in Lake View Cemetery.  This place, hard by the campus of Case-Western Reserve University and the sprawling mega-complex of the Cleveland Clinic on the east side of Cleveland, is simply stunning.  If anyone doubts that Cleveland was once one of the wealthiest places in the United States, they will be silenced after a few minutes among the glories of Lake View.  The most famous monument is the 180 foot tall mausoleum holding the remains of President Garfield, his wife, daughter and son-in-law (see picture).  I got to the monument just as it closed for the day, so I was not able to tour the interior (but I will do so again soon!).  I spent a little time wandering to the burial plots of John D. Rockefeller, Charles Brush, John Hay  and other Cleveland royalty before the drizzle turned into a rain that sent me back into my car, heading east on Mayfield Road to Route 271 and a trip back to the friendly confines of Westerville, Ohio.

The trip to Lawnview and the Garfield Monument made me start a quest to get all the NPS stamps in Ohio during 2010.  I have stamps from Alaska, Arizona and Utah, but I didn't have all the Ohio stamps.  It simply was time to get down to business and enjoy the sites the Buckeye State had to offer.  Many of the posts in this blog leading up to today's entry have dealt with Buckeye Quest 2010.  I made the final entry today because I was able to tour the final site, the William Howard Taft NPS site in Cincinnati, over the Thanksgiving break because we decided to celebrate the holiday with my sister-in-law's family in the Queen City.

On November 26, the Friday after Thanksgiving, we woke up in Cincinnati to a thin coating of snow on the ground, dazzling white in the sun of a cloudless, cold day that only results from a Canadian high pressure cell diving down below the Great Lakes.  I hustled the family out of bed and on to breakfast, and then sent my wife home with her mother and my son. I took the other car (my wife's 2006 Ford Expedition), my 22 year old daughter Molly and her boyfriend Charlie Geer, and drove from the far east side of Cincinnati (Clermont County actually), down into Kentucky and back across the Ohio River into downtown Cincinnati. Molly navigated on her I Phone (flawlessly, I might add, which is a big difference from many of my Stamp Guy-aided trips), and we soon were winding up a steep street to Mount Auburn and the NPS site.  The site has a recently built (1999) visitors center and a small parking lot next to the Taft family home.  We went into the VC, got my stamp (see below), and bought the obligatory hat pins (one for me and one for Brian Hall) and refrigerator magnets. I also bought a neat (recreation) campaign button from Taft's (succesful) 1908 campaign, and got park brochures and stamped them for Pete and Brian. 

We watched a 15 minute film, which was informative and interesting in a nerdy NPS-insider type of way. Anyone who goes to NPS sites quickly discovers that the Park Service is a monotheistic religion, and the all-powerful god is Theodore Roosevelt, the Creator (i.e founder of the Park Service).   TR is lauded with prominent photos at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, panegyrics at Mesa Verde, an unbelievably overstaffed house for his birthplace in New York City, and a site for his swearing-in as President in Buffalo, New York,  not to mention the many NPS sites I haven't yet visited (like Theodore Roosevelt National Park).

Anyway, suffice it to say that TR gets great publicity throughout the NPS sites. The Taft site has an interesting conundurm: how to handle TR's Greek Tragedy-like relationship with Taft, where Taft went from TR's Secretary of War and hand-picked successor as POTUS to TR's hated enemy and primary opponent in 1912 (and then his general election opponent when TR refused to accept the decision of the Republican Party to run Taft for re-election in 1912, and formed his Bull Moose Party and split the vote, giving us eight years of the Dunce from Princeton). The film plays up the sunny side of the relationship, and then treats the dark side with a "boys will be boys" dismissiveness.   Nary a negative word about the Creator.

After viewing the film, we left the VC with a Ranger and headed over to the house, which was handsomely decorated for the Christmas holiday season (see picture below).  The Ranger (a young man who couldn't be much more than 28) was very well informed about the history of Taft, the Taft family (the house actually belonged to Taft's father--it was the boyhood home of the future President and Chief Justice), 19th Century Cincinnati and related topics.  The house has few Taft family pieces because the family sold the house in 1946 and the NPS did not get it until 1967 (after it was broken up into an apartment building).  There is a neat letter from Yale University to Taft's dad, pointing out the William Howard had been tardy 16 times in one semester. 

The site does a nice job of conveying Taft's amazing life (Ohio common pleas judge by 28, Solicitor General of the U.S. by 30, Governor General of the Phillipines before the age of 40, Secretary of War, President at 51 and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the only man to head two branches of the federal government). His life seems like something out of a Flashman novel.  My daughter was bemused by my quest, and her boyfriend Charlie was patient and respectful (and I can only imagine how bored he really was!).  We left slightly before noon, and drove home to Columbus on a brilliantly sunny day.

My War

I guess you could call it my war. I didn't fight in Nam. But it dominated the headlines of my youth. I saw the "thousand-yard stare" up close and witnessed the symptoms of post-traumatic stress before I knew there was such a condition. I knew the lingo -- "click," "in-country," "13 & a wake-up," etc. Cronkite, Huntley, Brinkley and friends gave me body counts to chew on with supper. I thought about this when I visited the traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial in Pickerington last week. 

I gave the young soldier the name -- Capt. Riley Leroy Pitts, US Army. "A Medal-of Honor recipient!" I added as she turned the pages. But that didn't matter to her. "From Oklahoma?" she asked dryly. "Yes."

Pitts received a BA in journalism from Wichita State in 1960 & joined the Army shortly after. Pitts went to Vietnam in December of '66. Merry Christmas! Given his background, the most appropriate position for him would be "information officer," which he held until his transfer to to a combat unit. Pitts commanded Company C, 2d Battalion, 27th Regiment, 25th Division. I chose Pitts because he was a "Wolfhound." My father was a Wolfhound in another War.

The Wolfhounds were at Pearl and, according to legend, were the first unit to fire on the Japs. In Korea, they were known as the Fire Brigade. When there was a problem, they put out the fire! In Vietnam, many of their ilk were stationed in and around Cu Chi. These were the men who went blind into tunnels with only a flashlight & a .45. How can you have any sanity after that?

I visited the Wall on Veterans Day. Per my custom, I wore my father's dog tags and a 25th Division hat.

A Tropic Thunder vet saw my hat and asked "What outfit?"  I said "Wolfhounds." "Which batallion?" he countered. "I don't know," was my response. "It was my father's unit in Korea."

I thanked him for his service.

"And thank your father for his!"

I didn't tell him that Dad died on active duty with the Air Force, 31 July 1967.

Another vet was a medic. He carried a notebook with many names. He pointed one out to me. "This was the first man I treated ..." His voice tailed off.

"Thank you for your service."

"You're welcome."

Riley Pitts was on panel 28 East, line No. 105. He died 31 October 1967 at Ap Dong, a month short of going home. His MOH citation reads as follows:

"Distinguishing himself by exceptional heroism while serving as company commander during an airmobile assault. Immediately after his company landed in the area, several Viet Cong opened fire with automatic weapons. Despite the enemy fire, Capt. Pitts forcefully led an assault which overran the enemy positions. Shortly thereafter, Capt. Pitts was ordered to move his unit to the north to reinforce another company heavily engaged against a strong enemy force. As Capt. Pitts' company moved forward to engage the enemy, intense fire was received from 3 directions, including fire from 4 enemy bunkers, 2 of which were within 15 meters of Capt. Pitts' position. The severity of the incoming fire prevented Capt. Pitts from maneuvering his company. His rifle fire proving ineffective against the enemy due to the dense jungle foliage, he picked up an M-79 grenade launcher and began pinpointing the targets. Seizing a Chinese Communist grenade which had been taken from a captured Viet Cong's web gear, Capt. Pitts lobbed the grenade at a bunker to his front, but it hit the dense jungle foliage and rebounded. Without hesitation, Capt. Pitts threw himself on top of the grenade which, fortunately, failed to explode. Capt. Pitts then directed the repositioning of the company to permit friendly artillery to be fired. Upon completion of the artillery fire mission, Capt. Pitts again led his men toward the enemy positions, personally killing at least 1 more Viet Cong. The jungle growth still prevented effective fire to be placed on the enemy bunkers. Capt. Pitts, displaying complete disregard for his life and personal safety, quickly moved to a position which permitted him to place effective fire on the enemy. He maintained a continuous fire, pinpointing the enemy's fortified positions, while at the same time directing and urging his men forward, until he was mortally wounded. Capt. Pitts' conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism, and intrepidity at the cost of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the Armed Forces of his country."

David Fraley accompanied me to the Wall before heading back to Indiana. We talked about the battle of la Drang & more specifically the action which occured in & around LZ Albany. The 7th Cav was engaged there. It's depicted in Mel Gibson's movie based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young." This month marks the 45th anniversary of la Drang. Of the approximate 330 US soldiers engaged at LZ Albany on 17 Nov. 1965, 280 were casualties. I'm also told that the Vietnamese who live near the area today avoid it. They call it the "Valley of Screaming Souls'" You think.

I touched the name of Riley Pitts, said a small prayer and walked away. I thought of an October 1951 photo taken in the cold hell of Korea -- the other war. 10 Wolfhound grunts stand under a large sign. The sign reads:

"Thru these portals pass ... the best damn soldiers in the world."

Amen brother!!!

Mike Peters

David Berger Monument

This memorial commenmorates the death of David Berger, a native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, during the hostage crisis of the 1972 Olympics. The memorial is located on the grounds of the Jewish Community Center in Beachwood, Ohio, a lovely suburb on the east side of Cleveland.  To get the NPS Stamp for the memorial, you have to go inside the JCC.  The JCC is undergoing some construction now, so I had to go in a side entrance. A helpful man behind the desk at the entrance directed me to another table, which looked like the membership desk. There, a young man in his 20's became quite excited when I showed him my NPS Passport and asked for the stamp. He had to go into a closet area to find the stamp, but he then carefully set the date and made a practice impression on a blank sheet of paper for me.  He then allowed me to make a practice impression before stamping my Passport (see below).  He then gave me the brochure (see images below) and directed me to the sculpture.

The memorial itself is the sculpture and a simple marker with a brief description of the events surrounding David Berger's death.