Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Juneteenth

  A  L  O  H  A    FRIENDS !
Yellow Rose Of Texas by Songs Of The Civil War on Grooveshark
Click on the photos

 " My grandfather always said 
that living is like
 licking honey 
off a thorn. "

Louis Adamic














" A memory
 is what is left 
when something happens 
and does not completely 
un-happen.  "

Edward de Bono














" Memory is a child 
walking along a seashore.  
You never can tell
 what small pebble
 it will pick up and store away
 among its treasured things.  "

Pierce Harris









 " Every man's memory
 is his private literature.  "

Aldous Huxley


" God gave us memories
 that we might have roses 
in December.  "

J.M. Barrie


 And
there are memories
that it is our
duty
to remember 

Happy Juneteenth!

On June 19th, 1865
US Army Major General 
Gordon Granger
landed at Galveston, Texas
bringing the news
that the US Civil War
was over,
and that slaves
were now free-

two and on half years
AFTER
President Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation.
January 1, 1863

Texas was far away,
but with the arrival
of the General's troops
freedom had at last 
come! 
(Surrender had been signed
in April of 1865)



In a similar vein:





From:
 Dwight D. Eisenhower
 Memorial Commission, 
Washington, DC
 
HERE
" On April 4, 1945, elements of
 the United States Army
captured the Ohrdruf concentration camp 
outside the town of Gotha 
in south central Germany. . . .

. . . .. Bodies were piled 
throughout the camp. 
 There was evidence everywhere 
of systematic butchery. 
Many of the mounds of
 dead bodies were still smoldering
 from failed attempts
 by the departing SS guards 
to burn them. 
The stench was horrible.. . . 
 General Eisenhower 
immediately arranged to meet 
Generals Bradley and Patton at Ohrdruf 
on the morning of April 12th. 

By that time, Buchenwald itself
 had been captured.
 Consequently, Ike decided to 
extend the group’s visit to include a tour 
of the Buchenwald
 extermination camp
 the next day. 

Eisenhower also ordered 
every American soldier in the area 
who was not on the front lines 
to visit Ohrdruf and Buchenwald.

 He wanted them to see 
 for themselves
 what they were fighting
 against. . . . 



Later on Ike wrote to Mamie, 
“I never dreamed that such cruelty, 
bestiality, and savagery 
could really exist in this world.” . . . . 

[And he had just fought a savage war! Cloudia]

He cabled General Marshall 
encouraging him to bring
 Congressmen and journalists
 with him.. . . .


General Eisenhower understood 
that many people
 would be unable to comprehend 
the full scope of this horror. 

He also understood
 that any human deeds
 that were so utterly evil
 might eventually be challenged 
or even denied 
as being literally 
unbelievable.

 For these reasons
 he ordered 
that all the civilian news media 
and military combat camera units
 be required to visit the camps
 and record their observations
 in print, pictures and film. 

As he explained to General Marshall, 

“I made the visit deliberately,
 in order to be in a position to give
 first-hand evidence of these things
 if ever, in the future,
 there develops a tendency to charge
 these allegations 
 merely to
 ‘propaganda.’” 


His prediction proved correct. 
 When some groups, even today,
 attempt to deny
 that the Holocaust ever happened
 they must confront
 the massive official record, 
including both written evidence
 and thousands of pictures, 
that Eisenhower ordered to be assembled. . . .  "


© Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, Washington, DC, 2004 





  >  <  }  }  ( ° >



 Thanks for swimming
these wine-dark seas of memory
with me.

Let us enjoy our Summer
all the more
to honor the people
- fragile, people just like ourselves-
who overcame
literal darkness.

Let us promise ourselves
to be more like them.



Today's Germans & Texans
bear no responsibiltiy
for the past
even as they 
live
history's lingering
effects,
 those regrettable,
and those 
ennobling.

                      Warmly,  cloudia


26 comments:

Dina said...

Shalom friend Cloudia. Thank you for this noble post.

I dedicated a special moving spiral to you today.

Birdman said...

Thank goodness, in this world, we don't all treasure the same. There's so much here to find and enjoy.

Charles Gramlich said...

It's good that Eisenhower had everyone tour those camps and had the images taken. Otherwise it certainly wouldn't have been believable to many. the horrors of it.

Maude Lynn said...

Marvelous post, Cloudia!

Daryl said...

to forget the past, is to enable it to repeat

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Oh well done Cloudia, it's good to bring attention to these shocking happenings to hopefully guard against them happening again. Mr Eisenhower was a very sensible man to gather so much evidence of the atrocity, as you say there are some today who would like to believe it never happened.
btw I don't think I can be 'grooming' my computer enough and will look into 'Glary Utilities' thanks for the tip.

Myrna R. said...

Great post Cloudia. Our memories need to have light and darkness in order that we can remember their lessons.

rupam sarma said...

Awesome post.

Betty Manousos said...

lovely photos and great wisdom!

alohaaaa!!!!

Betty Manousos said...

plus: powerful post, too, cloudia!

FilipBlog said...

Nice green with the flowers.

Greetings,
Filip

Full-On-Forward said...

You are so awesome--Heading back to the Mountains of NC this weekend, and when I see that beauty I remember my Sis! Thinking..."C", sure would like that view..thanks Sis for being so consistent and so YOU!

I also wanted to say----dang-- I forgot! My MEMORY isn't what it used to be.

GREAT POST!

J

;-)

Anonymous said...

Life obtains Comfort seen and thought through your mind. Thank you.

Please have you all a good Wednesday.

Cloudia said...

It blows my mind how each person here can be SO real, and SO important to me - such true blessings!

Thank you for being part of our circle

Travis Erwin said...

Yeah things here in Texas can be slow in coming which is both hoof and bad depending ...

TexWisGirl said...

still miles to go, but inches gained, now and then, in our quest for decency.

:)

magiceye said...

Well reminded and said..

Peace!!!

namaste /\ from mumbai
aloha!!

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Thank God for Eisenhower! Love the quotes, the first one is one I used on Sabbath Keeping yesterday...love it!

christopher said...

Very thoughtful.

Among the quotes...I especially like the one by J.M. Barrie.

As for war...my father was on the front lines of World War II from Normandy to the fall of the Nazis in Berlin...he found much of it too painful to share.

The last century has seen many of humankind's brightest and darkest hours indeed.

Cloudia said...

Glad to see your comments. thanks for visiting today friends

Bob Bushell said...

A great post.

Rob-bear said...

Wonderful post. I've visited the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem. Such a painful place to see.

And yes, it really happened. About six million Jews, and almost the same number of non-jews, including Christian neighbours who tried to help. (Have you read Corrie Ten Boom's book?)

Reader Wil said...

Thank you, Cloudia for these facts! My next post is about Yad Vashem, can I use some of the words of Eisenhower? It is good to remember that humanity is capable of such cruelty. Fortunately humanity is also capable of greatness and good deeds.

Rick said...

A beautiful, poignant post Cloudia. General Ike had foresight and wisdom.

Aloha.

Cloudia said...

Thank you friends!

Oakland Daily Photo said...

Incredible prescience on Ike's part. WWII showed us the depths of evil man can do and the heights of bravery and sacrifice. Bearing witness is so important yet mankind continues to repeat the walk down such dark paths. Another kind of incredible. Reader Wil's post today brought me here.