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.
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:
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
|
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
that Eisenhower ordered to
be assembled. . . . "and thousands of pictures, © 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 |
