Archive for June 19th, 2007
Allow Me To Share My Pride in My Fellow Tribesman and First Cousin Once Removed
June 19th, 2007
I didn’t know all of this about Charles Shay, and Melvin Neptune, but my heart swelled with pride as I read the article.
AUGUSTA, Me. – On the eve of June 6, 1944, Charles Norman Shay, a 19-year old Penobscot serving with the 16th Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, ran into his friend Melvin Neptune, a fellow Penobscot and member of the division’s 26th Regiment. They were on the ship that carried the troops to their rendezvous with German forces the next morning on what would become known as D-Day.
The two men did not see each other again until they returned home to Indian Island reservation after the war.
But 63 three years later, Shay, now 83, paid homage to the late Neptune during a ceremony at which Maine Gov. John Baldacci honored Shay and all of Maine’s Native veterans with a proclamation naming June 6, as Native American Veterans History Day.
”We did not discuss the campaign that was about to take place,” Shay recalled of the night before the historic allied invasion of France, ”but instead we talked about home and the young men and boys we grew up with and were wondering where they were and what they were now doing. From our small community of 500 individuals, 85 young men and women had volunteered for all branches of the military to fight for this country”
Shay’s unit was among the first to make the difficult landing on Omaha Beach. Pre-landing air bombardments and naval gunfire had not dislodged the German defenses from their positions on bluffs as high as 170 feet above the beach. During the hard-won battle that day, Shay’s division lost about 1,000 men.
Shay earned a Silver Star for his unselfish heroism that day, subordinating ”personal safety to the welfare of his comrades, [having] plunged repeatedly into the treacherous sea and carried critically wounded men to safety,” Baldacci read from the proclamation.
It’s no wonder Uncle Leo and Auntie Florence were so proud of their son.
Please read the entire story to see what this man has done in service to his country and is doing now to get Native Americans the recognition they deserve for serving our country.
I’m proud of you, Charlie! And I’m sure Guss is too.
As a side note: my mother’s funeral had to be put off one day due to Melvin Neptune re-marrying and using the church facilities. That’s fine since he was a hero too.
Posted in 
I Wonder What The Reaction Would Be
June 19th, 2007
I read this abc news piece last night, saying Al Qaeda has suicide bombers ready to come to the US, Canada, Great Britain and Germany.
I went to bed praying they don’t succeed, but if they do what would the reaction be by the American people if someone made it into our country and got inside a shopping mall’s food court at a busy time and blew themselves and numerous others up at the same time?
What would be the reaction of the American people if a car bomb were driven into a building where there is a crowd of people?
How about if they got into a speedboat and attacked one of our ships docked in San Diego or any other Naval base, killing who knows how many people?
Sadly, my conclusion was this: People would say it was because we are in Iraq. Remember we hadn’t gone into Iraq when Mogadishu, the USS Cole or 9/11 happened, to name just a few recent terrorist incidents.
They’d blame Bush for not keeping us safe, forgetting how many attacks have been thwarted since 9/11.
Congress would surely have investigations, especially if the government buildings such as the Capitol were attacked—just as soon as they came out of hiding and changed their underwear.
And of course they would blame the porous borders, which probably would be a factor, but the blame for that can be shared by everyone—especially the far right wing of the Republican party. By far right wing I mean the Calebs of this world and Big Mo knows what I’m talking about. The ones who are so pure in their ideology they are not willing to even consider a compromise that can be improved upon later.
So, to the readers and bloggers on the right and left who frequent this site I ask you to think about this hypothetical and tell me, after searching your souls, what your reaction would be, other than maybe anger?
My first urge after the anger and sadness would be to go after the animals who ordered this no matter where they are and no matter what government supported them.
It certainly wouldn’t be to psychoanalyze them to see why they are angry at us, because it doesn’t take too much to work up the radicals.
Remember this is a debate and not a fight so no one should take personally what anyone else says.
Superman and Soldiers
June 19th, 2007
Army Reserve Chaplain Higgins shares an experience he witnessed while stationed in Balad, Iraq. As I read, I felt the pride I often do when one writes about our brave young men and women in the US Military.
I recently attended a showing of “Spiderman 3″ here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorioum we use for movies as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going as planned until about three-quarters of the way through the National Anthem the music stopped.
Please read the complete story. It is relatively short but speaks volumes.
Duke Settles With Lacrosse Players; Judge Gives Nifong the Boot
June 19th, 2007
Duke University has come to an undisclosed financial agreement with the three wrongfully accused lacrosse players and runaway prosecutor Mike Nifong, now disbarred, has been ordered by a judge to cease being District Attorney immediately.
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University has reached an undisclosed financial settlement with three former lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, while a judge said late Monday he would order the disbarred prosecutor to leave office immediately.
Duke had suspended Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans after they were charged last year with raping a stripper at an off-campus party. The university also canceled the team’s season and forced their coach to resign.
“We welcomed their exoneration and deeply regret the difficult year they and their families have had to endure,” the school said Monday in a statement. “These young men and their families have been the subject of intense scrutiny that has taken a heavy toll.”
How big of them, especially since the president of Duke judged them guilty at the time of the arrests and 88 faculty members signed a letter saying they were guilty and charging them with racism.
I hope they got a tidy sum, and I wish they would get an apology from the 88 faculty members, but I won’t hold my breath on that.
Disbarred and disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong thought he had an agreement to stay on as District Attorney until July 13. I don’t know how, since he’s no longer a lawyer.
Earlier Monday, Nifong said he planned to leave office next month in a resignation letter to Gov. Mike Easley and to Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, who is overseeing a pending request to remove Nifong from office.
“It is my fervent hope that this action will spare this community the further anguish a removal hearing would entail and will allow the healing process to move forward,” Nifong wrote.
But Nifong’s July 13 departure date wasn’t soon enough for Hudson, who decided late Monday to suspend Nifong from office.
As part of the suspension, Hudson said he would order the sheriff on Tuesday to prevent Nifong from carrying out any duties of the district attorney.
“I have thought about the situation, and this is way I wish to proceed,” said Hudson who initially agreed to allow Nifong work until next month.
Seems reasonable to me.
Nifong will still be able to collect his pension and health benefits earned while working in the DAs office for 30 years.
Even if the exonerated and innocent former Duke students sue Nifong I think his pension is safe from seizure. If reader David happens to read this maybe he can tell us for sure.
Look for the lawyers to press for criminal and/or civil charges against Nifong and the city of Durham to retrieve the fortune that was spent defending these men.
What would have happened if they had not come from families that had the money or friends from whom to borrow the money for their defense?
They probably would have had to cop a plea to something they didn’t do in order to stay out of jail for 30 years. This is something they themselves have mentioned.
