Guarding theTomb of the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
ARLINGTON CEMETERY
Washington, D. C.

On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was “How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier”. All three contestants missed the question.

This is really an awesome sight to watch if you've never had the chance, Very fascinating.

Here’s some information that you might find interesting.


1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is
The highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time
and if not, why not?

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed?

Guards are changed every thirty minutes,
Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

Persons wishing to apply for guard duty at the Tomb must be between 5' 10' and 6' 2' tall and the waist size cannot exceed 30'. Other Requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the Tomb, live in a barracks under the Tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform (fighting) or the Tomb in any way.

After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on his lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. Presently, there are only 400 worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

Their shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat
and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the
top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for
Guard duty. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor
watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid
to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are
and where they are interred. Among the notables are: Presidents William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy, World Heavy Weight Champion Joe Louis, and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy of Hollywood fame, the most decorated soldier of World War II.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, D C, our
US Senate and House of Representatives took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC Evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the
Hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of
The Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They
respectfully declined the offer, 'No way, Sir!' Soaked to the skin,
marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding
The Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be
afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously,
24/7, since 1930.

God Bless and keep them.

ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

More Favorite Christmas Movies

I really don't have anything original to say about the inevitable inclusions on some of the best Christmas Movies.

A very young Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn as a Macy's Santa with a real beard are engaging in Miracle on 34th Street (1947, directed by George Seaton). Do I ever need to see it again? No.

Ditto for Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life (1946). I enjoy Beulah Bondi (in everything in which I've seen her) and Henry Travers (usually), and grew up watching "The Donna Reed Show" (albeit for Paul Peterson more than her). I'm a Gloria Grahame and James Stewart fan and an admirer of the work of cinematographer Joseph Biroc (here and elsewhere). If the movie was less ubiquitous, I might be able to manage some enthusiasm for it...

There has to be a version of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. I think that "Scrooge (1951, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst) with Alastair Sim in the title role is probably the best one. The 1937 high-gloss MGM version (that had been designed for Lionel Barrymore, who read the book on the radio every year) is mercifully short (70 minutes) and the one I've most recently seen. Directed by Edwin L. Marin with Terry Kilburn as Scrooge, it seems to me to transform Scrooge too quickly. Also the Cratchit home is far-removed from "Dickensian" poverty, even in its genteel form.

Some other upbeat golden oldies

As in "Wonderful Life," there is an angel (Cary Grant) involved in sorting out the marriage of a(n Anglican) bishop (played by David Niven) trying to build a cathedral and his wife (Loretta Young) in The Bishop’s Wife (1947, directed by Henry Koster). It, too has been overplayed.

Once was enough for another Loretta Young Christmas movie, Come to the Stable, also directed bye Henry Koster two years earlier (1945). In it, Young and Celeste Holm play French nuns (with another building project, a children's hospital in New England). Elsa Lanchester is (as usual) a treat, and Dooley Wilson sort of adumbrates Sidney Poitier helping innocent nuns in Lilies of the Field, but Loretta Young sets my teeth on edge, as does being set in a town named "Bethlehem" (Connecticut).

I don't remember The Bells of St. Mary (1945, directed by Leo McCarey) very well, though I remember that that Ingrid Bergman was still very beautiful hidden in a habit and that Bing Crosby had his usual charm (reprising the easy-going Father O'Malley part that somehow won him an Oscar in "Going My Way") , as they try to save the slum school at which they teach by different fund-raising approaches. Lots of cute urchins along with the cute, chaste couple.

I prefer Barbara Stanwyck in another classic Connecticut Christmas movie (romantic comedy), creatively titled Christmas in Connecticut (1945, directed by Peter Godfrey). Stanwyck plays a sort of Martha Stewart of the pre-television WWII era who can write convincing advice about domestic matters, but can't cook and is not at all the rural persona of her columns. Her editor (a sly Sidney Greenstreet) thinks that it would be good publicity for her to make Christmas dinner for a war hero (Dennis Morgan) on leave. Complications are many (centering on a borrowed baby and borrowed chef) and the ending predictable, but it's a genial screwball comedy.

Source: Stephen Murray, Epinion.com

The Wasilla Wonder

For the second time since Sarah Palin stepped into the national political spotlight, a photo of the former Republican vice-presidential candidate featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine is sparking controversy. Palin herself blasted the "out-of-context" cover as "sexist" on her Facebook page.

Palin took issue with Newsweek using a photo from an article about health and fitness to promote an analysis piece contemplating her relevance as a political figure:
"The choice of photo for the cover of this week's Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this "news" magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant.
“The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now.”

The reaction to the Newsweek cover has predictably sparked outrage from conservative supporters of Palin and kudos from liberals who oppose her.

The current cover flap isn't the first time Newsweek has generated controversy with a photograph of Palin. The October 13, 2008, issue featured an extreme close-up of Palin that seemed to be devoid of the high-tech retouching often employed by magazines. Conservatives claimed this highlighted some of Palin's supposed "flaws," like wrinkles around her eyes.

Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham told Yahoo! News that the photo choice was simply the "most interesting image available":
"We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try to do. We apply the same test to photographs of any public figure, male or female: does the image convey what we are saying? That is a gender-neutral standard."

Personally, I thought the cover was a cheap shot. In my opinion, Newsweek lowered itself by using this particular photo on its cover and clouded the issue by allowing cries of sexism from the Palin camp. Why make Palin appear to be a victim of the media as she so often claims. There is enough substance for Palin detractors to latch on to without using a photo that allows her wiggle room to side step issues. But, that's just my take on the subject.

Source: Brett Michael Dykes,Yahoo! News Blog

A Message From God

GOOD MORNING

I AM GOD. TODAY I WILL BE HANDLING ALL OF YOUR PROBLEMS. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT I DO NOT NEED YOUR HELP.

IF THE DEVIL HAPPENS TO DELIVER A SITUATION TO YOU THAT YOU CANNOT HANDLE, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE IT. KINDLY PUT IT IN THE "SOMETHING FOR JESUS TO DO" BOX. IT WILL BE ADDRESSED IN MY TIME NOT YOURS.

ONCE THE MATTER IS PLACED INTO THE BOX, DO NOT HOLD ONTO IT OR ATTEMPT TO REMOVE IT. HOLDING ON OR REMOVAL WILL DELAY THE RESOLUTION OF YOUR PROBLEM. IF IT IS A SITUATION THAT YOU THINK YOU ARE CAPABLE OF HANDLING, PLEASE CONSULT ME IN PRAYERTO BE SURE THAT IT IS THE PROPER RESOLUTION.

BECAUSE I DO NOT SLEEP, NOR DO I SLUMBER, THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO LOSE ANY SLEEP. REST MY CHILD. IF YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME, I AM ONLY A PRAYER AWAY.

Looking Up When Thing Are Down

ALWAYS LOOK UP WHEN THINGS ARE DOWN.

“Accentuate the Positive
Eliminate the Negative
Latch on to the Affirmative
And Don’t Mess with Mr. In between.”

Develop a good “Script and Delivery”...
When You are asked “How do you feel”
Or “How are you Doing”...
Always answer...
“TERRIFIC AND GETTING BETTER”.

And when people or events give you a hard time,
Don’t let them “Blow your Cool”, Count to Ten and
“FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT!

Put yourself “UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT”
When? DO IT NOW!


I’M JUST A NOBODY
TELLING EVERYBODY
ABOUT SOMEBODY
WHO CAN SAVE ANYBODY.
(JESUS SAVES)

Memo from GEORGE O”HARE, nationally recognized motivational speaker

Yesterday...Today...Tomorrow

There are two days in every week about which we should try not to worry. Two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is YESTERDAY with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. YESTERDAY has passed forever beyond our control.

All the money in the world cannot bring back YESTERDAY. We cannot undo a single act we performed: we cannot erase a single word we said...YESTERDAY is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is TOMORROW with its possible adversaries, its burdens, its large promise and poor performanced. TOMORROW is beyond our immediate control.

TOMORROW’s sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have a stake in TOMORROW for it is as yet unborn.


This leaves only one day...TODAY. Any person can fight the battle of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities...YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW that we break down. It is not the experience of TODAY that drives people mad-- it is remorse or bitterness for something which happened YESTERDAY and the dread of what TOMORROW will bring.

LET US THEREFORE LIVE BUT ONE DAY AT A TIME, ONE HOUR AT A TIME, ONE SECOND AT A TIME.

WHEN is the most important moment in our life? WHEN?...The answer is NOW, since we can touch it, drink it, love it, Too many of us go around all of our life dsaying...”Remember the good old days!...FORGET THE GOOD OLD DAYS...Every time we “LIVE YESTERDAY” we “AVOID TODAY” and when we “AVOID TODAY” we “RUN TOMORROW”.

In fact...”LIVE EVERYDAY AS IF ITS OUR LAST AND SOMEDAY WE WILL BE RIGHT!

Inspirational Alphabet

Whoever came up with this one must have had some divine guidance, I was impressed!

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
Joy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of "Camp Complaining"
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To "thank" is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
Xalting God most high
Yes, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Zion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

"I AM Too blessed to be stressed!" The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything. Love and peace be with you forever, Amen.

PS: GOD LOVES YOU...

Lessons Learned

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
Thomas Alva Edison

I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper and sharing them with others. Yes, I am a writer. Notice I didn’t say that I want to be a writer. Writers write. Using this criterion, I call myself a writer without hesitation.

When I scratched out my first poem, I realized this writing thing was not as easy as it seems. Yet, the words still bubbled within like a volcano and nothing satisfied me until those words spilled from my head onto the blank page. It didn’t take me long to learn how much skill it takes to fine tune words until they paint an accurate picture of the thoughts, feelings, sights or sounds I wanted to convey. John Norley said "All things are difficult before they are easy". Pulling it all together is hard work. It takes time to research, edit, and revise the "little" things that make the difference between mediocre work and a highly polished, marketable product.

Fortunately, somewhere along the way, this writing thing gets easier, but, at the same time, it gets more difficult. Expectations are greater, reviews more critical, and the demand for improvement continuously escalates. Working on my first novel made me acutely aware of the value of tenacity. I learned that writing an hour or so every day or two or only when the mood strikes doesn’t produce the same results as writing regularly. Checking those emails, surfing the "net", even cleaning the toilet may sometimes seem like more fun, but the pay off won’t be a completed novel, packaged and on its way to an editor.

I’m sure you’ve heard people say someone "got lucky" when her novel was published. It makes you wonder if dedication and sacrifice really make a difference? Elmer Letterman tells us that "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." Will building your "writer’s tool kit" at seminars and conferences help? Could that information jump-start your imagination and get your creative juices flowing in the "write" direction? Could participating in writing contest, critique sessions, and hands on workshops be good building blocks for the future? I wonder- is it luck or preparation? I’ve learned not to count on "genius", or on things being "easy", or even on "luck". It’s preparation and perspiration that makes winners!

White House Trick or Treat

Let's face it. The White House will never be the same. I'm glad to see the 1st Family REALLY making the White House a HOME, a place of love and showing the world no matter who you are or how much money you have, you are still human and like doing the same things as the rest of the world.


I feel Honored to have President Obama as our President. He and his family show the true meaning to the word ‘family’and ‘love’and what and how a family should look and be. They are Great Role Models!!!


U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice dresses as the Disney character Goofy at a reception for children of military and White House staff families during Halloween at the White House.




White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs wearing Star Wars' Darth Vader costume, with his son Ethan, talks to the media as during a Halloween celebration in the East Room at the White House.

Black Survivors of the Nazi Holocaust

Did you know
•that in the 1920's, there
were 24,000 Blacks living in Germany?

•that in the 1890s Blacks were tortured in German concentration camps in Southwest Africa (now called Namibia) when Adolph Hitler was only a child?

•that Colonial German doctors conducted unspeakable medical experiments on these emaciated helpless Africans decades before such atrocities were ever visited upon the Jews?

If you are like most people, you simply have never heard the unbelievable story of Black victims of the Holocaust. Well, neither did I. Here's how it happened, and how many of them were eventually caught unawares by the events of the Holocaust.

Like most West European nations, Germany established colonies in Africa in the late 1800's in what later became Togo, Cameroon , Namibia , and Tanzania. German genetic experiments began there, most notably involving prisoners taken from the 1904 Heroro Massacre that left 60,000 Africans dead, following a 4-year revolt against German colonization. After the shellacking Germany received in World War I, it was stripped of its African colonies in 1918.

As a spoil of war, the French were allowed to occupy Germany in the Rhineland --a bitter piece of real estate that has gone back and forth between the two nations
for centuries. The French willfully deployed their own colonized African soldiers as the occupying force. Germans viewed this as the final insult of World War I, and,
soon thereafter, 92% of them voted in the Nazi party. Hundreds of the African Rhineland-based soldiers intermarried with German women and raised their
children as Black Germans. In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote about his plans for these "Rhineland Bastards". When he came to power, one of his first directives was aimed at these mixed-race children. Underscoring Hitler's obsession with racial purity, by 1937, every identified mixed-race child in the Rhineland had
been forcibly sterilized, in order to prevent further "race polluting", as Hitler termed it.

Although most Black Germans attempted to escape their fatherland, heading for France where people like Josephine Baker were steadily aiding and supporting the French Underground, many still encountered problems elsewhere. Nations shut their doors to Germans,including the Black ones.

Some Black Germans were able to eke out a living during Hitler's reign of terror by performing in Vaudeville shows, but many Blacks, steadfast in their belief that they were German first, Black second, opted to remain in Germany . Some fought with the Nazis (a few even became Lutwaffe pilots)! Unfortunately, many Black Germans were arrested, charged with treason, and shipped in cattle cars to concentration camps. Often these trains were so packed with people and (equipped with no bathroom
facilities or food), that, after the four-day journey, box car doors were opened to piles of the dead and dying.

Once inside the concentration camps, Blacks were given the worst jobs conceivable. Some Black American soldiers, who were captured and held as prisoners of war, recounted that, while they were being starved and forced into dangerous labor (violating the Geneva Convention), they were still better off than Black German
concentration camp detainees, who were forced to do the unthinkable-- man the crematoriums and work in labs where genetic experiments were being conducted. As a final sacrifice, these Blacks were killed every three months so that they would never be able to reveal the inner workings of the "Final Solution".

Little information remains about the numbers of Black Germans held in the camps or killed under the Nazi regime. Some Black survivors of the Holocaust
are still alive and telling their story in films such as "Black Survivors of the Nazi Holocaust". After the war, scores of Blacks who had somehow managed to survive the Nazi regime, were rounded up and tried as war criminals.

For further information, read: Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany, by Hans J. Massaquoi. Other titles on the subject can be found on Amazon.com.

Watch Night Services: A Bit of History

Many of you who live or grew up in Black communities in the United States have probably heard of "Watch Night Services," the gathering of the faithful in church on New Year's Eve. For anyone who doesn't know about "Watch Night Services", here's a bit of history someone shared through snd email.


The service usually begins anywhere from 7 p.m. To 10 p.m. And ends at midnight with the entrance of the New Year. Some folks come to church first, before going out to celebrate. For others, church is the only New Year's Eve event. Like many others, I always assumed that Watch Night was a fairly standard Christian religious service -- made a bit more Afro centric because that's what happens when elements of Christianity become linked with the Black Church. Still, it seemed that predominately White Christian churches did not include Watch Night services on their calendars, but focused instead on Christmas Eve programs.


In fact, there were instances where clergy in mainline denominations wondered aloud about the propriety of linking religious services with a secular holiday like New Year's Eve.

However, there is a reason for the importance of New Year's Eve services in African American congregations. The Watch Night Services in Black communities that we celebrate today can be traced back to gatherings on December 31, 1862, also known as "Freedom's Eve." On that night, Blacks came together in churches and private homes all across the nation, anxiously awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation actually had become law.. Then, at the stroke of midnight, it was January 1, 1863, and all slaves in the Confederate States were declared legally free .

When the news was received, there were prayers, shouts and songs of joy as people fell to their knees and thanked God. Black folks have gathered in churches annually on New Year's Eve ever since, praising God for bringing us safely through another year.

It's been 145 years since that first Freedom's Eve and many of us were never taught the African American history of Watch Night, but tradition still brings us together at this time every year to celebrate
"how we got over."

Now, go tell that!

Missing in Action: Civilty and Common Sense

Here's another "Stop The Madness Moment".

Can you believe that this illustration was given to an eighth grade math class as part of an assignment? The picture has the caption “Solving Equations Using Multiplication and Division. Inder the black face photo are the words "no way".

The teacher apologized, saying he “had no idea that I might offend anyone” with the picture. He said he got the illustration off the Internet and chose to use it because the term no way “is a comment my students make when I require them to show each calculation.”

NAACP leaders and the parents of one of the students met with the principal to discuss the incident. The Bucks County, PA NAACP is calling for disciplinary action for the teacher and sensitivity training throughout the Central Bucks School District.

How could this teacher not have thought this image was offensive? Well, we know that's bull, but in today's climate, civility and common sense are missing in action. Think about the negative slurs from the McCain-Palin political campaign. What about the images from the "Tea Party" gatherings? Yes, in today's climate, some politicans are even talking withdrawing from the Union. Remember the Obama bucks and other disrespectful racist gadgets? Listen to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Seems like you can call the president of the United States anything you can think of without meaningful consequence. There are the "Birthers" and the "Death Camps" and talk of pulling the plug on Grandma. You can even interrupt the president's remarks to a joint session of Congress, shouting out "You Lie".

When there's no consequences for bad behavior, chaos rules. We need to "Stop the Madness".