Today in History, July 12, 1862-- Congress creates Medal of Honor

Today in History, July 12th, 1862, 
Congress authorizes creation of a "Medal of Honor".

Awarded for "Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty". 


There have been 3,525 Medal of Honor awards given since this day, 158 years ago. First proposed and initiated by General Winfield Scott, then General in Chief of the Army at the suggestion of his adjutant, Col. Edward Townsend.  

The first award given was to Private Jacob Parrott, one of six men in a single unit known as "Andrew's Raiders",  for their attack on a Confederate Railroad in Big Shanty Georgia, April 12, 1862. The six were decorated by President Lincoln in the White House. 

However, of those 3,525 men so honored, only 90 African Americans have been recognized and awarded. When discussing Institutional Racism, this is what I think about. Not because it is acceptable to be discriminated against in daily life, which I have not had to endure myself, but because the solutions for ending it lie in part in bringing this kind of history into our modern consciousness. How can any of us solve the problems related to the failure of government without an identity connection between our people and the history of that government we wish to participate in? In short, how can we honor the living memory of those people who made the ultimate sacrifice to give us a Nation, and bring that into the fight for Justice today? How do we make sure it wasn't all one big waste?

So, I want to feature today the story of the first African American to be awarded the Medal of Honor, William Harvey Carney, of the famous Massachussetts 54th Black Regiment, famous for its stand at Ft. Wagner in 1863, It is astounding that even though he was awarded the Medal after the Battle, it was not issued to him until 1900, 37 years later. He was later omitted from the screenplay and script in the Hollywood film depicting the 54th, "Glory", with Mathew Broderick and Denzel Washington, a huge flaw in the film. So, we take a minute to remember him now.

"Give 'em Hell 54th!

https://www.militarytimes.com/military-honor/black-military-history/2018/02/06/william-h-carney-the-first-black-soldier-to-earn-the-medal-of-honor/

Popular posts from this blog

Today in History, July 17, 1918- Czar of Russia and Family Executed

Image
Today in History, July 17, 1918, Execution of the Romanovs, the Czar and Czaritsa of Russia and their Children by the Soviet Government. Today in History, July 17, 1918, Execution of the Romanovs, the Czar and Czaritsa of Russia and their Children by the Soviet Government. By July 1918, Russia was engulfed in a hellish civil war which would cost millions of lives and damage a country already reeling from the devastation of World War I. Swept away in this hellfire was the old Tsarist monarchy, last headed by Nicholas II. Nicholas had abdicated in 1917 as the Russian Revolution swept through the nation. Since then he had been a prisoner of successive governments, first the Provisional Government and then the administration run by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. The Romanovs were shipped from place to place, eventually coming to Yekaterinburg in April, in the Urals, an area known for its hard Communist sympathies. As the White Russian forces grew closer, Lenin and his associates ordere...
Read more

Milton Friedman- The Man Who Revived Fascist Economics, and Called It "Freedom".

Image
  You may have heard the name before, as he was featured in a PBS Series, titled "Free To Choose", also the title of his most famous and misnamed book. He was a prolific author, and widely publicized by Conservative News Media and Magazines, especially by the followers of William F. Buckley. In fact, Milton Friedman is the current top economic advisor to the so-called "movement conservatives", from Nixon to Reagan, to Newt Gingrich and Trumpworld,  and is still to this day the main architect of the GOP approach to dealing with the present economic crisis, though he has been keeping a low profile. A very low profile. In fact, six feet under. He is currently dead, and has been for 14 years, yet his horrific philosophy continues to stalk about, haunting us like the living dead animated by a Voodoo curse, burning live Chickens, chanting incantations, and propitiating the irrational forces of Britain's Adam Smith and his "Invisible Hand". (Which is the hand...
Read more

How Do You Know If What You Are Reading Is True Or Useful? - A One Year Old Facebook Post

Image
 How do we know whether what we are reading is true, or for that matter useful? There are many journalists in the US today who are not only excellent writers, but are just good people. They are well informed, have the best intentions and are highly professional.  I have to force myself to write, and it comes with great difficulty because I am blocked, and had little journalistic training. Without an editor I feel lost, and feel as though I want to rewrite everything or throw it out after I read it. Reading books and articles is my favorite hobby, and when I'm doing that I am in my happy place.  As of now I have 30 News and Magazine sites bookmarked and I read them everyday as a routine. I usually read anywhere from 2-10 articles in each, depending upon what newsworthy events are breaking that day. Plus I have a number of books on history that I have going at any one time. This is no big accomplishment or unique, it's just how I occupy my time and is my form of work these ...
Read more