The White Falcon - 17.11.1962, Page 3

Saturday, November 17, 1962
WHITE FALCON
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® BY CLARK KINNAIRD
(AFPS American Heritage Foundation Featyiv)
THE SOUTHERN Border States were not the only places
where the U.S. Army was in action in 1861. When war broke out
at Charleston in April, the Army was fighting the Chiricahua
Apaches in Arizona. An engagement that was the occasion of
the heroism that won Col. B. J. D. Irwin the Congressional
Medal of Honor, was fought on Feb. 13-14, 1861.
The citation said that Irwin, a surgeon in the Medical Corps,
“voluntarily took command of troops and attacked the hostiles,”
meaning Apaches.
At that time, the Medal of Honor had not been insituted (it
was authorized in 1862), and some years passed before Irwin was
honored for his deed. Under the original provisions, he would
not have been eligible, for awards were limited to enlisted men.
The requirement then was simply “gallantry in action and other
soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.” Over
2,200 of the medals were given out during the conflict.
After 1865, other decorations were author-
ized for lesser acts of devotion to the United
States, and the Medal of Honor acquired
'the nonpareil significance it has today—the
highest decoration any citizen may earn. The
wearer must have performed his act of
bravery under fire, at risk of life, “above
and beyond the call of duty.”
Lt. Jed Beldwin, who won a Medal of Honor
during the Secession War, earned a second
—the first man to do so—under more string-
ent conditions in 1874. Chief Grey Beard’s
tribesmen killed all of a group of settlers
near Ft. Hays, Kan., except two small girls
named Germanie. These they carried off. A
few weeks later While convoying a wagon
train through the Texas Panhandle with a
detail of cavalrymen, Lt. Baldwin espied Grey Beard’s camp.
He organized and led a charge of 23 six-mule wagons upon
the encampment, routed the hostiles, and freed the girls.
Right: Desgin of Army’s Congressional Medal of Honor. The Navy’s
has a different appearance, [j,] Contemporary drawing of attack
on Grey Beard’s braves by Baldwin.
O Wim
Club KleuA
By Gloria Warner
On the afternoon of October 16, the officers wives,
who were guests of the Embassy wives, visited Grund.
This establishment is an old folks home founded in Reykja-
vik on October 29, 1929, by the father of the present
director, Mr. Sigurbjornsson. It is a large stone building
with many windows, set in a park of formal garden flowers.
Although the October wind was cold, many flowers were
still in bloom. Mr. Sigurbjornsson greeted the wives and
took them on a tour of the Home. We visited the private
rooms, the large assemble room, the lounge, the immaculate
kitchens and dispensary.
We were impressed by the clean-
liness and the perfect order of
things. All of the ambulatory
patients were busy; they smiled
as we passed through the cor-
ridors. There are three hundred
and forty-two patients housed
here and many more on the wait-
ing list. There are one hundred
members on the staff. These mem-
bers frequently visit the United
States to obtain new ideas.
Mr. Sigurbjornsson, the director
is an industrious man who has
devoted his life to Grund. He is
an excellent business man and
proud of his work, as he should
be. There is an extension of Grund
in Hveragerdi.
On November 9, 1950, the ini-
tial strikes by carrier aircraft
against bridges crossing the Yalu
River at Siniju were opposed by
enemy MIG-15’s. In this, the first
encounter of Navy jets with
MiG’s, the commanding officer of
Fighter Squadron III, LCDR W.
T. Amen in an F9F “Banther”,
second one kill and became the
first Navy pilot in history to
shoot down a jet.
Cxckange
In this week’s column we shall
attempt to give some hints for the
benefit of the Christmas shopper.
First, consider the persons who
will be receiving your gifts. Close
relatives? In-Laws? Distant rela-
tions? Close friends? Business or
professional acquaintances or as-
sociates? Each of these calls for
a particular type of gift and us-
ing this as a guide, you can simp-
lify your shopping a great deal.
The closer the relationship, of
course, the more thought and con-
sideration must be given.
Gifts, themselves fall into cate-
gories, personal, household, utility,
entertaining, etc.
You will find this year’s shop-
ping considerably more pleasant if
you prepare your lists to reflect
both the relationship of the re-
cipient and the category of gift
that is proper.
Many new items have arrived
in your Exchange recently that
would be quite suitable as gifts.
Among these are large assort-
ments of cigarette lighters, pipes
(from Austria), perfumes from
France, stainless steel from Swed-
en, Harris Tweed sport coats and
not to be overlooked oven-ware
from Luxembourg.
Space prevents a complete list-
ing of new items so if you are in
the area be certain to drop in and
look around. If you don’t see what
you are looking for please bring
it to our attention.
Food specials for the week of
November 18 through 24 are:
Roast Chicken in the Main Snack
Bar; Grilled Lamb Chops in the
Terminal Restaurant; and Baked
Virginia Ham in the Viking Cafe-
teria. All food specials are served
with two vegetables, bread, butter
and coffee and costs 55 cents.
AOC Drive
(Continued from Page 1.)
Air Force, took advantage
of the falling snow and created
a “Snow Woman”. When the Key-
men of the American Overseas
Drive returned all the envelopes
to the project officer, Major Boies,
also the site commander, on Nov-
ember 5, it was discovered that
she had been elected an honorary
member of the 667th ACWRON
and a generous donation was re-
ceived from her. This is probably
the only Organization in the world
to receive a contribution for the
AOC from the partner of the
World Famous Himalayan Snow-
man.
A donation was also received
from “Boats”, a genuine pure Ice-
landig dog, which is the mascot
of the Navy Detachment at H-3.
It seems as though everybody
contributed at the Site and to
prove this, they have a participa-
tion percentage of 105 for the
American Overseas Campaign.
Lieutenant Commander R. C.
Powers, Service Information Of-
ficer is the senior project officer
this year.
American Express tallied the
money and will forward it to AOC
Headquarters.
The next edition of the White
Falcon will list a complete break-
down of contributions by depart-
ments.
Thanksgiving Observance
Not Always Nation-Wide
“The completed circle of summer and winter, seedtime
and harvest, has brought us to the accustomed season at
which a religious people celebrates with praise and thanks-
giving the enduring mercy of Almighty God.”
Such was President Rutherford^
B. Hayes’ eloquent proclamation
of Thanksgiving in the 1870’s —
quite in character with one of the
most devout Chief Executives
ever to occupy the White House.
But not all U. S. Presidents
have shared Hayes’ reverence for
1st Complete Bioyraphy
Of Col. Glenn Published
The first full-length biography
of Lt. Col. John H. Glenn Jr.,
USMC, the first American to orbit
the earth, is now available.
Entitled John H. Glenn: Astro-
naut, the book covers in detail
the colonel’s experiences in two
wars and his work as a test pilot.
It also describes the selection and
training of the Project Mercury
astronauts with a full chapter
devoted to the Marine officer’s
orbital flight and his word-for-
word transmissions from space.
The book was written by Lt.
Col. Philip N. Pierce, USMC
(Ret.), and co-authored by Karl
Schuon, Managing Editor of
Leatherneck Magazine. It may be
purchased at commercial retail
book outlets. Marines may obtain
their copies through Leatherneck
and at Marine Corps Gazette
bookshops.
Pilot’s Easy Job
(Continued from Page 1.)
they get lost.
“Pilots should be brave so they
won’t be scared if its foggy and
they can’t see, or if a wing or a
motor falls off they should stay
calm so they’ll know what to do.
“The salary pilots make is an-
other thing I like. They make
more money than they can spend.
This is because most people think
plane flying is dangerous except
pilots don’t because they know
how easy it is.
“There isn’t much I don’t like
except that girls like pilots and
all the stewardesses want to mar-
ry pilots so they always chase
them away so they won’t bother
them.
“I hope I don’t get airsick be-
cause I get carsick and if I get
airsick I couldn’t be a pilot and
then I’d have to go to work.”
the Thanksgiving holiday; as a
result, nation-wide, it has been
an on-and-off event until modern
times.
Thomas Jefferson, for example,
scorned it as a “monarchial prac-
tice,” but on the other hand
John Adams wanted two Thanks-
givings. One thing is certain —
presidential proclamation of
Thanksgiving has usually come
in time of national crisis.
George Washington proclaimed
the first nation-wide Thanksgiv-
ing in November 1789, asking his
countrymen to pray “for the sign-
al manifold mercies and the favor-
able interposition of His provi-
dence, in the course and conclu-
sion of the late war.”
The War of 1812 caused our
fourth President, James Madison,
to revive the Thanksgiving proc-
lamation which Jefferson would
have no part of. Then its na-
tional observance lapsed until the
nation was deep in the worst crisis
of its history, the Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln in 1863 pro-
claimed it as “a day of national
penitence,” but his proclamation
had its hopeful note. “Peace has
been preserved with all nations,”
said Lincoln, “order has been
maintained, the laws have been
respected and obeyed, and har-
mony has prevailed everywhere
except in the theater of conflict.”
Proclamations .by later Pres-
idents all sounded the national
conscience. Americans were
urged to reflect on their past
bounties by Grover Cleveland
during the economic panic of
1893. Theodore Roosevelt, usu-
ally the optimist, warned against
“our own appetites and follies.”
President Kennedy's 1961 proc-
lamation, a ringing affirmation of
spiritual values, was perhaps
prophetic of the international
crisis developing less than a year
later.
“We give thanks,” said the
President, “for our freedom as a
nation; for the strength of our
arms and the faith of our friends;
for the beliefs and confidence we
share; for our determination to
stand firmly for what we believe
to be right and to resist mightily
what we believe to be base.”
GIVE THANKS
Thanksgiving is traditionally American. Over three hundred
years ago the Pilgrim Fathers turned their backs on a world of
entrenched selfishness to build a nation under God. They met on
that first Thanksgiving Day to express their thanks to God for
His many blessings. Their earnest and sincere efforts we're based
on a faith founded in the God of the universe. Thus, they reaped
their reward which later resulted in a representative form of con-
stitutional democracy, and brought us freedom. For these efforts
we can be truly thankful.
One of the finest features of Thanksgiving in this land is the
privilege of living in a country where each individual may unite
to share in the protection and defense of the American principle
of life. Our way of living has more regard of government devised
by the mind of man.
As a people, we are rich in heritage. Our founding fathers were
men of vision. They were individuals of tremendous faith. We
are their descendants. May we now be like them in givng thanks.
May we pattern our future after their vision. May we in possessing
their intimate faith in God behold a vision more glorious.
Surely we can with sincerity join the Psalmist in saying, “O
Give Thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: For His mercy
endureth forever!”
Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Charles E. Brown, Jr.
Chief of Chaplains, U.S. Army