An Ounce - For Your Consideration

There are times when people are faced with very difficult problems. And the way they choose to deal with their challenges provide lessons for us to learn from. 

And as this story concludes, you’ll learn a laudable lesson from our history from a lesser-known moment during the War of 1812. 

The people of the Town of (lou-uhs), spelled Lewes, Delaware, found themselves in quite a pickle. It was April 6th, 1813. A sizeable British flotilla arrived off the coast. They dropped anchor and fired 2 shots over the town – Just to get everyone’s attention. 

Shortly after their demonstration of firepower, one of the ships launched a skiff. And, under a white flag, several British officers came ashore – to - talk. They had a message from Commodore James Beresford, the commanding officer of the flotilla. His pronouncement was pretty simple and succinct. “We will blast your town to pieces and kill everyone in it, unless you provide us with supplies”. 

Find out how the hardy New Englanders responded to the threat!

On occasion, you have to make a choice – and the options are all bad. Sometimes this is because you have gotten yourself into a mess – other times the mess finds you. And there are situations when it doesn’t really matter – all heck just breaks loose. 

What do you-do when the only choices left are bad ones? 

It was early in the afternoon of October 3rd, 1967, and a B-52 bomber had risen from a runway in the deserts of California. This was not your average B-52. It was still that enormous jet aircraft with a huge wingspan. The one capable of carrying an enormous and devastating load of explosives to pretty much anywhere on the planet. This one, however, wasn’t carrying any bombs. 

Have you ever experienced one of those tender moments that hit you right in the “feels” - as they say? A time when great love, compassion, care, or concern just grabs your heart. On occasion, that feeling tickles your eyes, and tears escape. You might even notice a glow, or a sense of stepping out of time for a moment. 

There is an expression that describes it well – and there is a reality of the human anatomy that ties the emotional and the physical together. Stick around for a few minutes and I will let you in on it. 

But, be warned, we are talking about things that some don’t want to discuss, or even acknowledge. But, the insights here will justify some, and help others accept and not fear. 

If you are human, you have felt it. Even the gruffest and toughest feel it. And so do the logical, overly practical, and even clinical ones. 

Don’t worry, secret is safe with me – 

Every once in a while, a critical event occurs. Something happens, and the possible outcomes are thrown into the air to decide how history will be written. 

For example, It’s a snowy night. And a man was driving home. The streets were wet and slick. The air cold. Between the wet and the car's dim headlights, his ability to see in front of him was poor. 

He saw a dark figure just ahead of him and hit the brakes then, almost simultaneously, a thump. Not one of those thumps where a chuck of ice flips up into the undercarriage. But instead, a solid, velocity changing whack, and decelerating vibration, that let him know he really hit something. 
 

Ok now, Same Story – Different perspective: 

A British gentleman was traveling by cab to an old friend’s apartment in New York, having been invited for a late visit. It was about 10:30 at night. Knowing he was close, but not being familiar with the area, he decided to exit the cab. He figured it would be quicker to navigate the final bit on foot, reading the address numbers. 

He found the address. He bolted to cross the street. Halfway across, he saw headlights approaching from the right. Thinking like a Brit, he instinctively believed he was in the clear, and continued across. Expecting the car to pass behind him. 

Being a visitor from London, he was accustomed to navigating a big city with its traffic. But in the darkness, he miscalculated, or has a potentially fatal brain vapor. Perhaps, for a moment, he forgot he wasn’t in London, where cars travel on the opposite side of the road. 

Without a second thought, he stepped forward directly into the path of an oncoming car. He recalled there was a sudden, violent jarring impact across his thighs and forehead. 

And then found himself on the ground. 

Have you ever been in one of those situations? You know… You are trying to get somewhere, or accomplish a task, or find an answer … and you just feel lost, or blind. So, you stop and look for help. You try to comprehend where you are, and how to get where you need to be. But all you learn is that you can not remain where you are. So, you just keep pressing forward (or pressing in the direction that seems like forward) with no idea if you’ll find what you are looking for. 

This analogous story explores that situation. It is set in the mid 1800s. A simple farmer was trying to get home on a January evening. Dark seemed to come on earlier than normal. The sky was dim and hazy, and there was a cold bite in the air. Gratefully he was dressed for the cold, but he worried that his family might be getting low on wood for the old cook stove they used to heat their 2-room house. 

The snow began to fall, gently, like cotton. Big wet puffs drifting down and covering the mud that colored the snow and ice that had fallen a week before. It had been nice to have a day or two with temperatures above freezing – but the wet shallow mud was bothersome – and left dark stains and puddles along the track he was following to get back home. 

In 1955 a beautiful fire truck was manufactured in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This Mack model B-85 was a ladder truck and was of course the classic red.  

Like any classy red vehicle from the 1950s – it was, of course, a convertible! And to offset its bright red color, the truck had silver chrome bumpers, shiny silver chrome sirens, an old-fashioned signal bell mounted at the left front, and red lights all around. It is the kind of rig you could easily imagine dashing to the rescue with a Dalmatian in the center seat, lights flashing, sirens blaring, with firefighters hanging off the back. 

This awesome open-top fire truck was placed into service with the volunteer fire department in the little town of Woodsboro, Maryland – not too far from Baltimore and Washington, DC – where it became known as Truck 16. 

As the nation collectively experienced the nightmare of September 11, 2001, a call came to the Volunteer fire station in Woodsboro, Maryland. 

It was later in the day on the 11th, the towers had collapsed, the pentagon was burning, and one passenger jet had flown into the ground in an open field, just up the road in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 

“We need truck 16 now, at the pentagon, it’s the only truck that can do the job – get here – now!”  the caller said. ....

 On occasion, society celebrates the Anti-Hero. You know, the one who catches the imagination as a romantic rebel, or the scam artist that takes advantage of the ‘evil’ rich. Characters like the noble Robin Hood or the affable scoundrel who sold the Eiffel Tower (twice). 

This is not one of those stories. 

The story begins with a novelty item, the Golf Ball Finder, called the “Gopher”. The item has a plastic pistol grip with a telescoping metal antenna sticking out in front of it, which swiveled to-and-fro… it even had a small battery powered electronics board inside. 

It was claimed to work like a dowsing rod – only better. Their ad states, “It is tuned to home into the elements found in all golf balls”. The pitch jokingly continues, “Please don’t ask us for the theory of its operation. That’s the main reason we have not applied for patents which would expose this technology. It’s also a great novelty item that you should have fun with, especially for the golfer who has everything.” 

Unfortunately, from the 1990s to as late as 2018, including recent Middle East conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, somebody thought, “I bet they are going to need a way to detect bombs! Let sell them this useless novelty item – the Gopher Golf Ball Finder – we can repackage it as the ADE-651, or Magic Wand as the terrorist began to call it, we’ll pretend it will detect bombs! 

5 Decades ago a man-made object was propelled through the atmosphere, to who knows where, faster than any other article – ever. 

This thing was traveling so rapidly, nobody even saw it go, and nobody knows wear it is now. Might be somewhere here on earth, might be in orbit, might even be on its merry way though the cosmos like the voyager space probes. But it’s not communicating to anyone where it’s going, or if it will ever come back. 

What is this thing? You might ask. 

A muscle car. 

A dragster. 

A fighter jet. 

A missal. 

A bullet. 

Nope – Nope – Nope, Nope, & Nope. 

 There is a remarkable icon in the collective consciousness of America. 

The all-American soldier who was brave, patriotic, strong, and relentless against all odds. It is the outstanding Character G.I. Joe. 

G.I. Joe – what a man. What an action figure to fuel the imaginations of little kids. 

Here is the unlikely story of hero G.I. Joe the true hero whose courage and daring on the battlefield, during the battles of World War 2, is truly worthy of the legendary reputation. 

G.I. Joe became a highly decorated member of the U.S. Army for service during the Italian campaign. 

Here is what happened. In October 1943 during the fighting around the Village of Calvi Vechia British infantry were fighting to dislodge German forces from the village. Allied Air forces were requested to bomb the town to assist the British, and liberate the town.

 Everything was going to plan – sort of – as the Brit’s 56th (London) Infantry Division took Calvi Vechia well ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, they liberated the town just before the US had launched a planned bombing campaign, to clear the way for them. Which meant American bombs were going to rain down on British soldiers and the residents of Calvi Vechia  

You’ve heard the idiom, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. There is wisdom in this idea, of never giving up. But, on occasion, the value of such dedication is in what you learn from the effort in trying to succeed – though success may not be achievable. 

Here is an Example. 

In the late 1950s, Cuba, an island nation just a few miles south of Florida, in the United States, was in the throes of a revolution led by a man named Fidel Castro. Up until that time, Cuba had been quite the playground for the American elite – and a big moneymaker for US organized crime syndicates. 

By the early 1960s the Communist hero, Castro, became the supreme dictator. Well, things don’t work the same in a communist system (cause the government owns everything) and the fun was over. The mob lost their huge money-making operations, the well-off lost a favorite tropical destination, and the US had a new neighbor. A new neighbor that was not at all appreciated. 

No worries, the intelligence services would take care of in due time. NOT