Category Archives: Neglected History

June 16, 2015 · 12:00 am

HAPPY BLOOM’S DAY 2015

jamesjoyceYes, it’s the 16th of June, better known to James Joyce geeks like me as Bloom’s Day. The day is named in honor of Leopold Bloom, the Jewish advertising sales rep and Freemason who is one of the major characters in Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The novel also brings along Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of his earlier novel Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

For those unfamiliar with this work, Ulysses is Joyce’s stream-of-consciousness novel in which he metaphorically features the events from the Odyssey in a single day – June 16th, 1904, in Dublin. (The day he met Nora Barnacle, the woman he would eventually marry after living together for decades) Bloom represents Ulysses/Odysseus, Stephen represents Telemachus and Leopold’s wife, Molly Bloom, represents Penelope.

The novel is jam-packed with Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

May 25, 2015 · 12:05 am

MORE MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS: A SELECTION

Medals of HonorHAPPY MEMORIAL DAY FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG! This is a terrific day for commemorating the service of the men and women who go out and actually DO something. In keeping with my blog’s theme of addressing items that slip through the cultural cracks I’m showcasing a few of the Congressional Medal of Honor winners from the neglected war the U.S. fought in the Philippines from 1899 to 1902.

Arthur M Ferguson

Arthur M Ferguson

ARTHUR M FERGUSON – Lieutenant Ferguson won the Medal for his actions on September 28th, 1899 near Porac on Luzon. Back in April of the same year Ferguson had won the Distinguished Service Cross for dangerous recon work he did against some Philippine forces at Calumpit. For the Medal of Honor Arthur had charged a body of the enemy, inflicting injuries and possible deaths all while capturing a Philippine Captain and returning with the prisoner to American lines.

WILLIS H DOWNS – Yet another member of Young’s Scouts, one of the most famous units of the Philippine War! Private Downs won the Medal for his actions on May 13th, 1899 at San Miguel de Mayumo on Luzon. With 11 other Scouts and without waiting for the supporting batallion to aid them Downs and company charged over 150 yards against a force of approximately 300 of the enemy. Downs and his comrades routed the enemy force despite their superior numbers and their position, which should have been impervious to all but a full frontal attack by a similar force. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

May 24, 2015 · 3:38 pm

TOP FORGOTTEN U.S. NAVAL BATTLES OF WORLD WAR ONE

Navy in World War OneYes, Memorial Day Weekend is here so Balladeer’s Blog will once again feature a few seasonal posts. In keeping with my blog’s theme I will take a look at more military actions that don’t get the attention that others do. The members of the armed forces who died in those battles deserve to be remembered as fondly as those who perished in more renowned clashes. The army gets more attention than the navy and World War Two gets more attention than World War One so I’m shedding light on two neglected areas at once with this look at U.S. Navy battles of the First World War.

OCTOBER 15th, 1917 – America entered the war just six months earlier and the Navy had been transporting the American Expeditionary Force under General “Black Jack” Pershing to Europe, with additional Navy craft escorting those transport ships and fighting German U-Boats. On this date the USS Cassin encountered U-Boat 61 and, after an hour’s pursuit the German submarine turned to fight the Cassin. After a lengthy exchange of torpedoes and depth charges the Cassin was battered but still afloat, while the U-61 suffered substantial damage also, including the destruction of its conning tower, forcing the sub to break off the action and flee.

NOVEMBER 17th, 1917 – The USS Fanning and USS Nicholson clashed with the German U-Boat designated U-58 when eagle-eyed sailors spotted the German sub’s periscope above the water line. Depth charges from the two U.S. ships damaged the U-58 and forced it to surface and engage in standard ship-to-ship combat. The Fanning and Nicholson sank the U-Boat, becoming the FIRST United States ships to Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

May 22, 2015 · 10:52 pm

MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS: A SELECTION

Medal of HonorHAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG! It’s a time for remembering the people who go out and actually DO something and acknowledge their service along with the physical risks and the political abuse heaped upon them. In keeping with my blog’s theme of addressing items that slip through the cultural cracks I’m showcasing a few of the Congressional Medal of Honor winners from the neglected war the U.S. fought in the Philippines from 1899 to 1902.

Hiram BearssHIRAM BEARSS (Correct spelling) – This Captain won the Medal for his actions on November 17th, 1901 during a battle at the confluence of the Sohotan and Cadacan Rivers in Samar. Bearss led his men in a surprise attack on the enemy positions in the fortified cliffs. Relying mostly on bamboo ladders the Captain and his troops drove their opposition from their entrenched positions, literally “charging uphill” against enemy fire.

They also had to contend with the countless booby-traps lining the hills, many of which had been in place since the Spanish- American War of 1898. Those deadly traps took the form of pits, poison- tipped spears, trip-sprung vine nets loaded down with literally tons of stones and many others. The opposition in the caves honeycombing the cliffs needed rooting out as well with various forms of death lurking around every twist and turn in the caverns. Continue reading →

21 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

May 21, 2015 · 12:01 am

TOP FOUR FORGOTTEN CONFLICTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY

With the Memorial Day holiday weekend coming up what could be more appropriate than to examine a few of the forgotten conflicts from America’s past? The soldiers who fell in those wars are no less dead just because they served in actions that are neglected in the history books and/or were never formally declared by Congress. (details, details)

And in keeping with my blog’s overall theme I won’t be bringing any of that weak Korean War, World War One or War of 1812 crap. When Balladeer says forgotten I mean forgotten with a capital (or at least italicized) “F”. As forgotten as The Montefuscos and Hizzoner. As forgotten as a Polish memoir or a promise from a presidential candidate.

4. THE FORGOTTEN YEAR OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR (1781 – 1782) – My fellow Revolutionary War geeks and I are forever rolling our eyes at documentaries that act like Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown marked the end of that conflict. True, it was the last MAJOR battle of the war, but there were 13 more months of open bloodshed and another year after that before the peace treaty was signed. 

October 1781 to November 1782 saw General “Mad” Anthony Wayne’s campaign to fully recover Georgia from British Loyalists and Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

April 24, 2015 · 5:52 pm

REMEMBERING THE MUSLIMS’ GENOCIDAL TREATMENT OF THE ARMENIANS:1915

armenian genocideRemembering the ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND dead from the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Muslim Turks.

14 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , ,

April 8, 2015 · 7:49 pm

JAPAN AT LAST ADMITS TO PERFORMING GROTESQUE MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS ON AMERICAN POW’s

" I love it when people do those things to Americans!"

” I love it when people do those things to American soldiers!”

Fukuoka’s Kyushu University this week broke the official silence surrounding an oft-discussed but never admitted atrocity: Japan’s use of American POW’s as human guinea pigs in sadistic medical experiments. This can be added to the pile of Japanese war crimes along with similar experiments they conducted wholesale on captives in China and on various Pacific Islands. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , ,

February 12, 2015 · 12:06 am

AMERICAN VICE PRESIDENTS: HISTORY’S SECOND BANANAS

John Adams

President’s Day weekend is nearly upon us! This time instead of looking at the chief white-collar criminals in the country I’ll take a look at their Underbosses.

John Adams called the Vice Presidency “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” A very old joke went “Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea and the other became Vice President. Neither was ever heard from again.” In George S Kaufman’s and Morrie Ryskind’s classic stage work Of Thee I Sing one of the characters turns down an offer to be Vice President because he’s ashamed to have his mother know. He’s persuaded to accept the office when it’s pointed out that if he doesn’t tell her about it she’ll never find out.

The office has featured eminently forgettable figures as well as comic relief buffoons like Dan “The Global Village Idiot” Quayle and Joe “Koo Koo For Cocoa Puffs” Biden. In the light-hearted style of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at U.S. Presidents here’s a look at the men who got to hang around and see if the country’s Chief Executive wound up six feet under. I’m omitting VP’s who went on to actually become President, so no John Adams or Thomas Jefferson, etc.

AARON BURR

Served Under: Jefferson 

Noted for: Shooting dead more Treasury Secretaries and hatching more plots to overthrow the country than any other Vice President.

GEORGE CLINTON

Served Under: Jefferson and Madison

Noted for: Leading American Rebel forces against the British troops of Continue reading →

14 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 2, 2015 · 8:21 pm

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES JOYCE

jamesjoyceHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAMES JOYCE! His works got me hooked in my teens when I really related to his character Stephen Dedalus as he rejected his religion and indulged what I call his “young and pretentious side” in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I wore out my copy of Joyce’s novel Ulysses and continue to mark Bloom’s Day to this very day.

Over the years Finnegans Wake replaced Ulysses as my favorite Joyce novel and I’m fonder than many people are of his play Exiles, his “epiphanies” in Dubliners and, poetry geek that I am, even Pomes Penyeach and Chamber Music. So, if you live in Ireland, say hello to Anna Livia Plurabelle for me today!   Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

August 12, 2014 · 12:02 am

FORGOTTEN APOLLO MISSIONS PART TWO: APOLLO 15, 16 AND 17

FOR PART ONE CLICK HERE:  https://glitternight.com/2014/08/11/apollo-moon-landings-the-forgotten-missions/

Apollo 15 patchAPOLLO 15 – Overall Commander: David R Scott

Command Module Endeavor Pilot: Alfred M Worden 

Lunar Module Falcon Pilot: James B Irwin 

The Apollo 15 mission was launched on July 26th, 1971 at 9:34am EST. The Falcon touched down at the foot of the moon’s Appenine Mountains on July 30th at 6:16pm. Endeavor orbited overhead while Worden scouted potential sites for future manned and unmanned missions to the moon.   

The Mission: Apollo 15 had the lengthiest lunar visit of any mission to this point. Scott and Irwin were also the first Astronauts to drive around on an electric Moon Buggy aka a Lunar Roving Vehicle. The LRV traveled at 7 mph on flat surfaces, 11 mph going downhill. The Moon Buggy was a visual hit with the global audience but more importantly it extended the range the Astronauts could cover. Scott and Irwin were limited to a 6 mile radius from the Falcon, a limit imposed to ensure that they would still have sufficient power and air in their space suits to walk back to the Lunar Module if the Moon Buggy broke down.   Continue reading →

14 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,