Today marks the 81st anniversary of V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day), May 8, 1945, in which the Allies celebrated the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany the day before. Take a moment today and thank God for bringing us victory over evil. Remember the brave men and women who fought against Nazism. If you know a veteran who is still alive, take time today and thank him (or her) for his service to our country. Ask that person to tell you his story and remember it so that you can pass it on to your children and others. Nazi Germany may be a thing of the past, but unspeakable evil certainly is not.
Editor’s Note: Edward Kennedy, AP’s chief of bureau in Paris, was the first to file a story announcing the end of the war in Europe. Kennedy and other reporters had witnessed the German surrender at Reims, France, and had been told by military officials that they could not report the event until it had been announced by the Allied governments in Washington, London and Moscow. The military later said it would be the following day before the surrender news could be transmitted because a second surrender ceremony was being planned for Berlin. Kennedy decided to break the embargo when the surrender was announced – at the request of the Allies – on German radio. Military censors retaliated by suspending the AP’s filing privileges from Europe. (The ban was lifted after six hours.)
Here is the first word that moved over the AP wire at 9:35 a.m. New York time on May 7, 1945:
FLASH
REIMS FRANCE–ALLIES OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED GERMANY SURRENDERED UNCONDITIONALLY.
That transmission was followed one minute later by:
BULLETIN
BY EDWARD KENNEDY
REIMS, FRANCE, MAY 7-(AP)-GERMANY SURRENDERED UNCONDITIONALLY TO THE WESTERN ALLIES AND RUSSIA AT 2:41 A.M. FRENCH TIME TODAY.
Here is the rest of Kennedy’s story:
The surrender took place at a little red schoolhouse that is the headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The surrender was signed for the Supreme Allied Command by Lt. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, chief of staff for Gen. Eisenhower.
It was also signed by Gen. Ivan Susloparov of the Soviet Union and by Gen. Francois Sevez for France.
Gen. Eisenhower was not present at the signing, but immediately afterward Gen. Jodl and his fellow delegate, Gen. Admiral Hans Georg Friedeburg, were received by the Supreme Commander.
They were asked sternly if they understood the surrender terms imposed upon Germany and if they would be carried out by Germany.
They answered yes.
Germany, which began the war with a ruthless attack upon Poland, followed by successive aggressions and brutality in concentration camps, surrendered with an appeal to the victors for mercy toward the German people and armed forces.
After having signed the full surrender, Gen. Jodl said he wanted to speak and received leave to do so.
“With this signature,” he said in soft-spoken German, “the German people and armed forces are for better or worse delivered into the victor’s hands.
“In this war, which has lasted more than five years, both have achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world.”
Today marks the 56th anniversary of the confrontation between the Ohio National Guard and students at KSU. When it was all over, four students lay dead and others seriously wounded. I was a junior in high school when this happened (also on a Monday) and I remember wondering if our country was not coming apart at the seams—a fear not unlike I have about our country today. It was simply unbelievable. Take a moment today to remember this tragedy and ask God to heal his broken and hurting world, a world gone increasingly mad.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 – 1882. Had to learn this poem in Junior High School and it remains a classic today, even if it is sadly ignored by those who should be teaching it.
Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,— One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”
Then he said “Good night!” and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war: A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon, like a prison-bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide.
Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street Wanders and watches with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers Marching down to their boats on the shore.
Then he climbed to the tower of the church, Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry-chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade,— By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town, And the moonlight flowing over all.
Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their night-encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread, The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent, And seeming to whisper, “All is well!” A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay,— A line of black, that bends and floats On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.
Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride, On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. Now he patted his horse’s side, Now gazed on the landscape far and near, Then impetuous stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle-girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry-tower of the old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height, A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns!
A hurry of hoofs in a village-street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet: That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep, And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; And under the alders, that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer’s dog, And felt the damp of the river-fog, That rises when the sun goes down.
It was one by the village clock, When he galloped into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon.
It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning breeze Blowing over the meadows brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket-ball.
You know the rest. In the books you have read, How the British Regulars fired and fled,— How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard-wall, Chasing the red-coats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load.
So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm,— A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo forevermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
Today is the 294th anniversary of George Washington’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mr. President! To our great detriment, Americans are forgetting about our first president. This is sad, in part, because without him, there would not likely be the USA that we know today. Let us hope and pray the woke crowd does not succeed in wiping his name and memory out. That would be a horrible tragedy and injustice for our nation. Do yourself a favor and learn about this extraordinary man with whom God blessed this country.
To the world’s amazement, Washington had prevailed over the more numerous, better supplied, and fully trained British army, mainly because he was more flexible than his opponents. He learned that it was more important to keep his army intact and to win an occasional victory to rally public support than it was to hold American cities or defeat the British army in an open field. Over the last 200 years revolutionary leaders in every part of the world have employed this insight, but never with a result as startling as Washington’s victory over the British.
On December 23, 1783, Washington presented himself before Congress in Annapolis, Maryland, and resigned his commission. Like Cincinnatus, the hero of Classical antiquity whose conduct he most admired, Washington had the wisdom to give up power when he could have been easily become dictator. He left Annapolis and went home to Mount Vernon with the fixed intention of never again serving in public life. This one act, without precedent in modern history, made him an international hero.
In the years after the Revolutionary War, Washington devoted most of his time to rebuilding Mount Vernon, which had suffered in his absence. He experimented with new crops and fertilizers and bred some of the finest mules in the nation. He also served as president of the Potomac Company, which worked to improve the navigation of the river in order to make it easier for upstream farmers to get their produce to market.
A post appropriate for Fat Tuesday. The woman is onto something very important. Lord have mercy indeed. For those with ears to hear, listen and understand.
In a recent New York Times article entitled “Freedom With a Side of Guilt: How Food Delivery Is Reshaping Mealtime,” we learn that almost three out of four restaurant orders nationwide are delivered, rather than actually enjoyed in the restaurant. The author, Priya Krishna, interviews a young woman who spends $300 a week, roughly a third of her salary, on delivery. Another woman works as a sommelier but, nonetheless, has most of her food delivered at home. As we learn, “She no longer feels the social pressure she once did to meet friends for dinner.” It seems that most of those interviewed by the Times feel vaguely guilty about delivery drivers and the environment, but not, of course, enough to inconvenience themselves.
We also meet a couple from Atlanta, Kevin Caldwell and his husband, who spend about $700 a week to order in. They are, we are told, too busy raising their two young boys and working long hours to cook dinner. “His 4-year-old son doesn’t read yet, ‘but he can put together an order’ on the Chick-fil-A app, said Mr. Caldwell, 39.”
Well. It’s hard to know where to begin.
On the one hand, I too enjoy the occasional take-out dinner. When our daughter was young, every two weeks or so, we ordered pizza from our beloved neighborhood institution, V&T’s, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The same husky voice always answered the phone, and she always called me “honey.” In those days, we paid the delivery man in cash, and the pizza arrived piping hot.
On take-out night, I set the coffee table in the living room, rather than our apartment’s dining room table, but we still used candles and linen napkins. We sat on the floor, sometimes in our pajamas, and watched an old movie. It was a cozy, relaxing evening for all of us—a comforting family ritual.
But when I contemplate the lives described in this article—a steady diet of restaurant or fast-food cooking, ugly and environmentally ruinous plastic containers, the obscene waste of money, and, most importantly, the absence of companionship and ritual—I am, quite frankly, horrified. It is not far-fetched to trace a direct line from DoorDash to civilizational collapse.
I know nothing about Caldwell and his partner, but it is reasonable to wonder how they made their family. Did they order their babies online and have them delivered? Did they buy one woman’s egg and rent another’s womb? If so, they intentionally deprived their boys of a mother—the woman who fed the baby with her body in the womb, and who could have fed that baby with her milk outside the womb.
Now the fathers tell us they are too busy “raising two young boys” to cook. But, you see, cooking is raising their boys—feeding their children real food, teaching them how to cook, how to set the table, how to sit still and converse, how to wash the dishes. This is parenting 101. If they are failing to do this, they are certainly not “raising” their sons.
Not only has this couple, if my assumption is correct, willfully deprived their children of a mother. They have also failed at elemental parenting, in this case, the role traditionally filled by a—dare I say it—mother. Should we laugh or cry? One is tempted to call it child abuse.
We have long known that one of the most important factors in predicting the health, both mental and physical, of a child is whether she eats dinner together with her family. A lovingly prepared, healthy meal, eaten around a table with loved ones, while engaging in conversation, is the glue holding everything else together.
Thirty-six percent of American children are overweight. The number has tripled since the 1970s. Our food industry produces addictive non-foods, and our tech overlords create addictive social media. The average child spends forty-two to forty-nine hours a week on screens.
But the rot begins in the home. When a parent, or indeed anyone, says they have no time to cook because they are working long hours, we must advise them to rethink their lives. Their priorities are upside down. We do not eat to work. We work so that we may eat—in the most joyous fashion possible.
We are not machines who need fuel. We are human beings who require food and love, two separate needs but deeply intertwined. As a baby needs her mother for both food and love, so we need nourishing food cooked by loving hands. Food is love. A home without home-cooked food is no “home” at all.
If it is disastrous that we no longer cook or eat together at home, it is almost equally depressing that three out of four restaurant meals are not actually consumed on the premises. One of life’s great joys is getting dressed up and eating in a wonderful restaurant. Delicious food, careful service, and a room lit to make everyone appear beautiful. Sparkling conversation, witty repartee, romance, and glamour—all are made possible by the magic spell cast over guests in a really good restaurant.
Alas, over the past few decades, many restaurants, even those with superb food and high price tags, have abandoned their white tablecloths (metaphorical or actual), candles, and dress codes. They have opted for irony and hip vibes, for maximal cool and minimal ambiance. They are thus complicit in the problem, and one is increasingly likely to see Michelin starred food served to customers in sweatpants and baseball caps.
When the eating-out experience is no different from eating at home in one’s pajamas, it is hardly surprising that so many are choosing to order out. If we’re all going to look like slobs, I’d rather do that in the privacy of my own home without having to look at other people.
It was once customary to “dress for dinner,” even at home. Dinner was an occasion, an opportunity to come together to gossip, solve the world’s problems, or lament homework. And we began by thanking God for the blessings of his food. Gratitude to God, respect for each other; real food, real love.
As a society, we are sick in mind and sick in body.
Today is the 217th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mr. President! The president is one of my heroes, primarily because of the role he played in saving this country. Mr. Lincoln had a wonderful spirit about him and his humility, compassion, and willingness to forgive his enemies arguably saved this country from a terrible aftermath following our Civil War. Reconstruction was hard enough as it was, but at least we did not have guerrilla warfare to contend with, something that would have probably done us in as a country forever.
We healed as well as any country could following a civil war. If you don’t believe me, check out other countries who have suffered through a civil war; most of the time it didn’t turn out well. The reason our country’s reconstruction went relatively well is because of President Lincoln. He set the tone for U.S. Grant and the other Union commanders by insisting that they treat the vanquished with dignity and respect. Lincoln insisted that the rebels would not be treated harshly or punitively and as a result, everyone else followed suit, including the Confederate commanders.
Of course, this wasn’t all Lincoln’s doing, but as president he set the tone for others to follow as great leaders always do. It would have been just as easy to hang all the rebel commanders and make life miserable for the vanquished. But Lincoln knew better. He knew how that would turn out. It would have been interesting to see how much more quickly we would have healed as a nation had Lincoln lived to serve a full second term. Instead, the zealots and self-righteous decided to “fix” Lincoln’s initial proposals for reconstruction and nearly managed to destroy all that President Lincoln had sought to establish in the process.
I am convinced God put Abraham Lincoln in our history for a reason. His presidency is more evidence that God has blessed this country. Whether that blessing continues today is debatable. But that’s a different story for a different day. Today, it is fitting that all Americans honor our 16th president and give thanks to God for placing the right man in the right situation at the right time. Happy birthday, Mr. President, and thank you for your service to our country.
Spring is just around the corner in Ohio — according to Buckeye Chuck, anyway.
Northeast Ohio’s weather-predicting groundhog, who goes by the name of Murray, did not see his shadow at an event on Groundhog Day. The animal, which lives at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, is taken to Marion every year on Feb. 2 to make his prediction, looking for his shadow in the likes of Punxsutawney Phil.
The event drew Buckeye Chuck fans out for the morning festivities, held this year at the Marion County Fairgrounds.
Murray’s prediction stands in contrast to the famous Punxsutawney Phil, who predicted six more weeks of winter from his event at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania.
What’s that crazy rodent know anyway? He’s from Pennsylvania for cryin out loud! Can anything good come out of PA??? ?
Pennsylvania’s “official state meteorologist,” Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow Monday morning, predicting six more weeks of winter.
Thousands of people gathered for the 140th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to see the famous groundhog emerge from his tree stump.
Meanwhile, AccuWeather’s chief long-range weather expert, meteorologist Paul Pastelok, said the coming week will remain cold, with below average temperatures in the eastern United States.
“We’ve still got some more snow and ice to contend with” in the mid-Atlantic, Ohio River Valley and Northeastern U.S., he said.
The farther out you get the accuracy is not specifically on point all the time, but we can get trends,” Pastelok said about any long-range forecasts.
While Phil made his annual prognostication, the National Centers for Environmental Information remains a skeptic of the animal’s prediction ability. The government agency last year compared Phil’s record with U.S. national temperatures over the prior decade and concluded he was right only 40% of the time.
Well done, Mr President. Well done. You get it. For those with ears to hear, listen and understand (and do likewise). Your country’s existence depends on it.
By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor– and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be– That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted–for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
[A]nd also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions– to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually–to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us–and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Go: Washington
Washington issued a proclamation on October 3, 1789, designating Thursday, November 26 as a national day of thanks. In his proclamation, Washington declared that the necessity for such a day sprung from the Almighty’s care of Americans prior to the Revolution, assistance to them in achieving independence, and help in establishing the constitutional government.
An excellent piece that is spot on. Gratitude for our country is rapidly disappearing because teachers no longer teach it and parents, for whatever reason, fail to demand it as well as teach it to their own kids. Woe to the teachers who have abandoned their sacred task in homage to the woke. Woe to them. May they come to their senses before it is too late. For those with ears to hear, listen and understand.
Does America need to focus more on the civic virtue of gratitude? It’s a question worth asking as we approach Thanksgiving.
We do not mean personal gratitude. Most Americans are no doubt grateful for their families and friends, the roofs over their heads, God’s creation, and the blessings we enjoy in this country.
But in our national discourse, do we publicly acknowledge those blessings enough? Do our leaders regularly express thanks for this nation’s greatness? In our schools and colleges, are we teaching young people how fortunate we are to be Americans — and the importance of gratitude for our country?There are some troubling signs. For example, a recent Axios–Generation Lab poll found that more college students have a positive view of socialism than of capitalism.
Yes, capitalism has its problems, and the anxiety of young people facing issues like student debt and high housing costs is understandable. But are we losing our appreciation for the American free enterprise system that has lifted millions out of poverty and helped countless people build better lives for themselves and their families?
Schools used to spend significant time on the story of the first Thanksgiving and how the pilgrims, having made it through the “starving time,” sat down to feast and give thanks with the American Indians who had helped them survive.Today, many schools are just as likely to skip that story, throw cold water on the first Thanksgiving tradition, or mark the season with a generic harvest celebration.It would be interesting to know how often parents hear their children say, “We learned to be thankful for our country in school today.”
Pick a college and look at its list of American history courses. You’ll likely find descriptions with words like “exploitation,” “oppression,” “imperialism,” and “exclusion.” You probably won’t find many with phrases such as “the miracle of America” or “achievements of the American spirit.”
Certainly, the United States has at times fallen short of its ideals. It has committed sins—some grievous. But for all its errors, ours is the story of a great nation that gives us much to be thankful for.
Read and reflect on it all. Then do your part, what you can, to return the civic virtue of gratitude to its proper place in our nation.
