Last night’s cold temperatures made it a good time to stay in and watch a movie or two. Ran across “Sgt York” on TCM. It has two of my favorite lines: “Alvin, Ma wants ya” and “Son, I don’t rightly know.” The latter came when a daughter asked Alvin’s tiny, aging mother, “Ma, why are they fightin’ over there?” The picture does a wonderful job of portraying a hard way of life in the Tennessee Mountains during World War II. After “Sgt York” “The Outlaw Josie Wales” came on. It’s about the Missouri-Kansas border wars and had a line that also sticks in my mind. When Josie and his friends got on their horses he said, “We’re going to Lawrence to set things right.” This came after Kansas raiders devastated towns and farms in western Missouri. Quantrill and his men went to Lawrence, burned the town and sent some Kansans to their maker. My great-great grandfather Henry Neill gave chase to Quantrill but didn’t catch him. Henry was the Union Major in charge of Clinton at one point. After the Civil War, he was an attorney in Warrensburg. His next door neighbor was Confederate Major General Francis Marion Cockrell. The two “Old soldiers” are both buried at Sunset Hill Cemetery in Warrensburg. Their grave sites are next to each other. I’ve found references to him in both Clinton and Warrensburg newspapers and they called him ‘The Jovial Major Neill.” Wish I’d have known him.
* * *
INTERNATIONAL NEWS! Scientists discovered a big meteorite in Antarctica. It likely originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and contains some of the oldest material in the solar system. Isn’t all material from billions of years ago? I remember Carl Sagan saying, “We’re made of star stuff.” Given the state of the Earth and events, I’d drop it into the sea and forget we ever saw it. It’s Antarctica, remember “The Thing From Another World?”
* * *
Four Star General Mike Minihan says we’re headed to war with China and sent a memo for Air Force Wing Commanders to “Fire a clip at a target and aim for the head to prepare.” Haven’t we been at war with China for the last 20 years? China knows it, even if we don’t. Wonder if the General is preparing us for another mega billion weapons package as heads at the door to work for a defense contractor? In his last address to the nation, President Eisenhower warned us to beware of the Military Industrial Complex. Sound advice that’s gone unheeded.
* * *
Well, that’s enough of that. Take care old buddy.
****
Til Next Week:
J.M.W.
