She’s the baby of the bunch on ABC television’s morning chatfestThe View, while he’s the second-string quarterback for the New York Giants. Not your typical Christian couple by any stretch, but they’re not afraid to share their faith with others….
What is your church life like?
Elisabeth: Tim and I went to New England Chapel back home in Massachusetts where the pastor was young, vibrant, down-to-earth, and real. He didn’t pass prejudice. Those are all things I respect, especially in the Christian community, because too many people take an approach that I think turns a lot of people off, to be honest.My View colleague Star Jones was great when we first moved to New York City. She invited us out to her church and we went. She’s very open about her faith, which is great. But it’s been hard [to find a stable church home in New York] because we’ve moved around a lot. Tim: For example, we’ll go somewhere and find a young couples group doing a thing on The Five Love Languages. We both love that book and will want to jump in and do it. Then someone comes up to Elisabeth and wants to know what she ate on Survivor or someone asks me what [fellow Giants quarterback] Eli Manning is like. Next thing you know we have our guard up.Elisabeth, what’s it like working on The View?Elisabeth: I’m thankful that I can sit down every morning with four intelligent women and talk about things from shoes to faith to the war, circle back through politics, and end up at the latest diet. That’s made me a better citizen and a better person. Being challenged by them is an unbelievable gift. People do not have conversations like that every single day. “Some Christians come across as judgmental, and I don’t think that’s the way to let someone understand your faith.”Tim: I think a lot of people look at what she does and think, “You’re on TV an hour a day; what’s the big deal?” Really, there’s a lot of preparation to it and also a lot of pressure to be “on” every day. People are listening to what you say. The idea of exposing yourself in a lot of personal ways was a little awkward for both of us.Is standing up for what you believe difficult?Elisabeth: Though it is a challenge, I see it more as a blessing. I’ve learned so much from these women. Because they’re so good at what they do, they make me clarify my thoughts just sitting next to them.Tim: I’m proud I’m married to someone who will go in there and stand up for things we believe. For Elisabeth to be in a situation where she believes that Jesus was born from a virgin, there are people who would say, “You’re brainwashed, naïve, too young to really know.” That’s hard to swallow when someone basically tries to walk all over everything you stand for.Tim, do you face the same pressure in the NFL?Tim: No. In the athletic arena, you had people like Kurt Warner and guys who were crusaders for God. It isn’t totally outrageous to be a Christian. It isn’t crazy to go to Bible study on a Wednesday night with guys on your football team. In the entertainment industry, you’re an outcast in a lot of ways. Issues come up—serious topics like the Terri Schiavo case or abortion. Obviously Elisabeth’s more conservative than some of the other women on certain topics.Elisabeth: This is a very complex life. Things used to be simple back in the day. There was right and there was wrong. Now there’s a lot of complexity to our lives and the decisions we have to make. But that’s the beauty of our roundtable discussions on The View. I don’t feel it’s difficult to stand true to what I believe because that’s what we’re all paid to do. We respect one another and what we have to say. I feel a responsibility to be clear and honest and true to what I believe. I suppose many people debate issues with their friends and coworkers—but try doing it live on TV! [She laughs.] It’s the most stressful thing, but I thrive on that.
By Charity VogelNews Staff ReporterPublished:August 1, 2010, 7:52 AM
For years we’ve known Jim Kelly as a gridiron hero — old No. 12. His wife, Jill, has long been the beautiful blonde smiling by his side.
Both a little larger than life. Both a little one-dimensional.
Until now.
Western New York is about to get an eye-opening look at the private lives of the Kellys: from details of the heartbreaking death of their son, Hunter, to the problems, including Jim’s infidelity, that have plagued their marriage.
A new memoir by Jill Kelly, with passages by her husband Jim, is scheduled for release next month. The forthright, wide-ranging book tentatively titled “Without a Word” draws back the curtain that has obscured the private lives of the Kellys during the 20-odd years they have held center stage in Buffalo’s celebrity spotlight.
The Buffalo News reviewed an advance reading copy of the memoir from the publisher, FaithWords. The book, set to appear Sept. 9, is subject to editing and other changes in the final weeks before publication.
According to the advance copy, the book covers topics including:
* The infidelities committed by Jim throughout much of the couple’s marriage. Jill writes about how, within months of their 1996 wedding, she had to clean out reminders of other women from Jim’s past from his closets and drawers. Jim writes in the book that his wayward activities with other women almost killed his marriage — and that only his confession and rebirth in Jesus Christ saved him.
This change, he writes in the advance memoir, was precipitated by a meeting with his mother-in-law, Jacque Waggoner, in which she told him she knew of his unsavory actions and that she would tell Jill if he didn’t.
* A look at how Jim and Jill grew apart during their marriage, due to his constant travel for sports events and her absorption in Hunter’s exhaustive routine of daily treatments. On the day in 2005 that Hunter died, Jill writes, she rushed to one hospital to be near him; while Jim, as he tells it, was far away, having gone to the wrong hospital in confusion.
* A detailed picture of the vibrant Christianity of Jill, a faith she found in 1998, and which sustained her through Hunter’s death and her marital crisis. The book also describes Jim’s more recent commitment to Christianity, a process in which he apologized for his behavior and promised to live a new life.
Today, both wrote in the advance of the book, the couple is closer than ever.
“There has been a heart change,” said Rich George, the Amherst pastor who worked with the Kellys when their marital problems reached a climax in 2007. “When a person entrusts their life to Christ, a life change starts to take place in their soul. Jim was different in those days than he is now.”
The pastor thinks Jim’s conversion is authentic — and of great value to the Western New York community, as an example.
“In telling the story, there’s a catharsis for Jill and Jim, but there’s also a catharsis for people who are without hope,” said George, at The Chapel at CrossPoint. “I think Jill’s message is, there’s always hope. That’s where Jim and Jill have found their solace — and their peace.”
Spokeswomen for Jill Kelly said she is waiting to speak publicly about the book until the publication date nears. But already, supporters of the couple are praising the Kellys’ willingness to share their personal lives with the public.
“It’s quite a story,” said Marv Levy, former coach of the Buffalo Bills and the man who led the Kelly-era team to four Super Bowls, of the couple’s journey.
“It’ll be great, because it will give the public a real look inside the human nature of [Jim],” said Levy, who has not yet read the memoir, from his Chicago home. “People will get a tremendous insight into the kind of a guy Jim Kelly really is. He’s not just a football player. This is a genuine guy.
“Certainly he isn’t flawless; who is? But genuinely respected, genuinely liked.”
Poignant opening scene
The story told in the book, however, is Jill’s.
The former Jill Waggoner writes in the 252-page advance of the memoir that she discussed many aspects of it with Jim on long walks through their neighborhood in the Town of Aurora, and that he helped her decide on the title — which is meant to capture the spirit of Hunter, who loved those around him without being able to speak.
The story is told from Jill’s point of view — except for passages written by Jim from his perspective.
Close friends of Jill say the 40-year-old former model worked long and hard to figure out what to say about her life, and how to say it.
“In my mind, I guess I could see that some people might be like, ‘Wow,'” said Patti Thomas, the wife of Jim’s former teammate Thurman Thomas, and a close friend of Jill’s since they were both models at 13. “[But] she didn’t twist Jim’s arm. Jim willingly put his part of it out there.”
“If these two people that I love want to tell their story, then I’m for it,” Thomas said.
The story begins with Hunter’s illness. In a poignant opening scene, Jill describes staying with her son in a Buffalo hospital room on one of his frequent trips to the emergency wards for help with breathing or to fight off sickness.
When she looked up for a moment, Jill writes, she saw a child covered with a sheet being rolled through the hallway on a gurney. The sight nearly broke her heart.
When Hunter James Kelly was diagnosed with Krabbe disease shortly after his birth in 1997 — on Jim’s 37th birthday — it was a death sentence. Krabbe, an inherited enzyme disorder that affects 1 in 100,000 children born in the United States, usually only gives a child a few months, perhaps one or two years, to live.
Terrible devastation
Hunter Kelly lived to be 8, and constant care was partly to thank for that.
In her memoir, Jill provides a detailed look at the intensive schedule of care Hunter received every day: medicine and vitamin doses, cold compresses, whirlpool sessions, chest massages, temperature readings.
Jill’s mother, Jacque, and the many nurses and aides who filled the Kelly home to help care for Hunter over the years emerge as heroes in Jill’s telling of her son’s story.
And, she writes, her husband Jim, now 50, always had a special and beautiful relationship with his only son.
Hunter’s death, which Jill describes midway through the book, took place in Warsaw Hospital in the early-morning hours of August 5, 2005, after an overnight stay the boy had made at his grandparents’ house. Jill rushed to Hunter’s side after a 4:45 a.m. phone call awakened her and Jim. Unfortunately, as Jim writes in his account, he got mixed up and went to a hospital in Buffalo — only to be turned around and sent, with police escorting him, to where Hunter lay.
The Kellys suffered terrible devastation at Hunter’s death, Jill writes.
But, as she tells it, the event was also a turning point in their lives. It fixed their minds on the connections between mortality and the life the Kellys expect to live after death in heaven — with “Hunterboy.”
And it also focused them on positive things they could do to help others dealing with illness — especially Krabbe disease.
“If you spend time with them now, they’ve been transformed,” said Thomas, a writer who lives in Colden with her husband, Thurman. “They’ve always been wonderful — but they’ve been transformed.”
Ruben Brown, another former teammate of Jim who lives in Western New York, said that the story of Hunter’s life is an important one to tell.
“It’s important, because it makes Jim and Jill become very real people,” said Brown, who has three children slightly younger than the Kelly children. “Western New York is not the Park Avenue of the United States — it’s a blue-collar town, and a blue-collar place. At the end of the day, though, we are all very similar in a lot of ways. Jim and Jill aren’t much different than me and you.”
Not-so-glamorous parts
The other half of “Without a Word” is the story of a young, country-bred woman who met a famous NFL quarterback at a house party after a preseason Bills game in 1991 — and married him.
Part of the Kellys’ love story, as told by Jill, is a fairy tale: as when Jim hid a three-carat diamond solitaire ring in a dessert at Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant, as a way of proposing to her.
Then there are the not-so-glamorous parts.
Jill, who grew up in a Catholic family, writes about her terror at finding out she was pregnant while the couple was not married. When she told Jim, she writes, he was understanding and supportive. Their first daughter, Erin Marie, was 1 when the couple wed. A second daughter, Camryn Lynn, was born in 1999.
Jill writes of cleaning the couple’s house in the summer after their wedding and coming across tokens of Jim’s past flings. That hurt, she writes — especially as it was so different from the public image of the couple, who had been featured in People magazine as having one of the “weddings of the year.”
But the worst moment for them as a couple was more recent than that.
In April 2007, during a marriage counseling session with Pastor George, as Jill describes it in her book’s advance copy, Jim — prompted by the meeting with his mother-in-law — nervously confessed to her and the pastor that he had been unfaithful during their union.
Jim’s revelation stunned her, Jill writes, even though their marriage had been through rocky times and at one point soon after Hunter’s death seemed destined to break apart.
Jim, in a passage written in his own words, takes responsibility for his infidelities and said that Jill’s forgiveness of him that day lifted an enormous weight from his heart.
In love again
The couple, according to Jill’s perspective at the end of the memoir, has been weathered by time and experience. But they are also newly in love again, and recommitted to making their marriage work.
They even went through a renewal ceremony of their wedding vows in the fall of 2008.
Does the idea of a newly reborn Jim Kelly, Hall of Fame quarterback, jar too sharply against the image of him that many Western New Yorkers remember fondly? Will people believe this latest turn No. 12’s life has taken?
The memoir’s answer is yes. It ends on a note of hope, and optimism, for the future.
Jim’s former teammates said they support the Kellys in their new path.
Mark Kelso, a former teammate from the Super Bowl-era Bills, said that the Kellys have been an inspiration in their belief that everything — up to and including Hunter’s death — happens for a reason.
“From Day One, [Hunter’s life] altered their lives completely,” said Kelso, who works with Jim at his sports camps for kids. “I just know the faith that they have — the belief that they have that everything happens for a reason. It makes Jim a normal guy. People want to think of him as a normal Buffalonian.
“But things happen in life; just because you’re an outstanding player and it seems you have everything you want — there’s a person in control, and it’s not you.”
Thomas said she and her husband see the change in the Kellys, and are moved beyond words.
“As friends of theirs, to see them — and how much they love each other — it is just a testimony to Hunter’s life,” Thomas said.
Tennessee tailback Tauren Poole is stopped by Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. UT lost the game 49-7. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Tennessee tailback Devrin Young returns a punt against Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. UT lost the game 49-7. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Arkansas wide receiver Joe Adams breaks tackles to return a punt for a touchdown against Tennessee at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. UT lost the game 49-7. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Arkansas wide receiver Joe Adams breaks past Tennessee defensive back Brian Randolph to return a punt for a touchdown at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. UT lost the game 49-7. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS
Interview with Johnny Majors after 1982 Kentucky game
Below is a picture of Lane Kiffin with Johnny Majors.
I enjoyed hearing Johnny Majors speak at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on 11-7-11. He talked a lot about the connection between the Arkansas and Tennessee football programs. It reminded me of what Frank Broyles had said two years earlier when I heard him speak. Broyles told a very interesting story that involved individuals that were involved with the UT football program. John Barnhill was the Athletic Director at Arkansas (former football coach of UT) and he hired a former UT player Bowden Wyatt to be the head football coach at Arkansas (future football coach of great UT team of 1956 with Johnny Majors at QB). John Barnhill noticed that in south Arkansas the radio stations were carrying the LSU football games and in the East part of Arkansas the radio stations were carrying Ole Miss and in the west they were carrying Oklahoma. Therefore, John Barnhill offerred all the radio staions in the whole state free access to the radio broadcast of the Razorbacks and the result was all the stations in the whole state carried the Razorbacks and Bowden Wyatt benefitted from the great increase in school spirit and support and a young Frank Broyles saw this great support in all the store windows of every store and every city in Arkansas had all this great support for the Razorbacks and Frank had never seen that at Baylor or Georgia Tech or any other school he had been around and he decided he would take the job as soon as it came open. Bowden Wyatt coached the first razorback team that got national attention but he left after getting the razorbacks to the cotton bowl and got a cadillac from the grateful fans of Arkansas and drove it straight to Knoxville where my Uncle Blythe told me that he used the talent left there and drank himself out of a job later.
Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray warms up with the team before the game against Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
_________________________
Tennessee football was both defined by and in a sense, spoiled by Robert Neyland, one of the all-time greats of college football coaching. “The Titan of Tennessee”, a College Football Hall Of Fame member, posted a 173-31-12 record in a twenty-one year coaching reign that spanned twenty-seven years as it was twice interrupted for military service. He played at Texas A&M and Army, served in World War I, then at West Point, worked directly for General Douglas MacArthur. Neyland eventually retired from the Army as a Brigadier General but served in Panama and in WW II which interrupted his UT coaching career. His unbelievable success put Tennessee football and his version of the Single Wing on the map, earning respect for southern football. He served to spoil fans and boosters with his .829 winning percentage and National Championships of 1938 and ’51. In one six-year period he went 53-1-5! After his retirement to the full-time athletic director’s position in 1952, every coach at UT was held to his standard. His final stint at UT spanned the years of 1946 through ’52. He inherited successful teams coached by John Barnhill who “kept the throne warm” for The General while he served during WW II. Barnhill was a former player and current assistant to Neyland when military duty called and upon Neyland’s return in ’46, Barnhill’s UT success brought him the head coaching job at Arkansas, one he kept for eight years until giving it over to former Tennessee star, assistant coach, and future head Volunteer mentor, Bowden Wyatt. Neyland of course, took Barnhill’s team to the next level, bringing the 1946 squad to the Orange Bowl.
Tennessee wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers looks for a call after he lost the ball against Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
_________________________
After a two-year rebuilding effort, the 1949 team finished with a 7-2-1 mark
Former UT All American end Bowden Wyatt who had turned around the fortunes of Wyoming, at one point winning twenty-seven of thirty games, and then guided a down-trodden Arkansas to the Cotton Bowl in only his second year at the helm there, was rumored to be the incoming new Vols coach which predictably, contributed to the Hogs’ loss to Georgia Tech in their bowl game. On January 8, 1955 Wyatt was officially named and drove into Knoxville in a brand-new Cadillac that had been purchased by appreciative Razorback fans after clinching the Cotton Bowl berth. Using the same fundamental football he learned from General Neyland, Wyatt was tireless and dynamic in teaching the Tennessee Single-Wing which featured “fierce blocking and sound defense.” Wyatt’s first team featured John Gordy at tackle, Charley Coffey at guard, and Johnny Majors at tailback. Majors’ 1133 total yards made him the SEC MVP. Some felt that the 6-3-1 record would have improved if solid FB Tom Tracy had not had a personal falling-out with Wyatt which led him to quit the squad during spring ball. Tracy still went on to a productive nine-year NFL career with Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Washington.
A defensive stand-off that featured a lot of punting and strategy was the 1956 season’s highlighted game, a 6-0 win over powerful Georgia Tech in the seventh game of the year that spurred the Vols on to an undefeated season. All SEC T Gordy led the way for Majors and wingback Bill Anderson before the big lineman left to play for the Lions for eleven good years. Majors finished with 1101 yards, consensus All American ranking and finished second in the Heisman voting, an honor many experts believe he should have won. Once again his ability to run, pass, block and perform as one of the best punters in the nation gave him the SEC MVP for the second straight year and he was named as UPI’s National Back Of The Year. E Buddy Cruze was also All American and Wyatt was National Coach Of The Year for guiding his Vols to a number-two national ranking. The season ended on a down note as the mighty Vols lost a mistake-ridden Sugar Bowl game 13-7 to Baylor, the game marred when Vol guard Bruce Burnham was kicked by Baylor’s Larry Hickman after a play with Burnham going into convulsions. What was believed to possibly be a broken neck proved to be but a minor injury but the myth of an “unbeatable Tennessee team” had been exploded.
Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (Part 16 Thirsty Thursday, Open letter to Senator Pryor)
Dear Senator Pryor,
Why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? As you know that federal deficit is at all time high (1.6 trillion deficit with revenues of 2.2 trillion and spending at 3.8 trillion).
On my blog www.HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com I took you at your word and sent you over 100 emails with specific spending cut ideas. However, I did not see any of them in the recent debt deal that Congress adopted. Now I am trying another approach. Every week from now on I will send you an email explaining different reasons why we need the Balanced Budget Amendment. It will appear on my blog on “Thirsty Thursday” because the government is always thirsty for more money to spend.
WASHINGTON– Today, Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-08) voted against the latest debt ceiling deal brokered by President Obama and Congressional leaders.
“Last night’s deal shows how far the debate has moved in just a few months,” said Congressman Walsh. “At the beginning of this debate President Obama demanded a blank check increase in the debt limit with no spending cuts attached. When that didn’t work, he insisted on huge tax increases on American families and job creators. The Republican Party, however, stood strong and refused to pay for reckless spending withmoretax increases.”
“While I give my Republican leadership all the credit in the world, I cannot support this latest deal: it spends too much and cuts too little. While this deal will cut $2.4 trillion from the national debt over the next 10 years, Washington will still add another $7 trillion to the national debt over that same period.”
“The fact that there are only $7 billion in cuts next year, an election year, shows how blatantly political this bill is. We need to be slashing reckless spending now and in the future, not just when it is politically convenient for the President.”
“Democrats still don’t get it and refuse to make the spending cuts necessary to avoid a credit downgrade. I have made it clear from day one that I will never vote for an increase in the debt ceiling unless it fundamentally and structurally changes the way Washington spends money. I believe that the way to do that is through statutory spending caps and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.”
President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85.
I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle. He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured above with Ronald Reagan. He enlisted in the army in World War I and became an aviator. After the war he earned a Ph.D. in engineering and remained in the Army Air Corps as a test pilot until 1930, when he became head of aviation for Shell Oil Co. In 1932 he set a world air speed record. Returning to active duty during World War II, he led a daring raid on Tokyo (1942), for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor. He commanded air operations on many fronts, including attacks on Germany in 1944 – 45. After the war he remained active in the aerospace industry. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989.
Here is a clip from the movie “Pearl Harbor” about Doolittle.
WWII Battle of Leyte Gulf
This was published earlier in the Saline Courier.
(I have known McDaniel’s daughter, Linda Matyskiela and her husband, Terry, for 10 years as the owners of Bobby’s Country Cookin’ in Little Rock. Here is a story about Linda’s father Leon McDaniel. Both Leon and his wife Joyce recently passed away, but were able to read and enjoy this article when it was published two years ago.)
A little after noon, Japanese standard time on Aug. 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito’s announcement of Japan’s surrender was broadcast over the radio in Japan. Some Japanese soldiers, crushed by the surrender, committed suicide, and well over 100 American prisoners of war were also executed by the Imperial Japanese Army. Nevertheless, the USA had arrived at Victory over Japan Day, or VJ Day.
Getting to this day did not come easy for the United States. Major sacrifices had to be made by our soldiers, and many of them were from Arkansas.
I wanted to recognize the service of just a fraction of the dedicated soldiers that have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Today I wanted to start with Leon A. McDaniel.
Currently McDaniel, 84, lives in Mount Ida with wife Joyce of 64 years, but he was born and raised in Nimrod in Perry County.
McDaniel joined the Navy at age 17 and served from October 1943 until August 1946. He was based in San Francisco and served 23 months on the USS George Clymer APA 27. The USS George Clymer was a Marine and Army transport ship and was involved also in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
After boot camp, McDaniel was trained to be the coxswain of the landing crafts. The coxswain is the person in charge of the steering of a boat.McDaniel drove both the larger crafts that landed the tanks on the beaches and the smaller crafts that landed the troops on the beaches. McDaniel said he transported many Japanese POWs to ships that took the Japanese to POW camps.
Guam
The Second Battle of Guam was from July 21 to Aug. 8, 1944, and resulted in the capture of the Japanese held island of Guam. The battle started with the Americans numbering 36,000 and the Japanese 22,000. It ended with 1,747 Americans killed and over 18,000 Japanese killed. There were 485 Japanese POWs taken captive.
When the USS George Clymer was anchored off Guam from July 21 to Aug. 21, every other day at dusk Leon McDaniel would be responsible for driving the landing craft around the ship that carried the commanders of the task force. His all-night duty would end at dawn. It was his duty to make sure Japanese divers or torpedo boats did not surprise-attack the ship.
Leyte
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was fought from Oct. 23 to 26, 1944, in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon. It was and still is the largest naval battle of all time.
The Imperial Japanese Navy brought together almost all of its remaining major naval vessels in an effort to keep the Americans from cutting off their supply lines to their fuel reserves.
After their defeat at Leyte, the Japanese had to keep the majority of their surviving large ships at their bases because they did not have enough fuel to operate them. This remained the case for the rest of the Pacific War. Another interesting fact is that the Battle of Leyte Gulf is the first battle in which kamikaze attacks occurred.
McDaniel remembers that the morning of the invasion of Leyte, 16-inch shells from battle ships and bombs from airplanes hit the invasion site every three seconds for approximately two hours. During the bombardment, McDaniel drove his landing craft along with hundreds of others, carrying tanks and troops and rendezvoused away from the ships until the shelling stopped. They were ordered then to land troops and tanks.
On the first night in Leyte, the USS George Clymer was anchored off the beachhead of Leyte. McDaniel and others had to stay in their landing crafts tied to their ships. The air raid warning was sounded. A smoke screen was laid out all over the convoy of several hundred ships. This was done to keep Japanese bombers from seeing the ships. The difficulty of breathing and seeing your hand in front of your face was described as very trying and difficult by McDaniel.
The second night of the smokescreen, several landing craft were untied from their ships to find the outer edges of the screen. But instead of finding the outer edge, they became lost in the screen, and McDaniel did not know whether they were close to their own ships or close to the Japanese beach somewhere. When the screen lifted they were able to relocate their ship and eased back in without anyone realizing they were gone. McDaniel said it felt like being back at home once they were reunited with their ship.
During the three days in Leyte, there was a constant bombardment of the Island. The third night, as the ships were being escorted out, the sound of bombs, shells, planes, thunder and lightening echoed through the air as they left.
Japan had lost more than 10,000 men while the United States lost nearly 2,000.
(Next post we will look at some more war stories from Mr. McDaniel.)
President Reagan and Senator Barry Goldwater present the fourth star to General Jimmy Doolittle during a White House ceremony in the Indian Treaty room, OEOB. 6/20/85. I love the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck and it tells the story of Jimmy Doolittle. He was born in 1896 and died in 1993. He is pictured […]
This portion below appeared in an article I did for the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: I went to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock from 1983 to 1997, and during that time I became friends with Walter Dickinson Sr. In fact, we used to attend a weekly luncheon together on Thursdays. Just […]
The Lost Evidence: The Battle Of The Bulge (1/5) This article was published in the Saline Courier about 18 months ago: When we celebrate July 4th we are focusing on the freedoms that so many soldiers have fought for over the last 234 years. That focus has been highlighted for me since my son Hunter […]
This is taken from an article that appeared in the Saline Courier about a year ago: Bravery is not just limited to one generation, but Americans have had it in every generation. It makes me think about those who are currently serving in our military. Jon Chris Roberts who is graduate of Benton High […]
I was born in Tennessee and everyone in Tennessee knows the name of Alvin York. Above is a clip about his accomplishments in War World I. Cara Gist of Shannon Hills tells me that her grandfather Herbert S. Apple of Salado, Arkansas (near Batesville) fought in World War I. He served in France and fought […]
My longtime friend Craig Carney is originally from Jacksonville, and he told me a couple of years ago about a friend of his parents from Jacksonville, Arkansas named Silas Legrow. Legrow was going to speak at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History on April 17, 2008 about his experience in the March of 1942 when […]
The Background Facts of The Black Hawk Down (1/7) Uploaded by WarDocumentary on Feb 14, 2011 The movie Black Hawk Down was based on an actual event that took place in Mogadishu, Somalia. This documentary explains the event. _______________________________ On October 3, 2003 my son played quarterback at the Arkansas Baptist High School Football game […]
…But it seems to me that, while they surely vary, these occupiers don’t necessarily protest anybody’s greed. That’s a personal flaw. Nor do they protest anyone’s success. That’s a personal victory.
Instead they rise against unfair and destructive governmental policy that inordinately favors the already-rich at the expense of everyone else, thus fashioning and exacerbating an unhealthy, unsustainable and undemocratic gap between the rich few and the other many.
How big a gap is too big? If the gap is bigger than it would be naturally, essentially and inevitably without political favoritism and artificial political enhancement—that’s when it is too big.
By wealth-favoring political practices and public policies, I cite:
Across-the-board tax cuts that lavish the richest with most of the manna.
Concessions to a global economy by which American corporations pay no price for abandoning American workers and by which corporations are judged by a stock price or dividend instead of local community responsibility. Many of our job losses result from a pattern by which corporations secure themselves against another American economic meltdown by hoarding record profits generated in partnership with compliant, moneyaddicted politicians.
An incestuous Washington culture in which you can hardly tell the elected politicians from the corporate policy advocates. The only thing voters accomplished by defeating Blanche Lincoln was to make her more money and perhaps more influential. Now she spouts her banal platitudes for pay from the National Association of Independent Business.
Campaign finance laws that enable the richest and the corporations to remain anonymous as they contribute unrestricted sums to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or other propagandizing front groups inundating us with cynical mailers and television advertising to perpetuate the pro-rich government.
Generally speaking, the occupiers’ complaint is not that there are spectacularly rich people in America. It is that some among these richest people can ruin the nation’s economy with irresponsible wagering on a scheme drawn from inflated American home mortgages. It is that these offenders can then get bailed out by the rest of us via the government, which permitted and even encouraged the abuse in the first place. It is that these offenders can then enjoy the government’s blessing as they traipse right back into their big-bonus bonanzas. It is that regular people, mere innocent pawns, find themselves paying the real price—foreclosed on and laid off.
It becomes tactically essential to the perpetuation of these pro-rich policies to miscast this uprising by portraying it in political terms as irresponsible poor people warring resentfully against noble rich people. So “class warfare” becomes the right wing’s hollow and dishonest charge.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at jbrummett@arkansasonline.com and read his blog at brummett.arkansasonline.com.
This article was published November 15, 2011 at 5:25 a.m.
I think that unlike the Tea Party which is focused on just a full issues, the Occupy Wall Street crowd really is not sure about what direction is heading yet. Nevertheless, there are some statements and actions of their members that I would like to comment on.
First, I wonder how peaceful this movement is. Jim Lendall is one of the organizers and back in April he stood on the steps of the state capitol at a “Make Them Pay Rally” and called for erecting guillotines and placing them in front of corporations like Bank of America to remind these business leaders that the rich leaders of the French government of the 1700’s were beheaded during the French Revolution because of their greed. Also the downtown branch of Bank of America reported that a large brick was thrown into a glass window near the first floor entrance of the bank.
Second, how big is this movement compared to conservative movements? Every year I take part in the “March for Life” which is a pro-life march that takes place every January. Last January we had over 5000 marchers, but the Occupy Little Rock March had only 300 marchers.
Third, both the Occupy Little Rock crowd and the Tea Party both are mad that the bailout was available because of cronyism. This is one area that I have in agreement with the Occupy Little Rock group, but we must take the next step. The Tea Party has done that by discouraging the larger role the federal government has been taking in recent years by controlling our lives with increases spending. The Tea Party has correctly condemned the federal deficit spending of the politicians in Washington D.C. as the primary problem. The Occupy Little Rock crowd never mentions that issue because their answer is to spend more money. If the USA is to avoid the fate of Greece. Why does the federal government think it has the money to bail out anybody?
Fourth, the Occupy Little Rock crowd thinks we need more regulations and taxes on the big bad corporations. There are two points here. If we raise taxes on those corporations then they will raise their prices on their products and we end up paying the higher prices at the retail stores. Also more regulations will hurt upstarts like Steve Jobs who started as a poor teenager in a garage with an idea. Steve Jobs later grew his company to over 350 billion dollars in sales and the company made a lot of money for lots of Americans who worked for him. Furthermore, Steve Jobs also provided various products to the public that changed life for billions across the globe. Is that the type of progress that the Occupy Little Rock crowd is opposing?
Fifth, the Occupy Little Rock crowd talks about the system in our country that punishes the poor and helps the rich, but the facts clearly show that the ability to move from poor to rich is more abundant here than any other country in the world. Just consider Steve Jobs who was mentioned in the point above.
I have enjoyed Mr. Brummett’s articles, and they are very good at engaging the main issues of our day from the liberal perspective. As a conservative his articles have always challenged me to be able to defend my own views. His praise of the Occupy Little Rock crowd overlooks the fact that their answer is to tax the “rich” more, but once the government is through with the rich then they come looking for you and me. I am not happy about them trying to occupy my wallet more than do now.
o The federal government spent about $3.6 trillion in FY2011, more money than any government has ever spent in a 12-month period in the history of the world.
o The FY2011 budget is nearly double the burden of federal spending just 10 years earlier, when federal outlays consumed “only” $1.86 trillion.
o The federal budget in FY2011 consumed about 24 percent of national output, up sharply compared to a spending burden in FY2001 of “just” 18.2 percent of GDP.
o Defense spending is too high, and has increased by about $400 billion since 2001, but the vast majority of the additional spending is for domestic spending programs.
o Federal tax revenue in FY2011 will be about $2.25 trillion, an increase of 7-8 percent over FY2010 levels.
o Economic stagnation has affected tax revenues, which are lower than the $2.6 trillion level from FY2007.
o Federal receipts amount to about 15.3 percent of GDP, below the long-run average of 18 percent of GDP.
o The Congressional Budget Office does predict that revenues will rise above the 18-percent average – without any tax increases – by the end of the decade.
o Record levels of government spending, combined with low revenues caused by a weak economy, will result in a $1.3 trillion deficit.
o This is the third consecutive deficit of more than $1 trillion.
o The publicly-held national debt (the amount borrowed from the private sector) is now more than $10 trillion.
With budget numbers like these, no wonder America has a fiscal hangover.
Fortunately, there is a solution. All we need to do is restrain the growth of federal spending, as explained in this video.
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But we also know that it is difficult to convince politicians to do what’s right for the nation. And if they don’t change the course of fiscal policy, and we leave the federal government on autopilot, then America is doomed to become another Greece.
The combination of poorly designed entitlement programs (mostly Medicare and Medicaid) and an aging population will lead to America’s fiscal collapse.
Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley reacts as Arkansas scores their seventh touchdown of the night at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
When I went to hear Johnny Majors speak the other day at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, I took note that Majors really liked Dooley and thought he would succeed. However, Majors said the administration may not give him enough time.
On the way to the Tennessee game from Little Rock on Saturday morning I stopped at a truckstop in Ozark where a bus load of Tennessee fans were. They were in the men’s room talking about Dooley. One said, “We have never been 0-5 in the SEC before in my whole life. We need to get a new coach!!” Several others disputed with that and said that Dooley needed another year to show improvement. We will just have to see what happens.
Five thoughts on SEC football as the season approaches the two-minute drill:
A tip of the visor to Georgia and Mark Richt. Left for dead — by many of their own fans — after an 0-2 start, the Bulldogs have only one bit of unfinished business left to wrap up their first appearance in the SEC championship game since 2005.
All Georgia has to do is beat Kentucky on Saturday and Richt will be grand marshal of the parade from Athens to Atlanta.
When Georgia lost to South Carolina on Sept. 10, it looked as if Richt might be wearing tar and feathers on a one-way trip out of Athens.
Tennessee fans can only wonder how different things might have been if the schedules had been flipped. The Bulldogs played Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State from the West, who are a combined 5-14 in SEC play.
Tennessee played Alabama, LSU and Arkansas, who are a combined 19-2, the two losses against each other.
Maybe you hadn’t heard about The SEC-Southern Conference Challenge.
What other explanation for Saturday’s schedule with four SEC foes stepping down against FCS teams from the Southern Conference.
There’s South Carolina-Citadel, Florida-Furman and Auburn-Samford. The marquee match is 9-1 Alabama against 9-1 Georgia Southern.
Hey, Tennessee wants in on the act. The Vols would rather play Chattanooga than Vanderbilt this week.
Can a coach get fired after two years?
No, I’m not talking aboutDerek Dooley. Kentucky’s fortunes have declined precipitously since Joker Phillips replaced Rich Brooks.
The conditions that have led to Tennessee’s dire straits have been well documented. Kentucky’s situation has been a picture of stability in comparison, Phillips the coach-in-waiting as Brooks played out his string.
Phillips won’t get fired after two years, but a significant segment of the Big Blue fan base has already cut bait.
There is great defense in the SEC this year, but isn’t there some bad offense, too?
Nine SEC teams rank 76th or worse in total offense, and that includes No. 1 LSU (79th).
Kentucky is 118th, Ole Miss 113th. In spots 96-99 are, respectively, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida and Vanderbilt. South Carolina is 86th.
In scoring offense, seven schools rank 68th or worse, including Florida (82), Auburn (84), Tennessee (102), Ole Miss (109) and Kentucky (113).
Which brings me to UT’s five-game run without a second-half score.
Bad things are repeating themselves.
Exhibit A: Tennessee’s first possession of the second half at Arkansas was sabotaged by a sack (minus-11 yards), followed by a shanked punt that gave Arkansas great field position for a touchdown drive.
We’d seen that sequence before. Against Georgia, the Vols started the second half with a bad shotgun snap (minus-15 yards), followed by a short punt that gave the Bulldogs field position for a touchdown drive.
Exhibit B: Dooley gambled on fourth-and-1 at his 40 against Arkansas and lost. The Razorbacks took over and threw a 40-yard TD pass on their first play.
At Alabama, Dooley gambled and lost on fourth-and-1 at his 39. The Tide took over and threw a 39-yard TD pass on the first play.
While I’m at it, at the end of the first half at Arkansas, Justin Worley threw an interception at the 1. Against South Carolina, he was intercepted at the 2.
Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley reacts as Arkansas scores their seventh touchdown of the night at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley looks at the point after attempt that put Arkansas ahead 49-7 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Tennessee defensive back Izauea Lanier is unable to stop Arkansas wide receiver Jarius Wright from scoring at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Tennessee wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett fails to catch a pass against Arkansas at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas intercepts a pass for Tennessee wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley is sacked by Arkansas linebacker Jerico Nelson at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino talks to officials at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
Arkansas safety Tramain Thomas intercepts a pass for Tennessee wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville on Nov. 12, 2011. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)
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