Baltimore21201.Com - The Blog

The Best Christmas Gift Ever: Freedom and Security. Let's All Say, "Thanks."

Our troops give us the gift of freedom and security. It's important that we remember our troops every day. It's even more important that we remember them during the Holidays.

You won't see a photo of our troops celebrating Christmas captured on a Currier and Ives print. Christmas for soldiers serving in faraway places is not pretty, it's not an image to put on a greeting card.

I wasn't really aware of what Christmas might be like for our troops until a couple of years before I turned 18. Draft age.

Our family watched Bob Hope, on his 1967 USO tour, visiting the troops at Christmastime. During the broadcast my father, who had returned home from WWII with some massive scars and a Purple Heart, reminded us that what were seeing on television was the prettiest face that could ever be put on an ugly situation, a situation that he called "that tragic mess in Indochina." Watching the broadcast was an eye-opener for me.

1967 was a bloody year in Vietnam. Over 11,000 Americans died in the military conflict that year. Enjoyable moments for our troops serving in 1967 were few and far between. There may have been none at all.

Here's the show our family watched from our living room in Kansas.

 

Bob Hope was the first big star to entertain American troops under the USO banner. He entertained at March Field in May of 1941, just 3 months after the USO was founded.

Comedian Joe E Brown was the first top-shelf name to entertain our troops on frontline bases. Brown's USO tour began in March of 1942. (Brown's own son was killed in a military plane crash in California in 1942.)

There are dozens of ways to support and remember our service members and I hope that you'll find one that touches you. There is a perfect way to support our troops through the USO. Follow this link to the USO Wishbook, and take a look around, read, and please do what you can.

Our troops are doing everything they can possibly do—including giving their lives—every single day to help us have a safe Christmas. It's our turn to give a little something. It's the least we can do.

The USO's financials are online for you to review.

Veteran's Day Celebration at Baltimore's Creative Alliance

                                             Michael Beresh

Veteran's Day Celebration at the Creative Alliance

Fri Nov 11 8pm
$16, $11 members, veterans & active duty personnel - tickets available on the Creative Alliance website

The second annual Veteran’s Day Celebration at the Creative Alliance by Highlandtown’s Veteran Artist Program includes a first time collaboration with Michael Beresh, composer and creator of Letters to Baltimore from the War.

Mr. Beresh composes fresh songs based on the stories told by members of the cast of Telling: Baltimore, a play produced by VAP and The Telling Project, accompanied by the guitar talents of Jeff Hardwick and Marq-Paul LaRose, both VAP musicians from the 2010 Veteran’s Day show, Home. A stirring evening to consider war, peace, and remembering.

About Veteran Artist Program:

VAP takes artists, who are also veterans, and propels their works and careers into the mainstream creative arts community through networking, mentorship, collaboration with professional artists, and original productions. We are based in the Baltimore-Washington area and looking forward to connecting with other like-minded organizations and expanding the network of veteran artists througout the country.

Countless veterans made the brave decision to step away from their art and be part of something larger than themselves and fight for their country. VAP provides the resources, tools, and networking necessary to take the intentional artist to the next level. We want you to be part of our work in all the artistic disciplines.

We are about collaboration in all genres of art with an emphasis on bringing together the Veteran and Artistic communities. We are about the Artist, both veteran and non-veteran, coming together to tell a story.

Baltimore 21201. The Blog, The Swan Song

That's it for this blog. To quote my favorite broadcast journalist, Edward R Murrow, "Good night and good luck.

To my friends, Keep On Truckin'.

Baltimore's Shot Tower - Written in 1924, It's Yours to Download and Read

                  Student's Take on the Baltimore Shot Tower, 1924

Written in 1924, by Kenneth F Matthews (or Mathews), this is a wonderful essay by an engineering student studying in Baltimore.

This paper traces the history of the shot tower built in Baltimore in 1828. It describes its construction and includes information on the making of shot, the making of bricks, as well as diagrams and other illustrations.

This paper was prepared as part of Matthews' initiation into Phi Mu, an engineering honor society.

Pay special attention the the poem, The Shot Tower,in the front-piece written by Lizette Woodworth Reese. While I don't find it a great or even good poem, it does tell a story of a much different time. At time when Baltimoreans were facing much different issues than they are today, it illustrates the fretting over wars and conflict.

Here's the download link and here's the bacground sheet on Lizette Woodworth Reese.

U.S. and MD. Flags Fly at Half Staff 9/2/11

From Annapolis,

This is to advise you that Governor Martin O'Malley has ordered the United States Flag and Maryland State Flag flown at half staff on Friday, September 2, 2011, from sunrise to sunset.

This is in memory of Army Sgt. Barun Rai, of Silver Spring, Maryland, who died on August 3, 2011 in Logar province, Afghanistan.

                        The Transfer of Army Sgt. Barun Rai

This action is taken under the Protocol for the United States Flag and Maryland State Flag. Any questions on the above should be directed to the Office of the Secretary of State. 

U.S. and MD. Flags Fly at Half Staff 9/1/11

From Annapolis:

This is to advise you that Governor Martin O'Malley has ordered the United States Flag and Maryland State Flag flown at half-staff on Thursday, September 1, 2011, from sunrise to sunset.

This is in memory of Army Sgt. Jameel T. Freeman of Baltimore, Maryland, who died on August 11, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

This action is taken under the Protocol for the United States and Maryland State Flag. Any questions on the above should be directed to the Office of the Secretary of State.

Flags at Half Staff Tuesday. And on it goes.

This is to advise you that Governor Martin O'Malley has ordered the United States Flag and Maryland State Flag flown at half staff on Tuesday, October 6, 2009, from sunrise to sunset.

 
In honor of Army Sergeant First Class Bradley S. Bohle, who died on September 16, 2009 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom