Columns/Opinions

Dear Editor: It appears the people of Pittsburg have been taken to the cleaners again, just my opinion. e approval of a highway built through the country that is supposed to save the taxpayers $1.2 million is laughable. I wonder if the person or persons who approved this know where the money comes from to construct highways. It comes from the taxpayers, just in case these guys didn’t know. is project will keep a few people from having to drive on an unimproved country road that the rest of us will have to travel on throughout our county. Also, this project will cut Pittsburg out of the tra c needed from people coming to the lake from other areas.

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On November 22, 1826, Benjamin Edwards led thirty-six armed men, who supported the Edwards brothers, Haden and Benjamin, and arrested the anti-Edwards Mayor Samuel Norris and other o cials in Nacogdoches. e party then arrested Jose Antonio Sepulveda, the commander of Nacogdoches’ tiny Mexican militia. Within hours, they signed a peace treaty with a powerful Cherokee tribal leader. On December 16, 1826 the rebels rode into Nacogdoches and occupied the Old Stone Fort. Haden Edwards raised a ag of independence over the fort with two stripes, one white and one red to re ect the Anglo-Indian alliance. Inscribed on the banner was the motto, “Independence, Liberty and Justice.” us began the rebellion of the Edwards Brother’s and their followers. Haden the oldest had attempted to coerce, con, and steal land frommany of the Mexican land owners in the area of his colony to resell to rich plantation owners in the United States.

Or not so famous Texans. e Edwards Brothers are persons of Texas history that many would soon want to forget. I did not recall of either of them being mentioned until I took a Texas history course in college. e Fredonian Rebellion is both high political comedy and a sad tragedy. e Edwards brothers Haden (or Hayden) and his brother Benjamin were born to a wealthy family in Virginia. Haden later moved his family to Miss. where he and his brother purchased a large plantation. While in Miss. the brothers heard that a man named Moses Austin was attempting to start an Anglo colony in Mexican Texas. In 1823 Haden traveled to Mexico City, where he joined Stephen F. Austin, Robert Lewich, and others in a three-year attempt to persuade various Mexican governments to authorize American settlement in Texas. Because of his wealth Edwards was o en called upon to nance Austin.

Not only is she “coming round the mountain” (meaning Donald J. Trump’s campaign) she is picking up speed. e Trump campaign is picking up voters every day. I admit I was late in joining the party, but I thought he was just “a ash in the pan” and not a serious candidate. I underestimated him, but the Democrats and Republicans have not. e Republican establishment will push a couple of candidates, but I think they have no chance of winning and that will “scare the old Republican Establishment.” If they do not need to groom the candidate than their function becomes obsolete and their days are numbered. Can you see Hillary and Trump debating? I would say he would make her cry, but I don`t see much moisture le in her. She could very well have a meltdown. Bill could come to her rescue and Bill could debate Trump, except Trump doesn`t debate. He screams over your point of view. “Bill! How come you and Bill Cosby aren`t sharing a cell in prison?

Doris “Dorie” Miller was born in segregated Texas on Oct. 12, 1919 in Waco, to Connery and Henrietta Miller. He was the third of four sons, he worked on his father’s farm, but his mother taught him to cook. He was a fair student and played full back for the A. J. Moore Academy Bulldogs in Waco. He dropped out of school at age 17, but did complete a correspondence course in taxidermy. A er dropping out, he worked on his father’s farm and became an excellent shot squirrel hunting to supplement the family dinner table. Shortly before turning 20, he enlisted in the United States Navy in Dallas, where he became a Mess Attendant, ird Class, one of the few ratings then open to African Americans. At this time, he was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed more than 200 pounds. Working on a farm and playing football, Doris was in excellent shape. He trained at the Norfolk training station and upon completion was sent to his rst duty station on the ammunition ship the USS Pyro (AE-1).

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, five type A, Ko-hyoteki midget-subs were launched from five large Japanese fleet subs near the entrance of Pearl Harbor. Their mission was after being launched already submerged, they would cut through the anti-submarine nets with their special net cutters wielded to the nose of the sub or sneak past the nets and destroyers on guard at the entrance into Pearl Harbor. They would navigate counterclockwise around Ford Island and fire their torpedoes into any American ships they encountered. Then exit the harbor to rendezvous with their mother subs seven miles west of Lanai Island. This was an extremely dangerous mission but was never intended to be a suicide mission. Yet the crews knew escaping the harbor after the attack was very slim to probably none. However, there was another secret escape plan. In 1941 only two of the subs were accounted for, one was sunk by the destroyer USS Monaghan (DD-354) and one was aground on an Oahu beach.

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941 the USS Ward (DD-139) under the command of Lieutenant Commander William W. Outerbridge, was cruising in the submarine restriction zone leading into the entrance to Pearl Harbor. The restriction was all submarines must be on the surface while plying this area of the entrance and any detected submerged sub would be fired upon and depth charged. The Ward had a new captain in Lieutenant Commander Outerbridge and he had his first command. The Ward was notified of a submarine periscope being observed by another ship, and upon investigation found a midget-sub attempting to follow another ship through the anti-submarine nets strung across the entrance into Pearl. The sub’s conning tower was exposed and the Ward fired several rounds from a 4 in. gun mount and the gun crew claimed they hit the base of the conning tower dead center. The Ward then ran directly over the area and dropped a pattern of depth changes on the sub, which disappeared.

I`m thinking my policy of voting for the person whose opinions appear to mirror mine are “old-fashioned” at best. After the military escalation in the Middle East I think we are heading towards a war. Hopefully a small war, but war just the same. That changes what I want from an elected official. I don`t want a president that worries about some imaginary carbon footprint when we drop a bomb on our enemy. Nor do I want a president that feels the need to apologize, if we win a battle and I just can`t stomach the thought of promoting an officer to a commanding level based on his/her political correctness over their knowledge. I just don`t see a Democrat (that is running) worthy of consideration. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was not a good fit to be the Prime Minister prior to World War II, nor was he the best candidate after the war. But there are few that would criticize his leadership during the war.

And so, the holidays are officially here. I was planning on having all my Christmas shopping done by now and I’ve bought two gifts. I probably wouldn’t have it done, even if I hadn’t gone back to work. The tree is up and that’s about all I can say. I asked Russ to help me with the lights since his dad can’t raise his right arm after his defibrillator installation. Putting Christmas lights on the tree is one of Roy’s top 10 things he hates to do. Russ has heard his dad complain about it all these years so guess who escaped just in time to ignore his mama? Russ and I got in a friendly argument about Christmas trees. I insist on having a real tree. I love to smell them and I like the Noble Fur trees. He argued that I should just get a tree with lights on it, leave it decorated all year and stick it somewhere and then get it out at Christmas. My mother would flip over in her grave if she thought I even entertained the idea of not doing fresh decorations.

Have you ever even heard of Opana Point? Ever heard of the SCR-270 radar set? Probably not in both cases, and very few people knew of either one in 1941. The SCR-170 radar set had been in the experimental stage from 1920 on. Its final version, the SRC-270, was manufactured by Westinghouse Electric and distribution to the Army began in the summer of 1940. There was one on Opana Point. Opana Point could have been one of the most historic places in history but it became only a sad footnote to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The radar units began arriving in Hawaii in July of 1941. For that time, they were a marvel of technology and fairly simple to operate. Mostly privates and corporals were trained on the units. The first units were very cumbersome and the first one installed by the Army in the Panama Canal Zone was housed in a building. The equipment was so large it was not mobile at all.