A Park, an Institute and an opinion

 WARNING: The following blog expresses opinions.

Some very nice news crossed this computer screen last month: The Little Round Top area at the Gettysburg National Military Park will be open for visitors when we go there in June.

          The Park is in the midst of a major repair-and-expand project at both LRT and the Devil’s Den areas. LRT was expected to be closed by early June so the workers could continue their work. But now the closure is not expected until July. If you value the Park, then you understand how important the project is. Still, it would have been disappointing to visit the battlefield and not spend time on that famous, little hill. If you ever get there, sit on a rock and listen. You can learn a lot.

          The visit to LRT will be just the beginning of an extraordinary week in Gettysburg. Two days after we arrive, the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College will begin. The CWI is an annual conference, a gathering of the best-known scholars in the field and a lot of enthusiasts. The CWI will draw better than 400 attendees this year. Whether that’s a record or not, it’s a big bunch of folks. For many of us, it is the highlight of the year.

          One of the highlights this year will be a roundtable debate about Confederate General James Longstreet, the best general the Union side had. Yes, Longstreet was a Confederate. Yes, it says here that he was the best soldier of any rank the UNION army had. There are many who disagree with that assessment. The roundtable roster will include no less than four all-stars: Gary Gallagher, Carol Reardon and Jeffrey Wert are the panelists and Peter Carmichael will moderate. This panel and topic would attract 400 attendees if it was the only topic of a one-night argument. In fact, if it WAS a one-night event, a hockey game might break out over seating. Each year, parts of the CWI are carried live on one of the CSPAN networks. If this panel is part of that coverage, you don’t want to miss it on Sunday, June 12. Consult your local listings.

          Each year the CWI includes lectures, chances to dine in a small group with a scholar to discuss a specific topic and tours of both the Gettysburg battlefield and others. If you like history, especially Civil War history, you should at least watch on CSPAN.

          Gettysburg is an unusual place. The battlefield lends itself to photography, even though it is not a haven for artists. Its history is such that it draws millions of visitors. No American military event, save possibly the Battle of the Bulge and the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, has been researched so completely.

          So, add Gettysburg to your bucket list. Watch the CWI on CSPAN, especially the Longstreet discussion. American history is right here at home and it is waiting for you to come visit.

          Thanks for reading. 

Bonneski and Clydeofski

Now Bonnie and Clyde are the Barrow Gang,

I’m sure you must have read

How they rob and steal

And how those who squeal

Are usually found dying or dead.

 

-Bonnie Parker

 

          Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are in the news again. This time the Depression-era killers and thieves were somehow featured photographically in Russia’s annual observation of the victory over Nazi Germany during World War II. The theme of the celebration was to honor all Russians who suffered during the war against Hitler’s invasion of Russia.

This image of Bonnie and Clyde
was shown to a Russian audience
at a national celebration recently.

          A photograph of the bandit-lovers from Texas appeared among the images of Russians who suffered during the horrible conflict in the 1940s during the state-sponsored event this week. And the Russian people did suffer horrifically after the German army invaded Mother Russia. Look it up: As much as we owe to the Red Army for the destruction to the Nazi war machine, so too do we owe to the courage of the Russian people.

          The Parker-Barrow couple died as the result of an ambush in Louisiana in 1934, nearly a decade before the Germans attacked the Russians. Further, neither Parker nor Barrow had immediate links – to my knowledge – to Russia. The guns used by Fred Hammer’s posse that killed the outlaws were of American manufacturer. Clyde preferred the American-made Browning Automatic Rifle to all other weapons. That’s ironic, since one of the weapons used by the ambushers was a BAR.

          That begs the question: Why would an image of Bonnie and Clyde be inserted among those shown at a celebration of the Russian victory over the Germans? Assuming that every image shown on the big screens at the event was intentionally shown to the Russian people at the Victory Day celebration (Vlad Putin does not seem to be the kind of guy to leave things to chance; surely the right people had control of the images viewed), there had to be a message.

          Bonnie Parker wrote poetry. The words above were part of a poem she wrote about her life on the run, The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. That poem may supply the answers to our question. Take the stanza quoted above and note the words,

How they rob and steal

and how those who squeal

Are usually found dying or dead.

 

          From what we are given to understand about the Russian President, he formally led the KGB, Russia’s state police. Bonnie’s words could be interpreted as a threat to Putin’s people: What happens in Russia stays in Russia. Otherwise, squealers, you’ll be found dying or dead.

Bonnie and Clyde.

          A more uplifting stanza could be aimed at the Russian people, telling them that things are not so bad as they seem. Bonnie wrote:

From heart-break some people have suffered;

From weariness some people have died;

But take it all-in-all,

Our troubles are small

Till we get like Bonnie and Clyde.

 

          Bonnie Parker’s poetry has a philosophical bent. For example, she wrote that, “Death is the wages of sin.” But there is no more telling point than the one she made in her final stanza. Perhaps it sums up the life expectancy of all criminals, be they elected or not. Bonnie wrote:

         

Some day they’ll go down together;

And they’ll bury them side by side;

To few it’ll be grief

To the law a relief

But it’s death for Bonnie and Clyde.

         

          The infamous couple was not buried side by side. Instead, they were interred in separate cemeteries. But the Barrow Gang’s violent ways begat more violence and finally brought about the Gang’s fall. Partially because of Bonnie’s poetry and not a little because of the trail of blood they left behind them, the Parker-Barrow tandem has never really been out of America’s consciousness. It looks like they’re as popular as ever.

          Especially in Russia.

 

Getting an early start

 

          It was a grand May day. It was late in the month, a festive time of year. The sun was out but it wasn’t too hot. We were far enough inland that there was no fog in the air. We were close to the Pacific Ocean, but not close enough for fog.

          Fittingly enough, we were gathered on a football field and we had attracted a huge crowd. Much of my professional life would later be spent at football fields where crowds packed the grandstands. This time, nobody called “set, hut,” but I would have been much more comfortable if someone had.

          Instead of footballs, platitudes filled the air. It was my college graduation. Well, mine and a few thousand very close friends. We packed the joint. My parents, other relatives and even some friends sat proud and amazed in the stands while I sat down on the field somewhere.

          “Elder graduated,” the people scoffed. “This I gotta see.”

          Now, about those platitudes. I assume there were some thrown around. Isn’t that what you do when speaking at a graduation? The world has problems, speakers say, but this bunch of geniuses will surely solve all of them. With all of the experienced and learned instructors we have at this high-class university, this group of graduates simply must be capable of leading our society to victory.

          The keynote speaker for this event was the governor of a state in Mexico. I never learned – because I didn’t care – which state he was from. I am told he spoke in Spanish, but I don’t know that for a fact. Despite my four semesters of university-level Spanish classes, I completed my education knowing very little of that language. Of course, I only took four semesters of Spanish because I failed one of them and had to re-take the class I flunked. I got credit for three semesters. There was an interpreter at the graduation to explain what the keynote guy said to the masses, so my failure to understand what the guy said had nothing to do with my ability to speak or understand that language.

          No, the reason that I have no idea what might have been said during the ceremony noting my graduation from a great American university was that I had decided to take the first step in my professional development that day. There was no reason to delay. My parents, I was certain, would understand my decision. After all, I had completed the needed work to be awarded a diploma. I was in attendance at the ceremony. I had completed my obligations. I even wore a tie under my robe and funny cap. No one said I had to listen to the speakers, whoever they were.

          Instead, using a skill developed during my elementary school years at World Series time, I listened to the broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 on a transistor radio. Remember those? I had an ear plug jammed in one ear and a finger jammed in the other ear so I could hear the broadcast over the pitifully dull proceedings which I was attending.

          Rick Mears won that day, a terrific drive against a field that included three of the four men who finished their careers with four Indy wins. I told the story years later to a docent at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. He walked me down some stairs to a lower floor which is not always available to the public and said to me, “There’s the car you heard win that day.”

          Great moment.

          Even when I was still in college I knew that, somehow, auto racing would play a role in my business life. I knew I would become a sports journalist and I felt that my interest in and knowledge of racing would give me an advantage someday. It did. I eventually spent 25 years working in that industry.

          I often think about that day all those Mays ago. I love to tell the story. Mears and Foyt, the Unsers and Andretti. Janet Guthrie, whom I admired, raced that day. Many of the all-time Indy greats were in the field that year. And the race was more important to me than the ceremony I was a part of. But I will tell you something I have never admitted before: Bringing a transistor radio to the graduation ceremony was strictly against the rules. I don’t remember now what the reasoning was and I don’t care. What I do remember was that I was told not to do it. Breaking that rule made listening to the race all the sweeter.

          There were college graduation ceremonies all over our nation that day but there was only one Indy 500. And I heard it.

          Ladies and gentlemen: Start your engines.