Austin, Texas Chapter
The Association for all Military Officers
Companion Bulletin-December 2007
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Companions, We had a great November meeting with Companion Major R. B. Rudy, who received his "Wings" at the tender age of 19, relating his combat experiences as a Marine aviator at the controls of a Grumman F9F Panther-jet during the Korean War. His well received exploits were supported by a large map of the Korean peninsula, a model of his aircraft and numerous photographs. Leave it to a US Marine to devote the time and effort to give us an outstanding program. Mrs. Maryanne Cochran and Mrs. Rosa Patterson changed their busy schedules in order that they could witness this presentation. We were honored to add two members officially to our Chapter rolls when we initiated Companion, Colonel Conrad Derdeyn as a "Regular Member" and Companion, Major Norman Jefferson, who flew back to Austin just in time to receive his installation as a "Perpetual Member". The next time each of you see these two MOWW Companions, they should be congratulated!
| We will be at the Austin
Club for our Thursday, 13 December meeting. First Vice Commander,
Companion Stanley Bullard, has arranged for live musical entertainment for
what may be expected to be a fabulous evening out. The menu selections are
attached to this bulletin and should be mailed to the address indicated.
We want to thank Companion Colonel and Mrs. William Castille, who led the charge along with Col. Conrad Derdeyn, Pat and Connie Egan and Major Norman Jefferson to close out the contributions toward our Chapter's 2008 program costs for the purchase of Junior and Senior Reserve Officers Training Corps certificates and medals. Our next involvement will be to support Colonel Leon Holland's request for live presenters at the various school award ceremonies. Ervalyn and I hope to see you at the Austin Club in December. Come early and bring a new member. The social gathering is at 1830 hours and there will be a cash bar available.
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Schedule:
| Meeting.
13 December
2007 The Austin Club (110 East Ninth Street). Please fill out the enclosed menu form and return it to Colonel Andrew J. McVeigh III 48 Cottondale Road Austin, Texas 78738-1513 to arrive not later than 8 December. |
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Program |
Antietam The Bloodiest One Day Battle in American History. 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of savage combat on September 17, 1862. The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s first invasion into the North and led to Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
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Valley Forge, 1777 With the winter setting in, the prospects for campaigning were greatly diminished, and Washington sought quarters for his men. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 22 miles northwest of Philadelphia proved to be an excellent choice. Named for an iron forge on Valley Creek, the area was close enough to the British to keep their raiding and foraging parties out of the interior of Pennsylvania, yet far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks. The high ground of Mount Joy ( called Mount Misery by the soldiers) combined with the Schuylkill River to the north, made the area easily defensible. On December 19, 1777, when Washington's poorly fed, ill-equipped army, weary from long marches, struggled into Valley Forge, winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winter's fury. Grounds for brigade encampments were selected, and defense lines were planned and begun. Within days of the army's arrival, the Schuylkill River was covered with ice. Snow was six inches deep. Though construction of more than 1,000 huts provided shelter, it did little to offset the | critical shortages that
continually plagued the army. Undernourished and poorly clothed, living in crowded, damp quarters, the army was ravaged by sickness and disease. Typhus, typhoid, dysentery, and pneumonia were among the killers that felled as many as 2,000 men that winter. Although Washington repeatedly petitioned for relief, the Congress was unable to provide it, and the soldiers continued to suffer. Women, relatives of enlisted men, alleviated some of the suffering by providing valuable services such as laundry and nursing that the army desperately needed. Upgrading military efficiency, morale, and discipline were as vital to the army's well-being as was its source of supply. The army had been handicapped in battle because unit training was administered from a variety of field manuals, making coordinated battle movements awkward and difficult. The soldiers were trained, but not uniformly. The task of developing and carrying out an effective training program fell to Baron Friedrich von Steuben. This skilled Prussian drill master, recently arrived from Europe, tirelessly drilled and scolded the regiments into an effective fighting force. |
| Intensive daily training, coupled with von
Steuben's forceful manner, instilled in the men renewed confidence in
themselves and their ability to succeed. Soon word of the British departure from Philadelphia brought a frenzied activity to the ranks of the Continental Army. On June 19, 1778, six months after its arrival, the army marched away from Valley Forge in pursuit of the British who were moving toward New York. An ordeal had ended. The war would last for another five years, but for Washington, his men, and the nation to which they sought to give birth, a decisive victory had been won -- a victory not of weapons but of will. Soldiers received irregular supplies of meat and bread, some getting their only nourishment from "firecake," a tasteless mixture of flour and water. So severe were conditions at times that Washington despaired "that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place ... this Army must inevitably ... Starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can." Animals fared no better. Gen. Henry Knox, Washington's Chief of Artillery, wrote that hundreds of horses either starved to death or died of exhaustion. Clothing, too, was wholly inadequate. Long marches had destroyed shoes. Blankets were scarce. Tattered garments were seldom replaced. At one point these shortages caused nearly 4,000 men to be listed as unfit for duty. |
National Memorial Arch inscription: Naked and starving as they are |
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All Selections have House salad ---------- 0 ---------- All meals are $25.00 (tax and tip are inclusive) |