SpaceX Crew Dragon to Return to Earth Aug. 2

Volume XIX, Issue Ia: Crew Dragon to Return to Earth Aug. 2

NASA will provide live coverage of activities leading up to, during, and following the return of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight with the agency’s astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley from the International Space Station.

The duo arrived at the orbiting laboratory on May 31, following a successful launch on May 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 7:34 p.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 1, for undocking of the Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft from the space station and 2:42 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, for splashdown, which will be the first return of a commercially built and operated American spacecraft carrying astronauts from the space station.

Coverage on NASA TV [click to watch] and the agency’s website will begin at 9:10 a.m., Aug. 1, with a short farewell ceremony on station and resume at 5:15 p.m., with departure preparations through splashdown and recovery at one of seven targeted water landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Wednesday, July 29

Approximately 6 p.m. (or one hour after Return Flight Readiness Review completion) – Return Flight Readiness Review briefing at Johnson, with the following participants:
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Joel Montalbano, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
Benji Reed, director, crew mission management, SpaceX.

Friday, July 31

10:45 a.m. – Crew News Conference from the International Space Station, with the following participants: NASA astronaut Bob Behnken NASA astronaut Doug Hurley NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy A media phone bridge will be available for this event.

Saturday, Aug. 1

9:10 a.m. – SpaceX Dragon Demo-2 Farewell Ceremony aboard the International Space Station (ceremony begins about 9:15 a.m.)

5:15 p.m. – NASA TV undocking coverage begins for the 7:34 p.m. undocking (NASA Television will have continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown)

Sunday, Aug. 2

2:42 p.m. – Splashdown 5 p.m. – Administrator post-splashdown news conference at Johnson, with the following representatives: NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
Commercial Crew Program representative
International Space Station representative
SpaceX representative
NASA Astronaut Office representative.

Tuesday, Aug. 4

4:30 p.m. – Demo-2 Crew News Conference from the Johnson Space Center, with the following participants: NASA astronaut Bob Behnken and NASA astronaut Doug Hurley.

These activities are a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which has been working with the U.S. aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Station for the first time since 2011. This is SpaceX’s final test flight and is providing data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, splashdown and recovery operations.

The test flight also is helping NASA certify SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX is readying the hardware for the first rotational mission, which would occur following NASA certification.

The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. This could allow for additional research time and increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration, including helping us prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Decide for Yourself
[click to read]

Social Media Puts the Mask on Information

Here’s a novel idea, listen for yourself!

Actually, in the places where everybody is already taking it [HCQ], they don't have COVID,” said Dr. Richard Urso. He did a comparison which exposed that America's death rate is 400 times the death rate of impoverished Sub-Sahara Africa, which was also receiving direct flights from China. Often, travelers commonly take hydroxychloroquine prior to traveling to these communities to prevent malaria. Dr. Urso was so confident in his conclusions that he made an open challenge to Johns Hopkins or anyone that could prove him wrong, that he would give them $200,000. No one has taken him up on that offer. He finished his speech with the statement, “Hydroxychloroquine works.”

Watch the Video [click to watch]


Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested that people wear goggles or face shields as an added measure of protection against contracting the coronavirus, according to a report. But what if the answer is much simpler?

When I lived in Crozet, Virginia, I had a neighbor who was a spy. His job was to read Soviet technical papers. Whenever a technology “disappeared” from the journals, he would immediately start asking “What are the MILITARY applications of this suddenly redacted technology?” His method was good. It often allowed us to ‘anticipate’ Soviet strategic developments. Somebody WANTED that information to disappear, it was not a coincidence.

Now we see life saving clinical researchers having their work ‘redacted.’ Should we ask questions? (read more)

Pieta, Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Masterpieces

Volume XIX, Issue I: Pieta, Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Masterpieces

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti was a painter, sculptor, architect and poet widely considered one of the most brilliant artists of the Italian Renaissance. At 25 he carved the magnificent Pieta as a commission for Cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas, completing the work in less than a year! This treasure of the Vatican was exhibited at the New York World’s Fair in 1964 at the Vatican Pavilion. Between 1501 and 1504, Michelangelo took over a commission for a statue of David, which two other sculptors had abandoned.

Although he was primarily a sculptor, Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to switch from sculpting to painting to create a work for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, completed on October 31, 1512. The original plan called for 12 apostles but the painting ended up having 300 figures in it. Being a sculptor, Michelangelo created wax models to perfect his design and developed a special slow drying plaster. He had to design special scaffolding so the chapel could remain in use as he painted.

Michelangelo began the painting in 1508. He did not complete it until 1512. The work had to have been tedious. According to one story. Two of Michelangelo’s rival artists put Pope Julius up to commissioning him. The painter Raphael and the architect Bramante were certain that Michelangelo would fail at the task but he went on to produce one of the great masterpieces of the Renaissance! Contrary to legend, Michelangelo painted standing up on the scaffolding. The work was uncomfortable. The wet plaster grew mold and Michelangelo had to remove it and start again His assistant Jacopo I’Indaco developed a new formula that resisted mold and the work went on.

Although Michelangelo continued to sculpt and paint throughout his life, following the physical rigor of painting the Sistine Chapel he turned his focus toward architecture. He designed the tomb of Julius II. Michelangelo also designed the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian Library — located opposite the Basilica San Lorenzo in Florence — to house the Medici book collection. In 1546 he became the chief architect of the magnificent Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Painted by Michelangelo



David


David by Michelangelo, Florence, Galleria dell'Accademia, 1501-1504. Photo by Jörg Bittner Unna.


Panorama of St. Peter's Square. Photo by Andrew Magill [1.]

Evangelizing through Beauty
Bishop Robert Barron



Bishop Barron on Hans Urs von Balthasar





“No Safe Spaces”
By Dennis Prager
[click to read]

Historically, colleges and universities were places dedicated to open dialogue and a free exchange of ideas. Sadly, intolerance and censorship toward conservatism is on the rise. On this special broadcast, Dr. Dobson talks with popular radio host Dennis Prager about his new documentary No Safe Spaces. Hear how free speech is under attack on campuses across the nation. (read more)

War, Famine, Pestilence, Death
[click to read]

Four Months of Unprecedented Government Malfeasance
By Heather Mac Donald

Over the last four months, Americans have lived through what is arguably the most consequential period of government malfeasance in U.S. history. Public officials’ overreaction to the novel coronavirus put American cities into a coma; those same officials’ passivity in the face of widespread rioting threatens to deliver the coup de grâce. Together, these back-to-back governmental failures will transform the American polity and cripple urban life for decades. Before store windows started shattering in the name of racial justice, urban existence was already on life support, thanks to the coronavirus lockdowns. Small businesses—the restaurants and shops that are the lifeblood of cities—were shuttered, many for good, leaving desolate rows of “For Rent” signs on street after street in New York City and elsewhere. Americans huddled in their homes for months on end, believing that if they went outside, death awaited them. This panic was occasioned by epidemiological models predicting wildly unlikely fatalities from the coronavirus. (read more)

The Genius of Leonardo da Vinci



Virginia is for Science Lovers


Mural Proposal by the Kirchman Studio. The design features images of Katherine Johnson and Francis Collins. #StauntonMural

This is a proposal I worked up for a competition for a tourism mural in downtown Staunton. Although it was not selected for this location, I would love to find a home for this work honoring Francis Collins and Katherine Johnson. My wife, Pam, came up with a better name for this project than I had – “Virginia is for Science Lovers.”

Strength for the Storm
Photo by Bob Kirchman



For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” – ISAIAH 25:4


IMAGO DEI Mural Concept.

Understanding IMAGO DEI
Change the conversation with #EachLifeMatters

I am a black man who is troubled by #BlackLivesMatter. A human being is a microcosm of humanity, yet as Father Zossima remarks in The Brothers Karamazov, “It is easy to love mankind, but much more difficult to love a single human being.” In the wake of the upsetting and seemingly racially-motivated string of incidents that has occurred across the United States, the widespread chant of #BlackLivesMatter has transformed into a movement. In contrast, the countercry of #AllLivesMatter has incurred the wrath of progressive voices for ostensibly invalidating the unique struggle of the contemporary African-American experience. While #AllLivesMatter insensitively suggests the colorblindness of such acts of violence clearly perpetrated against black bodies, #BlackLivesMatter co-opts such tragedies in order to renew the language of black victimization in America. What each side has lost is both a clear understanding of the nuance of contemporary racism in America, as well as any vision for the future.

Martin Luther King famously dreamt that his “four little children” would “one day live in a nation where they [would] not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” While we are indeed far from a post-racial society, its creation used to be an ideal rather than a taboo. Insisting that racism does not exist is flippant; however, the banner of black victimhood waved by more progressive voices does little more than perpetuate an anachronistic understanding of the contemporary American situation and delegitimize the laudable goal of a colorblind society of individuals. #BlackLivesMatter draws attention to a relevant problem, but it is offensive because it further divides without even seeking reunification. I offer the cry of “each life matters,” one that is both respectful of diversity and individuality while acknowledging our in-separateness from one another. The Buddha said, “In separateness lies the world’s great misery, in compassion lies the world’s true strength.” “Each life matters” is a compassionate call for justice that acknowledges we are not separate from one another, but we are indeed unique. Our political realities may temporarily be inequitable, but our existential reality is identical.

Andres Wilson
Northampton [1.]

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” – 2 PETER 3:9
(read more)

VIA PULCHRITUDINIS, The Way of Beauty

Volume XIX, Issue II: The Way of Beauty

VIA PULCHRITUDINIS

Bishop Robert Barron's Word on Fire Bible offers a beautiful presentation of the Gospels. It is written primarily for the seeker.


Bishop Robert Barron offers a new printing of the Gospels.

Bishop Robert Barron talks about his introduction to baseball as a young boy. His father took him to a Detroit Tigers game – a night game! Coming out of the tunnel into the stands, he was struck by the beauty of the freshly mowed and limed field, the crisp white home uniforms, the confident throw of the fielders – the BEAUTY of the game! That is what lead him to want to play. He signed up for T-Ball and played through high school. The Greeks knew all about the beauty of athletics. There is a certain wonder that draws a young heart to want to play.

Likewise, the Christian Faith is a Beautiful Thing! The God who redeems us has invaded our sordid history with a work of BEAUTY! Our Redemption! Bishop Barron is moved by the sublime. He also laments our tendency to try to get young people to grasp the TRUTH of our Faith when they are resistant to absolutes in general. It might be best first to show them the great beauty of Faith and Redemption. Then it is easier to grasp the workings of it. Barron uses a great example, the “Infield Fly Rule” to illustrate how we might be too concerned to teach rules before building the beautiful relationship.

Indeed, Robert’s coach got the players to get down on the grass, smell the earth and take in the feel of the turf. They couldn’t be afraid to dive into it later after a difficult catch! And so Bishop Barron states, in the simplest of terms, the reason he compiled the ‘Word on Fire Bible.’ Beginning with the four Gospels, Bishop Barron presents the Gospel in a contextual setting – great commentary – great art – that support the mission of allowing a seeker to experience the BEAUTY of the Gospel.

Too often today art does not seek to elevate our experience. Roger Scruton saw much of the Twentieth Century’s art seeking more to disturb. He used the example of ‘art’pieces that were really more of a protest of Tony Blair’s policies than an attempt to draw the viewer higher. They could have just as easily been the current yellow block letters on the black street – more the work of the poster club than true transcendent art. Fortunately Scruton and Barron see the ability of art to be truly transformative. In Robert Barron’s ‘Word on Fire Bible,’ art leads us to appreciate the Divine.

Barron asserts that there is a true Objective Beauty and that it indeed opens the door for us to experience Objective Truth. This standard of the objective is necessary if we are going to choose wisely between Heaven and Hell. A worldview that relegates all to the realm of the subjective is ill equipped to lead us.



The Story
God's Great Love Affair with Humanity

God goes to great lengths to rescue lost and hurting people. That is what The Story is all about: the story of the Bible, God's great love affair with humanity. Condensed into 31 accessible chapters, The Story sweeps you into the unfolding progression of Bible characters and events from Genesis to Revelation. Using the clear, accessible text of the NIV Bible, it allows the stories, poems, and teachings of the Bible to read like a novel. And like any good story, The Story is filled with intrigue, drama, conflict, romance, and redemption; and this story's true From the foreword by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee: "This book tells the grandest, most compelling story of all time: the story of a true God who loves his children, who established for them a way of salvation and provided a route to eternity. Each story in these 31 chapters reveals the God of grace---the God who speaks; the God who acts; the God who listens; the God whose love for his people culminated in his sacrifice of Jesus, his only Son, to atone for the sins of humanity." Learn more about this whole-church experience at TheStory.com.

Catholicism and Beauty
By Bishop Robert Barron


A refreshing perspective on the place of the beautiful in leading to Faith.

Why Beauty Matters
Roger Scruton




A woman smears black paint over the block letters painted on Fifth Avenue chanting “RE-Fund the police.”

In our town there is a frame on the side of a building, framing nothing but a brick wall. Someone wrote “What is Art?” in chalk, inside the frame. It is a great conversation piece. As historical works in sculpture have been vandalized and toppled, the same people who have tried to strip the public square of public art have created what they call their own ‘art.’ Painting large yellow letters on the public street, they proclaim the painting of murals. These are NOT murals, they are signs. They proclaim a message, true, but then so do advertisements. Ironically, not everyone these anarchists purport to represent agrees with their ‘Defund the Police’ message. A woman (above) clearly in disagreement with this sentiment smeared black paint on the… ‘Lettering.’ The news reports that the ‘mural’ is ‘vandalized,’ but who are the vandals really? Haven't we already seen the work of vandals as our city centers have been wrecked and monuments indiscriminately toppled?

Indeed, art may be employed in the making of a statement. Some advertising illustration may indeed be considered art, but when the art in question is simply a neat tagging of the street instead of bubble letters, we need to ask the question “What is Art?” If the Iconoclasts, after trashing the public square, now see THEIR work defaced, there is room for discussion.

Next week THYME will present more discussion on the question “What is Art?” and present our own mural concept. Michelangelo Buonarroti was a painter, sculptor, architect and poet widely considered one of the most brilliant artists of the Italian Renaissance. At 25 he carved the magnificent Pieta as a commission for Cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas, completing the work in less than a year! This treasure of the Vatican was exhibited at the New York World’s Fair in 1964 at the Vatican Pavilion. Between 1501 and 1504, Michelangelo took over a commission for a statue of David, which two other sculptors had abandoned. We will consider his work as we ponder further the qualities of great art.


What is Art?


Roger Scruton points out that art has in the Modern era largely given up its mission of creating beauty and has become more focused on shock and delivery of a message, much like an advertisement. As historical and representational art have fallen from favor, a more 'in your face' presentation seeks to replace the old forms. When it becomes vandalized, there is a certain irony because such works themselves appear as vandalism...


...compared to Renaissance Masterworks such as Sandro Boticelli's Birth of Venus...


...or Michelangelo's David.

(to be continued next week).

Consider the Lillies
Photos by Bob Kirchman

HELL! You Really, Really Don't Want to Go There

Volume XIX, Issue I: Taking the Afterlife Seriously

Courts of Heaven Autonomous Zone

ISAIAH 14:12-14 Describes the fall of Satan. Basically, the devil challenged the authority of the Divine, saying: “I will Ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the North: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Many young people today openly seek to cast of what they consider the archaic constraints of Biblical Authority. They take issue that a loving God would deny them the ‘right’ to be who they see themselves as. “How could a loving God send anyone to Hell?” they ask. They scoff at the notion of an afterlife as depicted in literature or as these poor souls above, simply say: “I’m Going to Hell.” Rejecting objective truth, they insist on truth being what they believe about themselves. It is considered ‘hateful’ to challenge this mindset. Indeed, in the new order of things we are told we must ‘celebrate’ such things. So, one is defined by one’s own perception of his or her own sexual identity rather than the teaching of Genesis 1, that we are made in the Image of God. IMAGO DEI.

This creates problems on so many levels as the Declaration of Independence asserts that human rights are endowed by God. If there is no God, what is our standard for rights? Anything we want it to be. And so begins the hijack of conscience, as we allow the popular culture, rather than the Wisdom of the Ages, determine what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ (after casting those very terms in relativistic language). Thus it is that we no longer repent for personal sin, but for ‘being the wrong race’ or ‘Climate Change.’ It is an empty repentance without a Savior though. Yes, we can save tin cans, but we can’t really save the planet. Contrast this with Romans 10:13 which says “Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” Biblical Wisdom asserts that there is a repentance that leads to salvation.

But isn’t God just a meanie for insisting on obedience and calling upon His name? Shouldn’t He just ‘Save Everybody?’ Why should He tell me how to live and what to do? Well, recently anarchists in Seattle created the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone CHAZ/CHOP. They put up a barricade around several blocks of Seattle and said they wanted no authority of the city in there. No police, no city officials. Of course, they created a ‘Nirvana’ that quickly became ‘Hell.’ In the vacuum of authority unthinkable crimes were committed. People were murdered. Eventually the city of Seattle had to break up CHAZ/CHOP for the safety of all.

Unwittingly, the anarchists of Seattle created a replay of the anarchists of Heaven. Denying authority (Civil or Divine) they sought to create their own order. The result was deadly chaos. Seeking to live apart from authority does not produce a peaceful life , far from it. The Divine allows choice because He seeks a loving relationship, not robots. Hence rebellion is possible and has occurred (among angels and men). But anarchists cannot run rampant in any ordered society. Be they angels or men, they will wreak havoc. Thus the Divine had to provide a place apart for those who refuse His authority.

Order or Chaos

But, you argue, isn’t the universe simply a random happenstance? Observation of nature itself suggests otherwise as one finds order and observable, repeatable truths at many levels. If this were not true, there would be no science possible. While science cannot ‘prove’ that this order extends into realms unseen, it is most reasonable to consider that possibility. Likewise we cannot ‘prove’ the afterlife, but a study of the prevalence of Near Death Experiences as reported around the world suggest strongly that we continue in existence after death. This should give us pause, especially if we take to heart that the human soul is Eternal – that is what Biblical Wisdom asserts. But Eternity where? Scripture is clear on TWO possibilities: Eternity in Heaven with God or Eternity separated from God in Hell. It offers no third choice, no middle ground. If Hell is devoid of the influence of the Divine – His Order, His Beauty, it is a very sorrowful choice to live separately from that for all time. But it is a reality. To scoff at God is dangerous business. To reject His authority is to reject the underlying order that gives beauty to life itself. Choose carefully. Fortunately 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Indeed it is God’s will that you choose Him for all Eternity.


Do NOT miss this!

The End of CHAZ
[click to read]

Early this morning, a phalanx of Seattle police officers, armed with long batons and semiautomatic rifles, cleared out the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), also known as the Capitol Hill Occupation Protest (CHOP). Unless Antifa militants stage an unexpected counterattack, this marks the end of the 24-day occupation of the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Seattle can now begin to reckon with the damage. The CHAZ saga began on June 8, under the premise that capitalism, police brutality, and the “fascist regime” of Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan were upholding a social order that systemically oppressed African-Americans. Black Lives Matter and Antifa-affiliated activists hoped to create a new regime based on familiar social-justice principles of recent years: they established a social order based on a “reverse hierarchy of oppression,” implemented race-based segregation in public spaces, and maintained a “police-free zone” that they believed would protect “people of color” from the depredations of the state. As it turns out, however, maintaining public order is a complex undertaking and can’t be replaced by academic symbolism. BLM activists might despise George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, but a regime based on the principles of Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ibram X. Kendi, and Robin DiAngelo doesn’t work too well. As CHAZ’s experience demonstrates, when left-wing radicals shift from protest to governance, things fall apart. Ultimately, the problem of violence—and a dangerously naive understanding of policing—doomed the CHAZ. (read more)

Justice Without a Judge?
[click to read]

Can you have justice without a judge? This week Dave Zanotti delivers his annual Fourth of July message at Bethel Baptist Church as part of The American Mission® series on The Public Square®. What is justice? How would you define justice? (read more)

The Way of Beauty, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Volume XVIII, Issue XXIV: “L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.”

I realize this is a piece I just published, but I am purposefully putting it out here again as it seems very appropriate for the times we are going through. Ugliness rules, Rudeness masquerades as Righteousness, Vileness masquerades as Virtue. How did we get here? More importantly, how do we find the way out. Here are some great thinkers who have great insight. I need to be a part of the movement that builds, not destroys, that learns from history, not just erases it. I need to be part of the movement that sees us as One Race, beautiful in its true variety – that the peoples of the earth are all made in the Image of God – in all the beautiful tones of fine earth! IMAGO DEI! I need to be part of Rebuilding, Worshiping, Finding and Sharing Objective Beauty and Objective Truth. To that end, Let the Journey Begin!

“L’essentiel est Invisible pour les Yeux”
[click to read]

by Andrew Petiprin

In the Spring of my sophomore year at the University of Pittsburgh, I went to a Presbyterian church for a Good Friday prayer service. All of a sudden, walking straight at me was Fred Rogers—that is, Mister Rogers—who sat down next to me, introduced himself, and asked me what I was studying. I told him I was a French major, and he took out his bulletin and wrote, “L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” It is perhaps the most famous line in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1943 classic, The Little Prince. It translates, “Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” I needed that wisdom then, and I need it now. (read more)

Faith and Beauty
Images that Lead to Worship and Relationship with God


North Rose Window, Notre Dame de Paris.


North Rose Window, Notre Dame de Paris.


Sound Sculpture, Xaver Wilhelmy's design for functional glass organ pipes in a window combines beautiful visual imagery with beautiful music. Rendering by Bob Kirchman.

Catholicism and Beauty
By Bishop Robert Barron


A refreshing perspective on the place of the beautiful in leading to Faith.

Plato's Symposium

[click to read]


Diotima, painting by Józef Simmler, 1855. In Plato's Symposium the members of a party discuss the meaning of love. Socrates says that in his youth he was taught "the philosophy of love" by Diotima, who was a seer or priestess. Socrates also claims that Diotima successfully postponed the Plague of Athens. In a dialogue that Socrates recounts at the symposium, Diotima gives Socrates a genealogy of Love (Eros), stating that he is the son of "resource and poverty". In her view, love is a means of ascent to contemplation of the Divine. For Diotima, the most correct use of love of other human beings is to direct one's mind to love of Divinity. The beautiful beloved inspires the mind and the soul and directs one's attention to spiritual things. One proceeds from recognition of another's beauty, to appreciation of Beauty as it exists apart from any individual, to consideration of Divinity, the source of Beauty, to love of Divinity.

Concerning the things about which you ask to be informed I believe that I am not ill-prepared with an answer. For the day before yesterday I was coming from my own home at Phalerum to the city, and one of my acquaintance, who had caught a sight of me from behind, hind, out playfully in the distance, said: Apollodorus, O thou Phalerian man, halt! So I did as I was bid; and then he said, I was looking for you, Apollodorus, only just now, that I might ask you about the speeches in praise of love, which were delivered by Socrates, Alcibiades, and others, at Agathon's supper. Phoenix, the son of Philip, told another person who told me of them; his narrative was very indistinct, but he said that you knew, and I wish that you would give me an account of them. Who, if not you, should be the reporter of the words of your friend? And first tell me, he said, were you present at this meeting? (read more)

Love is...
The Ultimate Definition

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best, Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
— 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (MSG)

Why Beauty Matters
Roger Scruton

A Love Song from a #ProudAmerican

Volume XVIII, Issue XXIIIc: An American Love Song

The Story Behind the Photo

Last night we watched The Sound of Music. In that film there is a scene that always gives me goosebumps. That is the one where Captain Von Trapp softly strums his guitar and sings Edelweiss as a love song to his beloved Austria as the Germans march in to take her over in the Anschluss. As I see our young people all too ready to throw away the good and noble America, I now know why I felt Captain Von Trapp's love so strongly, even before I knew such love myself.

The photo above is one I took of the morning flag raising ceremony at Capon Springs, West Virginia. Every morning, when the resort is in operation, the owners will select a child to raise the flag. I readied myself on the third floor porch of the Annex building, which is now the main building since the Mountain House, which was much larger, burned in 1911. I must have been distracted somehow, but the child stepped up rather quickly to raise the flag. I literally shot the photo without thinking.

When I looked at the captured image, I saw the shaft of light. Then I was washed by a great flood of emotion as the light seemed to be as a message of comfort from the Divine. Indeed He hears our prayers for our beloved land. He cares for us. Don't give up. Fight the good fight. I offer you 2nd Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Yes, our problems are great... seemingly insurmountable, and yet I remember that band of men under George Washington at Valley Forge and the Battle of Trenton. The odds weren't so good then either. In 1985, Katharine Lee Bates visited Pike's Peak. It was an arduous journey but the sight of the great mountain stirred her to write this great love song... but it is more than a love song, it is a prayer. Read the verses we seldom sing and you will see her great prayer for this country.

America the Beautiful
Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam 
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Fireworks at Mount Rushmore

The America I Love, a Historic Photo Journey

Volume XVIII, Issue XXIII: Evening at Raven's Roost.

The America I Love, A Photo Journey
Photos by Bob Kirchman

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier


Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington, Virginia.

Wright Brothers Memorial


Wright Brothers Memorial, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

America the Beautiful
Words by Katharine Lee Bates, Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

The Cherokee Nation


New Echota, in present day Georgia, was the capital of the Cherokee Nation.

Mohomony, The Natural Bridge of Virginia


The Monacan People knew Virginia's Natural Bridge as Mohomony, the Bridge of God.

Sherando Lake, Jefferson National Forest


Ice covers Sherando Lake in Augusta County, Virginia.

America's Early Railroads


Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Bridge South of Staunton, Virginia.


Arches of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Bridge South of Staunton, Virginia.


Cornerstone of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Bridge, Ellicott City, Maryland.


Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station, Ellicott City, Maryland. The station actually had an engine house behind the large door.



High Water Marks, Railroad Bridge in Ellicott City, Maryland.


The Patapsco Hotel, Ellicott City, Maryland. It is built of native granite.


Dolls in a Shop Window, Ellicott City, Maryland.

McCormick's Mill


It was here that Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper and revolutionized world agriculture. Steele's Tavern, Virginia.







Mount Airy Farm






Before she became famous as a folk painter, Grandma Moses lived at Mount Airy in Augusta County just North of Staunton, Virginia.

Historical Mural, Crozet, Virginia




This mural celebrating the history of the Crozet area was painted by John Pembroke, Bob Kirchman and Western Albemarle High School Art Students. Restoration in 20112 was done by Kristina Elaine Greer, Meg West and Western Albemarle High School Art Students. The mural highlights the Monacan settlement here, the Big Survey settlement and the coming of the railroad built by Claudius Crozet, for whom the town is named.

Virginia State Capital Building




Thomas Jefferson designed the Virginia State Capital Building in Richmond, Virginia.

Poplar Forest


Thomas Jefferson's Octagonal House near Forest, Virginia.

University of Virginia


The Lawn, as designed by Thomas Jefferson, originally opened out to the rolling hills of Albemarle County, Virginia. In this reconstruction by Bob Kirchman it is seen open once again.

Sitka, Alaska


The Russian Bishop's House in Sitka, Alaska.


Abandoned Cemetery, Sitka, Alaska.

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia


Mary's Rock Tunnel on Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

White Rock Falls, Virginia


White Rock Falls is along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.

1776, Not 1619
[click to read]

America’s Founding was Not Defined by Slavery

For decades, much of academia, the liberal activist class, and the public school system have operated on the premise that America is fundamentally racist. The latest manifestation of this outlook is the 1619 Project, rolled out last month by the New York Times. Claiming that “anti-black racism runs in the very DNA of this country,” it “aims to reframe the country’s history” by making 1619—the year slavery was first introduced by the British to Virginia—the year of “our true founding.” This narrative is akin to the Jacobins’ alteration of the calendar to make their revolution the decisive turning point in human history. Just as they would save France from the monarchy, so, too, will the Times save America from white supremacy. The Times encourages public schools to adopt an accompanying curriculum that spreads the 1619 Project’s message to young Americans. Its goal is to brand our founding documents—the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—as immoral and thus unworthy of our allegiance. To make America’s Founding contemptible, one must hide, ignore, and distort the Founders’ writings and thoughts. Irresponsibly omitted from this narrative is the fact that not a single major Founder endorsed slavery. On the contrary, the Founders unambiguously saw slavery as evil. George Washington said, “there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it,” and Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence calls the slave trade an “execrable commerce” and an affront “against human nature itself.” Gouverneur Morris called slavery a “nefarious institution” and “the curse of heaven,” and John Jay said, “It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. . . . To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused.” (read more)

The Man Who Moved a Mountain
Bob Childress, The Pastor Who Tamed Buffalo Mountain


Pastor Bob Childress.

 A Milestone Monday Feature

Today we think of gang violence downtown and forget that once there was gunfire in the small communities of Southwestern Virginia. Bob Childress was a hard-drinking, hard fighting resident of that region where the poverty of subsistence living was made more bearable, it was thought, by escaping to alcohol. Bob's parents drank heavily and fought constantly.

Following in his parent's footsteps, Childress missed a lot of school as a youth. One day he witnessed a massacre at the local courthouse and was moved to quit drinking and pursue a career in law enforcement. This was a noteworthy change in itself. Childress settled down, married and had four children; but G-d had plans for his life that would change the lives of people around him in a way he couldn't imagine.

Childress went to a revival meeting and found something more powerful than the spirits in a bottle. He found G-d and felt called to the ministry. At the age of thirty he returned to school, finishing high school in the same one-room schoolhouse attended by his six year old son.

He sought to bring the Spirit of the Lord to his hurting community. Though his education was pretty basic, he managed to go to Union Seminary in Richmond and struggled through. He became a much sought after speaker and was offered a very comfortable position with a large church... and he turned it down. Buffalo Mountain was his calling from G-d and he returned to his community and started a number of churches. His Sunday was a marathon as he made the journey to preach at each congregation.

Bob faced the daunting task of bringing the message of G-d's love to a community steeped in fatalistic despair. The churches he founded are testimony of what can be accomplished by a life lived for a greater purpose. Childress continued his ministry while caring for his daughter Hattie, who was severely disabled. When Bob's wife died, he took on such tasks as boiling the wash water for diapers. In the 1950's he was preaching in fourteen different churches every week. He died in 1956 at the age of 66.

Richard C. Davids tells his story in The Man Who Moved a Mountain [click to read], a stirring book. Lives like that of Bob Childress should challenge all of us. “Only eternity will tell the tremendous good accomplished in this unusual diocese.” -- The Synod of Virginia.

Remembering a Great Mentor
There was a Man who Convinced Me I Could Do This


Reconstructing my model of Ellicot's Mills for the B and;O Railroad Museum.

A Milestone Monday Feature

In Chapter 14 of Chuck Balsamo's book Make Me a Legend Pastor Balsamo talks about the importance of finding a good mentor. He brought back some important memories as I recalled the influence of a man named Reggie. Reggie served in the Navy during World War II and achieved the rank of Aviation Machinist's Mate, Second Class. He was a first class mentor.

I met this amazing man because I went to school with his daughter. He was a Chevrolet mechanic and an avid outdoorsman. He introduced me to the wonders of Coastal New Jersey as I happily paddled for hours through marshes and creeks. At about 50 years old, Reggie became an instructor at the vocational technology school. There he discovered his true gifts and passions.

At an age where most men are thinking about taking it easy, Reggie enrolled in Rutgers University and pursued a degree in administration. Education and young people had become his true calling and he graduated from college the same time one of his daughters did.

Days at Reggies place where full ones. He lived in a little postwar bungalo and when his children and their assembled friends were descending on the place around ten in the evening, he'd put on a pot of coffee. It came as no surprise that Reggie enjoyed lively conversation and sometimes these talk sessions would end in the wee hours of the morning. Good coffee, however, always made up for sleep deprivation.

Reggie went on to become a high school principal, but I have to believe that the best classes he ever taught were at his own kitchen table. He noticed that I was a hands-on guy struggling with an academic world. He found information on architectural model making and shared it with me. "You'd be good at this, Bob." Years later I was literally living off of this compliment. My little studio built models for architects, including one famous one. I worked on several models for resort projects in Japan, though I'm not sure how a man who served in the Pacific Theater would feel about that.

No doubt, this man has influenced many young lives in a similar manor. I am priviledged to have known him.

Education's Misplaced Priorities
By Kasey Norton
From Walking Redeemed [click to read]

Is it possible we’re educating our children right OUT of salvation?

It’s a scary and extremely counter-cultural thought but I believe there’s something to it. And if there’s any chance that even a grain of truth lies within that question, it’s something we’d better look at long and hard.

Because society over the past 200 years has evolved where we now worship at the altar of education. We serve the gods that feed us with information, curriculum, diplomas and degrees.

Which, in turn, causes us to remain bowed down before gods that feed us money.

More money.

All the money.

We stress education so much that our children grow up thinking it’s the link to true success. And that, my friends, is a lie that may just hinge them to a life of ruin.

Because success is NOT any worldly attainment. A man in a big house with a fancy car is NOT more successful than a man in a small house with a clunker. Not if the man in the small house knows and serves Jesus while the man in the big house doesn’t.

Society lies. Our culture lies. The devil lies. And we, innocently or not, perpetuate those lies.

If we push our children to read by 3, and speak multiple languages, and write poetry as poetically as Longfellow, but they don’t have the love of God that seeps into their being and transforms them from the inside out, they literally have nothing. Our work is in vain.

If we train them, through hours of repetition, to calculate with the speed and efficiency of a computer, or to solve complicated problems using high order algebraic function, but they don’t know the love of God that saves them from themselves, they have nothing to share with others. Their lives will be lived in vain.

If we spend hours and weeks and years filling the minds of our children with historical facts, and geographical landmarks, and the periodic table of elements, they’ll be very smart in many ways. If we serve them up a side of church and religion and we talk occasionally of faith and prayer, they’ll even have a bit of head knowledge about God. But if we haven’t CONNECTED them to God and shown them His character and taught them of His sacrifice and pointed them to His victory on OUR behalf, we’ve given them nothing.

We’ll have raised brilliant infidels who may even change the world ... they just won’t be changing it for Jesus.

Education isn’t what we’ve made it. Or more accurately, we’ve corrupted education until it’s been depleted of much of its value. Because we’re educating our children to assume their rightful place in a society of dream seekers and money makers.

But very few are educating these children to be God chasers.

I, myself, have done it wrong. I’ve not taken my lessons from the schools of the prophets and, as such, I’ve allowed the world to paint my view without even realizing it. And I see the world tugging HARD on the hearts of my young people.

And let me tell you, it’s very difficult to convince a person of something with your words when your actions have told them otherwise.

God is the author of redemption, however. He points out our mistakes so we can repent of them. He shows us a better way so we can tell others of it. And He promises to do all He can, within the parameters of the human will, to restore what the locusts have eaten.

If you’ve done it wrong and this culture has snagged your beloved children and is holding them within its grip, all is not lost. Repent of your wrong course and accept the forgiveness He offers. And then go out there and love them with all the love that God loves us with because it’s His love that wins us.

It’s not a setting aside of principle or a winking at sin or a compromise of conviction that wins our kids back. It’s the sweet love of Jesus filling us to overflowing that will ultimately infect them. He handles the details and He gives us the words and actions that will be most effective in reaching them.

And if your children are still young, choose the narrow way. Focus 99% of your time on showing them the face of Christ and 1% on facts that simply help them pass tests our societal rules demand. Because if they’re looking for evidences of God in nature, and storing up the treasure of Scripture in their memories, and studying the history of the great gospel commission and how it’s transformed hearts and saved lives, and learning how to spend the money they have to reach souls with the good news that so few truly grasp, you will be transferring the absolute and very best education possible to your precious children.

And God will add to them knowledge and understanding and wisdom according as they need it.

True education is miraculous and it’s also what’s going to set this world on fire when people grab ahold of it.

I’m picking up my torch, even if it’s not trendy. And I plan to get to work lighting theirs!

Reinventing Yourself
[click to read]

By John Rampton

Just because everything in your life is running smoothly right now doesn’t mean that that’s going to last. (read more)

Proverbs 11:24-25

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
‭‭— Proverbs‬ ‭11:24-25‬


Fields near Swope, Virginia. Photo by Bob Kirchman.

Betsy Bell and Mary Gray
Staunton's Twin Mountains Recall Two Young Ladies


Flowers and leaves on Betsy Bell Mountain.

Memorialized in a historic ballad, Betsy and Mary were daughters of two Perthshire gentlemen who went into isolation in the country to avoid a plague. The year was 1666 and a young man who was in love with both of them came to supply them regularly with food. The man eventually came down with the plague himself, passing it along to the two girls. The young man and both girls died of the plague.

The first settlers of the area named the mountains because they reminded them of two similarly named mountains in the old country. The City of Staunton's history records the following:

The original 50-acre park was donated to the City in 1941 by Charles Catlett, who specified that "The City of Staunton shall as far as is reasonably practicable and in its considered opinion advisable, and for the common benefit of its citizens and inhabitants, keep and maintain the crest of the mountain as a perpetual memorial..." of events in the past life of the community and in memory of its citizens who have given their lives in protecting the nation.

Catlett further specified that the site be maintained in its natural state, that a "cross" cut out of the woods along the crest be maintained, and that City Council visit the crest of Betsy Bell once each Spring in remembrance of the gift. These requirements have been honored since the bequest. An additional 20 acres was acquired by the City through a donation from CSC Associates in 1995."

The two mountains are one of my favorite places to hike. They provide a wonderful bit of wilderness right in the city of Staunton.


You forget that you are in the city as you walk up Mary Gray Mountain.


The Cross cut out of the forest on Betsy Bell Mountain. It is there as a memorial to those who have given their lives in defense of this Nation.


Looking West from Bear Den Mountain, Mary Gray and Betsy Bell show you where Staunton is.


The trail up the mountain was alive with color when I visited it in Autumn.

The Place of Faith in Education
A Unique Perspective on the Issue from CIVITAS


Iris.

Education is only adequate and worthy when it is itself religious… There is no possibility of neutrality… To be neutral concerning G-d is the same thing as to ignore Him… If children are brought up to have an understanding of life in which, in fact, there is no reference to G-d, you cannot correct the effect of that by speaking about G-d for a certain period of the day. Therefore our ideal for the children of our country is the ideal for truly religious education." -- William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942.

Here is a very interesting report from CIVITAS [1.], on The Place of Faith in Schools [click to read] by Professor David Conway. It adds a new dimension to the debate now raging in America between those who would impose a strictly secular criteria and those who consider Faith an essential component of learning.

[A] nation which draws into itself continuously, and not merely in its first beginnings, the inspiration of a religious faith and a religious purpose will increase its own vitality… Our own nation… has been inspired by a not ignoble notion of national duty to aid the oppressed – the persecuted Vaudois, the suffering slave, the oppressed nationality – and it has been most... characteristically national when it has most felt such inspiration…

We offend against the essence of the [English] nation if we emphasise its secularity, or regard it as merely an earthly unit for earthly purposes. Its tradition began its life at the breast of Christianity; and its development in time, through the centuries… has not been utterly way from its nursing mother… [I]n England our national tradition has been opposed to the idea of a merely secular society for secular purposes standing over against a separate religious society for religious purposes. Our practice has been in the main that of the single society, which if national is also religious, making public profession of Christianity in its solemn acts, and recognising religious instruction as part of its scheme of education." -- Ernest Barker, Cambridge Philosopher

Professor Conway  Concludes: "All would stand to benefit from such committed forms of religious education in the country’s state-funded schools, not simply because it would be likely to improve the educational performance, behaviour and well-being of the nation’s schoolchildren. They would also all benefit because, I believe, only by continuing to provide it can this country be assured of remaining the independent and united liberal polity that it has for so long been and from whose continuing to be such all its diverse inhabitants would derive benefit, even those who do not share that faith or any other."

The Longest Day
Remembering June 6, 1944

One of my favorite movies is "The Longest Day." My favorite scene in the movie is where General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Son of the 'Rough Rider' President, pleads to be allowed to accompany his men in the invasion. If you love heroes, the scene will bring you to tears. Finally Roosevelt hears his commander say "permission reluctantly granted. Oh, by the way, how's your arthritis?" "Hasn't Bothered me in months," replies Roosevelt. As he leaves, you see him retrieve the cane he has hidden in some pipes as he heads off down the ship's passageway.

The true story of General Roosevelt is one all of us should know. He repeatedly led groups of men off the beach and achieved an impressively low casualty rate in the beginning of the invasion. He had trained these men and wanted to be with them when they faced the hard test.


General Roosevelt in France

He was the only general to come ashore in the first wave of the invasion, leading the men out of his landing craft. No doubt his leadership under fire saved many lives.

After battling their way ashore, the troops discover that they have drifted a mile from where they should have landed. It was then that General Roosevelt personally scouted their situation and uttered these famous words: "We'll start the war from right here!"

"Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach"

Those were the words of Omar Bradley when asked to name the single most heroic action he had ever seen in combat. Major General "Tubby" Barton had reluctantly assented to this plea from Roosevelt: "The force and skill with which the first elements hit the beach and proceed may determine the ultimate success of the operation... With troops engaged for the first time, the behavior pattern of all is apt to be set by those first engaments. [It is] considered that accurate information of the existing situation should be available for each succeeding element as it lands. You should have when you get to shore an overall picture in which you can place confidence. I believe I can contribute materially on all of the above by going in with the assault companies. Furthermore I personally know both officers and men of these advance units and believe that it will steady them to know that I am with them."

Barton thought he would never see Roosevelt in this life again when he cut those fateful orders. When Barton later came ashore and met up with Roosevelt, he had this to say: "while I was mentally framing [orders], Ted Roosevelt came up. He had landed with the first wave, had put my troops across the beach, and had a perfect picture (just as Roosevelt had earlier promised if allowed to go ashore with the first wave) of the entire situation. I loved Ted. When I finally agreed to his landing with the first wave, I felt sure he would be killed. When I had bade him goodbye, I never expected to see him alive. You can imagine then the emotion with which I greeted him when he came out to meet me [near La Grande Dune]. He was bursting with information."

A month after the invasion, Ted Roosevelt died of a heart condition which would have disqualified him from leading in the first wave. He was buried in France alongside his brother Quenton who had died in World War I. His Medal of Honor citation reads as follows: "For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, in France. After 2 verbal requests to accompany the leading assault elements in the Normandy invasion had been denied, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt's written request for this mission was approved and he landed with the first wave of the forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches. He repeatedly led groups from the beach, over the seawall and established them inland. His valor, courage, and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strong points and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France."

Remembering Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

It is worth noting that Roosevelt, while a very effective officer, was not liked by everyone he met. Serving in the North Africa Campaign in 1942 under Major General Terry Allen he drew the ire of George S. Patton. Both Allen and Roosevelt went against Patton's spit-and-polish mentality and were seldom seen in dress uniform. Roosevelt was too much of a "hands on" type of guy to strut around avoiding the hard stuff. Patton relieved both Allen and Roosevelt of their commands. Roosevelt went on to fight in Sicily and Italy. He became chief liaison officer to the French Army in Italy for General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Great men have often struggled in the process of becoming the heroes we remember and that is worth remembering along with their mighty deeds.