No Runny Eggs

Thanks to JammieWearingFool and Just A Grunt for reminding me that, 232 years ago today, what would become the United States Army was formed when the Continental Congress adopted “the American continental army.

Thank you, Army, for 232 years of winning and securing our freedoms.

The ONLY media outlet that is carrying President Bush’s speech at the dedication of the Victims of Communism Monument is WTMJ-AM (it’s not too late to catch the tail end if you hurry and your feed reader just managed to catch this post as I type). No CNN, no MSNBC, no Fox News, no C-SPAN 1/2/3.

It is very powerful, and once somebody posts a copy, I’ll link to it.

Many thanks to Charlie for finding a link to The “Tear Down This Wall” Speech delivered by President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate 20 years ago today. I was still in high school back in 1987, and I didn’t believe that, inside of 3 years, the Berlin Wall would be gone, at least without World War III taking place.

Sorry about not knowing that the Victims of Communism Memorial will be dedicated today. I hadn’t opened up my feed reader yet to find out Mary Katharine Ham will be there with her camera.

D-Day, 1944. I can’t do it better than President Ronald Reagan from the 40th anniversary of D-Day (thanks for the audio, Patrick) or President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from that day 63 years ago (H/T – Charlie and audio courtesy Earthstation1.com), so I’ll leave the words to them.

They truly were a great generation.

Revisions/extensions (3:29 and again 3:40 pm 6/6/2007) – I decided to do a massive rewrite after checking Sykes Writes and finding FDR’s prayer to the nation from the longest day. I’ve also moved the FDR prayer on-site to make it easier to listen to.

First off, the lost day of yesterday:

- 1942 – The United States Navy decisively defeats the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of Midway to turn the tide in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Though the battle would continue for another 3 days, ending with the sinking of the carrier USS Yorktown, most of the damage was done on the 4th, with all 4 Japanese carriers assigned to the invasion of Midway fatally damaged (2 sunk outright, 2 scuttled between the 4th and 5th).

- 1989 – The ChiComs re-earn their murderous reputation by violently and indiscriminately squashing a pro-democracy protest at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, killing countless hundreds.

Next, today:

1944 – After a delay of 24 hours caused by poor weather, paratroopers that were to spearhead the Normandy landings took off from their bases in Great Britian.

- 1967 – Israel kicks off the Six-Day War, routing several Arab armies that were lined up to try and wipe Israel off the map and reopening access to the Red Sea from Eilat.