Posts filed under ‘Lest we forget’
NOV.11th- Flanders Fields -Remembering War
I use this video in most of my November 11th posts it tugs at my heart and my conscience. The Great War - 1914-1918 – my grandmothers and elderly aunts called it. When they spoke of the Great War it was not with the same camaraderie my mother and younger aunts and uncles who had fought and been “blitzed”. They, the aged, didn’t seem to have the same national fulfillment of achievement in their voices the attitude shown by those of the next generation.
Uncle Jim- lost two legs RAF Pilot WW2
“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be” Winston Chruchill
The pride of watching the skies above as the Battle of Britain Pilots as they defended their “sceptered isle.” seemed missing as they talked of bombs and carnage, although on the side of victory , there was somehow something hollow in their remembrance of those years of World War 1.
This was a war that was so horrible, unthinkable with so many men lost, a generation lost , never had there been such human destruction on such a scale before or since. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars The Great War in Europe started in 1914- the 100 year anniversary will be noted in Europe next year.
The number of men mobilised by both sides: the central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey), and the allied powers (Britain and Empire, France, Belgium, Russia, Italy, USA), totalled over 65 million.
When the fighting was finally over, no-one could tell exactly how many had been killed but historians estimate that up to 10 million men lost their lives on the battlefield – and another 20 million were wounded…..it is perhaps best remembered for the staggering loss of human life. In the decade following the Great War many had the firm conviction that it should be “the war to end all wars”. …
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/10/98/world_war_i/198172.stm
I wasn’t born during either of the “World Wars” but I do remember my grand dad who lived to a ripe old age . I remember his whiskers, the smell of beer ( which wasn’t that unpleasant) and of sweet-smelling tobacco, although I can’t remember him with a pipe or a cigarette. The roughness of his jacket on my cheek as he held me on his lap toasting bread by the fire .
He was an old reprobate (I later learned) but to me he was the one who would come home from the pub and always had a present in his pocket for me , sometimes sweets, sometimes a few pennies and on one brilliant occasion a kitten named Jimmy!
I was the youngest girl grandchild and he would tease me unmercifully ( or so it seemed) but I knew he loved me even if his nickname for me was “maggot”.
In fact I was just married when he died , he had been to my wedding just weeks before with his fancy woman as my one aunt called her. My grandmother had died 10 years before .
We received a call he was in hospital and asking to see me . I went. I remember his little old face as white as the hospital pillow case upon which his head rested . He smiled , the twinkle had gone out of his blue eyes- he told my husband you take care of my little maggot in those United States of yours, squeezed my hand and said
come back tomorrow
and I said I would. What I didn’t know , he had told my aunt, who was a nurse at the hospital, he couldn’t die until he had seen me and then he could go.
As we drove down the country lanes in Suffolk to get to my other aunt’s, I could not shake the feel of his hand squeezing mine, it stayed with me the whole journey home. When we arrived my aunt told me he died not 5 minutes after I had left the room. He had made my grandmother’s life miserable, had given her 6 children , three sons and three daughters, and many, many hardships.
But as I read articles and history such as the Diary of Harry Drinkwater:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2491760/Harry-Drinkwaters-lost-diary-Great-War.html
After five days in the trenches, we’re thankful we can still walk. I’ve had approximately an hour’s sleep a day – always standing up.
Often, when from sheer exhaustion I doze off, I’m awakened by a fat squeaking rat on my shoulder or feel it running over my head.
Most of the rations fail to arrive – because the communication trenches are water-logged and being continually shelled. We eat with hands caked in mud, which has caused many cases of acute dysentery.
Deluged: Three members of Harry’s company can be seen here posing in a trench flooded with mud almost to waist height
In common with others, I’ve done regular turns at the firing line. It’s a very creepy business looking over the top, imagining every noise is a German. A rat skirmishing among empty tins in no-man’s land is sufficient to attract all our attention.
Each morning, one hour before daybreak, every man stands in the trench until daylight. This is in case the Germans follow the old custom of attacking just before dawn. The same happens an hour before sunset.
Last night, I had a narrow squeak. I was wedged in the mud when I heard a shell coming. Unable to move quickly, I crouched when it burst on the parapet and got covered in dirt.
Later, we marched to our billets [for rest days]. This morning, Christmas Day, I took my shirt off – thick with dried mud – and had a wash. We had one tub and no soap between about 50 fellows.
Friday, December 31
Back on the firing line, and nearly up to our waists in mud. We’ve found a new diversion — at dusk, we put a small piece of cheese on the end of a bayonet, wait for a rat to have a nibble, and then pull the trigger.
I think of my grand dad as a young man , a career soldier, who fought in those trenches, slithered in muck, covered with lice and blood , fodder for cannon and rats alike , living the horror of trench warfare, and ultimately being “gassed ” and shot. I am sure this had to change a man. He sent three of his sons to war 20 years later, and according to my mum they too came home different men, as did my father
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/long-time-passing-gone-to-fighting-part-4/
and millions of young men from around the world through the wars to follow .
Lyrics to I was only 19 at the end of the post
Today, more young men are returning home battle weary and scarred both physically and emotionally. And yet we count them among the lucky ones for many will never see the shores of home and we should never forget …………..
Photo Roger Brownson
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/dedication-ceremony-eric-barnes-heroes-walk-the-coverage/
and grand dad this one is for you – Maggot
Lyrics to I was Only 19
Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets.
The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card.
We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean.
And there’s me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.
God help me, I was only nineteen.From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat
I’d been in and out of choppers now for months.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
And an Agent Orange sunset through the scrub.And can you tell me, doctor, why I stil can’t get to sleep?
And night-time’s just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only ninteen.A four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself.
But you wouldn’t let your mates down til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.Then someone yelled out “Contact!” and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row.And the Anzac legends didn’t mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn’t even feel
God help me, I was only nineteen.And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.
Proclamation Lorain- Purple Heart Day
****UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE THE PROCLAMATION CEREMONY AT CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS WILL TAKE PLACE AT 6.00 PM —- NOT 7:00 PM AS ORIGNALLY ANNOUNCED ******
History of the Purple Heart Medal
http://www.cvsc.us/gwpa/history.html
The first precedent for honoring servicemen in American history, which involved the awarding of medals, goes back to August 7, 1782. On that day, General of the Armies George Washington, created “The Badge of Military Merit,” using cloth pieces of a purple sash he wore across his uniform, cut in the shape of a heart. That was our nation’s first military decoration. It was awarded to three Revolutionary soldiers for their actions in capturing the accomplices of General Benedict Arnold, in his attempt to turn over Fort West Point, to the British, during the American Revolution. The records show no others.
The philosophy behind military decorations has always been: since honor is something which no Soldier, Sailor, Marine or Airman likes to talk about, those who sought to honor these warriors, should give them a token of that honor, which they could wear without words. America’s present military decorations system has evolved from this single act by General Washington.
Although never abolished, the “Badge of Military Merit” was not issued again for 150 years. It was renamed the “Purple Heart Medal for Military Merit,” commonly known today as, The Purple Heart, on the 200th year of George Washington’s birth (22 Feb., 1932), with War Department Order #3. The first Purple Heart was awarded to General Douglas MacArthur, then Army Chief of Staff. War Dept. Order #3 also retroactively awarded the Purple Heart to WWI veterans.During WWII, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9277 on December 3, 1942, that decreed the Purple Heart would be issued to all branches of the military and differ from all other decorations in that an individual is not “recommended” for the decoration. Rather the individual is “entitled” to it upon meeting the specific criteria of: “wounds received while engaged in combat against an enemy of the United States of America.”
On Monday a proclamation by the City of Lorain will proclaim August 7th as Purple Heart Day. The ceremony will take place Sept. 16th 2013 at 6:00 p.m. ( City Council Chambers, Lorain City Hall, 200 West Erie Ave. at 7:00 p.m. All Veterans are invited to attend.
You can find media coverage with video on the Morning Journal link by Rick Payerchin
http://www.morningjournal.com/general-news/20130911/lorain-to-honor-purple-heart-veterans
Don Fugitt Commander of Chapter 473 announces a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser for October 27th
SEPT 11TH- LEST WE FORGET- 2013
As for those that carried out these attacks there are no adequate words of condemnation. Their barbarism will stand as their shame for all eternity.
–British Prime Minister Tony Blair
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/september-the-11th-a-reprise/
Veterans MEMORIAL Park- thanks for the memories
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge
Part One \
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/veterans-memorial-park-a-neglected-disgrace-again/
Part Two
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/veterans-memorial-park-the-name-game/
Part Three
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/veterans-memorial-park-the-englishman-commeth/
Part Four
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/veterans-memorial-park-history-tear-down/
Part Five
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/veterans-memorial-park-the-veterans-council-speaks/
Part Six
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/veterans-memorial-park-faulty-memory/
After a great deal of talking, the Veteran’s organizations under the umbrella of a Lorain Veterans Council entered into a contract with the City of Lorain for a further $346,500.00 to renovate Washington Ave Park/Lorain Memorial Park.
Interestingly enough even the contract language can’t seem to make up its mind as to the “name” of the park – front page of the contract-
Washington Park- Under the “money agreement” it is -Lorain Memorial Park- and farther down in the language- Veterans Memorial Park. Maybe the funding was for three different parks ( sarcasm abounds)
The PDF file of the 1983 contract is to be found here :
20130731142325211.pdf
It also seems questions were once again being asked at city council meetings on May 21st- 1984
(PDF File Here)
may-july1984
Now we jump forward back in time to the Plain Dealer article of 1990 ( full article found here )Veterans park
Apparently the Park ( whatever its name)
was “finished” in 1987 and then “died by 1990″ according to Jack LaVirha.
We were also dealing with the “skateboarders” back 23 years ago vandalizing the park not much has changed apparently. . The newly installed benches found Jack complaining as to their condition just THREE YEARS after the “finish”.
“Veterans raised money to install benches and dedicated to the memory of a deceased person
Those benches are still there today .
Could it be after spending a total of $463,526.00 from 1983 through 1987, changing the whole look and feel of the little public square,
the organizations, under the umbrella of the Lorain Veterans Council , threw up their hands and walked away after they declared it dead!
Did the Veterans Council of the day( and also of today ) relieve themselves of all responsibility to that little historic park after they “renovated it? ? Was it and is back to the tax payers to revive her once again?
Apparently, according to then Parks Director Steven Bailey the Parks Dept were never consulted in the design etc
:”LaVirha complains about the park, but Bailey said it was the veterans who hired and worked with the architects [ Ron Cocco of Clark and Post]to “design the park and settled on the concrete foundation and amphitheater.
ED NOTE: It is apparent to me that number 7 in the contractual requirements
No 7: Establish a design that can be easily and economically maintained by the City of Lorain
and number 8
No 8 Utilize products and materials that are durable , easily maintained and resistant to vandalism
weren’t strictly adhered to-
WHO TURNED NEARLY $500,000 DOLLARS INTO A BOONDOGGLE, BAD NEWS AND DEAD PARK?
The question begs to be asked, of the powers that be back in the 80′s- why did we lose the integrity and ambiance of ‘public square- into what it has become today?
Was it lack of oversight by administrations – councils- giving an organization free reign without follow through accountability- poor architectural design, which in the opinion of many changed the this little park into a concrete clump! We are seemingly stuck with the decisions of those involved back in the 1980′s- the 1980′s known as the “Decade that Made Us “ certainly left its mark on us!
This little park who is now supposedly born out of the “Sufferers” need for settlement after the War of Independence – See Part Two:
The western end of the reserve included the 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) Firelands or “Sufferers Lands,” reserved for residents of several New England towns destroyed by British-set fires during the Revolutionary War
and whose signage states “for those that have served our nation” and whose monument also states
” In grateful tribute to the Lorain men and women who served their county in ALL WARS”
has been a silent witness to the wars of this nation:
War of Independence 1775-1783 25,000
Northwest Indian War 1785-1795 1,221
Quasi-War 1798-1800 20
1812 Public Square became a “deeded park”
Barbary Wars 1801-1815 35
War of 1812 1812-1815 20,000
1st Seminole War 1817-1818 30
2nd Seminole War 1835-1842 1,500
Mexican-American War 1846-1848 13,283
3rd Seminole War 1855-1858 26
Civil War 1861-1865 623,026
Indian Wars 1865-1898 919
Spanish-American War 1898 2,446
Philippine War 1898-1902 4,196
Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901 37
Mexican Revolution 1914-1919 35
Haiti Occupation 1915-1934 146
World War 1 1917-1918 116,708
World War 2 1941-1945 407,316
Korean War 1950-1953 36,914
Vietnam War 1964-1973 58,169
El Salvador 1980-1992 20
Beirut 1982-1984 266
Persian Gulf (Support) 1987-1988 39
Invasion of Grenada 1983 19
Invasion of Panama 1989 40
Persian Gulf War 1991 269
Somalia 1992-1993 43
Bosnia 1995 12
Afghanistan 2002-2011 2,229
Iraq 2003- 4,488
Oh what IF forethought had been utilized in 1983 and the trouble saved in hindsight.
http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2011/10/26/news/doc4ea778dbc8d28244358157.tx
t
The little park limped along until another Mayor- Craig Foltin , Jack LaVirha ( who was still in favour of spending yet more money and walking away) , The Lorain Veterans Council, another architect Warren Finkel ( designer of Lorain City Hall ), Jon Veard, and Morning Journal editor John Cole rallied round and decided in 2006 to “bury” this little park once and for all- that is until “an Englishwoman cometh” 
Thank you once again to Nancy Greer and the City of Lorain Mayors office for the documentation and of course to Dan Brady for the newspaper archives
To be continued……………..
Veteran’s MEMORIAL Park- a neglected disgrace AGAIN!
Part One:
What is it about this park the citizens , government and even the veterans ( who claim this space, at least by the signage) continually let this oldest park in Lorain, the place from whence Lorain was “born”, become so forlorn time and time again? She has a history, this first and only remaining public green space from “days of settlement) 1807
This little park, who should be taking pride of place in a downtown shows the unhealthy attitude of decay and dereliction with just a few sparks of her former glory just as the buildings of downtown we are exploring.
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/is-this-a-bad-area-mum-the-44052/”>
This park the first town square- public meeting place- the living part of Lorain’s history. This park should be like a polished gemstone of culture pride and longevity . She is the icon of how this community struggled from 1807 .
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/the-progess-then-and-now-veterans-park-lorain-ohio/
When in 2006 Jon Veard, Sandy Prudoff, Craig Foltin and John Cole wanted to rip her guts out and put up “Condos for Cole” I, along with others, fought for her. At the time Cole’s main argument was she had become a “piss park”.
“On the 7th of September 2006 I wrote – Silent Witness
silent witness“Nothing but a place for deadbeats and bums!” “ It has outlived its purpose” There is nothing historical about that park!” The city can’t afford to keep it up” It is a “piss park!!Nobody uses it, it is worthless!
So said John Cole and his editorials
It seems the usage of Veteran’s MEMORIAL Park has once again been allowed to deteriorate.
Under the Krasienko Administration I walked through the park with Service Director Gilchist , we were assured the benches would be taken care of , the park always ready for events such as Lorain International- Concerts in the park , Light Up Lorain etc. but the benches and the lighting never did get fixed…WHY???
This pride of historical place was being used as recently as September 2012 as an example of what we didn’t consider a good fit for our downtown with the addition of a Family Dollar store on its east corner-
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/the-family-dollar-design-by-design-not-desperation-lorain/
Can you imagine my chagrin and shame walking the representatives through the park explaining how “their design would not make good planning and design and therefore not a good fit” for this historic park when I saw what they were seeing the benches, the graffiti, the damage , the vagrants who had gathered for their evening slumber party ?
This bench is NOT an example of the ‘SHABBY CHIC” Design
As for the rather “dangerous” what is left of the light poles 
well we could turn them into planters I suppose
I was ashamed I had to defend her past glory to these gentleman who obviously were taking into account the neglect and destruction they were seeing as we walked along as I was babbling about history and its worthiness. I could see by their faces they were probably putting me into the same category as John Cole once did. “history bonehead”
I am going to explore how we got to this shameful place – it seems one group or another over the centuries have had “ideas” and we will start with the most recent history and work back
The Veterans Council in 2006 wanted to walk away and head on down to Black River Landing . You see they took ownership at one time but in 2006 with wheeling and dealing behind the Foltin curtain said
“no we don’t want the park anymore , Veard will move our monument and you can have the park for condos.”
The Veterans Council at that time seemed to forget they were not the “owners” of that green space; we the community of Lorain , the government of Lorain who were given the responsibility of her but back in the day when Washington Park was renamed ” Veterans Memorial Park” there were “promises made” which we will explore . Are we sitting comfortably – then we will begin……
***1812 recorded Lorain Public Square (According to Lorain County Recorder Judy Nedwick, the park has been a part of the plat of Charleston since 1812. Since that time, the county records show, the park has remained property of the city. Morning Journal Jan 19th 2006
Minutes from City Council at the time of the “dismantling” for Condos for Cole-
Minutes Vets Park City Council June 5th
Given: I received a few emails this week regarding Veterans Park across the street. Residents of Charleston Village still believe the administration or other parties are still involved in conversations to demo the park or sell it off to outside interests. I would like to hear comments on that and also have an explanation on why the fountain has not been turned on.
MAYOR FOLTIN: Did you get the letter I sent to the rest of Council a few weeks ago? It summarized it and I will paraphrase it for the audience. It isn’t in the city’s hands now, there has been no formal proposal brought to us. The Veteran’s Council, if they like what is being worked upon with Mr. Veard, then Mr. Veard at the appropriate time will bring it to this Council for some discussion. Unless I hear anything different from them, it is going to be as it is. I probably will contact the Veterans Council, they meet the third Thursday of the month and after that meeting I will call President Work and see what direction they feel they are heading. If they do not feel it is even worthy to discuss with Mr. Veard and present to Council, then we will come to Council to fix the fountain. There are some pumps broken at a cost of $20,000 and we will move forward with the cost of fixing the pumps, we didn’t want to move forward with that if there was any chance of discussion about switching of Veterans Park.
MR. GIVEN: This Council unanimously made a decision with comments that we would under no circumstances entertain giving that park to Mr. Veard or any developer. It was also clear during that conversation that although we call that park Veterans Park, it is still a city park. If the Veterans choose to pick up their monuments and move them down the road, that would be fine and we would assist them in any form or fashion we could. However, that park would still exist as a city park open as green space for all the public to use. To have any conversation that any plan would be sufficient for us to move forward, I think is misleading to all parties involved especially since this Council voted unanimously to not allow anything to happen to that park.
MRS. TAVENNER: As Chairman of Parks Recreation Committee, a unanimous vote was taken. It is Veterans Park but is also is a city park. We heard the cry from the community and they don’t want that park rezoned, changed, sold, etc. and want it to remain a city park. I think the administration or who ever is working on this should stop it or nix it now. We have spoken and I don’t think this Council will change our stance on this matter.
MR. SCHUSTER: As Vice Chairman, I also support her sentiments and my vote will also be no.
MR. EDWARDS: We took a stand and if he wants to lead the developer down the road it is up to him. If he wants to bring it back to us – it is dead before it even gets started.
MR. GIVEN: To end this conversation, since Council is stating we will not allow the park to not exist, I would like to hear the Mayor’s position on how he will get that fountain running. It is my understanding it is not a fountain issue, it is a waterline issue.
MAYOR FOLTIN: It is a plumbing issue. I believe there is money in the Parkland Trust and I think we discussed it last year. I do want to at least give the respect to our Veterans Council and ask if that is in fact their choice. If they want me to present the case to you, I respect the Veterans Council for all they do in this community and I would do that for them. Before we go forward and fix the fountain, I will make another contact with the Veterans Council and if they feel strongly they would like this proposal to come before you and have them plead their case, I will do so. However, if they are content and do no foresee that happening, I will fix the fountain.
MR. GIVEN: Mr. Foltin, I think one thing you need to take back to the Veterans Council is that City Council does not agree with the dismantling of that park. That was Washington Avenue Park prior to calling it Veterans Park and putting in the fountain. If the Veterans wish to have their park somewhere else, that is fine and we will try to assist them in their endeavors. However, Washington Park in its current fashion will continue to exist under the auspices of City Council. If you are going to take anything back to them, you should take that back.
MR. EDWARDS: I ask that the Mayor get his repairs for the fountain to Council so we can look at that. It is still our park regardless if the Veterans move out or not and we must repair it.
MAYOR FOLTIN: I think everyone is in agreement they want the fountain fixed and it is under $25,000 threshold and money is appropriated in the Parkland Trust. Let me talk with the Veterans Council and we will get right on that if they do not want to pursue.
MR. GIVEN: I don’t understand your rationale but will let it go since I do not feel I can clear that up with you this evening. About the fountain, it is my understanding it is not the park or the pump, it is the waterline. If that is the case, I don’t think we should pull money from Parkland Trust, it is a utility function. Before we fix it, this Council would like an unbiased view of what the cause of the problem is.
MR. MILLER: The $20,000 was a quote from a local plumber to subcontract out the work. We reviewed the blueprints with the water distribution department. The problem is on the wall closest to the Antlers and West Erie. About 12 feet down is plumbing and it has settled down and come apart from the outer joints and is leaking. In order to repair it, it looks as if we need to remove an entire section of that concrete, dig down, raise the plumbing up, and redo it. I hope that we can pick up that wall, put it back, and do it in-house. I don’t know if we can and may end up subcontracting it out. I hope that the $20,000 is a good price but I wish to be clear on what the problem is and we will obviously do it the best and most economical way we can.
Moved by Mr. Given, supported by Mr. Schuster and Mrs. Tavenner, to authorize the Clerk to forward a copy of these minutes to the Veterans Council to allow them to better understand City Council’s position on Veterans Park. Motion carried.
ED Note – it WAS the water line…….
“Planned Blight”???????by the Foltin Administration
AHHHHHHH the Fountain in its 3rd reincarnation….
To be continued…..
Memorial Day- Charleston Village – Heroes Tributes
Artwork Chris Ritchey
It was a beautiful cool and sunny morning today as we walked our neighborhood placing flags and ribbons to honor those who have given so much in so many conflicts. We placed the “RED WHITE and BLUE ribbons and I thought not only of the history of the colors but of those that have walked these streets in the decades before in this Lorain’s oldest neighborhood . I thought of those that had given all they could give in the name of freedom.
The history of the red white and blue:
(photo Lisa Miller)
The Continental Congress left no record to show why it chose the colors. However, in 1782, the Congress of the Confederation chose these same colors for the Great Seal of the United States and listed their meaning as follows: white to mean purity and innocence, red for valor and hardiness, and blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice. According to legend, George Washington interpreted the elements of the flag this way: the stars were taken from the sky, the red from the British colors, and the white stripes signified the secession from the home country. However, there is no official designation or meaning for the colors of the flag.
The official meaning of those chosen colors may have been lost in time but they are the colors of freedom and many lives have been cut short so the colors of freedom can fly proudly in our neighborhoods.
Eric Barnes Heroes Walk
Marine Lance Corporal David Hall
Marine Lance Corporal Joseph “Ryan” Giese
Army Sgt. Louis Torres
Sgt. Bruce Horner
Fleet Admiral Ernest J King
Airman 1st Class Eric Barnes
L-R Veterans Park Civil War – Christian Temple disciples of Christ(5th Street) Veterans Park Lorain Fire Dept
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep…….,
The History Park- 1812- 201 hundred years – a recorded city park – Veterans Park Lorain Ohio
ED NOTE_ I wrote this last year as the park now known as Veteran’s Park was celebrating 200 years as a recorded park- I am not sure why I didn’t publish at the time – maybe I was in one of my “dark places in my other world where apathy for this life reigns supreme” – I don’t know but as we are coming up to Pride Day and Memorial Day I would hope there is no apathy from any of us for this little green space -
Two hundred years a deeded city property since 1812 – HAPPY ANNIVERSARY????
iS THIS HOW WE CELEBRATE – LORAIN??????????????
I started, yesterday afternoon, to write the recent history of veterans Park aka settlement meeting space, Lorain Public Square, Washington Park and Veterans Park , Lorain Ohio. – Oh! how easy it would have been to have gone back to January 2006 archives on the WoM Blog and list the links but that has disappeared and with it a record of a fight by a community to hold what was deemed worthy.
In the closing months of 2005 the Foltin Administration along with Community Development Director Sandy Prudoff, Jon Veard and Morning Journal editor – John Cole, in their infinite wisdom, decided the historic park should be condos. Foltin and Co started the wheels in motion to make this little park unworthy of its heritage .
Mayor Foltin quietly stopped work and maintenance on the park so that after a period of months the park and its infrastructure started to rapidly deteriorate. The fountain no longer was turned on, said to have major problems ( which turned out later to be a false statement)- graffiti wasn’t removed – only the grass was cut – the vagrants were allowed to use it as John Cole’s editorial stated as a “piss park”. In truth Craig Miller the Safety Service Director told me the park would be “blighted”. Events happened when Jon Veard let the plans out of the bag prematurely and I, along with others, started fighting to stop this fiasco of finance.
It was a nasty fight pitting Veterans groups and the community- I was the subject of editorials and nasty letters , name calling and ridicule but we fought for that park.
Thankfully city council ( who had also been kept in the dark about Foltin and Co’s plans ) stepped in and saved the park. Foltin tried to say the pumps weren’t working on the fountain and it would cost thousands to repair, walls would have to be taken down this was not the case. He tried to use the veterans as a tool to sway city council . You can find the council minutes here …..
Minutes Vets Park City Council June 5th
I have been down this path once before - No more turning a deaf ear and a blind eye and doing just enough- The maintenance on the park, the safety of this park the heart of this oldest neighborhood, an integral part of the port area and Broadway development should be a showcase. People and organizations have cleaned painted and honored their citizens in this park for centuries . We have to stop the rot NOW!!
Children should play under those trees not have to worry about who is doing what disgusting thing , people should sit on benches without having to move bedding , I should be able to sit a listen to a fountain and smell the perfumed breezes of flowers not of human excrement . ( check comments after the previous post). This little park is in fact not very large , some “upmarket” properties have more land mass. It is manageable!
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/the-progess-then-and-now-veterans-park-lorain-ohio/
On the 7th of September 2006 I wrote – Silent Witness
“Nothing but a place for deadbeats and bums!” “ It has outlived its purpose” There is nothing historical about that park!” The city can’t afford to keep it up” It is a “piss park!!Nobody uses it, it is worthless!
So said John Cole and his editorials
The year is 1807 Azariah Beebe and his wife becomes the first family to settle in Black River Township. Nathan and Horatio Perry erect a house at the mouth of Black River and open a store for trade with the Indians. The area begins to be known as the Black River settlement.
“Of the first settlers, some men walked the entire distance from Connecticut and other places, some rode horseback part way, sharing the horse with others. Some rode in ox carts; some drove oxen; some came part way by land, and the rest by water; some came on sleds in mid winter; some plowed through the mud of spring or endured the heat of summer, some had bleeding feet and some serious illness.
Sometimes it was a bride and groom who started alone; sometimes it was a husband, wife and children; sometimes it was a group of neighbors who made the trip. Children were born on the way and people of all ages died and were buried where they died.
But after they arrived, their experience was almost identical.A removal into the depths of the Ohio woods, where a man was directly placed face to face with primitive conditions, brought him at once to the practical contemplation of his problem and the solution was in his own hands; food, shelter, raiment. Here was the earth, whose soil was to furnish bread and clothing, but it was covered with a thick growth of great trees to be removed before it could be planted. Their trunks and barks must be converted into houses.
A temporary supply of food was carried by the immigrant with him. In making his way to his purchase he pursued the trail that led nearest to it, and, with his ax, opened the rest of the way. The point gained, the same implement cut down and prepared the tree trunks for the first cabin, which the hands of the whole party, women and children as well, helped to place in the low crude walls of the primitive structure, while the bark of the basswood and elm made the cover. Doorless, floorless, windowless, chimneyless, the pioneer eagerly took possession of his cheerless cabin.
Thousands of them within 70 years were built and occupied in the Lorain woods. Men and women lived in them there; and children – all the elders of the new generation – were born in them. Death came in them there; and there young women became brides and dwelt the happy wives of happy husbands
.
Of all the dwellings in the woods, scarcely the site of one can now be identified.
Next to the erection of their own cabin, the most important event was the arrival of another family in the woods and the erection of their dwelling received the joyous help of every male within 10 miles of it
No one born of later years can comprehend the strength and warmth of the bands of sympathy and fellowship, which united the first dwellers in the woods in wide neighborhoods.”
A History of Lorain J.B. Nichols 1924
In the next 5 years the little settlement grows all the while they struggle the new nation continues the birthing process.
1807 UK Leopard fires on the US Chesapeake and impresses 4 men
1807 September 1 Burr is acquitted of treason
1807 December Congress passes TJ’s Embargo Act banned all US trade to keep it neutral. Failure. Manufacturing N benefited. S and shipping hurt bad
1808 US bans the slave trade
1809 March 1 Non-Intercourse Act. repealed Embargo, open trade but not with UK&Fr
1810 Macon’s Bill #2;if 1 country accepts US neutrality US would trade
1810 Napoleon falsely repeals the Berlin and Milan decrees
1811 November WH Harrison’s troops ambushed by “the Prophet”
1812 state of US troops: ~12000. Commanders political appointees, weak
1812 June 18 US declares war on UK
1812 July William Hull (US) tries to invade Canada. rooted. Hull sentenced to death for cowardice. Madison pardons
1812 August-December the US Constitution and United States win sea battles, raise morale
1812 December Madison reelected. (every wartime president has been reelected)
1812 December UK blockade of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays
and in the little settlement , now Lorain, Ohio, they also contribute to the founding of a country , of a state of a city
1808 Ferry charges across Black River: hog and sheep (each) – two cents; footman – six cents; man and horse – eighteen cents; loaded wagon and team – sixty cents; and all other carriages – thirty-seven cents. On July 22, 1808 local groups petition Geauga County Commissioners to have Lake Road continued on toward Sandusky. Lake Road is surveyed by Amos Spafford.
1810 John S. Reid arrives to build a house, then returns to Newburgh (near Cleveland) to get his family. Daniel Perry and family settle west of Black River in early March of 1810. The Shupe, Quigley, Lyon, Kelso and Seeley families settle in or near the Black River Settlement. On September 24,
1811 John S. Reid’s family moves to the area. William Martin establishes a farm, three miles west of Black River, on the little stream once called “Martin’s Run” (which runs through what is now Columbus Park). Quartus and Aretus Gilmore join the Black River Settlement.
1812 Edmund Gilmore and family move to Black River. Edmund Gilmore builds county’s first barn. John S. Reid is commissioned Postmaster for “The Mouth of the Black River Post Office”, October 23, 1812. John S. Reid builds the Reid House Inn and Tavern. John S. Reid builds a ferry opposite his block house. Judge Nathan Perry, Sr., (from Cleveland, Ohio) passes away while visiting his son, Nathan Perry in Lorain. Azariah Beebe and his family left the Black River Settlement, relocating on the Huron River to the West. John Lyon is born. He is the first White child born in the Black River Territory. On August 15, 1812 the news of Hull’s surrender to the British fans rumors of a British invasion of Ohio. A “War Scare” is started by a false report of the burning and capture of Fort Huron by Indians. A Militia post is established at Black River to ensure citizenry that they could safely return to their homes and cabins.
***1812 recorded Lorain Public Square (According to Lorain County Recorder Judy Nedwick, the park has been a part of the plat of Charleston since 1812. Since that time, the county records show, the park has remained property of the city. Morning Journal Jan19th 2006
1813 Guns of the Battle of Lake Erie can be heard at Black River on September 10,
1813. Legend has it that Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) planted apple trees in this area and informed settlers of the results of the Battle of Lake Erie.
The decades roll by; those who form this community are born and die, are greeted and mourned, are forgotten or are remembered in the pages of dusty history books. They all contributed, those who sat beneath the trees, played in the grass, watched as horse and buggy gave way to automobiles.
All through the wars and trials and tribulations stood a little place of green, sometimes forlorn, sometimes beautiful and cared for and then in the year, 2006 insulted and deemed worthless.
This silent witness who cannot speak for itself and so has to rely upon the sons and daughters of those that now call this “settlement “ home. Those who see the beauty and the living green memorial to those who through the years have founded a Nation- The United States of America- silent yet in it’s own way a testament of all that has gone before.
Lorain will not have any “formal ” celebration this year of the Battle of Lake Erie , as will other lakeshore communities, but the City of Lorain and her citizens can at least make sure the little green space who witnessed America’s struggle in 2013 is worthy of remembrance
Spring and Pride Returns to Lorain -MAY 18TH
All you need to do is drive past 2nd and Oberlin , or along 1st to Hamilton and you will see the colors of hope and rebirth happening.
The hundreds of bulbs planted last fall are now taking their spring time bow in their new “staging”.
Tiny little Speedwells left over from a garden from long ago, the owner long since gone and forgotten from this world. Even the house in whose garden they were lovingly planted has gone but still their fragile blooms recall a life of another era. They are here, still a reminder of what this place had become until 2007 – THE BEAUTY HIDDEN AMONGST THE TRASH AND WEEDS and now once again another May in another decade they bloom and beckon back the “pride”
MAY 18TH 2013 PRIDE DAY !
IT WAS THE “PRIDE” IN THIS COMMUNITY THAT BROUGHT BACK THE BEAUTY! and allowed the blossoms to thrive once again.
BEFORE…………………… AFTER
BEFORE AND A JUST A FEW MONTHS AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
Today the pride is in place , it is the beginning of rebirth for this old neighborhood
Soon the power lines will also be but a memory ! We have no time to relax May 18th starting at 9:00 we will need to focus on Pride once more . Please join us in keeping our Pride for Settlers” Watch, The Eric Barnes Heroes Walk and the Admiral King Tribute Site.
If you can help with mulching and weeding, planting and or donations please contact me , Loraine 440-246-6046
If you would like to “take Pride” in another area of Lorain please do the following – YOU, can put the I in Pride !!!!!
The longing for the magic to come back- one man’s belief another’s terror
William Holmes Sullivan · The Fairy Ring; The Enchanted Piper · 1880 · Oil on board · 9.00 x 12.50 cm · From the Leicester Galleries
It was such a world of wonder and magic when I was a child. There were definitely fairies in the bottom of our garden. On dewy mornings I would carefully search the grass for the silvery fairy rings, where they left their mark having danced in the moonlight.
Photo source http://fairyroom.com/2013/01/a-treacherous-beauty-the-hazards-of-entering-a-fairy-ring/
Each May the bluebells would appear and I just knew the fairies, imps , pixies and elves made good use of their tiny bells for hats and drinking cups.
Hedgehogs, which are now popular pets here in Ohio, were used by the fairies to ride through the gardens . A saucer of milk would be left out each evening on the door step so they could slake their thirst.
The rockery at the bottom of the garden housed all sorts of wonders, now I see nothing but hiding places for snakes and mice and creepy crawlies, but then I saw tiny houses for the wee folk.
There was a magic in my youth- being the only girl in a mainly all boy street – I was accepted for the most part as one of the “gang”. I admit they always made me the robber, or the Indian to their cops and cowboys but I was included. How was it my parents and other parents of the street let us roam over to the “gasometer” and the ponds and streams where fishing for “newts” was the adventure of the day? I am struggling to remember what we did with them after an afternoon of catching them .
It was such a different time – a time of innocence -even though we played among some of the bombed out buildings of post war London. I don’t remember ( apart from being a girl) references made to our playmates ethnicity or religion , we played and lived in a magical place of childhood innocence .
Of course the magic has been replaced by awareness, even my children in their own neighborhood, as they were growing up, would not have been allowed to wander out of my sight or those of the neighbors. There were no adventures for them with the newts in the gasometer ponds.
No! now the magic is in a kingdom in Florida, California or even Paris. My grandchildren flew away to play in the magic and be sprinkled with a different sort of fairy dust as terror was rearing its dark and ugly head below them at the Boston Marathon .
And whilst they giggled and laughed with pirates and princesses horror once again scarred our world. A horror , whilst new to America and Boston, was so reminiscent of other horrific acts of terror in my own home – London- perpetuated by the IRA.
You can find the shameful very long list of bombings in the UK in the 70′s 80′s 90′s , 2000′s here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_Great_Britain
You will note that whilst the majority of the dozens and dozens of bombs exploded in the UK were IRA ( Roman Catholic by faith)( although Protestants have also caused terror too )- According to media reports the Catholics and the IRA were helpfully funded by Noraid ( Boston and New York). The latest threat is Islam – a group that Representative Peter King ( a “republican” in more ways than one)
Peter Thomas King (born April 5, 1944) is the U.S. Representative for New York’s 2nd congressional district, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party and represents the central Long Island district that includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties.
King formerly served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, where he drew attention in early 2011 for holding hearings on the extent of radicalization of Muslim Americans. He also sits on the Financial Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He stepped down after his seventh year as Homeland Security Chair because of self-imposed Republican term limits. He remains a member of the committee.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_T._King
However, ironically this same man, according to the New York Times in 1986, was characterized as an open endorser of the IRA and their cause.
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/26/nyregion/l-peter-king-and-the-ira-394786.html
Peter King is (or was – is he toning it down for this, his first statewide race?) the only elected officeholder in this state who is an open endorser of the terrorist Irish Republican Army and supporter of its Noraid fund-raising arm in this country. I am sure Mr. King will welcome the opportunity that the articles didn’t provide, to clarify his relationship, past and present, with the Noraid gun-runners, and to specify whether he continues to support the I.R.A.’s ”armed struggle” against Ulster’s right to political self-determination In Ireland, the civil war among the Catholic nationalists – never mind the struggle for Ulster’s Anschluss, which has significant minority support – ended in the 1920′s. Apparently it lives on in the Irish Catholic chauvinist ghettos of Nassau.
You can read more of Peter King’s walk the walk talk the talk with the terrorist organizations and in bed with the Boston-based NORAID funding group here
http://www.counterpunch.org/2010/12/02/the-hypocrisy-of-peter-king/
“And yet thousands of Americans, including people who live in Boston, gave millions of dollars to NORAID which was used to buy guns and Semtex and support the Provisional IRA terrorist infrastructure.”
Jonathon Ball and Tim Parry victims of the Warrington bombing
Children and innocents maimed and killed then too, mothers losing sons, all for a “cause” an ideology that does not accept another’s beliefs or ways, a dictatorship of beliefs.
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/when-is-it-ok/
And once again on Monday last in Boston – the magic in the world was lost, replaced in the rockery by the snakes and rats and vermin who breed in the dark rankness of the interior .
The daffodils are blooming , magnolia blossom waving to a blue sky now tainted by man. The grass was wet with dew this morning but I didn’t see any fairy rings just the toadstools( fungus) circling , indicating rottenness beneath the ground – no dancing fairies.
What is left of the magic world of innocence ? Just the pain of those that bully using faith and religious beliefs to cause more suffering. The world needs more magic and less organized religions and their fanatics! Every single person who has ever contributed to the causes of terror as they celebrated their own cause de jour no matter your beliefs is as guilty, in my opinion, of the murder of children, magic and innocence.
Source The Economist The New Wars of Religion
http://www.economist.com/node/10063829
Illustration by Jon Berkley
Veterans MEMORIAL Park- Fini?
Part One \
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/veterans-memorial-park-a-neglected-disgrace-again/
Part Two
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/veterans-memorial-park-the-name-game/
Part Three
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/veterans-memorial-park-the-englishman-commeth/
Part Four
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/veterans-memorial-park-history-tear-down/
Part Five
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/veterans-memorial-park-the-veterans-council-speaks/
Part Six
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/veterans-memorial-park-faulty-memory/
Part Seven
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/veterans-memorial-park-thanks-for-the-memories/
So we come full circle in 2013- two hundred and one years after the little park was deeded as a park. In part one of this series I touched upon how John Cole and Co stated the “piss park” had outlived her usefulness – Mayor Craig Foltin, John Cole, Jon Veard – Jack LaVirha called up their forces for Condos in the park but unfortunately for them their plans came out before they were ready to go public- the ducks were in the row BUT one little duck quacked too soon!
You see Mr. Veard just happened to come over to the table where Renee Dore and I were sitting at the now “defunct” Pagani’s and quacked! Excerpt from Letter sent by CVSI to Mayor Foltin and the City of Lorain
.
It was a hard battle for those of us who cared about worthiness of her history , the romance of her , the fact that maybe she had outlived her use to the Lorain Veterans Council,( circa 2006) whose 1980′s committee had been given direct “design” of this park and the money to implement such design and then walked away only to return once a year apparently. Some of us were insulted , ridiculed on the front pages of the Morning Journal and in letters to the Editor – “village idiots and boneheads of history” were two of the most used
I was personally accused on the front page of said Morning Journal of driving Developer Jon Veard from town hmmmmmmm?
You can find links to the unfolding media story here story here “
ED NOTE: As an aside the meeting held with the Lorain Port Authority during this time Jack LaVirha was asked ( and I have the tape of that meeting ) what happened to the previous honor roll monument ( pictured???) at that meeting which also included Warren Finkel ( also now deceased – the architect of Lorain City Hall ) Jack LaVriha stated it was in his garage!
Thanks to city council and the community the little park was saved and the area from becoming more (imho) design by desperation and bad urban planning.
Photos Scott Bakalar
Lorain Lions Club, The skateboarders of the day and Girl Scouts cleaning and getting the park back into shape 2006
August of that year found members of the community – Lorain Lions Club- volunteers from CVSI, BRHS , Girl Scouts, skateboarders getting the park back into shape . ( some groups though were conspicuous by their absence ) You can find the article from WOM Blog here
LIFE RETURNS TO A MEMORIAL PARK
Life returns to a Memorial Park
with PHOTOS
In 2007 this community held the Bicentennial Celebration and just as the settlement that became Lorain so the celebrations radiated out from the park to involve all of Lorain. (Note: not publicized or covered by the Morning Journal thanks to the direction of Mr. Cole
Dignitaries graced her stage and people once again enjoyed the camaraderie under her trees. All photos found here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12219598@N06/with/1249160450/
We are now back in the present, the park has seen 50 Mayors walk into various buildings surrounding her boundaries in the 206 years she has served as a public square and 201 since she has been a deeded park. She has outlasted all the buildings, she has stood as a testament to a settlement on the Black River from those burned out and a brave pioneering spirit of 1776 . She has been ravaged by man but not my time !
Today , I received two announcement of community events in August in the park, people sitting on those chipped concrete steps, near the light poles of shame and those “benches honoring lives lost “
So what now? Does anyone have any information as to the “official naming of Lorain Memorial Park- 1966 officially became Veterans Memorial Park???
Who will see her significance and worth? ANYONE???????
August 2, 2013 at 4:55 pm 3 comments