Day 131, July 31

Back we go, back to the Civil War.

Some believe that there is still Civil War gold floating ... or lying ... around, just waiting for someone to find it.  Old records show that in the confusion of defeat, at least two Confederate units buried gold and never returned for it.

The first instance happened during the last days of the war.  Confederate soldiers, retreating from the Union Army, hid $500,000 in gold in the swamps of the Everglades.  It has never been found.

In 1864, when Confederate troops raided the town of St. Albams in Vermont, they buried $250,00  in gold near hte Vermont community before escaping to Canada.

Anyone ready to go digging for gold?

Day 130, July 30

We're going to skip ahead in time and talk about more recent events.

What really happened at the US embassy in Libya?  Ambassador Stevens and Foreign Service Office Sean Smith, along with admnistrative staff, were working out of temporary quarters due to the fact that in the spring of 2011 during the so-called Arab Spring, the United States cut ties with then president Mommar Gadhafi. Our embassy was lotted and ransacked, causing it to be unusuable.  It is till in a state of disrepair.

 

Security for embassies and their personnel is to be provided by the hostnation. Since Libyahas gone through a civil war of sorts in the past 18 months, the currentgovernment is very unstable, and therefore, unreliable.

A well-organized attack by radical Muslims was planned specifically targetingthe temporary U.S.embassy building. The Libyan security force that was in place to protect ourpeople deserted their post, or joined the attacking force. Either way, ourpeople were in a real fix. And it should be noted that Ambassador Stevens had mentioned on more than one occasion to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, that he was quite concerned for his personal safety and the welfare of his people. It is thought that Ambassador Stevens was on a hit list.

A short distance from the American compound, two Americans were sleeping. They were in Libya's independent contractors working an assignment totally unrelated to our embassy. They also happened to be former Navy SEALs. When they heard the noise coming from the attack on our embassy, as you would expect from highly trained warriors, they ran to the fight. Apparently, they had no weapons, but seeing the Libyan guards dropping their guns in their haste in fleeing the scene,Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty snatched up several of these discarded weaponsand prepared to defend the American compound.

Not knowing exactly what was taking place, the two SEALs set up a defensive perimeter. Unfortunately Ambassador Stevens was already gravely injured, and Foreign Service officer, Sean Smith, was dead. However, due to their quick action and suppressive fire, twenty administrative personnel in the embassy were able to escape to safety. Eventually, these two courageous men were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers brought against them, an enemy force numbering between 100 to 200 attackers which came in two waves. But the stunning part ofthe story is that Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty killed 60 of the attacking force. Once the compound was overrun, the attackers were incensed to discover that just two men had inflicted so much death and destruction.

As it became apparent to these selfless heroes, they were definitely going to lose their lives unless some reinforcements showed up in a hurry. As we know now, because of selfishness, apathy, and laziness on the part of the Administration and State Department, that was not to be.  They knew they were going to die in this gunfight, but not before they took a whole lot of bad guys with them!

Consider these tenets of the Navy SEAL Code: 1) Loyalty to Country, Team andTeammate, 2) Serve with Honor and Integrity On and Off the Battlefield, 3)Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit, 4) Take responsibility for your actions and the actions of your teammates, 5) Excel as Warriors through Discipline and Innovation, 6) Train for War, Fight to Win, Defeat our Nation' s Enemies, and 7) Earn your Trident every day. 

 

Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were true American heroes, sacrificing their own lives for fellow Americans and for a country who quickly forgot about them. 

 

Day 129, July 29

The thieves drove a horse and wagon to Oak Ridge Cemetery and sawed off the iron door to Lincoln's tomb.  After they pried the marble lid off the tomb, they began to remove the wooden casket.

At that point, one of the gang gave a signal.  It turned out that a government undercover agent had infiltrated the gang.  The tomb filled with Secret Service Agents.

Though the gang members escaped into the night, they were arrested a few days later in Chicago.  Feelings ran high against them.  However, it was determined that no laws had actually been broken.  No law existed in Illiinois at that time against stealing a body.
Lincoln's son Robert engaged the best lawyers in the state toprosecute the theives.  Finally, the men involved were sentenced to twelve months in prison for "conspiring to steal a coffin worth $75."

Friends and family of President Lincoln believed other theives might attempt to steal the body.  They had his coffin hidden away in a dark hallway for several years.

Finally, Lincoln's body was entombed in a great ball of steel, anchored ten feet under the floor of the tomb in solid cement.

Day 128, July 28

Thieves once tried to steal Abraham Lincoln's body ...and they almost got away with it.

It began in 1876.  A Chicago mob of conterfeiters, headed by "Big Jim Kinealy," needed a master engraver for their operation.  The only master engraver available was Ben Boyd.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), Boyd was in prison.

Big Jim came up with the idea of kidnapping the body of the president from the Lincoln Tomob in Springfield, Illinois and holding it for ransom.  He planned to exchange the body for the Ben Boyd's release from prison.

Big Jim chose the night of November 7, 1876.  He picked that night deliberately as it was national election day.  The thieves bbelieved there would be so much hoopla that there would be little time to worry about the theft of the president's body.

Day 177, July 27

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln had a special railroad car? Because of his height, Lincoln had a hard time sleeping in the regular railroad car sleeping berths.

After his death, the car was used to transport his body back to Illinois. The railroad car was eventually sold to the Union Pacific Railroad, then became lost. After an extensive search, it was found in a roundhouse in Poctello, Idaho, where it was used as a construction car.

Still later, it was exhibited at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Eventually it ended up in Minnesota, where it was destroyed in a grass fire in 1911

Day 176, July 26

We're jumping ahead in time--again.

During the Civil War, Americans were hoarding all the silver coins, making it nearly impossible to transact small business.  A mining tycoon, Joseph Wharton, produced nickel and needed a market for his product.

Wharton had two friends in positions of power:  Thaddeus Stevens and William D. Kelly, both members of Congress.  The two congressmen pushed through laws authorizing the U.S. Mint to manufacture nickels, though the coins were never called nickels.  Even today, the U.S. Treasury refers to "nickels" as "5-cent pieces."

Issued in 1866, the first nickel caused no trouble.  But the second nickel issued by the Mint, in 1883, caused a great deal of headache.  The reverse side of the coin had only the Roman  numeral V on it; there was no "5" and no "cents." 

Never fear.  Enterprising Yanks goldplated the nickles by the thousands.  They passed them off as $5 gold pieces.  Yankee ingenunity, indeed!

Day 175, July 25

Sir Thomas Dale arrived and spotted the probem immediately.  He stepped into the midst of the discouraged colonists who had no reason to make their new home and life succeed.  He diagnosed the problem and proposed the solution:  give the men an investment in the land.  Let them own property.

Without asking permission from the settlement's shareholders, Dale gave three acres of land to those men who had been there the longest.  Those who had been there fewer years received less but were still given a parcel of land to call their own.  Dale asked only that, in return, they provide two barrels of corn for the storehouse at harvest time.

What do you think happened?  The settlers were delighted.  They stopped hunting for gold and set about clearing their land, plowing their land, planting, fertilizing, watering their land. 

By that fall, the storehouse was filled to capacity thanks to the two-barrel tax.  The people were alive.  Tabacco was introduced later, and the once failing colony took off.

(This and the previous two posts came from W. Cleon Skousen's THE FIVE THOUSAND YEAR LEAP.  Read it if you have a chance.  It's excellent.)