Anytime a soldier goes to war, the possibility exists that they will be severely wounded or even killed in action, but I don’t think anyone expected the events of September 19, 1863. It was the middle of the Civil War, and Jacob C Miller was a private in Company K, 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. The company was fighting in the Battle of Chickamauga near Brock Field in southeastern Tennessee. One of the fastest ways to “get dead” is to get shot in the head. There is something about a bullet hitting the skull that puts an end to life pretty quickly…most of the time, anyway.
Maybe it was the type of bullets used in the Civil War, but no matter how it happened, I don’t think anyone would disagree with me when I say that living after taking a bullet between the eyes was a miracle. Jacob C Miller was just such a miracle man. After being shot, Miller crumpled to the ground. I’m sure everyone thought it was over, but Miller said later that he could hear the words of his captain, who said, “It’s no use to remove poor Miller, for he is dead.” The company, believing he was dead, moved on. Now, just imagine the shock when Miller became conscious and found himself alone. He raised up in a sitting position. Curiosity caused him to feel his wound. Clearly there was damage done. Miller’s left eye was out of place, and he tried to 
place it back, but had to move the crushed bone back together, or as near together as he could first. Once the eye was in its proper place, he bandaged the eye the best he could with his bandana. Then he began the journey to get help. Miller struggled to follow his company, until he was finally picked up by a liter party, and taken for treatment.
When he was taken to the doctors, and they examined him, they said that they were able to see his pulsating brain quite clearly. That said, we know that the bullet wasn’t somehow stopped by his skull. It had actually entered the brain lining, or at least into the skull bone. At that point, nothing was done with the bullet, and Miller was sent home to Logansport, Indiana. Doctors there were hesitant to remove the bullet, because they thought Miller would die, and somehow, he seemed to be functioning ok with the bullet in place. In the end 
they did remove about a third of the bullet, and Miller went on to live his life. Nevertheless, more pieces of the bullet simply fell out decades later. It was as if his body just rejected the foreign pieces of lead and moved them out of his head. It was a good thing, because the pressure on the bullet fragments during times of illness caused his to become delirious. Once the fragments fell out, that stopped.
Miller was born on August 4, 1840, in Bellevue, Ohio. He was shot on September 19, 1863, at the age of 23 years. Private Jacob C Miller lived an amazing 54 years with an open wound in his head. The wound never fully healed, but did not fully penetrate his skull, and apparently the brain area did close over, and caused no damage to his brain. He died January 13, 1917, in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 76 years. No cause of death is mentioned, but I guess we know it wasn’t a gunshot wound to the head.
James Kent “Jimmy” Leeward was an American air racer and owner of the Leeward Air Ranch in Ocala, Florida. He was also the owner and pilot of the heavily modified North American P-51 Mustang racing aircraft known as The Galloping Ghost. Leeward loved his plane, loved flying, and especially loved air racing. He loved the thrill of the air shows and putting his plane through its paces. The Galloping Ghost was an amazing aircraft that held various airspeed records. It was also the plane whose fatal crash in 2011 led to several changes to make air shows safer.
The Galloping Ghost was built in 1944 by North American Aviation for the Army Air Force. Following its successful service during World War II, the plane was sold as postwar surplus. It was modified and raced by a series of owner over the next half-century, including finally, Aero Trans Corporation in Ocala, Florida. Jimmy Leeward was born on October 21, 1936, in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania to parents Albert and Mary Leeward. He grew up around airplanes, sitting first in the cockpit with his dad as just a toddler. The age of 11 or 12 found him often flying a Piper Cub with his father. At age 14, his father allowed him to fly solo in a North American T-6 Texan trainer aircraft. By age 18, he was 
flying charters in a Beechcraft Model 18. While still in college, he flew a Formula One racer in the Fort Wayne air races. He was hooked on air racing from that moment on. In 1964, he was part of the crew on an airplane at the very first Reno Air Races. By 1976, being part of the crew would no longer do, and he first flew his P-51D Mustang “Cloud Dancer” in the Unlimited Class at Reno. In 1983, he purchased the P-51D racer “Jeannie” from Wiley Sanders. He never looked back, later becoming a movie stunt pilot. He was featured in such movies as Cloud Dancer, Smokey and the Bandit 3, Tuskegee Airmen, Thirteen Days, Dragonfly, Thunder Over Reno, Lonely Hearts, and Amelia.
I suppose that with any type of stunt performance, the very real possibility of an accident exists. Many people might assume that it is just a matter of time, but there is no real proof to that statement, just speculation. Nevertheless, on September 16, 2011, Leeward’s “luck” ran out. While he was in the middle of a race over Reno, Nevada, where it all started, Leeward’s racing days came to a tragic end. In the middle of the race, The Galloping Ghost suddenly veered off course. Leeward tried to regain control, but in the end, it was determined that the cause of the crash was “flutter.” Flutter is when the plane is flown faster than it is designed to go. 
Leeward exceeded by nearly 40 miles per hour, the aircraft’s previous top speed without any previous testing to determine if the aircraft would be able to resist flutter at the new speeds. It couldn’t. When Leeward was unable to regain control, The Galloping Ghost crashed into the crowd at the National Championship Air Races at Reno Stead Airport, in a crash that killed him and 10 others. Additionally, 75 people were injured. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board blamed Leeward for “‘operating at the edge of the envelope’ without fully reporting and testing modifications to his plane.” Safety standards for air shows were significantly changed because of this crash. When he died, Jimmy Leeward was 74 years old.
Acts of terrorism somehow seem to be a normal possibility in the times we live in, but are they just a phenomenon that exists in our current era? Not really. While they may have been to a lesser degree, these kinds of things have been around fora long time. On September 16, 1920, during a busy day on Wall Street, New York was hit by an unforeseen event. Bankers and stockbrokers were bustling around with an average day in the financial world. Then, as the church bells struck 12 noon, 100 pounds of dynamite detonated in front of the Assay Office.
Concealed in a horse-drawn wagon that had been parked for some time in front of the Assay Office, the bomb suddenly exploded. An employee of J.P. Morgan, Andrew Dunn said, “That was the loudest noise I ever heard in my life. It was enough to knock you out by itself.” The normally businesslike street was instantly transformed into what looked more like a battlefield than a financial district. There was debris, blood, and charred bodies everywhere. Thirty men and women lost their lives instantly. Eight more would die of their injuries later on. Hundreds of people were injured with many of them getting serious burns.
At the site of the 1920 Wall Street bombing, pock marks from the bomb are still visible to this day. Apparently, there was some warning of the impending attack, because a day after the attack, postal workers uncovered flyers that have been dropped into the mailboxes in Wall Street. The flyers read, “Remember, we will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners, or it will be sure death for all of you.” It was signed the American Anarchist Fighters. Authorities immediately suspected the Galleanists, a gang of anti-government Italian anarchists led by Luigi Galleani, but unfortunately, they could not uncover any evidence to charge them with the crime. While the FBI had numerous leads, they couldn’t come close to any significant evidence. The investigation went on for years and was finally delegated a cold cast with the last known investigation taking 
place in 1944. Finally, the FBI concluded that the explosion was most likely caused by “Italian anarchists or Italian terrorists.” Nevertheless, they could not prove anything, and no one was ever charged with the crime. Mario Buda, a Galleanist, was considered as a likely suspect, but with no proof, he was never charged. No one has ever claimed responsibility for the attack even after 102 years.
My daughter and son-in-law, Amy and Travis Royce, met while he was in high school, and she had just graduated. Nevertheless, once they met, they were inseparable. Looking back now on these 27 years of their marriage, it’s easy to see that they are perfect for each other…they always have been perfect for each other. They have always been headed in the same direction and had the same interests…some of which have been a bit of a surprise to me over the years.
I knew that Amy really loved the beach and really enjoyed the Pacific Northwest, and I knew that Travis had lived in Washington, but somehow it never occurred to me that they would actually move there. Of course, now I can’t 
imagine them living anywhere else. They love it there, and I love to visit them there, because I have grown to love the beauty of that area too. The rainforest, the beaches, and the islands all hold a great appeal. I don’t say I’d move there, but do I love to visit.
These days, things have changed some for Amy and Travis. They are both working from home now, and they really are enjoying that. Amy’s work as an insurance agent has continued, but since Covid, her company found that they could be just as efficient with agents who worked from home. Travis, on the other hand has decided to open a woodworking business, and I can tell you firsthand that Travis’ work, and that of their son, Caalab is very, very good. Caalab is just learning, but he is his dad’s son, and the talent is definitely in his hands too. The new dynamic of their lives is rather freeing. Their daughter, Shai was also working from home, but her 
company has asked her to come back to the office in an additional capacity. Shai is an agent too, at the same agency where Amy works, but they want Shai to assist her manager with interviews. So now she is assisting with interviews too, and that job, for now anyway, needs to have her in the office. For Amy and Travis this new lifestyle is very relaxing, but of course it is also a lot of work. While they are at home together, they both work full-time at their jobs. Nevertheless, it is a new dynamic, and it comes at a great point in their lives. Today is their 27th wedding anniversary. I am very proud of the people they have become. Happy anniversary Amy and Travis. Have a great day!! We love you!!
Quite likely one of the most brutal kinds of bombs was the mine. These mostly submerged orbs could take out an unsuspecting ship the minute it made contact with it, usually with no warning at all. So great was the danger to ships in the area, that the nations started building ships for the express purpose of seeking out these mines and destroying them before they were able to destroy a ship in the area. One such ship, the USS Perry was built by Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Mare Island. It was laid down September 15, 1920 and launched October 29, 1921. Named in honor of Oliver Hazard Perry and sponsored by Miss Anne R Scudder, it was commissioned August 7, 1922, with Lieutenant Richard H Booth in command, but it wasn’t initially designed to be a minesweeper.
Nearly 20 years after the ship was commissioned, the ship was converted to a minesweeper and redesignated DMS-17 on November 19, 1940. This particular ship was the third of eight ships that would be named after Oliver Hazard Perry, which seems to me, rather unheard of, but maybe not. After becoming a minesweeper, the USS Perry (DMS-17) had an illustrious career for almost four years. Veteran Lieutenant JG Charles L Ennis told of his time on the ship, saying, “My battle station was on the Flying Bridge and I saw mines. The proximity of these deadly orbs certainly prevented any rescue ship from effective aid particularly since many of the crew were in the water and would been killed had another mine been exploded.” It was his job to see the danger before it could take down the ship. Of course, they captain knew that it was just as likely that the ship would find the mine when it hit the mine as it was to see it beforehand.
That was exactly the case, when on September 14, 1944 (one day short of the 24th anniversary of the ship being laid down on September 15, 1920), the USS Perry hit a mine at 2:07pm, and sank to the bottom roughly 700 yards south of Angaur Island in less than two hours. Larry Tunks was firing anti-aircraft guns aboard the 
USS Perry when it scraped a mine off Angaur Island, exploding a boiler and killing eight crewmen. One of those killed was his closest ship buddy, a fellow Nebraskan. Another 146 men were plucked from the ocean by US warships in the area. The USS Perry lay undiscovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean until it was found on May 1, 2000 by Fish ‘n Fins, owner Navot Bornovski on a 240’ bottom. Navot and Padi Owdi, Jeff Wonnenberg were the first to dive the wreck.
Alli Simpson, who is my grandnephew, Xander Spethman’s girlfriend is a sweet girl who has captured Xander’s heart, and everyone in his family loves her very much. Alli is a quiet girl, at least when I have been around her, but maybe she is just shy because she doesn’t know me too well. Xanders family has pretty much “adopted” her, for now…a situation that will change as their relationship deepens. It’s not every day that a person fits so perfectly in a family, but Alli is one of those precious few who really do.
Alli is a smart girl, who worked hard and graduated from high school one semester early. I know she has great things ahead of her. She had considered becoming a nurse at one point, but like many people who were considering nursing, plans changed following Covid-19. While her plans may have taken a setback, I know that this ambitious girl did not. Whatever she decides to do, I know 
that she will land on her feet. Right now, she is just working and enjoying spending time with Xander and his family.
Alli loves plants. If you look at her Facebook profile page, you will pick up on that fact immediately. I must say that I have to give a lot of credit to anyone who can raise plants, because there are lots of us out there who definitely can’t. I can kill a plant in record time, so I am in awe of anyone who can keep one alive for more than a month. Alli’s sense of humor even extends to her plants. While I don’t know if she would actually take a plant out for a walk, the fact that she sees humor in the idea makes me smile. Maybe she would do that, simply because it would be something new and different. I think that if Xander is looking for a birthday present for her, a plant stroller might be just the ticket.
It seems that Alli has always been a bit of a princess and really, a fashionista. That makes her a good friend for 
Xander’s little sister, Aleesia, who is a fashionista too, and as the only girl in the Spethman family, she and Alli and Xander’s mom, Jenny Spethman, of course, can all share in their fashion/princess world together. Alli and Xander have also decided that they want to help an animal in need, so recently, they adopted a dog that they named Rocky. Rocky loves his new mommy and daddy, and since the kids just moved into their first place together, they now have a nice little family. Today is Alli’s 18th birthday. Happy birthday Alli!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My grandniece, Mackenzie Moore is a bundle of energy, and this summer has been no exception. Even without her beloved ballet, Mackenzie has been very busy. Her ballet class takes a break over the summer, and she has really missed it. She has been spending lots of time hanging out with her cousins, Ethan Hadlock, Aurora Hadlock, Adelaide Sawdon, and Khloe Briggs. Mackenzie and Adelaide get to see each other the most, because they only live an hour away from each other. That has been a special blessing for both of these girls. This summer in particular, they have been pulling all sorts of shenanigans. In particular, they have been perfecting their look with makeup. From what I hear, they get better at it every day.
Mackenzie started Pre-K2 this year, and she absolutely loves school. She has also been happy to be back in ballet, because she really loves her ballet. She is so excited about her birthday coming, that she has, in fact, been talking about it since December. She loves to tell her 
mom, my niece Lindsay Moore, that she is “growing up” and reminds her of it often by doing “big girl things.” Mackenzie loves to socialize with all her friends…kids and adults alike!! That is so much like her mom. I remember Lindsay going all around the church before services to greet everyone, and I found myself wondering how this little girl managed to know all these adults!! Mackenzie, like her mom, is in her element at church and football games alike!! Her daddy, Shannon Moore is a coach for the Wyoming Cowboys, so she has the chance to get to know all the players, cheerleaders, and other coaches. Mackenzie is friends with the Cowboys cheerleading coach, so she gets to stay with the cheerleaders all through the games. She is friends with so many people and is totally in her element talking football with 
them, and of course, being the Cowboys’ littlest cheerleader!!
Mackenzie is a good girl, and she loves her Jesus more than anything else. She is a blessing to all who know her. She knows she is a child of God and has many questions. This past weekend she felt led to lay hands on her grandma, Allyn Hadlock, over a splinter and it made her mom’s heart very happy!! It is such a sweet thing to have a heart of compassion for other people. I think God may have a special calling for this little girl. Her mom says, “I have no greater joy than to know she walks in the truth!!” That is the best place to be. Today in Mackenzie’s 5th birthday. Happy birthday Mackenzie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
When a couple gets married, the most common tradition is that the woman takes her husband’s last name. There are exceptions, of course, and the woman isn’t obligated to take her husband’s last name, but when she does, she should have a reasonable expectation that she will no longer be known by her maiden name. With that in mind, I wonder if the media shouldn’t consider that they are being rude and disrespectful when they refer to Princess Catherine of Wales, as Kate Middleton.
If they think they are clarifying exactly who they are talking about, I hate to tell them that after eleven years of marriage and near constant public appearances and charity work, we all know who she is. Now is the time to stop the disrespect they have been showing her for all these years and start showing her the respect she has certainly earned. I know that many people in the United States 
don’t really care about the royal family, but since Prince William is my twelfth cousin thrice removed, it does interest me. Princess Catherine, in her own right, has endeared herself to many people around the world, so I really don’t understand why some people think it is okay to continue to call her by her maiden name, minus her titles. No one ever considered calling Princess Diana, Diana Spencer, so why is it okay to call Princess Catherine, Kate Middleton? It just isn’t!! In fact, no one even considered calling the now, Queen Consort, Camilla, by her name. She immediately became Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. And in fact, it was her choice that she not be called Camilla, Princess of Wales. Why were her wishes honored and not those of Princess Catherine, who surely doesn’t still want to go by her maiden name eleven years after her marriage.
A few of the Facebook groups I am a member of have discussed this at length, so I know that many people out there agree with me on this. Princess Catherine has never expressed a desire to be called Kate Middleton either. Usually when a woman chooses to keep her maiden name, it is made public knowledge to…at the very least, avoid confusion. That was never said of Princess Catherine, so why does the media, and some in the public sector, insist on using her maiden name. The only thing that makes any sense to me is that it is a show of disrespect for her title, and in my opinion, that is as wrong as it can be. So, I say start using her correct name, with her title…and I say, it’s high time!!
Looking back to September 10, 2001, it seemed that all was right with the world, but in fact, it was not, as we would all find out the very next morning. There were warning signs that terrorists were plotting something, but then weren’t they always. That’s what terrorists do…plot evil, plan to kill as many people as possible, and plan to bring a greater measure of fear into the world. September 11, 2001 would be no different. When 19 al Qaeda militants, hijacked 4 US airliners that morning, the terror had begun. In years past, a hijacked plane was used to take the hijackers to some other country, preferably one without extradition. The passengers were told that this was going to be a hijacking like that, but when the terrorists began slashing people with box cutters, and took over the cockpit, the people knew that this was not a normal hijacking. We all know far too well what the end result of this horrific act of brutal terrorism was.
In all, 2996 people, including the 19 terrorists, lost their lives at four locations that day. Of those 2996 people, only 291 bodies were found intact. A total of 21,906 body parts were found, and 1717 families got no remains at all. In addition, 25,000 more people were injured, and a large number of them have died of 9-11 related illnesses since then. The smoke and debris that came out of the burning jet fuel and buildings was so toxic, and 
those who helped with the searches and cleanup were exposed. It was a deadly combination. No one knew, or if they did, they disregarded the danger, in an effort to save lives. A few lives were saved. A few people were pulled out of the buildings alive. Theirs was a miracle, and they knew that for the rest of their lives, they would be a walking miracle. Of course, they would also most likely feel some degree of survivor’s guilt, although they shouldn’t. Nevertheless, it is a natural phenomenon, that people tend to struggle with for years, if not the rest of their lives. It never leaves.
For those who lost loved ones on that horrible day, it goes without saying that they will never forget, but the reality is that no one should ever forget. How could we forget, when we see that pictures of the planes going into the towers, or the walls of the Pentagon destroyed, or the massive hole in the Pennsylvania earth. Those aren’t just pictures…they are lives. They are lives lost, and families forever changed. They are children who will grow up without parents, people who with grow old without the spouse they had planned to have with them. 
They are sons and daughters, whose lives were stolen from them…whose promise was snuffed out before it could be fulfilled. For all of those people…it is our duty to “never forget!!” Our nation lost the feeling of safety that we had before. We don’t trust those we don’t know as much as we used to. We will always be forever changed. Never forget that!! Ever!!
Like it or not, people are put into classes based on their income, and as we know, the elite are the very rich ones. Most people fall into the middle class, with a large group of people being in the poverty level. Many of the people in these classes spend their time working hard and sometimes living paycheck to paycheck, just trying to make ends meet. While those people are doing their best to survive, the very wealthy, also known as the Elite Class spend their time doing their very best to outdo each other. What a headache that must be.
During the Gilded Age, the Elite Class was in a particularly fierce fight for supremacy, not in politics or world economy issues, but rather in extravagancy. The Gilded Age took place from the 1870s to about the 1900s. During that time the Elite Class was building great estates with elegantly designed homes…trying to outdo each other while most Americans and Europeans struggled just to make basic ends meet. The Gilded Age elite struggled with one another, competing over who had the biggest, the most, the best…of any and everything. Anything that was outlandish, wild, shocking, or just plain spendy, was fair game in their “struggle.” The biggest source of extravagance was in their homes. Newport, Rhode Island, was prime real estate for the 19th-century one-percenters. Cornelius Vanderbilt constructed his famous 
home, The Breakers, it was an attempt to one-up his brother, William K Vanderbilt’s latest showplace, Marble House, designed and planned by William K Vanderbilt to “outstaff, outdress, and outparty” his brother and other Gilded Age gents.
The whole production among the elites grew so fierce that home construction was covered in the local newspapers…on a daily basis!! The Newport Mercury reported that Marble House had 500,000 cubic feet of imported marble, as well as paneled walls portraying gods from the Classical age. Some walls were even coated in 22-carat gold leaf, all of it painstakingly applied by hand…not William K’s hand mind you. The latter Vanderbilt couldn’t sully his hands with the work of the common man. That was what his money was for…to underpay the common worker to build the elaborate house.
Yes, the whole age really was ridiculously extreme, but there was actually an ancient precedent that the Gilded Age families simply followed. Just take a look at the surviving Roman villas, the Versailles palace in France, and 
the Catherine Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The rich and powerful have always felt compelled to put their wealth on display. They did it to show other powerful people that they could keep up with the rest, and to challenge them to take the game to the next level…a challenge they happily accepted. It was a wild time, and in many places around the world, the game continues.
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