Random News and Notes 14 June
On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress authorizes the enlistment of expert riflemen to serve the United Colonies for one year. This launches the U.S. Army as America’s first national institution, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence is published on July 4, 1776.
The first branch of the Army formed was the Infantry. Two days later, on June 16, 1775, came the Adjutant General’s Corps, Corps of Engineers, Finance Corps and Quartermaster Corps. Five months later, on November 17, the Artillery was formed, followed by the Cavalry on December 12. Three special branches also started in July 1775: the Army Medical Department on July 27, and Chaplains and Judge Advocate General’s Corps on July 29.
Happy Birthday to my beloved Army.
Two years later, on this date in 1777, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes.
She’s a Grand Old Flag.
Y’all know I am not a big one on firsts when it comes to race or sex, but this one is different. Henry Ossian Flipper, born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia, in 1856, becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York on June 14, 1877.
1940, Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening as German troops enter and occupy Paris.
By the time German tanks rolled into Paris, 2 million Parisians had already fled, with good reason. In short order, the German Gestapo went to work: arrests, interrogations, and spying were the order of the day, as a swastika flew above the Arc de Triomphe.
A quick sports note, the New York Knicks won the NBA championship last night, beating the San Antonio Spurs 4 games to 1. It is New York’s first Larry O’Brien trophy in 53 years. And what do New Yorkers do? Wreck their city.
Crowds took over 43rd Street so completely that no ambulance could reach the scene, so NYPD drove the victim to the hospital. Officers recovered a firearm and took three people of interest into custody.
Four slashings and stabbings.
Crowds torched five school buses that were shuttling fans from Manhattan to MetLife Stadium for the World Cup.
Five NYPD vehicles wrecked. People swung bats at the cars, jumped on the roofs, and smashed front and back windshields. Crowds destroyed multiple personal vehicles too.
People set off fireworks inside packed crowds, climbed light poles, traffic signals, and scaffolding, and brawled in the street. Crowds blocked avenues for hours and refused to disperse.
63 arrested. Charges include assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a gun, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and obstruction of governmental administration.
All over a basketball game.
Dem candidate for Senate from Maine Graham Platner is a real piece of work. And every time something comes out that makes you think it can’t get worse, something worse comes out. This time it is some reddit comments that mocked a suicidal teen. Platner, posting as ‘P-Hustle,’ replied ‘Someone clearly isn’t trying hard enough’ to a thread about a girl who tried jumping following her cousin’s death. The New York Post spotlighted the comment amid his broader Reddit history of crude jokes, pro-Hamas praise, and soldier insults.
Platner has tried to pass the comments off as being related to PTSD. Yeah, not likely. He’s just a bad guy.
A MArine F/A-18 Hornet crashed in Washington state yesterday afternoon. The incident occurred on a training flight near Rimrock lake on the Cascades.
The pilot ejected safely and reports indicate they suffered only minor injuries. There was no backseater on this flight.
How many of you know what is going on in this image? Be honest.
Ball is life. . . .