Editor,
I found Matt Grocott’s latest column most interesting. He praised George Washington for observing the Christmas holiday by “saving the new Republic” in crossing the Delaware River and surprising his fellow Christians the Hessian mercenaries employed by the British with a blast of grapeshot fired at close range along with musket fire into their ranks as a Christmas surprise.
Somehow, I miss the Christmas spirit thing here. According to Matt, God must have a hand in it. Then, as mentioned by Matt, the Germans got their payback in 1944 when they commenced the Battle of the Bulge against our troops at a similar time of year. However, I appreciated the story about trying to uncover the truth about the missing and deceased nurse.
I’d say the real spirit of Christmas might be the Christmas Truce during the first winter of World War I when German and British troops seeing the folly and stupidity of their leaders started to go out into no man’s land and celebrate with one another. That Christmas spirit was brought to an end by threats of mass executions from those same leaders unless they resumed their mutual slaughter as they were supposed to do. I guess God things change with the telling.
Cheers all.
Mike Caggiano
San Mateo
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(4) comments
Happy New Year, Mike
I think Matt is suggesting that God had a hand in Washington's success at Trenton, and there certainly seems to be an argument for divine intervention on the day after Christmas in 1776. Yes, I know the naysayers will dispute such a notion but what other explanations can they offer?
Maybe GW was just lucky... Years before the War for Independence, he survived the battle of Monongahela during the French and Indian War. He had two horses shot out from beneath him, and while his uniform coat was riddled with bullet holes, none of the deadly projectiles touched him. Only four or so months before GW crossed the Delaware, he nearly lost the war as British troops were unable capture his fleeing army due to an unexpected and heavy fog that descended over the area. While the battle at Trenton kept the patriots' hopes of defeating Britain alive, GW was again exposed to musket fire at the battle of Princeton about a week after crossing the Delaware. He emerged unscathed with an improbable victory over the British at Princeton. Against all odds, George Washington's leadership of the Continental army ultimately resulted in the defeat of the most powerful empire on earth. Was it just luck? I don't think so.
Your example of the unofficial cease fire at Christmastime between troops during WWI is a good one and it speaks to something else... something unseen... intervening on the field of battle. Maybe that was Matt's point.
With the pandemic continuing to rage, inflation rising, crime on our streets increasing and incivility still dominating the daily discourse... maybe we could use something else... something unseen... to guide us through 2022 and beyond.
Mr. Caggiano - speaking of folly and stupidity, how’s basement Biden doing? I see his plan for tackling COVID is about as effective as his handling of inflation, rising crime, border crisis, energy crisis, labor crisis, supply chain crisis. Happy New Year!
Terence: Y do you insist on showing your misunderstanding and exposing your ignorance every possible chance you have? You have shown us over and over agai how misinformed and misguided you are, and how hard it is for you to grasp the point of every single LTE you believe you should disagree with. It is also quite apparent that you have no clue regarding President Biden’s accomplishments, after having inherited such a mess after the worst WH inhabitant ever, the lying, incompetent Donald Trump. As we saw after the former incompetent Republican administration, it took someone like President Obama to clean it all up, only to have it messed up again by your “best president ever”. What else is new, except the upcoming year? Have a good one, but spare us for more of your nonsense!
Blah, blah, blah – more JUNC (Jorg’s Umpteenth Non-responsive Comment). Hey Jorg, maybe in the upcoming year, you’ll list a treasonous Biden accomplishment. We all know you were unable to do that in 2021. I hope you stop living in the past and can instead face the present. We know it’s bleak with Biden but you’ve faced worse – with Obama. BTW, I was hoping to rate more than one exclamation point. C’mon man, be a pal and share. Happy New Year – on this Earth and your flat earth!
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