Milestone
Yesterday marked a personal milestone. Although this particular milestone was dubious in its nature, about which I’d rather have not thought, the date could not be ignored. It marked the 40th anniversary of my enlistment in the U.S. Army.
Yesterday marked a personal milestone.
Although this particular milestone was dubious in its nature, about which I’d rather have not thought, the date could not be ignored.
It marked the 40th anniversary of my enlistment in the U.S. Army.
I was a mere whelp of 18, far less aware of the world around me and all it had to offer – good as well as bad.
My gawd, these four decades slipped by much too rapidly. Where did they get to?
“Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see…”*
When just starting out on the journey, we look at everything with eyes open wide.
As time marches on, and life progresses, we tend to lose focus, keeping our eyes wide shut.
If I take the time that has passed since my rebirth, that first great fearfilled leap into transpires might seem mundane:
A son on the verge of his 30th birthday;
29 years of marriage – five the first time, followed by a 24-year run;
Eight years at university, resulting in two degrees;
14 years of home ownership (that makes me feel tied to a mortgage);
And, so it goes…
With respect to friendships, I’ve learned that the more we travel life’s serpentine path, the more people come into our lives. Some are wonderful, others not so much.
As much as each person we meet brings the pleasure of new flavor to life’s potluck banquet, those very few who stick around for the long haul provide the true sustenance of life.
At the outset, we race along as though anything that’s worth doing must be done now.
With the wisdom of maturity comes the realization that it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
And, with few exceptions everything we do depends upon the outcome of a 50-50 decision.
My Father was not possessed of an adventurous spirit. Somewhere he lost the chutzpah his own father had displayed by coming to America, sans parents, as a 12-year-old.
Dad always took the safe path, more concerned with taking and holding onto the first regular job that came along than venturing out to see what might be available beyond the horizon.
Such a narrow view always seemed like a waste of the possibilities the planet held open to us.
For as long as I can recollect, my choice has been the path that my Old Man never would have followed.
Even so, I have often wondered about the road not taken.
However, there’s no percentage in worrying about “What if..?”
I had a long talk with my Godmother (I’ve written about “Goomah Irene” several times on these pages) during Easter weekend. Although Irene’s a devout Catholic, and I have chosen to embrace Judaism, she has never once expressed any condemnation of my “lapse.”
When I explained that it was great emotional dysfunction that pushed me out of the house and into the Army less than a year after high school graduation, despite a war raging in VietNam, my “Goomah” asked it I ever regretted the decision.
I didn’t need any time to think about a response. My answer was that, had I not taken that giant leap away from the nest at such a young age, I might never have left the county.
Being just 18, I benefited from a heightened ability to appreciate new surroundings, and learn from the ensuing encounters; had I waited a few more years, my sense of adventure may have been curtailed.
There is myriad variety among people and places in the world around us, more than any of us can experience in a lifetime, and far too many individuals fear that which is beyond their own front doors.
It is a shame to waste all that we can taste from the banquet of life; I’m always ready to try the next course.
“The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn’t hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger… watch it grin…”*
Don’t wait till it’s too late to enjoy the feast.
Shalom.
* “Suicide is Painless (Theme from M*A*S*H)” by Johnny Mandel
(Jerry Tenuto is an erstwhile Philosopher and sometime Educator. A veteran with seven years of service in the U.S. Army, he holds a BS and MA in Communications from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Depending upon your taste in political stew, you can either blame or thank Jerry for his weekly “Out Of The Blue” feature in The Lone Star Iconoclast. Visit his blog Blue State View at illinoiscentral.blogspot.com)
Readmission To Union Does Not End Post-War Nightmare
The military occupation of Texas ended on April 13, 1870 when Gen. J.J. Reynolds passed the reins of power to the civilian chief execution, whose election he had engineered. Two weeks earlier on March 30, President Grant signed the act that restored Lone Star statehood. Texans were, for better or worse, back in the Union after four years in the Confederacy and five as a conquered territory.
The military occupation of Texas ended on April 13, 1870 when Gen. J.J. Reynolds passed the reins of power to the civilian chief execution, whose election he had engineered.
Two weeks earlier on March 30, President Grant signed the act that restored Lone Star statehood. Texans were, for better or worse, back in the Union after four years in the Confederacy and five as a conquered territory.
As soon as he heard the news, Gov. Edmund J. Davis dropped the word “provisional” from his title and ordered the legislature into session on the last Tuesday of the month.
At his inauguration on April 28, the 42-year-old former judge and northern army officer swore he had never fought a duel nor taken up arms against the United States. “Let us cultivate a belief that our neighbor who differs in opinion with us may so differ honestly,” the governor stated in a speech that repeated the conciliatory theme of his recent campaign and tempted Texans into hoping hate and strife were finally behind them.
But Davis had not changed his stripes. He was the same inflexible zealot, who had branded ex-Confederates as “unfit to govern” and argued for their permanent disenfranchisement. Now that most adult males again had the vote and Grant was pulling the troops out of Texas, it was up to the unrepentant Radical to punish the Rebs.
The day after the swearing-in ceremony, Gov. Davis unveiled his agenda for the assembled lawmakers. To take the place of the federal occupation force, he proposed a state militia made up of all able-bodied males between the ages of 18 and 45. He also asked for a free hand in imposing martial law wherever and whenever conditions warranted. The third and ultimately most controversial item on his get-tough wish list was a new law enforcement agency called the state police.
Radical representatives quickly drafted the legislation to give the governor everything he wanted and more. As commander-in-chief of two armed bodies – the state guard and reserve militia – Davis would be empowered to send as many citizen soldiers as he saw fit into any community or county. He could on his own authority declare martial law, suspend habeas corpus, try civilians in military courts and compel the inhabitants of an occupied county to pay the expenses of their uninvited “guests.”
Speaker Ira H. Evans closed the House debate on the militia bill with a stirring appeal for passage “in the name of the thousands of widows and orphans, who have been made such by the Ku Klux (Klan) of Texas.” His colleagues responded with a lopsided endorsement of the measure.
The sailing was not nearly so smooth in the Senate, where three moderate Republicans joined forces with 11 Democrats to water down the draconian act. Their substitute, which put the militia under local control and omitted martial law altogether, fell just one vote short of adoption.
Before the Radicals could call the question for their stern alternative, 13 opponents broke the quorum and barricaded themselves in a separate room. The fast-acting majority placed the bolters under arrest for “conspiracy” and released only enough to reconstitute a cooperative quorum, which approved the militia bill by a vote of 15 to 5.
Keeping their critics incarcerated for the next three weeks, the Radicals created the infamous state police – a 258-man force that answered only to the governor. The fine print in the law also enabled him to remove any law enforcement official not to his liking. In an unprecedented expansion of gubernatorial power, Davis was given the final say-so over voter registration and the authority to appoint mayors and aldermen.
The Radicals had the gall, some said good sense, to delay their inevitable day of reckoning. The congressional and state elections scheduled for 1870 and 1871 were postponed until 1872.
Gov. Davis and his lackeys in the legislature went too far even for some leading Radicals. For his outspoken objection to tampering with the election calendar, Speaker Evans was stripped of his post. When Morgan Hamilton dared to disagree, Davis had his U.S. Senate election declared invalid and Gen. Reynolds chosen his successor, but Hamilton held onto the seat. The governor had better luck installing a new state treasurer, waiting until the incumbent left town before ordering the state police to padlock his office.
Davis’ fondness for martial law and the unconscionable crimes of his hired guns pushed Texas to the brink of anarchy. Homicidal maniacs like John Wesley Hardin and Clay Allison were hailed as public-spirited heroes for killing state policemen, while the governor was reviled as evil incarnate.
After Texans voted in a Democratic legislature and congressional delegation in November 1872, Edmund J. Davis spent the last 14 months of his term as a very lonely lame duck. Stubbornly refusing to accept his own landslide defeat the following fall, he pleaded for federal troops to keep him in office. President Grant wisely rejected the rash request, and the curtain finally fell on Reconstruction in Texas.
Nine “Best of This Week in Texas History” column collections to choose from at twith.com. Order on-line or by mail from Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549.
