20071111 This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Veterans Day: “The Wall” at 25

Kevin E. Dayhoff

This year Veterans Day is also the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Constitution Gardens adjacent to the National Mall in Washington. The Memorial, well known as “The Wall,” was dedicated November 13, 1982.

“Remembering Vietnam – The Wall at 25,” is the subject of a stunning original Smithsonian Channel Documentary. The program will be simultaneously web-streamed on the Smithsonian Channel Website (www.smithsonianchannel.com) with its on-air broadcast to DirecTV subscribers on Channel 267 this evening at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Heidi Schroeder, my colleague at The Westminster Eagle, and I were provided an advance copy of the documentary. We had been contacted for research information by Lynn Kessler-Hiltajczuk last summer.

Ms. Kessler-Hiltajczuk is a writer-producer for Alexandria-based LK Productions and served as an independent producer for the program. She was looking for additional information on Lance Cpl. Muriel Stanley Groomes, a Carroll Countian who was killed in Vietnam November 2, 1968.

[…]

Veterans such as Carroll County State’s Attorney Jerry F. Barnes, a former Frederick County assistant State’s Attorney who choose to forego what would have been an easily available draft deferment in May 1968 and joined the Army.

It was in that month that the 1966 Westminster High School graduate received his draft notice. According to a biographical sketch written by former Maryland State Delegate Carmen Amedori, Mr. Barnes joined a number of draftees from Carroll County “on a school bus at the (Westminster) Post Office downtown,” and headed to Fort Holabird in Baltimore – and then promptly to Fort Bragg, NC.

There Mr. Barnes opted to eschew being drafted for two years and enlisted for three years. At first he wanted to be a helicopter pilot, but after a series of events, he signed up for Special Forces – the Green Berets.

Mr. Barnes’ Vietnam experience was one of a number of sketches by Ms. Amedori which appears in a new publication from the Historical Society of Carroll County: “Tours of Duty – Carroll County and the Vietnam War,” by Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal.

[…]

Read the entire column here: Veterans Day: “The Wall” at 25

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Friday, November 9, 2007

"Fair Lady" and "The Scourge of God"

Roy Meachum

Lisa O’Hare stars as Eliza Doolittle with Christopher Cazenove as Professor Henry Higgins in the Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theater presentation of “My Fair Lady.” (Photo by Joan Marcus)

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Thursday, November 8, 2007

An Open Letter…

Chris Cavey

Dear Governor O’Malley, The Guinness Book of World Records lists Teflon as the slipperiest substance on Earth. In a few short months Maryland’s citizens will witness that you are the slipperiest governor in the United States; because nothing will stick.

Russian Glimpses – Part 3 – St. Petersburg

Patricia A. Kelly

(Editor's Note: Columnist Kelly recently toured Russia. This is her third of three parts recounting her adventure.) Our senior guide in St. Petersburg, Masha, was the daughter of intellectuals. During Soviet times, her parents traded their historic, central apartment for a Khrushchev apartment farther out, so that they could send Masha to kindergarten without a 6-year wait. Apartment developments are named after the leader of the time they were built. Stalin’s were the best.

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Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The Ever Green Fund

Kevin E. Dayhoff

Last Friday, the House Environmental Matters Committee in the Maryland General Assembly held a hearing on House Bill 23, the “Maryland Green Fund.”

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007

“I’m mad as Hell….”

Farrell Keough

Of late, I have gotten responses to my columns that fall into two camps; some have told me they were a nice, condensed view of facts surrounding issues and others have said I need to lighten up and write to a lower level of education. While I appreciate receiving input, (good or bad) it is this latter perspective I would like to tackle.

War without heroes and villains

Roy Meachum

Most Americans prefer personalized war. They need heroes to admire; but most of all they want villains to hate. Hitler was a perfect example. He was a demon long before the United States entered World War II.

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Monday, November 5, 2007

General Assembly Journal – Special Session

Richard B. Weldon Jr.

Part 1

Last Monday was a day of rallies, political meetings, and an evening Joint Session of the Maryland General Assembly

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Friday, November 2, 2007

Noisy Neighbors

Roy Meachum

With their eyes firmly fixed on the next (2009) elections, four Frederick aldermen stepped backwards on the noise issue. They let be known their views that neighbors could judge when someone gets too loud.

Christmas is Coming

Edward Lulie III

Christmas season, my favorite time of the year, is about to begin. This also means the start of another fast and furious season of shopping madness. I guess that it takes all of that pain and suffering to achieve a memorable holiday, but rarely is "getting there half the fun" when it comes to preparing for Christmas or finding those presents to buy.