We remember Roberto Clemente (1934-72)

Roberto Clemente was killed in a plane crash many years ago:

"On December 31, 1972, an airplane chartered by the professional baseball player Roberto Clemente to bring food and other relief supplies to survivors of a recent earthquake in Nicaragua crashes shortly after takeoff from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Five people were killed in the crash, including Clemente, whose body was never recovered."

Like most of you, I was shocked to hear the news.       

Clemente hit .317 and got # 3,000 on his last at-bat of the 1972 season.   He was the MVP of the 1971 World Series and hit .318 in the postseason.

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1972: President Harry Truman died in Missouri

We remember that Pres Truman died on this day in 1972.  He was the 33rd president of the US and one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century.

VP Harry Truman became president when President Roosevelt died in April 1945.  As President, he faced some huge challenges in Europe and Japan, such as dropping two atomic bombs in Japan.  It was a tough decision but it ended the war.

President Truman was elected on his own in 1948 but his second term was very tough, from economic problems to the war in Korea.  As a consequence, he left the presidency with very low approval ratings and was succeeded by the very popular President Eisenhower.

Today, we think of President Truman as a decisive and strong president.  His legacy gets stronger and stronger with time.  He made decisions and that was his greatest asset.

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"Mary had a baby" by Mary Hopkin........

Mary Hopkin was 18 years old when she recorded "Those were the days"!

It was one of the biggest hits in pop music history.

She has a beautiful voice and recorded many songs many Christmases ago!

Here is "Mary had a baby":

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"Virgin Mary had a little baby

Oh, Glory Hallelujah

Oh Pretty little baby

Glory be to the newborn king

what will you name that pretty little baby

Oh, Glory Hallelujah

Oh pretty little baby

Glory be to the newborn king

some call him David

Think I'll call him Jesus

Oh Glory Hallelujah’

Oh Think I’ll call him Jesus

Glory to the newborn king

Some call him Jesus

Think I’ll call him Savior

Oh Glory Hallelujah’

Oh Think we’ll call him Savior

Glory be to the newborn King

My name is Mary

and I’m going to have a baby

Oh Glory Hallelujah

Jesus save my little baby

From a life of suffering"

MERRY CHRISTMAS.....FELIZ NAVIDAD....HAVE A NICE DAY WITH YOUR FAMILY

MERRY CHRISTMAS.....FELIZ NAVIDAD.... 

HAVE A NICE DAY WITH YOUR FAMILY.......

 Guest:  Frank Burke, author, businessman and contributor to American Thinker......we will look back at our Christmas experiences........is Christmas too commercial?   wasn't Christmas declared a federal holiday........plus Frank's annual message.......plus a few other stories..........

 

1972: Immaculate reception and Franco Harris

The AFL and NFL merged in 1970.   The Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Colts and Cleveland Browns moved to the AFC.     

The first big game of the new post-merger era took place on this day in 1972:     

The historic play took place during the semifinal playoff game of the American Football Conference (AFC), in Pittsburgh. Ken Stabler of the Raiders scored a touchdown with 73 seconds left in the game, putting Oakland up 7-6. Things looked dark for the Steelers, a struggling franchise that had finished 31 of the previous 39 seasons with a losing record. Bradshaw’s pass, launched from the Steelers’ 40-yard-line, was intended for halfback Frenchy Fuqua. 

When the Raiders safety Jack Tatum collided with Fuqua at Oakland’s 35-yard-line, the ball bounced backwards in a huge arc for a total of seven yards, where Harris scooped it up before it hit the ground and ran 42 yards into the end zone."

The victory put the Steelers on the football map.   They won 4 Super Bowls in the 1970's and became one of the greatest teams in NFL history. 

It all started with a crazy play in an AFC playoff game.

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1972: Operation Linebacker had the communists running for their lives

By Election Day 1972, most U.S. troops were out of Vietnam.  The election results had confirmed that most Americans were supportive of the Nixon approach.

President Nixon had two objectives: first, get North Vietnam to agree to ending the conflict and arrange for the release of POW’s.

Like good communists, North Vietnam decided to play games with secretary of state Henry Kissinger.  The North Vietnamese decided to delay the accords and play games with international opinion.

President Nixon had enough and decided to send a Christmas greeting to North Vietnam.  It was called Operation Linebacker II.  We call it the Christmas bombing of 1972:

President Nixon initiated the full-scale bombing campaign against North Vietnam on December 18, when the North Vietnamese – who walked out of the peace talks in Paris – refused an ultimatum from Nixon to return to the negotiating table.  

During the 11 days of the operation, 700 B-52 sorties and more than 1,000 fighter-bomber sorties dropped an estimated 20,000 tons of bombs, mostly over the densely populated area between Hanoi and Haiphong. 

President Nixon was vilified at home and abroad for ordering the “Christmas bombing,” but on December 28, the North Vietnamese did agree to return to the talks in Paris. When the negotiators met again in early January, they quickly arrived at a settlement. 

The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 23 and a ceasefire went into effect five days later. 

Naturally, President Nixon was called every name on the book, from war criminal to Hitler to whatever else the left could come up with.

However, the bombing worked, and the accord was signed, ending the war and recognizing South Vietnam.

Also, a timetable for releasing POWs was accepted.  They started coming home in March.  That was also awesome – to watch those men get out of the planes and greet their families.

Operation Linebacker was a great name, and it clearly stymied the communists’ offense.  It was fun to watch a U.S. president exercise power and get results.  Unfortunately, Vietnam was lost later, when the Democrats pulled the plug.

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December 1972: Apollo 17 and the last mission to the moon

On December 19 1972, Apollo 17 turned out to be the last NASA lunar mission:

"The Apollo lunar-landing program ends on December 19, 1972, when the last three astronauts to travel to the moon splash down safely in the Pacific Ocean. Apollo 17 had lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, 10 days before."

Who would have believed that years ago?  I certainly did not!

The moon landing program was one of our greatest accomplishments.  

First, we beat the USSR to the moon.   By the way, that was no small feat considering the the Soviets had an early start with Sputnik in 1957.

Second, we expanded technology and showed the world that the US was indeed a superpower.  NASA's scientists and engineers gave us computers, calculators and paved the way for what we have today.

Will we go back to the moon?  I don't know for sure.  However, it is hard to believe that we spent the 1960's committed to a lunar program and then just pulled the plug.

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We remember Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

We used to read her poetry in school.      Emily Dickinson was born on this day years ago in Amherst, Massachusetts.  She wrote 1775 poems but only 7 were published in her lifetime.

One of my English teachers loved her work and would give us a full share of her poetry to read.    Glad that she did!

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December 10, 1898: The Treaty of Paris

We remember today The Treaty of Paris signed in 1898.    It concluded the short Spanish American War of the same year.

The Spanish Empire came to an end: Puerto Rico and Guam were lost, the Philippines Islands were bought for $20 million, and Cuba became a US protectorate until independence in 1902.

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