D-Day to remember our friend Bob Jagers

D-Day to remember our friend Bob Jagers:   Bob Jagers passed away in 2021.  He was almost 99 and been very sick for weeks.   Mr. Jagers was quite a celebrity in our area of Texas, a member of our parish, and wonderful storyteller.    For years, he...
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Did AMLO cook up a 30-point victory?

Did AMLO cook up a 30-point victory?: Down in Mexico, they killed another mayor and I can't count anymore. 36? 37? Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, mayor of Cotija in Michoacán, was shot dead hours after the country elected its first female president. Here we go...
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June 6, 1971 and the last "The Ed Sullivan Show"

Back in those early days of “el exilio”, our family sat down to watch TV and learn some English.    
One of our favorites was “The Ed Sullivan Show“.  As my mother often said:  “Este show tiene algo para todo el mundo”, or her way of saying that the show had a lot of variety. 

On this day in 1971, The Ed Sullivan said goodnight for the last time.
From 1948 to 1971, Ed Sullivan presented the biggest acts in show business, from opera to comedy to Elvis and The Beatles.   
Sullivan didn’t say much.   His presentations were short but millions tuned in to see his shows.
The show’s greatest audience was on February 9, 1964:  73 million tuned in to catch The Beatles and things were never the same!
Sullivan died in 1974.    We remember him as a genius of variety TV.   We miss those shows!
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2014: D-DAY PLUS 70 WITH BOB JAGERS, VETERAN & BILL KATZ OF URGENT AGENDA

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Our friend Bob Jagers, World War II veteran, passed away the first week of 
April 2021.  He was born in Chicago in 1922 and was there on D-Day 1944.

We recorded this show in 2014.

D-DAY MEMORIES WITH BOB JAGERS PLUS BILL KATZ OF URGENT AGENDA........

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.



Frank Mankiewicz: The man who announced RFK was dead!

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Pres Reagan at D-Day 1984


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We post often about Pres Reagan.   He died in 2004, or the 60th anniversary of D-Day. 

Today, we remember one of Pres Reagan's greatest speeches, the 40th anniversary of D-Day.

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June 1968: Waking up to the news that RFK was shot!


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It was an early June school night.   As I recall, we had finals or something else going on in school the next day.   So my parents told us to shut off the TV and hit the pillow early.

I did catch the 10 pm news and specially the baseball scores.

Aside from the Democrat California primary, there was a huge baseball story in LA.

The LA Dodgers' Don Drysdale had just pitched another shutout.   He was in the tail end of throwing 58 consecutive scoreless innings.

At 10:30pm, I saw a bulletin that Senator Kennedy was ahead but it was too early to call it.  So I went to sleep.

In the interest of full disclosure, our whole family was supporting former VP Nixon in '68. 

My dad woke us with the news that Robert Kennedy had been shot in LA.   It was a shock.  It confused my little sister who said:  "It was his brother who was killed"!

What if RFK had lived? Would he have won the nomination?

Nobody knows for sure. My guess is that RFK would have lost to VP Humphrey in the first ballot.

Why? Sound familiar? VP Humphrey had the delegates. He also had President Johnson and the party machine on his side.

RFK's death was very tragic. It was a terrible moment in a pretty tough political year that included the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King two months before.   

Nevertheless, RFK would have never been nominated intensifying the crisis within the Democrat party.

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

D-Day 1944: Another day to remember my late great uncle’s history lessons


Over the last couple of years, I’ve told you about my great Uncle Joaquin.    He would always turn our visits to his home outside of Havana into history lessons, from President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to war stories.     “Tio Joaquin”, as we called him, was a judge, a teacher, an attorney and someone who was determined to pass on the great lessons of history.
D-Day and war stories were among his favorites.
As my Tio Joaquin would say, the World War II generation earned place in our hearts.   They were the young men who went to war against Hitler and liberated Europe. Over 400,000 died.
On D-Day 1944, thousands of US soldiers were killed landing at Normandy.
On that day, Pres. Roosevelt went on radio and spoke these words to the world:
“Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a countenance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.” (FDR’s D-Day Prayer)
Sadly, we are losing World War II veterans daily.    16 million served.    Most are in their 90’s today and at a rate of 372 a day.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).




Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin: "Partners"

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Jerry Lewis & Dean Martin: "Scared stiff"

 

A great book about the heroes of D-Day

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A few years ago, I met a local man whose father died on D-Day.  My friend was only 3 months old and never got to know his father.

On June 6, 1944, many of our fathers and grandfathers landed on French beaches to liberate Europe. 

Thousands were killed that day. It took a massive effort by the Army Rangers and paratroopers to survive day 1.

Before leaving England, General Eisenhower spoke to them and said that our goal was victory.


We remember the heroes of D-Day in this book by Stephen Ambrose.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).