If you don't know history, then you are like a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree. I'm…read morethe one who when traveling always has to insist we stop and read every Historic Marker. They're just tiny little signs, however, what they open up to me is infinitely valuable. Thankfully my large and extended family either shares my love of history, or easily tolerates it. Also thankfully, many others also love history and have left us memories, research and pictures.
For us to understand how and why our present world is the way it is, look to history for answers. Having knowledge of our history allows us to:
Understand where we came from
Understand our present
Gain knowledge so we can create a better future
Jim Swett Field Historical Marker is my latest find. I stood there at 40° 59' 13.62" N, 122° 41' 47.16" W and read the inscription:
"Name amended 1997 by resolution
to honor Trinity County Resident
Colonel James E. Swett - USMC Ret.
A World War II Marine Aviator
who on April 7th 1943 was awarded
the Congressional Medal of Honor,
our Nations highest award, for Bravery
above and beyond the call of duty during
air combat in the Pacific Theater."
James E. Swett graduated from San Mateo High School, San Mateo, California, and enrolled at College of San Mateo 1939. He earned private pilot's license, then enlisted in US Naval Reserve as a Seaman Second Class 26 August 1941, and started Flight training in September. Swett went on to be a US Marine Corps' fighter pilot, ace and recipient of Medal of Honor, Distinguished Flying Cross twice, Purple Heart, and Air Medal five times. He retired as a Colonel after 29 years of military Service. Colonel James E. Swett is buried at Northern California Veterans Cemetery, Anderson, California.
An understanding of the successes and failures of the past is important if we are to grow and make progress from now on. History is the only laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of human thought and behavior.
If we do not learn from our past mistakes, we are bound to repeat them.
Knowledge of history helps us to understand why today is the way it is. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.
Knowing history gives us a sense of perspective.
I rate it 3 stars. According to the Yelp ratings' definitions, 3 Stars is "Ok". That to me is an acceptable rating of something that does day in and day out what it is there to do. It is NOT a negative review.
If you think you have it tough, read history.
March is Women's History Month
Asked about Sunday, 20 March 2005, the day she became first woman since World War II to earn the Silver Star Medal and the very first to ever earn it for combat Valor aka close-quarters combat, Leigh Ann Hester said, "You know, it's just something that happened one day, and I was trained to do what I did, and I did it."
In July 2004, Hester and her Kentucky National Guard 617th Military Police Company received Active Duty orders to Iraq. There Hester Served as a Military Police officer in Baghdad, protecting critical supply routes. "Basically, we would go out in our Humvees and we would clear the route for improvised explosive devices or insurgents before the convoys would start coming through," Hester told NPR in a 2011 interview.
The day in 2005 when Hester earned the Silver Star (and 2 others in her squad), she and her squad, consisting of eight men and two women in three Humvees, were protecting a 30-truck supply convoy when some 50 enemy ambushed them firing AK-47s, RPK machine guns and rocket propelled grenades (RPG). Three members of Hester's squad were immediately wounded.
Then 23-year-old Sergeant Hester directed the defense and offense, then walked directly into the line of fire to kill at least three of the enemy at close range to save the lives of numerous convoy members and her squad members. 34 of the enemy were killed or wounded and one captured. Every member of Hester's squad survived.
From 2012 to 2014, Hester was an Instructor at Tennessee Army National Guard's 117th Regional Training Institute Military Police School. It provides nationwide programs and training for Soldiers in US Army, Army National Guard, and US Army Reserve. They specialize in individual and team level instruction and certification for Military Police, Armor, and Quartermaster branches as well as commissioning Soldiers through Tennessee's Officer Candidate School.
In 2014, the Army sent Hester to Afghanistan for 18 months as a Cultural Support Team member.
In 2017, Hester was sent to the Virgin Islands as part of the international humanitarian effort in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.
Her current rank is First Sergeant, an E-8 out of a possible 9 ranks. Hester is also a Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal recipient.
A Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester action figure was created and sold in her honor.