Glory -- May 29, 2017

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Happy Memorial Day, everyone.  I thought this was a good day to write about the 1989 film Glory, which told the story of the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, one of the first Union Army units made up of African-American soldiers. Matthew Broderick played idealistic Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Morgan Freeman played Sergeant Major John Rawlins. Denzel Washington played Private Silas Tripp, an escaped slave. Andre Braugher played educated Corporal Thomas Searles, a friend of Gould's.

The regiment fought against discrimination by the Union Army during its training and initial deployment to South Carolina.  Gould fought for permission for them to fight in the line.  After applying a little righteous blackmail, he succeeded.  The regiment fought well, and wound up leading the charge against Fort Wagner near Charleston.  The attack failed and many in the regiment died, but they removed all doubt that African-Americans could fight.

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Happy 100th birthday to President John F Kennedy.  He was a World War II veteran, who had served on PT boats in the Pacific Theater.  He loved boats.  One of my earliest memories is of my mother crying while watching his funeral on television.  When I grew up, many homes that I visited had a photo of him hanging on a wall.  Later reports indicated that he was not always a nice person, but he deserved to live and watch his family grow up.  Many people see his murder as the beginning of a very bad decade.  I enjoyed PT 109.