William Frederick Cody

WILLIAM FREDERICK CODY

"BUFFALO BILL"

FEBRUARY 26, 1846 ~ JANUARY 10, 1917

William Frederick Cody was born at his family’s farmhouse in Scott County, Territory of Iowa on February 26, 1846. Following the death of his older brother, Samuel, the family relocated to Kansas in 1853. His family believed that Kansas should be a “free state” while many of the settlers in the area supported the practice of slavery. His father, while giving an anti-slavery speech, a mob against him formed, during the ensuing dispute, his father was stabbed. Young Cody, helped drag his father to safety although he never fully recovered from his wounds. Cody’s father died in 1857 from the complications of the stabbing.

At the age of 11, young Cody took a job with a freight wagon train as a “boy extra”, delivering messages to the wagon train from the wagon master. Within a few years of being on the plains, William Cody joined Johnston’s Army as a scout assigned to guide the Army to Utah to put down a falsely reported rebellion by the Mormon population of Salt Lake City. It was on this trip, that young Cody began his career as an “Indian Fighter” after shooting a Sioux warrior when a member of his party was killed by the Indian. At the age of 14 he signed on with the Pony Express to help build way stations and corrals, within a short time he was given the job as a Pony Express Rider.

Shortly after the death of his mother in 1863, Cody enlisted into the 7th Kansas Cavalry Regiment and fought with them on the Union side for the rest of the Civil War. Following the war, he was married to Louisa Frederici on March 6, 1866. Although the marriage was not a happy one, he unsuccessfully attempted to divorce his wife. They had four children, two of them dying at a young age.

In 1872, while serving as a civilian scout for the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, he was awarded the “Medal Of Honor” for “gallantry in action”. The nation’s highest medal for bravery was revoked by the U.S. Army on February 5, 1917 just 24 days after his death. At the time that the Medal of Honor was bestowed on him, he was a civilian and therefore ineligible for the award under new guidelines that were established in 1917 that the medal could only be granted to active duty military personnel. Seventy-two years later, in 1989, his file was reviewed by the Army and the Medal of Honor was restored to him.

During his work as an Army scout, scouting for Indians was part of his job while he was also responsible for hunting buffalo for meat for both the Cavalry and the Kansas Pacific Railroad. It was from this part of his life that he would earn his nickname, “Buffalo Bill”. With his reputation of his past and the changing of the west, he would eventually go into show business by forming a touring company called the Buffalo Bill Combination. The troupe would tour for ten years and his part typically included an 1876 incident at Warbonnet Creek where he claimed to have scalped a Cheyenne warrior, in revenge for the death of George Armstrong Custer at the Little Big Horn. Other members in his troupe included “Wild Bill Hickok” for one year, Annie Oakley, and Texas Jack Omohundro. On May 19, 1883 in North Platte, Nebraska he founded the “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West”, the name “show” was never in the title despite popular misconception. Taking members from his former company, he followed the business plan of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. For the next twenty years, he would tour the United States with his company, which included as many as 1,200 members. In 1887, he would take his show to London in celebration of the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria. He toured throughout Europe in 1889 and in 1890; he officially met Pope Leo XIII.

The profits from his company provide the funding for him to purchase a 4,000-acre ranch near North Platte, Nebraska in 1886. Scout’s Rest Ranch included an eighteen-room mansion. Buffalo Bill was always interested in the lands to the west of him, in Wyoming. In 1897 and 1899, Cody and his associates acquired the State of Wyoming the right to take water from the Shoshone River to irrigate about 169,000 acres of land in the Big Horn Basin. Prior to this, in 1895 he was instrumental in founding the city that would carry his name, Cody Wyoming. He built the Irma Hotel in downtown Cody, which is named after his daughter. He also had lodging on the North Fork of the Shoshone River, which is the route to the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park. On the South Fork of the Shoshone River, he would build his ranch, the TE Ranch. He then ordered that his cattle be moved from Nebraska and South Dakota to his new ranch in Wyoming. This new herd carried the brand TE. Buffalo Bill continued to purchase land as part of his TE Ranch to about 8,000 acres and ran about 1,000 head of cattle.

William F. Cody, “Buffalo Bill” died of kidney failure on January 10, 1917 in Denver, Colorado. He passed away one day following his baptism into the Roman Catholic Church. His funeral was held at the Elks Lodge in Denver, Colorado. His once great fortune had dwindled to under $100,000 at the time of his death. Despite his request to be buried in Cody, Wyoming in an early will, it was superseded by a later will, which left his burial up to his wife Louisa. His burial site was selected to be on Lookout Mountain, just a few miles west of Denver, at the base of the Rocky Mountains. In 1948, the Cody, Wyoming branch of the American Legion offered a reward for the “return” of his body to Wyoming. The Denver branch of the American Legion mounted a guard over the grave until a deeper shaft could be blasted into the rock to protect his remains. Despite the many years that he spent scouting for the Army during the Indian Wars, he was quoted as saying before a Congressional hearing, “Every Indian outbreak that I have ever known has resulted from broken promises and broken treaties by the government”. Today, a small sign on Interstate 70 at Exit 256 indicates a historical monument, the “Graveside of Buffalo Bill”.

Chief Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill ~ 1885

Buffalo Bill Cody ~ 1903

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

February 24, 1885 ~ February 20, 1966

Service To His Country

September 1, 1901 ~ February 20, 1966

(Sixty Four Years Five Months Naval Service)

Chester William Nimitz was born on February 24, 1985 in Fredericksburg, Texas, where his house is now a museum. He was influenced by his grandfather, Charles H. Nimitz, a former seaman in the German Merchant Marine. His grandfather taught him, “the sea – like life itself – is a stern taskmaster. The best way to get along with either is to learn all you can, then do your best and don’t worry – especially about things over which you have no control.”

Originally, young Nimitz wanted to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point and become an Army officer. However, no appointments were available. His Congressman told him that he had one appointment available for the Naval Academy and that it would be awarded to the best-qualified applicant. Nimitz began studying for his prospective appointment examination. Chester Nimitz would get this appointment from the Texas 12th Congressional District in 1901. He graduated with distinction from the Naval Academy at Annapolis on January 30, 1905, seventh in a class of 114 midshipmen. It was many years later, following his promotion to Fleet Admiral that he would be awarded his high school diploma from his former school in Texas as he had never graduated from high school.

Upon graduation, he would join the battleship U.S.S. Ohio (BB-12) and later transferred to the Cruiser U.S.S. Baltimore. In January 1907, after being at sea for two years, which was required by law, he was commissioned as an Ensign, U.S. Navy. At the age of 22, the newly commissioned Ensign was given his first command, the U.S.S. Decatur, a destroyer. While deployed to the Philippines, his ship ran aground on a sandbar. Ensign Nimitz was court martialed, convicted of hazarding a Navy ship, and received a letter of reprimand. This action should have ended his career.

Ensign Nimitz would serve on a variety of naval vessels including a career in the submarine fleet, in which he would serve as Commander of the flotilla. He established himself as a submarine Commander and with the outbreak of World War I; he would serve as the aide to Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Prior to the conclusion of the war, he would he selected as the Chief of Staff to the same command.

Following World War I he would serve in a variety of Command roles in the submarine fleet as well as graduating from the Naval War College in June 1923. He would become the Chief of Staff, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet. In August 1926, he went to the University of California and established the Navy’s first Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit. Nimitz would continue to serve in a variety of roles as both a Commander at sea and high level posts in the Department of Navy. In September 1938, he took command of Battleship Division 1, Battle Force.

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese Imperial Navy would make a devastating aerial attack on the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The entire battleship group was in port at the time and was either destroyed or severely damaged along with a large number of other surface vessels. Unknown to the Japanese Navy is that the aircraft carrier fleet, their escorts, and a large number of submarines were at sea and escaped the attack.

Ten days following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the existing Command In Chief Pacific Fleet (CINPACFLT) Admiral Kimmel would be relieved of his duties. He was replaced by Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz. On December 31, 1941 be would be appointed to the rank of Admiral, bypassing the promotion to Vice Admiral which was the normal promotion system in the Navy. Having been promoted to a four star Admiral, the Joint Chiefs of Staff designated Nimitz as Commander In Chief, Pacific Ocean with operational control over all allied units on land, sea, and air in the Pacific theatre.

By utilizing his assets, the U.S. Navy carrier fleet and the submarine forces, he went on the immediate offense against the Japanese. This was alarming to the Congress, as they preferred to keep the fleet closer to the mainland of the United States for protection in the event the Japanese decided to attack the defenseless western coast. Under his command, the Japanese Navy was defeated in several battles, including the Battle of Coral Sea and the Solomon Islands. Admiral Nimitz continued applying pressure on the Japanese war machine, despite being heavily outnumbered in all respects. Through our intelligence forces, it was discovered that the Japanese Navy was going to invade the Island Of Midway in order to establish a land base. Admiral Nimitz turned the carrier groups around that had just returned from the Coral Sea and dispatched them to a position northeast of Midway Island. When Washington D.C. found out his tactics, they were concerned that the Japanese fleet was not going to Midway but would attack the United States instead. Knowing their concern, the Japanese sent a smaller battle group to invade the Aleutian Islands. This attack occurred prior to Midway, in hopes to draw the U.S. Fleet north to protect the United States. Admiral Nimitz made the decision to retain the fleet of carriers at Midway and intercepted the largest Japanese naval force that had put to sea since the strike on Pearl Harbor. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the war in the Pacific region, with the Japanese Navy suffering heavy casualties among their aircraft carriers and smaller surface ships.

On December 14, 1944 the rank of Fleet Admiral was created by Public Law, Admiral Chester Nimitz, Admiral King, and Admiral Leahy would be promoted to the rank of Fleet Admiral and the awarding of five stars. At the same time, four Generals in the Army would also be promoted to a five star rank, General of the Army. They would be General Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Arnold. Admiral “Bull” Halsey would be promoted to a five star Admiral in December 1945 and General Omar Bradley would receive his fifth star in September 1950. These are the only five star Admiral and Generals in the history of the United States.

On September 2, 1945 Fleet Admiral Nimitz signed for the United States when Japan formally surrendered on board the battleship, U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

In December 1945, Fleet Admiral Nimitz was appointed Chief of Naval Operations. Upon assuming the position, he assured the President that he was willing to serve as the CNO for one two-year term and no longer. On December 14, 1947 he officially retired, however, since the rank of Fleet Admiral is a lifetime appointment, he remained on active duty for the rest of his life with full pay and benefits. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz passed away on February 20, 1966. In his passing, the rank of the five star Admirals and Generals also passed away. The rank cannot be activated again without the approval of Congress and the President of the United States.

Robert Tyre Jones, Jr.

ROBERT TYRE "BOBBY" JONES
MARCH 17, 1902 ~ DECEMBER 18, 1971


I have never played a round of golf in my life; however, there is one golf tournament that I always watch, "The Masters Tournament". The Masters has been played on the same course, Augusta National Golf Club, since 1934. This year, The Master will commence this Thursday with the fourth and final round being played on Sunday, April 13th. Last year, this tournament had a purse of over seven million dollars, but more importantly, the winner of the tournament is awarded a green blazer. By tournament rules, the winner is allowed to wear the blazer the year it is won. The blazer is then returned to the club to be put on display. Once a golfer wins this tournament, they have earned the right to play the tournament each year the rest of their lives. The world's greatest golfers have played this course and this tournament, without being awarded the Green Blazer.

This tournament is steeped with history and tradition. A good example is the Eisenhower Tree. President Dwight Eisenhower played this course on a regular basis and on numerous occasions kept hitting the same tree with his ball. He appealed to the Board of Directors to remove the tree. To protect the tree from being cut down in the future, the Board of Directors voted to name the tree after the President. Today, a memorial plague is displayed on the tree.

"Bobby" Jones was born in Atlanta, Georgia. In his childhood, he was a sickly boy and during his childhood had to be fed liquids. His father, Colonel Robert P. Jones was an avid golfer. Living close to a golf course, he would watch the adults play and in time would follow them around the course. At age five, he picked up his first golf club and started playing on his home lawn. In time, he would follow the better known golfers and study their swings and how they dressed the ball. He never had golf lessons as a child. At age six, he won his first Children's Tournament and continued to practice his game. In 1916, he won the Georgia State Amateur tournament at age fourteen. Unknown to anyone at the time, little "Bobby" Jones would become most likely the best golfer that has ever played the game.

Being the age that he was, he did have an uncontrollable temper and was reprimanded on numerous occasions by the golfing officials, at one time he was barred from playing until he could convince the directors that he would control his temper. The first time that he played on "Old Course" in St. Andrews, Scotland for the Open Championship, he withdrew from play after eleven holes in the third round and was quite vocal how he hated the course. Being insulted by his actions, the press wrote, "Master Bobby is just a boy, and an ordinary boy at that". He would later win this tournament on the same course, being awarded the trophy for the Championship, he won back the crowd by asking that the trophy remain at the Ancient Golf Club rather than return with him to Atlanta. In 1958, he was named a Freeman of the City of St. Andrews, becoming only the second American to be so honored, the other being Benjamin Franklin.

During World War I (1917 - 1918) at the age of fifteen, he toured the United States playing exhibition matches to generate income for the war relief. He qualified for his first U.S. Open at age 18 in 1920 and would win the Southern Amateur three times, 1917, 1920, and 1922.

In 1923, he hit his stride and won his first U.S. Open and during the next seven years, he would win thirteen Major Championships. Bobby Jones was the first golfer to win "the Double", the U.S. Open, and the British Open in the same year, 1926. Jones is considered one of the five giants of the 1920s sports scenes, along with Babe Ruth, boxer Jack Dempsey, football player Red Grange and tennis player Bill Tilden.

While winning the majority of the golfing tournaments, he was also attending college. He would earn two college degrees, one in Law and a second Bachelor Degree in English Literature from Harvard. After earning his degree in Law, he would spend only one year in Law School at Emory University before passing his bar examination. Jones was married in 1924 to Mary Rice Malone and they would have three children. The childhood illness had continued into his adult life in time was diagnosed as syringomyelia, a fluid filled cavity in his spinal cord that caused first pain then paralysis. During World War II, he would serve in the U.S. Army at the rank of Major.

"Bobby Jones" exemplified the word sportsmanship". While playing in the U.S. Open in 1925 he was in the final playoff. He hit his ball into the rough, while setting up to play his shot; his iron caused a slight movement of the ball. He called the Marshall's in and declared a penalty on himself. The Marshals conferred with one another and questioned some of the spectators in the gallery. No one had witnessed the movement of the ball. Jones, called the two stroke penalty on himself knowing that he would lose the tournament by one stroke. The United States Golf Association's sportsmanship award is named the Bob Jones Award in his honor.

Despite being credited as the best golfer in the world, he felt that he had not yet reached his destiny in golf. Despite his illness and being in constant pain, he wanted to win "The Grand Slam”, a feat that had never been accomplished. In 1930, he would fulfill his destiny by winning the Open Championship; U.S. Open Championship; U.S. Men's Amateur Championship and the British Open Championship. Following the winning of the 1930 Grand Slam, he would have his second "ticker tape" parade down Broadway in New York City. A few days later, he announced his retirement from golf.

"Bobby" Jones is the only golfer in the history of the game to win "The Grand Slam”. The only golfer that has won all four of these major tournaments is Tiger Woods; however, it took him two years to accomplish the feat. In his tournament play, "Bobby" Jones never played a metal golf club, primarily because they had not yet been developed. He won all of his tournaments using oak wood shafts. Although, well deserving to be called the world's greatest golfer, I feel his greatest attribute is that he played the game for one reason. "Bobby" Jones never played competitive golf as a Professional or joined the Professional Golfing Association. When asked why he refused to become a Professional and play for money, he replied, "I play golf because I love the game, when you play for money you loose that love".

Following his retirement from competitive golf, he purchased property in Augusta, Georgia and developed a golf course of his own design. The name of that golf course is the Augusta National Golf Course. During World War II, while serving in the Army, he allowed the Army to graze their cattle on the grounds of August National. "Bobby" Jones is the founder of "The Masters Tournament", a tournament that he would play in as a good will effort but never in competition to win due to his health. He remained active in organizing the tournament, despite being confined to a wheel chair until his death in 1971. "A simple plaque is erected at his memorial site at August National, the inscription is simple; "Bobby Jones" "For Love Of The Game".

Bernard Richard Skelton

"RED" SKELTON
July 18, 1913 ~ September 17, 1997
(Click On Link Prior To Reading Post)

As a youngster, I would listen to "Red" Skelton Show on the radio. In later years, he would make his television debut. I will always remember the first time that I saw him on television. He appeared before me just as he had appeared in my mind when I listened to him on the radio. He possessed the ability to broadcast his image through his voice inflections. Despite how difficult the times were, a few minutes of listening or watching Red Skelton, you were immediately transformed to a happier medium. You never knew who you would be watching when he performed; he could easily transform himself from character to character, whether it was "Freddy the Freeloader”, or "Clem Kadiddlehopper". On stage, he was one of the greatest, in life he was a Great American."

Red Skelton was a great comedian, Shrine Clown, and human being. We could all learn a lot from this man. A "Pledge" is something to take seriously, as he points out. Another pledge he obviously KEPT was to make people smile. . . in his memory, we should strive to do the same. (Annotation in Congressional Record when the above recording of the Pledge of Allegiance was registered.)

Two Stars On Hollywood Walk Of Fame
(One For Radio and One for Television)
Performed For Eight U.S. Presidents
Performed For Three Popes
Served In Army During World War II
Scottish Rite, 33rd Degree Mason
Radio Hall Of Fame 1994
International Clown Fall Of Fame 1989
First CBS Show Host To Be Televised In Color

"Red" was born Bernard Richard Skelton in Vincennes, Indiana on July 18, 1913. He was born two months following the death of his father who had been a clown with the Haggenbach and Wallace traveling shows. Red was raised by his mother in the love of the circus people who were to become his first real family, leaving an imprint on him that he would carry throughout his life, bringing happiness and laughter to millions.

To make ends meet, at age seven he begin singing on the streets for pennies. At age 10, he quit school and left home. He joined up with a traveling medicine show. From there, minstrel and tent shows, circuses, burlesques, Mississippi showboats, vaudeville, radio, motion pictures, and television were to become his home. He was a star in over 48 motion pictures but it was in television that Red Skelton was to achieve his greatest public acclaim. His television career spanned a record twenty consecutive years, during this tenure, his shows were always rated among the Top Ten in the Neilson Rating system.

Red's lesser known but equally outstanding accomplishments included the writing of nearly 5,000 musical compositions, including 64 symphonies, many of which have been played and recorded by Arthur Fiedler, David Rose, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Red Skelton was also the author of more than 4,000 short stories and full length books. His Skelton's "Pledge of Allegiance" has won forty-two awards and has twice been read into the Congressional Record.

In addition to being accomplished entertainer, Red Skelton is acclaimed as one of the century's greatest painters. His original oil paintings are displayed exclusively at the Center Art Galleries in Honolulu, Hawaii. A large majority of his paintings are those of the life that he led, focusing on happiness and clowns.

Red Skelton was a Shriner Clown and worked relentlessly in support of the Shriner's Hospitals. He donated a great deal of his artwork, books, memorabilia, and music for auctions to raise funds for the Shriner Hospitals and his kids, as he referred to the children that were patients in these hospitals.

Although he quit school when he was ten years old, he was recognized with Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Emerson College in Boston, Vincennes University, and Indiana State University. During a rehearsal of his television series, he accidentally fell and injured himself. Unable to perform, he asked one of his writers if they would fill in for him. The "staff writer" that was making his first television appearance was Johnny Carson. Whether he was playing the role of two seagulls, "Gertrude" and "Heathcliffe", the bum "Freddie the Freeloader" or the goofy "Clem Kadiddlehopper", his style of entertainment was always fresh and funny. Each show would commence with him holding an unlit cigar and offering a warm greeting along with a brief monologue. It would also include a "silent spot" in which Skelton demonstrated his mastery of pantomime. In closing his show, his final words would always be, "Good Night and God Bless".

The time has come to say good night,
My how time does fly.
We've had a laugh, perhaps a tear,
and now we hear good-bye.
I really hate to say good night,
For times like these are few.
I wish you love and happiness,
In everything you do.
The time has come to say good night,
I hope I've made a friend.
And so we'll say "May God Bless You,"
Until we meet again.