Old Timer Quiz: Granted, this is hard. 5 pitchers in baseball
history hit 30 homers or more. Name them. [Hint: All played
between the 1920s and 60s. One played in 1970 as well.]
Answer below.
Vietnam…Prelude to the Fall
When Richard Nixon was inaugurated in January of 1969, there
were 550,000 American military personnel stationed in Vietnam.
By the end of his first term, that number had been reduced to
24,000. The policy of “Vietnamization,” whereby ARVN (Army
of South Vietnam) forces would gradually replace U.S. units was
largely successful, to the extent that the ARVN forces held their
own.
By February 1970, Henry Kissinger began secret peace talks in
Paris with his counterpart, Le Duc Tho. There were many false
“breakthroughs” in the process. Finally, on January 27, 1973,
the U.S., South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong
formally signed a cease-fire agreement. At the same time,
Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced the end of the
draft.
Two months later, on March 29, the last American POWs were
released and on the same day the remaining U.S. troops left
Vietnam. About 8,500 civilian technicians stayed in the South.
Through the peace process, “Peace with honor,” as Nixon called
it, the U.S. left the South Vietnamese with a powerful, huge army
of some 1.1 million troops as well as a large, modern air force.
At the same time, the U.S. maintained a significant carrier force
in the Vietnamese waters as well as massive air forces in Taiwan
and Thailand, in the event the peace accords were broken by
Hanoi.
In the spring of 1973, Nixon thought that it had been made clear
to the North Vietnamese that the U.S. would not allow the
regime in Saigon to be overthrown. In an exchange of secret
letters with President Thieu of South Vietnam, Nixon assured
Thieu that the U.S. would come to the South”s aid if the North
violated the peace.
But beginning in 1970, Congress was slamming the door on
presidential war-making powers in Southeast Asia through
various legislative acts, culminating in the War Powers
Resolution of 1973 which required any American president to
obtain congressional approval within sixty days for any military
action.
By January 1974, Thieu announced that “The war has restarted.”
The first year of the truce had been a tenuous one, at best, with
some 14,000 ARVN and 45,000 NVA soldiers killed in major
border conflicts and incursions. In April, President Nixon”s
request for more aid to South Vietnam was rejected. Watergate
had poisoned the atmosphere, and the American public was in no
mood to support any further action. On August 9, President
Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford took over.
The North Vietnamese launched a massive, general invasion of
the South in December 1974 and by January of ”75 the whole of
central Vietnam was in a state of panic with millions of refugees
fleeing to Saigon. On March 26, President Ford pleaded with
Congress for aid, warning of “a massive shift in the foreign
policies of many countries and a fundamental threat.to the
security of the United States.” Ford tried again on April 10,
asking for $722 million in emergency military aid and for $250
million in economic and humanitarian assistance to South
Vietnam. He failed. On April 17, Phnom Penh, the capital of
Cambodia, fell to the Khmer Rouge of Pol Pot, thus sealing the
fate of at least one million Cambodians through systematic
starvation and executions. **Friday, the humiliating final retreat
from Saigon.
[Main Source: “A History of the American People” Paul Johnson]
—
More Songs That Peaked at #4 [Billboard Charts]
*If you are new to the site, you may want to check out the 4/12
and 4/19 Bar Chats. [See Archives below]
Herman”s Hermits – “There”s A Kind Of Hush” (3/67)
The Isley Brothers – “Fight The Power” (7/75)
Michael Jackson – “Got To Be There” (11/71)
Tommy James and The Shondells – “I Think We”re Alone
Now” (3/67)
Tommy James (solo) – “Draggin” The Line” (6/71)
Elton John – “The Bitch Is Back” (9/74)
Elton John – “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (7/75)
Ben E. King – “Stand By Me” (5/61)
The Kingsmen – “The Jolly Green Giant” (1/65)
Kool & The Gang – “Jungle Boogie” (1/74).a boogie.
Led Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love” (12/69)
Gary Lewis & The Playboys – “Everybody Loves A Clown”
(10/65)
Los Bravos – “Black Is Black” (9/66)
Mamas & The Papas – “California Dreamin”” (2/66)
Martha Reeves & The Vandells – “Heat Wave” (8/67)
Federico Garcia Lorca
In honor of Elian and Juan Miguel Gonzalez, herewith is a poem
from the greatest modern poet of the Spanish-speaking world (at
least according to the authors of “1,000 Years, 1,000 People.”)
“Lament for Ignacio Mejias”.which commemorates a
bullfighter fatally gored in 1934.
At five in the afternoon.
It was exactly five in the afternoon.
A boy brought the white sheet
at five in the afternoon.
A frail of lime ready prepared
at five in the afternoon.
The rest was death, and death alone
at five in the afternoon.
[Of course, after the INS action last Saturday, you could rework
the verse to read, “at five in the morning.” Don”t worry, my
loyal friends, I just needed some filler.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/21/62: “Good Luck Charm”
(Elvis) #2 “Johnny Angel” (Shelley Fabares) #3 “Mashed
Potato Time” (Dee Dee Sharp…”Mashed Potatoe Time”
Dan Quayle).
Horoscope
I never read these but my eye was directed to this blurb the other
day after seeing a picture of Tracy Lords. Verbatim:
“Tracy Lords” ability to weather controversy over her appearance
in over 80 adult films while still a minor is a testimony to the
strong Taurus influence in her chart, with her sun, Venus and
Mars all residing in the sign of the bull. Her Virgo moon
enhances these placements, giving her insight into the
motivations of others as well as herself.”
I swear, I just had no idea!
Quiz Answers: HRs by a pitcher – Wes Ferrell (37.193-128,
lifetime pitching record), Bob Lemon (35.207-128), Warren
Spahn (35.363-245), Red Ruffing (34.273-225), Earl Wilson
(33.121-109). *Don Drysdale hit 29 and Bob Gibson had 24.
These days, with the live ball and horrible caliber of pitching,
they”d all be DHs!
Next Bar Chat, Friday…more Tracy Lords horoscopes! [Just a
bit of Bar Chat humor there, folks.]
