Thursday, November 28, 2013

My first offering.

I'm going to blog because writers write. I’ll write about good memories from childhood. I'll express opinions. Writing motivates me. It did enough for me to earn a B.A. in Journalism and work as a newspaper reporter for three years.


I've had previous practice blogging. [See Ecuador Experiment]

Me Speaking is going to be written from the perspective of a baby boomer, but it's not going to be a single topic blog. It will take an open ended approach. I'm going to write about a variety of subjects.

I’ll sometimes write about mostly unknown things. Not many know about Confederate soldier Richard Kirkland.  At the battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, defending rebel forces behind a wall of rocks splintered repeated assaults by northern troops.  During a lull, yet with no truce in place to succor the wounded or retrieve the dead, Kirkland asked his commander for permission to give water to the hundreds of fallen yankee wounded.  His commander gave permission, but warned Kirkland he would get shot as soon as he stepped over the wall. Kirkland said he knew that, but loaded himself with all the canteens he could carry and went over the wall.

Not a rifle was fired during the 90 minutes he was exposed giving water to Federal wounded. He prayed with them when asked. He returned to the Confederate position to replenish his empty canteens several times. Soldiers from both sides watched with awe. Kirkland’s brave act born of mercy was remembered by both sides. A memorial to him was erected at the battle site in 1965 with contributions from northern and southern states. Kirkland was later killed in action at the battle of Chickamauga.

I might review a book or movie.  I might write about an international treaty. I might write about dangers to earth’s environment, like the near eradication of the bee population. I enjoy ancient Roman history and might write about a pivotal battle that changed the course of events on a significant level.

I look forward to authoring this blog and hope you will find good writing and interesting reading in its posts.