I have been writing about him in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog this month. He was on the USS Oneida in the Battle of Mobile Bay where he distinguished himself. The name Gridley made me think of the famous George Dewey quote at the Battle of Manila Bay some 34 years later.
Was this the same Gridley? the answer was yes. That has led to the posts on the USS Zafiro and Dewey Medal in this blog.
--Cooter
The Dewey Medal was designed by celebrated artist Daniel Chester French, who sculped the seated Lincoln in Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln memorial and the Minuteman statue at Concord, Massachusetts. The medal itself was struck by Tiffany & Company.
The front, or obverse, depicts a bust of Commodore George Dewey. On the back, or reverse, is included the name of the vessel on which the recipient served. The name of the recipient is engraved on the medal's lower rim, this being one of only two service medals issued officially to the recipient.
*************************
One of these medals is located at the Headquarters Artifact Collection, Naval History and Heritage Command.
The obverse features a profile bust of Commodore George Dewey with text to the right and left of his head that reads: "The gift of the people of the United States to the officers and men of the Asiatic Squadron under the command of Commodore George Dewey."
Below the bust are the words: DC French 1898."
The reverse of the medal has the image of a bare-chested sailor sitting on a cannon barrel with a furled flag upon his lap. The text along the edge reads: "In memory of the Victory on Manila Bay on May 1, 1898."
Below the image is a tablet for the stamped "USS Olympia." The rim of this medal is stamped "Ah Foy, Landsman."
--Cooter
The Dewey Medal was a one-time only decoration. It consists of a circular medallion inscribed front and back, with a profile if Dewey on the front and a sailor sitting on a gun on the back. It is suspended by a blue and gold ribbon.
Admiral Dewey also received one, but through modesty always wore it with the sailor's picture on it. Dewey is one of only four Americans entitled to wear a medal with their mage on it. The other three are Rear Admiral William T. Sampson (Sampson Medal for his victory at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba in the Spanish-American War), Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd (1st and 2nd Byrd Expeditions to Antarctica) and General of the Armies John J. Pershing.
The Dewey Medal is one of the few United States military awards to have fewer recipients than the Medal of Honor.. Only 1,825 medals were struck, each machine engraved to the recipient with his name, rate(enlisted) or rank (officer).
--Cooter
The colliers USS Nanshan and USS Zafiro were part of Dewey's squadron and supported the Manila Bay operation but are not listed in Navy regulations having their crew members eligible for the Dewey Medal. This is because these ships were not actively involved in the battle and at the time they were civilian-manned vessels purchased to support the Navy ships.
The Nanshan was commanded by Navy Lieutenant Benjamin W. Hodges, but technically remained a merchant ship so se could resupply at neutral ports which simplified the squadron's logistics. The Zafiro was commanded by Ensign Henry A. Pearson, USN, and, like the Nanshan, was technically a merchant ship at the time of the battle.
Both ships were later commissioned into the U.S. Navy.
--Cooter
From Wikipedia.
I found mention of this medal being given to Ensign Henry E. Pearson who commanded the USS Zafiro at the Battle of Manila Bay. I had never heard of the Dewey Medal, so Wikipedia here I come.
It was a military decoration of the United States Navy established by the U.S. Congress on June 3, 1898, to recognize the leadership of George Dewey during the Spanish-American War and the sailors and Marines under his command. Specifically it was for the Battle of Manila Bay.
To receive one, the person had to have served on one of these ships at the battle on May 1. 1898:
USS Baltimore
USS Boston
USS Concord
USS McCullough
USS Olympia
USS Petrel
USS Raleigh
--Cooter
On 21 October 1910, the U.S. Navy sold the Zafiro to a Mr. J.W. Zeeve of Seattle, Washington, who soon afterwards sold the ship to the government of Mexico. In 1917, the Zafiro reappeared as the French-owned sailing vessel Bowler in British Columbia.
She was refitted with wood planking which made it hard to get a marine rating from the Bureau Veritas or Lloyd's of London and it was suggested that she be re-rigged into a coastal vessel. In 1918, it was re-registered in Panama as the Belen Quezada.
As such, she was the first international "flag of convenience" vessel and ran alcohol between Canada and the United States during Prohibition.
She was deleted from Panamanian ship registry in 1931, and presumably scrapped shortly thereafter.
--DaCoot
Regardless of whether she was a commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy, she accompanied Dewey's fleet when it departed Hong Kong in April 1898 and served as a collier and supply ship during the Battle of Manila Bay and the ensuing Philippines Campaign.
(A collier is a bulk coat ship, also carries supplies, in case you're wondering.
The lack of documents covering her activities inj1898 and the first half of 1899 precludes any history of her service during that time. Presumably she plied the waters of the Philippines carrying troops, supplies and dispatches between those points..
Based at Cavite on Luzon, she is known to have performed such missions during the period of time from latter 1899 and June 1904. Those movements in support of the U.S. Army's suppression of the Philippines Insurrection and campaigns against the Moslem Moro tribesmen took her to a host of exotic places throughout the islands.
On 10 June 1904, the Zafiro was placed out of commission at Cavite and her name was struck from the Navy List on 15 January 1906. On 21 October 1910 she was sold to Mr. J.W. Zeeve of Seattle, Washington.
--Cooter
213 feet, 8.5 inches length
31 feet, 9.5 inch beam
Armament in 1900: two X 37mm revolving cannons.
When bought, the only U.S. Navy man on board was its commander, am Ensign Henry A. Pearson, USN. The crew evidently was its civilian crew. Despite orders to the contrary, Dewey did not commission her, so technically she was still a commercial vessel and able to enter neutral ports without any difficulty of bein a belligerent vessel. This made resupplying the American ships much easier.
Her status in the U.S. Navy is further complicated because no deck logs were kept until 1900. Finally, after the Spanish-American War, there were no Americans on board until Ensign L.A. Gotten assumed command in May 1900.
--DaCootDazed
I wrote about this ship in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog the last two days in connection to a man named Charles V. Gridley, who was a naval officer during the Civil War, but also, more famously, the Spanish-American War. He was the man that Commodore George Dewey said "You may fire when you are ready" to at the start of the Battle of Manila Bay which led to the destruction of the Spanish fleet.
Charles Gridley was the commander of the USS Olympia which was serving as Dewey's flagship. Unfortunately, Gridley became sick soon afterwards and died almost a month and a half later. He was transferred off the Olympia on the USS Zafiro.
You can read about Gridley's career in my Running the Blockade blog this week. Go to the My Blogs column and click on this blog.
I'd never heard of this ship, so Wikipedia here I come.
USS ZAFIRO
It was a collier, bulk cargo ship, that served in the U.S. Navy from 1898 to 1904.
It was constructed in the United Kingdom, but George Dewey purchased her for the U.S. Navy in Hong Kong on 9 April 1898, just before his Asiatic Squadron sailed for the Philippines at the beginning of the Spanish-American War.
--Cooter
From the June 19, 2021, ListVerse site by Toby Oliva.
I will just be listing them, but if you go to the site, there is more information.
10. Time
9. Space travel
8. Machine Learning You know, computers, etc.
7. Math
6. Printing Press
5. Internet
4. Sanitation
3. Mythology An interesting one.
2. The Scientific Method
1. Dessert Another very interesting selection.
I Think I'll Start With Dessert. --Cooter
I loved that mask they had on him to keep him from biting others. A real "Does not play well with others kind of a guy, that Hannibal."
What was Hannibal getting ready to do when he said this? "I do wish we could chat longer, but... I'm having an old friend for dinner."
"I ate his liver with some fava beans."
"Well, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming?"
"Whenever feasible, one should always try to eat the rude."
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24 Minutes, 54 Seconds
That's how long Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter is on the screen. It's the second shortest performance to win an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
The very shortest stint was David Niven's winning role as Major Angus Pollock in 1958's "Separate Tables" was 23 minutes, 39 seconds.
--DaCoot
"The Silence of the Lambs" (1991)
Raise a glass of nice Chianti to this spellbinding masterpiece. A twisted buddy movie, this story of fresh-faced FBI trainee Clarice Sterling (Jodie Foster) using the help of the brilliantly warped inmate Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to catch a serial killer was a rare critical and commercial hit. It won the top five Oscars, including Best Picture.
My thoughts on the movie: "Man, that was some kind of weird. And, that Hannibal was some kind of smooth."
That's unusual for any movie, let alone a macabre one. "I remember gripping the armrests [at the first screening] because it was so intense!" says Brooke Smith, 53, who played feisty kidnapping victim Catherine Martin. "I got sucked in like everyone else." She says the psychological thriller made its mark because "the hero was a woman in a role that's usually played by a nab. And, she saves another woman.
--Cooter
Characters in other movies owe a debt to Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones. Robert Langdon in "The Da Vinci Code" and Lara Croft "Tomb Raider" have since put their lives on the line to solve ancient mysteries.
Captain America fought the same sort of Axis enemies in "Captain America: The First Avenger." And definitely in the "National Treasure" movies.
But Karen Allen (Mrs. Boone) can't confirm whether or not she'll be in a upcoming fifth installment of "Indiana Jones" with Harrison Ford.
However, she says the legacy of the film, set in the 1930s, lies in its timelessness. "It's been passed with great affection from one generation to another," she says. "I still see kids dressed up as Indiana Jones and Marion, which is really saying something for a film made 40 years ago.
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10,000+
The number of nonvenomous snakes used in the Well of Souls scene where the Ark of the Covenant was discovered. You know where Indiana said: "Why did it have to be snakes? I hate snakes."
--CootJones
Continued from May 27.
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg wanted to pay homage to the Saturday afternoon serials they grew up watching. The result was the biggest money-maker of the year and one of the best adventure movies ever made according to Ben Mankiewicz, Turner Classic Movies host.
We're right by Indiana Jones' side as the swashbuckling archaeologist, played by Harrison Ford, attempts to find the religious artifact the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis get it. (The Ark of the Covenant is a gold-covered wooden chest with lid cover described as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments.)
Karen Allen (who played Boone's love interest in "Animal House") played the ex-love interest and sparring partner Marion Ravenwood, still marvels at Indy saying he is "flawed and rarely in the right place at the right time, and the romance was hard won."
--Cooter
** At the back of the Crowne Plaza in Rosemont, surrounded by a drab parking lot, there is another homage: The Murray Bros. Caddyshack, one of two "Caddyshack" theme restaurants owned by the brothers (Murray Brothers in case you're wondering). The other one is in St. Augustine, Florida.
"Eat, Drink and Be Murray" reads the sign. Inside, a sports bar, outfitted with Bill Murray posters, Murray family holiday pictures and even a real Murray --Andy is the chef, floating between the two locations.
Stuffed gophers sit at every other table to encourage social distancing. Booths are tartan.
The deep fried golf balls (mashed potatoes, bacon, horseradish) is the clubhouse munchy yopu imagine Indian Hill would prohibit. They also sell their own brand of vodka.
In allIt's all modestly charming, and yes, Bill drops by-- a few times a year. A waiter confided: "Though to be honest, that family is so big it's like one of them is here every day."
** Before "Caddyshack" was released 40 years ago, Ramis told the tribune that although the film was contemporary, its '70s nihilisms and casual golf club already made it a period piece.
He wished they set it in the '60s like "Animal House" The movie "should have said at the beginning 'Chicago 1963' because 'Caddyshack' really is about things that don't exist anymore."
--Cooter
** Inane as it sounds, though, Kenny Loggins' "I'm Alright" became the soundtrack's ubiquitous smash hit. You heard it all over the radio. However, Ramis originally wanted Pink Floyd to do it. (They were busy, so didn't.)
** "Caddyshack" (along with "Animal House," "Stripes" and others like it) celebrates the underdog, but the culture of the 1980s that followed those films were enamored with privilege. You can see that happening in the film, which at first is about working class kids with summer jobs but gradually tells the tale of the feckless captains of industry whom they serve.
** The author of this only met Harold Ramis once backstage before an event at Columbia College. A film student told him that "Caddyshack" was his favorite movie of all time. Ramis smiled and told him: "Thank you, but I hope you make better movies than that one."
** Doug Kenney, the co-screenwriter and producer, died a month after "Caddyshack" was released. He was found at the bottom of a ravine in Hawaii. Kinney was a very troubled, drug-addled writer that friends assumed he had killed himself. Ramis liked to say: "He fell looking for a place to jump."
--Cooter
** "Caddyshack" at first looks like a lot of 1970s films. There's a disorderly middle-class home, a hero who crosses the tracks to reach the rich part of town. But, the plot is essentially thin about a promising caddy vying for a scholarship, resistant to authority, nervous his girlfriend may be pregnant. You might even forget the movie has a plot.
** The scholarship plot was inspired by Ed Murray, the oldest Murray brother who won the prestigious Evans Scholarship given to exceptional caddies. It gave him a full ride to Northwestern University. (The Evans Scholarships are still awarded, now over 90 years old and overseen by the Western Golf Association of Glenview.)
** Besides Bill Murray's performance, you probably remember the gopher wreaking havoc across the course and Murray's efforts to get the varmint. What might have prompted that plot was that in the late 1960s, a muskrat took up residence near the 16th hole of the Indian Hill Golf Course. One night, a frustrated groundskeeper, a military vet, waited until the animal revealed itself, then flipped on the headlights of his ATV and fired a shotgun blast. (He missed.) Of course, there was always that darned groundhog that kept Murray in a loop in that other movie.
**Actor Michael O'Keefe, who played Danny, the aspiring scholarship candidate was later an Oscar nominee for the "The Great Santini" and married to singer Bonnie Raitt for eight years as well as on the TV show "Roseanne" for 35 episodes as Fred.
--CootCaddy
** The clothing in "Caddyshack"-- the sleeveless T's, stiletto heels, Rodney Dangerfield's plaids-- have become a character in themselves. At Indian Hill, however, sports jackets must be worn during lunch, shirts must be tucked in, cargo shorts are not permitted, nor are denim cutoffs around the pool area.
** Hats must be worn "bill forward" only.
** Cindy Morgan, who plays Terd Knight's sophisticated, promiscuous niece Lacey Underall, grew up in Chicago. Before acting, she was morning DJ at WSDM-FM which later became WLUP, "The Loop."
** Then only black actor with a line was Jackie Davis, who shines shoes at the club. After overhearing Knight's character telling a racist joke, destroys the member's golf cleats. He wasn't really an actor. In real life he was an accomplished jazz musician who had backed Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald.
** The chaotic family home inn the film's opening scenes -- lines of kids waiting outside the bathrooms, bawling children and slamming doors -- was inspired by the family home in Wilmette. The house Bill Murray grew up in was a three-bedroom home with nine kids.
Bill Murray once described it as "a wreck, a constant, claustrophobic mess."
--DaCoot
** Many characters in the movie were based on real-life people from Indian Hill Country Club regulars. Several employees had Irish accents. Ty, the club pro, was based on a member as were the elderly couple who could barely swing their clubs. According to a book by Bill Murray, he would caddy for a man who had trouble hitting anything. Until his bosses caught him, he routinely wrote the man down for holes-in-one.
** Despite the passage of time and popularity of the movie, the Indian Hill management will not discuss "Caddyshack" at all. Nowhere on the grounds is there a mention of it at all.
** Well, almost. The pro shop does sell Bushwood Country Club and gopher-themed belts.
** A member whispered to the author of the article: "Not all our members appreciate 'Caddyshack.' "
** Caddies in "Caddyshack" accept tops. Caddies at Indian Hill do not.
That Darn Gopher, Or Is It a Groundhog? --Cooter
The Independence -class variant littoral combat ship USS Manchester (LCS-14) is shown transiting the San Francisco Bay during the annual parade of ships event during the San Francisco Fleet Week 2018.
During Fleet Week, service members participate in various community service events, showcase capabilities and equipment to the community, and enjoy the hospitality of San Francisco and its surrounding areas.
--CooterAway
From the Paralyzed Veterans of American June 2021 calendar.
USS MANCHESTER GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
BUILDER: Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama
LAUNCHED: May 13, 2016
HOMEPORT: San Diego, California
DISPLACEMENT: Approximately 3,104 tons full load
LENGTH: 418 feet
BEAM: 104 feet
CREW: 8 officers, 32 enlisted (two crews, a gold and a blue one) and up to 35 mission crew.
ARMAMENT: one Mk-110 57 mm gun, one SeaRam CIWS (This last item is one powerful weapon. I had to look it up and it said it was a complete combat weapon system that automatically detects, evaluates engages and performs kill assessment against ASM and high speed aircraft threats.)
AIRCRAFT: two MH-60 helicopters
--Cooter
** There were at least four styles of comedy in the movie. You had Bill Murray's absurdist, Rodney Dangerfield's nightclub one-liners, Chevy Chase's snark and Ted Knight's sitcom rage.
** Chase's golf pro never keeps score and then there was that priest declaring that there is no God.
** The infamous pool evacuation scene -- a Baby Ruth candy bar lands in the water and gets mistaken for something else -- was inspired by an actual prank that had been played while the Murray brothers attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette.
** The scene, shot four years after the release of "Jaws" and borrowing John Williams' iconic score, is remarkably faithful to Steven Spielberg's staging of the shark attack in :Jaws." Ramis keeps the camera at the waterline, waves swamping the lens, and then the stampede out of the water is ugly and out of focus at times.
** In case you haven't tested the theory, Baby Ruths do not float in water.
** Early in the film, the head caddy wrangler threatens his unruly charges that if they don't straighten up they will be replaced with cheaper, less-mouthy golf carts. Indian Hill Country Club still uses caddies.
--DaCootMurray
** Even though the movie was inspired by Illinois, it was set in Nebraska and shot in Florida.
** The concept was sold as "Animal House" on a golf course.
** "Caddyshack" may be signature Bill Murray, but older brother Brian Doyle-Murray was more involved. Bill spent just a short time on set; but Brian provided the idea, co-wrote the screenplay (with Rami and Kenney), then played the manager of the caddyshack.
** Brian based Lou Loomis, his character, on Lou Janis, an Indian Hill caddy master. According to Bill Murray's golf memoir, Janis "would bet on anything." In the movie, Loomis wagered that a member would pick his nose and eat it.
** As early as the mid-1970s, Bill Murray was performing variations of his character, Carl Spackler -- his side talking, imbalanced, philosophical groundskeeper -- as a cast member at Second City.
--RoadDog
TEENAGERS AND CATS: Cats and teenagers yawn in exactly the same manner, communicating that ultimate human ecstasy-- a sense of complete and utter boredom.
From the July 23, 2020, Chicago Tribune "Forty thoughts on 'Caddyshack' by Christopher Borrelli.
The movie "Caddyshack" was released 41 years ago now (40 years ago back in 2020) and tells the story of working class caddies, slobs, wiseasses, and nouveau rich who clash at a Chicago country club.
This is one of my favorite movies and I was able to watch it a short time ago. It was great then as it is now.
Here are some of Mr. Borrelli's thoughts on the movie:
** "Caddyshack" was directed by Harold Ramis, who grew up in Chicago's Rogers Park and died at his home in Glencoe in 2014. He made his career -- "Animal House," "Ghostbusters, "Stripes" -- on movies about irreverent guys facing down an establishment.
"Caddyshack" was his first directing job and was based on stories from the Murray brothers of Wilmette-- Bill, Brian, et al. They caddied public courses in Evanston and at Indian Hill Club, a private course in Winnetka.
Too Funny, Especially the Swimming Pool Scenes. --CootShack
ROB RIGGLE
Actor/comedian spent 20 years in Marines and retired as a lieutenant-colonel.
BEA ARTHUR
Before she was "Maude" and on "The Golden Girls" she was a Marine and was a typist and drove trucks.
MEL BROOKS
Drafted into the Army in World War II. He worked as a combat engineer disarming mines.
GAL GADOT
After being named Miss Israel in 2004, the future Wonder Woman served two years in the Israel Defense Force as a physical fitness specialist.
JOHNNY CARSON
Joined the Navy in 194 and was later assigned to the USS Pennsylvania towards the end of the war.
GEORGE CARLIN
A radar technician in the Air Force, he was court-martialed three times before eventually being given a general discharge.
Seven Words You Know. --Cooter
MC HAMMER
Real name Stanley Burrell. Three years in the Navy as an aviation storekeeper.
DR. RUTH
Was trained as a sniper in the late 1940s in what later became the Israeli Defense Force.
BOB ROSS
Artist spent 20 years in the Air Force, part of the time as a drill instructor.
ICE-T
Real name Tracy Marrow. Four years in the Army.
CHUCK NORRIS
Served in Air Force as a police airman. learned martial arts while stationed in Korea
--Cooter
** FLIP WILSON
First name is actually Clerow, but received nickname "Flip" from fellow airmen in Air Force.
** BOB BARKER
Former host of "The Price Is Right" trained as a fighter pilot. He left college in 1943 for flight training with the Naval Reserve, but World War II ended before he was given an active-duty assignment.
** ALEC GUINESS
The original Obi-Wan Kenobi joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1941. He would later serve as the commander on a landing craft during the Normandy Invasion on D-Day.
** PAT SAJAC
The "Wheel of Fortune" host joined the Army in 1968. He worked as a deejay for the Armed Forces Radio. "Gooooood Morning, Vietnam!!"
** CHARLES BRONSON
Joined the Army in 1943 and served as an aircraft gunner. Awarded a Purple Heart before leaving the military in 1946.
--Cooter
In honor of Memorial Day yesterday.
From the May 31, 2021, Gazette "19 famous people you didn't know served in the military" by Terry Terrones.
Sure, folks know George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower served in the military. As did Elvis.
But, here are some others:
1. ADAM DRIVER "Kenlo in "Star Wars" Two years in Marines after 9/11. Medical discharge.
2. JIMI HENDRIX-- Enlisted in Army in 1961. 101st Airborne. Honorably discharged 1962 after injury.
3. MORGAN FREEMAN-- Joined Air Force 1955. Radar technician for four years.
4. JAMES EARL JONES-- Army officer in Korean War
--Cooter
