Even Back Then, 1922, 100 Years Ago: At the Time It Seemed Like the Thing to Do

From the November  29, 2022, MidWeek "Looking Back."  DeKalb County, Illinois.

"Six men, none of them believed to be over  35 years of age,  riding in a stolen Jordan sedan, crashed into a standing freight train at the Spring Valley tracks on the Lincoln Highway this morning at 4:30.  Three of the men were injured and were taken to the hospital, one was returned to jail with the other fellow who was too drunk to get hurt.

"The other two prisoners were under guard at the Glidden Memorial hospital.  One of the injured suffered a broken arm and a piece of the windshield jammed into his jawbone.  The other had his hand badly lacerated and required several stitches.

"The third injured man was cut  about thenhead and after being given surgical attention at the hospital, was returned to the police station.

"The Jordan sedan was badly wrecked, and the entire front end of thye machine was badly broken, although the engine would run."

Too Drunk to Get Hurt?

Boys Will Be Boys?  --Cooter

Hans Johnsen, USN, Medal of Honor for Action on USS Winslow

From Wikipedia.

HANS JOHNSEN

(January 3, 1865 - June 17, 1920)

Chief machinist serving in the U.S. Navy during the Spanish-American War where he received a Medal of Honor for bravery.

He was born in Sandnes,  Norway, and fought in the Spanish-American War on board the torpedo boat USS Winslow at the Battle of Cardenas.  Along with the Medal of Honor, he was warranted as a gunner on June 27, 1898, and promoted to chief gunner on June 27, 1904.

During World War I, he received a temporary promotion to lieutenant on July  1, 1918.

He died June 17, 1920, and is buried in Bayview-New York Cemetery in Jersey City, New Jersey.

George F. Brady, USN-- Part 2: Committed Suicide and Gravestone Didn't List His Medal of Honor

In addition to the Medal of Honor, he was promoted to the warrant officer rank of Gunner on June 27, 1898.  His first assignment at the new rank was on the armored cruiser USS New York (ACR-2).  Then, he was transferred to Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island, on 21 November 1900.

His old ship, the USS Winslow, on which he won his Medal of Honor, was stationed there from 1901 to 1904, so it is likely he was back on his old ship.

Sadly, he committed suicide while serving on the USS Monongahela at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, on November 6, 1903.  He stated shortly before his suicide that "the pain was unbearable", but it is unclear if his pain was physical or emotional.

He was buried in the Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island, where his wife and children lived.  As his tombstone did not indicate that he had received the Medal of Honor, this fact was not discovered until January 20 when Charles Mogayzel of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was able to find Brady's gravesite.

Representatives of the U.S. Navy and local veterans  organizations dedicated a Medal of Honor grave marker on Brady's grave on Memorial Day later that year.

His name in records pertaining to the Medal of Honor list his name as "George F. Brady" and the name on his tombstone is "George P. Brady."  The reason for this discrepancy is probably that his name was mis-transcribed when his Medal of Honor citation was written.

--Cooter

Sons of the American Revolution Honors American Battlefield Trust

From the Summer 2022 Hallowed Ground magazine.

At its spring meeting,the National Society Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), in unanimous acclamation, named the American Battlefield Trust the 2022 recipient of its Distinguished Patriotic Leadership Award, and recognizing both the Trust's land preservation and educational initiatives.

Of course, the American Battlefield Trust originally was the Civil War Battlefield Trust and only targetting preservation of Civil War battlefields, but has recently expanded its preservation efforts to the American Revolution and the War of 1812 battlefields.

The NSSAR has been a strong supporter of the Trust's work since its earliest forays into the protection of Revolutionary War battle sites.  Its advocacy meaningly advanced Trust preservation efforts at Princeton and together the two organizations have worked to protect 2,500 additional acres to mark the Revolutionary War's 250th anniversary, the semiquincentennial.

--Cooter

Mount Diablo Relit for Veterans Day-- Part 3

Continued from my Tattooed on Your Soul: WW II and Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blogs.

"When the Beacon light is turned on, that's a tribute to those individuals who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor," stated  Pearl Harbor Survivor Earl "Chuck" Kohler.

The Beacon is owned by California State Parks, but maintained by Save Mount Diablo, is one of the last remaining working beacons from the transcontinental string of guides.

However, its future remained undertain until the beacon's restoration in 2013,  when California Assembly Member Joan Buchanan wrote and helped pass legislation to assist the nonprofit in achieving their restoration goal.

The DPAA Identifies Five MIA/POW Service Members from the Korean War and World War II

From the Novemeber 2, 2022, Stars and Stripes.

The Defense Department's  Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) has recently identified five missing servicemen, three from Pearl Harbor in World War II and two from the Korean War.

Both Korean War soldiers  -- Sgt.  Howard Malcom, 23, and Sgt.  Allen Tuttle, 23--  had been unaccounted for since December 1950 and died in the same POW camp, according to the DPAA.

Malcom, who died in  August 1951, was accounted for on October  25.

Tuttle, who died  in March 1951,  was identified  on October 26.

You can go to my Tattooed on Your Soul:  World War II blog to read about the Pearl Harbor sailors who were identified.

George F. Brady, USN: Spanish-American War Medal of Honor Recipient on USS Winslow

From Wikipedia.

GEORGE F. BRADY

(September 7, 1867 to November 6, 1903)

Born in Ireland and enlisted in U.S. Navy  at age 17 on November 30, 1884.  He had risen to the rank of  Chief Gunner's Mate by the time of the Spanish-American War.

He was aboard the torpedo boat USS Winslow during the Battle of Cardenas, Cuba, on May 11, 1898.  During the battle, the Winslow was badly damaged by Spanish gunfire  Brady made attempts to  repair the ship's steering gear and helped maintain its watertight integrity to prevent it from sinking.  He also took command of the ship after its commander was wounded and taken off it.   

For his heriosm, he was awarded the Medal of Honor by the Navy on September  3, 1899.

--Cooter

USS Winslow (TB-5)-- Part 4: Post War Service

The Winslow was returned to full commission by 30 June 1901 and assigned to the Naval Torpedo Statopn at  Newport, spending then next  three years training naval officers and enlisted men the techniques of torpedo firing and helping them polish their skills in gunnery and shopboard engineering.

Most likely, she also participated in some work to improve the "automotive" torpedo.

Not much is known as to her activities between July 1904 and February 1906, but probably spent the majority of it in reserve or out of commission on New York.  The Winslow was recommissioned at New York Navy Yard on 16 February 1906 and steamed south to Norfolk where she was placed in the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla.

Sometime in 1909, she was transferred to Charleston, S.C., but remained in reserve.

On 1 June 1909, she was turned over to the Massachusetts Naval Militia at Charlestown and later moved north to Boston where she served as a school ship for volunteer seaman for a local  naval militia until the following  November.  

On 2 November 1909, the Massachusetts Naval Militia returned the Winslow to the Navy and she was in Boston Navy Yard in reserve until the summer of 1010.  She was then placed out of commission at Boston and sold  in 1911.

Sometime around October 1923, the Winslow, along  with other decommissioned vessels, was scuttled near Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Long Island to form a breakwater.

--Cooter

USS Winslow (TB-5)-- Part 3: One Battered Ship

Badly damaged, the Winslow was towed clear of the action.  Her commanding officer and a number of other in the crew were wounded.  

Lt. Bernadou saw to it that the wounded and dead were transferred to the Hudson and then left the ship himself, turning command over to Chief Gunner's Mate  George F. Brady, who, along with Chief Gunner's Mate  Hans Johnsen and Chief Machinist  Thomas C. Cooney-- later received Medals of Honor and was promoted to warrant officer.

The day following the engagement, the Winslow arrived at Key West for temporary repairs there and in Mobile, Alabama.  She returned to Key West for ten days before sailing  noth on 16 August.  After brief stops at Port Royal, S.C., and Norfolk, the Winslow reached NewYork on 27 August.  She was placed out of commission at the New York Navy Yard on 7 September 1898 to begin more extensive repairs.  This was one battered ship.

Except for a brief trip to Philadelphia in mid-October, the Winslow remained inactive until early 1901.  She then was in a decommissioned status in New York and later at Norfolk Navy Yard where she was listed as in reserve.

--Cooter

This Month in the American Revolution

From the American Battlefield Trust 2022 calendar.

NOVEMBER 13, 1775

**  Americans take Montreal

NOVEMBER 16, 1776

**  Battle of Fort Washington, New York.

NOVEMBER 16, 1777

**  British capture Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

NOVEMBER 19-21, 1775

**  Siege of Ninety Six, South Carolina.

NOVEMBER 20, 1776

**  British capture Fort Lee, New Jersey.

NOVEMBER 25, 1783

**  British evacuate New York City.

--Cooter

USS Winslow (TB-5)-- Part 2: The Battle of Cardenas

As the United States and Spain got closer to war after the USS Maine blew up mysteriously in Havana Harbor, the Winslow went to Key West to be closer to where the action was expected to happen.  After war was declared, the Winslow patrolled the  north coast of Cuba near Havana, Cardenas and Mantanzas.

On 8 May 1898, she forced three Spanish gunboats back into Cardenas Harbor.   On 11 May, the Winslow, USRC Hudson and USS Wilmington steamed into Cardenas Harbor looking for those three Spanish gunboats.  A battle erupted.

The Spanish concentrated their fire on the Winslow, which was the smallest of the three American ships, and she soon started getting hit.  Shots all but disabled the Winslow.  The other two American ships joined the battle and  soon put the Spanish warship out of action.

A request went out to be towed to safety.  As the Hudson was towing the Winslow, one last Spanish shot struck the torpedo boat near her starboard gun and killed Ensign Worth Bagley.  He was the first and only naval officer killed in action in the war.

In memory of his sacrifice and devotion, four ships in the U.S. Navy have carried his name.

There were temporary repairs at Key West and Mobile before sailing to New York Navy Yard, put out of commission and then extensive repairs were carried out.

--Cooter