The Charge of the Light Brigade

HI very much like a movie that inspires me to want to learn more about an event. Last night I watched the 1968 version of the film The Charge of the Light Brigade starring David Hemmings and Trevor Howard, directed by Tony Richardson. The movie is a reasonably accurate depiction of the tragic 1854 British cavalry charge led by Lord Cardigan (Howard) against the Russians during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.

Watch the trailer ...


Prior to this I had only a sketchy knowledge of this event derived mostly from the epic poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Consequently, I wanted to know more about this incident in history.

Of the more than 600 cavalry troops who rode into the "Valley of Death" that day about half were killed, wounded, or captured. The brigade, led by Lord Cardigan at the front, displayed great courage in the face of overwhelming fire raining down from three sides. However, the charge violated sound military principles and was destined to catastrophic failure by incompetent leadership and petty jealousies and rivalries at the command level.

An interesting fact I learned from the film is that officers' wives traveled with the troops. But not all wives. According to the movie, only one in six wives were permitted to make the journey with their husbands.

Made at a time when when the Vietnam War was raging in southeast Asia the film includes themes such as class distinctions in Britain, racial and social prejudice, and the glorification of war.

Read the Wikipedia entry for The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Read an eyewitness account by London Times correspondent William Howard Russell

See a virtual movie of Tennyson reading his poem on YouTube
See a copy of the poem hand-written by Tennyson

Three is a Magic Number

Flag Day 2009

Flags being displayed in the neighborhood on this Flag Day, June 14.



Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag on this day in 1777. Pres. Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1916, that officially established June 14 as Flag Day. In August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress, though Flag Day is not an official federal holiday. However, on June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first (and only) U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday.

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City of Champions

From Blogger Pictures

I put this together Saturday morning to celebrate the winning of two major championships, the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup, in one city, Pittsburgh.

And the thunder rolled ...

Sometimes, I like this sort of a storm. It seems to cleanse the air and freshen everything.

Leave Nothing Behind

I think this is a great shot by Harry How (Getty Images) of the Pittsburgh Penguins' Tyler Kennedy giving everything he has in last night's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Pens managed a 2-1 victory over the Red Wings to send the series to game 7 Friday night in Detroit.

I heard on Mike and Mike this morning that this is the fifth NHL final to go seven games this decade while the NBA and MLB together have only gone seven three times.

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More from WW2 Weekend

This short clip shows some World War II era planes on the taxiway at Reading Regional Airport during the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's World War II weekend.

Mid-Atlantic Air Museum World War II Weekend

On June 6, the 65th anniversary of D-Day, a friend and I visited the annual World War II weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, PA. It was quite an interesting day. There were displays of all sorts of military personnel, equipment, and other paraphernalia. The stars of the show were the numerous military aircraft from the era which were on display, many of which were flying.

Nearly all the nationalities involved in the war were represented, American, Britons, Canadians, Germans, Japanese, and more. There were displays representing life on the home front as well as a mini French village. A highlight was the appearance of five of the actual men whose war experiences have been portrayed in the television series Band of Brothers.

I was surprised by the number and broad variety of people attending the event, small children, teens, young adults, all the way up to those who lived during the war years. There were so many visitors that traffic was backed up for miles. It took nearly an hour to travel the last two miles.

Unfortunately, heavy rains Friday caused some areas to turn into quagmires as you can see in one of my photos, so people had to tread through some very muddy conditions.

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One, to Go, Please!

I saw this walking through the supermarket this morning, and being me, I read it in a way that was not intended. In my mind it was not a package of six foot-long hot dog buns, it was six-foot-long hot dog buns. Which would require one heckuva hot dog to fill it. Just one, please!