I PLEDGE - Week 1

copyright 2018 - Vic Campbell

I PLEDGE

A Weekly theme for school reflection time to coincide with or even replace the pledge to the flag. The concept is to build on the great thinkers over the ages (from all parts of the world and of many backgrounds and experiences) who contributed to the thought behind the US Constitution.

What was behind their thinking as they created a nation that has a system of civil government that is WORTHY of making a pledge to support and defend. If we do not understand WHY we would pledge to an IDEA, then why do it?
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I PLEDGE

WEEK ONE
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CICERO --

A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation.
Cicero
Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC)



The people who founded the United States of America were well read. They studied the literature and philosophies and governments of thousands of years. Cicero was not just a few quotes to them. His life writings were one of the required elements of their classical instruction. But - by reviewing some insightful quotes from Cicero (and many others), we can gain a little perspective of the serious thought given to the structure of the government these founding leaders would envision.

This quote is found in many forms from many writers and thinkers in history. The concept here is that education is critical to progress as a person AND as a nation. The debate then becomes - WHAT constitutes a good education? Who shall have access to this treasure?

Questions for the week 

DAILY -- Read the quote only - and write a paragraph

 by the end of the week on one daily question

Day 1 -- Who is responsible for your education? Is instruction not the same as "education"?
Day 2 -- Should everyone receive some minimal standard of instruction?
Day 3 -- How did Cicero get his basic instruction?
Day 4 -- How can you get more knowledge about what YOU want to do?
Day 5 -- Is education a right? a privilege? a gift? a requirement? a certificate? A goal?

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman politician and lawyer, who served as consul in the year 63 BC. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. (wikipedia)

When we say a PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE to the Flag -- does that mean an allegiance to our government or our nation? Is there a difference? Why? 

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

A project of 12ponder.com and me3tv.org

BOOKS of our Region - Rock

BUY THE BOOK

BOOKS THAT ROCK ! 

Look for ROCKS that promote the books available from our region. Especially those that are from the store at the Jay Historical Museum.   Here are links to more about the books you might see on some rocks or in the museum.  Some are available from Amazon. Some are available from the author.  The Jay Museum is open every Saturday from 10-3. The books there make excellent gifts and you might consider getting a supply to gift through the following months as occasions arise.

When you find a rock, please post a photo to you social media and share the title and any information you might learn about the book itself. Then re-gift the book to the wild for another person to find and enjoy !

Tastes and Tales of the Great Pine Level -- Not just recipes but some heritage to go with them !
.................. These are available at the museum and select shops.

From The Heart of Jay -- Available at the Museum.  A much loved collection of columns written by Janice K. Watts when she lived in Jay and met many of the core families.

CAPTURED MEMORIES from SANTA ROSA COUNTY

BOOKS AND DVDS from Vic Campbell Recommendations - All Topics

Book By Bruce EWING

More rocks are added regularly to add to the exposure for local writers and historians. The rocks pictured below are recently added by placing with people who came to the talk on LOGGING THE MILL by Tom McMillan.  This superb book will also become a rock find soon.

New Jersey WW2 Book Club

New Jersey WW2 Book Club



These folks have some great new selections.

The Churchill Project - Hillsdale College

The Churchill Project - Hillsdale College

I could stand to educate myself here.

EBAY to order these challenge coins.





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Interviews with Veterans

This is one of my favorite veteran interviews. Mr. Mills responded to a notice I put out in NJ (when we lived there). He telephoned me one day and talked to me in this voice you hear on this video. He told me where he lived which was some distance away and asked if i could come to him. I said I could but I had some interview sessions set up in my town at an assisted living facility meeting room (Sparta) in the next week and if he could show up, please do. He said "Well, we need to get a move on this -- we (WWII vets) are dying like flies out here!"

 I interviewed a lot of these heroes long before the official USA push to collect interviews for the National Archives. Actually, I got started with these interviews sometime after I left the corporate world. My first few attempts were with some Tin Can sailors from a group I joined from my own military experience. Once at an annual meeting of those veterans, I heard a man speak about that day of INFAMY, December 8, 1941. My initial response was the same as most of the sailors there (poor man, he is losing is mind).

Then Mr. Otto Schwarz explained his ship the USS Houston, was the flagship for the Asiatic Fleet and THEY were in Philippine waters when the coordinated attacks occurred across the Pacific. The international date line separated their calendar day to Monday, while the middle and Eastern Pacific were still Sunday. But by chronological time order, the attacks across the Pacific occurred in the same block of time. The other thing that startled me in Mr. Schwarz's talk was his mention of "The Bridge on The RIver Kwai". The Asiatic Fleet was destroyed along with the British and Australian and Dutch fleets in the Western Pacific and many of the survivors became slave labor for the famous "Death Railway" and "the bridge".

The Asiatic Fleet fully expected an attack. They were ready. They were prepared to battle the Japanese until help arrived from Pearl Harbor. That was the plan ... before December 7, 1941. The entire multinational force of Allied fleets in the Western Pacific only lasted about 3 months before resting on the bottom of the sea.

I respectfully asked Mr. Schwarz if I could visit him and help him get his slide show transferred with narration to a VHS tape. He agreed and the next five or six years as time permitted I interviewed him and his shipmates and eventually produced a DVD which is available from buzzcreek.com . From that point on, I interviewed veterans of all kinds every chance I had. A few are sampled for just a portion of the whole interview, like this one with Mr. Mills, and are placed on my youtube channel at www.me3tv.org .

Well --- now I have hundreds of DVDs in my collection (many of them these veteran interviews and some are duplicates of those sent to the National Archives - like the one for Mr. Mills). I need to find a GEEK who will transfer ALL my DVDs - maybe a thousand or more - to a set of external hard drives for posterity. Is there a Geek out there that would volunteer to do this for the benefit of owning a copy? or maybe for a small fee like $2 per disc to transfer? I provide the external drives.

Let me know. All my contact information is at www.savethecollards.com . After having this done, I plan to donate ALL my DVDs to the UWF Panhandle Archives where they will be cared for and anyone can reference them into the future.

https://www.youtube.com/user/me3tv/search?query=mills+wwii