Playing tourist here at home

We had a fun time last weekend. My sister, Maggie and her next door neighbors, Mac and Candy drove down from Greenville, S.C. for a “history weekend.” Maggie’s husband has taken a new job in New England, so he was out of the picture for this trip.

My sister is very lucky that she has just great friends living right next door to her. Over the years, we have gotten to know Mac and Cindy fairly well. At one point a few years ago, Mac and I were comparing notes and we discovered we had very similar interests in Civil War and World War II history.

Cindy joined my friends and me on our tour of the Louvre during our first trip to Paris in March 2012.

 And the whole gang of us piled into the car for a history trip to Gettysburg in 2010.

We have been talking about doing a “history weekend” here in Savannah for several years. I’m glad we were able to finally pull it off.

We started with a tour of the National Museum of the Eighth Air Force. This is a cool museum with a focus on the WWII air war over Europe.

Mac and me at the 8th Air Force Museum.

On Saturday, we did a walking tour of downtown Savannah. I played tour guide, and although I’m not as professional as the experts, everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Maggie, Mrs. P and Cindy waiting for the guys to get back to them.

Myself, Mrs. Poolman and sister Maggie at Colonial Cemetary.

After a seafood lunch at Tubby’s on River Street, we dropped Mrs. P and Maggie off at our house. Mac, Cindy and I headed out towards the beach and Fort Pulaski. The fort is run by the National Park Service. They do a great job. We stayed only a fairly short time, since it was late and the weather was starting to look ugly, but it seemed like our guests really enjoyed it.

Mac and Cindy at Ft. Pulasi

We finished the weekend off with a low country boil at our house. I think everyone had a good time. If they did not, they sure faked it well. We need to start planning our next “history weekend.” Charleston, anyone?

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Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good rumor

We should thank our lucky stars for emailed chain letters, otherwise we would never know about all the travesties that are being committed out there.

Having spent most of my adult life in journalism, I have developed a fondness for accuracy. I realize not everyone shares my values. I have several friends who simply cannot resist a good chain letter, especially if it has anything to do with religion, God, patriotism or the military.  I am a big supporter of all those institutions. I just don’t think they need fictional scare tactics to generate support.

My friends are especially fond of the chain letters that warn you that if you break the chain you will suffer some dire fate.

The latest campaign (actually not really the latest, since this has been going around for about five years) claims that the ACLU is trying to remove crosses from military cemeteries and prohibit military chaplains from mentioning Jesus in prayers.

As a young reporter, I learned that you get calls and reports all the time of nasty things going on. Usually the more outrageous or juicy the story, the less likely it is actually true (unless you happen to work in Miami.) The same should apply to email “rumors.”

Apparently the truth is — there is no truth here. I found some information on Annenberg Political FactCheck.  Here are some excerpts.

The ACLU has filed no such suit, and it hasn’t sued to “end prayer from the military” either.

The claim that the American Civil Liberties Union sued to have crosses removed from military cemeteries is a false one that first circulated six years ago……But the ACLU says it has never sued to remove religious symbols from headstones in military cemeteries and never would. It says that would be contrary to its support for the First Amendment’s guarantee of free religious expression.

…Also false is the e-mail’s claim that “[t]he Navy Chaplains can no longer mention Jesus’ name in prayer thanks to the retched [sic] ACLU and our new administration.”

Maybe I should stop being such a spoil-sport. My friends will stop emailing me their stories. That might not be such a bad thing, except it’s so much fun to write about them.