Month: August 2005

Last fall our local daily newspaper, The Beaumont Enterprise, published a wonderful and award-winning feature about my small hometown. “Glory Days,” as it was called, chronicled a day in the life of Newton, Texas, on a Friday in which the local high school Eagles would play football.

What was so great about the feature is that it showed how a small community with so much working against it had its local football team to exhibit the town’s heart and soul. Now you might say, a football team isn’t much. Well bite your tongue because this is Texas! But it is really a thing of beauty when a community — only removed by 15 miles from but not the of heartbreak of Jasper, Texas — can come together on anything.

But for two or so hours a night, almost two centuries of racial strife disappear. Like I think someone said in the feature but am not sure, “There is no black and white, only purple and white,” talking of the small school’s colors.

But football only lasts a couple of months, usually a little longer for Newton, who most pick to win state this year. Something that is a more year-round example of the community’s soul sits like a prisoner behind a chain-link fence. That would be Newton County’s 102-year-old courthouse.

A fire in its bell tower in August 2000 gutted the wonderful old local seat of government. The courthouse will be rebuilt, as this blurb from the Texas Historical Commission states:

“Built by Martin & Moodie, this 1903 Second Empire courthouse represents a style popular in the 19th century. Built of unfired local brick, the courthouse was the victim of a devastating fire in August 2000, which left only exterior and first floor masonry walls intact. Restoration will include the reconstruction of the unusual truncated tower and the bracketed balustrade balconies at each entry. The decorative metal ceilings and double wood staircase will also be replicated. The reconstruction will include the historic courtroom configuration with balcony and full accessibility. Additionally, a geo-thermal system will be employed instead of a standard heating and cooling system, taking advantage of the area’s high water table and moisture level. Work should be completed by summer 2005.”

But alas, it is summer 2005 and the work has yet to begin. The reason includes blown deadlines and problems with engineers, according to the Beaumont Enterprise. The latest word is that rebuilding could start as early as the end of this year. I sure hope so.

So why care about an old courthouse in a little town most everyone outside of the town has never heard of? Memories. The courthouse was the focal point of my childhood. It was the center of town, plus my mother worked there for a number of years. I experienced some interesting sights there. Included was this convicted murderer who would yell about Jesus at the top of his lungs all day long. Or a marijuana plant that the local sheriff’s department had confiscated in a raid and sat out in front of the courthouse, I guess, to grow into evidence. The plant was nothing but a twig after awhile, what with people walking by and snatching them off a leaf. Elections, now so fractious and bitter in this country, used to be a celebration on the courthouse square where people would gather to watch the returns put up on a gazebo blackboard.

While a stupid high school kid some friends and I decided to bombard the jail, which was at the front of the courthouse, one night about midnight with bottle rockets. The prisoners were none too happy as we could tell by their shouts. I’m sure we would not have been welcomed beside them in the slammer. The town’s policeman, a very portly man who used to pin his badge upon his dirty T-shirt, came running out and jumped into his car to pursue us. We all split up in opposite directions and we were not apprehended, thankfully.

That is a memory only for a short period of years. Just think of the memories of thousands of people over more than a century. Yep, it’s time to get that courthouse rebuilt.

Quick, hide the food!

I finished a writing project today and just got it sent out. In the midst of all that is aggravation with Time Warner over problems with my Internet service. The so-called “customer service” people at these large companies sure know how to screw up your day.

The photo? I have no idea. It just appeared, kind of like the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese sandwich only with less butter and more lard.

Al-Quida has claimed responsibility for firing a rocket at the USS Ashland (foreground in this picture)and another U.S. warship on Friday in Jordan.

It was quite fortunate that the Al-Quida bastards missed striking with missiles the warships USS Ashland and USS Kearsarge in the port of Aquaba, Jordan. A U.S. 5th Fleet statement said:

“At approximately 8:44 a.m. local time, a suspected mortar rocket flew over the USS Ashland’s bow and impacted in a warehouse on the pier in the vicinity of the Ashland and the USS Kearsarge. The warehouse sustained an approximate 8-foot hole in the roof of the building.”

A Jordanian soldier was killed and another was severely wounded when the rocket hit the warehouse, according to news reports. No casualties were reported from two other rockets fired from the same area.

Such attacks, along with the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, point to how our warships can be sitting ducks while in port. I’m sure the military is doing everything it can to reduce the vulnerability of its ships, but unfortunately, no guarantees exist that our warships won’t be hit.

I can see a day when port visits by U.S. warships could practically be a thing of the past. The Navy and Marine Corps is currently pushing “sea-basing.” The concept is pretty much how it sounds. A mobile, seagoing force of logistical and warfighting assets would operate from wherever might be a hotspot. A brigade of 16,000 Marines transported by the seagoing platform could be deployed and landed within 10-to-14 days rather than the 17-to-20 days it now takes.

The U.S. military also would not have to worry about foreign countries being reluctant to allow our forces to launch an operation on their soil. We rule the seas and will continue to for the immediate future. So this certainly seems safer than using ports in hostile areas.

On the human and sentimental side, it’s a shame because a lot of sailors will lose out on experiencing a lot of different ports of call. Visiting 13 ports in six foreign countries during the year I spent on a destroyer operating in the South and Western Pacific was clearly one of the best parts of my four years in the Navy. Port visits are also beneficial for the ports-of-call themselves because those “rich” American sailors and Marines spend their money.

I hope that the Navy of the future will still get the chance to make port visits. Because you surely can get sick of seeing your shipmates and your ship.

I wanted to clarify something about what I posted previously on there being no guarantee I would post your comments. The primary reason was because I think it is sleazy for someone to write into your blog, says it looks cool and then say: “check out my commercial Web site for mortgage loans!, etc.”

Also, I have no problem with instant comments from my friends or other thoughtful people after reading something I write. That said, I have become very disturbed these days with the knee-jerk commentary that the Internet has spawn. You see it most markedly in places such as on the Yahoo news pages. The comments are a steady stream of barely literate individuals who react more because of what propaganda they have been fed from one side of the political spectrum or the other than of any intellectual analysis of an argument.

As much as I think people who write letters to the editors of newspapers are sometimes assholes, (hey I’ve written letters too, so I guess that makes me one) I feel it gives a little time and distance in order to properly frame and reason a response to an opinion. I’m sorry, I just don’t think “you suck” makes a very compelling argument. Hey, I’m guilty as the rest. But someone has to make a stand.

It has been a full week since I have introduced a comment blog and I have yet to have anyone e-mail me their comments. I suppose it is much easier to post an anonymous comment like in the past. The thing is, the ones who left comments were mainly the regulars and mainly my friends. Anyone who leaves a comment via my e-mail address above the saline soldier may request anonymity and I don’t see any reason why not to honor that request. I am not going to guarantee your comment will get on the page. That is just the way it is. You ought to check out the comment page anyway because someone posted some strange photos. — Thomas Jefferson