Monday, March 09, 2009

Today In History: Troops on the border.

On this date in 1916, Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa and several hundred of his not-so-merry men shot up the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and then put it to the torch.

American troops had been deployed along the border to protect American citizens and property from Mexican bandits, and Columbus was home to a detachment from the 13th Cavalry Regiment, including its machine gun troop. Despite being outnumbered more than ten to one, they fought back ferociously and inflicted heavy casualties on the banditos.

6 comments:

  1. looks like they're calling up the 13th again...

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29516551

    of course this time pancho has machine guns too...prob'ly picked 'em up at the gun show...

    http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/02/23/1805515.aspx

    jtc

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  2. Where is Blackjack Pershing when your really need him?

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  3. I just watched a trailer for Michael Mann's PUBLIC ENEMIES, a film about John Dillinger. This post and that film reminded me that there is little new under the sun, be it armed Mexicans invading the US or criminals toting automatic weapons in the streets.

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  4. It's an interesting drive from Columbus to El Paso, along the old railroad grade. The way you can tell you're near the border is by the periodic little yellow signs on the three-strand barbed-wire fence: "International Boundary".

    Art

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  5. Shoot, Pancho Villa and his cohorts could rise up out of their grave and ride all the way to Denver shooting up every town they come to, and traffic on I-25 would pull over and let them pass.

    My how times have changed, eh? Used to be you shot up a small rural border town and the US Army would chase you to hell and gone to get even. Now, they get free medical at Kaiser and a loan from Bank of America.

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  6. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. In English, The more things change, the more they stay the same.

    We should handle it the way Patton did when he was running with Pershing. Shoot 'em, strap them to the hood of the Dodge, and bring them back for i.d. If they have a problem with it, just say s.o.c.k.s.

    http://www.pattonhq.com/pattonbio.pdf

    i.e., eso Sí que es, "It is what it is."

    Sorry to say, after what they did to little Linnie England and the Abu Graib crowd, he'd get jail for that instead of a medal.

    wv: inklowa - the name of the new Ikea fountain pen.

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