Friday, July 22, 2011

Dark Day In Our History...!


Many of you may not have ever heard of this even. I know I didn't know anything about this until I ran across this article at History.com.

It's important for many reasons for us to stop and remember that domestic violence doesn't happen just in other countries, but has reared it's ugly head in America from time to time! Now days this would be considered terrorism...and rightly so!

Jul 22, 1916:

Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco

On this day in 1916, a massive parade held in San Francisco, California, to celebrate Preparedness Day, in anticipation of the United States entrance into World War I, is disrupted by the explosion of a suitcase bomb, which kills 10 bystanders and wounds 40 more.

By the summer of 1916, with the Great War raging in Europe and with U.S. and other neutral ships threatened by German submarine aggression, it had become clear to many in the U.S. that their country could not stand on the sidelines much longer. With this in mind, leading business figures in the city of San Francisco planned a parade in honor of American military preparedness. As the event neared, it was clear that anti-war and isolationist sentiments ran high among a significant population of the city (and the country), not only among such radical organizations as International Workers of the World (the so-called "wobblies") but among mainstream labor leaders. These opponents of the Preparedness Day event undoubtedly shared the view voiced publicly by one critic, former U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, who claimed that the organizers, San Francisco's financiers and factory owners, were acting in pure self-interest, as they clearly stood to benefit from an increased production of munitions.

The Preparedness Day parade went ahead on Saturday, July 22, with a 3.5-hour-long procession of some 51,329 marchers, including 52 bands and 2,134 organizations, comprising military, civic, judicial, state and municipal divisions as well as newspaper, telephone, telegraph and streetcar unions. At 2:06 p.m., about a half-hour after the parade began, a bomb concealed in a suitcase exploded on the west side of Steuart Street, just south of Market Street, near the Ferry Building. Ten bystanders were killed by the explosion; 40 more were wounded.

Two radical labor leaders, Thomas Mooney and Warren K. Billings, were subsequently arrested and tried for the attack. In the trial that followed, complete with false witnesses and biased jury foremen, the two men were convicted, despite widespread belief that they had been framed by the prosecution. Mooney was sentenced to death; after evidence surfaced as to the corrupt nature of the prosecution, President Woodrow Wilson called on California Governor William Stephens to look further into the case. Two weeks before Mooney's scheduled execution, Stephens commuted his sentence to life imprisonment, the same punishment Billings had received. Investigation into the case continued over the next two decades; by 1939, evidence of perjury and false testimony at the trial had so mounted that Governor Culbert Olson pardoned both men. The true identity of the Preparedness Day bomber (or bombers) remains unknown.

Sad to think that violence of this nature was probably initiated by people that were, in their own minds, patriots. The sad truth is, when innocent people are injured or put in harm's way by "well meaning" people, then it's a crime. That, of course, is my opinion.

I'm not talking about defending ourselves against attack by others, but by acts of aggression made just to prove a point! That is wrong! Of course, once again that's just my opinion!

Come with me, my friends, and let's have some fresh coffee on the patio!

13 comments:

MyBulletinBoard said...

Good point! Think you're right.

HermitJim said...

Hey LizBeth...
Glad you agree with me, although I'm sure there will be those that don't!

Hey, thanks for coming over this morning!

Ken said...

...mornin'Jim,never knew of this myself,and yer right,the wholesale slaughter of innocents is,and should be,a "crime"...self defense by an individual,or a nation,is completely righteous...

...hey,by the way,you may have stumbled onto the first "false flag" incident...(?)

HermitJim said...

Hey Ken...
You know, I never thought of that, but you may be right! Talking about the "false flag" here!

Let's hope that we don't continue to get too many more!

Thanks for coming by today!

sel said...

I have been reading quite a bit about some extremists in our own prepper community lately. As if we need more reasons for people to reject the lifestyle. We have every right to defend ourselves in my opinion, but when these anarchists hurt others without regard for basic human rights it just seems low and cowardly to me. I am a patriot but I reject anarchy.

Anonymous said...

And here I thought 'suitcase bombs' were a creation of recent years. That is sad, people dying because of people attempting to make a point. Coffee's good, but the news is bitter.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting! Never heard of this before.

I agree with You in this.

Have a great day!
Christer.

Ben in Texas said...

The kids of today think that the bombings taking place now are something new. I blame THAT on poor education system NOT teaching history like us ole farts got.

It was true when George Santayana first said it and still true today
'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

Momlady said...

I agree with Ben. 'Course I didn't learn about that in school either...least I don't remember it. Think I'm going to have to check that website out.

JoJo said...

Good Morning My Special One
I never heard this story before thank you for printing it. I agree with you.
One of my grandsons joined up yesterday. I am so proud of him.
I will join you on the patio for a cup.

Old Jules said...

Nice post. Thanks for sharing it. That entire WWI/US experience deserves a lot more awareness from those of us determined to make sense of US history than it usually gets.

I've been doing some reading lately about the 50,000 US troops that got stuck in Russia after the Armistice, command structure fragmented, declaring neutrality [Wilson] but dancing to the tune of a Czech commander and 15 national forces 'protecting the railways'. Losing their lives, a lot of them, fighting for the White Russians by default.

Eventually most got out after the collapse of the Whites and emergence of the Bolshies, but it was a grim struggle and close call.

HermitJim said...

Hey Sel...
In my opinion, extreme actions by a few can cause the support of any cause to dwindle!

I'm thinking that quiet preparation and the willingness to be self supporting can be more useful. Often the line between outcast and outlaw is very fine!

Thanks for coming by this morning!


Hey Anon 5:56...
So many of the radical things we consider "modern" are just some ideas being revisited!

Guess there will always be folks finding ways of causing death and destruction!

Thank you for your visit today!


Hey Christer...
I didn't know anything about it either until a couple of days ago!

Lots of interesting history hidden if you just know where to look!

Thanks, my friend, for coming over today!


Hey Ben...
True that much of what's taught in the classroom now days is watered down from the "real thing!"

In my opinion, that's one more reason to instill the love of reading into our children...keep them interested in our past!

After all, knowledge is power!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by today!


Hey Momlady...
It's an interesting site with a lot of good articles. Covers so much ground that I have to break it up into days!

I learn a lot from it!

Thanks for dropping in today, my friend!


Hey JoJo...
When you say joined up, you do mean in the military, right?

You have every right to be proud of him!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming by today!


Hey Old Jules...
History makes such good reading and most of the schools don't even scratch the surface!

Many lessons to be learned from learning about true history!

I appreciate you coming by today!

JoJo said...

Oh yes he joined the Army.