Author Archives: CharlieClaywell

About CharlieClaywell

I have been a writer for years, mainly as a reporter, but I have always enjoyed history, especially non-mainstream stories buried inside old documents. My blog mostly centers around those stories. On occasion, though, I deviate and talk about my dog, vintage toys and what it's like to be middle-aged.

‘Tower’ Tells Story Of First Mass Killing By Gunman On U.S. Soil

Posted on February 16, 2017 by CharlieClaywell

It’s a story many Americans do not know — the 1966 mass murder on the University of Texas campus. A gunman climbed up to the top of the University’s signature tower and began shooting down on the students. Shortly after the sniper opened fire, a local TV station had a reporter on the scene — so a lot of the shooting is captured on film. Although film director Keith Maitland uses some of that footage, his decision to use animation to tell the story makes it fresh — and oddly enough — somewhat hopeful.

I won’t review the film to prevent revealing his storytelling method other than to say that the film is built around interviews with victims, bystanders and the officers involved that day. Their words become the backdrop to the shooting that left 14 dead and 31 wounded. As the roughly hour-long ordeal unfolds, ‘average people’ become real heroes on that hot August day. The action of one young woman is simply astounding.

Although some critics say Maitland tells an incomplete story (warning: review does give movie details) I disagree. I feel Maitland tells a very interesting and engaging story about the event that, unfortunately, ushered in the mass-shooting era that still exists today.

Rated 5 out of 5.

Categories: American History

Mark Twain On The Hypocrisy Of Prayer

Posted on February 12, 2017 by CharlieClaywell

Although I agree with the premise presented in The History of Prayer in America by James P. Moore Jr. that prayer has been a very common thread among Americans throughout our history, at times the book overplays the importance of public prayer by politicians by ignoring the politics behind the act.

Not every politician that prays is a believer — some are just exploiting those who are. And, some politicians offer prayers that are woefully (intentionally?) naïve of the societal ills (and their solutions) that exist in their own communities. These individuals often oversimplify complex problems — expecting God to solve everything without any intellectual, spiritual or humane work on their part.

Prayer For Our Soldiers (But Not Theirs)

When it comes to dealing with America’s hypocrisy, few did it better than American humorist and satirist Mark Twain.

By the end of his long literary career Twain had grown very tired of America’s imperialism, patriotic fervor and, in general, the gullibility and hypocrisy of the Chosen. Around the time America went to war with Cuba in the late 1800s, Twain wrote a short story for Harper’s Bazaar called War Prayer, but, as Moore reports in his book, the story was rejected because Twain’s publisher feared the work would impede the sales of his other books.

After Twain’s death, though, Moore notes, the story was published in Harper’s Weekly (1916).

In Twain’s story an old man interrupts the prayer service of the patriotic saints — as the minister is beating the war drums. This old man wants to teach the saints how to pray more honestly, because as he explains, when a farmer prays for rain for his crops, that same rain may destroy his neighbor’s harvest.

But, his most pressing goal is to teach the church the most effective way to pray about our wars — brutally honest. Get rid of all political correctness and cut to the chase. Part of the old man’s prayer goes like this:

O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended in the wastes of their desolated land in rags …

For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!

In the original version of the story the old man’s words are typed in red ink.

Categories: American History, My America

Untold History Of The United States Highlights Obscure Stories, People And Events

Posted on February 9, 2017 by CharlieClaywell

Oliver Stone established himself as a film director in the mid-1980s with Platoon — the classic Vietnam War movie that make Charlie Sheen a household name.

But, in his 2012 10-part documentary Untold History of the United States, Stone re-establishes himself as a historian on the small screen as he offers a fresh view of 20th century America history. He does this by telling the stories mostly lost — or underreported — in America. In the opening episode Stone sets the stage for where he is going by quoting Napoleon:

History is a pack of lies agreed upon.

Vice President Henry Wallace

The series begins with WWII, but instead of simply displaying reel after reel of war scenes, Stone ventures into the backstory and political maneuvering that unfolded among the world leaders at that time. The series ends with the Age of Terror of the modern era.

One of the most interesting episodes for me was Episode 2 when I learned about Henry Wallace. Wallace, a vice-president in the FDR administration, was instrumental is salvaging the farming industry in the 1930s– but, he also fostered some odd beliefs. He was eventually pushed off the ticket during FDR’s final presidential campaign. Stone poses the question about what type of world would have existed had Wallace, and not Harry Truman, become president upon FDR’s death.

America as Empire

Throughout the series, Stone presents the United States’ history as one of an imperialistic country expanding its empire. He shows her strengths and weaknesses, but mostly he challenges the conventional story we learned in high school.

The series is very information dense, so if you are looking for a surface understanding of the United States in the 20th century, it will not appeal to you. Those viewers, though, could view a condensed version of the documentary by watching episodes 11 and 12.

Those watching the entire series will walk away with a more complete understanding of their country. The hour-long episodes are entertaining and thought-provoking.

My only criticism of the series is, unfortunately Stone does not have a good ‘narrator’ voice and, at times, it lacks inflection.

The series is available on Netflix and online.