March 29 History Palm Sunday

Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—March 29, 2015 Trust your weekend is continuing to be a great one. As always, I  hope you enjoy the holidays and observances albeit somewhat meager today, factoids of interest, music video of Celine Dion, and relevant quotes Colonel Wilson and 2^nd Lieutenant Calley, enjoying a serving of lemon chiffon  cake while watching your favorite team play in the NIT or the NCAA Tournaments (both men and women), blessed  with a positive attitude even though you know you will have to wade through tons of spam in your inbox, and secure in the knowledge that if you want to find a gift for any memorable event like birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries, you know that the Alaskanpoet can provide you with a unique customized poem at a great price tailored to the event and the recipient. You need only contact me for details.
       1. National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day—celebrating the cornerstone of our economy which our federal and state governments seem hell bent to regulate and tax to death.
      2. Palm Sunday—celebrating the Sunday before Easter.
      3. 1996 Number One Song—celebrating the number one song on this day in 1996, as part of a 6 week run, Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion, a Canadian born bilingual French speaking singer whose voice has been rated one of the most influential pop music voices. After a brief Geico ad, here is a link to her performing the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih1945e4q7I
      4. National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day—celebrating a lighter cake after splurging on the Black Forest chocolate cake yesterday.
      5. Sam I Am Day--celebrating not that great Dr. Seuss poem immortalized by Ted Cruz during his filibuster, but rather the birthday on this day in 1918 of Sam Walton, founder of Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart.
On this day in
     a. 1806 construction of the Cumberland Road, the first federal highway in the United States, was authorized.
     b. 1882 the Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, was founded in New Haven, Connecticut.
     c. 1961 the 23^rd Amendment to the Constitution allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections was ratified.
     d. 1971 2^nd Lieutenant William Calley was convicted of murder of 22 civilians at My Lai, South Vietnam and sentenced to life imprisonment (later pardoned by President Nixon). Sad stain on the honor of the U.S. Army.                                         
     e. 1973 finally after the deaths of over 58,000 members of U.S. armed forces, the last combat troops left South Vietnam and two years later Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese.

Reflections on My Lai from an investigator and the culprit: “I had prayed to God that this thing was fiction." - Colonel William Wilson, a combat veteran who conducted an investigation into the massacre at My Lai "I was ordered to go in there and destroy the enemy...That was my job on that day. That was the mission I was given. I did not sit down and think in terms of men, women and children.” 2nd Lieutenant William Calley at his court martial Sadly My Lai was not fiction; nor was the reality of the 1.5—3.6 million civilian deaths in North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.      Please enjoy the 140 character poems on events of interest on my twitter account below (if you like them, retweet and join 155 growing followers and please follow me) and follow my blogs. Always good, incisive and entertaining poems on my blogs—click on the links below. Go to www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com for Ridley’s Believe It Or Not—This Day In History, poems to inspire, touch, emote, elate and enjoy and poems on breaking news items of importance. Go to Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times for comments on important and breaking news events that should be of interest. www.alaskanpoet.blogspot.com Ridley's Believe It Or Not  Rhymes On The Newsworthy Times © March 29, 2015 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare Rhymes for the Memorable Times The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift