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Post by texex on Mar 19, 2011 1:40:34 GMT -5
I've just read these posts, some of which are dated a bit. But I remain on the walls in spirit with you all. I cannot go into Alamo Plaza without a butterfly in my stomach. And therein lies my point-- there is waiting to be made a great film about human values and emotions; of people being scared and brave and sorry and hopeful. It wouldn't require a battle scene at all; just the story of March 5th, 1836....day into night...inside the Alamo...and out.
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Post by loucapitano on Mar 19, 2011 14:14:56 GMT -5
I guess I share the Alamo gene with all of you. Iwas born in 1948. My Dad started me on the Alamo journey when he let me stay up to watch Fess and Buddy fight to immortality on our 12 inch TV. When he saw how disappointed I was to find out that we lost the battle, he told me about Sam Houston at San Jacinto. He ended his story by shouting "Remember the Alamo." Within a week, my Mom sewed me a bullet pouch and equpped me with a plastic flintlock, powder horn and Coonskin cap. I already had a buckskin jacket because I was a fan of Wild Bill Hickock. I never got the Alamo playset, but my friend did and we played with it on every rainy days. On sunny days we defended the fence and brick wall that surrounded my front yard against the Mexican hords. We always won.
From there my Dad took me to the movies to see Fess Parker in "King of the Wild Frontier." He followed that up with the "Last Command" and a little know picture called the "First Texan" where Joel McCrea played Sam Houston in a rousing final battle. My parents also took me to the Public Library where I discovered Davy Crocket books. They also enrolled me the Landmark Book of the Month Club for Young Readers. The 11th book I got was "Remember the Alamo by Robert Penn Warren.
One day I saw a huge movie poster of John Wayne swinging a torch against hords of Mexicans. I had to see the movie, which was months away from playing in our neighborhood. But I found a paperback book titled "The Alamo" by Steve Frazee which purported to be taken from the JW script. I soon made the discovery that in Hollywood, the book is always better than the movie. The movie also sparked the reissuance of that Lon Tinkle book and another written in 1948 by John Myers Myers. Both were excellently written as serious works of history to me.
Sorry for going on for so long. I just wanted to share with you guys my personal Alamo history. Non of it would have happened were it not for that Alamo gene in my DNA. What's funny is that I seem to have in my DNA genes on the Civil War, Custer, World War II, Hollywood History, Acoustic Guitar and Mad Magazine. What's best is that now that I'm retired I can explore all these interests to my heart's content. That's why I enjoy the Alamo Studies Forum so much. Life is good, keep up the good work Paul and all of you. Lou PS: My wife, children and most of my friends do not have the Alamo gene.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 19, 2011 15:35:36 GMT -5
Yes, Lou, the Alamo gene is definitely in all of us, and is just as surely NOT shared by one's family! to put my wife and daughter to sleep, I only need mention the Alamo or any of the other history topics you mentioned! My experience was very similar to yours; had all of the books you mentioned (yes, Frazee's novel is one of the better ones I've read on the Alamo and way better than the script for Wayne's movie). I'm glad we both had parents who encouraged our interest in history and to read! It is nice to have a place like ASF where we can share thoughts with fellow "Alamo sufferers!"
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Post by Tom Nuckols on Mar 19, 2011 23:29:11 GMT -5
If you live in Texas, we don't risk anything on genetics. State law mandates that every Texas school kid be injected with a dose of the Alamo as part of the state-prescribed 7th grade Texas history curriculum. That's how I lerarned about the Alamo. If there's ever a bill in the Texas Legislature to change that, I'm betting we could all agree to fight it without any argument amongst us. ;-)
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Mar 20, 2011 12:45:30 GMT -5
Yes, Lou, the Alamo gene is definitely in all of us, and is just as surely NOT shared by one's family! to put my wife and daughter to sleep, I only need mention the Alamo or any of the other history topics you mentioned! Allen, you must be married to my wife (or they must be twins born of different mothers)? lol My wife can happily travel to some place, like Orlando, and immediately we better plan on one day to check out the local WalMart. She can shop for days, but gets bored when we go off to, say, Bracketville or Goliad (which I've only done once each). Anyway, some of us non-native Texans who moved to or lived in Texas a piece share that same gene. Trust me. And I still consider myself to be Texan in heart and spirit.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 20, 2011 12:55:21 GMT -5
Paul, we're definitely on the same page and I feel your pain. Must give my wife high marks for enduring the entire 8 hours on the Little Bighorn battlefield last September. She made it part way through and then settled near some graves in the cemetery, under a tree, reading for the rest of the day. She even sat through 2 Ranger talks!
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Post by loucapitano on Mar 21, 2011 16:21:39 GMT -5
The Little Big Horn is definitly on my list of Historical Sites. My wife has already agreed to go. We've done Gettysburg, West Point, Ticonderoga, Fort Sumter, Fort Fisher, St. Augustine, New Orleans, Independence Hall, Manassas, Yorktown, Trenton, Valley Forge, Washington DC. plus the Alamo (she loved the beauty of San Antonio) Not bad for a couple from Brooklyn and Long Island. Any other suggestions? Lou
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Post by TRK on Mar 21, 2011 17:01:55 GMT -5
loucapitano, Yorktown is a very interesting battlefield site to visit. You can tour a lot of the siege lines by car, including some of more obscure scenes of the 1781 siege. The Park Service does a good job of maintaining the siege lines and fortifications (some of which are replicas). Unless you're into the summer sauna weather, a good time to visit is in October, around the same time of the year as Cornwallis's surrender, when the weather is usually pretty nice.
+1 on Little Bighorn. It's off the beaten track, and it has a sort of pilgrimage feel.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 21, 2011 17:21:17 GMT -5
Totally agree with Tom's take on Yorktown, and while you're there take in both Jamestown sites and, of course, Colonial Williamsburg.
Lou -- please check your PMs re: my visit to the LBH and surrounding areas.
Allen
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Mar 21, 2011 17:33:48 GMT -5
Yes, indeed --- LBH has been on my radar for too long, but I will make it there even if it becomes my own personal "last stand" before I pass on. lol
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Post by loucapitano on Mar 22, 2011 13:04:44 GMT -5
I agree with you Tom. I really enjoyed Yorktown and the whole Jamestown area. Unfortunately, My kids chose Busch Gardens over Williamsburg, so I'll have to do that visit someday. Allen, I loved your essay on your LBH visit and showed my beloved spouse to help convince her there were ways she could survive the trip. Paul - LBH is on my radar too. But I promised the Missus to do Savannah and Baltimore this year. Maybe 2012 will be my "last stand." It might turn out to be a pilgrimage. Lou
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Post by Herb on Mar 22, 2011 15:29:12 GMT -5
Lou, you will love Savannah. It's been years since I've been there, but I lived outside of it for three years, and it is one of the best historic cities you can visit in the US.
The tourist "traps" are must sees, from the town squares, cemetaries, historic homes, and Factors Walk. The Pirate's House, while the ultimate tourist, trap, is a very good restaurant, and the original building is the smugglers inn, from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Also worth visiting, are the historic forts, Fort Jackson, an early brick fort not too far (half mile?) from the Pirate's House (same road, iirc) and Fort Pulaski (a Fort Sumter, type of masonary fort and scene of the 1862 Civil War Battle ) several miles out the same road. Fort McAlister (sp) an earthen fort siezed by Sherman in 1864 is a ways outside the city, but worthy of a visit if you have time. Its a really beautiful city, a perfect spring desination, but awful hot and muggy in the summer.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 22, 2011 16:00:45 GMT -5
We loved our many visits to Savannah; AND the Pirate House restaurant! It does look like a tourist trap, but it's great and my daughter was young enough at the time to get a charge out of the place. Try reading "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" before going, or at least see the movie. One time we pulled into the only parking space left in town and it happened to be smack in front of the club where "Miss Chablis" worked; her pictures were all over the place. Believe it or not, as we were getting out of the car, "Miss Chablis" herself pulled into her reserved parking space, popped out, and strutted into the joint! Also, Herb's suggestions are all good!
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Post by Tom Nuckols on Mar 22, 2011 22:31:18 GMT -5
We went to Savannah last year. Were visting my mom's GA family. Rode a boat down the estuaries from Hilton Head for a day trip. Went to the Pirate House! My 4 year old loved it. Best thing is to take a horse-drawn carriage tour.
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Post by loucapitano on Apr 22, 2011 15:53:48 GMT -5
Thanks all you guys for recommending Savannah. Unfortunately, it will have to wait. We have to build our vacation plans around family committments in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston this year. It's an Italian thing. So it 2012 to Savannah., only I won't wait until December like Sherman did. By the way, does anyone remember a TV Thriller about terrorists planting a nuclear bomb in Savannah. It must have been 20+ years ago. I remember the epilogue showing beautiful sights of the city. I was going to see it in 2003 when I was in Charleston, but ended up visiting family in Wilmington NC instead. It's a nice small city with the USS North Carolina and Fort Fisher for history buffs and a great beach.
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