Restoring, Reinforcing And Remembering The Alamo

As a kid I watched Walt Disney's Davy Crockett at the Alamo on TV starring Fess Parker and I watched John Wayne’s film The Alamo at the movies, which inspired me throughout the years to read a good number of history books on the Alamo's heroic last stand.  

While visiting my daughter and her Air Force husband in San Antonio, Texas a while back I was finally able to visit the Alamo. As a student of history, I could sense and envision the guts and glory of the brave men who gave their lives there as I walked through the compound.   

In today’s Washington Times, George P. Bush, the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, offers a piece on the preservation of that great, historical place.

As a native Texan, as a veteran, and as Texas land commissioner, it is my solemn duty and my great honor to be the caretaker of the Alamo. Who we are as Texans started there and who we can be as Texans and Americans still lives there.

You may have heard or read stories about the Alamo recently. Let’s set the record straight about what we are and are not doing.

We are not changing the Alamo’s name or story. We are seeking new ways to tell that story, and tell it to rising generations, to keep Texas values alive.

We are preserving and protecting the Alamo and the story of the battle. It was the 13 days of siege and battle in 1836 that made this mission sacred, and it’s that same battle that gives us our sacred mission today. Simply put, we want to tell the story of the battle of the Alamo, proudly, purposefully and better than we ever have before.

The beautiful Alamo Church is one of only two buildings that remain from the battle in 1836. At that time there were great walls of stone that made a frontier fortress. There were acequias to bring in water. There were lodgings for soldiers, and a headquarters where Col. Travis wrote his famous letter calling for reinforcements. There was a great gate to the south. But just two structures, the church and the long barrack, are all that’s left. All the rest has been lost to history, lost to the growth of San Antonio, or just lost.

Today these priceless buildings are crumbling before our very eyes. The Alamo must be preserved so future generations can learn its story as we have. We will preserve it.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/16/the-alamo-must-be-preserved-for-future-generations/ 

You can also visit the Alamo website via the below link:

http://www.thealamo.org/ 

On This Day In History David Crockett Was Born

As Biography.com notes, on this day in 1786 legendary American frontiersman David Crockett was born.

Davy Crockett was a frontiersman, legendary folk hero and three-time Congressman. He fought in the War of 1812 and died at the Alamo in the Texas Revolution.

You can read the rest of the piece and watch a video clip via the below link:

https://www.biography.com/people/davy-crockett-9261693

Note: Davy Crockett was a childhood hero of mine. As a child, I loved the Walt Disney TV series about him with Fess Parker (seen in the below photo) as Crockett, and I loved the John Wayne film The Alamo with the Duke (seen in the above photo) portraying Crockett. Those portrayals, although somewhat historically inaccurate, led me to read accurate historical accounts of the great man.

I was pleased to recently travel to San Antonio, Texas, where my daughter lives with her Air Force husband. While there we visited the Alamo, where Crockett met his end in heroic fashion. The night before we visited the Alamo, we all watched John Wayne’s The Alamo.

And last week, I watched on cable TV a newer version of The Alamo, with Billy Bob Thornton (seen in the below photo) as Davy Crockett. I liked the film, which was also about Sam Houston and the Texas Revolution, and I liked Billy Bob Thornton’s portrayal of Davy Crockett.   

Fess Parker, RIP

I was saddened to read that one of my childhood heroes, Fess Parker, passed away. He was 85.

I just read a nice piece by Leonard Maltin on Fess Parker, which reminded me of how much the man in the coonskin hat meant to me as a kid.

I grew up watching Walt Disney programs on TV and and I loved watching Fess Parker as Davy Crockett, the King of the Wild Frontier.

I loved singing along with the famous Davy Crockett song (I still remember the lyrics), and like most children at the time, I wore a silly coonskin cap.

Many years later I took my wife and 10-year-old stepson to DisneyWorld, and even though there were many wonderful sights to see at the park, I was thrilled to view the authentic Davy Crockett rifle, coonskin cap, coat and knife from the TV show in a glass case. (The case also contained Zorro’s hat, cape and sword, which also pleased me, as I was a big fan of Guy Williams as Zorro as well).

Fess Parker retired from show business and was out of the public view for years, but I was pleased to read that he lived a long and happy life. He deserved to be happy, as he provided so many kids (and some adults) with much joy and happiness when he wore a coonskin cap on TV.