Immigration

We know immigrants faced all kinds of problems trying to get to the US including the difficulty of the trans-Atlantic voyage. What I did not know was that some of those emmigrating were not transported to the US but were dropped off at a point well short of their hoped for destination. In this source the emmigrants were Russians leaving around 1914 who were left off in the United Kingdom around Cardiff and were told that someone would come for them. The ship captain took money for the trip to the US and did not give them any of their money back. If this really happened I have no way of knowing.

(Source: Fall of Giants by Ken Follette. A novel written in 2010. Page 178)

Trial of Mary Surratt

The movie Conspirator by Robert Redford with Robin Wright playing Mary Surratt presents a picture that is not often seen in most American History textbooks. As we know, Mary Surratt was tried and executed for her part in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln. This source suggests that her guilt was in doubt but what was not in doubt was the fairness-or lack thereof-of her trial. She was tried by a military commission made up of military officers who found her guilty but a majority of them voted for life in prison and not execution. It seems that Secretary of War Edwin Stanton overturned that decision. Her lawyer, Frederick Aiken-a wounded Union captain, took her case to a civilian judge in DC and was granted a writ of habeau corpus that said she should be delivered to a civilian court for re-trial. President Andrew Johnson overturned that writ and the execution followed. He acted under the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of 1863. (We have always heard about Lincoln's denial of habeas corpus rights to northern civilians during the war, but never anything about A. Johnson's use of the practice). The movie notes that Mary Surratt's son-John Jr-was captured and tried two years later by a civilian court and he was found not guilty. The US Supreme Court ruled military trials in areas where civilian courts are still functioning to be unconstitutional; the ex Parte Mulligan case of 1866. Mary Surratt's chief defender quit the law and became an editor of the Washington Post.

The others executed with her were David Herold, Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Payne) and George Atzerodt)

(Source: Movie, Conspirator by Robert Redford 2011)

Flight 93 and 911

It was reported on Sept 10th that the US Air Force and National Guard were prepared to shoot down United Airlines Flight 93 as it was heading toward Washington DC-most likely the White House. What they were not prepared to do was to down the airliner the conventional way; with "live ammunition". The DC Air National Guard was prepared to fly two F-16 jets into the airliner in a "kamikaze" mission. Incredible (my term) as it may seem the Air National Guard had no planes ready with weapons (that would be needed to protect the capitol if under attack). One of the two pilots ordered to fly the suicide mission was the only female pilot in the Guard unit. Her name was Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney; now a Major but not flying combat jets anymore. (I would hope she also lost the "Lucky"). Then again lucky for her, and the other pilot, that the passengers on Flight 93 caused the plane to crash on their own. It seems part of the explanation was that "...attacks were unfolding, in that innocent age, faster than they could arm war planes". This source says, "she was a rookie in the autumn of 2001, the first female F-16 pilot ever at the 121st Fighter Squadron of the DC Air National Guard". The second pilot was Col. Marc Sasserville who says he was prepared to hit the cockpit of the airliner while Penney was to crash into the tail. They were hoping they would have time to eject just prior to the hit.

(Source: "She was ready to die to bring down Flight 93" by Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post. In The Virginian Pilot. Sept 10, 2011).