We are a local group of citizens with an interest in promoting the health benefits of fluoridation.
Could you please respond to these two questions:
(1) Do you support the resumption of fluoridation in Hamilton’s water supply?
(2) If the referendum results in a majority of voters in favour, would you support the resumption of fluoridation?
The opinions of candidates obtained from this canvass will be made known to our members and released publicly.
With regards,
Selwyn June
‘Fluoridate Our Water’
A Campaign for Better Dental Health in Hamilton
Tim Wikirwhi respond’s….
Dear Selwyn,
Q1. I don’t believe my personal opinion about Fluoride is what is important, but there are higher issues/ principles at stake.|Namely it is not the councils job to force medicate the people of Hamilton, which is what the pro-fluoride lobby seems to believe is ok.
My argument is the people who want fluoride in their water can find means of dispensing it into their own supply.
Q2. No! I do not support binding citizen referendums which seek to impose upon the legitimate rights of minorities.
Ref to my answer above.
Fluoridation is one current task which the council can rightly divest itself, and pass on to citizens as a matter of personal choice and responsibility.
Kind regard’s Tim W.
All My Friends Are Stoners Everyone I Know Gets High
Maybe there’s A Reason Why Weed’s Not Legalized
[Richter:]
Why People Always Be Afraid Of What They Don’t Know
I Understand can’t Comprehend The Infos So Old
The Reefer Madness video is Purely Propaganda
A Movie Made To Scare All Of The Kids In Alabama
Maybe they’re Afraid To Think That They Might Lose Control
Instead Of Embracing It’s Many Uses Performing The Medical
It’s All Pathetic Though A Pharmaceutical Company
Can Make You Feel High Than Low
It Seems It’s All About The Money
Funny Cause
[Chorus]
All My Friends Are Stoners Everyone I Know Gets High
Maybe there’s A Reason Why Weed’s Not Legalized
Maybe they’re Afraid Of Too Much Peace And Harmony
Maybe they’re Afraid Of Open Minds And People Free
No Rest Upon My Feet Until My People Free
When They Turn The Ganja Plant Into An Evil Weed
It’s Reefer Madness
[Dirtball:]
Check this
So Many Friends that I know Have Suffered The Lies The Governments Strangle
Into The Ground illegal Bound In Every Angle
Even The Lawmakers Making The Laws Are Smoking The Bong And Vapin The Chronic
And Nobody Hearing The Voice Of The Weed I Find It Ironic
So How Do We Govern The Danger Of Not Becoming To Hostile
Not Losing The Mind Not Crossing The Line Not Feeling Colossal
There’s Only One Avenue We Can Be Sure That We Getting Our Justice
The legalization of it, of the weed, they tryin’ ta bust us.
[Chorus]
[Daddy X:]
We Got A Black President Before Weed’s Legal
In My Mind In My Time That Shits Unbelievable
I Love Obama I Love All People
I Just can’t Believe That The Plants Not Legal
A Plant, A Seed, That Grows In The Soil
And They’re Still Fightin’ Bloody Wars Over Oil?
Reefer Madness Is Useless Propaganda
Fear Is The Tool That They Use To Command Us
So Understand Us We Don’t Fear No Plant
We don’t fear no plant
[Chorus]
Obama does not deserve any respect from Cannabis users.
He has maintained the oppression, and actually worked to hinder the independent states from legalising it for medical use.
Fortunately many of the States have ignored the Federal government and gone ahead and legalised it anyway.
When Realisations like this happen it’s called a personal Enlightenment.
I Salute any person who realises they were wrong about supporting an oppressive Law, and comes clean about it…. and says sorry…esp if they then actively work for the cause they once oppressed…
They Redeem themselves thereby.
There is every reason to believe that Western society is at this moment waking up to the follies and delusions which underpin The prohibition of Cannabis and restring it’s reverenced Status as a blessing to Humanity which it previously enjoyed since the dawn of time..
Here’s my take on what’s wrong with the proposed GCSB Bill… the proposed GCSB Bill and the current GCSB Act rely on the Telecommunications (Interception Capability) Act which requires private companies to intercept communications for the government on request.
Telecommunications (Interception Capability) Act 2004
…
Section 7 (1)A network operator must ensure that every public telecommunications network that the operator owns, controls, or operates, and every telecommunications service that the operator provides in New Zealand, has an interception capability.
…
…
Section 27 Pecuniary penalty for contravention of compliance order
(1)If the High Court is satisfied, on the application of a surveillance agency, that a person has acted in contravention of a compliance order, the court may order the person to pay to the Crown any pecuniary penalty that the court determines to be appropriate.
(2)The amount of any pecuniary penalty under subsection (1) must not exceed $500,000.
(3)In the case of a continuing contravention of a compliance order, the court may, in addition to any pecuniary penalty ordered to be paid under subsection (1), impose a further penalty of $50,000 for each day or part of a day during which the contravention continues.
Security concerns by themselves do not justify forcing others to comply with your wishes.
The end of this month marks the 7th anniversary of my Grand Father, John Steele Clark’s death.
He was a wonderful and inspirational person.
The Greatest human being I have ever known.
I was blessed beyond measure to have him as my Granddad.
I have not seen my own father since I was 5 years old and yet this loss was greatly mitigated by my Grandfathers Love and guidance.
I miss him, and still reverence his memory.
When I knew his time was short I did something a tad different.
I wrote a Tribute to his Life and death and sent it to him before he died so he could read with his own eyes what his Grandson thought! 🙂
My tribute was very controversial as it was *My take* *My perspective* rather than simply a concise record of his exact doings and faith.
That was another reason I sent it to him… to see if he would discuss what I had written.
We never did discuss it, and so I took that as a Tacit endorsement! 🙂 And this was important to me because I expected some of my family members to not be that impressed with my Rendition of things.
Thus with my Granddad’s anniversary in mind I have typed out my Tribute to him and posted it below.
I hope to post more about this wonderful man in the future.
I also hope my tribute is of benefit to people struggling with the Pains, trials, and tribulations of Life as this is not just the story of an individual’s life but about Hope and happiness in the face of death and loss.
Love You Heaps Granddad! XOX
Tim Wikiriwhi.
My Granddad. (Left) Married Me to my Wife Joy at Mclarens Falls Tauranga. March 2002.
Best Man: Bruce Davies.
Sergeant at Arms… My Son… James Fifield (Wikirwihi)
*********
Tribute to Reverend John Steel Clark.
Anglican Minister.
Thames/ Coromandal Peninsular.
New Zealand
1923-2006
Man of Faith and Reason.
A Christian view of Life and Death.
By his eldest Grandson.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
“For the Invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse;”
St Paul. Romans 1vs 20
“I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live…”
Jesus Christ: John 11vs 25
“for by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast”
St Paul: Ephesians 2vs8,
After an exemplary life, and a heroic fight against cancer, my beloved Grandfather has passed on.
There is not enough time today to fully express what he means to me, I therefore shall leave much out of this tribute for others to share.
I have chosen to focus on the most precious values that I personally treasure… that I see as the Greater part of his legacy.
My Grandfather was the Abraham of our family!
When I was growing up his word was Law.
He set the standards for manhood and he always stuck to his word.
His glory as a faithful husband to my Nana and as a father to his children (and Grandchildren) gave me such assurance that life makes perfect sense, and that all is well in the world.
Rev Clark was a man of Reason and a man of Faith.
He was a Christian minister, which is a huge testimony to the value of that religion.
Those who knew him and loved him, yet are not Christians ought to pause and contemplate the huge implications that such a man of great wisdom and integrity was not ashamed to wear the garb of a Man of God!
It is this truth that I hold dearest about my Grandfather, and it is in honour of his principled faith in God that I wish to write to you about life, religion, and death.
This is a fitting time to talk about religion and death.
If it’s not cool to talk about religion and death at the funeral of a preacher, then I ask when?
For many Death is the hardest most frightening reality we face.
How are we to deal with it?
We all must face our own mortality sooner or later and worse still we must face the mortality of those we hold dear.
Some like my Grandfather, live full term and death becomes a sort of mercy, yet many tragically die before their time and it seems a truism to say “Life’s not fair!”
Should we die from our own immorality or foolishness we may find small solace in seeing such deaths as justly ‘reaping what we have sown’, yet often death comes to the virtuous and innocent…at the hands of some evil, and so this rule appears violated.
The Soul that looses a loved one in such a way, or they find themselves facing an early death by some evil is in danger of becoming bitter and twisted, and a hater of God, even if they don’t believe in him!
Indeed they choose not to believe in him simply because they see life as unjust!
It is for this reason that a positive philosophy about death is essential for every one of us if we are to truly enjoy life.
Without a sure reasoned faith powerful enough to overcome these sorts of pain… bitterness and hatred of God are almost as sure to consume your soul as the sun will rise tomorrow!
Perhaps some may delude themselves into being happy by such base notions that ultimately ‘Nothing really matters’, but this can never suffice the deep hearted.
This can only leave you cold.
I therefore say True Religion is essential for the survival and happiness of everyone of us, and not to have such a faith is a disaster!
Pain bitterness, hopelessness, and hatred are the lot for the lost soul without true religion.
Rev Clark Knew this, and this was one reason he was a minister of God.
Peace, hope, and a clear sense of justice are only possible for the man of reason that has reason enough to have faith that ultimately all is well and that life has real meaning and value.
It is my testimony, and that of my Grandfather that reason enough does indeed exist for hope and belief in Divine Justice.
Tears. Knowing time was short. Me and Granddad shortly before his death.
Let me now share with you a tiny fraction of the logic for faith in God, faith in his goodness, and faith in Christ by a few self-evident truths.
What lies in that box is not my Grandfather!
That dead body is but the house he lived in.
Science tells us that we replace every cell in our body every seven years.
This being so, most of us have had many bodies in our lifetime already!
They are miraculous things that were designed by incredible genius, but they are not the essence of who we are.
What is missing from that corpse is the *Real Granddad* whom we all love!
*His Soul*.
A great portion of Mankind are suffering from the delusion that we are but soul-less matter.
This is a great inhuman and evil superstition that has the most evil consequences for those under it’s spell.
The fruit of it is nihilism and this lowers man down to the level of a germ.
Granddad knew this truth and was a minister of men’s *souls*.
Now think about love… what is the chemical formula for that?
Can chemicals love?
Can rocks feel?
Can robots be conscious of their own existence and care about the existence of other robots?
The man of reason and science, who holds that good and evil have objective reality must say no!
There is no Atheistic science that can accommodate the facts of reality or human experience!
All human invention is childlike when compared to such marvels as the human mind, brain, and hands.
The scripture that declares we are made in God’s image is the most rational statement pertaining to our existence!
I say that if the Earth was like the moon, and there was no such thing as mankind… then it might be rational to think ‘there is no God’ or that whatever is responsible for existence is dead not living.
But we live!… and science has proven that Life only comes from life.
It therefore follows that whatever is primary in reality must not only be alive, but also of supreme intelligence.
We call this Supreme being God…. who is before all temporal Laws and things.
The scripture wisely declares “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God”, and that mankind must beware ‘science falsely so-called’.
Don’t be deceived by *Fake Science* like Darwinism.
Understand the difference between science proper, and poor speculations that are contrary to it.
Darwinism is fatally flawed and already fading away, yet Christianity stands fast and ready for you to embrace.
It alone accounts for cause and effect, both Physical and Moral.
The foolish man builds his house upon the sands of man’s ever changing myths.
The wise man builds his house upon the rock of God’s sure word of truth, The King James Bible.
This article appeared in the Waikato Times.
Why must we embrace Christ?
It is because this is how God has declared as his only acceptable way of salvation, and it is God who sets the terms for such a thing… not us.
To be so vain as to believe God must accept us on *our terms* is to hang reality on our whim, and to Deify our pea-sized intellect!
Socrates, who believed in life after death, said it ought to be a man’s chief concern to ‘Know thyself’, and that the unexamined life is not worth living.
I say that if we dare to examine ourselves our need for Christ and God’s forgiveness becomes as clear as day!
What is wondrous about God’s salvation through Christ is that he has managed to satisfy both Justice and Mercy, and to reveal his loving grace towards us.
He has achieved this by giving us freewill, and the liberty to choose to accept his gift of salvation… or reject him.
For us to choose Christ we must recognize we are sinful and lost.
Do not hide behind such foolish cliché, as ‘Religion is the cause of all mankind’s woes… such as war.”
Sin and Evil are the cause of these and knowing this ought to convince us all of the need for salvation and God’s government!
The good news is “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Salvation is a free Gift!
The Bible says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.
Rev Clark believed in God and was a minister of this truth.
Was he an irrational superstitious Fool?
No!
He was a man of Reason and a true Humanitarian.
This is what Christianity is all about!
I don’t ask you to become a pew warmer.
I implore you all to ask Christ to be your savior!
Let us maintain our faith in justice in the face of every hardship.
Let us play the hand we have been dealt with dignity to the very end.
Let us love one another and cherish every moment we have!
I thank God for my Grandfather and trust his soul is now in a much better place.
And I expect to see him again!
Thank you Granddad for everything.
You are an inspiration to us all.
Amen.
I cannot finish without giving recognition to my Nana who is the best wife any man could have.
Thank you Nana for loving and caring for my Granddad.
We all love you so much!
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness: but unto us which are saved: it is the power of God”
St Paul. 1 Corinthians 1vs18.
Tony Bower Director of Mullaway Medical Cannabis Limited, and Auzzy Hero!
Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Mullaway#!/Mullaway
Any one with Children who suffer from Fits and Seizures needs to watch this Video!
If you know anyone with children who suffer Fits and Seizures please forward this Video to them!
It could save their lives.
It is a matter of extreme urgency that Medical Cannabis be Legalised and made available to the New Zealand public!
IF had a child with such a condition, I would not hesitate to break the Law and get some of this Medicine for my child.
Tony Bower is a hero who is battling Prosecution for Cannabis cultivation to produce his wonder Medicine. I implore the people of Australia to Rally in his defence.
Post script update 15-6-13
It appears that the benefits of Cannabis in respect to treating Epilepsy were well known before it was prohibited…
THE ANTIQUE CANNABIS BOOK
Chapter 3 – (2nd Edition)
CENSORED MEDICAL STUDIES
CENSORSHIP
1947 – EPILEPSY STUDY
HARRY ANSLINGER’S CONCERN
[America’s 1st Drug Czar, Harry Anslinger]
This section of the Antique Cannabis Book, was meant primarily as a tool for active News Media Reporters who needed a quick (yet well documented) source of information on the subject of Governmental Censorship as it relates to Medical Cannabis. As such this (1947) study, which was openly published and never actually under the threat of censorship, would normally not qualify for inclusion.
However, a quick look beneath the surface shows a different story. One that reveals, wheels within wheels, circles within circles, all spinning around . . . . let’s just say that this study, came very close to (ah, how shall we put it), going the way of oh so many other Medical Cannabis studies.
The author is convinced that had Anslinger (or anyone at the D.E.A.) known about the study BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED , it most assuredly would have been CENSORED. Either that or (doing what the Narc’s do now), killed it in its cradle by simply denying the researchers the needed licenses and permits.
This one however, seems to have slipped though the cracks. Here let us go over the facts (those we’ve been able to locate), and let the reader to decide.
1.1 – STUDY SUMMERY
The following, located via 420 Magazine [1] is the shortest summery that we’ve been able to find. However, as it’s still filled with lots of PHD gobble goop, so the reader is advised simply to skim-read-it. The long and the short of it is that “ Cannabis Works. ”
Anti-Epileptic Action Of Marijuana-Active Substances BY JEAN P. DAVIS, M.D., and H.H. RAMSEY, M.D. [2]
The demonstration of anticonvulsant activity of the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) congeners by laboratory tests (Loewe and Goodman, Federation Proc. 6:352, 1947 ) prompted clinical trial in five institutionalized epileptic children.
All of them had severe symptomatic grand ma1 epilepsy with mental retardation; three had cerebral palsy in addition. Electroencephalographic tracings were grossly abnormal in the entire group; three had focal seizure activity. Their attacks had been inadequately controlled on 0.13 gm. Of phenobarbital daily, combined with 0.3 gm. of Dilantin per day in two of the patients, and in a third, with 0.2 gm. Of Mesantoin daily. Two isomeric 3 (1,2-dimethyl heptyl) homologs of THC were tested, Numbers 122 and 125A, with ataxia potencies fifty and eight times, respectively, that of natural marijuana principles. Number 122 was given to two patients for three weeks and to three patients for seven weeks. Three responded at least as well as to previous therapy; the fourth became almost completely and the fifth entirely seizure free. One patient, transferred to 125A after three weeks, had prompt exacerbation of seizures during the ensuing four weeks, despite dosages up to 4 mg. daily. The second patient transferred to 125A was adequately controlled on this dosage, except for a brief period of paranoid behavior three and a half weeks later; similar episodes had occurred prior to cannabinol therapy. Other psychic disturbances or toxic reactions were not manifested during the periods of treatment. Blood counts were normal.
The cannabinols herein reported deserve further trial in non-institutionalized epileptics. Reprinted from Federation Proceedings, Federation of American Society for Experimental Biology, vol. 8, lY49, p. 284.
Source: Anti-Epileptic Action Of Marijuana-Active Substances
1.2 – MARJUANA LEAF PLAYS EPILEPSY CURE ROLE
The below newspaper article, taken from the “Salt Lake City telegram [May 20, 1947], was located via the National Archives (College Park, MD). It belonged to and was integrated into the files of Harry Anslinger’s old Bureau of Narcotics, today known as the D.E.A. We believe that it was the first that Anslinger knew about the study, and thus too late to CENSOR or put a stop to it.
[Bureau of Narcotics files, — National Archives, College Park, Md.]
[As per the Bureau of Narcotics Files ; National Archives]
TAKEN FROM SALT LAKE CITY TELEGRAM 5-20-49
Marijuana Leaf Plays Epilepsy Cure Role
Drug principles isolated from leaves of marijuana, an innocent-looking plant that grows wild in different parts of the world, are playing an important role in research on a cure for epilepsy.
This is the same marijuana which so many people fear as a habit-forming drug and which is noted for the opium-like dreams it produces in those who partake of it.
The drugs being used are synthetic substances related to cannabinol, which is contained in marijuana, but does not produce the same effects. Dr. Jean P. Davis, faculty researcher at the University of Utah medical college, has done considerable research with the drugs in treatment of minor and convulsive epilepsy.
She reports that the drugs have been found effective about 50% of the time. Future for epileptics appears “very bright,” she said, “because of not only one new drug, but a whole field of new compounds to combat epileptic seizures.”
Helps Minor Seizures One of these new drugs, trimethadione, is most effective in petit mal epilepsy, minor seizures common in younger patients. Another, paramethadione, a sort of second cousin to the first, is useful in such spells.
A third compound, called phenerone, is effective in psycho-motor seizures, sudden episodes of unusual behavior, accompanied by amnesia.
Epilepsy comes in four degrees: grand mal, or pykno-epilepsy, with brief staring spells; psycho-motor, accompanied by amnesia and unusual behavior, and Jacksonian, identified by retention of consciousness with progressive twitching and numbness of one leg or arm.
Mr. Davis is in charge of a section of the psychiatric clinic at Salt Lake General hospital, where she does some clinical work. She also instructs advanced courses in the departments of pharmacology and physiology at the university.
Began in 1929 According to Dr. Davis, actual valuable research with modern methods of fighting epilepsy came into their own in 1929 with the invention of the electro-encephalograph, an instrument for recording brain activity.
And the latest of the compounds used in treatment of the affliction was developed in 1948. Meanwhile, research is advancing at a rapid pace, Dr. Davis said.
She studied for three years under Dr. William Lennox, one of the top U.S. experts on epilepsy. She received her doctor of medicine degree at Yale university in 1943.
Most of her clinical work has been confined to children, with whom she “likes to work.”
Here note the wording:
“. . . Have been found effective about 50% of the time. “
“ . . . the same marijuana which so many people fear “
“ . . . Drug principles isolated from leaves of marijuana . . . being used are synthetic substances related to cannabinol, which is contained in marijuana, but does not produce the same effects. “
With respect to the above — note that a Medical Cannabis like “synthetic substance” is being referred to.
EPILEPSY STUDY — ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
******************************************************
The Bible does not glorify poverty as so many infidels insist, or say that the poor are always virtuious, and the rich always crooked.
Scriptures like this mean that Money and self interest ought not to be our highest values.
“For *the Love* of money is the root of all Evil.”
St Paul.
“Every Man has his Price”.
Unspeakible evils have been committed for the sake of Filthy Lucre.
.. indeed even Christ was betrayed for 40 pieces of silver.
Important Caveat: while some money isn’t exactly ‘clean’…Some money is much much ‘filthier’ than others!
If we were to scrutinise each and every industry of humanity… almost none would be found to be absolutely squeeky clean!
As a Libertarian I respect an Individual’s right to choose their own religion, and to make honest money, even if the means are less than virtuous eg I respect the right of a person to make money selling books on atheism, and Evolution…though I think they are making money out of the ignorance, and folly of their fellow man.
I regret that they are lost souls, and that one day… unless they see the light… they will stand before God and answer why they chose to Capitalize from the market of infidelity.
That is filthy lucre and yet because in involves no theft or extortion, it is still ‘legitimate’ cash and Christian Libertarians like myself can tolerate that.
Likewise with Prostitution, Porn, Alcohol, etc.
The truth is I have far more respect for prostitutes, than I do for Devious and unscrupulous woman whom prey on some drunken chump to get pregnant so that they may claim the DPB! (Domestic Purposes benefit) My rationale being that Prostitutes actually ‘work’ for their money, and they dont force anyone to hire/pay them, whereas the DPB ‘Breeders’ use illegitimate children as a means of income extorted by force from hard working Tax slaves…by Gangster socialist governments… That sort of money is the filthiest of the lot!
There is a massive difference between someone who prostitutes themselves to feed themselves and their kids, than someone who does it simple because they are too lazy… or too proud to accept menial, servile… yet righteous employment… and there is always high hidden spiritual cost involved.
Thankfully God is rich in mercy and grace.
The Lord knows I am no Holy man, and that I must confess to having dirty hands… yet still though I would be sad if my daughter was a Hooker, in truth I personally have nothing at all against ‘working girls’, (or publicans)… I drink plenty myself, and I have had some as very close friends who ran Brothels, and as a Libertarian activist I have defended their rights.
I am sad for them too… though they are not my daughters… I still care about their spiritual well being, and believe they are selling themselves ‘cheep’.
I would much rather see them in employment which did not involve them selling their bodies… yet this is what this post is all about!
It’s about having values higher than easy loot or wealth.
What price do you put on your integrity…. your soul… your friendships… your body…???
Yet here’s My dilemma….I would far rather my Daughter prostitute herself than to mug an old lady for her purse!
And I am sure God see’s things this way too!
One is a Vise, the other is *a Crime*.
While vise is voluntary…*A crime involves force or fraud upon another person*
Likewise Though I dont like Cigarettes, I would still rather work in Cigarette factory to earn an honnest dollar to pay my bills and feed my family…. than to be a Bank robber.
Ultimately I pray for the souls Criminals, Prostitutes, and Peddlers of vise.
I pray they see the light and not only are spiritually redeemed by Christ, but Redeem themselves from selling themselves out… for ‘easy’ money.
I respect the Babe who Strips Friday and Saturday nights to pay her bills and feed her kids and thereby aviods sullying herself with the ‘filthy lucre of Government extortion’ going on the Dole, yet I respect more the beautiful woman who instead chooses to work longer hours at a Cafe for much lower pay Rather than prostitute herself… for the sake of ideals she values more than easy money… for the sake of her own higher self value, and saving herself for her Man.
War is Hell.
What do you do when you, and a bunch of Sluggish minor Aircraft carriers you’re Guarding, are surprised by an Enemy (Jap) Battle Fleet baring down….which includes the Greatest Battleship ever built (the Japanese Yamato) , with the greatest Guns ever put to sea…and they start to Pound away at such a distance that your own puny guns are pitifully short on range?… and what’s worse… you are the only thing between this Enemy Fleet and your own Invasion force…which will be decimated if this Battle fleet succeeds in engaging the Invasion troop carriers and landing vessels????
This is a circumstance not in the training manual!
Well what Commander Evans of the USS Johnston, and a handful of other tiny ‘tin cans’ decided to do was not to run… not to abandon their Charges… but turned and drove headlong into Battle… against the Goliath…. And the Battle which ensued was the stuff of Legend!
She would not survive, and yet The tale of her exploits, and those of her companions effected World history by diverting the Japanese away from their objective of halting General Macarthur’s invasion of the Philippines.
Many rightly say that War should not be glorified.
War is indeed a disaster!
An evidence of Man’s Loss of God.
And yet despite all our hopes and prayers to the contrary…War… like so many horrible circumstances we can find ourselves enduring … is a reality…. and it is in such times of crisis that the Mettle of men is put to the test.
It is a time when Higher values (If you got em) come into play which inspire a Contempt for Death.
… I don’t know how I would fare under such conditions, having never face such a trial by fire, and yet I bow my head in reverence at hearing the of the truly heroic exploits as were the deeds of the Seamen aboard the USS Johnston and her Sisters in the Battle of Samar.
That such a tiny Vessel and her companions could against all odds put up such a fight…for so long …against such a formidible Adversary is the stuff of Legend… and WW2 was a time not only of great Tragedy, Great Brutality, and great waste…. but also an age of great Heroism, and great Humanity.
I just watched the Discovery’s ‘Ultimate Warfare’ coverage of this Historic Naval battle, and it was heart wrenching, and Glorious!
To appreciate what my Grandfathers generation went through to protect Western Civilisation from the Tyrannical Warmongering Axis powers.
It is in recalling such True stories of War Heroism in which the Thinking compassionate man will salute those who go into Battle for the sake of defending their Homelands from Foreign aggression, from terrorism, or as peace keepers attempting to establish order in lands of Anarchy, villainy, and Chaos.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
…Engagement of Taffy 3 [edit]Main article: Battle off Samar
On the morning of 23 October 1944, American submarines detected and attacked units of the Japanese fleet coming in from the South China Sea toward the precarious Leyte beachhead. The battleship-cruiser-destroyer Southern Force was decimated as it attempted to enter Leyte Gulf via Surigao Strait the night of 24/25 October. The more powerful battleship-cruiser-destroyer Center Force under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita had been pounded by Admiral “Bull” Halsey’s attack carrier planes and presumably turned back from San Bernardino Strait. Admiral Halsey then raced north with his attack carriers and heavy battleships to engage a decoy Japanese carrier–battleship task force off Cape Engano. This left Johnston and her small escort carrier task unit as lonely sentinels in north Leyte Gulf, east of Samar and off San Bernardino Strait.
As enemy ships fled the Battle of Surigao Strait at daybreak of 25 October, the powerful Japanese Center Force slipped through San Bernardino Strait and into Leyte Gulf. It steamed along the coast of Samar directly for Johnston’s little task unit and the American invasion beachhead at Leyte, hoping to destroy amphibious shipping and American troops on shore.
One of the pilots flying patrol after dawn alert that morning reported the approach of Japanese Center Force. Steaming straight for “Taffy 3” were four battleships (including Yamato), eight cruisers (two light and six heavy), and 11 destroyers. Johnston’s gunnery officer—Lieutenant Robert C. Hagen—later reported, “We felt like little David without a slingshot.” In less than a minute, Johnston was zigzagging between the six escort carriers and the Japanese fleet and putting out a smoke screen over a 2,500 yd (2,300 m) front to conceal the carriers from the enemy gunners: “Even as we began laying smoke, the Japanese started lobbing shells at us and the Johnston had to zigzag between the splashes…. We were the first destroyer to make smoke, the first to start firing, the first to launch a torpedo attack….”[2]
For the first 20 minutes, Johnston could not return fire as the enemy cruisers and battleships’ heavy guns outranged Johnston’s 5 in (130 mm) guns. Not waiting for orders, Commander Evans broke formation and went on the offensive by ordering Johnston to speed directly toward the enemy—first a line of seven destroyers, next one light and three heavy cruisers, then the four battleships. To the east appeared three other cruisers and several destroyers.
As soon as range closed to within ten miles, Johnston fired on the heavy cruiser Kumano—the nearest ship—and scored several damaging hits. During her five-minute sprint into torpedo range, Johnston fired over 200 rounds at the enemy, then—under the direction of torpedo officer Lieutenant Jack K. Bechdel—made her torpedo attack. She got off all 10 torpedoes, then turned to retire behind a heavy smoke screen. When she came out of the smoke a minute later, Kumano could be seen burning furiously from a torpedo hit; her bow had been blown completely off, and she was forced to withdraw. Around this time, Johnston took three 14 in (360 mm) shell hits from Kongō, followed closely by three 6 in (150 mm) shells—from either a light cruiser or Yamato—which hit the bridge. The hits resulted in the loss of all power to the steering engine and all power to the three 5-inch guns in the aft part of the ship, and rendered the gyrocompass useless. A low-lying squall came up, and Johnston “ducked into it” for a few minutes of rapid repairs and salvage work. The bridge was abandoned and Commander Evans—who had lost two fingers on his left hand—went to the aft steering column to conn the ship.
At 07:50, Admiral Sprague ordered destroyers to make a torpedo attack: “small boys attack”. Johnston, unable to keep position with her damaged engine, and with her torpedoes already expended, nonetheless moved to provide fire support for the other destroyers. As she emerged from a smoke screen, she nearly collided with fellow destroyer Heermann. At 08:20, Johnston sighted a Kongō-class battleship—only 7,000 yd (6,400 m) away—emerging through the smoke. The destroyer opened fire, scoring multiple hits on the superstructure of the much larger ship. The return fire from the battleship missed clearly.
Johnston soon observed Gambier Bay under fire from an enemy cruiser, and engaged the cruiser in an effort to draw her fire away from the carrier. Johnston scored four hits on the heavy cruiser, then broke off as the Japanese destroyer squadron was seen closing rapidly on the American escort carriers. Johnston engaged the lead ship until it quit, then the second until the remaining enemy units broke off to get out of effective gun range before launching torpedoes, all of which missed. Then, Johnston’s luck ran out; she came under heavy fire from multiple enemy ships, and right when it was most needed, the damaged remaining engine quit, leaving her dead in the water.
Under attack from all sides [edit]The enemy ships closed in for an easy kill, pouring fire into the crippled destroyer. Johnston took a hit which knocked out one forward gun and damaged another, and her bridge was rendered untenable by fires and explosions resulting from a hit in her 40 mm ready ammunition locker. Evans—who had shifted his command to Johnston’s fantail—was yelling orders through an open hatch to men turning her rudder by hand. Crewmen from the destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts spotted Evans at the fantail, asking “isn’t that their captain”, waving to them with what they did not realize was his only good hand.
At one of her batteries, a crewman kept calling “More shells! More shells!”[2] Still the destroyer battled to keep the Japanese destroyers and cruisers from reaching the five surviving American carriers: “We were now in a position where all the gallantry and guts in the world couldn’t save us, but we figured that help for the carrier must be on the way, and every minute’s delay might count…. By 9:30 we were going dead in the water; even the Japanese couldn’t miss us. They made a sort of running semicircle around our ship, shooting at us like a bunch of Indians attacking a prairie schooner. Our lone engine and fire room was knocked out; we lost all power, and even the indomitable skipper knew we were finished. At 9:45 he gave the saddest order a captain can give: ‘Abandon Ship.’… At 10:10 Johnston rolled over and began to sink. A Japanese destroyer came up to 1,000 yards and pumped a final shot into her to make sure she went down. A survivor saw the Japanese captain salute her as she went down. That was the end of Johnston.”[2]
From Johnston’s complement of 327 officers and men, only 141 were saved. Of the 186 men lost, about 50 were killed out-right by enemy action, 45 men later died on rafts from wounds; and 92 men—including Cmdr. Evans—got off Johnston before she sank, but were never heard from again.
