Veterans and Tombstone Lawyers

Truth has no special time of it’s own. Its hour is now-always.
Albert Schweitzer

2008 Hurricane Watch:

Straight from AccuWeather.com
It is November, and the official season fast approaches the end with Nov. 30 being the final day. Of course, this doesn't mean that storms cannot form past this time, but climatologically speaking it is not very likely. This leads to the idea that it is also difficult for storms to form in November in general and when they do, they struggle to last for very long. Though it seems our most recent storm Paloma defied the odds in many ways. Not only did the storm form, but also increased to Category 4 (another difficult task at this time of year).

Veterans Day Remembrance WW II
Excerpt from Bridges to Victory by Max Schwartz
Regimental Intelligence, S-2

For this writer, “S-2” has been a mystery. This section was always omitted from the Regiment’s Table of Organization, or T.O. I assumed S-2 to be a long discarded branch of the service as no one ever mentioned the gap between S-1 and S-3. It was only at the end of the war, while in the Philippines, the meaning of S-2 was explained to me by T/5 Bill Sellery. He was a jovial, somewhat overweight, and middle age soldier that did not seem to have any special duties. I remembered when he was slow to regain his strength after a long march. He said, “I’m in my mid-thirties, Max, and it takes me longer to recover than you twenty-year olds.”
We were reminiscing what the Regiment had done over the past three years when I asked him, “What is your specialty, Bill?” I figured that Sellery was college-educated, at Yale, or some equivalent temple of knowledge. I did not understand why he did not rise in rank above T/5.
“Bill,” I continued, “Just what were your official duties in this Regiment, anyway?" You’ve been a jeep driver, worked in the Supply Section and Special Services. You just seemed to float around. Where do you fit in the T.O.?” He smiled and paused for a long time.
“I’m S-2,” he responded, simply, as though this explained everything.
“What the hell is S-2?”
“Regimental Intelligence,” he said, without smiling.
“I never saw you interrogating German prisoners,” I said.
“I headed up intelligence agents in each of our companies. We are the “eyes and ears” of the Regiment,” he explained, mysteriously.
“Do you look for spies among our own men?” I asked incredulously.
“No, not spies, but men who may be a threat to the others, like malcontents, angry guys, men with a big chip on their shoulders, and criminal-types who might get involved in the black-market. That’s all I can tell you, Max,” and he walked away.
I never brought the subject up again, but I finally found out what S-2 meant. Then I remembered the scandal in the Regiment back in Europe when a company commander and several of his men were arrested by the CIC, the Counter Intelligence Corps, for black market activity in France. ”I bet Sellery and S-2 had a hand in that,” I said to myself.

Tombstone 1881 Post Gunfight at the OK Corral
Excerpt from Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone.
Coroner H.M. Matthews called for an inquest to begin Friday, Oct. 28th.
At the same hour the coroner's jury was being impaneled, ring lawyers filed papers with the Cochise County Court demanding the arrest of Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday. Charging them with the wanton and willful killing of Frank McLowry, Tom McLowry and Billy Clanton.
Word leaked out regarding the ring's intentions and the would-be defendants began making plans of their own. Bogus charges or not, they had to be legally countered. Wyatt's personal attorney, Tom Fitch, hired their defense team. He selected Judge T. J. Drum to work with him in the courtroom and the law firm of Howard and Street agreed to do the legal research. That firm would also coordinate the day-to-day legwork of rounding up and interviewing potential witnesses.
Col. William Herring, a staunch supporter of law and order volunteered to work with the defense team on their overall strategy.
Doc and Wyatt attended a Saturday breakfast meeting with their lawyers at the Melrose Restaurant on Fremont Street. The group had just assembled in a small banquet room when Tom Fitch gestured for everyone to take a seat. He removed a letter sized paper from his pocket, cleared his throat, smiled and began to read, “Goodrich and Goodrich, Campbell and Robinson, Smith and Colby, J.M. Murphy, District Attorney Lyttleton Price, his chief assistant Earl Smith and that's just the ones on record.”
“What's that suppose to mean, Tom?" Wyatt drawled.
"That's the group of attorneys the ring hired to prosecute a case called -- Arizona Territory Vs Earps and Holliday."
Doc shook his head. "Good God Almighty ... they mean business, don't they?"
Then he frowned, but as he sipped his coffee and looked around the table, he was heartened by what he saw. There was not the slightest sign of intimidation on the faces of their lawyers.
Col. Herring leaned in and talked in a manner that would exclude the walls from hearing. "There is no way in hell that Ike Clanton could finance that gaggle of legal talent. It appears to me that the Cochise County political ring is still backing their cowboys.”
A good part of the meeting was taken up with Doc and Wyatt giving their accounts of the shoot-out. Doc did not volunteer that his shot to Billy Clanton's wrist may have been the opening round.
Col. Herring made it clear to the defendants that the prosecution would likely try and have them arrested.
T.J. Drum gave a report he had gotten from the coroner's inquest. And how the bias was running against the Earps and Holliday. However, the coroner was not swayed by politics and refused to add inflammatory language to his report. Dr. Matthews simply stated that Tom and Frank McLowry and Billy Clanton died from gunshot wounds.

Writers Notebook:
Truth wears many faces, here’s one you might ponder.
CWC member Ken Wilkins gave us a poet take on truth and life.
‘I shall grow old perhaps, but not today not while this pen can write upon a page, and memories turn winter into May, shall this stout heart be brought to terms by age.’
Grace E. Easley

To rearrange in an attempt to improve any phrase that has survived for a century or two, for example Thomas Pain’s ‘These are the times that try men’s souls,’ is probably impossible. Go ahead and try it.
E.B. White

Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com