Thoughts
This section is where we explore different topics and provide analysis and commentary. As part of our foundation's mission, we want to think carefully about our activities and how we impact others. We seek to listen and understand, then act in a way, hopefully, can make the world a better place.
The St. Patrick's Battalion
As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past is not dead. It's not even past." We need to understand our history and how it impacts current events. I recently read about the St. Patrick's Battalion, a group of primarily Irish Catholic deserters from the U.S. Army of Occupation that formed a military unit in the Mexican Army of the North and fought in five major battles against the American forces. See my narrative at the St. Patrick's Battalion.
A 21-year-old soldier from Ohio, Leumel Wheaton, was executed for being a member of the St. Patrick's Battalion. Why did he desert and fight for the Mexican side? So complicated. I touch on this in my reading about the war, of the complexity of the war, of atrocities by US "Volunteers" on Mexican civilians, and how some rose up to fight against what they saw as injustice. See the full thought at Who Pays the Price.?
