DATE=05/06/02

TYPE=English Programs Feature

NUMBER=7-36263

TITLE=AMERICAN MOMENTS 05/12/02 - 05/18/02

BYLINE=Andrew J. Baroch

TELEPHONE=202 619-0929

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Ted Landphair

CONTENT=

Mayaguez Captured 1975

(For Use 05/12)

NARR: On May twelfth, 1975, a Cambodian gunboat captured the S.S. Mayaguez, a United States merchant vessel. The Khmer Rouge government in Phnom Penh said the ship was within Cambodia's territorial waters. However, the vessel was about ninety kilometers from the Cambodian shore when it was boarded and seized. U-S President Gerald Ford called the seizure an "act of piracy" and demanded the immediate release of the ship and its crew. After two days of silence from the Phnom Penh government, U-S air and naval forces rescued the crew and retrieved the ship. (BEGIN OPT) Later President Ford announced that the rescue operation was a success:

TAPE: CUT ONE - PRES. GERALD FORD (RUNS :42)

"At my direction, United States forces tonight boarded the American merchant ship S-S Mayaguez and landed at the island of Kok Tang for the purpose of rescuing the crew and ship which had been illegally seized by Cambodian forces. They also conducted supporting strikes against nearby military installations. I have now received information that the vessel has been recovered intact and the entire crew has been rescued."

NARR: President Ford later said that he acted quickly and forcefully in the Mayaguez incident, keeping in mind the example of North Korea's 1968 seizure of the U-S Navy ship Pueblo. Ford recalled that the Communist government had taken the Pueblo when it was outside North Korean territorial waters and had held the American crew for nearly a year. [END OPT]

New Englanders Help Boston 1774

(For Use 05/12)

NARR: On May twelfth, 1774, representatives of New England villages and towns met to discuss how they could help Boston, Massachusetts, survive a tough new British law. England's parliament had passed a measure closing Boston's port as punishment for the famous "Tea Party" -- the incident when patriots dumped tons of British tea into the harbor rather than pay a new tax on tea. The first copy of the law, the Boston Port Act, reached the city on May tenth, and even as the New Englanders were meeting, British soldiers were landing to put their bayonets behind the new law. As a result of the May twelfth meeting, towns in New England sent sheep, cattle, and grain to Boston to sustain its inhabitants while the port was closed.

Boxer Joe Louis is Born 1914

(For Use 05/13)

NARR: On May 13th, 1914, Joe Louis, one of the most famous professional boxers of all time, was born near Lafayette, Alabama. His real name was Joseph Louis Barrow, and he grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He won his first professional fight by a knockout in 1934. Three years later, he won the heavyweight championship of the world, knocking out the American boxer James Braddock. During Joe Louis's career, he compiled a record of sixty-eight victories and only three defeats. Perhaps his most famous rivalry was with the German fighter Max Schmeling, a former world champion, who in 1936 was the first pro boxer to defeat Louis. The Nazi regime of Germany considered Schmeling's victory over the African-American Louis as a triumph of German racial superiority. When the boxers held a rematch in 1938, Louis had risen to world champion. He defeated Schmeling in one round:

TAPE: CUT TWO -- FIGHT ANNOUNCER :07

"Another crashing right, and Schmeling is down, for the third time. There's a towel thrown in from his corner. It's all over!"

NARR: Joe Louis retired from boxing in 1949, having successfully defended his championship twenty-five times. He returned to the ring in 1950, but his comeback attempt ended in 1951 when he was knocked out by Rocky Marciano. Joe Louis died in 1981. An arena in his hometown of Detroit is named for this legendary boxer.

Violent Welcome for Nixon in Caracas 1958

(For Use 05/13)

NARR: On May 13th, 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, barely escaped harm during an anti-American demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela. The Nixons were on a state visit to Caracas and were being driven to a wreath-placing ceremony when their motorcade was blocked by a crowd of demonstrators. The protesters broke the windows in the Nixons' car and tried to drag the vice president and his wife from the vehicle. The Nixons managed to escape to the American embassy where they remained until their departure the next day under the protection of Venezuelan troops. The vice president had also encountered anti-American demonstrators in Peru, Uruguay and Colombia during his eighteen-day tour of Latin America.

U.S. Recognizes Israel 1948

(For use 05/14)

NARR: On May 14th, 1948, the United States officially recognized the new state of Israel. U-S diplomatic recognition followed a vote in the United Nations General Assembly to partition Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states. *** [NARR, PAUSE HERE FOR A BEAT] ***

TAPE: CUT THREE - MUSIC AND VOICE (:34 TOTAL) - MUSIC (:10) SNEAKS IN UNDER FOLLOWED BY BORGNINE READING TRUMAN STATEMENT (:24)

NARR: [OVER MUSIC] U-S President Harry Truman's words are recreated in this recording by the actor Ernest Borgnine:

TAPE: CUT THREE (CONTINUED) - ERNEST BORGNINE

"This government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine -- and recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof. The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new state of Israel."

NARR: The Palestinians rejected the idea of an independent state side-by-side with a Jewish state, and, almost simultaneously, the Arab nations of the Middle East declared war on Israel. Israel and the Arab states fought several wars in the second half of the twentieth century.

Frank Sinatra Dies 1998

(For Use 05/14)

NARR: On May 14th, 1998, entertainer Frank Sinatra died in Los Angeles.

TAPE: CUT FOUR - MUSIC -- FRANK SINATRA, "I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN" (2:26 TOTAL), SNEAK FOR :09, IN FULL TO :37, THEN FADE UNDER TEXT

NARR: The eighty-two-year-old singer and actor had suffered heart trouble for several years. Born in the eastern state of New Jersey in 1915, Francis Albert Sinatra rose to a prominent position in nearly every facet of twentieth-century show business. He sang before live audiences with "big bands" and later established himself as a solo singer; he made hundreds of popular and critically acclaimed recordings; he starred in movies, both musical and non-musical, and on radio and television. Sinatra earned numerous "Grammy" awards from the recording industry, a television "Emmy" for the 1965 special, "Frank Sinatra: A Man and his Music," and a motion picture Academy Award or "Oscar" for his serious role as a soldier in the 1953 drama "From Here to Eternity." As a singer, Sinatra was admired -- not only for the strength and range of his voice -- but also for his artful, precise phrasing and his ability to instill meaning in the words he sang. "Put Your Dreams Away," which had served as his closing theme on radio, was the only Frank Sinatra recording that was played at his funeral on May 20th, 1998:

TAPE: CUT FIVE - MUSIC -- FRANK SINATRA, "PUT YOUR DREAMS AWAY" (2:06 TOTAL), SNEAK FOR :17, IN FULL TO :56, THEN FADE UNDER TEXT

NARR: Many of his fellow entertainers, and fans around the world, mourned the loss of Frank Sinatra, whose life and long career ended on May 14th, 1998.

George Wallace Shot 1972

(For Use 05/15)

NARR: Thirty years ago today, on May 15th, 1972, the state of Alabama's governor, George Wallace, was shot and seriously wounded while campaigning in Maryland for the presidency of the United States. The candidate was wounded while he was shaking hands in a crowd he had addressed minutes earlier. Coincidentally, the subject of his speech was crime and what he called the growing disrespect for law and order in the United States:

TAPE: CUT SIX - GEORGE WALLACE (RUNS :10)

"Send them a message about law and order. 127 policemen were assassinated in this country last year, and more have been assassinated this year, pro rata, than even last year ... "

NARR: George Wallace said there was a conspiracy to assassinate police officers in the United States. His own would-be assassin, Arthur Bremer [pron: BREMM-er], was arrested, tried, and convicted of attempted murder. He remains in prison. George Wallace was permanently paralyzed from the hips down by a bullet that lodged near his spine. He served four terms as governor of Alabama, retiring in 1987 in declining health. He died in 1998 at age seventy-nine.

U.S. Returns Okinawa to Japan 1972

(For Use 05/15)

NARR: Thirty years ago today, on May 15th, 1972, the United States formally returned Okinawa and other Ryukyu (PRON: ree YOU cue) islands to Japan after twenty-seven years of American rule. The United States won the islands from Japan during a three-month battle in World War Two. Vice President Spiro Agnew represented President Richard Nixon at the restoration ceremonies in Tokyo. Agnew said the return of the islands to Japan, in his words, "...resolves the last major issue of the war" between the United States and Japan. Japan's Premier Eisaku Sato [pron: eye-SOCK-oo SOT-too] expressed what he called "...deep appreciation" for the return of the island group, which is located between Japan and Taiwan. Leaders of Okinawa rejected an invitation to attend the ceremonies. They were protesting a treaty clause that permitted the United States to maintain a military base on the island and allowed Japan to establish military installations there.

Senate Vote on President Andrew Johnson 1868

(For Use 05/16)

NARR: On May 16th, 1868, an impeachment vote in the United States Senate failed to remove President Andrew Johnson from office. Johnson's opponents fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict him of "high crimes and misdemeanors." He had been accused of firing his secretary of war without first securing congressional approval, as required by a recently enacted law. However, the real reason for the impeachment proceedings was that Johnson had angered some powerful, so-called "radical" Republican members of Congress. They wanted to punish the South in the wake of the American Civil War. President Johnson was pursuing a policy of reconciliation with the former enemy. (BEGIN OPT) Although the official vote to remove President Johnson from office was close, Historian Marc Kruman (PRON: CREW man) says Johnson was not in serious danger of being ousted:

TAPE: CUT SEVEN - MARC KRUMAN (RUNS :33)

"A number of Republicans were -- if they had to -- willing to vote in favor of Johnson in order to prevent his removal from office. It was politically expedient for them to vote in favor of removing him from office and as long as they knew that there were not enough votes to remove him, they voted to remove him. So there was a reservoir of a handful of other Republicans who would have saved Johnson if necessary."

NARR: Historian Marc Kruman. [END OPT]

The only other president of the United States ever to be impeached was Bill Clinton, who was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998 and acquitted in the Senate in February 1999.

The First "Oscars" 1929

(For Use 05/16)

NARR: On May 16th, 1929, luminaries from America's motion picture industry gathered at a hotel in Hollywood to present the first Academy Awards which would become known by the nickname "the Oscars," because the trophies given to each winner are statuettes of men. The Academy Award winners in 1929 had been informed ahead of time, partly to ensure that they would attend the ceremony. The original award presentations were said to have taken a total of about five minutes during the sumptuous banquet. (BEGIN OPT) Among the winners of the first Oscars were: Best Actress, Janet Gaynor for her roles in three films -- "Seventh Heaven," "Street Angel" and "Sunrise"; Best Actor, Emil Jannings for his work in "The Way of All Flesh" and "The Last Command"; and Best Director, Frank Borzage [pron: borr-ZOG-gee] for "Seventh Heaven." "Wings," a story of aerial combat during World War One, was named Best Picture of 1929. (END OPT) In recent years the Oscar broadcast, presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has become one of the world's most popular television programs, attracting a huge international audience -- and lasting at least three hours.

The Kentucky Derby 1875

(For Use 05/17)

NARR: On May 17th, 1875, race fans crowded the Churchill Downs race course in Lexington, Kentucky, for the first running of the "Kentucky Derby" thoroughbred horse race. The winner was the British-bred stallion "Aristides" [pron: uh-RISS-tuh-dees], who ran the course of two-point-four kilometers in a fraction under two minutes thirty-eight seconds. The victory brought the winner's owner nearly three-thousand dollars in prize money.

(FOLLOWING MUSIC IS OPT)

TAPE: CUT NINE - MUSIC - "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME" (RUNS 1:02) SNEAKS IN UNDER

NARR: Colonel Lewis Clark, a Kentucky horse breeder, founded the Derby to promote the quality of American horses. Colonel Clark began by using the model of English racing, later blending in an American flavor.

CUT NINE MUSIC SWELLS AND FADES UNDER

NARR: In 1926, race sponsors added the tradition of playing this Stephen Foster song, "My Old Kentucky Home," before the Derby. The Kentucky Derby is now run on the first Saturday of each May -- and is generally considered the most important horse race in the United States.

CUT NINE MUSIC UP FULL AND FADE OUT WHEN DESIRED

Brown Versus Topeka Board of Education 1954

(For Use 05/17)

NARR: On May 17th, 1954, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The decision in the case of "Brown versus the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education" said that the previously accepted doctrine of having "separate but equal" school systems, one for whites and one for blacks, violated the Constitution's guarantee of equal treatment under the law. The ruling had the effect of voiding the use of racially separate public school systems across the nation; thus the ruling required racial de-segregation.

(BEGIN OPT) University of Virginia law professor A.E. Dick Howard says blacks and other minorities were heartened by the 1954 decision.

TAPE: CUT TEN - DICK HOWARD (RUNS :24)

"It, of course, has taken years to even come anywhere near fulfilling the kind of expectation that 'Brown versus Board' unleashed, but I think 'Brown' gave enormous hope to blacks, particularly in the American South, and to other minorities as well, that the wheels of justice would turn and give them the kind of due process and protection that they thought the Constitution ought to afford."

NARR: University Of Virginia law school professor A.E. Dick Howard on "Brown versus Board Of Education," the U-S Supreme Court decision that banned school segregation, handed down on this date in 1954. [END OPT]

Mt. St. Helens Erupts 1980

(For Use 05/18)

NARR: On May 18th, 1980, the Mount Saint Helen's volcano in Washington state erupted with a thunderous explosion. The blast vaporized more than seven cubic kilometers of the top of the snow-capped peak, lowering the summit by 421 meters. It flattened every tree in a 310-square-kilometer area around the mountain and killed at least sixty people in the sparsely populated region. It hurled superheated gas and thousands of tons of gritty volcanic ash into the stratosphere. Prevailing winds blew the towering cloud eastward, blotting out the sun and burying parts of Washington, Idaho, and Montana under several meters of ash. But the eruption had at least one good effect. After destroying one season's harvest, the ash improved the quality of the soil in eastern Washington state, where fruit orchards are an important agricultural product.

President Roosevelt Signs the TVA Bill 1933

(For Use 05/18)

NARR: On May 18th, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed a bill creating the Tennessee Valley Authority. The T-V-A brought electricity to rural areas along the Tennessee River in seven states. Roosevelt sought a coordinated plan involving industrialization, soil conservation, reforesting, and electricity generation in the underdeveloped region. The new law created the T-V-A board to manage the construction of dams and power plants in Tennessee and six other southern states. The T-V-A also constructed a system of inland waterways to promote the use of freight barges. And it became involved with local communities by selling fertilizer and inexpensive electricity, building flood and irrigation projects and improving navigation on the meandering Tennessee River.

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