3:05 pm CST
The Alamo



Two days ago was the 170th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo ...

I first visited the Alamo in 1956 (50 years ago!), shortly after seeing the Walt Disney film "Davy Crockett." It is one of my earliest memories. I was awestruck to actually enter the real Alamo.



Fess Parker, who played Crockett in the movie, grew up not far from where I grew up in North Texas. His parents continued to live in Fort Worth for many years. Which reminds me of a story.

Late one night, on the old Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike, my father was driving home from his job at Jaggers Chiles Stovall (the same printing plant in Dallas where Lee Harvey Oswald would work a year or two later) when he saw an older couple with car trouble by the side of the road. He pulled over and gave them a ride.

The man looked familiar to my father. My father asked him who he was. He smiled and said he was Fess Parker's father.

My father drove Fess Parker's parents to their home in Fort Worth. Knowing how much I admired Fess Parker, he couldn't wait to tell me about it the next morning.



When I was growing up, Davy Crockett and the Alamo figured large in mine and other boys' imaginations; as a result, it also figured large in our play. I don't know how many times we reenacted the Battle of the Alamo in my stockade-fence backyard in Arlington.

In 1960, myself and all the boys in the neighborhood were quite excited when we learned that a new Alamo movie, starring John Wayne, was about to be released. I remember being thrilled out of my mind when I saw a giant poster advertising the movie on the side of a downtown building.



John Wayne's "The Alamo" was shot on a ranch in South Texas. To this day, the set still stands; it is a popular tourist attraction known as Alamo Village. I have visited it twice. The first time was in 1969. It was Labor Day and there was a big celebration happening there. Ernest Tubb was making a personal appearance; I remember seeing him stroll the grounds in his Stetson, western-cut suit, and cowboy boots.

While we were there, my father chatted with Happy Shahan, the owner of the ranch. I remember Happy had an unusual talent which he liked to demonstrate: He would ask you where you were from, and if you were from a Texas town he would tell you something about that town. He was never at a loss for some detail or other to tell you.

Years later, on my second visit to Alamo Village in the early 1990s, I met Happy again; he was still demonstrating this talent.

Happy is dead now. So is Ernest Tubb. So is John Wayne. So are a lot of people since the 60s ...



Another Alamo film was made a few years ago, near Austin where I now live. As far as I know, there were no little boys excitedly anticipating this film, as when John Wayne's version came out. The only people who were excited about this version were middle-aged guys like me--Texas history buffs and Western aficionados who still find the story of the Alamo inspiring. There aren't very many of us these days, so the film didn't do well at the box office.

They built one hell of a set for this film. It is bigger and more accurate than John Wayne's Alamo set. I would love to see it; I've heard that visiting it is like going back in time to 1836 San Antonio. Unfortunately, it was not built as sturdily as the other one, therefore will fall to ruin unless funds are found to preserve it. Maybe a modern-day Adina de Zavala will take action to save it.

Adina de Zavala was the person most responsible for saving the original Alamo. She was the granddaughter of Lorenzo de Zavala, the first vice president of the Republic of Texas. Notice the Hispanic name, and bear this in mind: Lorenzo de Zavala was not the only Hispanic Texian who sided with the Anglos against Santa Anna. (LINK) You see, the true story of Texas Independence is much more complex than some would have you believe. This war was not racially based; in fact, there was a great deal of intermarriage between Hispanics and Anglo Texians, James Bowie being just one example. The racism came later, after the war. This racism was ugly, no doubt about it. Racism always is. But it doesn't take away from the fact that there were many Hispanics who were united with the Anglos in their fight against the tyrant Santa Anna. Therefore, don't buy into the globalist propaganda that the Texas War of Independence was racist and wrong, and that Texas (or the entire Southwest) should be given back to Mexico.



It was a good fight, this fight against Santa Anna, and the Texians won, fair and square. But, unfortunately, the fight against tyranny never stops. There are always tyrants, or would-be tyrants, to fight.

Today's would-be tyrants are the worst this nation has ever seen. I use the plural "tyrants" because I don't mean just George W. Bush. I mean every Republican and Democrat in Washington who voted to renew the Patriot Act; "liberal" or "conservative," they're all neo-cons as far as I'm concerned. They all feed at the same trough, and they all serve the globalist agenda. This tyranny also includes the United Nations. If you don't believe me, consider this fact: Just a few days ago the UN refused to accept a letter protesting the Iraq War from Cindy Sheehan and other demonstrators.

This tyranny, which we call the New World Order, is worse than that of Santa Anna, or King George; it is even worse than Adolf Hitler. At least the Nazis tried to hide their atrocities; the neo-cons commit atrocities right out in the open and tell us it is good. Indefinite detention without trial is good, they tell us; torture is good, mass murder is good, and so on. This is scary, but what's even scarier is that a great many Americans believe these lies.

Yes, the battle against tyranny goes on, and here in the 21st century we find that the battle is more critical than ever. But do we have enough patriots to help us in the battle? Are there enough people who understand the price of liberty, and who are willing to pay that price? Sometimes I fear we do not. If the ticket sales for "The Alamo" are an indicator, self-sacrifice in the cause of liberty is not a popular subject these days. At least not with movie-goers.

The Alamo itself, though, is still popular as a tourist attraction. But, on my most recent visit to the Alamo (about a year ago), I was struck by a different attitude on the part of many tourists--different, that is, from what I had seen in years past.

Once, you saw young people exploring the building with awe and fascination; now, most of them walk around with bored, irritated faces, whining that they're ready to leave. And the adults are not much better. I recall a woman sneering and shaking her head at the guns in the exhibit cases, another woman mocking the words "Texas liberty" on one of the plaques, and some obese boob having to be told to remove his hat upon entering the chapel (there is a sign at the door which you cannot miss) and only doing so with a great show of put-upon resentment.

Well, if we're going to find patriots to fight today's tyranny, you won't find them among those people--the boobs and mockers, the sneering politically correct types, the ignorant spoilt brats of modern America more concerned with comfort and entertainment than with ideals worth fighting for, such as liberty.

There are, however, a great many troops in Iraq right now who are dedicated and brave enough for such a fight, and that is what they think they are doing there. But they have been swindled. They are not "spreading freedom," as the president puts it. They are spreading Hell on Earth, and they are serving only the interests of the New World Order: control of the world's oil and the destruction of freedom.

Therefore, Troops, I beg you. Come back home. The fight for freedom is not over there, it is here in the United States. The real enemy, the real terrorists, are in Washington, and it is they who hate our freedoms, not the people of Iraq. And by remaining in Iraq, by killing those innocent people, and torturing them, and fighting a war of conquest, you are aiding in the destruction of freedom, not only there, but here and everywhere.

Come back, Troops. Come back and join us in the real fight for freedom. We need brave men and women such as yourselves, we need people who are not spoilt brats, we need people who understand the price of freedom; we need you here, not there. And we need you now.

We are surrounded, we are besieged, we are as outnumbered as the defenders of the Alamo, and we are running out of time. Please, Troops, come back ...



Chuck Baldwin: It is that time of year for me to remind my readers about the magnificent stand by the defenders of The Alamo back in 1836. The Alamo fell on March 6 of that year. For more than 13 days, 186 brave and determined patriots withstood Santa Anna's seasoned army of over 5,000 troops. To a man, the defenders of that mission fort knew they would never leave those ramparts alive. They had several opportunities to leave and live. Yet, they chose to fight and die. How foolish they must look to this generation of spoiled Americans! ...
Alamo Heroes Appear Foolish Today