Honoring our Veterans

Veteran’s Day Tribute

When America had an urgent need,
These brave ones raised a hand;
No hesitation held them back;
They were proud to take a stand.

They left their friends and family;
They gave up normal life;
To serve their country and their God,
They plowed into the strife.

They fought for freedom and for peace
On strange and foreign shores;
Some lost new friends; some lost their lives
In long and brutal wars.

Other veterans answered a call
To support the ones who fought;
Their country had requirements for
The essential skills they brought.

We salute each and every one of them,
The noble and the brave,
The ones still with us here today,
And those who rest in a grave.

So here’s to our country’s heroes;
They’re a cut above the rest;
Let’s give the honor that is due
To our country’s very best.
-------------By Joanna Fuchs----------------

This day can go easily overlooked with the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. However I believe it is so important and we, as Americans, seek out and thank a veteran. The choice of sacrifice that these men and women have made gets overlooked consistently by an apathetic and uninformed society. Our liberty is not something to be taken lightly or for granted. If it was not for these individuals that liberty and freedom would be in jeopardy. So to all of those veterans who read this I say THANK YOU. We will remember your sacrifice and service through the lives we lead in freedom everyday.

Persian Army Found After Missing for 2500 years

The year was 525BC and Cambyses II, ruler of Persian was looking to expand his empire into the recently weakened country of Egypt. Pharaoh Psamtik II had assumed the reign of Egypt from his father however Psamtik II was inexperienced and not prepared to lead his country against an invading force, especially one as strong as the Persians. The Persians were successful in defeating the Egyptians at Pelusium and expanding their empire.

The priests at the temple of the Oracle of Amun were refusing to legitimize the claim of Cambyses II as ruler of Egypt. Cambyses II did not tolerate this behavior so he sent a 50,000 man army to Siwa Oasis in order to kill the priests and destroy the temple. The problem is the army never made to the temple. The army was lost in what was believed to have been a massive sandstorm which instantly buried everywhere. Herodotus wrote of this account and what happened to the army. Without any evidence however many historians believed this account to by simply a myth. Numerous archaeologists have attempted to search for this lost army in the deserts of Egypt with no luck.

After numerous expeditions and exhaustive research and analysis famous twin archaeologists Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni believe that have discovered the remains of this lost army. What started out as an expedition to locate the presence of iron meteorites the brothers and their research team came across a half-buried pot and some human remains. From their they came across a large rock which the brothers believed was possibly used as a shield against the sandstorm. Further digging at the time revealed a bronze dagger and several arrow tips, all dating to the Persian era.

Further expeditions allowed the brothers to find elements of a necklace, dated in the Acheamenid period, an earring, as well as graveyard of bones which a few decades ago had been uncovered by a sandstorm. They had learned that grave robbers and tourists had taken many priceless artifacts from the area however the team was able to uncover more Persian arrow heads and a horse bit which matches that of images of a Persian horse bit. Further analysis of the bones and digging in the area will hopefully answer more questions about what happened to this army. This has the potential to be a very significant find in terms of the validity of Herodotus' account.


http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/cambyses-army-remains-sahara.html

A Hoard of Ancient Jewelry Found in Scotland

David Booth had only purchase the metal detector five days prior and was out scanning his first field for hidden treasure. He never expected to unearth one of the most significant finds in Scotland in the last 150 years. Booth was about an hour into his first treasure hunting experience when his device went off. Only seven paces away from his car it told him that there was gold. Marking out the territory and digging about six to seven inches down he discover something that people might only dream of finding. Buried in ground he found four gold necklaces that have been dated during the Iron Age (around 300BC-100BC). 

Within hours of contacting the National Museum of Scotland, officials met him to examine the find. Experts such as Dr. Fraser Hunter is elated about the discovery and immediately established a dig around the site in which the gold pieces were found. The pieces have identify by style and type to come from the Southwestern France which means they were purchased and brought to the area in some way. Hunter believed that this "will revolutionise the way Scotland's ancient inhabitants are viewed - it shows they were much less isolated than previously believed." The dig site revealed remnants of a wooden roundhouse, leading experts to believe that the jewellery was buried for safekeeping or possible used as an ancient votive. These finds "suggest tribes in what we think of as 'Scotland' had rather wider links than archaeologists a generation ago would have expected. They knew what was going on elsewhere, valued similar things, and emulated practice in burials or votives." The dig site is being kept secret at this time while the "Treasure Trove Unit" of the National Museum of Scotland seeks to answer questions that have been brought about by this latest find.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1225271/David-Booths-1m-gold-Stirlingshire-Amateur-treasure-hunter-finds-hoard-ancient-jewellery.html