August 11, 1943

During early 1943, after he had negotiated the withdrawal of the Vichy French from north Africa, the American Fifth Army was formed under the command of Mark Clark.  He was one of Marshall’s “boys” – Ike, Patton, Bradley, and Clark.

Patton’s II Corps was attached to British First Army in north Africa and distinguished itself on the ground. Clark received much credit for strategic command. Clark was also in strategic command of the intended eventual American invasion of Italy. USA Fifth planned its crossing to Italy for September. Meanwhile, the British Eighth Army had crossed the Mediterranean, with the American Seventh Army attached, and under Patton’s command.

On August 3, 1943, Patton had his famous slapping incident, which would have got someone not one of Marshall’s boys cashiered.

On August 11, 1943, Patton took the first toehold in Sicily.

That news had not reached my dad, who decided his son would be named “Mark”.  Many boys were named “Mark” in 1943. It was probably the most popular name for boys that year, in the USA.

18 Responses

  1. Not to rain on Mark’s birthday parade, but Mark was the 101st most popular name in 1943. http://www.babycenter.com/popularBabyNames.htm?startIndex=80&year=1943

    Like

  2. So you’d be georgeinaustin if he had heard the news?

    also, for a look at the North African campaign from the other side, check out

    its a memoir of one of Rommel’s Panzer Division commanders. think he was in Poland and at D-Day too. but i think I was 15 when i read it.

    Like

    • So you’d be georgeinaustin if he had heard the news?

      George in Austin. Or Patton in Austin. Then those would have been the most popular names, despite what Ashot’s list says.

      Like

  3. Happy Birthday Mark, I won’t be around manana, so have a great one!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for helping to keep the lights on around here. Big Birthday Hugs from lulu.

    Like

  4. woah — didn’t not mean to put in a giant ad.

    Like

    • woah — didn’t not mean to put in a giant ad

      Hah…we see right through you NoVa. You are a lobbiest and corporate shill. How much did amazon pay you for that ad?

      Like

  5. “novahockey, on August 10, 2012 at 12:51 pm said: Edit Comment

    So you’d be georgeinaustin if he had heard the news?

    also, for a look at the North African campaign from the other side, check out

    Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck

    its a memoir of one of Rommel’s Panzer Division commanders. think he was in Poland and at D-Day too. but i think I was 15 when i read it.”

    I read that one as well at about the same time. If you liked it, you may also like:

    Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War
    F. W. Von Mellinthin

    Like

  6. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened

    Cora Armstrong

    Like

  7. I read that one as well at about the same time

    You guys really are a bunch of nerds aren’t you? 😉

    Like

  8. i am a huge nerd. i’ll have to add jnc’s recommendation to the pile.

    right now i’m reading

    and then i’ve got another zombie novel that i can’t wait to get into.

    Like

    • nova:

      i’ll have to add jnc’s recommendation to the pile.

      Speaking of recommendations, I watched this documentary last night on Netflix instant watch. Very interesting.

      Like

      • BTW, I also noticed that Netflix just added all of the ESPN 30 For 30 films to their instant watch list. I’ve seen maybe half of them, but they were all fantastic and I highly recommend them.

        Like

  9. Anybody want to talk about Ryan today?

    I think me made a terrible career-ending mistake by accepting.

    Like

    • Hi, john. I do hope there will be discussion of the Ryan pick this weekend here. I’m busy doing a bit more reading about him.

      I’m curious, why do you think it is career-ending for him?

      Like

  10. The happiest non-Democrats in the world right now are Christie and Rubio!

    Like

  11. As far as I can recall. FDR is the only failed VP candidate in history who went on to become president (though I haven’t got back to the 19th century). Furthermore, Ryan is too young, and needed to get out of the House which is a presidential gravewayrd as well. Now he will probably spend the next 4 years fending off criticism of this race and this ticket instead of expanding his profile with the Senate or Governorship.

    He’s a charismatic guy, but the numbers clearly don’t work for the GOP unless the economy deteriorates further.

    Like

  12. “Furthermore, Ryan is too young. . . .” Which is why I would not see this as a career-ender for him (unfortunately, IMO).

    Like

  13. If anybody thinks this is worthy and would like to make this a seperate column for today, please go ahead. I don’t have the capability of doing that.

    The Ryan you see today is not the man who for years has appeared as a guest on CNBC. That guy was a “moderate”, nuts and bolts on facts and figures, a charismatic wonk if you will. However not at all, ideologically speaking, on the side of the budget that now bears his name Here’s what I think happened.

    The GOP in 2006-08 was an old party, especially in the national leadership, people in their 60s and older. It was full of politicians who had cut their teeth in the Reagan years. The back to back defeats damaged the brand so to speak and paved the way for the sea change that occurred in 2010. Suddenly, much more suddenly than men like Boehner were expecting I’m sure, the GOP was younger, angrier, more ideological and conservative.

    As in any civil war, everybody has to choose sides. Ryan being a politician first and a wonk second, chose to run with the upcoming big dogs of his own generation as it were, rather than stay a moderate. He capped this off by putting his name on a budget that was a terrible mistake, because it was another one of those “symbolic” pieces of legislation that had no possibility of passage and which are by their very nature works of faith , not reason.

    He’s stuck with the “Ryan budget” now in which the numbers don’t work, but which he’ll have to defend. It’s probably career suicide for him

    Incidentally and hopefully the same sea change is about to occur for the Dems in 2014-16. They are an exceptionally old party at the leadership level, notwithstanding the president. Men and women who came to the fore in the Clinton years and who are now in their 60s and 70s. In the next two elections, all the Reids, Bidens, Clintons, Hoyers, Dingells Levins and Rangells will retire or be swept out by a younger generation of Dems, hungrier, more combative, more liberal in a watershed move.

    May we all live in interesting times.

    Like

Leave a reply to jnc4p Cancel reply