Ed Bearss on C-SPAN

[Ferd454231]

Weekends I set my DVR for C span III. As most of you know it is American history on the weekends at C-III. This weekend has featured a talk by Ed Bearss on the discovery and recovery of the USS Cairo. Although he got some dates mixed up it was a very good talk. If I live as long as he has and gets through a stroke as he has I doubt I'll be able to string two sentences together much less give a 30 minute + talk. I did not know he was a Marine in WWII and seriously wounded (two years in recovery). There is also another program which i have just started on the use of forensic medicine to identify Civil War dead.Anyway if you have not tapped into C Span III its the best use a DVR can serve. My thanks and admiration to Ed Bearss for all his work for our country's past. H

 

[UCVRelics]

He is a piece of work. I have had the privilege of meeting and talking with him on 2 occasions. He has accomplished a lot.

 

[Tin cup]

I have been lucky enough to sit in the audience thru two of his talks, he signed a copy of his
Hardluck Ironclad: The Sinking and Salvage of the Cairo book for me some years back.

Kevin Dally

 

[UCVRelics]

There is other name that needs to be included in the Cairo story. Ken Parks.

 

[JeffBrooks]

There is an effort to get Congress to award him the Congressional Gold Medal. He richly deserves it.

 

[redbob]

A number of years ago, I was in Gettysburg and telling a number of friends about the Whitworth Cannon near the Peace Memorial and a voice (which I imagine sounds much like God's) behind me said: "Well there, I guess that there is nothing that I can add that this gentleman hasn't covered ", when I turned around; much to my embarrassment, there stood Mr. Bearss with a tour group. Since I am a great admirer of the man, I quickly stammered out an apology to which he just smiled. As he walked away, I gave him the ole Semper Fi to which he turned, smiled again, shook my hand and said: very good Marine carry on and he then told me some obscure fact about the Whitworth's that I had left out. At that point while I felt ten feet high, I carefully took note of which way his tour group went so that I would be sure to go just the opposite. While I have always felt that Mr. Bearss is a first class gentleman, after how he treated me that day, only served to prove my point.

 

[JeffBrooks]

While I have always felt that Mr. Bearss is a first class gentleman, after how he treated me that day, only served to prove my point.

Alas, such gentlemanly conduct as Ed Bearss displays is in increasingly short supply in our day and age.

 

[2nd Alabama Cavalry]

His wife, Margie Bearss wrote the book: "Sherman`s Forgotten Campaign; the Meridian Expedition" in 1987 and did an outstanding job. In my opinion it is the best account that is available regarding Sherman`s Meridian Campaign which occurred during February of 1864. She diligently researched the Campaign and used many letters and journal entries of soldiers who fought on both sides as well as the official records as found in the War of the Rebellion. My own research benefitted greatly by her book. The Book has long been out of publication and if you can find a copy available for sale it will cost you around $200. I was able to find a beat up copy for around $100 and am glad to have it in my collection. Everything that I have read of Ed Bearss was of the highest quality of work and well founded based on the official record where it was feasible to do so.