PS Susanamantha: I was that Wayne-guy in our classes; my first taste of theatrical thrills, which carried through college and occasional amateur shows afterwards.
I could recite the “Nancy Hanks” poem for some years after learning it in 7th grade, but can’t do it now.

PPS bof: The other not-quite-sir Richard.
“In 1970, on his 45th birthday, [the actor Richard] Burton was ceremonially honoured with a CBE at Buckingham Palace; [Elizabeth]Taylor and [his sister] Cis were present during the ceremony. He attributed not having a knighthood to changing his residence from London to Céligny to escape taxes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_British_Empire#Composition
CBE = Commander of the British Empire, no title or honorific

We forget this significance yet are begged to adore the fake President. Never Forget takes on a new/old meaning when you know where Lim’s ancestry comes from…yet also like other 20th century blood tests.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/its-not-presidents-day-its-washingtons-birthday

Your understanding of America is showing. Check your shoes, you stepped in something, again.

You were fortunate to have been young at that time.

The problem with Simple Folk is that there are always Complicated Folk to rule over them and decide for them what is Good and what is Bad. Always.

When all the Complicated Folk go bad in unison, there’s not much to be done except either ride it out or express displeasure in the most vigorous manner.

You’re right about Ike. Except for the Little Rock bit.

And yet the combined efforts of those simple folk, schooled in such simple ways, carved out a magnificent heritage. One that saved millions from tyranny, and led the world in technological innovation; not to mention in the advancement of individual freedom.

I suppose I still am one of those simple folk at heart, and often find myself out of step.

On President’s Day, we honor the great and the not so great. As far as I am concerned, the most significant one of my lifetime was “Ike”. I revere him. Oh, I was aware of FDR and Truman, of course; but Ike came into office the year I graduated from high school, and served through the first five years of my Naval career. He guided us through one of the Republic’s most dangerous periods since the Civil War, One must caveat that last statement by noting that this period may rival that one, for different reasons, and due to an alarming paucity of leadership.

I see a reference to John Brown’s Body. A classmate, a theater major, told me I had to come to see him in a production of it. It’s apparently a cutting by Charles Laughton. Three actors face each other, one woman and two men, on small platforms, wearing evening clothes. And blocks of the poem, separated by which characters/types would have said such things, are absolutely enthralling. Haven’t b been able to find such a performance since.

“…so we were probably memorizing the catechism.”

So were the kids in Public School — just a different one.