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One of JFK’s most powerful speeches was delivered from the balcony of the Rathaus Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. The purpose of this speech was to show the support of the Untied States for the democratic West Germany shortly after the Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.

The speech and show of support by the United States proved to be a great morale booster for the West Berliners as they were literally surrounded by East Germany and feared occupation at any moment. The famous quote that made the speech so famous is showcased below:

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’… All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’

The concept of Kennedy delcaring himself a Berliner was a last minute inclusion by Kennedy in the speech and he practiced the phrase in German in the office of Mayor Willy Brandt before delivering the speech. He also created a phonetic card for the phrase ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ to ensure he pronounced it correctly during the speech. (The cue card can be viewed here.)

The speech was very well received but Kennedy’s National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy felt the speech was a bit too strong and the text was revised to a softer tone before delivering it to the Free University later that day.

This strong message of defiance was aimed both at the West Berliners as well as the Soviets and represented a clear statement of U.S. policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Get the DVD: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums and own your own copy of this speech as well as many others in this excellent JFK documatary.

An incredibly moving speech JFK delivered to the people of Berlin, this clip is taken from the Years of Lightning, Day of Drums DVD.

It is hosted on The Historical Archive Youtube Channel but you can also watch it below in a slightly smaller window size than on Youtube.

[youtube width=”350″ height=”288″]GK907TwM7q0[/youtube]

• Antietam was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000 casualties.
• This was a two to one battle with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia having approximately 45,00 troops to Union Army Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s 90,000 troops. Read the rest of this entry »

This interesting table shows the growth rates of the top 25 American Indian tribes from 1990 to 2000. It makes for interesting reading to see how the populations are changing over the decade.

1990 Census        1980 Census

Tribe                             Number Percent     Number Percent

All American Indians..... 1,937,391   100.0  1,478,523  100.0

Cherokee......................   369,035    19.0    232,080   15.7

Navajo........................   225,298    11.6    158,633   10.7

Sioux 1.......................   107,321     5.5     78,608    5.3

Chippewa......................   105,988     5.5     73,602    5.0

Choctaw.......................    86,231     4.5     50,220    3.4

Pueblo 2......................    55,330     2.9     42,552    2.9

Apache........................    53,330     2.8     35,861    2.4

Iroquois 3....................    52,557     2.7     38,218    2.6

Lumbee 4......................    50,888     2.6     28,631    1.9

Creek.........................    45,872     2.4     28,278    1.9

Blackfoot 2...................    37,992     2.0     21,964    1.5

Canadian and Latin American...    27,179     1.4      7,804    0.5

Chickasaw.....................    21,522     1.1     10,317    0.7

Tohono O'Odham................    16,876     0.9     13,297    0.9

Potawatomi....................    16,719     0.9      9,715    0.7

Seminole 2....................    15,564     0.8     10,363    0.7

Pima..........................    15,074     0.8     11,722    0.8

Tlingit.......................    14,417     0.7      9,509    0.6

Alaskan Athabaskans...........    14,198     0.7     10,136    0.7

Cheyenne......................    11,809     0.6      9,918    0.7

Comanche......................    11,437     0.6      9,037    0.6

Paiute 2......................    11,369     0.6      9,523    0.6

Osage.........................    10,430     0.5      6,884    0.5

Puget Sound Salish............    10,384     0.5      6,591    0.4

Yaqui.........................     9,838     0.5      5,197    0.4

1 Any entry with the spelling “Siouan” in the 1990 census was miscoded to Sioux in North Carolina.
2 Reporting and/or processing problems in the 1980 census have affected the data for this tribe.
3 Reporting and/or processing problems in the 1990 census have affected the data for this tribe.
4 Miscoding of entries in the 1980 census for “Lummee,” “Lummi,” “Lumbee,” or “Lumbi” have affected the data for this tribe.

Here is a list of Native American Medal of Honor winners:

Alchesay. Sergeant, Indian Scouts. Place and date: Winter of 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Entered service at: Camp Verde, Arizona. Born: 1853, Arizona Territory. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Blanquet. Indian Scout. Place and date: Winter of 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Chiquito. Indian Scout. Place and date: Winter of 1871-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Co-Rux-Te-Chod-Ish (Mad Bear). Sergeant, Pawnee Scouts, U.S. Army. Place and date: At Republican River, Kansas, 8 July 1869. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Nebraska. Date of issue: 24 August 1869. Citation: Ran out from the command in pursuit of a dismounted Indian; was shot down and badly wounded by a bullet from his own command.

Elsatsoosu. Corporal, Indian Scouts. Place and date: Winter of 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Jim. Sergeant, Indian Scouts. Place and date: Winter of 1871-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona Territory. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Kelsay. Indian Scout. Place and date: Winter of 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Kosoha. Indian Scout. Place and date: Winter of 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Machol. Private, Indian Scouts. Place and date: Arizona, 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaign and engagements with Apaches.

Nannasaddie. Indian Scout. Place and date: 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Nantaje (Nantahe). Indian Scout. Place and date: 1872-73. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallant conduct during campaigns and engagements with Apaches.

Rowdy. Sergeant, Company A, Indian Scouts. Place and date: Arizona, 7 March 1890. Entry of service date unknown. Birth: Arizona. Date of issue: 15 May 1890. Citation: Bravery in action with Apache Indians.