I almost let the day go by without wishing everyone a happy Pulaski Day! Casimir Pulaski, Polish patriot, American Revolutionary War general, and Father of the American Cavalry was born on March 4, 1747. He died in 1779 of the wounds he received holding the city of Charleston against the British. After Lafayette he is probably the most honored of all the foreign fighters who came to defend our young republic. In his first letter to Washington after joining the struggle here he wrote:
“I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it.”
He was true to his word.
You can read more about Casimir Pulaski here.
One of the houses at Caltech has a tradition of celebrating this for some reason that remains unclear to me. Perhaps it’s just a good excuse to drink, make fireballs, and push each other around in shopping carts.
Excellent post! Friendly observation that Pulaski’s spiritual descendants stepped up in Iraq, but Lafayette’s didn’t.