Chamblee54

Some say …It’s the Soldier, not the poet, Who has given us the freedom of speech. There is also the story of Joyce Kilmer. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Alfred Joyce Kilmer was born December 6, 1886, in East Brunswick NJ. He grew up to be a teacher, and wrote poems on the side. After teaching, he worked for Funk and Wagnall, defining words for five cents each. Mr. Kilmer continued to write, and became a popular lecturer.
In 1913, “Trees” was published. Your english teacher probably made fun of it. Many satires have been written. It was at the end of an era in poetry, when that *simple* style was popular. In the era after World War 1, poetry went crazy. Joyce Kilmer didn’t live to see it.
A few days after the United States entered World War 1, Joyce Kilmer left his wife, and five children, and went to war. Originally he was a statistician in the 69th Infantry Regiment, but wanted action. He was promoted to Sergeant, and sent to the Regimental Intelligence Section.
On July 30, 1918, Sgt. Kilmer was scouting the location of a German machine gun. A bullet to the head ended his war.
World War 1 was a ghastly bloodbath. It set the stage for World War 2, which was even bloodier. Not one person in a thousand today can tell you why World War 1 was fought, or how the United States got drawn into it. It is tough to see how World War 1 gave us freedom of speech.

PG stumbled onto a blog called Vast Public Indifference. The feature being utilized today is Urban Legend Names. The blogwriter is a historian in training, and became fascinated by name stories. She did some research. The names are in bold below, with the “status” underlined.
Clitoris: Unconfirmed. Variant forms can be confirmed, viz. Clitty Jones of Somers, OH (b. 1895, married to Walter, confirmed in 1920 and 1930 census). The name “Clit” appears in several census records, but cannot be independently confirmed (ex: Clit Mangum, Commerce, GA, 1930 census).
Eczema: Possible. Three women show up in the census records as “Eczema”: Eczema Wright of Indiana, Eczema Hugey of Missouri, and Eczema James of Texas.
Male: Confirmed David Male Tiumalu (b. 8/1/1953, Alameda Co., CA), Linda Male Osmer (b. 5/8/1952, Texas), Male Joseph Cotton (b. 3/29/1974).
Latrine: Confirmed. Latrine seems to be a legitimate name. Examples: Latrine Sharmine Olive (b. 11/24/1979, Sacramento, CA), Quiana Latrine Phillips (b. 4/1/1988, Los Angeles, CA), Latrine Nicole Cook (b. 1/21/1976, Dallas, TX), Charlotte Latrine Martin (b. 2/8/1971, Wichita, TX). A variant form, Latrina, is actually quite popular, even cracking the top 1000 baby names in America for six years running during the 1970s. There are nearly 500 girls named Latrina in the Texas and California birth records alone. One unfortunate example of this name is Latrina Pickens-Brown of Nevada.
No Smoking: Confirmed. Nosmo King Cheatam (b. 11/26/1918 d. 11/10/1997). Mr. Cheatam was a veteran of the United States Navy and is buried in Texarkana, TX.
Pajama: Possible. I found several people named “Pajama” in the public phone/address records, including Pajama Ngongba of Alexandria, VA and Pajama Howanitz of Alabaster, AL, but was not able to confirm their names independently.
Placenta: Confirmed. Placenta Ann Woodard (b. 8/7/1953, Freestone Co., TX, married Rahman Hassan 11/10/1986 in Tarrant, TX), Placenta Ayala (b. 10/5/1951, Howard Co., TX), Placenta Theresa Bennett (b. 7/21/1958, Caldwell Co., TX). Others show up in the census — the picture at right is of the entry for Placenta M. Duncan of Green Bay, Iowa in the 1860 census.
Urea: Confirmed. Urea Pyle of Delaware Co., PA (married to Reece Pyle, confirmed in 1900, 1910, and 1920 census records), Elton Urea Juniel of California (married in Las Vegas 3 times: married Tish Denise Harris 6/27/1981, married Beverly Jean Mills, 8/17/1991, married Julie Marie Bossin 9/23/2003), Sophia Urea Nelson of Los Angeles, CA (b. 1/11/1991). The Texas birth records contain information for six babies named Urea:
Urine: Confirmed. Nora Urine Workman (b. 10/13/1940, Lamar Co., TX), Jonathan Urine Smith (b. 12/3/1996, Denton Co., TX), Urine Adkins of Coeburn, VA (b. 6/15/1896, d. March 1972). Urine Thibideoux, Louisiana.
Vagina: Confirmed. Vagina Ann Williams (b. 3/18/1934, Hall Co., TX), Ellen Vagina Goode (b. 9/13/1918 Lee Co., TX), Lorene Vagina Cranfield (b. 7/26/1938 Rowan Co., NC), Vagina Harper Bland (b. 1/19/1842 in Virginia, d. 5/4/1927 in Kentucky). One that caught my eye was “Vagina Glasscock” who lived in Somerville, Alabama in 1910.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is written like James Joyce.