Varnum Continentals

Preserving and Sharing Rhode Island History

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[JUNE 13 DINNER MEETING] Cookout at the Varnum House Museum

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Varnum House Museum Period Herb Garden
Varnum House Museum Period Herb Garden

The June Varnum members’ meeting will be held on the grounds of the Varnum House Museum on Monday, June 13, 2016. It’s a chance to kick back, enjoy the gardens, and tour the historic 1773 Varnum House. Burgers, hot dogs, BBQ grilled chicken and all the staples of a summer cook-out will be served, plus a choice of beverages.  As always, your guests are welcome. The event will go on rain or shine – we’ll have tents.

Also at the June meeting …

Martin Denny-Brown
Martin Denny-Brown

COL Martin Denny-Brown Retires

Varnum’s Regiment, RIM, will recognize the retirement of one of our Past Commanders, COL Martin Denny-Brown. Martin served in the US Army; he enlisted in Varnum’s Regiment in 1985 and has been an active member and leader of the militia and Varnum organization since Day 1. Martin served on the Executive Committee, was a Varnum trustee, and headed the Property Committee. Please join us in celebrating his service and retirement.

Tour the Varnum House

Varnum House Docents prepared for a school tour.
Varnum House Docents

The Varnum House has recently undergone extensive renewal under the leadership of House VP Barbara Weaver and a numerous volunteers. At the June meeting, Varnum House Museum docents, in colonial dress, will lead tours of Varnum’s Home. This is a great chance to see the Museum before it opens its doors to the public on June 18.

Time: 5:30 – 8 pm
Place: Varnum House Museum, 57 Peirce Street, East Greenwich
Fee: $10 (soft drinks, beer, and wine included)

Please RSVP by Friday, June 10, to Scott Seaback at 401-413-6277 or by email to scott@ritemps.com.

PLEASE NOTE: This will be our last meeting until September (no members’ meetings in July and August).

[MAY 9 DINNER MEETING] Guest Speaker LTC Oscar Diano (US Army): The Philippine Scouts and the Last Horse Cavalry Charge in Combat

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The Philippine Scouts was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 until the end of World War II. Made up of Filipino-Americans assigned to the United States Army Philippine Department, Philippine Scout units were given a suffix of (PS), to distinguish them from other U.S. Army units. One of these units, the 26th Cavalry (PS), holds the distinction of being the last American mounted tactical cavalry unit in combat.

On the Bataan Peninsula, the 26th Cavalry (PS) staged a mounted attack against the Japanese on January 16, 1942. It was the last mounted charge in America’s military annals, and proved the climax of the 26th Cavalry’s magnificent but doomed horseback campaign against the Imperial Japanese Army during the fall of the Philippines in 1941-42.

LTC Oscar Diano (US Army)
LTC Oscar Diano (US Army)

Our speaker, LTC Oscar Diano, will present the dramatic story of this last horse cavalry charge and the history of the Philippine Scouts. Diano joined the National Security Affairs Department of the U.S. Naval War College in 2014. He is a 1994 graduate of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in Political Science. His assignments include tours in Texas, Colorado, Germany, Bosnia, Georgia and Kuwait. He has served two tours in Iraq. His last assignment was at the Maneuver Center of Excellence as the Squadron Commander for 2nd Squadron, 16 U.S. Cavalry Regiment (Armor Basic Officer Leaders Course). He recently returned from Operation Inherent Resolve as the Deputy CJ35 (Future Operations). He earned a master’s degree from the Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, KS) in 2007.

DATE: Monday, May 9, 2016
TIME: 5:30 p.m. (social hour); 6:30 p.m. (dinner followed by program)
PLACE: Varnum Memorial Armory Museum, 6 Main St., E. Greenwich, RI.
MENU: Grilled lamb chops, Chicken Francaise, roasted vegetables, rice pilaf, and salad. Coffee & dessert.
FEE: $15/person

RSVP by FRIDAY, May 6, to Scott Seaback at 401-413-6277 or by email scott@ritemps.com.

[APRIL 11 DINNER MEETING] Guest Speaker David Trimmer: Exploring the Titanic

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RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage.
RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage.

The sinking of the steamship RMS Titanic has mesmerized and fascinated people for generations. What is it about this tragedy that has caught our collective imagination and interest from among the thousands of other tragedies that happened throughout history? Everyone knows the basics of the story of the Titanic, but how many know the many compelling “stories behind the story?”

At our April 11 dinner meeting, the Varnum Continentals will feature a presentation by our very own David Trimmer.  He will not only tell the story with which we are all familiar, but will bring to life many of the fascinating stories and little-known facts that led up to and followed the great tragedy.

David Trimmer is a third-generation Varnum member and a lifetime Rhode Island resident. He has spent nearly 30 years researching the Titanic and is happy to share his findings with us.
David Trimmer has spent nearly 30 years researching the Titanic and is happy to share his findings with us.

David Trimmer is a third-generation Varnum Continentals member and a lifetime Rhode Island resident. He has spent nearly 30 years researching the Titanic and is happy to share his findings with us.

DATE: Monday, April 11, 2016
TIME: 5:30 p.m. (social hour); 6:30 p.m. (dinner followed by program)
PLACE: Varnum Memorial Armory Museum, 6 Main St., E. Greenwich, RI.
MENU: Prime Rib Dinner, oven-roasted potatoes, pasta, salad, and veggies.  Coffee and a special dessert
FEE: $15/person

RSVP by FRIDAY, APRIL 8, to Scott Seaback at 401/413-6277 or by email scott@ritemps.com.

[MARCH 14 DINNER MEETING] Guest Speaker Jim Egan: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Newport Tower Museum

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Jim Egan of the Newport Tower Museum, Newport, RI.
Jim Egan of the Newport Tower Museum, Newport, RI.

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Especially one that involves espionage, secret symbols, code words, significant ties to early Colonial history … and is located right in our back yard. At the March Varnum Continentals Member Dinner meeting, we’ll get an insider’s look at the mysterious Newport Tower, the 28-foot high remains of a round stone tower in Newport’s Tuoro Park. In colonial times, the tower had been used as a windmill (owned by RI’s first Governor, Benedict Arnold), a munitions storage facility by the British, and a lookout point by the Americans. But what are its origins?

Theories about the tower’s origins are far-flung, ranging from Medieval Templars to 15th-century Chinese sailors. Nordic and Portuguese explorers are also theorized to be builders of the tower. But Jim Egan of the Newport Tower Museum has his own theory that the tower is the remains of an old fort, built in the late 1500s to be the city-center of a thriving colony, Elizabethan England’s gateway to North America.

Mr. Egan also presents evidence that the tower was built to exacting astronomical alignments that allow the tower to function as a grand time-keeping device, complete with a camera obscura or calendar room.

About the speaker: Jim Egan has worked as a professional photographer in Providence for 30 years. He invented and marketed a line of photographic tools. Jim is a member of the New England Antiquities Research Association and the Renaissance Society of America.

To use a word coined by Buckminster Fuller, Jim considers himself a “comprehensivist,” someone who studies the interrelationships between various fields of study, in this case, mathematics, optics, astronomy, and history.  For more information, go to newporttowermuseum.com. Be sure to view the videos on the site.

LOCATION: Varnum Memorial Armory Museum, East Greenwich, RI.
DATE: Monday, March 14, 2016
TIME: 5:30 p.m. (social hour); 6:30 p.m. (dinner followed by program)
MENU: St. Patrick’s Day Favorites (Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner) plus Coffee & Pastries
FEE: $15/person

Please RSVP by FRIDAY, MARCH 11, to Scott Seaback at 401-413-6277 or by email at scott@ritemps.com.

[FEBRUARY 15 DINNER MEETING] Barbed Wire College: Rhode Island and the Secret POW Camps of World War II

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Brian Wallin, a veteran broadcast news reporter and producer, is the November 2015 guest speaker for the Varnum Continentals.
Brian Wallin, a veteran broadcast news reporter and producer, is the February 2016 guest speaker for the Varnum Continentals.

EVENT UPDATE: Due to the possibility of a winter storm, the Varnum Members Meeting scheduled for February 8 has been postponed one week. The new meeting date is MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15.

PLEASE RSVP AGAIN: If you have already RSVP’d and plan to attend the February 15 meeting, please RSVP again by FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, to Scott Seaback at 401-413-6277 or scott@ritemps.com.  Again the new meeting date is Monday, February 15.

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On Monday, February 15, Varnum Trustee Brian L. Wallin takes us back to the waning days of World War II and a unique experiment in democracy. Working with Washington attorney and fellow Varnum member Christian McBurney, Brian researched the secret purpose of three World War II Prisoner of War camps located in Saunderstown and Jamestown, Rhode Island: an organized effort to educate a select number of German POWs in the basics of democracy. The goal? A cadre of individuals who would plant the seeds of a new post-war Germany to succeed the Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler.

In late 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the program, the legality of which fell within the terms of the Geneva Convention. German prisoners would be exposed to American values and the basics of a democratic government. Brian will take us behind the scenes, introduce us to key players, both German and American, and reveal the ultimate impact a program that was kept under such tight security that only then Rhode Island Governor J. Howard McGrath was privy to its actual purpose.

Little has been written about the camps since the end of the War. Last year, research by Brian and Christian took them on a trail that led from Rhode Island to the National Archives in Washington and elsewhere. Their story was recently published in the Online Journal of Rhode Island History.

Brian Wallin, a graduate of Stonehill College and American International College, spent 20 years as a television news reporter before turning his career to hospital administration. He retired in 2009 as Vice President of Kent Hospital where he continues to be active in an advisory capacity. In addition to his contributions to the history blog, he writes a monthly column for the Varnum Continentals newsletter.

This meeting is open to Varnum Members and their guests.

DATE: Monday, February 15, 2016
TIME: 5:30 p.m. (social hour); 6:30 p.m. (dinner followed by program)
MENU: Steak Tips & Peppers ( Bourbon), Chicken Marsala, Vegetable, Salad, Rolls & Butter, Coffee & Pastries
FEE: $15/person
RSVP: Please RSVP by FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, to Scott Seaback at 401/413-6277 or by email at scott@ritemps.com.

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Books by Christian M. McBurney

Christian M. McBurney is an independent historian who has written several books about the American Revolutionary War (several focusing on Rhode Island). He is an attorney in a Washington, D.C. law firm and resides in Kensington, Maryland. In addition, he is is the editor and publisher of the website “Small State, Big History,” the online review of Rhode Island History.

CoverTitle
The Rhode Island Campaign McBurney"The Rhode Island Campaign: The First French and American Operation in the Revolutionary War" by Christian M. McBurney
Abductions in the American Revolution Attempts to Kidnap George Washington, Benedict Arnold and Other Military and Civilian Leaders by Christian M McBurney"Kidnapping the Enemy: The Special Operations to Capture Generals Charles Lee and Richard Prescott" by Christian M. McBurney
"World War II Rhode Island" by Christian M. McBurney, Brian L Wallin, Patrick T Conley
"Abductions in the American Revolution: Attempts to Kidnap George Washington, Benedict Arnold and Other Military and Civilian Leaders" by Christian M. McBurney
"Untold Stories from World War II Rhode Island" by Christian M. McBurney, Norman Desmarais, Varoujan Karentz
"George Washington's Nemesis: The Outrageous Treason and Unfair Court-Martial of Major General Charles Lee during the Revolutionary War" by Christian M. McBurney
"Spies in Revolutionary Rhode Island" by Christian M McBurney

About the Varnum Continentals

The Varnum Continentals are committed to the preservation of the historic heritage of our community, our state, and our nation. Please take a virtual tour of our museums to learn more about our mission to encourage patriotism. You can participate with us through active membership and/or philanthropic support in our non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Museum tours are welcomed and our facilities may be rented for suitable events.

Our Mission

The Varnum Continentals are committed to encourage patriotism through the Varnum Armory Museum, the Continental Militia, and the James Mitchell Varnum House and thus to preserve, support, and communicate the military history of our community, our state, and our nation.

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