The John Wayne film was one of the most tedious and boring westerns ever made.

The Battle of the Alamo was a fascinating incident, filled with drama and notorious characters of the time. I'd say that Sam Houston was right, from a military point of view. It was foolish to try and hold that place with inadequate forces. The smart thing for Travis and his people to have done would have been to "git" while they still had time to...by skeedaddlin' away at night. They could have lived to fight another day.

In the long run, I think Santa Ana's extraordinary talent for screwing up would have led to a Texan victory regardless.

But then me and my friend Johnny Cartwright would not have had the chance to re-enact the glorious deaths of Davy Crockett, Georgie Russell, and all them diehard Texicans and Kentuckians under a horde of greasy danged Mexicans atop my parents' oil tank in the backyard of our house in Milton, Ontario.

So maybe we should thank Travis and Santa Ana fer doin' whut they did, and stirrin' the hearts of generations of little boys.

- LH