Although it seems to be news that came out in 2019, I guess I missed it.  Did you hear?

Casimir Pulaski could have been a woman. Or a man. Or both.

Who?

You know. Casimir Pulaski, the Revolutionary War hero. We have a day off school to celebrate him.  

Or her.

In a day and age where you don’t know what to believe anymore, certain folks are wanting to mess with history and facts too, creating as much chaos as possible to keep us all in a tizzy. Still, others are uncovering actual, boldface facts that are valuable and good us to know about.

But, any type of report regarding history is worth looking into.

First, I’ll share some actual facts with you.  Pulaski was born in 1745 into a wealthy, prominent family in Poland.  He fought in the unsuccessful attempt to save Poland from Russian domination, and in the early 1770s, was falsely accused of participating in a plot to assassinate the king. 

Forced to flee to France, Pulaski met American rock star Ben Franklin in Paris and was persuaded to travel to America to aid the fight for Independence.  

Pulaski joined the Continental Army in 1777, was made a brigadier general by George Washington and trained soldiers to fight on horseback.  He is known as the “Father of the American Cavalry” and died a war hero after receiving a mortal wound in a battle near Savannah, Ga., in 1779.

Pulaski is credited with saving the life of beloved General Washington when he led a counterattack against the British during the Battle of Brandywine early in his American military career.

So, those are the facts.

Apparently, the body of Pulaski was long thought to have been buried at sea, but many researchers believed he had been buried in an unmarked grave in Georgia. 

His body was apparently exhumed, examined, and closely scrutinized. Researchers concluded that Pulaski’s skeleton resembles a female, and it was concluded by some that he was intersex – meaning the person is born with both male and female traits.

The matter has, of course, been debated up one side and down the other.  Researchers and writers applaud the discovery for a variety of reasons.  Others claim there isn’t conclusive evidence that the body is even Pulaski’s. Still others give excuse after excuse why it’s a good thing or a bad thing or an insignificant thing.

On and on the discussion goes.

My headline is not meant to be unsympathetic or crass.  I mean, I’m all about finding out new things and if a discovery helps someone or improves something, good deal. I just think an enormous amount of attention is paid to things sometimes, and I often wonder why people spend so much time on certain topics – especially when there are far greater things we need to be taking care of.  

Heck, it’s all interesting and I’m glad we have investigators who look into such things, but I still think a lot of what we learn is dwelled on far too much.

Does this discovery take anything away from the life of Casimir Pulaski? 

Still a person who worked his tail off for a country that wasn’t his.  Still someone who is celebrated by folks from all over the world. Still a person who has monuments, bridges and parades named after him. Still a person who helped save General Washington’s life.

Still a hero.