What's so special about Casimir and what is his tie to the Chicago area? I asked my three school age children and none of them could tell me. To be honest, I've had off school for Casimir Pulaski Day since I was around 8 and aside from knowing he was originally from Poland I couldn't have told you either.
I guess curiosity eventually got the best of me this year and I "googled" him. Here's what I know ... According to Wikipedia Casimir Pulaski aided the, "U.S. military in the American Revolution by training its soldiers and cavalry." I was able to determine via further googling that he has no direct tie to the Chicago area aside from the fact that Chicago has a large Polish population. The date of the celebration (the first Monday of March) was picked to correspond closely with his March 6th birthday. Also interesting to note is the fact that on November 6, 2009, President Barack Obama signed a joint resolution of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives making Pulaski an American citizen. Still curious? It seems Casimir apparently died from complications of a wound to his thigh he received in war battle.
I shared my newly found Pulaski knowledge with the kids last night and they replied "cool". They followed "cool" shortly after with a request for me to not let the twins wake them up too early. Hmmph .. thinking I need a Pulaski type figure to come train my troops.