Veteran’s Day

Today is Veteran’s Day. A day in which we pay homage to those who
have protected our freedom and do so today. I’d like to say thank
you to all veterans and will take time to remember the ones who
have died since last year. The list just gets longer. We’ll be at
the parade today at our regular spot so if you go to the parade
and happen to be in the 200 block of West 3rd look us up. I’ll be
the tall skinny fidgety one with no fingernails.

Day three of my test went resonably well. Even with all that went
on I managed to get by with only three cigarettes. Not my target
but a whole lot better than an entire pack. I’m dedicated to end
the experiment near my goal. Once I get through this ordeal I’ll
start weaning myself off the habit.

I’d also like to thank everyone who has given helpful hints and
different cures. All have been taken seriously and depending on
how cold turkey works I have some things to fall back on.

Yesterday was a day full of glitches but we managed to get through
it anyway. Our son called with all the problems associated with a
blowout on his Chevy. Then mom called about the hassles involved
with her having a Doctor’s appointment. Later I found out a good
friend had a stroke at 41. That seems awfully young to be courting
those kinds of problems. Hang in there Golden Boy.
Comments are always welcome.

Thought for the day

I’m not a big Elvis Presley fan, but I liked this. I feel this is a much
needed moral boost during these trying times. Turn your volume up
and read along as Elvis sings an old standard. a tribute to our flag.
Comments are always welcome

Our real loss

The folowing is from an email I recieved from a friend. I paraphrased a bit but if you haven’t seen the email I think you’ll get the gist of it.

The death of Michael Jackson still appears to be earth-shattering news to some. To the rest of us it is getting old fast. I mean no disrespect to the Jackson family when I say it shows the shallowness of the value system in our country.

While Michael Jackson was a pop culture icon, and many will mourn and/or speak endlessly about it, there are others who have died this month. Most are younger than Michael Jackson whose lives were cut far too short; they leave behind loved ones and families who will never get over their loss, and who will do their suffering with much more dignity and honor than what we’ve been seeing concerning Mr. Jackson.

These American military members died in Iraq this month:

Sergeant Justin J. Duffy
Specialist Christopher M. Kurth
Specialist Charles D. Parrish
Lance Corporal Robert D. Ulmer
Staff Sergeant Edmond L. Lo
Sergeant Joshua W. Soto
Captain Kafele H. Sims
Specialist Chancellor A. Keesling

And these members of our U.S.
Armed Forces died in Afghanistan this month:

Sergeant Jones, Ricky D.
Specialist Munguia Rivas, Rodrigo A.
Command Master Chief Petty Officer Garber, Jeffrey J.
1st Sergeant Blair, John D.
Sergeant Smith, Paul G.
Staff Sergeant Melton, Joshua
Sergeant 1st Class Dupont, Kevin A.
Specialist O’Neill, Jonathan C.
Chief Warrant Officer Richardson Jr., Ricky L.
Specialist Silva, Eduardo S.
Lance Corporal Whittle, Joshua R.
Major Barnes, Rocco M.
Major Jenrette, Kevin M.
Staff Sergeant Beale, John C.
Specialist Jordan, Jeffrey W.
Specialist Griemel, Jarrett P.
Specialist Hernandez I, Roberto A.
Sergeant Obakrairur, Jasper K.
Staff Sergeant Hall, Jeffrey A.
Private 1st Class Ogden, Matthew D.
Private 1st Class Wilson, Matthew W.

Let’s remember and honor this day those whose deaths are truly impacting our Freedom and Liberty. We will never forget and pray God grants them eternal peace now that the war has ended for them.
Comments are always welcome.

D-Day

The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings to-day.
The road is rhythmic with the feet
Of men-at-arms who come to pray.

The roses blossom white and red
On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
And martial music cleaves the sky.

Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
They kept the faith and fought the fight.
Through flying lead and crimson steel
They plunged for Freedom and the Right.

May we, their grateful children, learn
Their strength, who lie beneath the sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
At last the accolade of God.

In shining rank on rank arrayed
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace…Who brought a sword.

By Joyce Kilmer, 1917

Taps

On this day when we remember those who have fallen to keep us free I have a short history lesson. If you bear with me I believe you will find it worthy of a read. The information below was provided by Lt Colonel Lewis Kirkpatrick, (Ret) Reserve Officers Association

The history of “Taps” goes all the way back to the Civil War in 1862 when a Union Army Captain named Robert Ellicombe was near Harrison’s Landing in Virginia facing the Confederate Army accross a narrow strip of land. During the night Captain Ellicombe heard the moan of a wounded soldier from the field. He decided to get the man and bring him back for medical attention even though he didn’t know which
side the man was fighting for. Crawling on his stomach through enemy fire he reached the wounded man and pulled him back to his camp.

When he safely reached his camp he discovered it was a Confederate soldier, but the man had died. After the Captain lit a latern he turned the corpse over and at the sight of the soldiers face he caught his breath and went numb with shock. The dead enemy soldier was his son! The son had been studying music in the south when the war broke out, and without telling his father he enlisted in the Conferate Army.

The next morning the Captain went to his superiors and asked permission to give his son a full military burial despite his enemy status. They turned him down, but out of respect for the Captain they said he could have one musician and he chose a buglar. He asked the buglar to play a series of notes found on a piece of paper in his dead son’s uniform and the wish was granted. This music was the haunting melody we now know as “Taps” used at military funerals.

Day is done,
gone the sun,
from the lakes,
from the hills

from the sky,
all is well,
safely rest,
God is near.

Fading light,
Dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky
Gleaming bright,
From afar,
Drawing, near,
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise,
For our days,
Neath the sun
Neath the stars
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This, we, know,
God is near.

They will not be forgetten.
Comments are always welcome.

Remembering

Today is mom’s 81st birthday and shortly we’ll leave to go to a little party in her honor. As dad would say “aren’t you glad you’re out of the
terrible 70s”. As a 48+ year cancer survivor you are one of my heroes and and I wish you many more healthy birthdays.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, or Flag Day, depending on your generation.
It is a holiday that some of us take very seriously. If you can’t make it
to the cemetary please take a moment and remember those we have
lost. A moment of silence only takes a few minutes, doesn’t cost
anything, and you might even feel better when you’re done. To all our
brothers and sisters who have made the ultimate sacrifice we salute
you. Though you are gone you will be remembered.
Comments are always welcome.

Interesting story

Once and a while I get an email that makes me feel good. This one has been floating around for about year. The story itself goes back to Dec. 20, 1943. I was going to write my own version of the event but I felt the author said it best. I don’t know who wrote the story
or where the picture came from but I’d like to share it with those who haven’t seen it.

Look carefully at the B-17 and note how shot up it is – one engine dead, tail, horizontal stabilizer and nose shot up. It was ready to fall out of the sky. Then realize that there is a German ME-109 fighter flying next to it. Now read the story below. I think you’ll be surprised…..

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton , England . His B-17 was called ‘Ye Old Pub’ and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he ‘had never seen a plane in such a bad state’. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to, and slightly over, the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe.

When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now – all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

Research shows that Charlie Brown lived in Seattle and Franz Steigler had moved to Vancouver , BC after the war. When they finally met, they discovered they had lived less than 200 miles apart for the past 50 years!

This story is verified by Snopes.

THIS WAS BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS HONOR IN BEING A WARRIOR…THEY PROUDLY WORE UNIFORMS, AND THEY DIDN’T HIDE IN AMBUSH INSIDE A MOSQUE, OR BEHIND WOMEN AND CHILDREN, NOR DID THEY DID USE MENTALLY RETARDED WOMEN AS SUICIDE BOMBERS TO TARGET AND KILL INNOCENT CIVILIANS……HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED…..

Comments are always welcome.

More mini-rants

After some thought I decided to devote another Thursday post to some mini-rants. Some of these are based on fact, some are based on what people a lot smarter than have told me, and some are my opinion.

First is the government wanting to take benifits away from wounded veterans who use the VA hospitals. I have been assured by more than one person in position to know that it won’t pass. If they are right it makes one wonder if it isn’t just a diversion to get peoples minds of some of the real problems in Washington, D.C.

Also in Washington we hear how our lawmakers are enraged that AIG would have the audacity to hand out bonuses after getting a bail-out. Don’t these self-serving, egotistical windbags realized it was authorized in the very bill they themselves signed?

Our Governor wants us to go in debt to fix our crumbling infrastructure and put more Iowans to work. He came to Davenport to sell his plan which uses some of the tax income from the casinos to pay for the plan. When the westside sewer tunnel was first being discussed it was said it would create around 200 jobs locally. Now our
Governor says over 300. I don’t believe the number of jobs will be anywhere near that high, nor would they be permanent.

Locally the law that held parents accountable for their children’s bad actions was deemed unconstitutional in a higher court. As with many things governmental, the answer should be obvious. Hold the juvenile deliquents who are causing the problems responsible and award monetary damages to the victims. If said JD’s don’t have any money then they should do community service and work it off.

And Pachino Hill has won a change of venue because he couldn’t get a fair trail here. Why not man up and plead guilty? Getting sentenced to church must have worked for him if he shows this much remorse for killing someone.
Comments are always welcome.

Just a thought

I added the political cartoon as a nod to Snarky, the text part of this post came in an email. I felt both are appropriate for the times. This is another opinion post based on what I think are relevant issues.

Take a minute and read the next six sentences, stop to let it soak in,
and guess who it is before you coninue reading.

They travel miles in the heat.
They risk their lives crossing a border.
They don’t get paid enough wages.
They do jobs that others won’t do or are afraid to do.
They live in crowded conditions among a people who speak a different language.
They rarely see their families, and they face adversity all day ~ every day.

I’m not talking about illegal Mexicans ~ I’m talking about our troops! Doesn’t it seem strange that many Democrats and Republicans are willing to lavish all kinds of social benefits on illegals, but don’t support our troops, and are even threatening to defund them?
Comments are always welcome.

Some mini-rants

I used to rant on thursdays but stopped for a while. I decided to bring
back the rant once and a while starting with this selection of mini-rants. Once again I will remind readers of this blog that these are only my opinion. As such they should be taken with a grain of salt and your morning coffee.

Growing up as a child of the ’50s I remember when successful people were looked up to. Now for some reason our government wants us to think they are evil and should give most of their money to those who don’t want to work for a living.

I also can’t figure out why bums, homeless people to the politacally
correct crowd, should get everything for nothing. If they choose not to have a job or a home then they should at least expect to work for the handouts they recieve. If they want free food and shelter from us taxpayers, the least they could do is work for it.

Am I the only one who thinks we’ve lost our moral compass? We are allowing our children to have children with no consequences. Shouldn’t the sperm donor in this equation be made to pay child support? And what ever happened to the statutory rape charges? Our welfare system encourages women to have babies, but doesn’t allow the father to reside in the home or make him pay child support.

The stimulus bill includes money for updating our school buildings. Here’s a novel idea; why not figure out how to keep more kids in school and teach them something while they’re there. We spend more than any country in the world to educate our kids when they score 31st in Math. That is not money well spent.

Since I’m on the subject of lawmakers a few things come to mind. If Congress wants AIG to give back all the bonuses they paid out while going in the hole; shouldn’t Congress have to give back their last few pay raises because they caused the problem? Chris Dodd and Barney Frank were supposed to keep an eye on our money yet they blame the very companies they forced to make bad loans. And shouldn’t they have to give back all the campaign contributions that AIG gave them?

I’m not happy with the way the current administration and some of our citizens look down at veterans. For those in this movement I can only say, if you love your freedom to snub your noses at us, thank us. We veterans can’t catch a break. If we were drafted, we didn’t serve by choice. If we volunteered, we don’t deserve anything because we knew the risks going in.

That brings me to our justice system which is so broken I don’t know if it can be fixed. It is probably a generational thing, but some of us older people feel it’s time to bring back tough love. Instead of thinking there are no bad people we should get a dose of reality and start putting the criminals in prison. Locally Pachino Hill comes to mind.

That is the mini-rants for a while, comments are always welcome.