For us it was a family affair, I served, my brother did, Dad, Granddad, and so forth, I had relatives on both sides of the "war between the States", I could trace my lineage all the way to when my family settled Ga with "James Oglethorpe", but I think we were there for stealing bread or something... I recall when I was "knee High to a Grasshopper " and I was talking to my Great Aunt Dora whom was the family historian, member of " The Daughters of the Confederacy" and I asked her while she was talking about the history of our family and I commented because even back then I was a history nut, I asked"were we the guards or the debtors" She replied in the most haughty southern genteel voice possible "We don't discuss such matters". Well I guess that answered that one, LOL One of my Grandfathers later became a judge, but paid for his law school training by running shine in middle GA. I know, I saw the car and noticed the spigots in the trunk of the plain brown plymouth with poverty caps when I crawled under it to chase my baseball and I asked my dad"Why did Grand papa's car have water spouts in the trunk?" My Dad commented "I will tell you when you were older." and he did. Dang, LOL
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict. The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month, the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called "Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces, We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary. We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions, meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond. Our job as Veterans is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the next generations.
I raise my grumpy coffee mug to my fellow Veterans.
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict. The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month, the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called "Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces, We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving. We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary. We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions, meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond. Our job as Veterans is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the next generations.
I will blog my opinions tomorrow about the elections....After Veterans Day.....Can't do that today on this day.....Wouldn't be right.
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end
All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict.
The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month,
the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called
"Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces,
We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving
We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood
watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans
standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our
people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the
bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check
to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary.
We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage
and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those
of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a
unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment
like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions,
meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda
thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means
and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond. Our job as Veterans
is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the
next generations.
This is my Veterans Day Post, I used this same post before and it is worthy of reposting. I honor my friends that came back and I host a glass of non-alcoholic beverage in their Honor and I know many Bloggers that will be doing the same.
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end
All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict.
The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month,
the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called
"Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces,
We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving
We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood
watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans
standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our
people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the
bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check
to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary.
We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage
and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those
of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a
unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment
like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions,
meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda
thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means
and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond. Our job as Veterans
is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the
next generations.
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict. The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month, the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called "Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces, We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary. We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a unique category because the Veterans in our society is a small segment like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions, meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond the Rim. Our job as Veterans is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the next generations.
I will postpone My "Monday Music". and post it on Tuesday. I couldn't "Do" Monday Music on Veterans Day, wouldn't be "proper".
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end
All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict.
The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month,
the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called
"Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces,
We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving
We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood
watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans
standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our
people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the
bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check
to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary.
We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage
and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those
of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a
unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment
like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions,
meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda
thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means
and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond. Our job as Veterans
is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the
next generations.
My employer celebrates Veterans Day, we have planes fly in and military equipment shows up. A-10's F-16's P3 Orions, Hueys, C-47's V-22 Ospreys and many others. This plane we painted earlier in the year and it was used in a movie that was based on this story.Damaged B-17 escorted Home by a German Fighter. I had blogged about it a few years ago. More planes are showing up, but the celebration is tomorrow and I will try to go to work and get some $$Overtime$$ and participate in the ceremony while I am there. I do have my shadowbox there with my awards. But I didn't bring my other stuff like I have in the past.
My Shadowbox from events past.
My Helmet, my LBE, a Soviet, and an East German Flag. My floppy hat, a
East German hat and a Soviet Hat, my shadowbox and a beer stein that I
"liberated" from the Octoberfest tent in Munich in 1986.
I will get more pics tomorrow and make a blog post out of them.
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict. The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month, the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called "Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces,
We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving
We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary. We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions, meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond. Our job as Veterans is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the next generations.
My employer believes in hiring Veterans and they are very accommodating to employees that get called to active duty and we at work do the "send care packages" to our troops in Afghanistan.
Several years ago one of my friends started a "Veterans Day Celebration" and it has gotten bigger and bigger each year. They ask us veterans to bring our shadowboxes and assorted souvenirs of our travels.
They had a cake cutting ceremony and the Oldest Veterans and the youngest veteran cut the cake, the symbolism from the oldest to the youngest and the bridge between all veterans. The oldest guy is 58 and the youngest guy is 24.
The employer named one of their airplanes for the Veterans, the plane a Boeing 757 was repainted in October 4 years early and we have our own paint department and had the new graphics added for the ceremony.
And speaking of airplanes we had several Military planes make an appearance,
I figured Old NFO would be excited since this type of airplane is his war chariot.
Different View
The Plane number, I surmise that the plane is based out of Pensacola
Jacksonville Naval Station
.The A10 Tank Killer, we Army guys love the A10, it would have been our edge against the wave of Soviet Armor as they flowed out of the Fulda Gap if WWIII had started, but the A10 romped amongst Saddam's Armor formation in Desert Storm and made quite an impression amongst the survivors. It is one of the few planes that to my knowledge is NEVER offered for foreign sales but the Airforce keeps trying to kill the plane because they don't like ground support.missions.
The KC-135, a plane based on the "Dash 80", the prototype that was the inspiration for this plane and the Boeing 707. They are similar but not the same airplane.
The Tail of the KC135. The Alabama ANG supplied the F16's from last year.
We also had this huge American flag that my employer uses for special occasions.
Another View
Also there there were several vehicles present.
The M1009 "CUCV"
A couple of funny stories from my first unit. We had the colonels driver, this guy was an arrogant prick btw, he took the colonels CUCV romping on the tank trails at Honenfels and he figured he would splash one of the puddles on the tank trail....well he did more than that....he sank the vehicle in the tank trail...all you could see was the antenna's sticking out of the water...We called him the U-boat commander after that. But that wasn't the end...what did it for him was that USAREUR has an oil analysis lab that analyzed the oil in all the vehicles to try to gauge the health of the vehicles. Well the test was done every 6 months and for 2 checks, they found metal shavings in the oil samples of the colonel's vehicle..Well they started investigating because the CUCV was new when issued and they found out that the driver was racing on the autobahns with the vehicle, by far exceeding the mandated speed limit set. Well he got bumped. We laughed our butts off....couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
The M38A1
The successor of the WWII "Jeep" and before my M151A1 jeep that I drove at my first Duty station
Baggage Cart..
My Employer has a specialized team that greets Soldiers that have died on America's battlefields and they have equipment dedicated for this use only and nothing else, they are painted a certain color and when they are not being used, they are parked under a concourse out of the weather.
This is a video of the event.
The carts hold the challenge coins and various memorabilia since this got started several years ago.
The guy that started this was a mechanic on the line and he never served but his sons did and he wanted to do something that honored their sacrifice and it took off. This brings great credit on him, and the employer.
One of the tables of various stuff that we brought in to add to the festivities.
Some of my stuff, from my Soviet and East German Stuff to my
Beer steins. I could have brought more stuff but I still feel weird showing my
I and many of my friends have served in the Military, some in the Army, some in the Navy, Marines and Air force but we all have a common thread, we served. We walked the ramparts to use an old phrase. We trace our lineage back to the Roman legionnaire walking the wall to protect home and hearth from the barbarian horde on the other side of the Danube river. This holiday was created out of Armistice day, on 11-11-1918 at 11:00 AM the time the war to end all wars ended. After WWII they renamed "Armistice Day" Veterans Day and it has remained as such. This is a special day to us veterans because this holiday honors those of us that are alive and carry on the tradition of service to inspire the next generation, and we veterans remember our fallen brothers on this day.
"For those that will fight for
it...FREEDOM ...has a flavor the protected shall never know."
I have seen this quote and it has resonated with me since I first patrolled the 1 K zone between East and West Germany, you were scared but you really appreciated the fact that you are alive and serving an honorable service. To have Freedom to choose your destiny, to choose your path the taste of freedom and the cost of protecting it is something that we veterans can experience. I had googled the phrase the story how it came to be popped up so I cut and pasted it. It is a good read.
L/Cpl
Edwin L. "Tim" Craft, B Co 3rd AT's, Khe Sanh Combat Base, February,
1968
I
graduated from High School in
1966, and all of my course studies had been
academic. My main interests besides girls were Marching Band and Debate. Having
won the Kansas State Oratorical championship in 1964 with a speech topic
"Optimism Formula For Freedom", my intentions were to become a lawyer.
I was aware of the Viet
Namwar, especially when it began to heat up in
1965. Little did I know that before the next year was over that I would take a
journey straight into the pits of hell and see the heaviest fighting our country
has ever experienced.
After
high school, I enrolled in junior college. I paid my own way by also working at
night part time for the H. D. Lee Company that made clothing. When I quit college
to join the Marines my professors and especially the office tried to get me to
reconsider by saying "But your grades are well above average. You will
never have to go!" My reply, and my reason for joining, was simply
"those guys fighting and dying over there are no more deserving to be there
than me, and I can't feel right letting them do something I would not."
My goal
was never to be heroic or gallant. That was the last thing on my mind. After
joining, I was barely in the states nine months when I was sent to Nam.
En route, we landed on Wake Island. It looked like a grain of sand in the middle of the ocean when our
commercial flight United 747 Jet pitched downward and aimed at that grain of
sand. My thought was "You've got to be kidding me". All of the Marines
that fought there became POW's of the Japanese. Later, I met one of them and got
to know him well. I spoke at his funeral. His name was Bob Eaton.
Next stop
was Okinawa. The next day it was Da Nang, then Dong Ha, then Hell at Con Thien. My first
day in the field I met a Marine who would be my Commanding Officer…a fine man.
Thirty minutes later, Lt. Dallas Thompson would move in front of me and die from
an explosion. He fell right across my lap and died looking into my eyes. We were
taking so much incoming that our Platoon Sgt. ordered us off the hill, mainly
because they had our little bunker zero'd in. When I found a hole to jump in,
the Marine in it mistook me for a corpsman and called me “Doc”. He said,
"’Doc’, that is some of the fanciest footwork I have ever seen. They
were following you all the way down. You would go right and they would explode
left, then you'd go left and they would explode right. You probably saved all of
those guys.” I told him, “I'm not a corpsman. I'm a Marine, and I just got
here. All I was is scared and following orders. I don't know enough to plan
anything!” He just looked at me for a long while and said, "That was
still some run Doc!" (Jarheads!!!) Con Thien, by the way means "Place
of Angels". We were under siege there for several months and were cut off
from food and water for much of it.
Leatherneck
Magazine called the siege for Con Thien "Time in the Barrel". We
received a minimum of 200 incoming rounds a day, and it was a small place. It
felt like they hit every square inch. One thing I quickly learned was how to
know the difference in the sounds of incoming. That knowledge was literally a
matter of life and death. Mortars made a high arch and the initial blast in the
distance was a muffled report. An artillery round has a bassier sound. It gave
you slightly more time to find cover, but if it was on you, then you
were in deep trouble. The other one was the most terrifying. It was the rocket,
and it screamed as it came in. You could not tell where it might come down, and
it came fast. They also had recoilless rifles that fired large shells. They went
off almost at the same time you heard them fired at you, and they had a flat
trajectory.
My second
day in the field another Marine and I wiped out an artillery section that had us
pinned down. The Phantoms that flew over reported we had killed 162 of the
enemy. This was L/Cpl Arthur Kennedy and myself. We went out under direct fire
and had to get out and make sure the grunts (infantry) were down before we could
fire our Ontos. If we had been in any other branch both of us would have
received the Congressional Medal of Honor. The truth I learned over and over is
the Marines were too small an outfit to allow its members to go to receive them,
and many of the Marines I knew were cheated out of them. During 1967 and 1968
the Marines bore the brunt of the war, and that is a fact. World Book
Encyclopedia reported that fact. Don't get me wrong. I am not medal happy and I
wasn't then. When I returned I had at least four rows, and the Marines make you
earn theirs.
After
months of carnage we had a cease fire on Christmas Eve of 1967. I arrived there
about the second week of August and saw many good men die. All of us lived with
death every second of every day. On this particular Christmas Eve I heard a
broadcast on Armed Forces radio and learned the "Clintonites" were
marching on our Capitol protesting against us! I could not believe what I was
hearing. Here we were fighting for freedom and these low life commies back
home were fighting against us. I was dazed. I just could not understand it. I was
hurt to my soul, angered, and disgusted. (This motivated me to write a message
on a C-Ration case.)
Not very
long after that night we got the word that we were going to a resort area called
Khe Sanh. It had not seen any of this type of action. It actually had a mess
hall and a laundry, and they marched to chow. Wow!!! What unfathomable luxuries.
Also, during this time I was on an operation with B Co 1/9 called Kingfisher,
where we got the name "Walking Dead", and a new phrase was coined
"Thousand yard stare." One of the Marines started cussing one night,
and there was a big commotion. The next day we found out a tiger had grabbed him
by the arm and was just carrying him off. He was punching it in the snout. It
got as far as the BenHoaRiverand didn't know what to do with him, so it just
let him go. That story was in Stars
and Stripes. (I was afraid to write back home about that one for fear
they would think I was nuts.) The Marines just kidded him about being too grisly
for the tiger and that it wanted a softer cut of meat.
When I
got to Khe Sanh, sure enough, they were marching to chow, had on starched
utilities, and what really blew my mind was that all of their bunkers were built
above ground!!! What was wrong with these people? We were met by our new CO,
whom I had met at Con Thien. I didn't know who he was, just that he was a big
wig. Captain James Lea told us in no uncertain terms that we would fall out in
the morning clean shaven and in freshly starched utilities, because special
arrangements had been made for us. The Junior Officer took over after Captain
Lea left and asked if we had any questions. Being an old salt by now I told him,
"Sir, with all due respect for your rank you can go ---- yourself, because
me and my men are not going to live in any of these above ground bunkers.” He
said “Fine, Corporal Craft" (Actually, I was only a L/Cpl, lance corporal). He
said “See that wire over there? You just take your merry men and go right out
there and pick out any real estate you want because that is enemy territory and
they will be glad to have you. But, as long as you are here, you will comply. Is
that clear?” I said “Yes sir, perfectly.”
When he
turned away and went back to the HQ, we beat feet for the wire and told them we
were going to be an LP (listening post). You can bet we would be too! They said
“And you're taking an Ontos to an LP?” I just said “You never can be too
careful!” We went out and started digging in. We were the diggingest bunch of
guys you ever saw. We just dug and filled sand bags. I think they knew they had
been had because they ignored us for nearly a week. Then, our Lt was sent out to
read us the riot act. En route, the siege began. The enemy hit the ammo dump,
and it sounded like Volkswagens flying past us. It was Con Thien all over again.
The next day I was sent for and they wanted me to work with some Seabees to show
then how to build the new bunkers. (I wonder why?)
This
siege lasted for 77 days and was the most intense fighting of our history. Some
reports say there were 1,000 of us and as many as 400,000 of the enemy. Other
reports show 6,000 Marines at Khe Sanh, but this was not the Combat base. This
figure had to include the surrounding hills and supporting units. Khe Sanh
Combat base wasn't that big! Essentially, it was a runway. We were taking some
1,600 rounds of incoming per day every day on this tiny piece of real estate.
Someone calculated that we had an explosion from an enemy device every 30
seconds day and night for 77 days. I had been called away from my safe hole when
they found out my secondary mos was Ammo/Tech. It was during this time that I
spotted a reporter and asked him if he would please mind getting a message back
to the world for me. He asked "What is it?" I told him and he looked
shocked and asked if I would mind writing that down. I said “Sure” and wrote
it on a C-Ration case. That message is: "For those that will fight for
it...FREEDOM ...has a flavor the protected shall never know." Semper Fi! --- L/Cpl
Edwin L. "Tim" Craft, B Co 3rd AT's, Khe Sanh Combat Base, February,
1968
Today is what I call the only holiday for me and my kind....you know the ones that have served...those that were willing to surrender our today's and tomorrows if necessary to serve our country. Those that have walked the ramparts to keep the darkness away from the kinder gentler people.. We who walk the walk to make sure that our country will have a tomorrow and a day after. We who have made the decision since the first caveman picked up a spear to defend his family and his village from bad people so our kids can live a peaceful life. I honor those like us....and to us and damn few of us left it seems.
At work we had a veterans celebration, there was a cake..
We Veterans were told that we could bring some memento's of our service and I thought real hard of what I could bring....and I finally grabbed a few things...
My Helmet, my LBE, a Soviet, and an East German Flag. My floppy hat, a East German hat and a Soviet Hat, my shadowbox and a beer stein that I "liberated" from the Octoberfest tent in Munich in 1986.
I felt weird though....I never really showed my medals and other stuff to other people..I can count the number of people on one hand that have seen the stuff that I displayed...I never talked about what I did in the service...I have good stories, all vets do....but I never really talked about what I DID, what I saw, what I experienced. It felt very disconcerting though...Like I violated a veil of silence that my regiment has instilled in us since we got the emblem of the Spinx on that field a long time ago. I felt like I was a braggart....That is something that I don't do and that made me uncomfortable.
We also had some aircraft there...we had every GI's favorite helicopter...The Huey "Dustoff" helicopter...to a G.I in harms way...nothing screams "America" like the "whop, whop, whop" of a Huey.
We also had a L19 cub, I think OldNFO flew this one...
And of course the A1S Cobra..
I was reading the stats on this Cobra.....We shared the same sky as it was....I probably saw this cobra in my time in Germany...I have to rustle through my pics...I took pictures of cobra's doing their thing while I was on maneuvers in Germany...I might get lucky and actually have this one in my pictures. People rave on the Apache but I preferred the Cobra...the original bad ass helicopter.
Again to all Veterans.....both here and those that have passed one....We honor them
I don't have a lot of time, I have to go to sleep because I have to go to work early, I saw this Hitler parody and I got a chuckle out of it. I am pleased overall with the results of the elections. I heard on MSNBC that the talking heads were saying "What the GOP have to give to the democrats".. I was thinking...."Really?....Give to the democrats...in 2009 Obungler said " I won and you lost". Now the talking heads want the GOP to compromise with the democrats....what happened to the compromise when the democrats were in the ascendency and the GOP fortunes were in the gutter. The democrats pushed through their agenda all on their own. Now they want the GOP to compromise....the sheer gall and chutspa.....
Now today is Veterans day, this is a special day for us Veterans. This day is for those who had served and their families. I am a veteran as are many of my friends, I am honored to have served and would do so again. I considered it a debt of honor as a citizen of the republic. I served as did my father and my grandfather. It is a tradition for my family for the males to join the service. I hope my son continues the tradition, but this will be his decision to make.
I have been very busy this weekend and during Veterans day, I will post in a day or so the activities and pictures that I have. In honor of Veterans day and Monday Music, I went with "Paint it black" It is a Rolling Stone song that was used in the opening credits of a TV series that we GI's watched in the barracks. We liked the realism, the attention to detail, they had used Vietnam veterans as advisers to ensure the realism and gritty reality...for 80's TV anyway. When the show came on, the dayroom was full as everybody clustered around the AFN broadcast of the show. This song is the only song by the Rolling Stones that I liked.....We would cheer when the soldiers would shoot up Charlie and the firefights. The interplay of the people was very well done, we liked the way the new LT played by Stephen Caffrey was mentored by the platoon sergeant played by Terrance Knox. All the other guys also played well on each other and at the end of the video, it showed the 3 soldiers standing at attention and saluting the flag on TV at the end of the broadcast day....when they played the national Anthem. That was telling for me. The simple patriotism showed represented the beliefs of the Veterans in their country.
Tour of Duty is an American drama television series on CBS. It ran for three seasons from September 1987 to April 1990 as 58 one-hour episodes. The show was created by Steve Duncan and L. Travis Clark, and produced by Zev Braun.
The show follows an American infantry platoon on a tour of duty during the Vietnam War. It was the first television series to regularly show Americans in combat in Vietnam and was one of several similarly themed series to be produced in the wake of the acclaimed Oliver Stone film, Platoon. The series won an Emmy Award in 1988 for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series, and it was nominated again in 1989 and 1990.
Not simply an action program, Tour of Duty was also groundbreaking as it addressed the issues of politics, faith, teamwork, racism, suicide, fragging, terrorism, civilian deaths, drug abuse,
and the shattered lives and confused feelings of those troops who
finally made it home alive. The story focuses mainly on Bravo company's
second platoon under the command of 2nd Lieutenant Myron Goldman (Stephen Caffrey), and Staff Sergeant (later Sergeant First Class) Zeke Anderson (Terence Knox).
The first season was filmed on location in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks. For the second and third seasons the series was filmed around Los Angeles, California in order to reduce costs. This also enabled the producers to redress a studio backlot as Saigon.
The move also meant reusing the same locations, notably a small river
with grass on one bank and woods on the other which turns up in a number
of episodes. A lot of filming was undertaken on the old set of M*A*S*H. Helicopter scenes with McKay were filmed on the ground with the rotors running.
The first season opens in 1967 and follows a standard light infantry
platoon. In the second season, the troops found themselves relocated to a
base near Saigon while conducting the typical "search and destroy" missions. Production staff interviewed in VIETNAM Magazine cited this change as a change in premise
that doomed the series, as female characters were also introduced (in
hopes of gaining more female viewership and because of the premiere of
the ABC Vietnam Army Nurses drama "China Beach" which was aimed at a
more female audience ) and the show ceased to be a realistic chronicle
of life in the field for the average line infantryman in favor of being
more romance- and action/adventure-oriented. In the third season, the remaining female character was killed off and the platoon was transferred to a SOG (Studies and Observation Group) unit under the command of Colonel Brewster—played by Carl Weathers, conducting covert operations in Vietnam and in Cambodia, culminating in the fictional version of the raid on Son Tay Prison. The third season was the show's last.
In its third season, CBS moved the show to the Saturday 9:00 p.m. time slot. Being forced to compete with NBC's The Golden Girls and Empty Nest, the show's ratings dropped and the show was canceled at the end of the season.
The opening theme song was an abbreviated version of The Rolling Stones hit "Paint It, Black" that had featured in the end titles of the 1987 Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket,
this was removed for the US DVD release. The closing consisted of an
instrumental, synthesized tune with a distinctive Asian sound mixed in
with acoustic guitar; it was performed by Joseph Conlan, and was never
released for public consumption other than in the series. That music was
used as background music for most of the series. On the US release DVD
most of the Vietnam War era popular music was replaced by instrumental
bits to cover the blank spots of music.
All 3 seasons that have been released in the United Kingdom, has the complete original soundtrack including "Paint It, Black".
The show was known for its classic American rock soundtrack including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jimi Hendrix, and Jefferson Airplane. One first-season episode, "USO Down", used "live" versions of "Wooly Bully", and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"
as performed by a USO band, the latter song being used also for ironic
comment. The songs in this episode were retained in the DVD soundtracks.
But for copyright reasons, the VHS and DVD
soundtracks of the majority of episodes were replaced with sound
alikes—a move which was widely protested by buyers, and resulted in a
significantly lower sales volume for the third-season DVD set than for
the first two.
In the Netherlands, amongst other European nations, a total number of
seven albums were released, containing most of the songs featured on
the show. As a result, "Paint It, Black" was re-released as a single,
again hitting the number 1 position in the Dutch top 40 popchart in May
1990.
