TheList 5729

The List 5729     TGB

 

Good Sunday morning May 30

 

I hope that you all are having a great Memorial Day weekend.

I am off to the USS Midway early in the morning to stand next to the F8 Crusader and answer questions on the airplane and tell folks what it was like to fly it. It seems like my bag of flight gear gets heavier each year. I have it all and it all fits. Lots of local Bubbas come and do the same thing each year. I am missing my long time friend Worm and roommate on the 11 1/2 month Midway cruise in 72-73 who usually joins me but he is recovering from a knee replacement. Since he is multi lingual I will have to do with sign language and hand signs.

 

Skip

 

Today in Naval History

May 30

 

1864 During the Civil War, the side-wheel steamship USS Keystone State and the iron screw steamship USS Massachusetts capture British blockade-runner Caledonia south of Cape Fear, N.C.

 

1944 USS Guitarro (SS 363) sinks Japanese freighter Shisen Maru, 60 miles south-east of Keelung, Formosa. Also on this date, USS Pompon (SS 267) sinks Japanese freighter Shiga Maru off Muroto Saki, Japan while USS Rasher (SS 269) sinks the gunboat Anshu Maru about 110 miles north-northeast of Halmahera.

 

1945 A TBM (VC 82) from USS Anzio (CVE 57) sinks Japanese submarine (I 361), 400 miles southeast of Okinawa. Also on this date, USS Blenny (SS 324) sinks Japanese cargo ship Hokoku Maru 40 miles southwest of Banjarmasin, Borneo while USS Croaker (SS 246) sinks Shuttle Boat (No.154) and Shuttle Boat (No. 146).

 

2008 USS Dubuque (LPD 8) rescues six Filipino mariners from a sinking vessel in the Balabac Strait. She was originally commissioned in September 1967 and decommissioned in June 2011. Dubuque is now in the reserve fleet at Bremerton, Wash.

 

Thanks to CHINFO

No CHINFO on the weekend

 

 

1431   Joan of Arc martyred

 

Today in History May 30

1416		Jerome of Prague is burned as a heretic by the Church.
1431		Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by the English.
1527		The University of Marburg is founded in Germany.
1539		Hernando de Soto lands in Florida with 600 soldiers in search of gold.
1783		The first American daily newspaper, The Pennsylvania Evening Post, begins publishing in Philadelphia.
1814		The First Treaty of Paris is declared, returning France to its 1792 borders.
1848		William Young patents the ice cream freezer.
1854		The Kansas-Nebraska Act repeals the Missouri Compromise.
1859		The Piedmontese army crosses the Sesia River and defeats the Austrians at Palestro.
1862		Union General Henry Halleck enters Corinth, Mississippi.
1868		Memorial Day begins when two women place flowers on both Confederate and Union graves.
1889		The brassiere is invented.
1912		U.S. Marines are sent to Nicaragua to protect American interests.
1913		The First Balkan War ends.
1921		The U.S. Navy transfers the Teapot Dome oil reserves to the Department of the Interior.
1942		The Royal Air Force launches the first 1,000 plane raid over Germany.
1971		NASA launches Mariner 9, the first satellite to orbit Mars.

 

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Thanks to Dr. Rich and Shadow

 

Jewish Comedians - Shadow's experience w. Highway Patrol and mine w. Buddy Hackett ...

 

Thanks to Roy ...

 

Shecky Greene provided me with one of the hilarious events of my life. He used to do a skit about being pulled over in New Mexico by a NM Highway Patrol. Shecky is pulled off the road and is watching the patrolman in his rear view mirror as the Patrolman steps out of his car. Shecky notices he has on cowboy boots, mirrored Ray-Ban glasses… and he stops to put on his big, perfectly bent Stetson Hat… The whole ensemble made him look seven feet tall! He walks up to Shecky's open window, bends down and says "HOWDY"! For some damn reason Shecky thought the whole scenario was hilarious and started laughing his ass off! One of those deals where once you start almost impossible to stop. Pretty soon, the patrolman starts laughing with him, while not knowing what Shecky was laughing about… finally he looks down and says, "Get the hell out of here… never wrote him a ticket. Well, in my young life, it somehow impressed me too.

 

Fast forward 20 years later… I'm driving to Houston to meet up with the wife, after a weekend in Vegas together. She was flying to Sacramento for his youngest sister's college graduation and then would fly to Houston and meet up with me there, where we would visit a family friend. I had a "Z Car" in those days and left Vegas and cut down through Sedona, caught I-10 and headed for Texas. It was 55 in those days and I don't think I was ever below 70 on the whole trip… mostly 80's on the Interstate. Just west of Lordsburg, New Mexico… I pass an off ramp that went up a hill to a gas station. Big station… had concrete where the pumps were… but also had a big gravel area around the concrete. As I pass the station… I see a New Mexico Highway Patrol car, sitting at the pumps and notice a patrolman sitting inside. I looked down and damn… I was doing 85!

 

All of a sudden I see the Patrol Car come screaming out of the pump area and throwing rocks and gravel in his wake. No doubt in my mind, he was after me! It was one of those moments when you knew you were screwed! Decision time… should I fake it and slow to the speed limit or just pull over and take my medicine. Common sense told me it was a better choice than to have him run me down. So I pulled over and waited for him to catch up. He pulls up behind me and sat there for a minute or two; I was assuming he was checking my license plate for warrants. He was far enough behind me I could see the whole car in my mirror. Finally he opens his door and I see this long leg step out covered by a cowboy boot! Instantly, Shecky Greene pops into my mind! Holy shit! Then as he gets out… he has on mirrored Bay-Bans… then he leans back into the car and pulls out his Stetson Hat! OMG… a comedy routine is being replayed in real life. As he approached my car, it was everything I could do to keep from laughing… but when he leaned over and dropped his head down to look at me and said. "HOWDY"! I freakin' lost it! I had one of those un- contained… outbursts and coughs at the same time… while laughing my ass off. He rears back… stumbled, dropped his ticket book and starts laughing like hell with me! He finally steps back forward and yells out… "Shecky Greene… Right! I'm laughing so hard I just nodded> It went on for a couple of more minutes and finally calms down enough and said… "Mister, I've been waiting over 20 years for this moment… I must have given out of a thousand tickets in my lifetime and have had dreams that this would happen some day"! We finally calmed down and he asked where I was going, I told him… Then asked how fast was I really going and I told him the truth. He then asked about the car… I filled him in… and then between giggles he said, "Because you are honest and you have given me the laugh of a lifetime, I'm gonna let you go. But I'm warning you… you better be careful when you get over in Texas… them Ranger Boys have no sense of humor at all. They'll nail your ass"! With that, he shook my hand, said "Have a safe trip"… and starts to walk away. He stopped and turned around and said… "I can't wait to tell my supervisor  about this"!  Last thing I heard was a big guffaw!

 

It really happened!

 

Shadow

 

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And Wayne's:

 

On May 26, 2021, at 9:11 AM, WAYNE wrote:

 

We've had fun watching Tim "Toolman" Allen and Jerry Seinfeld do their comedy live recently (Before wuhan).

Audience in stitches for an hour and a half — not one swear word.  It can be done.

 

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My reply…

 

Buddy Hackett was great … but LOTS of swear words .. but he was so 'innocent' they didn't seem to bother anyone.  We saw him in Las Vegas, and he started off with "I see an older woman here on the front row, and I need to find out what might offend her". … "Ma'm, would you be offended by the word "damn" …. and she shook her head 'no' … "would you be offended by the word "hell" …. and she shook her head 'no' … and this went on for 5 min. until it was "Mother F'er" and she was still shaking her head 'no' .. and the audience was in hysterics!!  If you haven't seen his "Duck Hunter and the Farmer" joke on the Johnny Carson show, Google it on YouTube … 

Rich

 

 

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Thanks to Boysie ...

Jewish Comedians

You may remember the old Jewish Catskill Comics of Vaudeville days: Shecky Greene, Red Buttons,  Totie Fields, Joey Bishop,  Milton Berle, Jan Murray, Danny Kaye, Henny Youngman,  Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar,  Groucho Marx, Jackie Mason,  Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce,  George Burns, Allan Sherman,  Jerry Lewis, Carl Reiner,  Shelley Berman, Gene Wilder,  George Jessel, Alan King,  Mel Brooks, Phil Silvers, Jack Carter, Rodney Dangerfield,  Don Rickles, Jack Benny,  Mansel Rubenstein, and so many others….

There was not one single swear word in their comedy.

Enjoy a few examples:

I just got back from a pleasure trip.  I took my mother-in-law to the airport.

I've been in love with the same woman for 49 years!  If my wife ever finds out, she'll kill me!

What are three words a woman never wants to hear when she's making love?  "Honey, I'm home!"

Someone stole all my credit cards, but I won't be reporting it.  The thief spends less than my wife did.

We always hold hands.  If I let go, she shops.

My wife and I went back to the hotel where we spent our wedding night.  Only this time I stayed in the bathroom and cried.

My wife and I went to a hotel where we got a waterbed.  My wife called it the Dead Sea.

She was at the beauty shop for two hours.  That was only for the estimate.

She got a mudpack and looked great for two days.  Then the mud fell off.

The Doctor gave a man six months to live.  The man couldn't pay his bill, so the doctor gave him another six months.

The Doctor called Mrs. Cohen saying, "Mrs. Cohen, your check came back."  Mrs. Cohen answered, "So did my arthritis!"

Doctor: "You'll live to be 60!"
Patient: "I am 60!"
Doctor: "See! What did I tell you?"

Patient: "I have a ringing in my ears."
Doctor: "Don't answer it!"

A drunk was in front of a judge.
The judge says, "You've been brought here for drinking."
The drunk says "Okay, let's get started."

Why do Jewish divorces cost so much?  They're worth it.

The Harvard School of Medicine did a study of why Jewish women like Chinese food so much.  The study revealed that this is due to the fact that Won Ton spelled backward is Not Now.

There is a big controversy on the Jewish view of when life begins.  In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until it graduates from medical school.

Q: Why don't Jewish mothers drink?
A: Alcohol interferes with their suffering.

Q: Why do Jewish mothers make great parole officers?
A: They never let anyone finish a sentence!

A man called his mother in Florida, "Mom, how are you?"
"Not too good," said the mother. "I've been very weak."
The son said, "Why are you so weak?"
She said, "Because I haven't eaten in 38 days."
The son said, "That's terrible. Why haven't you eaten in 38 days?"
The mother answered, "Because I didn't want my mouth to be filled with  food if you should call."

A Jewish boy comes home from school and tells his mother he has a part  in the play.
She asks, "What part is it?"
The boy says, "I play the part of the Jewish husband."
The mother scowls and says, "Go back and tell the teacher you want a  speaking part."

Q: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: (Sigh) "Don't bother. I'll sit in the dark. I don't want to be a  nuisance to anybody."

Did you hear about the bum who walked up to a Jewish mother on the  street and said, "Lady, I haven't eaten in three days."
"Force yourself," she replied.

Q: What's the difference between a Rottweiler and a Jewish mother?
A: Eventually, the Rottweiler lets go.

Q: Why are Jewish men circumcised?
A: Because Jewish women don't like anything that isn't 20% off.

 

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The Battle of Midway  This is a full length effort and worth your time. More to come over the next few days. I read Dusty Kleiss book Never Call Me a Hero and learned a lot of things about the Battle I had never read before.

 

Thanks to Tom

 

This is surprisingly one of the best you tubes I have seen on the fog of war and why the Japanese reacted the way they did to the attacks during the Battle of Midway. Very informative and well worth the review. It really makes you aware of the American ingenuity, intelligence and surprise we had on their operations. And true sacrifice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8_vO5zrjo

 

Ever wonder how you would react if you were sitting on the Japanese side with the intelligence they had?

 

Add to this that the Japanese went down with their ships, and you see the great loss of flight, maintenance, ship crew, and war experience all lost in one major battle.

 

Tom Monroe

 

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Thanks to Mugs….If I had heard the doodle doodle sound from the RAW gear in my ears while I was reading this article this morning I may have barrel rolled out of my chair. In fact a right after I returned from the Midway cruise I was out on a test hop off San Clemente and  had by habit turned all the gear on in including the RAW gear and got a doodle doodle in my head set and pulled on the stick and stomped on the rudder to try and see the missile when I remembered I was home and picked up a destroyer at the south end of the island below me and he was playing with his gear. Got my heart rate up.

 

Dodging SAMs-In An AC-130!

Difficult to believe they survived.  Hard enough to do in a fighter.  Especially at night and not hit the ground.

 

https://www.historynet.com/dodging-sams-ac-130.htm?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Socialflow%20AvHM&fbclid=IwAR07cTdlKw1LYXU0Wv-eTeS4TBF0uzRhr-J5CpLk9Ztb43BIMm3mJU6aUx0

 

Dodging SAMs—In An AC-130!

BY HENRY ZEYBEL

 

 

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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear

LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— ... For The List for Sunday, 30 May 2021... Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻

 

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)...

From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 30 May 1966...

"Lest we forget"...

 

https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/memorial-day-2016/

 

 

 

This work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip

 

Vietnam Air Losses

Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at:  https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.

 

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This Day in American Military History   May 30

 

1806 – In Logan County, Kentucky, future president Andrew Jackson participates in a duel, killing Charles Dickinson, a lawyer regarded as one of the best pistol shots in the area. The proud and volatile Jackson, a former senator and representative of Tennessee, called for the duel after his wife Rachel was slandered as a bigamist by Dickinson, who was referring to a legal error in the divorce from her first husband in 1791. Jackson met his foe at Harrison's Mills on Red River in Logan, Kentucky, on May 30, 1806. In accordance with dueling custom, the two stood 24 feet apart, with pistols pointed downward. After the signal, Dickinson fired first, grazing Jackson's breastbone and breaking some of his ribs. However, Jackson, a former Tennessee militia leader, maintained his stance and fired back, fatally wounding his opponent. It was one of several duels Jackson was said to have participated in during his lifetime, the majority of which were allegedly called in defense of his wife's honor. None of the other rumored duels were recorded, and whether he killed anyone else in this manner is not known. In 1829, Rachel died, and Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States.

 

1868 – By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance is held to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion." Known to some as "Decoration Day," mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois. In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo–which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866–because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, and after World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America's wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. It is customary for the president or vice president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually. Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day.

 

1942 – Four Japanese submarines arrive too late to intercept the American task forces destined for Midway.

1942 – US aircraft carrier Yorktown left Pearl Harbor.

1943 – US forces complete the occupation of Attu Island. American losses are reported as 600 dead and 1200 wounded. Japanese losses are given as 2350 killed (including many suicides) and 28 wounded have been captured.

1945 – On Okinawa, American forces reach Shuri, south of the former Japanese positions. Two battalions of US Marines reach the southeast edge of Naha.

 

1958 – Memorial Day: the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, are buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

 

1999 – Astronauts from the space shuttle "Discovery" rigged cranes and other tools to the exterior of the international space station during a spacewalk; then, the astronauts entered the orbiting outpost for three days of making repairs and delivering supplies.

 

 

Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

 

Rank and organization: Private, Company L, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At San Carlos, Ariz., 30 May 1868. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Clermont County, Ohio. Date of issue: 28 July 1868. Citation: With 2 other men he volunteered to search for a wagon passage out of a 4,000-foot valley wherein an infantry column was immobile. This small group passed 6 miles among hostile Apache terrain finding the sought passage. On their return trip down the canyon they were attacked by Apaches who were successfully held at bay.

 

CUBBERLY, WILLIAM G.
Rank and organization: Private, Company L, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At San Carlos, Ariz., 30 May 1868. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Butler County, Ohio. Date of issue: 28 July 1868. Citation: With 2 other men he volunteered to search for a wagon passage out of a 4,000-foot valley wherein an infantry column was immobile. This small group passed 6 miles among hostile Apache terrain finding the sought passage. On their return trip down the canyon they were attacked by Apache who were successfully held at bay.

 

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Thanks to Dutch and Phil

 

For Memorial Day

 

When a Veteran leaves the 'job' and retires to a better life, many are jealous, some are pleased, and others, who may have already retired, wonder if he knows what he is leaving behind, because we already know.

 

1.    We know, for example, that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience, it will remain as a longing for those past times.

2. We know in the Military life there is a fellowship which lasts long after the uniforms are hung up in the back of the closet.
 
3. We know even if he throws them away, they will be on him with every step and breath that remains in his life. We also know how the very bearing of the man  speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.
 
These are the burdens of the job. You will still look at people suspiciously, still see what others do not see or choose to ignore and always will look at the rest of the Military world with a respect for what they do; only grown in a lifetime of knowing.
 
Never think for one moment you are escaping from that life. You are only escaping the 'job' and merely being allowed to leave 'active' duty.
 
So what I wish for you is that whenever you ease into retirement, in your heart you never forget for one moment that you are still a member of the greatest fraternity the world has ever known. 

NOW... Civilian Friends vs. Veteran Friends Comparisons:
 
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Get upset if you're too busy to talk to them for a week.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Are glad to see you after years, and will happily carry on the same conversation you were having the last time you met.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Have cried with you.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
--------------------------------------------------
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Will stand by you no matter what the crowd does.
---------------------------------------------------
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are for a while.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Are for life.
---------------------------------------------------
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have shared a few experiences...
VETERAN FRIENDS: Have shared a lifetime of experiences no citizen could ever dream of...
---------------------------------------------------
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say, 'You better drink the rest of that before you spill it!' Then carry you home safely and put you to bed...
-----------------------------------------------------
CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will ignore this.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Will forward this.
----------------------------------------------------

A veteran - whether active duty, retired, served one hitch, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The Government of the United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life'.

 From one Veteran to another, it's an honor to be in your company. Thank you for your service to our country and defending the freedoms we enjoy

 

 

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I often wondered what happened to that lady

 

Thanks to Dutch

The Real Story Behind the 'Migrant Mother' Great Depression-Era Photo - HISTORY

WOW!!!   Thanks to Tam 

 

And now you know... the rest of the story.

Tam

https://www.history.com/news/migrant-mother-new-deal-great-depression

 

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A Brilliant Distraction from ....

thanks to GM and Dutch

 

THIS REALLY IS QUITE BRILLIANT ... AND A NICE BACKYARD :

The Swish Machine: 70 Step Basketball Trickshot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss-P4qLLUyk

 

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for May 30

FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR MAY 30

THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY

 

1912: Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever at the age of 45 at Dayton. (21)

 

1913: Assistant Naval Constructor Jerome C. Hunsaker started a course in aerodynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (5) (18)

 

1917: The Navy's first successful dirigible, the B-1, landed 10 miles from Akron, Ohio, after completing an overnight test flight from Chicago, Ill. Goodyear's Ralph H. Upson piloted the craft.

 

1928: Capt Charles E. Kingsford-Smith and three other crewmen piloted a Fokker F-VII Trimotor, the Southern Cross, on the first flight from the US to Australia. The 7,400-mile flight ended at Brisbane on 8 June after stops in Honolulu and the Fiji Islands. (9)

 

1929: A DH-4 with a 400-HP Liberty engine completed cross country refueling tests during a flight from Dayton to New York to Washington DC.

 

1932: Lt Wilfred J. Paul and Lt K. J. H. Bishop won the National Balloon Race. They flew 901.4 miles from Omaha, Nebr., to Hatton in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 29 hours 15 minutes. This set new distance and duration records for a 35,000 cubic foot capacity balloon. (24)

 

1942: The first Boeing B-17F was built.

 

1958: The Air Force disclosed the development of the GAR-9, the first air-to-air atomic missile. (16)

 

1966: After a 30 May launch and a 63 1/2-hour flight, Surveyor I became the first US spacecraft to softland on the moon. It landed in the Ocean of Storms and sent clear TV pictures of the lunar surface back to earth. (21)

 

1972: Northrop's A-9A prototype completed its first flight. This aircraft competed against Fairchild's A-10A to become the Air Force's next close-air-support fighter. (3)

 

1974: The US launched the world's first communications broadcast satellite, the Applications Technology Satellite (ATS-6). From its synchronous orbit, the satellite provided coverage to half of the globe.

 

1998: The Dryden Research Center and the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory successfully dropped the Mars Aerobot Validation Program (MABVAP) vehicle over the Rogers Dry Lake bed. The Planetary Aerobot Testbed (PAT) was a reversible-fluid balloon platform designed to hover for several days on end as an autonomous Mars explorer. (3)

 

2001: A C-17 from Charleston AFB flew a Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesophere, Energetics, and Dynamics (TIMED) spacecraft from Andrews AFB to Vandenberg AFB. The TIMED would be launched later in 2001 on a two-year mission. Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., which designed and built the TIMED, would operate the spacecraft to study the sun's influences on the Mesophere and Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere, some 40 to 110 miles above the earth. (22)

 

2003: A 910 AW C-130 from Youngstown ARS, Vienna, Ohio, delivered 7.5 tons of humanitarian supplies to Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. The C-130 crew, on temporary duty at Ramstein AB delivered the first American relief supplies to the earthquake victims. (22)

 

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Thanks to Robert

 

Black Lab

With Memorial Day just around the corner, I thought I would share this story.  It's been around before but some of you may never have seen it.  Monday blessings.

They told me the big black Lab's name was Reggie, as I looked at him lying in his pen.  

The shelter was clean, no-kill, and the people really friendly.

I'd only been in the area for six months, but everywhere I went in the small college town, people were welcoming and open.  Everyone waves when you pass them on the street. 
But something was still missing as I attempted to settle in to my new life here, and I thought a dog couldn't hurt.  Give me someone to talk to.  And I had just seen Reggie's advertisement on the local news.  The shelter said they had received numerous calls right after, but they said the people who had come down to see him just didn't look like "Lab people," whatever that meant.  They must've thought I did. 

But at first, I thought the shelter had misjudged me in giving me Reggie and his things, which consisted of a dog pad, bag of toys almost all of which were brand new tennis balls, his dishes, and a sealed letter from his previous owner. 

See, Reggie and I didn't really hit it off when we got home.  We struggled for two weeks (which is how long the shelter told me to give him to adjust to his new home).  Maybe it was the fact that I was trying to adjust, too.  Maybe we were too much alike. 

I saw the sealed envelope.  I had completely forgotten about that.
"Okay, Reggie," I said out loud, "let's see if your previous owner has any advice." 

To Whoever Gets My Dog:  Well, I can't say that I'm happy you're reading this, a letter I told the shelter could only be opened by Reggie's new owner.  I'm not even happy writing it.  He knew something was different. 

 

So let me tell you about my Lab in the hopes that it will help you bond with him and he with you.  First, he loves tennis balls.  The more the merrier.  Sometimes I think he's part squirrel, the way he hoards them.  He usually always has two in his mouth, and he tries to get a third in there. Hasn'tdone it yet.  Doesn't matter where you throw them, he'll bound after them, so be careful. 

Don't do it by any roads. 

Next, commands.  Reggie knows the obvious ones ---"sit," "stay," "come," "heel." He knows hand signals, too:  He knows "ball" and "food" and "bone" and "treat" like nobody's business.  Feeding schedule:  twice a day, regular store-bought stuff; the shelter has the brand.  
He's up on his shots.  Be forewarned: Reggie hates the vet.  Good luck getting him in the car.  I don't know how he knows when it's time to go to the vet, but he knows.
Finally, give him some time.  It's only been Reggie and me for his whole life.  He's gone everywhere with me, so please include him on your daily car rides if you can.  He sits well in the backseat, and he doesn't bark or complain.  He just loves to be around people, and me most especially. 

And that's why I need to share one more bit of info with you...  His name's not Reggie.  He's a smart dog, he'll get used to it and will respond to it, of that I have no doubt.  But I just couldn't bear to give them his real name.  But if someone is reading this ...well it means that his new owner should know his real name.  His real name is "Tank."  Because, that is what I drive.  I told the shelter that they couldn't make "Reggie" available for adoption until they received word from my company commander.  You see, my parents are gone, I have no siblings, no one I could've left Tank with ... and it was my only real request of the Army upon my deployment to Iraq, that they make one phone call to the shelter ...in the "event" ... to tell them that Tank could be put up for adoption.  Luckily, my CO is a dog guy, too, and he knew where my platoon was headed.  He said he'd do it personally. And if you're reading this, then he made good on his word.  Tank has been my family for the last six years, almost as long as the Army has been my family.  And now I hope and pray that you make him part of your family, too, and that he will adjust and come to love you the same way he loved me.  If I have to give up Tank to keep those terrible people from coming to the US I am glad to have done so.  He is my example of service and of love.  I hope I honored him by my service to my country and comrades.  All right, that's enough.  I deploy this evening and have to drop this letter off at the shelter.  Maybe I'll peek in on him and see if he finally got that third tennis ball in his mouth.  Good luck with Tank.  Give him a good home, and give him an extra kiss goodnight - every night - from me.
 
Thank you, Paul Mallory 
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I folded the letter and slipped it back in the envelope.  Sure, I had heard of Paul Mallory, everyone in town knew him, even new people like me.  Local kid, killed in Iraq a few months ago and posthumously earning the Silver Star when he gave his life to save three buddies.
Flags had been at half-mast all summer. 

I leaned forward in my chair and rested my elbows on my knees, staring at the dog.  "Hey, Tank," I said quietly.  The dog's head whipped up, his ears cocked and his eyes bright.
"C'mere boy." 
 
He was instantly on his feet, his nails clicking on the hardwood floor.  He sat in front of me, his head tilted, searching for the name he hadn't heard in months. "Tank," I whispered.  His tail swished. 
I kept whispering his name, over and over, and each time, his ears lowered, his eyes softened, and his posture relaxed as a wave of contentment just seemed to flood him.  I stroked his ears, rubbed his shoulders, buried my face into his scruff and hugged him. 
"It's me now, Tank, just you and me.  Your old pal gave you to me."  Tank reached up and licked my cheek.

 

"So whatdasay we play some ball?"  His ears perked again. 
"Yeah? Ball?  Do you like that? Ball?" 
Tank tore from my hands and disappeared into the next room.  And when he came back, he had three tennis balls in his mouth. 

If you can read this without getting a lump in your throat or a tear in your eye, you just ain't right. 
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"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." G.K. Chesterton 

To ALL the veterans, I THANK YOU for your Service to our great County!!