As the holiday weekend approaches it make me wonder about "Independence Day". You always hear people ask "What are you doing for the fourth?"
One of the most important days in the history of this country has just turned into a number. You never hear someone say "Merry 25th" or "what are your plans for the 25th?" And have no doubt July 4th is one of the most important days in the history of the United States.
Some others come to mind; July 20th(moon landing), June 6th(D Day), September 11th 2001(terrorist attacks for those who may have forgot), April 9th 1865(Lee surrenders), January 14th 1972(first episode of Sanford and Son) just to name a few.
You have to give Independence Day its props. This always reminds me of one July 4, I mean one Independence Day many years ago when a friend of mine showed up to help me get ready for the first of many Independence Day parties. It was late in the morning and he walked in my front door laughing. as he was holding a Hardee's cup he told me of his drive thru experience. This was the old Hardee's on the corner of Charles and 10th. After ordering he proceeded to the window where he wished the young girl a happy Independence Day. She said thank you. He then asked her what did Independence Day mean to her. Her reply, "Ya know Geor Washenton an shit."
I erupted in laughter, still do to this day.
So keep the meaning for this important day in mind, pass on what it really means, not what the hippie teacher said in the movie Dazed and Confused. ".....that a bunch of rich, slave owning, white men didn't want to pay their taxes."
Happy Independence Day.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Who loves you baby?
In the past few days I have been talking to my friend Watson about a rafting trip that we took over twenty years ago. We have discussed the possibility of a reunion trip. I do not know if this will happen, probably not but it has sure stirred up some memories. Our week in the mountains was beyond fun but there were a few moments where I realized that God loves me and looked out for me and my friends.
The line up was Watson Sutton, Brad Pollock, Darryl Tyndall, Mike Stainback, Warren Dubose, and myself. Warren's grandmother was kind enough to let us stay in her families' cabin just outside Franklin NC. All of us had hung out a lot that summer and we were all going off to college. I know Mike was already in college but someone had to buy the beer.
Now I had never been rafting before or sense, for a reason. And I think none of the rest of the group had any rafting experience either. The smartest thing we did was to get our feet wet(insert rim shot here) on the Nantahala River. That was more like an angry creek. I could write forever how beautiful it was but that is not why I am writing.
We stopped at a store to get breakfast and found out through a conversation with the owner that he also rented rafts, first problem solved. So we tied it on the back of Brad's Toyota and off we went. Technically it was a roomy four man raft that we managed to fit six people in and two coolers of beer.
We had a ball and the only "rapid" we encountered was at the end of the trip. There was a footbridge right after the spot where you were supposed to pull off to the side. We missed that spot. Warren, Mike, and Darryl bailed out. Still laughing at the sight of Warren trying to hold a raft that was full of three guys and rain water, oh yeah, it had started raining.
Hanging from the bridge and from ropes across the river were these sticks. Well not knowing what they were for Watson, Brad and myself kept laughing. I then noticed the look of horror on the faces of the people eating at the restaurant on the river bank. I then noticed a man scaling down the river bank carrying a rope gun. Then I heard people yelling for us to grab the sticks.
I stood and grabbed the last stick, no joke. We spun around and Watson hopped out and was in knee deep water. Crisis averted.
Drying off by the restaurant, rope gun man walked up and began to cuss us out, we were still laughing. "Ride down that road about a hundred yards and see if you think it's still funny." He said. So we got in the car and drove a bit and got out. Many years ago the Army Corps of Engineers had dynamited the river and it dropped like over fifty feet, maybe farther, and there were jagged rocks at the bottom.
We stood there for a few minutes, silent. Then with the swagger that all of us had at eighteen, hell I was still seventeen at the time, someone said, "We could have made it."
Erupting in laughter we turned to go home. That was the beginning of the week.
The line up was Watson Sutton, Brad Pollock, Darryl Tyndall, Mike Stainback, Warren Dubose, and myself. Warren's grandmother was kind enough to let us stay in her families' cabin just outside Franklin NC. All of us had hung out a lot that summer and we were all going off to college. I know Mike was already in college but someone had to buy the beer.
Now I had never been rafting before or sense, for a reason. And I think none of the rest of the group had any rafting experience either. The smartest thing we did was to get our feet wet(insert rim shot here) on the Nantahala River. That was more like an angry creek. I could write forever how beautiful it was but that is not why I am writing.
We stopped at a store to get breakfast and found out through a conversation with the owner that he also rented rafts, first problem solved. So we tied it on the back of Brad's Toyota and off we went. Technically it was a roomy four man raft that we managed to fit six people in and two coolers of beer.
We had a ball and the only "rapid" we encountered was at the end of the trip. There was a footbridge right after the spot where you were supposed to pull off to the side. We missed that spot. Warren, Mike, and Darryl bailed out. Still laughing at the sight of Warren trying to hold a raft that was full of three guys and rain water, oh yeah, it had started raining.
Hanging from the bridge and from ropes across the river were these sticks. Well not knowing what they were for Watson, Brad and myself kept laughing. I then noticed the look of horror on the faces of the people eating at the restaurant on the river bank. I then noticed a man scaling down the river bank carrying a rope gun. Then I heard people yelling for us to grab the sticks.
I stood and grabbed the last stick, no joke. We spun around and Watson hopped out and was in knee deep water. Crisis averted.
Drying off by the restaurant, rope gun man walked up and began to cuss us out, we were still laughing. "Ride down that road about a hundred yards and see if you think it's still funny." He said. So we got in the car and drove a bit and got out. Many years ago the Army Corps of Engineers had dynamited the river and it dropped like over fifty feet, maybe farther, and there were jagged rocks at the bottom.
We stood there for a few minutes, silent. Then with the swagger that all of us had at eighteen, hell I was still seventeen at the time, someone said, "We could have made it."
Erupting in laughter we turned to go home. That was the beginning of the week.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Operation Downfall
I am guessing that most of you have never heard of this. I was aware of what it was but never knew the name. After watching some of the D Day commemoration activities this weekend and then a documentary on Pearl Harbor Saturday night......Okay, yes I watched a documentary on a Saturday night! This put me in mind of a few things.
Some of you may not know about Operation Overlord, it was the name of the invasion of France, D Day. Operation Downfall was the name of the invasion of the islands of Japan. Just to give it some prospective, the number of troops and support personnel for D-Day was around 300,000. The number called for to take Japan was around 4.5 million.
US casualties were estimated as high a a million, Japanese casualties would have been much, much more. Japan was training its civilians, including children to fight to the death, encouraging them to commit suicide rather than surrender.
The documentary, giving all sides, suggested that the United States decision to drop the A bomb was retaliation for Pearl Harbor. That decision, in my opinion served two purposes, the first and most important was to save American lives. For example, preparations were being made for this invasion. One of these preparations was the minting of Purple Heart medals. So many were minted that we are still using those medals today. And unless there is another wide scale conventional ground war we may never run out.
Second, because we knew that the Japanese would not surrender from our countless battles like Iwo Jima and Guadacanal, we were going to have to break this army's spirit, take them out of that frame of mind. How do you truly defeat an enemy that will not surrender? An enemy that thinks it is divine to kill themselves while killing their enemy. You, unfortunately, have to convince that enemy that you have the means and the will to completely erase their existence from the face of the earth.
Before anyone launches themselves from their seats remember the one thing that has bothered me since I was old enough to understand history; we had to drop that bomb twice. Japan decided not to surrender after the first one.
The use of those bombs were indeed a tragedy but necessary. In comparison, the Japanese civilians that died during those bombings and afterwards is nothing compared to those who would have died had we invaded.
The only alternative I could think of was to detonate the bomb on a remote island in front of Japanese generals, but because they did not surrender after the first bomb it would not have worked.
Ask a veteran who was in or on their way to the Pacific during 1945 if they think we should have used it, veterans like my grandfather. They were the ones who would have paid the price. Ask them quickly though, their numbers get smaller every day, D Day was 65 years ago. I don't know about you but I am glad there is only one invasion ceremony.
Some of you may not know about Operation Overlord, it was the name of the invasion of France, D Day. Operation Downfall was the name of the invasion of the islands of Japan. Just to give it some prospective, the number of troops and support personnel for D-Day was around 300,000. The number called for to take Japan was around 4.5 million.
US casualties were estimated as high a a million, Japanese casualties would have been much, much more. Japan was training its civilians, including children to fight to the death, encouraging them to commit suicide rather than surrender.
The documentary, giving all sides, suggested that the United States decision to drop the A bomb was retaliation for Pearl Harbor. That decision, in my opinion served two purposes, the first and most important was to save American lives. For example, preparations were being made for this invasion. One of these preparations was the minting of Purple Heart medals. So many were minted that we are still using those medals today. And unless there is another wide scale conventional ground war we may never run out.
Second, because we knew that the Japanese would not surrender from our countless battles like Iwo Jima and Guadacanal, we were going to have to break this army's spirit, take them out of that frame of mind. How do you truly defeat an enemy that will not surrender? An enemy that thinks it is divine to kill themselves while killing their enemy. You, unfortunately, have to convince that enemy that you have the means and the will to completely erase their existence from the face of the earth.
Before anyone launches themselves from their seats remember the one thing that has bothered me since I was old enough to understand history; we had to drop that bomb twice. Japan decided not to surrender after the first one.
The use of those bombs were indeed a tragedy but necessary. In comparison, the Japanese civilians that died during those bombings and afterwards is nothing compared to those who would have died had we invaded.
The only alternative I could think of was to detonate the bomb on a remote island in front of Japanese generals, but because they did not surrender after the first bomb it would not have worked.
Ask a veteran who was in or on their way to the Pacific during 1945 if they think we should have used it, veterans like my grandfather. They were the ones who would have paid the price. Ask them quickly though, their numbers get smaller every day, D Day was 65 years ago. I don't know about you but I am glad there is only one invasion ceremony.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Still Bangin'
I will go completely off the reservation this time and tell you about a documentary I watched last night. It was about Iron Maiden, Flight 666, I think was the title. I have never been anything but a casual fan, ever since I was a little freaked out at Jeff Becker's house in high school, their mascot Eddie, always gave me the creeps. You can find their music sprinkled on my I Pod but that is about it. After watching this very good documentary, wow, is what I am left with.
I think it is good for Americans to see things outside the box of this country. This documentary crew follows the band, who were big when I was in high school by the way, on their world tour that started in India and ended in Toronto. 45 days, like 23 shows and over 50,000 miles traveled. The two coolest aspects of pulling this off, Iron Maiden has their own plane, a 757 named "Ed Force One", and the lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, is the pilot. And it is not like he is in the cockpit wearing a sleeveless t shirt and spandex, he is wearing a captain's uniform, shoulder boards and a tie.
When you see a band and it's influence it has around the world that is when you see something you are familiar with from the eyes of others in other countries. Massive crowds that seemed to get bigger the farther south they traveled in South America. The crowd was so big in Bogota it was a little scary.
Then there is the fact that these guys are not that much younger than my parents and the crowds seem to be very young. And it is not because their music has ever changed. Now I do remember them catching a little flack for the Somewhere in Time album, but these guys go just as hard as they did 30 years ago, good for them. If you have even the slightest knowledge of this band, check out this movie, I think the dvd is out on Tuesday the 9th.
I think it is good for Americans to see things outside the box of this country. This documentary crew follows the band, who were big when I was in high school by the way, on their world tour that started in India and ended in Toronto. 45 days, like 23 shows and over 50,000 miles traveled. The two coolest aspects of pulling this off, Iron Maiden has their own plane, a 757 named "Ed Force One", and the lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, is the pilot. And it is not like he is in the cockpit wearing a sleeveless t shirt and spandex, he is wearing a captain's uniform, shoulder boards and a tie.
When you see a band and it's influence it has around the world that is when you see something you are familiar with from the eyes of others in other countries. Massive crowds that seemed to get bigger the farther south they traveled in South America. The crowd was so big in Bogota it was a little scary.
Then there is the fact that these guys are not that much younger than my parents and the crowds seem to be very young. And it is not because their music has ever changed. Now I do remember them catching a little flack for the Somewhere in Time album, but these guys go just as hard as they did 30 years ago, good for them. If you have even the slightest knowledge of this band, check out this movie, I think the dvd is out on Tuesday the 9th.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
What's the difference
Well good old MSNBC is at it again, in my nightly flipping, I was caught by hearing the phrase "domestic terrorism." So against my better judgement I watched a few minutes and learned what they were talking about. The were referring to the guy who killed the abortion doctor this weekend. Now as I have stated before I think abortion is wrong but so is what this guy did. And I have no problem with anyone referring to this guy and the ultra right wing groups that support this behavior as terrorists. My first question after hearing relentless dribble from this network and others is why do they refer to the prisoners at Gitmo as "detainees"???? Also the same day they reported the story about the guy that was arrested for killing a soldier and wounding another at a recruiting office. He was never referred to as a terrorist, in fact the only time the word terrorist was used was when they said he was being charged with committing a terrorist act.
Every movement has its fringe elements and the pro lifers did themselves harm by not aggressively denouncing this doctor's murder. But for this kooky network to aggressively label this guy as a terrorist and not do the same to others that are more worthy of the name only adds to my belief that MSNBC is a joke.
Thank goodness I am one of the tens of people watching.
Every movement has its fringe elements and the pro lifers did themselves harm by not aggressively denouncing this doctor's murder. But for this kooky network to aggressively label this guy as a terrorist and not do the same to others that are more worthy of the name only adds to my belief that MSNBC is a joke.
Thank goodness I am one of the tens of people watching.
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