World War II Barracks, Only it was 1953, winter in Delaware
I was just 13, an Explorer scout, and big for my age. I stood out over the other boys in my troop that winter. The dark green Explorer uniform blended in with the forest pine of the woods that winter and my six foot one inch frame seemed tall, skinny and I must have looked like a mal nourished tree lost in the woods.
There I was, six feet, my service hat, they called it a "cover," my button downed shirt, dark browned tie, white belt, brass buckle, pants, white spats and dark shoes.
I towered over my mother, sister, and stood just over my father. That winter was especially cold, it snowed alot. My troop commander was a former Coast Guard Commander, a tall, well preportioned man by the name of Roswell Lamb, Commander Lamb, we called him.
Geez, he looked great in his class A uniform. As a scout commander, he got our respect. "Whatever you want sir. How high sir. He taught me everything: knots, boating, first aide, how to handle a knife survival, life saving, swimming, swim fins. I took to everything he had to hand out. And, aviation - he took us to the airport, and finally, the Air Force.
I know through the rear view mirror, it wasn't a big deal, but at 13, a three day trip to an Air Force Base, sleeping in the barracks, a tour of the jet aircraft, marketing with the troops in a short term basic course doesn't seem like a big deal now, but then,.
Well...then...I can still smell the pot bellied stove in the old World War II barracks that were used in the New Castle Air Force Base in the Delaware Air Base location where the Explorer Scout troop was bused for the long weekend.
Man, was that a great week end. We were all issued fatigues by the base BX.
I got the top bunk, four bunks down by the pot bellied stove. The inside of that ancient barracks was cold, but, by the time First Sergeant got the wood and coal in that "mother" by 2 in the morning, we had all thrown our covers off and opened the windows to let the cold air in. It must have been 90 degrees in there.
I remember the sweet smell of that wood burning in the stove all night long. The three nights there, I can't remember ever sleeping so peacefully. One night, some of the guys crawled out a window and rolled in the snow just to cool off and throw snowballs. And that, in the middle of the Korean War.
We had heavy blue blankets, GI issue, Commander Lamb was in First Sergeant's CO room in his bunk, a private room at the head of the barracks near the front door. I would be intimately family with the barracks layout years later when I did a tour of duty in the Army ROTC at Drexel 101st Corps of Engineers, and then again at enlistment in the Air Force in 1958 at Lackland AFB in Texas. Same barracks, same lovely appointments.
At the time, during the Korean War, the jets on the ground were F-86 Thunderjets, the best that was around. Most of the guys who were in our Explorer Scouts wound up enlisting within a dozen years anyway.
We ate with the airmen, slept just with the other scouts, but during the day, did everything with the other active Air Force on the base.
###
There I was, six feet, my service hat, they called it a "cover," my button downed shirt, dark browned tie, white belt, brass buckle, pants, white spats and dark shoes.
I towered over my mother, sister, and stood just over my father. That winter was especially cold, it snowed alot. My troop commander was a former Coast Guard Commander, a tall, well preportioned man by the name of Roswell Lamb, Commander Lamb, we called him.
Geez, he looked great in his class A uniform. As a scout commander, he got our respect. "Whatever you want sir. How high sir. He taught me everything: knots, boating, first aide, how to handle a knife survival, life saving, swimming, swim fins. I took to everything he had to hand out. And, aviation - he took us to the airport, and finally, the Air Force.
I know through the rear view mirror, it wasn't a big deal, but at 13, a three day trip to an Air Force Base, sleeping in the barracks, a tour of the jet aircraft, marketing with the troops in a short term basic course doesn't seem like a big deal now, but then,.
Well...then...I can still smell the pot bellied stove in the old World War II barracks that were used in the New Castle Air Force Base in the Delaware Air Base location where the Explorer Scout troop was bused for the long weekend.
Man, was that a great week end. We were all issued fatigues by the base BX.
I got the top bunk, four bunks down by the pot bellied stove. The inside of that ancient barracks was cold, but, by the time First Sergeant got the wood and coal in that "mother" by 2 in the morning, we had all thrown our covers off and opened the windows to let the cold air in. It must have been 90 degrees in there.
I remember the sweet smell of that wood burning in the stove all night long. The three nights there, I can't remember ever sleeping so peacefully. One night, some of the guys crawled out a window and rolled in the snow just to cool off and throw snowballs. And that, in the middle of the Korean War.
We had heavy blue blankets, GI issue, Commander Lamb was in First Sergeant's CO room in his bunk, a private room at the head of the barracks near the front door. I would be intimately family with the barracks layout years later when I did a tour of duty in the Army ROTC at Drexel 101st Corps of Engineers, and then again at enlistment in the Air Force in 1958 at Lackland AFB in Texas. Same barracks, same lovely appointments.
At the time, during the Korean War, the jets on the ground were F-86 Thunderjets, the best that was around. Most of the guys who were in our Explorer Scouts wound up enlisting within a dozen years anyway.
We ate with the airmen, slept just with the other scouts, but during the day, did everything with the other active Air Force on the base.
###
Journalism used to be..." I read it in the papers, that's how I know." That is what I remember my grandfather telling me before I was a teenager. He was born before Wyatt Earp stepped into the OK Corral. He read it in the papers, and believed it. Question is, was what he believed true? Was the journalism of the 1930's through Watergate true?
ReplyDeleteOk, let's give it the benefit of the doubt. Sherman Adams did get the Vicuna coat by spurious means. Eisenhower was at the hospital in Denver, was married at a home there (I've been at both places). So, I believe. Watergate? Well, I have to believe. BUT, where is Bob Woodward NOW? Is he writing A BOOK about "Obama at WAR?" (Hope so) How about "Obama's Brain"? (maybe) Wouldn't it be reassuring to know he was measured, fair, non-political in his coverage? Especially FAIR.
My POINT: Today, all the newsprint is so jaundiced, once sided and biased I cannot trust them. And, I believe a lot of Americans are in the same rowboat with me tugging on the oars. Newsweek, the late lamented Obama house-organ, waa so obnoxious in it's far left leaning bull-horn politics, I understand it has slipped between the waves, toes up, Chapter whatever. After "Woodstein" the Washington Post is suspect in many areas with David Maraniss writing his Clinton prayer books. The Huffington Post and MSNBC are horrific in their prejudice toward far left leaning commentary, yet, First Amendment guarantees, not withstanding, their TV ratings suck, they know it, so their only recourse is to disparage Fox News (vox populi - the public vote with their dials as I do).
In short, I distrust a lot lately, a lot of polls, a lot of media, a lot of tv channels, and I find that frightening. Why? Obama got re-elected, that's why, and every one of the sentient Americans left should be asking - so, how come? Because the gimmie generation sees it for what it is: because the collective IQ has begun to circle the plumbing, and - you know as well as I - wealth will soon leave the country.
The Arizona Daily Star- Tucson unfortunately is the only newsprint we have in southern Arizona. It is a left wing, biased in it's reporting on issues that would make even Barack Obama blush, " enough guys,enough- you are over doing it!!"
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of what the liberal media in Tucson refer to as "gun Control" it is the pocket of what the NRA might refer to as the 'gun confiscators.' Ultimately, that's where a lot of the firearms owners have always believe this is headed. About two years ago the state of Arizona changed the law allowing all citizens to "open" carry pistols either on our hips on in our pockets - no license, no permits. Two years ago, guess what? Most law officers report gun crimes are down, things are quieter, they say.
The anti-gun crowd, egged on by the Arizona Daily Star, staff, and now, a Republican city councilman holding "open meetings" inviting the public to come express their opinions about his drive to have this city pass laws to locally control firearms with Tucson, in direct contravention to state law. That should be intesting, and a wet dream for lawyers.
The Star, never at a loss for publishing letters to the editor from folks who hate guns, railing against guns and offering emotionally negative responses so vague as to be in comprehensive: " we must have a plan! too many guns! Gun lovers are nutz! etc" No where in the Star's reporting, nowhere in the letters to the editor are ANY positive ideas, positive suggestions, alternatives.
It's easy to tear down, ridicule and blaspheme, that's what the Star and it's selective printing of some letters do. Screaming out loud, hang all the gun owners and confiscate the guns is easy, hysterical fear of guns will get them nowhere. Gun confiscation lovers in history are well known to Americans: Marcos, Hitler, Stalin, Quizzling, Il Duce.
Gold prices are up to their highest prices in recorded history. Ask any economist why. TV economists are broadcasting TODAY that we are mimicking the last days of Rome. Gun sales are at all time highs. What do YOU think all this means? Do you think the general public feels safe with Obama in the head chair? Think about it.There were over a million .45 caliber Colt automatic handguns sold in 2011. By August in 12 there was another million sold. I am not an alarmist, just someone that smells smoke in the wind.
When Hollywood makes movies hollering that the NRA is a powerful lobby (NRA contribtes $40 million to Congress) they speak the truth. However, they fail to mention that Hollywood contribtes OVER $60 Million to Congress to keep that same pipeline open so they can keep the product line clear so they can keep movies flowing to the public. Movies like Batman (Aurora Shooting), Expendables (nothing but shooting and killing), and dozens of others. Then there is the Hollywood public service announcement ads mentioning the Connecticut shooting featuring the young movie stars:- by the way,each star/let, earns their living in movies, shooting off machine guns, pistols and killing a lot of 'bad guys.' What do they call that? (hypocracy?)
Veronica Guerin and Irish Gun Control...what does that have to do with us, you say? She was a dogged reporter in Dublin on the trail of drug lords and she would NOT let go of a story. Naive, yes. As a newspaper journalist, sometimes became oblivious to street dangers, she felt above the fray until she got mugged by some of the thugs she was dogging for the story. She would not take the hint. Or the begging of her husband. Or her kids, editor, or the police. But, she couldn't get a gun, no. That was against the law in Dublin. All over Ireland, actually. Didn't stop the idle bastards toting drugs, brass knuckles and evil around who eventually gave Veronica the ultimate hint that her stories in the Dublin paper would draw a line in the road. One that would be deadly to one side or the other. A motorcycle with two guys and a Smith & Wesson .45 caliber pistol ended her drive home one afternoon. All six slugs in her face and chest, they sped off. Five minutes later, they slid under a bridge, ditched the cyle into the River Liffey, along with the pistol, gloves, helmets, jackets and gloves.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile,back in the USA our President is trying to disarm Americans and limiting ammunition sales while sending over our F-16s to the Egyptian Nation now run by Muslim extremists who like to kill people willy-nilly. A lot of us wonder why we get to give up our arms while Obama arms our enemies?????????
roger is from tucson, arizona
ReplyDeleteGimmie Freedom!! Womens' Rights! Don't Hold Me Down! Glass Ceiling! RETARDICANS Rigging the next Election!! Jesus, you'd think white anglo saxon protestants were the worst thing since ....I dunno. Think of something bad. We have a black president, every time I turn on the TV I see a woman spokesperson from the government, the TV networks have anchorpersons who are blonde, beautiful and speaking to old guys in the field - (it used to be the reverse), local channels are filled with Hispanic and African American TV reporters.
ReplyDeleteAs the saying goes, where's the beef? Females are running large corporations, being fired like the rest of us, writing books about how unfair the "system" is
(no kidding, now you tell us), we knew that back in the 60's (Mad Men) but didn't shoot our mouths off).
One wonders with the drive to push male wasps out of the picture if "minorities" have realized that they have become the Majority in America just recently, and assumed the head of the class, population. Now what? Whom to blame? I know...blame the monied class, the people with all the dough, and who would those people be?
Oh yeah, wasps. So, how does the "hate-full" class handle that? Oh, I know - tax them to death, like France. Recently, the Socialists there now top their tax rates out at 70%. Think of it. Make a buck, you get to keep .30 cents.
My point in all this is - " don't pay any attention to that man behind the curtain!! - I am the MIGHTY OZ " Remember? As long as this government can distract you from the real issues by focusing on the WIZARD, you don't concentrate on what's happening. You're losing control of your country, and from what a lot of us see, you're giving it up, quickly, and with a smile on your face.
In 1939 in Munich, there was a guy in the back of his touring car, waving to throngs of his adoring fans. The camera caught the faces of young women as he swept by. They were enraptured. Hypnotized by him as he slowly passed by, magnitized by actually being in his presence. Eyes wide, smiles frozen wide, it was HIM.
They would do anything for Him. And, later, they did.
It took them 70 years to recover. Some say they never have.
"Not a Christian Nation" 55 Muslim Organizatios tell England in a prepared Easter communique. And, Prime Minister David Brown of that and must now face the political fall-out of the impolitic of his country's being way too liberal on his nation's being too accomodating on immigration. America, take note. Most of American law comes from England. America, take note.
ReplyDeleteElections are coming and it is or should not be labeled " the silly season." No, not this year. It should be the " Blood Sport." For this year, you can smell the targeting already in the water. Hillary Clinton dancing on stage in front of fawning audiences, cozing up to McClain of Arizona, cooing on past Senatorial relationships with him. Ex NYC Mayor Bloomberg ginning up kamikaze attacks on the National Rifle Assocation's 2nd Amendment crusade with his $50 million threats of Mad Avenue ad campaigns. The battle for the minds and hearts for America's under achievers, the "gimmie my free s%#&" is charging up the politik all over NYK and K Street in DC, let alone the looney left blogs and far out whackos conspiracy groupies (didja hear the one about the.....). Facts are facts: The most transparent administration in history isn't. Keep your doctor, you can't. By first day in office, we're gonna"......six years for the Keystone Pipeline and its' still stalled. How many Executive Orders have circumvented Congress? How many liberal leftist law professors are crying foul of constitutional rupture already against the administration? How many ACA ENROLLEES have PAID their dues? (we do NOT know yet) Russia is hugging yet another country's borders and shooting, and we are drawing down our own forces, FOR WHAT REASON? Our President told South Korea that military is still on the table to defend it against North Korea. Does the name Pan Moon Jam ring a bell with him? Should he declare war on Governor Chris Christy to improve his likeable ratings?
ReplyDeleteOur US Marine sergeant held captive in a Mexican jail is a national disgrace. The way our own government is handling this (or NOT handling this) adds to the long list of embarassments of the current administration scandals. Why? America releases about 134 ka-billion illegal aliens a week back into our local blood stream without so much as a by-your leave. " Thanx so much, have a nice day, hit the road, sorry for interrupting your day." The holes in our border are a JOKE. Mexican Army troops cross our border into the US with regularity. Myownself witnessed such an illlegal Mexican Army helicopter crossing while living in Yuma a few years ago. When I talked to the local FBI office about it, they casually said it happens all the time, next time," Call the Border Patrol." WITH ONE PHONE CALL, our prez could spring the Marine Sergeant by lunch Monday. He has not. My own conclusion is A. He does not care, B. He does not have the stones, C. Mexico intimidates him. D. He has an agenda against the Marines that he has not publicly disclosed. It is my opinion that Mexico dances this Marine issue in front of the world to stick their thumb in our eye, just as Premeire Putin of Russia recently did over the Crimea issue. What next?
ReplyDeleteAuthors - Whom do you trust? Everybody has an agenda don't they? Don't think so? When is the last time Bob Woodward wrote a see-all, tell-all, in depth peak in the closet of John Kerry, Tom Hayden, the Radical left leaning guys that liked to blow up buildings on our college campuses? Long time, right? I spent this morning going through a discount book sales at the "Friends of the Library" used book sale here in the Book-Hungry Tucson, Arizona landscape. For $2 a shot you can buy yards, yea, hundreds of pounds of anti-government, Mark Lane, Mark Beschesloss In-Your-Ear America books denouncing any and every shiboleth you ever held near and dear to your heart. Especially comical in that those folks on the political left wing were guilty of drumming up support for our current Socialist Regime in Washington, cuddled ever so lovingly by our elite Washington Press corps. (" I know that most of you guys in room voted for me," Barack Obama in his first national news conference 2009) I grew weary of copying book titles and lefty authors from the for-sale stacks and surmised you, too would drone off to sleep over the review. So, don't panic. The goodness we suck from this is ( as from this blog) Freedome of - First Amendment - Wise, is alive and well. Check out You-Tube. The Lefties continues to twist the language ala " Progressives " and the right G Gordon Liddy - " Don't Bullshit yourselves " speaks plainly. At least that's what he told me, eyeball to eyeball. Jesus, people the Prez popularity rating is the lowest in HISTORY - down to 27%. (DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER). stake out your own territory, y'all, the Profgressives now call the open border Ilegals - ' REFUGEES.' The realists (us) call them " Undocumented Democrats."
ReplyDelete