Good morning




Quote of the day:



“At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look. At forty-five they are caves in which we hide.”


                           F. Scott Fitzgerald






Trivia question:


What man and wife movie stars both won an Oscar for best actor/actress? Hint...The wife graduated from Greenville High School, South Carolina. Extra credit if you can name the movies that won them their Oscars.






I have a friend that is an officer in the US Navy. A few years back he was deployed to Kuwait and then to Baghdad. His job was to interview incoming prisoners and try to determine who was the “good” guys and who were the “bad”guys. The good guys went to one particular holding facility and the bad guys were sent to another group of interrogators. He came back from that experience with a solid case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. It is not unusual for people in combat to return with this condition. Rather than describing this affiction I will let y'all look it up on Google. Anyway, my friend has spent years at the Navy Hospital in Norfolk for treatment but nothing has succeeded. He has filed for a disability but the VA drags its feet for reasons of their own. Here is a letter I received from “Dan” while he was on duty in Baghdad.






                      Letter from LT. Dan




Hi Mr. Al,


I had a few free moments, so I figured I'd drop you a line. I'm sure your beautiful daughter has informed you of my current location in one of the world’s great cess pools, Baghdad, Iraq. What a complete dump this place is. I'll give you a run down of my first three weeks here. It started at Camp Virginia, Kuwait. The reality check for me happened as soon as I left Camp Virginia. I had been riding in a transport vehicle down the highway in Kuwait for about five miles, just staring out the front windshield at the barren desert. I noticed a large, armored truck, what use to be called a "deuce and a half" coming toward us doing about sixty miles an hour. There are large sand dunes down both sides of the highway so it is hard to see out into the desert. As I watched this big, armored two and a half ton truck coming toward us, a camel jumped off the sand dune right in front of the truck and the truck didn't even slow down. It hit the camel broadside and it exploded sending blood and camel guts flying all over the vehicle I was in. I couldn't help but exclaim "HOLY SHIT" is a loud voice. The driver didn't bat an eye and slowly reached over and turned on the windshield wipers to clear the blood and bits of flesh off the windshield. I think I saw an opossum get run over once when I was a kid, until then that was about it. I flew from Ali Al Saleem Air Base in Kuwait to BIAP (Baghdad International Air Port) in the cargo hold of a C-130 USAF transport plane. I was packed in with about sixty Army soldiers and it was extremely hot and cramped. No windows and fuel fumes don't make for a very pleasant ride, its about an hour and a half trip. I arrived at about 2300 to pitch black darkness in Baghdad and not one Navy person to guide me in the right direction. An Army Master Sergeant who dwarfed me took pity and decided to give me a ride to the transient tents, where I would be staying. While in full "battle rattle" (Helmet, Elbow Pads, Knee Pads, IBA (Interceptor Body Amour or "Flack Jacket") your mobility is limited and it is extremely hot. Being six feet two inches tall and weighing 250 pounds, I am over 300 pounds with all the gear on. I can literally feel the ground give underneath my boots when I walk on softer earth. Anyway, I hadn't been in Iraq twenty minutes when I mortar hit while I was walking with the master sergeant to the truck. The concussion from it caused me to stumble into some razor wire, slicing my hand open, "welcome to Iraq" I thought to myself as I laughed. I was lead to a disgustingly filthy tent and shown a rack made of nothing but two by fours with a wire spring mattress that some of the springs were protruding through. At the time, I didn't care. After hitting the rack at about 0130 and sleeping a few hours, I reported to my new position as the Detainee Ops Officer for Task Force Troy. I can't go into the details of my job here, but part of it is what I call, "herding assholes." Tracking detainees and making sure the bad ones get prosecuted and not released. Since I had little sleep, I was allowed to only work half a day and return to my tent. At about 1600 that afternoon, I heard what I can only describe to those who have not heard it as a Blue Angel Aircraft flying very low, right overhead, except not as loud and with more of a hissing noise as it passes. It was the unmistakable sound of an Iranian made 120mm rocket coming into camp. It exploded near the Al Faw Palace where I work, but no one was hurt. One of the fellows in the tent started raising hell. He said he had just come from Camp Echo where they had been hit 32 times that day and he was hoping to get some rest at Victory. The second night the springs sticking through the mattress began to give me issues as well as a huge rat stuck in a glue trap right in between my head and the tent. I freed the rat by beating him senseless with a water bottle. I guess this pissed him off because the next night as I lay fast asleep in my rack at 0246 I felt a tingling sensation in my hand. In my semi conscious state, it seemed like a slight electrical charge, I guess it was the rat's whiskers going over my hand. Then I felt the unmistakable feeling of an animal bite. I jerked my hand very hard and sent the rat flying. I was very angry, as you can imagine the fear of rabies and shots in the stomach made me furious. Blood was pouring out of my hand and I soaked it in rubbing alcohol and bled it as best I could. I went to medical the next day and all is well. The conditions in the tents are filthy as you can tell. Camp Victory is very busy, very crowded and very dirty. The air is acrid with dust and smoke, everything is covered in a thick, fine dust. I mean everything. October 10th was the biggest rocket attack since I've been here. It actually made CNN and the others. I was standing in the palace waiting for shift change when the place shook, a loud explosion, and then one followed by another in quick succession. I later found out that we had 14 107mm Iranian made rockets come in to Camp Victory. I hurriedly made my way out of the palace toward my tent. I immediately saw smoke rising up from the area of my tent. I take a back path that goes really down in the dirt, but is a shortcut to my tent. The path comes out on a sidewalk near a bus stop. When I came up to the sidewalk I saw two humvees, a humvee ambulance and several medics. I saw the medics loading two bloody and badly injured soldiers into the Ambulance humvee. The soldiers on the litters weren't moving and no one was helping them, I feared that they were KIA. As I said, they were really torn up. I asked one of the medics if I could be of assistance and he just said don't let anyone take pictures. I was the only officer on the scene at that time, but it quickly filled up. The injured were taken away quickly and I was relieved by an Army Major. I found out the next day the amount of rockets that came in and that two were killed and I believe 36 wounded. I feel confident that the two that were killed were the soldiers that I saw. The truck they were in was badly mangled, the street and small bus stop were torn up as well. We continue to take small arms fire and mortar rounds on occasion, not with any sort of schedule or frequency. The incoming alarm sounds almost daily, mostly in the middle of the night, but then nothing ever happens. No alarms go off when its a real attack. H-60 helicopters fly overhead constantly and some nights they sound like we can reach up and touch them. I continue to learn my job, I have been here three weeks today. I do a lot of business up at Camp Cropper, which I heard was also on the news lately, its a "detainment facility" which is what we call POW Camps now that we are trying to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. We can't put the murderers AKA Insurgents in POW Camps, its not kind and gentle enough! My days are very long, over twelve hours per day, at least six days per week, sometimes seven and are exhausting. I've lost 15 pounds since I got here. The food is okay, for Army chow. I am what is called an "Individual Augmentee" which means I'm a Navy Officer working for the Army. Anyway, the D-FAC or dining facility is pretty damn nice, by Iraq standards. I think they spent all their time and money on the D-FAC and ran out of money for the tents and other accommodations. The porta potties are filthy, a long way away from the tents, the shower trailer is small, dirty, no water pressure and most times no hot water. Having to take a leak in the middle of the night is an ordeal and give you an eerie feeling as you stumble through the pitch blackness and then realize where you are and whats going on. In the shower trailers, you have to shave over someone else's shoulder to see a mirror. Everything is contracted out to a company called KBR and its mostly people from the former soviet union that man everything at the tents and TCNs or Third Country Nationalists that work at the DFAC and other areas. They are from India, Morocco, Sri Lanka, places like that. Anyway, I have to go now. I thought that you would be one person who may actually be interested in hearing about it. L------- is a God Send to me. I don't know what I would do without her. Her emails and phone calls are truly what keeps me going. You did a damn fine job with her and you should be very proud of her, I know you are. Take care of yourself, I hope all is well. Drop me a line when you can. I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Take Care,




                              Task Force Troy


        "Making Bad Things Happen To Bad People"






                This date in history March 8






1782 On this date 160 Pennsylvania Patriot militiamen raid a Moravian church in Ohio, County and massacre 96 Christian Indians including 39 children, 29 women and 28 men. These Indians were members of the Moravian church which meant they were devout pacifists and when the raid began, the Indians just went to their knees and awaited their fate while singing and praying. The raiders did not disappoint. They killed the Indians by smashing them in the skull with wooden mallets. The reason for the raid was a few of the outlying settlements had been raided by Indians that were clearly members of the Delaware tribe. But the Pennsylvania Militia was just looking for ANY Indians and these pacifists were an easy target. It was too bad because the Moravian Indians, even though pacifists were anti-British and would help the Patriots any way they could short of bloodshed. After this little tea party, the Moravian Indians became neutral and helped neither side, British or Patriot. It caused the Patriots a valuable ally because of that damned prejudicial militia.










1862 After several months of rebuilding and refurbishing the Confederate Navy had completed its first ironclad vessel. It had originally been named the Merrimack but on this day it was christened the CSS Virginia. The CSA navy had a hell of a time finding enough iron to clad this ship sufficiently but the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond proved to be equal to the task. On this day the CSS Virginia sallied forth into the waters of Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was an odd looking ship. It was basically rectangular with sheets of iron plate sheathing the sides sloping inward at the top. It had cannon ports out the side. The first vessel the Virginia engaged was the USS Congress. The USS Congress and nearly every other US vessel nearby showered the Virginia with everything they had to no effect. Finally the Virginia got into position and unleashed a broadside into the wooden USS Congress and succeeded in detonating the powder magazine and the USS Congress went up in a volcano of splinters. Then the Virginia attacked the USS Minnesota. The Minnesota fired everything it had to no effect and then decided to run for it. Even though the Virginia was not the fastest ship afloat, it was able to cut off the Minnesota and run it aground. After this, the Captain of the Virginia decided that he had a pretty successful day and went to the house. Very soon thereafter a United States vessel named the USS Monitor shows up in Hampton Roads. It is an ironclad also except the design was totally different. The freeboard (distance above water line) was very shallow, maybe four feet or so. But mounted in the middle was a round turret that could be rotated with two Dahlgren cannon apparent. The Monitor and the Virginia did battle only once that ended in a draw. But this engagement was the death knell for wooden ships worldwide.






1951 Earlier Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez had met via a “Lonely Heart Club” advertisement in a New York magazine. Let me described these two. Martha was extremely obese with oily hair and acne. In fact it was reported that if she had been an inch taller she would have been a perfect sphere. Just joking. But she was a porker. Raymond had received a severe head wound in WWII and was bald, had constant headaches and wore a cheap black toupee. Well, Martha and Raymond set up a meet and for reasons known only to them, they fell in love. These two had an adversity toward a profitable job so they decided that the “Lonely Hearts Club” was a target rich venue for rich and lonely older women. So Raymond began communicating with a few of them and would marry them and/or kill then and take all their money and leave while passing off Martha as his sister. Finally Raymond made the mistake of hooking up with a somewhat younger woman and she was not buying this brother/sister act. Even though she allowed Raymond and Martha to move in, she refused to marry until she was sure of Raymond and Martha’s relationship. Eventually, Raymond and Martha got tired of waiting and killed the woman and her two year old daughter and buried them in the basement. After this they fled to Michigan. They were arrested in Michigan and thought all was cool because Michigan did not have the death penalty. That is until they found out that they were going to be extradited back to New York where the death penalty was an option. Then the started trying to plea as being insane and enthralled the courtroom with vivid descriptions of kinky sex acts performed beside the various corpses. The jury was not amused and convicted them and sentenced them to death. On this date they both were executed by “Old Sparky” the electric chair in Sing Sing. It is a rumor that a faint aroma of sizzling lard can be detected there to this day.






1669 On this date Mount Etna, a volcano in northeast Sicily erupts after several days of warnings like lava flows, ash blowing out the top, etc. But today was the real thing. Etna exploded and threw white hot ash and poisonous gasses into the atmosphere. Well, the Sicilians that lived near the volcano refused to leave hoping to save their towns and villages. I don’t know what they thought they could do but over 25,000 people perished on the flanks of this volcano. This definitely was not the first nor would it be the last eruption of this famous volcano.






Born today:






1799 US Senator Simon Cameron from Pennsylvania. He said “An honest politician is one that when he is bought, he will stay bought.” I don’t know any.






1890 US writer Gene Fowler. He said “Writing is easy. All you have to do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until two drops of blood form on your forehead.” Si, Senor.






1917 On this date began the famous revolution in Russia that brought down the Romanov dynasty. The people were tired and hungry after WWI and there was no relief in sight. But the Royal Family was in fine shape. The still had their mansions, carriages, jewelry, etc. The crowd began throwing missiles and setting fires so the Tsar, Nicholas II, sent in a brigade into Petrograd to break up the demonstration. When the soldiers arrived they joined in with the demonstrators. Two weeks later Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and throne and the entire family was slaughtered by the Russian military.






1963 Supermodel and magazine mogul Kathy Ireland. She said “Modeling is very lucrative. I am able to save up and take only the movie roles I want.” I would like to see a show of hands of everyone that as ever seen this broad in ANY movie. A Meryl Streep she ain’t.






Died today:






1874 President Millard Fillmore. He said “An honorable defeat is better that a dishonorable victory.” Hey Millard, If George Patton ever heard the President of the United States say that he would move to Costa Rica. There is no honor to be had in a defeat.






1959 US baseball player and husband to Marilyn Monroe Joe DiMaggio. He said “People say I am graceful when batting. My father drove railroad spikes in Martinez, California for 10 cents and hour to support his family. That was grace.” Indeed it was, Joe, indeed it was.






2005 Welsh writer Alice Ellis. She said “There is not reciprocity, men love women, women love children and children love hamsters.”






Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow