Black Canyon Highway ran south through Phoenix, turned east just south of McDowell, and then came to an end at 40th Street. To get to Tucson you went south on 40th to Baseline, then east to some two-lane highway that went south to Casa Grande. Just past Casa Grande that highway finally reached the freeway that went to Tucson. That's how I did it almost every Sunday in June. The semester had ended at the University of Arizona and MamaCharlie and most of the other girls in the dorms had move...
Warning: This article contains nothing controversial, religious, political, or of social import...it is just a pointless ramble through a few random memories of days gone by... We lived in the small town of Lampertheim, north of Mannheim. Where you could regularly see little ladies doing their daily shopping with their tuetten (shopping bags...reusable ones like grandma used to use), chimney sweeps in traditionally garb toting their sooty brushes and wires, win...
It was a week or so after the Morning of the Rude Awakening. After the attack we were inundated with "experts" advising us on how to make our compound more secure. Fortunately our First Sergeant was a sensible guy and didn't try to implement all the suggestions. So all the lower ranks were assigned to work on security upgrades whenever they weren't doing their regular jobs. That meant that after a twelve- to fourteen-hour day, you would be expected to pu...
The hearse arrives at the cemetery and stops as close to the open grave as possible. The back door opens and the casket team, dressed in their Class A uniforms, immaculate with razor sharp creases and all awards and decorations displayed, secures the flag-draped coffin and prepares either to carry it to the grave or place it on a cart to roll it there. The Chaplain, or the Burial Detail's Officer in Charge (OIC) if a civilian pastor is conducting the gravesi...
One of my favorite kinds of humor is an adage that starts off sounding familiar but then takes a left turn and leaves you with a giggle...or a gasp. I will show you a couple of examples that are among my favorites: Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a meal; teach him to fish and you'll never see him in church on Sunday again. Light a man's fire and you will warm him through the night; set him on fire and he'll be warm for...
From October of 1977 until May of 1983 I was at Patch Barracks, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany; home of the Headquarters of the United States European Command - the highest US command in Europe. I have written a lot of articles about events that transpired there, mostly related to my job in the Protocol Office. MamaCharlie and I regard Patch as some of the best years of our life together. It was a great combination of facilities, good schools, and good military du...
When the doctor says "Cancer", no matter how simple or minor the cancer may be, something happens inside your soul that will never be reversed. Before the doc can continue and explain all the things he wants you to know: survivablity, surgery options, radiation, chemo, diet and exercise, and all the rest, your mind races through everything you know about cancer, who you know that has had some sort or another, who lived and who died, what body parts would you give up t...
I think that what I have to say may be misunderstood in the emotional atmosphere surrounding today's activities. So let me start by saying that I am a red-blooded American boy; my flag flew today on the front of my house, I went to church, I prayed for those who lost someone to that terrible day, I support our war efforts to eradicate the jihadist threat, I mourn and feel and bleed and I have backed it all up with twenty-six years of my own life. Having said all t...
I am sure that this weekend will be filled with serious articles about remembering 9/11 and all that. And that is as it should be. But in the vein of not letting the terrorists win, I have a challenge for you. I have found that kids see humor a little differently than adults do. Especially three to five year olds. They hear someone tell a joke and they see the reaction it gets and they want in but they don't get the idea of misdirection or nuance that ...
It was the end of February, 1969. We were preparing for a full layout inspection in the company and to top it all off, I had Staff Duty NCO that night, meaning I would be sitting up all night watching the battalion sleep...I hoped. I got a message to report to the First Sergeant and the messenger said that the First Sergeant was MAD. I thought I knew what it was about. Anyone who has had a German Shepherd knows they shed. A lot. Try as I might...
My first gunnery rotation to Grafenwohr was October 1965. We were billeted in concrete barracks in an area designated as "Normandy". We slept in our sleeping bags on cots; heat was provided by wood-burning stoves, and for a "field exercise" it was preferable to sleeping in the Bavarian woods in October. It didn't matter to me much; I was a fuel truck driver so most of my time was not spent in Normandy, it was spent on the firing ranges refueling ...
Just a little military flag etiquette for the uninitiated. On US military bases all over the world (except in certain Arab nations), the US flag is raised around sunup and brought down again near sunset. When the flag is raised in the morning, it is accompanied by a bugle call named "Reveille". If a soldier (or any other service member; I will stick with the Army for convenience) is outdoors when the bugle starts to sound "Reveille", he comes to attention, faces...
Late summer around the Monterey Penninsula is best described as "sultry". The mornings are cool and foggy and a damp sea smell permeates everything; the air is heavy and feels thick. As the sun burns the fog away, the temperature climbs into the high seventies to low eighties. The fog melts and the air becomes thinner and easier to breathe, but still feels slightly damp. The sun is bright and not quite strong enough to sting the bare skin; but warmin...
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/11/military-budget-recommendations-retirement- cuts-111710w/ I shouldn't write about stuff when I am angry...but...this morning's news and recent articles in print news have me in knots. Gotta write to vent. The above link says it all, or almost all. The politicians have spent us into a corner; we are bombarded with "news" stories about the terrible things that will happen if we don't borrow more...
It was Sunday night after a long and exhausting weekend. We agreed to meet back at Randolph Park after we dropped the girls back at the dorm; they had to make bedcheck by 11 pm. There were some guys at the Park who may have needed a lift back to Huachuca. Vern picked up our traditional six-pack on the way. When we got to the park, all the rides had been settled and a few of the guys were just hangin' in the midnight heat, smokin' and jokin', sw...