12. November 2007 by Ponch.

All,Happy Veterans Day all.  Still hard to think of myself as a veteran.  I remember folks like Steve Moore and Donny Paragoy talking about going to the VFW and drinking nickel beer.  I found it hard to dismiss the mental picture of old fogies with grey beards and lost limbs telling stories about “WW-Vietnam”.  Now I look like the old fogy (no beard) grey haired and willing to match stories with anyone who will listen about “WW-Iraq” ….Although not at the VFW…yet.  Chuck, I think wearing ones medals would add to the deranged fogy look that Hollyweird loves to smear on people who answered the higher calling to serve.  Along with James I mourn the nation that forgets the sacrifices made by our brothers in arms and even worse, views them as patsies and dupes who were fooled into military service by those smarter then the rest of us.  A new movie by Robert Redford just opened with that very theme.  I’m somewhat heartened in that the attendance to this outrage is relatively low, and that the hollywierd bunch stands to loose some cash for attempting such a lie.   Alas they seem to have endless supplies of money to blow.  Chuck maybe you can pry some away from them by writing scripts.  The fools here seem to think that their writing skills are underappreciated and are on strike.  Seem they think that America will fold and collapse if they are not there every night supplying the world with the crap that comes out of actors and so-called
Celebes mouths on moronic talk shows. Hope the strike last a long, long, long time;-)  Not much happening here to talk about.  We just hired a new guy fresh out of the Air Force.  His name is Steve Walden.  I didn’t even get to ask him if he was related before he asked me if I knew a Steve Walden at KBAD.  He said he was not related but that he and Waldo have had cross e-mails for years and that they have talked on the phone several times trying to get it figured out.  Small world thing again.  He says he knows lots of Buff guys so we will have to do the old fogy thing here and tell war stories…again.  Andy I’m jealous of the duck hunt.  Wish I was there…although you look like your hang’n with a pretty tough crowd…all backwoodsy and the like.    I never was real comfortable wadding around in those swamps up to my chest in black water.  Especially when a few short weeks before there were alligators swim’n in the same spots.  For those of you that haven’t done it, most of the wadd’n around goes on in the dark… well before sunrise in stuff you would not normally even think of gett’n into if it was daylight.  Stumbling over big alligator like stuff on the bottom was creepy… let alone get’n snagged on something that puts holes in the wadders….eeewwww!! Shoot’n at the ducks was fun though.  We had our monthly star party this week end and the night sky held a beautiful surprise for all.  A comet that normally never gets bright enough to be seen even in telescopes, exploded into a brilliant display.  The word must have gotten out cause we had a huge crowd of folks who wanted to have a look.  It was and still, is a spectacular sight.  Best to all until next month! 

Reed 

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12. November 2007 by Andy.

Watched “Band of Brothers”, all ten episodes, “We were Soldiers Once”, and “The Patriot” over the last three weeks…gives special meaning to the word “Vet”.

Heather was a stand-in for Susan Sarandon down in Baton Rouge and so I went along, this was during the transition to the new job.  Anyway, I went on into New Orleans to look around.  The D-Day Museum was closed but I went on further down to the Chalmette Battlefield, 1812 otherwise known as the Battle of New Orleans. 

Next door to the field was the Chalmette National Cemetery that is still open, but to a little number due to it’s size - very small.  Estabilshed in May 1864, the nice folks of New Orleans set it aside to bury the Union soldiers during the Civil War.  From what I understand, they did not want any Union soldiers bury inside city limits.  I saw vets from just about every war there; the Spanish-American War, WWI & WWII, and Korean.  There are four American who fought in the War of 1812 are buried here, but only one from them took part in the Battle of New Orleans.  The latest vets to be buried there are from Vietnam War.

Just as you James, I wondered if anyone passed by to mourn, pay their respects or even give thanks for their service…

Its good to reflect on where we have been and the sacrifices made on our behalf today. 

The new job is going nicely…no stress other than what shall I work on today.  I was able to finish that He-111!  It turned out pretty good, so I decided to pull out a Ju-87 Stuka to build next.

Went duck hunting this weekend, and Reed they were thick!  (Opening day was Saturday) Six of us waded out into the swamps and bayous of Barksdale and we were one duck shy of our limit - all wood ducks.  Clayton came this time and after shooting his, went up on the banks to catch some sleep while the rest of us continued to shoot.  As we were picking up the decoys, I must of snagged my waders pretty good, because the next thing I felt was the cold water rushing into the boots.  Working on them now to repair them for the next hunt.  In the meantime, I used Clayton’s today since he had to work.  We went back to the same area and scored again.  Deer season opens on the base this coming weekend and then back to ducks on Thanksgiving.  Anyway, it was a great time hunting.

Here’s some pics to enjoy…

Until next time, it’s been an honor serving with all of you and if someone hasn’t said so, thank you for your service!

 Andy

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