[1] 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. 

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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…

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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.

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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…

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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