Well another month and enjoying life.   

Reed, found another duck recipe.  Actually it was for venison, but those who braved the taste said it was great.   

Its call Quick Sauerbraten 

1. ½ cup chopped onion
2. ½ cup brown sugar
3. 2 tsp salt
4. 2 tblsp pickle spice
5. 1 cup vinegar
6. 3 cups water 

Put everything in the crock pot all day.  After taking the meat out, I added 12 ginger naps to make gravy out of the juices.  I think next time I’ll drain some of the liquid to make thicker gravy.  The meat was tender and tasted wonderful…but WOW, did the house smell great!  Next month…BBQ-ed duck! 

Great job Bob earning your law degrees! 

Chuck – two year olds will always continue to amaze me on what they do or don’t do – especially in the unpredictable category… 

Elwood – I hope & pray your health gets better.  I know, as I’m approaching the date when one turns 50, my body reminds me about getting older.  I’ve also watch co-workers lose loved ones – unexpectedly and release how frail our bodies are. 

James – your still in my thought and prayers… 

Finished another model; Bf-109 or Me-109 – again another Battle of Britain participant. 

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I’m looking at building a DH-4 biplane 1/72 scale.  I haven’t decided what unit markings yet.  I also have a MB-2, the kind Billy Mitchell used to prove his theory of bombers versus ships.  The DH-4 can be made with 11th, 20th, 28th, 49th, or the 96th Bomb Squadron.  That leaves the MB-2 with 11th or 96th marking.  I have a B-50 that can be made with the 20th, 96th, or 340th Bomb Sq (Blytheville later Eaker AFB).  Well I have some time to think. All my bombers were built in 1/72 scale and with unit markings that were active when I first came in the service.  True there was a lot to chose from back then, but still I like to research to find the correct marking for the model.  I have to go back and re-do my B-17 with Fairchild’s unit marking – didn’t realize it until afterwards that they had a white triangle with a black “B” and not the other way around.  O’well learned the hard way. 

Did I mention that I’m collaborating with a guy to make B-52 decals in 1/72 scale?  We’re looking at all the variants, from the XB/YB-52 through G model.  I know I missed the H, but there are several companies that have H models decals out and they are pretty good…I have three of them. 

Finished reading a book on Medal of Honor recipients.  I was amazed by their stories and several things stood out; although what they did was truly amazing what they went through, but it was more of what they did or didn’t do afterwards with their lives.  Most did not set out to be a hero, it was the situation they faced and how they dealt with it.  Most would tell they didn’t want the recognition, they just wanted to be left alone.  Most felt a huge responsibility to maintain a certain image afterwards – as not to tarnish the significance or reputation of the award.   

Still a few took a less than honorable path…one that was sad…I wish I could do it justice here, but here’s the condensed version of his story.  He was a Vietnam vet who was reassigned a new tank the night before an engagement, next day his new tank takes a hit & is disabled, he gets out only to see his old tank on fire, goes over to help pull his old buddies out to the burning tank, it explodes while the others were still inside, chard bodies go flying everywhere.  So he starts fighting the enemy with a .45, runs out of ammo, grabs another gun and continues to fight.  As he’s running through the jungle fighting, he comes up to an enemy with an AK-47 pointed at his chest & pulls the trigger – nothing happens – jammed, so he kills that guy too.  When he’s finally pulled from the line he’s a wreck.  When he does get home, he tells no one of the ordeal, just locks it way.  Through circumstance, he does go to a VA hospital to get help, but it’s a constant in & out and he never stays long enough.  From what was written he was struggling with the “why me” syndrome, why was I re-assigned the night before to another crew, why was I spared when others died, why did AK-47 jam at that moment in time? He gets to a point of despair and tries to rob a convenient store only to be killed by the owner.  His mother put it best; he was trying to have someone else pull the trigger. 

For some it took 40-50 years after the event to receive the recognition they deserved, especially the African-Americans in WWII.  Some did well trying to shoulder the responsibility, some just tried to fade away from the public.   

Good book… 

Well until next time, take care…