Wednesday, May 30, 2012

50 Years Ago...

That was the start of the Vietnam 'police action'...



Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall 


There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010. 


The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties. 


The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. 


There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall. 


39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger. 


8,283 were just 19 years old. 


The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old. 


12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. 


5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old. 


One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old. 


997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam .. 


1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam .. 


31 sets of brothers are on the Wall. 


Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons. 


54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school. 


8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded. 


244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall. 


Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons. 


West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall. 


The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest . And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home. 


The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam . In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. 


The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths, during the TET OFFENSIVE. The most casualties suffered on January 31st - 2nd BN., 5th Marine Reg., 1st Marine Division Regiment FMF (Pacific) Reinforced - III MAF at Hue . 


The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred. 


For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors. 


And this song is apparently NOT getting on radio because it's not politically correct... By Diamond Reo...


video


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Range Report...

Got a new addition to the 'stable' and took it to the range today, along with the Ruger 22/45 and the big 1911.

It's the NEW Colt Mustang :-)

Left profile

Right Profile

Slide Open

I put 25 rounds through it, cleaned it and shot another 25 just to break it in.  It's 'comfortable' to shoot, and the one thing I don't care for is the grey front sight.  I was shooting steels at 15 yards and they were dirty, so I had problems picking up the front sight against them.  I guess I'll do 'something' to the front ramp to make it a bit more visible. 



This was the one 'target' I shot with it at 7 yards. The first round was low, the next four were a 'tad' low and the last one was a bull (I quit with that one...LOL).

 
22/45 with new sights and Volquartzen trigger

Put a couple of hundred rounds through it, working on sight picture and trigger press, as it now matches the .45 below for both :-)

And .22 is not worth a DAMN for knocking over steel, unless you hit em ALL the way at the top... dammit...  I never did get a clean run where I actually knocked all six down...  sigh...

Size comparison for Mustang with 'normal' 1911

Yep, I think this one is a keeper, and it will be my primary BUG, and I can 'retire' Momma's .38 to the safe for fun shoots!

DHS is at it again, and other stupidity...

Big Brother in the form of the Department of Homeland Security has a list of hot words where upon when they monitor emails will select yours for scrutiny.  But it took the Brits to gain the list.  Go HERE for the Daily Mail list... sigh

And how's that texting working out for ya now???

And speaking of DHS/TSA...


May or may NOT be a joke... Sigh...

And then there's THIS from PMSNBC.  Hayes video from his MSNBC show yesterday morning of the too-refined-by-half Hayes explaining why he is "uncomfortable" in calling America's fallen military members "heroes." 

And I'll leave you with a positive one...

This is what Military pilots see on final into Offutt AFB 



A farmer does this with his tractor. He uses GPS to get the letters readable.

Hat tip to the Bellevue farmer who made it happen!

h/t JP and Woody

Monday, May 28, 2012

In Memoriam...


Capt Larry Getzfred, USN

Capt Jack Punches, USN (Ret)

CDR Bill Donovan, USN

LT Mike Lamana, USN

LT Jonas Panik, USN

AW1 Joseph Pycior, USN

All were killed in the Pentagon, 9/11/2001


"Hand Salute!"

"Ready, Two."

You are NOT forgotten Gentlemen...

Sunday, May 27, 2012

More Memorials...

Arlington Cemetery...

The Old Guard puts a flag on EVERY headstone in Arlington every Memorial Day.


This one is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia...

It's small, in an out of the way location on the base, but they remember too...



Remember, 3 pm local time Monday, stop and say a little prayer for those who gave all.

Thank you...

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

NIne Minutes Worth Watching...

The first "commercial" spacecraft docks with the ISS...




This is good news, as we can now put our own payloads (albeit small ones) up and down from ISS.


Kudos to SpaceX and the Astronauts that assisted them...