Showing posts with label Vietnam War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietnam War. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

US General Election 2020: Farewell, So Long, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

 I write this post a couple of weeks before USA's very important General Election. We should be in Europe by now, Lord willing -- on a long-awaited vacation and/or an escape from these "tumultuous" time. 

So, will it be President Trump, or a President Harris ... ehrrrr, President Biden??  Either way...

For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20. Fifty million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million.

When you're 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet.

When you're 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills six million. At 52, the Korean War starts and five million perish.

At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. Four million people die in that conflict. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening.

As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? A kid in 1985 didn’t think their 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents (and now great grandparents) survived through everything listed above.

Perspective is an amazing art. Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted. This too, shall pass.

***

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call 

on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 (Acts 2:21)

Perspective is Amazing ...



**

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Honor Flight for Sergeant Bennett

Hi R: my dad is going on an honor flight early in July. They do mail call for the Vets and would like each Vet to have around 30 pieces of mail for it. Would you be able to jot him a note? I can send you a pdf with the address and deadline. My dad got the info on this late because he couldn't make the other dates.



Of course I said YES! I've known Mr Bennett since my first year of high school. He'd pick up his daughter - my classmate - in front of the school and say "Hi!" or smile whenever I walked by his car. What a breath of friendly, fresh air in a socially-awkward season of my life. Only now do I realize the chunk of time he was away from Family and the sacrifice it took for him to serve our country.

pc: NBC News


C. E. Bennett was in the Army from 1947-1967. Jobs: 1 1/2 years- GHQ Guard company, Japan, 2 years, Rifleman in Mortar Section in Alaska, 2 years in the 50s- 2nd Armored Division in Mannheim,Germany, 2 years in the 60s 3rd/4th Armored Division Crailsheim, Germany as a Supply Sergeant, 1 year as a Supply Sergeant in Vietnam. A member of the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One). Retired after 20 years, Rank E6 Staff Sergeant And he turned 89 on July 6, 2019.



 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; 
custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Romans 13:7



**

Saturday, October 14, 2017

No Hero: The Real John McCain

GETTING TO KNOW THE REAL JOHN MCCAIN
By Burma Davis Posey
This is John McCain's home in Arizona. Not bad for a man who worked in the military, left the military, and then ran for Congress. He has been in Congress since 1983.

McCain graduated 894th in his class of 899 students from the Naval Academy. He was known for being wild and it usually revolved around women. He was a member of a group of students who called themselves "The Bad Bunch".
He married Carol Shepp who was a successful swimsuit model. She had been married to one of his classmates and had two children from her first marriage. She and McCain became parents for a daughter one year later. He had been quite a playboy and was already becoming bored with the domesticated life. He requested active duty in Vietnam While he was there, Carol faithfully stayed at home looking after the children and waiting anxiously for news about her husband. His plane was shot down in 1967 and he became a POW.


On Christmas Eve 1969, Carol and the children were spending the holiday with her parents. After dinner, she was going to take gifts to some friends. The road was icy and she slid head-on into a telephone pole. She was thrown from the car through the front window. Her legs, spine, and right arm were crushed and she was in the hospital for 6 months. Ross Perot was an advocate of POW's and he paid her medical bills. She requested that John not be told because she felt he already had enough to deal with.

McCain was released in 1973 and returned home to much fanfare. Carol had several surgeries, lost 5 inches in height, and gained some weight. McCain told reporters he was overjoyed to see Carol again. But friends say privately he was ‘appalled’ by the change in her appearance.

As a war hero, McCain was moving in ever-more elevated circles. "He started carousing and running around with women.", reported Robert Timberg. Bob Timberg was a retired Marine, an American journalist, writer, and author of four books, including THE NIGHTINGALE'S SONG and JOHN MCCAIN: AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY.

McCain admitted he started having many girlfriends and affairs during this time. On one trip to Hawaii he met an Anheuser Busch distributor heiress, Cindy Hensley, at a cocktail party. She was 17 years younger than McCain and worth $100 million dollars. He invited her to have drinks with him at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. He said by the end of the evening he was in love.
They had an affair for nine months while he was still married to and living with his wife Carol. McCain wanted to marry Cindy but needed first to get a divorce. He and Carol separated in January 1980. He requested a divorce in February, the divorce was sped along and granted in April. He and Cindy married 5 weeks after the divorce was final on May 17, 1980. Carol and their children were devastated. McCain callously left his first wife and children behind. He and Cindy moved to Arizona . Cindy's father was well-connected and helped McCain move smoothly into Congress representing Arizona in Washington DC.

McCain's new wife and her family were extravagantly wealthy. Her father was one of the largest distributors of Anheuser Busch in the country and she was an only child. The divorce settlement afforded Carol McCain full custody of their three children, alimony, child support, including college tuition, houses in Virginia and Florida , and lifelong financial support for her continuing medical treatment from the car accident.

Carol said the reason for the divorce was John turned 40 and he wanted to be 25 again. Carol was extremely hurt. She went to work as the press assistant for soon-to-be First Lady Nancy Reagan. She became loved and respected in Washington. She kept a dignified silence about the horrendous way McCain had treated her.

Some of the McCain friends were less forgiving, however. They portray the politician as a self-centered womaniser who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to ‘play the field’. They accuse him of finally settling on Cindy, a former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons.

Despite his popularity as a politician, there are those who have not forgotten his treatment of his first wife. Ted Sampley, who fought with US Special Forces in Vietnam is now a leading campaigner for veterans’ rights.
Ted said, "I have been following John McCain’s career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally. There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is... deceit.
"When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it. Eventually, he met Cindy and she was young, beautiful, and very wealthy. McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better.
"This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. Yet he has no character. He is a fake."
Ross Perot, who paid her medical bills all those years ago, now believes that both Carol McCain and the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel, even by the standards of modern politics.
Mr. Perot said, "McCain is the classic opportunist. He’s always reaching for attention and glory. After he came home, Carol walked with a limp So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona. And the rest is history. A man who cannot be faithful to a loving, self-sacrificing wife cannot be trusted to be faithful to the American people Cindy has also had to learn the lessons about her husband the hard way. Even though she and McCain put on a perfect front for the public, especially when he is running for office, she really is an invisible wife to him.
Tom Gosinski, who served as director of Cindy McCain’s nonprofit American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT) wrote in his journal about the McCain marriage.
"During my short tenure at AVMT I have been surrounded by what on the surface appears to be the ultimate all-American family. In reality, I am working for a very sad, lonely woman. Her marriage of convenience to a U.S. Senator has driven her to distance herself from friends, cover feelings of despair with drugs, and replace lonely moments with self-indulgences. She became addicted to Percocet and had a doctor prescribing them for her illegally. When her parents learned she was taking them, they helped her stop.
Washington rumors were saying McCain had an inappropriate relationship with the young and lovely lobbyist, Vicki Iseman. Ms. Iseman began visiting McCain's offices and campaign events so frequently in 2000 that his aides were "convinced the relationship had become romantic". One staff member supposedly asked, "Why is she always around?" His staff members began a campaign to "save McCain from himself" by restricting Iseman's access to McCain during the course of the 2000 presidential primary. According to the Washington Post, McCain's political advisor John Weaver met with Iseman at Washington 's Union Station to tell Iseman not to see McCain anymore.

It is not a real marriage between John and Cindy McCain. Real marriages usually involve living together. McCain and Cindy have not "lived" together for 20 years. To defend this, McCain brags the family takes two vacations together every year and Ms. McCain is the one who has always made that happen.

"Two vacations per year...What a farse and fake!! Nothing about this man is real. He has no compassion or empathy for anyone except himself. The only real thing emotion he is capable of is anger. He is famous for his anger.

His father and grandfather were both decorated Navy Admirals. He was given special privileges and extreme preferential treatment while he served in the Navy. He was a pilot but according to his colleagues he was a very bad pilot. He actually crashed three planes. There was a horrendous incident that happened on his aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Forrestal, that killed 134 men. There has been a debate since the incident with some being convinced John McCain was responsible for this accident. Others are angry about anyone who would dare speak against a Naval officer and embarrass an entire branch of service.
Many witnesses have reported that McCain was guilty of a "wet start". When a pilot wants to be a show off, with a "wet start" his engine start creates a large startling flame and lots of surprise noise from the rear of a jet engine on start up. McCain did the "Wet Start". It was not an accident. The flames from the wet start torched off the launching of a powerful Zuni rocket on the plane behind him. The Zuni rockets were famous for having electrical problems. It shot across the carrier’s deck hitting other parked planes that were packing 1,000 high-explosive pound bombs. This caused the bombs to explode. The subsequent massive explosions, fire and destruction went several decks below and nearly sunk this major 82,000 ton U.S. aircraft carrier.
This stunt and aftermath caused the death of 134 sailors and blew off arms, legs, and caused blindness and burns to another 161 sailors. McCain jumped from his plane, rolled across the flames, and escaped. He watched the men dying and the burning from a closed circuit television on the ship. Sadly all of those lives were lost.

They had to take the ship off the battle line for 2 years when it had to be taken back to port for $76 million dollars of extensive repairs. That does not include the cost of replacing the airplanes or ammunition. Other Navy pilots causing this type of death and destruction would have been arrested and would probably still be in prison. Why didn't this happened to John McCain.

McCain's grandfather was a famous FOUR STAR Navy admiral and his dad, at the time of the incident, was also a powerful illustrious FOUR STAR Navy admiral. McCain had graduated from the Naval Academy . Witnesses say the good ole boy Navy tradition went into high gear immediately. McCain was not even reprimanded. When there is a cover-up, the soldier is usually simply assigned to another ship. McCain was quietly assigned to another ship. There is an ongoing debate about the incident to this day.
John McCain's lack of character was further demonstrated when he voted not to repeal Obamacare. He had run his 2016 Senatorial race under the banner he would LEAD the fight to repeal Obamacare. He hates Donald Trump so very much he gleefully held his thumb down for his vote rather than a thumbs up. He laughed afterwards and said, "Let's see Donald Trump save America now!"

What a horrible man. He stabbed his constituents and the citizens of America in the back. Liberal socialists now call him their hero.

McCain has recently discovered he has a brain tumor. I am genuinely sorry for anyone who has to face a health issue especially when it involves cancer. Thankfully for him the doctors have said it is curable. The fact that he now has a brain tumor does not change the horrendous things he has done in his life because of his extremely low-flawed character.

If Senator McCain's own health care was dependent on the Obamacare he has continued to saddle the American people with, I guarantee he would not have voted thumbs-down.
But because he married a wealthy heiress and has plenty of money to take care of his own health needs, he does not care.  

via Liviu G, fb  8.14.17 Truth or Fiction

************************************************************************



Senator McCain's Grim Prognosis

Biography Link
Senator John McCain



It is always darkest just before
the Day dawneth. 


-- Thomas Fuller,  English theologian and historian


link -- > The darkest hour is just before the dawn




38.8.25.18

Friday, June 30, 2017

Snipers Shoot to Kill

Oh, Canada! The incredible feat of a Canadian sniper was in the news recently.  He and his spotter managed to take down an ISIS fighter from 11,316 feet away (or 2.2 miles).  It was such a long distance that it took several seconds for the bullet to hit the poor guy. (Enough time, I'm certain, for the shooter to wonder, to ponder, to pray.  Yep, the ISIS guy was an enemy, but there is nothing trivial nor funny about taking a life). 

Anyhoo, all I could think of was WOW.  The sharp-shooter and his spotter were so incredibly good.  What training! What skills!  What sharp vision! They are definitely assets to the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. Their moms must have cried for joy;  their dads' chests puffed up with pride. 

Let's do it again? Hubby kind-of doused my feelings of awe for these soldier-heroes. He said that they were simply "lucky" since there were many factors involved ( as the article mentioned, there was "...distance, wind, atmospheric conditions and the speed of the earth’s rotation at their latitude").  The victim needed to stand still for the time it took the bullet to reach him.  So, hubby insists that the feat would be very difficult to duplicate based solely on skills, training, and equipment. Thus, the luck element.

Maybe so, I thought.  I am not at all comfortable with the idea of "luck".  The powerful hand of God always needs to be considered. Were there daily, fervent prayers for success?  I wouldn't doubt it. Is God's face set against evildoers? Yep.  The soldiers hit their mark because God opened the door of opportunity, used their training/equipment, and answered prayers. It was also God's will that the ISIS fighter's day of death arrive. (Note: each of us has an appointment with Death. God is no respector of persons).


Link to article -- > Canadian Sniper




Below is a link to an American soldier during the Vietnam War era who COULD shoot well repeatedly, though not on as impressive a distance. Still a hero to me. 

link --> American Sniper


A follow-up to the successful Canadian shooting above. Prayers to the Lord Jesus Christ for safety were definitely answered.

link --> Canadian Sniper Who Set World Record Prevented Oncoming Attack



The only shooting my family has done recently