This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: AW1Ed

Saturday Feel Good Stories

Another case of poor victim selection skills.
Suspected robber shot by victim in Lawrence strip mall
by Nick McGill
LAWRENCE, Ind. – A suspected robber is now in the hospital after police say he hopped into the wrong car.

Around 8 a.m. Thursday, police say a man was sitting in his car in a shopping center at 42nd and Franklin when another man got in, showed a gun and demanded money. The victim informed the robber that he had none, so the robber instructed him to drive to a Chase Bank branch within the shopping center.

At the time, an armored vehicle was stocking the branch’s ATMs, so the victim attempted to steer towards it hoping to find help. When the robber told the victim to avoid the truck, a fight broke out.

“The robbery victim grabbed his gun and they started fighting in the vehicle in very close quarters over that gun,” Lawrence police Deputy Chief Gary Woodruff said.

Read the rest at: Fox 59

One in the slam, two in the wind.
Suspected Intruder Shot At Essex Place Apartments In West Springfield
Posted By: Jason Rima
Police confirm one person was shot when three people broke into an apartment at the Essex Place Apartments on West Battlefield in Springfield Thursday afternoon.

The three intruders reportedly assaulted two people living there.

A resident of the apartment tells police he fired at a man who was robbing him.

Witnesses say they heard multiple gunshots.

Read the entire article at: KTTS 94.7

December 15, 2018
Soldier killed in 2009 Battle of Kamdesh to receive Distinguished Service Cross

Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos’ posthumous Silver Star will be upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor, during a ceremony at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018.
COURTESY OF U.S. ARMY
By WYATT OLSON | STARS AND STRIPES

In the early hours of Oct. 3, 2009, more than 300 enemy fighters stormed an isolated U.S. outpost in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, overwhelming the mere 50 American troops stationed there.

For the next 12 hours, the soldiers stationed at Combat Outpost Keating fought one of the deadliest battles of the long war in Afghanistan.

Eight soldiers died and 27 were wounded in the Battle of Kamdesh, dubbed “a day of heroes” for the acts of valor displayed by those who repelled the attack.

The Army awarded 37 Army Commendation Medals with V device for valor, 18 Bronze Stars with V device and nine Silver Stars to soldiers who fought that day. Two soldiers received Medals of Honor, the nation’s highest award for heroism in combat.

Among the dead was 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos, who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

Now, that medal is being upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the country’s second highest award for valor.

The fallen hero’s teenage son, MacAiden Gallegos, will accept the award during a ceremony Saturday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, the Army said in a statement.

Read the rest of the article at Stars and Stripes.

Hat tip to AnotherPat for the link.

December 14, 2018
Another Cold War Ghost Story

By Poetrooper
Yesterday, in response to Dave’s article, “Ghosts for the Gullible” all of the comments I read were full of sarcasm and scorn for a soldier and his widow because TAH readers have seen and heard it all. But I do know that the best con jobs are always seeded with just enough of the truth to render them credible which could be the case here. Reading the piece I recalled events of decades ago when I was a Battalion and Brigade Chemical, Biological and Radiological NCO in the 101st and 82d Airborne. I cannot pinpoint precisely where and when I first heard that we had special operations teams infiltrating North Korea, as well as many Soviet satellite countries, with backpack portable nuclear weapons.

I think my first knowledge of the B-54 warhead itself came during the nuclear portion of my training at the Army CBR School at Ft. McClellan, AL, in 1965. It was derived from the W-54 warhead of the Davy Crockett Jeep-mounted nuke launcher then assigned to infantry units. As I recall, we discussed the radiation output of portable nuclear devices, both ours and the Russian version, but not that we had teams operating behind enemy lines with them. That was speculation reserved for the NCO Club, where, of course, we agreed that common sense dictated that would have to be the case to effectively employ such a weapon.

BackPack Nuclear Weapon

I also vaguely recall a hotel bar discussion at a special operations medical conference maybe fifteen years ago where someone said he had once served with a senior NCO who’d been on a team that prepositioned such weapons in North Korea. I recollect more recently, though probably more than ten years ago, a military internet article about Israel’s nuclear capabilities, where it was conjectured IDF/Mossad had their own version of such backpack nukes and had stashed many of them within key cities and military installations of many Middle Eastern opponents. I also remember hearing many years ago that we had nukes prepositioned in the Fulda Gap and other key invasion routes in Europe as well as on the Korean peninsula but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were B-54’s.

In any event, it took about twenty seconds of web-searching to pull up this 2014 online article from the Smithsonian website, For 25 Years, U.S. Special Forces Carried Miniature Nukes on Their Backs, which certainly verifies my past sources. And this link, The Littlist Boy, will provide you with more history of the program, which was officially declassified in 2014. I think we should consider that if this nuke program, which never kidnapped or killed any foreign politicians or generals, remained classified fifty years, similar programs run by the obsessively secretive CIA, which has done illegal things, if they did exist would likely still be tightly classified. Notably the initial timelines for the nuke operations and the so-called Ghost Walker ops do approximate; and while I agree that it is quite unlikely an ordinary infantry soldier or military policeman would be tapped for such shadowy operations and the DD-214’s do assuredly look bogus, could it be that Dunagan heard of the nuke ops and appropriated them as the base for his fables? But, is it also possible he could have been involved in some clandestine operations in an ancillary way such as providing security? As a young MP at Fort Campbell, I served on security details for nuclear warhead transportation from Clarksville Navy Base to Campbell Army Airfield. We weren’t supposed to know what was going on but of course we did. Perhaps Dunagan had some sort of tangential experience with black ops and like so many we see here at TAH, decided to embellish his own record.

December 14, 2018
Last Ride for Rolling Thunder

By William Vitka

A massive annual motorcycle rally staged in Washington will end next year, with organizers citing a lack of law enforcement cooperation and “increased harassment to supporters” as reasons for stopping the 31-year-old tradition.

Rolling Thunder began in Washington in 1987 after Artie Muller, who served in the Vietnam War as an infantry sergeant, sought to call attention to veterans in need and prisoners of war.

In a statement Thursday, Muller said Rolling Thunder XXXII, scheduled for 2019’s Memorial Day weekend, would be “the final Thunder Run in D.C.”

“We had so many problems in the last two or three years with the [Pentagon Police] and the parking facilities after we leave the Pentagon parking lot,” Rolling Thunder, Inc. board member Gus Dante told WTOP.

After the 2019 run, “We are going to do it in our local areas, various states,” he said.

It’s now up to the 90 chapters themselves to independently put rides together. For example, the New Jersey chapters can team up with Pennsylvania and New York, and maybe part of New England, and gather at a centralized location.

Dante says there are a lot of members who believe independent organization will work out even better than Washington.

He believes future rides will be “more personal” and get “more coverage” for veterans issues.

“Let’s face it, we got coverage for a few seconds in D.C. and that was the end of it,” Dante told WTOP.

The reason the ride exists is to raise money and awareness for veteran issues.

Love them or consider them a mobile road block, you have to admit they got the message out, in a loud and visible way. I hope the independents can carry on with this and the other escort services they render. Yes, I rode a bike for some 40 years, so I’m hardly unbiased.
Keep the shiny side up,
AW1

Read the rest of the article here at: WTOP 5

December 14, 2018
Friday Feel Good Stories

A courtesy call would have prevented…never mind.
Van Buren County man claims self defense in shooting death

PINE GROVE TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A Van Buren County man has gone on trial for the shooting death of his ex-wife’s new boyfriend.

It happened in June when Troy Taylor tried to drop off his son at his ex-wife’s house in Gobles and she wasn’t there.

It turned out she was engaged in a sex act with her boyfriend, Tim Henley nearby in his Jeep and was discovered by her daughter.

In the upset and anger that followed, police said Henley began punching the windows in Taylor’s BMW, shattering the driver’s side window.

That’s when Taylor pulled out a hand gun and fired three times at Henley, who would die from the wounds.

Pack your toothbrush, Taylor. The rest of the story may be found here at WKZO Kalamazoo

My favorite local gun emporium has a rather large sign stating, “Nothing in here is worth your life.”
Suspected thief dies trying to steal car jack from homeowner, police chief says
Shooting, vehicle crash occurred in 700 block of Jennings Ave.
By Ben Spicer

SAN ANTONIO – A man attempting to steal a car jack from a homeowner on the city’s South Side has died following a shooting and vehicle crash, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said Tuesday.

The incident occurred just before 6:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Jennings Avenue, which is located not far from Frio City Road and South Zarzamora Street.

McManus said the mechanic had left a jack under a car outside his home when he noticed someone attempting to steal it. That’s when, McManus said, the homeowner confronted the suspect with a gun just before a struggle ensued.

Police said the homeowner tried to hang onto the car before eventually firing several shots.

Authorities say it appears that the suspect may have been hit by the gunfire. The car eventually crashed into a tree the next block over and sustained heavy front-end damage.

Police said the medical examiner will have to determine if the suspect, a man in his 20s, died from the gunshot wounds or the crash.

The entire article may be read at KSAT ABC 12

December 14, 2018
‘Captain Dan’ Strikes Again

Gary Sinise Flew 1,000 Children of Fallen Soldiers to Disney World for Christmas
By: Justin Caruso

“Each one of these children who are going on these airplanes have lost a parent in military services—either combat related or illness or unfortunately suicide sometimes,” The Gary Sinise Foundation founder said. “We wanna take care of these kids and make sure they know we don’t forget.”

The families took 15 planes and stayed at Disney for five days, The Epoch Times reports.

Anna Carrera @AnnaWTHR
What a sendoff for families as they board the Snowball Express! @INDairport -> Chicago -> Orlando for a special holiday trip in honor of their loved ones who died while serving our country. @GarySiniseFound @GarySinise @DoubleGee18 @WTHRcom #WTHRSunrise
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8:35 AM – Dec 8, 2018
68 people are talking about this

The Forrest Gump actor said in a social media post, “We Remember. Each flag representing the fallen hero of over 600 families attending GarySiniseFound 2018 Snowball Express event at WaltDisneyWorld Thank you to these Gold Star families, our amazing volunteers and all who supported our event.”

We Remember.
@GarySiniseFound 2018 Snowball Express event at @WaltDisneyWorld
Thank you to these Gold Star families, our amazing volunteers and all who supported our event.
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4:03 PM – Dec 12, 2018
1,791 people are talking about this

“Thank you so much @AmericanAir for the amazing support you give to those who serve and @GarySiniseFound . A tremendous spirit of volunteerism and giving back to our special Snowball families of the fallen. It’s been a great year. More to come in 2019. We Remember,” he said.

The 63-year-old actor has been a strong supporter of U.S. servicemen and women throughout his career. Last year, he visited Americans stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan for Christmas.

“Thank you to these brave men and women for your service to our country,” he said in a social media post.

I was going to write something here to sort of wrap it up, but the only thing I could come up with is, “Thank you, Gary.” That and it got a bit dusty in here.
Read the entire article here at Breitbart News

December 13, 2018
Thursday Feel Good Stories

More range time, please.
Break-in thwarted by armed homeowner leading to all-day manhunt & arrest
by WSYX/WTTE, TOM BOSCO

An attempted burglary turned into a manhunt after a Delaware County homeowner fired shots at the suspect. Deputies arrested Cody Marquette, 27, after searching for hours in rural Delaware County Tuesday.

Marquette is suspected of breaking into several homes along Carter’s Corner Road Tuesday. Investigators say one homeowner saw him leaving his garage carrying items, and tried to shoot at nearby trash cans to scare him away. It turned out the homeowner shot the burglary’s getaway vehicle, hitting the radiator and disabling it. That’s when the suspect had to take off on foot.

The homeowner who interrupted the burglary called 911 immediately, reporting the shooting and describing the suspect as a large man with a black coat and hood. “He looked huge, he looked like a (expletive) monster, excuse my language. I mean huge, he looked like a bear,” the homeowner said.

The entire article may be found here at ABC 6

No means no.
Man dies after ex-girlfriend shoots him during alleged sexual assault
By Harrison Grimwood Tulsa World

A Tulsa man died last Thursday after he was shot multiple times while sexually assaulting an ex-girlfriend, police were told.

Kevin Matthew Kemp, 42, died Dec. 6 after he was shot multiple times Dec. 1, Tulsa Police Sgt. Brandon Watkins said.

Kemp had gone to an ex-girlfriend’s apartment in the 4300 block of South Garnett Road the night before the shooting.

“They’d been broken up for a while, and I think he was trying to get back together with her,” Watkins said.

She told police that Kemp pressured her into allowing him to stay the night and that she allowed him to sleep on the couch. Police were dispatched to the apartment around 7 a.m. the next morning on a domestic shooting call.

Read the entire article at Tulsa World

December 13, 2018
Trump sprang three traps on Pelosi and Schumer yesterday

Anyone watching the news yesterday must have seen the video of Trump, San Fran Nan, and Chuckie in the Oval Office having a little chat. This was a set-up by Trump, as SFN and Chuckie clearly did not expect the press to be present during the meeting, and said as much several times. Judging by body language, Chuckie clearly wished himself elsewhere as Trump cornered them on boarder security and building the wall.

Our friend Poetrooper drew our attention to the work of one of his fellow American Thinker writers about the occasion, and suggested TAH readers would be interested. I certainly was, so now we both think you will be, too.

Trump sprang three traps on Pelosi and Schumer yesterday
By Thomas Lifson

President Trump clearly shocked House speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer yesterday with his televising of the Oval Office sit-down over his demand for $5 billion in funding for border security, including funding of critical mileage for his border wall. Knowing well that Pelosi had already vowed publicly that “transparency and openness” would characterize the Democrat-run House starting next month, her plaintive request to speak in private scored points for Trump and revealed her hypocrisy before any substance at all was considered.
The remarkable body language during the meeting tells the story of Trump’s dominance.

That was merely the first of three traps Trump had prepared for the Democrats’ congressional leadership.

Trump’s second trap is his bold declaration of ownership of any “government shutdown.” Democrats have convinced themselves that what is called a “shutdown,” but really means furloughing non-essential federal workers, is a tragedy, a scar on the nation’s psyche. The fact that federal workers are now a major and solid constituency for Democrats skews their perception of the public’s concern. Aside from canceling sleigh rides in national parks and other such photo drama, the fact is that life goes on well for nearly all Americans during the furlough. They learn that there are a lot of non-essential government workers.

After multiple shutdowns, including the last one that bore the label “Schumer Shutdown” and was quickly conceded by the Democrats, the public is no longer afraid of non-essential services (roughly 25% of the government) being temporarily suspended.

The entire article can and should be read at American Thinker

December 12, 2018