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

Author: Hondo

  • Losing an American Treasure

    American journalism – and in particular, conservative commentary – has lost a true treasure and an intellectual giant.

    Thomas Sowell:  “My Farewell Column”

    Thanks for all you’ve written over the years – both your commentary, and your books and other academic works.  Thanks as well for the insight and truth those works have contained.

    Enjoy your well earned retirement, Dr. Sowell.  At age 86, you’ve certainly earned that.  Best wishes.

    And to paraphrase a man named Rudyard:  “Yer a better man than I am, Dr. S.”  

  • Idiotic Progressive/SJW Complaints on Display

    Courtesy of Heatstreet.  These are excellent examples of abject stupidity.

    The truly sad part?  These ignorant, “special little snowflake” fools actually believed what they said when they complained.

  • Where’s Hondo? Thanks for Asking.

    I’ve received word that some regular TAH commenters are wondering about me.

    Now, I understand that the phrase “I really wonder about (name) sometimes” has on occasion been used by others talking about me in the past.  (smile)  But in this latest case, I do appreciate the concern. Thanks.

    Nothing drastic or bad has happened.  I’ve simply been “hair on fire” busy and out of pocket as a result.  It looks as if that will continue to be the case for a while – probably for a few more weeks.  But it shouldn’t continue permanently.

    And, for the record:  our “good friends” from the Definitely Really Great/Monumentally Fine and Amazingly Honorable (DRG/MFAH) group we all “know and love” have nothing whatsoever to do with what’s going on.  What’s keeping me busy is completely unrelated to those      jerks      fine individuals.

    Sometimes reality simply has demands that none of us can sidestep and which won’t wait.  Like everyone else on Earth, “Hondo only pawn in game of life.”

    Merry Christmas, all.

  • 22 More Belatedly Return

    DPAA has apparently been quite busy the past 2 weeks while I was “out of pocket”.

    DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US personnel.

    From World War II

    • FC2 Donald R. McCloud, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 16 December 2016.

    • RM3 Howard W. Bean, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 16 December 2016.

    • EM3 Cecil E. Barncord, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 16 December 2016.

    • FM3 Kenneth L. Holm, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 14 December 2016.

    • YN3 Edmund T. Ryan, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 14 December 2016.

    • SN1 Camillus M. O’Grady, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 16 December 2016.

    • SN1 Harold R. Roesch, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 14 December 2016.

    • SN2 Floyd F. Clifford, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor. He was accounted for on 14 December 2016.

    • 1stLt Francis J. Pitonyak, 8th Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, US Army Air Forces, US Army, was lost on 28 October 1943 in Papua. He was accounted for on 20 December 2016.

    • SSgt Byron H. Nelson, 721st Bomb Squadron, 450th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force, US Army Air Forces, US Army, was lost on 25 April 1944 in Italy. He was accounted for on 12 December 2016.

    • Capt Albert L. Schlegel, 335th Fighter Squadron, 84th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, US Army Air Forces, US Army, was lost on 28 August 1944 1950 in France. He was accounted for on 9 December 2016.

    From Korea

    • CPL Luis P. Torres, C Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 1 September 1950 in South Korea. He was accounted for on 15 December 2016.

    • CPL Gerald I. Shepler, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, US Army, was lost on 29 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 9 December 2016.

    • PFC Thomas C. Stagg, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, US Army, was lost on 29 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 15 December 2016.

    • SGT Homer R. Abney, A Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 1 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 9 December 2016.

    • CPL James T. Mainhart, I Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 30 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 12 December 2016.

    • CPL Edward Pool, 31st Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 30 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 9 December 2016.

    • PFC Charles C. Follese, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, US Army, was lost on 30 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 17 December 2016.

    • CPL Jules Hauterman, Medical Platoon, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 2 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 14 December 2016.

    • SGT Thomas E. Zimmer, A Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 6 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 18 December 2016.

    • CPL Joseph N. Pelletier, Headquarters Battery, 15th FIeld Artilery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 13 December 1950 in South Korea (see note). He was accounted for on 21 December 2016.

    • CPL George A. Perreault, Headquarters Battery, 15th FIeld Artilery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 13 December 1950 in South Korea. He was accounted for on 13 December 2016.

    Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your returns took so long.

    You’re home now.  Rest in peace.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

    On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

    If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.

     

    Author’s Note:  the location of loss for CPL Joseph N. Pelletier on DPAA’s website appears to be incorrect. The engagement in which he and CPL George A. Perreault were lost appears to have occurred in South Korea vice North Korea. The city of Wonju – cited by DPAA in the announcement of CPL Pelletier’s accounting as the town towards which US forces withdrew – is in South Korea.  Wonju is also a substantial distance (approx 100km) from the Korean MDL and DMZ.

  • Another Returns from Korea

    DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US soldier.

    From Korea

    • SGT Stafford L. Morris, Battery A, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 1 December 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 7 December 2016.

    Welcome back, elder brother-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.

    Rest in peace. You’re home now.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

    On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

    If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.

  • Good Advice for the Gander, Too

    There’s an old bit of advice that most ladies hear in one form or another when they’re young:  “no nudie pix”.  IMO, that’s good advice; once they’re taken, there’s no telling where they’ll end up.

    Well, guys – it’s not just good advice for the ladies.  Ever heard of the term “sextortion”?

    Yeah, it means pretty much what it sounds like it means:  someone gets their hands on explicit photos or videos of a person, then shakes them down for money.  It’s a real thing.

    Further:  it seems that some of the practitioners of that particular scam are apparently now frequenting certain “dating” sites.  And it also seems that some of them are now targeting people in uniform and/or those who work for the government as civilians.

    Word has gotten out that many government agencies – and the military in particular – take more of an interest in such conduct than most non-governmental employers.  That’s particularly true of anyone in working in a government position who has access to sensitive or classified info.  The reason should be pretty obvious:  people in government jobs who have access to sensitive or classified info just might be susceptible to blackmail by those looking to get their hands on said info.

    Remember, guys and gals:  once you’ve taken a picture it exists.  Once you’ve sent it to someone, you no longer control what happens to it.  Hell, even if you have it “safely stored” somewhere . . . well, things sometimes get lost or stolen.

    In other words:  if you wouldn’t want your mother/wife/kids to see it on the front page of the local newspaper or on the Internet, maybe think twice about taking the picture or video.  Because it just might end up there one day.

    As the fictional police Sergeant Phil Esterhaus put it years ago:  “Hey – be careful out there.”  The Internet ain’t Disneyland.

  • Gee. What A Surprise.

    Well, it looks like the current DC cognoscenti are beginning their preparations for departure.

    Why do I say that?  Because yet another of those “high mucky-mucks” currently in the Federal government now seems free to speak his or her mind – and deviate from the accepted “party line”.  Here’s a quote from a current high-level political appointees:

    “But there will still be much more to do after that to make sure that, once defeated, ISIL stays defeated.  We’ll need to continue to counter foreign fighters trying to escape and ISIL’s attempts to relocate or reinvent itself. To do so, not only the United States but our coalition must endure and remain engaged militarily.

    In Iraq in particular, it will be necessary for the coalition to provide sustained assistance and carry on our work to train, equip, and support local police, border guards, and other forces to hold areas cleared from ISIL”.

    Yeah, he’s saying we’ll need a US “stay behind force” in Iraq after Daesh is defeated in order to maintain long-term stability.  Surprise, surprise.

    If that sounds familiar . . . it should.  It’s the same thing several others were telling the current Occupant, 1600 Penn Ave, Wash DC and his       clueless clown krewe       Administration about Iraq during SOFA negotiations in 2011.  It’s also what several of them later said publicly about the resulting mess – as well as saying that the rise of Daesh is directly attributable to a lack of any US stay-behind forces.

    The person quoted above?  That would be the Honorable Ashton Carter – AKA, the current SECDEF.

    Hmm.  For some reason, the phrase “rats leaving a sinking ship” comes to mind.  Oh well.

    I will be so glad when something resembling adult leadership having a freaking clue about how the real world works returns to that Open Air Brothel on the Potomac called DC next month.  I’m thoroughly sick and tired of being led by clueless ideologues with zero understanding of the real world.

    Eight years of Leftist idiocy is far too long.

     

  • Another Three Return

    DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US military personnel.

    From World War II

    • 1st Lt Robert E. Moessner, , 373rd Bomb Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, US Army Air Forces, US Army, was lost on 18 April 1944 in China. He was accounted for on 17 November 2016.

    From Korea

    • MSG Joseph Durakovich, Company G, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army, was lost on 28 November 1950 in North Korea. He was accounted for on 22 November 2016.

    • CPL Lewis A. Damewood, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, US Army, was lost on 13 February 1951 in South Korea. He was accounted for on 22 November 2016.

    Welcome back, elder brother-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.

    Rest in peace. You’re home now.

    . . .

    Over 73,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,800 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,600 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA). Comparison of DNA from recovered remains against DNA from some (but not all) blood relatives can assist in making a positive ID for unidentified remains that have already been recovered, or which may be recovered in the future.

    On their web site’s “Contact Us” page, DPAA now has FAQs. The answer to one of those FAQs describes who can and cannot submit DNA samples useful in identifying recovered remains. The chart giving the answer can be viewed here. The text associated with the chart is short and can be viewed in DPAA’s FAQs.

    If your family lost someone in one of these conflicts and you qualify to submit a DNA sample, please arrange to submit one. By doing that you just might help identify the remains of a US service member who’s been repatriated but not yet been identified – as well as a relative of yours, however distant. Or you may help to identify remains to be recovered in the future.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial. That’s especially true for those who gave their all while serving this nation.