OK, here’s yer WOT, model M1A3E1 (1 ea), for Friday, 23 November 2018.
The original WOT article for this week was set to run early, prior to Thanksgiving (traditionally a 4-day weekend). Somehow it ended up rescheduled to run today.
Unfortunately, due to embedded content the original WOT article was not really appropriate to run post-Thanksgiving, and I didn’t have enough time to draft a suitable replacement. So this is it for today; have fun anyway.
Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend.
In a nursing home in Ashland City on 4 November 2018, Leo Stokely died at age 69.
Someone in a nursing home dying is not terribly uncommon. Given his age, neither is the fact that Stokely was a USMC veteran who’d done a tour in Vietnam.
As a veteran Stokely was set to receive a military funeral, to be held on 9 November. Unfortunately, Stokely’s remains were unclaimed. None of his family members could be located.
Enter the Cheatam County Veteran’s Service Office, and Bob Counter.
Counter posted about the unfortunate turn of events on the organization’s Facebook page in an attempt to locate any of Stokely’s surviving family. In that, he was unsuccessful.
However, Counter’s Facebook post went viral. And when Stokely’s funeral was held on a cold, rainy Friday . . . he had a proper send-off. Literally hundreds of individuals showed up to pay their respects to a man they didn’t know.
Fox News has an article with a few more details. It’s short, and IMO worth a read.
Thanks, Mr. Counter. Yeah, you were just “doing your job”. Thanks anyway.
Longtime TAH readers know I travel a bit. For what it’s worth, I’m traveling now.
And with apologies to a guy named Robert Clark Seger: “When you’re driving umpteen hours, there ain’t nothing much to do” that’s reasonably safe – except to listen to music, either pre-recorded or on the radio. Sightseeing isn’t a particularly good option while driving, and the same is true of most everything else that would take your eyes and attention off of the road.
So yeah – I listen. And yeah, that means I’m about to wander off the ‘res a bit here.
Fair warning: if you’ve lost someone close recently – or are having difficulty dealing with a past loss of someone close – you might want to stop reading and skip the rest of this article. But if you haven’t, IMO you really need to read what follows.
. . .
Parents and their children often butt heads. The relationship can be difficult.
That’s particularly true between same-sex parent and child pairs. Those relationships often become quite strained when the child hits their teenage years.
I don’t really know why that is; I’m no shrink. But I’ll hazard a guess anyway.
I think the reason is evolutionary and hormonal. Humans are territorial animals, and seem to naturally gravitate to a hierarchical leadership model. Accordingly, in a family unit generally there’s room for only one male and one female “top dog”.
A maturing child threatens that structure. The child at some point reaches puberty, then young adulthood – and that change threatens the family’s stability.
Sometimes things get really nasty; other times, not so much. But the conflict is often if not most often there to some degree in every family. The participants almost always work it out, forming adult/near peer relationships in time.
That status holds for years, even decades. But eventually, if you’re “lucky” . . . you’ll outlive your parents. And yes, the “lucky” is in quotation marks in the previous sentence for reasons that should be obvious.
Burying a parent is hard – one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. I can only think of a handful of experiences that IMO might be worse.
But another issue comes later. And it can be kinda hard to deal with.
Because after you’ve buried a parent – or had one advance into dementia to the point they only rarely recognize you, perhaps, and maybe not even then – there are certain things you can’t do any more.
In particular, you can’t really ever tell them how much they mean to you – at least not in person. And I guarantee that after they’re gone you will kick yourself, repeatedly, for not having told them what they mean to you on a regular and recurring basis when they were around to hear you tell them.
. . .
Yeah, a particular song spawned this article. It was one written by a successful singer who had a rather difficult relationship with his father.
The original version was written while the singer’s father was dying a protracted death. The author reportedly sang that early version at his father’s funeral.
It was later recorded, with some changes; it was released over a decade ago. It was awarded multiple Grammy awards.
If you choose to listen, since you now know the tune’s background maybe having a tissue handy might be a good idea. Those who’ve recently lost someone close, or who are having difficulty coming to terms with a past loss, IMO really should pass on listening.
. . .
Yeah, this article is a bit morose. And no, I’m not trying to be “Downer Dave” or the Thanksgiving equivalent of The Grinch here. But sometimes, an idea is important enough that it needs to be said – and can’t be “sugar coated”.
Because life often has a way of reminding you – one way or another, and often very suddenly – that tomorrow . . . is never guaranteed. For anyone.
. . .
Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving. Enjoy the holiday. Use the opportunity to spend time with those who are important to you if you can. Let them know how much they mean to you.
And if one or both of your parents are still alive, make damn sure you tell them how much you love them.
From World War II
ENS Charles M. Stern, Jr., US Naval Reserve, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 13 November 2018.
MM1c Ulis C. Steely, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 14 November 2018.
Pfc Nicholas J. Gojmerac, USMC Reserve, assigned to Company Q, 4th Raider Battalion, 1st Marine Raider Regiment, was lost in the Solomon Islands on 20 July 1943. He was accounted for on 14 November 2018.
AMM1c Ira N. Slaton, US Naval Reserve, assigned to Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (CASU) 17, was lost at Tarawa on 16 December 1943. He was accounted for on 13 November 2018.
From Korea
None
From Southeast Asia
None
Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.
Rest easy. You’re home now.
. . .
Over 72,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; over 1,500 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA); 126 remain unaccounted for from the Cold War; 5 remain unaccounted for from the Gulf Wars; and 1 individual remains unaccounted for from Operation Eldorado Canyon. 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.
Yeah, I know Top Gun was (as far as accuracy goes) pretty much crap. But there’s one scene in the movie I absolutely love – because I’m convinced it’s based, somewhat loosely, on a real event.
My spouse and I saw the movie when it came out 30+ years ago. And I spent a lot of my youth as well as part of my early Army career around Army aviators – so I think I understand the aviator mindset fairly well.
One scene in the movie had me LMAO. Here’s a still:
As soon as I stopped laughing, my first thought was: “That has to be based on a real event.” But at the time I had no idea what that event was, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever find out any details of the real event that inspired it.
Fast forward 15+ years. I was reading a book; it was Ben Rich’s Skunk Works – his autobiography focusing on his years at Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects Division (AKA the Lockheed “Skunk Works”). A couple of chapters in the book are devoted to accounts from or about U-2, SR-71, and F-117A pilots and missions (all three aircraft were Skunk Works products – as were the P-38, the P-80, the F-104 and several other aircraft).
One of those firsthand SR-71 accounts was attributed to a Lt. Col. William Burk, Jr., USAF. It recounts a mission over Lebanon in late 1982, after the Beirut Marine Barracks bombing. Burk was the pilot for the mission.
The flight originated at RAF Mildenhall. At the time, the French wouldn’t give the US clearance to overfly France, so the mission’s route was planned to go via the Straits of Gibraltar.
The outbound leg and overflight of Beirut went well, though not without a bit of high APF time (they were tracked by a Syrian SA-5 during the mission). However, while in the Western Mediterranean on the return leg Burk got a low oil pressure indication on one engine.
The engine appeared to be operating properly, but he shut it down anyway. As the pilot, since he was now flying on one engine Burk decided to take the short way home (e.g., to cross France) instead of going home the long way via Gibralter.
He and his Recon Systems Officer had nearly finished crossing France and were nearing the English Channel. At that point, they were intercepted by a French Mirage.
The French pilot came up on the radio and asked them for their diplomatic clearance number. Per Burk, the Mirage was about 10 feet off his left wing at the time.
Burk had no idea what the man was talking about. So he told the French pilot to hold fast, while he checked with his RSO.
He asked his RSO if he knew what the French pilot was talking about. His RSO’s reply: “Don’t worry about it, I just gave it to him.”
Burk’s RSO had given the French pilot the finger out of his side window. At that point, Burk’s account says he “lit the afterburners and left that Mirage standing still” – and was crossing the English Channel a couple of minutes later.
As soon as I read that, my thought was: “Bingo! That’s it!”
Burk’s account can be read here. (Regrettably, I can’t find that particular excerpt of Skunk Works online.) My recollection is that it appears to be a faithful transcript of Burk’s account from Ben Rich’s book. What appears to be same account also exists, in non-verbatim form, on several other websites.
Personally, I’m convinced the account is legit.
. . .
Now, I don’t know with absolute certainty that that is in fact the real-life incident that inspired the cockpit finger scene in Top Gun. But the timing fits; the incident occurred in late 1982, and Top Gun didn’t start filming for at least 2 years. And aviators tend to talk about stuff they did over a drink or two – particularly the outlandish or dangerous stuff they managed to survive. So I’m guessing that story, in sanitized and/or garbled form, had circulated throughout military aviation circles by then. And I’m also guessing the story had come to the attention of the film’s writing team.
The rest, as they say, is cinematic “history”.
Anyway, “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.” (smile)
OK, enough Blackbird history for today. Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend.
Busting humps to get ready for a long (2-week-plus) road trip. So today’s WOT article consists of a photo, a comment – and a hint.
Here’s the photo:
The comment: the bright areas in the exhaust are called shock diamonds. They’re standing wave patterns that appear in supersonic exhaust plumes.
The hint: the photo is the hint.
Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend. And check back again next week. (smile)
Not a great day for the Republic yesterday, but not a bad one either.
In Georgia as well as in Florida, the Communist Socialist “Progressive” candidates running for Governor both appear to have lost.
In Texas, the drunk-driving, ex-punk rocker Communist Socialist “Progressive” candidate for Senate – lost in spite of apparent out-of-state, Hollywood celebrity-led attempts to buy the Senate seat for him through massive fundraising.
While the House was lost to the Prevaricating Promisers from the Pandering Progressive Party (the incumbent President’s party virtually always loses a number of House seats in mid-term elections, often losing control of the House), the Senate remained in adult hands with an even larger adult majority. So any Federal offices requiring Senate confirmation will still be considered by a majority consisting of adults vice dung-flinging SJW howler monkeys.
And if any rank idiocy from the Pandering Progressives manages to get by the Senate . . . well, the current POTUS has a pen and knows how to use it, too. Good luck in overriding a veto.
All but one of the Senators standing for re-election in competitive states who participated that organized campaign to destroy a good man’s reputation using highly suspect – and in some cases, outright fabricated – bogus testimony . . . lost. (Why West Virginia voters didn’t kick their jerk to the curb is beyond me.)
And, finally: guess which one of these guys (well, the term technically also applies to the one on the left) had the last laugh?
You can call him “Congressman Hit Man” now, Davidson. (Well, you could if you were truly a man vice a smarmy, butthurt little twerp who gets a kick out of mocking better men than yourself because of their combat-related disabilities.) (smile)
Added Postscript: Oh, and it looks like Taylor Swift will be eating a bit of crow today, too. Hope you like it, lady. A dry rub with garlic and chili powder might help.
And perhaps you should just stick to singing in the future. (smile)
DPAA has identified and accounted for the following formerly-missing US personnel.
From World War II
S1c Kirby R. Stapleton, US Navy, assigned to the crew of the USS Oklahoma, was lost at Pearl Harbor, HI, on 7 December 1941. He was accounted for on 1 November 2018.
Sgt Dwight W. Randall, USMC, assigned to Company C, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 20 November 1943. He was accounted for on 12 October 2018. (See note below.)
Pvt Fred E. Freet, USMC Reserve, assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 20 November 1943. He was accounted for on 29 October 2018.
Pfc William E. Brandenburg, USMC Reserve, assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, was lost on Tarawa on 22 November 1943. He was accounted for on 23 October 2018.
S2c Ira N. Slaton, US Naval Reserve, assigned to the crew of the USS Colorado, was lost at Tinian Island on 24 July 1944. He was accounted for on 26 October 2018.
From Korea
CPL Frederick E. Coons, US Army, assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, was lost in South Korea on 29 July 1950. He was accounted for on 23 October 2018.
PVT Robert J. Sipes, Jr., US Army, assigned to L Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, was lost in North Korea on 30 November 1950. He was accounted for on 23 October 2018. (See note below.)
From Southeast Asia
None
Welcome back, elder brothers-in-arms. Our apologies that your return took so long.
Rest easy. You’re home now.
. . .
Over 72,000 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; over 1,500 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia (SEA); 126 remain unaccounted for from the Cold War; 5 remain unaccounted for from the Gulf Wars; and 1 individual remains unaccounted for from Operation Eldorado Canyon. 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.
———-
Note: DPAA apparently “slip-streamed” the entry for USMC Sgt Randall into their “Recently Accounted For” page listing sometime during the past 3 weeks.
As of 2 November 2018, US Army PVT Sipes’ name did not appear on DPAA’s “Recently Accounted For” page listing. However, his accounting was announced here in a recent DPAA press release.
