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

Category: Geezer Alert!

  • Still Tryin’ to Get Home

    150 years ago…

     When the turret of the Civil War ironclad Monitor was raised from the ocean bottom, two skeletons and the tattered remnants of their uniforms were discovered in the rusted hulk of the Union Civil War ironclad, mute and nameless witnesses to the cost of war. A rubber comb was found by one of the remains, a ring was on a finger of the other.

    Now, thanks to forensic reconstruction, the two have faces.

    In a longshot bid that combines science and educated guesswork, researchers hope those reconstructed faces will help someone identify the unknown Union sailors who went down with the Monitor 150 years ago.

    The article is here.

    “After 10 years in the lab, maybe it’s time for these guys to get out of archival boxes and into a final resting place,” he said. Fundraising has also begun to erect a monument in Arlington to the 16 men on aboard Monitor, which he called an “iconic warship that changed naval history.”

    “Like all who served and all who do pay the price, that in and by itself makes them important and worthy of remembrance and recognition,”

    Fair winds and  following seas shipmates.

     

  • The Way it Was – A Perspective

    Gonna abuse my posting privilege just a bit… This is a cause for Doc Bailey as I’ve noted.

    I was NOT there, neither was WOTN.

    However he puts it together well.

    Incident in Baghdad.

    On 12 July 2007, an Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment embarked on a mission to clear Al-Amin District of New Baghdad of Anti-Iraqi Forces, aka Mehdi Militia, aka Jayish al-Mahdi in order to provide freedom of maneuver to Coalition Forces.  By 10:20 AM, Baghdad time, they had taken significant amounts of SAF (small arms fire) and RPG (rocket propelled grenade) fire, sporadically.  Two AH-64D’s were in the area and responded.  What would happen next would inspire a movie, that would be nominated for an Oscar, but not win one.

    “Now the war is over and in a lot of ways we’re still fighting it. It is my accretion that despite what many leaders of this very government said publicly or otherwise, we won. We won through the blood sweat and tears of the troops on the ground, that refused to give up.”  Doc Bailey

  • What the Heck… More Good News for a Sunday

    As an added bonus this bit has some liberals in a snit.
    ‘Act Of Valor’ #1 With $25M Weekend

    Relativity’s R-rated Act Of Valor has stayed No. 1 all weekend. It’s the the Bandito Brothers’ independently financed low-budget U.S. Navy fighting force tale using actual SEALs from an original screenplay by Kurt Johnstad (300).

    Jonn’s review is here.

  • A Bit of GOOD News

    Marine credits karma for $2.9 million jackpot

    Marine Cpl. Alexander Degenhardt is crediting karma for landing a $2.9 million progressive slot jackpot in Las Vegas.

    Degenhardt was accepted as a bone marrow donor to an anonymous patient only a couple of days before hitting the jackpot Sunday at the Bellagio, the Las Vegas Sun reported (http://bit.ly/ABQ02J).

    “They asked me if I was sure I wanted to go through with it because it’s kind of painful, but what’s a little pain if it will save someone’s life?” Degenhardt said. “I look at this jackpot as kind of good karma for that.”

    Degenhardt, 26, said he plans to continue his career with the Marines and go through with the bone marrow donation, which is expected to occur in the next six months after extensive testing.

    There is little to need to add anything.

  • Incident in New Baghdad

    Our pal and frequent commenter Doc Bailey has been interviewed by The Washington Post.

    Incident in New Baghdad’: What happened in Iraq?

    On July 12, 2007, during a long, hot mission, American soldiers searched houses in a ruined maze of a neighborhood in east Baghdad. The largely routine effort came to a violent conclusion: An Apache helicopter circling overhead spotted several men carrying weapons. The chopper stalked the targets, then opened fire. Among the 11 killed were a Reuters photographer and his driver. Among the wounded were two young children.The Army investigated. No one was publicly found at fault.

    I’ve been following the story on FB here: 2-16, (and 4th IBCT) Vets for Truth.

    On the face of it this is a story about the fog of war, but there’s more. Toss in Wikileaks, an potential Academy Award, and old wounds are being torn open.

    First, a classified video of the action as seen from the Apache was released by WikiLeaks in April 2010. Now a 22-minute documentary of the “Incident in New Baghdad” by director James Spione is up for an Academy Award at the Oscar ceremony Sunday.

    Yet for all the documentary evidence — video doesn’t lie, does it? — collective truth remains elusive. Nobody, including the Pentagon, disputes the authenticity of the video. What it means, however — and what happened before, what happened after, what were the intentions of the actors — those are different questions.

    I can’t relate directly this event, but I CAN relate to the aftermath… Snippets of time, scenes from larger events, taken out of context and amplified.  Maybe used with good intentions, or maybe driven by some hidden agenda?

    Every Nam vet can empathize.

     

  • Tar and Feathers. Wish I’d Thought of That.

    Rurik sends a link: Tar and Feathers for Ray Mabus

    Jed Babbin served as a deputy undersecretary of defense in the George H.W. Bush administration so he has a very useful perspective.

    Back in the Reagan days, the phrase “personnel is policy” revealed an insight on how Washington works. Any administration is more likely to succeed if it hires the best people who are ideologically oriented to its goals. If your agenda is radically-liberal, as Obama’s is, you would choose someone like Ray Mabus, a former Mississippi governor, to be your Navy secretary.

    Navy Secretary Mabus, like Obama, believes that our armed services are political tools, playthings to be splashed about like toys in a toddler’s bathtub. Yes, they are all too willing to bask in the glories of DEVGRU (aka, SEAL Team 6), but the credit for those achievements is JFK’s, not theirs.

    Under Mabus and Obama, our Navy has shrunk to World War I levels, women are serving on submarines and we are spending untold millions or billions on “greening” the navy. The Marine Corps is about to be cut massively and the navy’s shipbuilding program is being delayed, resulting in a force that may be over-stressed or even incapable of doing its job in the next crisis.

    Right now we have more admirals than ships. The fleet stands at about 285 ships, down from the Cold War level of nearly 600. We have about 336 admirals. And some of them are interesting picks.

    Babbin continues in some detail so take a minute to read it. There’s little new for most TAH readers, but he does a fine job putting it all together.

    And a reminder of  one thing we can do short of tar and feathers…

    No Murtha Ship!

  • Peace and Quiet…

    Well… it IS a slow news Saturday, unless the Whitney Houston funeral is important to you?

  • Before There Were SEALS

    Disclaimer: I knew UDT types back in the day. Larry Bailey is the first SEAL I met.

    This showed up on FB this evening:  Just a Sailor.

    BIGELOW, acting instantly as the deadly projectile exploded into fragments which penetrated the No. 1 gun magazine and set fire to several powder cases, picked up a pair of fire extinguishers and rushed below in a resolute attempt to quell the raging flames.

    Nothing to add. Except that Just A Sailor is swiped from a pal.