December 7, 1941

I need to pass along this salute to the Greatest Generation before the midnight hour strikes. Pearl Harbor does not get the mention as the turning point in US and World History that it once did.....that is a shame.

The attack on the Hawaiian Island changed America from a sleepy isolationist nation post WWI to the victim, albeit, a pissed off victim of Japan's aggression....of course tossing Nazi Germany into the mix was a "bargain" chip.....let's face it, a lot of men died, mistakes were made, but we kicked their asses....yes we had some help, especially from the rough and tumble Brits(what a nation of limp wrists that has become)....and from other countries...but make no mistake about it....despite what the left wing revisionists of history may say.....it was the American GI that kicked Germany's ass....and the guts of Harry Truman to end the bloodshed by dropping a couple of big ones on the Japs, that won the war......Politically Correct I am not....never have been, never will be......we as a people and a country need to take a page out of the WW2 generation's play book....and prepare to kick some Islamic ass.....and kick it so they won't want or be able to ask for seconds.

Salute to the WW2 Generation.....

{photos} The framed "Remember Pearl Harbor" item hung on my grandmother's wall for well over 50 years....it now hangs in the "Antique Room" of my basement(note the 1951 calender next to it) along with many other war and post war items.......Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941}

Air Vietnam Crash 12/22/1969

Hey to all the old WOs stopping by....thanks, and Welcome Home! And Thanks for
bringing my numbers up. I got over myself long ago Shark4...and the war too. PRH 7-1-09

As I sit here looking for the bright sun to make a dent in the 5 inch snow fall, and rest the back...thinking what the Hell am I going to do in the next 5 days, and if the injections fails...where do we go from here? I pulled a couple of old photos out of the Vietnam Box...and I notice one, pretty non-interesting that shows an open air school house from my days at Nha Trang, RVN....the back of the photo simply reads "Gook School House 1969", crude to say the least, but that's they way things were 38 years ago....I had nothing against the Vietnamese people in general....it was a crude slang, like so many others used to describe a group of folks. I tend not to worry about ancient history....others should not either....if they do, well, sorry about their personal problem.

What was interesting about this school house, was, it was located at the end of the main runway at Nha Trang AB.....on December 22, 1969, I was finishing up my tour at Nha Trang, and would be heading south to Saigon, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, to serve another 6 months in Vietnam. I had 5 days left at Nha Trang. December 22nd dawned bright and sunny, I do remember that much...I also remember it as the day I realized just how much I disliked Army Warrant Officers...it was nothing personal, I didn't like their attitudes, I just didn't like them....Warrant Officers, were in my opinion, half assed officers....Helicopter Jockies who thought their shit didn't stink.....we had to put up with them, because they were stationed next to us....in general, they were a pain in the ass.....by the end of 12/22/1969, I couldn't stand the sight of them.

We received notice of an in-air situation concerning a Air Vietnam DC 6....someone had exploded a bomb on board the plane, but it was still flying, and was going to attempt to make a landing at our runway.....Cops, and the guys with the bright red fire trucks were called out....the Security Police would clear the area...the Fire guys would sit by and wait to see if the plane would land safely, if not, those boys knew what to do.....I knew a little about Air Force Fire Protection Specialists, my older brother Mike was one.......our problem clearing the runway and surrounding area would have been easy, the Air Force guys knew better than to give us any grief...the clowns that called themselves Warrant Officers(I called them assholes), were not as easy to chase off....I especially remember one overweight blond WO....as I told him to get off the pylon, and out of the area, he yelled back, I had no authority, and I was to call him sir(The Air Force didn't recognize WOs as officers, so we did not salute them or call them "sir")....that did it, I laughed at him, and told him the only thing I would call him was "Jackass", and he had 30 seconds to clear the area, if not, I was going to arrest him......the stare down lasted about 30 seconds until Staff Sgt Melvin Sloan showed up, and told "Blondie" he had just used up his free pass....looking at the 6' 4" black man, with the pissed off look on his face, I guess the WO figured, he best not force the issue, and with a glare(at me) left the flight line. Sloan was my buddy....plus I figured, if any fight ensued, it was best to have him on my side...especially at the NCO Club, or elsewhere some didn't appreciate off duty Cops.

My issue with this WO, and others, was here we were with a good chance of people dying, and they wanted to shoot photos.....they were not from "Stars and Stripes", and I wasn't letting them get close enough to see death and destruction.....no photos were taken by anybody near us, that I know.

The aftermaths of the "crash landing" can be found at:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0283.shtml

and:

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1969/1969-81.htm

What I remember is the plane approaching from over the beach on the South China Sea....you could see the gaping hole in the rear passenger side....as in slow motion, the plane landed far down the runway.....it did not burst into flames, but it did spark and come apart...as it slid towards the school house and the shacks in the neighborhood......

How most of those on the plane survived, is a mystery.....to this day I can't remember exactly what happened on the ground....I know the school was hit and basically destroyed, 24 people on the ground were killed....what I don't recall, and probably best that way, is whether the school was evacuated.....and whether it was kids in the school or residents in the area that lost their lives.....I just know, I can still see the slow motion picture in front of me....and the thought that I was lucky I never saw the Warrant Officer again, I probably would have ended up in jail.... instead, I was gone in 5 days, heading for Saigon.....I don't know what happened to "Blondie", and frankly, I could care less....I'm just glad he never got to get his death photos, at least on my side of the runway.

{A DC 6B....not the one that crashed... the School House at the end of the Nha Trang Runway, a few weeks before the crash, and me in my blue Sky Cop Helmet manning the Civilian Gate in October 1969}

A Day at Fort Wayne Orthopedics

Patricia and I headed out to Fort Wayne around 11 this morning for a 1:30 appointment with the Orto Surgeon at FWO....the 65 mile trip usually take an hour and a half tops, but with the 5 inches of snow, we decided to leave early....taking her van, a smoother ride than the Jeep Wrangler...although not as sure in the icy conditions.

The roads in Ohio from Celina to Willshire(on the Indiana Line) were pretty slippery, less snow in the Hoosier state made things a lot easier and we got to FWO a good hour before the appointment. My recent MRI images were in hand....and after about 15 minutes in the waiting room Doc showed up and proceeded to go over the MRI with us.

I always like somebody that does not try to talk above your head and this guy(his name is not necessary to put out on a blog) let us get into the conversation....bottom line:

The canal space between the 3rd and 4th vertebra is starting to narrow from Spinal Stenosis...in short the flow space is closing....caused by age, activity, and basically is a narrowing of the spinal canal....this is pinching the nerve, and thus the pain in the ass(for lack of a better term) and the leg pain are the results......in addition, the 5th(or lowest) disk is pretty well squashed down on the two surfaces....this causes some back pain and stiffness, but is not the cause of the main pain.....surgery? Not yet....he thinks I have a good chance of alleviating the pain with a Epidural Injection to the 3 and 4 space. This will happen after a week off Ibuprofen and Aspirin....I can take the Celebrex, but probably won't....so a painful 6 days may be coming.

I go back to Fort Wayne next Tuesday at 3PM....and they invade the back with this procedure.....sometimes these work, if not, other options will be considered. I have had one before, back in the late summer of 1993.....one step away from open back surgery...it worked to perfection, and I was pretty well pain free for the next 14 years. I don't expect that long of relief this time...why? I am 58 not 44, and the damage is not going away...best I can hope for IMO, is for this to work, and possibly work for months....giving me time to look at other options....but who knows? Maybe I'll get another shot at long term relief.

I'm not as opposed to open back or laser surgery as I once was....hard core pain will do that to you.....but if I can avoid those procedures, I certainly would welcome that as well.

Updates coming as they happen on this breaking story......lol!

First Snow of the Season!!

No it's not a big deal... 3 or 4 inches of the heavy wet variety so far.....but being the first of the season, most of the local schools, including Celina(where I reside) and St. Henry(where the wife teaches) have shut down.....and they wonder why they use up their 5 calamity days so fast....the freaking winter has not even gotten underway.

Anyway, makes it perfect for driving to Fort Wayne Orthopedics(about 65 miles) on the west side of that Indiana city....was going to take the Jeep, but Patricia insists she go along(since she has no school), and we take the van.....wish me luck(with the back and the drive to and from).

If I find out anything from the MRI read, will report that as well. Photos of the Driveway and the back yard getting their first white stuff this morning around 9AM.

Had to add one more!

After sending out this photo to Buck Pennington and others, and at his behest, I add this one.....

1920 Era Motorcycle with sidecar......my great aunt and her husband tooling the streets of Scott, Ohio......

The Weekend/Old Cars in Old Photos

I have to say I sat around watching football and nursing the back all weekend....not something I'd rather do, but you go with what you are given, and that's where I am at right now.....with the MRI done, I head back to Fort Wayne Wednesday, and look forward to moving forward, with whatever it takes to get back on the right path to walking and sleeping like a normal 58 year old(whatever the Hell that might be).

The football was interesting...both local teams won their respective State Championships(see previous posts), in Division 5 and Division 4......also Ohio State and LSU backed into the National Championship game in D 1 college...thanks to a monumental choke by West Virginia, and Missouri tanking it to Oklahoma. It probably should have come down to OSU and LSU...Big 1o vs the SEC, and 2 Ohio born coaches going for all the marbles.

I was even watching the NFL yesterday.....something I usually don't do if the weather and back are doing well....but they were not, so I did....both Ohio teams did what they do best.... the Browns and Bengals lost.

Cars____________

Did you ever notice how cars are a big part of almost all photo albums? Well at least that's the case in my family...I dug out some old photos from the 1920s and 1930s saying, "I wish I had those cars today" We always had a variety of vehicles...dad was a mechanic, and a fixer upper of assorted cars...when he died on Christmas eve of 1972 he was working on a 1939 Studebaker....the damn thing had some kind of "reverse" engine....and he had it torn down...we had no clue, so mom sold it a year or so later just to get it out of the driveway...because we were clueless on how to get the damn thing running again.....as good as the old man was working on engines...that's how bad I am...always love to drive em', just never liked working on them.....

Anyhow, here are some photos of long gone family members and some of their vehicles......just don't ask me to name each vehicle....I can remember or identify some, but not all of them.

Anyway, top to bottom looks something like this:

(1)1975 at Daytona Beach, me in my Hippy Dippy 1960 something Ford Van.

(2) Grandma Houseworth's ride and her dog back in the 1930s

(3) My Aunt Eva Houseworth Anspaugh in 1938

(4) The Waldron Family Reunion with a line of cars back in 1930 at Paulding, Ohio

(5) My 1987 T/A Firebird, got rid of that before the boys could drive it...those things are sharp, but not worth a damn in snow or even rain.

(6)My 9th birthday party, March of 1958, with the Blackburn Boys in Venice, Florida...I have the catcher's mitt(my present) and the only girl is my sister Marty...the ride is a 1956 Chevy, my mom learned to drive in this one at the ripe old age of 33.

(7)Aunt Cecil Houseworth Linker in 1920(outside with hat on) and some Houseworlth cousins, out for a "Sunday" drive.

(8) Aunt Eva again, my guess is the early 40s.....

(9) My Grandad DeVore...mom's dad, back in the early 40s....not sure what he was getting into, but always like his pose in this photo.

(10) Cecil and her husband Hank with a friend, back in 1923.

2 Down 0 to Go!!!

The upset of the Ohio High School Playoffs happened this afternoon in Massilon....Coldwater Cavilers defeated Youngstown Cardinal Mooney 28-27 in come-from-behind fashion. The win gives the Midwest Athletic Conference it's 18th football title in the past decade or so....Mooney came into the game ranked #2 in the state and #8(USA Today poll) in the nation.....14-0 they last lost in 2005 to...who else?....Coldwater, they had won 28 in a row...the Cavs meanwhile were 13-1 their only loss coming to league rival Marion Local who won the Division 5 crown yesterday over another Youngstown parochial school.

Coldwater was down 21-7 going into the 4th quarter....they scored 3 touchdowns, 2 on razzle dazzle plays and the 3rd on a circus catch after a fumble recovery with about 2 1/2 minutes left....Mooney, not to be denied moved the ball down the field and scored on a 6 yard pass play with 12 seconds left, it appeared to be headed for overtime...when the middle of the Coldwater defensive line pushed back the O-Line of the Cardinals and blocked the point after.....securing a 28-27 upset win.....Coldwater's second title in 3 seasons.

Our little county has about 42,000 souls, and for the second year in a row, two Mercer County teams have won football titles. To add to the sports heroics Marion Local's girls Volleyball team won the state title 2 weeks ago.

OK...that's it for the night....back with another "real" post tomorrow.

One Down One to Go!

One of the local county teams the Marion Local Flyers defeated Youngstown Ursuline today to win the Division 5 Ohio High School Football Championship....Marion(not to be confused with the city of Marion some 100 miles east)is a township school located about 7 miles south of Grand Lake and 10 miles from Celina. The 20-14 win over the big city Catholic school marks the 4th football championship since 2000...last year they won small school Division 6th, this year as the smallest school in Division 5 they take home the crown again.

Our family interest is twofold...they are local, and the youngest son Hal coaches many of the players in summer High School Baseball....Marion finishes 15 wins 0 loses.

Tomorrow in Division 4, Coldwater(same league as Marion) takes on nationally ranked Youngstown Cardinal Mooney...Mooney stands at 14-0, Coldwater 13-1, their only loss coming to league champion and the smaller Marion Local Flyer Squad.

Another Passing____________Evil Knievel died today at 69....the pop icon of the 70s sure beat the Hell out of his body.....it is amazing he lasted this long...I still remember watching him fail at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.....they still show that one in slow motion, with Evil breaking almost every bone in his body, and surviving.....kind of the pain I have felt of late....can not imagine putting your body through that.

Evil's Greatest Crash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYGGCVE2lKY

How bad would the back pain have been...???

PHOTOS....Flyers Football and the Great Pop Icon Evil K

The Lying World of the Main Stream Press

Being a right wing kind of guy, it always amazes me how stupid the Republican Party has become....while our resident American Socialist Party(Democrats) and their "We hate America First" followers refuse to debate on Fox, because of the FNS perceived "right wing bias"....the dupes in the GOP gladly go on the CNN/You Tube debates and become fodder for "plants" in the audience asking simple minded questions that any real conservative would laugh at....sorry to say there are no "real" conservatives in the GOP race and the boys gladly answers questions from a "union moll" claiming to be an independent working mother....and to top that off, CNN takes a "rump ranger" retired full bird and half assed one star reserve General, trying to get the debaters to bite on his bid to let perverts(yes folks, queers are perverts, take it or leave it) come out of the closet and serve in drag....OK, OK, maybe I'm a little overboard there, but really not far off the mark...the goal of the radical fags is to make their perversions seem "normal".....sorry guys, it's not...I could care less what you do behind closed doors, but don't try sticking it in my face The military job is to kill people and win wars, not make some sick statement on society.

Bottom line is, the Republican Party, my former party, is making me sick.....at least with the Democrats, we know they hate us, and hate the country.....they tell you right up front....meanwhile, the GOP keeps throwing shit, and hoping it will stick.

Here is the Fox story on last night's phony debate with photo of Old General Brown Eye himself:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,314002,00.html

Meanwhile__________

Went and got the MRI at Mercer County Hospital today...about 45 minutes long....and a boat load of "images" to drag off to Fort Wayne next week....lucky for us most of this is covered by insurance....the MRI alone has to be big $....not sure I want to know. Meanwhile the back stays the same.....8 weeks this weekend, so I say it's time to get with the program and see what can be done.

Greenville tomorrow for a couple hours filling in.

Two local teams Coldwater 13-1 and Marion Local 14-0 play tomorrow(Marion), and Saturday(Coldwater) in the state finals in Divisions 4 and 5 respectfully....Coldwater's only loss was early to ML...both play teams from Youngstown....Marion will win I am confident, Coldwater has a much tougher assignment, Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, a team they defeated 2 years ago....a team that hasn't lost since....and is looking for for revenge.

Good Luck to both.....

Big college football weekend as well....Ohio State hoping that either West Virginia(not much chance) or Missouri(fair chance) loses to send them back to the National Championship game in January. If that fails, it's off to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl...not a bad consulation game.

photos{Fox and the rest...Fox may have to much fluff and blondes...but compared to the marxist rot put out by the rest.....it's far and above the best}

Back Pain, Mike, and remembering the past

Sitting here on the computer, waiting for the extreme pain of the morning to go away or at least reduce itself enough for me to get myself around. Funny(not really) thing about this type of pain...it starts off in the morning from the time you wake...then usually the different levels arrive. less after you move around, then as the day wears it comes back, depending on the day's activities. No work in Greenville this morning, so got up before Patricia headed off to school, so she could help me get dressed...sad state of affairs, but without her, I would be hours getting enough movement to get around. That's how far I've went downhill the past couple of weeks...from seeming better before the Akron trip to this. But as a line in a long forgotten movie once stated..."pain is what makes you alive"...."Bullshit" is what I say.

Anyway the Ortho gave me a 10 day supply of Celebrex to reduce inflammation....took 2 yesterday, then supposed to take one a day until I go back.....well, that probably ain't gonna happen...it did not help me sleep without pain, yes I slept longer, but still had the pain this morning...so I figure, I might as well go back to the Ibuprofen and a couple of cold ones...less side effects and just as effective, without the chance of the stuff having a reaction.

Anyway off to the MRI in C0ldwater tomorrow.....then wait for another week before heading back to Fort Wayne next Wednesday.

Sam heads for Rhode Island with a RV today.....says he needs the miles, the RV business is a little slow around the Christmas season.

Mike and Me____________

My older(and only) brother Mike is in Columbus this week getting tested for probable stage 2 on the vocal cords.....after breaking his leg almost a year ago down at his Homosassa, Florida, home, he went downhill over the next few months....during his recovery back in Ohio, he has now gotten himself off the 2 pack a day smoke habit(45 years running) cold turkey, and seemed to be turning the corner, until the lost or raspy voice came along.....after foot dragging by the VA(slow but never steady is it's motto), he finally got back in for a look at his vocal problems, and depending on what they see Friday, it appears he probably has stage 2 cancer on the cords....but this is actually better than feared...his daughter, a RN, got him in earlier than they wanted....and it now appears they can do laser to remove the problem....that will come in the 2nd week of December, and as it looks he will be released on December 15th....his 61st birthday.

Doesn't look like Mike will be getting back to Florida for the winter....at least not at this point....

Mike and I grew up in Venice, Florida(although both of us were born in Van Wert, Ohio) from 1953-1963....we were different to say the least, our personalities never did seem the same, we got along, like all siblings, more or less....him being the oldest probably had it's advantages and disadvantages...me, being the 2nd, ahead of 2 younger sisters, never seemed like much of a bargain. We had our battles, him being the oldest, made him king of the hill.....but we never had any serious fights...he would have won(until our post Air Force days, then, there would have been a changing of the guard), but it never came to that...we got along later in life, still two completely different souls with different outlooks on life, God, and activities....Mike was the hunter, I like fishing better, Mike was into fast cars, me, not so much, I liked comfort...he liked to smoke and drink, I settled for beer, an occasional mixed drink or Drambuie.....later on I would discover fine hand rolled cigars...but thankful I never did enjoy the smell of cigarettes...so I never partook. After his divorce 25 years ago, Mike the Telephone installer, moved and lived on the road before finally settling in Homosassa, a Gulf of Mexico berg, about 50 miles north of Tampa...it suited him well, until the back problems from to much travel and too many falls from poles ended his working days....his boat and his house trailer, located on the Homosassa River(100 yards from his watering hole, The Manatee Pub), fit his life style, until health problems set him back a couple of years ago.....Mike is at the crossroads....we will see how this works for him, and the family....he has two daughters in Columbus and 2 granddaughters to think about, plus mom is still in good health, and basically taking care of him...who would think it?...83 year old mother is actually in better condition than 60 year old son.....and if I don't improve, she may have me beat.......

And life goes on.........................

Photos{Mike and me in the late 1950s....next to dad's 100 lb Jew fish at the Venice Jetties...and in 1958 Mike was on the Varsity of the Venice Elks Little League team, I was on the JV of the same squad}

MRI Time

After a quick morning at Greenville...I headed over to Fort Wayne to FWO and checked in with the Orthopedic Surgeon....read the 3 week old X-Rays and basically told me the same thing as the Chiropractor....your 5th(lowest) disk appears to be rubbing bone to bone....Ya Think? Anyway the MRI is scheduled for Thursday at noon in our local hospital in Coldwater....will hand carry those over to Fort Wayne next Wednesday....and begin the path to recovery....always the optimist....yah, right!

The last 2 weeks have been a "trip" with drives to Akron, Columbus, and Wisconsin...now back and forth to Fort Wayne and Greenville....so the walking and apparent recovery have been "set back".

Anyway Thanksgiving in Wisconsin went well...our entire family was there and all of Patricia's family made an appearance.....can't ask for much more than that.