Friday 10 July 2009

USS New York

USS New York
USS New York magnify

Heres something sent in by Jim Dempsey. Outstanding!! BB

USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center .

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, 'those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,' recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. 'It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.'

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the 'hair on my neck stood up.' 'It had a big meaning to it for all of us,' he said. 'They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back.'

The ship's motto? 'Never Forget'

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I'm not sure if this beauty belongs to Jorge Esquilin but he's the one who sent the info to me. BB

Okay, Yes is for sale ...$30,000.00, puertorican money.

Jorge also sent us this Photo of the WWI Veterans Memorial in Kansas City, MO. Thanks Jorge!

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Hot Damn! where can I get me one of them....Thanks to John Vanerio for sending this one in. BB

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Thanks to George Villanueva for sharing this one. BB

New AR-15 assault rifles for the

department $1,000.00 each.

   Training time $1,000.00 per Officer.       
Picture on front page of the local paper with the female officer 
standing in full view and not using any cover 
.....and with the gun magazine in backwards!!!!      
......PRICELESS!!!
Yeah....and check out that great Posture. BB

*************************************************************************

source:

WELCOME TO OLE' BILL'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

August 2008 - Week 2

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This is worth remembering.
This is worth remembering. magnify

TROOPER CORNER


I'll bet none of you saw or heard of this on the news. Thanks to Dan Thompson for sharing this story about a Military Family and our Commander in Chief. BB

Lt Col. Mark Murphy is the father of PFC Shawn Murphy of Butte who died in Iraq on December 10, 2006.

The Value of Service Commentary by Lt. Col. Mark Murphy
354th Maintenance Group deputy commander

8/15/2008 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- I learned a big lesson on service Aug. 4, 2008, when Eielson had the rare honor of hosting President Bush on a refueling stop as he traveled to Asia.

It was an event Eielson will never forget -- a hangar full of Airmen and Soldiers getting to see the Commander in Chief up close, and perhaps even shaking his hand. An incredible amount of effort goes into presidential travel because of all of the logistics, security, protocol, etc ... so it was remarkable to see Air Force One land at Eielson on time at precisely 4:30 p.m.--however, when he left less than two hours later, the President was 15 minutes behind schedule.

That's a big slip for something so tightly choreographed, but very few people know why it happened. Here's why.

On Dec. 10, 2006, our son, Shawn, was a paratrooper deployed on the outskirts of Baghdad. He was supposed to spend the night in camp, but when a fellow soldier became ill Shawn volunteered to take his place on a nighttime patrol--in the convoy's most exposed position as turret gunner in the lead Humvee. He was killed instantly with two other soldiers when an IED ripped through their vehicle.

I was thinking about that as my family and I sat in the audience listening to the President's speech, looking at the turret on the up-armored Humvee the explosive ordnance disposal flight had put at the edge of the stage as a static display.

When the speech was over and the President was working the crowd line, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see a White House staff member. She asked me and my wife to come with her, because the President wanted to meet us.

Stunned, we grabbed our two sons that were with us and followed her back into a conference room. It was a shock to go from a crowded, noisy hangar, past all of those security people, to find ourselves suddenly alone in a quiet room.

The only thing we could hear was a cell phone vibrating, and noticed that it was coming from the jacket Senator Stevens left on a chair. We didn't answer.

A short time later, the Secret Service opened the door and President Bush walked in. I thought we might get to shake his hand as he went through. But instead, he walked up to my wife with his arms wide, pulled her in for a hug and a kiss, and said, "I wish I could heal the hole in your heart." He then grabbed me for a hug, as well as each of our sons. Then he turned and said, "Everybody out."

A few seconds later, the four of us were completely alone behind closed doors with the President of the United States and not a Secret Service agent in sight.

He said, "Come on, let's sit down and talk." He pulled up a chair at the side of the room, and we sat down next to him. He looked a little tired from his trip, and he noticed that his shoes were scuffed up from leaning over concrete barriers to shake hands and pose for photos. He slumped down the chair, completely relaxed, smiled, and suddenly was no longer the President - he was just a guy with a job, sitting around talking with us like a family member at a barbeque.

For the next 15 or 20 minutes, he talked with us about our son, Iraq, his family, faith, convictions, and shared his feelings about nearing the end of his presidency. He asked each of our teenaged sons what they wanted to do in life and counseled them to set goals, stick to their convictions, and not worry about being the "cool" guy.

He said that he'd taken a lot of heat during his tenure and was under a lot of pressure to do what's politically expedient, but was proud to say that he never sold his soul. Sometimes he laughed, and at others he teared up. He said that what he'll miss most after leaving office will be his role as Commander in Chief.

One of the somber moments was when he thanked us for the opportunity to meet, because he feels a heavy responsibility knowing that our son died because of a decision he made. He was incredibly humble, full of warmth, and completely without pretense. We were seeing the man his family sees.

We couldn't believe how long he was talking to us, but he seemed to be in no hurry whatsoever. In the end, he thanked us again for the visit and for the opportunity to get off his feet for a few minutes. He then said, "Let's get some pictures." The doors flew open, Secret Service and the White House photographer came in, and suddenly he was the President again. We posed for individual pictures as he gave each of us one of his coins, and then he posed for family pictures. A few more thank yous, a few more hugs, and he was gone.

The remarkable thing about the whole event was that he didn't have to see us at all. If he wanted to do more, he could've just given a quick handshake and said, "Thanks for your sacrifice." But he didn't - he put everything and everyone in his life on hold to meet privately with the family of a Private First Class who gave his life in the service of his country.

What an incredible lesson on service. If the President of the United States is willing to drop everything on his plate to visit with a family, surely the rest of us can do it. No one is above serving another person, and no one is so lofty that he or she can't treat others with dignity and respect.

We often think of service in terms of sacrificing ourselves for someone in a position above us, but how often do we remember that serving someone below us can be much more important? If you're in a leadership capacity, take a good look at how you're treating your people, and remember that your role involves serving the people you rely on every day.

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This is something I would rather find out is an Urban Legend. Thanks to Jim Dempsey for sending it in. BB

This is worth remembering.

I'd think this applies to all the times you use a credit card, not just at the gas station.

Hey Guys,

Read this note very carefully. I did not know about the clear button, but I will be pushing the clear button before I swipe my gas or debit card and after just to be safe.

People are getting really desperate due to the constantly rising gas prices.

A friend just told me about something that happened to one of his coworkers.

She used her credit/debit card to purchase gas at the pump (like most of us do). She received her receipt like normal.

However, when she checked her statement, there were 2 $50 charges added in addition to her purchase. Upon investigation, she found out that because she did not press the 'clear' button on the pump, the employee inside the store was able to use her card to purchase his/her own gas!

To keep this from happening, after you get your receipt, you must press the 'CLEAR' button or your information will be stored until the next customer inserts their card. Be sure to tell all your friends/family so that this doesn't happen to them!

(**I had never noticed the clear button but I got gas the other day and sure enough it is there. I will be using it from now on....)

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Now here's a place where I wouldn't mind eating.....Thanks to Joe Birindelli for sharing.BB

Burger special

Anybody want to meet me for lunch? I'll buy your first triple bypass!!

The second one is on your insurance company.

Now that’s a burger………….

source

WELCOME TO OLE' BILL'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

September 2008 - Week 4

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The Order of The Silver Rose
The Order of The Silver Rose magnify

TROOPERS CORNER - SOUND OFF!


Here's something guaranteed to take your mind off Politics and other problems. Thanks to Skip Bell for sharing.BB

Something to take your mind off the economy....

-----

Is the world facing Thermobaric Terrorism?
By David Eshel - Defense Analyst

http://actionsbyt.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/new-type-of-terrorism/

The not so distant threat could involve a new terrorist weapon: the Thermobaric bomb

Canadian defense scientists are leading an international effort to devise protection against new and more powerful terrorist explosives designed to flatten buildings and rupture people's internal organs. This kind is of weapon, developed during the Cold War in the former Soviet Union, is known highly lethal in confined surroundings, such as underground tube systems and rail carriages.

According to Tom Burky, a leading explosives expert: " Thermobaric bombs, which the U.S. military is striving to perfect, may also be emerging as a weapon of choice for terrorists".

Termed "thermobaric," the relatively new explosive belongs to a class of fuel-rich compositions that release energy over a longer period of time than standard explosives, thereby creating a long-duration pressure pulse when detonated in confined spaces.

Thermobaric explosives (TBXs) are mixtures of conventional explosives and specific additives, such as aluminum, that undergo combustion after the detonation reaction. This secondary combustion phenomenon leads to specific shape and propagation characteristics in the resulting highly lethal shock wave. The burning plasma clouds can penetrate even the smallest cracks, and when the slurry is completely consumed, the resulting vacuum causes a massive back-blast that crushes everything in the area.

There are already signs that terrorists are trying to create thermobaric weapons.

For instance, in 2002 a tanker truck was used in a suicide attack on a synagogue in Tunisia, thought to be the work of Al-Qaeda. Some experts believe the way the fuel tanks were rigged with explosives shows a knowledge of fuel-air explosive techniques.

Designs for a fuel-air device were also acquired by the CIA from three alleged IRA members on trial in Colombia. The three are said to have been developing the bomb in conjunction with the local guerrilla group. The bomb detonated by al-Qaeda operatives on the Indonesian island of Bali, used the same principles that are behind thermobaric explosives, say scientists with Defense Research and Development Canada. "We just learned about thermobaric explosives in the late '80s when the Soviet Union was disintegrating," said Stephen Murray, head of the threat assessment group at the defense agency's Suffield, Alta., laboratories. "Those weapons later started showing up on the open market."

Thermobaric Weapons

The weapons he referred to apply to a wide range of thermobaric devices, which were used by Russia in the Chechnya campaign of 1999. A US Marine Corps study, based on interviews with Russian officers and Chechens, concluded that they were capable of killing troops in bunkers and destroying buildings that hadn't been reinforced. "Walls and surfaces do not necessarily shield victims," notes a US training manual.

Among the latest additions is the Russian thermobaric grenade–brought out on 23 July 2001 by the Bazalt Research and Production Center.

Western countries are developing similar weapons. The US created a bazooka with a thermobaric warhead called the SMAW-NE for the war in Iraq. China recently unveiled its own version, and the UK is also reported to be working on one - although the defense ministry insists that it is merely an "enhanced blast weapon". Such weapons are reported to have been used by US Special forces to rout out Taliban hiding in the Afghan Tora Bora mountain caves.

According to forensic experts, a Thermobaric explosive device is relatively easy to make. In fact, the materials to make a thermobaric bomb can be obtained without a license. And while an improvised bomb may differ from the military version, it can still have a devastating impact, said Burky.

Based on the knowledge published over the past years, in the so-called Terrorist Handbook, a notorious internet website, which depicts precise working instructions to bombmakers, it can be expected that in their search for more effective weapons in underground passages, tube and rail lines and other confined mass packed environments the terrorists will come up with more sophisticated measures.

Underground Transport Terrorism

Perhaps the most dangerous targets for Thermobaric terrorism are the big city underground networks, counter terrorist experts warn.

According to Alphus Hinds, head of secure risk at Interfleet "The underground rail system presents the terrorist with a composite choice of tactic and target permutations, from which a 'kill matrix' can be produced - that is an assessment of the likely number of casualties resulting from a particular combination of target and modus operandi".

Hinds, who specializes in the assessment of asymmetric and novel threats with particular emphasis on non conventional terrorism knows what he is talking about.

Between 1998 and 2004, there have been over 185 separate terrorist attacks on heavy rail, metro subway systems and light rail systems worldwide. Terrorists have targeted the full spectrum of the rail transport environment, including trains, ticket halls, passenger stations, train depots, railway bridges, tracks and signaling, resulting in around 700 deaths and over 4,000 injuries with an accompanying economic loss totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

On 15 March, 2004 British Transport Police Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter emphasized no specific threat to the London Underground or rail system had been received, "The Met's ongoing review of Tube security had been 'thrown into stark relief by those awful incidents in Madrid' he said, 'We are throwing everything we've got at this because it is the number one challenge for us'."

The two London Transport bombings only one year later clearly warned that it was not enough to impede terrorists from their gruesome task.

Training First Responders Against Themobaric IED

One area of concern, say counter insurgency experts, is the lack of adequate training available for first responders in how to identify and counter thermobaric weapons.

There are some federal agencies that have begun discussing thermobaric weapons related to terrorists, but the sensitive nature of the weapons has slowed the flow of information, warn counter terrorist officials.

Defending buildings against such an attack would be extremely difficult. The deadliest conventional car-bomb attacks have been those where the attacker succeeded in getting a vehicle packed with explosives very close to the target.

To prevent this, concrete barriers have been placed around many buildings regarded as potential targets. But the barriers would have to be much further away than at present to provide the same level of protection against fuel-air devices of a similar size.

Underground rail security and Emergency and law enforcement personnel should be instructed about safe standoff distances, how buildings might channel a thermobaric blast and how to defuse a bomb when they suspect its presence.

In simple but stark terms: The thermobaric bomb is just about the most vicious weapon you can imagine — igniting the air, sucking the oxygen out of an enclosed area, and creating a massive pressure wave crushing anything unfortunate enough to have lived through the conflagration.

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Dan Horn is always coming up with alternative solutions. I "REALLY" like this one. BB

Hi Pals,

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.

So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.

That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.

A husband and wife team has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads

Put away money for college - it'll be there

Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car - create jobs

Invest in the market - capital drives growth

Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves

Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And, of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ('vote buy') economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it.

Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General.

Sell off the real estate.

Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.'

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion

We Deserve It Dividend more than do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

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Thanks to Rob Ferguson for sharing this "Heads Up" information for troopers living in or from the state of Connecticut. BB

Bill,

This is some information, the State of Connecticut just learned, which may affect some of our members.

Connecticut and 9 other States offer property tax relief to disabled veterans. Disability must be verified annually using VA Form 20-5455, which the VA has been sending out annually to the veterans. However, the VA just announced they have have made some changes to their payment control system, which effective immediately leaves them unable to send out the forms, go figure! So now the affected vets must contact the VA and request the form..My State just learned of this, because several Vets hadn't received the form (which is due in the property tax assessors office here, today, 10/1) and it required involvement of the CT Dept. of Veteran Affairs, to finally get the answer.

Gotta tell you, these days, sure seems like customer/client service at any level corporate or government, sure is an oxymoron!

rob ferguson

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Also received this very interesting story from Rob which I think you will also enjoy. BBB

Hi Bill,

A little item that I am a bit biased about, perhaps some of our members, who like military history, would be interested. The November issue of Aviation History Magazine has a feature article on the P-61 NightFighters, who flew and fought against the Japanese at Saipan, Iwo Jima and other places. These men are close to my heart as this is the unit (6th Night Fighters) my Father flew with and he was interviewed for the article, recounting his first kill of a Nip bomber, also in the article is a full page artist's rendition of my Dad's plane (the Virgin Widow- after this kill it was determined she was no longer a virgin:-) ), making that kill. As well as recounts of other dogfights squadron members took part in and so forth. These men flew alone, not as a squadron, at night, being vectored to a target by ground radar, until the short range units in their aircraft picked up on the enemy, many of their fights taking place within 700 feet + or -, of the enemy. Of interest in the story, that was a recent movie, starring Benjamin Bratt re: a Army raid to rescue POWs in the Phillipines, the plane that actually flew the diversion was a P-61.

Another note on this, the P-61 was an all weather, all visibility machine, in the ETO, by 11/1944 Gen. Eisenhower decided that we had such complete air supremacy, he stopped bringing in spare parts for the P-61, the result was that during the Battle of the Bulge, all but 2 of the available P-61s, were grounded due to lack of repairs, this is the one aircraft we had that could have provided decent air cover, ground support etc, during the several days of bad weather in that battle...such are the fortunes of war, eh?

I bring this up as in the coverage of WWII these men get very little, if any coverage and they do deserve it. A P-61 is finally on display at the Smithsonian and it is amazing how many tourists , little ones stop by the exhibit, when my Dad or some of his fellow flyers stop by their to answer questions...as my Dad told me I never talked about it before because I thought no one was interested....I sure know that feeling.

Rob Ferguson

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Here is a well deserved "Thank you" to all of you who donated your pocket change or more to the Silver Rose effort. Thanks to efforts like yours it remains possible for the Order of the Silver Rose to be awarded to Agent Orange Victums to recognize their sacrifice to provide advice and assistance to all Veterans who are seeking help from the Veterans Administration. BB


,,
source

WELCOME TO OLE' BILL'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

October 2008 - Week 1

http://www.quarterhorsecav.org/WEEK1.HTM


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Monday October 6, 2008 - 11:58am (EDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments
The night that changed McCain's life
The night that changed McCain's life magnify
By John King
CNN Chief National Correspondent
Decrease font Decrease font
Enlarge font Enlarge font
Story Highlights Friend: Before his capture in Vietnam, John McCain considered leaving the Navy
Vietnamese witness describes McCain's capture after 1967 plane crash
Friend who was POW with McCain says the senator was "an archconservative"

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- It was September 1967, and Lt. Cmdr. John McCain was back from Vietnam on home leave. He invited Chuck Larson over for dinner, and during a late night game of bridge, McCain pulled his buddy from the U.S. Naval Academy and flight school aside.

Navy aviator John McCain stands next to a fighter aircraft in this undated photograph.

Navy aviator John McCain stands next to a fighter aircraft in this undated photograph.

var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2008/POLITICS/08/18/revealed.mccain.vietnam/imgChng/p1-0.init.exclude.html',2,1); //CNN.imageChanger.load('cnnImgChngr','imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html');

Larson recalls being stunned at what he heard.

"You know Chuck, I might have to get out of the Navy," McCain told him. "And I said, 'Why is that John?' and he said, 'Well I want to be a serious naval officer. And when I go places now, people tend to not take me seriously. They hear all the stories, they look at the early days and if they can't take me seriously, I don't know how I can perform.' And I said, 'John, you're going back.' "

A few weeks later, McCain reported for duty on the USS Oriskany and, as he did on his previous assignment on the USS Forrestal, began flying bombing missions over North Vietnam.

October 26, 1967, was McCain's 23rd mission. His target was a power plant on the outskirts of Hanoi.

"I was still in the dive, I had just started to pull out and got hit by a surface-to-air missile, and it basically took the wing off the aircraft," McCain told CNN in one of a series of conversations for "McCain Revealed." "And so I was gyrating very violently, almost straight down, so I had to eject very quickly."

Retracing McCain's steps in Vietnam was a fascinating experience. On the shores of Ho Truc Bach -- White Bamboo Lake -- we spent time with Nguyen Dang Doanh, who said he was on the far side of the lake that morning when he saw a parachute splash down in the water.

McCain was "stretched out -- he was lifted by the life jacket," Doanh said. "Then we all pushed him here [to the edge of the lake] and the security forces surrounded him. .. At that point everyone in the village was here. Everyone came down to see the American pilot."

Nguyen Thi Tranh was a nurse on duty at a neighborhood first aid station that day. Its purpose was to treat local residents hurt in the American bombardment, but Tranh remembers the day more than four decades ago when police came in carrying a white-haired American pilot.

Tranh, now 82 and living in a modest home not far from the lake, told us she bandaged McCain's arms and one leg. She said she "hated the American pilots" because of the deaths and destruction caused by their bombing runs, but she viewed it as her job and her duty to help treat him. See McCain timeline »

She would later learn that the man who was in her care for 15 or 20 minutes that day became a politician after he returned to the United States. "Would you like him to be president of the United States?" we asked Tranh.

"That depends on the U.S. people. I don't know," Tranh said. Photo See McCain campaign photos »

Another Vietnamese official who had close contact with McCain in those days did express hope the Arizona senator wins the election. Test your knowledge about McCain »

Tran Trong Duyet was the director of the Hoa Lo prison, known as the notorious "Hanoi Hilton" to American POWs, from 1968 to 1973. He has kept track of McCain's political career, and said he admires the man once in his custody because of his work to push the United States, during the Clinton administration, to normalize relations with Vietnam.

As for his prison days, Duyet said in his conversations with McCain, "He would never admit the United States made a mistake in the war. ... Therefore I say John McCain is an extremely conservative man. He was loyal to his ideology."

The low point for McCain came in 1968, before his transfer to the Hanoi Hilton. In his own accounts of those days, McCain wrote that after four days of beatings -- including a re-breaking of his left arm -- he signed a confession admitting to war crimes.

"I wasn't as tough as I had hoped to be and I certainly wasn't as strong as some of my comrades," McCain said.

The Vietnamese knew his father was the admiral commanding U.S. forces in the Pacific, and they offered McCain early release. But he refused, on grounds the code of conduct instructed that prisoners be released in the order in which they had been captured.

"There was a correlation between my refusal to accept early release and my treatment," McCain told us. "Because after it was clear to the Vietnamese I would not do that, then the treatment got very much worse."

As for his father, who knew from U.S. intelligence that increased bombing could result in harsher treatment for his son, McCain said: "I think in many ways it was harder on him than it was on me."

Duyet grew animated and agitated when pressed about accounts by McCain and dozens of other American POWs who said they were beaten and tortured, including being hung from the ceilings of their cells with their hands bound behind their backs.

"This is not true, because our nation is civilized and humanitarian and you do not understand the Vietnamese nation," Duyet said. "We never beat anybody."

Ernie Brace is among the many who tell a different story of their time as a POW, including time at Hao Lo when McCain was there.

"I had my front teeth knocked out, I had my cheekbone broken, I had my nose broken," said Brace. He described other inmates who were, among other things, "beaten with a fan belt for three of four days." He said the captors would "put your elbows behind your back and tighten up the rope around your elbows until your shoulders dislocated."

Many of McCain's friends said he rarely brings up his POW days in their conversations, and won't discuss details of his treatment unless pressed.

"It's just a chapter in my life that I'd rather remember the good parts than the bad parts," McCain said. "I don't know what the point is of going through all that."

It was while in the cell next to McCain that Brace said he first got a sense of his neighbor's politics -- communicated through taps on the wall using an alphabet code developed by the prisoners. Video Watch Brace talk about their secret code »

According to Brace, when Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968, McCain was "elated."

"He said, 'Nixon will get us home. Nixon won't sit there. He'll listen to the generals and get, you know, no more running this war from the basement of the White House.' "

"Well, it didn't happen," Brace recalled recently. "We thought we'd be home for Christmas of '69 and there we were. And there we were for three more Christmases -- '70, '71, and '72."

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And his take on his neighbor's politics back then?

"He was a conservative. He was an archconservative," said Brace. "And his theory on the war at that time was 'Do it. Do it right, and get it over with.' "

All About VietnamJohn McCainU.S. Presidential Election

source

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/revealed.mccain.vietnam/index.html...

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Tuesday August 19, 2008 - 11:30am (EDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments
TROOPERS CORNER
TROOPERS CORNER magnify

TROOPERS CORNER


Heres some useful information you can pass on to the wifes fellows...or use yourself. BB

Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day has a different color twist tie.
They are:

Monday = Blue,
Tuesday = Green,
Thursday = Red
Friday = White
Saturday = Yellow.

So if today was Thursday, you would want red twist tie; not white which is Fridays (almost a week old)! The colors go alphabetically by color Blue- Green - Red - White - Yellow, Monday through Saturday. Very easy to remember. I thought this was interesting. I looked in the grocery store and the bread wrappers DO have different twist ties, and even the ones with the plastic clips have different colors. You learn something new everyday! Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color on the day you are shopping.

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Got this from one of my Aunts down in Arkansas. BB

Some people have trouble with all those 'shall's' and 'shall not's' in the Ten commandments.. Folks just aren't used to talking in those terms.. So, in middle Tennessee they translated the 'King James' into 'Jackson County' language..... no joke, (posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Gainesboro, TN)

(1) Just one God
(2) Put nothin' before God
(3) Watch yer mouth
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meetin'
(5) Honor yer Ma & Pa
(6) No killin'
(7) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal
(8) Don't take what ain't yers
(9) No tellin' tales or gossipin'
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff

Now that's plain an' simple. Y'all have a nice day.

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Tom Witter sent in this Web Address where you will find some amusing photos of our men and women in action. BB

http://www.tom-phillips.info/images/funny.military.htm

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I'm not sure who sent this one in but my thanks to them. BB

Anyone that loves photography will appreciate the precision of the photo. As the jets are probably moving at around 400 mph and you being just right to get the shot at that instant. And that is a hard formation to stay at as the ones in the 'S' are just a little graduated degree behind the next one and staying that way to maintain the formation.

Awesome!

It is a great photo of an Air Force training squadron flying in a never-done-before 'USA' formation over the control tower 'Taj Mahal' (HQ building) of Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

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Here are some photos sent in by Alan Benoit of his Cavalry Steed. He looks like a keeper! I wonder if this is how Alan is coming ot the Reunion? BB

Put rifle scabbard on and Gideon. did fine with the scabbard but not so well with the flag. He is ok with the flag its the pole he is really afraid of. Trying to break him off that. All in all doing OK. Might leave tonight for Colorado Springs might get there in time if we (Pain-in and I) leave now
Alan

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This photo was sent in by Tony Moscicki. Kinda makes you wonder what the trees are doing when we're not around don't it....BB

As far as Woodpeckers go,
it's got to be the biggest on record!

source

WELCOME TO OLE' BILL'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

August 2008 - Week 3

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