The Dumbest Thing You Could Say

Seriously, there are some idiots out there, in my home country we call them 'muppets'. Over at Upworthy they have highlighted one particular fool who decided to go head to head with a Congresswoman about disability, and specifically, military disability.

Duckworth narrates the Salute to Fallen Asian Pacific Islander Heroes in Arlington, Virginia, June 2, 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An IRS contractor named Braulio Castillo hurt his foot playing football in military prep school. He never served in the actual military. Then one day, decades later, he used it to get preferred treatment in government contracts. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who lost both her legs and still could lose her arm from combat injuries, felt that this might just be a touch inappropriate. It gets amazing around 4:30.



Watch and learn.

Kudos and respect to the Congresswoman too.


kthanxbai! Jumblerant

Related articles

• Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth to testify before Senate Foreign Relations Committee on disability rights
• Duckworth: UN Disabilities Treaty Good for Vets
• These Are The 27 Dumbest Things That Have Ever Happened. Seriously, Go Back To Kindergarten.

Some Great Reads

I like me some Vietnam stories. I don't particularly enjoy the fighting part of it, generally I don't believe half of what I read. I do like reading about the helicopters over there and how these guys went into the breach, time after time.

Image by colincookman via Flickr

There aren't many instances that I can think of where you get to see the same events but through different sets of eyes. Even 9/11 with photographers and videographers and eyewitnesses didn't see things significantly differently.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon 2 books in my personal library (ooh, doesn't that sound fancy?!!) where a pair of slick pilots had flown together, got shot at together and had told the tales differently.Image by javaczuk via Flickr

'Lest We Forget ' by William Meacham is a fantastic read about Huey pilots in The Nam doing a wide variety insane and ridiculous operations to save their buddies on the ground. Meacham was an enlisted man and worked his way up to become an officer which probably explains his rather more rigid and focused views on certain matters within the book.

What blew me away was that he brought W T Grant up to speed when he first arrived in The Nam. W T Grant wrote his book 'Wings of the Eagle' about those first flights and those very hair-raising (aka insane) missions.

Its not just me who is raving about these books, I'm just a few years behind the others!

I strongly suggest you get your hands on one of these books - they are well worth a read. Or two.




kthanxbai!

Related articles

• Hanoi Jane and QVC (howgoesthebattle.com)
• Visit to Army Heritage Center in Carlisle reunites Vietnam pilot, his chopper (pennlive.com)
• The End of Days - or Just The Beginning? (jumblerant.blogspot.com)

Doug Hegdahl's POW story

People ask me why I blog and I really don't have a valid answer. And then I find an amazing true  story like the one over at Nobody Asked Me and I realise just what it is that keeps me sharing and caring on the interwebs.

Its a story I've never heard before about a POW in Vietnam, how he got there and how he got out. Here is a short excerpt from the tale;

In trying to get people to accept early propaganda releases, the Communists would have some "good cop" interrogator like the ones we called the "Soft Soap Fairy" talk to the prospect and sound him out for pliability. They got Doug one day and asked what we eventually learned to be the lead question: "What do you want more than anything else in the world?" The answer of the weak and willing was : "To go home to my family." Doug thought for a long time, then cocked his head with a smile and said "Why, I'd like a pillow, Sir." This was not an unreasonable response since we had no pillows on our cement pads or bed boards. However, the response sure confounded the enemy. They eventually came up with a name for Doug amongst the guards and interrogators: "The Incredibly Stupid One." His original resistance ploy had paid off.

Because they thought him stupid, they would let him go out in the cell block courtyard during the siesta to sweep up the grounds period monitored by only one sleepy, peasant guard. I thought that was great since it kept him from skipping and I could get some rest. However, curiosity got the better of me and I started to watch him through a peephole we had bored in the cell door. He'd go sweeping and humming until the guard was lulled to sleep. Then Doug would back up to a truck, spin the gas cap off the standpipe, stoop down and put a small amount ("Small, because it's going to be a long war, Sir.") of dirt in the gas tank and replace the cap. I watched him over a period of time do this to five trucks.

Now, I'm a liberal arts major who shot himself down, so all I can do is report what I saw. There were five trucks working in the prison; I saw Doug work on five trucks; I saw five trucks towed disabled out of the prison camp. Doug Hegdahl, a high school graduate from the mess decks fell off a ship and has five enemy trucks to his credit. I am a World Famous Golden Dragon (VA 192) with two college degrees, 2000 jet hours, 300 carrier landings and 22 combat missions. How many enemy trucks do I have to my credit? Zero. Zip. Nada. De Rien. 0. Who's the better man? Douglas Brent Hegdahl, one of two men I know of who destroyed enemy military equipment while a prisoner of war.

So go here and read the whole story. And tell the Old NFO that Jumblerant sent you.

 kthanxbai!

Related articles by Zemanta

• The man who refused to die (americablog.com)
• The Purple Haze Parts: Call Of Duty: Vietnam (rockpapershotgun.com)
• The Vietnam War in pictures: the 35th anniversary of the fall of Saigon (telegraph.co.uk)

Mazel Tov to doubletapper

Doubletapper has been voted 'Best Foreign National Military Blog' at milbloggiong.com
Considering the competition for the position and the fact that there was only 1 foreign blog winner - he did done good!

Obviously, the fact that he shows many pictures of gorgeous IDF female soldiers in uniform, and with their rifles, in no way influenced the judges.

kthanxbai!

Related articles by Zemanta

• The real moral of the Anat Kam story | Daniella Peled (guardian.co.uk)
• El Al's fundraising for IDF wellbeing day (thejc.com)
• Women In The Military: Underutilized During, Neglected After [G.I. Jane] (jezebel.com)

Live & learn

As the immutable Lazy Bum that I am, I try to learn from my mistakes, and from others'. Wirecutter at Knuckledragging My Life Away has shared with us a list of what his father imparted to him.

Image by papaija2008 via Flickr

As he states in his blog, his father:

is a retired Army Warrant Officer, came up through the ranks, did 3 tours in Viet Nam, the whole bit. He was raised up poor (the son of a lumberjack) the grandson of a gambler/lawman/outlaw from Arizona. Let's just say Pops is hard. And he raised me the same way.

So what can we learn from him? His language is not the most 'poetic' - you have been warned!!

Here are a few from the 20 on his list:

1) Family comes first. Period. Unless it's your mother's side of the family. Fuck those assholes.

6) Never hit a woman. While it may be permissible to shoot one on occasion, hitting one is not an option. Ever.

9) A good steak should only be turned once.

18) Respect your elders. There's a reason those fuckers are still alive, they're tougher than you.

20) The world does not owe you a living. Either work or die. I'm not supporting your ass forever.

kthanxbai!

Crazy looking film

I saw the preview of this film over at Soldier Systems where they are celebrating their 1,000th post! Mazel tov.



This film looks pretty 'off-beat' and yet I was still strangely drawn to it.

Ewan McGregor via last.fm

The scenario looks odd but they keep going on about how it is based on a true story.

And it has Ewan McGregor, and George Clooney, and then Jeff Bridges sashays in! And if that cast wasn't good enough for you, Kevin Spacey joins in too!!

Watch the trailer and see if you agree.


kthanxbai!

Related articles by Zemanta

• George Clooney Is A Brilliant Idiot (socialitelife.celebuzz.com)
• George Clooney Breaks His Hand (blisstree.com)
• George Was a Private Gentleman, Now Is an American (popsugar.com)
• New Trailer for 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' (screenrant.com)

Going Home

Back in May I wrote about The US's First Littoral Combat Ship and it's capabilities.

Over at Neptunus Lex it is noted that the amphibious transport dock, the USS New York, was launched on Tuesday for her commissioning in November.


As can be seen by the Coat of Arms of the USS New York, above, this ship was made with a purpose.

kthanxbai!

First M-ATVs Deploy to Afghanistan

oops I sent out an old blog by mistake.

What I wanted to say was:

I blogged about M-ATVs a while ago in 'Me wants one. Or two' and today The Marine Corps Systems Command has announced that only 3 months after placing the first order they are deploying the M-ATV to Afghanistan.

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2009 – With unprecedented speed, the first of thousands of mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicles —known as M-ATVs -- are being deployed to Afghanistan just three months after a delivery order was awarded.

Conventional MRAP vehicles feature a V-shaped hull to deflect roadside bombs, and are proven to be lifesavers on the battlefield. The procurement of the M-ATV grew from an urgent requirement to provide troops a smaller and more maneuverable vehicle that can travel off-road and navigate Afghanistan's difficult, mountainous terrain, Marine Corps Systems Command officials said.

“We have pulled out all the stops to collapse the schedule and get these vehicles into theater,” said Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Michael M. Brogan, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command and joint program executive officer of the MRAP program. “We are doing everything that’s required to ensure that they are safe, that the risk assessments are complete, [and] that they’re fully integrated and flown into Afghanistan.”

The M-ATV supports small-unit combat operations in highly restricted rural, mountainous and urban environments that include mounted patrols, reconnaissance, security, convoy protection, communications, command and control, and combat service support. It is designed to replace the up-armored Humvee in Afghanistan. The M-ATV will carry up to five personnel: four plus a gunner.

The Defense Department has ordered more than 4,300 of the all-terrain mine-resistant trucks, and another 1,400 are planned. Oshkosh Corp. is producing the vehicles.

They really do look very mean don't they? Let's just hope they save lives and keep the boys safe over there.




kthanxbai!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Drill Instructors - Not So Scary Anymore (neatorama.com)
• Pentagon reviewing its social media policy (cnn.com)
• US Marines Banned From Social Media Sites (mashable.com)

Woodstock reality

This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here wrote a very interesting introduction to a highly poignant article yesterday; 'Panel 19 West, Line 43-64'

Its about a certain section of the Vietnam War Memorial and the 109 American soldiers who died between August 15 and August 18, 1969. That date? Woodstock.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

For something interesting, and even meaningful, to go with your coffee, go over and read it.

And by the by, its a great blog to read on a daily basis too.

kthanxbai!