A Vietnam Memorial Song

This was sent to me, sung by George Jones, I thought I should post it here.
http://home.comcast.net/~singingman7/TNOTW.htm

Another email I recieved today

Once again, if I get something that is meaningful in the mail and it is military related I just might post it. Heres one I thought was fantastic.

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy.25 in rural Iowa
For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.
It's quite an impressive sight. Be sure to scroll down and check out the multiple photos. (all angles) of the rock.
I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock too.








Thanks to Ray "Bubba' Sorensen II for this great memorial.

To the VA

http://www.veterans.arkansas.gov/

Tomorrow I go to the VA for an appointment. I hate checkups, but I do it because, come hell or high water I'm going to try and retire at 62. It might not happen, I may be 66 the way the economy is going.

Anyway, back to the VA. I've been going every six months since I got back from Desert Storm, not because I like going there. Its like Insurance, when I retire at 62, or if I do...the VA will be my only insurance. I have a service connected disability so it pays for me to go for checkups.

Why should'nt I go? Its there, its a benefit and its free. I got alot out of my time in service and this is one of the best things about being a Vet.

When I starting going to the VA in late 1991, I saw mostly older guys. Now, I see young people alot. Iraq is making a lot of Vets and alot of them are disabled.

So tonight, I'm going to eat a late meal, I was told to fast after midnight, so I'll eat at 2330 hrs.

Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas

This is Ft. Chaffee's front gate. I have a picture somewhere of my Father manning it. He was an Army MP...and a Marine ....and a sailor.....not to mention his National Guard time. He was military all the way, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2263



This is on the front of the Gate building.

The Barracks lined up nice and neat. I have'nt returned to the Fort since the fire earlier this year. I know many of these old barracks were burned down.
Below is a link to a video of the fire.
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/videos/2008/jan/30/1442/
Heres a link to the the News story.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_chaffeefire_080130/
Luckily Bldg. 803 where Elvis recieved his first Army haircut was spared..

These building were a fire waiting to happen.

I slept in these several times while in the National Guard. I hated the restrooms. At the end of the building was a room with toilets lined up, no privacy, none at all.
The little buildings were sometimes chow halls, orderly rooms, etc.
This is the infamous Ft. Chaffee Hospital. The birthplace of none other than, myself. Somewhere in there it all started.
Another view of the Hospital area.
And another one.
Cobra with explanation below.

M113 with explanation below.

Korat RTAFB

For those of you who haven't noticed the link to the Korat site http://www.frontiernet.net/~freitag/Korat/, its in my links in the left column. I was there in 1973 for six months. It was a magical place, a place that I doubt anyone after being there could ever forget. I think of the place alot, I tried to stay in country, but the Air Force had other plans for me.
The website has tons of photos and some great videos. I just found the site a couple of days ago and was amazed at the number of pictures of Roscoe, the 388th TFW's mascot. I had no idea what happened to him until I found the site, its good to know he was able to stay a couple of years longer than I did.
Also, I've often wondered who the aircraft mechanic was that pulled the pin on the jet in the hanger which sent the seat through the roof, killing him. I was standing on the dock of my workshop looking at the hanger when it happened. I heard at the time that he was 21 years old but I never knew his name.
You can't imagine how thankful I am to the webmaster, Bob Freitag and all the contributers to his website. Even though there was a war going on, the memories are of some of the best times in my life.

Morrilton, Ar.

This is the Conway County Courthouse in Morrilton. As you can see there are several monuments on the lawn. Since I started visiting these memorials, I have not seen another city with as many Monuments in one spot. A plaque for the heroes and victims of the 9-11 attack is at the Morrilton Library (see yesterdays post). Even with that said, I could not find a monument for the Persian Gulf War or the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is known as the Global War on Terror.
This is a monument to all the Armed Forces.
World War One
World War Two
The Korean War

Vietnam War.
This is a monument to Nathan G. Gordon is located one block from the court house at the Conway County Library. A Medal Of Honor recipient, Gordon was born in Morrilton. He died Sept. 9, 2008 at the age of 92. Below is a link to his story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Green_Gordon


Another view of the lawn and monuments.

September 11, 2008

A plaque beneath the flagpole at the Morrilton, Ar. Library.

I believe we owe a moment of silent rememberance to the men and women who died in the 2001 attacks and to military personnel who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this country.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to those men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the civilians associated with those forces,who protect us and do their best to see that these kind of attacks never happen again.

I recieved this in an email today. I thought it appropriate to post here on this day.

Classrooms with no desk!?
Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a Social Studies teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.
When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. Looking around, confused, they asked, 'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me what you have done to earn the right to sit at a desk.'
They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'
'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.'
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period, still no desks in the classroom. By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk less classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom.
Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.
The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall.
By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them.
It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens.
They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

This is a true story.... If you can read this - thank a teacher!
If you can read it in English - thank a soldier!
If you can understand the message - Thank God!

A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, signed a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.