Life in 3D

Christmas, a long time ago

It was Christmas, 1776, a desperate time for General George Washington and what was left of his Continental Army. From a high point of 30,000 men he had only 2,500 left.

The decline began in August when the British and the mercenary Hessian troops had routed Washington from Long Island and then pushed them out of Manhattan as well. Washington was forced to retreat to New Jersey and by December they had given that up and crossed into Pennsylvania. The British occupied New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York. To the British is appeared that the rebellion had been crushed and the remnants would soon be rounded up.

Washington’s troops were demoralized and battered. Many of them didn’t even have shoes and instead had burlap sacks wrapped around their feet to try to keep them warm. Washington knew that he had to act quickly before the remnants of his forces fell apart or were killed by the harsh winter so, on Christmas night, he and his forces attempted the most daring attack that they had ever tried, they crossed the ice swollen Delaware river nine miles north of Trenton, New Jersey to attack the Hessian forces that occupied the town.

The weather during the crossing was horrendous; raging winds, snow, sleet and rain created almost impossible conditions, but they crossed anyway and then marched the nine miles south to Trenton. Remember, many of these men, if not most, had no shoes and they marched through blizzard like conditions. These were men who knew what they were fighting for and were willing to suffer the hardships that came with it.

The next morning, December 26^th, Washington’s troops attached and overran the Hessian troops who surrendered when their commanding officer was killed. The Continental army then retraced their path and withdrew back across the Delaware taking their prisoners with them.

This was the turning point in the revolution. In its darkest hour when all hope seemed lost and defeat was inevitable, rough men stood forth and grabbed victory for all of us and galvanized the spirit of the Colonies by showing the people that they could win. After this battle the ranks of the Continental swelled and the stunned British army realized they had a fierce opponent who would not go down in defeat quietly.

I write this because it reminded me that while we now face a different enemy that is attempting to rewrite our Constitution and slowly strip us of our right to self determination and freedom from government dictates, mandates and meddling, all is not lost. They may seem to have the upper hand now by controlling Congress and the White House but if we hold strong and fight on we can, and will, be victorious.

Out here on the left coast I encounter so many people on the left who hate anyone or anything that is different than they are. But there is one thing about hate that I have learned, it eats you up and burns you out. The far left tries to claim ownership of the crown of acceptance and diversity because they talk about it all the time, but I learned something from my old martial arts instructor on this matter. Those who practice what they preach don’t need to talk about it because their example will show.

We will win because the left’s ideas are hollow, their compassion false, and we have a better way. Keep the faith my brothers and sisters in God and in the military. We are Americans and we will not go quietly.  Don’t despair and don’t be afraid.  That’s their weapons, that’s what they want.  Look at their ads, look at how they attack anyone who disagrees – hate, fear, cries of racism.  No, we are better than this and we will win.

God bless you all.

Rememberance

As I write this I remember where I was when our world changed eight years ago. Like my friend Jennifer I’m still angry.  I’m angry enough that I want a government that shares my anger rather than boot licking the bastards that cheered while our citizens died.

I find it strange though.  Only eight years have passed since that horrible day and out here in San Francisco people are like “Oh, yeah, that’s right 9/11…”

How can you forget something like this?  How is it that on THIS DAY of all days you don’t remember what happened in a history you were part of?  Did the attacks mean nothing to the people out here?  Did they sit around thinking to themselves “Well, we’re peaceful, man, and like they should know that”

No, I don’t understand how this day can come around and the people I see aren’t filled with rage remembering what happened.  They shrug and move on with what they were doing.

I spent seven years of my life defending this country and risking my life so that I could come home and watch people react with total disinterest when remembering the most destructive attack on US soil in modern history.  The left coast makes me sick.

Never forget, never forgive, never surrender.

**UPDATE**

Obama shows his strong resolve this day by painting a living room.  Can we end the joke now and put the adults back in charge? It’s gone on long enough.

Standing Upon the Wall

Bill Whittle once again give us an excellent essay.  One day I will have to abandon my rough language of short sentences and blunt points so that I can master my native tongue as well as he has.

And from your perch on the frozen, bone-dry lunar sand you would see the same pattern, the same pulse, the same heartbeat: a slow, steady rise, followed by a precipitous, shockingly quick fall… and then centuries, or even millennia of darkness, fear, superstition, disease and ignorance before the spark took hold again elsewhere.

One thing in common these patterns bear: the rise slow, the fall seemingly precipitous, and in every case we find the loss of nerve and strength and will comes not from the bottom, not from the common people at all, but from the rulers, the philosophers, the most affluent and educated who, in their comfort and Narcissism, abandon duty for self-absorption and self-gratification and who in boredom or self-loathing decide to fling open the gates of the city to the barbarians beyond, while the common man still stands at the walls prepared to die for the people in his charge.

And now here stands America, inheritor of that great tradition, astride that same cycle in its most dangerous and dire moment. And by any measure America is by far the most brilliant light the world has ever seen. And I can prove it, too.

Go, read, enjoy.

Goodbye, Kitty, and God Bless

When I was 18 and wild I joined the Navy because I wanted to see the world and also because I knew there wasn’t a college around that would take me or, more likely, that I wouldn’t get thrown out of.  That was back in 1985 – yea, do the math.  Now, a piece of my history is being retired.

The first parts of the world that I saw was San Diego CA (boot camp), Millington TN (A school) and then LeMoore CA (Duty Station).  When I hit Lemoore I was assigned to VA-147, the Argonauts.  They had just come off a cruise when I got there so it was over a year before we went on another one.

We headed out to Fallon a few times to do training during that first year which was a lot more dirt and dust, something that I had grown up with, so I wasn’t to impressed by it all. I wanted the ocean!  I wanted to see the WORLD!  Not more dirt, scrub brush and sandstorms.  Finally though we were packing up to go on our first training cruise and we were heading back to San Diego to meet our ship – the Kittyhawk.

When we reached the pier that Kitty was tied up at I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.  She was big, grey and beautiful.  I remember wondering how I was going to keep from getting lost on something that big.  Walking through the hangers was like walking through our hangars back home, they were HUGE to me.  Combine that with the smell of the salt water and the sound of seagulls, and this desert rat was ready to go!  The sea was calling and I wanted to answer it!!

During one of our training exercises we provided security for a missile test by keeping ships out of the launch area and making sure it was clear.  I remember being up on the flight deck when the missile burst from the ocean waves.  It was like a white hot star leaping for the sky.  I learned later that the glow of it was seen all the way into Arizona and people had called in to report a UFO.

It was on Kittyhawk that I first saw the world.  My first cruise on her was also, sadly, my last.  We took her around the world from San Diego to Philadelphia and back to the port that she originally sailed from for an overhaul.

In the Philippines  I learned to always keep my wits about me, no matter how friendly the company.  Some pickpockets are very, very good at serving beer.  From there is was on to the Indian Ocean and Karachi Pakistan where I found out that you can get some very nice boots for a very good price if you are willing to haggle over it.  Pattaya Beach Thailand I learned that sometimes you should go ahead and catch that boat back to your berth and not wait for the next one to come it.

Italy was my first taste of Europe, and a welcome one it was after traveling at a snails pace through the Suez canal.  The canal was so narrow for a ship our size that I still swear that if I had jumped off either side of the flight deck I would have landed on sand.  That was probably the tensest moment for us during the cruise, we were helpless.  A carrier relies on it’s air-wing for defense and going through the canal there was no way for us to launch anything.  We were essentially sitting ducks.

After Italy we stopped in France and after that Rota Spain which was probably my favorite stop on the whole cruise.  There was a shop in Rota, a smoke shop, and the owner was an old man who had behind the counter a display of every American military zippo lighter that he had collected over the years.  He had over 25 different ships in his collection, he thanked us for our service and told us he was a child during WWII and he never forgot what we Americans did.  I was glad to add a Kittyhawk lighter to his collection.

Miss Kitty helped this young boy become a young man.  I saw places that I will never see again, some good and some bad but all of them incredible in their own way.  Now we say goodby to Miss Kitty, sometimes called the Shitty Kitty, god bless that wonderful ship and all the men and women who served on her.