Charleston, #3...

A must see when visiting Charleston is the Ft. Sumter site.  I have done quite a bit of reading about the Civil War -- the battles and how things came about as they did.  So having the opportunity to actually visit Ft. Sumter was a real treat.

Obviously, what you see now is not what was the scene back then.  The Fort had been reduced to rubble, occupied, reoccupied, rebuilt, and abandoned.  So as it stands now, you have to use your imagination a good bit to really take in what it means to stand in such a place.  The Park Service is doing its best to maintain it, and the rangers who work there do a real nice job of talking to visitors about the site, the remains, the battles, and the progression of Ft. Sumter since the Civil War days and subsequent rebuilding.

The original walls of the fort were five stories tall prior to the start of the civil war.  But after the bombardment and siege, it was, for the most part,  reduced to rubble.  Here you can see the walls now and how the cannon ports were closed up to keep out the water.

This post card shows the Fort in various stages of destruction during the bombardment.  Also, here is an overhead shot from the internet which gives you an idea of the layout of the fort. Here is what it looks like today with the new area (new from the Spanish-American War!  The windows are new construction, but the black walled area is from that time period).

If you happened to be standing in the green area, over the flag in the picture above, you would be looking out into the ocean.

 One thing that happened quite often while we were visiting Charleston was my meeting veterans and talking to them.  Here I met a gentleman who was wearing a 4th ID hat.  I asked him about it and we talked about "stuff" for a while.  He introduced me to his son who was also in 4th ID in Iraq.  We talked for a while and it seems we could have crossed paths a few times over there.

So, it was quite an honor to be standing in the middle of this historic site.  As I looked around at the remaining walls, the powder/ammunition storage area, the shells of the officer's quarters and the firing ports that were still open to the sea, it just reinforced some of the things I had read about the ferocity, and the magnitude of the destruction that took place during that war.

As we left, the rangers had just lowered the flags, putting to rest the spirits of those who had once fought there. It was quite a visit, and quite an honor.  And as we sailed away from this hallowed place, I couldn't help but remember something I read once from Joshua Chamberlain, the commander of the famous "20th Maine" ... "Not once in a century are men permitted to bear such responsibilities for freedom and justice, for God and humanity, as are now placed upon us."

War loses a great deal of romance after a soldier has seen his first battle...It is a classical maxim that it is sweet and becoming to die for one's country; but whoever has seen the horrors of a battle-field feels that it is far sweeter to live for it."  (from Mosby's War Reminiscences by John S. Mosby)

Hooah

Charleston #4...

We recently took a trip to Charleston, SC for a short vacation.  What a place!

Over the period of three entries, I am going to write about our trip.  That way, I'll be able, hopefully, to keep these short and somewhat focused.  The first entry will be about the aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, the USS Laffey, a destroyer,  and the USS Clagmore, a submarine, all of which were anchored at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in the Port of Charleston for permanent display.  We spent the better part of a day walking the decks of the submarine and the aircraft carrier. Being a military family, it was interesting, educational, and very humbling to walk in the footsteps of the men who fought such historic battles, wrote history with their bravery, and secured our liberty and way of life.

We started our tour on the Clagmore.  It was old, and in pretty bad condition, but still very interesting once you got on board and climbed down the ladder to the inside of the sub.  Everything inside was pretty much as it was "back in the day."

This is the front torpedo room which is now blocked off by this plexiglass wall.  It was extremely tight and small.

 

Here you get a better view of the room.  Notice the bunks above the racks that held the torpedoes.  Really tight sleeping quarters for these guys.

One thing that really popped out to me while I was walking thru the sub was how my shoulders would almost be able to touch both sides of the racks or bunks.  There was really not much room here.  I guess that is why they always said submariners were such small guys.  Also, when you would have to go through the hatches, or doorways (I don't know what they were called, I'm Army), I would really have to bend down.  I know they got the knack of it after a while because you would see them fly through them in all those WWII movies.  But at my age with old man's knees, it was low and slow.  I wanted to check out the captain's quarters and it was pretty small too.  Let's face it, there just wasn't much room for luxuries like sleeping quarters on a sub.  My tents were pretty bad at times, but this was worse.  At least I could walk around in the woods or the desert.

After a short time on the sub, we went aboard the Yorktown.  Walking up the stairs to get on board,  it was like I was walking through a big military history book, and the "Introduction" page was just turning for us.

You enter on to the hanger deck and have to work your way up to the flight deck. That's where I wanted to start anyway since there was rain forecast for the afternoon and we wanted to get that part in before the showers came. 

Until you are on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, it is hard to comprehend how big it is, let alone the fact that airplanes which are big in their own right, come and go from its decks, or are stored below the deck.  Then top all that off with all the people and "stuff" on board -- it really is impressive and you start to understand how much American power is projected around the world just through the presence of one of these ships with all its escorts.

I took some pictures of the medical facilities they had set up.  I wanted to show my dentist and heart doctor how the other half lived.

Oh, did I tell you that the temps while we were there hit the upper 90s!  Well, as we were strolling along the hanger deck -- in the shade -- it was time to eat.  And it just so happened that there was a sign advertising lunch in the Chief Petty Officer's mess.  So down a flight of stairs we went and came upon this wonderfully cool, air conditioned CPO's mess.  You talk about bringing back some memories...the kitchen (galley) looked just like some of my mess halls, and lunch that was being served was on metal trays.  We were served rice with tomato sauce w/meat balls, salad, mixed veggies, a cookie and a piece of white bread w/two pats of butter.  Anyone who had ever been in the military knows the bread is hard, the little pat of butter is on a small piece of cardboard with a small piece of paper on top of it, and the dressing is always Italian.  But, as I was wallowing in my memories of Army chow, we actually did have a good meal, in a very nice, cool, clean mess.  With everything being taken into account, it was a meal that stood up there with some of the meals we paid big bucks for in Charleston.

The "mess steward" was proud of the metal trays.  I told him I remembered the old orange plastic trays and cups. He gave me that look like "Were those from the Civil War?"  Recognize the napkin holders and the green plastic flowers?

Following the meal, Pam and I continued our tour of the ship.  We went to the bridge.  Actually, there were two of them -- one for the ship's captain and one for the flag admiral.  Now I know any Navy readers will be all over me for not having the correct names for these decks, but I could tell one was for someone who made a whole lot more money than the other ones.  I could also tell one was more of an operations or combat deck.

Pam tried out the "Big Guy's" chair. 

OK, so that's was the tour of the Yorktown.  As we walked around the various decks (chapels, the brig, the machine shop, the various sleeping areas, etc, etc.) I was just in awe of the guys who designed this ship and even more so of the guys who built them.  Again, there are some really smart guys running around out there.  And then, when you realize what all happened on this ship --  the battles, the deaths, the heroism -- it was really overwhelming.  What an honor to have been on this ship!  Thank you Yorktown and all who served on you!

I hope that as a country we never take for granted the freedoms that those who served on this ship fought for.  I also hope we never fail to show our respect to the veterans who gave us our freedoms.  In the words of George Canning, " When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?"  I hope not.

"It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for their country, for us. All we can do is remember."  (Ronald Reagan, Remarks at Veteran's Day ceremony, Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia, November 11, 1985)

Hooah

Hi-ooo Silver ----- Away...

Last month, my little sister turned 60.  Now, I could pen a few lines about old people, and senior discounts and blue hair.  But, last time I checked, both my brother and I were older than she and I don't really consider myself old yet (despite the fact that I now own a medicare card!!).  Sooooo, I guess she's off the hook for now.

Have you ever noticed how older people always seem to retreat to times they were more comfortable in, to times they really enjoyed...to times they think they remember and were happy in.  Well, my sister decided on her birthday to have all of the family go horseback riding with her.  She had horses back home when we were growing up.  Her first pony was a short one -- or so it seemed.  I got on it once and my feet were on the ground. But the horse was just the right size for her.  The ones we rode over at a riding stable by Bellefontaine were all bigger horses, but you'll see a picture of me on my horse and it still looks like I'm too big for it.

It was a really fun day.  Rain and storms pretty much dominated the morning, but cleared out for the afternoon -- just when we were to ride.  Although there was a great deal of mud and standing water still on the trails, the horses didn't mind and we had a great time.  Here are some pictures from that day.

Guess who won the stilt walking contest?  Medicare'll cover this, right?

The birthday girl.

Is this the cavalry or a bunch of lost tourists?

This gives you an idea of the mud and standing water left from the morning storms.

I know this is showing the best part, but does this picture make my butt look big?

Now here's a good lookin' cow girl.

Hey, Luke, the trails are over here.

We're just lined up waiting for the light to change.

Hey, Luke, put another quarter in it and head this way.

All kidding aside, it was a really fun time.  Probably what made it that way was that it was all of our family doing something together.  We don't do enough of that.

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.
 Hooah

What a way to celebrate #5...

Quinn turned 5 last week and what a celebration. 

He and his brother and parents were at Lake Gaston with the Mills families.  I don't know many other youngsters who celebrate a 5th birthday in such a grand fashion.

Tubing with mom.

Tubing with dad.

I'm helping my big brother celebrate.

Doug said Quinn would have stayed out there all day if he could have.  Not too bad for a little guy who just started taking swimming lessons. 

Quinn, remember this...You will not grow old by merely living out a random number of years.  You will grow old by losing your lust for life, by deserting you creative spark, by losing sight of what God has given you.  You will not know what this means now, but only know that years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.  (Irish blessing)
 
Hooah

Take me out to the ballpark...

A little while ago, my sister and her husband (see picture below) joined Pam and me in an excursion to the Great American Ballpark to watch the Cincinnati Reds take on the Milwaukee Brewers.

I found it hard to believe, but it seems that Luke and Linda had never been to a Reds game in that ballpark.  They had been to the old Riverfront stadium on several occasions, but just not to the new venue.  And since they hadn't been to GABP for a game, it also made sense to plan to tour the Reds' Hall of Fame building located just outside the complex.

We got to the Hall of Fame and it wasn't toooooo crowded!   But it was really a neat place to see.  It's like a lot of museums -- you can't take in all it has to offer in just one visit.  There is just too much to read and see.  But one thing we did have to do was go to the third floor and see the two Cincinnati greats who were there to meet fans -- Tom Browning and Jim Maloney.

Jim Maloney (seated left) and Tom Browning (seated right)  with Luke and me.

Just so you know why it was cool to meet these two guys, here are some highlights.  Maloney was throwing his fastball an unheard of 99 m.p.h. back in the early 70s.  He owns two no-hitters, had 200 strike-outs in four consecutive seasons (63-66), and was elected to the Reds Hall of Fame in 1973.  Browning is also known as "Mr. Perfect."  His perfect game (27 batters up, 27 batters out)  at that time only the 12th perfect game in major league history, came on Sept. 16, 1988. In that game he never took any batter to a 3-ball count!  He just missed a second perfect game on July 4, 1989 when a Philly hitter got a single in the 9th inning.  So meeting these guys was pretty cool.

Some of the other exhibits at the HofF were also pretty cool.

I particularly liked the one which gave a graphic picture of the magnitude of Pete Rose's hit streak/record.  It began on the first floor and was a baseball which was attached to the wall representing each of Pete's hits.  The display covered the entire width of the wall and all three stories of the building, ending with his 4,256th hit.  Imagine --- three floors of baseballs to depict this feat!  It is reported that Shin-Soo Choo asked Joey Votto about this record when Choo first came to Cincinnati.  Votto put it in perspective -- If you were a rookie and got your first hit on the first day of the season, you would have to have 20 years as a major league player at 200 hits per year and even then you would come up 256 hits short of his record.  Nobody ever has or had 20 years in the majors and no one will break this record.

On paper, the game we were to attend looked like a good one for the Reds.  Homer Bailey was to pitch.  He had been really hot in his last few games.  Maloney and Browning were there to throw out the first pitch and it was the 75th anniversary of Johnny Vander Meer's second no-hitter (He threw back-to-back no-hitters on June 11 & 15, 1938).  We can't lose, right?

I should have known better when we went to our seats, just got seated, and a bird that was flying over the stadium pooped on Linda!!!  What are the odds of that happening to you?  Anyway -- it turned out to be a crappy day for the Reds too.  The Reds lost, no pizza for the fans, and a dry cleaning bill for Linda.  Oh yeah -- Bailey went on to pitch his second career no-hitter in his next outing!!

It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball.  I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.(Hank Aaron)


Hooah

P.s.  Why does everyone stand during the middle of the 7th inning and sing "Take me out to the ballpark" when they are already there????