Update on a much earlier post ...

(Note: this article was first written in 2022. The updates are posted in red in 2025.)

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There was an interesting article in my most recent issue of Army Times entitled "23 Things Veterans May Carry For Life." The author, Sarah Sicard, may or may not have intended this article as anything more than a "fun things in the service" kind of thing, but she got me on a lot of these points.

The list of 23 things is prefaced with a short lead-in paragraph that says in most Veteran's closets one is likely to find an old uniform or two (guilty), some dirty caps (guilty), a stack of medical, training, and discharge records (guilty - they always told us to never lose any of these), and some old ribbons and/or medals (guilty). It seems she got me on all of these and I know several of my Vet friends who would also fit this bill (right Dave and Dave!).

So, what about the list of 23? Well, I am certainly guilty of the following on the list:

    #2 (bad knees) (Way worse now in 2025)

    #3 (the misguided idea that ibuprofen and fresh socks will cure anything) (I would add that rubbing a little dirt on it will fix it). (Thinking about buying stock in Advil)

    #4 (Tinnitis) (On my second set of hearing aids, have a VA disability rating for this, the tinnitis is now coming in in high-def-stereo!)

    #5 (The ability to sleep anywhere) (I would add - at any time). (These two still very accurate)

    #7 (Old combat boots) (Still have two pairs up in the attic ... you never know )

    #9 (Issues with authority figures) (Not so much now though).

    #10 (back pain) (Yep - still have this...some might even say I'm trending toward a pain in the back- side)

    #12 (a woobie that has seen better days)

    #20 (sleep apnea) (Maybe)

    #23 (a deeply stained coffee mug that I tell everyone is just now "seasoned").

Any Vets checking this post out will undoubtedly agree with these and have a few of their own to add to the list. Some of my additions would be:

    - a strong urge to eat at all times of the day (not much, but more like "grazing") (this goes with #5 above because in the service you never knew when you would get time to do this again). (This might be getting a bit worse with getting older).

    - a lot of Vets I know have a strange habit of blowing their nose in the shower (I don't know why, we just do it). (yep)

    - becoming irate upon seeing cigarette butts on the ground. (Not so much now. Fewer smokers 😌)

    - the breakfast of champions is really a Snickers bar and a diet Coke. (Great lunch on the golf course)

    - orange Gatorade is best !

    - telling and retelling stories from service days (never around non-service people, but always with service buds or "those who were there.") (Yep - still do some of this, but not too much)

    - and finally, a deep sense of pride for our service (a pride that lots of people will never understand). (Always feel a sense of pride for having served and served with such GREAT patriots!!)

So, thanks Sarah for this article.  It brought back some good, old memories.  It also sent me back to the closet to check on those old uniforms!!

Real heroes don't wear capes, they wear dog tags.

Hooah

Just a thought...

"What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin."  (Mark Twain)

 Hooah

 

Just asking a question...

While shopping the other day, I received a quarter in change after paying my bill.  It was a fairy new quarter (2024) and featured a lady on the back -- Patsy Mink Takemoto. I was not familiar with this woman, so I looked her up on Google.  It seems that she was from Hawaii and served in the US House of Representatives for 24 years. She was a democrat, and the first "woman of color and the first Asian-American elected to congress." 

OK.  That's cool. But then I noticed something -- the Google write-up said she was known as a champion for "women's rights and education." I also noticed on the coin that the paper she is holding has a reference to Title IX.

So, my question is ... where would she (as a democrat, as a champion for equal opportunity for women, as a Title IX proponent - see the coin, above) have stood on the question of banning men from competing in women's sports? 

She died in 2002.  If she were alive and serving today, would she have toed the line with others of her party just because she was told to do so? Would she have abandoned her Title IX beliefs of equal opportunity for girls and women to compete fairly only with other girls and women?  Guess we'll never know.

Ms. Takemoto is long since gone, but the answer to my question isn't. 
 

Follow the science. 

Hooah

Just a collection of some thoughts...

Well, the sun is going down, the Reds just gave up an 11-run inning to the A's (after they were leading 7-2 - - aren't spring training games just the greatest) and I got a decent round of golf in today (decent for an old guy).  So what is it that's on my mind?  Well, just a few things...

1.  A few weeks ago, my grandsons, who are both Boy Scouts, had a weekend camping outing.  This particular one was really special for me because one of the training events on tap for the weekend was their shooting qualifications for merit badges. This wasn't a big deal for Q as he is pretty comfortable with shotguns.  He shoots trap and has earned his merit badges and an NRA badge that he can wear on his scouting vest. In fact, he now owns the all-time marksmanship accuracy record for his troop in his trap shooting. He said he hit 49 out of 50 clay birds. Pretty good. 

2.  The other really cool thing was the younger grandson, H, earned his merit badge with the .22 rifle. This was clearly a remarkable accomplishment because he was really apprehensive about guns. He, Q and I went to the range a couple of weeks before the camp-out and we (Q and I) worked with him shooting the .22 (loading, maintaining a sight picture, breathing, pulling the trigger as opposed to jerking it, etc.). I saw his targets pinned up on his bulletin board in his bedroom.  I was proud of him, Q was proud of his little brother, and I think H was pretty proud of himself.

3.  One of the things that has come out this time of year is the Southern pine pollen and the trees are full of those yellow pods, just waiting to release that sinus-killing powder. When I lived in Ohio, I don't recall having an issue with pollen, but boy do I have an issue with it. 

 

 

Can't you just hear those little rascals..."We're coming for you!! Get ready!!"

4.  BUT -- it may not be for long, as it seems all they know how to do down here these days is cut down trees to clear land for housing developments.

Every week sees a new plot of pines cut down.  When we moved here, there were trees everywhere and the forests really made this area special. Not so much now.  In fact, if things keep going as they are now, the town of Wake Forest will soon just be called Wake as there will be no more Forests. I have never been classified as a tree-hugger, but some of these places look pretty bare. If they were just harvesting trees, that would be one thing, but they are putting up condos all over the place. Where are all of these people coming from, and why are they coming here. 

Just one question for the town planners -- When is enough enough?

  

5.  Oh well, there's nothing I can do about all of that.  So I'm concentrating on something I can influence. Have to start getting ready for the 17th Annual Man Trip coming up in September.  After looking at this clip, I think it's a good thing I've started already.

6. Well, one last thing. The trees and flowers are starting to come out this week. Really looks nice. 

So that it for now. Gotta go clean my clubs.

Spring: The season where the grass grows faster than your weekend plans. (Anon)

 Hooah 

A stroll down memory lane...

My old CSM, (CSM Dave B. Ret.), sent me a whole shoe box of old pictures from our Army days together. I spent an afternoon going thru them, and stopped when I came across this one. This is one of those pictures that unlocked my memory bank and flooded me with story after story.

Below is a picture of the MP battalion I had the privilege of commanding for 4 years (1994-1998). Due to the perspective of the picture, you don't see the whole battalion, but if my memory serves me well, there could have been about 425-450 troops in this formation (The battalion consisted of the Headquarters Company and 3 subordinate companies.).  During my command time, we were required to go maintain our "present for duty" strength at 125% of authorized strength. That's a lot of military word salad meaning we had a whole lot of people in our units. Most other units in the MP Corps were hanging tough at 100-125 Soldiers.

Maintaining those strength levels was quite a challenge. The command staff did a terrific job of supervising all of the "stuff" needed to field a unit of this size. We also had some of the best NCOs whose job it was to train the Soldiers, maintain acceptable logistical levels, feed and pay them. Training was always my number 1 job and I often got in trouble with my superiors who thought there were other priorities that needed more attention. It all worked out. Our subordinate companies were also top notch. I'm sure others may take exception to this, but I don't know if there was a better collection of officers and NCOs, civilian techs and full-time AGRs in the USAR.

During those 4 years, there were some unbelievable stories generated and we had some "unique" characters in the battalion. We had great fun at our Dinings-Out and family days, and our Muta-5s and Muta-6s in the field were outstanding (even the ones in blinding snow storms).

Well, so much for that.  I think there will be some other stories in that old shoe box and I can hardly wait to see what the CSM sent me.

 Not all brothers and sisters are born of the same mother.

Hooah

Point of view ...

I don't know about you, but I've been up to my belt loops in crap before and I was serving myself a heaping helping of "woe is me" when I realized that where I was and what I was experiencing was just a matter of perspective. 

"Once you've seen there is another perspective, you can never not see that there's another point of view." (Ellen Langer)
 Hooah

One of life's ironies...

February 23, 1945.  

Does that date ring a bell? I think it does for a lot of Marines -- it was the day that the US Flag was raised on Iwo Jima in World War II. 

                      

 Three divisions of Marines (about 10,000 troops per division) landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945 and gradually fought their way inland.They faced heavy resistance, but captured the island on February 23 and succeeded in raising the flag on top of Mount Suribachi. True, this was only the capture of the southern tip of the island and the Marines continued the fight, often foot at a time, until the island was finally secured. Approximately 20,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in this fight, and the Marines suffered 6,000 killed and approximately 25,000 wounded.

So what did I mean by this being ironic? Well, guess who owns the island today -- of course -- Japan.  It was returned to the Japanese in 1968 by Lyndon Johnson as a gesture of good will.

It is pretty much a closed island today and Americans can only visit the island as part of a scheduled tour. Japan is looking to return it to its ancient fishing village heritage.

"There’s something ironic about war. You’re willing to give your life to fight for something you cannot own and may not even understand."

Hooah

It was God's idea ...

Last night our Tuesday men's group watched a presentation called "Where have all the good men gone." It was part of a program called No Regrets, which is a gathering of men (a men's ministry retreat) highlighted by presentations from various speakers focusing on "equipping leaders to disciple the men of their churches and communities." 

This particular presenter, Joby Martin, a pastor in the Jacksonville, FL area, hit on some pretty good points, leading off with this one, "Make no apologies for being a man...it was God's idea."  So I'll let that set in a little and you can see where he's going with his presentation. No regrets for what he says, facts are facts. But as the presentation went on, he got into some thought provoking points.  I took notes so I'll just hit the highlights and let you think about his meaning.

1.  For every mile of road, there are two miles of ditches. Keep yourself on the straight and narrow because there's lots of trouble around you. Men - stay centered.

2.  When does a boy become a man? It used to be that there were only two stages of a male's life -- being a boy and being a man. But today there is a third stage -- it's called being a "dude." So now one goes from being a boy, to being a dude to being a man. Martin points out that "dudes" are the dangerous ones whose life path doesn't always continue on to being a man. Some live in "dudedom" forever.

3.  Society used to have a "right of passage" when a boy became a man. We (Americans) don't universally have that in our culture these days. We don't send our boys out into the wilderness, tell them that we will see them in 10 days or so and they will either survive or become lion food. What happened to that tradition? This particular point resulted in quite a bit of discussion amongst the men of our group.

A big part of Martin's presentation, again, centered on equipping leaders to disciple the men of their churches and communities, was the point he made that men are held responsible for things. Dude's are not. He went on to say:

4.  God held Adam responsible (for his actions in the Garden) even though he was not the first one to sin because he was the man and men are supposed to be responsible. I suspect there might be some (a lot?) of pushback from some readers, but Martin's point was that in the church men are responsible and supposed to be leaders. Again ... No Regrets.

At the end of his presentation, Martin pointed out that when God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden and they saw themselves as naked, they were forced to cover themselves. In order to do this they had to kill animals for their furs and this was the first time that blood was shed as a result of sin. Very interesting point.

So, that was our Tuesday Night Men's Meeting. Lots of really good discussion and I can't wait to see what we'll see and discuss next week.

Parting thought:

    A boy gives false promises, a man honors his commitments.

    A boy thinks of "me," a man thinks of "us."

    A boy blames others, a man takes responsibility.

Your pain is a divine rite of passage through which you will be reborn as a being of strength, wisdom and purpose. Bryant McGill

Hooah 

I know when my rite of passage took place ...

In the entry just above this one, I talk about our American culture not having a tradition of a rite of passage from being a boy to becoming a man. Pastor Joby Martin addressed this in his presentation at the 2025 No Regrets Men's Conference.  

Used to be that men in the village would take all the boys who were soon to be men out into the bush and they would be there for weeks, living off the land, learning how to survive and other manly lessons.  They either came back as men of knowledge or became lion food. We've changed a bit since those days and those cultures.  For the better ? Maybe.  Maybe not.

So the question I have for you is ... when did you become a man? Did you have a "rite of passage" moment?  What about your sons? What do you want for them? Let me tell you about my rite of passage.  

Ever since I was in junior high school, I liked to go hunting, rabbit hunting mostly. We lived out in the country and I had ready access to fields and woods which contained rabbits, and other wild game. I also was great friends with another young man named Gene who lived on a farm. Gene later became my best man at our wedding.  It was on Gene's family farm that I learned how to work, in the fields, in the barns, 10-12 hours days in hot and cold weather. When Gene and I weren't working, we were hunting.  And when I wasn't hunting with him, or playing football, I would go hunting with my dad.  He was a WWII Veteran and he had a handful of his buddies from that war who lived up the road from us. Every year from junior high school through high school graduation, dad and his friends would take me on hunting trips with them. We spent several fall and winter Saturdays out with the dogs, chasing those elusive rabbits. Not only did I learn how to hunt and handle firearms responsibly, I also learned how to clean the game and fix it in the kitchen. Yumm.

Well, a few years after high school graduation, it was time for me to be taken into the Army. I didn't really have a clue what I was getting into, but there I was, standing in the parking lot at the Greyhound bus terminal waiting to board the bus for Ft. Jackson. My wife was there, as were my mom and dad, maybe my sister, and a couple of dad's WWII buddies. The bus pulled into the lot, the door opened and I took a step up to enter that metal beast. 

And there it was -- that first step! I didn't know it, but I was passing over from boyhood to manhood. No turning back, life lessons and hard knocks here I come. I was just hoping that I didn't become lion food! 

So that was my passage. Now that I look back on it, I actually recognize it for what it was and I also realize how lucky I was to have guys like Gene and men like my dad and his buddies mentoring me through those years. 

When was yours? Can you put your finger on it? 

 "It was really an exciting time trying to find my way from being a boy to becoming a man—being toe to toe and eye to eye with grown men, even though I was only 11 or 12."  (Karch Kiraly)

Hooah

Talk about feeling small ...

In the Army, we had a saying that let some young Private (or 2LT😄) know how someone off a higher rank felt about them. The Sergeant would chew on him for a while and then call him a “tick turd” (as in he’s about as valued or important as a “tick turd.”

 

This photo kinda shows how important we are “in the scope of the universe.”

But God still loves us.

 

 No one can make you feel small unless you agree to it first.

 Hooah

  P.S.  Hey Dave, see me. I'm in the picture, there on Earth.  I'm waving to you. 

On this day in history...

Charles Schulz passes (2/12) ...

Last of the original Peanuts strips published (2/13) ...

 

Schulz died at his home on February 12, 2000 at the age of 77, of colon cancer. The last original Peanuts strip was published the next day, Sunday, February 13. Schulz had predicted that the strip would outlive him because the strips were usually drawn weeks before their publication. Schulz was buried at Pleasant Hills Cemetery in Sebastopol, California.

 

As part of his contract with the syndicate, Schulz requested that no other artist be allowed to draw Peanuts. United Features had legal ownership of the strip, but honored his wishes, instead syndicating reruns to newspapers. New television specials have also been produced since Schulz’s death, with the stories based on previous strips; Schulz always said the TV shows were entirely separate from the strip.

 

Schulz was honored on May 27, 2000, by cartoonists of more than 100 comic strips, who paid homage to him and Peanuts by incorporating his characters into their strips that day. (Information borrowed from internet postings)

For those of us who grew up reading these and identifying with all of the characters, February 12 and 13 were very sad days. I can't count how many times I've had the football pulled out from in front of me by some "Lucy" character. And the "World War II Flying Ace" was my hero and inspiration when I was getting my pilot's license.

  

Good stuff to grow up with. Sure beats a lot of the junk in this arena that is out today. Learned a lot of "life stuff" from Mr. Schultz and his cast of characters. One line that I like that is attributed to Charlie Brown goes like this: "SOMETIMES I LIE AWAKE AT NIGHT AND ASK, 'WHERE HAVE I GONE WRONG.' AND THEN A VOICE SAYS TO ME, 'THIS IS GOING TO TAKE MORE THAN ONE NIGHT.'

 

"In the book of life, the answers are not in the back."  (Anon./attributed to Charlie Brown)

 Hooah

Old covered bridge ...

This is a photo of the Eldean covered bridge in Troy, OH.  A friend of mine from there took this picture (with his drone, I think) and it brought back a lot of memories.  One of my favorite memories of this bridge was how each year on Christmas Eve, my wife, my son and I would take a drive around the area at night and always drive through this bridge. It was nice when there was snow on the ground or especially if it happened to be snowing that night. Quiet. Peaceful.

Oh, and BTW, one of the other places we would go at that time of year, was up on the levy in Troy at midnight on New Year's Eve and just sit on one of the swings, listening to the celebrations taking place in places like The Brewery, and the uptown dining places. Cold, but again, peaceful.  

Kinda miss those places and times -- no snow here, no covered bridges and no levys.  Oh well, I also wasn't playing golf up there at those times like I am here in NC. 

Again, those were fond memories, but time marches on.  And like a lot of old memories, I'm sure we thought it was really cold and nasty at the time. 😕

“Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.” Saul Bellow

Hooah

OK -- it's time to get back to business ...

I have been meaning to publish some of these videos I came across on the Rype.tv site.  They really are well done and their message is pretty much on point.I know some of you may not like the message, so I invite you to just close this site and move on. However, if you are the least bit curious about God, His work in us and the blessings he will bestow on us, then I suggest you stay tuned.

I've become a bit tired of the typical facebook posts and just felt that I needed to get back to this blog. I'm going to get back into more of my Army days/stories, maybe some more from my days as a high school teacher, administrator and coach, and certainly some more short items I think just need to be told or shown. I'll also throw in some golf stories and some descriptions of how my trap shooting and other range activities are coming along -- no charge.

Oh, and one other thing -- I always try to end each entry with some sort of saying, so here goes ...

"When you are born, you look like your character;  when you die, you look like your decisions." Crawford Loritts

Hooah