A reason to celebrate ...

I think I mentioned a few articles ago that Pam and I went to a party for an old Sergeant Major of mine who had just returned from his third tour in this war. I received a Christmas card from him and his wife, Pat, along with an article from their home town newspaper. The article pointed out that this is the first time since 2003 that Wink and his whole family has been together for the holidays. He has 3 sons, all of whom were or are in the Army, and 2 of whom are currently serving. Anyway, I got to thinking how Wink's and my paths have been intertwined over the past 20 some years and I found some pictures that kind of highlight some of it.

In my command days with the 447th MP CO (CS), Wink was one of the platoon sergeants and would have been my First Sergeant when we went to the first Gulf War. We would have been a kick-ass team, but fate stepped in and things changed. I took the 447th off to Germany while I had to give him up to be the First Sergeant of another unit who was particularly weak on good leadership. Kind of like balancing the talent, or spreading the wealth. There was a lot of that going on in the Reserves just before that war. Interestingly enough, however, he and I ran in to each other at 2330 hours in the snack bar at the flight ops. building at McGuire AFB, just as he and his unit were ready to take off for Kuwait and I and mine were leaving for Germany. What a coincidence. What were the chances?

Well, we got back from our respective Theaters and went back to Reserve life and trained some more, hoping we would never need any of this again. We worked hard but when it was time to celebrate holidays, we would do our best to show the families what it was that we did all those weekends and annual training weeks wherever. This picture shows Wink setting up a display in the G-3 section at our headquarters for a family day.

And then along came 9/11 and everything changed again. Again Fate stepped in and shuffled the cards we were to be dealt. Because of a heart attack two days before the unit mobilized for a deployment to Cuba, I missed that trip with him. However, early in the following year, I was cleared for duty and went to Iraq while assigned to Third Army. When everyone finally got back, we did what Soldiers have done for centuries following a deployment -- we partied. This picture was at Wink's house.

Interestingly enough, we both took on new assignments after that tour. He again went to Iraq as part of a small detachment and I went to the Pentagon. Mine was one of those "assigned to with additional duty elsewhere" tours. Anyway, as Fate would have it we again ran into each other late one night in 2006 in a camp in Iraq. We had a couple of soldiers who were sitting in a nearby break area take our picture. They were amazed when we told them how many times the Sergeant Major's and my paths had crossed in wars. Kinda like something from some book.

I finished that 18-month tour and then retired from the Army. Wink came back home, transferred to the Brigade HQ expecting a break only to be deployed once again. There wouldn't be any more late night meetings in some far away land, but it wouldn't be the last time a bunch of old soldiers would get together. Here is a picture from that most recent gathering this past November.
Just in case you were wondering, from left to right, there's quite a bit of experience in this picture: Me(Ret.) - 39 years, CSM(Ret.) Dave - 44 years, SGM Wink(still serving) - 30+ years, 1SG (Ret.) Bob - 42 years. My math says that's at least 155 years worth of service.

I hope you won't take issue with me if I take a small liberty with Shakespeare's quote, but I feel it best sums up the picture above. Those who have been there will understand:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that "serves" with me shall be my brother.

Hooah

Command has its privileges...

I haven't written any Army stories for a while so as I was going through some old pictures, I thought I would take a minute to tell you about these two pictures.

I was the battalion commander for the 391st MP BN (EPW) and happened to also be the principal at Anna High School in March of 1997. One thing that I learned quickly was that small rural communities celebrate some really neat little festivals, the kind that would hardly even get noticed in other places. McCartyville, a little crossroads village which is part of the Anna School District and happens to be where we live, breaks out of the winter doldrums on St. Patrick's Day each spring, recalling its Irish heritage with a 5K run, a 5-6 unit parade and some high-spirited partying at the local establishment called Patricks.

While there are some very good runners in the community, the 5K is mostly for fun and is not taken seriously by everyone. In fact, there have been one or two people who don't run the whole way who have been known to have a green beer at the rest break.

As I said, I was the principal at the time and wanted to do something to help with the parade. I was also interested in getting the U.S. Army a little more visibilty in that neck of the woods. So, I told the commander of a subordinate MP unit in Troy to conduct a road march/route recon exercise with his objective being to find the Village of McCartyville, plot a route that would take them there and execute a plan that would have them there (the objective, in Army terms) exactly at the starting time of the parade. They would then participate in the parade and gather intelligence on the locals in the process (had to tie in some Army stuff for them to do).

One of the things I always told my junior officers and sergeants was: If you tell people where to go and what to do, but not how to get there or how to do it, you'll be amazed at the results. The weather in March here in West Central Ohio can be quite unpredictable, and this year was no exception. It snowed the day before and was quite cold the morning of the parade. But that wasn't going to stop them. Besides, we had one young Soldier who had just joined that particular unit and I wanted to show the locals what he looked like in his uniform, standing behind his weapon, out of the top of a HUMVEE. My superiors would have called this a spontaneous recruiting event--you know, the U.S. Army in support of local community events.

Well it worked and they amazed me. As I fully expected, they found the place quite easily and arrived about 5 minutes early. The kids in town thought it was really cool, especially when the troops stopped after the parade and parked in the church parking lot for about a half hour to let the kids climb all over the vehicles (The platoon leader told me this was their intelligence gathering time. But I know better -- one of the locals told me this was when they gave the Soldiers some coffee so they could warm up. Well, maybe this was intelligence gathering, who knows).

I don't know that this unit got any recruites out of this, but the troops had fun, the company commander and the detachment commander got brownie points with their battalion commander (me), and the community got to see some Soldiers up close. I think the National Guard took credit for this and got some recruits, but what the heck.

This reminded me of a saying attributed to Ronald Reagan: Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but Soldiers don't have that problem.


The patriot volunteer, fighting for country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth. Stonewall Jackson

Hooah

Oh, no ... the big SIX-O...

Well, if you didn't hear the earth shake the other day, you didn't miss it. But I am very happy to tell you that Pam and I both celebrated our 60th birthdays. For those of you who don't know us very well, yep, that's right -- both of us were born on the same day, same year. You would not believe the fun we've had with that over the years.

Every three or four years, when we go to renew our driver's licenses, we get strange questions and looks from the ladies behind the counter. They look at us like we've done something wrong or are trying to get away with something. After you turn 21, why would anyone want to get away with something that makes them older? Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime you haven't committed.

And I don't know how many times in the military when I had to fill out dependent forms for her when I was deploying somewhere that the clerk would think the old man was losing his hearing or mind when he couldn't respond correctly to such a simple question as "your wife's birthdate, not your's, Sir."

Well, let me tell you how our 60th went. First, we went to Wright Patterson to get our retired ID cards...or as I call it, "the you're too old to play anymore" card. But don't get me wrong -- I have looked forward to reaching this age and getting that card for a long, long time. It was kind of a huge benchmark in my life -- that little blue card meant that I had really accomplished something in life that I could be proud of, my parents would have been proud of if they were still alive, and my wife and son, and yes, even my grandson, could be proud of. 39 years of military is something to be proud of. But you know what, when the Air Force Staff Sergeant handed me my card (she must have had the "old filter" on the camera because boy the picture sure makes me look older than I thought I was the night before), I didn't hear any cannons or the roar from a fly-over celebrating this monumental occasion. Not even a bell or a whistle. Oh, well, she had a whole room full of contractors and other military types and their dependents waiting to get their cards done so I just picked up my coat and moved on. Besides, we still had lots more of this day to celebrate.

OK. Off we went, back to town where I dropped my wife off at her car so she could go back to work (Oh, she's not retired yet -- you knew that, right?). By now, it was almost noon, so what the heck -- I thought I would splurge and buy myself lunch. So I went through the drive-thru at Burger King and confidently whipped out my Golden Buckeye card, ordered a #5 (you know -- the "could my butt look any bigger" meal) and felt good about the 10% discount they give to people of our advanced stature in life. From there, I went home to eat lunch with our dog at the kitchen table. It was way too cold to go golfing and besides, I was getting a headache, so I went in and took a nap. Later that night, we went to dinner at Appleby's.

Don't get me wrong, the 60th is a biggie. We usually get presents for each other for our birthdays, but we also like to just buy little things for each other throughout the year -- makes them more special when they are not expected. This year's presents were special though. Pam got me a new tri-band ham radio I had been looking at and they had some gold left over from doing my teeth, so I got her a nice pair of gold ear rings (just kidding about the teeth part).

The phone rang pretty much off the hook with family members calling with assorted genuine, snide and humorous greetings and salutations. And then it was time for bed. Bailey got up on the bed and snuggled up and gave us a big sigh, indicating everything from the perspective of a blind dog was good in life. A little later, Pam was sound asleep, Bailey was snoring and I finished another chapter in a military related book I am currently reading. Lights out.

And now, we're off on year 60, day 1 ... and counting. I think it was Charles Schultz who said, "Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed."

"You know you're getting old when all the names in your little black book have M. D. after them." (Arnold Palmer)

Hooah

Glad things are back to normal...kinda...

I don't know about you, but I sure am glad things are back to normal after all the election hysteria.

Being residents of one of the battleground states, it seemed there was a non-stop blitz of political commercials, basically from sun-up to bed time for about three months. I don't know if any of those sound bites really changed anyone's mind or really educated anyone. I'm not even sure they convinced people to vote. I think the "Pied Piper" approach to rallies had more of an effect on registration and voting than anything else. I don't care what the talking heads tell you they learned from their "scientific" polls, people pretty much had an opinion from the beginning -- right, wrong, or whatever -- and they pretty much voted along that line.

Having said that -- and I feel very much relieved for having done so, thank you -- let me tell you what I meant by "back to normalcy." The commercial segments of the nightly news have been recaptured by medicine-related infomercials. I have seen more of Sally Fields pushing her Boniva pills than I really care to. In fact, I've seen her more lately than I did when she was really hot doing her TV shows.

I have also had my fill of hearing of pills that give you more bad side effects than the pill is supposed to correct. I would say I was sick of hearing of them, but the drug companies probably have something for that too. Are the drug companies really trying to educate people to buy something that kinda scares the heck out of them?

And another thing (Sorry, Andy -- I just had to use that line)...I don't know how many more sex pills I can hear about without throwing something at the TV. Fortunately, there is always my trusty mute button. And what's up with those things ending with the two people in bathtubs on a beach or at the edge of a forest. Did I miss something in my sex education class or the locker room?

I just hope my grandchild's first words aren't "Erectile Dysfunction."

"A healthy old fellow, who is not a fool, is the happiest creature living." (Sir Richard Steele)

Hooah

Enough snow to track a rabbit...

An old tale from my childhood goes something like this: The way you can tell how many major snows there will be in a winter is to note the date of the first snow of the year that is heavy enough to track a rabbit. That date will equate to how many snows there will be.

Well, today, November 15, is the first snow of the year here in McCartyville and you can certainly track a rabbit in this one. You'll notice I got the boat put away for the winter too.

Each year, once in the late fall and then again in the early spring, my neighbor, Jim, comes over and helps me take the motor off the boat. I suppose I could try to wrastle if off the boat and get it on the stand in the garage by myself, but it only takes the two of us about five minutes and we don't get all greasy and buggered up doing it. He usually brings one of the boys over when he comes -- whoever has his homework done I guess. Anyway, I told them the snow/rabbit tale and guess what, he remembered it. Now he's delightedly looking ahead to lots of snow days this winter.

Bailey went out with me today to walk in the snow. She can't see it, but she remembered it. One big flake fell right on her nose. I'm talking at least an inch wide one. She pulled up short, licked it off, and then kinda ran around a bit, licking the snow off the ground just like she used to do. The flakes are so big she looks like a Dalmation Lab!!

Another sight that always makes me pause and think of the things we have that we had no hand in paying for is the snow falling on the graves of the Civil War Vets' in the cemetery behind our house. The flags waving in the breeze provides a stunning contrast of red, white and blue with the snow on the ground and the green of the pines. The snow is coming down so heavily right now, the fields behind the cemetery almost look like they are in a heavy fog. Kinda eerie. Kinda powerful.

Earth, teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life, teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall, teach me courage as the tree which stands all alone...teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring. (William Alexander)

Hooah

Now, just you hold on a minute!!!!!!!

Saturday, Pam and I went to an open house welcome back party for one of my old Sergeants-Major who had just returned from his latest deployment to Iraq (by the way, I hope it is his last -- he's getting too old for this crap). We had a great visit. Two of my other Army buddies were there -- Dave, a former CSM, and Bob, a former 1SG. One nice thing was they all brought their wives so Pam got to meet some and renew friendships with others.

So far, so good. Then we drove back to McCartyville and pulled up in front of the mail box to see what we got besides all those obnoxious, annoying political flyers. And there it was...in fact there THEY were.

I immediately thought about calling the Post Master to file a complaint. How could she be so cruel. Pam and I make Christmas candy and always leave a big platefull for the mail lady, and she does this to us!!!

She delivered those inevitable signs that time waits for no man (or woman) -- GOLDEN BUCKEYE cards. "Say it ain't so, Joe." I remember when my parents got theirs -- and I thought how old they were. I can recall how my mom went into denial. In fact, I think Pam might be doing the same thing.

Well, I finally sucked it up and put mine in my wallet. Might as well use it, I guess. Pam finally today took hers off the little sticky greetings card thingy that it comes on telling you you are getting closer and closer to being old. It's still sitting on the counter in the kitchen though.

The next day, I thought I would give this thing a whirl and see what I could get for it. I went to the Speedway for a cup of coffee after church. You're right -- no dice. They take money, they take Speedy rewards cards, but no Golden Buckeye card. Then I went to Tim Horton's and sadly found out the same thing. Soooooooo, Mr. Golden Buckeye -- you're 0-2. Since the state of Ohio didn't send a list of places I could use this thing, I thought I should go online to see what they had to offer. I printed a list of places in Shelby and Miami counties. Mickey-Ds is in, and so is Wendy's, so that's good. And I guess it's better than nothing.

Since we're looking at an immenent move to PA, I went online to see if they have anything there like this program. Nope. And if they did, they'd probably tax it anyway. Oh, well.

I'll still throw away the AARP things we get in the mail. I don't believe in most of their political stances. But I'll use this card. Thanks Ohio for thinking of your older citizens -- even if I/we don't think we're there yet.

"Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many." (Author Unknown)

Hooah

Milford Trip, Part 3...

Let me give you a little run down on the borough of Milford, just in case you're wondering what two almost-sixty year-olds are doing moving from Ohio to the land of snow and liberal politics.

The town seems to be a getaway for New Yorkers wanting to get out of the city, to escape higher taxes and higher cost of living issues. The main drag, Routes 6 and 209 which intersect at what I think is the only stop light in the town, is non-stop traffic on weekends and everyone seems to have a New York or New Jersey plate. In fact, when I got up at about 3:30 in the morning to go to the bathroom, I looked out the window of the room at the B&B where we were staying and there was still scattered traffic. There also seems to be lots of motorcycle traffic there -- Harleys cruising the backroads of PA with Bruce Springsteen wannabees.

The town itself is pretty nice from what we can tell. We had pizza on Thursday night at the pizza place across the street from the B&B. It was pretty good. As expected, it turned into the teen hangout on the weekend. On Friday, we spent the day with a realtor. Saturday and Sunday were spent the day with Doug, Danika and Quinn. We did a lot of walking throughout the town, which has some really nice shops and attractions.

The borough is trying to build on its tourism theme by having several festivals throughout the year. The weekend we were there was the Blackbear Film Festival weekend. I'm sure that brought lots of people in who might not have been there otherwise. The old movie house where the "indie films" (that's what they call independent films) were shown was right out of the 50s. They had a refreshment tent set up outside and had art and other items for sale. There was a silent auction for lots of things, including the black bear sculptures produced for the festival. There were two bears that I liked -- the "Indy (Indiana Jones) Bear" and the "Armed Forces Bear" (notice ARMY is on top!!).

They had a sign advertising the film festival's location on this old truck, a 1928 Chevrolet. One thing I liked about it was how simple the dash board was. Kind of reminds me of the Cessna 152 I first learned to fly in. I think that's one of the things I like about Milford, things on the surface appear to be simplistic and pretty easy to adapt to. The people I met that weekend appeared to be real down home people and easy to talk to. We drove down to one of the shopping areas and saw the Wal-Mart, the Staples store and other smaller shops. The main downtown area of Milford is full of shops with charm and appeal. Lots of the buildings are over 100 years old and all have been maintained very well. The streets are wide and tree-lined. We also drove past the local high school. It looks like a nice school. I was told that the top four grades have somewhere over 1,700 students or so. It was Friday night and people were pulling in the parking lot, getting ready for that night's football game. From the looks of the traffic entering the parking lot, they take their football there as seriously as they do in Ohio. I'm looking forward to seeing them play. They also have a Zane Gray museum in Milford. I thought my old hometown of Zanesville Ohio had the only one. I learned something new.
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Unfortunately, we did not find that one house that said "buy me." We're still looking, but have since seen a couple of real strong possibilities on the internet. We're planning our nest trip over there for November. I'm sure we'll find that one that is meant for us. I know it will be worth it as the kids will be able to come over for weekend getaways and we'll only be about an hour and a half away from their place.

I'm sure I've mentioned before in one of these articles that I'm really looking forward to Quinn and Doug coming over to go fishing with me in the Water Gap area...that is, if I can get him away from his grandma when they come over. My father and grandmother taught me how to fish and I look forward to teaching them what President Herbert Hoover once said: "Fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air. It brings meekness and inspiration, reduces our egoism, soothes our troubles, and shames our wickedness. It is discipline in the equality of men -- for all men are equal before fish."

Pam and I are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives. We have never been the kind to get settled in a rut. It's kind of like that old saying: The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions. We'll miss our families, and we're going to miss our friends here. Dave will just have to carry on our golfing adventures without me. And we'll miss the families in this neighborhood --they're super people -- we wish we could take them with us. Thank goodness for phones and e-mail.

"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies." (Author Unknown)

Hooah