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Bill: I mostly do damage assessment with the Southern Baptist disaster relief ministry. Sometimes I do chainsaw or mud-out flooded houses or drive a skid steer. Just whatever is needed.
Gary,
What kind of work did you do?
Did you know that fire is necessary for Lodgepole pines to reseed? Without that fire, their cones won’t open and drop seeds.
I just got back from a week working the Black Forest fire near Colorado Springs.
Larry,
You guys be careful!
We have been back at our summer home near Creede, Colorado for a week now. The fires burned more than 110,000 acres around here with almost no home loss. The fires are burning the pine beetle killed trees in mostly remote rugged terrain. The pine beetle killed trees are almost like gasoline for the fire. They closed major roads and evacuated some towns around. As of today, we have no smoke and the fires are somewhere around 70% contained. I want to thank all the firefighters and their support groups for their hard work.
Thanks!
Bill, Best wishes to your son and his bride…..Have a good time at the wedding!
would like to thank Bill Beckum for his very generous donation for the web site. It’s always great that some of my brothers step up and help with the expenses. Thanks again Bill!
Yes, he is getting married 7/27 in South FL. Will not make it. but know everyone will have a great time.
Bill B……….Ha Ha Ha…….My wife wll be with me……Are you going to make it to DC ?..I seem to remember your son might be getting married that weekend.
Bill,
The girls will go crazy……………..don’t tell the wife. Sometimes they are not very understanding.
I just ordered a 196th cap for the reunion in DC from the website “Zazzle”…….It has a map of Nam with a C.I.B. super-imposed…….You can customize by adding or deleting stuff on the hat……I added “Charlie 2/1″…..I think it is a pretty good deal at $ 16.99 plus shipping cost.
God Bless!
bill b–have to agree—the costs of wars overshadow any so called ‘glory”
TO ONE AND WHO VENTURE HERE….HAVE A SAFE FOURTH//INDEPEDANCE DAY//GOD BLESS TO THOSE WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE….
Chuck….Have a great Fourth……Bill, Jim, and Terry…..Those re-enactors are just like big kids playing Cowboys and Indians…..Most of us stopped that silly shit when we were about 10 years old…….If anyone thinks there is glory in war, they should ask the families of those that were killed.
Happy Independence Day to all of you.
Bill, I have thought of those same sentiments for many years. I wish all my brothers a good 4th, be safe and enjoy your families. Let someone else shoot off the fireworks, we already did over forty years ago!
Jim,
Excellent article. The part that struck home with me is this part which holds true of all wars; “Allen Nevins, a brilliant historian ….attempted to emphasize the war’s enormous tragedy by making this profoundly powerful point: “We can say that the multitude of Civil War dead represent hundreds of thousands of homes, and hundreds of thousands of families, that might have been, and never were. They represent millions of people who might have been part of our population today and are not. We have lost the books they might have written, the scientific discoveries they might have made, the inventions they might have perfected. Such a loss defies measurement.†.
I am reminded of those on the Co. C 2/1 KIA roll often as I age.
Bill: I have read that it is almost impossible to find a Vietnam vet at Vietnam reenactments.
It is easy for me to see why.
Much more common are Civil War reenactments and I share your misgivings as does this well thought out essay:
http://www.salon.com/2011/05/08/civil_war_sesquicentennial/
Question?? I live about 45 minutes from Gettysburg, PA were they are celebrating 150th anniversary. How do you feel about re-enactors celebrating the horrors of war. Are they glorifying death or honoring death. Bugging me all week. How do you feel?
Meatballs and beans was pretty good…….Hey……Don’t drink a Fifth on the Fourth or you may not come forth on the Fifth.
Short Round,
It has the same life as radioactive waste.
heard ty harper is now in California area, awaiting some sort of stomach surgery. am wondering–any 1 know how long ham and muthers can ferment in 1`s system ?
received a Snowden NSA report confirming what many suspected. reason we needed to get back to firebases -usually–after 4-6 weeks in the bush–once crotch rot and other jungle rots advanced to a certain point, we became threats to balance of nature in the jungle. 1st sign–water buffalo scenting us–caused them to attack us.
PLEASE Check the ROSTER as I have a new E-Mail as I had technical difficulties with the old one. Thanks =========
Facts about Vietnam that remind me of how fortunate I was to come home. Bless all who gave their all and you who have suffered wounds both physical and emotional.
The youngest Vietnam KIA is believed to be Dan Bullock at 15 years old.
The oldest person on the Wall is Dwaine McGriff at 63 years old.
At least 5 men killed in Vietnam were 16 years old.
At least 12 men killed in Vietnam were 17 years old.
At least 25,000 of those killed were 20 years old or younger.
More than 17,000 of those killed were married.
Veterans killed on their first day in Vietnam 997 (unconfirmed)
Veterans killed on their last day in Vietnam 1,448 (unconfirmed)
Number of Women on the Wall — 8 (7 Army, 1 USAF – 7,484 served)
The most casualties for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 casualties.
The most casualties for a single month was May 1968, 2,415 casualties were incurred.
LT
And all this time I thought I was your one and only…….. If I had a heart, you would be breaking it…..
Oh well….
Bill C…..
That was a great joke…. I can’t wait to use it in real life somehow.
I can hardly believe I found and talked to my old Platoon Sgt from B/2/1 yesterday after 43 years. Just could never get his name in my head and then yesterday LT Hughes from B/2/1 put it there after all these years. Robert Stonerook (Stoney) and I talked for over an hour on the phone last night. Wonderful to reunite with him!
LT,
It is such a great thing that you were able to find your old Platoon Sgt from so long ago.
My grunt Platoon Sgt was a Staff Sgt named Murtland. I saw him in Germany in 1977, but lost track since. My biggest disappointment is that I didn’t keep track of my Grunt brothers.
Murtland and I spent a lot of time together, as I was the Platoon medic. I hear that he went on to become a CSM.
Bill,
Love it!
LT……. Hussein not Hussain…….A veteran goes to a job interview and the interviewer says “What is your greatest weakness?”……. The veteran then says “I guess it would be my honesty”….The interviewer then says ” I don’t think honesty is a weakness”……The veteran replies ” Who gives a shit what you think, asshole?”….