True Colors.......

NBC (you know, that wholly owned subsidiary of GE, that wholly owned subsidiary of Obamanation's White House), and ABC (you know, the network that carried Obamanation's one hour health care infomercial unedited, have really shown their true colors now!

Both networks have refused to air PAID 33 second commercials from the League of American Voters . Local affiliates are showing them, but the national networks refuse. Fox & CBS have not demonstrated such 'don't offend the boss' compunctions.

A great, hard hitting short ad, narrated by a practicing Neurosurgeon (not an actor) began two weeks ago. If you haven't seen it...... take a minute and see if you think it is offensive .....or informative! : (copy and paste please)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kr3zBcNIxU

What a sick launching pad.............

Take two pain pills and die in the morning?

Mike Huckabee tossed a hand grenade into the debate over who's politicizing Ted Kennedy's death Thursday morning when he told his radio audience that under Obamacare, Kennedy would be told to "go home to take pain pills and die."

Which Democrat will toss it back first?

Will any Republicans jump on it by challenging Huckabee head-on?

One thing's for sure: by joining the debate in this time in this way, Huckabee is showing how determined he is not to be outmaneuvered by Sarah Palin in the early 2012 bidding for the GOP's conservative base

Couple of facts we know! Even under Obamanation Care, as a Senator, Kennedy would have still received the 'kings' own best medical treatment. Only us unwashed, unelected lot would be given the two pain pills and told go away.

It's interesting that this was stated on Thursday to a national radio audience, and now two days later, not one Dimmocrat has stood up on his hind legs and refuted it. Seems to me, all they'd have to do is pull out chapter and verse from that 1000 page document and show us where he is wrong..... Wonder why nobody has......?

Thanks and a tip o' the stetson to George Snuffleopolis for bringing this up in his blog Friday......

Regarding the release of the Lockerbie bomber.....

Lieberman Calls for an Investigation...

...of how a terrorist was released! Imagine that, investigating bad guys instead of the people defending the country. Lieberman says that the suggestions "that there was an intermixing here of Megrahi's fate with British interests and oil exploration in Libya are shocking." He went on, "I don't want to believe they are true, but they are hanging so heavily in the air that I hope that our friends in Britain will convene an independent investigation of this action by the Scottish Justice Minister to release a mass murderer."

Meanwhile, in the "reality-based community," Chuck Schumer has suggested that the United Nations rebuke Libya over the celebration of a man who blew up a commercial airliner. Note to Chuck Schumer: Libya is an elected member of the United Nations Security Council, and the next president of the United Nations General Assembly will be none other than Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former Libyan ambassador to the United Nations. Good luck with that Senator.

I pulled this from the Weekly Standard Blog for two reasons... to join those who point out the insensitivity of those who released this terrorist --- but mostly because that second paragraph shows just how bloody stupid and ignorant New York's mouth in the Senate, Chuck 'loves the mike' Schumer truly is! If he and Biden were to both donate their brains to science -- it would cost too much to find them to make it worth while!

You'd think New York would be embarrassed, but I guess that can't be done! They elected Hellary, didn't they?

Gotta love O's media lap dogs...........

I note with interest, the MSM's general lack of interest in the Administration deciding that there will be NO COLA increases in Social Security for the next two years..... The part that I find interesting, is that is how they report it......'no increases'! I seem to recall during the last eight years, that every time budget restraints called for reducing an increase -- it was headlined a CUT!! If for example, a projected budget increase of 20% for Medicaid, or welfare was reduced to a 10% increase -- the headlines screamed "Bush cuts Medicaid payments by 10%!!!! (not Medicaid increase to be just 10%) This year however, as all annual COLA's are CUT, they are called 'no increases'~ Meanwhile congress gave itself another $4,700 raise this year and defeated a bill which would have discontinued the auto pay raises for congress. If you'd like to know how your Senators voted - go here! I'm pleased with my two from Texas.... http://www.washingtonwatch.com/blog/2009/03/15/now-about-tha t-congressional-pay-raise/

A few words from our Sixth President...

I had occasion today to re-review a 50 year history of the Air Force Command in which I served.

I was particularly taken by this quote posted by a picture of a huge American Flag commemorating 9-11. An event too rapidly receding from the conscious minds of young Americans......

“Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope that you will make good use of it.”
- John Quincy Adams

There are lies, damned lies and statistics......

Unfortunately, or rather - fortunately, it appears that some of Obamanation's lies are coming home to roost.... Here is just one more current example as posted on the TownHall blog:

(Regarding) ........... Obama's pot-shotting Palin over her "death panels" remark. Our media appears too busy awarding Palin with De Niro Kicks to the ribs and asking, "Where did such an idiotic assumption come from?" they might discover it came from The Messiah Himself in the April 14, 2009 edition of the NYT .

THE PRESIDENT: So that’s where I think you just get into some very difficult moral issues. But that’s also a huge driver of cost, right?

I mean, the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here.

NYT's DAVID LEONHARDT: So how do you — how do we deal with it?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that there is going to have to be a conversation that is guided by doctors, scientists, ethicists. And then there is going to have to be a very difficult democratic conversation that takes place. It is very difficult to imagine the country making those decisions just through the normal political channels. And that’s part of why you have to have some independent group that can give you guidance. It’s not determinative, but I think has to be able to give you some guidance. And that’s part of what I suspect you’ll see emerging out of the various health care conversations that are taking place on the Hill right now.

Doesn't it just warm the corners of your heart and put your mind to rest, just thinking that some day, your medical needs and treatment might be determined by a 'panel' appointed by this arrogant, narcissistic, socialist?

Hope you folks been calling and writing your Reps in the Beltway -- don't let up now!!!

One more proof of the wisdom of our ForeFathers!!

To be successful in politics, you have to be both talented and lucky....

It would appear that Obamanation is short of the former and running out of the latter. Here he is in the middle of attempting to jam socialized medicine down our throats (pun intended) and now this announcement that the Canadian Socialized Health care system is 'imploding'!!

Overhauling health-care system tops agenda at annual meeting of Canada's doctors

By Jennifer Graham (CP)

SASKATOON — The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country's health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it.

Dr. Anne Doig says patients are getting less than optimal care and she adds that physicians from across the country - who will gather in Saskatoon on Sunday for their annual meeting - recognize that changes must be made.

"We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," Doing said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"We know that there must be change," she said. "We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands."

The pitch for change at the conference is to start with a presentation from Dr. Robert Ouellet, the current president of the CMA, who has said there's a critical need to make Canada's health-care system patient-centred. He will present details from his fact-finding trip to Europe in January, where he met with health groups in England, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and France.

His thoughts on the issue are already clear. Ouellet has been saying since his return that "a health-care revolution has passed us by," that it's possible to make wait lists disappear while maintaining universal coverage and "that competition should be welcomed, not feared."

In other words, Ouellet believes there could be a role for private health-care delivery within the public system.

He has also said the Canadian system could be restructured to focus on patients if hospitals and other health-care institutions received funding based on the patients they treat, instead of an annual, lump-sum budget. This "activity-based funding" would be an incentive to provide more efficient care, he has said.

Doig says she doesn't know what a proposed "blueprint" toward patient-centred care might look like when the meeting wraps up Wednesday. She'd like to emerge with clear directions about where the association should focus efforts to direct change over the next few years. She also wants to see short-term, medium-term and long-term goals laid out.

"A short-term achievable goal would be to accelerate the process of getting electronic medical records into physicians' offices," she said. "That's one I think ought to be a priority and ought to be achievable."

A long-term goal would be getting health systems "talking to each other," so information can be quickly shared to help patients.

Doig, who has had a full-time family practice in Saskatoon for 30 years, acknowledges that when physicians have talked about changing the health-care system in the past, they've been accused of wanting an American-style structure. She insists that's not the case.

"It's not about choosing between an American system or a Canadian system," said Doig. "The whole thing is about looking at what other people do."

"That's called looking at the evidence, looking at how care is delivered and how care is paid for all around us (and) then saying 'Well, OK, that's good information. How do we make all of that work in the Canadian context? What do the Canadian people want?' "

Doig says there are some "very good things" about Canada's health-care system, but she points out that many people have stories about times when things didn't go well for them or their family.

"(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now - if it keeps on going without change - is not sustainable," said Doig.

"They have to look at the evidence that's being presented and will be presented at (the meeting) and realize what Canada's doctors are trying to tell you, that you can get better care than what you're getting and we all have to participate in the discussion around how do we do that and of course how do we pay for it."

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

----- and on it goes! You takes your choice and takes your chance!!

Latest headline from New York Pity!!

NY shopkeeper who defended store recounts shooting
AP News
Saturday, August 15, 2009

A 72-year-old New York City shopkeeper has gunned down four men trying to rob his restaurant supply store but says he "didn't want to do it."

Charles "Gus" Augusto Jr. was back at work Friday, a day after the bloody confrontation. He says in an interview he had no choice but to turn his shotgun on the robbers.

Augusto described how on Thursday the four men burst into his commercial kitchen equipment store in Harlem with guns drawn. He says they demanded money and began beating a worker.

The shopkeeper says he pulled out his shotgun and fired three times. Two of the men died on the street. Two are hospitalized.

Police say Augusto didn't have a permit for the gun. But no charges have been filed.

I'm certain that Mr Augusto feels guilt and generally terrible about killing the two hoods. On the other hand, if he'd a reached for the telephone to call #911, I wonder what the results would have been...... and how many of his employees and himself would have been dead.

I knew that New York Pity is death on handguns, as in 'go to jail - directly to jail' if you are an honest citizen caught with one........ but............ a 'permit' for a shotgun?? Gimme a break!!

Are we that close to the laws of Germany of the '30s??

Signs of the times................

I think this yard sign makes a lot of sense. Even more so when the sign below is placed right beside it!!







I reckon this sign would draw a lot more attention than one of those Home Security outfit signs,,,,, which would cause you to move on?

National Health -- Corner Colonoscopy!!!!

I may be a back-slidin' Methodist.... but

I ain't never seen such as this before! From the Washington Times today:

School prayer charges stir protests

Julia Duin

Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case involving a northern Florida school principal and an athletic director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail over their offer of a mealtime prayer.

There have been yard signs, T-shirts and a mass student protest during graduation ceremonies this spring on behalf of Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and school athletic director Robert Freeman, who will go on trial Sept. 17 at a federal district court in Pensacola for breaching the conditions of a lawsuit settlement reached last year with the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I have been defending religious freedom issues for 22 years, and I've never had to defend somebody who has been charged criminally for praying," said Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, the Orlando-based legal group that is defending the two school officials. [.........]

Is this country slipping through Alice's Looking Glass or what? Force feeding religion and/or proselytizing is one thing, but offering a prayer before dinner, give me a break.

For the rest of the item, go to:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/14/criminal-prayer-case-stirs-protests/?feat=home_headlines

Senator 'feels' global warming when she flies!!!!

Posted by Henry Payne (The Detroit News) on Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 12:17 AM

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Energy Leader (National Review, 08.10.09)

Detroit, Mich. - Michigan just experienced its coldest July on record; global temperatures haven't risen in more than a decade; Great Lakes water levels have resumed their 30-year cyclical rise (contrary to a decade of media scare stories that they were drying up due to global warming), and polls show that climate change doesn't even make a list of Michigan voters' top-ten concerns.

Yet in an interview with the Detroit News Monday, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) - recently appointed to the Senate Energy Committee - made clear that fighting the climate crisis is her top priority.

"Climate change is very real," she confessed as she embraced cap and trade's massive tax increase on Michigan industry - at the same time claiming, against all the evidence, that it would not lead to an increase in manufacturing costs or energy prices. "Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes."

And there are sea monsters in Lake Michigan. I can feel them when I'm boating.

Makes you feel all warm and safe knowing we have United States Senators like this making decisions every day, doesn't it Pilgrims?

Somethin' fishy going on in this country all right -- and Ramirez nails it, as usual!

Ooh Ooh!! Hellary is getting touchy!!!!!

Clinton: I'm secretary of state, not Bill

AP News
Monday, August 10, 2009

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's temper flared on Monday when a Congolese university student asked for her husband's thinking on an international matter.

"My husband is not secretary of state. I am," an obviously annoyed Clinton replied sharply.

A week after former President Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea to secure the release of two detained American journalists and stole the limelight from the start of his wife's first trip to Africa, Clinton was clearly nettled by the question at a town hall forum in Kinshasa.

"You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?" she replied incredulously when the male student asked her what "Mr. Clinton" thought of World Bank concerns about a multibillion-dollar Chinese loan offer to the Democratic Republic of Congo. . "If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband," she said.

The question was left unanswered as the moderator of the event quickly moved on.

Sidelined for weeks after she was injured during a fall this spring, Clinton returned to a flurry of speculation that she had been shoved to the side as a diplomatic force inside the administration, overshadowed by globe-trotting President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and a bevy of heavyweight special envoys assigned to the world's critical hotspots.

My My, and she gave up her Senate seat just to be a 'channel' for Bubba --- and to carry water for Obamanation. Oh, how the mighty have fallen............ Guess she din't put as many cracks in that glass ceiling as she thought she did!

We can only hope.......

That after the eye opening home town events our (so-called) representatives are running into back in their districts, that this is the September look!

There is a great article on AmericanThinker today...

which really puts Obamanation's National Health Care plan in perspective!

I have downloaded all 1017 pages of the House Bill in pdf format and read it, at least until my eyes glazed over.

But Carol Peracchio has read it more carefully and in an attempt to help us folks out, has equated it to something we understand much better: our American Education system.

She has gone thru the bill, substituted 'education' for health care and then elaborates on the results.

A quick Primer for us all --- take a few minutes to read it for your own sake as well as your children and their children.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/what_if_we_had_comprehensive_e.html

Sorry, y'all will have to cut and paste -- it won't link for some reason.....
What do you think - was this any help -- leave a comment!

A whole new meaning to Concealed Carry Weapon!!

Obese Houston inmate found with gun after 5 searches

By DALE LEZON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Aug. 6, 2009, 12:41PM

Harris County Sheriff's Department

George Vera, 25, is charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility.

An obese Harris County jail inmate turned over a pistol that had been hidden in the folds of his skin after he went through at least five searches upon his arrest and was booked into two different local lockups, authorities said.

George Vera, 25, is charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility. He also is charged with possessing or selling unlabeled recordings, the original reason for his arrest.

Authorities said he was caught with 439 compact disc recordings which did not have labels noting manufacturers or distributors.

Vera is free on a total of $10,000 bail. The Chronicle was unable to reach him at his home.

The Houston Police Department, which operates the city jail, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which operates the county jail, are investigating.

The case comes on the heels of the county jail passing a state inspection last week after the facility corrected problems found during a previous inspection in April.

"It's certainly troubling and that's why we're conducting an investigation to see what happened," said Christina Garza, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

A spokesman for the Houston Police Department, Kese Smith, said that procedures call for a suspect to be searched upon arrest, twice at the city jail and once more upon his transfer. He said there's no special provision regarding obese people, but officers are trained to thoroughly search suspects.

Vera, who is 5-foot-10 and weighs more 500 pounds, was arrested by Houston police and booked into the city jail Sunday on suspicion of bootlegging compact disc recordings, said Donna Hawkins, spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

By Monday, Vera was transferred to the county jail, where he was searched at least once. While he was in the shower that day, he told a guard that he had weapon on him.

Garza said officers found a 9-millimeter handgun beneath folds of his skin. The gun was not loaded and it was unclear whether bullets were found.

The incident comes after the troubled jail at 1200 Baker passed a surprise inspection last week by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. The review found that all deficiencies cited during the April inspection had been corrected.

In April, the lockup failed inspection because of malfunctioning intercoms, broken toilets and crowding in holding cells, where inmates are placed before they are formally booked.

Marilyn --- how you've grown!!!!!!!!!

Lady Liberty......

I noted that today is the anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone for France's gift, The Statue of Liberty, on August 5th, 1884.

Apparently they ran into some money problems but still got it finished and dedicated just two years later on Oct 28, 1886. Hell, they wouldn't be able to get their Environmental Impact statements filed and approved in two years nowadays.....

Don't think many of us have read the full inscription (or remember it) I didn't:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
******

Now if I was cynical, instead of the pussycat that I am, I might look at Lady Liberty as being a 'sleeping Trojan Horse' that woke up and bit us in the ass on her 100th birthday -- seems like about 1986 that the abuse of the immigration rules began to fester and flood the country with folks not 'yearning to breathe free' or melt into our great American melting pot........

We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA


Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode To America ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'



~An Ode to America ~


Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.

On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.

Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.


After the first moments of panic , they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth can unites the Americans in such way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.


Cornel Nistorescu



(This deserves to be passed around the Internet forever.) It took a person on the outside - looking in - to see what we take for granted !

GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!

The first chink in the 'O' man's armor....

For months, Obamanation's halo was so shiny that nobody dared ridicule him. Night time comics avoided him and kept telling Bush jokes until June...

But now all of a sudden, along with his rapidly dropping approval ratings, he is becoming a public joke. The worst thing that can happen to a politician. This is particularly true when the joke, or in this case, Joker Posters, start popping up all over that ginormous den of liberalism, the People's Republic of Los Angeles!!

But that is exactly what is happening! This poster, and many similar but even more evil looking, are appearing everywhere in that populous city.. Hope he made a lot of friends on the way up..........

As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words!"

Washington, DC. At Thursday’s beer bash at the White House, where President Obama tried to fix his misstep… his gaffe over comments he made saying Cambridge, MA police Seargent James Crowley “acted stupidly” when he responded to what he thought was an active breaking and entering and questioned suspect and Harvard Professor Henry Gates, the true colors of those involved came out for all to see.

Professor Gates, who uses a cane to walk was walking down the steps at the White House and required assistance. Seeing the cameras in front of him, Obama continued his Presidential walk down the steps, oblivious to the needs of Mr. Gates. Instead, the villified officer, James Crowley lent an arm to Mr. Gates, aiding him down the steps.

They all then headed out for their beer as Obama hoped to wash down the racial tensions in the nation with an ice cold Bud Light.

And the gentleman in the picture is.....................?

As usual - Ramirez nails it..........!

You can elect a loser to the Senate...... but,

you can't make a Senator out of him. Minnesota's junior senator (with a small s) still thinks he's the foul mouthed bully with the microphone up on the stage. Thanks to Politico.com for this report:

Franken feuds with T. Boone Pickens By: Eamon Javers July 31, 2009 02:40 PM EST

Five years after he put his money behind the Swift Boat ads that helped tank John Kerry’s presidential campaign, Senate Democrats gave T. Boone Pickens a warm welcome at their weekly policy lunch Thursday. Or at least most of them did. Kerry skipped the regularly scheduled lunch; his staff said the Massachusetts Democrat “was unable to attend because he had a long scheduled lunch with his interns and pages.” Sen. Al Franken managed to make time for the lunch — but then let Pickens have it afterward. According to a source, the wealthy oil and gas magnate and author of “The First Billion Is the Hardest” stepped up to introduce himself to Franken in a room just off the Senate Floor after the lunch ended Franken, who was seated talking to someone else, did not stand when Pickens said hello. Instead, Franken began to berate him about the billionaire’s financing of the Swift Boat ads in 2004. According to a source, the confrontation grew heated. Said Franken spokeswoman Jess McIntosh: “It was a lively conversation.” Pickens was on the Hill to address the Senate Democratic Policy Committee lunch about his plans to use wind energy to lower the nation’s dependence on oil and gas. But the thought of Pickens being invited to a Democratic event angered some on the Hill and in the liberal blogs. Pickens’ camp appears unmoved by the drama. “If they have a problem, that’s their problem,” said Pickens spokesman Jay Rosser. “Boone has clearly moved on and is focused on a mission to solve the foreign oil dependency problem that he believes is a national security and economic crisis that America has to confront. Boone’s grateful for the impressive turnout of Democrats at the Democrat Policy Committee yesterday and for the interest they have shown in helping address this problem.”

© 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC I wonder why the Dems figure that whatever they do to get elected is 'fair and political' and whatever others do is, by virtue of them even doing it, wrong, mean & evil?

Burial at Sea

This came in over the transom during the night. I can't source it exactly but all the officers mentioned are real, and it reads too well to be false.
I warn you, it's not for the faint of heart - I'm not changing a word!
Pecozbill
************

You are not going to enjoy this but it is part of our chosen profession.
I am still wiping the tears from my eyes as I type. This has got to be
the worst job in the world!!! That is why I get so upset when a
politician says something about starting another conflict with the
one country they do not like.

Please, read this slowly and to the end.

Tough duty then as it is now.

"Burial at Sea"
by LtCol George Goodson, USMC (Ret)

In my 76th year, the events of my life appear to me, from time
to time, as a series of vignettes. Some were significant; most were
trivial.

War is the seminal event in the life of everyone that has
endured it. Though I fought in Korea and the Dominican Republic and
was wounded there, Vietnam was my war.

Now 37 years have passed and, thankfully, I rarely think of those days in
Cambodia, Laos, and the panhandle of North Vietnam where small teams of
Americans and
Montangards fought much larger elements of the North Vietnamese Army.
Instead I see
vignettes: some exotic, some mundane:

*The smell of Nuc Mam.
*The heat, dust, and humidity.
*The blue exhaust of cycles clogging the streets.
*Elephants moving silently through the tall grass.
*Hard eyes behind the servile smiles of the villagers.
*Standing on a mountain in Laos and hearing a tiger roar.
*A young girl squeezing my hand as my medic delivered her baby.
*The flowing Ao Dais of the young women biking down Tran Hung Dao.
*My two years as Casualty Notification Officer in North Carolina,
Virginia, and Maryland.

It was late 1967. I had just returned after 18 months in Vietnam.
Casualties were increasing. I moved my family from Indianapolis to Norfolk, rented a house, enrolled my children in their fifth or sixth new school, and bought a second car.

A week later, I put on my uniform and drove 10 miles to LittleCreek,
Virginia. I hesitated before entering my new office. Appearance is important to
career Marines. I was no longer, if ever, a poster Marine. I had returned from my third
tour in Vietnam only 30 days before. At 5'9", I now weighed 128 pounds - 37 pounds below my normal weight.
My uniforms fit ludicrously, my skin was yellow from malaria medication,
andI think I had a twitch or two.

I straightened my shoulders, walked into the office, looked at the
nameplate on a Staff Sergeant's desk and said, "Sergeant Jolly, I'm Lieutenant Colonel
Goodson. Here are my orders and my Qualification Jacket."

Sergeant Jolly stood, looked carefully at me, took my orders, stuck out his
hand; we shook and he asked, "How long were you there, Colonel?"
I replied "18 months this time." Jolly breathed, "Jesus, you must be a slow learner Colonel." I smiled.

Jolly said, "Colonel, I'll show you to your office and bring in the Sergeant
Major. I said, "No, let's just go straight to his office."

Jolly nodded, hesitated, and lowered his voice, "Colonel, the Sergeant
Major. He's been in this &%@#$*( job two years. He's packed pretty tight. I'm worried
about him." I nodded. Jolly escorted me into the Sergeant Major's office.

"Sergeant Major, this is Colonel Goodson, the new Commanding Office.
The Sergeant Major stood, extended his hand and said, "Good to see you
again, Colonel."

I responded, "Hello Walt, how are you?" Jolly looked at me, raised an
eyebrow,walked out, and closed the door.

I sat down with the Sergeant Major. We had the obligatory cup of coffee and
talked about mutual acquaintances. Walt's stress was palpable. Finally, I
said,

"Walt, what's the h-ll's wrong?" He turned his chair, looked out the window
and said, "George, you're going to wish you were back in Nam before you
leave here. I've been in the Marine Corps since 1939. I was in the Pacific
36 months, Korea for 14 months, and Vietnam for 12 months.
Now I come here to bury these kids. I'm putting my letter in. I can't take
it anymore."

I said, "OK Walt. If that's what you want, I'll endorse your request
for retirement and do what I can to push it through Headquarters Marine
Corps."

Sergeant Major Walt Xxxxx retired 12 weeks later. He had been
a good Marine for 28 years, but he had seen too much death and too
much suffering. He was used up.

Over the next 16 months, I made 28 death notifications, conducted 28
military funerals, and made 30 notifications to the families of Marines that were severely wounded or missing in action. Most of the details of those casualty notifications have now, thankfully, faded from memory. Four, however, remain.

MY FIRST NOTIFICATION

My third or fourth day in Norfolk, I was notified of thedeath of a 19 year
old Marine.
This notification came by telephone from Headquarters Marine Corps. The
information detailed:
*Name, rank, and serial number.
*Name, address, and phone number of next of kin.
*Date of and limited details about the Marine's death.
*Approximate date the body would arrive at the Norfolk Naval Air Station.
*A strong recommendation on whether the casket should be opened or closed.

The boy's family lived over the border in North Carolina, about 60 miles
away. I drove there in a Marine Corps staff car. Crossing the state line
into North Carolina, I stopped at a small country store / service station / Post
Office. I went in to ask directions.

Three people were in the store.
A man and woman approached the small Post Office window. The man held
a package. The Storeowner walked up and addressed them by name, "Hello
John. Good morning Mrs. Cooper."

I was stunned. My casualty's next-of-kin's name was John Cooper!

I hesitated, then stepped forward and said, "I beg your pardon.
Are you Mr. and Mrs. John Copper of (address.)

The father looked at me-I was in uniform - and then,
shaking, bent at the waist, he vomited. His wife looked horrified at
him and then at me. Understanding came into her eyes and she
collapsed in slow motion. I think I caught her before she hit the floor.

The owner took a bottle of whiskey out of a drawer and handed it to Mr.
Cooper who drank. I answered their questions for a few minutes. Then I drove
them home in my staff car. The storeowner locked the store and followed in
their truck. We stayed an hour or so until the family began arriving.

I returned the storeowner to his business. He thanked me and said,
"Mister, I wouldn't have your job for a million dollars." I shook his hand
and said; "Neither would I."

I vaguely remember the drive back to Norfolk. Violating about five Marine Corps regulations, I drove the staff car straight to my house. I sat with my family while they ate dinner, went into the den, closed the door, and sat there all night, alone.

My Marines steered clear of me for days. I had made my first death
notification.

THE FUNERALS
Weeks passed with more notifications and more funerals.. I borrowed Marines
from the local Marine Corps Reserve and taught them to conduct a military funeral: how to carry a casket, how to fire the volleys and how to fold the flag.

When I presented the flag to the mother, wife, or father, I always said,
"All Marines share in your grief." I had been instructed to say, "On
behalf of a grateful nation." I didn't think the nation was grateful, so I
didn't say that.

Sometimes, my emotions got the best of me and I couldn't speak.
When that happened, I just handed them the flag and touched a
shoulder. They would look at me and nod. Once a mother said to me,
"I'm so sorry you have this terrible job." My eyes filled with tears
and I leaned over and kissed her.

ANOTHER NOTIFICATION

Six weeks after my first notification, I had another. This was a young PFC.
I drove to his mother's house. As always, I was in uniform and driving a
Marine Corps staff car. I parked in front of the house, took a deep breath, and
walked towards the house. Suddenlythe door flew open, a middle-aged woman
rushed out. She looked at me and ran across the yard, screaming "NO! NO!
NO!
NO!"

I hesitated. Neighbors came out. I ran to her, grabbed her, and
whispered stupid things to reassure her. She collapsed. I picked her
up and carried her into the house. Eight or nine neighbors followed. Ten or
fifteen minutes later, the father came in followed by ambulance personnel.
I have no recollection of leaving.

The funeral took place about two weeks later. We went through the drill.
The mother never looked at me. The father looked at me once and shook his
head sadly.

ANOTHER NOTIFICATION

One morning, as I walked in the office, the phone was
ringing. Sergeant Jolly held the phone up and said, "You've got another
one Colonel." I nodded, walked into my office, picked up the phone, took
notes, thanked the officer making the call, I have no idea why, and hung up.
Jolly, who had listened, came in with a special Telephone Directory that translates telephone numbers into the person's address and place of employment.

The father of this casualty was a Longshoreman. He lived a mile from my
office. I called the Longshoreman's Union Office and asked for the Business
Manager. He answered the phone, I told him who I was, and asked for the father's
schedule.

The Business Manager asked, "Is it his son?" I said nothing. After a moment,
he said, in a low voice, "Tom is at home today." I said, "Don't call him. I'll take care of that." The Business Manager said, "Aye, Aye Sir," and then explained, "Tom and I
were Marines in WWII."

I got in my staff car and drove to the house. I was in uniform.
I knocked and a woman in her early forties answered the door. I
saw instantly that she was clueless. I asked, "Is Mr. Smith home?"
She smiled pleasantly and responded, "Yes, but he's eating breakfast now.
Can you come back later?" I said, "I'm sorry. It's important, I need
to see him now."

She nodded, stepped back into the beach house and said,
"Tom, it's for you."

A moment later, a ruddy man in his late forties, appeared at the door.
He looked at me, turned absolutely pale, steadied himself, and said,
"Jesus Christ man, he's only been there three weeks!"

Months passed. More notifications and more funerals. Then
one day while I was running, Sergeant Jolly stepped outside the
building and gave a loud whistle, two fingers in his mouth.... I never
could do that... and held an imaginary phone to his ear.

Another call from Headquarters Marine Corps. I took notes, said, "Got it."
and hung up. I had stopped saying "Thank You" long ago.

Jolly, "Where?"
Me, "Eastern Shore of Maryland. The father is a retired Chief Petty
Officer. His brother will accompany the body back from Vietnam."

Jolly shook his head slowly, straightened, and then said, "This time of day,
it'll take three hours to get there and back. I'll call the Naval Air Station and
borrow a helicopter. And I'll have Captain Tolliver get one of his men to
meet you and drive you to the Chief's home."

He did, and 40 minutes later, I was knocking on the father's door. He
opened the door, looked at me, then looked at the Marine standing at parade rest beside the car, and asked, "Which one of my boys was it, Colonel?"

I stayed a couple of hours, gave him all the information, my office and
home phone number and told him to call me, anytime.

He called me that evening about 2300 (11:00PM).
"I've gone through my boy's papers and found his will. He asked
to be buried at sea. Can you make that happen?"
I said, "Yes I can, Chief. I can and I will."

My wife who had been listening said, "Can you do that?"
I told her, "I have no idea. But I'm going to break my ass trying."

I called Lieutenant General Alpha Bowser, Commanding
General, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic, at home about 2330, explained
the situation, and asked, "General, can you get me a quick appointment
with the Admiral at Atlantic Fleet Headquarters?" General Bowser said,"
George, you be there tomorrow at 0900. He will see you.

I was and the Admiral did. He said coldly, "How can the Navy help the
Marine Corps, Colonel." I told him the story. He turned to his Chief of Staff and said,
"Which is the sharpest destroyer in port?" The Chief of Staff responded with a
name.

The Admiral called the ship, "Captain, you're going to do a burial at sea.
You'll report to a Marine Lieutenant Colonel Goodson until this mission is
completed."

He hung up, looked at me, and said, "The next time you need a ship,
Colonel, call me. You don't have to sic Al Bowser on my ass."
I responded, "Aye Aye, Sir" and got the h-ll out of his office.

I went to the ship and met with the Captain, Executive Officer, and the
Senior Chief. Sergeant Jolly and I trained the ship's crew for four days.
Then Jolly raised a question none of us had thought of..
He said, "These government caskets are air tight. How do we keep it from
floating?"

All the high priced help including me sat there lookingdumb.
Then the Senior Chief stood and said, "Come on Jolly. I know a bar
where the retired guys from World War II hang out."

They returned a couple of hours later, slightly the worst for wear, and
said, "It's simple; we cut four 12" holes in the outer shell of the casket on each side
and insert 300 lbs of lead in the foot end of the casket. We can handle
that, no sweat."

The day arrived. The ship and the sailors looked razor sharp.
General Bowser, the Admiral, a US Senator, and a Navy Band were on
board. The sealed casket was brought aboard and taken below for
modification. The ship got underway to the 12-fathom depth.

The sun was hot. The ocean flat. The casket was brought aft and placed on
a catafalque. The Chaplin spoke. The volleys were fired. The flag was
removed, folded, and I gave it to the father. The band played "Eternal Father Strong to
Save."
The casket was raised slightly at the head and it slid into the sea.

The heavy casket plunged straight down about six feet. The
incoming water collided with the air pockets in the outer shell. The
casket stopped abruptly, rose straight out of the water about three feet,
stopped, and slowly slipped back into the sea. The air bubbles rising from
the sinking casket sparkled in the in the sunlight as the casket
disappeared from sight forever.

The next morning I called a personal friend, Lieutenant General Oscar
Peatross, at Headquarters Marine Corps and said, "General, get me the f*** out of
here. I can't take this s**t anymore." I was transferred two weeks later.

I was a good Marine but, after 17 years, I had seen too much death
and too much suffering. I was used up.

Vacating the house, my family and I drove to the office in a
two-car convoy. I said my goodbyes. Sergeant Jolly walked out with
me. He waved at my family, looked at me with tears in his eyes, came to
attention, saluted, and said, "Well Done, Colonel. Well Done."

I felt as if I had received the Medal of Honor!

(thanx and a tip o' the stetson to my old Air Force Bud Al in MD)