Sigh…

Posted on by November 13, 2017

A great Veteran’s weekend! Fun’s over, now it’s back to reality… Dammit…

Great time at the National Museum of the Pacific War at Fredricksburg, TX.

It was even more special in that Rich, one of my readers, actually gave myself and Juvat (blogger at Chant du Depart) the six hour tour!

Rich was the educational director for a number of years, and we got a lot of the back stories that went with the exhibits.

However, there was a bit of a problem… You see Rich is retired Army, I’m retired Navy, and Juvat is retired Air Force…

So there were a number of, how can I say this, interesting, side conversations over the course of the day. I’m proud to say that Juvat only shot his watch off twice, though (Ex-fighter pilot)… 🙂

Seriously, this is one museum you should go see, if you possibly can. Rather than just WWII, they actually go back to the turn of the century, and the lead up to the war. Lots of visuals, some not real pretty, but accurate. Great use of videos, video tables, and fantastic displays! They also do live action recreations a couple of times a year!!!

Since we were ‘walking, we’re walking’, I didn’t get a lot of pictures, but there are many very moving displays and videos available. Being a sailor, I had to go with the PT boat, though…

Boat-309 is the only restored World War II combat veteran Higgins class PT boat on public display in the United States today. It actually served in the Med, and fired over 100 torpedoes in combat, and was credited with sinking five enemy ships. She was also responsible for the capture of an Italian MAS (PT equivalent) boat. PT-309 was nicknamed “Oh Frankie” following a meeting between the boat’s first skipper, Wayne Barber, and Frank Sinatra at a night club in New York City just prior to her departure for the European Theater.

With the assistance of PT Boats, Inc., PT-309 was located in Greenport, New York operating as a charter fishing boat. She was purchased in 1994 by the Admiral Nimitz Foundation for the museum. She sailed under her own power from New York to Galveston, Texas, a 45 day journey.

After nearly three years of dedicated work by a volunteer crew that included Seabees from the Houston area, the PT-309 has been almost completely restored. More than a quarter of the boat’s original planking was replaced. She was “commissioned” in the Texas Navy in 1998. Members of the SeaBee unit were present in uniform for the event.

Stern, and you can see the decking work going on…

Looking forward, Port forward torpedo rack is empty, aft is a MK-13 torpedo.

Mid-ships port side twin 50 mount

Forward 20mm mount, and forward hatch to the crew quarters.

TBM Avenger, one of three or four airplanes in the museum. This is what George H.W. Bush was shot down in.

And Togo’s study. Built as an exact duplicate in Japan, then taken apart, and reassembled in the Japanese Peace Garden in the museum.

And a video of a TBM flying… Big and noisy, but they got the job done, more than once!!!

 

Thanks Rich and Juvat, truly a great time! 🙂

Then I took a speed run down to Alpine, TX to meet with another author, a former Marine sniper and retired LEO, and do some looking around in that area, since I hadn’t been down there since the late 60s. Good times, and actually saw a NEW Colt Cobra in the wild. Sadly I didn’t have the spare coin to buy it… Dammit…

Then a ‘lovely’ six hour drive home in misting rain… So I’m sorry if folks didn’t get many comments out of me, but I didn’t even turn a computer on till I got home.

Go Fund Me, Gun Raffle update…

Posted on by November 6, 2017

Update and a bleg…

Andi, a member of our Blogorado family, has suffered a stroke, which was misdiagnosed initially, leading to complications.  She doesn’t have medical insurance, and is having to fund her rehabilitation on a pay-as-you-go basis.  Several of us have pooled our resources by donating guns from our personal collections, and we’re offering them as an incentive to raise funds for her, along with some non-gun prizes (jewelry, books, etc.) for those who’d prefer them.  The Go Fund Me is HERE.

You’ll find photographs of all the prizes in three parts:  here, here, here, and here. There is an additional package it’s number 14!  A full polish on a stainless or nickel plate on a blued handgun. This is from Reflections Chrome Plating up in Maine! Remember, donate to the Go Fund Me, HERE, and email your receipt to  [email protected] participate in the raffle!!!

As I write this, we are at almost $12,000, so a little less than half way there. The raffle will continue until the end of November, and the drawing will be via a random number generator on 1 December.

Thank you to all that have contributed both packages and donations!

Veteran’s Day…

Posted on by November 6, 2017

Veterans’ Day was originally called Armistice Day. This day was set aside to reflect and remember the sacrifices men and women made during World War I in order to ensure peace. This truce was signed on November 11th, 1918 at 11 A.M. after 5 years of fighting.

The first official celebration was on November 11th, 1919. In other countries it is known as Remembrance Day. It was not until after the Korean War in 1953 that President Eisenhower signed the bill that officially changed the name to Veterans’ Day. But even today, a moment of silence is observed at 11am to mark the truce that ended WWI.

To honor the veterans, I want to share with you an interesting story passed via the military side of the house…

Here’s an interesting story of Naval Aviation. “Point of interest… about 3 minutes 12 seconds into the clip,  here,  you will see an F6F Hellcat, it’s hydraulics shot away during a strafing run, pancake on the carrier deck and slew into the island.

A deckhand was crushed between the aircraft and the superstructure and killed. The number on the plane is 30.The lanky pilot sitting dazed in the cockpit is a gentleman named Andy Cowan. Sadly, he died in 2008 at age 88.

A friend of mine was able to attend his lecture in 2006 or 7, and got a copy of the presentation. He was amazed at the man’s memory and his emotions all these years later…

To this day he cannot recall this accident without a tear coming to his eye. Andy is a marvel. He has absolute total recall of those bygone days.He is regularly invited back to the Naval War College to give a powerpoint demonstration to the young fighter jocks of today’s Navy. They hang on his every word.

A living link to the past… to the days when you got up close and personal to kill the enemy.No over-the-horizon missile kills…

Andy was the longest serving Navy fighter pilot in WWII. He was on his shakedown cruise off Gitmo on December 7th, 1941. The carrier Ranger made flank speed to Norfolk and the pilots were transshipped to San Francisco by train, then sped to Hawaii by ship.

He saw Pearl not long after the sneak attack, and again is unable to speak of it… a horrible disaster. He immediately went aboard the Lexington and in the course of the war had 4 carriers shot out from under him as he fought in every major Pacific battle… Coral Sea , Midway, Battle of Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima … you name it. Credited with 4.5 kills, he flew with Butch O’Hare, Cmdr Thatch (inventor of the ‘Thatch Weave’), flew with high scoring ace David McCampbell… served under Admirals Nimitz, Bull Halsey…

He has studied the Japanese side of the Pacific War and is a recognized expert on their side of it. He can reel off the names of all their capital ships and admirals and battles from memory.Remarkable man… and still alive to tell the tale…”

And you’ve never heard of him…

Today, you can thank a Veteran for their service!

Just as a reminder…

Posted on by November 8, 2017

None of these folks will be kneeling for the anthem…

As are most of the people in the stands on BOTH SIDES!

There have been calls for a boycott of all NFL games this weekend, and I happen to agree. Do what you feel is right.

I should be meeting up with a couple of readers today and taking a tour of the National Museum of the Pacific War. It’s in Fredericksburg, TX, and I should have plenty of pics next week!

 

Here we go again…

Posted on by November 8, 2017

The shooter in Sutherland Springs, Texas should never have been allowed to purchase a gun, he had a conviction for domestic violence, and a bad conduct discharge (not a felony), but the Air Force never filed the paperwork with NICS.

The people who need to be remembered are HERE, along with their families.

And the Dems are nothing if not predictable… Finestkind is promoting yet ANOTHER ‘Assault Weapons’ ban…

Full article, HERE.

And once again, they are going after the illusive ‘high cap’ magazines… So with 2-3 million+ AR/SKS/AK platforms out there, and probably 10 million + magazines, and information in the wild for 3D printing lowers and magazines for those platforms. And that is not counting the pistol magazines with more than 10 rounds, which probably number 30 million??? maybe more? How the hell are they planning on enforcing it?

And what happens to all those folks with old lever and pump .22s with more than 10 round magazines? Are they going to be considered ‘assault weapons’ again? Are they going to be confiscated, since you can’t ‘remove’ the magazines…

Sigh… Why is it that the gun is always blamed, not the individual? It’s not the car or truck that gets blamed when somebody goes nuts and uses a vehicle to kill people. It’s not the car that gets blamed when a drunk kills people. It’s not the bomb that gets blamed in a terrorist attack, nor is the fertilizer blamed when somebody builds an ANFO bomb. It’s not the knife… etc…

My question is, WHY is the left so afraid of guns? There is no question that what this shooter, like the one in Vegas, and all the others did is horrendous. NO QUESTION! And contrary to the left, we did and do pray for those families and the survivors, but then we are Christians, so I guess that is bad too.

One other question- What new law is going to magically ‘fix’ the problem? Criminals don’t obey laws, only law abiding folks. I think the left is doing everything they can to make US criminals.

As a side note, a number of folks have noticed more people open carrying in Texas this week…

Edit- Yes, I know the whole ‘assault weapon’ ban proved ineffective. And HERE is a great OPED from John Lott, if the left would bother to actually read it.

I got nuthin…

Posted on by November 7, 2017

So you get humor…

Sitting by the window of her convent, Sister Barbara opened a letter from home one evening. Inside the letter was a $100 bill her parents had sent. Sister Barbara smiled at the gesture.

As she read the letter by the window, she noticed a shabbily dressed stranger leaning against the lamp post below. Quickly, she wrote, “Don’t despair. – Sister Barbara,” on a piece of paper, wrapped the $100 bill in it, got the man’s attention and tossed it out the window to him.

The stranger picked it up, and with a puzzled expression and a tip of his hat, went off down the street.

The next day, Sister Barbara was told that a man was at her door, insisting on seeing her. She went down, and found the stranger waiting. Without a word, he handed her a huge wad of $100 bills. “What’s this?” she asked.

“That’s the $8,000 you have coming Sister,” he replied. “Don’t Despair paid 80-to-1.”

h/t JP

More donations to the gun raffle!!!

Posted on by November 6, 2017

We have two more donations over the weekend, the first is going to be Package 15– It’s a brand new Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmore, with 4 magazines!!!

The top picture shows the complete rifle, but the scope is not included!

This is the actual rifle, minus scope!!! And the serial number is good, no repair of the bolt shroud required.

And this one, I ‘think’ we’ll add to the women’s package, since it’s being donated by a lady! 🙂 And yes, that IS a Damascus blade!

It’s a simple belt sheath, but fitted to the knife.

The Go Fund Me is HERE.

You’ll find photographs of all the prizes in three parts:  here, here and here. Remember, donate to the Go Fund Me, HERE, and email your receipt to  [email protected] participate in the raffle!!!

As I write this, we are at almost $12,000, so a little less than half way there. The raffle will continue until the end of November, and the drawing will be via a random number generator on 1 December.

Thank you to all that have contributed both packages and donations!

Thoughts and prayers…

Posted on by November 5, 2017

Yet another shooting… 25 dead, and at least a dozen more injured.

This time in Texas, in a church no less. I’m not going to say anything else, and will wait for 72 hours to see what the investigation finds, but my heart goes out to those families and the entire community of Sutherland Springs.

And so far… The idjits aren’t dancing in the blood and screaming for more gun control.

Edit- I’m wrong, they didn’t even wait two hours…

Sens. Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Dick Durbin(Ill.) and Kamala Harris (Calif.) were among the Democrats who urged Congress to act in response to the latest deadly shooting.

Full article HERE, note the time line on the tweets…

And I did hear one breathless commentator say he used an ‘assault rifle’, which I seriously doubt.

Gun Raffle/Go Fund Me…

Posted on by November 4, 2017

Update and a bleg…

Andi, a member of our Blogorado family, has suffered a stroke, which was misdiagnosed initially, leading to complications.  She doesn’t have medical insurance, and is having to fund her rehabilitation on a pay-as-you-go basis.  Several of us have pooled our resources by donating guns from our personal collections, and we’re offering them as an incentive to raise funds for her, along with some non-gun prizes (jewelry, books, etc.) for those who’d prefer them.  The Go Fund Me is HERE.

You’ll find photographs of all the prizes in three parts:  here, here and here. There is an additional package it’s number 14!  A full polish on a stainless or nickel plate on a blued handgun. This is a 600-800 dollar value from Reflections Chrome Plating up in Maine! He is also an FFL, which makes it easy to get the gun of your choice to him! Remember, donate to the Go Fund Me, HERE, and email your receipt to  [email protected] to participate in the raffle!!!

As I write this, we are at almost $12,000, so a little less than half way there. The raffle will continue until the end of November, and the drawing will be via a random number generator on 1 December.

Thank you to all that have contributed both packages and donations! You are shining examples of humanity! 😀

A gun post…

Posted on by November 3, 2017

Haven’t done one of these in a while…

A few of my favorite things! 🙂

67, 68, 69 model Pythons, 66 and 75 model Diamondbacks. The top one with Herrett grips has right at 30,000 rounds through it, and is on it’s second barrel. It’s been worked on TWICE, to get it retimed. The 4 inch was my car gun for years, it’s been back to a gunsmith once in 48 years, the 6 inch on the bottom never has, neither have either of the Diamondbacks. These are all shooters, not safe queens. I don’t ever plan on selling them either, so don’t ask! 😀

I know there are people out there who ‘hate’ the Colts, ugly, temperamental, fragile, trigger sucks, stacks wrong, turns the wrong way, too expensive, yada, yada, yada… My S&W is better because (insert argument here)…

I’ve shot Colts most of my life, and I’m comfortable with these guns, and I TRUST THEM, because I’ve owned them for at a minimum 30 years or longer. More than I do a S&W, because my muscle memory is built on Colts and their operating patterns. I own 2 S&W K22s, that I use from training pistols for classes, and other revolvers, including a couple of family Colt SAAs going back to 1892, 2 Colt model 1917s, a Ruger Super Blackhawk, a S&W 29-3 that is going to Joe for repair, and a couple of random others that I’m too lazy to go see who made them.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t care what you say about ’em, they’re what I grew up with, and I like ’em… Just like you do with your (insert favorite here).