Memorial Day…

42-22392800-P

We ‘celebrate’ this day as a memorial to those who died serving this country, but many times we forget those families who never saw their loved ones again…

Hand Salute!

Ready, Two…

Know that you are not forgotten by those of us who made it home.

More indignities for Veterans…

This makes me so damn mad I can’t see straight…

From CBSLA…

The bodies of 28 veterans at the L.A. County Morgue were finally moved Friday for burial to the Riverside National Cemetery.

CBS2/KCAL9 pressed the L.A. County Coroner’s Office Thursday to find out why the bodies had not yet received a proper burial after a source indicated there may have been as many as 60 veterans at the morgue for the past year and a half.

/snip

The Veterans Administration says they were never notified the bodies were processed and ready to be buried.

Go read the whole thing HERE and watch the video.  

If this doesn’t make your blood boil, I don’t know what will…  

h/t JP

Edit- And if THIS isn’t a purely political stunt to ‘move’ the headlines, I don’t know what is… Spit…

WWII Posters…

And it’s the Coasties turn! 🙂

USCG WWIIThis one appears to be targeted directly at the fishermen in South Louisiana, and was done by an unknown artist with the WPA.

And here’s a bonus video of the type of boat on the poster…

It’s a tribute to those twelve men who started the restoration, and the accomplishment of a task many considered impossible… Hand Salute!  Ready, Two!

 

Facts on Vietnam Service…

This from 2009…  I found it buried in my email while looking for something else on Nam…

SOBERING STATISTICS FOR THE VIETNAM WAR

Subject: [Chapter61DisabledRetirees] Fw: Vietnam War Stats.UPDATE]

To all who served and are now serving — Thank you for your service.

Charlie
RVN class of 66-67
USMACV Phan Rang

Here are some updated statistics concerning Vietnam era service. I am surprised at the survivors update at the beginning of the stats.

In case you haven’t been paying attention these past few decades after you returned from Vietnam, the clock has been ticking. The following are some statistics that are at once depressing yet in a larger sense should give you a HUGE SENSE OF PRIDE.

“Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, Less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran’s age approximated to be 54 years old.”

So, if you’re alive and reading this, how Does it feel to be among the last 1/3rd of all the U.S. Vets who served in VietNam?!?!? …don’t know about you guys, but kinda gives me the chills, Considering this is the kind of information I’m used to reading about WWII and Korean War vets…

So the last 14 years we are dying too fast, only the few will survive by 2015…if any.. If true, 390 VN vets die a day. so in 2190 days…from today, lucky to be a Vietnam veteran alive….. in only 6 years..

These statistics were taken from a variety of sources to include: The VFW Magazine, the Public Information Office, and the HQ CP Forward Observer – 1st Recon April 12, 1997.

STATISTICS FOR INDIVIDUALS IN UNIFORM AND IN COUNTRY VIE TNAM VETERANS:

* 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era (August 5, 1964 – May 7, 1975).

* 8,744,000 GIs were on active duty during the war (Aug 5, 1964-March 28,1973).

* 2,709,918 Americans served in Vietnam, this number represents 9.7% of their generation.

* 3,403,100 (Including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the broader Southeast Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters).

* 2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan. 1,1965 – March 28, 1973). Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964.

* Of the 2.6 million, between 1-1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack.

* 7,484 women (6,250 or 83.5% were nurses) served in Vietnam.

* Peak troop strength in Vietnam: 543,482 (April 30, 1968).

CASUALTIES:

The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1958. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Davis Station in Saigon was named for him.

Hostile deaths: 47,378

Non-hostile deaths: 10,800

Total: 58,202 (Includes men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez casualties). Men who have subsequently died of wounds acco unt for the changing total.

8 nurses died — 1 was KIA.

61% of the men killed were 21 or younger.

11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.

Of those killed, 17,539 were married.

Average age of men killed: 23.1 years

Total Deaths: 23.11 years

Enlisted: 50,274 22.37 years

Officers: 6,598 28.43 years

Warrants: 1,276 24.73 years

E1: 525 20.34 years

11B MOS: 18,465 22.55 years

Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.

The oldest man killed was 62 years old.

Highest state death rate: West Virginia – 84.1% (national average 58.9% for every 100,000 males in 1970).

Wounded: 303,704 — 153,329 hospitalized + 150,375 injured requiring no hospital care.

Severely disabled: 75,000, — 23,214: 100% disabled; 5,283 lost limbs; 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher than in WWII and 70% higher than Korea.

Multiple amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in WWII.

Missing in Action: 2,338

POWs: 766 (114 died in captivity)

As of January 15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

DRAFTEES VS. VOLUNTEERS:

25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees. (66% of U.S. armed forces members were drafted during WWII).

Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.

Reservists killed: 5,977

National Guard: 6,140 served: 101 died.

Total draftees (1965 – 73): 1,728,344.

Actually served in Vietnam: 38% Marine Corps Draft: 42,633.

Last man drafted: June 30, 1973.

RACE AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND:

88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian; 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% belonged to other races.

86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics);

12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.

170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.

70% of enlisted men killed were of North-west European descent.

86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711) were black; 1.1% belonged to other races.

14.6% (1,530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.

34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.

Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of militar y age was 13.5% of the total population.

Religion of Dead: Protestant — 64.4%; Catholic — 28.9%; other/none — 6.7% SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS:

Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups.

Vietnam veterans’ personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent.

76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds.

Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds.

Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.

79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service. 63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets had completed high school upon separation.

Deaths by region per 100,000 of population: South — 31%, West –29.9%; Midwest — 28.4%; Northeast — 23.5%.

DRUG USAGE & CRIME: 

There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group. (Source: Veterans Administration Study)

Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison – only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.

85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian li fe.

WINNING & LOSING:

82% of veterans who saw heavy combat strongly believe the war was lost because of lack of political will.

Nearly 75% of the public agrees it was a failure of political will, not of arms.

HONORABLE SERVICE:

97% of Vietnam-era veterans were honorably discharged.

91% of actual Vietnam War veterans and 90% of those who saw heavy combat are proud to have served their country.

74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome.

87% of the public now holds Vietnam veterans in high esteem.

Worth thinking about… As we now have a ‘new’ generation of warriors who have done ten years in combat…  

Especially in light of the treatment (or lack of) we’re getting from the VA.  

Remember those who didn’t make it back, THAT is what this weekend is all REALLY about…  

WWII vets are dying at the rate of 16,500/mo, Korea vets 13,500/mo, Nam vets 11,700 mo..

The Witch is at it again…

Come to think of it, that’s an insult to witches every where… Just submit a B and you get it right…

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., repeatedly put the blame for the Veterans Affairs scandal on former President George W. Bush, while arguing that her party has worked hard for veterans in recent years.

Full article HERE.

SIX #$#%^ years you’ve known there was a problem… SIX…  Because Bush TOLD YOU!

And you’ve done what?  Throw money at it…  Never bothering to listen to a damn thing that has come from end users (AKA Veterans) or whistleblowers…

Not a SINGLE investigation until the body count got too high for you and your minions to cover it up…

At this point I think we should put every congresscritter AND the whole executive branch under the VA for medical care… THEN maybe they would actually get off their dead asses and actually do something about it…

In reality I know that will never happen, but it sure would be nice!

The other option is one DB proposed HERE.  That one is actually doable, and would put care back in the hands of the military, where it really belongs.  And it would take it out of the political arena… Which is a damn good idea!

Remember in November… It counts…

And the SASC is still trying to screw us and the active duty folks… Article HERE.

upside down flag

You’d think…

They have better things to do…  F&F, Benghazi, the VA scandal, but no…

Senate Democrats are putting pressure on the National Football League to force the Washington Redskins to change its team name, which they said reflects “racism and bigotry.”

A group of 50 members from the Senate Democratic caucus signed on to a letter Thursday urging NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to follow the lead of the National Basketball Association, which banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the league for his racist comments about African-Americans attending basketball games.

Apparently the stupid name change is MORE important than getting to the bottom of ANY of these ‘real’ issues in this country…

Full article HERE at Washington Times.

And in other news, Barron (who is judicial activist advocate) has been cleared for a final vote thanks to Dingy Harry’s change to the Senate rules…  Interestingly, the infamous memo he wrote STILL hasn’t be released…

Senate Democrats cleared the path Wednesday to confirm the so-called “drone judge,” the lawyer who wrote memos justifying the government’s ability to target and kill an American citizen overseas without his first having been convicted by a criminal court.

Harvard Law School professor David Barron, whom President Obama nominated to a federal appeals court, cleared a Republican filibuster, setting up a final vote later this week.

Apparently the memo has been shown to ‘selected’ Senators…  But I’m betting it will never see the light of day for public scrutiny…  

Full article HERE.  

It just keeps getting better and better (or worse and worse depending on your point of view…  Sigh…

Strange Customs…

I had a good rant all ready to go… but screw it…

Strange ‘things’…

1. WHY:
Why do men’s clothes have buttons on the right while women’s clothes have buttons on the left?
BECAUSE:
When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left.  Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid’s right!   And that’s where women’s buttons have remained since.

2. WHY:
Why do ships and aircraft use ‘mayday’ as their call for help?
BECAUSE:
This comes from the French word m’aidez – meaning ‘help me’ – and is pronounced, approximately, ‘mayday.’

3. WHY
Why are zero scores in tennis called ‘love’?
BECAUSE:
In France , where tennis became popular, the round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called ‘l’oeuf,’ which is French for ‘the egg.’   When tennis was introduced in the US, Americans (naturally), mispronounced it ‘love.’

4. WHY:
Why do X’s at the end of a letter signify kisses?
BECAUSE:
In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.

5. WHY:
Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called ‘passing the buck’?
BECAUSE:
In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal.  If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would  ‘pass the buck’ to the next player.

6. WHY:
Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?
BECAUSE:
In earlier times it used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink.  To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host.  Both men would drink it simultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host’s glass with his own.

7. WHY:
Why are people in the public eye said to be ‘in the limelight’?
BECAUSE:
Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, a performer ‘in the limelight’ was the centre of attention.

8. WHY:
Why is someone who is feeling great ‘on cloud nine’?
BECAUSE:
Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.

9. WHY:
In golf, where did the term ‘Caddie’ come from?
BECAUSE:
When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl, Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scots game ‘golf.’ He had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment.  To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her.  Mary liked this a lot and when she returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her.  In French, the word cadet is pronounced ‘ca-day’ and the Scots changed it into caddie.

10. WHY:
Why are many coin collection jar banks shaped like pigs?
BECAUSE:
Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of dense orange clay called ‘pygg’. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as ‘pygg banks.’  When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container that resembled a pig.  And it caught on.

And now you know the origins of some of our strange customs.

h/t JP

Worth the read…

Eaton Rapids Joe brings up some interesting points in THIS post!

While it’s a tangential tie in to the whole E15 thing HERE, he makes a great point about the ‘duality’ of economies in Italy (and the same holds true for Spain, France and Greece that I’m aware of…

In Spain, the conversion to the Euro brought out literally billions of Pesetas from the ‘underground’ economy that were changed by banks, and then disappeared immediately back into hiding…

One I remember was in Jerez, a little old lady turned in something like 3 MILLION Pesetas for exchange which was something like $26,000 US, while her actual bank account had something like $150 in it…

When they tried to find her to make her pay taxes, she had disappeared…  OBTW, she sold vegetables in the local farmers market…

It just keeps getting better…

and better…  NOT!!!

The latest continuing ‘scam’ being foisted on us by the administration is pointing out to the banks that anything to do with guns (e.g. sales, manufacture, parts, ammo) is a ‘high risk’…

Remember in 2012 when BofA tried this with McMillan?  I personally can’t think of a much more reputable small manufacturer, who by the way has large government contracts…

BUT, they’re more than happy to direct the banks to allow drug dealers in CO and elsewhere to violate both federal AND banking laws to establish accounts…

Full article HERE.

And the militarization of your local police department continues… Thanks to Uncle Sugar…

As the American military draws down its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, stateside ports, armories, depots and warehouses are packed with excess military material and vehicles, some of them none-the-worse from their tours in overseas war zones.

A lot of those weapons, uniforms, trucks and mine-resistant vehicles are patrolling the streets of central Indiana at virtually no cost to local law enforcement agencies.

“It saves a substantial amount of money,” said Steve Harless, deputy commissioner of the Indiana Department of Administration. “Last year alone we saved approximately $14 million and this year we’re on pace to save a little over $13 million.”

That’s millions of tax dollars saved by 326 Indiana sheriffs and police chiefs who otherwise could not afford the gear they say they need to protect the public from increasingly heavily armored criminals.

“When I first started we really didn’t have the violence that we see today,” said Sgt. Dan Downing of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department. “The weaponry is totally different now that it was in the beginning of my career, plus, you have a lot of people who are coming out of the military that have the ability and knowledge to build IEDs and to defeat law enforcement techniques.”

Bold and italic are mine…  Read that statement again…

This is what many of the police departments that have ‘drank the koolaid’ really believe, if you’re prior military, you’re a domestic terrorist in preparation/hiding…

Entire article HERE.

One of the ‘little’ requirements is apparently they are supposed to ‘report’ utilization to the Feds.  But I can’t confirm that one in writing. It’s just word of mouth…

When you add in all the .gov organizations that are uparming, getting body armor, putting our solicitations for subguns, like the Department of Agriculture for Gawdsake…

Solicitation posted HERE.

And the ‘State Department’ has a solicitation HERE for door breaching systems (which I’ve played with before, and they DO work on steel doors…),  and HERE for sheet explosives, it’s enough to make one wonder…

Not that I’m paranoid or anything… Nuh uh…