Christmas Party

 

 

Sign of the Times

 

 

Meet The Candidates

 

Two weeks ago Lt. Gov. Michael Steele paid a visit to the Chapter to discuss veterans’ issues along with the other important issues of the looming election. Mr. Steele is the Republican candidate for U.S Senator.

 

 

Thomas the Tank Train

 

 

Vote, Vote, Vote

 

 

 

 

 

November 11 Veterans Day

 

Not much to say about Veterans Day, I mean after all I should be preaching to the choir. I know that all or you are going to the ceremony at Rocky Gap, or one of the many others in your neck of the woods. In honor of Veterans and our day here are some poetic words, you have probably seen them before, but enjoy the again.

 

 

The Hour Is Go

 

One’s eyes close tight and families fade,

When going to war which evil men made.

Though anxious and frightened, we don’t let it show,

For the day is approaching, when the Airborne must go.

 

Each day now rolls past, we wait just the same.

But D-Day is near and for this we all came.

The hour grows near each man feels it inside

And soon we'll be falling, with nowhere to hide.

 

Our eyes are now down and the chatter the same.

Each weapon now loaded no longer a game.

Eagles gather round and bow your heads low,

Europe awaits and the hour is go.

 

Planes rumble past as we wait for our turn.

To fly over waters we have yet to earn.

Checked buckles and straps, left nothing to chance.

The jumpmaster stands, calls “Welcome to France.”

 

Flak turns to fire in the blackest of night.

Too low, too fast, can’t jump from this height.

There’s no turning back the risks have been taken.

Freefall into Hell, paratroopers forsaken.

 

Eagles hold tight, scattered prayers to survive,

We’ll hit the ground soon, whether dead or alive.

As feet touch the ground, each soldier turns on,

Confusion and fear are beaten and gone.

 

The enemy is close and sad they don’t know the Airborne is here, it’s time they must go.

The hour is now; Hitler’s had his last chance.

On Saint Michaels wings we’re taking back France.

 

Francis J. Turner

From his personal archives

______________________________________

Bury Me With Soldiers

 

I’ve played a lot of roles in life

I’ve met a lot of men

I’ve done some things I’d like to think

I wouldn’t do again

 

And though I’m young, I’m old enough

To know someday I’ll die,

And to think about what lies beyond

Besides whom I would lie

 

Perhaps it doesn’t matter much;

Still, if I had my choice

I’d want a grave ‘mongst soldiers when

At last death quells my voice.

 

I’m sick of the hypocrisy

Of lectures of the wise

I’d take the man with all the flaws

Who goes though scared and dies

 

The troops I knew were commonplace

They didn’t want the war

They fought because their fathers and

Their fathers did before.

 

They cursed and killed and wept

God knows

They’re easy to deride…but bury me with men like these.

They faced the guns and died.

 

It’s funny when you think of it,

The way we got along.

We’d come from different worlds

To live in one no one belongs.

 

I didn’t even like them all.

I’m sure they’d all agree

Yet I would give my life for them

I know some did for me.

 

So bury me, with soldiers please,

Though much maligned they be.

Yes bury me with soldiers for

I miss their company

We’ll not see their likes again;

We’ve had our fill of war

So bury me with men like them

‘Til someone else does more.

 

***

U.S. Rifle, Cal.30, M1

 

Some wonder why that rifle is hanging in my den

I Rarely take it down, although I’ll touch it now and then.

It’s not a family heirloom; I grant you that is true.

And upon a close inspection, you’ll see it’s not that new.

 

It’s rather slow and heavy by standards of today.

But not that many  years ago it swept the rest away.

It’s held its own in harms way, through rain or snow or sun.

And I carried one just like it-this treasured old M1

 

It went ashore in Bougainville in 1943

It stormed the beach at Tarawa, through bullet-ridden seas.

Saipan heard its strident bark, Kwajalein, its sting

And the rocky caves of Peleliu resounded with its ring

 

It climbed the hill at Iwo with men who wouldn’t stop.

And it left our nations colors forever at the top.

It poked its nose in Pusan, screaming an angry roar

And brought our First Division down from the Chosin Reservoir.

 

 

So, time moves on and things do change with rifles and with men.

Perhaps that’s why the two of us still hang around my den.

But sometimes on a winter’s night while thinking of my Corps,

I know that if the bugle blew, we’d be a team once more.

 

Pete C. Peters

***

Pershing Street

 

There’s a veteran walking down Pershing Street

His collar turned up to the cold

The young people pass and pay him no mind

To them he’s a man growing old

 

He thinks of his youth as he passes them by

The time spent in a land far away

They’re laughing and joking enjoying their lives

I did it for you he could say

 

The hawk swirls about and kicks up the dirt

There’s snow and there’s rain in the air

 He fights off the cold of a late winters storm

And combs back the gray in his hair

 

The memories haunt him wherever he goes

As he searches for refuge from pain

The beast in his mind won’t leave him alone

But his search goes on in the rain

 

The tracers whiz by and cut through the air

There’s smoke and flares light the sky

He knows that its all just a memory

But the nightmare seems real to his eye

 

He wonders if he’ll ever feel normal

Like those from his old High School Class

And he thinks of the friend he called Tommy

Who is buried in Arlington’s grass

 

 The wind and the cold wrap around him

It’s different from so long ago

When there was heat and paddies and leeches

And an enemy he’d never know

 

Like a shadow Charlie is with him

The man from the North dressed in black

But the veteran goes on through the Winter

And cautiously watches his back

 

So he searches for peace in this lifetime

He prays it will long come at last

He seeks out others just like him

Who are running away from their past

There’s an old veteran walking down Pershing Street

 

Steve Parsons

March 1998

 

***

Uncommon Valor

 

On February 22,1945 three days after the invasion of Iwo Jima five Marines and a Navy Corpsman raised the flag on Mount Suribachi. That moment caught in time is perhaps the most vivid image of the Marine Corps. After twenty-five days of fighting the island was declared secured at 1800 on March 16.

25,851 Marines were wounded in this battle, 6,825 were killed. 22 Marines received the Medal of Honor. Pfc. Jacklyn H. Lucas at the age of seventeen years and six days was the youngest Marine to ever receive the medal. He dove on two grenades saving the lives of three other Marines.

Holland M. Smith summed it up saying. “Iwo was the most savage and the most costly battle in the history of the Marine Corps. Indeed it has few parallels in military annals.”

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz said of the battle “Uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

Among those Marines was my Uncle Prentis M. Parsons who landed in the second wave with the Fourth Marine Division. On March 16 at 1800 I will raise a glass to those men who fought for freedom on Iwo Jima.  Semper Fi.

I  wrote this a few years ago as a tribute to my Uncle Prentis, “PM”. Regretfully I won’t be able to celebrate Veterans Day with him this year but, I will be able to visit him at Rocky Gap; Semper Fi Uncle

Steve

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As you can tell from the date I wrote this some time ago, has anything gotten better?

 

October 28, 2002

Redneck Conservative

Opinion

The other day I was talking with someone who is not as enlightened as myself. We were discussing; Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and that whole Middle East mess. After expressing my enlightened views he told me I was nothing but a redneck conservative. This really bothered me and I told him that I resented the stereotyping because I don’t consider myself a conservative. I mean after all I have been a JFK Democrat since the seventh grade when Sister Justina ordered the entire seventh grade class to grow up and be Democrats. Since she could wield a one-foot rule like Darth Vader with a light saber I wasn’t taking any chances on her coming back and finding me.

 

What bought on this wealth of name-calling was a statement that I made concerning National security. I said that I think that we should close our borders. We the US do not have a lot of friends worldwide. That is unless Uncle Sam is taking our collective wallet out to give away our tax money. Every 24 hours it is estimated that 5000 illegal immigrants attempt to cross the US – Mexico border. Five percent of them make it and remain in the US, illegally. Not all of the invaders are Mexicans looking for jobs or a better way of life. Many are from other countries including the Middle East who intend to do us harm. Still others come to drain our resources in the form of welfare and free medical services. Many working families cannot afford medical insurance but illegal aliens are provided these services free. Weak-kneed politicians in many of these Border States are afraid to crack down on the illegals for fear of loosing the resident Hispanic vote. An ever-growing non-citizen population is influencing politics in some states.

 

This isn’t just happening in the southwest but right here in Maryland. The city of Rockville has legislation pending to allow resident aliens to vote in local elections. That can’t happen you say? Two other cities in Maryland already have this legislation in effect. That’s right non-citizens can vote in local elections so much for the sovereignty of our country.

 

Bi-lingual education? Do away with it. Most kids in this country just barely master English. You pick up a government publication and it’s written in Spanish and English that expense would be unnecessary if we all spoke the language of America, which is English. What ever happened to trying to blend in? The great mixing bowl is turning into fruit salad. When I was at Parris Island in 1967, Platoon 399 we had a Mexican kid named Jose Maldanado. On the first day with our Drill Instructors, Staff Sergeant Beavers (American Indian) asked Jose a question. Jose made the mistake of telling Sgt. Beavers that he did not habla English. Now Sgt. Beavers who was normally a soft-spoken and easygoing guy took mild offense at this statement. The first thing that Sgt. Beavers did was to teach Jose that some words are the same in all languages; one of those words is “ouch.” Jose did not remain an individual in 12 short weeks he was speaking English as good as anyone from Pennsylvania. Jose went to Vietnam paid his dues and became a citizen of the United States and then he was eligible to vote.

 

I know some will quote “give us your tired and poor.” The problem with that is your tired and poor have turned into your insane and dangerous. Profiling? Yes do it! If they look like the enemy let’s at least talk to them and find out who they are.   

Call it racial if you want to, call it religious bias, I don’t care I want to feel safe in my own country. I want you to feel safe in this country. I know this has been abused in the past and probably will be in the future. And I also know for some it will be more than a little inconvenience, but as we know these are strange and dangerous times.

 

I am not worried or even concerned about prayer in school. I am worried about education in schools. I went to Catholic grade and high school and we prayed before every class. I don’t think we turned out any better or worse than the public school kids. However, we had discipline in the classrooms and received a better education. We were also taught the responsibilities of being a citizen and loyal to our country. 

 

 

 

FIREARM REFRESHER COURSE

 

 1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.

 2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.

 3. Gun Lock: The original point and 'click' interface.

 4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.

 5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?

 6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.

 7. Free Men Do not ask permission to bear arms.

 8. If you don't know your rights you don't have any.

 9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.

 10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights reserved.

 11. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?

 12. The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.

 13. 80,000,000 legal firearms owners killed no one yesterday.

 14. Guns only! I have two enemies: rust and politicians.

 15. Know guns, know peace and safety. No guns, no peace nor safety.

16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.

 17. 911 - government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.

 18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.

 19. Criminals love gun control it makes their jobs safer.

 20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.

 21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.

 22. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.

 23. Enforce the "Gun Control Laws" we have; don't make more.

 24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.

 25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.

 26. ".. A government of the people, by the people, for the people..."