Another picture from the Naval Air Station Jacksonville’s 2004 Air Show – featuring the Blue Angels:
NAS JAX: More Pictures
Military
SGM Hook
From Sgt. Hook comes this bit of fantastic news:
Well it seems that the senior leadership of our Army have once again been hitting the sauce with their lunches, or they’ve totally lost their minds, as they’ve selected yours truly for promotion to Sergeant Major (E9) and have reserved a seat for my attendance to the Sergeants Major Academy this spring. I’ll be damned.
Congratulations Sergeant Major! Good news all around today!
NAS JAX Preview
Went to the airshow at Naval Air Station Jacksonville yesterday with my parents and saw the Blue Angels for the first time. As I’m on dialup, this will just be a preview of the pictures to come once I get back to a high speed internet connection. More to come!
USS Shoup
I was unaware, until today, that the Navy had named a Destroyer for General David Shoup, the 22nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a man from my hometown.
General Shoup won the Congressional Medal of Honor at Tarawa during World War II, where his combat report read:
Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning.
General Shoup died in 1983 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetary.
The USS Shoup (DDG 86) is based in Everett, Washington.
Edwards / Kerry on the Draft
This is a monumentally stupid thing to say, as reported today in the Boston Globe:
Vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised a West Virginia mother on Wednesday that if the Democratic ticket is elected in November the military draft would not be revived.
During a question-and-answer session, the mother of a 23-year-old who recently graduated from West Virginia University asked Edwards whether the draft would be reinstated.
”There will be no draft when John Kerry is president,” Edwards said, a statement that drew a standing ovation.
It’s a stupid thing to say because no one can predict the future.
What if we’re attacked and have to goto war against another country – say Iran, or North Korea, or Jordan, or Syria, or the Sudan – who knows? What if our current military structure and force levels isn’t enough?
What if?
What if?
No one thought something like 9/11 would ever happen to us either – but it did – and it’s changed our worldview.
What’s he thinking? Everything will be hunky-dory if Kerry and he are elected?
This ranks right up there with “Read my Lips”….
John Kerry Sold Out his Team
Tammi, over at Road Warrior Survival has written a great piece today about John Kerry’s 1970’s testimony against the Vietnam War:
Son. Of. A. Bitch.
Bottom line. He Sold Out His Team. He Sold Out His Brothers. He Sold Out America. Yep, that’s my opinion and you aren’t going to change it.
I’ll put it in simple real world terms. If he were interviewing me for a job, I’d turn it down. I would NOT work for someone like that. I’d never trust them. Ever. So you can bet, given the fact that he is asking Us to hire Him I’m going to do my part in making sure he doesn’t get that position. I thought that way before, but hearing his testimony and re-reading it later sealed the deal for me. I DON’T want him to be the person that has this country’s future in his hands. I don’t want to have to trust HIM to keep me safe.
Unfortunately, I missed this, so am going to have to try to catch it on CSPAN re-runs.
It’s too bad there isn’t CSPAN on Demand like I have for HBO, Starz, and other channels.
Cool Parents
Here’s how cool my parents are…
I was out to dinner last night at Champps in Minneapolis with a couple of my headquarters partners – enjoying a fine chilled beverage, some wings, and a patty melt when my father called my cell phone. Now, my parents rarely ever call my cell phone and we usually don’t talk when I’m out of town. So, I answered, fearing some sort of family emergency.
My father tells me that he has a gift for me. See, a few days ago, I mentioned to them that I had read General Franks’s book American Soldier – so my father, having noticed that General Franks was going to be in Jacksonville, Florida for a book signing – went and stood in line to get an autographed copy of the book for me.
He even got to chat with the General for a few minutes. A jealous son, I am.
Dad was #390 in line for the book – and he snagged one for himself.
How cool is that?
I was a minor celebrity around Target’s headquarters today as I told this story…. I can’t wait to see it….