Posted on 02/01/2004 5:42:01 PM PST by SJackson
I had an interesting encounter with a group of about a hundred U.S. Army soldiers a few days ago at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland. There were soldiers walking around and waiting at various ticket counters both to go home and to go to their duty stations. I talked with one young infantryman, Specialist Fourth Class John Rogers of the First Armored Division, who was in line in front of me at the U.S. Air counter. An infantry team leader, he was on his way back to Iraq, he said, after getting a few weeks R&R at home.
“How’s it going over there, really?,” I asked him.
“Better than before,” he said.
When I pressed him to explain, he said that things are actually going quite well. “The news media,” he said “dwells on the negative all the time. But there’s a lot of good going on. When I was first over there, there were little kids everywhere we went. Now there are only one or two because the rest of them are back in school. I think that’s a really good accomplishment.”
I told SP4 Rogers that this vet of the Vietnam era was very proud of him and encouraged him to keep up his spirits because most Americans were solidly behind the troops and realized that the media was focusing primarily on the negative.
A short while later, while awaiting my flight to Denver, an airline attendant at a nearby gate announced that he would allow some 25 U.S. Army soldiers to board the aircraft first. “They are just returning from Iraq,” he said, and suddenly the entire area of about 200 civilian passengers burst into spontaneous and sustained applause. It was very moving.
Later, when my flight was landing in Denver, the stewardess reminded us over the intercom that some of the passengers were soldiers returning home from Iraq. Again, spontaneous applause.
The applause contrasted sharply with 1969 when I got out of the Army. There was a lot of open civilian animosity to soldiers back then. The war in Vietnam had been unpopular for several years, and even I had decided it was just a politician’s war. But there was no excuse for the way many civilians treated the returning GIs. It’s nice to see this new generation of young GIs treated with respect.
Another skunk story
I shot another skunk today, this one outside for a change. Unfortunately the nasty critter sprayed by black lab, Molly, first. A pot of cinnamon and water simmering on the stove does wonders for skunk odor. But it still stinks outside. Skunks have no manners or sense. You’d think they’d just go off and leave you alone once you let them know you’re not going to put up with them spraying your animals and house. But they just keep on coming. I guess they’re so used to getting away with it with other animals in Nature that they figure they can get away with it with the human animal. A shotgun makes a great big statement to a dirty skunk.
I've always thought the inability of dogs to recognize a skunk for what it is is a fine arguement against evolution.
LOL!
I have two labs and live in the middle of a dense forest. I routinely bought tomatoe juice by the case, and every late spring would have to replenish. This went on for three years in a row--during the spring, every week they would kill some skunks. Finally the dogs prevailed, and for the past three years I have yet to crack open one case of tomatoe juice (except the one can I used for bloody marys) for the dogs' bath.
In case you didn't know tomatoe juice is the only thing that works against the awful, awful odor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.