Veterans Day Weekend Border Duty Update (Campo Minutemen)

Campo Minutemen ^ | 11/25/2007

[Ladycalif]

Ladders( Road Bridges) in the border road

First let me thank all our our men and women who have served or are serving in the armed forces. Happy Veteran's Day. God Bless Y'all and God Bless America

Ladders( Road Bridges) in the border road Ladders( Road Bridges) in the border road

Saturday 10Nov07 I arrived in Tierra Del Sol at approximately 1645 and entered the border road at the area known as Red Shank. After showing my ID I was granted permission to enter from a National Guardswoman in a BP suburban. I was glad to see the Guard back in position as the last time I entered there they were not on duty. I proceeded west down the border road and in only about a half mile I was harassed from the other side of the fence by Mexicans hollering at me and blowing whistles! About another mile up the road I encountered a BP agent in a jeep and informed him of the noisy men on the other side. As is my habit I also asked him if being on the border road in that area was ok and he said he was fine with it, just to be careful.

I tried to call Kingfish on the radio and got no response so I attempted to phone him and got his voicemail. I think he may have still been in town in the aftermath of the successful www.campominutemen.com road clean up earlier that day.

The sun had almost set completely when I past underneath Kingfish’s truck, still in position on the high point on the east side of Smith Canyon. I made phone contact with Max who was in Campo again and then made radio contact with Viking who was in position at about 143, between Smith and La Gloria where there is a large gap in the fence. I met up with him after crossing Smith and together Viking and I crossed La Gloria in the dark and met up with Gadget at 141. We had coffee and visited for a while and then I proceeded west and met up with Max, who is now driving Chicago’s old van, at 139. It was good to see him and he informed me that a new man was on the line, call sign Lost One. Lost One had seen an advertisement for the Campo minutemen road clean up on Craigslist! While he did not make it to the clean up he did work the line clear up until Monday and was determined continue doing border duty in the future. It was good to have a gung ho new man on the line.

I moved to the low point about halfway between the Oaks and the PCT. Those of you familiar with the area know there is an old dead tree next to a north/south dirt road that connects the service road to the border road. It is close, just a bit west of a favorite crossing spot. Where the slats in the border fence there change from horizontal to vertical there is a large rock behind the fence in Mexico, which facilitates the invaders entry. I parked where, if it had not been foggy, I could’ve seen the favored spot in the fence. But with my view obscured by the fog I cracked the drivers window to listen and turned on my motion detectors, which monitor all four sides of my truck and chirp if someone or something moves close by me.

It was after midnight 11NOV07 and I was totally enshrouded in fog and getting very sleepy. I began to nod off when, at 0150, I heard boots hit the ground and all kinds of clattering of something hitting the fence. I hit my spotlight in the direction of the noise, which was the afore mentioned area in the fence. Man, I wish I had a tape recording of the sounds I heard when the light hit! It sounded like the three stooges (or more) with yelps and noggin knocking and people banging into each other and the fence. The sound was hilarious! I phoned in a report to the BP and the dispatcher transferred me to a supervisor’s voicemail! That has never happened to me before, unfortunately it would happen again.

As my light only illuminated the fog enough to scare them but did not allow me to actually get a visual on them I drove up to the border road to the area of the commotion. I found two homemade ladders, pictured on my blog. They also use these as land bridges to lay across the roads so they can cross without leaving tracks. I phoned in my find to the BP again, it was a little after 0200, and again the dispatcher patched me through to a damn voicemail box. Someone got an earful when they returned to work and played back their messages.

After making a patrol pass from my location to the 241 monument and back to 141, I went back to my previous low point position in the fog and laid in wait. About 0400 Bravo 2 passed me on the border road heading east. As he passed the area where I had found the ladders several men hollered at him from the south. There were still people there! I phoned in a report and the damn dispatcher sent me to the same, rapidly filling voicemail!! I immediately called him back and asked him if he had been intentionally funneling to a recording all night. He seemed stunned and was apologetic, them I could hear him as he spent several minutes calling people and asking who was on duty. Bravo 2 had pulled in beside me when dispatch had finally got his act together and transferred me to a live supervisor. I explained the nights’ activities and there were two BP agents at my location in less than 10 minutes!

They went off to look for tracks and the fog began to lift. As the first vestiges of daylight began to appear and all the fog had burned off I looked through my night vision to find two men standing on a rock in the dark looking in my direction from about 50 yards into Mexico. I hit them with my spot and watched them scramble.

At 0745 the same agents who had reported to my position at about 0420 came back to me and reported that the group I startled had moved to the east and entered right by the Oaks. BP tracked them all the way to the Railroad museum in Campo before losing the trail. But then a citizen phoned in a report of a large group spotted up the road to Lake Morena. BP responded and apprehended 15 illegals and, by their shoes prints positively identified the men as the group I had scared to the east. One was having heart palpitations and one had a broken leg! The agent thanked me for the report and credited me for the “assist.”

Sunday morning was clear and beautiful and I went back up to 139 and told my tale to Viking and the new guy Lost One and showed everyone my souvenir ladders. At 138 I made two thermoses of coffee in preparation for the coming night watch. Then I napped briefly in the bed of my truck.

I encountered a BP agent coming in my direction. He pulled off to the side and flashed his lights at me before turning his off. I did the same and pulled up beside him. He looked at me and laughed and said he thought I was another BP agent! I thanked him for the compliment and he complimented me again on my truck and my tactics. I told him I only wanted to help and he told me how much he appreciated it. Then he gleefully informed me that the Chargers had just beaten the Colts! We shot the bull for a minute and then he told me to be careful as another agent was coming up the road behind him. I thanked him and continued my patrol.

Viking had gone home and I met up with Max and Lost One at 140. All was quiet, well except for Max of course, and after visiting a minute I setup position at 139. The fog rolled in and then it began to drizzle. I waited for it to let up but it was not to be. I switched on my motion detectors and napped off and on while the weather steadily grew worse. The wind began to howl and the rain got heavier. At 0420, with the weather still bad I gave up and headed for home. It was good to see so many men on the line, putting personal differences aside and focusing on the mission at hand: assisting the Border Patrol in protecting our porous southern frontier. I will once again be spending the Thanksgiving holidays on the border. I hope to be back on the line sometime Wednesday 21NOV07. Y’all come on down and help do the job our worthless politicians refuse to do.

This concludes my report. Semper Vigilans C1

[Ladycalif]

border update

[SandRat]

Border PING

[FMFreeper]

Semper Vigilans?

English only please

[Czar]

First class report.

I see you were planning on going back there on Nov. 21 -- hope you didn't have to miss Thanksgiving but, if you did, it was for a noble and patriotic cause.

Thanks again for all you have done and are doing to protect our borders.

[-=SoylentSquirrel=-]

Always Vigilant?