The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Charles W. Anderson and the 15th Air Force - Oct. 8th, 2003

http://www2.gvsu.edu/~vandelej/part1.html ^ | Leslie VanderMeulen

[w_over_w]

Morning Glory Snip & Sam~

Wonderful read . . . bring back "12 o'clock High".

[Valin]

Germany became the first nation in the world to adopt an old-age social insurance program in 1889, designed by Germany's Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.

Something I remeber reading years ago(I forget the source) Bismarck brought together a group of statisticians and asked them when the average worker died. After crunching the numbers the answer they came up with was 64. So old Otto gets up and announces that from now on at age 65 the state will provide a pension to every worker for the rest of his life. And that's why we have 65 as the retirement age.

[Valin]

I never knew the tail gunner kneeled. Learn something new everyday.

[bedolido]

Good morning friend. I will be out of freep range until 20/10/2003 suffering the hardships of Hawaii. One of my granddaughter's was born in Hawaii (mother is Hawaiian). Traditionally, the first birthday is a grand celebration with a sitdown dinner for relatives and friends.

I will be on some today, however, I fly out tomorrow.

When I go to Hawaii, I always spend time at Pearl. Last time there, my son (ex-navy fire controllman on the tomahawk cruise missle) and I toured the Missouri. He took me into where his station would have been and showed me where he would sit. On the keyboard he pointed out a key was covered over with black tape. He told me under the tape, the key said "Authorize Nuclear" (or something similar). He also said it took direct okay from the President and two keys, neither of which he held.

Lord bless you all and keep you safe.

[Samwise]

I certainly hope Leslie got an "A."

[Samwise]

Love your graphic!

[snippy_about_it]

Good story today SAM. I learned something new.

Oxygen deprivation was a serious problem and was the cause for many aircrew casualties.

I hadn't really thought about that before. Thanks.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you Skylight. Take pictures! Oh the hardships of Hawaii, LOL. I almost didn't recognize you, still getting used to the new name.

Have a safe trip and we expect a full report when you return, especially about Pearl Harbor.

My mother was a WAVE and stationed at Ford Island during the war as an Aviation Machinist Mate.

[Samwise]

Since this is a thread about a student paper, is it OK if I brag a little about my favorite student, Samwise Jr.?

Her 6th grade class analyzes the “Quote of the Week,” which appears in the weekly newsletter. Her teacher picks a famous quote, and the students have to write about what it means to them. She came home from school so tickled because the quote of the week was “Some things are worth fighting for no matter what!”

The author--Samwise Jr. Apparently, her teacher played “Have You Forgotten” and the kids had a class discussion about Bush, Iraq, the Left, etc. and Jr. expressed her opinion.

[snippy_about_it]

That's wonderful. You can brag about her any day here at the Foxhole. She sure is being brought up right!

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning w/w. I remember that show.

It's where I first understood what it meant to say a certain position was at 12 o'clock high or at 3 o'clock, etc.

[bedolido]

Forgive me if this has already been posted. My daughter sent this to me this morning.

At Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC recently, the Sergeant Major of the Army, Jack Tilley, was with a group of people visiting the wounded soldiers. He saw a Special Forces soldier who had lost his right hand and suffered severe wounds of his face and side of his body.

The Sergeant Major wanted to honor him and show him respect without offending, but what can you say or do in such a situation that will encourage and uplift? How do you shake the right hand of a soldier who has none?

He decided to act as though the hand was not missing and gripped the soldier's wrist while speaking words of comfort and encouragement to him.

But there was another man in that group of visitors who had even brought his wife with him to visit the wounded who knew exactly what to do.

This man reverently took the soldiers stump of a hand in both of his hands, bowed at the bedside and prayed! for him. When he finished the prayer he stood up, bent over the soldier and kissed him on the head and told him that he loved him. What a powerful expression of love for one of our wounded heroes! And, what a beautiful Christ-like example!

What kind of a man would do such a thing? It was the wounded man's Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, President of the United States.

This story was told by the Sergeant Major at a Soldiers Breakfast held at Redstone Arsenal, AL, and recorded by Chaplain James Henderson, stationed there.

[w_over_w]

What a powerful expression of love for one of our wounded heroes! And, what a beautiful Christ-like example!

H.U.A.!

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

~I Cor. 15:58

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you skylight, I just realized I promised to update the ping list with your new name and didn't. I'm going to do it right now. Sorry.

[SAMWolf]

Hi w_over_w.

12 O'clock High - Good Flick. You want to see a heartbreaker see if you can find "All the Fine Young Men" a Discovery Channel documentary about the B-17 and the 8th Air Force.

[colorado tanker]

The air force lost 229,544 aircraft from July 1940 through August 1945, while 52,173 of the 115,382 men injured in combat died.

What a sacrifice.

The 15th Air Force was the outfit Ambrose wrote about in "The Wild Blue" as I recall. The Eighth Air Force, based in Britain, seems to have hogged most of the press.

Twelve O'Clock High is an outstanding movie. At one time it was shown to students at the Harvard Business School regarding effective leadership and management techniques.

[SAMWolf]

That's the story I heard too.

[colorado tanker]

Oh, that story brought a tear to my eye. That the Dims aim such vitriol at such a good and decent man sure speaks volumes about the kind of men they are.

[SAMWolf]

Can you imagine having to kneel for the better part of 12 to 13 hours of a mission? Only thing worse is being crammed into a Ball Turret

[bedolido]

I rented Band of Brothers last weekend. Amazing and moving stories based on actual events.