Free Republic

Why US Air Corps servicemen were allowed to wear such badass bomber jackets in WWII In honor of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Lisa Hix of Collectors Weekly has put together a fascinating and sobering article that both commemorates and explains why members of the US Army Air Corp were allowed to customize their bomber jackets to such outlandish and extreme degrees. The Army, not known for its lax uniform standards, allowed their air-bound servicemen to decorate their jackets with pictures of scantily clad pin-up girls, favorite comic characters, lucky charms, and any other assortment of icons. The reason, says historian...

Double-barrel 1911 lands ATF approval, importation to begin next year The ATF has given Arsenal the green light to import their double-barreled, double-everything 1911. Arsenal turned a lot of heads a few months back when they announced their truly unique handgun, the AF2011-A1, but many assumed that the gun would never wind up for sale in the U.S., because it fires two cartridges with one pull of the trigger, making it a machine gun according to federal law. Arsenal maintained that their double trigger design, and matching pair of sears and hammers, would not raise the hackles of the gatekeepers...

U.S. Paratroopers with Mohawks - World War II

On the afternoon of Friday, March 11th, Hideaki Akaiwa was at his job, dully trudging out the final bitter minutes of his work week in his office just outside the port city of Ishinomaki in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture. What this guy's day job actually is, I honestly have no idea, but based on the extremely limited information I have on the guy I can only presume that his daily nine-to-five routine probably falls somewhere between the motorcycle chase scenes from the movie Akira and John Rambo's antics in the book version of First Blood on the ridiculousness/badassitude scale. But that's...

Next week, I’ll be riding a Harley at the Sturgis Biker Rally in South Dakota—with the very same bad-asses who helped reinvigorate my dad’s campaign when it needed it most. So many memories of my father’s political career, especially the two times he ran for president, include bikers. There is something about bikers and biker rallies that makes me feel particularly patriotic and—dare I say it?—Republican. Let me start from the beginning. I have been going to political rallies since I was a young child. If you delve far enough into the depths of Google—and look at pictures scattered throughout...

Thanks for serving...

MACOMB - Leonard Gamage is sore today, which is understandable since he spent more than 45 minutes fighting off an intruder late Friday. Gamage, 87, suffered some bumps and bruises in a pair of fights with the intruder, who is an unidentified 20-year man. Leonard told the Journal he does feel good about still having the ability to defend his home. "I'm an old soldier," Gamage said. "I was in quite a few scuffles in the Army. I feel like I can still go if I have to." Gamage said the ordeal started just after 9 p.m. He was watching...

Wounded man grabs gun, beats assailant By Ed Brock June 06, 2002 A Texas man who had been shot in the leg and abdomen took the gun from his attacker and beat him with it. Paul McKenzie, 27, of San Antonio was released from Southern Regional Medical Center Wednesday after undergoing surgery to treat his shooting injuries, SRMC spokesman Mike Sawyer said. Demetrius Miguel Holmes, 24, of College Park, who has been charged with aggravated assault in connection with the shooting of McKenzie, was discharged from Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta into the custody of Clayton County police around...