The Anti-Aircraft Granny

Recently I had the unfortunate luck to be in the New Haven, Connecticut airport waiting for a delayed flight to Philadelphia. Anyone who has ever taken a flight knows to NEVER go through Philly. It is, without a doubt, the worst airport in the US and is in close running for the worst in the world. I digress.


On this particular trip I was sitting in the tiny waiting area enjoying the 98 degree heat since the AC was either broken or non-existent. Happily consumed with my own anger and bitching at the current situation I barely noticed a woman politely inquiring if she was “allowed to sit here” in a lovely British accent. “Of course”, I replied with a smile and moved my laptop bag.



Abigail appeared, at first glance, to be about 129 years old with a cane and a slightly slumped posture which extenuated her advanced age. My own bias labeled her as old and frail and I am embarrassed to say I had to grumble as I imagined having to make idle conversation with her. However, after only a few minutes of polite questions and answers my initial perception was completely obliterated and I found myself feeling guilty and amazed as I talked to someone who may very well be the most interesting person in the world!



Abigail had a way of speaking that was so descriptive and engaging that I found myself actually experiencing and living the stories of her life, and what a life it is!



The conversation started normal enough. Simply pleasantries, the exchanging of names and the obligatory “what brings you here”. She was in Connecticut visiting her friends at the old folks home in Danbury. All of her surviving friends were in such degraded health that they could no longer come and visit her, so every year she makes the trip from her home in the UK to CT. This sparked a conversation about the fact she is a vegetarian and how difficult it is to be a vegetarian in the US. I offered some insight since I attempted a vegetarian diet for a very brief and failed period.



Over the next hour we discussed everything from travel, to politics, to her childhood and life in general.

As you all know, I am proud Military vet and patriotic almost to a fault. As a result, I usually do a bit of prodding when I initially meet someone to try and discover where they stand in these areas so I can avoid a heated argument seeing how I can’t mince words with people who are ignorant or mistaken enough to disagree with me lol. When I reveled my life as an Air Force Brat and subsequent Naval Career Abigail lit up and began to discuss her own time in the military during World War II. She volunteered for duty at the age of 17, because if you waited until you were 18 the empire would decide what you do for service which typically meant factory work and Abigail found factory work boring and tedious. I am, again, embarrassed to admit that I assumed that Abigail was a nurse during the war, but she started to describe her role as an anti-aircraft gunner on a tributary of Thames! She spoke excitedly with a recollection and clarity that made me feel as if I was there! She spoke proudly of her position as gunner and held her hands in the air as if she gripping the cannon controls and trigger as she talked about the nightly Nazi raids and the important role her squad played to prevent the Nazi air attacks from reaching the city, mimicking the recoil and tension as she looked steely eyed into the past.

We talked about how there used to be so much more respect and appreciation for the Military and how she was able to hitchhike every weekend, never having to wait for more than a couple of minutes if she was in uniform because every car would stop for you. It didn’t matter if it was a Rolls Royce or a “Lorrie” they would stop and take you as far as they could and I could see her as a beautiful 18 year old woman in her sharp British uniform as she described the care and pride she took in wearing the uniform. She described how her and her sister would play and swim in the same tributary she defended as little kids without ever noticing the constant cold of the Thames and I could see her as a child gleefully running, climbing and swimming without worry or care. She stared in the distance like a warrior as she talked about her successful and unsuccessful kills.

We shared our feelings on raising children, personal responsibility, the state of world, the economy and even Obama. She relayed how happy she was to be going home just in time for the Opera Festival which she admitted was her only vice. “The tickets are 14 pounds (about $28) which I can’t really afford, but it is my only vice” she told me with a naughty gleam in her eye and I could see her enjoying the music in the park all day and the Opera house in the evening. We discussed the deep bounds and camaraderie that you only find in the military and she was honestly happy as she talked about all the amazing places her friends had been sent on duty.

That conversation was an epiphany. A life altering event that completely changed the way I look at the world and little old ladies. Even now I smile as I recall that day. I am so very appreciative to have met such a fascinating person. Abigail will never know the impact she had on me, but at least you do!

What if they are all right???

I just had a panic attack thinking about dying and what if everyone is right? God will not be happy when he finds my 80,000 servants and 72 wives, under a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby! What am I even going to do with that many wives, especially as an ugly alien Thetan? Not to mention the look I’m going to get from The Hindu Sacred Cow and Monkey God. It’s not my fault burgers are delicious! Of course all of this assumes I even get in to Valhalla since I did not die with honor in battle and I seriously doubt I will have any money for the river Styx. My Karma ran over my Dogma a long time ago so there’s really no hope people, what am I going to do? Maybe next time I’ll get reincarnated as a platypus, they have it easy. Have you ever seen a stressed out platypus?

Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can't figure out what country you are the president of.

You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

• " We're no longer a Christian nation"

• " America is arrogant" - (Your wife even announced to the world," America is mean- spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."

Which ones did you mean?

1. Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British?
2. Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War?
3. I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.
4. I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man. Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle...


Sincerely,



Harold B. Estes





http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/haroldestes.asp

From Munich to the USA

If you ever fly into Munich and are trying to get to the US. Here are a few tips:

1. You will have to take a bus from the airplane to the terminal, so don't rush to get off the plane.

2. There will be no signs and no help to let you know that you will be flying out of the "H" terminals. Your flight will appear on no board and no one will have information on your flight, proceed directly to "H"

3. Proceed DIRECTLY to H terminals, even if you have a three hour lay-over. It took me two hours to get from my connecting flight because you have to go through two additional passport screenings and an additional security screening.

4. If your terminal is less than H15 (H14, H13.....H1) do not follow the signs past the security screening at H15. You MUST go through this security screening to get to all H terminals. If you follow the signs you get all the way to your terminal and will have to turn around and get in the security line. Again, no signs, no help, you just have to know it.

5. After you get to the terminal you have to check in with the agent (not a normal requirement) because they will do a third passport check. KEEP your baggage stickers (I normally toss these) they are required as part of this check. They will ask you a series of questions about your bags and then put a special sticker on your passport. You cannot board without the sticker on your passport.

6. Avoid Munich if you can.

Hooyah Bob McCarty!!

Retired Navy SEAL Questions Nation’s Priorities
by Bob McCarty

EDITOR’S NOTE: President Barack Obama outlined his new strategy for waging his surge-and-retreat style of war in Afghanistan Tuesday night. Because that strategy will involve the expedited deployment of 30,000 more troops under the cloud of an announced timetable for withdrawal, I’m eager to offer the important guest post below. Written by a friend, it’s especially timely in light of the news that broke one week ago about three Navy SEALs facing assault charges for doing their job in Iraq. For fear of reprisal, the author has insisted on anonymity.

Court-martial over a bloody lip?

The recent news regarding the U.S. Navy SEALs who are facing trial by court-martial raises many questions about the current mental state of America’s military, its civilian leadership and the thoughts and feelings of the American people in general.

Evidently, right and wrong have traded places on today’s moral compass. What kind of military or government sends its finest, most well-trained warriors to capture a heinous terrorist, only to bring those special operators up on charges for “mistreating” the despicable enemy mastermind of the murder, disfigurement and desecration of the four Blackwater contractors in March 2004?

Is giving an enemy terrorist a fat lip as bad as shooting and killing four American contractors on a food delivery run? Is a bloody lip equal to dragging dead American bodies through the streets of Fallujah and hanging them from a bridge? Are a few bruises, normally associated with apprehending a non-compliant enemy combatant, as bad as lighting dead American bodies on fire and chanting while videotaping for the world to see?

As a recently retired Navy SEAL with combat experience in Iraq, Afghanistan and numerous other countries the Middle East, I am appalled and disgusted with the current trend of many Americans blaming our service members for doing their jobs. It is a tragic state when Special Operations personnel are given orders to bring our enemies to justice, only to be punished for the most trivial “discomfort” administered to their captives. What message does this send to all the other Special Operations personnel or the rest of the armed forces who may receive orders to execute similar missions?

The ranks of the three SEALs who have been charged indicate that they have been in Naval Special Warfare for a significant period of time. It is normal to accumulate experience and advanced training in close-quarters combat and prisoner or detainee handling at these levels (E5 and E6) in Naval Special Warfare.

It is a testament to these SEALs’ experience and exercising of control that Ahmed Hashim Abed was brought back in such good shape, with no gunshot wounds or broken bones. Mixed martial arts fighters sustain much more serious injuries during a prize fight for entertainment than the minimal injury that this enemy combatant suffered.

Capturing hardened enemy combatants is always dangerous and frequently results in fatalities and/or injuries far worse than a fat or bloody lip. The enemy does not want to be caught and has been known to fight to the death. Need I mention the enemy’s treatment of Americans they have captured? How does a bloody lip compare to having ones head sawn off on Al-Jazeera “news”?

In addition to condemning our service members for performing the combat roles for which they were trained, is it the goal of the U.S. military or its civilian leadership to continuously burden our warriors with unrealistic and dangerous rules of engagement?

The current rules of engagement indicate that we are not willing to use our advantages and strengths to exploit the enemy’s weakness – a basic and ancient fundamental for winning in combat. Whose side is our leadership on? It would seem that they are stacking the deck in the favor of our enemies.

Will the future include more court-martial proceedings for our fighters as reward for executing orders? Should our brave warriors use half measures and tactics that endanger them in combat and give the advantage to the enemy? Not in a logical country that wants to defeat its enemies and win at war.

Political correctness is winning this war for our enemies and, without a doubt, it is a war and our enemies consider it one — even if the U.S. liberal left does not.

Regardless of the Obama administration’s new label, “overseas contingency operations,” most intelligent Americans still believe we are at WAR with Islamic radical fundamentalists bent on erasing the USA, Judeo-Christian culture and the western way of life.

Through actions like prosecuting our service members for doing their job to protect and defend, we are signing our own death warrant and signaling the end of western culture.