A Collection of Thoughts

New Home

Wed, 16 Jul 2003 02:53:45 GMT

Ok, it's official:

This weblog has moved to: http://www.jenmartinez.com/mt/

I hope you'll visit my new and improved weblog. If you like what you see, sign up for the update notification list. As soon as I finish with the "behind the scenes" stuff, I can focus on writing and posting.

Stand by

Tue, 15 Jul 2003 05:25:14 GMT

I am in the process of rebuilding and creating with Movable Type, installed on MY server. Some of the benefits of going this route are everything is running on my server and I don't have to go through a third party. I have plenty of space (way more than 40 mb) and tons of bandwidth, so it really doesn't make sense to have my weblog running on someone else's server. A URL from my domain name is another benefit. I still can't remember the URL to this weblog. Once everything is ready to go live, I'll post the new URL. Thanks for reading A Collection of Thoughts!

Radio Relay in Salem House

Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:56:06 GMT

A Secret War Veteran remembers...

Don't know how things were done in the Prairie Fire AO, but in Salem House (zone Charlie) in east central Cambodia, radio relay was done by the FACs. A Pretzel FAC was in the air during day light hours anytime a team was on the ground with radio relay being one of the main missions. When it hit the fan fighters were called, usually F-100s from Bien Hoa or Phan Rang, and the FAC did his FACing thing. The last light mission "tucked the teams in their beds" and noted their position while the first light go made sure they were still intact then just kind of FACed around until they were needed, always staying in radio range, but offset from the team on the ground.

Prior to the Cambod invasion the OV was able to provide support for the teams with guns and rockets. The OV-10A had four M-60's mounted in sponsons on the fuselage and carried 28 ea 2.75 in FFAR (Folding Fin Aircraft Rockets) in four rocket pods. Before Cambodia the load was 14 White Phosphorous Rockets (Willie Petes) for marking targets and 14 High Explosive (HE) to hurt bad guys. Occasionally a Flachette (nails) rocket or 3 would magically appear in the tubes but this was highly frowned on by 7th AF. Between the guns and rockets the FAC had the capability of keeping the bad guys at least somewhat at bay until the fighters could get there.

After Cambodia no "offensive" weapons were allowed to be carried on the OV's operating in Salem House. The load was to be 28 WP's and the guns were to be de-charged with the ammo chutes disconnected. EL TEE Brad Mars (Pretzel 44) inquired if he had to empty the 6 rounds from his mighty .38cal Combat Masterpiece, the "briefer" from 7th was not amused by the question. The beauty of the new arrangement was the Pretzels could put in airstrikes in support of the SOG Teams, but could not provide the immediate help the aircraft was capable of. Maybe F-100's and F-4s were not considered "offensive" but not much made any sense by Aug of 1970 anyway. Since we were out on the Cambod border in NW III Corps away from the watchful eye of the weenies at 7th, WE CHEATED. I never sent a bird to Cambodia without guns, although some a/c went out with 28 WP's, but that was unusual.

We had some heroic SOBs whose job it was to keep those poor bastards on the ground as safe and alive as possible and they sure as hell weren't going to allow 7th to interfere with that job.

One example. I was in the backseat with EL TEE Mars (Pretzel 44) when he found a truck park while VRing while the team on the ground was busy doing their recon stuff. Mars got a set of F-100s (Ramrod) from Bien Hoa and put them in on the truck park destroying some bunkers and trench line. To do this Lt Mars only needed 3 rockets and had 11 WPs and 14 contraband HEs on hand when a frantic call came in from another team on guard, Call Sign Cherry Girl, that they were taking heavy mortar fire and were in about to be over run. To this day I have no idea who or what Cherry Girl was or who they belonged to but Lt Mars was able to make the bad guys miserable until Cheery Girls' people, Cobra gun ships and Hueys, could come to the rescue. Don't know what ever happened. Hell, I was as illegal being in the backseat as the HE rockets were in the tubes.

Larry Hughes
NKP 68 - 69
Various Cambodian Operations 69 - 71

The Lights Are On But Nobody's Home

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 06:04:40 GMT

Remember my earlier post titled "Are Iraqis Stupid?" Low and behold if I didn't find further proof of this. The Christian Science Monitor tells us about Salaam Kadhim and his three friends who broke into Iraq's nuclear facility last April. Once inside, they found barrels of radioactive uranium powder. It gets better; they emptied the barrels to use them as water cisterns at home - and then decided to taste the powder! Two questions immediately come to mind; did they know they were inside a nuclear facility and were radioactive signs posted in the facility or on the barrels? I find it a bit hard to believe, how could one not know? Salaam stated he thought the barrels contained milk powder. Neighborhoods whose residents participated in the looting of the Tuwaitha facility are now reporting symptoms of radiation sickness. According to the article, some 500 barrels which once contained uranium powder are now missing. A local religious leader, Said Mutar al-Musawi, reports that villagers are drinking from the barrels and washing with them. Parts of the reactor building have been found lying in fields miles away, these too were removed by the local village idiots. In countries such as Iraq, whose citizens clearly are not playing with a full deck of cards, I think it would be best for the world if they didn't have nuclear capabilities.

A Quote by Will Rogers

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 00:06:32 GMT

After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him.The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

What came to mind as I read this quote was the many phony Veterans we have the unfortunate pleasure of meeting throughout our lives. It has been my experience that almost everyone is a "Green Beret." Usage of this term to describe a US Army Special Forces soldier bothers me. A "green beret" is a head cover and not a soldier. Next would be Navy SEALs. If they're not green berets they're SEALs. Another false claim phonies are fond of using is the "I won five Medals of Honor" line. Yeah right. Did I mention that I am a door gunner on the space shuttle? I can't figure out why the Medal of Honor line is still being used. One can go down to the local library and check out a book which lists the names and citations of each Medal of Honor recipient, making this particular claim by far the easiest to dispel. All you have to do is look up the name. To get around this, the phony will resort to telling us that his "mission was classified" and therefore he is not listed anywhere. That my friends is horseshit! Just who are all these phonies? My theory is that the bulk of them were pot smoking, bead wearing, flower-power hippie cowards during the war in SEA. They ran to Canada, Mexico and or hid out in universities to avoid serving my Country. I find their attempts at stealing the honor, integrity and glory of our nation's real heroes to be highly insulting.

Another annoyance is this "winning the Medal of Honor" BS. One does not win the Medal of Honor. It's not a contest. The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. It is presented by the President of the United States of America. One can win a race, musical chairs, the lottery, etc but one cannot win the Medal of Honor.

Humor - SF Style

Wed, 09 Jul 2003 01:45:40 GMT

News Anchor Dan Rather, The Reverend Jesse Jackson, NPR Reporter Cokie Roberts, and an American Special Forces soldier were hiking through the jungle one day when they were captured by cannibals. They were tied up, led to the village and brought before the chief. The chief said, "I am familiar with your western custom of granting the condemned a last wish. Before we kill and eat you, do you have any last requests?"

Dan Rather said, "Well, I'm a Texan; so I'd like one last bowlful of hot, spicy chili." The chief nodded to an underling, who left and returned with the chili. Rather ate it all and said, "Now I can die content." Jesse Jackson said, "You know, the thing in this life I am proudest of is my work on behalf of the poor and oppressed. So before I go, I want to sing "We Shall Overcome" one last time." The chief said, "Go right ahead, we're listening." Jackson sang the song, and then said, "Now I can
die in peace." Cokie Roberts said, "I'm a reporter to the end. I want to take out my tape recorder and describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe someday someone will hear it and know that I was on the job til the end." The chief directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder, and Roberts dictated some comments. She then said, "Now I can die happy."

The chief turned and said, "And now, Mr. Special Forces soldier, what is your final wish?" "Kick me in the ass," said the green beret. "What?" said the chief. "Will you mock us in your last hour?" "No, I'm not kidding. I want you to kick me in the ass," insisted the green beret. So the chief shoved him into the open, and kicked him in the ass. The green beret went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9mm pistol from his waistband, and shot the chief dead. In the resulting confusion, he leapt to his knapsack, pulled out his M4 carbine, and sprayed the cannibals with gunfire. In a flash, the cannibals were dead or fleeing for their lives. As the Special Forces soldier was untying the others, they asked him, "Why didn't you just shoot them? Why did you ask them to kick you in the ass?" "What!?" said the green beret, "And have you assholes call ME the aggressor?!?"

Palestinian Bomber Detained

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 19:46:36 GMT

Perhaps the Palestinian "leaders" should issue a Public Service Announcement stating that sticking dynamite up one's ass in order to blow one's self up along with any innocent civilians who happen to be near is no longer sanctioned by the government.

Palestinian Forces Detain Suicide Bomb Suspect. GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian security forces said on Monday they had detained an 18-year-old woman in the Gaza Strip who was planning a suicide bombing in Israel, an arrest welcomed by Israel as a step forward on the Middle East peace ``road map.''. By Reuters. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Bring It On

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 16:51:03 GMT

"Bring 'em on!" "With that one little phrase, President George W. Bush has set liberals clucking their tongues like they haven't clucked since Ronald Reagan called the former Soviet Union an evil empire," reports Doug Patton. The Soviet Union (I don't recognize their phony name change) is indeed an evil empire and I find it amazing that liberals didn't agree with former President Ronald Reagan when he simply stated a fact. It is my opinion that liberals are soft on communism and would have us believe that it's no longer a threat and is not bad. It was a great moment in history when President Reagan had the balls to stand up and announce to the world the truth about the USSR. I can't imagine anyone having a problem with that.

As for President Bush's "bring 'em on" remark, what's wrong with that? He is showing that we are not scared, to the contrary, we are ready to kick some ass so bring it on if you're so inclined. Was this a taunt to our enemies to encourage them to attack us? In a word, NO. It's a stretch to say otherwise. Enemies will attack regardless of what we say or do for a variety of reasons. The rags responsible for the 11 Sept. 2001 attacks had not been taunted by President Bush or anyone else for that matter. They hit us because they could. We have been the recipients of terror attacks by assorted A-Rabs and their various religious cults for years. The terrorist always got away with it. We rarely ever responded and if we did, it was a slap on the wrist. We were soft on terrorism. We let them kill us while we stood by and did nothing and then ranaway. These are traits of weakness. In Mogadishu (1993) our actions directed by klinton showed America's enemies that all you have to do is kill our soldiers and we will turn tail and exit your country. You don't compromise with evil. The liberals need to lay off the friendship drug and get their priorities in order. HOOAH!

The Mighty Stratofortress!

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 07:08:02 GMT

S T R A T O F O R T R E S S

My current favorite word. It signifies power and might. The B-52 was America's first long-range, swept-wing heavy bomber. Now entering its fifth decade of service, it continues to be an important element of the U.S. Air Force bomber fleet. No bomber in U.S. military history has been called upon to remain operational as long as the B-52. With a 185-foot wingspan, a length of more than 160 feet and a gross weight of more than 480,000 pounds, the B-52 earned the nickname BUFF, short for Big Ugly Fat Fellow. For the first 10 years of its operational service, the B-52's principal role was as a nuclear deterrent in the Cold War against Soviet communism.

Are Iraqis Stupid?

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 05:45:56 GMT

That's my conclusion based on the following highlights from Lies and half truths on Iraqi streets complicate America's mission:

Americans bombed a procession of U.S.-trained police cadets
U.S. occupiers are withholding electricity on purpose
American night vision equipment can be used to see through women's clothing (my personal favorite)
Iraqis should check Taiwanese or Chinese-made appliances for hidden Stars of David.
American helicopters swooped down on construction stores to steal building supplies.
Jews have arrived in Baghdad to spread sex, prostitution and drugs among young people
Their first aim is to break the nose of every Arab leader

We "bombed" the new Iraqi police whom we paid, trained and equipped? Oh sure. Training them was no small task and the Iraqis would have us believe that on graduation day, the naughty Americans sent an aircraft to bomb the graduation class in broad daylight? We are withholding electricity on purpose, hmmm, that is exactly what saddam did. We are not saddam. These silly people actually believe that our night vision equipment can "see" through women's clothing! Now that's a good one. I love it! ROFLMFAO. Can it also see through men's clothing, I wonder? That is perhaps one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Communist Chinese are making products bearing the Star of David. Uh huh. Considering the fact that all communist governments fear religion and see it as a threat to their national security, it is highly unlikely the Chinese are now manufacturing goods with religious symbols on them. We use helos as a means to steal from Iraqi stores! Hmm, I'm trying to visualize that. Just remember who did all the looting a couple months ago, it sure as hell wasn't us. Has anyone in Baghdad actually seen the "Jews?" How do they know they are there? I haven't heard of "Jews" running drugs before, that's a new one. Arab leaders may do many things but leading a nation sure as hell isn't one of them. They are terrible leaders. For reference check my previous post titled "Obstacles Arabs Have Erected For Themselves." I covered all the good points there. Last but not least, Fallujah resident Abdullah Jassem Ensayif has this to say about the explosion inside the local mosque, "First I saw a green laser pointing on Sheikh Leith's room from two cars. Then the cars drove away and the plane dropped the bomb." I thought the residents said they heard the sound of helicopters prior to the explosion. Helicopters do not drop bombs. So which is it? It's hard to get the story straight when one lies all the time. In closing, I hope the article I reference in the first sentence was based off interviews with a few stupid people and that this is not what the majority of the population believes.

Online Registry for World War II Vets

Fri, 04 Jul 2003 04:13:30 GMT

The American Battle Monuments Commission unveiled an online registry listing the names of those who served in World War II. Any American who served in the armed forces or contributed to the war effort on the home front is eligible for inclusion. There is no charge to place a name in the registry. Veterans can be enrolled through the World War II Registry web site or by calling the memorial's toll free number at 1-800-639-4WW2. The registry contains more than 1 million records, most submitted by the public. The database also includes National Archives and Records Administration lists of those killed in service during the war, and the names of those buried in American Battle Monuments Commission overseas cemeteries or listed on its Tablets of the Missing.