The Few, The Proud, The Retired Marines

This is my nephew one day in July hanging out at my house before an Independence Day parade. Even though today, his height towers over me, this is the loveable brat I still see.
When he was out of high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps and decided to make it a career.

A little more than a year ago, when he started the countdown til having 20 years of service in (Twenty Years!!! Wow!), I decided I wanted to do something special as a gift for him to let him know I was proud of him, and to congratulate him on his retirement. Twenty years is a long time to be at the mercy of not knowing where you may be sent next and not knowing what he was going to be tasked to do once he got there. It's an impressive commitment of mammoth proportions.

I wanted the gift to come from something we have in common so every time he saw it/used it, he'd remember his ol' auntie.
I remembered back to the day I took him shooting when he was home for a visit...

We were shooting at "Zombie" targets and joked about all the zombies that needed killin'.
Not long after, he sent me these (ha!);

 I decided I wanted the gift to be... a firearm.
Not just any firearm... one blinged up with some USMC stuff.
First, I bought the rifle.
A Smith & Wesson M&P sporterized AR15

Once I started looking around, I found what I wanted to change...
I ordered these pivot pins that don't need tapped from the opposite side to get them out...they're knurled so you just grab and pull. Plus a little EGA (Eagle Globe & Anchor) bling;

I knew he liked the Infidel thing, because a year or so back I bought the last shirt with that on it from G.I. Joe's store and when I posted a picture of it, he asked me if I could get one for him to match the patches on his gear. I sent it to him.

I knew I'd have to put something with that on this rifle.
I found it! An extended magazine release...too cool!

Things were starting to come together when I found a case just like mine, but in digital camo instead of black. I love that case...it's SUPER dense foam with roomy pockets and that ballistic weave water-resistant stuff. It's awesome!

When I went to the Air Force museum in July, I picked up a pull tab for the zipper.
You aviation bugs know ;)

It was getting to the point that I couldn't contain my secret. I was really excited all of it was starting to come together! I started telling people, but with the caveat that they keep their mouths shut...especially on Facebook...so none of my family would find out and accidentally let the secret slip. I think half the state knew I was working on this...but nobody in my family! I asked questions on forums about switching out the pieces and got info/advice from customers at the store where I work...tons of other people knew! Hahaha!

A friend of mine was getting into a company that was making these cleaning kits that fit in a leak-proof mag shaped slider box, and they fit in the mag pouch of your case... this is one of the few prototypes, and he gave it to me to include with the rifle accessories I was starting to get gathered up.

Probably the sneakiest thing I had to do was ordering what was laser-engraved on the charge handle spine.
There were SO MANY quotes to pick from... I'm a fan of all those Chesty Puller quotes. And many of them would have fit perfectly. I ended up telling my nephew that I was changing a rifle for someone (true) who was already a retired (not so true) Marine (true), and if he was doing it for himself, what would he get on his own? He said "Once a Marine, Always a Marine".
Done!!
I ordered it...and waited and waited and waited.
There were a couple issues and I thought for sure this was going to do me in time-wise.
But JUST in the nick of time...it arrived!

Charge handle in!
With the help of a co-worker who had all the AR smithing tools;
EGA pivot pins in! Over-sized Infidel mag release in!
It was looking good coming together and not a moment too soon!

The day was fast approaching when he was going to come visit me for "breakfast out" and to pick up his present. This is where I decided to be a little evil. Mwuahaha...
I purchased a range pass for him to the place where I'd taken him to shoot. It's good for one year.
I put it in a "congrats" card and then I bought one of these bouncing targets that re-seal themselves so they can take hit after hit, into the thousands, from everything from .17 to 50 cal!

I put the target in a box and wrapped it up with THIS paper. Not even kidding. HeeHee

When I showed him the box, I kept saying how excited he was going to be and how much he was going to love this present...I clapped my hands and said "Open it!Open it!OPEN it!!"...
When he did, I said "Isn't that great?? A re-sealing target and a year at the range! How awesome is THAT?!"
He smiled and nodded and said it was pretty awesome.
I asked if it was a good retirement gift and he said "yes"...
Awww...what a good kid!
I let him off the hook...sort of! I said, "That's not your real present. This is..." and I pulled the cardboard Smith & Wesson box out of the hall closet. But then I said, "Don't be thinking there's an actual gun in there...I work in a store where I can just get the boxes, you know?"
He said, "Oh,yeah...I know. There's not a gun in there, I'm sure."
But then there was.
His eyes were kind of saucers at that point and he said (not even kidding) "Uh...is it REAL?"
Is. It. Real.
HA HA HA!!!
I told him it was indeed real, and that it would probably be best to get a case for it and cleaning stuff and some extra mags and ammo...but then I pulled out the case and accessories and such.

I said "Show me your WAR FACE!!"
It's kind of smiley for a War Face, but I'll take it!

Like a BOSS!
Love that kid.

If it hadn't been pouring buckets of rain, we'd have run to the range.
Well...that just gives him a reason to come back and spend another day making his crazy ol' auntie happy.
Congrats on 20 years, Marine.
You made your whole family proud.
Semper Fi.

Memorial Bracelet

Update to this entry;
It arrived today.

Green Army Men

National POW/MIA Recognition Day

I should have posted this yesterday, since the day of recognition is actually 9/21.
I got so wrapped up in searching for info last night...I just never even blogged it.

Let me explain.
I was looking through a list of names and dates of capture or "missing" (and/or assumed KIA).
Upon seeing a name that had a date I connected to, I found this site and ordered a memorial bracelet.

I felt it was only right to find out as much as I could. 

I found his duty stations, ribbons, badges, and ribbon bars.
I know he was from South Carolina and a few other things.  

His length of service was 3 years.
His unit was LCM-873, DET CUA VIET, NAVSUPACT DANANG, USNAVFORV. 

The Cua Viet provided fuel, ammo, supplies, and construction material to Marine and Army combat forces while being continuously under attack for most of the war by the NVA. 

On December 9th, 1968, rockets, mortars, and artillery hit the offshore location and this Seaman was assumed killed, but his body was never recovered.

He was 21 years old.

If you visit The Wall, please pay tribute to Panel 37W Line 076. 
SN Carroll William Minor

Sometimes, you should just know when to shut your pie hole.

Dick Winters

Remember Shifty Powers? Another member of Easy Company is joining him. RIP.

Here's the article:

Dick Winters, the former World War II commander whose war story was told in the book and miniseries “Band of Brothers,” has died.

Dick Winters led a quiet life on his Fredericksburg farm and in his Hershey home until the book and miniseries “Band of Brothers” threw him into the international spotlight.

Since then, the former World War II commander of Easy Company had received hundreds of requests for interviews and appearances all over the world.

He stood at the podium with President George W. Bush in Hershey during the presidential campaign in 2007. He accepted the “Four Freedoms” award from Tom Brokaw on behalf of the Army. He was on familiar terms with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, producers of the HBO mini-series, the most expensive television series ever produced.

Winters was always gracious about his new-found celebrity, but never really comfortable with it. He never claimed to be a hero and said that he had nothing to do with the national effort to get him the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor.

When people asked him if he was a hero, he liked to answer the way his World War II buddy, Mike Ranney, did.

“No,” Ranney said. “But I served in a company of heroes.” That became the tag line for the miniseries.

In an interview shortly before the miniseries debuted, Winters said the war wasn’t about individual heroics. The men were able to do what they did because they became closer than brothers when faced with overwhelming hardships.

They weren’t out to save the world. They hated the blood, carnage, exhaustion and filth of war. But they were horrified at the thought of letting down their buddies.

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Winters and his troops from Easy Company, 506th regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, parachuted behind enemy lines to take on a German artillery nest on Utah Beach. Winters made himself a promise then that if he lived through the war, all he wanted was peace and quiet.

His company fought through the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of a death camp at Dachau and to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden.

The war described in “Band of Brothers” is ugly, but the young men developed character under fire, Winters said. He was glad the miniseries showed war realistically, not either glorified or demonized as in so many movies.

He wanted people to understand that success in war depends not on heroics but on bonding, character, getting the job done and “hanging tough,” his lifelong motto. In combat, he wrote 50 years after the war, “your reward for a good job done is that you get the next tough mission.”

When the war ended, Winters kept his promise to himself. He married Ethel, bought a bucolic farm in Fredericksburg, raised two children and worked in the agricultural feed business. He didn’t talk about the war until the late historian Stephen Ambrose wanted to put Easy Company’s exploits on paper.

Following the miniseries, Winters turned down most requests for interviews because he said he didn’t want to appear like he was bragging.

But he did feel the story of Easy Company was an important one, especially for young people. He was more likely to accept invitations by local school groups and spent time with students at Cedar Crest High School, among others. A talk he gave at Palmyra Middle School drew hundreds of spectators.

People who knew Winters during and after the war said he is exactly what he appears to be. He could lead without ever raising his voice or swearing. His friend Bob Hoffman, a Lebanon architect, said Winters’ eyes could “burn a hole right through you.”

The men who served under him and people who only met him later in life call him a hero, no matter what he says.

According to the book, one wounded member of Easy Company wrote Winters from a hospital bed in 1945, “I would follow you into hell.”

He received a standing ovation from 500 veterans when he spoke at the dedication of the Army’s Military History Institute in Middlesex Township in September.

When President Bush was in Hershey in April, he called Winters “a fine example ... for those brave souls who now wear our nation’s uniform.”

Ambrose, the author of “Band of Brothers,” said in a 2001 BBC interview that he hopes young people say. “I want to be like Dick Winters.”

“Not necessarily as soldiers, but as that kind of leader, that kind of man, with basic honesty and virtue and an understanding of the difference between right and wrong,” Ambrose said.

A Compliment and a Pay it Forward!

The gentleman who owned the GSG 1911 I borrowed and returned via a mutual friend came to see me at work today. He said he was seeking me out for two reasons...
One was that he wanted to hear how his gun shot and was relying on my AAR to cut to the chase and clue him on some details that he might want to know before he gets to take it for a spin himself. (He landed in the hospital and won't be going to any range for a bit).
The other reason was to tell me how impressed he was at the care I took with his gun.
He told me that he's very picky about the way his guns are cleaned and doesn't loan them out as a rule...but when he occasionally does, he cleans them whether anybody else did or not. But not this time. He actually shook my hand when telling me that I did an excellent job in his book and he sure wasn't expecting it. He extended an open invitation to shoot any of his guns at any time because he can tell that I really take care of the things in my charge.
That felt good.
But...
Totally wasn't all on me. I owed the pay-it-forward compliment to Jay, who taught me what I know so far about how to care for my stuff. His things are well loved and cared for and it shows. I only hope that years from now, someone will think the same about the things I have loved and cared for...thanks to being taught the right way from the start.

Veteran's Day 2010

Semper Fi, Devil Dogs.

Here’s to the Marines I know:

My big brother: Jef
My nephews: Rusty, Darrin, & DJ
Friends; Jay, Jon, Paul, Mike

I miss him

Status

Here's what I posted as the status on my FaceBook page:
"Drove a hundred and fifty miles with a $400 shopping list...to discover I left my wallet at home. No Driver's license, no cash, no credit card, no I.D. And there I was with a .45 on my hip. *Note*: real friends will bail you out of a jam."

Yep, that's about the size of it. And Jay floated my day (shopping list and all) so I could get what I came for and have a good time.
There's a money order to reimburse in the mail right now.
Other than that...here's my cool stash:



Here’s the wrap:
Ammo boxes $6
Lyman scales $50
Tumbler $60
Powder/primers/ $65
Bullets at 1000 ct $138
2 mags for the Kimber $31
Molon Labe shirt from Hoosier Gun Club $5
Having a friend that gets you out of a bind…priceless.

No Words

Found this in the signature line of a net-friend's profile.
Thank you, Vincent.

My Uncle

When I was a kid, my uncle would sometimes bring my aunt and my three cousins (all girls) to visit us in Florida. Every summer, we'd drive back to Indiana and his house is where we'd stay.
I remember all sorts of things about those times. Like there was this giant hornets nest that he'd found and it was preserved and hanging in the garage. Sometimes he'd pitch pennies with us kids for fun if we were bored, or just do stuff outside with us.
He always included me with his girls.

When my parents split up, my mom (his sister) came back to Indiana and brought me. We had nowhere to go, and even though his oldest daughter had moved back home with three children (and his youngest was still at home - she's a couple years younger than me), he took us in. It was cramped, but a house full of love.
That house was on the channel of Lake Wawasee. He had a Ski Nautique boat that he let us kids take out on the lake whenever we wanted, and when my cousin and I wanted to go into Syracuse, he handed me the keys to his car. Even my dad never did that.
When my mom and I found an apartment, he helped us move...and then came over all the time to check on us and see if there was anything we needed. Some of those visits were my favorites because they'd often reminisce about growing up. I loved listening to stories about them living near a reservation and going to school with Indian kids, or his funny stories about his travels in the Air Force.

My mom and I moved back to Florida when I was 17, but I knew I wanted to come back. I didn't wait until I turned 18 and she knew wherever I landed, my uncle would keep an eye on me. Since my mom and dad were so far away, he sort of took me under his wing. I was always included in his "family" plans...right down to Father's day.
Those Christmases where I go to the lodge aren't extended family reunions; they consist of him and my aunt, their daughters (and their families)...and me. He never thought twice about me not being a part of things.
He really made me feel like I wasn't alone up here. I think that's why it wasn't so scary...at least in part.

My parents live so far away, when Minime was little in school, my uncle and aunt would show up for grandparents' day for her so she wouldn't be the only one without a visitor. They came to all of her basketball/soccer/volleyball games and most of her band concerts. They took her home for some weekends and always had fun times planned for her. She's never gone to stay at my mom's or dad's before, so this is really the only experience she has like other kids get. I'm so grateful they gave that to her. Along with many rounds of her and my uncle tree-golfing or building traps in his back yard for any stray kangaroos that happen to be wandering through the city.

Being an advocate of the Second Amendment, my uncle always carried everywhere...usually a .45 in the car and a Beretta .32 on his person. We never did get to go shooting together and that is my only regret.

My mom called me this morning to tell me he died in the middle of the night last night due to an aggressive cancer he was fighting.
I know he's not suffering any more, and my grief is only a selfish one...because I will miss him.
These are a couple of my favorite pics of him;

He and my aunt would have been married 50 years in just a few weeks. They are the most loving couple I've ever met...


This is me with him at a college graduation party for one of his granddaughters...


This was Thanksgiving...my mom flew up for a week to spend time with him. She kept telling him she thought he looked like Sean Connery.

This was at Christmas...he always played "Santa" and had a gift for EVERYone. Even now that his grandkids bring "dates" along, there's always a gift with the date's name on it.

Awesome man. He will leave a void on this earth that no other person can fill.
And heaven is now better for having him there.

Hero Type

Don't know how this got past me a couple weeks ago...

Veteran's Day

Find a Vet and thank them.

Lt. Col Ralph Peters

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!!

William Kostric - Patriot

On the heels of this story comes the Hardball interview and the follow up YouTube interview. This guy is obviously not a public speaker, but he made his points well and held his own with the likes of Chris Matthews. Kudos to him for being a Patriot.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

"I'm not advocating violence, I'm advocating an informed society, an armed society, a polite society." ~Kostric

Shifty Powers

I posted here about Band of Brothers, the awesome true account of WWII.
I found out this morning that one of the men that the story unfolded around has passed away. Here's a write up from his town's local paper:

Veteran a part of 'Band of Brothers'
Darrell "Shifty" Powers, who died at age 86, was a hero on the battlefield and to his family.
By Neil Harvey
981-3349

In a 2001 interview with The Roanoke Times, Darrell "Shifty" Powers talked about some of his experiences during World War II.

Powers, a United States Army paratrooper and sharpshooter, belonged to Easy Company, part of the legendary 101st Airborne Division. He recalled a bitterly cold day in the Ardennes when he was able to draw down on a German sniper, sighting his target by the misty cloud of the man's breath. He killed him with one shot.

"Right there," he said, touching his forehead. "Between the eyes."

But Powers, of Dickenson County, who died Wednesday of natural causes at age 86, was also reflective about such matters.

In the second-to-last episode of "Band of Brothers," an HBO miniseries that documented Easy Company's wartime exploits, Powers spoke on camera about the soldiers he fought and also hinted at the intrinsic tragedy of combat.

"We might have had a lot in common. He might've liked to fish, you know, he might've liked to hunt," Powers said. "Of course, they were doing what they were supposed to do, and I was doing what I was supposed to do.

"But under different circumstances, we might have been good friends."

Powers, who got the nickname "Shifty" playing basketball as a youngster, served three years in the Army during World War II and later worked as a machinist for Clinchfield Coal Corp. He found renewed notoriety when his military experiences were depicted on film and in the Stephen Ambrose book of the same name.

"He actually hadn't talked about it, his war years, until the book came out," said his daughter-in-law, Sandy Powers. "He gets fan mail from all over the world, and calls."

"For me and my kids, it's just amazing that our regular, sweet uncle was such a hero," said his niece, Cheryl Gilliland of Roanoke. "It sure changed his life in later years. He went places and met people he never would have otherwise."

Darrell Powers met a German soldier in 2005 who had fought against him at the notoriously brutal siege of Bastogne during the winter of 1944.

According to his son, Wayne, he had in September been scheduled to travel to Iraq to meet with U.S. soldiers, but health problems prevented it.

"He was so disappointed. He wanted to meet with the soldiers so badly," Sandy Powers said.

One of his closest friends, Earl McClung, of Colorado, in 2001 called Darrell Powers "a heck of a good soldier and a heck of a good shot."

"And he was there every time I looked up," he added.

"Our family had four boys and one girl, and I'm the only one left," said Powers' sister, Gaynell Sykes of Roanoke, on Wednesday. "He was a great brother. I know he was great at a lot of other things, too -- great father, great son, great husband."

Darrell "Shifty" Powers - March 13, 1923–June 17, 2009

Bloggable Sunday Wolf Spider

Just a little while ago, the husband unit and I were standing by my computer in our room and talking about whatever, when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I automatically turned to see what it was and holy crap I almost peed my pants. There was a wolf spider on MY side of the bed taking a Sunday stroll.
I jumped back, grabbed his arm and spun him around while pointing frantically at it and told him that it better not live to make it as far as my pillow!
Now if I'd been alone, I'd have grabbed something to knock it off the bed with, and something to smash it flat with, and then hope to God it didn't scurry under the bed while I put that plan of attack into action.
However, being the manly man that he is, he lunged into action with bare hands.
I'm telling you it was like watching the Spartans springing into action in 300.
He corralled that critter and without hesitation carried it away (in his bare hands, people!!) from my delicate sensitivities.
That's love, baby.

The Shirt

Monday, MiniMe wore her shirt to school and figured she'd take a lot of heat for the anti-obamaluv sentiment. As some of you know, on election day we started off as a long standing red state and woke up the next day in a blue one. That's a story in itself, but I digress...
Back to the homemade shirt.
A couple of interesting things to note;
She wished the words had come out not so slanty, but she didn't realize how "downhill" they ran until she actually put it on. Undaunted, she trudged ahead with her plans...finding out that some people don't really know jack about the things they support.

Several thought the shirt was endorsing Obama and a few others had no idea what the stimulus package was...only that it was "something good to help people get money."
Hmmm...
So my kid explains in the most simplistic short cut way she could find and tossed in a few enlightening facts for good measure. Like, how their generation is the one that will have to pay it off, and likely their kids and grandkids, too. This was met with a few blank stares and a few raised eyebrows as well. Those surprised faces mean one thing; there's still some hope for the future, people. Maybe some of the next generation will turn things around and instigate change. That's what I'm talkin' about, people. Hope & Change.

As far as the back of the shirt, don't even get me started on the whole "nobody's ever heard of the "Gold Standard" business.

Here are some buzz words that I think never show up in American high schools in any government or economics class:
"Gold Standard"
"Federal Reserve"
"Nixon"
"Bretton Woods Agreement"
"Fiat"
"Hyper inflation"

How can they expect kids to learn what brought us to this state? I realize there's no way to stop the snowball from rolling down the mountain and picking up speed while growing, but at the very least if you teach them how dangerous and destructive it can be when it destroys whatever is in its path at the bottom, you give them a tool to understand how to keep another from starting.
I've read comments all over the net about how screwed we are and how bad it's getting. I've got news for you; you won't see the worst. Your kids will, and so will your grandchildren.
Another side note about the shirt's message; You have to educate your own kids about issues. Don't leave it up to an entity funded by the government. That's like asking Chrysler, Ford, and GM to educate kids about what a "bail out" is. Conflict of interest much?