God Bless America....
 

A few minutes ago, I received two outstanding photographs and e-mail from a fellow Parker Collector and friend - Charlie Herzog Sr. The pictures are outstanding alone, but, for those who know Charlie - he had a few words to add.. His words captured how I feel about this incredible & wonderful country we call America, and as well, wanted to share them with the rest of you.

"...I was standing outside a bit ago and thought it prudent to photograph our American Flag, and then forward it to you gents for whatever it may do for you today..

I caption this photo as "God Bless America" .. Tonight before you go to be bed, please give a moment to this scene, and give thanks for all we have.."

Yep - Parkers, this amazing country and our friends we have met through this hobby - are what people and Parkers are all about..

And, Charlie's pictures which stirred me to write this post are even more stunning...

Thank you Charlie. Thank you to all veterans, past, present and future. And as well, thanks to all our friends.

BEAUTIFUL!.......George

Gorgeous John. Nice pic Charlie and thanks for posting..... it would be snow covered up here today!

Great pictures! Thanks for posting.

Thanks John and thank you Charlie.

Pride and Patriotism, love of God and country are everywhere in this great land but a lot clearer to see in the Heartland.

Thanks again.

I do not understand......
 

Last evening - when I posted this - I was thrilled at the idea and ideal of what the USA was - and could be... That was last evening... Throughout the day - I am so disappointed at what "we" have become. To be honest, in many ways - I feel safer in Haiti than I do in my own home - and that just is not right...

Right up the street - about 500 yards from my house - there is a bus with an alleged bomb and one crack-pot who Federal police, TSA, State Police - etc. - are trying to "negotiate with"..??

http://www.wmur.com/news/23474961/detail.html

Why the hell don't they just nuke that damned bus? When did "we" in the USA start "negotiating" with freaks? I've been listening to the sirens all day, and watching "news copters" hover low to get the "story". This is insane... I can look out my windows and still see the "effort" to placate this moron.....

Sorry for the rant - but, this is simply silly...

Shoot the SOB and blow up the bus...

And I can say that as it's right up the street as I write this...

In my view, we are becoming a nation being held hostage by idiots.

Any centerfire rifle $700-1000, almost any bullet (I prefer NBT) $.50-1.00 put that bullet in the head of a crackpot/terrorist....priceless.

We waste time, energy and money on these morons.

Thanks for the great pictures and thanks to Charlie for sending them. to bad your day was flawed by the idiot and the rest of the idiots that made him "newsworthy". Evolution...isn't it wonderful??

John,It seems we are in the same boat this week.I too woke up on Tuesday morning with three choppers hovering within view of my front window. The terrorist that tried to blow up Times Square this past weekend lived about a mile from my house! And he stole the license plate from a body shop here in my town!Now we will feed and house this SOB at a cost of millions of dollars when one bullit would solve the problem. I agree with Andersons thoughts on the matter completely(as much as I hate to admit it...)

Sorry this is happening to you buddy....

Perhaps it's time to call this guy for some 'help'...?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/interna...JNal3HgWlmEgRL

My thanks Rich, Richard and Dave,

I also sent my post out to a small e-mail list as well, and one of the folks were: "...but if the bus explodes, it will probably blow out your windows?.."

They were serious....

And so was my reply: "...I'd rather have my house blown up than give one asshole his "day" holding my house or me, or my neighbors or my country - held hostage..."

I have no idea where these people come from, but this is silly....

Again, shoot the SOB. And if they blow up the bus with him on it - along with my house, if need be - I'm hoping their body parts help fertilize the lawn and Jen's garden.

Again - sorry for the rant - but - frankly - this is just silly....

I don't blame you one bit John. If that happened in my neighborhood I'd be sneaking through the woods with my scoped .30-06 looking for a clear shot zone....which would likely be tough as all my neighbors would be out doing the same...

Besides, it's summer! who needs windows??

HE JUST WALKED OFF THE BUS - a minute or so ago!!!! Amazing... Now we'll spend thousands of dollars housing him, feeding him, prosecuting him, having him "analyzed", sending him to "mental care", being certain his "rights were not violated"...??

Amazing....

Damn John! you missed your chance! Maybe you can apply to be his therapist, which he'll most certainly need seeing as how his civil rights were likely violated at some point during this stressful situation... poor guy!

HA!! Thanks Richard!!! Actually, my Dad called me who is a Navy VET, and told me to "not get involved", as he knows I have a really short temper for stuff like this.. I do - indeed - love this country.

Anyway, my thanks....!

John

Just like the idiot that wanted to blow up a plane and himself on X-Mass in Detroit. Now millions of dollars we don't have will be wasted on this piece of human debris:cuss:

If he wanted to blow himself up then I say handcuff him tape a grenade to his ass, pull the pin and everybody wins. Put that on CNN!

Want to create jobs in the good ole USA?...How about a Federal excutioner? Convict on Tuesday..wack em on Wednesday. Where would I apply???

And hide your pride in the Red, White, and Blue on Cinco de Mayo
http://news.yahoo.com/video/sanfranc...-home-19586193
http://news.yahoo.com/video/sanfranc...video=19605446

John just didn't seem quite aggitated enough :)

Drew,I say that today...Needless to say if my son was one of the one's sent home there would be hell to pay.

Hi Drew!

My thanks for those links..! I dun'no..? As you know, I do quite a bit for thousands of kids, orphans and families outside the USA.?? Those kids live elsewhere. They look up to the United States as being something special. Something "different"? Better than what they have in their home - in Haiti. Being from the USA meant something "special"? Something to aspire to - something that those kids - my kids - wanted to be a part of?

For that, I wtched the links to the videos...

I respect Mexico. I applaud those from Mexico in the USA who are living the "American Dream". Without America, and all it is - there would be no "dream". But - I think I just said it..?

"We" - live in the USA. It is the "American Dream" we provide - even during Cinco de Mayo.

A "No American flag t-shirt on Cinco de Mayo" while celebrated in the USA forgets whose borders we are celebrating it within? I will continue to support and respect any Mexican Nationals right to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the USA for as long as they respect any right to have them acknowledge they are celebrating that holiday in our country, which is not Mexico.

Rather, that country is the United States of America.

Today, the United States of America is not Mexico.

BTW - on the 4th of July - what would happen if Mexico City pulled down and banned the showing of all their flags and raised "Old Glory"?

Back to hosting this site and withdrawing from this thread..

:cheers:

John

All wisdom comes from God. Frankly so many in our country don't believe so they don't have any common sense or sense of any kind. Youall rant and rave all you want. ch You now I think i'll just shut up you fellows said it right proper!


ONE OF THESE DAYS ALICE POW RIGHT IS THE KISSER!

JOHN, RICH, RICHARD & DAVE, RIGHT ON: WHERE IS CARLOS HATHCOCK AND HIS SPOTTER WHEN WE NEED THEM? "GONE TO FLOWERS EVERYONE". I had lunch today with a close friend of Peter Mason. He could do the job. In my humble opinion these lunatics get too much press. Why would the driver even let someone on his bus with no shirt & fatigues? I'm sure that it was all over the local news in Portsmouth. You never hear what the good guys and gals are doing every day to better this country, you only hear about the nuts. Those wonderful desk pilots are now taking Chelsey Sullenberg to task for all the things that they said he did wrong when landing his plane in the Hudson. The cops in Portsmouth must have done a great job as well in getting all the innocent civilians off the bus without a scratch, but you'll never hear about that on the news.

Just My Humble Ranting & Raving.....George

It's because all of the above have become a public industry, big business that makes some people wealthy at taxpayer expense.

USMC Snipers "Providing Assistance from a Distance"
 

Applying some 'Nam mantra here re: terrorists- "Kill 'em all, and let: God, Allah, Bhudda, Shinto, Karma- whatever- sort 'em out in the next life"- We have become too soft on terror and evildoers-

A close friend and neighbor owns 120 good acres of good deer hunting land- next to State land- his regular "No Trespassing" signs were sometimes ignored- then we posted some of these- quote: "While you are reading this message, our snipers have you set in their crosshairs- feelin' lucky today?"" End of trespassing situation.

:duck:

The whole thing was a stupid misunderstanding.

The guy wouldn't get off the bus because he couldn't understand English and was afraid of all the police activity - didn't even know he was the cause of it.

It took the better part of nine hours to get an interpereter.

I think it will be a huge embarrassment to the FBI, State Police, swat teams etc. and would have been a huge mistake to have just shot the guy....

It wouldn't have taken nine hours to get an interpreter where I live.

You have a lot of people fluent in Swahili or Yoruba around there? :rotf:

A friend of mine had their 16 year old bi polar son who was in depression cycle and was distraught shot down by sheriff's deputies from 20ft away as he walked toward them with a 2" paring knife, crying, and telling them to just shoot him. Two of them emptied their guns into him, the killing was in accordance with dept policies because he approached them with a "deadly weapon".

Let cooler heads prevail. Put a gun in the hands of some people and they want to use it.

How truly tragic...

[QUOTE=Francis Morin;17977]Applying some 'Nam mantra here re: terrorists- "Kill 'em all, and let: God, Allah, Bhudda, Shinto, Karma- whatever- sort 'em out in the next life"-


Spoken by Lt Calley?

Francis, I am aware that some people felt that way but I know that the command authorities and the good officers there tried very diligently to prevent that kind of thought from taking hold. That's not the way we did things and not the way the professional military conducted itself and I would not want post Vietnam era readers thinking that was they way good officers and soldiers conducted themselves.

Let's just keep in mind that the guys on the ground and the guys in the sky fought two entirely different "wars". I'm not defending or persecuting anyone but simply making note of the "emotional" and "psychological" differences.

Point well taken Colonel- But- catch-22??
 

Lt. Calley and that tragic incident were again proof that the unseen enemy, both on the ground, and in the air killed many Americans, in WW11, Korea, Vietnam, and both Desert Storm and current "Sandbox" activities-

I quoted the common mantra of special ops. back in the 'Nam era, but that fact doesn't mean I believe in it. A cop's worst nightname, even a "Dirty Harry .44 mag type" is to apprehend a 11 year old with a weapon in hand coming out of a 7-11 at dead dark night in the rain- and he has the split second decision to make- my life on the line? Or does this kid have a water pistol made to look like a Uzi- with the red "Safety?" front muzzle cap removed.-

My heart goes out to the family of the bi-polar lad who lost his life at the bullet of a LE member- a judgement call I would NOT ever want to have to make- a Clear and Present danger entering my home and a threat to me and my loved ones- will die in the doorway- aka- "The gateway to Hades"- but profiling a stranger who doesn't speak the language and possibly shooting him because he might be a terrorist- tough call.

I would NOT wish to denigrate your USAF missions in "Shock and Awe" ops- the SAM and good old gal Hanoi Jane Fonda and her NVA rocketmen non-withstanding- but LRRPs in class three jungle canopies- the dangers aren't as visible as possibly what you and your crews saw from the skies and your canopied cockpits.

I knew the late Gunny Hathcock- aka "White Feather" as did many Marines and troopies in 1 Corps sector- a legend indeed- Most of his recorded 93 kills were assigned targets- M/Sgt. Chuck McWhinney had a tabulated kill record of over 300- this in the era of Officers(?) and leaders like Lt. Col. Ollie North- who saw high body counts as a fast track up the ranks- and got it too. Vietnam was a war we weren't allowed to win- and a lot of the doubt and suspicion of our Leaders today comes from the 1960's and that turbulent era.

You can castigate Lt. Calley if you wish, I don't! I believe he runs a family jewelry store in GA nowadays- and I'm glad Nixon pardoned him- better to Court Martial the OIC of the Ohio National Guard detail that went to Kent State in Ohio 40 years ago --issuing them Garands with live rounds- against unarmed college kids- no training in crowd control- almost like the British trooper who fired his Brown Bess into the Boston crowd and started the Boston Massacre that lead to our Revolution against King George-

One flash of temper, loss of control and training discipline- shots fired that can never be taken back-

Francis,
Another N/T sign I like and could prove effective "Notice: All Trespassers will be Shot, Survivors will be Hanged".:bigbye:

An interpreter wouldn't have been needed if he could speak English. You live here learn the language!

Guys, what ever happened to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, I to will say no more!