Sunday, July 31, 2016
"don't wish your life away"
Three thoughts/memories about "Time", and the passing of said time:
1. When I was a 17 y.o. busboy at Gasperetti's Roma Cafe in downtown Seattle, an old waitress heard me say "I can't wait until I'm (something) age..." She told me "Don't wish your life away."
2. When I was in Vietnam, even though I was in a relatively secure "Headquarters" area, I was not a happy person/soldier. I remember thinking to myself "someday, this is going to be in the past!!" Pfffffft! Here it is, 47 years later!!
3. I had a dream/memory last night. Another memory from Vietnam. At one point during my time there, my routine of going to "work" (I think we were doing our different jobs 6 1/2 days a week? Half days off on Sundays? Maybe my fellow 258th Vets can remember)...my daily routine of work, KP (Kitchen Police :)) and Guard Duty got all blended together into a kind of blur. The extra stuff was reduced with promotions of sorts later, but was replaced by alcohol. Not much. I've always been a weenie as my brothers will point out, I never drank a lot, and I didn't join the local "air mobile" unit (guys who went out and got stoned every night). BUT, I do remember the end of my daily routine those last several months. I remember returning to our hooch in a bit of a stupor many nights, from what we called the NCO "Club" (Non-Commissioned Officer), where the shots were 10 cents, and when they poured the drink, they were tipping the shot glass at the same time as they were pouring from the bottle. I digress.
My main point is, I remember telling myself one day "wait a minute! "Time" is moving too fast! Slow down."
And I remembered that old waitress telling me "Don't wish your life away."
1. When I was a 17 y.o. busboy at Gasperetti's Roma Cafe in downtown Seattle, an old waitress heard me say "I can't wait until I'm (something) age..." She told me "Don't wish your life away."
2. When I was in Vietnam, even though I was in a relatively secure "Headquarters" area, I was not a happy person/soldier. I remember thinking to myself "someday, this is going to be in the past!!" Pfffffft! Here it is, 47 years later!!
3. I had a dream/memory last night. Another memory from Vietnam. At one point during my time there, my routine of going to "work" (I think we were doing our different jobs 6 1/2 days a week? Half days off on Sundays? Maybe my fellow 258th Vets can remember)...my daily routine of work, KP (Kitchen Police :)) and Guard Duty got all blended together into a kind of blur. The extra stuff was reduced with promotions of sorts later, but was replaced by alcohol. Not much. I've always been a weenie as my brothers will point out, I never drank a lot, and I didn't join the local "air mobile" unit (guys who went out and got stoned every night). BUT, I do remember the end of my daily routine those last several months. I remember returning to our hooch in a bit of a stupor many nights, from what we called the NCO "Club" (Non-Commissioned Officer), where the shots were 10 cents, and when they poured the drink, they were tipping the shot glass at the same time as they were pouring from the bottle. I digress.
My main point is, I remember telling myself one day "wait a minute! "Time" is moving too fast! Slow down."
And I remembered that old waitress telling me "Don't wish your life away."
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Vietnam -
I was thinking this morning about some discussions I had with David Bowe, a fellow Vietnam Vet, about certain statistics from the war. I vaguely remember him saying 7? out of 9 GIs were "support" personnel like us. I found a few interesting things online just now. I'm copying several paragraphs from Michael Kelley's "Myths & Misconceptions: Vietnam War Folklore" here, and the second link has some interested stats as well.
Fact #1?
Most Vietnam Veterans Saw Combat:
Actually, the opposite is true; only a relatively small percentage were ever involved in combat. In fact, it is likely less than 30% of all who served there ever saw combat of any sort during their war.
Although the ratio of combat to support troops varied over time, as a general rule there where approximately 10 troops supporting every soldier carrying a rifle in the field. At the height of the war in 1969, there were roughly 540,000 troops in Vietnam. Of that total, only perhaps 60,000 were-rifle carrying, front-line soldiers. At any given point, perhaps less than 40,000 of that 60,000 were actually in the field, at risk and seeking contact with the enemy. Minor wounds, disease, R&R, leaves, training, administrative needs, rear assignments and legal proceedings kept perhaps 25% of an infantry company out of the line on a continual basis. During much of the war, Long Binh, regarded as the largest American facility, was staffed by over 100,000 US troops (that is roughly 20% of the entire US troop commitment at the height of our involvement!), of whom only a very small fraction (5-10%?) were assigned to a direct combat role. It was basically a self-contained city distinguished only from its stated-side counterparts by the lack of an underground sewage system and the miles of barbed wire that encircled it. And Long Binh was but one of hundreds of other permanent US military installations in Vietnam, several of which were similar in size and amenities. Tan Son Nhut Air Base, was the busiest airport in the world for much of the war; busier than either Chicago's O'Hare or New York's JFK. Other major bases of substantial size included Phu Bai, Bien Hoa, Pleiku, An Khe, Quang Tri, Cu Chi and the ports of Saigon, Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay, to name a few.
At page 259 of Son Thang, An American War Crime, author Gary Solis points out that: "More than 448,000 marines served in Vietnam, although far fewer actually saw combat. One study asserts that no more than 71 percent of Vietnam veterans saw any combat at all. Combat itself may be defined on a sliding scale." Though life in the infantry was often intensely demanding both physically and emotionally, actual combat, fighting with the enemy, was actually relatively rare. In fact, on average most infantry companies made contact with the enemy no more than two or three times per month. For many, particularly those working in mountainous terrain, contact was even less frequent. Fatigue, boredom, physical discomfort and loneliness were the most common characteristics of infantry life; terror and death were only its occasional companions.
Fact #2?
Living Conditions For the Average US Soldier Were Very Difficult & Uncomfortable:
Again, though conditions varied over time and by occupation, the opposite was typically the case for the majority of those who served in-country. As a general statement, it is fair to say that between 1965 and 1967, living conditions were quite primitive. In those early years of US involvement, base sites were being chosen and developed by engineers, so tent living and Spartan lifestyles were
the rule. Once most major facilities were completed, the focus shifted to providing leisure time activities and comfort enhancements for the soldier.
For the most part, the 75-80% who never saw combat of any sort led lives comparable to, if not better than, stateside duty. In fact, it is little understood that there were a significant number of perks associated with combat zone duty not available to assignments elsewhere in the world.
A high percentage of Vietnam vets (perhaps 40%?) volunteered or even re-enlisted to remain in or return to the combat zone. Some did it over and over. Two, three and four tours were not uncommon and the author personally knows an Air Force NCO who spent six years in-country. Even a significant percentage of the infantry volunteered to extend their tours because they preferred combat life to stateside duty, though there were other reasons for extending as well, getting an "early-out" being one of them, and fear of returning being another. One added bonus was the additional $65 per month Combat Pay to which any enlisted person serving in the combat zone was entitled. Even though the majority were at much less risk than true combat soldiers, they received the same combat pay. As a general rule, advancement in rank was also much faster and much easier than in non-combat zone duty. Rules and regulations were relaxed in the combat zone. "Boot polishing," boot licking, physical training, marching drill and other military formalities were rarely enforced or as onerous as they were elsewhere. Of no small importance is the fact virtually everyone was armed and dangerous. As a result, otherwise contentious or obnoxious officers and NCOs were generally much better behaved in the combat zone. Those who risked men's lives needlessly or abused privilege of rank often found themselves at the wrong end of an M-16 or Fragmentation grenade. In fact, some 800 such "fraggings" were reported during the war, though it is likely the number was much higher. In some rare cases, rewards were offered informally for the dispatch of an officer or NCO perceived as particularly despicable. The highest rumored offering was for the life of General Melvin Zais, the commanding general of the Army's 101st Airborne Division responsible for ordering the costly and very controversial attack of Hamburger Hill in 1969. Recreational facilities were often elaborate and prolific: snack bars; steak houses, basketball courts; swimming pools, gyms; theaters, Clubs; R&R beach center (such as China Beach, Eagle Beach; Red Beach, Vung Tau, among others); BX facilities with heavily discounted items; PACEX mail-order services for all sorts of goods at heavy discount; access to extremely low cost alcoholic beverages at clubs and BXs; showers; walk-in medical and dental facilities; comfortable and sometimes air-conditioned quarters; ubiquitous U.S.O. entertainment (mostly Korean, Australian and US lounge lizard acts) and etc., etc. & etc. For those so inclined, access to the world of sexual pleasure was effortless, cheap and far removed from the normal constraints of family and neighborly influence. At the height of the war for example, over 56,000 registered prostitutes were working alongside US troops in Saigon alone. That is 56,000 not including the amateurs! For those so inclined, access to high quality, extremely low cost drugs (including alcohol) was abundant and of low risk. Dealing could be a very lucrative avocation; and even when discovered, punishments were generally lighter than elsewhere. Finally, for those possessed by even more relaxed moral standards, a strong bug of free enterprise and access to US supply depots, black market trading was a very busy and rewarding sideline. Some US personnel even sold stolen weapons on the black market, weapons that eventually ended-up in the hands of the enemy.
http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/essays_mikekelley_myths.html
http://www.uswings.com/about-us-wings/vietnam-war-facts/
I was thinking this morning about some discussions I had with David Bowe, a fellow Vietnam Vet, about certain statistics from the war. I vaguely remember him saying 7? out of 9 GIs were "support" personnel like us. I found a few interesting things online just now. I'm copying several paragraphs from Michael Kelley's "Myths & Misconceptions: Vietnam War Folklore" here, and the second link has some interested stats as well.
Fact #1?
Most Vietnam Veterans Saw Combat:
Actually, the opposite is true; only a relatively small percentage were ever involved in combat. In fact, it is likely less than 30% of all who served there ever saw combat of any sort during their war.
Although the ratio of combat to support troops varied over time, as a general rule there where approximately 10 troops supporting every soldier carrying a rifle in the field. At the height of the war in 1969, there were roughly 540,000 troops in Vietnam. Of that total, only perhaps 60,000 were-rifle carrying, front-line soldiers. At any given point, perhaps less than 40,000 of that 60,000 were actually in the field, at risk and seeking contact with the enemy. Minor wounds, disease, R&R, leaves, training, administrative needs, rear assignments and legal proceedings kept perhaps 25% of an infantry company out of the line on a continual basis. During much of the war, Long Binh, regarded as the largest American facility, was staffed by over 100,000 US troops (that is roughly 20% of the entire US troop commitment at the height of our involvement!), of whom only a very small fraction (5-10%?) were assigned to a direct combat role. It was basically a self-contained city distinguished only from its stated-side counterparts by the lack of an underground sewage system and the miles of barbed wire that encircled it. And Long Binh was but one of hundreds of other permanent US military installations in Vietnam, several of which were similar in size and amenities. Tan Son Nhut Air Base, was the busiest airport in the world for much of the war; busier than either Chicago's O'Hare or New York's JFK. Other major bases of substantial size included Phu Bai, Bien Hoa, Pleiku, An Khe, Quang Tri, Cu Chi and the ports of Saigon, Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay, to name a few.
At page 259 of Son Thang, An American War Crime, author Gary Solis points out that: "More than 448,000 marines served in Vietnam, although far fewer actually saw combat. One study asserts that no more than 71 percent of Vietnam veterans saw any combat at all. Combat itself may be defined on a sliding scale." Though life in the infantry was often intensely demanding both physically and emotionally, actual combat, fighting with the enemy, was actually relatively rare. In fact, on average most infantry companies made contact with the enemy no more than two or three times per month. For many, particularly those working in mountainous terrain, contact was even less frequent. Fatigue, boredom, physical discomfort and loneliness were the most common characteristics of infantry life; terror and death were only its occasional companions.
Fact #2?
Living Conditions For the Average US Soldier Were Very Difficult & Uncomfortable:
Again, though conditions varied over time and by occupation, the opposite was typically the case for the majority of those who served in-country. As a general statement, it is fair to say that between 1965 and 1967, living conditions were quite primitive. In those early years of US involvement, base sites were being chosen and developed by engineers, so tent living and Spartan lifestyles were
the rule. Once most major facilities were completed, the focus shifted to providing leisure time activities and comfort enhancements for the soldier.
For the most part, the 75-80% who never saw combat of any sort led lives comparable to, if not better than, stateside duty. In fact, it is little understood that there were a significant number of perks associated with combat zone duty not available to assignments elsewhere in the world.
A high percentage of Vietnam vets (perhaps 40%?) volunteered or even re-enlisted to remain in or return to the combat zone. Some did it over and over. Two, three and four tours were not uncommon and the author personally knows an Air Force NCO who spent six years in-country. Even a significant percentage of the infantry volunteered to extend their tours because they preferred combat life to stateside duty, though there were other reasons for extending as well, getting an "early-out" being one of them, and fear of returning being another. One added bonus was the additional $65 per month Combat Pay to which any enlisted person serving in the combat zone was entitled. Even though the majority were at much less risk than true combat soldiers, they received the same combat pay. As a general rule, advancement in rank was also much faster and much easier than in non-combat zone duty. Rules and regulations were relaxed in the combat zone. "Boot polishing," boot licking, physical training, marching drill and other military formalities were rarely enforced or as onerous as they were elsewhere. Of no small importance is the fact virtually everyone was armed and dangerous. As a result, otherwise contentious or obnoxious officers and NCOs were generally much better behaved in the combat zone. Those who risked men's lives needlessly or abused privilege of rank often found themselves at the wrong end of an M-16 or Fragmentation grenade. In fact, some 800 such "fraggings" were reported during the war, though it is likely the number was much higher. In some rare cases, rewards were offered informally for the dispatch of an officer or NCO perceived as particularly despicable. The highest rumored offering was for the life of General Melvin Zais, the commanding general of the Army's 101st Airborne Division responsible for ordering the costly and very controversial attack of Hamburger Hill in 1969. Recreational facilities were often elaborate and prolific: snack bars; steak houses, basketball courts; swimming pools, gyms; theaters, Clubs; R&R beach center (such as China Beach, Eagle Beach; Red Beach, Vung Tau, among others); BX facilities with heavily discounted items; PACEX mail-order services for all sorts of goods at heavy discount; access to extremely low cost alcoholic beverages at clubs and BXs; showers; walk-in medical and dental facilities; comfortable and sometimes air-conditioned quarters; ubiquitous U.S.O. entertainment (mostly Korean, Australian and US lounge lizard acts) and etc., etc. & etc. For those so inclined, access to the world of sexual pleasure was effortless, cheap and far removed from the normal constraints of family and neighborly influence. At the height of the war for example, over 56,000 registered prostitutes were working alongside US troops in Saigon alone. That is 56,000 not including the amateurs! For those so inclined, access to high quality, extremely low cost drugs (including alcohol) was abundant and of low risk. Dealing could be a very lucrative avocation; and even when discovered, punishments were generally lighter than elsewhere. Finally, for those possessed by even more relaxed moral standards, a strong bug of free enterprise and access to US supply depots, black market trading was a very busy and rewarding sideline. Some US personnel even sold stolen weapons on the black market, weapons that eventually ended-up in the hands of the enemy.
http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/essays_mikekelley_myths.html
http://www.uswings.com/about-us-wings/vietnam-war-facts/
Friday, July 29, 2016
Recalling my back-packing days from way back when, I remember that we could sit straight up only in the center of the tent. Also, depending on the weather and how good the rain-fly was, when you grazed the low sloping sides of the tent, you got wet. The good old days. Due to the fact that I'm cheap, and all of my hiking equipment disappeared over the past four decades, we carried up a 4-person Coleman tent. Big, and heavy, but it was a "Mansion" at the Trout Lake camping site, a Red mansion. You could almost stand up in the thing. I should have taken a picture from down on the trail below, showing it along with some of the other Regular hiking tents. Oh well. Here's my intrepid hiking partner sitting in our mansion, eating a peanut butter sandwich, and mulling over our next move...and a view in the morning, showing Trout Lake through the trees below us.
This is from the Gawker website, which I've never checked out before. This was the only place I could find the following video this morning. I'm not a very religious person, but the Rev William Barber was my favorite speaker during the whole two weeks of the RNC and DNC:
http://gawker.com/preachers-powerful-dnc-speech-we-must-shock-this-nati-1784492513
http://gawker.com/preachers-powerful-dnc-speech-we-must-shock-this-nati-1784492513
I really like my mapmywalk/ride app, not so much for the showing off look-at-what-I-did, but for looking at and playing with the maps, etc, when I go to their site online after my ride. If you don't Pause the App, and allow it to keep running, you can zoom in on the map during your stops and see all of these little squiggles and meanderings. My first NON-"Pause" was when someone from the Prosecutor's Office called me about the hit and run episode I mentioned in my post this morning. Coincidence? or Karma? The second squiggle zoom was during my shopping stop at REI to get a WA Parks Discovery Pass. I wandered all around looking at their bicycle stuff because I'm seriously thinking the STP next year. Anyway, I sure do wander around a lot when I'm on the phone and/or shopping.
Another fun thing is you can see your speeds, times, etc., and there's a graph showing all your elevation changes (oh, that's where my thighs were hurting...)
Another fun thing is you can see your speeds, times, etc., and there's a graph showing all your elevation changes (oh, that's where my thighs were hurting...)
I haven't been comfortable with the increasing partisan yelling and screaming lately. I decided to back off a little in my FB posts last week after I witnessed an argument between a Trump lover and a Hillary lover in the waiting line at Costco. Give me a break. Lighten up! Enjoy the show. Keeping that in mind, and since hardly anyone reads this blog of mine anyway, I'm posting some of the cartoonist Trudeau's ticker tape thing on his website today:
http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/
....Sen. Bernie Sanders on Trump: "Bombast, fear-mongering, name-calling and divisiveness."....'Art of the Deal' ghostwriter Tony Schwartz: "My two-year-old grandson has a longer attention span than Donald Trump...I do regret writing the book."....Sen. Al Franken: "I got my doctorate in megalomania studies from Trump University."....GOP consultant Mike Murphy on Trump: "It's like being Charlie Manson's foxtrot instructor. You go out there, you teach him a few moves, and you think, 'Hey, look at that, he can learn the foxtrot.' And the next thing you know, he's trying to put a pen in your eye, because he's Charlie Manson."....Gov. Mike Pence on Clinton: "America's Secretary of the Status Quo."....Matt Taibbi on Pence: "Redefines boring. He makes Al Gore seem like the Wu-Tang Clan."....Reince Priebus on Clinton: "She reads ethics codes as carefully as Americans read their junk mail."....Sen. Ted Cruz on Clinton: "Believes that government should make virtually every choice in your life."....WI Gov. Scott Walker on Clinton: "If she were any more on the inside, she'd be in prison."....Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn on Clinton: "Lock her up."....FL attorney general Pam Biondi on Clinton: "Lock her up."....Rush Limbaugh on first night of the DNC: "It was delusional and deranged. A lot of it was unhinged...We got speaker after speaker, picture after picture ultimately of doom and gloom, of misery and suffering."....
http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/
....Sen. Bernie Sanders on Trump: "Bombast, fear-mongering, name-calling and divisiveness."....'Art of the Deal' ghostwriter Tony Schwartz: "My two-year-old grandson has a longer attention span than Donald Trump...I do regret writing the book."....Sen. Al Franken: "I got my doctorate in megalomania studies from Trump University."....GOP consultant Mike Murphy on Trump: "It's like being Charlie Manson's foxtrot instructor. You go out there, you teach him a few moves, and you think, 'Hey, look at that, he can learn the foxtrot.' And the next thing you know, he's trying to put a pen in your eye, because he's Charlie Manson."....Gov. Mike Pence on Clinton: "America's Secretary of the Status Quo."....Matt Taibbi on Pence: "Redefines boring. He makes Al Gore seem like the Wu-Tang Clan."....Reince Priebus on Clinton: "She reads ethics codes as carefully as Americans read their junk mail."....Sen. Ted Cruz on Clinton: "Believes that government should make virtually every choice in your life."....WI Gov. Scott Walker on Clinton: "If she were any more on the inside, she'd be in prison."....Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn on Clinton: "Lock her up."....FL attorney general Pam Biondi on Clinton: "Lock her up."....Rush Limbaugh on first night of the DNC: "It was delusional and deranged. A lot of it was unhinged...We got speaker after speaker, picture after picture ultimately of doom and gloom, of misery and suffering."....
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
Two posts I made to my FB page this morning:
Hey! out there in cyberspace? I'm going for a walk. This is feeling too speedy for me...
Time out (from "politics", not FB). It's not fun anymore, especially after that spectacle in Cleveland last week. I love history, and with the speed of technology today, we're witnessing history unfold minute by minute. I just changed my car radio from NPR to the local Classical station here in Seattle. "Mata ne", as they say in Japan (from my year there in the early 80s). See you later...
Hey! out there in cyberspace? I'm going for a walk. This is feeling too speedy for me...
Time out (from "politics", not FB). It's not fun anymore, especially after that spectacle in Cleveland last week. I love history, and with the speed of technology today, we're witnessing history unfold minute by minute. I just changed my car radio from NPR to the local Classical station here in Seattle. "Mata ne", as they say in Japan (from my year there in the early 80s). See you later...
I'm still doing a kind of tug of war between my FB page and this blog. Whereas I love this blog, there are more people with whom to share my photos, etc on FB. Oh well...
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Beauty in decay. This is a dry creek bed by the Black River in Renton.
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Beauty in decay. This is a dry creek bed by the Black River in Renton.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
my posts to FB this morning:
I'm thinking about attending my old High School's Reunion this week, and I'm thinking about bicycling to it. My brother-in-law, a fellow Alumnus from 5 years later or so, told me I'll probably be "the only one riding a bicycle. Most of them will be using walkers". :)
I've always loved my morning ritual of reading the newspaper, a Real newspaper made out of real paper and folded over in my hands..., and a cup of good, strong coffee. Life is good.
http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/strip/set/92
I'm thinking about attending my old High School's Reunion this week, and I'm thinking about bicycling to it. My brother-in-law, a fellow Alumnus from 5 years later or so, told me I'll probably be "the only one riding a bicycle. Most of them will be using walkers". :)
I've always loved my morning ritual of reading the newspaper, a Real newspaper made out of real paper and folded over in my hands..., and a cup of good, strong coffee. Life is good.
http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/strip/set/92
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
I've decided to post to FB, and my Blog here at the same time. FB has been getting most of my attention lately, and I forget about my Meanderings. There are a few Followers of my blog out there who are NOT FB participants. Actually, I don't blame them.
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I'm behind in my editing, so I decided to do a combo today. A few photos from our Copper Lake Hike and a few from the Car Show a few weeks back. A little mix n match. Lines, colors and shapes...and a little playing around with Lake "kaleidoscope" reflections. A "ps" for Blog followers, I'll be posting some photos from a back packing trip (my first in 35+ years!) I took the past weekend to the Alpines Wilderness area.
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I'm behind in my editing, so I decided to do a combo today. A few photos from our Copper Lake Hike and a few from the Car Show a few weeks back. A little mix n match. Lines, colors and shapes...and a little playing around with Lake "kaleidoscope" reflections. A "ps" for Blog followers, I'll be posting some photos from a back packing trip (my first in 35+ years!) I took the past weekend to the Alpines Wilderness area.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Disappointment to Satisfaction. I knew I should have stopped at 6:15 this morning when I was driving by some train boxcars along Airport Way. There was some really cool tagger art that I wanted to photograph. They were moved before I rode my bike back down there around 7:30. Oh well. I did get in a nice 12 mile bike ride around the perimeter of Boeing Field, AND I Re-discovered this little house in Georgetown belonging to a Collector of things.
It's a feast for the eyes, and when I go by there every year or two, it always surprises me. This time I had my camera, and I took some photos.
It's a feast for the eyes, and when I go by there every year or two, it always surprises me. This time I had my camera, and I took some photos.
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