actual join date was in 1998 under another name-comradecrinton.

Proud to be one of the founding members of The VRWC, 1st Air Cavalry Div. (I flew black helicopters!)

well, reckon I got it honest after all...

I’m talkin’ ‘bout my rabble rousin’ ways

...ya see, it turns out this fine fellow is one of my early ancestors on my mother’s side and was instrumental in the very first American Insurrection:

Captain Messer was one of the participants in the War of Regulation, Battle of Alamance, May 16, 1771. “NC GUIDE’ edited by Blackwell Robinson -— states that Christian Messer intervened for his father, Capt. Messer the Regulator by offering his life for that of his father because his “mother and the children would surely perish”.
Governor Tryon heard the pleas of the boy and gave Capt. Messer a reprieve by sending him to look for Harmon Husband and bring him back to the British Court. Captain Messer returned without Mr. Husband and was put in chains. The governor, with his troops, dragged the prisoners around the countryside in chains for weeks until they were sentenced to death on June 15, 1771. On June 19, 1771, Captain Messer, Captain Benjamin Merrill, Captain James Pugh, Captain Robert Matear and two others whose names have been lost in history, were hanged by the neck until dead by the British for treason. Governor Tryon gave all the men scheduled to hang a choice of hanging or swearing allegiance to Great Britian. The six that hung took their last breath by sticking to their beliefs. Six others were pardoned by swearing their allegiance to Britain. They were Harmon Cox, James Emmerson, William Brown James Copeland, Forrester Mercer, and James Stewart.
The story is told that the six who were hung that fateful day were all buried in one unmarked grave near the Eno River. “History of the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina” by Allen Alexander Lloyd O. Lloyd and Pauline O. Lloyd; page 14. “In the grove is a marked site of the Regulator hanging on 19 June 1771. The victims were -— Benjamin Merrill, Captain Messer, Tobert Matear, James Pugh, and two other Regulators, all are buried near the river, close to an old chimney that is the remnent of a house in which Tryon’s tax collectors met in 1765.”)

from another source:

Captain Robert Messer was hung in Orange County, NC in the aftermath of the Battle of Alamance. This battle is also commonly referred to as the War of the Regulation. The regulators, in the spirit of the Boston Tea Party, rebelled against the colonial government over unfair taxation practices. In May 1771, British Governor, Robert Tryon, defeated the regulators at Alamance battleground and in June 1771, The six regulators who refused to swear allegiance to England were hanged at the Orange County Courthouse. These six men were: Captain “Robert” Messer, Captain Benjamin Merrill, Captain James Pugh, Captain Robert Matear, and two others whose names are not known.

Christian Messer - Son of Captain Robert Messer, he pleaded with Governor Tryon to spare his father’s life in May 1771. Sadly, he only gained his father a short reprieve. Subsequently, Christian Messer fought in the Revolutionary War. At some point, after the war, Christian moved to Haywood County, NC were he became the patriarch of the Messer family.

more of the story of the The First Battle for American Freedom here:

http://www.messerville.com/firstbattle.htm

(long but interesting even if written by a yankee)

Imagine-all this and plus I have quite a large portion of Scottish Highlander heritage (McConnell-of clan Donald) too! What more could a man ask for?

Say, the woman of my dreams perhaps?
Well, she walked into my life on Sept. 10, 2010 and we're still as happy as we can be!

update: Nov. 2014, me n' the dream girl just bought a house in the mountains of north GA-it just keeps getting better!
update: Spring 2016 the dream girl gave me quite the scare re: some cardiac issues but thanks to God Above and some very competent surgeons, dream girl's heart has been thoroughly overhauled and after a long recovery period she is now 'hittin' on all cylinders' and we both are doing well

a sad update: my dream girl lost her battle with congestive heart failure 9/16/2022