Posted on 07/23/2003 1:25:15 AM PDT by Radix
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By Kathleen T. Rhem / American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2003 U.S. military officials in Iraq believe a coalition missile barrage at roughly 1 p.m. local time July 22 struck the fatal blow to Uday and Qusay Hussein.
Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez this morning described the 101st Airborne Division operation in northeast Mosul, Iraq, that led to the deaths of Saddam Hussein's sons, numbers two and three on U.S. Central Command's list of most wanted members of the former regime, and two others.
Spc. Cole Rose, light wheeled vehicle mechanic, C Company, 440th Signal Battalion, 22nd Signal Brigade, raises a Humvee on a hydraulic jack so he can repair a part beneath the vehicle in Baghdad July 21. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ryan Smith
Military Mechanics Keeps Their vehicles Rolling in Iraq
By U.S. Army Spc. Ryan Smith
BAGHDAD, Iraq (July 21, 2003) - - New York has traffic. Houston has traffic. Los Angeles has traffic. Driving in cities such as these takes a toll on drivers as well as their vehicles.
But if the wear and tear on a vehicle driven in these cities can be compared to a football game, the three above are only in the peewee league. Iraq is the Super Bowl.
Thats where the soldiers of C Company, 440th Signal Battalions motor pool come in. They endure the scorching heat of the sun over Camp Victory in Baghdad to maintain and repair their units vehicles every day.
The unit, a V Corps asset, out of Darmstadt, Germany, is a part of the 22 Signal Brigade and performs preventive maintenance checks and services to the companys light wheeled vehicles, as well as repairing damaged or worn out parts, said Sgt. Rodger Evans, senior mechanic for C Company.
General John Abizaid, U.S. Central Command commander, walks with Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, Combined Forces Land Component Command, following General Abizaids arrival at Baghdad Air Base, July 20, 2003. General Abizaid was in Baghdad visiting with commanders and troops supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Air Force Photo By Master Sgt. Robert R. Hargreaves Jr.
General John Abizaid, U.S. Central Command commander, walks with Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, Combined Forces Land Component Command, following General Abizaids arrival at Baghdad Air Base, July 20, 2003. General Abizaid was in Baghdad visiting with commanders and troops supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Air Force Photo By Master Sgt. Robert R. Hargreaves Jr.
Hi ya LadyHawk. Have been wondering where you've been. But, now that I've seen the photo and heard your confession, I am afraid to ask. he he
Archive > High Strangeness Reports |
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Space Pancakes... On April 18 1961, three humanoids in a silver craft landed in Eagle River, Wisconsin and gave Joe Simonton some pancakes. They didn't speak English, and all communication was in the form of gestures. "I've always wondered why they were called pancakes," wondered Bill Jacobs at Boston University on the Fortean List recently, "as the one Simonton is holding in the classic photo looked more like a pizelle to me. Did Simonton use the term 'pancake' in his original statements or did that characterization start with the UFO researchers?" Jacobs' question was a good one, so I decided to look into it. There's a new regional book out I'd just read entitled The W-Files: True Reports of Wisconsin's Unexplained Phenomena by Jay Rath (Wisconsin Trails, PO Box 5650, Madison, Wisconsin 53705; 800-236-8088; $14.95). The very first story in the book is about a respected local man, Joe Simonton and his "Pancakes from Space". Let me review briefly the evidence that stacks up (sorry, I couldn't help myself) in favor of "pancakes" vs "pizelles"--whatever they are. Though being from the Midwest, I must say "pizelle" is not a word you would have heard in 1961. Joe Simonton was having a late breakfast at 11 AM when some low, jet-like noises disturbed him and he went outside. (He probably was "thinking" about pancakes.) Seeing a disc land, hatch open and a nonthreatening being get out, Joe apparently telepathically picked up a message to get some water in a jug for the entity. Then, according to the Air Force report: "Looking into the [saucer] he saw a man 'cooking' on some kind of flameless cooking appliance." As Rath notes: "The alien was preparing pancakes." Rath goes on: "In return for the water, one of the aliens...presented Simonton with three [actually four--LC] of the pancakes, hot from the griddle....Each of the pancakes was roughly 3 inches in diameter and perforated with small holes....Simonton ate one of the pancakes....'It tasted like cardboard,' he told the Associated Press." Astronomer J. Allen Hynek was dispatched by the US Air Force to investigate. He took one of the pancakes away for government analysis at the Air Force Technical Intelligence Center. They found them to be made from flour, sugar and grease. Rath writes: "It was rumored, however, that the wheat in the pancake was of an unknown type." Jerome Clark in his High Strangeness: UFOs from 1960 through 1979: The UFO Encyclopedia, Volume 3 (Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1996) gives a more detailed rundown of the Joe Simonton case under "Eagle River CE3" on pages 168-175. Clark's comprehensive report on the case does not talk about anything but how the objects were seen as "pancakes." The FDA who also analyzed one of the objects called them all "pancakes". Clark also does note the "pancakes" were "still hot" when Simonton bite into one of them. The official Air Force verdict for the Simonton Pancake Incident: "Unexplained." Jerry Clark basically concurred: "There was, and is, no evidence to suggest that Joe Simonton cooked up--in the literal sense--a bogus UFO story." Which I guess is my way of saying, from my reading of this very intriguing case, they were "pancakes." However, in an attempt to be "balanced," it is interesting the good Bill Jacobs would use the phrase "pizelle" as Simonton said the aliens looked "Italian-looking". Hummm. Well, it's time to go have breakfast, I think I'll have....English muffins and tea. While being a Midwesterner, no one said we couldn't be civilized, now and then. |
Can Little Blonde FReepers go, too?? Please???
You are looking good today!
(Beach - see I never make her mad! ha ha ha ha ha)
"Hey, you got a telephone in that Rolls?"
The guy in the Rolls says, "Yes, of course I do." "I got one too... see?"
the Texan says. "Uh, huh, yes, that's very nice." "You got a fax machine?" asks the Texan.
"Why, actually, yes, I do."
"I do too! See? It's right here!" brags the Texan. The light is just about to turn green and the guy in the Volkswagen says, "So, do you have a double bed in back there?"
The guy in the Rolls replies, "NO! Do you?"
"Yep, got my double bed right in back here, see?" the Texan replies. The light turns and the man in the Volkswagen takes off.
Well, the guy in the Rolls is not about to be one-upped, so he immediately goes to a customizing shop and orders them to put a double bed in back of his car! . A bout two weeks later, the job is finally done. He picks up his car and drives all over town looking for the Volkswagen beetle with the Texas plates. Finally, he finds it parked alongside the road, so he pulls his Rolls up next to it. The windows on the Volkswagen are all fogged up and he feels somewhat awkward about it, but he gets out of his newly modified Rolls and taps on the foggy window of the Volkswagen. The man in the Volkswagen finally opens the window a crack and peeks out.
The guy in the Rolls says, "Hey, remember me?"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember you," replies the Texan. "What's up?"
"Check this out... I got a double bed installed in my Rolls."
The Texan exclaims, "YOU GOT ME OUT OF THE SHOWER TO TELL ME THAT?!"
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