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Celebrating the Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds squadron is an Air Combat Command unit composed of eight pilots (including six demonstration pilots), four support officers, three civilians and more than 130 enlisted personnel performing in 25 career fields.

A Thunderbirds air demonstration is a mix of formation flying and solo routines. The four-aircraft diamond formation demonstrates the training and precision of Air Force pilots, while the solo aircraft highlight the maximum capabilities of the F-16.

The pilots perform approximately 30 maneuvers in a demonstration. The entire show, including ground and air, runs about an hour and fifteen minutes. The season lasts from March to November, with the winter months used to train new members.

Officers serve a two-year assignment with the squadron, while enlisted personnel serve three to four. Replacements must be trained for about half of the team each year, providing a constant mix of experience.

The squadron performs no more than 88 air demonstrations each year and has never canceled a demonstration due to maintenance difficulty. More than 280 million people in all 50 states and 57 foreign countries have seen the red, white and blue jets in more than 3,500 aerial demonstrations.

In addition to their responsibilities as the official U.S. Air Force aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds are part of our combat force. If required, the team's personnel and aircraft can be rapidly integrated into a fighter unit at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Since the aircraft are only slightly modified, they can be made combat-ready in less than 72 hours.

USAF Aerial Demonstration Teams
"Thunderbirds"

"Thunderbird" pilots in F-84s perform the spectacular "bomb burst" maneuver (1956). Organized in 1953 at Luke AFB, Arizona, the "Thunderbirds" team today is the official USAF aerial demonstration team.

Soot from the lead F-100's engine and smoke pipe blackens the vertical stabilizer on the "slot" aircraft, showing how close the "Thunderbird" team's intricate maneuvers bring aircraft to each other (circa 1967).

A "Thunderbird" F-4E makes a low altitude inverted pass over the flight line at Indian Springs AB, Nevada (1972).

"Thunderbird" T-38As photographed with a wide angle lens from the cockpit of another T-38 over Hamilton AFB, California (1974).

"Thunderbird" F-16s in a delta formation during a practice flight. The team began flying F-16s in public appearances in 1983.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

www.airforce.com/thunderbirds/2003history.htm

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

You can't tell me military planes don't have ailerons. I've seen these babies fly. :^)

Hmmmm..

Today's classical warship, USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

Pennsylvania class battleship
displacement. 31,400 t.
length. 608'
beam. 97'1"
draft. 28'10"
speed. 21 k.
complement. 915
armament. 12 14", 14 5", 4 3", 4 3-pdrs., 2 21" tt.

The USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was laid down 27 October 1913 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.; launched 16 March 1915; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Kolb; and commissioned 12 June 1916, Capt. H. B. Wilson in command.

Pennsylvania was attached to the Atlantic Fleet. On 12 October 1916 she became flagship of Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, when Admiral Henry T. Mayo shifted his flag from Wyoming to Pennsylvania. In January 1917, Pennsylv ania steamed for Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean. She returned to her base at Yorktown, Va., 6 April 1917, the day of declaration of war against Germany. She did not sail to join the British Grand Fleet since she burned fuel oil and tankers could not be spared to carry additional fuel to the British Isles. In the light of this circumstance, only coal burning battleships were selected for this mission. Based at Yorktown, she kept in battle trim with Fleet maneuvers, tactics, and training in the areas of the Chesapeake Bay, intervened by overhaul at Norfolk and New York, with brief maneuvers. in Long Island Sound. Pennsylvania briefly cruised to France in December 1918.

Transiting the Panama Canal to the Pacific early in 1921, she became flagship of the newly-organized Battle Fleet. During the next eight years, she led the Navy's battleships in maneuvers in the Atlantic, Caribbean and in the Pacific, including a cruise to Australia and New Zealand in mid-1925.

From June 1929 to May 1931, Pennsylvania received an extensive modernization at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. She emerged with new "tripod" masts, improved combat systems, and an enlarged armored conning tower to better support her mission as fleet flagship. Through the following decade, Pennsylvania continued her pattern of drills, at-sea exercises and periodic major "Fleet Problems" conducted to refine the Navy's war plans.

At the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, Pennsylvania was in drydock in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. She was one of the first ships in the harbor to open fire as enemy dive bombers and torpedo planes roared out of the high overcast. They did not succeed in repeated attempts to torpedo the caisson of the drydock but Pennsylvania and the surrounding dock areas were severely strafed. The crew of one 5-inch gun mount was wiped out when a bomb struck the starboard side of her boat deck and exploded inside casemate 9. Destroyers Cassin and Downes, just forward of Pennsylvania in drydock were seriously damaged by bomb hits. Pennsylvania was pockmarked by flying fragments. A part of a torpedo tube from destroyer Downes, about 1000 pounds in weight, was blown onto the forecastle of Pennsylvania. Shed had 15 men killed, 14 missing in action, and 38 men wounded.

Her relatively light damage was repaired over the next few months, and she operated along the U.S. west coast and off Hawaii until October 1942. Following an overhaul that significantly updated her secondary battery of 5" guns and added many anti-aircraft machine guns, Pennsylvania went to Alaskan waters, where she participated in the recapture of Attu in May 1943 and Kiska in August.

In November 1943, Pennsylvania bombarded Makin during the amphibious assault on the Gilbert Islands. She repeated this role a few months later at Kwajalein and Eniwetok, and in June and July 1944 at Saipan, Tinian and Guam. Her guns supported landings in the Palaus in September 1944 and at Leyte in October. When the Japanese Navy responded vigorously to the latter operation, Pennsylvania helped to destroy part of the enemy fleet in the Battle of Surigao Strait.

On 25 October 1944 Pennsylvania and five other battleships (5 of the 6 battleships were veterans of Pearl Harbor), with cruisers and destroyers of Rear Admiral Oldendorf's Force, were steaming slowly back and forth across the northern entrance of Surigao Strait, awaiting the approach of the enemy. That night, American motor torpedo boats stationed well down in Surigao Strait made the first encounter with torpedo attacks. Destroyers of the Force, on either flank of the enemy's line of approach, followed with torpedo and gun attacks. At 0353, 25 October, USS West Virginia opened fire, joined shortly thereafter by other battleships and cruisers. The Japanese had run head on into a perfect trap. Rear Admiral Oldendorf had executed the dream of every naval tactician by crossing the enemy's "T". The Japanese lost two battleships and three destroyers in the Battle of Surigao Strait. Cruiser Mogami in company with a destroyer, all that remained of the enemy force, managed to escape. Rear Admiral Oldendorf's Force did not suffer the loss of a single vessel. (The age of the Battleship ended here, as this was the last battleship vs. battleship battle in history.)

In January 1945, Pennsylvania took part in the Lingayen Gulf invasion. Freshly returned to the combat zone after another overhaul, she was seriously damaged by a Japanese aerial torpedo off Okinawa on 12 August 1945, the last major Navy ship to be hit during the Second World War. Twenty men were killed and ten injured. Too old for retention in the post-war fleet, Pennsylvania was repaired only enough to fit her for target duty. She served in that capacity during the July 1946 Bikini atomic bomb tests. Subsequently moored at Kwajalein for studies of residual radioactivity, USS Pennsylvania was scuttled at sea on 19 February 1948. She was struck from the Navy List 19 February 1948.

Pennsylvania received eight battle stars for World War II service.

Click to Visit Thunderbirds of the Past Page

T H U N D E R B I R D B U M P ! ! ! !

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on December 05:
1839 George Armstrong Custer, of Little Big Horn fame
1894 Phillip K. Wrigley (corporate executive: Wrigley Gum)
1901 Walter (Walt) Elias Disney (cartoonist, producer: Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, feature films, animation)
1901 Werner Heisenberg, discoverer of uncertainty principle (Nobel 1932) (or not)
1902 Strom Thurmond, (D/R-Sen-SC)
1903 Cecil Frank Powell, English physicist discovered pion (Nobel 1950)
1905 Otto Preminger, movie director producer (Laura Exodus)
1922 Don Robertson (composer, musician)
1924 Maggie (Margaret) Hayes (actress)
1926 Jim Pashal (auto racer)
1932 Jim Hurtubise (auto racer)
1932 'Little' Richard (Pennimann) (singer: Good Golly Miss Molly, Tutti Frutti; preacher)
1934 Joan Didion (author: Run River)
1934 Larry Kert (actor, singer, dancer)
1936 Singer Chad Mitchell
1938 J.D. (John Delphus) McDuffie (auto racer)
1945 Pam Higgins (golfer)
1947 Jim Messina (musician: duo: Loggins and Messina: Your Mama Don't Dance)
1947 Jim Plunkett (football: Raiders quarterback: Super Bowl: XV, XVIII)
1947 Jugderdemidyin Gurragcha, 1st Mongolian space traveler (Soyuz 39)
1949 Fred O'Donnell (hockey)
1949 Lanny Wadkins (golf: PGA champion [1977])
1950 Steve Furness (football: Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle: Super Bowl: IX, X, XIII, XIV)

Deaths which occurred on December 05:
1212 Dirk II van Are Bishop of Utrecht (1197-1212), dies
1244 Johanna van Constantinople countess of Flanders (1205-44), dies
1355 Jan III duke of Brabant/Limburg, dies
1560 Francis II King of France (1559-60), dies at 16
1594 Gerardus Mercator geographer dies
1784 Philis Wheatley poet, dies in Boston
1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composer, dies in Vienna Austria, at 35
1859 Louis Poinsot French instrument maker, dies at 82
1891 Jklsbfxvpsmgrg Pedro II of Alcantara emperor of Brazil (1831-89), die
1922 Samuel Muller Fzn historian, dies
1925 Wilhelmina E Drucker [Lensing], feminist, dies
1951 "Shoeless" Joe Jackson of baseball's black sox scandal, dies
1964 Remy Angenot Flemish actor, dies
1966 Sylveer Maes Belgian bicylist, dies
1974 Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman tennis player (US Open 1909-11) dies at 87
1983 Robert Aldrich dir/producer dies at 65
1986 Carmol Taylor country songwriter, dies at 53 of cancer
1989 John M Pritchard British conductor, dies
1991 Convicted mass murderer Richard Speck died, one day short of his 50th birthday and 25 years after killing eight student nurses in Chicago.

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 DIBBLE MORRIS F.---CORNING NY.
[KIA IN GROUND COMBAT REMAINS NOT LOCATED]
1965 EISENBERGER GEORGE J.---PAWHUSKA OK.
[KIA IN GROUND COMBAT REMAINS NOT LOCATED]
1965 HYDE JIMMY DON---CADDO OK.
1965 UPNER EDWARD C.---ANNISTON AL.
[KIA IN GROUND COMBAT REMAINS NOT LOCATED]
1966 BEGLEY BURRISS NELSON---HYDEN KY.
[DISPUTED REMAINS IDENTIFIED 01 DEC 93]
1966 WARREN ARTHUR LEONARD---TOLEDO OH.
[RADIO CONTACT UNINJURED REMAINS RETURNED 09/17/86]
1967 RUSSELL DONALD MYRICK---WESTBROOK ME.
[REMAINS RETURNED 1994 ID'D 06/25/96]
1968 BERRY JOHN A.---NATURITA CO.
1968 EVANS BILLY K. JR.---ROANOKE VA.
1969 CLARK JOHN C. II---BROWNFIELD TX.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/03/97]
1969 DANIELSON BENJAMIN F.---KENYON MN.
1969 HARROLD PATRICK K.---FORT LEAVENWORTH KS. [REMAINS RETURNED 1997 DNA ID ANNOUNCED 10/12/97]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1301 Pope Boniface VIII's degree Ausculta fili (only nominee)
1349 500 Jews are massacred at Nüremberg in Black death riots
1456 Earthquake strikes Naples; about 35,000 die
1492 Columbus discovers Hispaniola (El Espanola/Haiti)
1496 Jews are expelled from Portugal by order of King Manuel I
1590 Niccolò Sfondrati chosen Pope Gregory XIV
1602 Giulio Caccini's "Euridice" premieres in Florence
1757 Battle at Leuthen: Prussian army beats Austrians
1766 London auctioneers Christie's hold their 1st sale
1776 Phi Beta Kappa, 1st American scholastic fraternity (William & Mary College), is founded
1792 George Washington re-elected US President, John Adams Vice-President
1804 Thomas Jefferson re-elected US President,George Clinton Vice-President
1813 Lübeck surrenders to allied armies
1830 Hector Berlioz' "Symphonique fantastique" premieres in Paris
1831 Former President John Quincy Adams takes his seat as member of House of Representatives
1832 Andrew Jackson re-elected President of US, Martin Van Buren Vice-President
1837 Hector Berlioz' "Requiem" premieres
1837 Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada
1846 C F Schoenbein obtains patent for cellulose nitrate explosive
1848 President Polk triggers Gold Rush of '49, confirms California gold discovery
1854 Aaron Allen of Boston patents folding theater chair
1859 Dion Boucicault's "Octaroon" premieres in New York NY
1861 Gatling gun patented
1862 Battle of Coffeeville MS
1868 1st American bicycle college opens (New York)
1876 Daniel Stillson (Massachusetts) patents 1st practical pipe wrench
1876 Fire at Brooklyn Theater kills 295, trampled or burned to death
1879 1st automatic telephone switching system patented
1881 47th Congress (1881-83) convenes
1887 Stanley's expedition reaches plateau at Lake Albert Congo
1890 Berlioz' opera "Les Troyens" premieres in Karlsruhe
1892 Anti-semite Hermann Ahlwardt elected to Germany's Reichstag
1893 1st electric car (built in Toronto) could go 15 miles between charges
1904 The Japanese destroy a Russian fleet at Port Arthur in Korea.
1906 British government-Balfour resigns
1908 1st football uniform numerals used (University of Pittsburgh)
1914 6th CFL Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts defeats University of Toronto, 14-2
1918 Oil refinery on Curaçao opens
1920 Pro football playoff game Akron & Buffalo 0-0 tie, title undecided
1924 Hamilton Tiger Red Green scores 5 goals to beat Toronto Maple Leafs 10-5
1925 13th CFL Grey Cup: Ottawa Senators defeats Winnipeg Tammany Tigers, 24-1
1925 German government of Luther falls
1926 Sergei Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" debuts
1928 England defeats Australia by record 675 runs at Brisbane
1928 MW Miklas elected President of Austria
1929 1st US nudist organization (American League for Physical Culture, New York NY)
1931 CFL Grey Cup: Montréal AAA beats Regina, 22-0 at Montréal
1932 German physicist Albert Einstein granted a visa
1933 21st Amendment ratified, only amendment adopted to repeal an earlier amendment [18th Amendment (Prohibition)] (5:32 PM EST)
1935 1st commercial hydroponics operation established (Montebello CA)
1935 National Council of Negro Women forms by Mary McLeod Bethune (New York NY)
1936 Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, Georgian SSR, Kazakhstan SSR & Kirghiz SSR becomes constituent republics of the Soviet Union
1936 24th CFL Grey Cup: Sarnia Imperials defeats Ottawa Rough Riders, 26-20
1941 Football Writers Association of America organized
1941 Sister Elizabeth Kenny new treatment for infantile paralysis approved
1941 Patrick Hamilton's "Angel Street" premieres in New York NY
1941 Russian anti offensive in Moscow drives out nazi army
1941 US aircraft carrier Lexington/5 heavy cruisers leave Pearl Harbor
1942 CFL Grey Cup: Toronto beats Winnipeg RCAF, 8-5 at Toronto
1942 Seyss-Inquart orders students in Nazi-Germany to go work
1942 West Indies chocolate/coffee drop above Netherlands
1943 NFL Philadelphia Eagle-Pittsburgh Steeler merger dissolves
1944 German troops rob all the silver coin in Utrecht
1945 "Lost Squadron" crashes east of Florida (Bermuda Triangle)
1945 Special Council of Annulment affirms death sentence of Max Blokzijl
1946 President Truman creates Committee on Civil Rights by Executive Order #9808
1947 Joe Louis beats Jersey Joe Walcott in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1948 New York Giant Charley Conerly sets NFL record of 36 pass completions
1949 Ezzard Charles defeats Jersey Joe Walcott for heavyweight boxing title
1950 Sikkim becomes a protectorate of India
1950 Ezzard Charles KOs Nick Barone in 11 for heavyweight boxing title
1951 "Dragnet" premieres
1952 London smog of 1952 - worst smog in London ever, 4,000+ die
1954 KTEW (now KJRH) TV channel 2 in Tulsa OK (NBC) begins broadcasting
1955 AFL & CIO merge, with George Meany as president
1955 Historic bus boycott begins in Montgomery AL by Rosa Parks
1956 Thornton Wilder's "Matchmaker" premieres in New York NY
1957 NYC becomes 1st city to legislate against racial or religious discrimination in housing market (Fair Housing Practices Law)
1957 William Inge's "Dark at the Top of the Stairs" premieres in New York NY
1958 Phils drop plans for New York sportcast as Yankees threat to do same in Philadelphia
1960 Ghana drops diplomatic relations with Belgium
1966 "I Do! I Do!" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 561 performances
1967 Beatles clothing store "Apple" on 94 Baker Street, London, opens
1967 Benjamin Spock & Allen Ginsberg arrested protesting Vietnam war
1968 Rolling Stones release "Beggar's Banquet" LP
1969 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy & Bill Masterson trophy stolen from NHL hall of fame
1970 Los Angeles Rams Willie Ellison sets NFL record of 247 yards rushing
1971 KCBJ (now KMIZ) TV channel 17 in Columbia MO (ABC) 1st broadcast
1972 38th Heisman Trophy Award: Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska (FL)
1973 Cubs' Ron Santo became 1st baseball player to veto his trade
1973 Paul McCartney releases "Band on the Run" album
1973 Dodgers trade Willie Davis to Expos for relief pitcher Mike Marshall
1974 1st Washington Capitals penalty shot, Tom Williams unsuccessful vs Buff Sabres
1974 1st World Football League Bowl, Birmingham Americans beat Florida
1974 Airport terminal roof collapses killing 17 (Teheran Iran)
1974 Seattle Seahawks formed
1974 "Monty Python's Flying Circus" final episode airs on BBC
1974 NFL's Seattle Seahawks forms
1974 Tom Williams is unsuccessful on Washington Capitals 1st NHL penalty shot
1975 NASA launches space vehicle S-196, it failed
1975 "Me & Bessie" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 453 performances
1976 Buffalo Bill's OJ Simpson rushes 203 yards
1977 Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq & South Yemen
1978 Phillies Pete Rose becomes highest paid baseball player
1978 Pioneer Venus 1 begins orbiting Venus
1978 European Union establishes EMS, European Monetary System
1978 Free agent Pete Rose signs 4-year, $32 million contract with Phillies
1978 Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" premieres in New York NY
1979 Ireland premier Jack Lynch resigns
1980 Bank of Canada's Canadian Currency Museum opens
1981 47th Heisman Trophy Award: Marcus Allen, Southern California (RB)
1981 France performs nuclear test
1982 Seattle University Baptist Church declares sanctuary for Central American refugees
1982 Cleveland Browns' Brian Sipe sets club record with 33 pass completions
1982 Ingrid Berghmans (Netherlands) retains judo's world championship
1982 Mel Gray ends NFL streak of 121 consecutive game receptions
1982 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1983 12 killed by a car bomb shattering 9-story building in west Beirut
1983 Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Steve Howe is suspended for 1 year for cocaine use
1984 A's trade Rickey Henderson to Yankees for Jay Howell & Jose Rijo
1984 French colonies killed 10 Kanaken in New Caledonia
1984 Yankees trade catcher Rick Cerone to Braves for pitcher Brian Fisher
1985 Dow Jones Industrial Average rises above the 1,500 level for 1st time
1985 Great Britain performs nuclear test
1987 53rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Brown, Notre Dame (WR)
1987 Schönbrunn skates world record 3 km ladies (4 16.76)
1988 Shuttle Atlantis launches world's 1st nuclear-war-fighting satellite
1988 North Carolina federal grand jury indict PTL founder Jim Bakker on fraud & conspiracy
1989 France TGV train reaches world record speed of 482.4 kph
1990 Former Noriega aide Luis del Cid pleads guilty
1990 Salman Rushdie, author (ordered to death by Iran for blasphemy), appears in public for 1st time in 2 years
1990 Toronto Blue Jays trade Fred McGriff & Tony Fernandez to San Diego Padres for Roberto Alomar & Joe Carter
1990 The State Department said Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had accepted the idea of direct high-level U.S.-Iraqi talks to resolve the Gulf crisis.
1991 British media magnate Robert Maxwell disappeared while on his yacht off the Canary Islands.
1991 Charles Keating Jr (Lincoln Savings & Loan fraud), found guilty
1991 New York Daily News files for protection under chapter 11
1993 82nd Davis Cup: Germany beats Australia in Dusseldorf (4-1)
1993 Astronauts begin repair of Hubble telescope in space
1993 Melissa Mcnamara/Mike Sopringer win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1993 Newhart actor William Sanderson (47) weds Sharon Wix (39)
1993 Rafael Caldera elected President of Venezuela
1996 Players union approves new collective bargaining agreement
1996 Portland's Jermaine O'Neal, 18, becomes youngest NBA player
1997 1st Game at Washington Capitals' MCI Center vs Florida Panthers
1997 STS 87 (Columbia 24) lands

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Beirut Lebanon : Arbor Day
Haiti : Discovery Day (1492)
Netherlands : St Nicholas' Eve
International : send Valin $20.00 day
Thailand : King's Birthday
USSR : Constitution Day (1936)
US : Let's Get Organized Day
Read A New Book Month

Religious Observances
Anglican : Commemoration of Clement of Alexandria, priest
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Sabbas, abbot

Religious History
1484 Innocent VIII issued his famous "Witch Bull," ordering an inquisition to systematically discover, torture and execute witches throughout Europe. It led to the ease with which witchcraft was charged and punished, even in the American colonies two centuries later.
1848 Death of Joseph Mohr, 56, Austrian Roman Catholic vicar and author in 1818 of the enduring Christmas hymn, "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night").
1943 German theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter: 'It is only when one loves life and the earth so much that without them everything seems to be over that one may believe in the resurrection and a new world.'
1951 American missionary martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'How sadly and how slowly I am learning that loud preaching and long preaching are not substitutes for inspired preaching.'
1988 Televangelist Jim Bakker was charged by a federal grand jury with mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the public through the sale of thousands of lifetime memberships to PTL theme park, Heritage U.S.A. (Bakker was convicted the following year and sentenced to prison.)

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"It's always darkest before the dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it."

Question of the day...
If people from Poland are called "Poles," why aren't people from Holland called Holes?"

Murphys Law of thr day...(Law of Duality)
Of two possible events, only the undesired one will occur.

Amazing fact #3...
The Swiss flag is square.

I've a few gallons of JP-4 into some of these:

p

If you ever left a message on an answering machine you can do this!
It's really that simple. AND It's a Toll Free Number !

Send deployed troops message on SoldiersRadio.com

SoldiersRadio is again this year providing a way to let you tell Service members worldwide that you care and are thinking about them during the Holidays.

You can do an Audio Post Card simply by calling 1-800-330-5090.
Your recorded personalized message will be played back on www.SoldiersRadio.com.

You can record a short message (30 seconds) to friends, family members or just a random message of good will. SoldiersRadio will then take your message and put it on the radio Web cast throughout the Holiday Season. Its very simple to do and works both ways ... from the field or to the Service member.

AnyServiceMember.org is also promoting the call-in holiday service in hopes of reaching a large group of people who would like to send a message to Soldiers serving away from home.

The cut-off date for the call in is Dec.15.
SoldiersRadio.com

Turkish Stars F5

All day I've been coming back to this thread to choose another photo for my wallpaper, and just now remembered I never posted a thank you!

So, thanks for a great treat today, SAMWolf!