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Posted on 11/23/2005 9:54:13 PM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 World War Two Voices from the Front Bill Sykes of Plymouth, Combat Engineers and then 1095th Engineer Utility Company, Command SoPac, US Army Engineers 1942-1945 : "My first Thanksgiving, that was kind of a sad thing for me, being away from home and being young and not being with my family for Thanksgiving, missing the football games. And having no Thanksgiving -- we had no Thanksgiving. They attempted to do it in a field kitchen, but what can you do in a field kitchen? After that first Thanksgiving, though, they put on some beautiful meals. They had everything you could think of for Thanksgiving dinner. They really made a big effort to do it the proper way. We would find out who had the best dinner. And the Navy had the best dinner, I'll tell you right now. The Navy had really good Thanksgivings. They had the ships, you know. And they'd bring in all kinds of food. But the Army did pretty good, too. "The Thanksgiving dinners were served on trays. (My first one, with the Combat Engineers, was served in mess kits. That doesn't work too well.) They had cranberry sauce, stuffing, the whole thing. It was a good meal. But the feeling of Thanksgiving wasn't there. The meal was there, but the feeling of Thanksgiving wasn't. I guess you couldn't have Thanksgiving when you were overseas. There wasn't much to be thankful for. It was sad. Although, I guess there was some thankfulness, at least you were still alive!" Cliff Sampson of Plymouth, US Navy 1942-1945 : "My first military Thanksgiving was in 1942 at Great Lakes. We had a big mess hall and it was a typical Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and all the fixings, apple pie and mince pie. They tried to make it special and, of course, everybody was hepped on the war. Just being a little recruit, you didn't have much to say about it anyhow, you just did what they told you and ate what they gave you. But it was good food, I can't complain. Some of the food probably was better than a lot of people ever had before they were in the service. Some people came from poverty... "Thanksgiving 1945 I was home in Plymouth with my family and my wife. We were getting ready to settle down and I was back to work, running the store again. It was a great feeling to be home, after being blown up on a ship in July (the USS YMS 84 yard mind sweeper was blown up 3 July 1945, Cliff Sampson received the Purple Heart) and then in November, I'm out of the service and the war is over. I feel sorry for all those that didn't come back. It was a great experience, but it's too bad for those who had to leave us. They fought for a great cause." Bill Shepard of Plymouth, 102 Infantry Division ("Ozark Division"), U.S. Army, stationed in Ohio, Germany and Wales :  Thanksgiving Dinner Two Ozark infantrymen, Pfc William G. Curtis from San Diego, California, and Pfc Donald R. Stratton from Colville, Washington, enjoy a hasty meal in the battered window of a shell-torn house far, far from home. 23 November 1944. Waurichen, Germany. "The Armed Forces were absolutely adamant about getting the troops a Thanksgiving dinner, all over the world, no matter who you were or what you were doing. Whether it was on the front lines or in a big fort like Sam Houston in San Antonio, they always made sure that the Armed Forces got a Thanksgiving dinner. Christmas meals were also somewhat like that, but I remember the Thanksgiving dinners -- there were always turkeys and pies and everything you would have at home. The food was often cold, if you were in the field (Thanksgiving Day 1944, the Ozark Division had just broken through the Siegfried Line at Aachen), but it was Thanksgiving." Stanley Collins, US Navy :      |
The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB (Hardcover)
by Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin "This book is based on unprecedented and unrestricted access to one of the world's most secret and closely guarded archives-that of the foreign intelligence arm..."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465003109/104-4914374-6174369?v=glance&n=283155&st=%2A&v=glance
In early 1992, a Russian man walked into the British embassy in a newly independent Baltic republic and asked to "speak to someone in authority." As he sipped his first cup of proper English tea, he handed over a small file of notes. Eight months later, the man, his family, and his enormous archive had been safely exfiltrated to Britain. When news that a KGB officer had defected with the names of hundreds of undercover agents leaked out in 1996, a spokesperson for the SVR (Russia's foreign intelligence service, heir of the KGB) said, "Hundreds of people! That just doesn't happen! Any defector could get the name of one, two, perhaps three agents--but not hundreds!"
Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin worked as chief archivist for the FCD, the foreign-intelligence arm of the KGB. Mitrokhin was responsible for checking and sealing approximately 300,000 files, allowing him unrestricted access to one of the world's most closely guarded archives. He had lost faith in the Soviet system over the years, and was especially disturbed by the KGB's systematic silencing of dissidents at home and abroad. Faced with tough choices--stay silent, resign, or undermine the system from within--Mitrokhin decided to compile a record of the foreign operations of the KGB. Every day for 12 years, he smuggled notes out of the archive. He started by hiding scraps of paper covered with miniscule handwriting in his shoes, but later wrote notes on ordinary office paper, which he took home in his pockets. He hid the notes under his mattress, and on weekends took them to his dacha, where he typed them and hid them in containers buried under the floor. When he escaped to Britain, his archive contained tens of thousands of pages of notes.......
(I've read this 700 densely packed pages with footnote.
Not a fun, light read, but.....)
Also just released part two
The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World (Hardcover)
by Christopher Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465003117/ref=pd_lpo_k2a_2_txt_T2/104-4914374-6174369?%5Fencoding=UTF8
From Publishers Weekly
This second volume of the post-war history of the KGB-based on the "Mitrokhin Archive" of secret documents purloined by the late co-author, a KGB dissident-surveys the Soviet spy agency's skullduggery in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Historian Andrew portrays Russian policy toward the Third World as largely the creation of the KGB, which hoped that the spread of Soviet influence and revolutionary upheavals would make these regions the decisive Cold War battleground. The Cuban Revolution inspired these ambitions, and by 1980, after the American defeat in Vietnam and with leftist regimes installed in Nicaragua and Grenada, Cuban troops fighting in Africa and Russian forces occupying Afghanistan, both American and Soviet officials saw communism on the march. Still, in Andrew's account, Soviet initiatives-with a few exceptions, like the Afghanistan intervention-seem cautious, reactive and uncomfortably dependent on fickle client regimes; wary of confronting the United States, Russia often exerted a restraining influence on local allies. Andrew's engaging, occasionally gossipy narrative provides new evidence of Soviet sponsorship of Latin American insurgencies and Palestinian terrorists, along with details of KGB spycraft and dirty tricks. The world-wide communist conspiracy he depicts was far from a juggernaut, but he sheds new light on the hidden history of the Cold War. Photos.
(This book has been raising holy hell in certain circles in certain counties which I won't name...India (Did I say that outloud?).
Aye lassie, now there's an idear
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Very interesting. With this and the info from Poland today on the Foxhole it looks like Russian has been uncovered!
It was always assumed that if thw Warsaw Pact (USSR) came across the border things would go nuclear very soon.
That was why the USSR tried to seperate Europe from the US, on their assumption that America would would see our cities destroyed for Europe.
Wow, what a find. It seems the Russians are a little upset as well. Darn.
Welcome to the recruitment squad. ;-)
Today is the more or less annuall gathering of Mrs alfa6's Family at the alfa6 residence. A good day will be had by all, I hope.
Well need to get busy with getting the house prepped
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Goodyear built Corsairs with Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360 engines, my personal favorite radial. Only five were built. They were sold surplus, anyone got one let me know so I can come visit.
Going out on a limb I would have to say it was by far the most important aircraft engine that the Americans had for WW-II. The R-2800 would probably give the Rolls-Royce Merlin a fair run for the money as best Allied Engine in WW-II as well.
A while back on the Foxhole I tried to ist all of the aircraft that used the R-2800. A couple that I recall off hand were the Curtis C-46 Commando and the Douglas A-26 Invader.
Also the Douglass DC-6 airliner used R-2800s a major factor that has contributed to the longevity of the DC-6.
Here's a FG-2 for you taken ar Oshkosh this year I think. If you need an excuse to go to the Reno air races in September here ya go :-)
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on November 26:
1607 John Harvard England, clergyman/scholar, major benefactor to Harvard University (library & half his estate)
1731 William Cowper England, preromantic poet (His Task)
1792 Sarah Moore Grimk‚ American antislavery, women's rights advocate
1816 William Henry Talkbot Walker Major General (Confederate Army)
1827 Alfred Moore Scales Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1892
1876 Willis Haviland Carrier developed air-conditioning equipment
1894 Norbert Wiener US, mathematician/discovered cybernetics
http://www.angelfire.com/co/1x137/cyber.html
1905 Emlyn Williams Wales, actor/playwright (David Copperfield)
1907 Frances Dee US actress (Of Human Bondage)
1912 Eric Sevareid Velva ND, newscaster (CBS Weekend News)
1912 Eugene Ionesco France, dramatist (Rhinoceros)
1913 Foy Draper US, relay runner (Olympic-gold-1936)
1922 Charles M Schulz cartoonist (Peanuts)
(Good Grief!)
1924 George Segal NY, sculptor lifelike mixed-media figures (Bus Driver)
1925 Linda Hunt Morriston NJ, actress (Bostonians, Eleni, Silverado)
1929 Betta St John Hawthorne CA, actress (Corridors of Blood)
1931 Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo Italy, downhill skier (Olympic-bronze-1952)
1933 Robert Goulet Lawrence MA, singer/actor (Camelot, Naked Gun 2)
1935 Marian Mercer Akron Ohio, actress/singer (Dean Martin Show)
1937 Boris Yegorov cosmonaut (Voskhod 1)
1937 Leo Lacroix France, skier (Olympic-silver-1964)
1938 Rich Little Ottawa Canada, impressionist/actor (Love on a Rooftop)
1938 Tina Turner [Anna Mae Bullock], Brownsville TX, singer (Proud Mary)
1943 Jan Stenerud Norway, NFL place kicker (Kansas City Chiefs)
1945 John McVie rocker (Fleetwood Mac-Rumours, Tusk)
1945 Mikhail Woronin USSR, gymnast (Olympic-2 gold/4 silver/bronze-1968)
1981 Jamie Fiske liver transplant recipient
The Parrot Story reminds me of the joke about the Clinton's parrot. Did Know the Clinton's had a parrot read on, or not as the case may be.
It seems the Clinton's were at Camp David one weekend when the housekeeper, in whose care the parrot had been entrusted, discovers it in its cage late Saturday afternoon belly up, graveyard dead.
In a panic the housekeepere make the rounds of the DC pet stores looking for a matching parrot to take the place of the one that had assumed room temperture.
Finally at the very last pet store there is a parrot that was a dead ringer, if you will excuse the pun, for the now deceased bird. And as an added bargain the price is dirt cheap, only $50.
The housekeeper tell the pet store owner that she wants to but the parrot, however the pet srore owner is a bit leary.
"Listen lady, he says, I will sell you the parrot but I want you to understand that this parrot used to live in a bordelo. It's hard telling what he'll say"
The housekeeper says thats fine, I don't care and buys the parrot.
It's now Monday morning and the parrot is sitting in his cage in the White House dining room when in walks Chelsa for breakfast. "Awk, too young" says the bird.
Hillary coome in a few minutes later and is greeted by the parrot with..."Awk, too old"
Finally Bill come in and the parrot pipes up. "Hiya Bill!!!"
Ducking and Running now
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Clinton legacy alert!
| November 26, 2005
Where Will Death Lead?
Read:
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In AD 410, the Germanic barbarians known as the Goths sacked the city of Rome. During the invasion, many Christians were put to death in hideous and cruel ways.
In the midst of this tragedy, the great theologian Augustine (354-430) wrote his classic The City of God. His reflections, now nearly 16 centuries old, are still fresh today.
Augustine wrote, "The end of life puts the longest life on a par with the shortest . . . . Death becomes evil only by the retribution which follows it. They, then, who are destined to die need not inquire about what death they are to die, but into what place death will usher them."
For those who trust Jesus Christ, death is not a sheriff dragging us off to court, but a servant ushering us into the presence of a loving Lord. The apostle Paul understood this. He looked at life and death from Christ's perspective. Since he knew where death would take him, he could boldly declare, "Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Every Christian can have that same courage. Because of Christ's death and resurrection, we who place our faith in Him can look at death not as a period but a comma that precedes a glorious eternity with our Lord. —Haddon Robinson
Death is not a period—it's only a comma.
For those who trust Jesus Christ, death is not a sheriff dragging us off to court, but a servant ushering us into the presence of a loving Lord.
OH I LIKE THAT!!!!
That is excellent.
A friend's sister in law died yesterday from her short battle with cancer, She had always attended Church but in her heart didn't accept Christ. When I got the call yesterday that she had died of course my first thoughts were about her salvation.
I got an email from my friend last night, I asked him about just that.
She had accepted the fact that she was going to die as the cancer had eaten her up inside, they expected her to live for another month or so.
With her family around her, she accepted Christ and knew that her death was soon, the family prayed for the Lord to releive her from her pain, she passed knowing where she was going. It came very quickly.
Delta Delta Delta can I help ya' help ya' help ya'.
Hey, I know this solider and his son. The Solider is txradioguy and son.
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