Memorial Day 2010: The General

Wrote this last night...

The apparition appeared on the hillside out of the mist of the predawn morning. His snow white hair gleamed as bright as the sword hanging from the saddle of his steed. He removed his tri-fold hat and sat with his hands crossed over the saddle horn. He sat there on the hilltop and gazed over the rolling fields below him. As he closed his eyes, he began to hear the cries of his troops freezing in the cold of Valley Forge. The cries then mixed with the sounds of explosions and machine gun fire. The din of Biplanes roaring over the troops battling trench to trench caused the General’s eyes to clench shut and his grip on the saddle horn to increase. The sound of the Japanese Torpedo Bombers was deafening as they released hell on Pearl Harbor. They General then looked upward as if to heaven as the shivers of the troops in the winter of Korea racked his body. The wetness of the jungles of Vietnam where the enemy was seemingly behind each tree caused the General’s steed to shift nervously on it’s haunches. Cries of the men dying in a battle not known to the public in a land where we officially didn’t go forced the General’s hands to his ears as he began to tremble. The roar of an F-15 shook the hillside as the smoke and sandstorms of Iraq and Afghanistan swirled about the General. The General cried out as he opened his eyes. Beneath him, in the predawn light, the fields of Arlington with their simple white crosses began to appear. The General bowed his head and prayed as the breeze snapped the Star and Stripes to life on the pole behind him. He then sat bolt straight upright upon his steed and saluted the fallen below him. He turned and rode back into the misty fog of the Potomac as the city awoke……

T. Scott Sanders

941pm

5/30/2010

The Greatest Generation...

Today I attended a ceremony here in our quaint little burg of Seneca. The ceremony was to honor the veterans here in our town and Oconee County. It was a nice, well attended event and the weather was perfect. There was a soldier currently serving there as well as veterans of the current conflicts, the first Gulf War, and Vietnam. The group that I focused on were those who served in WWII and Korea. Tom Brokaw has included the WWII vets in what he calls "The Greatest Generation". I like to include the Korean vets in this group as well. This Greatest Generation is a quickly shrinking group. Some statistics point to the fact that we are losing close to 1000 of them each day.
My grandaddy, John B. Sanders, was part of this group. To the day of his death, he carried German shrapnel in his side. This left him with only one fully functioning kidney and probably contributed to his passing as he fought an infection in his last days. Grandaddy talked sparingly about the war. I remember sitting outside on the porch with him when I was six or seven during the summer. Back in those days, there was a cargo company or some small regional airline that flew a DC-3 over our house every evening. The DC-3 was the civilian version of the Douglas C-47, one of the main transport planes of early WWII. The C-47 was nicknamed the Gooney Bird because it's wings flexed up and down so much on take off. Grandaddy flew in these and even took the left hand seat a couple of times back in the war. Sitting on the porch each night, he would begin to look up whenever he heard the drone of the Pratt and Whitney engines. We would always find the slow moving bird and were disappointed on nights he didn't fly over. Grandaddy would talk about the P-47's as well. The "Thunderbolts", as they were called, screamed over Grandaddy and the rest of the troops as they fought hedge to hedge in Europe. The P-47 and the Gooney Birds were amazing planes because you could not kill them! Grandaddy told me stories of seeing both planes landing with half a wing shot off or their rudders almost gone.
Grandaddy also talked about Lindbergh and how he and his friends were wowed in 1927 as Lucky Lindy flew solo across the Atlantic. We talked about that alot. That's where I got my love of aviation. Many years later, in 1994, I went to the National Air and Space Museum for the first time. There was "The Spirit of St. Louis" suspended in forever flight. We walked to the second floor of the place and you could all most reach out and touch her. I stood there alone for the longest time, in tears. There was the plane of my hero. Most of all, my grandaddy's hero. I wished he was there with me.
Just like I wished he was there with me tonight. There to receive the thanks from all of us, given to all the veterans, for their sacrifices to keep this the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Hug someone from this Greatest Generation and thank them for building this country. They won't be around forever.
I love you Grandaddy.
SSGT John Benjamin Sanders
USARMY
Purple Heart Recipient
WWII

Kudos to Medics and since when do armed robbers become victims?

Good rainy Monday evening to all. Where to begin...
So I am driving home from work down Hwy 28 when I notice a slight backup ahead just past Parkway Products near Paesanos. It looks as if a car has stalled in the right lane directly in front of Plumb Perfect's shop. As I go around to pass, it looks as if the driver is slumped over the wheel. I watch in my mirror to see traffic almost rear-ending the guy. I turned around in CVS's driveway and flew back up there, pulling down the side street and putting on my flashers. Nobody else has stopped to check and see what is going on. I go to the drivers side and beat on the glass, yelling at the man in the car. He is well dressed, around 40-50, and thankfully still breathing. No response though and the doors are locked. Just then a pickup pulls over in the median and a gentleman jumps out. He is off duty Highway Patrol. I tell him I am getting no response and for him to try while I call 911. After giving the specifics to the dispatcher, we both attempt to awaken the man or at least elicit a response. I head to my truck to get a tire tool so we can pry open the door when a first responder pulls up. He has a small tool and the HP guy busts the back driver side window out. The HP guys also notices the car guy reaches up and cuts the car off. A little suspicious now, we look through a bag in the back seat for a name or perhaps any medical alert items. We find a name and it matches the owners name called back for the tag. Yelling his name now. Still no response.
OMH medics arrive and the initial thought is Diabetic problem. As time wears on, it becomes more and more evident that this may not be the case. As the medics try and get the guy out of the car, the first responder says we should try and stop the passing lane of traffic because he might fight the responders. Sure enough, as soon as they try to get him out to put him on the stretcher, mister man goes UFC on the medics. He squirms, kicks, swings as they try and get him on the stretcher, all this and eyes are still closed and not a sound uttered. The medics see now that the guy is probably either high or just being an ass. They try and tell him if he keeps struggling that he may be tasered. The Deputy nearby confirms if he continues and strikes another, that will be considered an assault and he will be tasered and handcuffed. No response from Sugar Ray as he continues to struggle. Finally, the exasperated medic calls for a Reeves Sleeve. Now this Reeves fellow either designed this apparatus or was the first stubborn SOB to require it. It is like a stretcher board with flaps. Everyone grabs an arm or leg and they get him on this board and over come the flaps, strapping him down like shrink wrap onto the board. While I suppose this is utilized more to keep the severely injured stable and immobile, it works like a charm here, too. Since nobody has a broom on their truck or car, another deputy and I try and clear the glass off the road with our feet. As I leave they are searching the car for drugs and other evidence that might explain why Johnny Dumbass was sitting in the road taking a siesta.
My whole point of this ramble is to give Kudos to the medics, responders, and law enforcement. When these people receive a call, they really have no idea what to expect! I have heard stories that would curl your hair but today I witnessed it first hand!!


Also a round of Kudos goes out the employees of the diner in Gaffney that fought back. After being robbed for the second time in just a week or so, the employees opened fire on the robbers as they left, hitting all three and killing one. The family of the suspect who was killed is demanding "justice" and that the employees should be charged with murder. Solicitor Trey Gowdy is standing firm saying that the employees were well within their rights to defend themselves. Hats off to ya' Trey! To the dead suspect's family, I am sorry for your loss. I am also sorry that your 16 year old son put himself in that position by choosing to be a thug and commit an armed robbery. BUT! If you think that your dead son deserves some sort of justice please remember this, HE put himself in that position. Good student. Great Athlete. Doesn't matter when his Dumb ass decided to hang with some thugs and commit a crime. How did those employees know whether or not the thugs weren't going to return with a bigger gun and mow them down? They defended themselves because their lives were threatened. Again, to the parents of the dead suspect, I am sorry but perhaps you should look inward for that justice and see what you could have done different to have prevented your son from heading down this road.
Peace.

Were we terrorists when we T-P'd a house?

Wondering if somewhere here in the upstate, there's a homeowner/parent that is feeling a bit ridiculous for causing three twelve year old girls to be charged with a FELONY for putting a box with a balloon inside of it in his mailbox. The actual charge is "possession/distribution of a hoax device of destruction." I would bet that one of the little girls is sweet on the man's twelve year old son or said twelve year old was "goin with"(remember that term ol' timers?), broke up with her, and this is what led to this "act of terror."
Know what I think, I think he should consider himself lucky.
Back in our day, the mailbox would have had the hinges blown off with an m-80 in the middle of the night. He could still be cleaning up the toilet paper out of the trees in his front yard. Eggs would continue to be found late into summer in various spots on and around the house.
But no. Little no balls Johnny probably whined a little and when Big no balls Johnny saw what pain this box caused his son, he called the Po-Po. Great job Dad! Now these three little terrorists will get what's coming to them. I would hope the juvenile justice official will see the merit or lack of merit in this case and throw it out, expunging these girls' records. Going to look nice on the college applications if the judge doesn't expunge them.

"Ms., what does this felony charge actually mean?"
"When I was twelve, I put a box with a balloon in it inside a mailbox. Yes Sir, I am a convicted terrorist."

Have we really made it to this point, people? God help them if they lit a bag of dog poop in the door step, rang the bell, and ran. Father would have soiled his slippers. "Oh Buffy. I have had enough! Our lives are in danger. Call the authorities!"

No sir! I bet little Johnny isn't going to catch one bit of hell at school because of what Daddy did. Nope not one bit.

If you believe that and agree with what Big no balls Johnny did, send me your address because myself and a bunch of my sane friends are coming to blow up your mailbox and T-P your house. If they let "Tricycle Bitch" out on bond, we'll bring her and her tricycle with us.