BlackFive

[Bumping up this post today]

[Tissue Alert]

I can't ever thank you all enough for being a part of the spiritual fights we've engaged in here.  We've got another one to fight today...

Soldiers' Angels Germany's MaryAnn let us know about someone you should know:

On April 10, 2011, SGT Jamie Jarboe was shot by a sniper while on patrol in Afghanistan. The round went through his neck, damaging his trachea and fracturing his spine. The Jarboes have been told that Jamie will be a quadriplegic, but the biggest challenges to his recovery have been complications with his damaged trachea and esophagus, as well as infections.

Today, Melissa's posted this entry on their CaringBridge and Facebook pages:

Before Jamie was put on ventilator, I kissed his lips, told him I love him n I'll always be by his side, told him I give empowerment to Our Lord n we will follow his path, Jamie smiled n said yes I give my worries to God n then they sedated him... Jamie may be Septic, he will heavily sedated n kept unconscious so the machines can help him rest... We know God is in control and our life was created for this moment...

I had to ask the doctor if Jamie has sepsis... his answer was 'Yep'.

Both Jamie and Melissa have been incredibly strong for these many months, but they need your support now more than ever.

Put them on your church prayer lists, think postive thoughts about them, offer messages of support and encouragement at their Facebook page or CaringBridge page. 

You all know what to do.

B-roll footage of U.S. Marines with Route Clearance Platoon, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion (2D CEB). They dig up a possible Improvised Explosive Device (IED) using the Buffalo, and then remote detonate the IED. The Buffalo is a tactical support vehicle used in the Route Clearance Platoon, outside of Combat Outpost Shukvani, Afghanistan on August 10, 2011. The Buffalo, which has a 30 foot claw, is used to dig out IED’s found by the platoon. (U.S. Marine Corps motion imagery by Lance Cpl. Zachary P. Ouellette).

 One of the highlights of every Legion convention is the parade.  This year in Minneapolis was no exception! 

We had gorgeous weather- just cloudy enough to keep the bright sun away, and temps in the mid-70's.  Cant ask for much better.  After scouting out a good location along the route (a yearly task) we settled on, what else, an Irish-style pub called The Local.  Outstanding food, great drinks, and prime parade-view location.  What's not to like?

The parade was led by the Minnisota Corvair Club- which was especially fun since my very first car was a 1965 Corvair 140 (all you 'Vair phreaks will know what that means):

On of the highlights we saw was this adorable little girl who would run up and watch the parade- her name was Keira:

She seemed pretty enthusiastic about it all, and got waves from everyone in the parade, too!  Here's the video:

Yours truly marched with the usual gang from China Post #1 (of which Matt, Jimbo and I are all members).  No faces to protect the innocent and prevent the guilty from running:

Here's a few other videos from the parade- from the 'Vairs, to the Legion Ride for Recovery bikes (an AMAZING feat, and I'll have more on them later- its facinating) and one bizarro bike: made from the front end of an old Olds Toronado with a 455 engine in it..

It's been a typical weekend here, except for a couple of very special events- a 'range day' and a parade day.

On Saturday, one of our commenters on here, Old Trooper, invited us down to a friends farm for some re-arranging of the local flora and fauna, using some typical 'hillbilly weaponry' they had collected.  This group, which calls themselves the 'Hillbilly Hunt Club' laid out some of the finest in can-killers you can imagine.  Over on TAH, Jonn has put up a few pics of the event.  Below, I'm going to post a few of the vids I took while we 'practiced'.

I can tell you this, it was well worth the time spent getting there and back.  The farm area was gorgeous (brought back memories of my upbringing) and the hosts were spectacular.  Just amazing people, all of them.  Jonn, TSO and I all agreed it was something we wished we had all weekend to do. 

First up:  describing one of the unusual rounds we fired:

 Next up, after laying out all the hardware, I had them explain what was there to us, and go thru each one individually.  Amazing stuff, all of it:

 Then, the next group of hardware:

Then, a little demo of some firepower- and some rock n' rollin':

Out of all of them, being able to fire some of the old Soviet-era stuff was most fun.  I got to fire the XD-M as well, which is something I've been considering purchasing; my Glock 9-19 is fine, but the XD has a pretty good rep.  I'd also like to pick up a Sig-Sauer similar to ones carried by PSD-types over in the box.  The Mosine-Nagant was an interesting one, as it had a trigger pull longer than my arm and a heck of a kick to it, but you could see how it would be effective.  Also, the PSL was a kicker too- it had a Romanian scope on it that had an excellent view on it, but the scope 'grid' was nearly impossible to decipher- No matter how I fired it, I could not figure out which was the 'reticle' you used to place on your target.  It would take me a little more practice with it to master it.  But loved firing it.

Oh, and that barn you see?  Good thing that was there- it proved that TSO could hit the broadside of one from the OUTSIDE- even if it was just with a manually-thrown clay pidgeon disc. 

Again, thanks to all you guys- we had a blast!

Well, here we are on Day 2 of our visit to the Twin Cities for the Legion Convention.  Last night, we had an opportunity to attend a Twins baseball game.  It was one gorgeous night out, weather-wise.  And given that the team is not exactly 'in contention' for any playoff spot, the attendance was fairly large.  We snagged some tickets and headed into the oxygen-deprived rows at the very top and rear of the stadium.  While we were enjoying the game, fellow blogger TSO found one of his friends in the owners box, adjacent to the stands where we were.  So, you can kinda guess where we actually ended up for most of the game.  Let me just say- owning a major league team gives you some pretty good spifs in your box... the pic above is the view from the rail. 

Today, we are scheduled to do some shootin' and rowdyin' someplace nearby; a fellow compatriot has graciously set up a time at a range nearby- now, we just have to get a way TO the range.  Fellow blogger and logistician Jonn from the TAH team supposedly has this rose pinned on him.  
 
Today, I'm blogging from the Legion.org spot at the convention, where we are meeting Legionnaires and generally making contact with everyone we can.  We are also reviewing the schedule that's coming up- and this week is pretty packed with guests.  From Sen Al Franken, Rep Nancy 'SanFranNan' Pelosi, to President Obama, there is a litany of folks heading in.  LTG Jack Stultz, a GO friend from back in Baghdad and Kuwait, will be addressing, as is Hon Shinseki, who seems to follow us from year to year wherever the convention is located.  Another good speaker scheduled is Adm. Gary Bonelli, DepCdr of Special Warfare Command.  Not sure what, exactly, he'd be allowed to talk about.  Also, and this is Jonn's fave, Teresa Scanlan, our current Miss America, will be here as well.

Ed Morrisey, he of Hot Air fame, is tenatively scheduled to join us on the floor of the Convention Center on Tuesday.  We'll be blogging live the whole week there.

Be sure to follow us on the following sites:

ThisAintHell    
BurnPit
Legion.org

If you have anything we should ask, or try to do while we're here, just let me know in the comments!

   From Minneapolis, Wolf out...

Our pal Bill Ardolino has an extensive piece about helicopter warfare in Afghanistan over at Wired's Danger Room.  Here's a taste:

...When Fleckenstein was out of position for a rocket shot, his “left seater,” Bravo Troop commander Capt. Joshua Simpson, fired his M-4 rifle out of the open side of the aircraft to maintain suppression. As soon as they cleared the target, Lacy swooped in and fired more .50-caliber machine-gun rounds, followed by another two rockets from Fleckenstein.

The flurry of explosions and bullets had the intended effect. First Platoon was no longer taking contact from the two insurgents, and the medevac helicopters had some breathing room to fly in and get the wounded...

Grab a drink and read the whole thing.

Here I am again- joining the American Legion at their national convention, this time from Minneapolis! 

Yeah, you're right- I've not posted up much in some time, and there is a good reason for it, which I'll get into later.  But for now, I'm going to be covering the Convention as in the past with my good friend MOTHAX from the Legion blog- and joining us here this year is Jonn from our buds at the farm team, ThisAintHell (TAH ^(c))  We have some cool stuff set up this year, including some distinguished guests exptected- to include the first visit by our CiC- President Obama.  Given the hurricane prep that's going on, we'll see if he's able to keep his visit schedule.

This year, unlike last, I'm not able to join the Legion Ride going into the convention.  Since I'm working from Tampa, going from Tampa to Indianapolis, then the long ride into Minneapolis, THEN BACK to Tampa, would have been far too much to do all at once.  I'm not going to complain too much tho- word is from the riders is that they had 4 days of rain along the ride.  THAT part I would not mind missing...  But take a look at the link and see what a ride they had!

MOTHAX, Jonn and I will cover stories and events thru the next week.  I'll post videos and pictures, and links to other events as they happen.  During the key event speeches, I'll even live-post (is there such a thing?  As opposed to live-blogging) directly from the floor.  We have a lot to cover.  B5 has graciously added a heading where you can find posts related to the Legion over in the sidebar- so be sure to stop by often.

Let us know if any of you are in Minny. We'll be here all week...

Wolf

ps...oh, and for the post below- I'm 75% crazy, so B5 isn't quoting me...yet

(After everyone is assembled at 1000 for the POTUS speech, and t-shirts handed out, the POTUS arrives at 11:38)

 

Let me perfectly clear... there are those who would say that the economy is all my fault.  There are those who would say high unemployment is all my fault.  There are some who would even say "Obamacare" is all my fault.  I want to be perfectly clear here: all of these things were the fault of the previous administration.  When I took office, I was burdened with an almost nine trillion dollar defecit.  In only two short years, I have overseen an almost 40% in federal spending, which provides shovel-ready jobs and programs to help those who are unemployed and under-employed to realize their dreams and potential.  I have lobbied through the halls of congress to get taxes increased on the wealthiest of Americans, those who already pay taxes on the hundred thousand dollars a year they make, or more, to make them pay their fair share of the burden, because there are 52% of americans who don't make enough money to pay any taxes.  Those who can, should give according to their ability, to provide each american according to their needs.

 

These corporate fat cats, who fly around in their private jets, eat only the finest foods, throw lavish and extravigant perties for themselves, and can afford to spend tens and even hundreds of thousands on multiple vacations--these people need to spend that money instead on providing for the less fortunate among us. 

 

You veterans and I share many things--we are proud of our country--as a matter of fact, even my wife is now proud of our country.  We are proud of our service--your service in uniform, and my service making the gutsy calls to go risk your lives defending our nation, and Libya.  We are proud to share a love of recreational sports.  We share our beliefs that green jobs are key to securing our nation's independence.  We are willing to risk everything--and by everything, I mean the future of our country, on our beliefs. 

 

Finally, I'd like to give a special shout out to my homies in the IRS who will be auditing all of you, to find out where you got the income to take time off from work to attend this conference, and for those of you who are retired and living on a military pension, to examine how much you've spent on this trip that could be further reduced from all military pensions. 

 

I'd love to take your questions and spend time talking with our greatest national treasure, but I have a tee time at 11:45.

This is why grunts love medics...

Thanks to Jeffrey Schogol (the Rumor Doctor) for sending these great links. Laura Rauch at the Stars & Stripes has two MUST READ articles on our medics:

Calm in the midst of chaos...http://www.stripes.com/1.153257

Cool-headed medic...http://www.stripes.com/1.153269

Gina Cavallaro of the Military Times news org uncovers a (in our minds) rather unfair order...for the Marines:

...So here’s the news:  audible farting has been banned for some Marines downrange because it offends the Afghans.

I know there are many things in the Afghan culture that don’t seem normal to Americans and it’s hard to spend seven months working in someone else’s back yard.  Still, the Marines I saw downrange are doing a pretty good job at trying to do the right thing around the Afghans.

They’re not supposed to cuss because it could be misunderstood (that one goes out the window a lot).
<...>
But farting?  That’s practically a sport...

Read the whole blog post here.

Remember Marines, remain Silent Butt Deadly!