Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Military

Dispatch from Michael Yon

A war correspondent in a position to know about both the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts, passes on these important concerns about electing an inexperienced ‘dove’ to the White House. In addition to Senator Obama’s liberal positions on the Second Amendment and his connections to terrorists and race-baiting activists, we must not forget how disastrous the international situation can become.

Greetings,

YonThe outcome of the upcoming U.S. elections will have a profound impact on the war. Meanwhile, the day to day fighting continues. If Senator Obama is elected, I expect to spend a great deal of time covering the fighting. Judging by his words, Senator Obama must be watched closely or we might see some terrible decisions. I expect 2009 to be the worst year so far in the Af-Pak war, which has serious potential to eventually become far worse than Iraq ever was. If Senator McCain is elected, I’ll breathe easier in regard to the war.

For a short dispatch, please click, “Are you Connected.”

Very Respectfully,

Michael Yon

26 Oct 2008 by Campaign International Islamic Terrorism Military

Lane Victory

lane-victory.jpgAt the conclusion of our romantic excursion to Catalina Island, we passed the Lane Victory berth which is next door to the Catalina Terminal in San Pedro. We took a day cruise on the Lane, which is a National Historic Landmark; the cruise left San Pedro and steamed across the Catalina Channel and back. Unfortunately, I lost the photographic record when I had a disk crash. We’ll make it a point to take the cruise again so we can get more pictures. Damsel snapped this photo of the superstructure as we passed the Lane. Click for big.

Wikipedia has this historic account of the Lane Victory:

SS Lane Victory is a Second World War Victory ship which is preserved as a museum ship in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, California. As a rare surviving Victory ship, it is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

She was named after Lane College, which was established as a high school for black youths in 1882 by Isaac Lane, a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Jackson, Tennessee. The school grew into a prominent liberal arts college.

The Lane Victory was built by the California Shipbuilding Corporation in Los Angeles, California and launched on May 31, 1945. On her first voyage, June 27, 1945, Lane Victory carried supplies in the Pacific. She was operated by the American President Lines.

In 1950 the Lane Victory was used to evacuate Korean civilians and U.N. personnel at Wonsan, North Korea during the Korean War. The ship also saw duty during the Vietnam War. In 1970, she was placed in the reserve fleet. Because of her excellent condition, the Maritime Administration decided to set aside the Lane Victory for preservation.

09 Oct 2008 by California Military Travel

Independance Day 2008

After I set out 10 little flags lining the walkway to the door today, we spent our day relaxing and barbecuing. The meal was spare ribs, corn on the cob and squash medley. I read an article about the meal being served to many of our troops in Iraq, which, coincidentally, was also ribs and corn on the cob. Instead of squash, they were served a dessert of red, white and blue cake.

flags.jpg

04 Jul 2008 by Food & Dining Military Patriotism

Faux Brass – Redux

In light of General Wesley Clark’s incredible weekend faux pas regarding the war record of Senator McCain, I’m going to re-post an old article from two years ago – Faux Brass:

Faux Brass: a class of former military officers who have shed the honor and pride of their commissions in favor of retreatist and defeatist policies.

In recent times, a few former military officers have rendered negative opinions on the War on Terror which includes ongoing skirmishes in Iraq and the current trouble in Gaza and Southern Lebanon. Now, let’s be clear that most current and former military “brass” support efforts worldwide in the certain-to-be-lengthy War on Terror. The major media, however, fail to show the overwhelming support for the effort among military brass.

Jack Murtha comes to mind as a former military-turned-politician who gets it wrong — redeploy, he says, to Okinawa(?!). Murtha also shamefully convicts our military prior to any charges being made.

It’s the same with John Kerry who offers that he could have done better if he were president — the trouble is, he offers no ideas, but only the same retreat and concede policy that has been his lifelong pursuit. Thank God that America caused him to concede the last election.

Another ex-military general-turned-presidential-candidate-turned-pundit, Wesley Clark, always portrays the administration in the anti-internationalization light. This from a former NATO Commander — not actually a U.S. Military function. Clark will always defer to the “international community” for policy answers.

Murtha, Kerry and Clark fail to put America first. American interests must first be served before worrying how the “international community” views things. After all, has the UN ever succeeded with anything they attempt, other than stealing from children’s programs and Iraqi oil profits? Nope.

These three examples of Faux Brass, Murtha, Kerry and Clark, each remind me of a certain loudmouth cartoon chicken trying to look like an eagle.

30 Jun 2008 by Degenerates Military Politics

Marine Corps Other Toys

red-humveeI know that our men and women in the Armed Services have access to a lot of necessary battlefield equipment. I like to use the term ‘toys’ because, even though they are equipment designed for military purposes, some of them are really neat.

But this ‘toy’ seen here is the real thing – an actual Humvee set up to be used for entertainment purposes, publicity and amusement – literally, a toy.

This Hummer is practical only for being used as a recruiting tool. It hardly has the paint color to be used in any theater of operations, and I’m certain that the awesome high power sound system isn’t going to scare off any enemy.

But it is a beautiful work of military art. You have to envy the guys that get assigned to the care, feeding and operations of this unique military vehicle.

Photographed at Torrance, California, in the static display area after the annual Armed Forces Day Parade. The city hosts the parade every year; this is the 49th consecutive year.

One of our favorite weblogs, Blogs of War posted a great YouTube video of the 2008 Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade.

23 May 2008 by Military Photography

Armed Forces Day

howitzer.jpgArmed Forces Day was yesterday. Our town has a parade and static exhibits every year for the event. There is usually a flyby by a crack F/A-18 flight team. Yesterday was no exception. It always gives us a rush when those magnificent men in their flying machines streak across the sky.

Today, we went to see the static exhibits at a nearby mall parking lot. I got this shot of some soldiers proudly displaying a mobile Howitzer unit. We always enjoy seeing the hardware and talking with the contingent of military personnel on hand. It fills us with American pride to be with these fine men and women.

Click on the image to enlarge.

18 May 2008 by Military Photography

What I’m Reading

This week my signed hard-cover copy of Michael Yon’s “Moment of Truth in Iraq” arrived. Today, I started reading it while enjoying a spring day on our patio.

book

We have been supporting Michael since his first foray into Iraq. We will continue to do so.

From today’s Michael Yon Blog:

momentoftruth31.jpgWe have sold all 5,200 signed copies of my new book Moment of Truth in Iraq, but I am making a special trip very soon to the printer to sign 2,000 more. I apologize for the slight delay in shipping. Once I have signed the additional books they will be shipped immediately.

Also, Amazon.com has been sold out, but a couple of large shipments are on their way, and Amazon will have books again soon. Moment of Truth hit #6 on the Amazon Bestseller List and then went out of stock. Bad timing!

It’s great to be back in America, but I got measured today for new body armor and helmet. Won’t be long until I am back over there.

Have a great weekend.

Michael

19 Apr 2008 by Islamic Terrorism Media Military

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