By the Dawn's Early Light

September 11, 2011: we remember...we will never forget.

It was an entire weekend full of memorials for those gone, but not forgotten... and memories for at least one man who was there that day. Terry Revella, a member of the Las Vegas Marine Corps League, and a survivor of that terrible day, was the moving force behind the events here in Vegas. I salute him and all those who helped him make it happen.

8:46 am: the moment the first plane hit the Tower. Today that was the moment for the beginning of the Memorial Parade in New York City. In Las Vegas it was 5:46 am, our Memorial Parade timed to coincide with the one in the city where the terrorists killed without mercy and brought down buildings, but did not even cast a shadow on the spirit of the American people.

Planning ahead for this day, Mr. Ray & I had scoped out the parade route, picked out our parking spot & mapped out how to get there. Silly me... of course all the streets in that area of downtown were blocked off & detour signs ruled in the dark of the morn. However, a quick turn onto Las Vegas Blvd... an opening into a business (which turned out to be the driveway to the Nevada State Bank drive-thru ATMs) & after 'driving thru' we found ourselves in a parking lot which fronted on the parade route & right across the street from the bleachers. How good is that?!?

About half way thru the parade it got noisy behind us. Turned out to be a guy who was marching along and shouting "911 WAS AN INSIDE JOB"...911 WAS AN INSIDE JOB" (he was wearing a matching t-shirt). Then there was shouting even louder than his: "YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT"..."GO STRAIGHT TO HELL".... oh wow... I thought I recognized that voice. It was my beloved, utilizing his right to free speech as well. While I don't happen to agree with the 'conspirator' guy, I recognize that he has a right to his opinion. It simply was not the time or place to disrespect those who perished on that terrible day, or those of us who were there to honor their memory.

I am disappointed in the quality of the still photos I got... even though the flash was working, it mostly lit up the back of the heads of the people in front of me and left the parade in the dark. I did get a lot of video but I won't attempt to include it here (I know my limitations regarding electronic gadgets).

If you are familiar with my blogs, you know how I feel about parades. I love them, large or small. There's just something about the smell of the Harleys & the roar of the crowd... oh, waitaminit... ?is it?... (I always get those two mixed up). This parade was smaller than the 3 hour one last Veteran's Day, but it was well done and made me proud to be there watching & waving & clapping along with my fellow Americans. All together now...

GOD BLESS AMERICA

RV-ing 101

Some years ago there was a camping trip to Three Rivers, CA. This trip involved a mother & father, three children about 10, 8 and 6 and a baby. Also the father's brother and his two children, ages 11 & 13. Ages are approximate here but you get the general idea. It also involved a rented 13 ft. travel trailer, a station wagon & a 2-seater sports car.

Prior to arriving at the campground, there was a flat tire incident which necessitated that the father & his brother breeze off to Bakersfield in the sports car while the mother sat in the station wagon alongside Interstate 5 on the hottest day of the year entertaining the aforementioned FIVE children and a baby.

Now, get this. Here it is... only thirty six years later... and that mother is...going camping again! However, she has learned a thing or two in those 36 years so this trip involved a rented 25 ft. C class recreational vehicle and fewer people, although it was a much l-o-o-o-n-ger trip (2380 miles).

Here is what we learned: in a C class RV, only the driver & the front seat passenger have access to the view through the windshield. All other passengers get the view from the large side window while they are seated at the table on the bench seats in the 'dining room' of said RV. Those bench seats are quite comfy for about 30 miles (of the 2380 mile traveled); after that, they are simply the dreaded bench seats.

We tried to keep track of 'lessons learned' on our adventure. First lesson: do not place your McDonald's large mocha frappe ON the table while traveling (that's what cup holders are for). We cleaned up that spill about half a block from our house. Lesson Two: be sure to close the refrigerator door FIRMLY... that lesson came some 100 feet further down the road from Lesson One. We had to stop (again) to pick up the rice pudding cups which had spilled out of the open refrigerator door. But never mind all that...here we are at one of our three stops at a KOA campground.

Mr. Ray, ready for another day in RV Land

We ate every breakfast at a Cracker Barrel restaurant; and when we fixed our own meals in the RV, we wished we were eating in a Cracker Barrel.

Our first night out, in Holbrook AZ, we discovered that the RV heater didn't work. We knew that because it was 40 degrees outside & we were freezing our tushes.

We also discovered that it is a rule that each and every KOA campground has a furry, friendly cat to make you welcome. (Ginger was tempted to catnap this one... but reason prevailed).

(I don't think that is a real rule).

Campgrounds... I have limited experience here; however, two of them do stand out in my mind. The first would be the aforementioned Three Rivers. I don't remember much about the grounds as I spent most of my time in the 13 ft. trailer, cooking real food (like a fool) for the nine people who were depending on me to feed them. I do remember one evening (it was hot in that trailer) when I had finally finished cleaning up the roast beef dinner I'd prepared, fixed myself a tall glass of iced tea and walked out to the campfire where all of the seasoned campers were gathered. As soon as I got there, and before I sat down, my beloved informed me that "the baby is crying". So I gave him my iced tea (in the face) and went to get the baby.

Some years after that, (I must have blanked out that first experience), we went camping in MEXICO with a bunch of square dancers who all had nice, self-contained "rigs". We were in a Ford van conversion... meaning it had a couch which would lay flat & a small ice box. Of course our friends were more than generous in sharing their facilities... but I still ended up using the campground bathroom. That would be the one with a dozen toilets... none of which would flush, and all of which were full to the brim. And... showers which didn't drain, meaning you had to step into four inches of someone else's recently vacated water if you wished to even come close to bathing.

But enough of fond memories. Now it is June 2011 and here we are on the road to Oklahoma. The KOA campgrounds were very nice with full hookups and their bathrooms were CLEAN and everything worked in there. I know.. I know.. we had our own traveling bathroom but the shower was a tad on the small side. The toilet flushed fine BUT... if you use the toilet, then sooner or later you must DUMP the 'stuff' (another fact of RV life).

But that is what FULL hookups mean; electricity to run the A/C without sucking up all your gas, water aplenty (if you should desire to bathe in a claustrophobically confined space), cable TV and a place to dump your stuff. To accomplish that, all you need to do is put on your rubber gloves, drag out the 4 inch dia. hose (knowing full well what has recently passed through it), sit on the ground and reach up under the RV siding to connect the hose to the outlet valve, etc. etc. I'm really not complaining here... Ginger did all that.

Anyway, in spite of traveling through the smoke of the worst fire in Arizona history, and in spite of constant winds which forced the driver to maintain a death grip on the steering wheel, and in spite of being pulled over by an Arizona Trooper (for no good reason), the RV trip was... OK. And the two days of family reunions in Oklahoma made every minute of it worthwhile... and then some.

A Granny Story

In July 2002 after the Mr. and I had both retired from the work force, we moved from Simi Valley to Bear Valley Springs to "test the waters", so to speak and see if we really wanted to live in a rural environment. We did. So, in 2004 we expanded our rural-ness and bought a house situated on one acre which included a chicken house WITH chickens and a goat named Effie. The animals were a great source of entertainment to us (most of the time), and the grandkids loved to come to "the farm" and help with the chores. I remember Grandson Cody at about age four, introducing himself to the chickens: "Hi, I'm Cody"...
Soon, the animal antics inspired me to write stories for the grandkids; I called them the "GRANNY AND" stories and I will occasionally post some of them... I hope you enjoy.

GRANNY AND THE NANNY (GOAT)
A story for my grandkids

You kids all know that here on the ranch we have 10 chickens and an old goat (two if you count Papa Ray). The chickens go in and out of their house through a little opening with a door that slides up and down to open and close it. At night we must close them in so the varmints won’t come and eat them up… (varmints already did that to 4 of my hens and our beautiful Blackjack the rooster). And then in the morning we must go and open the door so they can run out and scratch and eat worms and other interesting things. And of course, each opening and closing requires that someone go tromping all the way across the barnyard, through rain, snow, mud and other unpleasant things underfoot…

So, one day I was thinking how nice it would be if we had a remote control to open and close that chicken door from the back yard (close to the house)… and I figured out just how we could do it with some rope and a few eyebolts and pulleys. So on Saturday, Papa Ray and I set to work and with Uncle Steven’s help, got everything into place and got the rope all threaded through the holes with the end of it attached to the shed right out in the back yard. And the little door slid up and down just like magic.

Well, about that time, Effie the Nanny Goat saw that rope waving in the breeze. You probably know that Effie just loves to eat… and also loves to scratch her head on just about anything… fences, bungee cords, people’s legs & butts… and ROPE!! Before we could say SCAT… there was Effie up on a rock and gnawing & scratching away like we had put that rope up there just for her!!

So we (well anyway me) had another bright idea. We would put a post in the middle of the barnyard and run the rope through an eyebolt at the top of the post, and that would put it high up out of Effie’s reach. So today, Uncle Steve dug a nice hole for the post got that all set into place. Once again we threaded the rope in all the right eyebolts and pulleys… and then watched as Effie (the goat from H---L) reared up, put her front feet on the post and proceeded to gnaw and scratch her head on the rope. Several times she got so enthusiastic about the scratching she got the rope around her neck and almost choked herself… and I almost let her!!

Well, back to the drawing board, as they say. Steve and Emilie have a really good idea to make an electric chicken door opener and I’m pretty sure we can do it. It will require a small electric motor such as you would get with a Gilbert Erector Set (which are no longer in production, but can be found on E-bay for mere hundreds of dollars)… So that will be our next big project… and if that doesn’t work, we will take care of Effie and you are all invited to the BBQ.

So that’s what’s happening on the ranch… Love, Gram December 19, 2004

Curious Effie

I Love A Parade

I dare to hope... and am reasonably certain that patriotism is alive and well in our country. I know without a doubt that it is alive and RAMPANT in Las Vegas.
Today, November 11, 2010, we watched the full three hours of the Veterans Day parade. I was amazed (and thrilled) at the number of high school Junior ROTC groups that marched... Air Force, Navy, Army and Marine. Just as I was impressed yesterday by the high school students who heard Ray and several other veterans tell the stories of their wars and their military experiences. They were attentive and respectful; some of them came & thanked the speakers and some of them already have plans to go into the military when they graduate.
Most of the 'floats' in today's parade were simply filled with people who were/are in the military or who represented some organization which is connected to our military men and women. Of course, flags were everywhere; when the color guard marched by most people stood... a few did not. (My friend, Jayne, was screaming in my head "go across the street & tell those jackasses to stand up & respect our flag"... but I didn't.. cause I'm chicken).
Las Vegas is full of veterans... and apparently, most of them ride motorcycles... and they were all in the parade. FANTASTIC... there were lots of beautiful machines. We especially liked the three-wheelers. Hm-m-m-m, I think that's something my Raymie and I could do. (Note to children: hope you don't mind... Mom & Dad just spent your inheritance on a BMW three-wheeled motorcycle... see ya later).
The group I loved the best (even though it made me cry) was the Gold Star Families. There were moms and dads, wives, children, brothers and sisters of the fallen. They all wore white shirts, and gold stars. Many carried placards with pictures of their heroes; we must strive to remember not only those who have gone from us, but those who remain and must carry on without a loved one who left too soon.

Yessss... I just love parades... whether it be the 'Pioneer Days' in Watonga, Oklahoma (followed immediately by the bed races) or the biggest Veterans Day parade west of the Mississippi here in Las Vegas. And it is even more special when it includes a patriotic Santa in a pink sequinned suit.

God bless America

Zippity Doooo Dah No. 2

I guess this proves the apple (acorn/walnut/whatever) doesn't fall far from the tree. This is son Steven on his trip down Fremont St. He was just a few seconds ahead of me... there are four ziplines so four brave souls can be floating above the crowd at the same time.

He and I agreed that this was a great adventure! I hope it remains in place so my other kids/grandkids(?) can take that ride.

Zippity Do-o-o Dah!!!

It is I... clinging for dear life and sailing along Fremont St. waaaay above the cheering crowd.
Steven & I finally found the 'launching pad' ...after walking the length of 3 or 4 football fields... and rode the elevator up 5 stories. My first thought, as they were strapping me into the harness was: "why is this harness so small and flimsy"? Second thought: "I knew I should have gone to the restroom first".

Then we climbed the stairs to the launch pad where we were hooked up to this (hopefully very strong) cable, and after a few words of instructions which I couldn't hear because I was in the No. 4 spot... the attendant unclipped me and shoved me off into the wild neon yonder.

As I proceeded down the 800 feet of cable, I began to twist and turn and was uncertain if that was supposed to happen... not that I could do anything about it. So when I arrived at THE END platform, my back was turned & I wondered how I would stop this thing... but not to worry. Trained operators were there to bring me to a screeching halt and, of course, a photographer was there to capture the moment.

THE END

The Monument

When the eagle makes a stand
Upon a distant land
The spirit of the Corps in in his eye,

He lays his anchor down

Upon the troubled ground

And the world knows the words Semper Fi

The Korean Peninsula was under Japanese rule from 1910 to the end of the second world war in 1945. At that time, the victorious allies divided the country at the 38th parallel into North Korea, occupied by Russian troops and South Korea, occupied by U.S. troops. By 1948 the political division had deepened beteen the two Koreas and North Korea established a communist government.

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army invaded South Korea and pushed far into the south before being confronted by U.N. forces which came to the aid of the South Korean Army. These 15,000 men of the Tenth Corps included the 1st Marine Division (Reinforced), two battalions of the U.S. Army's 7th Division and a force of British Royal Marine Commandos. They routed the enemy and advanced north to the Chosin Reservoir, about 30 miles south of the Yalu River, the border between Korea and Red China.

On September 15, 2010, I was privileged to be at Camp Pendleton for the dedication of a monument to the Chosin Few. It was a perfect California day, early morning overcast skies giving way to soft rays of sun, accompanied by gentle ocean breezes.

The U.N. high command had assured the commanders in the field that the Chinese Army forces were not expected to cross the Manchurian border; the men would be home by Christmas. On November 27, 1950, in minus 30 degree temperatures, an estimated 125,000 Chinese communist troops poured over the border, isolated and surrounded the Tenth Corps there on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir.

September 15, 2010: The 1st Marine Division band played; there were prayers, there was a helicopter flyover. We pledged our allegiance, we sang the National Anthem and we listened while GySgt Joel Daniel played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipe.

The U.N. forces were almost overwhelmed by the seemingly unending wave of enemy troops; the situation was so critical the U.N. high command had written these units off as lost. The fighting men however, not knowing all was lost, battled their way through enemy lines and road blocks, aided by air support from Navy, Marine and Air Force planes. From that action came the phrase "Retreat Hell! We're fighting in the other direction". On December 7 they made it to the village of Koto-ri, the entrance to the only road leading down the mountain and then on to the sea.

It must have seemed impossible, given the number of casualties and the conditions which hampered movement and treatment but the Division fought its way to the sea, bringing its dead, wounded and equipment. By December 24 the Tenth Corps was successfully evacuated to South Korea by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force, along with nearly 100,000 North Korean civilian refugees.

September 15, 2010: We heard moving words from General James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps and keynote speaker, Captain Dale Dye, USMC (Ret). The monument was unveiled, the wreath was placed, echo/taps was played and we watched a dozen white doves fly away into the blue sky. We bowed our heads and prayed again.

In this epic battle the 15,000 allies suffered 12,000 casualties including more than 3,000 KIA, 6,000 WIA plus thousands of severe frostbite cases. The enemy sustained more than 45,000 casualties. A total of 17 Medals of Honor, 70 Navy Crosses and many Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded for the campaign, the most for a single battle in U.S. Military history.

"Whatever we were in that frozen long-ago and whatever we are now, we are bound as one for life in an exclusive fraternity of honor. The only way into our ranks is to have paid the dues of duty, sacrifice and valor by being there. The cost of joining, in short, is beyond all earthly wealth."

If you ever knew a combat veteran who came home from his war and would never talk about it, I recommend you see the documentary "The Chosin" by Brian Iglesias. It is available on Amazon.

Much of the information related here is taken from the Chosin Few News Digest and from an article and a song by Frank Gross which appears in the Dedication program. This event was sponsored by the Col. William E. Barber Chapter of the Chosin Few in Orange County.