GoPro Video

From my Patriot Guard mission to Cape Cod on Tuesday September 9th. I recorded every minute of the ride out and back. I only saved a couple of videos. The first one is the ride to and over the Bourne Bridge ending at Cape Cod Harley Davidson. The second one is the PGR ride from Cape Cod Harley Davidson to the National Cemetery in Bourne, MA. 

Both videos have been cropped at either the beginning or end to only show the best parts.

 

 

The cemetery is actually part of the National Cemetery system like Arlington and is very beautiful. It is located on the unsecured portion of Joint Base Cape Cod (formerly known as Otis AFB and Camp Edwards). That place is kinda special to me for a couple of reasons. I was at Camp Edwards a couple of times on maneuvers with my Army Reserve unit in the early 1980's. My dearly departed neighbor and "Pepere'" Andy Darico that served in WWII was stationed there in 1941 at age 26 when he was already in the Army. He was home for the weekend enjoying Sunday dinner with his family on December 7th when the phone rang. It was his buddy that drove home with him, telling him they had to return to Camp Edwards immediately because there was an attack on Pearl Harbor. Andy did not see his family again for 5 years. While his obituary lists his service battling Rommel in North Africa, he then landed in his family homeland of Italy to chase the Nazi's out of there and then in Germany until the end of the war. Below is a photo of him from 4/21/2002 with the last new car he bought, his 1951 Ford Victoria. He is still missed and spoken about by those who knew him.

 

 

GoPro All Set and Tested

Tomorrow is the inaugural ride to test the camera while riding to see how steady it is and make sure I have it aimed properly. Probably go out for an hour or so. All this effort is because of my close call last Tuesday the 2nd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a windshield clamp mounted down low so it shouldn't get a lot of vibration, doesn't interfere with driving or controls, and is mostly out of my field of view. I did not want to use the stick on mounts and wreck the paint. It took an assortment of mounting arms and a 360 degree ball swivel to get it aimed and level. In the trunk are two spare batteries, the charger, necessary cables, and the waterproof back cover in case of foul weather. The standard back cover captures sound better, whereas the waterproof cover muffles it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gray disk on the inside of the windshield is a GoPro tether so in the event something lets go, I don't lose my camera and mount. I also shot a test video walking though the house to make sure I can play them back on my laptop OK. Works great. I have a USB connected adapter for all different size media cards and that worked fine too. The GoPro has a 64GB micro SD card for storage.

Once a year I make the trek out to Cape Cod with the MA Patriot Guard to perform a funeral flag line at the National Cemetery in Bourne, and that will be later this week. The GoPro will be used all the way out and all the way back. We meet at Cape Cod Harley Davidson which is a short ride to the cemetery. It takes me the better part of two hours to get to the Bourne Bridge but on a weekday traffic is non-existent. I head to Providence and jump on I-195 east through Fall River and New Bedford to I-495/RT. 25 to RT. 28. There are no graveside services, they all take place in chapels and are strictly scheduled so there is no dilly-dallying around a grave. The deceased are interred after the family leaves.

I don't plan on saving videos of all my rides. But if something bad happens I will have video. If there are items of interest I may edit them out into a smaller video or save some still pictures.

Patriot Guard Mission - By The Numbers

I did a Patriot Guard mission today at the CT Veterans Cemetery in Middletown. The weather was spectacular... bright sun, cool temperatures, and a light breeze. I rode down on "The Beast" and most of the others rode bikes as well except for a couple of much older guys. I composed this blog post in my head while standing the flag line as the family and mourners arrived.

12 CT Patriot Guard Riders stood in honor of the deceased, US Navy Chaplain Rev. Charles Clark who served in Vietnam.

1 of those twelve was the 12 year old granddaughter of a PGR member that performed her first mission. She did well and received her customary PGR "Mission Accomplished" pin when you do your first one. You can get them for milestones 10-20-30-40-50, etc. The "Mission Accomplished" pin is the only one I wear on my leather vest.

2 US Naval Officers in brilliant dress whites rendered honors with the folding of the flag.

5' x 9' Is the standard size of a casket flag, which is never meant to be flown, only draped over a casket.

13 The number of folds required to put the flag into the triangle for presentation. The flag is folded from the striped end towards the stars. The presented flag when folded is all blue with white stars. Each one of the folds has a meaning which can be found here.

3 The number of riflemen in today's rifle salute detail 

3 The number of volleys fired

24 The number of notes in a standard blowing of Taps. Double that when there are two buglers and one follows the other in a haunting echo from a distance away out of sight.

9 was the number of fired shells from the rifle volleys.

3 was the number of shells recovered and placed in a small velvet bag for presentation to the same family member that receives the flag, AFTER the flag is presented. 

ONE -- the number of military personnel that makes the flag presentation to the spouse, eldest child, or surviving relative of the deceased. I received my father's folded flag since my mother predeceased him and I am the oldest. Sometimes I am within earshot. I could not hear the naval officer today, but this is what he said:

"On behalf of The President of The United States, The United States Navy, and a grateful Nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service."

 

After the service, I mounted up and headed homeward. The weather called for possible showers early this afternoon so I did not want to get caught in one. I wanted to stop at BJ's in Manchester for gas and I could grab lunch at Baja Fresh Grill in the same shopping center. This also took me right near wifey's work place, so I stopped in to see if she would meet me there for lunch. Alas, she had a noon time class she was leading so I went solo. I made it home dry and sure enough while at home a heavy shower lasting a full two minutes came by. Later this afternoon I will do some yard work.

Declined, Not Denied

I received an email a little while ago from the CMP regarding my application to purchase a U.S. surplus 1911. I filed this application last year for the current round of pistol sales, but the more I thought about it, I really just wanted a 1911 to shoot. I have an early 1980's vintage Colt MKIV Series 70 that I have customized with many upgrades for shooting bowling pins. It is not set up for personal defense or casual shooting and has a shiny blued finish. The CMP pistols are pretty expensive for what they are, and that is strictly a case of supply and demand. They are allowing individuals to buy up to four now. There are four grades of pistols for sale and you get to choose the grade from what is available, but not the actual pistol. From the CMP website:

Service Grade $1300. Pistol may exhibit minor pitting and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips are complete with no cracks. Pistol is in issuable condition. Pistols may contain commercial parts.

Field Grade $1200. Pistol may exhibit minor rust, pitting, and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips are complete with no cracks. Pistol is in issuable condition. Pistols may contain commercial parts.

SOLD OUT – Range Grade – $1150. These are 1911 pistols for those that want a part of history and a shooter, not a collectable. These are 1911s that have been modified in some way, and may have some commercial parts.  No two (2) pistols are alike, the modifications / parts could be any of the following: Night Sights, extended Beaver Tail, Rubber Grips, Barrels, Oversized Slide Release, Target Triggers, Adjustable Rear Sights, Tactical Match Hammer, Competition Grip Safety, Sight Rib, Slides, Checkered Front Strap, Ambidextrous Safety, Different Finishes. Some of the manufactures of these parts are: Bar-Sto, Wilson, Ed Brown, Pachmayer, Hogue, Caspian and Bomar. 

Rack Grade $1100. Pistol will exhibit rust, pitting, and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips may be incomplete and exhibit cracks. Pistol requires minor work to return to issuable condition but is functional. Pistols may contain commercial parts.

 

When I initially filed my application, I was planning on requesting a "Service Grade" pistol. After all, if I were to spend $1100 on a junk 1911, I'll spend $200 more for the best I can get. There were a couple of updates regarding the rate of order processing and it was going slow. Initially my application was supposed to come up late April/early May. Then that got changed to July. Well here it is the 7th and I got my email stating my order is in process. Here was my brief response:

"I am going to pass on purchasing one of these 1911's. I cannot justify the cost for a gun I just wanted to shoot. Instead, back in February I purchased a Tisas CMP 1911 which fills my needs perfectly."

That's right. Long after I filed my application, the CMP offered up these Tisas CMP 1911A1 pistols for $499.99. This is how they come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A close up of the special CMP markings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The guns are Cerakoted instead of parkerized, and I replaced the walnut grips with the plastic ones I seem to remember the ones in my unit having. They are stamped "United States Property" and "M1911 A1 US Army CMP". I have only had it out for one range outing and was having issues with the gun going fully into battery using my reloads. I could force it into battery with a rap from the heel of my hand, but it did this once with each mag of ammo. It definitely is not a spring issue because it is quite stiff. I have not gotten back to it yet, but I believe I need to tweak the extractor because that what it feels like, but may also try a box of commercial hardball ammo. Accuracy at 25 yards was what I expected since I fired it from a rest first and I should improve my marksmanship with updated eye glasses.

Brought Back Memories

Yesterday morning I did a Patriot Guard mission at the CT Air National Guard base in East Granby. It was a send off for the 103rd Airlift Wing on a deployment. The PGR was there to stand a flag line. There were about a dozen of us and although there was media present, none of the local outlets have posted a story. Here is a link to the media advisory from the 103d and below is an excerpt about their mission:

The Guardsmen will provide logistical, mechanical, and mission support to forces deployed within various global combatant commands supporting of Operations Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve, and Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa.

They regularly fly their C-130s over my house at low altitude every couple of days heading east out towards Cape Cod and I assume Otis AFB. Later the same day they fly heading west back to Bradley. Occasionally they'll fly contour at maybe 500 feet. Some people in town are frightened or annoyed by it and complain, but I think it is way cool! In fact, so many military aircraft fly over my house I believe my house is a navigation waypoint. In addition to the C-130's, I get pairs of F-15's, UH-60 Blackhawks, CH-47 Chonooks, and the occasional C-5 Galaxy, OV-22 Osprey, or CH-53 Sea Stallion directly overhead. Sometimes it's like my own private airshow. 

I had to work until my FD shift ended at 06:00. I thankfully got out on time, went home to clean my chicken coop, shower and change clothes, grabbed a breakfast sandwich and coffee, and made the less than 1 hour ride to the air base. I did not ride "The Beast" because my driveway went from a frozen glacier to a mud hole suitable for 4x4 races. At this point it will be weeks before "The Beast" comes out of hibernation.

The ceremony was held inside a closed pristine hangar on the base. That required me to give my drivers license info to the PGR State Captain to be forwarded to base security for a background check. Last time I did one of these we had to park outside and walk in, but this time we drove on base and parked in the hangar lot. This also required me to be totally unarmed, because we were actually going on base and would be subject to search at any time. I had to choose between doing this mission unarmed, not doing the mission at all, or taking a chance. I chose to do the mission and not take the chance so as not to reflect badly on the PGR by potentially getting arrested with a firearm, therefore honoring those that deserve my presence. I made sure I went straight there and straight home so as not to regret my decision to be unarmed.

Driving on base brought me back to my days in the military many years before 9/11. Back then, all I had was a DoD decal on the left side top of my front bumper. If the sticker was not expired and I was in uniform, I just slowed down enough for the SP to see it and waved through. If I was in civvies, I would have to stop and hand the SP my ID. If your sticker was expired, you would have to produce your ID and then report to the base security station to get a new decal. On weekends when we Reservists were there, there was a back gate with one SP manning it we could go in and out of. It was even pretty easy for civilian visitors to go in with a brief check at the gate or an escort. There were no physical barriers other than the chain link fence gate that was always open. No zig-zag roads, pop-up barriers, or other post 9/11 modern base security measures. Yesterday, they held us in a special lane until everyone was there. The State Captain verified the list with the SP and we were let in. There were plenty of SP personnel to guide us to the parking area. The ANG personnel in the parking lot was disappointed none of us rode in on motorcycles. They were hoping for a "Rolling Thunder" optic of our arrival. Sorry, not this time of year. We grabbed our flags and headed in to the hangar.

You could truly eat off the floor in that hangar. There were two portable bleacher units brought in for spectators set up at a 45 degree angle to the stage and chairs in front of the one on the right for brass and dignitaries. The open area in front of the stage were for the formation of those being deployed. There was a 4 piece military brass ensemble playing Sousa march and patriotic tunes. We all hit the restroom, assembled our flags, and lined up to the right of the stage. After we lined up, many National Guard brass and dignitaries went down the line to shake our hands and thank us for being there. The first one through as usual was someone I have met a few times before, Major General Francis Evon. He is the Commanding Officer of the entire CT National Guard, a soldier's soldier and a real down to earth guy, starting his military career as an enlisted man. Then several other ANG officers came through. The local state representative came through the line. Then.... I had to suck it up and do my duty to the PGR, because here came US Senator Richard "Da Nang Dickie" Blumenthal; Mr. Stolen Valor himself. If I had been there on my own, I would have waited until he approached me and turned my back on him. But since I was there with the PGR, I did not want to mar the reputation of the PGR. I shook his hand and when he thanked me for being there, I just gave him the stock PGR response of "It's our honor." I don't know of any health problems he may have, but he seems to have become a shrunken little man. He reminds me of a toddler, whose head is too big for his body.

While we waited lined up and looking good, they called for formation. I chuckled to myself, remembering have to assemble for my own daily morning formation in the drill hall so many years ago. It was usually called by SSG Ed Demetrion, but when he wasn't there it was up to SFC Gomez. That was always fucking hilarious. SFC Gomez was a naturalized US citizen from Colombia and he had a heavy Spanish accent and he was also quite the comedian. He would walk down the hall of the Reserve Center repeatedly yelling, "OK, OK, for-may-shon in de drill hall! Le's go, Le's go! Get een for-may-shon!! NO ES-MOH-KINK!" He knew damn well how funny he sounded to us young gringos, and it was even more funny while he tried to emulate a tough Drill Sargent to get us lined up and squared away.

It has been quite a while since I have been around that many active duty personnel. Some of those females, young and older, both enlisted and officers were quite fetching. We used to call them "Split Tails." Of course since this was the Air National Guard, it is the Air Force, and to me always seemed to attract more females than the other branches.

The ceremony only lasted about a half hour. They posted the colors and the brass ensemble struck up The National Anthem. A military Chaplain did an invocation. There were several speeches, and first up was General Evon. After him was the unit Commander. Then the politicians.... blah, blah, blah. Luckily with my poor hearing, the loudspeakers facing away, and the poor acoustics of the hangar, they all sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. I did catch Da Nang Dickie complaining of defense budget cuts, spinning the waste, fraud, and abuse DOGE has been eliminating into political gibberish and propaganda. Fuck that piece of shit, gaslighting the young skulls full of mush in the process of being deployed. They then held a promotion ceremony for a few airmen, as well as service awards for others. The Chaplain went back on stage to deliver a benediction and the ceremony was over. The troops were dismissed and the PGR was called to stand down. We disassembled our flags and walked out single file to the lot. The ride home was uneventful and I continued with my weekend chores and errands.

Later in the day, my wife and I went out for dinner at a restaurant we haven't eaten at in over 20 years. The Traveler Restaurant off I-84 in Union, famous for their roasted turkey dinner and a free book with dinner. That's right, a full free library as well as some books, puzzles, games, and greeting cards for sale. The last time I remember eating there was on the way back from Maine when we would go to the State Fair in Skowhegan back in the 1990's. I wasn't going to take a book because I am behind in my reading already, until my wife showed me this:

I bought it for $4.50 to keep at the firehouse. A non-woke children's book from 2010 with large print and cool illustrations where the "kids" are different little animals. A couple of pages were ripped but I taped them as good as new. Sometimes little kids come to the firehouse to visit, but when they get there they are shy and want to hide behind their parents. My plan is to read to the younger ones when they visit to "break the ice." By the way, we both had the turkey dinner with a large side of green beans to share, washed down with a glass of lemonade. The dinner was delicious and filling, perfect for a cold late winter night. Pretty reasonably priced as well and Glypto recommended if you're passing through the area at dinner time.

Don't Do It, Please! Get Help

I deal with EMS suicidal psych eval calls quite a bit, and until recently, those were the only people that ever heard my story. I use it as a mechanism to get them to trust that I truly understand where they are coming from. I finally told my story to a trusted co-worker the other day after yet another suicidal individual went in the ambulance, and decided since my true identity isn't known to post it here. Maybe it could help someone. I have never told my wife or anyone else close to me. It's just embarrassing.

Forty years ago, I attempted to throw away God's Greatest Gift for being in a situation that I thought there was no way out of. Lucky for me, I was not successful. Hell, I was not even injured, and it was the circumstances of that attempt that made me never contemplate such a foolish and selfish thing again. Funny thing was, I had been a gun owner for years and that method never crossed my mind prior to how it really happened.

Without the details, I thought it was a real bad situation with no good way out of. I was still in the Army Reserves, had a good paying civilian job, and my wife was six months pregnant. This day was a few weeks after the "situation" and I was in a deep depression over it. I was working for Northern Telecom normally assigned to CT Bank & Trust, but there was a large project going on at Aetna so they were pulling guys in off other sites for a two week stint to help out. They were renovating the upper floors of City Place in Hartford for new offices. I was was putting new phone jacks on cables that were being re-used and was working all alone on the 34th floor. I did not have a radio to listen to so I was alone on this large quiet office floor with my thoughts. I started thinking about where I was, and wondered what if I were to take the one-way high speed trip to the sidewalk? I kept thinking about it, then dwelling on it, and all the time not thinking about my pregnant wife or other blessings. Just trying to make the depression and thoughts of the situation go away permanently. ENOUGH! I'm gonna do it.... RIGHT NOW!

I looked out the windows to see which side of the building was best. I did not want to land on the roof of an adjacent building so I chose the Haynes Street side of the building which would give me a clear shot 34 floors down to the sudden stop on pavement. The plan was to take out the window with a heavy object and follow it out. I grabbed a large office chair on wheels and heaved it at the window.

It turns out, high-rise office windows are tempered glass, not plate glass. Tempered glass doesn't break with large blunt force unless it is truly overwhelming, it needs concentrated force like a spring punch or a bullet to craze it into little squares like a car window. The chair simply bounced off the window, landed on its wheels, and spun around a few times. It was like it was laughing at me for being so stupid. I sat down on the floor, alternately laughing and crying for the next hour and took it as a sign from God Himself to never do such a foolish thing again.

I was still depressed but no longer suicidal. I decided to tough it out and take it like a man. I wanted to meet my new daughter, be with my wife, and continue to live.

Well, it turned out to be a big nothing burger after all that was resolved without much fuss. I have since been in a couple of similarly bad situations, but taking the permanent solution NEVER entered into the equation. But prayer did and based on these situations, the only reason they eventually worked out or became nothing I can only attribute to God hearing and answering my prayers. Chose to believe or not, but I do.

J6 Was NOT An Insurrection

It was an understandably angry but mostly peaceful protest that had elements of violence and rioting. But the majority of people at The Capitol on January 6, 2021 were simply on the grounds, walking around, peacefully protesting, and being let in to areas of The Capitol by the USCP. NO USCP personnel were killed (even though the propaganda media still insists 1-4 were depending on the outlet), however the same cannot be said for an unarmed woman named Ashli Babbit.

Had January 6th been a REAL insurrection, every tree and lamppost would have been decorated with the mortal remains of tyrants and their minions.

In 13 days, the J6 political prisoners will be pardoned and released. Cope and seethe.

With that, I say that January 6th should be viewed as a warning to those that cheat in elections or otherwise undermine The U.S. Constitution and plan to do so in the future. If J6 horrifies you, imagine what American Patriots could REALLY Do if we were so inclined. You have been warned!

 

What prompted me to write this was wanting to comment on this post by Roberta X over at The Adventures of Roberta X, but after reading her comment rules I did not hold out much hope that my comment would see the light of day. Therefore, I will respond here where I control the content. She says J6 was an ugly day with more ugly days ahead. I say that all depends on Libturds and Commies behaving themselves and not starting something WE PATRIOTS WILL FINISH.

Indoor Training & Dry Fire

I spent some time the other day wearing and testing out my tactical gear indoors at home. With the terrorist attacks of New Years Day and the second Trump Inauguration coming soon, I thought it a good idea. As an old guy that served in the military from 1981-1987, I am most familiar with LBE web gear and a steel pot so that is what I have. It is currently set up for my G-17 in a GI holster on the right, two spare pistol mags at 6 o' clock, a small arms pouch at 1 o' clock, and a 3-mag pouch for my PCC-9 at 11 o' clock. My canteen sits at 7:30, the Ka-Bar at 9 o' clock. On the suspenders on one side is my lensatic compass, and the other has first aid dressings. The mag pouch for the PCC-9 and small arms pouch can be swapped out for 2 GI 3x30 round mag pouches for use in one of my other non-specified rifles I may or may not possess. The small arms pouch could be repurposed as a full IFAK with items from my FD EMT bag. I am to old to go looking for a fight or to willingly engage in CQB. I am more about defending my homestead or if I get caught in the shit while out and about.

So I made a couple of minor adjustments to the gear, specifically to my Ka-Bar sheath. I have a length of paracord at the bottom to keep it from flopping away from my leg. Because I permanently moved it to the left side the paracord was now too long in the front to tie on the front of my leg, so it was adjusted to my liking. I also decided to try and figure out a sling arrangement for the PCC-9. I have some items coming Monday.

A pair of Magpul MAG540 QD quick disconnect sling swivels from eBay

From MidwayUSA:

A Magpul M-LOK QD Sling Mount Aluminum Black

Catalyst Arms Hardpoint Length of Pull Spacer Ruger PC Carbine Aluminum Black

Blue Force Gear Vickers Combat Applications Rifle Sling Nylon Black

Midwest Industries Bolt Handle Ruger PC9 Steel Matte

I watched a video about a sling arrangement that I liked for the PCC-9. The spacer is metal instead of the factory plastic and has the QD holes in it on both sides.The Blue Force Gear sling has a pull tab to loosen or tighten the sling with one hand. The M-LOK sling mount will give me the front mount on the M-LOK hand guard. And the extended bolt handle came from reload practice and carrying with the sling. I had the bolt handle on the left side of the rifle even though I am right handed. It made for fast one hand/left hand reloads, but with the new sling carrying across my body, that bolt handle would dig right into my chest. So I moved it back to the right side and practiced doing some AK style reloads. Doing that I found the standard bolt handle to be lacking. The new one will be slightly longer and knurled. I practiced several evolutions of reloads with the mags loaded with Snap Caps. I did really well with the AK style of bolt operation, but felt like a fucking Commie doing it. 😆

Next I moved to the G-17 for some reload practice with the mags at 6 o' clock. I also did some needed dry fire practice and now that I loaded a quantity of 9mm, will get to range when the temps moderate a bit. I will have my entire ensemble with me to practice with live ammo. As usual, it will be on a weekday and I will have the place to myself.

"Why Do You Think You Need To....

....carry a firearm all the time?" I am asked by certain people I know. My answer is always the same. "We live in a stupid clown world, and the stupid can find you ANYWHERE!" This is once again obviously true in Gun-Free Death Zones, where I will carry regardless unless having to pass through a metal detector (then I switch to an undetectable polycarbonate blade). Yes, even at schools and school activities. Amazingly, no one has ever been injured even though a firearm was present.

There was yet another school shooting, this time at a Christian private school in Wisconsin earlier today. This incident will be memory-holed soon since the shooter used a handgun which doesn't fit the narrative unless it was a 3D "ghost gun" (which only exists as a pro gun control construct).

Rest assured, none of my "ghost guns" have ever misbehaved while in my possession. Although I cannot guarantee certain military surplus arms I own (REAL weapons of war) have not taken lives in the distant past.

Good Riddance

As I traversed my living room a few moments ago, my wife had the idiotic CBS Sunday Morning Show on (which I used to like back in the days before it became LIBTURD propaganda*), and they were doing a puff piece on this clown...

 

The ultimate COVIDIOT/DEI useless fat-black hire

Outgoing SECDEF Lloyd Austin is yet another "check the box" appointment as the first black SECDEF. Nothing else in his military career is so outstanding to be awarded such a prestigious and important appointment. I had never heard of him before, but he is certainly infamous now for his PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY of the cluster-fuck withdrawal from "The Rock Pile" and the unnecessary deaths of these fine individuals.

Click it to big it

 

 

I am so looking forward to the confirmation of Pete Hegseth.

 

* LIBTURD Propaganda: The show used to be about Americana and just interesting stories. Remember Charles Kurault traveling the nation in his RV to meet every day people for the show? Now it is all Hollywood, Broadway, Pop Stars, Demon-Crap politics/politicians, and the obligatory GLOBO-HOMO promotion story.

Hee Hee!

 

 

Yes, I engage in it muchly now ever since the whole Chi-Com Flu plandemic.

First; for the past couple of weeks, all we've heard about on the local news here in Kommiecticut is the Thanksgiving Day Manchester Road Race. Today, it is absolutely miserable outside, cold in the 40's and rainy. Of course, the hard core running morons think this is perfect weather to run in. I call bullshit. Only the insane think this is perfect weather to do anything outside. Plus the fact that I have ALWAYS hated distance running, including every second of the daily two mile run while in the Army. Twelve thousand fools signed up to race today, I wonder how many may have looked out the window and said, "Yeah, fuck this!"

Second; I love a good parade and have participated in many. Marching bands, military units, fire departments, civic organizations, sports teams, etc make for an excellent parade. Passing by a reviewing stand to be judged for trophies is always fun too.

That said, that piece of shit being shown on NBC right now IS NOT A PARADE. It is a line up on 5th Avenue of musical, Broadway, Hollywood acts, and apparently Globo-Homo displays. In place of a reviewing stand, it is the main stage. I refuse to watch any of it. My wife on the other hand loves it, so it is on in the living room right now. As I walked through a few minutes ago to get some batteries out of the basement, there was some kind of drag act going on which as soon as I saw it turned away from such garbage. Tell me again how pretending to be a woman surrounded by dancing flamers all dressed in purple is some kind of valued talent?

If I have to go down again I will cut through the dining room instead. I have had NewsMax on my phone with a pair of noise cancelling headphones all morning so I don't have to hear any of it either.

Tears of Sadness, Tears of Joy

Yes, I shed a few of both at a Patriot Guard mission this morning for a veteran with no family to claim his remains. Sadness because this poor soul had no one on the entire planet that came forward to collect his remains. Joy because of the incredible honor it was to stand a graveside flag line with my brothers and sisters of the Patriot Guard in his honor in place of family. From the mission notice:

"Patriot Guard and Associates;

Sadly, we have been requested to stand a Flag Line for Mark White, US Navy and who is unfortunately, an unclaimed Veteran with no family.

We do not have any further information on this Hero but we do know there is no family and students from Xavier High School will serve as pallbearers."

Xavier High School is an all boys Catholic institution. Six smartly dressed students in school uniform jackets and ties were there with a male advisor.

Little is known about Mark's service. His DD214 is blank except his E-3 pay grade. A theory was raised that he may have died during basic, but no one really knows.

I showed up in time for the 9:15 staging in the CT State Veterans Cemetery with over 20 fellow P.G.R. members. The Navy Honor Guard and state military rifle team arrived next. The boys from Xavier arrived as well as 10 people from the general public that heard about this burial. We assembled our flag line near the freshly opened grave and were in place when the hearse arrived. There was no clergy to perform religious services. The military rendered honors and the folded flag was presented to one of our P.G.R. members, who then laid it on top of the casket. The funeral director closed out the ceremonies with a very nice prepared speech, and individually thanked the different groups in attendance. The entire proceedings took 18 minutes.

That worked out well for me, because there was a P.G.R. mission in MA with staging at 12:30. I would have time to run home and let the dogs out before heading to Agawam. I arrived early giving me time to down a snack and a good drink of cold water. I always carry ice cold water on my bike in one of these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a Swiss Army cargo strap attached to the inside of the bike's trunk to keep it upright and out of the way. The water stays cold all day long.

The service was scheduled for 2 PM and we were done before 2:30. I made the rounds visiting the 5 family graves that includes my parents and headed towards home and lunch. My usual lunch spot in that area is Chick-Fil-A and I got to try the new Honey Pimento chicken sandwich. I recommend the spicy version. SO GOOD! The rest of the ride home included a gas fill up and was uneventful.

The Wall That Heals

It is a 3/4 scale replica of the actual Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. that travels around the country. This stop in Manchester was put together by the Manchester Elks Club. Unfortunately, Goolag or Blogger or YouTube is being stupid and won't let me embed the video I wanted to place here, so I have a link to it instead.

The Wall That Heals - Visitor Experience

On Tuesday the 17th, I was part of the very large motorcycle escort from the staging area at the defunct Enfield Square Mall, to the wall's destination at Charter Oak Park in Manchester. This first photo is from the middle of the motorcycle group on I-91 southbound by exit 45. You can't see the truck hauling the wall far ahead in the distance. Me and the two guys I rode with are ahead in the group somewhere. There were lots more bikes behind the photographer. CT State Police closed the highway so everyone could get on, and then ran blocking for us for lane changes and interchanges. The ride went I-91S, to I-291E, to I-384E, and then we got off at the Main Street Manchester exit. We got a little jammed up getting on I-384 due to crossing traffic, but everyone made it through safely.

This part of the event was meant to also act as a homecoming parade for the Vietnam vets. Main Street in Manchester was full of people and there were tons of school children from the local schools cheering and waving flags. Someone shot this video of the parade and posted it on the town's Fakebook page. I lifted this picture of yours truly rolling by on The Beast from about the 1:45 mark.

We rode all the way up Main Street to the intersection of East Center Street, turned right on East Center, and then right again onto Spruce Street riding all the way south back down to Charter Oak Road. That put us directly across from the entrance to the park and our final destination. When everyone parked and dismounted, we gathered by the truck for a group photo and thank yous from the organizers and town officials. Afterwards, everyone mounted up and rode a few blocks back up Spruce Street to Bissell Street and the Elks Lodge for a fantastic complimentary meal. Needing to do some yard work later on, I chose to just head home instead of riding more with some of my co-workers that are members of the "Riders of Fire" motorcycle club.

Wednesday was the day they assembled the wall. I had a 24 hour shift at the FD so I could not go to lend a hand. This is pretty cool; members of Gold Star Families in attendance get to help carry the panel containing the name of their loved one that was KIA.

There was a coastal storm spinning around in the Atlantic off the coast of Cape Cod and the weather forecast was for rain Wednesday night and showers on Thursday. Instead, the high pressure system to the northwest kept it all away. Thursday morning was bright and sunny so I decided I needed me a dose of wind therapy. I decided to head down to the wall for my own private visit. That bright and sunny turned into hot and sunny, and temps that were supposed to be in the low 70's pushed up to 89. I arrived just before 11 AM and the whole place was packed with people and cars with the lots full. But as usual, there is always room for motorcycles, so I got parked and started walking down to the crowd. All of a sudden, a C-130 screamed overhead at about 500' and I realized that was the flyover for the official opening ceremonies! I went down to the seating area just as it was starting and stayed for the whole thing which lasted a little over an hour. Afterwards I thought I would get my visit in but there were too many people in my way. My wife and I had a meeting with a financial planner the next day and planned to visit the wall after having lunch.

So that's exactly what we did. Went to our meeting first, had a yummy lunch at Hana Sushi, and then went down to Charter Oak Park. The crowds from Thursday were gone, and we had our choice of where to park and see what we wanted when we wanted.

I only know one name on the wall, Whitney T. Ferguson III. He was from the town I used to live in and a school chum of another Vietnam Vet I know personally. The first thing we did was find what panel he was on. Its 29W, Row 7. When I tried to get a picture of his name on my visit to The Wall in D.C. it was up so high I had to blindly hold my camera as high as I could standing on tiptoe. It had taken several tries to get a decent shot. I was easily able to photograph his name on the 3/4 scale wall.

I have not seen this display since 2002 when it was set up at Coventry High School on the athletic field. I forgot it was engraved stone like the original. For some reason I thought it was laser etched or just printed on metal. This allows visitors to do rubbings just like the full scale memorial. The visitor guides were walking around with pads of paper and pencils for anyone desiring one to do their own rubbing.

Here is a panoramic shot I took of the entire length of The Wall. Click it to big it.

There is more to see than just the wall. The trailer the wall comes in is also a Vietnam War museum. There are windows on the sides of the trailer containing artifacts and displays. One thing that was on display was this 1970 draft lottery numbering system table. We plugged in my birthday and I would not have been drafted if I were draft age. My baby brother, on the other hand would have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This plaque was set on the ground in a small cordoned off area. It is a duplicate of the one in D.C.

The last thing I photographed was the most touching. It is the empty seat set at the dinner table for those MIA's or POW's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wall will be going to Bridgeport next. The escort will go from staging in Westport to Bridgeport. I will not be doing that escort run. It's well outside of my normal PGR A.O.

 

I apologize for not getting this post up sooner. I started it on Saturday the 21st while on duty at the FD, but got hit with ambulance calls and never got back to it. Sunday and Monday were days off which were booked up with stuff to do. I am back on duty today and finally got it done.

 

7 Days of X Jail

 Earned by this simple little post:

Which has been deleted in order to start the clock to have my account unfucked. But it will live on forever here thanks to me screenshotting it before deletion. It will end up back on X as a photo in a post when I am back on.

Can you imagine... being suspended for simply advocating what was once U.S. Military doctrine and the stated position of the United States? Even though I was in the Army Reserves assigned to a rear echelon medical HQ unit, everything I was taught or did was based on the destruction of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact and the killing of Commies. Had the Soviet armor rolled west through the Fulda Gap towards western Europe, we were to be deployed to England to coordinate front line field hospitals and all other medical facilities in our A.O. Across the globe on the Korean Peninsula, my brothers in arms were keeping Kim Il Sung in check at the 38th parallel, but still on alert and ready for killing Asian Commies.

Oh well, fellow blogger Matthew W. at the Bacon Time !!!!!! blog will be glad I'm gone for the 7 days so he doesn't have to endure my pro-Miracle Whip postings. 😂  I have another post in progress that will be up in the next day or so about a kayak outing with My Honey.

Three P.G.R. Funeral Flag Lines

Yesterday I reported for Patriot Guard duty at the CT Veterans Cemetery in Middletown for two funerals back to back. Staging time for the first one was 12:00 and the second one was set for 13:00. I arrived on "The Beast" early as usual, with my first stop at the admin building to use the restroom. I spotted the area in the cemetery where the others were gathered and moved over there to park. There were three freshly dug and readied graves for cremains right in a row nearby. While we were just hanging out the funeral director shows up and informs the Ride Captain that there is a funeral prior to the two we are there for, and the family is asking if we would stand a flag line for their loved one as well. Now the P.G.R. will never just show up, or come on hearsay, we must be officially invited by immediate family of the deceased. Since we were already there and the mission kinda met the criteria, we assembled our flags and got in place just as the procession was arriving. There were only 12 mourners but about 20 P.G.R. members, and the family was extremely happy with what we did. It was a little unusual because the urn was a his & hers side by side holding two sets of cremains. Therefore, because the husband was the veteran but the wife wasn't, no military honors were performed. It was a simple burial.

The next two burials proceeded as usual, with an honor guard rifle team firing 3 volleys, a bugler playing taps, and two Army soldiers doing the flag. When there is a casket, the casket is draped with a flag right to the grave. That flag is 5' x 9' and specially made for draping a casket. It is never meant to be flown on a flagpole. It is lifted from the casket and folded 13 times into a triangle for presentation to the family. When there are cremains, the flag arrives already folded and placed with the urn. The military honor guard then picks up the flag, unfolds it, smartly snaps it open horizontally, pauses, then refolds it into the triangle for presentation. I have heard it so many times I know it by heart:

"On behalf of the President of The United States, The United States Army/Navy/Air Force, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service."

The Marines (fucking crayon eaters 😆) have their own version that goes like this:

On behalf of the President of The United States, The Commandant of The Marine Corps, and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.

After military honors are rendered, religious burial services are then held. It seems all the ones I've ever been to were Christian or none. Raised a Catholic, I know that one really well and usually includes "The Lord's Prayer" and the 23rd Psalm.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (Catholic prayer ends here) 

For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. (Other Christian denominations)

Amen.

 

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

 

One of the final prayers is called the "Eternal Rest Prayer" and goes like this:

Eternal rest grant unto him/her, O Lord,
and let Your perpetual light shine upon him/her.
May his/her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed
rest in peace.

Amen.

While it is entirely recited by the priest, the second line is said by all in attendance.

 

Over the past six years of Patriot Guard duty, I have learned more about funerals than I ever thought possible. For someone that deals with death on the job regularly, attending all these funerals seems to provide a sort of closure. Most of the people I deal with that die are strangers anyway, just like the funerals I go to. It kind of evens out.

Range Day - Surplus Turkish M2 Ball Ammo Review

Here it is folks, the long awaited and detailed review of the MKE Turkish M2 milsurp. Details of the ammo I purchased can be found in this initial post and this subsequent post. It took me almost two weeks to just do this blog post (even though I put up others in the meantime) because of being busy and simply having no time to edit the video and finish composing the post. Online reviews of this ammo are mixed, and in the Garand Collectors Association issue of this month's GCA Journal, they did a scathing review of some horrible condition rusty/crusty MKE ammo that came in en bloc clips. A link to a PDF of the article is below.

GCA Journal Vol. 37 Issue 3 MKE Ammo Review

Now I understand the GCA's love affair with the CMP, but I have personally given up on them. Their online e-Store has been down for weeks. When the CMP got in their last supply of surplus ammo, I tried for two months to purchase my one allotted 400 round can to no avail. The last time I checked before the store went dark it was all gone. In the article they purposely went cheap, so IMHO they got what they paid for. I on the other hand had much different results.

 

Monday August 28th

Weather conditions were clear and sunny with temps in the low 80's. I don't recall wind conditions, but I was not too concerned about that for this outing. Being a weekday off work I had the range to myself which allowed me to shoot my photos and video undisturbed and go down range to set up as needed. My camera is a Nikon D5600 equipped with a Nikkor 18mm-55mm VR lens mounted on a Garrard video cam tripod for the video. For target photos I humped the camera down range.

The Rifle:

A total of 56 rounds were fired using a 1944 vintage Springfield Armory M-1 placed in a Hy-Skore rifle rest. The rest was used to make sure the rifle held consistently so recoil would have no effect on semi-auto operation. During the entire evolution there was not one FTF or FTE. I was able to recover all of my brass which is boxer primed, meaning easily re-loadable, which I will end up doing at some point when there is no more milsurp M2.

Ready to rock. Empty chamber flag in use even though I was alone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The range:

Yellow arrow is 100 yard backstop, orange arrow is 200 yard backstop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ammo:

HXP Pyrkal made in Greece headstamp HXP 69 (from CMP I believe about 2012-2013)

(3) 8 round clips

One clip for function test as my known standard and to demonstrate a proper working rifle (video)

One clip at 100 yards with 4 rounds on silhouette and four rounds on the steel gong

One clip at 200 yards with 4 rounds on silhouette and four rounds on the steel gong

Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu or MKE for short from Turkey, headstamp MKE 83 (from Tacticalshit.com)

(4) 8 round clips

One clip for function test to ensure proper loading, firing, and ejection (video)

One clip at 100 yards with 4 rounds on silhouette and four rounds on the steel gong

One clip at 200 yards with 4 rounds on silhouette and four rounds on the steel gong

One final clip on 100 and 200 yard gongs (4 rounds each) using a needed slight elevation hold 

Ammo function video:

One clip of Greek HXP, followed by a clip of Turkish MKE. I did this video without a script. Note to self: HAVE NOTES FOR SHOOTING VIDEO NEXT TIME!!

What follows is a series of photos of targets and steel plates from the range session. I need to shoot more often because I can do better. I was also using the rifle rest which doesn't work all that well comfort wise on my club shooting benches. I normally use a sandbag rest.

Four rounds of HXP at 100 yards

Four hits of HXP on a 12" plate at 100 yards

 

Four rounds but only two hits of HXP at 200 yards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four rounds and three good hits of HXP at 200 yards on a 12" plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason I did better hitting the plates than the targets. I think it was because they were easier to see in the shade with fresh white paint against the black sights of the M1. The paper targets had the previous shot holes covered with 3M blue painters tape for the MKE ammo shots. The plates got a freshened coat of white paint. I use the cheapo spray paint from WalMart. Not too long ago it was $0.99 a can. Now about $4 😠

Four rounds of MKE at 100 yards. OK!

Four shots of MKE at the 100 yard plate. One hit? Sheesh!

Four shots of MKE at 200 yards. Low and left. Three hits plus one nick on the edge.

Four shots of MKE at 200 yards. Just one good hit. Arrrrgh!

After viewing the targets and plates through the spotting scope, I loaded and fired one final 8 round clip of MKE using the elevation hold. I fired 4 rounds at the 100 yard plate and 4 rounds at the 200 yard plate. I scored 8 hits out of 8 shots. I quit shooting for the day so I could end on a high note.

 

Final analysis: 

This is good ammo for target practice (but will also kill all enemies, foreign and domestic quite dead) and was a decent price at $335 for 400 rounds from Tacticalshit.com That works out to $0.8375 per round. Barely more expensive than the junk Mr. Toombs purchased for his review. I plan on recouping some of the cost by selling the M1919-A4 MG links to a collector. For me, it doesn't "feel" as hot as the HXP ammo, judged only by recoil, not a chronograph, and it does shoot lower than my standard ammo. But like with any time you change ammo brands, you just have to readjust your sights.  This is plinking and target ammo for me. I will keep the 200 yard battle zero dope handy with the HXP ammo due to it having the steel penetrator (again for killing all enemies, foreign and domestic but especially those wearing body armor) and adjust the sight according to the change for the MKE ammo.

September 5th, back to the range

I had a subsequent range day on this past Tuesday when I had another day off. Since I now have a good supply of Sierra Matchking boolits, I won't be running out of my custom loaded ammo any time soon.

"From a man they did not see, came a sound they did not hear..."

I have the B-27 and bullseye targets I used that day, but this photo below best demonstrates the accuracy I get. The paint can I used during the ammo review that I had just about emptied painting the plates on this outing. I popped that clean hole through at 200 yards. It looked like it was done with a drill and a long bit. There was hardly any paint left when I hit it. My only indication of a hit was when the can fell over. I was hoping for a big POOF of white paint.

I have decided to stop dicking around with precision shooting, and just stick to the intended purpose this rifle was built for, which it performs quite well... eliminating long range threats to my Freedom out to 500+ yards @ M.O.M. (minute of man).

Especially if the predictions of spicy times in the near future come true.

This was one of the longest and most detailed posts I have ever done. I hope you liked it and please comment below.