PGR Mission 11-3-23

The Mission: Friday November 3, 2023, The Dignified Transfer and rendering of military honors for burial of six CT Veterans whose cremains have gone unclaimed for years and even decades.

The six U.S. Veterans to be honored are (in alphabetical order):

• TEC-5 Wilfred A. Carpentier, U.S. Army serving 1941-45. December 6, 1917-April 27, 1976, died in Derby;
• CPL Robert L. Coston, Sr., U.S. Army serving 1951-53. October 27, 1938-November 12, 2014, died in East Hartford;
• FA Michael Joseph Gruttadauria, Jr., U.S. Navy serving 1967-68. September 25, 1948-November 28, 2021, died in Hartford;
• A1C Joseph Henry O'Brien, II, U.S. Air Force serving 1951-61. January 25, 1937-August 13, 2021, died in Southbury;
• *SGT Bernice Greenstreet Record, U.S. Army Air Forces serving 1945-46. November 1, 1923-September 9, 2007, died in Cheshire; and
• *PVT Roland H. Record, U.S. Army Air Forces serving 1945-46. December 19, 1927- November 10, 1998, died in Waterbury.
  *A married couple

Here is a link to the story with video from WTNH TV-8 in New Haven

Here is a link to the story with video from NBC CT in Hartford

Here is a link to the story with video from FOX 61 in Hartford

There were also assorted radio, print, and online news services there as well.

 

I had been looking forward to this event for weeks, ever since I got the notice and was hoping conditions would allow me to ride "The Beast." I did the last one in 2021 and it was so awesome I wanted to be part of it again. Riding the bike means I will definitely be in the escort ride from the VA to the cemetery in Middletown. First thing was to be off work for the day which I was without having to swap shifts. I got up at 5:30 AM to take care of animals, shower, and get appropriately dressed. When I headed out at 7 AM it was only 25 degrees. I stopped for coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and hash browns at the local convenience store. It's a good 45 minute ride to the VA in Rocky Hill so I had plenty of time to eat and got under way at 07:30. I arrived a little early which was good. We hung out in the lot for a bit and got our assignments. At the VA Home and Hospital, the Patriot Guard Riders do the dignified transfer of the cremains. They all arrive in one hearse, and need to be separated and moved to additional hearses.

Because I had done this before, I was to handle an urn. Each urn was accompanied by a pre-folded US flag carried behind by another PGR member. Here is how it worked:

1) The first PGR member approaches the back of the main hearse

2) A salute is rendered and the urn is handed to the member by the funeral director.

3) An "about face" is done and several slow and purposeful steps are taken away from the hearse

4) A "column left, march" is done and the slow purposeful walk continues a few steps, where the lead member pauses briefly so that the flag bearer can execute their maneuvers and fall in behind the urn.

5) Both members slowly and purposely walk in formation to the rear of the assigned hearse and stop.

6) A left face, a few steps, and another left face and the member is in position to place the urn in the hearse as directed by another funeral director. The urn is set down and then turned 180 degrees so the name is facing outward. The member steps back and once again salutes the urn. The member then clears the area behind the hearse to make room for the flag bearer.

7) The flag bearer executes the same maneuvers and places the folded flag next to the urn in the hearse. He then renders a salute to the flag and clears the back of the hearse.

Because there were six urns and six flags, I got called up again to handle a second urn. It is an unbelievable honor to handle these cremains.

Once the Dignified Transfer was completed, law enforcement began showing up. There were two motorcycle cops from Middletown and several state troopers in Ford Explorer Police Interceptors. We got ourselves lined up for the procession to Middletown so we could head out smoothly. We hit the restroom as needed and milled around for a few minutes until it was time to saddle up. The motorcycle cops lead, followed by a state trooper, our PGR bikes and flagged vehicles, the hearses, and more state troopers bringing up the rear. The Rocky Hill, Cromwell, and Middletown police had all the intersections blocked off down RT. 99 up to the entrance ramp to CT RT. 9. As we entered RT. 9, CT State Police had the highway closed southbound so we could enter unimpeded, and the Middletown police had the entrances to RT. 9 south closed so we could get by. We got off RT. 9 at the Silver Street exit and Middletown PD had the intersections closed the rest of the way to the cemetery. We pulled in to the cemetery and were greeted by more PGR personnel standing a flag line, Middletown FD had their giant flag suspended from their ladder truck, media, veterans groups, citizen attendees, and of course.... the politicians.

The posting of the colors was a flop in my opinion. A dopey female Army E-4 at the rear of the formation did not know the proper way to carry an M-14 on "Right shoulder...ARMS!"... it was upside down. She at least had the butt in her right hand and the muzzle up in the air, but the rifle rested on her shoulder with the trigger facing up! She also did not render the proper presentation of the rifle at "Present Arms!" She stood there with the rifle lying trigger up on her shoulder the whole time. I am sure all my fellow veterans in attendance cringed as I did at this poor display of Drill and Ceremony. She had no business being front and center in such a position. The lead Sargent carrying his M-14 did it properly, and did the proper movements for present arms and order arms.

The politicians in attendance was Gov. "Jolly Ned" Lamont, LT. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Senator "DaNang Dickie" Blumenthal, and Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim. The head of the CT VA Brigadier General, (Ret.), Ronald P. “Ron” Welch and CT Funeral Directors Association President Lionel Lessard were there and spoke as well. Also in attendance was Major General Francis J. Evon, the Adjutant General of the Connecticut National Guard. He actually came down the PGR flag line after our arrival and assembly to meet, shake hands, and thank every PGR member. He was formally introduced but did not speak. I have met him before at other events. A down to Earth guy for sure that remembers where he came from.

First off, as much of a douchebag Commie liar/stolen valor Blumenthal is, he does keep his speeches short and on topic at these events. That said, several PGR members said that if they weren't there representing the PGR, they would have definitely turned their backs when he got up to the podium, as would I. The only speech that seemed to go off the rails was Susan Bysiewicz, who takes every opportunity to play the woman card as her speech went off on a diversity tangent while referring to SGT. Bernice Greenstreet Record and her military service. Too bad the female E-4 rifle honor guard went and ruined the optic of female competence in the military, huh?

After the speeches, a single 21 gun salute was fired in honor of all six veterans, and a single ceremonial flag was unfolded, held outstretched briefly, then refolded in the traditional manner. The flag was presented to General Welch to represent the six families. The ceremony concluded shortly after and although we could stay for the actual internment of the urns, I was getting hungry and had other plans.

 

Trip to Hoffman's Gun Center

Because of this post from Pawpaw's House back on October 23rd, I decided to explore using a couple of my old "mouse guns" for backup duty possibly in an ankle holster. The older gun is a Raven Arms MP-25 in .25 ACP, and the other is a Beretta Tomcat in .32ACP. First I needed to find some appropriate defensive ammo for both. It turns out Hornady makes Critical Defense ammo in both calibers so I would have to get some. I just figured I would have to order it online. Because I was in Middletown not too far from Hoffman's in Berlin, that would be my next stop. I had no specific purchase plans, it was just that I hadn't been there in a long time and was going for a look-see. I browsed all the firearm showcases and found there to be a good supply of just about everything. As far as guns go, I believe my next gun is going to be the Ruger PCC with the M-Lock handguard, AR stock, threaded barrel, and the optional Glock mag well probably sometime before spring. When I went over to the ammo shelves.... lo and behold! the Hornady Critical Defense .25 ACP and .32 ACP in stock. Both were $24.99 for a box of 25 so I grabbed one of each. I then went over to the wall of holsters and found a DeSantis universal ankle holster made for small autos. Perfect and out the door for $101 plus change. Because of having to work all weekend, I haven't yet tried to put everything together. Once I do I will do a review post here.

A quick lunch at the Newington Burger King and I headed home. Between the frigid temperatures in the morning and being on my feet so long all day, I was wiped when I got home at 2:30 PM. I plopped on the couch with the doggos, turned on the TV, and zonked off for a bit before wifey came home.

Tweaking Those That Need It

Some background... Kommiecticut has had a magazine ban since 2013. Magazines over 10 rounds must be registered with the state and even if it is registered, you can only load more than 10 rounds in your home or at the range. You can't carry it around at full capacity where you might actually need it, God forbid. Under the ban are any ammunition feeding devices, including machine gun belts and links. Yes, even the strip of canvas that was used on WWI vintage M1919 machine guns would need to be registered. That would include disintegrating links. FYI... I do not own a single unregistered "large capacity magazine." True statement.

In this previous post I detailed the Turkish M2 ammo I purchased that came linked for an M1919-A4 machine gun. Yesterday it was too windy to do yard work, so I decided to spend the afternoon de-linking the remaining two thirds of a case and stow it in a 30 cal ammo can for future range use. But first, I decided to have a little fun and commit yet another "paper felony" in my basement. First, how the ammo came. There were 100 of these in the case.

4 rounds, the 5th would have been the tracer

 

Next, a "Kommiecticut legal" 10 round miniature belt. If I owned an M1919-A4 this would not be very much fun, or be very effective.

Here is the photographic evidence of my "felony." I re-linked a bunch of the 4 round assemblies together for a total of 89 rounds in a single belt. No schools were shot up and no one died, but how can that be? I did something so egregious and dangerous according to state officials!

Because I am a peaceable citizen, not a violent criminal. 

Only in the warped thinking of the anti-gun Commie crowd do they equate keeping and bearing certain arms with someone like me being just one step away from murder and mayhem.

The 30 cal ammo can is full to the brim. In order to fit it all, the rounds are laid in the can and stacked neatly to maximize the space. Originally I was just tossing the rounds in there but it became apparent that only a little more than half were going to fit. On my next range outing I will re-zero for this ammo and update the dope card I keep in the stock, saving most of the Greek steel penetrator ammo for....

 

Twitter (X) Activity

Over the past couple of days, a bunch of gun grabbing hoplophobes spewing their anti-Second Amendment propaganda have been appearing in my Twitter timeline. I will not link to these fucktards, you can find them by going to my profile to read my posts and replies. The brainless puke David "Camera" Hogg, K-12 School Shooting Database, Newtown Action Alliance, Students Demand Action, Everytown, Shannon Watts, 97 Percent, Kristin Song (mother of dead dumbass Ethan Song), and the Karen's known as Moms Demand Action (sounds like a MILF hookup site to me). I have hammered all of them to the point I thought I would at least get blocked if not suspended again. The majority of replies are antagonist and some are downright vicious, which leads me to believe the hoplophobes just post shit out there to spew their message and ignore the replies. That's fine.... because it lives forever in my profile.

It Was A Trip Back In Time

Last night the wife and I went out for an impromptu date night that turned out to be like we were dating 42 years ago. We got a later start than I hoped for because I needed to go on shift at midnight, but it all worked out. We started with dinner at a Mexican restaurant we had not been to in years called Coyote Flaco. We used to just walk in and get a table. Not any more. Even with the shitty weather last night, the lot was full and we would have had to wait a half hour for a table. Since it was just the two of us we opted to sit at the bar since they would serve us food there. My wife had a house margarita and I had non-alcoholic lemonade. I thought the food was mediocre because it was prepared plates heated in a convection oven, not fresh made. How do I know? When the plates come out screaming hot and the server warns you not to touch them, that's how. Then there's the consistency of the food which is more like re-heated leftovers than a fresh meal. Hey, as long as it doesn't make me ill I'm OK with it. How many people do you know that willingly eats an MRE after all? So, at a bar with my honey? Retro item number one.

The main event of the evening was to go bowling. But not our normal Ten-Pin.... we were going to bowl Duck Pins at the nearby Lucky Strike Lanes. Duck Pin is totally different and way more difficult then Ten-Pin using smaller balls, shorter smaller pins, different pin action, and each frame allows the bowler up to 3 balls to knock down all the pins. Unlike Candle Pin, you cannot use the deadwood (pins knocked over but lying in the pin area), you must press a foot pedal between each ball to clear fallen pins. All ten on the first ball is a STRIKE and to score the frame you add the pin falls for the next two balls. Knock all ten down in two throws is a SPARE and just the next ball's pin count is added. If a bowler throws all three balls the total pin count of the three balls goes in the frame total for a maximum of 10. When a bowler finishes, they press the "RESET" button to clear the deadwood and bring down a fresh rack of pins for the next bowler.

The amazing thing about this place is the look and decor. We had a nice chat with the owner, who told us it was built in 1967, it has always been privately (not corporate) owned and has never been renovated. It looks exactly the way bowling alleys looked when me and The Missus were dating. The carpeting, wood paneling, retro arcade machines, snack bar, etc. I wish I had taken some photos of my own, these are stock photos from the interwebby and doesn't show how retro this place is. It is not by any means run down or worn out, it is incredibly cool! The machinery was all in perfect working order. We kept score with paper and pencil!

 

 

As I wrote above, my wife and I were always Ten-Pin bowlers; open bowling for fun, bowling together on mixed leagues and separately as subs on men's and women's leagues. The problem is burned in muscle memory of throwing 12 to 16 pound balls for many years. That made the difficult game even harder. Neither of us broke 90 after bowling 2 games. But we were told that is not unusual at all. No one has ever... in the entire history of Duck Pin bowling, bowled a perfect 300 game. The highest recorded score ever is a 279. A 300 would be the equivalent of someone shooting a 18 for an 18 hole round of golf, its that difficult. The pins reaction (or lack thereof) is strange to us. It takes not much variation in how you held the ball or rolled it to have it go where you didn't want. I found I did better with a short approach and rolled the ball more with my arm than my body. In Ten-Pin I use a long stride 3 step approach ending with a slide to the foul line and hook my 16 pound ball depending on the amount of oil on the lane. This all felt totally alien to me, even though it wasn't my first time bowling Duck Pin. The owner said we could probably bowl better NOT coming on Saturday night between 7 and 10 PM like we did with the kids, distracting loud music, and light show. I think we are going to do this more often in the future to try and get better at it.

I Could Not Just Let This Go Unanswered

From my Twitter timeline until the Newtown Hoplophobes block or report me, but it will live here forever. Up first, the original post:

I despise the whole premise of phony gun "buy backs" and in some states, guys will set up right across the street from the buy back with tables and large signs offering cash for guns. They may be dealers or just private citizens. In Kommiecticut, they would definitely find a reason to arrest you for trying that even if you were a FFL dealer. So I decided to act virtually on Twitter with this response:

 

If you look at the responses to the original tweet, every single one is negative and many are downright vicious. Tough shit to them. They are nothing but a political machine that only has one purpose, infringing on The Second Amendment rights of peaceable citizens. Nothing they ever propose will ever have any effect on the criminal use of firearms. NOTHING!!

Most of the guns they receive at these fake buy backs get are from people that end up with them from an estate and they don't want them. But in a lot of cases they have no idea what they have. I have two handguns that came to me indirectly by this route that I paid $200 for both. One is a 1958 vintage Colt Woodsman, the other is a verified 1935 Smith and Wesson K-22 Outdoorsman. Together they are worth about $2500. I did not know at the time just thinking they were just shooters, in fact I do shoot them. If you have ever seen the photo-ops from these buy back events and the firearms they receive, you will pick out some pretty rare and valuable firearms that will either be destroyed or end up in some cop's personal collection.

But, But, The Infringements Will Save Lives!

Turns out, not so much.

CT Teen Shoots Himself With Unsecured Gun

I omitted the  word "accidentally" because modern firearms never just go off by themselves. They need to be loaded, cocked, and have the trigger pulled by a person. This negligent discharge took place as the safe storage laws in Kommiecticut known as Ethan's Law (so named for another uneducated teen that blew his head off with his friend's father's gun) were expanded and the new provisions took effect on October 1st.

I have said over and over; the ONLY WAY these laws could possibly work as intended, is for LEO to constantly violate 2nd, 4th, and 5th Amendment Rights by showing up at your door (hourly I guess?) to verify your firearms are properly secured. Otherwise, a firearms owner gets charged AFTER another uneducated and unauthorized user blows their brains out with their gun. But the dopey kid is still just another Darwin Award winner.

They can pass all the laws they want, I will continue to NEVER COMPLY. At night, my firearm and a spare mag are lying out in the open on my night table a foot from my head at the ready. In the morning it is unloaded and secured in the safe, and replaced with one of my EDC pistols on my person.

I am 100% positive that anyone using a firearm for self-defense going forward in Kommiecticut will be charged with these new "safe storage" laws, because the bad guy wouldn't be at room temperature if the gun storage law was obeyed.