Military Source

Why Politics, From Me?

2014-04-02T02:52:00.000-07:00

I'm 58 years old! I am a Veteran of the U.S. Navy who worked in Top Secret communications! I am a Recovering drug Addict with over 13 years of clean time, after having used drugs for nearly 30 years! I have been incarcerated many times and am a convicted felon! I am a Certified Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counselor! Does this mean anything? Not in itself, but if I may, let me try to qualify! My primary presence on the Internet has been as the WebMaster of my Addiction Recovery site! I have had over a dozen articles pertaining to Addiction and Recovery from this disease, published on the Internet. I have had one article published regarding my Political views. I thought to myself, recently, why should anyone care what I think about politics? Well, just what does qualify someone to make public commentary? Surely, some of the commentators regularly on television don't seem to know anything special! So, I'll take a shot at making my case...
My family migrated from Missouri to California in 1958, when I was 9 years old. This move in itself most certainly changed my future and that of my entire family. Missouri is a conservative area. California is liberal and trendy. They are two very different places in our Society. Thus, ingrained midwestern values and beliefs were the root of our family, and over a lifetime, we have melted into the West Coast lifestyle and have become Californians. Thus said, on to my life as it pertains to my political views...
A teenager of the 1960's, I'm sure that I am a typical baby-boomer in many ways. But, in many ways I'm not a typical or average citizen, at all! Only about 1% of the U.S. population succumbs to drug addiction. I am one of them! I am also a Veteran of the Armed Forces, also a small percentage of the population, since the WWII Vets are passing in great numbers. I am also a convicted felon. Would it surprise you to know that 1 out of 99 Americans is incarcerated over the course of a month? I don't know the stats on those who have ever been incarcerated. Currently 2,300,000 Americans are incarcerated. That said, let's move on to my individual case...
When I was 13, John Kennedy was assassinated. That event had a prominent effect on me as a person, as it did many Americans. The mystery of that incident brought politics into the lives of people who had previously basked in the luxury of the robust American lifestyle that followed WWII. Before that most citizens of the U.S. took it for granted that we had the best, most honest government possible. It has never been the same since. The Vietnam War added to the questionability of our undaunted faith in Government and it's many agencies. When President Richard Nixon was branded as an outright liar, a little more confidence slipped away. Average American belief systems were challenged by the Civil Rights movement, the Women's Rights movement, and concerted efforts on the part of our citizenry, as a united front, to force an end to the Vietnam War.
As I approached the age of 18, it was a safe assumption that I would be drafted into the military. Every boy who was not wealthy and able to find an exemption of the privileged, got drafted. That part has not changed. The poor still fight the wars for the rich. The poor still do the dieing for the Capitalists. Having had many friends die in Vietnam, I reached the conclusion that the only way to avoid being drafted into the Army Infantry was to enlist, which I did. On November 17, 1967 I took the Oath to defend my country in the U.S. Navy. I was just a kid. I had no idea how prolific an effect this would have on my life. The worst thing that happened as a result of serving was that my recreational experience with drugs would turn into an Addiction lasting nearly 30 years.
Politics came head on into my life as a Navy Radioman, working in Top Secret communications at the Commander-In-Chief of the Pacific Fleet Headquarters, Naval Communications Station, Message Center Makalapa, across the King Kamehameha Highway from Pearl Harbor, several stories underground. As a result of my security clearance, I became privy to all communications to the Pacific Fleet, including operational information between CINCPACFLT, the Pentagon, and the White House. I will not now and never have discussed any details of this information, as I took an oath not to. The only exception was in protected confidence with my Counselor in drug treatment at the VA Hospital program in Fresno, California. Even then, many details were omitted, and limited to a couple of sessions. The point being, that I found out many things that obliterated my trust in the Government. During this period, President Richard Nixon was forced out of office for basically deceiving the public and abusing his power, for political gain. I couldn't avoid politics even if I had wanted to.
I re-entered civilian life skeptical of government, spiritually bankrupt, and severely addicted to drugs. My dependency started in Navy schools, with Benzedrine, an amphetamine. I eventually used drugs as psychological self-medication, also. Once addicted you use drugs for any and every reason you can think of, avoiding confronting the problems that they actually mask. The first year I was out, I didn't work. I grew my hair out, and lived outside the norm, not desiring to be a part of anything, especially Society. I did get involved in the fight to stop the War in Vietnam, helping people beat the draft, and participating in demonstrations. In my mind, the government was responsible for everything that was wrong with the World and me. Though my thinking was very distorted, I became extremely politically aware, keeping up with the daily news, and being able to factually defend my positions as an anti-social personality developed in me. Marriages failed as a result of my Addiction. I lost and quit jobs as a result of my drug use and abuse. I went back and forth from a functional addict to a dysfunctional addict. I was in and out of jail. I became a pipeline welder with my own tools for the independence and high demand that made changing jobs easy.
This lasted until drug testing became a regular part of the job market. I had chosen selling drugs as my profession, which made using that much easier. But, in the end the law caught up with me. After many incarcerations and many ups and downs, I just could not stay out of jail. My arrest on January 21, 1995, and a radical spiritual experience while facing a prison sentence, allowed me to acknowledge that I had hit my bottom. I had lost the will to live and broke down mentally during my detoxification from Meth, in jail. I resorted to prayer and my prayer was answered. I used drugs for the last time at the beginning of that jail term. I took my last drink on March 24, 1995. As a result of a plea bargain, my prison sentence was suspended on the terms that I serve one year in jail and one year in a drug treatment program. I would actually only serve four months in jail and remained in the program for six months. I entered the VA Hospital, Fresno, California, Chemical Dependency Treatment Program on April 11, 1995. As it turned out the very government that I had blamed for my problems for nearly 30 years, became my saving grace. I had to seriously re-assess my political views after that. At 50 I began my quest for Certification as a drug counselor at a State University.
Little did I realize how politically dependent the profession I had chosen, was. After 7 years of Counseling I had a serious health crisis that took me off of work for 8 months. During this period of time the failing economy under the Republican administration, resulted in a major cancellation of Grants. Drug treatment depends hugely on Grants as treatment is a financial impossibility for most Addicts. Having lost my job and my health insurance, I found myself approaching 60, in a scant job market, competing with people half my age. I am now living on unemployment insurance compensation, with no real prospect for a job. Politics are again very crucial to my life. Republicans fund wars and big business. Democrats fund social programs and middle America. I fear it will take a robust economy and major funding for drug treatment before the market become great enough for the job competition in my field to accommodate my demographic. Meanwhile, I contribute meekly to the Democratic Party and depend on my Spirituality to get through, one day at a time. I sponsor a needy child through Children International, and have several family members, also in financial distress, living with me. I have developed a totally non-profit Addiction Recovery website, and use it to keep me sane and as my way of still being able to help other Addicts. I feel that my experiences with the military, the criminal justice system, and my Recovery from drug Addiction, have shaped a well-informed, highly aware political position and very well developed political opinions. Of course the key word is "opinion"! I feel very qualified to comment...
You be the judge! I will quote this article as a reference in all future political articles that I submit.
Thank you,

CounselorDave!

David R Carroll, CADC is a certified substance abuse counselor, in California. He has served as a treatment program Director (started a new program). He developed the curriculum for that program that required approval from the California Department of Corrections Substance Abuse Services Coordinating Agency, and the California Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs. He has also worked going into California prisons recruiting inmates for Aftercare treatment for addiction and alcoholism. Counselor Carroll is also WebMaster of the site, Addiction: Why Me? The goal of the Site is to become self sufficient enough to support itself and to expand to "Live Chat" for confidential, help for addicts and their victims (family, friends, etc.).

The Legal and Organized Political Power

2011-03-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

The components of national power of the state, qualitative and quantitative factors of economic, political, social and military power are needed to interpret the same state as a dynamic social relationship, which necessarily interacts with all facets of social behavior.

The combination of these optical multidisciplinary appreciate the history and present of nations, as part of social and institutional contents of the country, under the deposit of state powers in the government figure, defines the policies to follow. This statement is of particular importance as it cannot be separated from the external to internal power, and in many ways, the way state acts have to do with the image it has of himself, that reaching out and that others have of it.

Schematically, the assertion that the national and international power means "... The power or ability of the subjects of international society to impose its own will on others, based on the preparation of its population, as well as the quantity, quality and use of resources at their disposal, in determining the degree of organization and development they have attained in all spheres: political, economic, legal, social, cultural, scientific, technical, military, etc.. as well as the objectives of its foreign policy, and supported by the ability of its armed forces and the complexity of their arms. Therefore, power is a complex global power that determines the specific weight of each actors of contemporary international society.

The ability and willingness to exercise ( power) reflects the degree of cohesion and direction in national policy and have given concrete expression in the international arena. In this perspective is the conceptualization of Raymond Aron, external action is not only diplomacy, in the narrowest sense of the term... but also influences or pressures, voluntary or otherwise, brought by the country on other countries, both because of what it is, and because of what he does, and both its multinational companies as their diplomats.

National Power reflects possibilities and limitations in it. National Power flows from state power, the exercise of delegated to the nation state, which has the power to establish and implement the political-legal process. Thus, the State, such as monopolizing the use of force, avoiding anarchic violence between individuals and gives the government the means to enforce the institutional comprehensiveness of the National Power is the result of the agglutination of all means available to the nation: political, economic, social (psychosocial) and military. National Power serves the domestic and foreign policy externally is surety instrument of sovereignty, aimed to conquer and preserve national objectives relating to international relations.

These are called the sovereign independence of states, the absence of a higher power, the detachment from all external brake, which attaches to relations between states his peculiar sense of anarchy. There are three powerful imperatives: the prestige, fear and interest, as it is natural that the weak law is dominated by the strong. Power has formed an indissoluble part of the study of relations between states and ways in which power became the main catalyst for the evolution in the forms of political organization.

Without explaining the power it cannot be explained the historical evolution of the social community clustered in the political, from the primitive commune to the supranational schemes today. Hence the use of power in relations between states was analyzed also as a synonym of "power politics", generally from the perspective of "realpolitik". The power in international relations is the ability of a nation to use its tangible and intangible resources, so that they can affect the behavior of other nations.

According to a more specialized, the politics of power are a system of international relations in which groups regard themselves, as the ultimate goals, employ at least vital purposes, the most effective means at their disposal and are measured according to their weight in case of conflict.

Power politics generally are interpreted from the perspective of interstate and as sources of power have their own internal conditions of which becomes its capacity. Hence, National Power, Foreign Policy and Political Power as communicating vessels are the sources of power and capacity.

Thus we can summarize these power politics as a means to achieve the purposes of the nation, and also view internal policies (or domestic), and in foreign policy, because in all these are seeking for power.

The effectiveness of power and significance of their policies is measuring and valuing power, played by objective basis for defining and quantifying multidisciplinary sectors, e.g. - In the effective and efficient use of national power. While power is a relative term, the capabilities are not.

Often it is stated that the power of a nation is simply the sum total of their abilities but always entails power capabilities, is also related to other dimensions. It is important that, while the skills can be delimited objectively, the power must be assessed in every case in terms of psychological and subtle relationship.

In the same vein, Kissinger said that "most of history has shown a synthesis of military, political and economic, which has generally proven to be symmetrical. The sheer will is not enough to the satisfaction of interests; you need the ability to do so. In this summarizes the genesis of power: to prioritize the satisfaction of the interests that man needs to use available means and resources and ensure that they can impose their will, so you can secure control over the obstructions to the achievement of their interests reflecting the possibilities and limitations of National Power.

So does the ability by the end of this century and millennium, a financial institution charged with the uncompromising defense of the principles of neoliberal and monetarism emerged from the Chicago school in the eighties, the World Bank, the state role revalues and emphasizes the full use of state capacities, under the sign of efficiency.

An effective state is essential to have the goods and services - and the rules and institutions-that allow markets to flourish and people to lead healthier and happier life. Experience taught us that the state is central to the process of economic and social development, but not as a direct provider of growth but as a partner, catalyst and initiator of this process. The world is changing and with it also changes our ideas about the role of government in economic and social development.

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Rape As a Political Weapon

2011-03-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Politically motivated sexual violence directed against women is an issue that is seldom the subject of widespread media coverage yet it profoundly affects millions of women in communities worldwide. Organized rape is a tactic used to denigrate and repress political prisoners and victims of war and it is often under reported due to the stigma attached to being a victim of this crime in many parts of the world. Rather than existing as a side effect of war, in countries such as Darfur, Pakistan, Peru, Serbia and Rwanda mass rape has been systematically used as a tool for ethnic cleansing, to spread HIV, extract information and to terrorize rival tribes, movements and dissidents.

In the Rwandan genocide of 1994 is it calculated that approximately half a million women were raped by the Hutu militia in an effort to ethnically cleanse the Tutsi minority. It is estimated that seventy percent of the survivors are living with HIV/AIDS today and this legacy has had a devastating effect on the populace. In Serbia rape camps were used as a methodical instrument of ethnic cleansing to demoralise and disperse the Muslim and Croat population, the Karadzic leadership used a sports complex in the town of Foca to systematically rape women from these communities for two months in 1992. In Sierra Leone the United Nations reports the widespread institutional abduction of girls and women by militias for rape and sexual slavery. In rural India sexual violence has been used to suppress poor communities who defy the elite to demand land rights and higher wages, it has also been used by the police to silence activists who uncover corruption. In Tibet, China has orchestrated unsanctioned mass sterilization and organized rape against Tibetan women, imprisoned female political activists and nuns are repeatedly sexually assaulted as a tactic to break the spirit of the dissident community. In Iran there is a 30 year documented history of sexual violence used as a torture method to humiliate prisoners and victims often remain silent due to the cultural stigma attached to speaking about such incidents. In some cases both children and women are reported to have been raped in front of their husbands, relatives and communities as a barbaric strategy to quash resistance and break down society to achieve military aims.

The true scope of the problem can only be estimated as rape is often used as a precursor to murder in many cases. For the most part sexual assault goes unpunished due to the attitude of indifference towards many forms of violence against women and the implicit acceptance of rape as an unavoidable consequence of war. Victims are often afraid of reprisals if they pursue prosecution and in many parts of the world legislation omits rape in times of war as a prosecutable offence. Unfortunately some peace pacts provide amnesty for the perpetrators and in many cultures a woman who has been raped is considered "unmarriageable" or may be rejected from her community if she is known to be a victim. As a result these crimes frequently go unreported and accurate figures of how pervasive the problem is are often difficult to obtain.

Only now are some countries taking steps to ensure women's rights are protected in conflict zones. Two weeks ago the Philippine government enacted legislation which calls for specialized training to be provided to military, police and civilians to protect women during armed conflicts and post-conflict reconstruction. The new legislation promotes the participation of women in the peacekeeping and conflict resolution process and also calls for a monitoring and reporting system to ensure that violations of women's rights are evaluated and dealt with accordingly.

Recently the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) declared that rape is a form of genocide, The commission stated that "sexual assault formed an integral part of the process of destroying the Tutsi ethnic group and that the rape systematic and had been perpetrated against Tutsi women only, manifesting the specific intent required for those acts to constitute genocide" The tribunal set a precedent in designating rape as a war crime rather than a "trophy of war," to date it has completed 21 trials and convicted 29 accused persons whilst another 11 trials are in currently in progress.

As the issue becomes more accurately documented there is hope that awareness will breed action in the international community. Activists are terming this form of violence against women "sexual terrorism" and the United Nations Secretary General praised the ICTR's recognition of this issue, stating "in a number of contemporary conflicts, sexual violence has taken on particularly brutal dimensions, sometimes as a means of pursuing military, political, social and economic objectives." Hopefully more initiatives will be taken to help evaluate vulnerable communities and take steps to prevent sexual violence against women in conflict zones in the future.

by Naomi Pattirane

About the Author

Naomi Pattirane is an Indonesian American human rights journalist and activist. She is the founder and editor of the online magazine World Women International and an author of slipstream fiction. Her work has been featured on the United Nations site Stop Rape Now to promote action against sexual violence in conflict zones

http://www.worldwomeninternational.com

Support the United Nations campaign against sexual violence in conflict http://www.stoprapenow.org/

The Drawbacks of Canceling Military Retirement Reform Act of 1986

2011-03-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

For military personnel who had served the United States with utmost dedication and service, it would be very difficult for them to recognize the issues that are more serious to the "national security" than how the men and women of the U.S. armed forces will benefit from military retirement.

In the U.S., military retirement plans are one of the best gratifications these people should have by the time they have reached their retirement age. Considering the services and dedication that the military personnel have offered, military retirement is the best reward to compensate their performances.

Today, under the Military Retirement Reform Act of 1986 (REDUX), military people are enjoying a 50% compensation based on their "basic salary" while they were still on service. This is after they have opted to retire upon accumulating 20 years of military service. This is applicable to any military personnel who have joined the service on or before July 31, 1986.

Consequently, based on REDUX rules, anyone who was able to join the military after July 31, 1986 is expected to receive 40% of his basic compensation upon completion of a 20-year service in the military.

However, with the perilous weaknesses of the government, the compensations that military retirement plans are expected to provide becomes a threat instead of a reward.

On its current state, the Federal government is presently considering the cancellation of REDUX. As a result, military retirement benefits will be fixed on a 50% compensation upon completion of 20-year service for all the personnel.

Sounds good? Think again.

While military retirement benefits may increase upon the cancellation of REDUX, many people still say that it is not advisable that the government should take drastic changes on important matters like the proposed REDUX cancellation.

Statistical reports show that abolishment of REDUX will charge the government a whopping $6 billion for the following 6 years and approximately $1.5 billion a year after that.

This may not sound like a disadvantage at all considering the fact that the military personnel are the ones who will benefit from such action.

However, what the opposition would like to say is that making significant changes in the military retirement plan is critical based on the following reasons:

1. Effect not clearly determined

The effects on maintenance of the military funds brought about by such major changes in the military retirement are hard to uncover in a snap. In fact, many people claim that the objectives of canceling REDUX were not even clearly put into details.

2. Changes like this are rare

Political and military analysts say that changes in the system like that of the military retirement plans are "politically" hard to establish. In essence, changes like the proposed REDUX cancellation are very uncommon.

For this reason, one can simply understand that people, especially those in the military, can still do away with what they have now. That means they can still survive for years without having to change the military retirement plans.

All of these things are boiled down to the fact that in a matter of serious change in an ongoing political system like the military retirement, important considerations must be made and taken into account before even thinking of drafting the proposal.

All sides of the coin must be well considered, both pensively and on purpose. Changes to be made in military retirement should not be dealt with as of the moment but more on the long-term effect.

The complexity of choices and issues concerning military retirement should not propose a threat on the personal growth of every individual who have served in the military.

Keep in mind that retirement is something that every worker should enjoy after his or her retirement age. The war is over. Why prolong the agony of the military people?

retirementdotcom.com is a free information site that offers articles and resources on Retirement Planning. If you want to read or share information on Finance:Personal-Finance [http://www.retirementdotcom.com/2006/05/31/military-retirement-reform/], you're always welcome!

What Is The Best Suitable Form Of Government For Nigeria From Year 2007

2011-03-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

What can prevent this country from political unrest that we are going to witness in the year 2007?

What type of government can give this country of political stability? What can save this country from bloodshed election 2007? Nigeria politicians are prepared for war, which is verified to the fact that "two rams want to drink from a pot" at a time.

The North are saying that they are born to rule, and the South says that what is good for the goose, is also good for the gander". That they also can rule this country. Then what can we do to prevent this country from war, because the South was rumored to have imported sophisticated weapons.

There are three major types of government and one can prevent this country from war, they are unitary system of government, Federal system of government, and confederal system of government. As of now Nigeria is practicing Federal system of government in which the president is the executive head of the country and head of state, Furthermore, federal system of government could be defined as one in which all government power that exist in the country is shared between the Central government and the component regions. The north and south are fighting to this presidential office thus federal system of government may lead this country to internal war, if care is not taking.

The military brought unity to Nigeria country by using unitary system of government, The word Unitary is define as one in which all governmental powers are concentrated in the hands of a single authority or central government, this single authority does not share governmental powers, with any other body, but delegate power to other subordinate bodies, this type of government is usually used by military system of government.

Both Federal and Military system of government is not suitable for Nigeria as of what we are experiencing now, if that should be the case the third form of government should be taking into consideration, Therefore the best suitable form of government that can give this country a political stability and that can ensure faster development is CONFEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT which can be defined as a one in which there is loose political arrangement in which autonomous, on sovereign, or republic state comes together to form a union in which almost the major functions are reserved exclusively for the component regions with a weak centre. The central government gets its moral and financial and human support from the components regions.

The United State of America as practice this form of government between year 1783 to 1789.

Confederal System is not common in these day, but it exist when geo political zone is fitting for a political office, Confederal system of government is the best system of government that Nigeria can adopt from the year 2007, perhaps let every each region go back to his/her state and specialized on their exclusive power list. The features of confederal system of government are that she has a weak centre, flexible constitution and right to secede which means each component regions can withdraw from their membership.

In federal system of government independency of the Judiciary is one of the feature of the Federal System of Government but Nigeria denied it, as a result it cost us nothing to deny right to secede.

If the Centre is weak there will not be a region that would be fighting for presidential office again because it will just be like a councillorship office which will not bring along violence or political crises.

Written and rigid constitution is one of the features of Nigeria Federal system of government which has been violated and said do be unwritten and flexible constitution, which means Nigeria has indirectly adopted a confederal system of government. For example Nigeria written and rigid constitution does not go along with the impeachment of Governor Ladoja of Oyo State because the Constitution states that before a political office holder can be impeached two third majority of the house must support this procedure, Ladoja was impeached despite the fact that they were not up to the required No, hence is it true that we are practising Federal System of Government?

Moreover, Nigeria adopt federalism because of the following reasons:-

- Tribal differences

- Fear of domination

- Fear of Inter ethnic rivalry

- An even development for security reason

- Desire for Union

but all this aim is nullified by Nigeria politicians since all this aims is render nullified why can't we adopt a confederal system of government that will favour each and everyone of us.

Furthermore, Nigeria adopt Federal system of government so as to create more employment opportunities, 60 percent of Nigerian graduates are unemployed due to political unstability. Nigeria citizen in and DIASPORA are looking for Job as a result Nigeria is witnessing NEOCOLONIALISM. Nigeria citizen are afraid of coming back home because lack of security and we still insist in practicing federal system of government.

In my own view as a political thinker, Confederal System of Government is the best form of Government that can ensure Unity, Security, Rapid and faster development, Employment opportunity and political stability for the citizen of Nigeria.

Eventually, Nigeria politician, Masses, Pressure groups let us try and adopt confederal system of government in order to enjoy all the benefits listed above.

The Politics Behind the Candidates in Iran

2011-03-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

As you know, prior to election in Iran, I wrote in our blog that I did not believe that anything good will come as a result of the current election. Looking at the Guardian Council's decision of selecting Ahmadinejad for president, I would have preferred a one candidate election. Why put all these old revolutionaries who have profited from the Islamic regime on the stand to run for president, when at the end of the day the average Iranian has no say in the election?

Unfortunately, absolute power corrupts absolutely under any regime. This is evident in today's Iran more than ever. As the election debates took shape the week before the election, the profiteering of Muslim ex-revolutionaries became obvious. In the debates Mr. Ahmadenijad accused the reformers of systematic theft and looting of nations wealth by reform candidates and its supporters. I was surprised that why a sitting president that had this information for 4 years while being in office did nothing about it until election night. Why Aytolah Khamenai would give these men the right to run for election if they or the immediate family had done some of these looting. For the average Iranian it has been obvious for years that Rafsanjani and Karubi had enriched themselves with public wealth. Still for many this was an awakening to see beyond the mask of religion and billions that these folks have taken from the Iranian nation's wealth. It is clear that ideologies are served for the masses while mass looting of country's wealth has taken place over the past 30 years under these old guards.

For folks that are not familiar with the Iranian factions, let's be clear that all these old men do not represent anything new. The two main characters in this battle are not Mousavi and Ahmadenajad, but Rafsanjani and Khomeini who are old guards of the revolution. Since they are old, they are no longer fighting for power for themselves. They are guarding the nepotistic ideals so that the sons and daughters of these revolutionaries can benefit from continued control over the government and its resources and maintain the nepotistic lines of governance.

Iran's hope for theological democracy under Islam was put to rest under the previous leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khatami, the president of Iran prior to Ahmadinejad. Unfortunately because of the divisions within the reform movement at the time the reform movement was put to rest at the voter level. After the first four-year term of president Khatami, the same revolutionary guards insured that the reform in Iran politics does not happen. How did this happen? They simply banned sitting member of the parliament from running in subsequent terms. They became disenfranchised. These parliamentary elected officials no longer met the needs of the Islamic Republic ruling dictators Rafsanjani and Khomeini. They got forced out of politics.

In his second term, president Khatami used his executive power to open news papers and magazines, and soon hundreds of news papers flourished in Iran. With the selection of Ahmadinejad as president, these magazines and voices again became disenfranchised and were quickly shut down. Many reformers got barred from journalism. As I have stated in my book, the supreme leader and the clergy system in Iran controls who is allowed to run based on a selection of old revolutionaries and mullahs out of Qom. This is effectively a one party system.

As I was watching the election, I thought what must have been shocking to the viewers from the West was the absence of a forum for a challenger to regroup and be able to mobilize its base. Mr. Mousavi and his supporters could only go to the streets to voice their opposition towards the election in illegal rallies. No political party in the parliament was visible to voice a challenge, or unite and plan for the next election. By the design the government has placed an executive judicial and parliamentary system that is full of yes men, and that follows the orders of the regime. No other voice can be heard in Iran, and even if it could, it would be dealt with brute force.

This video shows how the current leaders 20 years ago supported each other and to the opposition of senior clergy at the time sidelined Aytollah Montazeri. Grand Aytollah Montazeri in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war was always expected in the 80's to replace Aytollah Khamanei. Montazeri spent 5 years in jail himself. He was sidelined because he did not believe in Islamic republic that did not represent democratic ideals of the masses. He also protested against the wave of execution that the Islamic republic committed against the voice of opposition views in Iran.

Now as the same Guardian Council and mullahs have reclaimed power at the expense of the current generation of youth in Iran, the question is- Where does Iran reform movement go from this point?

The options are clear. First, the nepotistic revolutionary leaders will not give up the wealth that their families have made. They will not surrender the thrown or loose respect for the crimes of looting that their daddies did in the country. They will continue to fight each other as the losing party may end up hung or expelled from the country. The last real leader Iran had after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini was Grand Ayatollah Montazeri. In the 80s when I attended the Friday prayers with my parents and I remember the laud orchestrated chants that Ayatollah Montazeri was the hope of Iran. He had lost three kids as martyrs to establishing the regime and was the Ayatollah Khomeini's exiled partner. He was quickly sidelined by Rafsanjani and Khamenei at the time, and after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, he was no longer a figure in the Iranian government and was put under house arrest and silenced. Even though he was a great revolutionary responsible for carrying the torch since he believed in open government with each Iranian having a voice, he was sidelined for the strict conservatives to rule.

This was fine for the neoconservatives in the White House at the time since they wanted a fundamental religious government in Iran. Remember that it was during the Reagan years that the Iran-Contra scandal broke out and the CIA funded sales of guns to Iran by importing cocaine into the U.S. The Reagan's neoconservatives even negotiated with the Islamic regime to keep the hostages for 444 days so that it would kill President Carter's chance of reelection and they got conveniently released when Reagan took office.

The fact is that the neoconservatives and the religious conservative government in Iran are not after ideologies. They use ideologies for the masses only to mold the public opinion. As the end goal is power, no amount of power is sufficient for these folks. They are happy to change ideologies and viewpoints in order to reach the end goal. For the conservatives in the white house at the time the end goal is dominance over nation wealth.

Before the election the neoconservatives hoped that Iran would select Ahmadenijad. Why? Because it would create the next war for them to be engaged in and control a population rich in culture and resources to create more military bases and to have the next war to fund the military industrial complex that relies on its base of support. The neoconservatives like senator McCain do not have the interests of the people of Iran in mind. They are encouraging actions that would help Ahmadenijad. They are OK with the concept of Iranians killing Iranians indefinitely, just like they have been OK with funding both sides of the Iran-Iraq war. Additionally, it gives a reason to the hawks in Israel to buy more guns with the U.S. tax payer's dollars and use them in Iran. That will draw the U.S. into a fight with Iran and send my fellow Iranians back to the dark ages, very similar to what happened in Iraq. Remember that in Iraq, after the first war, the same neoconservatives told the Shiite majority that they would support the uprising and at the end they sat by the sidelines while Iraq military crushed the Shiite majority in the south in the most brutal way possible. Besides the next war and a permanent military base in Iran they have no other agenda. With that base established, they can run heroin out of the golden triangle all the way to Afghanistan, Iran and Kurdistan to fund the next dictator for another war. Therefore the cycle of violence between nations continues and they all profit from it.

Iranian government has used this to its full advantage to clamp down on its own people. You see for the Iranian revolutionaries it is better if the Israel does attack the nuclear development infrastructure. The conservative government can again consolidate power by reminding of the great evils outside of Iran's borders. By having Israil attack they can continue to use the military to suppress all opposition.

Civil disobedience is the path to Iran's future:

In Iran the concept of civil disobedience to this regime must take hold. You cannot bring a change in government with setting buildings on fire or throwing rocks. At the end, this level of violence only hurts the Iranians. In this regard I refer to the Iranians in the Basij, the revolutionary guard and the student protesters who are all mostly under 30 years of age. These young men and women represent the next generation of great Iranian minds that will be lost in such protests. The sons of the elite that rule with an ironed fist will not be impacted as they have taken the wealth of the nation to offshore bank accounts. We will only lose the poor, the middle class and other valuable Iranians to street protest.

The leaders who can possibly lead the country out of this mess such as Khatami or Mousavi are sidelined and it erodes the base of support for them if this violence continues. Continuation of violence is not what these leaders are asking for. What course of action should the average Iranian take?

The one course is the logical path for the resistance to any oppressor and that is nonviolent civil disobedience and resistance. For this we should only look at how the French are able to shut down the government by taking on peaceful strikes. Recently the union of Iranian bus drivers went on strike. This form of disobedience is the best form of resistance against tyranny. If doctors, city employees, nurses, lawyers called national strikes it would bring the ruling regime to its knees. National strikes combined with the shouts of Allah Akbar on rooftops will force this government to change without the need for another stone being thrown or innocent protester being shot in a violent act. This form of unrest is the course for all Iranians.

The demand for these protests needs to be clear: to establish political parties in Iran, open access to media, and stop filtering of election candidates by the religious theocracy. Non of this can happen without having fair elections held in the country. If the Iranian Majles (parliament) members that are still have some allegiance to the reform movement need to make the above issues and the fair elections its daily priority. See the latest video from the Iranian parliament.

In regards to the U.S. politics towards the region, I hope that President Obama continues with the current stand offish approach, as any sign of threat by the West will only be used to again consolidate power by the Islamic regime, commit mass genocide by purging the anti revolutionaries, and create the next wave of exile of war refugees in Iran. Of course this is the course that Israel would love to see since they would then be able to receive the green light to attack Iran. See the videos attached on the site link bellow.

As I watched the Shell and Chevron clean energy commercials in between broadcasts of CNN and Fox on Iran, I wondered how the media will portray things in Iran over the next few months. I have been going through the latest videos on YouTube each night looking for new materials that I could post on our site. To my amazement hundreds of new videos appear each night on YouTube. When I look at these gruesome images, my heart melts and I am deeply saddened to see them. The fact is that many new posts are not new but recycled from previous days and cut over with music and revolutionary slogans in order to increase the passion of the youth of Iran to continue the street fights and protests. The LA Iranians that left as part of the old regime all want to portray the current government as more violent than the Shah so they can put Mr. Pahlavi to rule once again and repaint him as a less violent king than the religious conservatives.

The U.S. news coverage has been amazing in regards to this election with no coverage of Haiti or the Moroccan election that took place. They keep recirculation of Iran videos as new footage. Is this because the oil companies are now buying more advertisements on these media outlets since they would be the first to benefit from the next war? Are the advertisement sales department and the editor's desk in cahoots to serve content that they can get large corporate sponsors for? I am sure that is the case. This is similar to the case of the war generals and analysts working for the media who remained on the U.S. government payroll. The media did not only look the other way but acted to pass the war propaganda to the masses on behalf of the government. Are they now getting extra advertisement dollars from the oil companies when they keep running the same footage of carnage again and again on TV? Or is it because of the heavy hand of the AIPAC Zionists and the religious conservatives with the help of the U.S. tax payers' money that is funding these continues reruns of the violence in Iran. So I would expect that over the next few months as the public opinion is shaped by these broadcasters on how evil Iran is they hope to force President Obama to change course and give Israel permission to attack Iran.

In the above scenario, the Ahmadinejads are victorious since they can once again claim power and say -- I told you so, this reform movement is from the expatriates and Israel so let's all rally around the flag, country and god and defend the nation. Finally, millions of Iranian lives will be lost defending the country but to the benefit of the neoconservatives and the nepotistic kings and princes of the region.

While Iranians die to drum beats of another war, the military industrial complex benefits from selling guns, and the oil companies from looting the Iranian wealth. The sons of these current leaders will than take residence in friendly countries with the wealth that they looted from Iran.

A site dedicated to social justice from around the globe. With the single focus of helping to build similarities from different races and cultures. By helping to highlight the plight of humanity by our collective shared experience of dealing with poverty, war, racism and social injustice. Iranian-American author Vahid Razavi and his dedicated team from Belgrade Serbia covering global issues from Iran, Middle East, US and the Balkans.
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Military Intelligence: A True Oxymoron if not a Dangerous Blend

2011-03-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the average American citizen is awed by the presence of high government officials, especially those reputed by executive department sources and the media to have been privy to state secrets as spies or intelligence agents. They are said to have such honest eyes and believable faces. I suppose that modern movies, which portray exaggerated and propagandized renditions of fictional federal intelligence operations and the heroic paramilitary agents who go about saving the world from disaster, are responsible in large part for the public's favorable impression of professional spies. Porter Goss is one of those individuals about whom a curriculum vitae has been officially written and circulated by highly talented government propagandists who have recently regaled the impressionable U.S hoi polloi with stories about Goss's forty-year service with the federal government. Little, however, is actually known about the real Porter Goss, and other people like him, who have done the clandestine bidding of the Central Intelligence Agency, the federal spy corps with the annual three billion dollar budget.

All we actually know about Goss is that he graduated from Yale in 1960, joined the U.S. Army, and was later recruited into the CIA in 1962. After that point, Mr. Goss became a shadowy professional prevaricator, in the ambiguous name of national security, and assumed a trail of pseudonyms and aliases which accompanied him on his exploits in espionage throughout the world. What Mr. Goss officially did as a CIA operative has been classified regardless of whether or not the particular operation was, or was not, sanctioned by Congress. If the covert operations were properly sanctioned by the House and Senate oversight committees, they, in most cases, were correctly classified as top-secret. If the operations weren't sanctioned, and were illegal rogue activities (which in many cases they was), they was conveniently classified in order to obfuscate the devastating truth.

One of the more curious aspects of Porter Goss' federal career was his continued under-cover employment with the CIA clandestine services during the time he was supposedly a newspaper publisher and a Florida congressman. Official sources say Goss retired from the CIA in 1970 due to health matters, but other much more reliable sources report that he didn't actually retire, but assumed cover as an ex-CIA member when he began publishing a Florida newspaper, The Island Reporter, with two other former agents.

In 1974, Goss was formally appointed to the City Council of Sanibel, Florida and was later elected as the city's mayor. Time passed while Goss assumed a prominent Republican Party status in Florida politics while still on the CIA payroll. In 1983, Goss was abruptly appointed by Florida's Governor, Bob Graham, to be on the Lee County Commissioner Board. By 1988, Goss had attained so much political popularity and leverage that he declared himself a candidate for Congress with Republican Party approval, and subsequently won a seat in the House of Representatives while still employed by the CIA. This premeditated failure to disclose his professional association and alignment with the CIA to the Florida electorate was in violation of federal election law. What Goss has done in Congress since 1988 to advance the conservative Republican and CIA-NSA agendas may only be a matter of speculation. Yet, his appointment by Dubya as CIA Director, in 2002, came as no surprise to those who were aware of Goss's continued association with the agency. His immediate confirmation by the U.S. Senate was quite laughable, with those senior committee Senators, who knew about Goss' ongoing association with the CIA, pretending that he actually retired in 1970. The truth about the Goss merger, of the intelligence community with the military and federal politics, is certainly appalling, and begs the question of how many more active spies have been elected to Congress as senators and representatives?

The stark reality about the CIA is frequently difficult to handle, especially by those who elevate its leaders to high positions on the morality pedestal. What we do know as facts about the CIA, after its inception in 1948, comprises a litany of corruption, deceit, and false representations to the American public. Remember that it was the CIA that covertly used American soldiers and marines in Vietnam, in 1968 and later, as guinea pigs in horrible experiments to determine the effects of LSD and other hallucinogenic chemicals on the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese regulars. As many as 200 young soldiers and marines unknowingly suffered permanent neurological damage as a result of the illicit experimentation, of which the Executive Branch has, of course, summarily denied any knowledge.

In 1947, after the Army's Office of Strategic Services was transformed into the CIA, there was a regular secret flow of Nazi scientists and Gestapo agents, genuine war criminals, into the ranks of the military Intelligence corps, which was the vanguard of the newly organized CIA. This utter hypocrisy practiced by the CIA, and the later-organized NSA, under the nose of Congress, was kept away from the American public through a thoroughly refined Executive Branch propaganda ministry. This well-oiled Machiavellian tax-financed government machine was the later means of keeping the facts about the illegal onset of Vietnam away from the American public. It was before, and after, 1962, that the CIA controlled most of the operational strategies used in Southeast Asia by the U.S. military commands.

It was the CIA that grossly misrepresented the general elections in Saigon, in 1964, in showing that American intervention was favored by a majority of the South Vietnamese people. The U.S. news media reflected in print, and on television, the manipulative efforts of the CIA and NSA to deceive the American voters. Lyndon B. Johnson knew, however, that the majority of the South Vietnamese wanted the American military to leave Vietnam, but exhibited unrestrained hubris and continued to escalate the fighting, which resulted in the eventual deaths of over 58,000 American warriors. In 1968, Porter Goss was among the CIA operatives who were ultimately responsible for the implementation of operational military policy in Laos, and Cambodia. In all likelihood, he was one of the prime movers of the political strategies that exacerbated the military confrontation against the North Vietnamese people, which lasted fourteen years and ended in humiliating defeat for the United States.

The diastrophic effect which has resulted from using military personnel to provide intelligence operations for the CIA and NSA, has proven to be almost fascist in nature. Any military service thrives on an austere implementation of an effective dictatorship, where the dogface GI is strictly required, at the threat of death or other severe punishment, to follow orders, whether or not the orders are moral and legal. The U.S. military is governed under such a set of regulations known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice, not the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

By enlisting in the U.S. military, a person, in most cases, unknowingly signs away his constitutional rights and becomes military property. Most military commanders will assert that the average enlisted soldier or marine does not have the mental capability of determining whether or not a direct order is lawful and moral. The subordinate warrior is expected to follow orders without asking questions. This factor is what makes the grunt warrior expendable when orders are issued requiring that immoral and illegal acts be committed in the amorphous name of national security. Therefore, by putting the military in charge of intelligence gathering and the implementation of subversive executive orders (which currently have all the force of statutes), the overall result is inevitably aversive to the maintenance of the constitutionally mandated separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. Porter Goss is the perfect example of the many paramilitary GS-14 civilian spies who have routinely put on the uniforms of field grade military officers in order to deceive and manipulate military units into following their orders. A career spy officially impersonating a military officer is, to me, the height of ignominy.

In and of itself, the U.S. Armed Forces has become a self-perpetuating and autonomous system within a republic and under the total command of one executive official, the President. This is basically why the President, Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff totally resent constitutionally mandated congressional oversight. This condition has resulted not from the application of law, but, rather, from the indulgent allowances offered by the Congress to the chief executive ever since George Washington issued the first presidential decree without congressional consent. Though strange, unchallenged traditions can eventually be claimed to possess the effect of settled law, even if they clearly violates the letter of the U.S. Constitution. I personally believe that what is clearly unconstitutional cannot be made constitutional by capricious declarations of the U.S. Supreme Court. If this be so, a higher law should appropriately intervene to reverse such a ruling. And such a higher law should only be a vocally dissenting majority of the U.S voting age population, which unites to oppose and abolish such an illegality.

It may be presumed that George W. Bush's recent nomination of Michael Hayden, an Army general and former head of the NSA, to head the CIA as Director of Central Intelligence, is a major step toward a fascist military approach to intelligence gathering and covert unsanctioned operations. It is a matter of record that our sitting president has already, under a banner of national security, secretly ordered the establishment of secret foreign CIA prisons and an extensive program of spying on the American public. In an effort much more technologically sinister than J. Edgar Hoover's covert tape recording of public figures around the world, which the deranged man found sexually arousing, the NSA has spied on and recorded millions of American telephone conversations. Dubya has used clandestine executive orders since early 2001 to authorize the CIA and Department of Defense to engage in highly unscrupulous, if not illegal, activities. Case-in-point, a high-level CIA officer's secret meeting with Osama Bin Laden at a French hospital where Bin Laden was undergoing renal surgery. This meeting was in August 2001, immediately prior to 9/11, while an existing order for Bin Laden's arrest had been in effect since late 2000, signed by President Clinton. This particular CIA officer left Bin Laden resting comfortably after a suspicious two hour dialogue and immediately returned to Washington to report to his superiors at Langley. Why wasn't Bin Laden surveiled at the hospital and subsequently taken into custody? Was the CIA somehow involved in the subsequent 9/11 WTC and Pentagon bombings? These questions were not posed by the 9/11 Commission for investigation. Why do you suppose this was so?

From the dawn of recorded history, the failure of developing governments to heed the lessons taught by the mistakes of previously fallen regimes has invariably resulted in sad replays of calamities perpetrated by deviously conspiring men and women of political and financial means. Most of these mistakes have been derived from the misuse of the military in aggressive foreign policy entanglements. The tragic Iraq War debacle is but a replay of the awful Vietnam saga, and the prevailing illicit machinations of the Bush administration are but a revisiting of the deceitful Nixon and Reagon years multiplied by a thousand. So when will it all stop? When will our supposedly wise and intelligent leaders begin to learn from sad experience? By placing the military in charge of the already semi-fascist U.S. intelligence community, the resulting effect will be like putting the insatiable fox in the henhouse, and will only make existing matters worse. The American republic will be unable to continue withstanding the continued and resisted umbrage against its already wounded standard, the Constitution of the United States. As Thomas Jefferson sagaciously wrote in the Declaration of Independence, "That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." His words are as true now as they were then.

Norton R. Nowlin is a published free-lance writer and essayist residing in northern Virginia. Mr Nowlin holds M.A. and B.A. degrees in political science and psychology from the University of Texas at Tyler, completed a successful year of law school at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, in San Diego, California, and holds an ABA-approved advanced paralegal certification from Edmonds Community College, in Lynnwood, Washington.

Albanian Governances - Beyond Tax Policy

2011-03-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Governments use their taxation systems to get their hands on, and then spend, between 10 percent and 40 percent of national income. That is a lot of money. There is little doubt that taxing is one of the most important things that governments do. Correspondingly, it is widely agreed that it is important that governments should get tax policy right.

When people debate and argue about tax policy, they mostly address some aspect of four big questions:

- How much money should government gather as tax? It should be enough to meet public spending needs and contribute to fiscal stability, but not so much as to encourage the government itself to be wasteful or to appropriate money that could be better used in private hands.

- How should the tax burden be distributed among actual taxpayers? This issue may be argued either in terms of fairness in burden sharing, or in terms of the potential instrumental advantages of using tax policy to help achieve other public policy goals, for example, encouraging businesses to locate in poorer regions or to invest in particular sectors, or actively redistributing income or wealth from one group of citizens to another.

- How can the potential adverse economic costs of taxation be contained or minimized? Taxpayers tend to be alert to the costs that they directly incur, whether these take the less damaging form of complex and costly paperwork and record-keeping obligations, or the more malign form of harassment: arbitrariness on the part of tax collectors and the need to pay bribes. If collectively well organized, taxpayers or their legislators may inquire into the efficiency of the tax administration itself.

- How much of the money that it raises is absorbed in the collection process? Economists also routinely focus our attention on the indirect costs of revenue raising that taxing any activity almost inevitably discourages it. If, for example, a government chooses the easy option of raising most of its income by taxing chrome exports, it may be biasing the whole economy, in an inefficient way, against producing chrome for export. It is probably more efficient simply to spread the tax burden broadly. These tax policy questions are very important.

These questions will continue to dominate debate about taxation in most countries and to absorb the attentions of tax policy specialists. However, they are not the only important tax policy issues. In particular, there is a growing debate focused on poorer countries and on governments enjoying large incomes from grants and borrow funds or from oil, and mineral exports that addresses a different and in some ways more foundational set of questions: not ''What is good tax policy?'' but ''How does the taxation relationship between state and citizens itself contribute to the quality of governance?''

Taxation and Governance?

Governments need to command the services of a large number of people and acquire substantial monetary and material resources. Historically, governments have depended on two main kinds of material resources, extracted from the societies over which they rule: conscript manpower, mainly for military purposes, and financial resources to pay the salaries of civilian and military personnel and to meet the other capital and recurrent costs of warfare and government.

The most convincing evidence on the connections between tax dependence and governance is now emerging from comparisons between local governments within the same country. They depend substantially but with significant inter local variations on fiscal transfers from central government and, in a few cases, local revenues from the specific region industry. The local governments most dependent on broad taxation of their citizens had historically been more democratic. When provincial governments were most generously supplied with financial transfers from central government or specific region industry revenues, local political leaders had been better able to buy off or suppress competition from democratic oppositions.

I have compared some economic statistics of big local governments in Albania, a country in which central and local revenue raising is often coercive. I term ''coercive taxation 'an assessment and collection conducted in ways that are likely to be validly perceived by taxpayers as arbitrary, extractive, unfair, or brutal. Why? There is a formal answer: Taxpayers have few rights. But why do they have few rights? I don't have a complete answer, but I can see some reasons why public authorities in Albania are motivated to tax coercively.

The structure and organization of economy and businesses are the main reason that matters. It is difficult actually (a) to collect taxes from middle-income services-agrarian businesses like economy of Albania is organized in small and medium size enterprises that lack formal, bureaucratic structure and operate without extensive use of banking systems and written or electronic records of economic transactions, and (b) to collect without resorting to arbitrariness and coercion. In this model of economy, tax collecting tends to be coercive and conflictual. The dearth of records of economic transactions and the limited use of banking systems encourage face to face interaction between taxpayer and tax assessor or collector and oblige the latter to make discretionary decisions about tax liabilities that cannot easily be independently validated. The inspector who tells you what you owe also gets his hands on the money. These logistical factors endow tax collectors with considerable discretionary power, facilitate corruption and perhaps extortion, increase the leakage of tax revenues into private hands, generate resentment and tax resistance on the part of taxpayers, establish taxation as the issue of choice for political rebels, and make it practically and politically difficult for governments to appropriate a high proportion of national income through taxation, especially direct taxation.

How Much Do Citizens Pay in Taxes?

The potential causal interactions between the state and taxpayers are many and relatively complex, especially because government face choices between taxing broadly and thus engaging with citizens, and exploiting unearned revenues, which requires to be engaged with a narrow range of other actors and monitors or a small number of large companies, public or private, in the oil, construction, telecommunication and minerals sector. The question of how heavily government tax citizens is distinct and conceptually less complex. How the level of revenue demand might impact the political actions of taxpayers? We know that the political implications are not straightforward. Increases in the tax take are unlikely to occur in isolation. They will generally result also in increases in public expenditure, which might in turn intensify the processes through which the politics around public expenditure ''confuses'' the politics around revenue raising. However, there are good, logical reasons, to believe that the more of their income the citizens pay in tax, the more they are likely to be politically engaged in and demanding of the government. Marked increases in the level of tax burdens has mobilized taxpayers, as well as recent statistical evidence indicating that increases in revenue demands precede by only a few years shifts toward more democratic tax resistance. In sum, there is compelling evidence that the dependence of state on unearned income is likely to have adverse effects on the quality of governance and that the overall level of taxes does help mobilize citizens politically.

Who and what is taxed and how are taxes assessed and collected?

Government is more accountable and responsive to their citizens when dependent on them for revenue. Does that also imply that governments are only accountable and responsive to taxpayers that is, those citizens who pay taxes? Is the policy implication that we should find ways of ensuring the poor are taxed to prevent government being accountable and responsive only to the non poor, at the expense of the poor?

The answer to the last question is no. There are two reasons:

The first is cautionary: We simply do not know enough about the effects of taxation on political behavior to justify this kind of experimental social. The second is that there is good reason to believe that the entire polity and all social groups normally will benefit from greater state responsiveness and accountability to taxpayers. Why? Especially, in Albania with relatively fragile public institutions, politics is rarely the kind of rational public finance game that economists love to model, in which one particular definable group for example, small entrepreneurs will be calculating in detail the benefits of, say, exchanging reduced simplified profit tax for a stronger legal commitment to employees' rights. The more that politics is like that, the more we should be concerned about the problem of accountability only to taxpayers. However, in some of the regions with which we are concerned the poorest, and those dependent on aid and mineral resource wealth the pressure for government to be accountable or responsive to taxpayers is likely to have more positive effects at a more basic level of the polity by encouraging the creation of the kinds of stable institutions and predictable political behaviors that are often in deficit. Poor people will normally benefit and rarely lose out when ruled by government that, because they are dependent on general taxes, face incentives to coax rather than simply extract revenues from citizens, and therefore confront restraints on their power, are motivated to protect human and property rights, and understand that they and citizens share a common interest in economic growth.

What is needed then?

Take a look at the logistical advantages enjoyed by tax collection agencies in wealthier economies. Four factors facilitate their task and help to explain the historical shifts from levying taxes on specific items (oil, tobacco, beverages, landed property, houses) to levying them according to accounting categories (especially income, value added, and profits rather than simply asset values):

- Extensive written and electronic records of economic transactions help collectors to hunt down their quarry accurately and to create effective checks against misappropriation within the tax bureaucracy itself.

- The relative insulation of most economic transactions and incomes from seasonality or the weather makes it feasible to collect most taxes in regular installments over the course of a year.

- The widespread use of banking and other indirect systems of money transfer reduces the need for tax collectors to meet personally with most taxpayers.

- The prevalence of bureaucratically organized economic enterprises provides opportunities to place the collection process on the impersonal and quasi-automatic basis that underpins most contemporary company taxation and employees' pay-as-you-earn systems.

When local populations have the greatest potential economic mobility, and therefore the widest scope to flee from coercive local and national taxation, local and central government spend higher proportions of their revenues on providing services for their citizens and less on themselves. In different ways, studies provide evidence for the balance of power hypothesis: When governments face the strongest pressures to finance themselves by coaxing rather than extracting revenues from their citizens, they are more likely to rule democratically or to spend money providing services to citizens.

It's pity, but true the fact that in Albania there are no great intellectual or organizational wars that need to be fought and won before government is in a position to change tax policies in ways that will improve governance: abolish some taxes, replace them with more modern and effective alternatives that can be levied less coercively, use widely known techniques to make the taxpaying experience less coercive, and find national revenue sources to replace the former coercive techniques in the long term. Let's hope to see soon the change needed to go ahead.

Gaining an Online Education in Government

2011-03-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

Completing a degree program in government prepares students to take on a large number of jobs. Careers can be forged in the public sector, education, politics, and much more. The wide breadth of schooling opportunities can be pursued through online education.

Online education is offered in numerous areas. Students can study government in degree programs such as homeland security, international affairs and public service. Perhaps the most taken path in entering a career in government is gaining a degree in political science. Online education teaches students to understand the development of government so they can explore how to integrate new and improved concepts into the system. Obtaining a degree online allows students to enter various fields of work that can include:

Foreign Affairs
Military Services
Journalism
Legislation
Law

Online education in government allows students to apply their knowledge to these areas because of the knowledge gained. For example, students that pursue a bachelor's degree in political science learn the basics of today's political systems. Online courses establish the understanding of the economic, social, and cultural influences that shape society and influence politics. Bachelors degree programs allow students to step into government positions as market researchers, campaign workers, and political research assistants. Further study is recommended because students can enter a specialty that will focus on online courses in public administration, international relations, and law. These fields of study are further explored in online courses on constitutional law and government philosophy.

Masters degree programs expand student's comprehension of political and government structures. Online schools teach students about government by breaking down specific concepts and covering them in depth according to their specialization. Energy policies, military operations, foreign policies, American politics, and comparative politics are some government areas that students can expect to study online. Students that specialize in comparative politics learn about the different global structures of government. Students interested in working in diplomatic communication can step into a concentration where schooling focuses on international relations. Students learn how to integrate new concepts regarding international relations through the understanding of administration and political theory. Further education is for students that want to work in academic careers.

A PhD is a terminal degree and provides students with a thorough understanding of government and politics. Specific online course subjects explore political economy, public policy implementation, and administrative analysis. Upper-level jobs as policy analysts, academic researchers, and professors can be entered upon graduation.

Through the complete educational understanding of the origin, development, and contemporary use of government systems students have the knowledge to work in multiple areas. The study of government can be pursued through various accredited educational degree programs. Agencies like the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration ( http://www.naspaa.org/ ) can fully accredit quality programs that provide students with the best education possible. Online government studies provide students with the required knowledge to meet their career goals. Students can find the right program by examining what accredited training opportunities are available in their field of interest.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.

Renata McGee is a staff writer for PETAP.org. Locate Online Government Schools and Colleges as well as Campus Based Government Schools and Colleges at PETAP.org, your Partners in Education and Tuition Assistance Programs.

Politics - Bread and Circuses

2011-03-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

There's an old saying: "If you want to know what's really going on, follow the money trail."

If you do not understand money, banking and finance, you cannot really understand politics. For the motivation of politics and politicians is ultimately the accumulation of money and resources. Money and resources = power.

Many people object to this statement. One of my clients said, "I grew up in the 60's during the civil rights movement. That was a purely political and altruistic agenda that had nothing to do with money."

In the 1960's however, the United States was unquestionably the world's greatest economic power. Our currency was strong. When you are abundant and strong, you feel magnanimous. In 2007, our economy is weak, our debt is high and our currency is declining. The current corrupt and mean-spirited political environment is a reflection of our country's declining economic status.

The OMB predicts that by the year 2012, the national debt of the United States will be 11.466 trillion dollars. This figure does NOT account for unfunded liabilities like Social Security.

The total amount of dollar denominated debt (including unregistered derivatives securities) worldwide has been estimated at 1.2 quadrillion dollars. That's right folks. 1.2 quadrillion. The dollar has been hyper-inflated on a planetary scale.

How has this happened? To understand that, you have to understand how money is created and manipulated. A great place to start is to read the book called "The Creature From Jekyll Island.

The money we use is monetized debt. It has no value whatsoever. Today, money is not backed by anything tangible, other than the "full faith and credit of the United States." What does that mean? It means the future work, sweat and productivity of the American people.

It is a startling fact that if all dollar denominated loans and debts were paid off, all of our money would disappear. Therefore, even if Congress wanted to pay off the national debt, it could not do so without destroying the economy!

Look at the top of any bill of any denomination, and you will find "Federal Reserve Note." Do you know what a note is? It is a promise to pay, a certificate of debt. The money we use are just a fancy IOU's. Unfortunately, the Fed, in cooperation with Congress, has played fast and loose with our currency. When you discover how money is created, you will understand the truth of this statement: "Money DOES grow on trees." Those who control the creation of money control the economy, and the lives of everyone in the nation. Economic cycles of boom and bust are not natural economic occurrences, but artificially created conditions due to the manipulation of the money supply.

Did you know that legal tender laws FORCE Americans to use Federal Reserve Notes? Look on the left hand side of the bill: "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." It is illegal in the United States to use gold or silver as money. If you refuse to accept Federal Reserve Notes in exchange for your valuable goods and services, you can be thrown in jail. The power of the State is used to enforce legal tender laws.

The debasing of our currency (and thus our economy) is the most important crisis facing our country, and the world, because the dollar is the linchpin of international finance. [1] The growth of the unregistered derivatives market has hyper-inflated the dollar to the point where the international financial and banking system is in turmoil. At the present moment, and behind the theater of politics, the world is confronted with an international banking and currency crisis which is being completely ignored by the mass media in the United States (so what else is new?)

Called "Wantagate" by those in the know, it is a story of fraudulent financial manipulation that involves the highest banking and political officials in the United States, and the world.

How can such a gigantic crisis go unreported?

Because the focus is on politics!

Pick up a copy of the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the L.A. Times. Listen to the news. Listen to NPR. The news is, almost exclusively, political. What economic news is reported is mostly mundane stuff like the Dow Jones industrial average.

Politics and political intrigue obscures the fundamental economic and financial realities underlying the actions politicians take. In other words, the bread and circuses of politics takes your attention away from the money trail. Following the money trail will ALWAYS explain the actions of politicians.

For example, why did we go to war in Iraq?

The government says that we did it to establish democracy, or remove WMD's, or destroy Al Queda, blah, blah, blah. Former secretary of State Jim Baker said facetiously that we invaded Iraq because of "oil, oil, oil." Well that, at least, is partially true. According to Christopher Story, noted U.K. intelligence analyst, one of the fundamental reasons for invading Iraq was the takeover of the Rafidain Bank, Saddam Hussein's private bank. The Rafidain Bank had trillions of dollars worth of assets and billions in gold bullion. That money properly belongs to the people of the United States via the U.S. Treasury, as the spoils of war. According to Story, Saddam's money was stolen by criminal operatives within the U.S. intelligence community -- with full knowledge of officials at the highest levels of government, including the President, the Vice President, the Treasury secretary and the Homeland Insecurity chief -- and parked in offshore bank accounts. This money is "off the books," because the people who stole it cannot identify source of funds. In any legitimate banking transaction, official codes are issued which identify the financial institutions on both ends of the transaction, and where the money came from. This is not possible with stolen money. For the rest of the story, see the link below in the Resource Box.

We are spending 10 billion dollars every day to fund the war in Iraq. The war has so far, as of this writing, cost almost 500 billion dollars and President Bush has just submitted a request to Congress for 200 billion more. Moreover, the war in Iraq is being privatized, which means that private contractors are making billions from this war. Meanwhile, our brave men and women in the military fight and die -- for what? [2]

Governments throughout history have printed money and debased the currency to fund their conflicts. When the currency becomes devalued, it loses its purchasing power, and prices rise. This is the genesis of inflation. Inflation is not rising prices, it is the debasing of the currency.

The only legitimate way for governments to get money is through taxation. But politicians do not like to raise taxes because the voters will throw them out of office. However, the political scientists in Congress and the monetary scientists at the Fed have devised a brilliant scheme to spend more and more money and keep themselves in power: simply print and create more and more of it. The process by which this occurs is complex and obfuscated, but the bottom line is that the population is taxed by inflation when the money supply increases too rapidly. Each dollar buys less and less, you see. Inflation is a hidden tax -- a cowardly trick imposed by politicians (and bankers) who hide behind the power of the state to enforce legal tender laws.[3]

Moreover, when money is created from nothing, the size and power of government grows larger and larger, sapping the economy. Money that would have been used to start businesses and employ people is wasted by government cronyism. Regardless of who is in power -- capitalists, socialists, liberals, conservatives, Democrats or Republicans -- political parties always use the power of the state to enforce their decrees. Thus, government grows and the political structure of a nation becomes more and hierarchical, fertile soil for the growth of tyranny.

Political parties and groups exist first and foremost to advance an economic agenda. Study the bills Congress passes. Almost all of them have language benefiting special interests -- tax breaks, government contracts, etc.

Political parties did not exist in 1789. Many of the founders of the United States were against the establishment of political parties. George Washington, in his farewell address in 1796, said,

"They [political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests."

Although the motivation of the founders of the United States was rooted in the ideals of freedom, economic issues -- such as taxation -- played a very important role. Moreover, the creation of a central bank was one of the fundamental issues that divided the founders. Whether or not a political party begins it's life with a set of high ideals, once it becomes established, it 's main motivation is to stay in power. Then it always becomes a vehicle to protect the vested interest.

So people, do not become distracted by the bread and circuses of political theater, for that is what politics is.

Look underneath the superficialities of the news and always ask yourself these questions:

1) Who stands to gain financially by a declared government policy?

2) Where is the money trail?

In this way you may uncover the true motivations behind the actions of the actors on our political stage.

You can then begin to identify people who are open and honest, and vote for them. The crooks, of course, stand out like sore thumbs.

_________________________________

Footnotes:

[1] In an interview for the German magazine Stern, Allan Greenspan, former Fed chief, says that the Euro is rapidly replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Greenspan said that the dollar is still slightly ahead in its use as a reserve currency, but added that "it doesn't have all that much of an advantage" anymore. And why is that, do you think?

[2] According to the FRONTLINE documentary "Private Warriors," private military contractors comprise the second largest "force" in Iraq. There are as many as 100,000 civilian contractors and approximately 20,000 private security forces currently in Iraq, and the number is growing.

[3] Here's an historical example (there are many): The Continental Congress, beginning in 1775, simply printed money to fund the colonial rebellion. The Continental, which was worth 1 dollar in gold in 1775, was by 1779 trading for less than a penny. A loaf of bread cost $5,000! In a letter to Samuel Cooper in 1779, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "This Currency, as we manage it, is a wonderful machine. It performs its Office when we issue it, it pays and clothes Troops and provides Victuals and Ammunition, and when we are obliged to issue a Quantity excessive, it pays itself off by Depreciation."

Kenneth James Michael MacLean has written 8 books, dozens of articles, and produced two movies.
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Why is Airbus Bidding on a US Military Air Tanker Contract

2011-03-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

The World really is getting much closer together in regards to trade. But some ask why is an Airbus being retrofitted for the military to use? Why not an American company? Why is Airbus a European Union Company going to bid on Making a United States Military Air Tanker?

Well there are lots of reasons for this, one reason is that the DOD and the Senators are trying to teach Boeing a lesson for playing games with the leases on a bid for the flying gas stations in the past in an aerial re-fueling aircraft scandal. John McCain took it on as a personal political issue. Since Boeing has little competition in this matter, they are allowing Airbus.

Of course there are other reasons for instance we want access to their markets as well. Many nations in the EU need to replace their old fighter aircraft in case of a future conflict of political will being settled by war with a new Super Power like China. Our Industrial Military Complex would like to them jets, planes, tanks, missile defense systems and Smart Munitions. Also we would like some levers to prevent the EU from selling modernized weapons to potentially future rogue nations, which may not be politically stable in the future period, ushering yet another era of war.

Also the politics of Boeing being black balled world wide because that company although it is broken into sectors; military, satellite, commercial aviation, submarines, etc. is said to be subsidized by our military and government; just as we point to Airbus Commercial Airlines being subsidized by EU nations. It is a big issue in the EU over competition and state sponsored business.

Also this affects US Companies like Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Monsanto, Drug companies over there in European markets. There is a lot of cross multi-national conglomeration pull in international politics. Look at ChevronTexeco, ExxonMobile, BP in the oil sector or Roche and our pharmaceutical companies. You have to remember who is really running the world and how it all has to gel together to work. It is a giant chess board and it all has to work. You see?

Even the contract for the Future Presidential Helicopters will have Westwind, a UK based company rotor blades on the Marine One in the future? Same type of thing and you must also realize Halliburton is building UK Aircraft Carriers? We need to kind of keep our doors open so we can all find our niche and allow them to bid on our contracts to keep our companies honest and get the best price for the taxpayer.

Plato would have liked this. For instance if every corporation does what it is best at and alleviated from what they suck at, then the universal community is best served you see? Read the Republic by Plato or go pick up the cliffs notes and read this if you have some more time;

[http://worldthinktank.net/wttbbs/index.php?s=7f4036c0bf6bc904ff71536468d447d1&showtopic=150]

Here is the deal, in the future we will need to act more like a global market and if we want to compete, then we will not be able to block out European Union allies from bidding on our lucrative Military Contracts. At first glance this may all look like some sort of conspiracy, but in the end it will be the best for all concerned, free markets usually are. Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

Avian Flu Fright: Politically Timed for Global "Latrogenocide"

2011-03-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

Dr. Len Horowitz's Avian Flu Fright Commentary

To: All grassroots activists, health and vaccination networkers.

Please forward this urgent e-mail, to help save lives, to everyone in your network.

Avian Flu Fright: Politically Timed for Global "Iatrogenocide"

A Public Health Warning and Political Essay by a Harvard-trained Author of Fifteen Books Including the American bestseller, Emerging Viruses: AIDS & Ebola-Nature, Accident or Intentional?

Leonard G. Horowitz, DMD, MA, MPH

Abstract

If avian flu becomes more than a threatened pandemic, it will have done so by political and economic design. This thesis is supported by current massive media misrepresentations, profiteering on risky and valueless vaccines, gross neglect of data evidencing earlier similar man-made plaques including SARS, West Nile Virus, AIDS and more; continuance of genetic studies breeding more mutant flu viruses likely to outbreak, inside trading scandals involving pandemic savvy White House and drug industry officials, curious immunity of these pharmaceutical entities over the past century to law enforcement and mainstream media scrutiny, and published official depopulation objectives. With the revelations and assertions advanced herein, the public is forewarned against this physician assisted mass murder best termed "iatrogenocide."* This genocidal imposition is expected to serve mainly economic and political depopulation objectives.

Background

In April, 2003, a social experiment called SARS, said to have arrived from Asia, heavily struck Toronto. I was there throughout most of this Asian flu-foreshadowing fright. This bizarre new pneumonia-like illness was named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. It was said to be the latest threat in an ongoing series of attacks on humanity by mysteriously mutating "supergerms."

A careful study of the scientific and medical-sociological correlates and antecedents of this "outbreak" revealed something amiss far more insidious than SARS. I critically considered Toronto's media reaction as any Harvard-trained public health expert in media persuasion behavioral science might. The scourge had all the earmarks of a novel social experiment conducted by white-collar bioterrorist.

It seemed clear to me that this unprecedented population manipulation effectively indoctrinated the mass mind in support of a grossly ineffective, albeit legislated, public health response in advance of the arrival of "the Big One." Throughout the "SARS Scam,"(1) repeated references were made to biological agents that might facilitate decimation of approximately a third to half of the world's population. Having extensively reviewed political population control literature and contemporary objectives of leading global industrialists, I noted these predictions were in close keeping with current official population reduction objectives.(2)

Canada's response to SARS in 2003 was, for the first time in history, directed by the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO). Having reviewed the intimate financial and administrative ties between these organizations, the Rockefeller family, Carnegie Foundation, and the world's leading drug makers, "the fox," in essence, reigned over Canada's "chickens."

The truth about plagues includes the fact that "no grand pandemic ever evolved divorced from major socio-political upheaval." SARS advanced a political agenda more than a public health emergency. If public health officials earnestly intended to prevent these new emerging diseases, or successfully treat them at their roots, I repeated, they would study their obvious origins from the merged military-medical-biotechnology arena. A basic course in medical sociology simply justifies this utilitarian counsel.

"Experts" had been predicting the arrival of a super-plague for decades. What was HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS about the mysterious and terrifying arrival of SARS, however, was its timing. It synchronously arrived with the global war on terrorism, and the Anglo-American war with Iraq. It seemed a convenient distraction from the fact that the earlier Bush administration had shipped Saddam Hussein most of his deadly biological weapons arsenal including anthrax and West Nile Virus. SARS was pathognomonic (i.e., symptomatic and characteristic) of what I had predicted and explained in the book, Death in the Air: Globalism, Terrorism and Toxic Warfare (Tetrahedron Publishing Group, 2001; http://www.healthyworlddistributing.com/), a prophetically-titled text that predated the 9-11 attacks on America by several months, and provided a contextual analysis of certain globalists' links to recent "outbreaks."

In essence, I provided insight into the broad application of a new form of institutionalized "bioterrorism" consistent with state sponsored biological warfare. Saddam Hussein was said to have exposed populations in his and adjacent lands with biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction. SARS and the current avian flu fright is sanctioned by military-medical-pharmaceutical-petrochemical industrialists likewise operating above the law in many documented instances. Having testified before the U.S. Congress, I personally experienced how premiere pharmaceutical industrialists direct our political-economic representatives in government. Emerging diseases complement the political "War on Terrorism," and our bioterror-influenced culture. This agenda serves two primary objectives: profitability and population-reduction.

Political Reality Versus Mass-Mediated Myths

The ever increasing madness around us is eerily consistent with globalist think tank recommendations for the current "conflicts short of war." Beginning in the late 1960s, "economic substitutes for standard militarization" were sought and found by leading global industrialists. New biological threats, the "war on terrorism," and increasing numbers of "natural disasters" including space-based threats and superstorms were considered economically and politically expedient compared with the first and second world wars. These "conflicts short of war" were decidedly more manageable and economically viable. For this reason, especially their profitability, they were leading options among Anglo-American policy makers.

Nelson Rockefeller's protégé, Henry Kissinger, for instance, as National Security Advisor (NSA) under Richard Nixon, oversaw foreign policy while considering Third World population reduction "necessities" for the U.S., Britain, Germany, and other allies. This Bush nominee to direct the 9-11 conspiracy investigation, a reputed war criminal, then selected the option to have the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) develop biological weapons, according to the U.S. Congressional Record of 1975. Among these new man-made biological weapons were germs far deadlier than the avian flu.

For example, by 1968, when Kissinger requested and received updated intelligence on useful "synthetic biological agents" for germ warfare and population control, mutant recombinant flu viruses had just been engineered by Special Virus Cancer Program researchers O'Conner, Stewart, Kinard, Rauscher and others.(3) During this program, influenza and parainfluenza viruses were recombined with quick acting leukemia viruses (acute lymphocytic leukemia) to deliver weapons that potentially spread cancer, like the flu, by sneezing. These researchers also amassed avian cancer

(sarcoma) viruses and inoculated them into humans and monkeys to determine their carcinogenicity. In related efforts, Raucher et al. used radiation to enhance avian virus's cancer-causing potential. These incredible scientific realities have been officially censored and generally neglected by the media's mainstream.

Similarly, the Institute of Science in Society (IoSS) in London raised the genetic engineering question in the origin of SARS. "Could genetic engineering have contributed inadvertently to creating the SARS virus?" they asked. "This point was not even considered by the expert coronavirologists called in to help handle the crisis, now being feted and woed by pharmaceutical companies eager to develop vaccines." Those living in glass houses should not throw stones. The above emphasis is added to show IoSS they had "not even considered" intentional SARS deployment in their scientific, allegedly unbiased, purview.(4)

Conflicts short of war, like the "War on AIDS," "War on Drugs," "War on Terrorism," "War on Cancer," and now "War on the Avian Flu" require sophisticated propaganda programs employing fear campaigns for social acceptance and popular support of legislated policies. These psychological operations (officially termed PSYOPS) for "command and control warfare"

(technically called C2W), experts advise, best support the emerging "Revolution in Military Affairs" (RMA). The RMA's capabilities include "a form of human slavery" in which the world's captive populations would not know they are enslaved.(2)

The RMA undoubtedly incorporates the use of debilitating biologicals and chemical agents most generously on behalf of drug and vaccine makers. A classic example is the toxic carcinogenic organophosphate pesticides deployed against human populations, said to target "mosquitoes," in the "War Against the West Nile Virus." Such "non-lethal warfare" agents, as these are militarily termed, are indeed deadly, but mortality results slowly from toxic exposures allowing more profits to be made by allied pharmaceutical and medical industrialists. Victims of the "non-lethal" exposures die slowly from chronic debilitating diseases. Expensive hospitals and long-term care facilities are virtual concentration camps. The ailments generated for "iatrogenocide" include the plethora of autoimmune diseases and newer cancers virtually non-existent 50 years ago. This fact, alone, strongly suggests a genocidal socio-economic and political agenda.

Avian Flu for Profit

In response to SARS, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, Michael Fumento, published an economic thesis in Toronto related to the one I advance here. The "Super-bug or Super Scare," he wrote was published in Canada's National Post. Canadians were warned to "quarantine themselves," wear masks, and in some cases stay home. The Ontario Health Minister declared a "health emergency," as the media dubbed the "mysterious killer" a "super-pneumonia." Recoiling from the hype, Fumento asked and answered a few "real questions . . . How lethal, how transmissible, and how treatable is this strain?" The answers, he concluded, "leave no grounds for excitement, much less panic." The same may be said for this new curse of avian flu.(1)

Lethal?

At this writing, the avian flu is said to have killed "about 65 people" in Southeast Asia during the past two years! Little to no data is available on these individuals who most commonly had immune-compromising medical conditions. Further, all deaths were in Asian countries with questionable health services.

Conversely, other forms of flu kill more than 40,000 North Americans annually, generally the immune-compromised elderly.

Transmissibile?

According to USA Today (October 9, 2005), "European health officials are working to contain the [avian flu] virus, which so far has not infected anyone in the region." Although, allegedly "more than 140 million birds have died or been destroyed, . . . and financial losses to the poultry sector have topped $10 billion." This propaganda actually admits, "the current virus, known as H5N1, has not yet mutated to the point at which it can easily spread from person to person." In fact, it is likely to have never spread from person to person other than during laboratory handling!(5)

Treatability?

"The U.S. Senate has already approved a $3.9 billion package to buy vaccines and antiviral medications, and the Administration is also preparing a request for an additional $6 billion to $10 billion," according to a current BusinessWeek report.( 6)

"Beam me up Scottie, there is no intelligent life on this planet." This largely explains why the public puts up with this deadly deception. Even USA Today bemoans, "there is no human vaccine yet." So how come the U.S. Senate is rushing to spend all these billions for an avian flu vaccine?

I suppose we should overlook the fact that the current frightening strain of H5N1 avian flu virus has never readily jumped from human to human, and not commonly from birds to humans either. Thus, an effective vaccine can only be prepared by mutating this virus, thus creating what the world fears most. Let me explain. . . .

To make the human vaccine specific for the H5N1 mutant virus, you must start with the human virus which does not yet exist, except in perhaps military-biomedical-pharmaceutical laboratories. In fact, this is precisely what is being prepared based on news reports. To produce the human pathogen, the avian virus must be cultured for lengthy periods of time in human cell cultures, then injected into monkey and ultimately humans to see if these experimental subjects get the same feared flu. Thus, the flu virus the world currently fears most is either: 1) now being prepared in labs paid by industrialists with massive wealth-building incentives to "accidentally" release the virus; or 2) has already been prepared in such labs to take advantage of this current fright and future sales following the virus's release.

Remember, to be effective against a virus, a vaccine is said to require specificity. If authorities were to now have the main H5N1 avian flu strain feared to spread at some future date there's no assurance by the time they developed the vaccine the strain would remain sufficiently the same for the vaccine to be effective anyway due to expected viral mutations. Viral mutations over time is a function of the agent's newness. New man-made viruses, laboratory creations, like the ones currently being prepared for vaccine trials, are less stable not having evolved over the millennia. Thus, the entire vaccine effort is largely, if not entirely, a sham with ulterior motives.

Remember too, that a vaccine's reliability requires years, or at least months, of testing in the targeted population. Vaccine injury data must, or should, be meticulously collected over this period to assure the vaccine is not killing and maiming more persons than it is helping or saving. Can you seriously believe this assurance will be provided by government or pharmaceutical industry officials in this pandemic's wake? FEMA's failed Katrina response pails by comparison to this public health liability and vaccine-injury certainty.

I say "vaccine-injury certainty" because of the extensive list of newly developed vaccinations, highly touted when brought to market, that caused horrific results. This list includes the first swine flu vaccine, polio vaccines, smallpox vaccine, anthrax vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, and most recently Lyme disease vaccine that crippled approximately 750,000 people within months of its release and prior to its recall by the FDA.

Most people fail to realize all vaccines carry a list of ingredients that typically increase human disease and death (i.e., morbidity and mortality). These include toxic elements and chemicals such as mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde and formalin (used to preserve corpses), MSG, foreign genetic material, and risky proteins from various species of bacteria, viruses, and animals that have been scientifically associated with triggering autoimmune disorders and certain cancers. A growing body of scientific evidence strongly suggests vaccines are largely responsible for increasing cases of autism and other learning disabilities, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, Lupus, MS, ALS, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, hay fever, allergies, chronic draining ear infections, type 1 autoimmune diabetes, and many, many more pandemics. These chronic ailments are said to require long-term medical care for the patients' management causing toxic side effects resulting in America's leading killer--iatrogenic disease. That is, vaccines and other pharmaceutical industry inventions are literally killing or disabling millions with little effort on the part of government officials and their drug industry cohorts to arrest this scourge.

For all we know, governments are ordering an avian flu vaccine that will precisely deliver this pandemic to the world to affect population control. Absurd thesis? Read on.

[Continued in Part 2 ~ including references]

Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 November 2005 )

Russ Miles is author of the novel, For Sale By Owners:FSBO. A ?Seasoned Real Estate NAR? Broker,? disabled by Multiple Sclerosis, Russ writes books & articles on varied subjects. FOR SALE BY OWNERS:FSBO ISBN 0-595-28703-4,in trade paperback, is available by phone or Internet:1-800-Authors to order direct! Adobe e-book & hard cover editions also available at Amazon.com at Barnes and Noble and other fine booksellers. Comments: MilesRuss@Gmail.com. Please visit Russ Miles's website MilesBooks.com for other informative features, health cocerns, and information of interest.

Post Capitalist Free Market Society (Part VI) - Government Under Technological Democracy

2011-03-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

In a capitalistic society, like that of the United States, the capitalist elite controls the economy through which it controls or highly influences government activities concerned in any way with its interests. The matter of power struggle, against this elite, by the people or the government has become more complex and difficult where no single country has either the authority or the power to regulate or investigate the total operation of a multinational or global corporation.

While a state is responsible to its citizens and rules with their apparent consent, a global corporation is a strict autocratic system ruled, not by its shareholders as it should have been according to its charter, but by a self-appointed and self-perpetuating members of the board of directors holding, collectively, only a small fraction of the corporate assets.

Under a socialistic system, like China, the state is controlled by a single political party which is controlled in turn by a few leaders selected and elevated to their position by the initial or senior members of the party. The socialist constitution usually prescribes a government by a democratic political process. But the execution of this electoral process is tightly controlled and supervised by the party through its instrumentalities. Consequently, the government and the society end up to be governed by a few holding leadership positions.

Thus, under both capitalist and socialist systems, individual freedoms, economic as well as political, has remained at the mercy and consent of a very small group which controls the means of production and distribution. All this suppression has occurred because the individual, under both systems, has been deprived of equality of opportunity as his basic human and democratic right. The government has played a substantial role in installing and maintaining the subjugation process making the individual life under either system exploitive.

The main objective in a technological democratic society is to grant, protect and foster the principle of equality of opportunity, to allow and provide opportunities for individual freedom and dignity in a way that no one is exploited economically, socially or politically. To accomplish this goal, the control over the means of production and distribution need to be taken away from the capitalist class and transferred to the working class by the application of the principles of equality of opportunity and prohibition of unjust enrichment.

Consequently, under technological democratic system, the role of the state becomes quite distinguished from those under capitalism or socialism. The government like any individual in society is obliged to abide by the principle of equality of opportunity. Thus, government cannot keep anything secret or classified. If secrecy is allowed, it would increase the government's opportunity to the detriment of the public. This openness extend everywhere in government and all other institutions in society. In the area of national security, as long as other nations have not complied with the principle of equality of opportunity, secrecy may be kept. But the term of national security must be applied in its narrow and strict interpretation. In technological democracy, a major part of present national functions are transferred down to the private production firms; other parts such as maintenance of law and order, supervision and enforcement of the principles and standards governing the production of goods and services, are all trusted on local and regional (states in U.S.) governments. There are no line functions left for the national government except for defense and foreign affairs. Defense and intelligence establishments are also highly curtailed since the U.S. will not interfere in internal affairs or economic resources of other sovereign nations. Because, in technological democracy, the essence of strength is not in military or intelligence power, but in the strength of its citizens' minds and commitment to peace and the extension of democracy and prosperity to other lands. No conquering force can rule in a technological democratic society without being assimilated into its way of life and culture in a short time. Any conquering force is soon conquered by the conquered society. Essentially, therefore, there is no need for military forces. The elimination of military establishment, a vestige from barbarian past, marks the disappearance of the greatest evil haunting humanity and its well being for centuries.

Many may consider this allegation idealistic even utopian. These are people who have failed to study and understand the essence of technological democracy governed by the principle of equality of opportunity. One cannot judge or evaluate the characteristic of this system by employing presently available bases for evaluation. A proper judgment requires a thorough knowledge and understanding of the system. Faulty judgments are often the result of haste or shallowness of information about the subject matter.

The National Government

In Technological democracy, all line functions of the national government are eliminated except for defense and foreign affairs. The size of the latter two is also substantially reduced. All current vast bureaucracies of the regulatory agencies and those concerned with education, health care, welfare programs, social security, commerce, justice, federal courts, transportation, agriculture and other similar departments are discarded. The whole Congress and its vast staff institutions are also eliminated.[1](For detailed description of this concept see the references at the end of this essay.)

The Structure and Functions of the National Government. The traditional representative system of government and its corresponding institutions employed at the present are far outdated for the fast-moving and self-contained technological society. The system presented here is quite new and fundamentally different. It is difficult to visualize the exact structure and function of a future system. Here only its basic features are considered. In real practice, some modifications may be required.

Considering the early stages of the system, besides defense and foreign affairs, the main functions of the national government are concerned with studying and establishing economic, social and political standards, all based on the principle of equality of opportunity. Therefore, there are national legislative and executive branches but substantially different from the present forms.It cannot be established by reforming the old system; it requires a full transformation.

The National Legislative Branch. This is the main policy making body of the national government and consists of a National Legislative and Coordinating Assembly, Economic and Production Council, Health and Education Council, International Affairs Council, and Judicial Council.

1. National Legislative and Coordinating Assembly. This body has three main functions. First, it gives final approval to regional laws. It has amending authority, as it is the guardian of the principle of equality of opportunity. This task is actually minimal. When a regional legislation is made, it is fed into the Technodem. If any part from it is contrary or in conflict with the national standards or laws, it is pointed out by the Technodem and is corrected by the regional authority accordingly. Assembly also functions to provide uniformity in regional laws when they relate to the application of the principle of equality of opportunity.

The second function of this body is to approve and coordinate the framework for actions proposed by all national councils. The main purpose is to streamline conflicts that may arise from the application of frameworks designed by different councils.

Third, this body receives, amends, and approves the national budget submitted to it by the National Executive Council; and approves the framework of functions proposed by the International Affairs Council for the operation of the executive branch including defense and foreign relations.

2. The National Economic and Production Council. This is the most important national institution. Its job is mainly to establish economic standards based on the principle of equality of opportunity and enact a framework of regulations for their implementation. The main functions of the council are:

a. To establish a framework for the rate of return for the use of capital. This is done through a commission and corresponding staff. It is similar to establishing of the interest rate.

b. To devise a framework for position classification and wage system through a corresponding commission and staff.

c. To develop a framework for the use of the natural resources and return of revenues from such use to the public treasury or the Social Consumption Fund. It must be noted that under technological democracy, the principle of equality of opportunity prohibits the ownership of any part from the natural resources by any individual or institution. All these resources belong to the people as a whole. The Natural Resources Committee establishes a framework for the use of natural resources and lease of land and resources. Any direct revenue from such use goes to the public treasury. For example, oil resources may be leased to an oil company for a determined period of time to explore, extract and market the product. However, the proceeds left after paying for all expenses of operation go to the public treasury. This constitutes the market value of oil itself as a resource.

3. The National Health and Education Council. In a technological democracy health care and education are two of the most important services in society. They are the basic requirements for social democracy and socio-economic development. It is obvious that without a healthy and educated society no progress can be expected. In an advanced technological society also, more than any other, the increase in the level of opportunity heavily depends on the level of knowledge one possesses. This increase in the level of opportunity not only relates to the area of work and production but also to the area of enjoyment of life. For example, one cannot properly enjoy and appreciate an opera, classical music, or modern art unless one has knowledge and understanding of it. It can materialize only through education. Thus, it is imperative that health care and education be fully available to every individual and the work schedule in society be established accommodating education into work hours making education continuous in both areas of technical-professional as well as social-cultural knowledge. Cultural and humanistic education must be made mandatory because it is absolutely necessary to maintain and advance a civilized democratic society. This class of education includes the areas of humanities such as art, music, philosophy, literature, history, foreign languages, and the normative aspects of social sciences. Equality of opportunity in health care and education can be materialize if they are available to the public free of charge. The money to provide these services comes from the Public Consumption Fund.

The first stage of education is the most crucial in preparing children for a democratic way of life, for its comprehension as well as enjoyment. Four years of semiformal yet full time education is required from age three to seven. It constitutes of grades one to four. It is quite similar to preschool education in the ex-Soviet Union, which was considered by many experts to be the best in the world, but more systematic and more comprehensive. Then comes eight years of full time general education from age eight to fourteen, consisting of grades five through twelve. It embodies three major areas of knowledge: social sciences, humanities, and general sciences, including mathematics, each area receiving equal attention in the curriculum. Six years of at least one foreign language is required.

After graduation from this stage, every person works part-time while studying part-time, from age 15 up to 22. He then receives his higher education degree (equivalent to over an M.A. in our present higher education standards) and starts full time work- 34 hours per week.. From there on until retirement at the age 52, each individual is required to continue a part-time education- 6 hours per week, making education a part from 40 hours work per week. The content of this education is equally divided between cultural and professional-technical depending on the nature of employment and job skills requirement. The main purpose of this education is to keep one up-to-date in his area of specialty and expand his knowledge into other desired specialty areas, as well as to improve worker's cultural and intellectual knowledge for a better understanding of human society, better enjoyment of life, and maintaining of democracy.

However, one is not restricted to this requirement in his education. This is only the minimum requirement, and one remains free to pursue his education further and to advance his knowledge as he desires. Under the required education, a worker generally reaches the level of knowledge equivalent to a Ph.D. within ten years, and his education beyond that for the next 20 years, would place the worker at the level of post-doctorate compared to the present knowledge levels. The basis for this concept is simple. Democracy can be established and sustained only in a society where people are fully informed and intellectually advanced. It must be noted that one's education does not stop with retirement. Free education is available to everyone for life.

Health Care. This essential service is rendered through the Technodem, local and regional health care agencies. The framework of their functions and required minimum standards are established by the National Health and Welfare Commission. All health care costs are paid through the Public Consumption Fund. The primary concern will be preventive medical services. The Technodem will be of great help in making such services available, providing preventive and general healthcare, medical information, and general medical consultation at home to every member of society. Particular attention are given to individuals with special and enduring health problems and those retarded or disabled.

4. International Affairs Council. This body has the important function of establishing the framework for international relations covering all its aspects: political, economic and social. These basic policy directions are based on the principle of equality of opportunity. With non-democratic nations the policy directions are based on reciprocal opportunity, gradually moving toward equality of opportunity as those nations incorporate technological democracy in their system.

However, there are certain areas that equality of opportunity will govern from the beginning, regardless of the nature of the other nation's system of operation. For example, in the economic area, equality of opportunity does not allow the exploitation of natural and economic resources of another nation. Because, under this principle, all natural resources of a nation belong to the people of that nation and ultimately to the people of the world. Thus, these resources cannot be owned or exploited by any private or public sector. Any firm, private or public, extracting material resources under a lease contract, is entitled to the full cost of operation and marketing. I takes from the revenues all such costs and pays the balance, which is the actual price of the extracted resources, to the public treasury at home or to the country where the resources were located. This policy, would actually encourage the firm not to exploit the workers but pay wages comparable to the duties of the work. It will cause a substantial increase in real per capita income of the working class in developing countries.

Labor is another important national resource and, based on the principle of equality of opportunity, it cannot be exploited within or outside the country. Thus, the production institutions in a technological democratic society, cannot exploit labor in another country if they move a part from their production of goods and services to that country. The wage system should be comparable to the level established by the domestic system stored in the Technodem. One important effect of this policy would be the elimination or substantial reduction of outsourcing of production and labor and healthy operation of the domestic economy. The equality of opportunity also mandates that no importation of goods or services would be allowed if they are produced by exploited labor compared to the importing country's domestic standards. One strongly beneficial effect of this policy would be substantial increase in wage system in countries which want to do business with a technological democratic nation while exploiting their labor force.

Pursuing equality of opportunity also foster international peace which is a dominant characteristic of democratic life where every claim is resolved by reason and logic than by force. Simply, any military or non-military action causing death, injury or destruction of property deprives the victim of equal opportunity for enjoyment of life or property. Therefore, no country can give or sell arms to another country where such action is to increase the military opportunity of one country over another or become a tool for suppression of its own people. Under the present systems, that of the U.S. in particular, arms sale appears to be the biggest global business. No democracy can be achieved by force and armament since it is inherently undemocratic. The military is presently used to sustain undemocratic conditions benefiting well armed nations such as the United States. Militarism, regretfully, is a remaining vestige from our savage and barbarian past. No nation can be considered civilized while ascribing to militarism.

As a result of international application of the principle of equality of opportunity, ultimately, the national boundaries will disappear, not by force or intimidation but by the consent of the people involved. As each nation develops toward a technological democratic system, it will become a sister state with those already enjoying such a system. The world will gradually move toward a universal technological democracy where national contradictions, in a highly culturally diverse world, will disappear. A permanent world peace will be achieved for the first time in history.

Dr. Reza Rezazadeh

1080 Eastman Street, Platteville, WI 53818

Phone: (608)348-7064

Reference:

For a detailed presentation and analysis of the materials presented in this and all other seven essays, see the following books and other writings by the author by visiting his website http://www.democracywhere.com Technological Democracy: A Humanistic philosophy of the Future Society; Technodemocratic Economic Theory: From Capitalism and Socialism to Democracy; Passage to a Just Society: Secrets of a Democratic Life, Leisure and happiness.

Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin System,and a Fulbright scholar, a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, and multi-lingual scholar with background in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.M.E.), Continental and Islamic Law (Licenciate), J.D. in American Jurisprudenxce, LL.M. in International Law and International Economics, Ph.D. in Political Science, Economics and Administration, and Doctor of the Science of Law (S.J.D.) the highest law degree offered in U.S. Fluent in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Persian, Azeri-Turkish. Elementary knowledge of Arabic, Urdu, Russian and Italian. Patented inventions; an artist, a poet (oil and pastel), a musician (violin), with over 35 years of academic background in teaching, reseasrch and administration, research and cultural studies in many countries in Europe including USSR, Middle East, Central Asia, Northe africa, Central and South America. Author of 8 books and many scholarly articles listed in his website http://www.democracywhere.com

The Military Oriented Forums

2011-03-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

Active military staff, veterans and civilians can now mingle and exchange their views through the military dedicated forums. These boards are built, own and run by veterans and military staff themselves. Every forum aims to reach out for other staff of the armed forces from various parts of the world.

The Internet is playing an important function in communication. It bridges the gap of distance and time of the people who have same interests and principles towards the agency that handles the veterans benefits as well as the current issues that involve our government and the staff of our armed forces. These boards can be easily access using an Internet connection. Hence, providing everyone with a fair share of the argument including the enemies of this country.

Event though there are hundreds of forums across the www that are readily available to listen to what its members have to say, these boards are still well maintained. Nearly all of these sites are maintained by a certain military group like retired soldiers, National Guards and active military groups. Other groups consist of ordinary people and family members of missing or deceased armed member. These groups are moderators of the boards. Their primary job is to eradicate unrelated discussions, foul words and monitoring as well.

Apart from the benefits and other compensations, different sites also discuss the "in and outs" of being an American military, the government and politics, hobbies and other interests. There are also dedicated boards for images, videos and movies about wars and significant happenings in history and forums that are specially built in memory of those service personnel who have lost their lives in different battles.

More than just discussion and private communication with the real defenders of this country, the sites also endeavor to impart facts and awareness to its civilian members and co-soldiers as well. It also provides information to confused member of the military and their loved ones about the benefits that they ought to have by conversing different related topics.

Certainly, forums like other sites are essential elements that complete the www. Its function in our everyday lives is to educate us and open our eyes with the events happening around us specifically for those people who are protecting our country. Any civilian members of these forums are undoubtedly, have interests in the welfare of our men and women in uniform. And these members are also known as supporters.

Liza Chua is a member of Veterans Advantage that supports and provides an excellent line of military benefits to US military. She is also a member of Liberty Fun Pass.

The Rationale Behind Military Interventions And The Analysis Of Ethnic Conflict Regulation Mechanism

2011-03-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

1. Introduction

i. Conflict situations are situations of dynamic complexity. In order to solve the problem we will focus on understanding and representing the dynamics of a system. We will describe interactions among social structures and review processes in complex situations utilizing system dynamics. We will use causal loops identifying main elements and their interconnections focusing on feedback loops that will help explain system behavior.

ii. The main purpose of this article is to express as straightforwardly as possible a few key ideas and therefore bring forth more clearly the logic of reasoning, and in particular the assumptions being made concerning the interdependence of social networks and furthermore to exploit the possibilities of the application of system thinking and system dynamics in order to prevent military interventions. In addition we will question the rationale behind military intervention in the Western Balkans.

iii. A growing number of international conflicts represent a major challenge to international organizations. The track record of international community interventions shows that it is necessary to use additional analytical tools to apply different strategies for conflict solving; system dynamics and system thinking.

iv. Resistance to System Thinking in Conflict Situations is well known: Usually key players in conflicts situations are resistant to system thinking. The introduction of System Dynamics involves the overcoming of these resistances.

v. System Dynamics will contribute in increasing the awareness needed to deal with conflict in deal making.

vi. In order to understand international conflicts in it is important to understand that each conflict is a two stage process consisting of:

The Pre-conflict Phase - The interrelationship among actors in a group. These same actors develop and later on are referred to as opponents. This model will describe group dynamics and the process from group mobilization to group action.

The Conflict Phase: Once the groups are in action there are different constraints that arise such as internal support, resources and availability of resources, military action, and international military action.

2. The Pre-conflict Phase

vii. Ethnic Conflicts: Max Weber states that ethnic groups are those human groups that entertain a subjective belief in their common descent... [which] must be important for the propagation of group formation's. Group differences then produce different social dynamic patterns. If this would escalate then we would describe this is an ethnic conflict.

viii. We will assume that ethnic identity is not changed often, however different importance might be assigned to different values over time. If the relative importance of ethnic identity is raised then this can be described as mobilization. Our model will consider technical progress that enables increased contact among the groups, the position of a group in the society, nd the leadership role that is involved.

ix. If increased mobilization evolves into an action it will depend on different factors such as a societal climate for change, or the leadership of ethnic entrepreneurs resulting from available resources, external influences, and other high-profile triggering events, etc.

x. Action depends not only on the characterization of the initial group but on the opposite side as well, this is especially true concerning the level of democracy, with transitional states being most conflict-prone, as well as the level of previous violence, which increases the probability of violent response.

xi. Key components are as follows:

- Political issues: bilateral issues in different areas, refugees, territorial and resource claims, support for separatist movements, government ideology, human rights, military involvement, political crime. - Economic Factors: energy, food, strategic resources, differences between south and north. - Ethnic Relationship: racial attitude, religion, culture. - Defense Capabilities: degree of militarization, weapons, mobilization potential.

xii. Ethnic, Economic and Political Differences will lead to stronger group actions. Moreover democracy will negatively influence the action planned by different groups. Successful actions will usually influence better self perception of a group. Furthermore ethnic differences will help each group develop its own identity. In the case a group being considered a nation (e.g. Balkan Wars) the boundaries between nations would lead to stronger government support and the furthering of group mobilization.

3. Pre conflict phase: Case Study of Western Balkans

xiii. The framework described matches experiences with conflicts in the ex-Yugoslavia. Its six republics were bounded by historical and ethnic reasons. Before 1991 Yugoslavia was under communist rule by President Tito. In 1990 Tito died, the economic situation deteriorated, the Soviet block democratized, and Milosevic became party chief in Serbia. Independence then became the political goal for Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia.

xiv. Western Balkans Background:

- Multiple ethnic conflicts in Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Serbia, etc. - Political and Economic Instability (Transition Economies) - Multiple Strategies by different international organizations

4. Conflict Phase

xv. It is important to track the dynamics of conflict. Moreover the coordination of different sets of players is crucial.

xvi. The model will describe internal and external influences and also their interconnections. To illustrate the theory of lateral pressure will be used in international relationships. This theory defines that internal sources of conflict leads to potentials for external conflict and that this further depends on the population, level of technology, and access to resources.

xvii. In our model we see that resources have a positive influence on military actions and military action has a negative influence on the amount of resources. SDM will help in understanding possible and probable outcomes of conflict situations and will help in preventing unintended consequences uncovering hidden dynamics drive pre conflict dynamics in shaping the conflict phase.

xviii. Furthermore a hypothesis is represented that when resources decline while providing the population technological growth the result is an increase in the level of internal pressure. Sustained stress will lead to violence and moreover impacts the preliminary reasons for conflict. In addition increases in both technology and population influences external pressure and will therefore cause international conflict.

xix. Then further assumptions are marked. We see that an increase in technology and population will have a positive influence on GDP. GDP will then influence the military budget and this will usually lead to higher military spending and military action. When resources are limited international conflict and violence will lead to a lower labor force and worsening technology and result in a decline in the GDP. It is evident that this system is stable no matter the suffering of the population, and that the causes of each war are catastrophic. We must then conclude that military intervention would have a negative influence on GDP and that military action is necessary in the short term perspective.

5. Intervention of International Organizations in the Western Balkans and the Rationale Behind Military Action

xx. Classical Mechanisms of International Organizations: Structure a framework in which incentives for cooperation will outweigh the benefits from violent actions and confrontations.

In this instance we will use Schneckener's approach that is driven by a distinction between acceptable and unacceptable policies aimed at settling ethnic conflicts. Elimination strategies comprise genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced assimilation; control regimes include coercive domination, co-opted rule, and limited self-rule. Besides the unacceptable policies there are policies of recognition.

Elimination Control Recognition

Genocide/ ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Forced assimilation

Coercive domination Co-opted rule Limited self-rule

Domestic and international minority rights regimes (MRR) Integrative/consociation power-sharing (PS) Territorial solutions (TS) Bi-/Multilateral regimes (BMR)

xxi. International Organizations used the following approaches in Western Balkans

MRR PS TS BMR Dayton - Bosnia, Kosovo UNSCR 1244, Macedonia Ohrid Agreement

xxii. International Organizations have been successful in the long run because they have used recognition strategies. In system dynamics terms this would imply:

- a higher level of democracy - lower political differences - lower economic differences (financial aid)

xxiii. However the main question remains whether they would be successful with the NATO interventions in 1995 and especially in 1999. The Model presented is a straightforward reply to this question.

6. Conclusion

xxiv. We have shown that recognition strategies can be successful in the long term. However there is still a need for military intervention providing that civil rights are not respected and people are suffering in order to secure a short term prospect of situational well being.

Creating a Global Political Party

2011-03-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

Part I - Current Trends

As we become more globalized, is it time that the citizens of the world created a worldwide political party? Such parties exist in Europe, for example, under the umbrella of the EU. There are loose associations between the European wide Christian Democratic parties, Socialist parties and Green Parties. But there is no real sense of a truly international party, it is more like an association of like minded parties, but the membership is definitely national.

The democracies of the world have been able to reach very high levels of prosperity, especially since the end of the Second World War, but unfortunately the prosperity of the non-democratic countries has lagged tremendously. The most blatant examples are in Latin America and Eastern Europe. Countries like Argentina, Mexico, Ukraine or even Russia, when one takes into consideration the amount of natural and human resources; the only explanation for the gap in development with other nations is political.

Many have wondered at the tremendous economic success of the United States. Students from the United States are certainly no where near the top of the any ranking of curriculum.

The Washington Post reported "The scores from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment showed that U.S. 15-year-olds trailed their peers from many industrialized countries. The average science score of U.S. students lagged behind those in 16 of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that represents the world's richest countries. The U.S. students were further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries."

Clearly people in the United States are not better prepared than there counterparts, nor more talented. The secret to the incredible and enduring prosperity of the United States is very simple but often overlooked. The key to American prosperity is the tremendously strong, almost sacred democratic institutions that have guaranteed the supremacy of constitutional rights of those of any person or party. The United Kingdom demonstrated the superiority of these institutions in the nineteenth century as the United States had done in the 20th. And as these two nations spread their ideals through Western Europe and Japan and Korea, prosperity has followed.

It is no surprise, that when the United States denied some groups within its borders the full value of these democratic rights, the economic prosperity of these groups lagged substantially behind the majority. In the Great Britain, the example of Ireland stands out. Where and when legal rights where denied, Ireland remained economically backward. Curiously, now that Republic of Ireland is a full member of the EU, and a strongly democratic country, its per capita GDP is actually significantly higher than that of the United Kingdom.

But there has never been the need or the desire to carry these values into the international arena. What was sacred at home was not considered crucial when dealing with foreign countries. In the case of the United States, suffice to look at our relationship with Iran, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Chile, Vietnam, Guatemala or Nicaragua to see how little it valued sound democratic principles when dealing abroad. The example of Iran is particularly interesting, as the United States continually disregarded the democratic movements in Iran. Imagine Iran today if the United States had supported the same values in Iran that it does at home?

The Israeli example is perhaps the most blatant. Palestinians are not considered worthy of the same rights as Jews or Americans, all in an effort to safeguard Israeli prosperity. It seems the lesson is never learned, the key to security is prosperity, and the key to prosperity is sound democratic institutions.

More than any other media, the internet has given citizens of the world the possibility to freely communicate with each others and share information, data and media. One of the major benefits of the emergence of the English language as the 'de facto' international language is that joined with the internet, we have now practically overcome almost all the political and economic barriers to people communicating with each other. Basic english skills and access to a PC and the internet, and you can communicate with the world. Isn't it time that we began to use the internet to give the whole world, what until now, only the privileged few enjoyed.

The economics behind creating a world political party are miniscule. With a few thousand US Dollars, a robust website with an email and chat platform could be created. Leave the marketing to the buzz. If the message is the right, viral marketing will take the parties platform to all ends of the earth, and create a vital force to change the word, for practically nothing.

What do most of the people want in the world? The Financial Times will tell you they want mobile phones or BMW's. But the truth is, most people want a safe, clean, comfortable place to live with running water, food, clothes, safe and accessible education for their children and healthcare. Imagine a world political party that said the number one priority for all the world is that everyone has these things. Before one more fighter plane is built, before one more Mercedes rolls off the assembly line, every human deserves a clean bed, food, clothes, medical care, and education for their children. Maybe in the past it was difficult to imagine the world as one family; the obstacles between countries and peoples were tremendous. But now we are truly one.

Can you imagine a family, living in a beautiful house, where some members sleep in the bushes, some on the floor in the kitchen while others sleep comfortably in the master bedroom under clean cotton sheets? We are finally realizing that we really all are part of the same family. And with the same intensity that we use to organize and support world athletic tournaments, it is time we began organizing a world political party.

Part II - Structure

Considering the ease at which a world political party could be created with the Internet and the widespread knowledge of English, an important question must be asked and resolved before even ideology is discussed and that is how the party should be structured and how it will intervene in national politics.

One absolutely critical point is that in the party constitution, which will cover the structure and actions of the party, as well as the ideology, it must be made absolutely clear that the party will always act within the laws of the country it is acting in. This could and will be a major point of contention, but it is not negotiable. The viability of the party is based on the fact that it will never support violence in the pursuit of political power and will always act within the legal boundaries of the country where it is operating.

The party will be virtual on the international level, but on the national level it will have a structure similar to other political parties in the nation in which it acts. The website will be the hub of international activity. Members will sign up, have a message board, forum, virtual conventions twice a year, as well as volunteer and paid positions. The key to the structure of the website and the party in general is transparency. All monies coming in as well as going out will be made public on the website. Monthly statements will be made public. Initially, there will be a 6 person representation from each country elected to a international physical conventions of the party, which will take place twice a year. Considering that there are more or less 200 countries in the world and that each would have 6 representatives, there would be roughly a 1200 person World Congress. This World Congress will elect a 12 person Executive Committee, with no more than one person eligible per country. The entire world membership will elect the Chairperson of the Executive Committee which will be one of the members of the Executive Committee.

Once this has been completed at the World Congress, work will begin on drafting a constitution that will be ratified at the following physical World Congress. This is potentially the most challenging moment for the party. The Constitution will not only serve as overriding rule of law for the party, it will also become the keystone for the world constitution that will govern the New World Government. The six month debate the will ensue must be of the highest order, and as widespread among members as possible.

Once this constitution is drawn up and ratified, work can begin on bringing the local parties to power. While the ideological basis for the party will be discussed in the next article, it is important nonetheless to discuss the overriding goal of the party, and that is to create a one world government, bound by its own law to protect all member states and citizens. The most likely framework is a governance body that begins with a limited number of members, and grows slowly outward. This must be considered when drafting the initial constitution. All language, attitudes and spirit must be inclusive of those nations not operating under the charter.

The parties operating in each nation must work on all levels, national, regional and local, to gain political power. Once that political power is acquired, it must be used for two purposes: first two pursue policies that promote the values and ideals of the World Constitution, and second to bring the host nation under the charter of the New World Government. This pursuit must always follow the laws of the host nation and never, under any circumstances, promote or support any violent act.

While this may seem far fetched to discuss before even a website is started, we must not underestimate the speed at which these types of endeavors can progress with modern dissemination methods. This will be the first truly worldwide movement. No matter who gains leadership or protagonism within the party, the key to the success of the party is that it never becomes associated with one particular country, area, organization or culture. All people in leadership levels must act in the interest of the whole. Language, actions, or policies that are exclusive must be avoided.

First and foremost we are human beings. Within the context of the party, we will want to avoid any behavior or policies that are exclusive of anyone due to their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual identity, the language the speak or don't speak, financial position or any other reason. One of the fundamental reasons for the founding of the party is to stop those types of behaviors at least in as much as they hinder many humans from acquiring the very basic necessities of life.

A possible name for the party is the World People's Party, or WPP. And the congress's could be called the World People's Congress and the new government could be called the New World Body. These are simply suggestions; all would have to be voted on at the first World Congress. But in order to act sometimes it is important to have name.

Finally, the call action. For this to get off the ground, one donor must be found to fund the building of the website (programming, design, creative pieces, email service, and initial ad campaign). Depending on the donor, this could range from $10,000 at a minimum, to $10,000,000 at a maximum. The difference in quantities will be reflected in the speed of the campaign and the assurance of success. A $10,000 start could fail before it ever got off the ground, with $10,000,000 success is assured. Anywhere in the middle ands speed and success of the campaign is more or less certain. Before anything can be started, an international organization would have to be founded, to administer monies, payments, charters etc.

So we have the goal, it is time to get started, and have one person initialize funding, create the organization, and get the website and message out there. The rest the people will handle.

Part III - Ideology and Platforms

Three major challenges confront the world today, poverty, corruption, and sustainable growth. The first two particularly pertain to the underdeveloped and developing world. Poverty and corruption today is primarily a circumstance of undemocratic and corrupt government. With current technological advances, a government that works for the people, in their best interest, will quickly be able to raise standards of living. Poverty and corruption work hand-in-hand. Prosperity means strong democratic institutions, institutions that will put the government at the service of the people, not at the service of self-serving politicians and oligarchs who only pursue personal wealth and power through government service.

Sustainable growth is something that is equally difficult for all, developing countries as well as developed countries. Coordinating our consumption of raw materials as well as manufactured goods is vital to sustainable prosperity. Only a universal plan, free of greed and corruption, will be able to administer the world's resources in a responsible and sustainable way.

Many believe the environment will not be able to sustain a growing world population and economy. Clearly the earth's resources are strained, but there is also another threat looming that could be a more imminent danger. The possibility that the world is reaching peak oil has been openly debated. It is not clear how close that point is, but when it is reached, the price increases that will occur on the downside of the graph as our oil reserves go from their high points towards depletion will be tremendous. Though we do not know when this will occur, there is a possibility that it could occur within the next 10 years, and it is very likely to occur with the next 50 years.

While the deterioration of the environment is obviously a tremendous danger to the continued progress of humanity, the problem of peak oil could actually be more dangerous in the short term. So much of our current prosperity is based on oil and the economic growth that oil offers, that once it becomes prohibitively expensive, the world may have difficulty supplying basic needs to a population that grew so rapidly from abundant cheap energy.

The entire current world infrastructure, as well as the financial system is based on cheap oil. Once we begin the downward slope from peak, not only could we face real problems to feed and house the world population, there is also the danger of war over the ever declining supplies of oil.

The people of the world must unite under a group of institutions that will be given power by the nations of the world to administer the resources of the world, insure the basic human rights of the world's citizens, and be the arbiter of international relations.

Human rights are clearly the right to expression, basic private property, the right to work, the right to a clean safe home, the right to eat, the right to health care, and right that all children be given a complete education. Today this is possible. It may not have been possible even 25 years ago, but with advances in technology we can give every human these basic elements of life. It will not happen overnight, but with a concerted global effort, it is conceivable to achieve within ten years. How would this be paid for? Where would the resources come from?

All persons have the right to basic private property, which means a home, transportation, private belongings, investments, money, etc. But the ownerships of the world's natural resources must be property of all citizens of the world. This may be extremely difficult to implement in the short term, but the consequences of not doing this could be fatal for human culture. Initially, all nation states should take control of basic natural resources, water, wood, oceans, oil, minerals etc. The shareholders of the entities that now own these resources would be compensated. Once these resources were under control of nation states, a 10% tax would be placed on the international commerce of these natural resources to pay for the infrastructure needed in developing countries, this tax plus their own revenue generated from the sale of these resources would pay for the building of homes, hospitals, infrastructure, schools, universities etc.

The second source of revenue for the international governing body would be a membership tax on all nations that enter the international organization. This tax would be a 50% tax on military spending. This would generate revenue and drastically reduce the amount of world military spending. These would be the only sources of revenue for the world governing body. Any military operations would be carried out by the militaries of member nations. As the party begins to win control of nations, these nations would enter the world governing body by parliamentary vote or referendum, much the same as has occurred with the EU.

Another source of revenue to fund the development of infrastructure across the world would be the creation of a new world currency. This new currency will be backed by the world's natural resources. All national debts would be dissolved and reimbursed by the new currency. The freed tax revenue would be dedicated achieving the basic rights of men; food, housing, work, health care and education in the developing world, as well as creating a new, clean energy source and infrastructure in the developed world that can be quickly transferred to developing nations. New communities and energy sources will be created under a clean, sustainable, peaceful model.

The world governing body and world constitution will detail the legislative procedures to enact and realize the core values of the world constitution. War, corruption, oppression, and the unsustainable dissipation of the world's natural resources will not be tolerated in member nations. In exchange for the immense resources that the world governing body will allocate, completely transparent democratic institutions must rule all member nations, above all person or party.

The world governing body will leave the vast majority of culture governance to national and regional governments. World holidays will be created, as well as educational databases, exhibitions and international budgets for the promotion of the great world traditions. There will be a complete and total separation of the world governing body from any religious affiliation whatsoever.

To summarize the ideological foundation of the world governing body, life, freedom, peace, democracy and sustainability. Once these have been reasonably assured for all humans, a new age of peace, harmony and sanity will prevail.

Robert Bonomo is a journalist, blogger and internet marketer. He has recently published a novel, Cactus Land, available on Amazon. PURCHASE CACTUS LAND ON AMAZON.

He also has a blog, Cactus Land, and works as an internet marketing consultant. See Professional Services Link on his blog for details. Read Robert's blog CACTUS LAND BLOG.

What We Once Entrusted to God - We Now Demand From Politics

2011-03-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Politics is a repository where we dump everything ominous and uncomfortable that we don't want to know about, don't want to be responsible for, and don't know what to do with. We elevate certain persons to power far greater than we give to ourselves, expecting in return for them to handle what frightens and confuses us. As such politicians are small derivatives of what God once was worldwide. For most of human history what happened was God's will and doing. Politics thus has a great deal in common with religion in that it presumes to be in charge of everything, when actually it is in charge of far less ... mostly the military and spending our money.

Like heaven, politics promises everything while delivering very little, mostly an assurance of better times to come-the pretend-form of hope. We need to put the things that we can't handle somewhere so we can pretend they're being taken care of, in a lofty-far removed from us-place, managed by special people who are bigger and wiser than the rest of us. To consider that these elevated people know nothing more than we do about what's wrong, or what to do about it, or that most of the protection we're expecting to be in place, isn't really happening-is very frightening. These miserable results aren't anybody's fault, though we're fond of blaming specific politicians. Debates over which candidate is good and who is bad fuels our elections with some reason to be involved with what spends most of our resources, and accomplishes very little of real value to each one of us.

That is, unless we choose to regard the nation's defense-a powerful military-as saving our skin, when it wouldn't be necessary in the first place if politics did what it promises constantly to be doing-bringing peace and safety. Over time politics has been defined in various ways, as living god-ness, kingly rule, priestly powers, and presently as majority-mob- rule. By definition, politics is designed to assert power, not to bring peace. If it ever succeeded-which it can't-it would put itself out of business. And who in power wants, or knows how to do that? And yet we entrust most of our basic needs to this venerable institution. Let's examine where we've deposited the family jewels. The political arm of the public realm is a non-personal place where we hire people-actors-to stand in as representatives of our most vital needs. Politics decides how much personal opportunity and support society encourages and facilitates for each one of us in the course of our lives. There is no question that the quality of democratic opportunity has increased over hundreds of years. It's a question of how far it still must still go-which is very far.

Politicians pretend to solve problems by investing money in them, though the problems remain largely intact, revealing how little of what's dear to us can be obtained by spending money. Politicians are actors simply because no one can "represent" another person except by pretending what they're doing is "for your own good", is the usual way authority-figures put it. When like the rest of us, they only know how to represent themselves. They do this very effectively behind closed doors and between the lines, skimming off the extras that a public life offers/requires, which is what they, and most of us believe is necessary or we wouldn't so vigorously celebrate the fame of political figures. Our adoration, expressed either as love or hate, gives them special privileges.

Though it's almost never mentioned, politics is based upon the notion that people can say anything they want as long as they don't do very much about it. This is mostly what politics is made of-rhetoric-pretending to solve the world's problems by talking about them. The unwritten, unacknowledged purpose of politics is to prevent anything new from happening. This repressive attitude is called "patriotism," "loyalty" and "law and order." This view posits that the past is holier than the present. Something new that changes the way the system works is considered "un-American", and perhaps even treasonable. Politics sets up bureaucracy to administer its pseudo-decisions. These superstructures that govern key parts of our lives are designed to be moderately oppressive so we don't notice how ineffective they are in responding to our needs. The strategy is based on the notion that if someone is being annoyed and threatened, they'll be too busy defending themselves to notice how much we have failed to respond to what they've requested or complained about. We all have had this experience when we've called a bureaucracy.

They blame us for the problem. Most recently, phone systems have been employed in order to turn up the volume of our annoyance, making it Herculean to impossible to reach a live person, amplifying our resentment commensurate with the increase in public un-safety, and giving us something small to notice and complain about-telephone tag-instead of straight talk about terrorism and torture ... and why we're not all directly voting on how to spend our community property. Most of us would describe this awful experience as the perfidy of bad people doing bad things. The simple truth is that politicians are acting like this for our sake. We should feel sorry for them. In spite of how much money and opportunity they have access to-if they possess sufficient self-centered opportunism-they're our whipping boys that we regularly abuse. They're in public life to be complained about, so that we don't notice the lousy structure of our government, even in our wonderful-in-many-ways democracy.

Governments are structured to make sure nothing changes. If we keep pointing our fingers at a few people for being bad guys, we won't notice how much the whole bloody system needs to be overhauled. Thomas Jefferson strongly recommended that the structure of the government be changed every twenty-five years if need be. Though actually doing it would be very frightening to us. This was undoubtedly why we originally voted down his idea of a constitutional convention convening every generation (25 years). Instead, we venerate the Constitution as a holy relic, as if tradition was more important than people. Even if we admit that politics is too powerful, we still believe it's just another king who is now accountable to us. When it's actually much worse than the king was. Power is now centered in not one, but thousands of people who collaborate with each other far better than they do with us. How do you hold so many people accountable? Anybody who believes voting or the news media create accountability is seriously delusional. Not that they don't make excellent contributions. Both voting and the news used to be powerful, but like everything, they became a sham because they haven't changed.

News advertises one point of view. We all know that; which is why so many of us don't read much of it, don't vote, and don't watch the news. This only adds to our sense of helplessness and despair. The news should present to us all points of view in the same news program, so we would no longer pretend there's only one way of looking at anything. This would help us make up our own minds about what's happening in the world. It would most likely also frighten us to see regularly that there are no easy answers. It's safe to conclude that politics is where we pretend the most. Specifically, we pretend that people are inspired and enlightened by their vocation to look after the welfare of us all. But what is this pretence? It's primarily a passionate belief in the personality of the candidate. It's no different than believing a Hollywood actor is someone of note beyond the heroic, villainous or non-descript parts that they play in the movies. They begin to believe what their fans say about them, and act like big shots. Increasingly politics is personality worship. But what does personality have to do with the issues and problems besetting us? Personality is our public identity-persona-while character is everything we are, parts of which others see much easier than we do. Public appearance reduces who we are to caricatures exaggerating whatever aspects of us that particular public scene amplifies. They don't demonstrate who someone is.

We need to be alone with our politicians and challenge them in similar ways to how we test potential love partners, that is, if we test our lovers instead of perpetually trying to arrange the pretense of romance-our current wished-for relationship with politicians. Maybe then we would have some idea of who they are. In the meantime, "the show must go on" with its dodges and pretense. We all know that politicians and actors are like us, frail, unknowing in many ways, struggling to understand life, and subject to the same temptations of anyone who is confused and frightened. Politicians are vulnerable to the corruption that exists in any false-front society. They pretend to be "in charge" when they don't have any idea of what to do. In desperation, government has turned over the reigns of power to money, making bargains with big business in Machiavellian amoral ways, while spewing moral political rhetoric. Probably 90 percent of income available to politicians has been acquired dishonestly if one defines honesty rigorously. Knowing this we feel despairing. But we don't know what else to do.

Representative government liberated us from the King and his nobles, and partially from the Church and its presumptive holy pontifications, when we finally realized that nobody has a direct line to God. But we still ask ourselves, "Isn't representation what democracy is about? Isn't voting the only way the average citizen can participate in government?" The answer to both questions is no. But where do we go then when we feel that our political system isn't working? We usually blame the bad guys, as if only some of us created the problems. When we all are responsible for them. Any other assumption is patently undemocratic! In the true nature of democracy, we're all responsible for everything. So why have we been blaming politicians when they don't know anymore than we do about how to fix things? The problem isn't bad people. It's bad structure. Once again habit comes back to reveal its power. Social structure is just institutional habit. Every good idea eventually becomes a bad one.

It's called change. That's what happened to representative government. It was a profound and liberating solution. It's now become an oppressive and dehumanizing obstacle to the continued progress of democracy. We're not as naïve as we used to be. In fact, in the social realm the talents of the majority are grossly underused, in effect utterly ignored! We're far more capable of forming opinions than any of us imagine -and expressing them-in effect being in charge of our own lives. We're not so easily duped by misinformation, which is what politics has been giving us for centuries. We just never noticed this evolving truth about ourselves. In fact, we believed what we were told. Look at old movies and see how people relate to authority. Thank somebody that we are no longer so naïve. We can thank the Internet for giving us relatively free access to all information.

So what's wrong with the system? To begin with, money dominates modern life throughout the system with its amoral anti-philosophy-"it's just doing business"-that makes the world one huge criminal state. As evidence on the news, international crime is increasingly being reported. The anti-moral, anti-spiritual perspective of money has come to dominate the world. It's called "capitalism" and "modernization." The business of making money has become the underground world government. What's the crisis? It's a crisis of credibility. There is nothing in the world in which we believe passionately except for money, which has no credibility whatsoever, and openly brags about it. Business regards "profit" as superior to credibility, pretending there's something moral about making money at the expense of other people. One of our biggest pretenses is that profit doesn't hurt or deprive anyone. There's another whopper possessing enormous pretend-credibility hanging about-that certain people need to be very rich in order to keep the economy going. That's not true.

Projects need huge capital, but that does not require individual people having it. Perhaps we ought to consider putting consumers on the board of directors with equal voting power or limiting the wealth that any one person can possess and see how much good we can accomplish with all the extra resources. Call it "communism" if you like. What difference does it make what we call it? Lots of Karl Marx's ideas were bunk. Maybe this one wasn't. Capitalism has won, so why don't we try to assimilate some of our former opposition's best ideas? Nobody, even our enemy, is all-wrong. Though Marx was wrong about redistributing wealth. The real solution is to eliminate the possibility of great individual wealth. The limitation of wealth would actually accomplish something else far more important. It would take gambling-the big kill-out of the mainstream of life, rendering it more of a pastime than the core of our big dream to strike it rich.

On an emotional level, the legitimacy of this craving is the dream of having safe security. Unfortunately it's based on the cynical belief that money can buy anything. It's not that we entirely believed this in our conscious mind. But in experience we function as if we did. Once more, we are of two minds, and the truthful one is most easily discarded. We want to buy comfort, most of all, and as much safety as we can. If we provided everyone in the world the basics of life-food, clothing, a shelter of their own, protected aloneness, and warmth-there would be far less crime than there is and the cost to society would be much less than it is. That affluent Western civilization hasn't already done this, at least for its own people, is an utter disgrace! If we do this, dread will be removed from everyone's life, which derives from never knowing whether we will have enough to survive. The disgraceful term "poverty" defines all of us who aren't upper-middle class, meaning all those who worry about not having enough all their lives. We continue to inflict on ourselves the cruel, demeaning, and frightening belief that comfort and security must be worked for, must be earned monetarily, or we don't deserve it except as charity that insults the recipient. The humiliating bullet of that perfidious moral assertion is what we try to dodge by getting rich.

If we got used to the idea money isn't so terribly important except as a unit of measurement-in fact it's downright boring-we might consider the unthinkable: to relinquish ownership, that primitive relationship we have with parts of nature, and with each other, that spawns so much violence and abuse. We might replace ownership with choosing the right lifetime occupation, which is what we need far more. We would no longer say, "I can do what I want" and begin to say, "I am the steward of this place, and of my life, as long as I need to be." The idea horrifies us because we have invested so much of our comfort and security in the concept of ownership. Our firm conviction in the necessity of it prevails even though we know how much damage this belief has done to the environment and each other, both of which we have owned for thousands of years, most of human history. Perhaps we don't need to give it up entirely. But we should reexamine it. In change, nothing is sacred. We can either join the process of evolution or we can continue to fight it and probably lose in the end.

But what is most paramount to the well-being of humanity is the elimination of violence, which will only happen if we are far more resolute than we are now. It requires preventing any one human from ever being violent more than once. We'd like to entirely eliminate violence. But we can't restrain someone just because we think they might hurt someone, only after they've actually done it. Like everything else repetitive in human nature, violence is habituated. It is not a matter of personal choice. If someone is violent once, they'll be violent again. We must make sure that doesn't happen. Though most likely it will take fifty or a hundred years for us to move toward this solution, giving us time to figure out how best to do it, and people plenty of time to adapt to it before it becomes law. Instead of such visionary reaching, what are we doing? In this technological age we are highly over-identified with our machines because they seem so much more powerful than we are. We want to be a machine! We call these "bionic" wonders "superheroes." We give them magical superpowers-what most movies are about now.

A recent remake of the movie Manchurian Candidate appears to be a story about the evil uses of genetic engineering, when it's most fundamentally a story about bad mothers and fathers. Many parents still perceive their children as instruments of their own power instead of someone entrusted to them in order to assist them in releasing their (the children's) natural powers as independent agents. The movie also expresses what it's like to be dominated by others who pretend to be serving us. This exposes the ways in which family, society, and culture control our lives by keeping the vast majority of us anxious, insecure, about not having enough resources and by insisting we fill standardized identities and jobs. In other words, we've always been dominated by the machine we call "royalty," "the church," "society," the "majority," "the economy," or "the marketplace." Only recently have a great many of us begun to venture into "entrepreneurship," creating the shape and form of our own work. And yet, what still dominates this effort, what we must do in conformance to society's cultural capitalistic command, is to make money simply to survive. This gross necessity distorts the process of being what and who we are because of money's cynical amorality. The result is that we make money at the expense of others.

The care of service has become an advertiser's joke. Some would insist that we have to cooperate with each other, to which I would agree. But that cooperation is democratic only when individuals arrange to collaborate with others individuals because they want to. It's happening more and more all the time. But that mode of governance has barely begun to take over the human experience. Of course we don't know how to collaborate well because we've never seriously tried. These provocative ideas violate many sacred cows of democratic rights in their present form and are thus very unlikely. They're presented herein as illustrations of what we should consider and how much determination will be required for us to reach our goals. It will require the willing cooperation of the vast majority of people in the world, which will probably take fifty or a hundred years to achieve. But nothing will ever happen unless we get started in earnest. We believe politics requires politicians. It doesn't, only administrators of our common will.

It terrifies us to imagine ourselves as individuals taking over the world and being responsible for what happens in it ... perhaps by voting on the Internet. Undoubtedly the ideas presented herein are crazy and unworkable. Most certainly that will be the response of many. But they're not meant to be workable solutions. They are challenges that are meant to help us imagine that individuated forms of governance are possible, that is if we have the will and courage to make ourselves ready and available to such drastic change. By keeping ourselves safe in the status quo, we vote for the belief that everything's fine and force our children to solve the problems we have chosen to ignore. We needed the Internet in order to imagine such political heresy. We needed a way of communicating directly with each other that isn't controlled or policed by anyone. Let's look honestly at our nature, the good and bad of it. It's all displayed on the Internet. But please let's stop turning our security over to someone else. That's how tyranny was, and still is, built.

In its best form, politics is how we set things up in the large picture of human society in order to do only one thing: facilitate the education and the opportunity of individual people. Nothing should be more important than that. This includes money, economy, and defense. If we make anything else more important than the safe passage of individual effort, we will eventually produce a tyranny. In order to achieve these ends we must define human nature psychologically. We must come to see ourselves as we really are, with as little pretense as possible. We must learn to be unafraid of fear, so that we can learn how to keep it in bounds without killing or attacking each other.

Only individual humans can agree, and then instantaneously be committed to actualizing their agreement with the ruthlessness with which violence deserves to be treated. It isn't people toward whom we have to become determined in a vigorous way. It's violence that we must oppress-suppress, by preventing violent people from ever being violent again toward those who have successfully committed to nonviolence...whatever that comes to mean. However, in spite of the oppression that emanates from political decisions and from public bureaucratic practice, the primary obstacle to change in our times exists inside each one of us where personal habits and their institutional practices obstruct our capacity to think, feel, and imagine big!

Like the poor farmers of Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, who cringe in terror at the prospect of raising up to face their tormentors, we too have been cowed by our childhood experiences to believe that to be supremely individual, rebellious in thought, word, and deed is a consummately selfish act of treason and a betrayal of the social group, most particularly our family. We were raised to believe such acts deserve the worst kind of punishment-banishment and death.

The family, as its presently structured, is as much an instrument of culture and society as it's an instrument of individual growth and development. It will always condemn rebellion-particularly from itself-before it will encourage individual creativity that might threaten the solidarity of family connections and traditions. This is the hardest lesson, perhaps, that we will ever learn. The prohibitive fears and inhibitions that family, in its present form traumatizes our habit structure will continue to prevent us from imagining ourselves capable of managing the world. For instance, all institutions, including the family do not allow for the arrangement of leadership always to be functional and project driven, which is the only social arrangement that will ever be fully democratic.

Project-leadership emerges spontaneously-the best person for the job-or by vote, but only after the project has been chosen and designed by all of us. Such leadership lasts only as long as the project does, and exists only to focus the efforts of the group of people who implement it. This will not happen unless we vigorously fathom the depths of our own potentially very powerful psyche-spirit, learn to cope with an ethereal, intangible identity, and free the extraordinary talents that lie almost completely unfulfilled.

Without such open transformation such change will never happen today...or tomorrow. For centuries the human spirit has been in bondage. That's where we put it for safekeeping. Unable to occupy it ourselves, we gave it first to every tiny aspect of nature, and then to the gods, and finally to God. We must learn to repossess it. It's who we are. What we do with it is our destiny. It's time to bring it out of cold storage from the next world, so that it can fully occupy, and educate this one.

My additional works can be seen at this website: http://donfenn.com

The Public Sector, Our Grandkids, and The Failure Of Our Political Class

2011-03-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

An article by Mark Shields entitled, "The Public Sector And My Grandchildren," appeared in the December 26, 2010 issue of the St. Petersburg Times. In the article, Mr. Shields tries to make the case that government at all levels has and will make sure that his grandchildren have a better life as a result of government, and the politicians running that government, are on the case, effective, and looking out for their well being. To prove his point, he lists out what he perceives to be the good that government and politicians bestow on us everyday.

All Americans should certainly respect Mr. Shield's perspective that government and politicians are dong a good job. If that is his opinion and feels that his grandkids will have a better life as a result, then he probably sleeps better at night than many of us. However, using Mr. Shields' own examples, many of us end up with a diametrically opposite view, namely that government and the current political class that operates it will not create a better future for our grandkids:

- Mr. Shields asserts that his grandkids "will get an excellent education at superior public schools." What is interesting is that in the same section of the same paper on the same day, another article shows that United States teenagers, the vast majority of which went to these same public schools, ranked 31st relative to other nations when it comes 15 year olds performing at the advanced level in math proficiency. Only 6% of U.S. students perform at the advanced level compared to 28% of students in Taiwan that perform at advanced level in math proficiency. The top ten nations all had at least 15% of their kids performing at the highest levels compared to our meager 6%.

The article also broke down the United States performance state-by-state, which may help explain Mr. Shields' high opinion of our public schools. However, the very best state, Massachusetts, only has 12% of its 15 year olds at high proficiency in math, trailing seventeen nations. In fact, only two states had a proficiency at least 10%, the other 48 states were in the single digit range.

Continuing along this same theme, recent news reports showed that the United States trails trails dozens of nations in math, reading, and science and the Defense Department recently reported that almost a quarter (23%) of potential enlistees cannot pass the basic reading and math entrance examinations. A May 11, 2010 Associated Press article stated that about a third of incoming U.S. college students need to take at least one remedial course, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The results of a survey that was published in the July 16, 2010 issue of The Week magazine showed that 26% of Americans did not know that the United States won it's independence from England, with some people in that 26% naming Mexico, France and China. I am sorry I do not share Mr.Shields view of our public schools but based on hard results and experiences, they are anything but superior.

- Mr. Shields maintains that our national safety and defense is protected by the brave men and women of our armed forces, an assertion no one cannot disagree with. However, an important follow on question is needed: at what cost? The Defense Department budget is now in excess of over $800 billion or so, more than 20% of the entire Federal budget. We have hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops stationed all over the world, many serving a purpose that no longer exists. We have tens of thousands of troops in Europe to protect against a Communist military strike. However, that potential is now zero but we spend billions of dollars a year guarding against it.

We have tens of thousands of troops in Japan to guard against what? No one seems to have any idea but it is still billions of dollars wasted. We have almost 30,000 troops in South Korea, despite the fact that a vibrant South Korean economy is strong enough to provide the men and resources to protect itself. More billions of dollars wasted. We still have 50,000 troops in Iraq despite the fact the current President campaigned to get them all out long ago. More billions of dollars wasted annually.

Yes, Mr. Shields, we are thankful for the brave men and women in our armed forces. We are not thankful for the politicians that refuse to stop fighting the wrong and/or non-existent threats and potentially bankrupting the nation in the process with an over sized and inefficient military budget process.

- Most would agree with Mr. Shields that the air with breathe and the water we drink is cleaner and healthier than it probably was several decades ago. This is probably one of the few Federal government areas, pollution control and monitoring, where discernible progress has been made over the past several decades.

However, just how good is the EPA from a pollution mitigation perspective? An April 16, 2010 article in Newsweek magazine asserted that over 720 U.S. companies have been in "continuous violation" of air pollution laws for years. Does not sound like the government is really do all that great of a job if hundreds of air pollution violators can go unpunished for years.

And what about the BP oil spill disaster earlier this year? The government was caught totally unprepared to cope with such massive water pollution. Government employees responsible for oil rig safety have been shown to be preoccupied searching for pornography on their government computers, they did not conduct the required number of safety inspections, many of them admitted to drug addiction habits and usage while on the job, and many were so preoccupied with getting a private sector oil industry job that they may have been derelict in their safety job requirements. As a result of this faulty government oversight, we now have a likely ecological disaster for years to come that may have an impact on Mr. Shields' grandkids down the road from a food safety and recreation perspective.

- Most Americans would probably agree that current government employees and politicians do accomplish many worthwhile activities such as food safety, building safety, air travel safety, libraries, police protection and fire protection. However, they are supposed to to these kinds of activities, they should not be singled out for extraordinary commendations for simply doing their jobs.

- Most would also agree on many other points brought out in the article but Mr. Shields gives government credit for acts that took effect long ago. Ending segregation, passing ant-discrimination laws, maintaining copyright and patent processes, etc. were all done by past generations of government and politicians, not today's political class. This is what today's government and political class has given us

A political process that is riddled with earmarks and the corruption of money from unions, PACs, and corporations, money that overwhelms the needs and desires of ordinary American citizens.
Gerrymandered Congressional districts and primary processes designed to do what is best for the major political powers and the political incumbents, regardless of what is best for the voters in those Congressional districts.
Dozens of SEC employees that have been shown to be totally preoccupied with on-the-job Internet pornography searching as the financial infrastructure of the country melted down into the Great Recession.
A Federal Reserve Board, a Treasury Department, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD, FHA, numerous Senate and House Of Representatives committees and subcommittees and droves of government economists that never saw the coming of the Great Recession until it hit them in the face, resulting in high levels of unemployment, the destruction of retirement wealth for millions of Americans, and the systemic destruction of the housing and mortgage industry.
A failure when it comes to the war on drugs as a violent, lawless state, consumed by the drug cartels, evolves just south of our borders.
A failure when it comes to developing a comprehensive and rationale energy policy, more than thirty years after the oil crises of the 1970s showed how much such a policy was needed.
A failure when it comes to national security, resulting in over three thousand civilian deaths on 9-11, years after such a threat was obvious from terrorism due to the first World Trade Center bombing, the African embassy bombings, and the U.S.S. Cole attack.
A failure when it comes to secure borders and a rationale immigration policy.
Extremely high taxation rates, rates that inhibit freedom of choice in this country. When a citizen is paying over 40% of their earnings to all levels of government in taxes and fees, the ability to start a new business, send one's kids to better schools, save for retirement, contribute to a favorite charity, etc. is severely limited. There cannot be political freedom without financial freedom and Mr. Shields' grandkids are heading into a future in this country where freedom is more or less a distant memory.
And worse of all, especially when it comes to Mr. Shields' grandkids, an ever growing and ever dangerous national debt has been thrust upon their future. Before his two grandkids hit second grade, they already are responsible for over $42,000 of the Federal government's national debt (dividing the $13 TRILLION of national debt by the 308 million or so current U.S.citizens). It does not matter how safe the Federal government makes our food or our drugs or our air safety. Unless skyrocketing the national debt is tamed, all other government functions become moot. At the point where the financials of the nation collapses, I am sure that patent protection and copyright protection and the like will not be pressing issues.

And what is our government and political class doing about all of these crises? Apparently not much. Consider a quote from President Obama that appeared in the August 10, 2009 edition of the New York Times: "I've got a lot on my plate and it's very important for us to sequence these big initiatives in a way where they don't all just crash at the same time." Obviously, those running the country now do not see any great urgency if they plan to tackle the major issues one at a time. Unfortunately, for Mr. Shields' grandkids, and the rest of us, these problems will get worse and worse before the political class ever gets to them, reducing our freedom and financial stability going forward.

We have truly entered into an era, of what David Brooks called in a recent New York Times article, of "immobile government." An era where incompetence, bureaucracy, and partisan politics results in a public sector whose successes get fewer and less impactful going forward. This is not due to the hard working government employees but to the insular and out-of touch political class that leads them. So, with all due respect to Mr. Shields position, I am less thankful "what government does for those whom we love." I am more scared by what government does not do or does wastefully or inefficiently for those whom we love.

Walter "Bruno" Korschek is the author of the book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class," which is available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com and online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Our daily dialog on freedom in America can be joined at http://www.loathemygovernment.blogspot.com.

Three Social Theories Applied to Current Military Actions: A Transitional Process for U.S. Forces

2011-03-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION

The United States entered Iraq in March 2003 in order to oust Saddam Hussein and bring order to the country after his removal. Insurgents poured into the country to wage warfare against the American military. The insurgents continue to learn American military tactics and utilize small firefights and other rudimentary tools to exploit guerilla tactics against American and Iraqi forces.

In December 2005, the Iraqi people freely elected a government to represent them. Unfortunately, the individual political blocs (the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds) have been unable to garner enough support among them to bring the permanent government into reality. The competition between the three is intense, for none of the three trust each other. This distrust stems from the prior regime and is also applicable to military issues as well.

This political disagreement has given a perceived carte blanche to the continued insurgent activities. The insurgents will continue their activities in the hopes of causing enough chaos that the Iraqi government is kept in perpetual infancy for a lengthened amount of time.

One aspect that can thwart the insurgents is the implementation of a plan that will shift the insurgents' activities and perhaps turn the tables on them. This plan must be formulated in order to get the Iraqi government established; a transitional time period needs to exist in order for the American military to leave; and American/Iraqi forces have to be able to leave the security of the country in capable hands. When faced with the inevitable implementation of the Iraqi government taking full power, the insurgents may taper their activities. The only way we can ensure this is the full training and gained confidence of the Iraqi military.

What will be discussed is not new. The watchword for Iraqi progress has to be cooperation. Without it, the country has no impetus to propel it forward. Iraq's desire to rejoin the international community on the world stage is extremely important. There are several personalities/groups that would like to stop this from occurring.

The American military is being asked to do humanitarian care at the same time that they are fighting the insurgents. This can cause confusion between the two paradigms: to find and detain the enemy and providing the means for Iraq to rebuild itself. If not explained to the personnel on the ground, this can be a rather bewildering notion.

This article was undertaken with the intent of spurring debate on the topic of possible interaction and integration of the military with an eventual economic success story. Few ever considered in the modern day that the U.S. military would be involved in the re-emergence of a new society that will shift from a primarily agrarian country to one that may assert some influence on the Middle East in the future. This dialogue will serve as an avenue for military and political leaders to ponder the Iraq question.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In searching through previously published articles, research found that no one had looked at the transition of the government to permanence through a sociological elite thought process. It had been looked at from a strictly Islamic view. There was no comparison of the three theories about to be presented.

This article will primarily build upon the sociological theories of C. Wright Mills, the municipal "growth machine" theory of Harvey Molotch, and the Urban Regime Theory advocated by Clarence Stone. These theories are based on local U.S. municipal research and are being expanded and exported to a foreign country. These theories keyed with financial growth can be the avenue to nation rebuilding. The theories will then expand on an economic development plan that will explore the real possibilities that can place the Iraqi people in an advantageous position using the three aforementioned individual's theories. We will attempt to explore the real possibilities of a fiscal expansion plan that can thrust the country into becoming a successful money-making entity.

To begin with, we have to explore the hypothesis advocated by C. Wright Mills concerning political elites in small, medium and large cities. Political elites are those individuals who have a vested interest in the community and themselves. These persons often are the individual business leaders, the land owners, and the "absentee elites," that is, persons who may own property in a certain city but live elsewhere. We also cannot forget the significance of the religious mullahs (clergymen) as well. The local populaces who do not fall in these categories have little influence on the decision-making process.

All of these leaders tend to pull their clout together for the greater good of the city, at least in speculation. There are many competing interests within the country. These competing interests are no different than any other country in the world. One major issue that we are encountering is the numerous political parties jockeying for control of the government. This is not seen as a problem in Iraq. Competition among the groups allows discussion, debate, and consensus to occur. This allowance of ideas is perhaps one of the greatest freedoms the Iraqi people gained.

In actuality, one can see that the people are finally able to voice their opinions without fear of retribution. The exchange of ideas was not a common occurrence within the country prior to U.S. involvement. The insurgents certainly hope that they can stop the political process from taking place through the use of fear. Over time, the Iraqi people will tire of this fear tactic. It is hoped that the new Iraqi military will keep the peace and displace the insurgents from utilizing this approach.

Sociologist Harvey Molotch, a New York University professor, extended the work of Mills by describing the theory of "growth machines" on the local level in the United States. These "growth machines" are utilized to help bring business and commerce to the local area. By consolidating the power base of the local elites, business and other commerce find an atmosphere of openness that permeates the surrounding areas. This consolidation of the power bases allows the elites to meet and consider the means to bring and sustain growth to the area. There are several ways to do this, but the obvious one remains.

Urban Regime Theory is considered the one social theory to explain how local politics are handled. It is derived from the work of Clarence Stone, a University of Maryland professor emeritus, that states that the two important tenets of this theory are the power that emanates from the elected body as the structure and the goals it desires to attain are understood. We have to consider the cooperation between the standing government and the private interests of others. Once this spirit of cooperation exists, the country will progress.

The maintenance regime that is currently in place is considered one that does little but maintains the status quo. Let us recollect that there was no status quo to begin with. To maintain what used to be in existence would return the country to political and world exclusion. The theory has a continuum, but that will not be discussed at this time. We have to allow the current regime theory to be in place for some time before there is a shift along the scale.

There is a perception that the business leaders abdicate their responsibilities in this theory, and allow the national government to determine its course. This seems highly unlikely considering that taxes i.e. their hard earned money is not being overseen. Business leaders, whether they are in Dallas or Baghdad, seem to look after their money well.

APPLICATION

The national elites (politicians, businessmen, religious men, and the absentees) realize that the country needs structure to continue moving forward. Cooperation must be the watchword for these individuals. So far, the infighting among these groups has gained considerable press and must be stopped to gain recognition from the international community. Once the world views the seriousness of the Iraqi government, then there will be a considerable shift in mindset.

Using the "growth machine" theory, it is fairly obvious that the control of the big cities, municipalities, and the whole nation must take place so that commerce can thrive. If not, there will be continued negative economic growth due to lack of engagement by those in power. The power structure must seek cooperation and cohesiveness so that the national plan can be implemented.

As seen in the United States, employment centers tend to be located in the municipal areas. Realizing this, the infrastructure must be rebuilt in order to get the economic engine running. With the merchants' spending money, then the local community will survive. New businesses will be located in an area that is conducive to them.

Enforcement of the new constitution is necessary for this cooperation to occur. For example, the country has to make the education plank of its constitution a concrete reality. The educational institutions must start producing the teachers, engineers, and nurses that the country needs. It has to make people employable and earning a fair wage in order for the local economy to thrive. In addition, the elites have to connect with the outsiders (those who left Iraq for safety) and bring them back so that they can share their educational and financial expertise.

If there is to be a viable work force, we have to gain control of the national streets and alleys in order to allow commerce to happen. If this does not occur, then the business concept that we are talking about will not occur anytime soon. The financial payoff is obvious: take command of the surrounding areas and the business will come.

International business needs to have a viable reason to expand their businesses in Iraq. The elite in power will attempt to woo them. The government needs to show that there would be financial rewards for them to enter the country. International business would also need a viable and trained local workforce that could be hired so that they could commence business transactions within Iraq.

Using the Urban Regime Theory one begins to understand that the Iraqi government has to cooperate with the local elites in order to implement change. Once the cooperative pact is in place, then the collegiality between the two (government and the business, plus the religious leaders) can begin. Collaboration between all the parties involved only brings progress and stability.

The most important thing in regards to this theory is to maintain what the Iraqis have gained. It is hard to fathom, but the Iraqi people only went to the polls for the first time in January 2005. The face of those first-time voters will not be forgotten soon. Having been in the country when these elections occurred, it was amazing what effect the election process had on the Iraqi people. Many Iraqi translators who worked on a Forward Operating Base showed the military personnel their right thumb with the purple mark that showed they had voted. It was remarkable to note that many had never voted before in their lives. We will continue to rejoice in the fruits of the labors of all involved.

CONCLUSION

The Iraqi people realize what they ultimately want--a return of their country. It is preferable that there be no interference from the international community. Whether or not this is feasible depends largely on the military aspect of the new government. The Iraqi government has to make security the priority if they wish to implement the plans being discussed. Any trade or industry that desires to start a business within the confines of the country has to make significant investments in order to produce goods. This will not occur without a sense of security. There will be no investment from outside countries until this occurs.

It is important to eradicate the insurgent activity so that the commonplace actions of life can begin once again. There is no recommendation that the Iraqi government capitulate to the insurgents. The populace of Iraq needs to be supported in their endeavors. It already appears that this is occurring. The nation is growing weary of the continued violence and the bloodshed. It is just a question of eliminating the insurgents from the periphery.

We have to recall that there will be a continual learning curve with regards to the government. This educational process is no different than any other country that has recently been allowed to make choices for itself. It may be painful for some, but in the end it will all be worth the effort.

Rene De La Rosa was commissioned in the Army in 2002. He has been assigned CONUS, Hawaii, Germany, Bosnia, Korea, and Iraq. He can be reached at rene.delarosa@us.army.mil

Political Equality - Marching vs Lobbying?

2011-03-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

In Capitalist America everything seems to be "for sale," but what about the Government? In 2006, according to The Center For Responsive Politics, corporations, labor unions, and other organizations spent $2.6 billion to"lobby" Congress and all other federal agencies.

Who spent the most money trying to convince law makers to support their cause? Exxon Mobil, the oil and gas giant came in No. 8, handing out more than $14.5 million. "Big tobacco's" Altria Group (formerly Phillip Morris) was No. 14, spending about $13 million. The No.1 spender was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a pro-business group who spent $73 million on government lobbying. The great Dale Carnegie once said "in order to get anybody to do anything, you have to give them what they want," and it seems like the government wants - MONEY!

Black Americans wanted equal rights and so we marched, protested and made so much noise - we got the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Fast forward forty three years, and if we see any racial injustices, again we march, protest and make political noise to protect our people. However, just like after watching a horror movie so many times, since you know what's coming you are no longer scared.

The political noise of protesting and marching is beginning to fall on deaf ears in Congress and with the President. Not to mention, since they have seen the "Black Americans Marching Movie" so many times they are probably no longer scared either. But that does not that mean we should stop marching. No, I think we must continue to march and protest whenever we witness injustice, but if we truly want to get Congress and the President to do anything we must speak their language and give them what they want - The Almighty Dollar!

As stated above, corporations spend millions to persuade congress and other elected officials to support their financial causes, but ethnic organizations are also playing the lobby game. According to Fortune magazine, the most powerful ethnic special interest group is the Jewish organization called the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

It has been said that their is a Jewish conspiracy to take over America, but apparently AIPAC has nothing to hide because their political objectives and successes are all publicly displayed on their website. AIPAC reportedly has 100,000 members and annual budget of $50 million. Their stated purpose is to lobby the Congress of the United States on issues and legislation that are pro-Israel. They maintain a staff of 200 professional lobbyist, researchers, and organizers who have strong political ties to Congress.

Since 1990, AIPAC has spent about $40 million in individual, group and soft money donations to federal candidates and party committees. It's no wonder the United States shares military intelligence and provides foreign military and economic aid to Israel, totaling $2.46 billion in 2007. This is no one-time financial aid package! Israel receives about $3 billion a year in economic and military aid - one of the many political successes accomplished by AIPAC as listed on its website.

Who are the major political organizations that lobby the U.S. Government to protect the interest of Black Americans? Historically, the most famous and influential black organization is the NAACP. With a current membership of about 300,000 Black Americans and an estimated $25 million annual budget, the NAACP focuses on politics, legal cases, and other activities that affect Black Americans. Plagued by social and financial scandals during the 90's, the NAACP was 3.2 million in debt and some questioned the relevancy of the organization.

"I'm concerned that, on the ground, the NAACP is increasingly irrelevant to the issues Black folk face on a daily basis", stated Shavar Jeffries, a black columnist for blackprof.com. Since 1999, the NAACP has spent less than $3 million on lobbying the U.S. government for its legal defense fund, compared to AIPAC's $6.2 million. Currently in 2007 the NAACP has spent a mere $100,000 compared to AIPAC's $1 million. Okay, let's get off the NAACP for now and discover if any other black organizations are playing the lobby game.

Another one of the most powerful black organizations is the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The CBC is comprised of forty-three active congress-persons including presidential candidate Barack Obama. Having forty three congress-persons on our team sounds good and we can assume since they are congress-persons they will lobby on our behalf, but with only an average annual budget of $6 million, it may be difficult. The objective of the CBC is to address the legislative concerns of black and minority citizens and it appears to spend most of it's revenue on the various programs and services it provides to Black Americans across the country. No lobbying expenses could be found.

Next up? The National Urban League (NUL) is the nation's oldest and largest community- based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. With over 100 affiliate offices, thousands of volunteers and about a $40 million annual budget, the NUL's economic programs helped more than 270,000 people find jobs, buy homes, expand their own businesses, and save for retirement. And while the NUL does a wonderful job economically empowering Black Americans only $20,000 was spent on lobbying in 2006.

Potentially one of the most powerful black organizations is the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. (NBC). With over 7.5 million members and a $30 million annual budget, this group could really generate some political capital by sheer numbers alone. The NBC is currently lobbying Congress to withdraw soldiers from Iraq and in the past has publicly opposed the nomination of any Federal Judge who would set back the gains of equality of African Americans, and they also supported the Public Safety Ex-Offender Self-Sufficiency Act, which would allow churches to structure a living environment to help ex-criminal offenders become self-sufficient. According to the Center for Responsive Politics there was no data available on lobbying by the NBC.

There are roughly 5.5 million Jewish people in the U.S. (2% of the U.S. population), yet they have effectively been able to influence the federal government by organizing their people to vote in high turnouts, creating respectable political entities like (AIPAC) and spending about $50 million a year on lobbying for Pro-Israel issues. Compare that to the 38 million Black Americans, who spend less than $5 million annually on lobbying.

While Blacks have had huge success in marching and protesting in the United States we must learn how to devise a strategic lobbying plan which will focus on persuading the U.S. government to protect our interest!

Create Wealth, Enjoy Life!

James "Bird" Guess

President & Founder

The Black Economy.com

James "Bird" Guess graduated college with dreams of climbing the corporate ladder and becoming a prominent financial executive. But after only working a year in "Corporate America", James grew bitter of the politics and bureaucracy associated and decided to venture out on his own to become a full-time entrepreneur.

With a repossession and other unpaid debts on his credit, James had a negative net worth. Starting with only $1,000 saved from college, he single-handedly built a quarter million dollar apparel business from the trunk of his car. Shortly thereafter, his business model would transition from retailer to wholesaler of apparel, which generated $750,000 dollars in revenue.

James could now take one step closer toward financial freedom. As an entrepreneur, he has bought and sold over $1.5 million of apparel. He now uses his financial acumen to help individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses and investors create wealth in their lives! James is now the President & Founder of BlacBird Investments LLC. http://www.BlacBirds.com & http://www.theblackeconomy.com, Create Wealth! & Enjoy Life!

Direct to Co. A, 22 NY Cav Camp Remount

2011-03-17T05:18:00.000-07:00

1704: Indians attack Deerfield, Mass. killing 40 and kidnapping 100.

1844: The experimental 14 inch gun Peacemaker explodes on board the USS Princeton killing the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Navy, a Senator, and five others.

1847: Colonel Alexander Doniphan and his Missouri Mounted Volunteers ride to victory at the Battle of Sacramento, during the Mexican War.

1863: Four Union gunboats destroy the CSS Nashville near Fort McAllister, Georgia.

1864: A major Union cavalry raid begins when General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick leads 3,500 troopers south from Stevensburg, Virginia. Aimed at Richmond, the raid sought to free Federal prisoners and spread word of President Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in hopes of convincing Confederates to lay down their arms.

1900: After a 119-day siege by the Boers, the surrounded British troops in Ladysmith, South Africa, are relieved.

1916: Haiti becomes the first U.S. protectorate.

1924: U.S. troops are sent to Honduras to protect American interests during an election conflict.

1928: Marines participate in the Battle of Bromaderos, Nicaragua.

1936: The Japanese Army restores order in Tokyo and arrests officers involved in a coup.

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The Black Swan

2011-03-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

He makes a solitude, and calls it ? peace!

-- Lord Byron A week or so before the December 31, 1943, mission, my crew, the Mendelsohn crew, was breaking apart. Our navigator, Bill Borellis, was promoted to the exalted position of 91st Bomb Group navigator; our bombardier, Harold Fox, (later to be killed in action over Hamburg) had applied for special training as a navigator and was leaving the crew, and the pilot, Stuart Mendelsohn, had been designated, but not yet officially installed, as the new operations officer of the 324th squadron. And I had just been checked out as first pilot and was about to take over what remained of our original crew.

As the 324th operations officer designate, Stuart spent his evenings in the squadron headquarters office, and I usually dropped in on him to see what was cooking for the next day. On the night of December 30, 1943, I found him scheduling crews for the next day's mission. When I walked into the office, he looked up and said, "I don't have a co-pilot for you yet. Do you mind if I go along with you as your co-pilot?" So that's how Stuart came to occupy the right seat during the mission. The psychology of our reversed roles would have been awkward except for the fact that we were already accustomed to shared decision-making so nothing was really different.

The December 31, 1943, mission to the Bordeaux-Cognac area of France was a long one -- a scheduled eleven hours from take-off to landing. At the 5:30 a.m. briefing, we were told that it would be an easy milk run. Because our crew's regular plane, the Duke of Paducah, was in the hanger for flak hole repairs, we were assigned a replacement, a B-17F, The Black Swan.

The mission was flown at 21,000 feet. Over the Bay of Biscay, a strong tail wind took us to the Bordeaux area much sooner than expected. That same wind, however, would greatly retard our trip home. Immediately after crossing the French coast, we encountered unexpectedly heavy and accurate enemy flak. A loud and powerful explosion suddenly rocked our plane sending it careening dangerously close to another B-17. The flak burst, with its bright orange center, exploded directly above the right wing, the big black cloud enveloping us momentarily as we passed through it. Shrapnel tore holes in the aluminum skin near Mendelsohn but no one was hit. But a moment later the number three engine froze and we were unable to feather the prop. Manifold pressure of the number four engine dropped sharply, an indication that the supercharger on that engine had been damaged as well. Even at full throttle, we couldn't maintain altitude. We fell behind, seeing the formation our 91st Bomb Group B-17s stream off ahead of us.

We reversed course, turning northwest back out over the Bay of Biscay. There we opened our bomb bay doors and released our bombs harmlessly over the water. With greatly compromised engine thrust, we assumed a limping, solitary, northerly course that we hoped would take us back to England. Our progress was slowed by a strong head wind. We estimated that it would take us two hours to reach the Brest Peninsula. We were still gradually losing altitude and there was nothing we could do about it. But when we reached the denser atmosphere at about 14,000 feet our altitude stabilized as we had hoped it would. Soon afterwards, however, the temperature gauge on our number one engine began to creep up. We throttled back and as a result began to lose altitude once again.

The over-heating had resulted from the extra-lean fuel mixture we'd set for engines one and two in order to save fuel. A richer fuel/air mixture would lower the engine temperature, but at the expense of increased fuel consumption. The combination of the unfeathered prop on engine three and the yawing to the left due to unbalanced engine thrust had created a heavy, fuel-depleting drag. We feared that we would have to ditch the plane in the Bay. Mendelsohn and I debated the wisdom of turning east again where, if we had to abandon the plane, we could parachute over dry land. This extreme measure was ruled out because we knew that at lower altitudes reciprocating engines (unlike jet engines) are more efficient. Also, in the denser air of lower altitudes, engine cooling improves and we would then be able to get more thrust from our over-heating number one engine. It seems implausible, I know, but of all the besetting concerns facing Mendelsohn and me during that long homeward journey, the thing I most clearly remember now in retrospect is how Mendelsohn and I constantly adjusted and fine-tuned the air/fuel ratio of engine one.

At about 10,000 feet we again stopped losing altitude. Our concerns over fuel had so absorbed us that we had given little thought to the 40-minute transit across the Brest Peninsula and the possibility of a fighter attack awaiting us there. During the two hours over the Bay, Mendelsohn and I had ample time to weigh our various options. Should we follow recommended procedures whereby straggling planes, having left formation, are to hit the deck -- that is, to fly over enemy territory at a low altitude where detection and tracking are more difficult? Or should we maintain our 10,000 feet altitude? Several considerations led us to decide to remain at that altitude. We thought it probable that we would run out of fuel somewhere over the Brest Peninsula. If so, we would need a safety margin of about a thousand feet if we had to bail out. But the real reason that we decided to remain at 10,000 feet was because we needed the altitude cushion. Our crippled B-17 simply wouldn't climb. Once we lost a bit of altitude, we couldn't, even with the two and a half engines at full throttle, regain it. Later, of course, I was to rue the fact that we didn't follow recommended procedures whereby pilots of straggling planes are instructed to return at tree-top level.

Finally, we reached the Brest Peninsula. And immediately we were attacked. In spite of intercom warnings to the crew to be vigilant, no one saw the two FW-190s until they appeared suddenly right in front of us. They came from the classic twelve o'clock high position, in tandem, one after the other. I saw the exploding 20 mm shells, small black puffs of smoke, before I saw the two FW-190s -- the black crosses starkly visible on the underside of their wings as they made a diving split-S turn directly ahead of us. The FW-190 pilots seemed to be inexperienced. Both had fired their guns much too early, unlike the fighter attacks we'd been subjected to over Germany where pilots held their fire until they almost rammed you. After that first pass the crew watched (and reported on the intercom) as the two FW-190s circled back out of range on our right. On their second frontal pass, they again fired their 20mm cannons prematurely. Because of this seeming ineptitude, I was beginning to feel a little more confident that we might escape. Then on the third pass, the lead FW-190 held fire until the last second. I knew we were going to get blasted. And we were.

Two or three (maybe more) shells crashed through the right cockpit window tearing the frame away. Exploding in the cockpit, the shells killed Mendelsohn instantly. Blood was spattered everywhere. Seeing it on my jacket and flight gloves, I thought I was hit, too. The wind coming through the large gap on the right side of the cockpit was deafening. But the plane itself seemed to be flyable except that I couldn't correct for a shallow dive to the left. The rudder seemed locked tight. I pushed the panic button signaling everybody to leave the plane. At least I think I did, but I don't remember doing it. I tried to get the plane straight and level but was unable to correct for the jammed left rudder. The wind-noise in the cockpit was un believably shrill, but the engines were running fine. Then, at about 3,000 feet in a moment of sudden panic I decided that I'd better get the hell out. I switched on the automatic pilot (in accordance with procedures for abandoning planes) and left the cockpit seat. I was surprised to see Richard Hensley, the engineer/top-turret-gunner, still there, sitting on the pedestal of the top turret gun. He didn't seem to be hurt. I gestured toward the open front escape hatch from which the bombardier and navigator had already exited. I then picked up a parachute pack to give him, but he refused it. He acknowledged nothing that I did. Then I realized that the plane was about to crash at any moment. I snapped on the same parachute pack I had offered to Hensley and dived through the open hatch.

I pulled the cord, the parachute opened and the next second I was on the ground on my knees. A hundred or so yards away, The Black Swan hit the ground at about the same time. I knew that Mendelsohn and Hensley were in it. Heavy black smoke soon marked the impact point. Far downwind, still high in the sky, I counted five parachutes of crew members who had bailed out earlier. Where were the other two crew members? (They too had gotten out safely, I would learn much later.) The two FW-190s were no where in sight.

1815: Napoleon lands at Cannes, France, returning from exile on Elba, with a force of 1,500 men and marches on Paris.

1871: German troops enter Paris, France, during the Franco-Prussian War.

1915: The Allies announce their aim to cut off all German supplies and assure the safety of the neutrals.

1935: Germany officially establishes the Luftwaffe.

1941: The southeastern European nation of Bulgaria joins the Axis powers by signing the Tripartite Pact.

1941: Bulgaria joins the Axis as the Nazis occupy Sofia.

1942: Japanese troops land on Java in the Pacific.

1943: The British RAF conducts strategic bombing raids on all European railway lines.

1965: U.S. informs South Vietnam of intent to send 3,500 Marines to Vietnam to protect the U.S. airbase at Da Nang.

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Casualty Clearing Station

2011-03-16T02:26:00.000-07:00

In April 1918 I volunteered to go to France in response to the urgent call for more surgeons. For twenty years I had been in general practice in a suburb, and did a fair amount of surgery among patients and at the local hospitals. I had also had some war experience as one of the surgeons at the British Red Cross Hospital, Netley, in the first six months of the War, but I had no experience of cases fresh from the battlefield, and the surgical technique which had recently been adopted in dealing with them.

I had been longing throughout the War to get to the Front, and I set out full of enthusiasm and with no little pride and satisfaction to my family and myself.

It was a great disappointment, after a wait of four days in Boulogne, to find that I was posted to a large Base hospital at Trouville. Here I remained till the beginning of July, not at all happy, and hampered at every turn by red tape, rules, and regulations.

The hospital was full of the wastage of war - men sent down from the Front, suffering from the ordinary diseases of civil life, which should have precluded their enlistment. The Front knocked them out almost at once, and they came to be patched up, to convalesce, and return.

The mess was full of rather war-weary men, who had endured much, and were glad of an easy berth. I had plenty of operating on ordinary civil-life disabilities, and, when not engaged in filling up "forms", enjoyed myself in field expeditions to collect butterflies and flowers, but the distant sound of guns was often disturbing.

Through the influence of a kind consulting surgeon at G.H.Q., and to my great delight, I was appointed early in July as a surgeon to a casualty clearing station at Crouay, near Amiens.

A greater contrast to a Base hospital could hardly be imagined. All military discipline, red tape, and formality were reduced to a minimum. Within the camp, officers donned flannels or shorts, and the mess, a dozen altogether, formed a family party; there were a small number of highly trained sisters, and forty or fifty orderlies.

The institution of these small mobile hospitals near the fighting line had revolutionized the surgery of the War, and was the means of saving thousands of lives. It was found that the fatal sepsis and gas gangrene of wounds could be avoided if effective operation was performed within thirty-six hours of their infliction, and all dead and injured tissue removed, in spite of the extensive mutilation incurred.

The essential parts of a C.C.S. were: (1) A large reception marquee. (2) A resuscitation tent, where severely shocked or apparently dying cases were warmed up in heated beds, or transfused before operation. (3) A pre-operation tent, where stretcher cases were prepared for operation. (4) A large operating tent with complete equipment for six tables. (5) An evacuation tent, where the cases were sent after operation, to await the hospital train for the Base. (6) Award tent for cases requiring watching for twenty-four hours, or too bad for evacuation.

I had two days to settle down, and get some idea of my new surroundings, and everyone was immensely kind, but I realized how entirely inexperienced I was in the work which would be required of me; my colleagues were all young men with two or three years' War service.

Vast reserves of men and transport had silently for two nights been moving up the road to Amiens to support the Australian attack at Villers-Bretonneux. On my third day I was orderly officer, and after my day's work had to be on duty all night as reception officer.

On that evening the attack began, with a continuous roar of heavy guns, while the horizon was brilliantly lit with the flashes of exploding dumps, Verey lights, and star shells. The camp was quietly resting, and I was left with a few orderlies in the dimly lit reception tent.

About 1 a.m. the ambulances began to arrive. It is impossible to convey an adequate picture of the scene. Into the tent are borne on stretchers, or come wearily stumbling, figures in khaki, wrapped in blankets or coats, bandaged or splinted. All of them stiff with mud, or caked with blood and dust, and salt sweat, and with labels of their injuries attached.

They come in such numbers that the tent is soon filled, and what can be done? I can't cope with them all! Many are white and cold, and lie still and make no response, and those who do are laconic, or point to their label. I have had no instructions how to dispose of such numbers, or the method of procedure, but realize that they must be examined briefly and sorted, and sent to one or other of our hospital tents.

But my non-com. orderly was at my side with whispered suggestions, and soon we had the stretchers on one side and the standing cases on the other, and, leaving the slighter cases to be dressed, I gradually sorted out the bad ones for the "resuss," "pre-op," or "evacuation" tents.

I had never seen such frightful wounds, and could not conceive how we three surgeons could deal with them on the ensuing day. It was 7 a.m. before I had cleared the tent, and I felt tired out after nearly twenty-four hours' work, but at 10 a.m. I should have to begin to operate for another twelve hours and on cases like these!

It was extraordinary that in this charnel tent of pain and misery there was silence, and no outward expression of moans or groans or complaints. The badly shocked had passed beyond it; others appeared numbed, or too tired to complain, or so exhausted that they slept as they stood.

Even the badly wounded often asked for a smoke. Here were lying uncomplaining men with shattered heads or ghastly disfiguration of their faces, others with shell and bullet wounds of the chest, spitting blood and gasping for breath; and, worst of all, those quiet, afraid-to-be-touched cases, with the innocent tiny little mark where the bullet had entered the abdomen, but already with the thready pulse, drawn corners of the mouth, anxious look, and rigid muscles which betoken hopeless disaster within.

And here were "multiple wounded," their bodies riddled with large or small shell fragments, terrible compound fractures in Thomas's splints, and the stumps of tom-off limbs.

Well, I got a bath and some breakfast, and at ten o'clock began the operating: three of us at first, and later on in the day we were reinforced in response to S.O.S. calls by four visiting teams from distant C.C.S.'s each consisting of surgeon, anaesthetist, sister, and trained orderly.

As the day wore on I felt nearer and nearer to collapse. The appalling wounds, my ignorance of the new methods of dealing with them, the utter fatigue of standing at the table, and the growing feeling that my assistants must be noticing my incompetency began to take away all self-confidence.

I began to think of the bad luck of the wretched victims who came under my knife. How confidently they went under the ether, relying on my skill: how their lives and the happiness of their homes depended on me; how much better for them had fate brought them to the next table.

Every feeling and introspection that should never cross a surgeon's mind began to possess me and shake my nerve, and it was only concentration on the actual technique of the operation that kept me going. The hours dragged on.

Would the "Resuss" and "Pre-op" wards never be emptied. "Resuss!" "Pre-op!" - abbreviated words always to be fixed in memory with the haunting faces of their inmates.

"Resuss" was a dreadful place. Here were sent the shocked and collapsed and dying cases, not able to stand as yet an operation, but which might be possible after the warming-up under cradles in heated beds or transfusion of blood. The effect of transfusion was in some cases miraculous. I have seen men already like corpses, blanched and collapsed, pulseless and with just perceptible breathing, within two hours of transfusion sitting up in bed smoking, and exchanging jokes before they went to the operating table.

The orderly in the "Resuss" was a wonderful lad. A boy of twenty, he had served without relief for months in this tent, attending to the worst cases and the dying. He had all the patience, tenderness, and devotion of a woman, the gentle hands and skill of a nurse, and an enduring fortitude.

He was recommended for the D.S.M., but his best reward must be the memory of many a farewell message home, many a silent grasp of hand, and the last look of grateful eyes.

That dreadful day of my first experience of a C.C.S. rush ended at 7 p.m., after thirty-six hours of continuous work, and somehow I had got through. I was completely exhausted with anxiety and fatigue, and felt I could never go on with it, and was not up to the task: but to give in was even more terrible.

I could hardly articulate at dinner, but my condition escaped notice, and I crept to my tent to fall dead asleep before I could make a decision.

I woke refreshed on a glorious July day: we were encamped on cultivated down-land untouched by war, and the air was alive with the song of larks and the fields gay with poppies and marigolds and down flowers. The camp and country a picture of peaceful calm and beauty, if only one could forget the scene inside the tents.

Fortunately, there were only a few cases left by the night shift, and in the afternoon I was able to leave the operating tent and get out among the birds and butterflies and flowers.

It was this walk, I think, which saved the situation for me. I got time, alone, to pull myself together, and though many times afterwards even worse rushes occurred and more terrible scenes were enacted, I never became overwhelmed with the same panic of my first experience.

That evening we took in nearly 200 Australians who had been caught by gas shells without their masks on. Entirely whitened with dust, every man was temporarily blinded and in agony with the difficulty of breathing from the mucous fluid in the lungs. It was a weird sight to see them led away through the camp in the moonlight, in long single files, holding on to each other and guided by an orderly as leader.

As the days wore on, I began to feel my self-confidence returning, and that I should be able to face another ordeal with more equanimity. The friendliness and camaraderie of our little mess was an immense help. I was popular and enjoyed it like a schoolboy.

I think they looked on me as an "old sport", and I had to live up to it. It was not long before I was again put to the test. Our C.C.S. was ordered to take up quarters with two others in a huge deserted asylum close to Amiens, in expectation of the grand attack of the IV Army around Villers-Bretolmeux, and for lack of transport we had not been able to complete our preparations before the attack began on the day after our arrival; nor had visiting teams, coming to our aid, yet arrived.

On that evening our barrage opened - a continuous roar of heavy guns which shook the ground, and trembled the walls of our building, and the sky and fields were lit up with the flashes and explosions of dumps and star shells. In the early hours of the morning came the ambulances in a continuous stream.

Quickly we took in our quota of 200 cases, and the "take-in" was "shunted" to the adjoining C.C.S. located in the same building, and within two hours to our third sister station. And then our turn began again, long before we had made any impression on the first lot.

The stretchers filled the numberless rooms, and then flowed out into the corridors which became blocked except for a narrow passage. Every unit, except those engaged with the nine operating surgeons, was occupied in sorting, dressing, and doing what was possible for the masses of wounded, but the numbers were too great and many had to lie for hours without help, or die unattended.

A quick surgeon might get through from fifteen to twenty cases in a spell of twelve hours. I certainly could not do more than ten or twelve. Among so many cases it was a sickening thing to have to make a choice for operation. We were dealing with a mass, not individuals, and if selection had to be made, it must be made in favour of those who by operation had a chance of being made fit again to return to the Front sooner or later to keep up our man power and afford fresh fodder for the guns.

In such circumstances nothing seemed to matter. It had to be got through somehow. Action, doing one's best, rightly or wrongly, mistakes or no mistakes, precluded all thought of self, and drove out fear and anxiety, and so I gained confidence as I tackled whatever came along on the table, or went down the "pre-op" rooms and chose out my cases - learning much from what I saw others were doing.

All that night and the following day, when the visiting teams began to arrive, we worked; night shifts took our places, and on the following morning, I went round the vast building to see what was happening. The wounded, including many Germans, had now overflowed from the rooms and corridors and were lying on stretchers in the open squares of the asylum.

Through the night, with dimmed lanterns, doctors and orderlies went down the rows doing what they could, but we were snowed under - and we could neither operate on nor evacuate cases fast enough to make much impression on the heaps.

Many of the Germans evidently dreaded they would meet with but rough treatment, and, unable to make themselves understood, clasped our hands and with imploring looks and despairing gestures tried to convey their meaning. Except for precedence in operation it is perhaps needless to say they were treated with the same care as our own men.

Entering an outbuilding, I found it strewn with rows of corpses - a human battue - and in another, a piled-up heap of arms and legs, freshly amputated. I write of these horrors, not for the sake of sensation, but to bring home the realities of war as I saw it, and the work and scenes in the three C.C.S.'s behind the fighting.

It took nearly a week before we had cleared up and evacuated the cases, and everyone was exhausted. It was clear that insufficient time had been given to the medical side to organize for the number of casualties that might be expected in a battle of this magnitude, and the exigencies of the fighting must have the first call on transport. It was probably unavoidable, but, the pity of it; and, after all, as old Caspar said, "It was a famous victory".

A lull in the fighting for a few days on our immediate front now ensued, and we had some rest, and I even went butterfly hunting, and on another day went up to the Front, and saw our guns firing, and heard the German shells coming over and bursting.

I remember, too, one night we had to spend operating on a number of men, brought in dressed up for theatricals, some of them as girls in ballet costume. A German aeroplane had dropped a bomb through the tent on to the stage, and the tent had collapsed on top of the crowded audience and the dead and wounded.

It was these violent contrasts that, to me, make up the vivid memories of my days in France. Outside, the sun and the larks, the birds, butterflies, and flowers: inside the tents, Nature violated, outraged - and alternating with the dread and anxiety and physical and mental exhaustion was the happy mess and bridge, picnics, and concerts.

It seemed hardly real at the time. It is fast becoming a dream, and, though I had many other experiences, as our C.C.S. followed the advance, at Albert and Brie and Peronne, Roiselle, and Bellenglise, none remain in my memory like those of my first "blooding" at Cronay and Amiens, where I came so near to collapse and disaster.

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29th Troop Carrier Squadron in England

2011-03-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

The first reaction to the new base at Folkingham was “It's immense”! On this base we had three concrete runways, each 6,000 feet, ample taxiways, a revetment for parking each aircraft, and four hangers. There were innumerable Nissen huts to house us, an Officers Club, an EM Club in the making, a consolidated officers' mess, and a consolidated enlisted men's, mess. We were the first tenants, and parts were still under construction.

It was like going from the slums direct to uptown living. The Nissen huts reminded one of a long half cylinder lying flat on the ground. True, the corrugated sheet metal that made for the skin of this structure was not insulated, but we would be dry. The ends of the hut were bricked, with windows on either side of the door. Our floor was concrete; though muddy outside, our feet would be dry indoors.

We marveled the first time nature called. A central latrine served several huts. In addition to the stand-up slate-slab urinals, there were beautiful white porcelain commodes, and they all flushed. Each area provided one washroom. There were no sinks, just a long trough with several pairs of water spigots appropriately placed. Washing was done out of pans provided by the British. In the morning hot water came out of the faucet, but only in the morning. Since our ablutions were performed here, we called the structure the "Ablution". Now get this; a member of the RAF tended to the hot water furnace and washed the pans after our use. If this seems extravagant, weigh it with the fact that the toilet paper provided had printed on every third sheet "Property of the Royal Air Force". It had the consistency and stiffness of a brown paper bag. Procedures were to massage the paper with one's hands while sitting and meditating until, when rubbed against the face, it did not scratch.

Scattered throughout the base were above the ground air-raid shelters. They were simply four-foot brick walls, dirt packed on the outsides as well as one end. At the opened end, another smaller wall packed with dirt provided protection from that direction. Our instructions were to wear helmets in the shelter to protect our heads from shrapnel falling on us from our own antiaircraft shells, as well as enemy bombs.

AND THE FINER THINGS

The real luxury was the weekly Saturday hot shower. There was but one shower facility on the whole base. Time schedules were posted for each hut with limits of 20 minutes for each hut. The time limit was no problem, however, since not everyone was on base on shower day. Some showered at the YMCA in town, or still preferred to bathe out of a helmet in their quarters or at the washbasin in the "Ablution". Few observed the limit of 20 minutes. Most came out looking like prunes.

"One could not help but appreciate this new life. We were treated like first-class soldiers. We didn't have to put up tents, but were put up in Nissen huts with stoves and an abundant supply of coke (fuel) so that we could keep warm. A whole year passed since we had slept in a real building or bed, so this was just great. We even had toilets and hot showers."

However, the American soldier still has to *****. We soon learned to resent the mattresses provided by the British. Actually, they were made up of three sections, appropriately called biscuits. I think they were stuffed with straw. No matter how we arranged the biscuits or the body position, we found ourselves in the cracks.

England was a crowded island with farmland at a premium. When new bases were built, as much of the farmland was retained as possible. To get from the enlisted area to the consolidated mess, a shortcut took us across an English farm. Talk about hell being raised! The British came down on us like a ton of bricks.

Sleaford was our liberty-run town. The natives were very hospitable. A dance hall was the town's social center. Here young airmen made contact with girls their age. Dance halls in England were quite the thing. Usually a three to five piece band provided the music for the hundred or so paying guests with American music being preferred by all. Of course we, like everyone serving in England during the war, were introduced to the memorable "Lambeth Walk". A bar provided spirits which helped ward off any shyness. Strong friendships with the English girls were developed. It didn't take long for our troops to find a store that sold fresh milk and ice cream. Talk about living in Heaven!

During the 70's a travel agency labeled Grantham as the most boring city in England. We could have told them that in 1944. However, it did provide the best "fish and chips" in the Midlands. There was always a queue outside this establishment. It was worth the wait in the wet cold just to get inside the store and enjoy the heat and smell of cooking. The merchant accepted a shilling (about a quarter) and handed you a newspaper cone containing the food. With a dash of vinegar and sprinkle of salt we walked the streets savoring this delight.

AND THERE WAS NOTTINGHAM

Nottingham was the big city in the area, for Troop Carrier Command as well as airborne units. Consequently, it was always crowded. Every night trucks for many air bases lined up in front of the Black Boy Hotel. Here is where we were dropped and picked up again for our respective bases. Other Troop Carrier groups also operated from the Midlands, beyond the German bombers' effective range. Later, Troop Carrier units were moved to the London area to be closer to the activity in France.
What made Nottingham nice was the diversity of pubs. Across the street from the Black Boy was the Flying Horse Cafe. There one felt like he was sitting in someone's home, a cross between a parlor and a dining room. The bar, to be sure, was there. A pull on the long arm of the faucet provided pressure for the beer to be brought up into the glass. A foaming head just barely running over the top of the glass and one was already wetting his lips in anticipation. However, the first sip of English beer was usually a disappointment, it was served at room temperature, and to many it tasted green and thinner than American beer. The innkeeper started the GI on the mild, but in time we experimented with heavier tastes such as bitters, ale or even stout. The latter was dark, almost black, and we would say it was so thick you could chew it. "Arf-n-arf" was a popular combination of mild beer and ale. Since we didn't have anything else, English beer had to do.

The Trip to Jerusalem was a fascinating pub. Purported to have been frequented by Robin Hood, it was built into the side of a hill. The cave-like entrance led to individual chambers, each accommodating but a dozen persons or so. Here the atmosphere was nothing like home. The furnishings looked more like they belonged to Robin Hood himself. Our more romantic troops visited Nottingham often in the quest to find a "Maid Marion". Regardless of the town or pub, "glasses please" meant closing time.

During our first weeks in England passes were liberal. Two-and three-day passes allow for some to visit distant cities such as Leeds, Reading, Edinburgh, and London. From the day of our arrival ‘till we left England there were two distinct camps in the squadron. One that would not go to London because of the bombings, and the other who thought "to hell with the bombings, the action is there."

THE BUILDUP STARTS

On March 14, ‘44, we had our first practice air raid in England. On this day we also received a new aircraft and crew. Lieutenants JOHN FITZPATRICK, PHILIP CARPENTER, Flight Officer SEYMOUR GITTLE and Sergeants WILLIAM OLIVE, KERMIT CARTER and EDWARD LORENZ were the first of the new crews that would be the beginning of a buildup in our aircraft, crew and overall strength. Sixty days later the squadron would be flying twice the number of aircraft, our training escalating to what seemed a maddening pace.

When the ground echelon arrived, JOHN TITUS was pleased that the motor pool was already building up. On February 27th, two officers of our group went to the depot and drew 28 jeeps. Though the depot was only 30 miles away, everyone was glad to get back; the weather was so bitter. More specialized vehicles were obtained from Liverpool, nearly a hundred miles distant, and Wales, still farther. They were beauties.

MARCH 19, ‘44: Our first real air raid alert in England. Though distant, we could hear he sound of explosions and feel faint vibration.

This day is also remembered for the longest chow lines ever. With the arrival of the ground echelon the service personnel were not quite geared to such a drastic influx of personnel. The use of china instead of mess kits also had a slowing effect; that's right, china dishes. Besides, who was in a hurry to leave the table? We no longer felt the grit of desert sand in our teeth or had to spit bugs out as we ate. I say again, we were in Heaven!
Another factor that favorably affected our morale was that the mail caught up to us, very welcome, since we had not heard from home since Sicily. Also, the Quartermaster issued us white sheets.

In addition to showers and mess, the British provided many other services that the squadron normally had to perform itself. Tower, base operations, communications and general base upkeep and repair were provided for. This was good; for the next sixty days would be tota1y occupied with crew training for the buildup in squadron strength, and in preparation for the big one-the invasion.

MARCH 27, ‘44 : The Enlisted Men's' Club was opened. Favorite game was table tennis. A week after its opening a ping-pong tournament with an $80 jackpot made for a spirited contest. Here we also tried our skills at darts. The Englishmen were masters at the game, winning many free drinks from the uninitiated. Those who drank soda pop did better with their eye-hand coordination when playing darts than did those who partook of the beer.

There was a price exacted for the luxury offered us in England. Dress uniforms were required at the supper meal in the officers' mess. An interesting sight was the toasting ritual. Several officers in full dress could be seen dangling bread, forked by bailing wire, toasting the thick sliced English bread by the gas flame of space heaters. The British would never understand this practice by officers, but then they never knew how well the cheese-like butter melted into the warm bread.

Administration was tightened. Excuses for late or erroneous reports were no longer tolerated. Everyone had to wear dress uniforms to town. No excuse was accepted for sloppy clothes. Vehicles were dispatched to Kettering where there was a clothing PX. The practice of saluting on base (except flight line) and in town was emphasized. It seemed like every time we turned around there was another type inspection. Now it was our guns, their cleanliness, lubrication and proper operation that received special attention. If not our guns, then it was gas mask drills. About the time we were becoming accustomed to our gas masks, a new, lightweight one was issued.

We knew that the lectures on "Customs of the Services," "Military Courtesy" and "Anglo-American Relations," was the result of the character who patted the Scott bagpipe player on his bottom while on the dock of Greenock.

More seriously, airdrome defense was a big thing. Our aircraft and the perimeter of the base were very well guarded. It was calculated that every foot of the fence and each aircraft would be passed by one of our guards every eight minutes.

ORIENTATION

If our living on the base gave us the feeling of spaciousness, the sky was the opposite - crowded. It was said that a pilot could be anywhere over England at 10,000 feet, kill his engines and still be able to glide onto a runway. The airdromes were that plentiful. Pilots had to keep a sharp eye out for other aircraft, fighters. Bombers, transports and gliders, which were all over the sky.

Our first training consisted of ground instruction and flight orientation to familiarize us with procedures and navigation peculiar to England. To begin with, all RAF bases looked alike, like they were built using identical plans. To differentiate between fields, two large letters lying on the ground in front of operations gave the code letters for that base.

During daylight, when our arrival corresponded with the time operations was expecting us and the tower could visually identify us a. friendly aircraft, we were not questioned and given traffic information. If there was a question, we were challenged for the "colors of the day". There would then be a scramble in the cockpit, everyone looking to the poor radio operator tic hurry up and give the coded "colors" as challenged.

At night, when enemy attacks were prevalent, great care was taken to make certain the Germans were not following us in, pretending to be one of us. Normally, after calling "Boyscout. Tower" (our group code name}, the black countryside surrounding the base would show a giant circle of lights. We would fly over these lights in a counterclockwise direction until the perimeter broke into a funnel, directed toward the center. Only after we were positioned in the center of the funnel, and in our descent did the runway lights become visible. To help in establishing a proper glide angle, lights pointed toward the landing aircraft showed green if on glide path, amber if above, and red if below. Taxiway lights were sufficiently subdued so as not to be seen from the air, but ample for ground operations. Should there be a question about the identity of the aircraft, the pilot was directed to fly over a pair of searchlights pointed upward for visual identification. Antiaircraft guns trained on that point. We hoped the gun crews were properly trained in aircraft identification.

If England was known for anything, it was fog. When it lifted sufficiently for flying, there was no guarantee that your destination would not "sock in" before you got there. Knowing their own weather patterns, the English provided for a mortar that fired a parachute flare a thousand feet upward through low clouds to mark the field.

"HELLO DARKEY"

Should a pilot be uncertain of his position (lost), he needs only to call "Darkey" on the emergency frequency for help. After transmitting in a firmly prescribed manner, a ground station came back with the proper heading to his destination.

At night, should radio silence be required, "colors of the day" were given by flares, fired from the aircraft by the radio operator - never fast enough to satisfy the others in the crew.

There were times when the "Darkey" operator did not want to transmit headings to you by radio. They would then activate a searchlight on the ground that oscillated from vertical to 450, pointing in the direction the pilot should fly.

Our pilots found the British aeronautical charts showing the outlines of farms and forest to be very helpful to their air navigation. With this and all the help from radio, radar, and visual aids, the poor navigators became the butt of jokes declaring them to be "obsolete." The invasion would disprove that observation for some of our members.

Since ours was a new base, it had the most up-to-date innovations. An example is the runway and other high priority lighting. One power source on one side of the field provided for every other runway light. Another power source from the opposite side of the field provided for the ones not covered by the opposite generators. In this way large sections of the base could be bombed out, but still the aircraft could function with the services from the alternate source. Clever, those British.

As in Sicily and North Africa, special services did all they could to steer our spare time into wholesome activities. Golf at the Sleaford course was the thing for some of our members. Or how about an art contest? Private First Class BOUCHER submitted a watercolor of a Sicilian Harbor that was exhibited both at the Churchill Club in London and in Westminster Abbey.

29th WAR DIARY

"Softball and hardball games between officers and enlisted men had been played in conjunction with ‘Salute the Soldier Week'. TONY ENOS, better known as ‘TONY VELESCO' to wrestling enthusiasts, tossed epidermis with an Englishman before a capacity house in Sleaford Hall, proceeds of which will also go to ‘Salute the Soldier Week' fund." Tony recalls the time he took on the English professional wrestling champ, Charlie Green, "and I beat him!"

[29th WAR DIARYI "Bicycling became a major sport in the squadron. The surrounding countryside is in full blossom and the sweet scent of daffodils and lilacs fills the air, and each evening a general exodus of GI's on bicycles occurs, all pedaling leisurely along the country lanes absorbing the beauties of England in the spring."

We felt there were only about four or five spring days. All others were winter; cold, wet arid foggy. It didn't seem like summer would ever arrive. We wanted that mud to dry out.

HORSA GLIDER: Compared to the American CG-4A, the British Horsa was a giant. In fact, for size, it can better be compared to the C-47 whose wingspan was only seven feet longer than the Horsa's. However, the Horsa stands two and a half feet higher and is three feet longer than the C-47, the aircraft we would use to tow this British monstrosity.

Our first flights with the British glider were with two C-47's doing the towing. Even then, the tow pilots felt a great deal more drag while the glider pilots complained that it was not as maneuverable as the CG-4A. The British on the othter hand loved this bird.

Each squadron in the group would have two Horsas assigned. We knew they were serious when a crew of glider mechanics received training at the Horsa factory in Christ Church. Allied headquarters felt all Troop Carrier units shouId be capable of interchanging gliders.

As tow and glider pilots became more proficient with the Horsa, towing with a single Gooney was practiced. We were all convinced that whoever came up with the hare-brained idea of pulling a Horsa with a C-47 had rocks in his head. Fortunately, our group was not obligated tactically to follow up on the Horsa. We never missed that monster.

TRAINING IN THE HORSA

The Horsa was but one phase of glider training, and a small one at that, when compared to the overall glider program. A pattern developed. One day it would be glider flight training, the next day ground school, and so it alternated. One day the flight training consisted of "snatch" pick-up, the next day cross-country formation, then perhaps double tow, and, of course, saturation landings for combat were practiced. Due to the newness of our base, large mounds of sand and equipment were still in the middle of one runway. Simulated combat landings were conducted at other bases. The tow plane came back later to retrieve the gliders
Our gliders were being equipped with intercommunication kits; wire attached to the towrope enabled the pilots of the tow plane to talk to the glider pilots. This was a very welcomed innovation.

The glider training would have been considered a heavy load for the squadron in itself. We were to have 18 CG-4A's assigned. On top of that, great emphasis was placed on paradrops and night formation. We were flying every day or night the weather would allow. One day it would be night formation, the next a paradrop. Sometimes we dropped as few as four paratroopers, practicing Pathfinder techniques and testing their equipment. The 313th Group also dropped a British airborne unit with 72 aircraft. So realistic was their alert, assembly and briefing, that when the British paratroopers reached the aircraft they believed this to be it-the invasion.

[29th WAR DIARY, APRIL 5, 44] "Nine ships loaded with paratroopers and pararacks took off at 2355 for secret DZ. Due to bad weather only two ships got through to DZ while the other seven, after coming out of heavy clouds, were unable to sight the DZ and returned to home station with troops."

Three nights later another nine aircraft loaded with paratroopers for a secret DZ. This time the mission was successful. However, a few days after this successful drop, the failure of the April 5th exercise would be repeated. Bad weather will screw up any drop. Though some will swear by the capabilities of the radar, everything had to be working just right for a radar drop to be suc-cessful. Even if the radar worked perfectly, bad weather would break up any formation. No one had come up with a way that a formation could fly into clouds and still be in formation when they came out. Usually we came out scattered all over the place.

RADAR, THE LIMITING FACTOR

Limiting factor to a successful drop through the weather was that only one of nine aircraft had radar. One must picture the poor pilot, who without radar or navigator, with his position over the earth disrupted by clouds, attempts to orient himself. Over enemy territory there are no radio signals to navigate by, the ground is dark. Even in the most favorable light, reestablishing one's position takes time and was not always successful. These exercises were stimulating conditions we would encounter over enemy territory. We hoped the invasion included good weather. The guessing game went on; where and when would the invasion take place?

Crew integrity was being disrupted by the arrival of each new aircraft. Long-lasting crew friendships developed since the squadron's inception were now being shattered. After all, had we not trained together, crossed the big pond as a team, ate and slept in the same bird, saw combat in Sicily and flew into Salerno? Did we not share the bombing at Bari, and were we not each tested during that long fiasco coming out of Gibraltar? However well one came to know new squadron members, the bond of friendship could never match that shared amongst the old timers who knew each other's feelings and thoughts, and who often shared their personal problems.

To mention two crews, MANDARINO and AMOS were assigned to a new aircraft. Although LAIRD was still pilot, a new co-pilot, ROBERT TEWS, would fly with this crew. SLERF, their old aircraft, was now assigned to JOHN BUZALKO and DAVID ROGOW. Their pilot was CHESTER BARBER, with BILL BOLTZ, a new member to the squadron, as co-pilot.

It's important to restate that it was our squadron policy that after a new pilot was checked out in the "gooney", the pilots alternated seats and split flying time. That is, after flying one leg as pilot, the next would be in the right seat performing co-pilot duties. This practice elevated our new pilots' skills quickly, a policy not necessarily followed by other squadrons.

Newly assigned aircraft engineers were taken aboard on flight missions as assistant crew chiefs, as were new radio operators checked out by an old-time radioman. The old-timer crewmen wondered from time to time if they were as bone-headed as these new members when they arrived a year earlier.

So now we have the power pilots flying almost daily, the glider pilots about every other day. The strain to keep those aircraft in the air was felt by every member in the squadron. Not so obvious was the amount of additional supplies required to clothe, feed and dress the additional squadron personnel. This was also felt by the administrators who had to pay the troops, keep up their records, etc. The medics had to order more serum for those distasteful shots. Oh yes, the girls were not that plentiful since the size of the group had doubled.

PASSES

The first big restriction covering all troops in the United Kingdom was called on April 13, ‘44. No one knew why, but guesses were that the invasion was around the corner. It was lifted five days later. During this time business was good in the base clubs. Also during these five days we became more aware of base discomforts, like the mud that had been with us since the rain washed away the snow that greeted us upon arrival. As if our mind was being read, concrete slabs were placed where we walked.

A new twist as of May 5, ‘44 was that only combat crews were permitted 48-hour passes. Everyone took advantage of this since the rumor mill had it that passes would be cancelled soon.

Another surprise came when on May 10, ‘44; passes for only combat crews were cancelled. All others were permitted liberty passes; however, the next day these too were cancelled.

[29th WAR DIARY, MAY 12, ‘44] "The reason for the cancellation of passes was that higher headquarters is trying to simulate conditions on nights of combat missions. The training mission, which took place last night, was an operational success. Close to 1,000 planes formed and proceeded to three different DZ's. In this monstrous exhibition and amid all the confusion in the air, two planes of the 316th collided in mid air upon returning from their DZ. Twelve lost their lives, amongst them being the group C.O. and the group chaplain."

Though not talked about, the all-services restrictions in the United Kingdom helped track down AWOL's. In April ‘44 alone, 13,000 were picked up throughout England without passes. These dragnets also produced a number of deserters.

GROUND TRAINING

Some ground training didn't make sense to us at all. Often it did nothing more than create a lot of questions, as if the rumor mill did not provide enough. A training film was shown in the base theater for all combat crews, "Nine Men on a Desert". This full-length movie dealt with the experiences of a crew that was forced down in the desert. Why, now, do we see desert survival?

In the crowded skies over England we saw many aircraft that were unknown to us. Aircraft identification was covered during our weekly training sessions. We learned to tell friend from foe.

On a routine basis we were receiving lectures on "Escape and Evasion". How to avoid the enemy, and if captured, how to escape. It never failed to amaze us how much the British knew about "Dulag Luft," the German interrogation for Allied airmen, and the various "Stalag Luft's," the German POW camps for Airmen. Known to but a few at the time, the British had communications established with each of the POW camps in Germany. This was done by sending one in every 10 or 20 bomber crews to special POW schools. They learned the codes for alerting the mail censor to hidden messages coming out of POW camps.

Their uniforms were specially prepared, containing compasses hidden in each uniform button, and other escape items, as well as money. Graduation exercise entailed being flown into France in a light aircraft, landing in a select field, walking into town and having a drink in a French cafe, then flying home. Law of average provided that a number of these crews would end up as POW's. They were trained well and carried on the war while imprisoned.

To promote confidence, combat units were given lectures by those who had successfully evaded the enemy. On April 27, Lieutenant John Bielstein, a bombardier whose aircraft was shot down over enemy territory, gave a talk on his experiences and what to do if forced down. His lecture was very much appreciated, since he proved it could be done, and he could answer questions about his evasion.

While our side was doing all it could to prepare our people for getting out of Germany and back to the fighting, the German propaganda radio station was giving lessons on how we could give up and get out of the fighting. To the fighter and bomber pilots, they advised them to lower their landing gear and flaps; the German fighters would then graciously escort their aircraft to a safe haven.

During the months of April and May their propaganda emphasis was on Patton's Fifth Army Group. If there was any one General the Germans seemed to fear it was Patton. Best known propagandist was Lord Haw Haw, the name this English turncoat adopted. He and his associates in psychological warfare even gave Patton's troops a recipe, "ingredients obtainable from any mess hall kitchen", guaranteed to make one just sick enough to miss the shipment that would send them against "our impregnable west wall. Better sick for a day than die."

From the day we hit England, the German propaganda station was popular. Its American jazz, received in neutral countries, was more current than our own Armed Forces Radio. The entertainment was intended to get us to listen. The thrust of their propaganda, however, was to fray our nerves and lose confidence in our leaders, and especially with our Allies. Their thrust was ineffective!

It was about this time that passport photos were taken. We posed for three pictures, front, then right and left profile. Coats and neckties were provided, compliments of a couple of Irishmen who worked on the base. These jackets really looked "ratty", just like intelligence wanted them to look. This is how the natives would dress on the continent, Norway or Italy-wherever needed.

The only people in Europe who lived high on the hog were perhaps ranking Germans. Just as the passport photo jackets represented what the normal dress was in Europe, so too were the British on hard times. The English held their heads high in their adversity, were fun loving, but had to make many sacrifices for the war effort.

DANCES

Within weeks of our arrival, dances were held on base. Since most of their menfolk were away at war, the English girls were grateful for the social contact these dances provided. At our base, they didn't race around the dance floor as in town; they couldn't-the floor was too crowded.

Drinks were beer, properly chilled, and whatever spirits the clubs could come up with. Try gin and grapefruit juice. The grapefruit juice didn't help the taste of the gin, nor did the gin smooth out the sour taste of grapefruit. You really had to want a drink to order one of these. When lucky, an aircraft on a freight run to Scotland would bring back a few cases of Johnny Walker. On the black market that bottle would bring $20.00, but in Scotland cost $2.20 (1944 dollars). The only bourbon available was from ATC pilots who flew the four-engine aircraft from the States and charged an arm or a leg, or from our new squadron members who brought a bottle or two with them. We resented the Air Transport Command and contemptuously labeled the ATC "allergic to combat."

The girls did not, for the most part, partake of the drink. They did appreciate the sandwiches, cake and cookies the respective clubs provided. Especially the sweets. Sugar was so severely rationed that most English families did without sweets for months at a time. We served them tea, but we Americans didn't know how to make tea any better than the British knew how to make coffee.

Like any young girl, the English woman dressed her best for dances. Chances were that the clothes worn were their Sunday best or borrowed for the occasion. On first sight, the unusual redness of their skins brought questions. The answer was in the adaptability of the English. Fuel was severely rationed. As a result, the family sat very close to an open fireplace or the gas flame, using only what fuel they had to. Their clothes always smelled of smoke, but this too we came to understand.

[29th WAR DIARY, MAY 20, ‘44] "Cloudy and cold. Preparations for the anniversary dances tonight were about completed. There will be two dances, one for enlisted men and one for officers. The celebration will mark the squadron's first year overseas. It is the hope that we will not celebrate another such anniversary.

"It was one year ago today that we (the ground echelon) landed in Casablanca. In celebration we were given the day off and were not assigned any flying missions. Only priority duties were performed. In a group baseball tournament we beat the 48th, but lost the playoff with the 47th Squadron by a score of 11-4. Earlier, the 47th beat the 49th with an 11-0 win.

[29th WAR DIARY, MAY 21, ‘44] "Both dances last night were huge successes. Girls from Nottingham and neighboring towns represented the local talent and did much to improve Anglo American relations. The boys also were cooperative. The idea of holding frequent dances on the base has proved a big factor in bolstering morale."

We learned the impracticability of holding two dances on base on the same night. There just weren't enough girls to go around. From then on each club sponsored a dance fortnightly, the girls dancing weekly, alternating between the EM and Officers Clubs.

NEW FLIGHT SURGEON

"Captain MAURICE RICH, from Atlanta, Ga., has been assigned to the squadron as Medical Officer. After having officers attached and changed so often it is hoped that he will be permanently assigned."

Fortunately, this became the case as our flight surgeon hovered over the aircrews like a mother hen ascertaining if their physical condition would allow them to fly missions. But on the eve of the invasion it was respiratory infections that kept some grounded. It seemed like everyone had a cold. There were those who felt a trip to the hospital in south England was a treat. There they had the pleasures of a rest camp, horseback riding, etc. However, they kept a close watch to be sure the hospital stay did not go to 30 days. That was when they would be dropped from the squadron rolls. Assignments would then be made via a replacement pool. No one wanted that, unless it meant going home.

Some didn't have a choice and were transferred to other organizations on temporary duty basis (TDY) or detached service (DS). CLINT R. COWDEN received orders for DS to Ninth Air Force Engineering Command.

The flying schedule was hectic. The weather had to be really "socked in" to ground us. It was not cooperating with us at all. At least in Sicily we had periods of good weather. Not so with this damn English weather.

Day after day, night after night we flew. You couldn't imagine how stinking the weather could be; and we still flew. GEORGE TILLEY remembers, "I thought we were never going to stop. Every night the 313th would form and rendezvous with other groups. From there the whole wing headed toward the DZ, coordinating our arrival with other wings. No navigational lights, only the blue formation lights. Even the exhaust flame was dampened. ‘Oh my God', we thought ‘let's get this over with'. It was midnight ‘till three in the morning, twelve to three, twelve to three, twelve to three. These rehearsals were nerve wracking. We had to know where we were, where we were going, couldn't afford to be wrong, had to be right on it, couldn't afford a disaster. It was a wonder we came through."

29th WAR DIARY, MAY 20, ‘44

Late this afternoon two large units of paratroopers moved onto the base, bivouacking across the field. As soon as they occupied it, it became restricted and closely guarded. All members of the 313th and base personnel have been ordered to stay away from the paratroopers' campsite. How long they will remain here, or for what purpose they have come, no one knows. Speculation, of course, is rife. Will it be a practice jump or will it be the real thing? It is expected that base and group personnel will also soon be restricted to the base. A USO show performed on the base in the evening. It was enthusiastically received. Ten planes towed 10 gliders on wing mission. Gliders landed at Barkston Heath and were brought back in the afternoon.

MAY 30, ‘44: Intelligence received a new supply of maps. Headquarters did this to us before; that is, provide us with maps for areas we did not now fly in. A sure sign the big one was on. Try as they may, our intelligence people were unable to guess the point of invasion, the maps were that varied. We also remembered that a month earlier intelligence received the new type of escape kits and other items for distribution to combat crews. We thought then that the invasion was imminent.

MAY 31, ‘44: The weather has been good for the past few days. A couple of days ago we were sunning ourselves with temperatures in the 80's. Last night, however, we experienced a real Sicilian cloudburst. Thunder, lightning and the high gusting wind kept many awake. Again, like Sicily, power went out, communications were disrupted and it took all the next day to restore order.

JUNE 1, ‘44: It's still raining and, would you believe, this is the time we're directed to paint black and white stripes on the wings and around the fuselage of the "gooney's" and the gliders Can you imagine that - in the rain? Like from out of nowhere, cans and cans of paint, masking tape and brushes appeared. Aircraft engineers, mechanics, radio operators and technicians we were, but Michelangelo's we were not. There was pressure put on us to hurry "don't wait for the weather to clear-do it now." So we did. When we ran out of paint brushes, the-aircraft sweeping broom was put to use, the broom we used to sweep snow off the wings and stabilizers. No one would tell us why: "Don't ask, do as you're told." We saw a contradiction between the prominent white stripes accented black stripes and the camouflage colors intent to conceal. We looked like a squadron of striped-ass birds.

ZEBRA STRIPES IN THE RAIN

Unknown to us, the "zebra" striping was being applied to every aircraft in the theater. From that day on, any aircraft not sporting the zebra stripes would be treated as enemy. Another precaution against a repetition of the second night in the Sicilian invasion.

The crew chiefs, radio operators and mechanics felt better when directed to mount pararacks be-neath 20 of our aircraft (18 + 2 spares). This operation was followed up by our aircraft electrical spe-cialist, wiring up the release mechanism to a switch in the cockpit. JOE DARGUZAS and KEN KERSTING worked all day at the wiring. (DARGUZAS) "It was late in the evening~ before we were finished, and I wound up in the infirmary with another attack of malaria. I never did learn whether the release buttons worked."

JUNE 2, ‘44: The base was restricted at 1700 hours. The weather is cloudy and cold. Daily we see paratroopers on the way to and from chow. Their "shuffle", the gait between marching and trotting, is often audible before we set eyes on the troopers; they are virtually imprisoned in their tent area. From the looks of these tough troopers it's doubtful that Hitler's "Western Wall" can hold them; that is, if an invasion ever comes

JUNE 2, ‘44: It's still raining. At nine this morning the base was sealed. Guards were placed around the respective squadron and group intelligence and briefing rooms. There were MP's all over the place. Only select communications were permitted with the outside, and then these calls were monitored. Personal mail was put into special bags and stored. The censors wouldn't even see them until after D-Day. Meetings went on all day, preparing for briefings for the next. Only classified personnel were "in the know," but, hell, anyone could guess something big was happening.

THE GENERALS DROP IN

At three in the afternoon a visiting C-47 landed. Brigadier Generals Paul L. Williams and H.L. Clark emerged (Commanders, Troop Carrier Command and 52nd Wing, respectively). Stern-faced MP's checked roster and ID's of those going into this high-level meeting. It was limited to key group and squadron staff, including intelligence personnel. The overall invasion plan was presented.

The code name for the invasion directed against the beaches of Normandy in northwest France was "OVERLORD". Five amphibious assaults would take place along the neck of the Cherbourg Penin-sula, where the Americans would secure UTAH and OMAHA beaches, and the British would assault GOLD, JUNO and SWORD beaches stretching to the east.

NEPTUNE, the airborne landings, would be by the American 82nd and 101st 6th divisions dropping at the base of the Cherbourg Peninsula to the rear of UTAH Beach in the vicinity of Sainte Mere-Eglise. The British 6th Airborne Division was to drop east of Sword protecting the British flank.

While the amphibious landings were to take place after first light, the airborne would be dropped behind enemy lines hours earlier to secure objectives and harass defenders of the beaches.

Those privileged to this high-level briefing were awed at the scope of the operation. Involved were 5,300 ships, 150,000 men, 1,500 tanks and 12,000 aircraft. Troop carrier units were to supply 1,300 transports and 3,300 gliders to the effort. The Allies were to put 37 of their divisions up against the 60 divisions the Germans had available to them in Western Europe. Not so one sided when one consid-ered that the Allies had complete air supremacy and were in command of the sea lanes. It wasn't going to be a cakewalk either. Dislodging an enemy from a well-defended position is always costly.

[29th WAR DIARY, JUNE 4, ‘44.1 "A half hour before the scheduled briefing of the 29th combat crews, with 18 planes in readiness (2 spares), it was learned that D-Day had been postponed for 24 hours, apparently due to the inclement weather. Even though not yet officially notified of the nature of the mission, there is a quiet certainty amongst officers and enlisted men that this is literally the eve of the invasion. Tenseness has increased. Crew chiefs and radio operators are checking and rechecking the planes and equipment."

NEPTUNE #1 "BOSTON" (D-DAY INVASION)

JUNE 5, ‘44: Weather stormy, miserable. At 1000 Colonel Roberts briefed the assembled pilots. At approximately 0215 the next morning they would drop American paratroopers on the soil of France, the Cherbourg Peninsula. The paratroopers were, in effect, to cut off the Cherbourg Peninsula, pre-venting the German inland divisions from responding to the invasion. Additionally, they were to keep the approaches open for our assault forces from Utah Beach to the interior.
Captain Segal, Intelligence Officer of the 47th, received our greatest attention with the disclosure, "very little enemy flak of any type and small-arms fire only in the DZ area". Major McFadden, G-2 (group intelligence), gave the general enemy situation and talked about escape and evasion. He also covered the rice-paper map that was to be eaten should we be forced down in enemy territory. Captain Blake gave the communication briefing. Emphasis was placed on the need for absolute radio silence all the way to the drop zone. Now came Captain Noffsinger. He briefed that the weather conditions were improving and to expect a final weather report before takeoff.

Navigation on this mission was to be easier than those into Sicily. The route was planned where we would have radio and light signals every 30 miles or so. Even over the channel, vessels emitting light signals were to assure us accurate overwater navigation.

The 313th Group would deliver the First and Third Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regi-ment of the 82nd Airborne into drop zone "N", one mile NW of Picauville, France. "Boston" was the code name for 82nd drop, while the 101st Airborne mission was known as "Albany". The route, gener-ally from west to east through the Cherbourg Peninsula, was designed to avoid enemy antiaircraft po-sitions and to be clear of our own invasion fleet. Encouraging, too, was the news that for the previous 24 hours, our bombers had been pulverizing German coastal defenses.

29TH SQUADRON LEADS THE GROUP

We in the 29th were a little bit miffed when we learned that we were not going to be the lead squadron as we had in the past. This time the honors would go to the 49th Squadron, which with the 47th made up serial 22. The 29th would be the third squadron in the group formation, leading 23 serial. The 48th was to follow us and be the last squadron in the group.

The briefing continued with a pep talk by an unshaven rough-looking paratrooper officer. The Lieutenant Colonel wanted to know how long it would take us to get him there. After being told two-and-a-half hours, he quipped, "good, be sure to wake me up from my nap, I don't want to miss the show." He calculated that his jump time would be eight-and-a-half minutes after passing the coast of France, that twelve minutes would put our aircraft over water again, on the east side of the peninsula. If for any reason we were to still have paratroopers aboard after passing through the peninsula, we were to make a 180 right turn and drop them onto DZ "0", near the east coast. We were not to come back with any paratroopers who still wanted to jump. Refusals would be met by the military police and court martialed.

Reaction to this combat briefing was as usual mixed. Some were pale, sitting in stony silence lick-ing their lips. Others, sporting broad grins, were pleased to be going into combat. After the briefing there were many quick trips to the latrine. Surprising how one's kidneys float during excitement.

D-Day seemed to us to be anti-climactic, without much fuss or excitement. There was, however, more than the usual letter writing. Those who had not experienced combat looked to the veterans for reaction. The old-timers tried to portray confidence, regardless of how they felt inwardly, so as not to concern the newcomers.

All were trying to adjust biological clocks; sleep would be hard to regulate. Those weeks of train-ing when we flew so consistently from midnight to three would be helpful, but this was different; cat-naps were all we could handle. There would be no deep sleep today.

During the afternoon the enlisted crew followed directives and inspected the aircraft for any scraps of paper that would provide useful information to German intelligence should the aircraft land in en-emy territory. You can't imagine the crevices and hidden places in a gooney that a slip of paper can lodge. The Germans would painstakingly inspect the downed aircraft and find them. Anyway, this was the only time when the aircraft got a really good cleaning out.

More annoying, though, was the requirement that afternoon to remove from the aircraft all excess equipment and tools not essential to that mission. Crew chiefs believed, for sure, that the tools were too valuable to lose should the aircraft be shot down. That was why they were left behind! Actually the removal of the extraneous weight allowed for that much more to be carried into combat. No, you could never tell that to a crew chief. To the crew chief, flying without a toolbox aboard his aircraft was lik-ened to a navigator without a watch.

1900: The enlisted personnel of the participating crews were briefed on the mission. This time the en-listed men were given a thorough briefing on the route to and from the drop zone, should they need to assist in navigation, or even to fly the aircraft home. Radio operators were ever so attentive to their instructions. "IFF, not on when airborne unless ditching, connect detonator, before landing home dis-connect." Frequencies to set the radar to receive and transmit, for each checkpoint. Bomber code, Q-signal, pyrotechnics and verification signals-splasher beacons-etc., etc.

2100: Combat crews reported to their respective operations. Here we were issued escape kits, French money, maps and overlays. Final instructions were given to include the latest weather forecast. Clouds over the Cherbourg peninsula and enrooted were to be high and not a factor in the mission. Lastly, we were told the password for this mission, "FLASH/THUNDER".

WE STARTED IN TRUCKS

Trucks carried us out to our aircraft where the smudge-faced paratroopers were lolling around, seemingly unconcerned with the coming events. Those who rested on their backs looked like lumber-ing turtles when they turned over onto their hands and knees. Then, like a weight lifter, they pressed themselves upward to a standing position. Paratroopers carried a phenomenal weight. Hand grenades, knives, rifles, K-rations, ammunition, spare chute, explosives, and a whole lot of other stuff that made each a walking arsenal. Troopers helped push their buddies up the ladder, while those in the aircraft turned, offering a helping hand, pulling the next into the aircraft.

D-DAY MISSION: Engines from 72 aircraft whined and popped in their starts all over the base. The prearranged taxi sequence put 49th in the lead; followed by the 47th, then we came with chalk number 37 through 54, and were followed by the 48th. NELSEN had trouble starting his engines. His wingmen, KERR and KREISER, waited for him.

It felt funny having the headsets on and not receiving any instructions. What could not be prear-ranged was communicated by blinker light signals. This is how the first aircraft was instructed to de-part. At precis4y 2315, Colonel J.J. Roberts eased his aircraft off the ground. The group followed. NELSEN could not get a start. He, JOE DENSON and the paratroopers switched to LACHMUND'S aircraft, the first spare.

Twenty second intervals separated aircraft. It's a wonderful sight to watch single aircraft become one of three, then nine, to make the standard formation of V of Vs. When a squadron was formed, it placed itself in its proper sequence within the group. All aircraft lights were on; navigational, recogni-tion and formation. From the ground it looked like a Christmas tree sailing through the air.

Gradually the formation tightened. Everyone on the ground marveled. Everybody was up this night, watching, feeling, knowing they were a part of something big. Almost guilty in their feelings, they gazed in awe at the splendor of that colored tree in the sky. Some prayed too. People like PECCIA, ROBINSON, VASCONCELLOS, LAWYER and SEBELIN hoped like hell the crew would not have cause to use their services; they were our parachute riggers. Then the family of cooks, BACCUS, BEASLEY, BEATTY, BURKS and BUCHANAN, GREENFIELD, HORVATH and DUKE, who wondered when they put on that nights meal if it would be the last for some in that for-mation. Clerks were not spared. The chaplain's letters to the family of the dead or missing are not easy to type. Nor is taking inventory of the MIA's personal effects any fun. When that formation went overhead, we were all there, with them.

WE MISSED THE TOPKICK

MAX TILLEY, our first sergeant, was not out on the tarmac. A week earlier, after many bouts of ill-ness, he was transferred to hospital status for rotation to the States. We were sure, though, wherever he was, his heart with us this night.

The formation came over the field at 1,500 feet, heading south. It was good and tight. There were thousands of eyes looking up that night. The cloud base was 2 to 3000 feet, with breaks in the over-cast. This made for a nice dark background, accentuating the lighted aircraft. We were now seeing other troop carrier groups in their form up, also heading south, converging on Atlanta, the first check-point.

It was the sight, the throb of the engines, and the knowledge that this was it, the invasion, that af-fected viewers emotionally, leaving none without goose bumps. HAROLD WILLEN recalls, "The most wonderful exciting moment of my life, to see all those planes in the air, as far as you could see. To the right, left, front and back looked like thousands upon thousands. But then we had to wait for our men to come back. It was hard. After being so close to them the months we were together. We had a good feeling for them."

[KERSTING "The anxiety of the anticipated invasion for several weeks was released June 6th, 1944. Up early on the line. Every one excited, checking engines, parapacks, jammed starters and parapacks that released accidentally. The excitement was there, also the fear. We were in on the beginning of an historical event that turned the tide of the war. Being of the ground crew that day I felt the emotion of fear of the unknown, of something that was not done before, and felt empathy with the crews that would fly that mission. Having been together as a squadron for quite awhile, you become somewhat like a family, and you have sincere concern for each other.

The planes took off into a beautiful morning one after another, rose higher and higher, and began to rendezvous. Planes, planes, planes, I never saw so many planes-looked like swarms of mosquitoes. Our prayers went with crews as they headed south toward France."

If the formation looked spectacular from (lie ground, it was even more so from the air. Groups from our left and from our right were easing into Atlanta. There, we became a line of groups, all under the 52nd Wing, each group positioned in proper drop sequence.

The checkpoints, named after American cities, would have turned the heads of the British. We continued on to Burbank, Cleveland and Dallas. It was here in the vicinity of Bristol that we encoun-tered a few brief showers. We were, however, encouraged by the breaks in the overcast through which the moon could occasionally be glimpsed.

Residents of the southern England communities over which we flew also saw the groups of the 53rd and 50th Wings enter the flow over Elko. Chances are that no one in Dorset County slept that night. This show of aircraft was too impressive, too important, and too beautiful to miss.

After Elko the formations descended to 1,000 feet, where we stayed for 29 miles until reaching Flatbush on the southern coast of England. Over water, we came down to 700 feet to be beneath the effectiveness of German radar.

FOUR MINUTES AFTER FLATBUSH

Four minutes past Flatbush we turned off our navigational lights. The amber recognition lights still shone to alert allied ships that we were indeed friends. Even without navigational lights we were able to see aircraft far forward and behind us in the bright moonlight, for the clouds had disappeared and the visibility was now unlimited. Our course continued in a south-west direction to take us over the navigational ship Gallup and to Hoboken.

We settled down to a loose, somewhat relaxing, but still properly positioned formation. The calm night air was as smooth as silk, giving the occupants of the aircraft a feeling of being suspended in space. So accurately did the pilots hold their positions that it seemed as though all were attached by invisible rods, acting as if they were one. Paratroopers were pleased. Airsickness was rare. Navigators, crew chiefs and radio operators could not resist seeing the view. First up forward through the pilot's front windows, then through the overhead astrodome, and also by way of the large opening in the rear of the aircraft where the jump door had been removed. The full moon shone brightly, reflecting off the skins of the "goonies". Damn near like daylight.

[HALL] "I was scared and anxious, but that was one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. My job was to go up in the bubble (astrodome) and scan the skies for enemy airplanes, but I could also take in the view. Out across the English Channel were airplanes as far as you could see, all headed for the coast of France. I thought of how strong we were, thinking, "They didn't have a chance." That was a good feeling. I knew they were done when I saw all that."

The full moon was in front of us, lower on the horizon and larger than when first seen. At Hoboken we made a 90-degree turn to the left. In 54 miles, this course would take us to the Initial Point on the French coast. The aircraft turning in front of us occasionally were silhouetted on the face of the moon. What a sight
At Hoboken the recognition lights were turned off, the dim blue formation lights got dimmer when, as directed, they were switched to low. Paratroopers were given the 20-minute notice, giving them time to hook-up and be ready for the 4-minute red light signal.

Our route in took us between the Channel Islands. These were still held by the Germans. We didn't have to wait long before the gunners on Alderney, on our left, let us know they were there. The para-troopers on that side of the aircraft pressed their faces to the plastic windows, fascinated by the dis-play. We were well out of range. Tracers came straight toward us, then arched downward and disap-peared shortly when the phosphorous that made them luminous burned out.

As if to give the troopers on the right side the same treat, German gunners on Guernsey let loose. They too were out of range. The cat was out of the bag. One could envision the alert being sounded with every German from Cherbourg to Sevastopol knowing of our presence.

The formation tightened up. France was visible up ahead. Slowly we climbed to reach 1,500 feet before crossing the coast. This altitude put us above the range of small arms fire. The weather was good. The formation great. This was going to be one helluva good drop.

WHAM! WE HIT THE FOG BANK

When over the coast, we could see gunfire up ahead. We'll worry about that later. All was well when WHAM, we hit a cloudbank, or was it enemy smoke? Damn, damn, dammit! Each of us tucked into our lead trying to maintain the integrity of the formation. Tracers were all around us. Flashes from flak bursts negated our night vision. Searchlights bathed the skies, lighting the cabins with a strange blue light as the beam swept through the formation.

Some pilots lost sight of their lead aircraft and gingerly pulled away, only to find themselves on someone elses wing, but from the other side. So much depended upon exactly where we were when we first hit the cloudbank. Those flights that could see downward descended to drop altitude and had no trouble other then to worry about the intense ground fire they were flying through. Other flights stayed on top of the clouds, hoping for a break before reaching the DZ. The break came, but only after a lot of dodging of other aircraft bouncing around from flak explosions and prop wash, and flying through the awesome fingers of tracers. It looked suicidal to go through that stuff, but we did. Those poor bastards in the rear were going to have a rough time hooking up, or even standing up.

The clouds broke up before we reached the DZ. We now could see. There is the drop zone, just as depicted on our map. Oh-oh, no pathfinders lighted "T"; the Rebecca signals seem to be too far right. What to do?

We were not one formation, but many. The 4-minute red warning light had long since been given. Each flight or individual aircraft now gave the green light, dropping the troops as best as they could. Once relieved of paratroopers, it was on the deck for most. Few climbed out immediately to the briefed 2,200 feet.

SEARCHLIGHTS AGAIN

The Germans again put their searchlights on us; persistent bastards, they were. As long as the eerie blue lights just flicked through the cabin, it was OK. If a light got a hold, we would be a goner. Every gun in the area would then be on us.

Over the water we felt safe, but damned if one of our planes was not challenged by the invasion fleet. In response, the color flare, green-green-red, was fired. It was accepted; the aircraft was not fired upon. We saw a barrage balloon at 500 feet a few miles off the coast near checkpoint Paducah.

After flying well clear of the coast, and on a northeastern heading generally paralleling the penin-sula, crew chiefs and radio operators pulled in the static lines. Pilots turned over the controls to the co-pilots for a well-deserved trip to the lavatory. A cigarette at this time was very soothing. The hand that gripped the control column would be stiff for some time, as if still clutching the wheel.

At checkpoint Spokane, we flew a reciprocal of the inbound heading back to Gallup. From there we would take the same route home as we flew coming in. Once settled, shroud lines in, aircraft in-spected for damage, etc., crewmembers became quiet and thoughtful. It was like putting one's brain on a playback loop, repeating the four to six minutes from when we entered the cloud bank ‘till clear of the DZ. Over and over we replayed that tape. What happened, how did it happen, what should have happened? This loop played itself all the way home. Damned if the weather didn't do it to us again!

FIELD 484: Practically the whole base stayed up for the return of the aircraft. Everyone felt they were part of the mission. HAROLD WILLEN kept a pot of coffee warm in operations for the staff that did not fly this one. The mess sent over snacks in anticipation of a long night. Intelligence organized its notes, ready to debrief the crews and collect classified material. Fuel trucks were topped off, ready to service the aircraft for a fast turnaround, should one be called. Sheetmetal and aircraft welders were ready to make repairs. On a mission like this, they knew there would be holes in the aircraft needing their attention. Personal equipment and riggers were ready to collect and inspect life vests, flak suits and parachutes. Seems like every time there is a mission, some overanxious crewman will mistakenly pull the ripcord, requiring the chute to be repacked.

VAN CLEEF: "For those air crewmen left behind when the squadron took off, there is a very ambiva-lent feeling about going as a member of the group, being part of it, and staying behind on the ground and watching everybody go. I finally came to the conclusion that it is the same thing as the devil and the deep blue sea. There is no real answer to it. You're damn glad you're not going to get your pants shot off. On the other hand, having watched everyone else go is a lonesome sort of thing, and it's a helluva long wait for them to come back. I did spend a lot of time on the flight line waiting for them to come back."

NO FUN TO BE LEFT BEHIND

[BOB HILLS]: "For myself and a number of other glider pilots I can say there was a strange feeling of being left out of it. A glider ride into a France where Germans outnumbered the allies could end up in serious harm, but that's what we had been trained for and anticipating. Ever since Barkston Heath, any glider pilot in the squadron could see that our emphasis was on paradrops, practice flights night after night, but no gliders. A couple of us actually discussed trying to get transferred to one of the groups where gliders were flying every day. But reason soon settled the idea as too much bravado and too lit-tle loyalty. Our turn would come, maybe."

It was just breaking light when we heard the drone of the first aircraft returning. QUINN CORLEY led our squadron to Normandy, but he was far from the first coming in. That honor, we think, goes to CHESTER BARBER. After the DZ he firewalled the engines, hit the deck and took advantage of every short cut. He didn't come up to briefed altitude ‘till he was halfway home.

Our first aircraft landed at 0430. The squadron dribbled in during the next hour. Three of our air-craft were unaccounted for.

Intelligence wanted to know exactly where each of us dropped, flak positions, distressed aircraft sighted and so on. The two-ounce shot of spirits administered by our medical staff took the edge off our hyper condition. Doctor RICH, our new flight surgeon, looked over each crewman with a watchful eye, alert to detect any unusual strain.

Crewman reaction to the mission varied greatly. Usually it. was the new co-pilots who first showed strain. Their job was to observe everything, the engine instruments, look for flak and machinegun em-placements to report to intelligence, watch out for other aircraft, as was certainly needed on this mis-sion, etc. While going into the DZ, some displayed extreme excitement. The veteran pilots quickly drew their attention away from the enemy fire and into the cockpit, soothing the atmosphere with calm instructions.

The pilots knew that there was no way of getting through that wall of fire without getting hit. They held their place in the formation anyway, determined to go with it. Not until after the aircraft were re-lieved of their cargo did they break loose and hit the deck. It was a pleasurable physical release to buzz the countryside for those few minutes, dodging searchlights and enemy fire. Good feeling!

THEN CAME THE REACTIONS

Then there were those who displayed a delayed reaction, as experienced by this crewman: "I'll never forget it. I guess you're all tensed up, but once you get over it and are on the ground you start thinking about the others. Is everybody back? You watch for them to come in. They took us over to the flight surgeon. I got a shot of Gibsons to settle me. We were like this (demonstrating trembling hands). Do you remember shaking? I sure do. I don't know what happened. When I got back to the barracks I couldn't keep my legs still, no matter what. I felt like I had to tie them down. Then the Gibson took hold. Like after previous missions I had a fitful night, wondering about those poor bastards in France. How were they doing? Did I do all right? Then proud that I was a part of the big invasion. What happens tomorrow? How many saw me shake? What will they think of me in the morning?"

The intensity of the emotions involved can be felt in CHARLES RATLIFF's account. Chuck joined the squadron a few months earlier and flew this mission with ED SUTTON. While flying be-tween the islands of Alderney and Guernsey, "The fire on our right and left looked like so many lighted tennis balls; however, their beauty did not blot out the death message they carried. If you saw one standing still, it had your number. Ed would fly and I'd watch. I'd fly and Ed would watch. What we saw scared the living hell out of us. Our final turn took us across Cherbourg and the drop zone. On this black finger of land would be the lighted DZ. At this point we would give the troopers a green light and they would go out at about 600 feet to whatever life or death held for them on the ground. The ground was lit up like Las Vegas, just from the intense gunfire from the enemy's machineguns firing straight up giving the illusion of umbrellas, truly the umbrellas of Cherbourg."

In this frightful madness of gunfire and sky mixed with parachuting men and screaming planes, we found that we had missed the DZ and we were now out over the water. We were dumbfounded. What to do? Ed smiled at me and I smiled back and we turned that sucker around the widest circle you can imagine. We circled back to 600 feet, hoping that it would be the right decision. The jump sergeant was now in the cockpit helping us locate the DZ. I thought we would never find it. Seemed an eternity. Finally the sergeant pointed his finger and, sure enough, off to the right was the DZ. We pulled back the throttles to a semi-stalling speed, hit the green light, and the troopers jumped into the black night. Needless to say, we racked that plane around about 100 feet off the ground and shot the cooking oil to it. Off, full bore, like a scalded dog, planes were going down around us and I was sure we would be next. The gray dawn was peeping over the horizon. When we reached Folkingham we both agreed there was no future in flying."

Once on the ground, crews made a cursory examination of the aircraft for battle damage. To the surprise of all, only half of our aircraft received hits. They ranged from relatively harmless to heavy structural damage that could have caused a flaming crash onto the drop zone.

FLASH REPORT

"At about 0530 the squadron mission report "Neptune-Boston 5

/6 June, 1944," was delivered to group headquarters. It indicated: low clouds over the DZ, drop at 700-2200 feet, at 105-120 lAS, within one to one and one-half miles of DZ. Two hours later, group sent a flash consolidated report to higher headquarters."

We were now down to one missing aircraft. At 0815 one aircraft returned; the delay was due to be-coming lost over south England on the way back. The other aircraft previously unaccounted for made an emergency landing at Tarrant Rushton (on the south coast of England) with wounded aboard.

HERE IS THE STORY FROM THE CREW OF C47 #42-32810, Chalk #52

Pilot 1st. Lt. NELSEN, ROBERT (NMI
Co-Pilot 1st Lt. DENSON, JOE D.
Navigator 2nd Lt. CONNORS, WALTER W.
Radio Oper. SSgt. ALDRICH, WILLIAM F.
Crew chief Sgt. LACHMUND, ROBERT A.

[BOB NELSEN} "It was about 10 P.M. JOE DENSON and I climbed into the cockpit and checked out everything; Start engine signal came. We started the left engine; the right would not start. It just would not catch at all. The other planes were taxiing out and lining up to do their runups. Soon it was obvious that our bird was not going to fly that night. "OK Joe, we've got to take the standby plane." We alerted our paratroopers and they sprang into action and transferred all their gear (including parapacks) to 810. It didn't take fifteen minutes before we had made the transfers and had engines started.

We led our flight out to the runup position. All the other birds had gone south. We took off, got our flight together and headed for Bournemouth on the south coast of England. We didn't see any of the thousands of airplanes that were in the air that night. We flew southwest over the Channel and turned east (Hoboken) and flew between the Channel Islands. What a greeting? Tracers were coming up from both sides. Fortunately, we were out of range of their guns. Soon the coast of France loomed up in front of us. I told Joe that we were going to make our own invasion with just our three-plane flight.

We made landfall as briefed and started looking for signs of the DZ. We couldn't find it at first.

WHERE IS THE DZ?

CONNORS:" where in hell is it?" It wasn't to be. I guess the pathfinders ran out of candles. Then all hell broke loose. Tracers were coming at us from all directions. We continued to look for some sign.
ALDRICH: Can't you get any radio signal from the DZ?" That wasn't to be either. Soon another beach loomed up ahead. "Joe, we've gone a beach too far. We've got to go around."

[BOB NELSEN] : "I set up a wide turn to the left. I set it up so we would pass over the site where we estimated to DZ to be. Tracers continued to light up the night. It looked ominous. We completed our 360 turn and slowed down to drop our stick. Finally the ground fire got us. What a racket! As far as I know our troops all got out per schedule."

[JOE DENSON] "We got shot up pretty bad. NELSEN took a hit in the leg, ALDRICH took one in the face, CONNORS had one in the butt and LACHMUND caught a piece of shrapnel in the hand. All crewmen except me sustained injuries, although flak did penetrate my flak suit. I looked over at Nellie, he seemed to be nodding. The troops had already jumped. At first I didn't know Nellie was hit."

[NELSEN]: "I had been hit but didn't know it for several minutes. The first indication I had was that my left foot wouldn't respond. I yelled at Joe to take over and head for the Channel. Fortunately we were not able to detect any loss of oil or fuel. We were all excited. I instructed Joe to get to 350 de-grees (direct course to South-Hampton) and hightail it for England and the emergency strip. Good old BOB LACHMUND had put a tourniquet on my left leg to stop the bleeding and he gave me a mor-phine shot. I wasn't feeling a bit good. I began to sweat. I never sweated like that in my entire life. I never knew what trauma was before that time. After we settled down on a course to England.

Bob pulled me out of the cockpit and got me stretched out on the bucket seats in the cabin. That's all I remember until we passed over the emergency landing strip and Bob fired the red flare to alert the ground medical crew.

THE MEDICS TAKE OVER

The medics put me on a stretcher and into an ambulance to a general hospital five miles away. It was about 4:30 AM. when at the emergency room they began debriding (wound cleaning) procedures. The doctor asked me where I had been. When I told him that we had dropped paratroopers in France and the invasion was on, he didn't believe me. The invasion wasn't announced until 6:30 AM."

[DENSON] "All the crewmembers of that plane went to the hospital except me. The medics at first sight thought I had also been hit. I was splattered with blood, mostly from BOB LACHMUND'S hand as he performed cockpit duties. NELSEN'S wounds were severe, while those of the other crewmen were considered slight. As for me, the British doctors gave me a few swigs of scotch-and then a whole bottle of gin."

REST YOUR EYES, GENTLE READER

NOTE: The story splits here. Here is the same event, recorded on another occasion by Bob Lach-mund. This report was combined with the report of NEAL BEAVER, the paratrooper jumpmaster. The combined story can be read in THE TROOP CARRIER D-DAY FLIGHTS.

LACHMUND

"There was a tapping on the bedroom door and I realized that my three-day pass was for all intents and purposes, over. I was in Leeds where many of the members of the 29th spent their passes. It was about 6:00 AM June 5, and I had to get the seven o'clock train to Grantham.

It was about a four-hour ride to Grantham, and when we arrived we found that the trucks that usu-ally met us were not to be found. Not only that, but we could not find any other 29th men in our usual haunts. After a lot of hassle, I finally got thru by telephone to Captain COBBE, the Adjutant. He told me that he could not talk on the phone, but that 1 should get out to the base as soon as possible and bring anyone else from the squadron along with me.

We hopped a cab and got to the main gate where we were refused admittance. The people on guard were members of the 29th and we had known some of them since we got into the Squadron in Flor-ence. Captain COBBE finally came to the gate and got matters straightened out and we were allowed to enter. He updated us on what was happening ó namely that today was to be D-Day.

I changed clothes and headed for the line and talked to my assistant. He assured me that the plane was ready but neglected to tell me that the radiomen had been working on the radio. I also found out that BOB NELSEN was going to be the pilot because FITZPATRICK, my regular pilot, was going to fly with someone from Group. The rest of the crew was the same.

Up to this time things had been bad enough, but from here on in they went downhill in a hurry. The paratroopers came out and we attached the parapacks. We loaded up and when the order to start en-gines was given, ours would not start. We tried hand cranking, but only succeeded in sticking the sole-noids. After a brief discussion, it was decided to change to a different plane. LES MURPHY'S plane was ready and we shifted to it. We took off with our wingmen and tried to catch the Squadron.

WE NEVER FOUND THE OTHERS

We crossed the Channel and started looking for the drop zone. We finally saw it, but the pilots de-cided that we were too far away. We went around again and that is when we were hit. I cannot remem-ber if paratroopers jumped when we were hit or if they had already jumped, but it was close together. I grabbed the manual release for the parapacks because the box at the door had been hit and I did not know if they had been released. There was some yelling going on up front and, after I pulled in the cords, I went toward the cockpit.

The first person I met was BILL ALDRICH. The left side of his face looked as though it had been hit by a porcupine. One of the bullets had gone through the navigators table and the splinters lodged in his face and some had pierced his eyelid. On getting to the cockpit, I found that Nellie had taken one through his leg and that JOE DENSON was flying the ship from the right seat. The left control column was useless. The shot that had wounded NELSEN took the skin off of Denson's flack jacket. An inch further back and this would not have been written.

CONNORS and I got some morphine into NELSEN with CONNORS doing the honors. I got under Nellie's shoulders and tried to lift him out of the seat while Joe flew with one hand and tried to support Nellie's leg with the other. We finally got him out of the cockpit and put him on a litter. CONNORS and ALDRICH stayed with him while I went back to the cockpit.

When I got back to the cockpit, we tried to assess the damage to the plane. The engines were all right and we had full control on the right stick, but the left stick was useless. We headed back to Eng-land. As we approached the first lighted emergency field, we fired our flares and they promptly shut off the lights. We headed for a second field and Joe greased the landing. Maybe the fact that we did not know the condition of the landing gear had something to do with it. At any rate, we were down and in one piece, even if we had a few holes.

The British medics came out to the ship, but they were not very well equipped. We gave them the big aircraft first aid bag so that they could put splints on NELSEN'S leg. They would not touch ALDRICH'S face because they were afraid of damaging his eye. They got NELSEN and ALDRICH off to the hospital and DENSON, CONNORS, and I went into debriefing. DENSON still insists that it was a bottle of gin later when we were released, but I looked at my watch and it was 6 o'clock ó 24 hours after the taps on the door in Leeds."

AFTERWARDS: The cooks did a fine job of serving us fresh eggs and bacon, pancakes and French toast and even brought out the hoarded pineapple juice. Exhausted, the combat crews went to their quarters for much needed sleep. The linemen were feverishly attending to the damaged aircraft. The squadron had one shot down over enemy territory, one emergency landing at Tarrant Rushton, and seven other aircraft that had sustained battle damage.

THE SECOND MISSION. NEPTUNE 2, FREEPORT (D+1)

During the afternoon of the sixth we were alerted to fly another mission to DZ "N". This time we would parachute in supplies. The briefing was scheduled for 1900 for a takeoff the next morning at 0300, June 7. Our route in would be a reciprocal of the course we took while coming out on the previ-ous mission. Good news. By approaching the DZ from the east to the west we would be exposed to the possibility of enemy fire for only 3-1/2 minutes. After making our drop, a left 180 turn was to be taken, and then return by the same course we took in.

Each aircraft would have the help of two quartermaster delivery personnel. They assisted in load-ing the aircraft cabin and parapacks with the much needed medical supplies, food and ammunition. Over the DZ, it was they who had the responsibility of delivering (kicking out) the cargo. The quar-termaster personnel, on the whole, were not particularly enthused about going on a combat mission.

At 0200, the morning of the 7th, we retraced yesterday's steps, drawing escape and evasion kits plus maps, and gathered for our final briefing. We didn't like the weather briefing one bit. Though un-favorable, we would not require instrument flying, so we were told. The 1500-foot cloud base had enough breaks for the groups to form, theoretically. Hell, we could look at the sky and see that this would be a problem, not even a peek of the moon, it was a dark, dark night.

[BARBER, Chalk #41] "We took off well into the night. The weather was closing down. By the time we got to 12-1400 feet it closed in on us. We were m formation by that time. I was flying from the right seat because we were on the left wing of the lead plane. It was so thick that all I could do was fly formation on the blue haze coming out of the exhaust stack of the left engine of the lead plane. That's what I flew on until it got to the point that I could no longer do that. We pulled away and up, trusting to the good Lord that we didn't fly into anyone else doing the same thing that we were doing. Our lead plane had a navigator. When we lost him, we were on our own.

WELL BRIEFED BEFORE TAKE OFF

We had been well briefed before takeoff. BILL BOLTZ paid good attention to the headings to be taken and navigated expertly. When we broke out of the weather some time later, we were "dead on course". Another C-47 was ahead of us. With no navigator aboard I thought I had better move up on him, maybe he had a navigator. We pulled up on his left wing. He was not from our group. We flew there for several minutes before he realized we were there. When he looked out and saw that someone was sitting on his wing, he wheeled to the right as hard as he could turn and went the other way.

We went on doing our own navigating, flying right down on the deck, ‘til we reached the drop zone. There we pulled up high enough to "throw out the stuff" and came back out, again right on the deck; must have been 20 feet off the ground. I flew over three American tanks near a hedgerow, their crews sitting on top of the tanks waving to us. We saw some German troops in and around a farm complex. One was standing in the middle of the courtyard firing at us with his sub machinegun. I learned later that some of our crew chiefs took those brief moments to fire their Thompson sub ma-chineguns at the Germans on the ground, and any other target of opportunity. We didn't tarry long. Once we got rid of the cargo we hightailed it home."

[TILLEY, Chalk #38] "The next night was a resupply. The weather was bad. Really bad. We got lost. DANNY (KRIEDT) asked me to go to the astrodome, you know the bubble on top, and I'm looking, when all of a sudden, on top of us a C-47. It went whoosh! I said "Oh my God, that was close". I don't think we were more than 10 feet from colliding with the other plane-10 feet! It was dark, could see no lights, it was rough. That plane looked like a big fish when it flew over us. I don't think Danny saw it. That was close. When we got up over the clouds, there were airplanes all over, scattered in every direction."

[VAN CLEEF Chalk #28] "Monroe, Group Operations led our squadron on the resupply mission. I was flying on his right wing. We rendezvoused all right, that was no problem, but after going into the cloudbank, it became very thick. I was able to stay with Monroe for one-and-a-half to two minutes. When I could no longer maintain visual contact with him, I broke off. We went up, heading away from the lead plane, trying to break out into the open. After five minutes of this, still in the soup, a bright orange light seemed to flood the cockpit. Instinctively I abruptly shoved the nose of the plane down, throwing the guys and equipment in the back all over the damned place. What happened was that I had come up underneath another plane and was directly under the amber recognition light under the bottom of the aircraft. About five minutes later we broke out, sweating and delighted to see that it was clear on top; we were at 8-9,000 feet.

PLANES ALL OVER THE PLACE

There, we saw planes all over the damn place. I knew that only one out of every five or six had a navigator. I asked RAY FAUST to set the course to the first turning point, then to go up into the astro-dome and, with the lamp, signal in Morse Code, N-A-V-I-G-A-T-O-R. He did this for about 15 min-utes. We picked up a dozen planes. After making the first turn, FAUST went up into the bubble and did it again. By the time we made landfall on the peninsula, we had 32-35 planes lined up behind us. This made a respectful force to dilute the fire that came up from the ground.

By that time it was daybreak. There was a hell of a lot of fighting going on down below. The QM men were so paralyzed with fear that our crew chief JIM STEVENSON had to do most of the work himself. He got most of it kicked out around the church at Ste. Mere-Eglise. Fortunately, he got that out before I had to start taking evasive action.

We got hit with all kinds of machinegun and small arms fire. STEVENSON caught one across his parachute harness that bounced off the Bible he was carrying in his shirt pocket. FAUST was standing between JACK RYAN and myself, when two or three came through. One creased the cheeks of his buttocks. About the same time our left engine caught fire. We had to cross control to douse that fire."

[BUD WESSOLEK Chalk #361 "My pilot was JENS LERBACK. I was standing between the pilot and the co-pilot looking out to see whether we made an OK drop when I felt like my right leg was on fire. My pants leg was burning. I tried to move and fell over in the companionway. When my blood reached the crew in the rear of the plane, one of them came forward. I directed him to dump sulpha powder over the wounds. JENS dropped me off at an emergency location (Warmwell in Southern England). like a MASH Unit. He stayed with me as long as he could, and got me a canteen of Scotch.

Of the 15 C-47ís furnished by our squadron for this mission, three had returned early, with their loads. After becoming lost in the weather, they had to land in southern England and were then directed by command to return to home base, as it would be impossible for them to rejoin the formation.

Beginning at 0800, those that completed the mission began to stagger in. The last to return was the lead aircraft of our squadron, piloted by our Group and Squadron Operations Officers Lieutenant Colonel Robert Monroe and Captain WILLIAM KELLER. Even over the drop zone, with enemy fire all over the place, Monroe sucked on his pipe, seemingly unconcerned with the Germans

[SPEED] "We dropped the supplies while we were being shot at. The fire was intense. One bullet came between the QM trooper and me as we kicked the bundles out. The left engine was shot out just before we hit the drop zone. Colonel Monroe let the engine windmill until we passed the coast before feathering it. That was to keep the Germans from concentrating their fire on us, a damaged aircraft.

C-47S DITCHED IN THE CHANNEL

On the way back we spotted a C-47 ditched in the Channel and circled it. The downed crew was wearing life vests and were in their dinghy. They waved their hands indicating that they were OK

Monroe and crew hobbled back at 120 mph, by way of the North Sea and the Wash, staying over water as much as possible so they could ditch if that became necessary. When they reach-ed the coast of England the British shot a challenge flare across their bow."

[SPEED] "The flare pistol was in place and properly loaded with the color of the day. Colonel Monroe told me not to shoot it. Do you think I was nervous? I held off, but my finger would not re-lease from the trigger. In seconds, the British lobbed an antiaircraft shell that exploded about 1,000 feet in front of us. Monroe said, ‘Shoot it!" Of course I did. I nearly yanked that pistol out of its mount."

A couple of P-51s escorted them to the field. With a feathered engine, the C47 put on a fine show, doing a buzz job of the base. Unknown to those on the ground, when Monroe advanced the throttle of the good engine while on final, it too went out. There was no time for feathering; they landed with two dead engines.

[SPEED] "Upon inspection, we found 42 holes in the aircraft. A bullet had cut the left throttle cable causing its failure. Only a few cable strands were keeping the right engine running, until the throttle was pushed a little harder. That bullet, about the size of a .38 caliber, lodged in the radio operator's table. I still have it."

FLASH REPORT

The 313th Group leading the 52nd Wing was first to report. "Attempted to follow prescribed route, but was unable to do so because of weather. Weather caused group formation to break up com-pletely, and aircraft then proceeded individually to DZ. Cloud cover 10/10 with base of 900 feet and tops of 8,000 feet and above, which extended to south coast of England. Ceiling then lifted and visibility improved, and at designated DZ there were scattered 5/10 clouds cover with base of 4,000 feet, tops unknown, and visibility 10 to 20 miles. From sandbar to DZ, snipers shot at A/C. What appeared to be 4OMM AA fire encountered from Ste. Mere Eglise and from west of DZ. Machine gun and small arms fire encountered from all around area of DZ. Concentrated 2OMM fire from Carentan."

NEPTUNE ANALYSIS

We need not have worried about all the Germans knowing of our presence when passing the Channel Islands. Initial sightings of Allied paradrops were not taken seriously by German intelligence. They had been bitten hours earlier by such reports, only to find the Allies had dropped many dummy para-troopers. These were three-foot high, rubber inflatable dummies that discharged firecrackers when landed. This was part of an elaborate deception plan, code name FORTITUDE, designed to keep the enemy guessing where and when the invasion was to take place.

German divisions were kept in readiness in Norway since there was evidence that tank units were staging in Scotland. A couple of inflatable tanks sloppily camouflaged, and a jeep pulling a heavy roller with tank treads, convinced our enemy's photo intelligence of the buildup.

In Holland, prospective drop and landing zones were flooded. Preceding D-Day, allied spies para-chuted into Holland were allowed to overhear that Pas de Calais would be the primary assault point on the continent, just in case they were captured and interrogated, as some were.

Also preceding D-Day, Sir Bernard Montgomery was seen inspecting units in Gibraltar, steering attention to a probable increase in activity on the Italian front, and perhaps an invasion of southern France. Actually, Montgomery was still in England working on plans for the Normandy invasion. What the German spies saw was an actor who looked like and played Montgomery's part verywell.

PATTON'S PHANTOM 1ST ARMY GROUP

The "biggy" though, was George C. Patton's 1st Army Group. Between radio intercepts of the 1st Army Group's communications and reports from spies that Germans had in England, there was abso-lutely no doubt in the German high command that the main thrust of the invasion would take place at Pas de Calais. There were two problems with this. First, there was no 1st Army Group; it was fictitious, made up of dummy landing craft, vehicles, camps and wireless communication provided by a phantom organization. Second, from the onset of the war, the British had captured spies who had been dropped into their country and subsequently turned them around. The spies were sending messages back to Germany, which were authored by the British.

An Army Group is very large. All of the Allied ground forces that landed in Normandy (the Eng-lish, Canadian and American units) were part of the 21st Army Group. German intelligence believed the phantom 1st Army Group's order of battle to be even greater than that of the 21st Army Group.

When we went in on the first night, we were unaware that, preceding the American stream into the peninsula, British bombers flew above our flight level with the intention of being picked up by the German radar. The British continued past HOBOKEN for some distance before making a feint toward France, hopefully to draw enemy fighters and attention away from Normandy.

Though we were not jumped by enemy fighters, the weather did more to disrupt the drops than the enemy could possibly have done. Rather than a compact drop as planned and trained for, the drop pat-tern looked more like a pepper shaker had been waved over the peninsula.

Many paratroopers landed in fields flooded by the Germans as a precaution against an airborne in-vasion. Progress of the paratroopers was measured like a mile a day. If not floods, then it was the hedgerows that slowed them. Almost every hedge concealed a German, a decided advantage for them

It would be days before the 508th was formed as a fighting unit. In the meantime the troopers did what they knew how to do well, cut communications and disrupt the enemy's ability to respond. Six of their number ambushed and killed General Lieutenant Wilhelm Fally, Commander of the 91st Divi-sion, delaying response of that division from the north.

THE SCATTERED TROOPS CONFUSED THE GERMANS

The drop was so disbursed and the paratroopers so effective in cutting communications, blocking roads, and attacking troop movements, that the German 7th Army, which commanded the defense of Normandy, was unaware of the amphibious landings on Utah beach, even as 1ate as 1720 on the 6th. Also, try as they may, German intelligence was unable to make sense of the spread of paratroopers and great numbers of amphibious landings. In their attempt to give a tidy intelligence appraisal, they de-layed the report of the invasion. At the end of D-Day, hardly any German units outside the beach area knew that the invasion had taken place.

EISENHOWER HAD HIS FINGERS CROSSED

Eisenhower and his staff kept their fingers crossed hoping that the German 15th Army would still expect a landing at Pas de Calais, and stay in that area for a couple of more days.

How did the 29th do on D-Day? Quite well; and not so well. Reports from the 508th indicate that leaders of the serials that carried them in did quite well using their radar (GEE). However, the forma-tions disintegrated when they entered the cloud bank that morning, leaving only a few in formation behind the leader.

The weather also loused up the pathfinders who were to mark our DZ. As usual, three pathfinder teams preceded the main assault, knowing one would reach and properly mark the DZ. In this case, only one came close; 1-1/4 miles. Here they set up the transmitters. This is why there was conflict between our visual sighting of the drop zone and the Rebecca signal received by the pathfindersí transmitter. They were off.

The accuracy of our resupply mission (NEPTUNE #2) is questionable. We put the bundles where we thought they should be. Unlike the paratroopers who could later tell us where they had landed, the supply bundles were mute. Enough to say that when we got there, DZ "N" was still in German hands.

On both missions, our group sustained more damage than any of the other groups in the wing. On D-Day, the group lost 3 aircraft and had 33 damaged. On D + 1, there were five aircraft of the 313th lost, with 17 damaged. On the first mission one aircraft of the 315th was damaged by an accidental ex-plosion from an anti-personnel grenade amongst the paratroopers, killing three of them, and hospital-izing 15 others.

On D + 1, two aircraft of the 316th collided on takeoff. One pilot died of injuries from the accident. The loss, outside our squadron that affected us most, was that of Barney Lihn, our group fight surgeon. He flew the D + 1 mission with the 40th.

WAR DIARY NEPTUNE #2, (Chalk #7), C47, 43-15637

"Shot down by enemy flak near DZ and landed in enemy territory in a flooded area with parapacks still loaded. Lieutenant Wilson extricated himself from nose of ship and succeeded in saving himself from enemy fire by submerging his body beneath the water, breathing through tube of his Mae West. Afterwards, he made his way around aircraft and discovered Staff Sergeant Jennings wounded. Al-though wounded himself, Lieutenant Wilson carried Jennings to a dry spot and then departed for aid. He was refused help at a nearby French farmhouse and told to proceed down along the road, where he fell into German hands. He was placed in a nearby field hospital and 36 hours later was rescued by Al-lied forces when Germans were forced to retreat. Later, bodies of Lieutenant Bagley, Staff Sergeant Jennings, and Major Lihn were discovered near plane wreckage."

JOHN BUZALKO did not go on NEFTUNE #2 with CHESTER BARBER. The two left side gas tanks of his gooney were riddled from gunfire. SLERF's left engine also sustained flak damage, suffi-ciently to require an engine change. Buzz resented the Germans for having hurt his aircraft. Crew chiefs were like that.

Van learned, upon his return from D + 1, that of the nine strands of wire that made up the aileron cable, seven-and-a-half strands had been cut by machinegun bullets. With all the evasive action he took and the cross controlling to knock out the fire, those one-and-a-half strands in the aileron held up. An example, I saw all the way through the war, that we Americans built stuff to keep people alive.

RYAN and VAN CLEEF had to force FAUST to go to the aid tent when they landed, FAUST was that embarrassed. Afterward, the crew didn't help matters by calling him "FLAK-IN-THE-FANNY-FAUST," or "FLAKASS" for short.

When in combat, our adrenal gland is very active. STEVENSON was wounded but did not know it immediately. CLINTON COLLINS remembers, "I happened to be at the main gate when an ambulance pulled up with a wounded crew chief from our squadron. I talked with him and he showed me the Bi-ble he was carrying with a hole through it. He said he was pulling in the shroud lines at the time he was hit with small arms fire. The bullet penetrated the Bible and his skin, coming out his side."

[WESSOLEK] "I was moved to another hospital, I don't know where. The doctors passed by me every day, just looking at my chart. I got impatient one day and asked what in hell was going on. The doctor said, "You're not an emergency because you're going to lose that leg anyhow. "I could under-stand that by witnessing the really serious wounded they were bringing in by the dozens."

THE RIGHT DOCTOR CAME ALONG

"I accepted the fact that I would lose my leg and started to plan how I might live with that, when a young doctor with a three-day growth of beard approached my bed, and asked me if I would give him the opportunity to save the leg. I had, according to him, about fifteen fractures and a hundred pieces of metal of all sizes distributed through my leg. He performed an operation that had the orthopedic ex-perts in the States shaking their heads. I lay in a body cast for quite a while. One day they cut my cast down to just what encased my right leg. I was sent by plane via the northern route to good old New York, U.S.A."

[NELSEN] "When I woke several hours later I couldn't move. I was in a body cast from my chest to my toes. A piece of the shell that came through the cockpit hit the top of my femur (thigh bone). About 10 inches of the bone was broken into pieces (There are still 8-10 pieces of German steel imbedded in the bone.) I don't remember how many blood and plasma transfusions I got that day and the next sev-eral days, but I did get a lot of attention. On June 7 casualties started coming in, in larger and larger numbers. I was almost ignored, except that every three hours I got a shot of penicillin. Dr. Hagen, the orthopedic surgeon, conveniently arranged that the cast expose two shoulders and two hams for tar-gets. After about three weeks I was moved to another hospital near Cirencester in the Midlands. There they put me in a Thompson traction device designed to minimize shortening of the femur.

The British hospital beds were unique. The mattress was series of one-foot wide padded sections. When I was in full body cast and it came time for a BM, they just pulled out one of the sections and put the bedpan underneath.

It was special event when CRIST, TAIT, DENSON, Dr. RICH and others came over to see how I was doing. The first part of July, CRIST came over with a surprise. He had the orders and a pair of Captain's bars that he pinned on my pajamas. I flew co-pilot with CRIST when we left Laurinburg-Maxton for North Africa. We were known as "Pappy and Lil Abner," I being the tall one, Lil Abner."

JOE DENSON is still smarting because of the oversight in reporting the wounds for the other three crewmembers, WALT CONNORS, BILL ALDRICH and BOB LACHMUND. Somewhere in admini-stration between the English hospital and the issuing authority, there was a breakdown. Though wounded, these three members were not listed as such, and denied the Purple Heart, a medal they justly deserved.

GLIDERMEN

Gliders were used extensively on D and D +1. While we Americans were dropping our troops in the wee hours of the 6th of June, the British employed Horsa gliders to spearhead their assault. Later in the day some Americans placed CG-4Aís on their landing zones. The larger American glider operation was conducted on D + 1. Most historians agree that D and D +1 glider missions were highly success-ful. The 313th T.C. Group, however, was not involved in the Normandy glider operations. Not directly.

While the pre-D-Day flying activity of our group involved a great deal of formation flying and drop training, the glidermen were being farmed out to other units and schools. Some of our glider me-chanics were placed on temporary duty with the depot at Crookham Common. There the troops worked seven days a week, twelve hours a day, assembling gliders for the invasion. They surpassed the hoped for 20 CG-4A's a day output to bring that number up to 30 a day. The morale of the troops was outstanding. The depot realized the exertion involved, and fed the glider mechanics four times a day.

Others were at, or returning from, the Horsa factory at Christ Church during D-Day. LEROY KIRKEY tells, ìI happened to be with some other mechanics on our way back to Folkingham, when the order came that all personnel were confined to base in preparation for the invasion of the continent. Our travel orders didn't require us to be back to our base until Monday. We decided to swing by Lon-don on Friday for the weekend. The MPs would stop us for identification and check our travel orders. They would shake their heads and go about their business. I highly suspect we were the only GIs in London, legally, that weekend.

Most of our TDY and DS personnel were now back at our unit again. They were glad to be part of the squadron rather than just a replacement. As if to rub it in, damn if our glider pilots were not again alerted for transfer, this time to the 53rd Wing.

For the two weeks following D-Day, the squadron did very little flying, but was on almost constant alert for a chance mission that might spring up overnight.

Captain TRAVERS pressed the aircraft mechanics and crew chiefs to quickly put their aircraft in flyable condition, using all the persuasion at his command. In one of his pep talks, TRAVERS laid into the mechanics, accusing them of being dime-a-dozen crew chiefs. A deafening silence occurred. One crew chief flipped a quarter to the captain. The meeting ended with the crew chiefs silently going their way, doing their thing; fixing aircraft as best they could. The engineering officer went his way, to sup-ply, smiling. He knew the chiefs would do their best. Now he had a pep talk for technical supply.

Really, the enlisted linemen and crew chiefs liked the engineering officer. TRAVERS never missed an opportunity to brag about his men when he was out of range of their hearing.

JUNE 22: With less than an hour to prepare, five of our squadron took off at 1400; a half hour later five more took off for Aldermaston. There we were loaded with 55,000 pounds of 155mm howitzer shells. The next day at 0440 our first section departed, followed at 0530 by the second section for A-2, a strip near Criqueville, France, (49 22N-01 00W) delivering the much-needed ammunition. Our planes were provided with fighter cover. Fighting was in progress not far from the landing strip and the distant rumbling of guns could be heard. While no enemy planes were sighted, our crews were in-formed that only a short while before they had landed, German planes had been over the field. Ground personnel, with the help of the crew, hustled the unloading allowing the aircraft to take off quickly, to make room for those still scheduled to land.

FIELD DESIGNATIONS A and B

A-2 indicated an American engineered field. "B" was designated for the airfields that were built or made serviceable by the British. The very first field used by the Allies was A-1 at St. Pierre du Mont (49 23N-00 58W). It was a 5,000 foot strip right on the beach, used primarily as an emergency landing strip (ELS). Its first customer was a P-51 in trouble. It landed while equipment was still on one end of the strip.

SCOTLAND: Twelve of our aircraft were to proceed to St. Andrews where Polish airborne would use our aircraft for training. To most, this seemed more like a vacation rather than duty. The Poles used the aircraft as a platform for loading and vacating exercises.

There was probably no one who enjoyed this duty more than GEORGE TILLEY. He was born in Scotland of English parents. "I was back home," he said.

The Squadron arrived at the Scottish air base late in the evening. Our bachelor officers found it dif-ficult to accept a beautiful 20 year-old English WAAF awakening them and asking if they wanted their shoes shined (a batwoman).

Golf enthusiasts were in heaven. Here was the birthplace of the game. The "old" course was still operational. Seemed more like an obstacle course to some, especially the 18th green, not at all as smooth as the American courses.

DOWIS THOMPSON and TED CRALL were more naturally inclined, dating a couple of lassies during their stay. They took in the sights between periods of holding hands.

THE MOSCOW COURIER

A sight not easily forgotten, however, was the Moscow Courier. A British twin-engine Mosquito bomber made the trip from St. Andrews, directly to Moscow, overflying Germany. The Mosquito was stripped of armour, armaments and all other unnecessary weight to make room for extra fuel cells. We watched as the aircraft taxied to the very end of the runway. There the engines were checked, and then power was advanced. When full power was attained, the brakes were released and the Mosquito went screaming down the runway. With only feet to spare, the aircraft cleared the runway, still screaming, grasping for altitude. A courier pilot told us that they were too high and flying too fast when over Germany to be threatened in any way.

During our stay in Scotland we were privileged to have our own courier service. GEORGE SANTICH navigated such a flight, carrying personnel and mail back and forth to Folkingham. He re-calls a time when his aircraft carried a British general and several Allied officers. "One of the Captains was Count George Rostworowski, Polish paratrooper commander who had been a German prisoner of war, had escaped to France, and then to Britain."

Scotland made a favorable impression on our crews. Enough so that there were volunteers galore when it came to liquor runs. LARRY CAYWOOD was with CHESTER BARBER, CONNOR and CHRISTENSON when they flew to Perth, then jeeped to the many small towns. On one such visit they saw a Fair and Strength contest. They also brought back several cases of scotch.

Then there was the time Pappy made a visit. "With my name being LAIRD, I thought I would go to Scotland and see my kin, the Scots. I got a few days leave, went to Scotland and damned near froze to death. Stayed one night and said ‘it's too damn cold for me,' and left. Never went back to Scotland again."

July started slow. The fourth came and went almost unnoticed. A mental picture of the fireworks on the continent was all the excitement needed on that day.

SUPPLIES IN-WOUNDED OUT

Not ‘till the 11th did we pick up on our supply missions. Now, in most cases, we carried in evac personnel, usually a flight nurse and medical technician. These people were all business. While flying to France, they, like most others in the cabin, napped. While our cargo was being unloaded, the nurse and medic rested away from the activity. However, once the aircraft was unloaded, they often pitched in to set up the webbed belts. These hooked from the top of the cabin to the floor, readying them for litters that would be slipped into the openings in the belt, which allowed patients to be stacked, four high. The air evac people were tremendous. From the time the ambulances arrived at the aircraft, nurse and medic became different people, all attentive of the physical well-being and spirit of those entrusted to them. They knew just how to talk to the wounded, giving them encouragement without pity. With certainty, many of our troops survived only because of the caring attention of the air evac personnel.

A planeload of wounded, in most cases, involved both litter and ambulatory patients. The walking invariably sought out those more serious than they to help. Not at all unusual to see an ambulatory sit-ting next to a "stump" of a body, the poor soul who lost his arms and legs and was encased in a cast covering his entire body. Holes were made for the eyes and the nose/mouth area. The ambulatory fed beverage to the patient and offered conversation throughout the trip.

We crewmen at first turned our eyes away from such severely wounded. These were not pleasant sights. As time went by, most of the 313th found strength in the eyes of those "encased". Their steel blue or oak brown eyes told of their thankfulness at being alive.

Softball was not known to the British. The 29th and 47th Squadron played an exhibition game for the British at Kirton, some 25 miles from 484. The 47th defeated an all-star air depot team by a score of 5-3. The game was played at the Nottingham cricket grounds, using a borrowed pitcher, NORMAN FICKE of the 29th. Norm joined the members of the 47th while they enjoyed a steak dinner at the Beau-fort Club.

Ping-Pong, by both the women's and men's champions left the audience marveling at how easily that celluloid ball was smashed back and forth as only experts could do.

Boxing champ Billy Conn sparred three rounds to a capacity crowd at the gym. The exhibition was well received. On another occasion Joe Louis put on a show. As Joe sparred, he conversed with those at ringside. It was a joy to have a word with him, something to write home about. The fight fans on the other hand, were rather disappointed with the "Brown Bomber." They wanted to see a brawl.

SUPPLY MISSIONS

From the middle of the month on we flew missions to France about every other day. We were now taking our bedrolls or blankets with us. Too often we were caught on the continent, where we had to spend the night. Billets were not available at most of the forward bases. Before the end of the month, however, some strips, usually an airfield abandoned by the Germans, provided reasonable facilities. One enterprising troop carrier pilot, who knew he would have to spend a night in France, called vari-ous control facilities to ask about the movie showing that night. When he found one he liked, he landed.

The signal corps personnel were right behind the front line troops. In addition to setting up com-munications, they provided the projector and power source for showing movies; usually in the open, projected onto a bed sheet. Special services furnished the entertaining and current films. The signal corps, however, still showed the training and propaganda films, such as, "Why we Fight," or "The Eastern Front"-and let's not forget the films on how to brush teeth, and the boring VD films.

During this period, the cargo flown by our squadron was, for the most part, camouflage netting, medical supplies, paint, rations, signal corps equipment, coffee, batteries, mortar frames, blood plasma, gasoline, beans, maps, literature, medals and ammunition (from 30 caliber to 1O5MM mortar shells). An aircraft from another group was loaded with 5,000 pounds of razor blades. That amount satisfied the requirement for the Americans in France for but one day.

AUGUST: This month offered us diversity like we had not seen before. To begin with, a notice ap-peared on the bulletin board that mess kits were to be used in the EM mess in lieu of the china plates. Would you believe, better sanitation was given as the reason? That we could take, but the plugged drainage in the EM's wash room was something else.

The duties within the intelligence section were varied. Most accepted the mission briefings, keep-ing track of enemy flak positions, mail censorship, security, etc. However, balloting for the November general election did not seem to fall under intelligence, least of all to those who were in intelligence. Lieutenant CHARLES EARLY took to the job of voting officer, chasing down eligible troops, and telling them how to get an absentee ballot.

BRUTUS: KELLER, our operations officer, after visiting a friend at a hospital in southern England, told of a woman there who had a little dog, but was unable to feed him. Her rations supply could not cover hers and the dog's needs.

HOW CHESTER GOT THE DOG

This story appealed to CHESTER BARBER. A few days later Chester was scheduled to go to that same hospital. There he would visit a cousin and look in on the woman with the dog. Chester did not find his cousin, but did find the dog. It was a bullmastiff, a huge dog. Looked like it weighed over a hundred pounds. Brutus had short fawn colored hair with a patch of white on its breast. He was even tempered, liked to be petted. The dog looked strong, but was not cumbersome, in fact, surprisingly ag-ile for an animal that large. But it was his eyes; dark doleful hazel eyes that made Chester melt inside. "I figured we could get all the food we needed for him from mess hall scraps. I volunteered, and the woman gave me the dog. Brutus sat on the back seat of the jeep, enroute to the airfield where the air-plane would take Brutus to his new home. The MP's at the gate of the airbase did a double take, at first not realizing that the brown colored figure in the rear was a "humungous" dog. Brutus was to cause many surprises in the months to come.

V-1 VERGELUNSWAFFE #1: (Reprisal weapon #1). It was seven days after D-Day, June l3th at 0300 to be exact, that the first flying bomb fell on London. It looked like a small aircraft but was pow-ered with what was at the time a very sophisticated propulsion system, a pulsating jet engine.. A gyro-scope compass determined its course, a measured fuel supply its range. The altimeter was set anywhere from 2000 to 8,000 feet (usually 3,000). When the fuel was exhausted, the flying bomb toppled, falling to its target with its l,800 pounds of explosives. Considering that all control had to be set before the V-1 took off from its sled-like launching facility in France, it was surprisingly accurate, usually landing within 1,500 to 2,000 yards of its intended impact.

The V-1 was a fast "bugger", flying between 360 and 375 miles per hour. At that time only the most sophisticated allied fighters could catch it. Initially there were not many defenses against this weapon. In the first two months of its use, several thousand were launched from facilities in France, mostly in the Pas de Calais area. These accounted for killing 4,000 civilians. Many more were injured.

It was not all one sided. One night during August we witnessed hundreds of British Lancaster bombers flying low over the base, headed south, then to Germany. They would know reprisal.

BREAK THROUGH: On the 28th of July, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr. was on the scene in France. German Intelligence treated with caution reports coming out of Brittany that Patton was in that area. They were, however, giving up the idea that he would cross the channel at Pas de Calais, a couple of hundred miles to the northeast of Normandy. Late in July, the Germans released the 15th Army, but too late to impact on the invasion. Allied headquarters was jubilant over the results obtained from For-titude. Their most optimistic hope was that the German 15th Army would not be committed to battle for several days, but several weeks, as was the case, would have been viewed as unbelievable.

PASS IN REVIEW FOR THE GENERALS

Generals like parades, but not so all the troops. We learned that Eisenhower's review of the 82nd Air-borne would also include troop carrier combat crews. On the 9th we rehearsed. That was not so bad. Liberty runs to town were cancelled because the trucks were needed for the dry run. That was bad.

The next day, in full dress uniforms, we were transported by trucks to the British RAF, C-47 base at Leicester East. There Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower, with Generals Brereton of the Ninth Air Force and Ridgeway and Gavin of the 82nd Airborne, reviewed the troops.

Eisenhower lauded the airborne and troop carrier for their role in the Normandy invasions. He went on to announce the consolidation of all Allied Airborne divisions and Troop Carrier units into the First Allied Airborne Army. General Eisenhower, accompanied by Colonel Roberts, walked through the ranks of the 313th, pausing here and there to speak to various officers and men.

Well, that took care of rumors that the 82nd and Troop Carrier would be going home. They had fought hard through Sicily, Italy and Normandy, and some thought that the purpose of the parade was to announce their return to the States. Obviously, not so. We were to stay in Europe until Hitler was defeated. Eisenhower added that the airborne and troop carrier units would probably be called upon again to even exceed their accomplishments. This brought groan from some of the troops, which Ike took with an understanding smile.

While we were parading at Leicester, word was received in the squadron that the glider pilots were on a one-hour alert. On the 13th, 13of our glider mechanics went on DS to station 429. The following day 21 glider pilots were transferred to the 316th Troop Carrier Group.

GAEL (A-31), 48 05NA)2 11W: Nine aircraft from the 29th were the first Allied aircraft to land oh this recently abandoned German airfield. Several hundred Germans, we were told by the French Maquis, were hidden in a nearby woods. Armed Maquis, wearing the Free French FF armband, seemed to enjoy their task of clearing out the Germans. We gathered from our conversation with them that they did not intend to take any "Boches" alive.

The Germans left this field rather hurriedly. Left behind were portraits of "Der Fuehrer", Goering and other high-ranking German officers and Nazi party officials. We brought back all the pictures that time and two arms would allow. Other treasures were pieces of German uniforms, disarmed German hand grenades and, oh yes, French wine. Only six of our aircraft brought back wounded. The other three came back empty.

It was strange, carrying aboard the same aircraft, both German and American wounded. One Ger-man was nearly hysterical when being carried aboard, believing our crews were going to dump the Germans into the sea when over the English Channel. (29th War Diary) "Lieutenant CARPENTER re-ported that, while flying over southern England on the way back, a German wounded prisoner kept looking eagerly out of the window for buzz bombs. His disappointment in not seeing any of his Fue-hrer's ‘Victory' missiles was keen."

OPERATION TRANSFIGURE: On the morning of August 24th the base was sealed. Like other com-bat missions, passes were cancelled, incoming and outgoing phone calls monitored, etc. Though we were not officially informed as to the purpose of the alert, we saw a mission coming on. The German army was reeling back toward Paris. Their Seventh and the Fifth Panzer Army were desperately at-tempting to squeeze through the 12-mile gap at Falaise. A paradrop here, we amateurs knew, would cut them off.

Other activities that enhanced belief that a big one was coming, was when all but five of the re-maining glider pilots were sent on DS to the 316th. They were undoubtedly being set up for a sizeable glider operation with that group. On the other hand, two aircraft with full crew were placed on DS to the 29th. This day two more power pilots were permanently assigned. The next day, the 15th, four more aircraft came to us, two attached complete with crew, and two permanently assigned.

The squadron now had the strength of 28 aircraft. To complete the crews, the five glider pilots re-maining in the squadron were to be pressed into co-pilot duty, should a mission be called.

AUGUST 16, ‘44, 29th WAR DIARY

"The 313th Group is to participate in a series of combat missions over France (TRANSFIGURE), the first of which, according to present plans, will take place this Friday. The object of these missions is to drop American, British, French and Polish paratroopers between Paris and Von Kluge's retreating army and thus bottle it up in northern France. The DZ for the first mission is a meadow a few miles east of the town of Ablis; about 18 miles west of Paris. The 29th will contribute 27 planes. At the briefing Colonel Filer explained that our group would depart this field at 1630 and fly to Membury (England) where paratroopers would be loaded and dropped tomorrow morning. (Late that afternoon the mission was postponed 24 hours.) It is anticipated that we will participate in at least four or five missions in about as many days. Upon return to this field from the first mission, our ships must be ready to take off again within three hours."

Why is it that no one remembers TRANSFIGURE? Because it was never flown. The mission was cancelled when General George S. Patton advanced so rapidly with his armored columns that the in-tended DZ was practically in American hands, thus obviating the necessity of a paradrop.

The planes that were attached to us for this mission returned to their respective units. Liberty runs were resumed. We expected the glidermen who were on loan to other units would soon return.

SOCIAL: The squadron was getting back to normal. The officers' dance scheduled for the 19t1) was postponed to allow Lieutenant JOHN RYAN and Flight Officer JAMES FOSBURGH to paint murals behind the bar of the officers club. Scenes of landscapes of Sicily and the night bombing of a city were depicted. When the next dance was announced, however, we learned that (29th WAR DIARY) "The Ministry of Transportation had forbidden the use of civilian busses to transport girls to our dances, so GI trucks we used. There weren't quite as many girls as formerly."

The officer's mess was really going uptown At one noon meal, an excellent vegetable soup was served. Two days later the novelty was soup. Talk about good living!

FALAISE GAP CLOSED

It was on August 20th that the Falaise gap was finally sealed, encircling the remnants of the Ger-man Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer. Not as many of the enemy were caught in this pocket as hoped for. The Germans did, however leave behind 10,000 dead and 50,000 prisoners. At any rate, the Ger-mans were now on the run.

An Allied airborne and surface landing on southern France several days earlier was already pulling some heat away from the forces in north and west France. On the 23rd the Allies liberated Paris.

There was an urgency to capture a port facility intact, to supplement the limited cargo capabilities of Cherbourg, and receive the supplies which came directly from the Normandy beaches. Using aircraft as ‘trucks" to carry supplies was expensive. For example, it cost a gallon of gas to deliver two to the front when done by air. Cargo carrying also detracted from airborne training, which was much needed to maintain high skills to insure accurate glider landings and paradrops. The Germans knew this. Where they had to, they gave up real estate but not ports.

On the 28th, much to the delight of the American soldier, Reims was liberated. The French shared with their liberators their proudest product, champagne. While Allied maps showed lines of advance to the east and north of France, circles were drawn around the several meaningful port cities on the west coast of France. These were still held by the Germans. They did not give these up easily, and then not before their demolition engineers did a masterful job of rendering the ports useless. (As late as the 14th of September, six French port cities were still in German hands, surrounded by the Allies.)

LINNET: For all practical purposes the Germans were in a rout. In France, the Allies had fronts going simultaneously to the north, east, south and west. Toward the end of August, World War I battle-grounds were again occupied. Operation LINNET was for a paradrop ahead of the British thrusting north. The DZ would be in the Lillearras-Douai area, to cut off the retreating enemy, and thus anni-hilate the German Seventh Panzer and Fifteenth Armies. A drop zone several miles north of the Bel-gian town of Tournai was chosen.

[29th WAR DIARY SEPT. 1] "Early Sunday morning 23 of our ships, loaded with gliders, will spearhead the drop. Six hours after their return, 20 of them will haul two gliders each of airborne in-fantry to an LZ a mile north of the paratroop drop area. Truckload after truckload of 505th Paratroop Infantry arrived this afternoon, and the men bivouacked on the field."

The drop never materialized. It was cancelled when ground troops again overran the DZ at Tour-nai. Arras, one area in consideration for the proposed drop, was later to become known to us. Our next home would be in that area.

Our glidermen returned to the squadron from DS with various other troop carrier units. This time it was for them really a "sweat job. Our pilots were at their gliders, loaded and ready for takeoff when the cancellation notice was received.

ANTWERP FINALLY OURS

The English people were particularly pleased when the Allies captured some 300 V-1 launching sites in the Pas de Calais and northern France area. Montgomery continued his drive north, hopefully to capture the V-1 sites. So unexpected was his advance, that the Germans had not made provisions to fortify the Belgian port city of Antwerp. Damned if the British 11th Armored Division, with the help of Belgian underground, didn't capture the city with the entire port and harbor facilities intact. The port was not to be operational for some time, however. Located at the end of the Schelde estuary, the 54 miles on either side to the seas opening was held by the Germans. Had Montgomery cleared the estuary of the enemy, the remaining 80,000 troops of the Fifteenth Army would have been trapped. As it was, Von Rundstedt was able to extricate 65,000 of his men with accompanying artillery, trucks, wagons etc. into Holland, ferrying them along the shores and across the three-mile mouth of the Schelde. We would not see the use of this port ‘til the end of November.

CARGO and GASOLINE: In the meantime, trucks would travel night and day bringing supplies from Normandy to the front, a distance of 300 miles. Troop carriers were to become very involved in exten-sive cargo carrying. Only airborne operations of the highest priority would keep us from meeting the pressing logistical needs of the ground units. There was no way, however, that the ground units could be supported entirely by air.

Patton greeted September ‘44 with joy when his 7thArmored and 9th Infantry established a bridgehead over the Meuse at Verdun 150 miles east of Paris. He could have also cried. On that day he didn't re-ceive a drop of gas. A corps in Patton's army needed 200,000 to 300,000 gallons of gas a day for an average movement of 50 miles. Patton liked to travel at 100 miles a day. Troop carrier could provide but a trickle of Patton's needs. At this juncture he was 60 miles from the German border. Patton was ready to drive onto Berlin. "I can take care of the Germans," he bellowed; "but I'm not sure I can win against Montgomery and Eisenhower." Patton was infuriated when Montgomery stopped at Antwerp and did not take the estuary. It was Patton's army that was cut in gas and rations to provide Montgom-ery with the logistical needs to enable him to drive north. Charles B. MacDonald's book "The Mighty Eisenhower" declared the failure "One of the greatest tactical mistakes of the war."

THE V-2

On 8 Sept.'44, at 1843 Double British Summer Time, the first V-2 bomb fell on London. This 46-foot "reprisal" weapon was an 80-ton rocket that carried 10 tons of explosives. Fired from the continent, the V-2 projected almost straight up to 100,000 feet, arched over, then plummeted to its target. It, like the V-1, was remarkably accurate.. There was limited defense against the V-1 flying bomb, but there was no known defense against the V-2. It was a scary weapon. The speed of 3,600 miles per hour ne-gated the possibility of even seeing it come down. Only the enormity of the explosion told of its pres-ence.

NOTE: Several other missions were planned to support the troops advancing toward Germany, and then cancelled as the need subsided. Crossing the Rhine had a high priority, but this was not seriously attempted until MARKET-GARDEN in September.

After each cancelled mission the paratroopers seemed to slip out of our base as furtively as was their arrival. Jump floors were removed from the C-47's. Intelligence retrieved and restocked the es-cape kits. Mission maps and other classified items were burned. Invariably the squadron went into a slump after each cancellation.

The on-again off-again missions, one alert after the other, created a tense situation. Sound sleep was hard to come by. Church attendance. However, increased during alerts.

ETAIN, VERDUN: With clear weather our supply missions to the continent were on again. Our entire squadron, 23 aircraft, was committed to three supply missions to France. Two flights of eight aircraft each carried desperately needed 80-octane gasoline to Etain, 20 miles northeast of Verdun. The field at Etain was only opened to aircraft that very day. A day earlier German snipers were still being cleared.

29th WAR DIARY (While flying over Verdun)

‘The boys were all stuck by their aerial view of this famous battlefield of the last war, still scarred by a maze of trenches and marked by thousands of white crosses. ‘It sort of connected the last war with this one,' Staff Sergeant FRANK T. TURNER-ROE, radio operator on Lieutenant HOLLAND's ship, re-marked when the planes returned."

Not unlike World War I movie footage, our aircrews witnessed tremendous convoys choking the main roads, all headed toward the front.

While operating in France and Belgium, the enemy was never far away. To add to this excitement, was the skill necessary to take off and land on the unimproved fields, usually nothing more than a lev-eled out farm with a road in the proximity of the strip. (LAIRD) "This is where that intensive training in short-field takeoffs and landings really paid off. Coming in, barely flying, like we were hanging on by the prop blades. Those short-field takeoffs we jerked that plane off into the air, on some of the damndest fields, with nothing to spare.

BRUSSELS: At no time since being overseas have we seen such a beautiful city, with its tall modern apartment houses, imposing public buildings, parks and squares. This impression was obtained from flying overhead. Aircrews could pretty well judge a city by what it looked like from the air.

None of us got into the city. As in most cases, we stayed by our aircraft ‘til unloaded, then de-parted to make room for others to come in. We knew, though, that with the commencement of RON'S Brussels would vie with Paris.

Brussels also provided a thrill for one of our flights. LARRY CAYWOOD, on an early flight to B-58 said, "While on the downwind leg for landing, the control facility instructed us to land in the other direction, even though with the wind. We were told that the Germans were now holding what would have been the base leg. The crews did all they could to help unload the cargo, so they could quickly get out of there."

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16th Tennessee Infantry

2011-03-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

In 1861, when the war clouds obscured the sky I was a boy of 17, living in Tennessee. In common with all the boys of my age, whether living north or south I had the military spirit and at the first opportunity placed my name upon the rolls as a soldier, volunteering to fight for my native state. On the 21st day of May, 1861, I enlisted in company B, 16th Tennessee Infantry, under Col. Jno. H. Savage, and was sent to Estil Springs, on the N. C. & St. L. railroad, where we stayed a few days, and then went to Camp Trousdale, north of Nashville on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, near the Kentucky line.

We stayed there until there were enough Tennessee companies to form a regiment, when John H. Savage was elected Colonel and we were detailed for guard duty while there and had a very easy time until the measles broke out in our camp and several died. I took the measles and came very near dying. I was given a furlough and came home and stayed until I was able to join my regiment which in the meantime had been sent to West Virginia. Myself and brother James A. Carden, who was home on furlough started to our command sometime in the summer of 1861 and finally found our regiment, which was stationed on Cheat Mountain, near the Ohio line.

Our army had had a fight with Gen. Rosecrans' forces just before we arrived there. We stayed there but a short time when we were ordered to Pocataligo, S. C., where we went by way of Lynchburg and Petersburg, Va., Wilmington, N. C., Charleston, S. C., to our destination. We landed there early in the spring of 1862 and did camp duty there. Two companies were sent out to Gardner's Corners, eight miles from where our command was camped and a detail was sent out from Gardner's Corners to Port Royal. Every day we did picket duty as the Yankees were in force on Buford's Island. Right there was where I saw my first Yankees. We could see them walking around while we were on picket. When we were out we would gather oysters and lived high with plenty of oysters, sweet potatoes. We, being green and not knowing when the Yankees might run over on us, would get awfully scared sometimes at night, when we heard the porpoise splashing in the water, and we were sure the Yankees were coming and we would get ready to receive them, but they never came.

Immediately after the battle of Shiloh we got orders to hasten there and landed there a short time after the battle. Bragg's army was then at Corinth, Miss. Our army fell back to Tupelo, Miss. And there I was taken sick and left in the hospital and the command went on to Chattanooga, Tenn. When I got able to travel I started after them. I had no transportation, no rations and not a cent of money and about a thousand miles to travel. Well, the first thing that happened to me after getting aboard the train was when the conductor asked me for my fare. I told about my being in the hospital and being left there but it did not suffice and he told me I would have to get off at the next station and I guess he would have landed me, but there was a big Confederate soldier on the train who said he would not put me off and if he fooled around me any more he would throw him through the window and I was not molested after that.

At Mobile, Ala., I ran across a soldier who had all the necessary papers for transportation, rations, etc, and I took them up to the room at the hotel and drew me off a set just like them. We went down to the landing and got aboard the boat and the captain said he was going to drop down the river to the commissary and that all who had the necessary papers could draw rations. Myself and partner, having papers, felt first rate. When we landed at the commissary, my partner told me to take his haversack along as it would not be necessary for both to go. I did as requested and on passing in there was a big fat fellow sitting in a chair, too lazy to stand up I guess, and he told me to go in, get some hard tack and meat and when I came out he would weigh them but he never done it, for when I filled one haversack with hard tack and put a ham in the other I slid out of the back door and went to the boat. My partner and I went clear up on top and located our quarters under a boat that was turned bottom up and there we stayed and slept every night until we arrived at Montgomery, Ala. Which is 450 miles. After the boat started I think I ate but one meal with my partner. When the bell rang I would go down below, walk into the dining room, hang up my hat and sit down at the table. None of the officers or waiters took any notice of me and I had a fine time. My partner told me they would get after me, but I said if they did I would quit. It took us four days to make the trip and when I got to Montgomery I boarded the train and went to Atlanta, Ga.

In Atlanta I went into a saloon thinking that something might turn up that I might put myself on the outside of some of Paddy's eyewater. I did not have a red cent or any other kind of currency, but had some hope. I always had that, and while standing around seeing others drinking I looked down on the floor and saw a $3.00 bill, state bank money. Any kind of money was good those balmy days, so I stepped up to the counter and called for some of the article itself, and while my three dollars lasted I was in the swim.

I went from there to my command at Chattanooga and was awfully glad to see the boys. We stayed there some time planning where we could locate some Yankees to give them another threshing when we concluded to light out for Kentucky. We crossed the Tennessee river at Chattanooga, then across the mountains to Sparta, Tenn. In crossing the Cumberland mountains we had orders to fill our canteens with water as we could not get any until we got over on the other side. We marched over in the night and never saw a drop of water until we landed near Sparta, all tired and completely exhausted.

I remember that we laid over one ???? there and I got to thinking I would like to have some good old Tennessee applejack, and a comrade named Smartt and I started out to see if we could find just a bit of it. We would inquire of the natives and went to several distilleries and finally after going about eight miles we found it. We had two Yankee canteens apiece and had them filled and you never saw two happier fellows than we were when we started back to camp. We met some of Gen. Bragg's escort and the captain of the squad asked us if we had any liquor, and Smartt, fool-like, said we had some of the best apple brandy he ever saw, and right there is where Smartt made the mistake of his life for the captain said, "Well, boys, you'll have to pour it out." That remark nearly broke my heart for I knew the jig was up, so we commenced to empty our canteens. As I emptied mine I stepped back through the soldiers, spilling the contents of one of mine on the ground. The other was under my coat and I saved that from devastation. Smartt got rid of all that he had. The captain then said if we would go back with him where we got it we should have our money back, so Smartt went back with them and I stayed where we emptied our canteens. One of the cavalrymen asked me if I did not have some left. I told him to hush for if the captain should find it out it would be Katy with me so he went with the rest of the crowd.

When Smartt got back we put ourselves in shape not to pour any of the rest on the ground and when we got back to camp about sundown Smartt was cutting up so the Colonel was about to put him under guard but he did not and neither of us was punished for our trip.

We remained in camp for a few days and then marched in a northerly direction, passing through the country where several companies of our regiment were raised and we could see women and children on the roads to greet their loved ones as we marched along. We arrived at Gainsboro, on the Cumberland river and stopped for a rest. A lot of us went down to the river to go in bathing, and I remember a circumstance that occurred while we were in the river. Some of our teamsters came down to water their mules and one of our boys asked permission of one of the teamsters to lead one of the mules into the water. There were several in the water at the time and the mule soon got into deep water and if there ever was a circus that mule certainly made one. It was but a little while till everybody was out on the bank and the soldier and the mule had the whole river to themselves. The soldier finally got away from the mule and we thought sure the animal would drown. Sometimes his head would come to the surface, then the other end would show up, then his feet were up, then he would disappear altogether, but he finally quit his capers, stuck his nose out of the water, circled around a little and came ashore.

After resting up a few days we started northward toward Kentucky. We passed several towns, that I do not remember much about, after fifty years, but I remember that we passed through Bardstown. We also went out of our way to a place named Munfordsville where about 4,500 Yankees had repulsed some of our cavalry but when they found they had Bragg's army before them they surrendered.

I never saw any of them but I remember the night before the surrender we were lying down in the road and by the side of it, when a wagon or artillery got up a big hub-bub and if there ever was a scared lot of tired out Rebels it was us. Everyone was asleep, I suppose, and such running and scrambling I never saw. I remember that I was so scared that I left my gun lying in the road and everybody seemed to be hunting a tree to get behind. I think a Yankee corporal's guard could have captured the whole outfit. I understood at the time that the panic ran through the whole army. I was in another panic in Georgia and it was on the same order. Everybody was scared almost to death and it started in the same way.

From here we continued our march until we arrived at Perryville, Kentucky. The battle of Perryville was fought on the 8th day of October, 1863. Gen. Bragg said in his report of the battle that his forces did not exceed 40,000, all told, and that Gen. Buell had about two to one. Bragg says: "We captured, wounded and killed not less than 25,000 of the enemy, took over thirty cannon, 17,000 small arms, some 2,000,000 cartridges for the same, destroyed over a hundred wagons and brought out of Kentucky more than a hundred more with mules and harness complete, replaced our horses by a fine mount and lived two months on rations captured from the enemy, and secured material to clothe the army."

I remember we went into the battle close to a small creek. We had just got to the top of a small hill when we saw the enemy rise to their feet and then business began, and things were hot for a time. There was a battery on our left that was giving us grape and canister and the bullets were singing around us. A man was standing just in front of me while I was loading my gun and I happened to have my eyes on him just as a canister struck him in the breast and I saw the white flesh before it bled. He was a dead man.

Col. John H. Savage, in his report of the engagement said that our regiment, the 16th Tennessee, killed the Yankee general Jackson. The Yankee general was one of the bravest men that ever went into battle. Some of my company was close by him when he was killed. They said that he was standing on some part of a cannon with his hat in his hand, urging his men to put it to us. Our men demanded his surrender but he would not notice a word they said and in the conflict some one shot him dead.

After giving the Yankees a good thrashing we started to hunt some more to whip. We had full possession of the battlefield but our rations being about out we started for Cumberland Gap. On this retreat I suffered more with hunger than I ever did during the war. I remember one day on that march myself and a comrade were sitting down by the road to rest when our Assistant Surgeon came riding by and I asked him if he could give a fellow a bite of something to eat. He reached down in his haversack and gave me a biscuit which I divided with my comrade, and I think to this day how good that biscuit tasted. We had a hard time on this trip as the Yankees had been over this road on their way to Cumberland Gap, and where they had been there wasn't much left for us.

From Cumberland Gap we went to the railroad above Knoxville and took the cars to Tullahoma and went into camp where we stayed for some time. I was then within 14 miles of home and I visited home quite often. Our adjutant liked a drink of applejack quite well and as there was a still near my home I would get a pass frequently. I suppose our Colonel did not know anything about it, so I would run up home, visit the folks and lay in a jug of brandy.

I remember on one occasion while we were camped there one of our company had been out about five miles to visit his people and a night or so later four or five of us went out to where this fellow reported that his brother-in-law, a preacher at that, had a lot of liquor on hand and was selling it. As we did not want to buy any, one of the crowd acted as officer, and he told the preacher we wanted some liquor, and as he said he had some the officer told him we would have to take him to camp together with what liquor he had. If you ever heard any begging that preacher did it. As we didn't want the preacher some of us told the officer that if he would promise not to sell any more we would let him off but we would be compelled to take what liquor he had, which we did, and let him go.

As quick as we got started we commenced to store it away and when we got back to camp we were a lively set. It was a cold frosty night and the first thing I did after getting to camp was to try to catch a dog. We had an old fellow in our company who had a little wooly dog. I had a big fish hook and baited it with a piece of meat and proceeded to catch the dog. He did not take hold of it for some time and while I was lying down on my stomach expecting him to bite one of our crowd became boisterous down on the company grounds and an officer was about to put him in the guard house. One of the boys started down there to help him out of the difficulty and I heard him go kersplash into one of the wells we had dug. I was so tickled that I knew the old fellow who owned the dog would hear me laughing so I jumped up to run just as the dog got the bait in his mouth and I dragged him a little distance when the fish hook tore loose and the dog got away. But Charlie Lance got an awful cold bath just the same.

We stayed at Tullahoma for some time until we heard of Rosencran's and a lot of Yankees at Nashville, and as we had whipped Buell at Perryville, we hiked off down to Murfreesboro, passing through Manchester, my home town, so I got permission (I suppose) and went out two miles to see my mother and stayed all night at home, and was back to my command by daylight the next morning.

It took us two days to march to Murfreesboro and we stayed there some time until Rosecrans came out from Nashville to see what we were doing.

We marched out four or five miles on the Nashville road and formed in line of battle and the first thing Mr. Rosecrans knew we were onto him. Our forces put it to him hard and heavy, driving back his right back some distance but we could not move them back but a little where the river turns north from the pike and railroad, so we started south toward Chattanooga to see if we could find some Yankees to whip.

Before going any further with our move I will tell you about our regiment being sent down toward Nashville before the battle to see what was going on. We marched down about Lavergne, half way between Murfreesboro and Nashville and on passing a house about sixty rods from the pike we saw a bunch of our men down there, so myself and Mose Messick went down there to see what was going on. We saw a citizen selling apples to the boys out of a window. He was selling them for 50 cents a dozen. Neither Mose or myself had a cent and I thought it was no go for us, but Mose, after standing there for some time said: "Look here, ain't you going to give me my change back at all?" and the man said he didn't know he owed him any change and Mose proved by me that he had given him $5 and he was tired of standing there so long. The man forked over $4.50 and we went out to the pike. Mose gave me a part of the money and I went back and bought what apples we wanted.

After the battle I went over the field and saw where our forces had captured a battery and there were more dead men to 40 or 50 yards square than I ever saw during the whole war. Most of them were Yankees and I think from the way things looked that the Yankees used their guns until most of them were killed right on the spot. I noticed also that they had cut their horses throats. They were lying around there men and horses together.

We started on the retreat and went to Shelbyville via Murfreesboro and camped there quite a while. Rosecrans did not follow us up and I guess both sides got a plenty.

From there we marched to Tullahoma and remained there until in the summer time. While there we threw up breastworks and cleared Bragg's "new ground" on the west and north of town. The clearing was something like a fourth of a mile wide and went by the name of Bragg's New Ground for years. We did not get to plant it as Rosecrans flanked us and we had to hike for Chattanooga.

On this march I remember I found some apples about the size of a quail's egg, under an apple tree and I ate about as many as I could hold, and that night we were notified that we could draw some rations but I was too tired and sleepy to get up. I was about petered out and had done without rations so long I was not hungry.

At Chattanooga we went into camp southeast of town and had a very good time there. As usual, when I didn't have any Yankees to whip I was in some devilment. I had a chum who was always ready for anything and when necessary I would write a pass, sign all the necessary officers' names to it and we would go to town. I had two trusty comrades, Bob Tucker and John Robinson. Robinson and I would go to town and he would borrow $10 of somebody, then we would proceed to enclose the quart. The quart cost $10. Then we would find where some citizen was selling it on the sly. I would take our canteens and go where it was kept for sale, go in and find that he had it, get my vessels full, sit down and have a big talk. About the time we got in a good way Robinson would rush in, the maddest man you ever saw. He would cuss and abuse me, threaten to kick me out of the house, etc., then he would turn to the man and tell him what he would do to me when he got me back to camp, and while that was going on I would quietly walk out with the liquor. They would talk a while (to give me time to get away) then Robinson would say he must go. When the man would say that I had not paid for the whisky, then Robinson was madder than ever. He would cuss and tear around and say he had given me the money to pay for it and he would go and bring me back. He would finally locate me out of town and as our business in town had been transacted we would go back to camp.

On another occasion I took Bob Tucker. Bob had been to town the day before and had partly made a deal for a lot of ginger cakes and had told the fellow he would go back to camp and come in the next day with his partner and close the deal. So I fixed up our credentials and we lit out for town. When we got to the fellow's store, a small concern, he was very busy with customers and told us to walk into the back room, and he would be in soon. He had the cakes in sheets about the size of a door but had a lot cut up into regulation size. About this time we heard an awful noise in the alley and the door being locked I jumped up and caught the transom and held there to see what was the matter and while there Tucker was stuffing my haversack full of cakes. I held on till he filled it and then let loose and as he had his filled we thought while the commotion lasted we would walk out the door. The only thing that had happened was a white fellow had knocked a negro down in the alley. We returned to camp with about as many ginger cakes as anybody ever carried in tow haversacks.

A few days afterwards a fellow came to camp selling pies and other things out of a wagon. I went up to where he was doing business and at once saw he was in need of a clerk, as everything was going like hot cakes. I said: "Mister, you don't seem to be able to wait on them all. I will help you if you want me to." He said, "All right," so I got up in the hind end of the wagon and the way I sold truck was a sight. Robinson, my partner, and messmate wanted a whole lot of stuff and would buy only of me. He would buy 75 cents worth and give me a dollar and I would give him three or four dollars change. Now and then when Robinson was gone I would hand over what money I had to the boss. But Robinson was the best customer we had.

In the evening the fellow went to the Colonel and told him he had a load that ought to have brought him $250 or $300 and he only got about $50 out of it. I felt sorry for the fellow and never charged him a cent for helping him. I'm telling these things as few would know of the kind traits of a soldier if I did not.

I was going down Main street in Chattanooga one day when I saw a crowd of soldiers gathered around a big fat fellow, a Colonel of a Tennessee regiment, who was full as a tick. He had a fish pole on his shoulder and seemed to be headed for the river. The boys were teasing him and they got him red hot. He would cuss them with all the cuss words he could muster up and he could muster a whole lot of them. He told them they would desert if they were not so far from home and he handed it out to them in fine style. One of the soldiers said, "Well, old man, go on about your fishing. I hope you'll catch lots of fish." He said, "I hope I won't get a d--d bite."

While we were camped on Missionary ridge we went up the river a short distance where a creek run into the Tennessee river above Chattanooga and the first we knew a lot of Yankees opened up on us and we got away from there in short order. I remember while we were camped there I took a couple of canteens and went down to a spring to get some water. The spring was in a narrow gulley and I saw three Muscovy ducks about half grown so I spread myself out like a woman spreads her dress when she is driving a hen and chicks; I did that to keep them from going by me. When one came near enough I would grab it, pull its head off and put it in my shirt bosom. I served them all the same way and they cut up and flopped until the front of my shirt was as bloody as though a hog had been butchered in my bosom. But I tell you they were fine eating on an empty stomach.

We camped around Chattanooga until the Yankees came down about the Chickamauga country and concluded to give us a spanking. We were not ready to take it so we ran together and put it to them in fine style. We were going to run them into Chattanooga and I guess we would have done it if it had not been for Thomas. We lost lots of men there and the other side lost heavily too. I drew one minie ball. It glanced across my cheek about half an inch from my right eye and the scar is there now. I don't know how many I killed for I had no chance to count them. I was sent to a hospital below there but was back again in a week. While I was in the hospital it seemed that the authorities tried to starve us so we would want to go back to our regiments.

I got very hungry and one day while at Chickamauga I sauntered out to where some citizens were selling things that a hungry soldier likes and there I did one of the meanest tricks I was guilty of during the war. I never have felt just right about it to this good day. While I was standing around seeing others buying and eating I saw a woman selling half moon pies. She had an old horse and buggy and I walked up to her and said, "Madam, do you see that man walking off there?" pointing to a fellow about twenty steps away. She said she did and I said, "That fellow stole a lot of your pies." She went after him, and as soon as she started I commenced to pile half moon pies into my bosom. I stored away my goods and by the time she got through with the fellow I had business somewhere else, I went out behind a big pine tree and soon got outside the pies and went to my command.

Soon after this I was on the battle field the first day after my return. The Yankee soldiers that had been killed had not been buried and it was about a week as I recollect after the battle. The bodies were swollen so one could hardly see that they were men. They were actually as large as a horse. That was the worst sight I saw in the war. There was another thing I saw the same day, that I have always felt a delicacy in telling, that was our forces had gathered up all the small arms that was left on the field, a week before, the guns of our killed and wounded and the Yankees too, for we were in posession of the field, and the guns were racked up like cord wood. I never measured how long the ricks were but feel safe in saying that they were seventy-five yards each.

In the battle of Chickamauga after I was wounded I went for the rear and in going back a cannon ball struck a limb on a big pine tree over me, I heard it hit the limb and stopped a second or so when the limb fell just in front of me. I believe I stepped over it the next step I took after it fell. I have always thought this was the closest call I had in the war.

We moved down to the railroad toward Atlanta and we had more or less fighting and skirmishing until we got to Atlanta.

We had quite a hard fight at or near Resaca, Georgia. I will never forget the experience I had in fighting there. We were on one side of a hollow and the Yankees on top of the hill on the other side. The first evening we were there most of the fighting was an artillery duel and we hugged the ground closely as some of our batteries were up on the hill just behind us. Gen. Polk and his escort came up on the hill behind the battery and we could hear the minie balls strike their horses and they soon left.

Two of my company, R. E. Garrett and James McGuire were lying down behind a log. A cannon ball went under the log and came out between them, covering them with dirt. The Yankees made it hot for us that evening as we did not have time to throw up works. That night we worked nearly all night and by morning we were fixed for them.

Just before 'day next morning I was detailed with others to go on picket duty about seventy-five yards down in front of our lines. I had been sick all night and was really in no condition to go, but this was no time to falter, so I went. Right down there on the picket line I had about the worst time I ever experienced. Our officer scattered us along about seventy-five yards apart. When day began to appear the Yankees began to shoot at us. I discovered a big pine stump near my post and I proceeded to get behind it. Then I was not safe as they could see me and commenced to cross fire on me. I saw that it was a bad proposition so I laid on my stomach and with my bayonet would dig up the sand and shove it out at each side and push the rest down with my feet and finally got a respectable war grave dug, I was still very sick, suffering from diarrhoea and I was sleepy. The Yankees were still pegging away at me, a ball would strike the stump or a shell burst near me and wake me up but I would fall asleep as quickly as I would wake, so I laid there in the hot sun until about the middle of the afternoon when I saw if I staid until night there would be a dead Rebel and he would have his grave already dug for him so I concluded to attempt to run back to the breastworks, about seventy-five rods up hill. You can imagine how sick I was to attempt such a dangerous trip for I was safe from Yankee bullets behind that stump. Well, I lit out as fast as I could run and every Yankee in sight took a shot at me. The bullets would zip by me and hit the ground but I kept pulling for the shore and when I got to breastworks I just simply fell over them down among the boys and not a scratch on me.

Soon after that the officer on picket duty was driven in and he had 18 bullet holes through his blanket but came out with a whole hide. A Lieutenant-Colonel was killed just on our right. Our regiment was not engaged but on our right they had it hot and heavy. After dark we commenced to retreat and marched until we got back as far as Gen. Joe Johnston wanted to go, formed again, and we kept it up until we landed south of the Chattahoochie river, with plenty of fighting all along.

I will tell some of the things I saw before we landed near Atlanta. While we were on Rocky Face Hill or Ridge, when we had nothing to do we would carry large rocks up on the ridge and turn them loose. The Yankee pickets were down on the side of the hill and the way those rocks would run and crash against trees was a caution. The Yankees could stand lead and cannon balls but the rocks were enough to break any of Sherman's lines that he could form.

It was fighting and falling back all the time. I will go south of the Chattahoochie river where the Rebel pickets were on the south side and the Yankees on the north. We got very friendly there and frequently some would cross over and do a lot of trading. The currency was coffee on the Yankee side and tobacco on the Rebel side. We would trade for U. S. stamps as we could send mail around by Richmond and Washington to our folks back in the territory occupied by the Federal army.

The way we did was to get a small flat rock, tie on a piece of tobacco and throw it across the river. The Yankees would wade out in the water and pick it up if it fell short. I was the only one on our side who could throw across the river and there was a red faced, red headed Yankee who was left handed who could throw over to our side. I remember on one occasion I put a piece of tobacco on a rock and threw it over saying "This is for the officer," and the soldier that got it took it to the officer. I saw him pull out a long book that he carried his papers in and handed the fellow five stamps. The red headed fellow threw them over to me.

One day while I was on picket there a handsome young fellow swam over. He was a fine fellow and I would be awful glad to meet him again. He came over on a trading expedition and while he was on our side I got in conversation with him. I told him I had a mother back in Tennessee who had not heard from me in a long time and asked him if he would mail a letter for me. He said he would and I wrote to my mother and he took it with him. On the way back he was so heavily loaded that he nearly drowned. We got him back and one of the boys went about a quarter of a mile and got a rail and he then made it all right. When the war was over and I got home I found the letter all right. He had mailed it as he said he would.

After the battle of Chickamauga we fell back to Dalton and went into winter quarters and had a very quiet time. I remember a few things that happened while there. There was a wood shed and water tank and a detail was sent out every night to see that nothing was molested. I was a non-commissioned officer and I took half a dozen privates and went out there on guard duty all night. On one occasion I remember a soldier came around there to wait till the train pulled in to get a jug of whisky that he had ordered. One of my chums and I found out that he had a bottle of whisky in his pocket and we wanted it. He sat around the fire for quite a while before he went to sleep. When he got to snoring about right I motioned to my chum to see if he could ease it out of pocket. He worked for quite a while but failed to land it so I motioned for him to get out of the way and let me try my hand at it. The bottle was a round one and I gave it a kind of a twisted pull and out it came and we went out in the dark and tanked up on it.

I think it was the same night when the train had pulled in, took on wood and water and had pulled out again a citizen who had come in on the train come into the shed where the guard was and told me he had brought a half dozen sacks of apples and that they were up the track about fifty yards. I told him it would not do to let them remain there, that the soldiers who were camped around there would steal every one of them, and that he had better carry them into the shed where they would be safe. I had several of the guard help him carry them in and put them around the fire under the shed. I thought that fellow never would go to sleep but he finally dozed off and when he had got to sleeping about right I told one of the guards to get a move on him. He picked up a sack of the apples and hid them. The fellow never missed them, for just before day a bunch of soldiers came in and gobbled up the whole business, but we saved our sack and took them to camp when we left.

We were at Dalton on Christmas day, 1853. We wanted to have something extra, so we put ourselves to thinking. One of our company, G. J. Newman, (Gabe, for short) drove a commissary wagon, and on Christmas day he had brought in a barrel of whisky, for the officers, I suppose, but Gabe let us into the secret, and after night Robinson took a water bucket and got it full and we filled our canteens and whatever we had to put it in. Just before day Gabe came over to our mess and said he had to go to Dalton after some more rations and wanted John Robinson to go with him. I was satisfied that when Robinson went we would have something in the way of a Christmas dinner that would be a hummer when Robinson filled up from a canteen before he left.

When Robinson and the teamster got to the depot at Dalton Robinson went in and saw a box that he thought would suit him, so he carried it out and put it in the wagon, then went back and got a side of bacon and loaded it. When they arrived in camp Robinson brought the box and meat to our mess and when we opened the box the stuff was there sure enough. The box had been sent from somewhere down in Georgia to some of their folks who were camped around Dalton but they never received it. The contents consisted of sugar, pies, eggs and plenty of other good things too numerous to mention. We invited our company officers and some of the regimental officers to take dinner with us. They inquired where all the good things came from but they never found out. Besides having plenty of good things to eat we had plenty of good old fashioned egg nog. It was a Christmas long to be remembered. We had good times at Dalton as there were no Yankees near to cause us any uneasiness.

I remember a couple of incidents at Dalton that had slipped my mind. One was a snow battle between some Tennessee soldiers and some Georgia troops. It commenced in a small way but grew to be a big battle with at least a brigade on each side with the officers and colors. The snow was five or six inches deep. There was a small branch between the combatants and sometimes one side, then the other would have possession of the field. Sometimes the Tennesseans would drive the Georgia men back, then they would rally and drive the other side. They used up all the snow on the field then each side had a detail to bring up big snow balls to be used as ammunition. Our Tennessee side finally charged the Georgia fellows and ran them back to their camp. I never got there for at the branch a Georgia fellow rolled up a snowball with a lot of ground with it and struck me in the eye, coming very near knocking my eye out, so I got knocked out and went back to the rear. I understood that several lost an eye in the fight.

While in camp at Dalton Gen. Johnston issued an order giving a furlough to one in every twenty-five, so each officer commanding a company put all the names of his company in a hat and let each man draw. A soldier of my mess drew one and as he had no place to go in the South he gave it to me for I had an aunt in Northern Mississippi. I fixed up in the best clothing I had which was the same I wore every day, and started with a little less than a hundred dollars. I had to go by way of Atlanta, Montgomery, Ala, and there boarded a boat for Selma, Ala. From there to Meridian, Miss then down to Jackson, the capital. There my troubles began, for an army of Yankees had come out from Memphis and done the railroad up in apple pie order. They had burned every bridge and car except one box car on the road from Jackson north to Grenada, the engines had been burned, all the woodwork about them being gone and I had to go fifteen miles in a hack to where the train was to start. I put up at a hotel and stayed all night and I thought I had better go down and pay my bill which I did. The clerk said the regular price was $5.00 but that he would charge me but $4.50. My money was growing short. I had transportation but I could not go north until the next day. I went back to my room and when the bell rang I would go down and take a meal with them and I kept that up till I left the next afternoon when I crossed the river and went up to the next station. I don't know what I would have done if the clerk had got after me for the hotel bill, but he did not.

After we were put across the river we started on our way and got along all right until after we separated. I left him within about two miles of his destination and cut across to strike the road from his town to Holly Springs. I was making good headway till I looked ahead and saw a squad of cavalry coming my way, so I went back from the road a little distance and laid down until they had passed. I went on some distance when I ran right into a company of Rebel scouts. They never took any particular notice of me and I continued on my way. They had left one fellow on picket and when he saw me he inquired my business there and I told him I was on a furlough from old Joe Johnston's army, and pulled out my papers for his inspection and this satisfied him.

I had no further trouble and went on. That night I stayed at the home of a widow and the next morning arrived at Holly Springs.

I inquired around for my aunt and was told that she was down the railroad the way I had come, about twelve miles. On inquiry I found some of my relatives of whom I had heard but had never seen, and visited them.

It got out around town that there was a Rebel in town from Tennessee, and about the second day after my arrival a man came to me and asked what part of Tennessee I was from. I told him and found that two of his boys were in my company. He told me to make his home my headquarters and to make myself at home. The next day another man asked me where I was from and he was born and raised in my country and I knew his people well. Gen. Marcus J. Wright's sister sent for me and I took dinner with her. I was in Gen. Wright's brigade.

After spending about a week in Holly Springs and having a big time, I concluded to start on my way to see my aunt. I got ready and boarded the train. The engine was a small mule hitched to a handcar and the engineer a boy about ten or twelve years of age. When we got to the top of a grade the boy would take the mule out and we would make good time down grade when we would stay around until the boy and mule would catch up with us and hitch onto the train again and we followed that kind of travel until we landed at our destination. The fare for the trip was $10.

After inquiring around I found my aunt was about seven miles out in the country so I started out on foot. I had not gone more than three or four miles when I ran up on a Rebel cavalryman. He asked what I was doing there and I showed him my furlough and that satisfied him. While I was walking along I found a currycomb, one of the kind you can buy for five cents now and he asked me what I would take for it. As I was broke I told him I would sell it for a dollar, and after a good deal of parleying he gave me a dollar for it. I found my aunt this time and stayed with her quite a while.

I had a good time here and attended a number of dinners and parties where I had a fine time with the girls.

My furlough had about expired and I began to figure on my return. My aunt had cooked a lot of good things to eat, and I was to start the next morning. Along some time in the night a neighbor came and said there was a lot of Yankee cavalry within two or three miles of us. While I was up in this north Mississippi country the pesky Yankees had run out from Memphis and destroyed the railroad that I had come over and instead of returning the same way I had to cut across the country to the Mobile & Ohio railroad, about fifty miles.

I started real early and looked back often to see if the Yankees were coming and traveled thirty-five miles that day. I stopped over night with a widow lady and started out early next morning. I struck up with a lot of soldiers returning to the army. They had a spring wagon and I had to pay them $10 to get to ride with them. My aunt had given me $60 to bear my expenses and we finally arrived at Tupelo, Miss. And found we were cut off on that railroad too.

The bunch held a consultion and decided that the only thing that could be done was to cut across the country in the direction of Selma, Alabama. We would march twenty or twenty-five miles a day and put up two at a place. I think there were six of us, and no one would charge us for lodging. I remember that another fellow and myself put up at the house of a professor who was running a big school and he had two nice girls. They told me if I would stay and go to school it would not cost me a cent.

We went on from day to day until we struck the end of a railroad and camped at the depot. We cooked sweet potatoes with pine knots and we made up between us not to pay any fare on the train.

Some time in the early morning we boarded the train and when the conductor came around I was the last one he tackled. I noticed that he made them all pay, so when he came to me I told him where I had been, about being cut off from getting out of Northern Mississippi and that I was busted. To my surprise he said "All Right."

After we had got under good headway I noticed that a couple of ladies just opposite me were nearly tickled to death at something about me. I examined my clothing to see if any buttons were off or any of my clothing was unbuttoned and finding nothing wrong concluded as I was the laughing stock I would go into another coach. In passing out I looked in a mirror and right there I saw what tickled the ladies. I hardly knew myself for in cooking the potatoes with pine knots the smoke had settled all over my face till I looked like white people do in a negro show, white around my eyes and mouth and the rest of my face as black as a negro.

We arrived at Selma some time before noon and boarded the first boat for Montgomery but passed our regiment on the river some time in the night, bound for Selma. I did not find this out until we arrived at Montgomery and found some of our company officers who had been left there to bring up the stragglers. I then got on a boat and went back down the river to Selma. I will say here that in making the trip from Holly Springs to where we boarded the train was 257 miles that I traveled on foot.

We remained at Selma but a few days and then returned to near Dalton, Georgia.

I had another trip, I think it was somewhere on our retreat from Dalton to Atlanta, that I was sent out with six men, down on a railroad, I do not remember what road it was, to see if we could find out what the Yankees were doing. We went about eight or ten miles and were walking leisurely along when the first thing that attracted my attention was the soldiers that were with me cocking their guns. They were a little behind me and as I looked around I saw a Yankee officer about twenty-five yards away coming in the road behind us. I told the men not to shoot and the officer came walking up to us very unconcerned and I commenced to question him. I asked him what he was doing there by himself and he said he was lost from his command, that he was a lieutenant in some regiment I don't remember now. I told him he could consider himself a prisoner and he handed me his sword and he had a bottle of liquor and I confiscated that as I needed it in my business. About that time we looked down the road, and saw a squad of Yankee cavalry ride out and we went back from the road about seventy-five yards and made a bee line back the way we had come, with our Yankee in front on a trot. We ran about three quarters of a mile and halted and I went to the edge of railroad to see how things looked. I saw a lot of Yankees at the place we had just left and we started again at a faster gait than ever. I stopped and looked again after going about the same distance but saw no more of them so I took my man to headquarters and handed him over to the proper authorities and never saw him again. He ???? as he had taken on too much liquor which was the cause of his being lost.

Once more we are back to the Chattahoochie. After our young Yankee got across the river all right we staid there doing picket duty for several days, talking and having a good time generally. I remember on one occasion I had a newspaper and was sitting in a square place that had been cut down to get to our pontoons when I looked across and saw a Yankee. We had orders to fire at everything in sight that day. I would wave the paper and he would run a little ways and stop, then I would wave the paper and he would run again, then some of our soldiers up the river opened fire on him and if ever a Yankee run, he did, and got back all right. I never thought I treated him wrong. Our officers inquired about it and knew that somebody had done something to cause him to run down toward where I was, but they never found out what it was.

The relief would come on of evenings and each side would tell the other side to hunt their holes until they found out what the orders were. If everything was O.K. we would come out from our holes and be as friendly as ever. If not we whacked away at each other the best we knew how.

We remained here several days and fell back in front of Atlanta where we threw up breastworks. We had quite a lot of Georgia militia and would put them in the front breastworks to relieve the old soldiers. It seemed that each mess of them had a negro servant to cook. I remember seeing the negroes go to the front with cooked rations and some of them would hold a frying pan in front of their heads to keep the minie balls from puncturing their heads.

I was acting Sergeant Major and had to get up the picket force for each evening. One evening while the pickets were coming in to be sent out a Yankee battery sent a shell right over among us. It exploded not over twenty-five feet in front of us and broke the thigh of one man and tore the flesh from the calf of the leg of another. I tore the suspenders off each one and put around their legs, put a stick in it and twisted it to stop the flow of blood. A piece of the shell struck a stake that was stuck up in breastworks and a splinter struck me on the arm. I was afraid to look at it for fear my arm was gone. One of the men died that night and the other some time afterward at the hospital.

We got short of lead here and the officers employed the soldiers to pick up balls that were scattered in the rear where the Yankees had fired at our pickets.

I was on picket here one night and just before daylight we believed the Yankees had left our front. Another soldier and myself started out to see if it was so. We would walk a little distance and listen, then go on a little further and listen again. We kept on this way until we got to their breastworks and they were sure enough gone. We got to their works about the break of day and looked around a while to see if any stragglers were left, but everybody was gone.

On going back to our picket post I saw more signs of shooting than I ever saw before. Between the picket posts the bullets had cut down saplings as large as a man's leg, it would lodge and then be cut in two again and if the limbs and brush had been thrown out of the way a team and wagon could have been driven through the woods anywhere. After I returned to my regiment that morning I reported what I had seen and we commenced to get out of there and change our position. I believe we went out on the east side of town. We had a large cannon on a handcar and one day our regiment was in front of it about a hundred yards, when it was fired and the shell went right over us, it made a noise like a turkey flying, landed over in Yankeedom and exploded. It shook things up in great shape. It was reported that one shell killed nearly a whole company. There was only one discharge of the gun while we were in front of it. A piece of the band around the bomb broke off and killed a lieutenant in our regiment. We were moved somewhere else after that.

I well remember the night Sherman threw shells into the city. I was lying down and could see the fuses burning and hear the shells burst in town and we could hear the fire department out putting out fires. Most every family in town lived underground and one could see the stovepipes protruding from the ground. The shells from Sherman's batteries had been falling in the city for some time and "bomb proofs" were all over the city.

General Hood was in command of the Army of the Tennessee at this time and if anything was ever out of all sorts it was the Army of the Tennessee. Old Joseph E. Johnston looked after his men and did not run them into any unnecessary engagements. Hood would fight at the drop of the hat and drop it himself, so he thought he would show Sherman a few things out of the ordinary.

We slipped out of Atlanta of the 21st of July and we thought we were doing the same old thing of falling back. He fooled Sherman too, as Sherman stated in his narrative of the Atlanta campaign. We marched the balance of the night and until the next afternoon when we struck Sherman's extreme left wing and took the Yankees by surprise, I think, as we run right over them and took their works and a number of batteries. We run them out their works and we had possession of them. I saw in passing through where they had fallen back that the Yankees had their dinner on cooking and they did not stay there long enough to set the tables for their company who arrived so unexpectedly, and I have always felt kind of thankful to the Yankee boys for having our dinner ready for us when we arrived for we were tired and hungry.

I felt very sorry for a Yankee officer who had been wounded and was lying in an exposed position, and could not get to a place of safety. He was lying about ten steps inside of the works and just behind us, and the shells and minie balls were making it hot for us. He called to us and asked us to please come and get him down in the ditch where we were, so I started out to bring him in but one of our officers told me to come back and I had to let him lie in his dangerous position. I never knew how he came out.

I ran up on a wounded Dutchman and he was doing a whole lot of Dutch talk. I offered him a drink of water from my canteen and he would shake his head. He might have been cussing me for all I knew.

We held the works that we captured until after night but just across a draw further up their line they held part of the works. I ventured out in front of our line to see what I could find and run up on a dead Rebel and got me a good hat and a few shirts out of the Yankee knapsacks and then went back into our lines.

I do not remember now when we did leave there, but suppose we left that night but we were over toward Atlanta after that as I was on the battle ground several days after that and could see parts of soldiers sticking out of the ditches where they were buried. I don't know who buried them. I saw the worst shot man there that I ever saw. A cannon ball cut him entirely in two except a little strip of skin on each side.

Gen. McPherson, a union general, was killed here.

After the battle of the 22nd we dropped down to Jonesboro and Lovejoy station and had a little fighting there but not to amount to much.

Gen. Hood concluded that he would let Sherman go on south and he would go back in Tennessee and see about Sherman's trains that furnished his army their supplies and we started on the march back on the west side of the railroad. I do not remember that we struck the railroad until we got to Dalton. I remember that we marched up close to the town and found in line of battle. The soldiers were lying around on the ground when we saw a Yankee cavalryman who would ride out to within a hundred yards or so of us, fire his carbine and then gallop back toward town. We noticed that he would stop at a house just at the edge of town, then he would repeat the performance, so a soldier of my company and myself went down in a cotton patch and got behind a pile of logs and waited for him to come again. About the time we started down to the cotton patch we saw the Yankee commander and some of our head officers ride along in front of our lines. Our general had demanded the unconditional surrender of the Yankee garrison and I heard that he supposed that we were a Rebel cavalry force and that he was not going to surrender to them, but when he rode around and saw that it was Hood's army he surrendered the place.

His force consisted of a negro regiment or two with white officers. Myself and the fellow that was with me down in the cotton patch saw our forces start up in town and we hurried on ahead to see if we could capture the Yankee cavalryman but he saw us in time and made his escape, but we went on into town and to the fort. Everybody was hurrying around and the negroes were about half drunk. I saw a negro with a bottle of whisky and told him to hand it over, which he did. I felt so elated over my capture that I showed it to one of our officers and he took it away from me and I did not get even a taste of it.

The fort was built around a big house, a hotel, I think, and I went in and up to the second story and saw a lot of Yankee officers. They were talking about having to go to prison. I ran across one of our generals and he ordered me out of there but I just kept out of his sight and stayed as long as I wanted to.

We did about as we pleased and when night came I saw that a detail was ordered to go into the fort and bring out the sutler's stores that were there. I went up to the officer in charge and told him to roll me out something. He eyed me closely and said, "Of course, or I wouldn't be there," and he hand me a box of raisins and a box of ground pepper, and by the time I had hurried to my company and gave the boxes to the boys of my mess and got back the detail had moved the balance. I run up against a fellow who had got about half a sack of coffee and he asked me and another fellow to help him take it out the back way. We helped him in a neighborly way but by the time we were out we had filled our haversacks with his coffee.

There was nothing more to do in the fort so we were marched down to the railroad and went to fixing it. We would rip up the iron and make pens out of the ties, then lay the irons across the pens and set the pile on fire, and when the irons got hot each end would bend to the ground. We had the negroes helping us and one smart negro refused to help burn the ties and he got a minie ball through him. The rest of them were all right after that.

We then started on a march and I saw next day a lot of negro stragglers I never knew what became of them but suppose they and the Yankee officers were paroled.

I remember on the march one day hearing a soldier say that Sherman had wound up the ball but Hood was unwinding it.

There was nothing out of the ordinary during that march. I don't remember the number of days it took to reach the neighborhood of Decatur but we did not go into the town at all as there were a lot of Yankees there and from the looks of the forts at a distance we had no time to waste with them, so we dropped down the river to the little town of Florence and put our pontoons across the river and lit out for middle Tennessee. We just cleaned everything up or everybody got out of our way until we landed about Franklin, I suppose and believe that Franklin was one of the hottest battles of the war. I was not in the battle myself but had arrived on the hill south of Franklin when I saw the battle begin. It was fought about two miles from where we were and we never got into the engagement.

I went up to where our lines had fallen back to and formed near the Carter house the next morning and saw what had been done the evening before. The Yankees had retreated toward Nashville during the night and left their dead and wounded on the field. I never saw as many dead as were on the ground in front of the Yankee breastworks. There was a locust thicket in front of their works and I counted 19 balls that had hit one sapling from the ground to the height of a man's head. These were shots from the Yankee side, but at the Carter house there was a small brick building, I don't know what it was used for, which was struck by over 100 balls. I saw it again in 1911. It has never been molested or changed in any way since the war. This house was inside the Yankee lines and these shots were fired by the Rebels.

Just inside the works in the Carter house, I think it was the next morning after the battle I saw a Yankee officer who had been wounded, I don't know how badly but he looked kind of glum as he had not got in good humor since the battle. I asked him if I could do anything for him and he looked at me as though he would like to kill me. I told him it would be a pleasure to me to help him in any way I could and he said I could give him a drink of water which I did. I saw another poor fellow who was still out in the breastworks. I think from his uniform he was artilleryman. He was sitting with both hands up holding his face, his eyes were about closed and his face had a greenish color.

I went back to our lines and saw a lot of prisoners, all surrounded by a lot of Rebel guards. I was standing around looking at them when one stepped up to me and said he wanted to speak to me privately. We stepped to one side and he told me that he had a watch that he would have no need for in prison and that if he could get some Confederate money for it he would be very glad. He told me the reason he had picked on me was that he thought I would treat him right. Well, I could have taken it from him and kept it but I gave him twenty dollars in Confederate money for it, all the money I had, and he went on to prison.

I suppose from the appearance of everything that this was one of the hardest battles of the war. We lost many killed among them several Generals and officers of less prominence. We left here in a day or two for Nashville, but we never got there, although we arrived in sight of the city.

I remember the first afternoon several of us went up on a hill in a clearing where we could see Fort Negley. We were about two and a half miles from the fort and were standing around looking at it when we saw a puff of smoke shoot up from the fort, and someone remarked that they were shooting at us. We finally concluded that we were mistaken about it, but soon after that here it came and about that time its mate barked and we left there before it landed. It surprised us that it took the shell so long to come two and a half miles.

I remember that one day while we were around here waiting for the Yankees to come out so we could whip them that I ventured out in front of our lines to see what was what I came to a fine big brick residence belonging to a Widow Brown, the wife of one of our ex-Governors. There was only Mrs. Brown and a grown daughter living there at the time but there was a big Missouri Yankee there who had been left for protection. I had my gun with me and his gun was standing against the stairs. He never tried to get it but said that it was one of the rules of war not to molest a guard under such circumstances. I told him I understood the rule and I staid there quite a while talking to the ladies and the soldier too. The ladies told me they were southern sympathizers, and after a while I thought I would venture a little further on. I went out and crossed the pike that run along the yard fence and had not gone twenty steps when I saw a lot of Yankees around a fire, presumably cooking. It was down a slant in the ground and if they had seen me at all they could only have seen my head, but none of them saw me. I stooped and turned around and if ever a Johnnie Reb moved, I did. I never even stopped to tell Mrs. Brown and the rest good by. I have always thought they did not treat me right. That Missouri Yankee might have told me it was not safe to go very far out that way. Mrs. Brown being a good southern woman might have given me the wink and nodded her head back south and I think I would have taken the hint, but she did not. I understand her daughter still lives in Nashville. I would like very much to meet her.

We laid around in front of Nashville until something did happen sure enough. I was out on picket duty here some of the coldest nights I ever saw. We had to stay on picket two hours, then go back a short distance and thaw out. Our command was finally stationed on the extreme left. Our company was on a little round hill. We could not see the Yankees in our front on account of the timber and brush but we could see to our right nearly a mile. Now and then some Yankee cavalry would run in behind us and some of our command would get after them and run them back, but they would keep getting in our rear. That position was the only one I was ever in that a fellow could not get behind a tree. Late in the afternoon the Yankees charged our works about half a mile to our right, in full view of our position and some of them broke through our lines. Right then things began to happen. The break in our lines widened our as the Yankees pressed forward and they never stopped but kept right on. There was a big hill just ahead of them and our officers told us to fall back, which we did in a hurry, every man taking care of himself. After the Yankees broke our lines on our right they came right on until they got to the foot of the hill. Then they would go to forming on their colors. While that was going on the cavalry came in our rear and we had to run right through a lane of them. I never saw one of my company after we started back. When I got to the foot of the hill I started up it as fast as I could go. A fellow would be shot near me and fall and roll down the hill and I was thinking all the time that it would be my turn next. I had got to within about twenty steps of the top my left foot stopped a minie ball. It cut a hole through the leather of my shoe and sock and to the bone and stopped. I thought it was Kattis with me and threw down my gun and cartridge box and went on the best I could. Darkness soon overtook me and I finally came to the pike leading to Colombia, when I got on a caisson that came by. The drivers never saw me the whole night. I rode on the caisson till morning and my foot was so painful that I could hardly walk. The Yankees simply whipped us to a frazzle and that's a fact.

Hood ought to have been hung to lay around Nashville until Thomas got all the reinforcements he wanted. Hood's army was in no shape to fight this battle but Hood would fight whether he was able to do much or not.

The official returns of the Army of the Tennessee show that when Hood crossed the Tennessee river at Florence, Alabama, he had 26,000 of all arms. He assaulted Scholfield at Franklin, Tenn. Who had 16,000 men. Hood lost 4,500 here and moved on to Nashville with 21,000 men. He had sent Bates' division of about 1,600 to Murfreesboro, leaving about 21,000 men. Gen. Thomas had inside the works at Nashville about 30.000 and was reinforced to about 60,000. Hood's affective force did not exceed 20,000 men. Hood lost in these engagements, killed, wounded and missing 4,492, leaving Hood with less than 15,000 men.

Official returns made after Hood retreated to Tupelo, Miss. Showed an effective force of 16,931 men. Hood lost 50 pieces of artillery and had 59 left. Gen. Forrest captured and destroyed sixteen blockhouses and stockades, twenty bridges, four engines, one hundred cars, ten miles of track, captured 1,6oo prisoners, one hundred head of horses, mules and cattle. Hood was relieved of his command Jan. 25, 1865. I get this information from Battles and Sketches by Bloomfield Ridley, pages 440 and 441.

When we retreated to Columbia a lot of us got permission to visit our homes. We started early in the morning. There was about ten in the bunch. I was in bad shape to walk but I hobbled along as best I could. When we got out from our camp we got the direction to Tullahoma and took a straight course, regardless of roads. We did not want to travel the roads as we might come in contact with the Yankee cavalry. We got along all right, stopping with the people at night. Before we got near Tullahoma we got a man to pilot us across the railroad track two or three miles north of town as there was a lot of Yankees there. The man had a horse that I rode as I could not travel as well as the rest of the bunch. It was an awful cold night and the ground was covered with snow and ice. We had traveled two or three miles when we heard a lot of cavalry approaching, so we all hurried to one side of the road. The horse I was riding got loose and started for his home. We could hear him running on the frozen ground for a mile or so. We laid on the ice till the cavalry had passed. We found out afterwards that it was some Rebel cavalry going south.

We crossed the railroad all right and continued on our way until we arrived at the house of a man I knew who lived about ten miles from my home. We stayed the balance of the night with him and after breakfast crossed Duck river and on towards home, crossing the Manchester and Buck Grove road about a mile north of Manchester. We saw in crossing the road a lot of Yankee pickets about a quarter of a mile from where we crossed. I was then within two miles of home. When within a mile of home I met my mother who was then visiting a son, and went on home with her. . The boys who were still with me went on to their homes. I had not seen my mother since Bragg retreated from Tullahoma, or heard from her either. I stopped around home for some time keeping out of sight of the Yankees that frequently passed. I found everything in bad shape. The farm was all run down stock all gone, but the negroes were still at home and worked reasonably well, but they had little to live on. When they would raise a crop the soldiers would take it. I remember that the tableware consisted of tin plates and the tumblers were the lower parts of glass bottles cut in two by drawing a yarn string around them until they were hot and by pouring water on them they would come apart.

While we were in the trenches at Atlanta the authorities gave so much a pound for minie balls picked up in the rear of our main line, as our ammunition was running short and we wanted to send them back the first chance we got. Those that were whole did not have to be moulded again. Some of the men made good wages picking them up. When we would be in line of battle or in the ditches when some part of our army would be engaged at some part of the line the soldiers would write letters to friends on the line to find out whether any of our acquaintances was killed or wounded. We would get a small stick about six inches long and split one end far enough to put the envelope in, then take a string and tie around the split end to hold it secure, then toss it where we wanted it to go. Some one would toss it again and so on until it reached its destination. I have got an answer the same day.

I remember when we were in line of battle at Atlanta that the Georgia militia would be in reserve just behind our line, and they would have a negro cook to bring their rations to them at their line, and I have seen the negroes carry a frying pan up in front of their heads to keep the Yankees balls from hitting them. The balls would probably have glanced off anyway, as a negro's skull is almost bomb proof.

Soon after I got home, in 1865 I married and settled down at the old home. I looked after the family, my mother being a widow, as my father died when I was about ten years old. I reared a large family of children, two boys living in Iowa, one daughter in California, the rest that are living are near me in Tennessee.

One of the saddest things in the reconstruction madness was that the church tried to give the sanction of religion to the effort to steal our property and disfranchise us in favor of the carpet bagger, the sca'awag and the negro. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian church had been very bitter during the war denouncing rebellion as they called it, and in advising and encouraging the government in all its measures, however cruel and oppressive. In May, 1865 the assembly met in Pittsburg, Pa. And passed a series of resolutions practically suspending all Presbyterian ministers until they had repented of the sin of rebellion, and as those in the south, almost to a man was strong supporters of the Confederacy this action declared every pulpit vacant and meant that North had the right to take over all our churches with their property. The southern ministers, in 1861 had protested against the church taking sides in the political question dividing the country, and when the assembly demanded that all ministers under its jurisdiction should support the cause of the union those in the Confederate states withdrew and organized a separate church. This action at Pittsburgh in 1865 was thus a distinct refusal to acknowledge the southern General Assembly as having any rights that the northern body was bound to respect. The first Presbyterian church of Nashville was probably the first to resist the effort of the northern church to get posession. This church had called the Rev. R. F. Bunting, the noted chaplain of the Texas Rangers to be their pastor and he had gone to Ohio to meet his family and bring them to Nashville. In the meantime the Northern Board of Home Missions appointed as minister a Mr. Brown, to come to Nashville and take charge of the First church. The elders had been notified of his appointment and were expecting him any day, but they determined that he should not take charge of the church, so they employed the Rev. J. H. McKinly, D. D. to hold the church until Dr. Bunting arrived. The church building had been used as a hospital by the Federal troops and was in no condition to have church services in. Rev. McKinley had run the church for some time when Rev. Brown and Dr. Bunting both arrived about the same time. Both were getting ready to hold services. Mr. Brown saw at once that he had run against a snag. They told him that the First Presbyterians had never given up their organization, nor forfeited their rights and claimed the right to select their own minister. The matter was argued pro and con and the church frankly told Mr. Brown that they did not want nor would they have him as their minister. After he saw that the case was hopeless he got his Irish up and spoke something like this: "Gentlemen, you seem to forget that the rebellion is crushed and that Nashville is in the hands of the union army."

Prof. Cross, rising to his feet, drawing himself to his full stature said: "Mr. Brown, do you mean to threaten us? Is it your aim to use the military force to compel us to accept you as our minister?" Dr. Bunting preached that day. Mr. Brown appealed to Gen. Thomas who gave him to understand that he was not in it, and he went back north where he was probably liked better.

I stayed around home and kept out of sight of the Yankees that passed that way from one place to another, until a neighbor, a union man, advised me that I had better go with him to headquarters at Tullahoma, and report, which I did. This man's name was R. E. Lasiter, and he was a great help to all of us southern people. He had great influence with the Yankee commander and saved many lives. The commander was named Milroy and another was Gen. Payne. He was a regular mean one and if some one like Lasater did not interfere they generally got shot in short order after reporting to headquarters.

The authorities had me to report down at Tullahoma once a month, which I did for several times, when they sent me down to Nashville and for several days I had to report every day. They finally got tired of that, I suppose, and they sent me to the penitentiary for safe keeping. The prisoners in the pen were of all sorts and sizes, Rebels, Yankees, citizens, negroes and what not. There was one old citizen in there, I remember, who would stand around and cuss the Yankees from morning till night. There was also a Yankee who wore a Mother Hubbard made of a barrel, with a hole in the head of it just large enough for his head to go through, and it was labeled "Thief." He might have been the fellow who stole my mother's pie, I don't know. Then there was a lot of negroes with ball and chain on their legs. There was a long shed that we all would stay during the day and sleep in the building at night. We got two meals a day, one in the morning and one about 3 p.m. We would get bread and some other stuff and a lot of coffee if you had any vessel to put it in. If you did not, you got no coffee. At the afternoon meal you could get bread and beans or soup, if you had something to put them in. I had got a Yankee canteen and cut the top off, and fared very well after that.

Most everyone in the pen, I mean the war prisoners, gambled from morning till night. After remaining there two or three weeks myself and a number of others took some kind of an oath and came home. I was all right then and was not afraid to meet any Yankees that might be passing through the country. Then is when I settled down to farming.

When I was released from the pen I went up in the city to some of the bosses and showed them my papers, and told them I would like to get transportation home. The fellow asked me if I did not walk to Nashville and I told him that I walked in there with Gen. Hood. I thought that would be a point in my favor, but he told me I could walk home, which I did. I have thought ever since then he ought to have given me transportation as my feet got awfully blistered.

In Rhea county, Dayton, Tenn., was organized the only Ladies Company in all the land of Dixie. The object of this company was to visit relatives, friends and sweethearts who had enlisted in the several companies from Rhea county, taking them clothing, medicines, and provisions, performing the part of ministering angels. This company was organized in 1862 and was from the most prominent and respected families of Rhea county. Miss Mary McDonald was the captain, Miss Jennie Hoyal first lieutenant, Miss O. J. Lock second lieutenant, Miss R. G. Thomison, third lieutenant and Misses Kate Hoyal, Barbara Allen, Jane Kieth, Sadie Mitchell, Caroline McDonald, Annie Myers, Mary A. McDonald, Margaret Abel and Martha Easley were members.

After the Federals had occupied Tennessee Valley and reduced the women almost to starvation the Federal authorities, on February 5, 1865, sent and arrested all these young ladies who were members of the company and on the 6th day of April, these young ladies were marched by an armed mounted guard to Smith's Cross Roads, now Dayton; thence in the night were marched to Belle Landing, on the Tennessee river, marching in mud over their shoe tops. Here they were made to wait all night long until an old boat known as the "Chicken Thief" came along when they were placed on board and locked up in the dining room and a guard placed at each door. They were taken to Chattanooga, sleeping on the bare floor. Upon their arrival at Chattanooga they were marched up to the provost marshal's office like a lot of criminals and required to take the oath of allegiance. Gen. Steadman, who was in charge of the Federal forces, on looking over these young ladies who were among the best of Rhea county, ordered them released and directed that they be served a splendid dinner and then be returned to their homes. He severely reprimanded the inferior officers for having arrested these girls, who were from 16 to 22 years old. Such is war--cruel war. The Yankee officers were generally kind to our women and some of the men were kind but others were very mean to the helpless women.

The following sketches of heroines of the South is by permission taken from "Battles and Sketches of the Army of the Tennessee," by Bromfield L. Ridley, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. The battle of Nashville gave us a heroine whose name Gen. Hood placed on the Roll of Honor, Miss Mary Bradford, now Mrs. John Johns, appeared when Gen. Thomas' army was pouring the musketry into us and Hood's army was in full retreat, rushed out into the thickest of the battle and begged the soldiers to stop and fight.

The famous raid of Gen. Stra?? With two thousand men, near Rome, Georgia, resulting in his capture through the intrepidity of Miss Emma Sausome was an instance of female prowess long to be remembered. Amid the flying bullets thrilled with patriotism she jumped on behind Gen. Forrest and piloted him across Black Creek. The legislature of Alabama presented her land and the people lauded her to the skies.

Another heroine in name only, yet a hero in fact appeared in Gen. Morgan's tramp on the line of Kentucky and Tennessee, grew to be a terror in that section. The boys, on account of his feminine features and flowing hair use to call him "Sissie." They dressed him up one day and introduced him to Gen. Morgan as Miss Sue Munday. It turned out to be Jerome Clark, son of Hector Clark, of Franklin, Kentucky, but after this he was known only as Sue Munday. He was a member of the old squadron and on account of the insults heaped upon his family he was a terror to every one who wore the blue that came his way.

At one time in 1863, says Gen. Colman, of the Indian Territory, Miss Press Whitley, aged 19, of Knob-noster, a Federal post in Missouri rode on horseback from her home 60 miles carrying news to the intrepid Quantrell and at another time, when the Federals were at the home of her father, Capt. Wm. Whitley in search of contraband goods, she shot a lieutenant, wounded a private and made her escape. They outlawed her, her uncle was shot from ambush, breaking his under jaw and cutting off his tongue. Miss Whitley rode 20 miles at night, found her uncle, carried him home and hid him in an old well until he had recovered sufficiently to ride away. The Federal authorities banished her from the state.

The old scouts in the west will remember two other heroines through whose aid we were often saved from attack. Miss Kate Patterson, now Mrs. Kyle, of Luvergne, Tenn, and Miss Robbie Woodruff, who lived ten miles from Nashville. They would go into Nashville and get what information was needed and place it in a designated tree or log to be conveyed to us by our scouts. I have often wondered if that diagram of the works around Nashville found upon the person of Sam Davis was not the work of the young ladies, notwithstanding it was the impression that it was stolen from Gen. Dodges table by a negro boy.

But I have a heroine of the mountains who developed in war times, yet on account of her obscure habitation and the bitter heart burnings existing between the two sections so evenly divided that history has not given her the merited fame. I got her record from the Rev. J. H. Nicholds, who lived near her in Putman county, three miles from Cookville, Tenn. Her name was Miss Mariana Gunter; now Mrs. Joseph Harris. Her father, Larkin Gunter, was a southern man, and some bushwhackers claiming to belong to the Federal army, resolved to kill him. One night three of them, Mixwell, Miller and Patton, visited him at their home and told him in the presence of his family that his time had come to die. They took him from the house and in a short time this girl of 17 heard the blows and her old father's groans, when she rushed to the woodpile, got an ax and hurriedly approached the scene. She killed two with the ax and broke the third one's arm and he fled in a hurry, but afterwards died from his wound. She then lifted her father up and carried him to the house. Soon he sought and obtained protection from the Federal general at Nashville. She said afterwards that upon hearing her father's groans she grew frantic and does not know to this good day how she managed it. This is the greatest achievement of female heroism ever recorded and places Miss Gunter on a pinnacle of glory that belongs not only to patriotism but to the grandeur of filial devotion, the tie that stretches from the cradle to the grave, spans the heavens and is riveted through eternity to the throne of God.

They talk of Sheridan's ride, but let me tell you on one that strips it of its grandeur. The famous run of Miss Antoinette Polk, displaying a heroism worthy of imperishable record. She was on the Hampshire turnpike, a few miles from Columbia, Tenn., when some one informed her of the Federals contemplated raid upon her father's home on the Mt. Pleasant pike, five miles across, said pike forming an obtuse angle from Columbia. She knew that some soldier friends at her father's would be captured unless they had notice and in order to inform them she had to go across the angle which was barricaded with high rails and rock fences. There was no more superb equestrienne in the valley of the Tennessee, of magnificent physique and she had a thoroughbred horse trained to do her bidding. She started, her horse leaped the fences like a deer and came out in front of the troopers four miles from her home. They took after her but her foaming steed was so fleet of foot that she got away from them and saved her friends from capture.

I remember another heroine. Lieut. Buford, of an Arkansas regiment. She stepped and walked, the personification of a soldier boy, had won her spurs at the battle of Bull Run, Shiloh and Ft. Donelson and was promoted for gallantry. One evening she came to Gen. Steward's headquarters at Tyner's station with an order from Major Kinlock Folconet to report for duty as a scout but upon finding that he was a woman she was sent back and the order was revoked. She has written a book. In point of devotion to duty, nursing our soldiers in distress, the sick and wounded, the women of the south were all Florence Nightengales. It would be invidious to discriminate but I will mention some other noteworthy deeds.

I have another heroine, bless her sweet soul. I have forgotten her name. One day Gen. Morgan sent a squad of us on a scout and we were pursued by Col. Funkerhauser's regiment in Denny's bend of the Cumberland river near Rome, Tennessee. My heroine, a girl of 14 directed us to Bradley's Island for safety, a place of about sixty acres in cultivation. On the river side it was encircled by a sand bar with driftwood lodged on an occasional tree. This sweet little girl brought us a square meal and watched like a hawk for our safety during the day. Hinking that it was only a foraging party and that they were gone, we ventured to leave during the afternoon, but run into them and a running fire ensued. After eluding pursuit we concluded to go back. In a short time a company of Federals appeared on the island, evidently having tracked our horses. We left our horses without hitching them and took shelter under a big fallen tree. The troopers were within ten steps of us at the time. We could hear them distinctly. One fellow said, "If we catch them this is a good place to hang them." Another one said, "Let's go into the drift wood on the sand bar and bag them." Our hearts throbbed and our legs trembled for we thought that we were gone. One of our squad said, "Let's give up," but the rest of us were too scared to answer, and they passed on without discovering us.

Our heroine came to us after nightfall she called and we answered. She was happy over our escape and said she saw them leaving and seeing no prisoners she had mounted her horse and followed them to the toll gate two miles away and learned that they had returned to Lebanon, after which she brought our supper and put us on a safe road. Such heroines the soldiers often met with in disputed territory between contending armies. They evidenced a devotion to country that only might and not right could subdue.

There was another class more nearly comporting with the female character--sock knitters, clothes makers, needle pliers, God servers, rebelling in sentiment, in touch with the times. From wealth they drank the dregs of poverty's cup until now nearly fifty years, by frugality, they have been instrumental in our Southland's blessed resurrection. Female clerks, teachers, stenographers, from authoresses to cooks, they attest the courage and praiseworthiness that exceeds belicose valor.

The following account of heroism in saving her father's life is contributed by J. M. Bedichek, brother of the heroine, and now principal of the Eddy Literary Scientific Institute of Eddy, Texas. Mr. Bedichek was under Gen. F. M. Cockrell, in the 1st Missouri Brigade. His sister and father were left alone, their mother having died before the war. It was on the night of the 6th of June, 1865, when the most cruel phase of horrible war was seen nightly in ghastly murders and lurid flames, that a band of soldiers was seen in our front yard seven miles north of Warrensburg, Johnson county, Missouri. A knock was heard at the door and Sister Mary Bedichek, then 16 years old, asked, "Who is there?" "Friends," said a voice outside. "What do you want?" she asked. "We want to come in and warm." "You have guns?" "Yes." "If you will leave your guns outside you may come in," she said. "Oh, well, if that will please you, we will do so," whereupon the leader came in. No others appeared to care to enter and sister closed the door and locked it. The soldier asked if there were any bushwhackers in the house. "There's no one but Father and I," she said. "Your two brothers are in the Rebel army, 'eh?" "Yes." A search of the room by the dim light of the fire place was made. It was near bed time, and when the militiaman had satisfied himself that nobody but father and sister were in the house he said: "Old man, I have come to kill you," drawing his pistol at the same time. "Ah!" As father made this laconic response he grabbed the pistol and a most terrible scuffle ensued. The assailant wrested the pistol out of father's hand and began to beat him over the head with the pistol. Sister Mary, not idle, ran to the kitchen, seized a corn knife, a very large one, and directed an effectual blow at the uplifted arm and with rapid blows chopped his head until he cried for help, saying "For God's sake let me out," where upon one of the party outside ran to the north door, opened it, gun in hand and tried to see which one to shoot. My sister, hearing him seized the gun with her left hand and dealt him a blow. He jerked the gun from her and she gave him another blow and pushed him out of the house. She then locked the door and put the window shades down so they could not see where to shoot. Those on the south of the house opened fire at the window and with a beam broke the door down. No one attempted to come in but the wounded man staggered to the door and down the steps. Some one asked if he was hurt and he said, "I am a dead man." He fell within ten steps of the door and they took him away.

Father sent word to Warrensberg that his house had been attacked and Col. Thos. Crittenden, of the Federal army, later democratic governor of Missouri, sent out a scout under Capt. Box. As they approached the house and were about to enter the yard he ordered them to halt outside. Sister thought they had come for revenge and she procured a long dagger, hid it in the folds of her dress and waited at the door for the approach of the captain.

"Well," said the captain, "you have had a battle here I understand. It looks very much like it from the looks of the room." There was blood, hair, a hat, gloves, etc. strewn over the house. The captain said: "Tell me about it." As sister was telling her story the company came up close in order to catch what was said. One of the soldiers said, "I wish she had killed the other one too." Another said, "I wish she had killed the whole outfit."

Col. Crittenden made my sister a present of a fine pistol as a mark of her heroism and to emphasize his disapproval of murdering old men by brutal soldiers and bushwhackers. This account is as father and sister told me soon after the terrible tragedy.

Signed J. M. Bedeker.

When I got home there was just one mare on the place and she was two years past and that was the stock I made the first crop with.

After my return home the negroes had a stock of fodder which they had hid in the woods that had not been taken. The only kind of plow I had to do the breaking up of the land and the cultivation of my crop was an old "bull tongue" plow. Some of our people had to go forty miles to get corn to make a crop with and for bread. When I returned and started my crop the negroes all wanted to start out for themselves, which they did. I offered my negro man a 30 acre piece of land but he refused the offer and the whole batch started out on their own resources except a negro girl who lived with our family until her death only a few years ago.

We suffered many privations during those years. Our women had to wear homemade clothing. The first suit I had after my return was homemade. My mother spun the thread and then wove it and a neighbor lady made the suit. My over coat was made of a Yankee blanket, but we made out that way until we could do better. When anyone was lucky enough to have bacon they had to hide it to keep the Yankees from stealing it. Some would hang it in the tops of the trees in the summer and some would put it in an ash hopper and cover it with ashes.

I have been trying ever since the war to find the Yankee that took a family pie my mother was cooking on the fire place. I don't want to hurt him but simply to shake hands with a good forager. Mother was cooking the pie and watching it very closely, and this Yankee was watching her. He finally walked into another room and returning told her that a soldier was going through a bureau in another room. My mother went in to see about it but no one was in the room. When she returned the fellow was going out of the gate with oven, pie and all. After the cavalry had gone on, my mother went up where they had stopped to feed and got her oven. I would like to hear from that fellow if he is living. It is not too late to apologize for the trick he played.

Some time after I had returned from prison and the war had ended and Rebel soldiers commenced passing on their homes. The reconstruction set in. Gov. Brownlow, the military governor of the state set in to reconstruct us old Rebels and try to make good citizens out of us. He would appoint three good union men to run our county business. Our county got three very good men to act as commissioners who did reasonably well with the people. The governor appointed a son-in-law of President Johnson from East Tennessee to be our circuit judge and he appointed a little Yankee carpetbagger to be our attorney general and the way they run our courts was a sight. Judge Patterson was very near deaf. I remember on one occasion a Rebel lawyer got up to make a speech in a certain case and in starting out made the remark to the jury that the old thing sitting as judge was a deaf old fool, and everybody in court laughed. The judge leaned over the desk with hand to his ear and asked what was the matter and the lawyer turned around and said "Just a little levity, Judge," and proceeded with his argument.

Everyone summoned as a juror was asked under oath whether he was a Ku Klux or not. A Ku Klux could not sit on a jury if they knew it. They never found a Ku Klux but there was plenty of them in the county.

Every white man that was old enough to vote had to have a certificate from one of Gov. Brownlow's appointees before he could vote but the negro would vote, and a good republican could vote every one of them and the same is done to this good day. Every man, white or black, has to have a poll tax receipt before he can vote, and the negroes generally wait until about election time in order to get some good republican to pay his poll tax and there are some low down whites that do the same. That kind of voter ought to be barred from voting.

After several years we all got things in shape so we could vote and you ought to see the carpetbaggers retire, and the most of them have been taking back seats ever since. We finally got to be good citizens and have been attending to our own affairs ourselves.

After the negroes got their freedom it made awful fools out of them. That is what brought the Ku Klux into existence. We had to have something like that to handle them. When a company of the Klan wanted to scare them they would go to a negro house in the night with the scaryest clothing imaginable and call for a drink of water. The negro would bring out a dipper and the Ku Klux would drink and call for more and keep calling for more and keep calling for more and keep calling, then he would finally ask for the bucket full and he would then tell the negro that was the first drink he had since he was killed at Shiloh. Negroes are very superstitious and they would lay very low after that. The Ku Klux would whip one once in a while. I knew of their whipping mean white men too. There was a white man living in this county who was so mean and stingy that he would not buy his daughter books to go to school or clothing to dress her decently. Well, the Klan went to see him one night and told him they would be back in a week and if he did not have things in shape they would attend to him. He told them they need not return as he would get the necessary articles at once, and he did.

There was an old couple of white people living near me, each being over 80 years of age. I called to see them one morning while they were eating breakfast and I saw some of the little negroes go to the table while the old folks were eating and grab a handful of fried eggs. It was not long after that the Ku Klux called and whipped a couple of the ring leaders. I never heard of any more complaints against the negroes. The threshing they received seemed to make good citizens out of them.

In writing these sketches, before I close, I want to chronicle the death of Sam Davis, a Tennessee hero. The following condensed sketch was furnished by Joshua Brown, of New York city, who was a member of the 2nd Kentucky cavalry of the C. S. A. and was a fellow scout of Sam Davis. He says, "As you requested I will give you my personal recollections of the capture, imprisonment and execution of Sam Davis, one of the noblest patriots that ever died for his country. Other patriots have died for their country. Capt. Morton Williams and Lieut. Peters who were hanged at Franklin, Tenn. by the Federals knew that death was inevitable and died like brave soldiers, but Davis had continuance of life, pardon and a pass offered him through the lines, if he would only reveal where he got the information and papers that were found on his person and in his saddle seat, but he knew that the man who gave them to him was at that moment in jail with him, Col. Shaw, chief of Bragg's scouts, who had charge of the secret service of the Army of the Tennessee. Gen. Bragg had sent the scouts into Middle Tennessee to see what the Federal army was doing and to report the same to him, at Caattanooga by courier. When we received our orders we were told it was a very serious undertaking and they expected but few of us to return. After the scouts had been in Tennessee about ten days we watched the 16th corps, commanded by Gen. Dodge, move up from Corinth, Miss. To Pulaski, Tenn. We agreed that we would leave for the south on the 19th of November, 1863. A number had been captured and several killed. We were to start that night each for himself. Each had his own information, but I did not write it down or make a memorandum of it for fear of being captured. We had counted every regiment and all the artillery of the 16th corps and had found out that they were moving to Chattanooga. Late in the afternoon we started out and ran into the 7th Kansas cavalry, known as the "Kansas Jayhawkers." When we were told what regiment had captured us we thought our time had come.

We were taken to Pulaski, about fifteen miles away and put into jail where several other prisoners had been sent. Among them was Sam Davis. I talked with him over our prospects of imprisonment and escape, which were very gloomy. Davis said they had searched him and found some papers on him and that he had been taken to general headquarters and that they had found in his saddle seat maps and descriptions of the fortifications at Nashville and at other points, and an exact report of the Federal army in Tennessee. They found in his boot this letter which was intended for Gen. Bragg.

Giles County, Tenn. Nov. 18, 1863. Col. A. McKinstry, Prov. Marshal Gen. Army of the Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Dear Sir:--

I send you seven Nashville papers, three Louisville papers and one Cincinnati paper. I also send for Gen. Bragg three wash balls of soap, three tooth brushes, and two blank books. I could not get a larger size diary for him I will send a pair of shoes and slippers and some more soap, gloves and socks soon. The Yankees are still camped on the line of the Tennessee & Alabama railroad. Gen. Dodge's headquarters are at Pulaski. His main force is camped from that place to Lynville, some at Elk river and two regiments at Athens, Ala. Gen. Dodge has issued an order to the people of those counties to report all stock, grain and forage to him and he will give vouchers for it, upon refusal to report that he will take it without pay. They are now taking all they can find. Gen. Dodge says he knows they are all southern and does not ask them to swear to a lie. All the spare forces around Nashville are being sent to McMinnville. Six batteries and twelve Parrot guns were sent forward on the 14th, 15th and 16th. It is understood that it is to work in front. Telegrams suppressed. Davis has returned, Gregg has gone below. Everything is beginning to work better. I send Roberts with things for you and Gen. Bragg with dispatches. I think the Yankees will stay. Everything looks that way. I understand that part of Sherman's army has reached Shelbyville. I hope to be able to post you soon. The dispatches I sent you on the 7th reached Decatur on the 10th.

Here is Sam Davis' pass:

Headquarters Bragg's Scouts

Middle Tennessee, Sept. 25, 1863

Samuel Davis has permission to pass anywhere in Middle or south of the Tennessee river as he may see proper.

By order of Gen. Bragg

F. Coleman, Comdg. Scouts

The next morning Davis was again taken to Gen. Dodge's headquarters and this is what took place between them, as Gen. Dodge told me recently. Gen. Dodge says he took Davis into his private office and told him it was a very serious charge against him, that he was a spy, and what was found upon his person showed that he had accurate information regarding my army and I must know where he obtained it. I told him he was a young man and he seemed not to realize the danger he was in. Up to that time he had said nothing, but he replied in the most respectful and dignified manner. "Gen. Dodge, I realize the danger of my situation and am willing to take the consequences."

I then asked him to give me the name of the party who gave him the information as I knew it must be some one near headquarters or who had the confidence of my staff officers and repeated that I meant to know the source from which the information came. I told him I would have to call a court martial and have him tried for his life and from the proof we had we would be compelled to convict him.

He replied, "I know that. I know I will have to die, and I will not tell where I got the information. There is no power on earth that can make me tell it. You, General, are doing your duty as a soldier. I am doing my duty to my country and my God."

I plead with him, said Gen. Dodge, and urged him with all the power I possessed to give me some chance to save his life, for I discovered that he was a most admirable young man, with the highest character and strictest integrity. Davis then said "It is useless for you to talk to me. I do not intend to do it. You may court martial me and do anything else you like, but I will not betray the trust reposed in me."

He thanked me for the interest I had taken in him and I sent him back to prison and immediately called a court martial to try him.

The commission that sat on the case when Sam Davis was tried was composed of the following: Col. Madison Miller, 18th Missouri; Lieut-Col. Thos. W. Gains, 50th Missouri Inf.; Mayor Lathrop, 39th Iowa Inft.; Judge Advocate.

After hearing the evidence the following sentence was pronounced:

"The commission do hereby sentence him, the said Samuel Davis, of Colman's Scouts, of the so-called Confederate States to be hanged by the neck until dead, at such time and place as the commanding general shall direct, two thirds of the commission approving. The sentence will be carried into effect on Friday, November 27, 1863 between the hours of 10 a. m. and 2 p. m. Brigadier General T. W. Sweeny, commanding the division will cause the necessary arrangements to be made to carry out this order in the proper manner."

Capt. Armstrong informed Davis of his sentence by the court martial. He was surprised at the severity of his sentence, expecting to be shot not thinking that they would hang him, but he showed no fear and resigned himself to his fate as only brave men can. That night he wrote the following letter to his mother.

Pulaski, Tenn. Nov. 26, 1863.

Dear Mother,

Oh, how painful it is to write you. I have got to die tomorrow morning, to be hanged by the Federals. Mother, do not grieve for me. I must bid you good by forever more. Mother, I do not fear to die. Give my love to all.

Your son

Samuel Davis

Mother, tell the children all to be good. I wish I could see you all once more, but I never will any more. Mother and Father don't forget me. Think of me when I am dead but do not grieve for me, it will not do any good. Father, you can send after my remains if you want to do so. They will be at Pulaski, Tenn. South of Columbia.

He was then taken back to his cell in jail and we did not see anything more of him until Thursday morning. The day before his execution we moved into the court house, about 100 feet from the jail. Davis was handcuffed and brought in just as we were eating breakfast. I gave him some meat and he thanked me for it. The guard was then doubled around the jail and we all bade him good bye.

Next morning, Friday, Nov. 29th at 10 o'clock we heard the drums and a regiment of infantry came marching down the street to the jail. A wagon and a coffin in it was driven up and the Provost Marshal went in the jail and brought Davis out. He stepped into the wagon and looked around at us and seeing us at the windows bowed to us his last farewell. He was dressed in a dark brown overcoat such as many of us had captured and dyed brown. He sat down on the coffin and the regiment moved off to the suburbs of the town where the gallows had been erected. Upon reaching the gallows he stepped from the wagon and took a seat on a bench under a tree. He asked Capt. Armstrong how long he had to live and he replied, "Fifteen minutes." He then asked the Captain the news. He told him of the battle of Missionary Ridge and that the Confederates had been defeated at which he expressed his regret and said, "The boys will have to fight the battles without me."

Captain Armstrong then said: "I regret to do this. I feel that I had almost rather die myself than to do what I have to do."

Davis replied, "I do not think hard of you. You are only doing your duty."

Gen. Dodge still had hopes that Davis would recant when he saw death staring him in the face and that he would reveal the name of the traitor in his camp. He sent Capt. Chickasaw, of his staff, to Davis. He rapidly approached the scaffold, jumped from his horse and went directly to Davis and asked him if it would not be better to tell who gave him the information in the documents found on him, as it was not yet too late.

And now, in his last extremity, Davis turned to him and said:

"If I had a thousand lives I would lose them all here before I would betray my friends or the confidence of my informer."

Davis then requested Capt. Chickasaw to thank Gen. Dodge for his efforts to save him, but to report that he would not accept the terms. Turning to the chaplain he gave him a few keepsakes to send to his mother and then said to the Provost Marshal, "I am ready," ascended the scaffold and stepped upon the trap.

Thus passed away one of the noblest and most sublime characters known in history and in future ages this act will be pointed out as one most worthy of emulation.

In a private letter with this sketch Comrade Brown writes that Gen. Dodge has been very kind and has given every assistance in getting reports from the war department and that he, Gen. Dodge hopes that the citizens will build a monument to Davis in the capitol square at Nashville and thinks that it should be of bronze, representing a Confederate soldier. The monument has been erected as suggested and one of the grandest things about the whole affair is that Gen. Dodge subscribed $10 as a contribution toward the fund which was raised to build it.

Although in my four years experience in the war between the states I saw many sad things. I never saw a sadder thing than happened near Dalton, Georgia, while we were in winter quarters there. I have seen dead soldiers on the battle field so thick that you could walk long distances upon them, have witnessed heartrending scenes in the hospitals but never anything more affecting than this.

We had erected an arbor for devotional services and a protracted meeting was going on. Our chaplains were conducting these meetings and the men of our and other commands were showing great interest in the services, many having embraced religion and come forward for prayer.

One night while these services were going on in the arbor, after the captain had preached an excellent sermon he called upon the penitents to come forward to the altar. Many men came forward and were kneeling, the alter being full. Strong men were bowed asking forgiveness for their sins when a large tree standing near, which had got on fire at the stump, burned off and fell right across the arbor where the penitents were upon their knees in prayer, killing nine of them instantly. It fell right along the log upon which they had their heads, crushing them to a pulp.

I attended the funeral the next day when the nine were buried in one square grave with the honors of war, a platoon of soldiers firing volleys over the grave.

This concludes my story of my experiences in the civil war. The sufferings and privations of the men in the field, our mothers, sisters and daughters at home can never be told at least by my feeble pen. A new South has been born, a new generation has come upon the field of action and we all hope there may never be another call to arms but that all differences may be settled without the shedding of blood. With best wishes to every reader, I am

Fraternally yours,

R. C. CARDEN

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