At the time this happened I was Deputy Commander of the First Armor Training Brigade at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. One of our battalions provided Armor (tank) training for the Marine Corps.

We had a group of old Marines come in for a briefing on the new tank which, back then it was still in the experimental phase and was called the XM-1, now the M1A1 Abrams.

These old fellows were all WWII vintage and as I began the briefing I thought I might as well throw in a couple of obligatory Marine jokes. After all as an Army guy it is an obligation to make fun of the other services whenever possible.

With the jokes out of the way I presented the briefing and afterwards held a question and answer session. These guys may have been long in the tooth but they had some really good questions and we had one of the better sessions I’d had from a group in a long time.

After everything was finished we had coffee and some light snacks in the back of the auditorium. I was talking to one of my lieutenants when I spotted one of the old Marines making his way toward us. He had that determined look on his face that told me he had something important to say. As he got to us he said, “Sir, that was a really good briefing and I’m glad our new Marines are getting that type of training on the finest tank in the world but, I need to correct you on one very important aspect of your briefing. You mentioned at one point that we, as exMarines, would appreciate the engagement range and firepower available on the battlefield. Well the firepower, speed, and main gun range is more than impressive but there is no such thing as an exMarine. There are live Marines and dead Marines but certainly no exMarines.” I never forgot that correction. I have made friends with a number of Marines over the years in service and out and you can’t beat the esprit de corps of those fellows. I admit when you talk with them you have to speak very slowly and not use big words because as the old fellow said, they are Marines. If I hadn’t graduated from high school and my parents been married I might have qualified to join the Marines instead of the Army.:lol:

dljen the AHC stands for Assault Helicopter Company and is just a typo which considering huey driver's background is easily understandable. The ACA is a sad excuse for governance.

I would like to see how they arrive at that cost. I sure doubt if it cost anywhere close to that amount when I was in Vietnam and inflation can't be that high from then to now. When we weren't sleeping in our aircraft we had some rag-patched GP medium tents.

A helicopter pilot, during an accident investigation board, when asked what had caused the crash responded, "well sir, it seems I ran out of air speed, altitude, left pedal and ideas all at the same time."

Larry, the Russians declared war on Japan invading Manchuria only two days after the first atomic bomb was dropped. Japan knew the Russians were in a "land grab" exercise in Manchuria and Korean and with a Japanese Army of nearly a million and a half men in Manchuria did not threaten the Japanese home islands.

You are making an assumption that Japan feared Russia more than the United States. There is no claim by Japanese historians that Japan feared Russia more than the Americans. With American forces gathering for an invasion Japan was much more concerned with where the American's were going to land.

You make an irrational claim that Truman's integration of the armed forced in 1948 was a way to get more blacks to enlist. Voluntarily enlistments were not needed as the draft provided all the manpower required for all services.

Truman was a good, honest man who got practically nothing in the way of financial rewards. I would like to see all our politicians display the personal integrity and dedication to trying to bring the best out in Americans. Remember also who integrated the Armed Forces.

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” Said by Will Rogers and I'm in full agreement with his statement.

Hey Huey Driver are you going to be in Louisville for the VHPA reunion this year?

HISTORY OF THE FAMOUS MIDDLE FINGER

Well, now......here's something I never knew before, and now that I know it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends in the hope that they, too, will feel edified.

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as 'plucking the yew' (or 'pluck yew').

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and they began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as 'giving the bird.'

Isn't history more fun when you know something about it? And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing.

You are absolutely right about those photos bringing back a flood of memories. In 1972 I flew an Army H13S from Ft. Knox, Ky to the "bone yard" outside Tuscon. Looking at the rows and rows of airplanes and helicopters from the air was quite a sight. Got my last look at an old H37 Mojave helicopter. I only had 23 hours in the Mojave when they took them out of service.

Thanks for the memories, :thumbup:

It's good to learn something new and discover one more reason why being a Republican rather than a Democrat is a good thing. :thumbup:

Those were well worth the time to read. I guess they are even funnier when you happen to be grandparent age.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

That is the first I had heard about Lincoln's duel. Not only a great president but pretty good with humor as well.

There is a book out there but it may be out of print now. It is or was on Amazon called "Toppers" by Darrell Bain and yours truly, Will Stafford. It came about as a result of a bunch of emails between me and Bain, a real author. He asked me if he could put the stories in a book form and I agreed. I don't think it ever sold more than 150 copies. Most of the stories are "War Stories" but not the kind that start, There I Was, Ten Thousand Feet, A Pocket Full Of Nickels, And Not A Coke Machine In Sight - The Flak Was So Thick You Could Walk On It. Most of the stuff in the book is the humor I found in most of the things I got into during the war plus one incident when I tried to do my younger brother in with a birthday present. I once had a commander tell me he thought I was trying very hard to ruin his career. I started Army life as a private and wound up retiring 26 years later as a major. Along the line I became a helicopter pilot but was much better as a tanker, got a battlefield commission to 2nd Lt., and worked my tail off to get a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

During the war I carried an Army issued riot shotgun slung on the back of my seat. At first I carried a Thompson .45 caliber submachine gun until I got shot down and found out how heavy it was to lug around with twin magazines and a pouch with four extra mags. That shotgun sure made me feel a heck of a lot better prepared plus the pattern of 00 buckshot made me more dangerous than the Thompson. Yea I had a pistol too but I'd have to get close enough to beat the enemy to death with it as I was a terrible shot with a pistol.

If confession is good for the soul RMM then I suppose I must admit that I have a few of the BS type things in my closet too but as you said, "that doesn't count". :-P