This is an account of Americans. Which is, I am heart broken to say, not an account of the people who make up more than a very small percentage of the population of the USA.
I am convinced that there will be a bloody reckoning in our country in the not too distant future. We will need men and women who are Americans to save our nation.
Snakepit KansasSeptember 12, 2020, 5:54 AM
Barely a mention from the media of this man receiving the Medal of Honor. Instead we got a large dose of hearing the disbelief of fans in Kansas City booing a demonstration by football players.
ghostsniperSeptember 12, 2020, 10:07 AM
decency is downplayed, abomination is exalted
got a new arkansas wet stone, pure black, BIG, 6″w x 14″l x 3″thick
gonna try to wear it out on a shitload of edges that need refined
when it’s done that becker will lay waste to 6 necks at once
It’s one of those MOH stories that makes you get goosebumps from the drama and courage of the event. This man, and his stalwart unit, remind me that Americans do tremendous things when the moment arrives. Like always, I try to personalize things from the news, and so please permit me this indulgent memory. I attended a dress blue uniform dinner in the Eighties, and one guest at our battalion mess quietly sat with the commander. Both were Green Beret vets of the Vietnam war, and it so happens that our guest was one of a handful of the founders of Force Delta. There’s good, and then there’s damn good. And goddamned few better yet. SGM Payne takes his place at the Valhallan table set for just his caliber of man.
Snakepit KansasSeptember 12, 2020, 6:32 PM
I can read like the rest of us, and I am not a veteran. Airborne school post boot camp and AIT from what I read, is non-stop running and push-ups (Ghost can confirm). This MOH winner also went through Ranger school which is a total suck-fest of little food, less sleep and total dedication of physical capability through pain. He eventually makes it to Delta Force which would physically and mentally crush even a toughened man. I have two Ben Franklins that say he earned his CIB (combat infantryman’s badge) LONG before he ever got to Delta Force. Dude is a total badass.
ghostsniperSeptember 12, 2020, 7:07 PM
Snake sed: “Airborne school post boot camp and AIT from what I read, is non-stop running and push-ups…”
=====
During basic at Fort Knox (summer 74) we walked every where, miles upon miles. Probably several hundred before it was done. If it was raining we rode the cattle cars but that was rare. Then off to Combat Engineer AIT at Fort Leonard Wood. The first day during the el-tee’s introductory speech one of the troops asked if we were going to have to walk very much. The el-tee grinned from ear to ear and said, “There will be very little walking here at Fort Leonard Wood, (everybody breathed a sigh of relief assuming we would be riding the cattle cars to all the ranges) you will be RUNNING!” He pulled the rug out and everybody was shell shocked. He continued, “There are only 2 ways soldiers move on my post, flat out hauling ass double time, or on your belly in the goddamned gutter.” We ran like broke dik dawgz.
This was in late summer, and we ran like barren hoons every where. Hundreds of miles. Imagine 200 swingin’ dix in formation double timing with a 9 man front. They made the fat doods road guards and they ran them fuckers into the ground. I wasn’t fat, but maybe more than I should have been. I was 185 (6′ tall) when I started basic and when I came out of jump school I was 155. When I went home on leave afterward my mother was shocked. She said I looked like a concentration camp victim. lol Maybe, but I could out run the wind!
Late Oct 74 I got to my permanent party in Wildflecken Germany (my home for the next 37 months) and waddya know? The company commander is a gd ranger. jeezis chryste. Every.god.dam.morning he started us out with a 3 mile run around the whole post. A year later he was promoted, shipped stateside and we could finally act like normal people for a change.
Mitchell StrandSeptember 13, 2020, 1:10 PM
Quiet. Confident. Shows admiration for his fallen friend. Says his medal memorializes everyone but him.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
This is an account of Americans. Which is, I am heart broken to say, not an account of the people who make up more than a very small percentage of the population of the USA.
I am convinced that there will be a bloody reckoning in our country in the not too distant future. We will need men and women who are Americans to save our nation.
Barely a mention from the media of this man receiving the Medal of Honor. Instead we got a large dose of hearing the disbelief of fans in Kansas City booing a demonstration by football players.
decency is downplayed, abomination is exalted
got a new arkansas wet stone, pure black, BIG, 6″w x 14″l x 3″thick
gonna try to wear it out on a shitload of edges that need refined
when it’s done that becker will lay waste to 6 necks at once
Thomas Payne’s MOH citation as a graphic novel:
https://twitter.com/wretchardthecat/status/1304594909228232704
It’s one of those MOH stories that makes you get goosebumps from the drama and courage of the event. This man, and his stalwart unit, remind me that Americans do tremendous things when the moment arrives. Like always, I try to personalize things from the news, and so please permit me this indulgent memory. I attended a dress blue uniform dinner in the Eighties, and one guest at our battalion mess quietly sat with the commander. Both were Green Beret vets of the Vietnam war, and it so happens that our guest was one of a handful of the founders of Force Delta. There’s good, and then there’s damn good. And goddamned few better yet. SGM Payne takes his place at the Valhallan table set for just his caliber of man.
I can read like the rest of us, and I am not a veteran. Airborne school post boot camp and AIT from what I read, is non-stop running and push-ups (Ghost can confirm). This MOH winner also went through Ranger school which is a total suck-fest of little food, less sleep and total dedication of physical capability through pain. He eventually makes it to Delta Force which would physically and mentally crush even a toughened man. I have two Ben Franklins that say he earned his CIB (combat infantryman’s badge) LONG before he ever got to Delta Force. Dude is a total badass.
Snake sed: “Airborne school post boot camp and AIT from what I read, is non-stop running and push-ups…”
=====
During basic at Fort Knox (summer 74) we walked every where, miles upon miles. Probably several hundred before it was done. If it was raining we rode the cattle cars but that was rare. Then off to Combat Engineer AIT at Fort Leonard Wood. The first day during the el-tee’s introductory speech one of the troops asked if we were going to have to walk very much. The el-tee grinned from ear to ear and said, “There will be very little walking here at Fort Leonard Wood, (everybody breathed a sigh of relief assuming we would be riding the cattle cars to all the ranges) you will be RUNNING!” He pulled the rug out and everybody was shell shocked. He continued, “There are only 2 ways soldiers move on my post, flat out hauling ass double time, or on your belly in the goddamned gutter.” We ran like broke dik dawgz.
This was in late summer, and we ran like barren hoons every where. Hundreds of miles. Imagine 200 swingin’ dix in formation double timing with a 9 man front. They made the fat doods road guards and they ran them fuckers into the ground. I wasn’t fat, but maybe more than I should have been. I was 185 (6′ tall) when I started basic and when I came out of jump school I was 155. When I went home on leave afterward my mother was shocked. She said I looked like a concentration camp victim. lol Maybe, but I could out run the wind!
Late Oct 74 I got to my permanent party in Wildflecken Germany (my home for the next 37 months) and waddya know? The company commander is a gd ranger. jeezis chryste. Every.god.dam.morning he started us out with a 3 mile run around the whole post. A year later he was promoted, shipped stateside and we could finally act like normal people for a change.
Quiet. Confident. Shows admiration for his fallen friend. Says his medal memorializes everyone but him.
What a rare and noble man.