Language Translations Services

I have had visitors from 18 different countries so far since this blog has been online. I am pleased to have so many visitors. I have added a language translation service to this blog. This will make things easier for those from other countries to read the blog entries.

I am hoping to add other features to this blog and more blog entries. I have been busy lately doing programming on some of my own programs. So the time has been a bit of a problem. With better balance I hope to be able to get back to putting more into my blogs.

I hope this entry finds you all well and happy! We just celebrated our Fourth of July Independence celebration. Also, have celebrated my birthday. So am a year older.

The children in Oklahoma got me a propane grill. I am hoping to be able to use it soon. I like cooking out and will do my best to have the kids over more.

May the blessings be!

Gunny

    While a patient in the orthopedics ward of Camp Kue Army Hospital I lay many hours in bed.  The first week and a half was nothing but bedtime.  I was not allowed up at all.  Then the doctor put a requirement on me leaving the hospital.  Since I had to do physical therapy I had to be able to lift fifteen pounds before I could leave. Fifteen pounds was a lot when your leg shrinks down to nothing.  They call it atrophy.  A new word learned through first hand experience.   The muscles wither away or shrink because of a lack of use.   So between the left leg shrinking and the pain of the joint due to the operation fifteen pounds looked like a ton. 
    It was on one of the bed ridden nights that they brought a Marine Corp Gunny Sergeant into the ward.   He was groaning after they put him in the bed diagonally across from me.  He actually was probably groaning before they put him in the bed.  He was hurting pretty bad.
    They had the curtain drawn for the longest time.  Nurses, attendants and of course the doctor came and went really anxious like.  Back and forth they would go into the curtain and disappear for a bit.  Pretty soon they had him drugged and quiet and the rushing around stopped.  The ward was quiet again with an occasional cough or snore.
    The next morning all the bedridden patients looked over to the gunnies bed and the curtain was still drawn.  “They must have had him drugged real good,” we’d say.  We did not see him or hear from him for about four days.  
    Most of the patients in Okinawa came from local bases, however many came directly from Vietnam. So there was a lot of speculation on what had happened to the gunny.
After my surgery they had me heavily drugged for three full days.  The doctors had me on morphine for those three days and afterwards they put me on a weaker pain killer.   They said, “ a person can get addicted to morphine so they limit it’s use.”   I don’t remember those three days.  It was weird waking up three days later and wondering where the time went.  A small glimpse of what an amnesia patient would go through.  A whole big blank spot in the memory stayed with me for the longest time.
     We all would sit around in our beds wondering what was up with the gunny.    The doctors and nurses would not tell us a thing other then he was a hurting puppy.  It was a total mystery. We could not wait to hear from the horse’s mouth whenever he woke up.  We were surprised when he did not wake up after the third day. Since most of us had been on morphine we were experts at military medical routine.  So the extra day threw us.   
    Since we didn’t have anything better to do we would all talk about gunny sergeant Castle.  He became the subject of many a time killing hour.   Some thought it could have been a car accident.  Others thought it might be since he was a marine that it was a field maneuver exercise accident.  The four days he was out was like an eternity.  The anticipation was really the only thing we had to look forward to besides the three square meals a day.
     I was in the hospital a total of three full weeks. They kept their word as soon as I lifted the fifteen pounds they processed me out.  Back to my command I went.
     So what was the rest of the story with the gunny.  Well he finally woke up and it was my first day out of the bed. We both ended up in the bathroom at the same time. So just the two of us and I got the story straight from the horses mouth.
     Well he was stationed at Camp Hansen. It was just north of us and out in the boonies. No paved roads, all dirt and rocks and brush. The route was real windy and along the cliffs. It was real rough terrain.
Well it seemed he had decided to have a vasectomy.  The doctor did the surgury and he was sent back to his bunk in his room.  While in the bed he was in a lot of pain and started swelling. He called the infirmary and told them what was going on with him and they told him to pack himself in ice. So someone came and brought him ice. The ice was tremendously cold so it did not feel to comfortable.
     About an hour passed and he swelled up real bad and the pain was terrible so he called the infirmary and they decided to send him to the hospital at Camp Kue.  It was late at night and pretty dark. They did not have an ambulance so all they had was a spare jeep.  Jeeps are rather stiff in steering and driving and the springs are pretty hard.  So they loaded the gunny in the Jeep and headed down the windy, bumpy, pitted roads to the hospital.
     This guy was really in agony by the time he arrived at the hospital emergency room.  When we saw him come into the ward it was after this gunny went through so much.
     The gunny told me in the bathroom that they had tied the wrong tubes off and he had been  bleeding. This man had been through a pretty tramatic vasectomy that ended up a nightmare.  It was a simple procedure that went wrong.
     It was also a story I never forgot. Perhaps like any guy I am vulnerable to the effects of the story. Ouch!

Hoax

        Well there you go! Ya must check out the sources before you post. I went and posted the copy of the email I received. It was a hoax. If you take the info about Cindy Williams and plug it into Yahoo search engine you get more than you bargained for.
        First of all it was from the year 2000. Not a recent post. Supposedly by About.com here is the link:

about.com's article


It was a hoax back in the year 2000. But it does have a wonderful effect does it not. But it goes to show you what you get in emails can sound good and it can be wrong. I am leaving the both of these posts up as an example.

If you read about.com's article it say's that the Cindy William's part was added later then the Airman's part.
So you never know unless your inquisitive and I decided to check it out further. I was going to get the article that Cindy Williams had put in the Washington Post.

The airman's letter however, is still a testament to everyone as it stands. That is why I am keeping the post. But it is not entirely correct. So please disregard.

Airman's Response

The below article was sent to me by a friend from the military. I was pleased to get this one and thought I would post it here on the blog for others to read. I have left the persons name from the original article.

-------- Article below as I received it ---------------

This is an Airman's response to Cindy Williams' editorial piece in the Washington Times about MILITARY PAY, it should be printed in all newspapers across America.

On Nov. 12, Ms Cindy Williams (from Laverne and Shirley TV show) wrote a piece for the Washington Times, denouncing the pay raise coming service members' way this year -- citing that the stated 13% wage was more than they deserve.

A young airman from Hill AFB responds to her article below. He ought to get a bonus for this.

"Ms Williams:

I just had the pleasure of reading your column, "Our GIs earn enough" and I am a bit confused. Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and my bank account.

Checking my latest earnings statement I see that I make $1,117.80 before taxes. After taxes, I take home $874.20. When I run that through the calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and $10,490.40, after.

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center where I am part of the team responsible for a 5,000 host computer network. I am involved with infrastructure segments, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment. A quick check under jobs for Network Technicians in the Washington, D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years experience with my job. Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413.60 a year. No, this job is being offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum... I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions.

Given the tenor of your column, I would assume that you NEVER had the pleasure of serving your country in our armed forces. Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD leadership for attempting to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off of WIC and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for AFGHANISTAN; I leave the choice of service branch up to you.

Whatever choice you make, though, opt for the SIX month rotation: it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you full "deployment experience." As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved ones. Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone -- obviously they've been squandering the "vast" piles of cash the government has been giving them.

Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial favorites. And when you're actually over there, sitting in a foxhole, shivering against the cold desert night; and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this: trade whatever MRE (meal-ready-to-eat) you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything. This gives some flavor. Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; it won't nearly be long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for it.

You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your opined piece.

But, tomorrow from KABUL, I will defend to the death your right to say it.

You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment rights and every other right you cherish. On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective nose at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that would make most people cringe. We hemorrhage our best and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies.

And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve? Rubbish!

Humor in Uniform

This one I sent in to Readers Digest. So I could not embelish the story more. I had to keep it down to a certain number of words and frame work. It's a true story of one when I was a Navy Instructor in Pensacola, Florida. The guy in the story was kinda geeky. He was a student in the school. Each of the students had rotating watches across the base. It was a school command and very regimented. Hope you like it.

    As a Navy Instructor I had duty one evening. I made rounds across the base to check on each of my students at their posts. Some were assigned to patrol parking lots. Their duties were to walk around the lot ensuring no damage due to break ins and protect the safety of personnel.
    I had one student in a parking lot that I was responsible for and I did not see a head bobbing above the cars in the parking lot and thought it strange. So I started a search for this patrol and when I found him he was sitting on the hood of this well kept beautiful red camaro. His dirty boots were on the shinny front bumper.
    As I approached him I called him by name and told him to get off the car. His body became rigid and his head shot straight up looking at the starlit sky.
    I got closer, wondering about his inactivity and called him again by name. He relaxed and turned to look at me. He was relieved and said to me oh it’s you. "I thought God was talking to me!"

SPOOKAW

Sea Stories Blog - Rules

    This new blog will contain Navy Sea Stories primarily, however all the different services will be able to post their different stories on this site. There will be rules ladies and gents on your posts. Mainly remember to keep content clean (No x rated stuff will be posted) and be respectful to the readers.
    Most of the readers are from the USA, however there are many from other countries. Perhaps some of the readers are from where some of your stories come from. Again respect will be requested in considering what you want to submit. Many of us have been to other countries and had many an experience that would be wonderful to pass on. What will be prefered will be stories that inspire, can be funny and positive in nature. Naturally I will lead off with a few of my own. Look for this new blog within the next few weeks.
    Until I get the upload features put into this blog if there is something that you would like to post to this send it to spookaw1@yahoo.com. I will edit it for spelling, content if needed and will email you back if I post it.
    Remember too! You can always leave a comment on any of the posts! Look forward to your comments.

thanks,
SpookAW