Rocket Launch

Well, I've been persuaded to start my own Blog, so here goes:

My nickname "Bazookaman," which many of you have read in some of the different articles, comes from my old job in the Marine Corps fom 1966 to 1969. Yes, that's a real bazooka you see in my profile photo, a genuine M-20 from the Vietnam War era, identical to the one I used in 1967 and 68, from Camp Evans to Khe Sanh. Don't anybody panic out there. This one has been demilitarized as per the ATF, and the 3.5 inch diameter rockets haven't been available for it since the mid 70's..........it's a wallhanger now.

I got out of the Marines in '69, worked a few dead end jobs. (There are surprisingly no openings for ex-bazookamen in the civilian job sector) and at the the urging of an old high school buddy, joined the Air Force in '71 to learn a viable trade. Spent most of my career as an F-111 Crew Chief. Stationed here 4 times, and retired here.

Throughout most of my life, I've never been overly concerned with politics, but having grown up in the 50's and 60's, I remember distinctly what America once was, and refuse to just "accept" what it's turning into.

I've written extensively to the Statesman, the Mountain Home News, to Senators, Congressmen and even the White House occasionally (job security for the janitors there who empty the wastebaskets)!

Some see me as some kind of radical. If so, I'm at least in pretty good company, (most of the men who penned our Constitution would be considered eccentric by today's standards). If it's possible for my writing to accomplish ANYTHING, it is to get folks thinking about what's going on around us, because one lone individual cannot affect change by himself.

For me anyway, the most frightening thing I see on television is the Late Night Show, when Jay Leno does his "Jaywalking" segments. Most of the people he talks to, are in the age group of tomorrow's leaders; some of them COLLEGE students. Funny stuff, until you really think about it.

So much has changed. In the 60's, I watched Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle hit home runs without the aid of steroids for less than $100,000 per year.

In the 50's, we got into the theater for a quarter, saw TWO feature length films, separated by at least 2 cartoons, and our screen heroes weren't being busted every other week for drugs and other scandals.

In the 50's, grass was something you walked on, and coke was something you drank.

A 1963 Chevrolet Impala 2-door hardtop cost less than $2800, carried 6 adults, luggage (including a FULL SIZE spare tire) and was still running 20 years later, if you wanted to keep it that long.

There was ONE heavyweight champion.

Almost everything we bought was made HERE, and we NEVER heard "For English Press 1" over the telephone.

There is good and bad about having grown up when I did. The good part is having lived the "Roy Rogers" and "American Grafitti" period. The downside is that, unlike folks in the 25 to 40 age group, the deterioration of our freedoms. values and way of life is much more vivid to me. If you're as old as I am, unless you're deaf, dumb or blind, you've GOT to be upset at what's happened to our country.

You see.....I KNOW things can be much better, because I've personally SEEN and LIVED it when it was.

I'll be writing articles on various subjects, based not upon what is shoved down our throats by the media, nor by theory........but from my own personal experiences over these past 60 years, and historical facts. Historical facts of course, are indisputable, because history is something we KNOW has happened, and can happen again if we aren't looking for it.