The Bar... Volume#2

Deb Prothero · Post by **Deb Prothero** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:59 pm

magicmarty your wisdom has helped make it possible to get through.

Hey GH does a plant shutdown mean you've got to actually tear things down and put them back together. I'm guessing you're the guy who has to work hardest during a shutdown.

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:19 pm

Deb, I was camped next to a male member of Burning Sky. I met an asian chick there who used to jump at Woodland in Yolo County where I started sport jumping in 1969. Small world. I did hop and pops from a Cessna there long before I joined the 18th Corps. I liked climbing out on the wing and letting go better than being sucked out the door of military jets. " Beat your boots, trooper!"

Anyway, my neighbor opted not to jump in the high wind that day 2 guys got injured. One guy had a main malfunction and had to do a cutaway. People saw him under his reserve chute and his main falling and thought there were two guys on that incident. The other guy got caught in the wind and landed hard also. Two guys not three was my understanding. I could be wrong as this is all second hand hearsay info. Noone died that day, no bloody boots.

Ps. One time I got knocked out on a military training jump from a C141. They let us out at 700 feet in a 30 knot wind. I was wearing jeans under my fatigues, and the jeans got split from the knee to the hip. Hellasish bruise later on my hip. I landed correctly but my head bounced on the Sicily DZ at Bragg. No time for setup on that one. Opening shock and then we landed, no time for reserve chute there.

" Hey BoDiddley, have you heard?
We're gonna jump from a big iron bird!"

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:32 pm

You were at burning sky?
I was across the street.

They were all nutty as crackhouse rats!
Looked like fun though.

Deb Prothero · Post by **Deb Prothero** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:32 pm

Thanks for the update Oldguy. I was trying to report this for the Black Rock Beacon so I went to the central Med tent. They reported 3 had come in for observation so that's what I wrote. Fortunately, as you say, no bloody boots!

PS You were fortunate that a huge bruise was all you got in that incident. I only did a few jumps in the Canadian reserves. Turned out I wasn't supposed to get that training because that was before Canadian women were allowed in combat roles so I was moved on to a light armoured recce unit. My favourite reserve experience was rappelling from helicopters! Now that is some scary stuff when the wind kicks up and those blades are whirring and the whole apparatus just jumps up! Thank goodness for safety harnesses.

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 3:15 pm

Deb. in '73 we had 3 women in the 118th Mp Co.(ABN) at Ft.Bragg. M.P.s training first. I was a straight leg in the 504 MP co. before volunteering for the 118th. We went to Ft. Benning as a Company for jump training. A Sgt. in the 504 was a Canadian jumper, his colorfull wings were spectacular. Our silver wings were tiny in comparison. When we were done, we were Corps MPs not Division MPs like the 82nd or 101. We often guarded 18th Corps HQ, and the JFK Center for Military Assistance (Green Beret HQ.).
But that was almost 40 years ago.

PS. We had a foreign national go thru our jump cycle named Noriega.

Those 3 female airborne MPs were hard as nails...We went combat arms instead of combat support after Tet.

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 3:39 pm

PPS: One of our female officers was Dick Butkus's ( football player) sister.

Deb Prothero · Post by **Deb Prothero** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 3:59 pm

Oldguy; Seems we're always one step behind up here. We didn't allow females in the military til May 1976 and in combat roles til the mid-80s and I was raising babies by then. Some would say I was tough as nails then too - won best NCO one year on a base where only 5% of personnel were female. Us women usually worked ten times as hard so we could prove we belonged. Had to stick together to ignore some of the early discrimination too. All in all, I think my reserve experiences were the best learning experiences for life.

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:21 pm

In '73 during the Yom Kippur War, my company camped for 3 days under the wings of our transport aircraft on the tarmac of Pope Airforce Base next to Ft. Bragg. The Israeli Tanker won his tank battle and we did not have to go to Israel. Those 3 MP women would have been in the thick of it...

I've jumped from choppers but only rappeled from walls. We did rope work at the local recon course at Ft. Bragg. I had one buddy go to Ranger school but I wanted to go back to college. I should have stayed in and retired after 20 years...

I was a driver for one of my units 15 ton armored personnel carriers, M113. Fun in the mud. We had V100's also.

magicmarty · Post by **magicmarty** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:38 pm

Wow, Deb & Oldguy. You have impressed the daylights out of me. I get shaky just thinking about all that jumping and rapelling stuff. Hat's off to you both.

I had a relatively safe tour as a Supply Officer on a Destroyer and an LSD in the USNR in about 1950 - 1955. Got to Alaska a couple of times and was in Havana before Castro. Lots of machine guns on the streets along with 12 and 13 year old prostitutes walking the streets. Then some plane guard duty off Pensacola FL, folloing an aircraft carrier as pilots in training tried to land on the little mobile postage stamp on that big ocean. Fortunately, never had to make a pick up.

Lord, haven't thought about that for years. Good thing about the time was that my then wife was preggers with my son who was born at the Naval Hospital in Queens, NY six months later. He is now 54, older than most of you all.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:49 pm

magicmarty wrote:... and was in Havana before Castro.

So you're the one who took all the good parking spaces!

There goes Fishy, always going for the cheap laugh. Sneering at History. Forgetting that History bats last. Sorry.

And then she says "sorry" in smaller letters. I'll say she's sorry!

magicmarty · Post by **magicmarty** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 5:07 pm

Hey, Fishy,

Not only took all the parking spaces, but also bought out all the great Rum!

goathead · Post by **goathead** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:07 pm

gh slips in for a cold one, almost.

yep shut it down and tear things apart.
it pretty much kicks all of our asses here when we do it.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:26 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:
magicmarty wrote:... and was in Havana before Castro.
So you're the one who took all the good parking spaces!

There goes Fishy, always going for the cheap laugh. Sneering at History. Forgetting that History bats last. Sorry.

And then she says "sorry" in smaller letters. I'll say she's sorry!

ah but a great chuckle, thanks Fishy.....

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:40 pm

Sounds like Havana is just like my town.

A friend of mine went to Cuba and met castro once.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:15 pm

gyre wrote:Sounds like Havana is just like my town.

A friend of mine went to Cuba and met castro once.

so, ........

does that mean..........

he was.........

er........

*jeeze, where's Simon when I need him*............

er........

Castrated?............

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:27 pm

you are on your own on that one, big boy...I'm not touching it with a ten foot schtick.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:33 pm

I'm not sure where you're going either.
And he is a she.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:46 pm

Simon of the Playa wrote:you are on your own on that one, big boy...I'm not touching it with a ten foot schtick.

so, leaving me "out there"?........again........

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:46 pm

gyre wrote:I'm not sure where you're going either.
And he is a she.

then explaining it won't help............

magicmarty · Post by **magicmarty** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:20 pm

Not explaining it, guys, but I did get it. I guess I'm as odd as Ygmir ... or maybe we are even???

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:20 am

well Marty, I then feel I'm in good company.........

coffee anyone?

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:25 am

Well Crap Ygmir...I forgot to give you your gift bag from Da Mule!!!!

Shoot!

thanks for the coffe...gotta work early today....ciao for now!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:34 am

Coldest morning yet here.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:36 am

HI PM.......
dang, ah well, another good reason to visit..........

have a nice work day....we're expecting rain.......

littleflower · Post by **littleflower** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:37 am

good morning! mmmm, coffee sounds good ... i brought some fine pastries to go with that most elegant coffee pot

more rain, yg? have you recovered from the last one, yet?

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:01 am

nice pasties,,,,,,uh, pastries..........thanks LF......

it's raining now, again......we need it, though. At least the threat of forest fire will be gone.......

I hear that hurricane is heading for so cal.........are there any warnings down that way?

littleflower · Post by **littleflower** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:58 am

i think you're mistaking us for baja california, 1,000 miles south ... fortunately! i'm pretty sure that the waters in california are too cold for hurricanes... by the time they reach us, they're just warm, wet storms.

you might find this kind of hurricane, though ... anyone thirsty?

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:13 am

We seem to be going tropical this year. I only have so many luau shirts.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:15 am

Dougly, I'd think, being the stud you are, you'd not be wearing a shirt anyway.....just that palm frond loincloth thing you wear to work........

Deb Prothero · Post by **Deb Prothero** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:48 pm

ygmir wrote:Dougly, I'd think, being the stud you are, you'd not be wearing a shirt anyway.....just that palm frond loincloth thing you wear to work........

Hey I met Ugly Dougly and there was no palm frond loincloth involved in his attire.

Is this what you wear in defaultia, Dougly?

I'll take some of that coffee, ygmir. Need an afternoon pick-me-up. Those sweets look almost too good to eat, littleflower, so I'll just close my eyes so I don't see how I disturb your arrangement.