Folks,

SNAFU:

Your point is taken as read FF.

Folks,

It is beginning to look like we need to organize a search party for Dux.

This time we will definitely NOT gather at the pub before starting to beat the bushes. Last time we did that and several chaps (and you know who you are) staggered out and promptly wound up lost themselves. A couple of merry makers never even made it out of the damn pub. I am pointing no fingers of blame here but one of those happy chaps favors a particularly powerful brew bottled only in Canada. BullMoosePiss I think its called. :rolleyes:

Dux promised another Olga Saga soon and it just isn't like Dux to let down the side. Something must be amiss. Or saying it another way, there might well be a miss involved in this somewhere.

Be sure to check down at the infirmary and the long line at the short-arm inspection station SNAFU. Ask Matron if she's seen him lately. I doubt she has because, according to her, he owes her 20 quid. Knowing her as we do, that was probably for certain very personal "services rendered". Another good reason to check that long line.

Don't even bother looking down at the Salvation Army soup kitchen this time fellows. Dux is barred for life down there since that unfortunate incident involving Sister Martha and the draft horse. Tell me C51, did they ever find her tambourine?

Definitely do check under his bed SNAFU and don't you go swiping any of his trade goods. Besides which you look rotten in chiffon.

Check his booze supply C51. If he's out that may explain his absence. He may be lurking about in the forest running that old liquor still of ours again. If so, we definitely need to stop him before the first batch comes off. It's OK for trading to the Army but we wouldn't want Dux to drink any. The last time he took just a small sip he was unconscious three days and we had to get him a whole new set of dentures.

I'll see if I can find him on the radio. Right C51, that is a very good point. No need to waste time, he never sits on the radio. OK, I'll look somewhere else then. DUX!

Travelers Z2 and Wildman haven't shown up either. Perhaps their paths crossed at some aerodrome and they are having a party somewhere and just forgot to invite us? No? Quite right SNAFU, they would never do that. We'll have to look for them too.

Catching up on my reading.
I read your account of the P51 JRT, and had my heart in my mouth thinking that you were going to get the ride of your life. No I don't mean the Olga story. When you got to the part about the price,it was like being hit by a wheelbarrow full of bricks, and you know all about that. If i had been there i would have gladly loaned you the money. Except for the fact that I usually only carry about $1000 Canadian around with me at any one time (that is about $7.00 American).
But you didn't let that disappointment keep you from having a great day.
News Flash:
The mayor of the town in B.C. where the monument was to be built has talked the organizers into dropping the plan of building the memorial to the American draft dodgers. It seems there was a lot of negative feedback.
I'm off to test Old Dux's booze supply. If I'm not back in three days then you'll know he had some left.

Folks,

C51:

Yes, even without a ride in a drop-dead gorgeous P-51 I will long remember that special day. Well OK I'm getting on and maybe it won't be a loooong time it will just be as long as I am allowed the time to remember it.

I do wish you had been here. We'd have had a great time. Between the two of us we might have been able to figure a way to rip a free ride off those fellows. You could have flashed all that Canadian currency in their faces while I climbed into the cockpit. How would they know the current rate of exchange is minus eleventy-five cents to 1/100 of the American dollar or whatever the ratio of $1000 to $7 really is?

Speaking of those bricks and indirectly my injury, SWMNBN tells me that due to her nursing I'm doing very well and that she will soon pass me for active duty. It is true that I am mending well but active duty sounds a hell of a lot like doing chores to me. You must not rush these things so I've politely asked for a second opinion. Unfortunately her second opinion was exactly the same as the first.

The bandages don't come off until tonight. Then we'll see how lovely the scar is going to be. These things take time to heal properly. Immediately after any accident, 'better safe than sorry' is always my motto. IMHO I should be just well enough for some light arm exercise like raising a heavy glass and some rigorous hammock testing. I'll try some of that tomorrow.

I am deeeelighted to hear that the BC folks have reconsidered the DD monument. Regardless, I think we should go ahead with ours, don't you? Provided we get that check that SNAFU assures me is in the mail. At the rate of exchange you indicated we can build a heck of a commemorative statue in Canada with $125,000. bucks American. No, I hadn't thought about Styrofoam, I was thinking of marble. Styrofoam would be a lot cheaper and portable too. Let's think about it while we sit here by the rusty mailbox and wait for that check.

A personal note:

According to the admin. I have now officially broken the 1000 posts mark by about 60. Of coarse since they lost at least half of my records I'd guess you could easily add another grand to that total. Still, 1K is a lot of posts and mostly on this thread too. I think OSRAM is up there in the stratosphere with 3K plus posts or something like that and maybe more? Anyway you should check your own profile too. You'll be surprised how many posts you've made.

Earth calling Dux. Come in Dux.......?

Nay good sirs, I live and returned to that most fabled of garden spots "The land of the not quite right" or Korea.

For once someone in the military not only had a good idea, but the wherewithall to actually act on it. I recieved a last minute email changing our location from Florida to Virginia. Quite nice really, although 20 hours in an airplane is excruiating. May I suggest the upgrade to business class? It really does make a HUGE difference.

Oh the conference was as all conferences, boring and anti-climatic. I did learn how certain parts of the Air Force work, quite by accident you understand. However, the most important actions did occur. 1. A trip(s) to Hooters 2. A trip to the Olive Garden. 3. A trip to Outback 4. Another trip to Hooters. I look back and realize I see a trend.

Its nice to see your grandson recognized JRT, however, I (having a kindergardener at home) recognize his nefarious plan. He has purposely set the inital bar low in preperation for just this award, hence the fire alarm ploy. Oh yes, I saw the two of you perched on porch dreaming up this scheme, all the while sending that "Who us" look to the boy's poor mother.

Folks,

Wildman:

Welcome back to what passeth for home these days and thank you for being there instead of me.

I'm not sure which impresses me most, your suggestion that you have even slightly probed the inner workings of the military and thus the "building" (Pentagon) or the psychology of the mysterious mind of a little boy in kindergarten. Your intuitive perception of the goings on in the convoluted mind of our little grandson alone is a Nobel prize level achievement says I. Well done.

Our son's home being so close to Seymour Johnson AFB you might very well have passed over us one day while we were sitting on his back deck. One of the fun things we do is to identify all the military aircraft passing by overhead.

Because we are also fairly near Cherry Point and Bragg's Pope AFB we see everything going over from F-15s to Blackhawks and even A-10s. Some are practically at tree-top level.

It has been a while since you last posted and we were a bit concerned about you however I figured you were just hard at work getting your ticket punched in some way or adding a multi-star endorsement to your next ER.

Now then, from your post we discover the real purpose of your trip. Obviously those crafty blue suiters are continuing to run secret field tests on the detrimental effects (if any) of too much travel, jet lag , exotic food and wild entertainment on the under appreciated officer classes below the grade of full bull. This is not a giant surprise because it has been going on for years. When will they ever have enough data?

I suppose it is a zero-sum game after all and every branch of the service has to justify that huge congressional budget allocation somehow. After all, you can hide only so much black opps. expense in $300 glow-in-the-dark toilet seats and those neat $800 gold-plated Titanium hammers. :rolleyes:

It is an undisputed law of physics that everyone simply has to be somewhere all the time. You weren't very far from us when you set down in Virginia. It was wise indeed to move the briefing from the Gulf coast, however, as we both now know, those storms came ashore way down there but managed to roll over us as well.

There are worse places on earth to be than Korea. Just one of those many places would be in a hammock slowly sipping a cold libation when SWMNBN wanders by with a raised eyebrow and a long list of un-finished chores clinched in her fist.

The bandages came off last night and I have a lovely 4" scar that is almost healed. Almost is definitely the operative word here. In my opinion I need at least one more full day of (as renowned medical man Doctor Fudd puts it) west and wee-waxation. Yawn! Now if I can just make it outside and out to that shade dappled hammock without rousing the wrath of SWMNBN.....

Folks,

As you know I've not been wasting my entire convalescent time just sitting in that cozy hammock. No indeed, I've read several interesting books. “Boyd” was a very good and informative read. There were also several exceeding thick tomes filled with grapical theory and lots of PhotoShop tips and tricks. I gobbled them down like candy.

I have also just finished that relatively new biography of Greg Boyington. This book is titled: “Black Sheep One” and was authored by North Carolinian Bruce Gamble. Bruce lives over in Flat Rock, NC. He's the historian with the silver hair and the jet black eyebrows and mustache you may have seen regularly on the History Channel. I read Greg's own autobiography when it first came out back in the late fifties and several more works about him since that one. To my mind this last one is the best “warts and all” biography so far dealing with the complex Boyington. Obviously the popular Robert Conrad TV show was not meant to be historical or factual....and so it wasn't either one.

Boyington was struggling with alcoholism and could be irascible at times even with young fans. Here is an interesting excerpt that makes us think about the dichotomies of battle and perhaps speaks for most all fighter pilots flying on either side in that bloody war.

One day a good bit after the war was over Boyington was on a book tour and signing autographs. Twelve-year-old John Ford endured a run-in with “Gramps” (he was NOT called “Pappy” by his men). Here is what a grown Ford is quoted to have said in the book about the experience:

“I stood in line with my father and was getting excited. I came up to him and said, "Mr. Boyington, would you please sign my book? And would you please write down your kills?' At which point he put the book down and, put the pen down and looked up at me very indignantly. With lots of venom he said, “It wasn't kills. We were not trying to kill the pilot; we were out to shoot airplanes down. They were victories. We always called them victories; we never called them kills.' He was very huffy about it. And I was shaking in my shoes by the time that I left. It was an experience I will never forget.” A telling example of post-war hair-splitting I think.

Read the book, I think you'll enjoy it.

Gentlemen,

JRT,

Sorry to learn of your accident with those unforgiving blocks the other day and hope that the pain and general inconvenience has now given way to a greater degree of mobility.

Things just haven't been the same lately without your gravity defying sabre dance on the bar of the Officer's Mess. I understand that C51 attempted to emulate your prowess with a demo of this potentially hazardous reel and is now tucked up in the Station Sick Quarters with extensive injuries

I wasn't at the recent Duxford display but hope to get down there on Sunday and meet some of the the old duffers from the fifties. While J is enjoying a good book I will check the hangars for anything new and report back.
I am particularly interested in checking out the Austin K6 gas truck - remember the one that never got airborne? - I have been informed by one of the old firemen, now living in Australia, that it is the same one manned by yours truly back in the fifties.
Would be rather nostalgic to see the old bus again! Need to check the regisration number.

Folks,

Hallelujah! The prodigal has again returned. Welcome home Dux.

SNAFU we'd better call in the search party. No you won't need the radio. Just stick your pointy head out the window and holler, they never even got out of the garden before C51 handed out a quart of whiskey and several pints.

So far, three are passed out in the hedge, two are dancing nude on the front porch and calling out obsenities to all passersby and three are dancing the Tango ring around the rosy style with their shirts off in the fountain in our back garden. And SNAFU, do ask C51 to pull his socks up and stop dancing that ridiculous jig on the sidewalk. Surely as an officer in the RAF he can maintain at least some slight vestige of dignity while in public?

You didn't make it to Duxford? I am surprised that you missed that one. Yes, I do remember the vehicle. I don't doubt that it was completely restored and even placed proudly on display once someone discovered that you once drove it. Do take some pics won't you? Be sure to get a snap of the bullet holes put there by that scorned blond beermaid and the dents in the bonnet where those hookers bailed out at the miltary roadblock.

Wildman and Dux have reported ready for duty. Hmmmmm. That still leaves Z2 apparently AWOL. Perhaps we should start checking all the pubs, hospitals and drunk tanks in Belgium? Yes, I see you waving your hand in the air C51. Do you really think I would choose you of all people to go to Belgium to check out all the pubs? Before you lower your hand you can check out all the hospitals. See if SNAFU wants to go. He can check out the pubs without fear of bodily injury or incarceration.

JRT,

I'm quite sure the Z2 is fine, just stuck behind Germany lines in Canturbury, West End, or whatever the English called down south.

He has to have seen the attack with his own eyes, how else can he write all those convincing details.

As for the boondoggle...er conference, I'm not quite sure when the testing will be done but I'm willing to do my part.

I can looking into the mind of your grandson as my oldest is just turning six this week and is in kindergarden himself. As a matter of fact his teacher just informed us that he spent the day "shooting stuff." Now this shooting stuff worries his mother to no end as her biggest fear is having the child that "goes Columbine."

After a sit down, (and losing privledges to the computer both PC and Gameboy) last night he patiently explained that he was shooting all the trucks. Now which trucks he could see, I'm not sure but he was quite patient with me as I struggled to understand.

I finally fell back on that tried and true method all fathers use. "You know your mother doesn't like it when you do that, don't you?" To which I received a nod and a complete promise never to do it again. (Like I believe that! HA!)

Oh, yes. Given his genetic predisposition your grandson probably has been practicing the Sabre dance on his own...just you wait and see.