Kinda like how the government works..
Only, I'm going to have some actual product I can put my hands on.
Thankfully, the phase of a woodworking project that every woodworker holds his breath in anticipation, sanding, is mostly finished. When I walked in the house yesterday afternoon after a long session, Mrs J pushed me back out side and proceeded to start beating me. OK, she was getting the dust off of me, but I think she was enjoying it.
Don't go there, juvat!
Not going there, aye, ¡Mi viejo sargento de la Fuerza Aérea con un ojo biónico!
So...There I was*....Waiting for glue to dry and realizing that Monday was rapidly approaching. I also realized that Sarge had used up the weekly ration of Airplane photos, Nature photos and Haiku. Meanwhile, Beans had used up the Chant's entire monthly ration of Rants. Which left me in a dilemma on what to write about this week.
What to do? What to do?
I know! I'll write something hysterical.
You mean Historical, right juvat?
Sí, mi extremadamente antiguo sargento de la Fuerza Aérea, ¡histórico, no histérico!
So, I powered up the wayback machine on YouTube and it suggested the video below. (Forewarned is forearmed, Language alert!). Unintentionally, I learned more about Iraq in 4 minutes than I thought possible.
But...Seeing as how Mr. Peabody answered all possible questions about THAT subject, I decided to visit the History Guy and see what he had around.
He suggested this.
Ok, well then...98 American Nurses are stationed in various hospitals in the Philippines in early December of '41. Most are in the Army although some are Navy. When the Japanese started attacking the PI on December 8th, they were recalled to Manila from their further afield hospitals. When Manila was declared an open city, 87 were moved to the Bataan peninsula, treating the wounded in jungle hospitals. 11 Navy nurses stayed behind in Manilla to continue treating those too wounded to be moved. They became POWs when Manila fell and were interred at the Santo Tomas Internment camp where they continued treating the other, mostly American POWs.
On Bataan, much like everything else happening in the PI at that point in the war, from an American point of view, things are bad and getting worse. They fall back to Corregidor and continue their efforts to treat the sick and wounded.
21 Nurses were evacuated by Float Plane and Submarine as the attacks on Corregidor continued.
When Corregidor fell, the remaining 66, along with the rest of the forces, were captured and became POW's. They were placed in civilian internment camps and spent the rest of the war treating patients in those camps. On average, they lost 30% of their body weight while in captivity.
Somehow, all 77 survived and were rescued when the Americans retook the PI in '45. All received the Bronze Star for Valor. I loved this statement at 6:25 in the video, "Everyone who was asked, denied they were heroes. They all seemed to think they were merely 'doing their duty'."
Exactly!
Heroes "do their duty" no matter what their circumstances or costs. That's what makes them heroes.
The last of these Heroes passed away in 2013 at age 98.
Rest in Peace, Warriors!
*SJC
It’s a funny old world. 😶
ReplyDeleteYes, it is. Humor tends to make reality more sufferable.
DeleteWoodworking.
ReplyDeleteWe trade off running the sander and doing the detail sanding. We've also added a half mask respirator using a dust cartridge for each of us.(not a paper mask)
She does the staining and finishing.
We do a very good job on our woodworking, but we don't think that the quality of our finishing is quite to the same level.
Not the Mr. Peabody and Sherman that I remember, and much truth.
Those nurses deserve our respect.
Muy bueno, y gracias.
Gracias y de nada.
DeleteJust out of curiosity (and the fact that I'm not happy with the current mask) what mask did you get. One of my dislikes is my glasses keep fogging up when I exhale. That combined with the dust in the air makes vision difficult. I'm looking for a better option.
As to Mr Peabody and Sherman, given the snark that was apparent in the cartoons, IMHO it was only the norms and mores of the times that kept this version or similar off the air.
Though the actual Peabody and Sherman was full of enough snark at the time to cause some issues with the censors. The Rocky and Bulwinkle show was written more for adults than children.
DeleteWhich, as a child, was great, because for once I wasn't being treated as a child.
Done today, it would make Southpark look tame.
just. My wife and I are attending a reunion for my last active duty ship.
DeleteI will write up what protective gear we use for woodworking when we get home in a few days and forward it to you via Sarge.
Auto correct on the phone changed juvat to just. Sigh.
DeleteNo worries John, have a fun and safe trip!
Delete@juvat, I use a full face mask (i.e., a 'tanker' mask). The 'inner' mask keeps exhalation from fogging anything up. It might be overkill, but if it's worth killing, it's worth over-killing! (U.S. military motto)
Delete"Did their duty"......... a fitting epitaph for ordinary Americans who survived extraordinary circumstances.
ReplyDeleteFortunately for us, there were (and are still) a lot of those around.
DeleteSo many in the Philippennes did just that. In horrible conditions, whether as guerillas or as prisoners, they did their duty, cut off for the most part from the civilized world.
DeleteBronze Stars? That's the least that they should have received. They didn't sign up for the front line, but the front line came to them. And they served, and served well.
Godspeed, gentle angels.
Aye. Bronze Star with 'V' for Valor at a mere minimum. I knew guys from the Montana National Guard who ended up in that hellhole. Some were permanently damaged by the experience. I've no doubt that some of those women were gang-raped. It simply wasn't spoken if back then.
DeleteSenor Juvat, you have outdone yourself. I have the utmost respect for the nurses in the PI. But the Mr. Peabody and Sherman explanation of the med-east should be absolutely required viewing (with a test afterward to ensure that they paid attention) for every fricken Congress Critter, the White house staff (and occupants) and all of the stripped pants clowns in Foggy Bottom.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. I do also. I'm pretty sure some current members of Congress would fail that test, no matter how many times they watched the video. Unfortunately.
DeleteA good nurse is worth their weight in diamonds, those ladies collective worth would make the DeBeers diamond fields so much petty cash.
ReplyDeleteNice post juvat, it's what we do here, remember those worth remembering.
Thanks, Boss. Having spent a decent amount of time in hospitals lately (fortunately not me lying in the bed), I agree with your assessment. Or to put it Nautically, they do yeoman's work.
DeleteSo where's this documentation of the US having provided Saddam with WMD? I keep hearing the allegation but haven't yet seen documentation...
ReplyDeleteWe didn’t. Peabody apparently thinks *we* don’t know dogsh*t when we hear it.
DeleteYeah, that video is a load of horse dung. Middle Eastern "Nations" = Tribes with Flags. The exception being Israel of course.
DeleteRemembering, of course, that the term WMD includes both Chemical and Biological weapons, and that Saddam did in fact have, and use, them in the Iran-Iraq war. Somebody provided them to him. Us? USSR? China? Your pick.
DeleteFrance, mostly, sold them the precursor chemicals used for their chemical weapons. As well as the reactors for their nuke program.
DeleteFrance sold them the chemicals, Germany sold them the chemical factories (a factory that can make fertilizer and insecticide can make chemical weapons.) I think the krauts also sold them the lab equipment for bio weapons.
DeleteMixed between England, France and Germany for parts of the Supergun.
Germany built most of the big bunkers over there. And then provided us with the blueprints and exact coordinates.
France and Germany, again, provided most of the makings for their nuclear program. As they did with Iran.
Russia just sold them regular arms. The Free West gave them all the really fun stuff.
(And rumors of radioactive tunnels under Bagdad and other cities, and other tunnels full of 'insecticides' are true. They were reported, and then the media made the reports disappear. Now why would tunnels be full of radiation and chemicals... hmmm...)
Yet these are our allies.
To reverse the phrase, the enemy of my enemy... From the above, the friend of my enemy is my enemy.
This gave me a big Monday smile Juvat. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure PA.
DeleteDo most of my woodworking with kits from Wayfair. Don’t need to sand. The last one actually finished up plumb and no damage. I’m still of the opinion that our nation’s lust for drugs is what’s killing our finest over there in yet another no win situation. I have agent orange stuff in my life, why can’t they spray the poppies if they really want to win. Let allah sort them out. They’ll kill each other off within twenty years. I assumed this is ranting Monday, we’re at our last chemo for miss Jeanie.
ReplyDeleteWe're praying for the both of you Dave.
DeleteI don't mind the sanding TOO much. Keeps me humble (or attempts to in any case).
Because our leaders realized that getting rid of the poppies would deny the population money which would further turn them against us.
DeleteIt really doesn't matter now. Most of the heroin coming into the US is grown in Mexico.
And, yes, we should have said to the Afgans that if they wanted the fields to grow anything, stop growing poppies, else we'll spray.
Just like we should in Mexico. And other countries that grow cocaine and poppy. Let's make the drug war a real war and see how long it lasts.
I miss seeing Peabody & Sherman,.. makes one think.
ReplyDeleteHaven’t done any woodworking in some (decades) time... miss that, too.
My experience with nurses has pretty much always been positive, even with the curmudgeonly LCDR at boot camp in ‘61.
Not all curmudgeons are bad. I mean, look at Sar....Never Mind!
DeleteRant pool refills at midnight on Sunday, so there's a rant still for the week waiting. And any unused rant time gets deposited into a reserve. The time goes stale after a while, so there is a 'use-by' date on the rant time.
ReplyDeleteWhich, I think, usually forces Tuna to pop one out. If the rant reservoir gets too full, an alarm goes off in OldAFSarge's head and he'll drop a bomb or two. So far, juvat has remained relatively rant-free. LUSH is the only one not on the rant board. I think you all brought me on in order to keep the EPA off your backs for disposal fees of expired rant time.
Other than that, since you, juvat, did bring up the subject of rants...
As noted above, the Peabody was mostly correct. The middle east has been screwed up since forever. And not many of our western leaders are covered in glory over it. At least Truman got it right, thus pissing everyone else off.
The Philippines is a horror story, has been from Day 1 of our involvement over there. And, just like in the Middle East, we spent too much time catering to various thugs and outright dictators in the interests of keeping basing and port privileges. We are so very good in war, yet we are so very bad in diplomacy. Of course, seeing the towering leaders we have in war compared to the Foggy Bottom swamp dwellers we produced from the beginning in the precursors of the State Department and the actual State Department, well...
Eminent domain and idiot drivers fill my rant contribution categories. Agree with your assessment of foggy bottom. The problem is exponentially worse when the President thinks he’s a great statesman but isn’t. Yes, LBJ, Jimmuh, Billy Jeff, and Obiwan, I’m talking about you. Others were bad, those four jackasses (Democratic parties mascot is unbelievably accurate ain’t it?) were absolutely horrible at a biblical definition of the word.
DeleteWell....you did say the rant quota was reset last nught, right?
Yup. Refilled last night, and I am still showing.... at least 40 rants available before October is done. So... Rant away!
DeletePersonally, if I was President, I'd get someone like Diplomad to be my hit man. Have him walk through the hallowed halls of Foggy Bottom and have him point to people and say "Yes" or "No" and all the 'No' people immediately walked out the door.
Then take the roof off the place and expose it to sunlight.
Or just close the doors and set fire to the place.
The US State Department - working against national interests from day 1...
The one time I had to go with The Admiral and be the guy sitting behind him leaning forward and whispering answers in his ear, was an argument between State and Drug Enforcement over DOD asset allocation. State wanted to use the asset to broadcast TV signals into Cuba. The druggies wanted to use it to watch out for cigar boats. The Admiral and I walked out of the White House and got back into the car. He looked at me and said, "I hear you're retiring, what are you going to do?" I told him "Grow grapes and make wine" (the dream at the time). He asked if I was hiring. He went on to wear 4 and become CinCPACFLT.
DeleteFrankly, I would apply a similar method to clearing the Pentagon swamp. Anyone on their second tour and less than an O-7 or been stationed there more than 3 years...Gone.
It eats you. Starting with the heart, then your guts and then finishing you off with the brain
It's almost like corruption can corrupt even the best person.
DeleteI hope our current President and family is able to withstand the evils of Washington.
I pray for his well being nightly
DeleteRants replenish nightly, but I think Juvat's point was that you used up the day's quota in the first few sentences! Rants are my specialty, I'm kinda an aficionado of them, and I'm happy that others are joining me! Thanks for the history lesson Juvat. Good stuff.
DeleteReal visible proof of work IS something we need. Will await the final pics of the table. Re the nurses- Those ladies did all they could with what they had. Who knows how many lives they actually saved? And yes, they were heroes in every sense of the word. May they rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteProof of work is in the works...so to speak.
Delete(Don McCollor)..there are two books by Gordon Seagrave ("Burma Surgeon" and "Burma Surgeon Returns")...that tell of valor and dedication of his little Burmese nurses who kept pace with General Stillwell and what remained of his forces on a nightmare retreat out of Burma...
ReplyDeleteAlways looking for books to read
DeleteMy Dad always spoke highly of the nurses that tend him while he was sick with malaria in New Guinea
ReplyDeleteHe, too, called them "Angels". I'm sure having some women from Back Home take care of you helped your recovery immensely.
My dad married his occupational therapist.
DeleteBADGER PAW SALUTE!
ReplyDeleteRoger!
DeleteA most excellent and historical post!
Delete