Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A Tribute: To Our Servicemembers and Their Families

You stay up for hours,
He stays up for Days,
You take a hot shower to wake up,
He goes days without running water.
You complain of a headache,
…………He sees others get shot and keeps moving forward
You wear anti-war shirts
He fights for your right to wear that shirt.
You make sure you have your cell phone,
He clutches his cross and dog tags.
You talks trash on your friends,
He knows he may never see his again.
You walk down the beach looking for hotties,
He patrols the streets looking for terrorists.
You complain about how hot it is,
He doesn’t dare remove his gear to wipe his brow.
You kiss your lover,
He holds a letter close and tries to smell her perfume.
You criticize your government,
He sees the innocent killed by their own people.
You see only what the media wants you to,
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.
You crawl into a soft bed,
He tries to sleep but is awakened by the sound of mortars.
You’re angry because class went over by 5 minutes,
He is told he will be held over 2 months.
You go to the mall to get your hair done,
He doesn’t have time to brush his teeth today.
You hear jokes about the war,
He hears bombs, gunfire and screams of the wounded.
You complain about the laundry,
He wears the same thing for days.
ALL GAVE SOME, BUT SOME GAVE ALL……
NEVER FORGET THEM.

Link

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Bumper-Stickers Seen On Military Bases

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"

"Machine Gunners - Accuracy By Volume"

"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."

" U.S. Marines - Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club."

" U.S. Air Force - Travel Agents To Allah"

"Stop Global Whining"

Naval Corollary: Dead Men Don't Testify.

"The Marine Corps - When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"

"Death Smiles At Everyone - Marines Smile Back"

"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? A Little Recoil"

"Marines - Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden - It's Our Job To Arrange The Meeting"

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Vulgar Brawl"

"One Shot, Twelve Kills - U.S. Naval Gun Fire Support "

"My Kid Fought In Iraq So Your Kid Can Party In College"

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy - Blessed Be The Peacemakers"

"If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher.. If You Can Read It In English, Thank A Veteran"

Monday, December 20, 2010

Veteran to Veteran

When a Veteran leaves the 'job' and retires to a better life, many are jealous, some are pleased, and others, who may have already retired, wonder if he knows what he is leaving behind, because we already know.

1. We know, for example, that after a lifetime of camaraderie that few experience, it will remain as a longing for those past times.

2. We know in the Military life there is a fellowship which lasts long after the uniforms are hung up in the back of the closet.

3. We know even if he throws them away, they will be on him with every step and breath that remains in his life. We also know how the very bearing of the man speaks of what he was and in his heart still is.

These are the burdens of the job. You will still look at people suspiciously, still see what others do not see or choose to ignore and always will look at the rest of the Military world with a respect for what they do; only grown in a lifetime of knowing.

Never think for one moment you are escaping from that life. You are only escaping the 'job' and merely being allowed to leave 'active' duty.

So what I wish for you is that whenever you ease into retirement, in your heart you never forget for one moment that you are still a member of the greatest fraternity the world has ever known.


NOW... Civilian Friends vs. Veteran Friends Comparisons:

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Get upset if you're too busy to talk to them for a week.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Are glad to see you after years, and will happily carry on the same conversation you were having the last time you met.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Have cried with you.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it's yours.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Will stand by you no matter what the crowd does.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are for a while.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Are for life.
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have shared a few experiences...
VETERAN FRIENDS: Have shared a lifetime of experiences no citizen could ever dream of...
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say, 'You better drink the rest of that before you spill it!' Then carry you home safely and put you to bed...
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CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will ignore this.
VETERAN FRIENDS: Will forward this.
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A veteran - whether active duty, retired, served one hitch, or reserve is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The Government of the United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life'.

From one Veteran to another, it's an honor to be in your company. Thank you for your service to our country and defending the freedoms we enjoy.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Motorcycle Riding Explained

I didn’t write this. But when I read it I knew that would be the best explanation to that age old saying about riding... "If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand"



Cold!



There is cold, and then there is cold on a motorcycle.

Cold on a motorcycle is like being beaten with cold hammers while being kicked with cold boots, a bone bruising cold. The wind’s big hands squeeze the heat out of my body and whisk it away; caught in a cold October rain, the drops don’t even feel like water. They feel like shards of sharp bone fallen from the skies of Hell to shred my face. I expect to arrive with my cheeks and forehead streaked with blood, but that’s just an illusion, just the misery of nerves not designed for highway speeds.

Despite this, it’s hard to give up my motorcycle in the fall and I rush to get it on the road again in the spring; lapses of sanity like this are common among motorcyclists. When you let a motorcycle into your life you’re changed forever. The letter “M” is stamped on your driver’s license right next to your sex and weight as if “motorcycle” was just another of your physical characteristics, or maybe a mental condition.

But when warm weather finally does come around all those cold snaps and rainstorms are paid in full because a summer is worth any price.

A motorcycle is not just a two-wheeled car; the difference between driving a car and climbing onto a motorcycle is the difference between watching TV and actually living your life. We spend all our time sealed in boxes’ and cars are just the rolling boxes that shuffle us from home-box to work-box to store-box and back, the whole time, entombed in stale air, temperature regulated, sound insulated, and smelling of carpets.

On a motorcycle I know I’m alive. When I ride, even the familiar seems strange and glorious. The air has weight and substance as I push through it and its touch is as intimate as water to a swimmer. I feel the cool wells of air that pool under trees and the warm spokes of sun that fall through them. I can see everything in a sweeping 360 degrees, up, down and around, wider than Pana-Vision and IMAX and unrestricted by ceiling or dashboard.

Sometimes I even hear music. It’s like hearing phantom telephones in the shower or false doorbells when vacuuming; the pattern-loving brain, seeking signals in the noise, raises acoustic ghosts out of the wind’s roar. But on a motorcycle I hear whole songs: rock ‘n roll, dark orchestras, women’s voices, all hidden in the air and released by speed.

At 30 miles per hour and up, smells become uncannily vivid. All the individual tree- smells and flower- smells and grass-smells flit by like chemical notes in a great plant symphony.

Sometimes the smells evoke memories so strongly that it’s as though the past hangs invisible in the air around me, wanting only the most casual of rumbling time machines to unlock it. A ride on a summer afternoon can border on the rapturous.

The sheer volume and variety of stimuli is like a bath for my nervous system, an electrical massage for my brain, a systems check for my soul. It tears smiles out of me: a minute ago I was dour, depressed, apathetic, numb, but now, on two wheels, big, ragged, windy smiles flap against the side of my face, billowing out of me like air from a decompressing plane.

Transportation is only a secondary function. A motorcycle is a joy machine. It’s a machine of wonders, a metal bird, a motorized prosthetic. It’s light and dark and shiny and dirty and warm and cold lapping over each other; it’s a conduit of grace, it’s a catalyst for bonding the gritty and the holy.

I still think of myself as just another rider, but by now I’ve had a handful of bikes over a couple dozen years and slept under my share of bridges. I wouldn’t trade one second of either the good times or the misery. Learning to ride was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Cars lie to us and tell us we’re safe, powerful, and in control. The air-conditioning fans murmur empty assurances and whisper, “Sleep, sleep.”

Motorcycles tell us a more useful truth: we are small and exposed, and probably moving too fast for our own good, but that’s no reason not to enjoy every minute of the ride.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Bacon Ice Cream

The Great Bacon Odyssey: Is Bacon Ice Cream Worth the Effort?
Bacon Ice Cream

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

My New Ride


2010 Kawasaki Voyager

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Twelve Important Things My Motorcycle Has Taught Me

Twelve Important Things My Motorcycle Has Taught Me

1. The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rear view mirror.

2. Four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul.

3. I'd rather be riding my motorcycle and thinking about God, than sitting in church thinking about my bike.

4. Life may begin at 30, but it doesn't get real interesting until about 75 mph.

5. Midnight bugs taste just as bad as Noon time bugs.

6. Sometimes it takes a whole tank full of gas before you can think straight.

7. A bike on the road is worth two in the shed.

8. Young riders pick a destination and go; old riders pick a direction and go.

9. When you're riding lead, don't spit.

10. Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at 75 mph can double your vocabulary.

11. If you can't get it going with bungee cords and duct tape, it's serious.

12. Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Good Quote

Democracy is when 2 lions and a lamb can vote on lunch. Liberty is when a well armed lamb can dispute the vote outcome. - Ben Franklin.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

UNDER THE LEATHER AND BEHIND THE SHADE

Patriot Guard Riders

UNDER THE LEATHER AND BEHIND THE SHADES
Author Unknown


Under the leather and behind the shades stands a biker. We ride for the sense of freedom it gives us. The encouragement to take the road less traveled in the chance that we may encounter something new. We ride for the friendships we make along the way, as well as, the solitude of the open road. We don't really care what you ride, just that you do.

Under the leather and behind the shades is a beating heart. A heart filled with compassion that on any given day will be riding for those in need. Ask one of us for help, but don't be surprised when all of us show up.

Under the leather and behind the shades stands a proud American. We are as diverse a group of people that you could possibly assemble. We are men, women, tradesmen, doctors, lawyers, retirees, military, civilian and on and on and on. We stand silently with reverence and one voice that, in the silence, can be overwhelming.

Under the leather and behind the shades stands an invited guest to the funeral of a soldier that we most likely have never met. We hold the flag of our nation as a tribute to the greatest sacrifice anyone can make. Out of respect for the fallen, we travel to stand firm for a family, a community and a nation to lean on.

Under the leather and behind the shades stands a biker with sons, daughters, brothers and sisters of our own. Beneath the rough exterior we tremble and weep at your loss. You may not see that, for we are there to support you. That’s why we stand so silently under the leather and behind the shades.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

ALR Sendoff

(12/5/09-Saturday) – Please Join ALR 406 (Andover) for a Sendoff to Honor 50 to 60 Members of the 226th Engineer Company (National Guard) as They Deploy from Augusta to Salina for Training, then to Afghanistan - We will meet at Augusta High School, 2020 Ohio Street, in Augusta at 11:45 A.M. to flag up and prepare to ride to the National Guard Armory. KSU at 12:15 for the short ride and small ceremony put on by the Augusta American Legion, and then escort the bus down to Highway 54 and out of town, where we will dismount and send these youngsters off. We will have Augusta P.D. support. Ride captains will be Wayne (Shark) Friedel and Bashful of ALR 406.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

New Patriot Guard Mission

Fallen Hero US Army Staff Sergeant John James Cleaver
US Army 82nd Airborne Division Trooper, Staff Sgt John James Cleaver, age 36, Joplin, MO. was killed in action on 19 November 2009 in Afghanistan.
The family has invited the Patriot Guard to attend the funeral.
The Patriot Guard extends our sincere sympathy to the Cleaver Family.
Please keep this family in your prayers.
God bless John and his family.
If you are on the Patriot Guard email list, a confirmed mission with final details will be emailed and posted when finalized.
Tentative funeral services: Saturday 28 November 2009 in Galena, KS.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Salute to Veterans Ride

(11/8/09-Sunday) – ALR 401 (Wichita) Invites All ALR to LEAD the First "Salute to Veterans Ride" at 2:00 p.m. at Alefs Harley Davidson in Wichita. Alefs has purchased 50 3x5 state flags for this Ride, and they would like to see all 50 states flying in honor of the Veterans from all 50 states. Stage at Alefs (I-35 & 53rd St. N.) at 1:00pm. Alefs has asked the Legion Riders from this area to lead the ride with service flags flying behind the US flag and the Kansas state flag, then all the other state flags following, then riders without flags. The ride will end at the Wichita Veterans Park. When we arrive at the Veterans Park, riders will park in the right lane, dismount and gather together to pay Tribute to all the Veterans of the USA. We will then present welcome home flags to area veterans who well represent veterans from WWII, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the Gulf war, etc. This ride is open to all riders and you do not need to be a Veteran. This is for anyone who just wants to salute our Veterans and their service to our country. RC is Mike Macy, Director of ALR 401, at (316) 461-2639.


Renaissance Daze at Post 4

(11/7/09-Saturday) – ALR 4 (Wichita) Renaissance Daze at Post 4 (818 N. Water St.) from 3:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. – There will be belly dancing by Dreama Dancing Gypsies, heavy sword fighting by Barony of Vatavia, European & Middle Eastern Dance, fencing by Acadme’De Duello, bag pipes by The Saltire Piper, Medieval Photo Booth, hair brading & basket weaving, games for the kids, crowning King & Queen Medieval costume contest, and merchants with knives, swords, dragons and leather. Turkey Leg Dinner. Linda’s Famous Fish Fry at 6:00 p.m. Karaoke & dance at 7:00 p.m. DJ by Dollar & Tall Tim. Join us in helping our active duty and disabled veterans to be remembered and honored. All proceeds go to them.


Wichita Veterans Day Parade

(11/7/09-Saturday) – ALR 4 (Wichita) Invites All ALR to Participate in the Wichita Veterans Day Parade –For the second year, we have the honor of escorting the Gold Star Mothers in their float. The parade will begin at 11:00 am in downtown Wichita. The parade route begins at Central & Murdock and goes south on Main to Douglas. The parade will end on Douglas at Kennedy Plaza on the north side of Century II. Following the parade there will be a celebration at Kennedy Plaza and on Douglas Avenue between Water and Waco. You will have the chance to meet the parade participants; view vehicles and other displays; and listen to patriotic music. ALR Staging: Breakfast will be available at Post 4 from 0800-1000. We will be lining up at 10:00 just down the street to the east.