Buffalo Soldier Monument
Jefferson
Lincoln
Maybe they are the perfect subjects. Only thing we do is change the lighting. They provide the expressions. Like Jefferson and Lincoln were shot in the morning sun, while the Grant and the Buffalo Soldier were taken at the mid morning sun. Only Lewis was taken with a flash, and I don't like the effect it had. I am going to have to take that one again. 
But my favorite Vegas Icon,
As every soldier knows, there is plenty of down time during the deployments, and here is one example of a friendly card game of officers versus non-comms. who do you think won? (hint: wasn't the officers...)
More later...gotta find the rest on digits.
You have GOT to love the internet and the crazy shit you find on it...like this that looks like a certain general in the Army I served under in Germany. 
Well, It has started. The start of a year of learning Army doctrine and culture. Yes, there is a big culture shift for someone that has not been in an operational unit for over three years. This is going to be a big shift in my thinking towards big Army operations versus small unit advising.
There is a big push by our commanding general to get out and talk to the public about our experiences and thoughts about what the Army is doing.
I will try to post more about this as I can.
More to follow, with more pictures...:)
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Well, where to start…
After spending a year in
A big event happened in my life that affects everyone sooner or later. The wife and I lost a pet, a scruffy looking cat that meowed his way into our hearts. A little background might prove enlightening as to why it affected us so much.
Thanksgiving a year and half ago, the wife discovers a stray going through the garbage and scares it away. What she does not realize is that he has taken up residence under our porch and living in the cold and muck that accumulates under there. The kids scare it, we scare it by accident, but still it stays under the porch.
One day, the wife leaves some food out for the cat, trying to coax it out so maybe we could catch it and get rid of it. It has a bad eye and looks like hell, but we still feed it, and call it Mangy.
This is happening while I am in
I come home and Mangy is coming in the house, getting along (mostly) with our other two cats, lets us pet him, brush him, and even love him a bit before meowing to get back outside. The wife is even trying desperately trying to get rid of some horrible mats on this long haired wild cat, and making good progress.
Then, last Saturday, he starts to have trouble breathing. I actually call the vet at 1030 at night to ask what to do. We bring him in to the vet the next morning, but he stopped breathing on the way to the vet. Turns out he had a horrible infection and fluid in his chest.
He died there on the table.
So did we, a bit…Here is a pitiful creature that my wife took in, showed compassion and love, and we lose him. The wife is in tears, and I am thinking we should have brought him the night before. But I didn’t…and I regret it.
I saw horrible treatment of animals (dogs mainly) in
Mangy’s eyes still look at me in death, laying on the table. He did not suffer long, but it is little consolation. I can only hope that in the great beyond, we are judged by how we treat our animals, and how much we love them…
Gah…gotta get some tissue…
