TRECHEROUS BEAUTY

In the late 1960's, I had the thrill of a lifetime. 

A 23 year old kid with a passion for firepower, my couple-month-long Infantry Branch course at Ft. Benning, GA, was a real trip to the candy store.

As I mentioned in a previous post, "Tasting Victory", I loved guns and all things lethal. It's a hormone thing, I imagine. Males that age should probably be quarantined for a few years.

Anyway, the course had us learning about, then seeing - then using - just about every weapon that the Infantry had back then.


Ever lead a rifle platoon armed with quick-firing M16s - with a murderous M60 machine gun squad tossed into the mix - on a night fire exercise? The ear-splitting roar! The acrid smell of gun smoke!  But mostly the brilliant blood-red tracer rounds slicing the black night sky!

Absolutely beautiful!

How about leading a formation of angry tanks across an open field, their 90 mm guns belching a riot of smoke and flame? 

Awesome!


Or, have you stood next to a Howitzer as it launches its deadly thunder, shaking you to the very core of your being? 

Sweet!

And can you imagine my reaction to taking part in an air assault with a group of noisy, thrashing, troop-filled Hueys, their door gunners ready for some serious mayhem? 

Incredible!


Or, the piece de resistance, lying on a hilltop and calling in an airstrike order to two F4 Phantom jets. Then watching them dive from the pale blue sky. Then seeing these two Banshees unleash their ghastly barrage of rockets across the valley floor as they howl just a few feet overhead?

Even though the expression didn't show up for quite a few years, I believe I may have whispered,"OMG!" I was in love!

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So, why am I writing about this now? 

Why do I, a pretty typical old American guy, take these moments of your time to reminisce about such a beautifully violent experience? 

And why today, just a few days after the insane mayhem of Newtown, CT?

It is because I believe we owe it to those lovely angels and their guardians - and we owe it to ourselves - to look inward and acknowledge some of our core American beliefs, our values and our heritage. 

Where we may have been wrong, we need to change. 

Where we could have been misled, we need to make amends. 

Where America seems to have headed down a path we no longer wish to follow, we need to pivot in a new direction.

And, no, I will not own a gun!

RETIREMENT (in paradise) by El D'Rage

LIFE AT THE BEACH

I live at the beach, and this sort of thing is going on all the time! 

A few years ago, my musical alter-ego, El D'Rage (sounds like Elder Age), wrote about his - OK, my - upcoming retirement. Back then it was just a dream.

Now, the dream has come true. Through careful planning, I managed to get canned from my job at just the right time. So now I'm livin' in the Briar Patch.

If you have a moment to spare from your busy day, take a look at the video below and see if you don't spot a dream or two of your own!

SUNDAY MORING

Lately, I've put up a few posts about my musical alter-ego, El D'Rage. I've posted a few videos in the past from the album, and also a few "Minit Rap" vids, the most popular - due, no doubt, to my creative talents, not the thumbnail - is "Cognitive Dissonance", which has had more than 20,000 hits.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

by El D'Rage

These posts got me to thinking . . . it's time to make another video! 

I used to have a Mac, and creating a video was a piece of cake. Now, my 6 year old Acer with Windows Vista has changed all that. Creating a video - heck, creating anything - is a royal pain. But, enough about my problems. I'm sure there are lots of folks who have it MUCH worse (read: Windows 8 users), so I need to just shut up and share the new video with ya'll.

SUNDAY MORNING

by El D'Rage

A bit of background: this tune is from the CD I made about 10 years ago, "When We Were Kids."  The album is a quirky collection of songs I wrote and performed, most of which deal with the process of growing older. 

Well, over the past 10 years I actually have gotten older. Who knew!

Some of these songs have come to have particular significance in my life. Track 5, "I Love Your Love", is about my wife, Cath, and our relationship over the past 40+ years. 

Track 1, "Retirement" and Track 7, "Money", are pertinent for me these days. (I have the first, still looking for the second!), and I suppose there's a "Sunday Morning", Track 11,  is store for many of us.

 Oh, and one day ahead we can get together to reminisce about the "Good Old Days", #4, on "The Other Side", Track 9.