Flynn's Paws: My Thoughts, My Gripes

Tag: military

Top-level domain names ending in .mil for U.S. military

  • 20090522-Serving America

    Just listened to powerful, vocal rendition of ‘God Bless America‘ (by Irvin Berlin) on our local radio station during talk show Mark Levin (560am-KSFO).

    Both my grandfathers served in the military during World War II and, yes, fought the Japanese, who choked my paternal grandfather, leaving him with a hoarse voice. They both received their pensions and have passed on: Bless their souls.

    My father, too, has served ‘In The Navy‘. He told stories of hiding behind the door to eat whatever leftovers were available (due to not having enough money for my baby milk) while commissioned on battleships (such as the JFK); of throwing up uncontrollably inside and outside over the deck due to high waves, which sometimes rocked the boat but no enough for it to sink; of walking the dog of the admiral’s wife; and of spilling water on the guest while serving as steward.

    The three of us will visit the grave of my paternal grandfather on Memorial Day, remember my maternal grandfather with prayers and perhaps plan to participate in a community held memorial for the veterans in a cemetary.

    Let’s remember the fallen and brave men, women (and children) who fought for their country, ideals and belief systems next Monday, 05/25/2009. May the warriors rest in peace as spirits and in the spirit of CHRIST. Amen-rah!

    Copyright © 2009 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved

  • 20090515-Buddy Poppy

    A red-colored, poppy received by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Sunnyvale Post 2421.
    Honor the Dead by Helping the Living!

    IN FLANDERS FIELD
    (by Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D. (1872-1918), Canadian Army

    In Flanders fields the poopies 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 field

    Note: BUDDY POPPY – Veterans of Foreign Wars, Sunnyvale Post 2421 – Honor the Dead by Helping the Living!

    Inspired by Col. John McCrae’s “In Flanders Field”, a poem about those who fought and died in France during World War I, the poppy is distributed by veterans organizations around the world as a memorial flower. Since 1922, the artificial Buddy Poppy has been dispensed by the VFW as a means of raising funds to help needy and disabled veterans, members of the armed forces and their dependents, widows and orphans of deceased veterans, to support the VFW National Home, to perpetuate the memory and history of our dead. VFW Post 2421 meets on the first Thursday monthly at 7pm, 408-246-2288, poka513@comcast.net

    Ceremonies on May 25:

    • 11am at Oak Hill Memorial Park, 300 Curtner Ave, San Jose.
    • 11am at Golden Gate National Cemetery, 1300 Sneath Lane (along Freeway 280), San Bruno.
    • 1pm at Oak Hill Field of Honor, 300 Curtner Ave, San Jose.
    • 3:30pm at Central Park (near Veterans Memorial), 969 Kiely Blvd, Santa Clara.

    Vet Services Office: 68 N Winchester, Santa Clara, CA 95050, 408-553-6000

    Vet Center: 278 N 2nd, San Jose, CA 95112, 408-993-0729

    Blog: We received our ‘Buddy Poppy’ at 1130am at the base of the ramp of the DeCA in Moffett Field after shopping for grocery. At 1133am, we exited the Moffett Field Main Gate. I stuck out my tongue at the camera located at the left central guard’s box – my bad!

    Copyright © 2009 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.

  • 20090201-Omar Bradley

    Omar

    • An Arabic name (more accurately transliterated ‘Umar). It means “flourishing” and was the name of one of Muhammad‘s closest companions and a controversial figure in Islamic history, future Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattāb.
    • An English name of Biblical origin; it was particularly popular among the American Puritans.
    • One of many variants to Greek origin: Homer i.e Homero, Homar, Omar, Omer, and Omero. It means: security and promise. In Biblical origin means eloquent speaker.
    • A common name in Spanish-speaking countries (due to the Arabic influence on Spain).

    “Bradley, Omar Nelson.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1971 ed.

    Bradley, Omar Nelson (February 12, 1893 – April 8, 1981), U.S. Soldier, commander of the 12th army group in Europe during World War II, was born in Clark, Mo., on Feb. 12, 1893. On graduation from the United States Military academy in 1915 he was commissioned second lieutenant of infantry. At the opening of World War II he was commandant of the Infantry school, later commanding the 82nd and the 28th divisions. In 1943, he led the 2nd corps in north Africa and in the Sicilian campaign. In the fall of that year he took command of the U.S. 1st army in the United Kingdom and started planning for the Normandy invasion. He led the 1st army in the landings in France and in the early battles of 1944, relinquishing this command in August to assume command of the 12th U.S. army group. Under his leadership, the 1st, 3rd, 9th and 15th armies, the largest force ever placed under a U.S. army group commander, carried on operations in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Czechoslovakia.

    From 1945 to 1947 Bradley was administrator of verterans’ affairs, and from 1948 to 1949 chief of staff of the U.S. army. He was the first chairman of the joint chiefs of staff after unification of the armed services, 1949-53, and was promoted to the rank of general of the army while in the post. In 1951 he published a volumne of reminiscences, A Solider’s Story. (F.C. Pe.)

    (Read more about Bradley, Omar Nelson on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

    Copyright © 2009 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.

  • 20090119-No Side

    Take no side but watch from afar.Can a stranger come between 2brothers fighting,lest risk his own life for them?Nay!For they couldn’t hear each other&now you?!

  • 20090112-To Launch

    Listen, if y’all have nothing valuable to lose, then nook ’em! This is if diplomacy fails. That’s what y’all get for sharing with monkeys. They fling poop back!

  • 20090103-Unholy Moly

    It’s no longer a Holy Land when more value is placed over strips of land-Gaza than on the value of human lives! Too much blood has been shed! STOP FIGHTING,MEH!

  • 20071002-Blackwater’s Job

    In my opinion, Blackwater did their jobs well. I disagree that Blackwater and its employees are wholly responsible for the deaths of eleven (11) civilians caught in the line of fire. There is no way for Blackwater to know if the civilians themselves are the source hostility and the only way Blackwater could defend themselves from these unseen ‘enemy’ is to fire back into the crowd.

    If the Iraqi people wanted to help themselves long ago, they should have stepped up and fight for their freedom for democracy during the regime of Saddam Hussein. Instead these same civilians would continue to use their old religious beliefs in the name of an unseen ‘God’ or ‘Allah’ (of obvious male expression) to handle their affairs with torture and death.

    This makes no sense to lay the blame on the heads of these private contractors, who were hired by the United States to defend the government convoy from these belligerents. I have read that many contractors, peacekeepers and missionaries have lost their lives during the process of rebuilding a country torn by war.

    Instead of waiting for government hand outs, the Iraqi people need to change themselves, work hard for a living and embrace the vast differences offered by the worldwide community. There is not harm in lifting up the veils of the women, who would more than likely voice the strength of their country by sheer numbers only. The veil is metaphorically the connection between the old world and new one, which is scary for most outdated thinkers but known by a few sources.

    I would like nothing more than to end war in Iraq so that our troops could come home. I have waited ever so patiently during the Bush administration but nothing has materialized to appease me. The Iraqi people need the awake up and learn that their prayers will NEVER be answered by ‘God’ or ‘Allah’. The latest Hollywood-like production of Blackwater being BLACKMAILED for doing their JOBS is not fair until the Iraqi people realize that resistance is futile.

    Copyright © 2007 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.

  • 20070723-Injured Veterans

    I have been reading articles regarding health care for veterans. My limited understanding is that there is no disability pay or mental health treatment. The governments both from here and foreign should pay, NOT the hard working people and fed up taxpayers!

    Once again the rich, who finance these ‘tear-roars’ along with their Hollywood-type production of fear mongering via the news media, must stop this nonsense of creating unnecessary wars, which hurt people. I have read the ones fighting the wars are mostly poor folks from rural communities.

    The people most hurt seem to be the ones alive — our injured veterans and those who lost their loved ones to war. I see little assurance from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to provide adequate care to those with post traumatic stress disorders. There should not be the delay of disability benefits whatsoever for these people and family members, either.

    I wonder what details were NOT clearly presented within the documents (prior to signing up for any armed forces) stating that the veterans are NOT entitled to any short and long term health treatment after being disabled. The promises for health care provisions should be kept for anyone fighting wars regardless of anything subject to changes.

    Leaving our recent veterans coming home from this ‘Eye-Rack’ and Afghanistan wars and out onto our streets with nowhere to turn to for assistance or help seem similar to the fate of those veterans who came out of the Vietnam War. There seems to be unfairness for these killing machines. And machines do need periodic maintenance or else become useless to society.

    From another point of view, one killer deserves this just punishment of little or no medical treatment for harming innocent victims of the ‘Eye-Rack’ war or any wars (like the Palestinians and Israelis). Perhaps, justice is indeed blind folded and does not see that the poor seem to be left behind after doing the dirty work for those who have the means to help them in return.

    Besides, the count of over three thousand dead for our military ‘servants’ from the ‘Eye-Rack’ war, this seems little comfort compared to the countless others (especially the women and children) that do not make the statistics on our headline news. The ones alive should have the second chance to live.

    Any government with moral and ethical principles should entitle survivors of war to better treatment with dignity no matter how horribly disfigured or maimed for life any person by this national tragedy. Perhaps, justice will be served via the lawyers of these warriors, who were defrauded for fighting an illegal war.

    Copyright © 2007 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.

  • 20060915-Tear-Roar

    I arrived at work late around 10:00AM on Friday, 09-15-2006 due to watching the speech about this anti ‘tear-roar bill.’ The speechmaker did seem angry and red in the face but he did his job well enough for now with some slight humor to ease tense moments.

    I sympathize with the speech maker because public speaking is quite nerve wracking to me. Words do not flow out of my mouth well unlike some hyperactive people (with personal problems) who happen to work with me. Perhaps the personnel department should do further background checks on everyone for safety reasons.

    I do not understand the urgency for the approval of the speech maker’s ‘bill’. For example, if I were to kick someone’s rear end repeatedly (for psychologically tormenting me as an unknown practice target) and claimed I did not know the said action was a moral offense, I could simply admit my guilt to a kangaroo court and jump straight into jail. Get it?

    This speech maker does not understand suffering at the hands of ‘chaos’ like the brutal ‘caning’ of one of his war torn co-workers. This hero has his ‘bill’ approved. Although, once again, man made laws are at best limited, no amount of fear should pass and allow innocent people to suffer unjust interrogation and without a fair trial.

    Furthermore, politics and the military do not seem to mix or work well together as in the recent headline news. The politicians encourage safety for the citizens (with this anti ‘tear-roar bill’) yet the military cannot do their job properly without adequate safety gears or equipment to do battle in foreign lands. Get it?

    So I personally would not approve the anti ‘tear-roar bill’ for the above mentioned examples. I am curious why the ‘United Numskulls’ did not offer immediate help to those poor people (of darker skin tone) who were being displaced from their homeland. Is this because the country is too poor to pay the United Numbskulls for protection?

    This scenario of protection seems all too familiar from various movies I’ve watched in the past. I do not see any horse head lying around as payment either. But I suppose the price is the people who no longer live to see freedom and justice being served.

    P.S. I am reminded of Mr. Bill and his psyops for bringing me tears. I am woman! Here me roar!

    Copyright © 2007 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.

  • 20060905-Hey! Hoy!

    Hey! Look here, people! I am supposed to report what happened to my simple world in twenty-four (24) hours. So far, nothing out of the ordinary occurred today except working hard to ‘free’ myself from a pile of mounting debt, which is a mostly unpaid balance from six (6) credit cards.

    My ‘freedom’ has been compromised because I, like so many others, continue to serve the employers in hopes of climbing up the ladder and towards the glass ceiling of opportunity. I thought being one’s own boss and retiring early are living the dreams of this land. I am wrong.

    Celebrities, for example, who seem successful enough, should have good retirement. But I see that they work those dreaded commercials. I think they cannot afford to maintain their debt at a higher ‘brow’ level. That’s too bad.

    I see so many people struggling to keep a roof over their heads with each paycheck. These same people are ‘free’ to escape their troubles by drinking alcohol and doing drugs. Both mechanisms do the body and mind harm and reduce the ability to ward off bad things in life.

    Here is another example of a bad thing – the ‘freedom’ of certain wealthy ‘investigators’, for creative sake, to scare the willies out of me by infiltrating my Yahoo! account(s). As a result, I cannot send chatting messages ‘freely’ without being fearful. Mass-moles!

    Today, I have watched several speeches made by important people on televised cable programming regarding our national ‘security.’ I hope these important people will become more aware and find some accountability for whomever or whatever started these scare tactics.

    Where is the ‘security’ provided by our nation for those who do not know the dangers of these predatory parasites lurking on the internet? Huh? Huh? And who will protect us adults from strangers or our children from our own citizens? These questions continue to plague my beautiful mind.

    Did you know the cycle of debt makes me feel insecure? I would rather be rich and miserable than poor and miserable. I have nowhere to turn except to work hard until this job kills me! This is my personal war – to bear my own cross.

    I am not particularly interested in wars from other lands as produced by the mass media. I believe the real wars are created to instill fear into the minds of people and, thus, breaking the hearts of family members lost to war. Get it?

    In this case, I feel neither free nor secure knowing that some are capable of scaring us this way, which is not fair. Once again, we each have a responsibility to march out there and stop the nonsense taking place right beneath our noses! Never mind!

    Copyright © 2007 by Fluffy von der Flynn. All rights reserved.