Some old Photos for your enjoyment

RBHarter

RBHarter

West Central AR
Global warming.......
People lose their minds when I point out that the ring of fire heats a bunch of water over 700° at it's source may contribute a little . Or that the ice was in Martha's vineyard 10,000 yr ago . Or say clever things like ever watch an ice cube melt in a glass ?
 
Maven

Maven

Well-Known Member
Utah Phillips' story, "Moose Turd Pie" is an absolute classic (and well told!). Btw, when I retired from teaching, I worked on a couple RR's, including Steamtown in Scranton, PA. Trust me, laying and spiking track was not easy, but like anything else, practice helped things: I was never great at it, just OK.*

*Do you have any idea how many ties of various lengths are needed for a #10 mainline turnout (switch), all of which require multiple spikes?
 
oscarflytyer

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
Bret4207 said:
No offense to anyone, but I think we drastically overuse the word "hero".
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Whole-heartedly agree with Bret. And, my PERSONAL Pet Peeve over-used... "go to war/go to war for you/wage war/battle/fight for you." Used in all kinds of crap (and a LOT of Attorney) commercials and adds these days. Not a single person involved in those adds has a damned clue what a war/battle/fight REALLY is....!

(and now trying to gracefully and quietly step down off my soap box and not fall and hurt myself)
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Read an article the other day where there was a shooting at a Walmart. BG shot a woman in the face, went chasing after other people. A young woman who had run at first went back, got the woman he'd shot and said he'd kill and got her into another room where she could lock the door- unarmed and during an active shooter event. THAT is a lot more of what defines heroism than just doing your job day in day out. Face it, most of us aren't "special" and lead pretty mundane lives. I'm okay with that, but a lot of people seem to need their ego padded with a participation trophy.
 
Winelover

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Maven said:
Trust me, laying and spiking track was not easy, but like anything else, practice helped things: I was never great at it, just OK.*
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In the early 70's, I worked as replacement summer help for GM. The Detroit Forge and Gear & Axle Complex, had a railroad yard within, that they were responsible for. Grand Trunk Railroad only brought in the boxcars for loading and unloading. I worked with a bunch of Mexicans, doing track maintenance. Including, replacing track and ties, all by hand...............they have machines now. Hard but fulfilling labor. Took a while to get the hang of hitting those spikes with that narrow maul. Tallish persons are at a disadvantage.............secret is bending your knees with every swing.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
richhodg66 said:
Chaplain Emil Kapaun, MOH awardee, dies in a North Korea prison camp and recently repatriated back to Kansas.

If you read or hear some of the interviews of guys who were in the camp with him, they are remarkably consistent, he possessed super human abilities to endure hardship in the service of his fellow man.
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Thank you, and may God give him the peace and comfort he was denied in life.
 
R

richhodg66

Well-Known Member
There's a chapel on Fort Riley named for him. He grew up on a farm in Pilsen, about 45 minutes south of me. When they repatriated his remains a couple of years ago, that little town of about 75 people became the center of attention for the whole state, I went down there to see the casket. Took a few of my cadets to lay a wreath at that shrine this past December as part of Wreaths Across America.

I was discussing him with my brother who read a summary of what he did and the responcse best summed it up; "One can be a badass and not be a killer."
 
Snakeoil

Snakeoil

Well-Known Member
richhodg66 said:
Chaplain Emil Kapaun, MOH awardee, dies in a North Korea prison camp and recently repatriated back to Kansas.

If you read or hear some of the interviews of guys who were in the camp with him, they are remarkably consistent, he possessed super human abilities to endure hardship in the service of his fellow man.
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My former neighbor at the lake was a retired Army Chaplin. They made him a Colonel before he retired. One of his jobs was knocking on doors during the Viet Nam war to tell parents or spouses that their loved one had been killed. He did it for two years. He finally had to ask to be relieved of this duty because he was not able to deal with it any longer. Nearly had a nervous breakdown over it.

Can't imagine having that job.
 
Matt_G

Matt_G

Curmudgeon in training
Snakeoil said:
My former neighbor at the lake was a retired Army Chaplin. They made him a Colonel before he retired. One of his jobs was knocking on doors during the Viet Nam war to tell parents or spouses that their loved one had been killed. He did it for two years. He finally had to ask to be relieved of this duty because he was not able to deal with it any longer. Nearly had a nervous breakdown over it.

Can't imagine having that job.
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I have an article here that was published in the Rocky Mountain News on Veteran's Day, 2005.
The author, Jim Sheeler spent quite a bit of time with a Marine Corp Casualty Notification Officer based in the Denver Metro area.
The article is quite long and a very powerful and gut wrenching read.
It won a Pulitzer prize and deserved it in my humble opinion.
If there is interest, I could upload it to my website and post a link.
 
smokeywolf

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
My uncle was a sky pilot. At the age of 8, he told his family he was going to be a minister. Ended up an Air Force Chaplain. Hero? Just a very good man. Don't know too much about him; my mother's brother. Only met him 3 times. Always felt absolutely at ease with him.
He retired a Bird Colonel and for several years he and his wife flew all over the world on MAC flights. His wife stayed in contact with my mother and said whenever and wherever they flew, the crew treated them like royalty. She died a little earlier than expected, he died 3 weeks later. No obvious cause of his death; heart just stopped.

Desmond Doss: if what I've read is even slightly accurate, he was a hero.
Pretty worthwhile movie made about him: "Hacksaw Ridge". I'm sure there was some poetic license taken in the screenplay, but even so...
 
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