Now with a military background, perhaps I'm just a little more familiar with maps than the average bear I'm not afraid of looking at one, but for some reason I remember my father getting us up and down the east and west coast in a car without using something electronic. Now part of that might have had to do with the fact that he was doing it throughout the 1970s...but for crying out loud, have we dumbed ourselves down to the point that we need an electronic gizmo to get us from Point A to Point B?

I'm not going to say that I have never used a GPS receiver and loved the hell out of it, but that was in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert or the most southern parts of Iraq where roads and terrain features are few and far between. Having to rely on it for getting around the US seems to be just a little out of the realm and is causing great pressure on the sides of my head! As Glenn Beck often says...there's not enough duct tape on the planet to keep my head from exploding.

Well, it certainly was a typical Monday a few days back with the Veteran's Administration announcement admission confession that they'd lost my least carefully guarded information along with that of 25,999,999 fellow brothers and sisters in arms. Yes, an organ of the government that some choose to entrust their complete well-being in let the horses out of the barn albeit unintentionally. (MajorGramps used to tell me that the road to hell was paved with good intentions.)

Let's take a look at what happened, what "they" think 26 million vets should do about it for themselves, and finally how I think it should really be handled.

Silly man, don't you think?

Probably the only other crazy that could hold a candle to this nutjob is Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The cape he's pulling on is Israel's...and by proxy, ours and most of the Western world.

Here are just a few questions I'd like to ask Hugo:

So, what do all these numbers, figures, and percentages mean?

To me this is something akin to Roosevelt deploying squads of goons to uproot "victory gardens" or giving "fireside chats" that encouraged the American people to waste precious war resources or spend their money on luxury items rather than invest in war bonds.

Is any doubt that we're now trying to close the barn door after the horses are well on their way to our neighbor's pasture...or taking the doors off the hinges....or hell, maybe we're even trying to talk ourselves into the fact that there never was a barn? Horses? What horses?

Let's hope that we don't wind up having to play "The World Turned Upside Down" some day if we wind up surrending this great nation.

See you on the high ground.

MajorDad1984

HISTORICAL NOTE: British General Cornwallis had his band play "The World Turned Upside Down" at the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781. (You'll never miss that trivial pursuit question again...)

I got interested by a story there entitled, "CNN.com - Poll: Clinton Outperformed Bush."

The article goes on to speak to the way Americans feel about the two presidencies, comparing them in a number of different areas. While I'm sure there are areas where Mr. Bush scored higher...you sure don't get any information about which areas those might be, as the CNN report only dwells on the polling items where Mr. Clinton buries the president.

Do something special for those special ladies in your life today, guys. For the ladies, if your man isn't making a motion towards doing something special for you...corporal punishment is authorized!

That is all.

See you on the high ground.

MajorDad1984

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See you on the high ground!

MajorDad1984

Sergeant Major...it was a pleasure. To all the battalion, brigade, and division commanders out there, there's a great young sergeant major on his way up the chain. You'll know him when you see him! If I'd stayed in and needed a CSM at my side, he'd be on the very short list!

See you on the high ground!

MajorDad1984

Who else is tired of these spectacles and sensationalized news stories?

The Monsters and The Weak

The sun beat like a hammer, not a cloud was in the sky.
The mid-day air ran thick with dust, my throat was parched and dry.
With microphone clutched tight in hand and cameraman in tow,
I ducked beneath a fallen roof, surprised to hear "stay low."

My eyes blinked several times before in shadow I could see,
The figure stretched across the rubble, steps away from me.
He wore a cloak of burlap strips, all shades of grey and brown,
That hung in tatters till he seemed to melt into the ground.

He never turned his head or took his eye from off the scope,
But pointed through the broken wall and down the rocky slope.
"About eight hundred yards," he said, his whispered words concise,
"beneath the baggy jacket he is wearing a device."

I hadn't had this much fun since I rode the bus from Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta with a bunch of basic trainees heading to Fort Benning. (NOTE: I was returning to the Army's Ranger Department after spending some time with my parents while on convalescent leave following an injury received during Ranger School training. No dear readers, MajorDad sports no Ranger Tab.) On that bus twenty years ago I was treated to the modern day (at least at the time) version of the Matthew Broderick sleeper classic "Biloxi Blues."

I was just telling MajorMom the other day, "You know, dear. I'll really miss burritos." This guy just flat out read my mind!

Some how, some way, I have faith that we'll be able to replace your burritos.

Jonesing for a burrito on the high ground!

MajorDad1984

P.S. Yes, I know that it's probably Photo-shopped, but if it's good enough for Matt Drudge to run, it's good enough for me.

Major,

I was very disturbed to read this article; Gangs claim their turf in Iraq

I can't blog on it, I'm not a veteran, but I'd sure appreciate your take on it.

Thanks,

Dagney

Interesting enough, I'd already read that article this morning...and I was a little upset by what I found in it. Making a long story short, apparently some of our deployed soldiers come from a background that might have moved them from one battlefield to another. That would be from the inner city to the Middle East, both hotbeds of violence. They bring with them all that is good about America...as well as some of the less impressive things. The gang mentality didn't get dropped in the amnesty box before boarding their planes I guess.

Now, without any further ado...dive deep into what makes MajorDad1984 tick...or tock!

57 things you never wanted to know about MajorDad1984…