Prayer for our nation daily

[castalott]

HaroldG had a son and I went to school with him for 12 years. I never dreamed he (Harold) was in the army. When he was in his 80s he mentioned his wound. So I asked.....

"My platoon went ashore the next day after the D Day invasion. We were gathered in a grove of trees when a big mortar bomb (his words) landed right in the middle of us. Everyone was killed but me. Shrapnel had cut my belly from one side to the other and my guts fell out. I pushed them back in with my hands and held my belly together as I walked to the front aid station. The guys running it had already been killed and I lay on the ground for 24 hours. Every time someone came by, they shook their head and torn open a sulfa pack to sprinkle on me. I don't know how many guys dumped their sulfa packs on me but it was several. I think that saved my life....

They finally evaced me where a doctor sewed me up with wire. He never got the edges straight...just sewed me up. Pieces work out to this day... My doc digs them out and cuts them off....

I went to church with this guy when I was little. His wife taught Sunday School... And I never knew... Never dreamed.....

Dear Lord.... Mercy Lord...Please for those that have had rough rows to hoe. Give my generation and following generations the grit, the courage, the wisdom, and the Faith to always do Right. Let us be The People You want us to be... Amen


“You have a choice! You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face!” Anonymous


“Greatness requires internal toughness.” Anonymous


“True grit is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done. No moral man can have peace of mind if he leaves undone what he knows he should have done.” John Wayne


“God honors a beautiful blend of gift and grit! He gives the gift, and He expects us to have the grit to practice and learn how to use it effectively.” Beth Moore

[castalott]

Mom was the middle of 9 kids ( that lived) . The 5 girls slept in the tiny farmhouse with the parents and the 4 boys slept in the loft of the smoke house. The smoke house was maybe 14x14 and had a very steep roof. One end wasn't closed in...open to the weather year around. The brothers slept there. Every one talked about waking up at night and how bright the stars were. They slept under a big 'comforter' thing that covered them all. They all talked about waking up with snow on top of that and how they were still nice and warm under the comforter and their blankets. It didn't seem to hurt them as they all grew to nearly 6 feet tall. That was really tall for back then....

Thank You Lord for our many Blessings. I may be poor in coin but I have been rich in the goodness of man my whole life. Thank You for all I have and all I am. We all Thank You for our many.many Blessings.... Amen

“Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.
Focus on your character, not your reputation.
Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart


“Live your truth. Express your love. Share your enthusiasm. Take action towards your dreams. Walk your talk. Dance and sing to your music. Embrace your blessings. Make today worth remembering.”
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience


“Reflect upon your present blessings -- of which every man has many -- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings


“Count your blessings, not your problems. Count your own blessings, not someone else's. Remember that jealousy is when you count someone else's blessings instead of your own.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart


“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.”
― Thomas Paine

[Blackwater]

The REAL "heroes" of this world are all around us. Today, the media seem to be determined to make the word "hero" the equivalent of "celebrity," or visa versa, but they will NEVER be remotely related to each other! From the time I was about 3 until this very day, my heroes have been and will likely always be those wonderful guys like my Dad, his buddies, and all those who fought in WWII, and even those at home who made the stuff to keep our men equipped and well fed and watered and provided for. I believe WWII was the last time America really, truly worked together toward a common goal. Since then, we've been progressively and increasingly dividing ourselves up into little, ineffectual bodies, and encapsulating ourselves in these little groups so as to ensure there's little rational hope of our ever being really effective as a nation again, IF we keep ourselves insulated one from another as we've been doing for so very long now.

The hero I want to see now, is one who'll come along and give us the strong medicine it's likely going to take to get us to come to our senses, and realize we're all brothers and sisters, and need to unite on the BIG matters, and let the little matters that divide us simply go from our minds and hearts. If we ever do that, America will truly be once again, the GREAT nation it was always intended by God to be. I pray we get such a leader! We don't seem to be willing or able to do it without one, at least at the moment.

[castalott]

I'm a little sick of myself right now. I had a hard day... tons of big packages and phone books that were addressed....and messed up too! Heat index was over 105 with no air.... I got 60 miles of gravel on my 105 mile route...and then 10 miles more under construction...all very dusty... I felt sorry for myself all day.... Then I delivered a big package to a friend.... he came out on crutches holding up that withered leg from that strange disease he has....


Boy am I a dope..... He would trade to have every day like mine not to have any day like his....


I got a long way to go, Lord...Mercy for us all.....


Dear Lord... Mercy, Faith, Hope, and Healing for us all... Bless us and our New President.... Lead us down the Path you would choose... Heal my land...Let us be Your People... Let us seek after Virtue and shun Vice... Amen

“When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.”
― C.S. Lewis


“Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayer and worn with thanks.”
― Thomas Goodwin

“Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate.”
― William Arthur Ward


“God gave you a gift of 84,600 seconds today. Have you used one of them to say thank you?”
― William Arthur Ward


“This new day has greeted us with no rules; unconditional opportunity. Do not dilute the power of this new day with the hardship of yesterday. Greet this day the way it has greeted you; with open arms and endless possibility.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free


“Blessings sometimes show up in unrecognizable disguises. ”
― Janette Oke


“Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!”
― Jeff Dixon


“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”
― Eric Hoffer

[Blackwater]

Amen, Castalot. And Lord, I pray that you would simile on our nation in the USA. I know there are many who mock and deny you, but there are so many who love you, that I pray you would allow us to go yet a while longer before you end all that you have created. There are many among the young who are looking for something other than emptiness and self-absorption. They want something REAL, and that means you! The soil here is ripe for a great revival Lord. I pray that you would grant this land one, and one like has never been seen before. We just need a really good leader, who can speak to the hearts of all those many who don't yet know you, but want to know the real truth, and are open to you.

Lord, you've been so good and gracious and abundantly given us much in my time here. Please, give us a leader who will touch the hearts who are open to being touched, in a way that will reveal you and your true nature and being. Grant us a national revival, that we might return to thee, and worship thee as is appropriate. I love you, Lord. You have been so very wondrously good to me and all of my generation, and all who still live here. Thank you. Thank you more than words will ever be able to say. Just thank you. And this one great prayer I have - a prayer for revival, and that many young lives will be touched, and they will come unto thee, and know thee as so many of us have known thee for so long now. You humble me with your goodness, your kindness and your love, even when we don't deserve it. Thank you for that, and praised be thy holy name forever. Amen.

[castalott]

" After the war, I was flying mail from California to Hawaii in big transport planes. We ( my normal crew) drew a plane that was cursed to be way under powered. We cursed and screamed and yelled at it just too get it off the ground. This wasn't 'point it at Hawaii and relax' but fight it all the way there. It took all our skill just to keep the big lumbering thing in the air.

But we made it...
Going to complain we were told how lucky we were. Seems the first shift loaded the plane with a full load of mail- 40,000 pounds worth. The next shift came to work and put another full load of mail in it..another 40,000 pounds worth.

Way overloaded that plane did her duty to us...

We didn't complain about that plane anymore... ( This was from memory of "Fate is the Hunter" by Earnst K Gann)

Dear Lord... Mercy is everywhere around us... Let us be aware of that we have and that we need to give. Bless our Land and our Freedoms. Let the people strive to do Good and Follow your Teaching every day. Amen

“When God takes out the trash, don't go digging back through it. Trust Him.”
― Amaka Imani Nkosazana, Heart Crush


“God promised to bless the works of our hands. If you do not work, what is God going to bless you for?”
― Israelmore Ayivor, Become a Better You


“The older I get, the more I seem to be able to appreciate my "neighbor" (whomever I happen to be with at the moment). Oh, sure, I've always tried to love my neighbor as myself; however, the more experiences I've had, the more chances I've had to see the uniqueness of each person... as well as each tree, and plant, and shell, and cloud... the more I find myself delighting every day in the lavish gifts of God, whom I've come to believe is the greatest appreciator of all.”
― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember


“The first step to receiving more blessings is appreciating the ones you have.”
― Carlos Wallace, The Other 99 T.Y.M.E.S: Train Your Mind to Enjoy Serenity


“Obedience is always followed by blessings”
― Sunday Adelaja


“What are you most thankful for?” she asked.
My reply came easily. “Being too blessed to have any hope of answering that question.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons


“Grandparents are extremely rich folks with silver in their hair and gold in their hearts.”
― Mamur Mustapha

I will try to find my copy of this book to see if my memory is correct. It's been a long time since reading it.

[castalott]

Tonight is a thoughtful, introspective night.... Remembering all the good I have had in this life, I think of myself as so Blessed. To have lived where I have and when I have and with who I have..well it seems a miracle...


Dear Lord.... Tonight I humbly Thank You for a wonderous life. Even the errors and evil I have done teaches lessons... All we have to do is look around and see Your Mercy...Your Love....Your Hope..

Please Bless the people of this Land and this Earth. Let us throw away the evil and embrace the Good. Let us purify our Hearts and Souls.. Lead us down the path You would choose. Please Bless our new President... Fill his Heart with Wisdom, Mercy, Love, and Faith. Fill his hands with Victory... Amen


When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.
Willie Nelson



Sometimes we don't realize the blessings we have until we no longer have them. Appreciate all the blessings in your life, take none for granted.
Catherine Pulsifer


Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess.
Max Lucado



Briefly look back on the past, occasionally, to see and feel relief as to how much you were blessed and how far you've progressed with the help of God and His word.
Myra Lee


Be grateful for who you are and whatever you have. Everything you have is a gift from God.
Rick Warren


"The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings."
― Henry Ward Beecher


"The Degree to which I am blessed staggers me... the degree to which I take that for granted shames me."
― John Green


"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
― Matthew 5:9, King James Version (KJV)

[castalott]

An American sniper noticed a large group of German solders listening to a high ranking officer speak. So he shot him. The front line was absolute Hell for 3 days. The Germans attacked with everything they had. He had shot their Lutheran Minister....

( This story from memory from somewhere....)


Mercy Lord... Mercy for us all when we do the wrong thing. Lead us down the path we should go. Let us be the men You want us to be. Fill us with Courage, Wisdom, Understanding, Truth, and Faith. Let us make a Good Difference in this World..... Amen


“I'm convinced normal people miss the majority of God's blessings because they're too busy to notice them.”
― Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working


“Every action either teaches you or blesses you.”
― Debasish Mridha


“The blessings of God will complicate your life, but unlike sin, they will complicate your life in the way it should be complicated.”
― Mark Batterson, All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life


“Never speak ill against someone else. You can't know what life holds for you. The ill you speak against someone else may find you sooner than you think. Speak blessings not curses. It's what I told my son. It's what I'm telling you.”
― Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

[Boaz]

Mercy Lord... Mercy for us all when we do the wrong thing. Lead us down the path we should go. Let us be the men You want us to be. Fill us with Courage, Wisdom, Understanding, Truth, and Faith. Let us make a Good Difference in this World..... Amen

Thank you Dale . Amen

[castalott]

A fighter pilot parachuted to an uninhabited island in the dark. Starving, he found 3 coconuts with his flashlight. He opened the first and it was wormy. He opened the second and it,too, was wormy. He turned off his flashlight and opened the third and ate it.......


Dear Lord... Tonight we remember our Sainted Mothers... Those who worked and slaved so we could have a chance at a better life.... Those whose Love and Goodness guides our thoughts even now... Those who served You in Faith and Courage... Please Bless them all....Amen


"Mothers and their children are in a category all their own. There's no bond so strong in the entire world. No love so instantaneous and forgiving."

―Gail Tsukiyama, Dreaming Water


"'I always wondered why God was supposed to be a father,' she whispers. 'Fathers always want you to measure up to something. Mothers are the ones who love you unconditionally, don't you think?'"

―Jodi Picoult, Keeping Faith


“[Motherhood is] the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary—it’s an act of infinite optimism.” – Gilda Radner

[castalott]

When Earnest K Gann graduated 'Flight School' , most of the others got jobs on long flights. The pilot would take off, let them fly maybe 30 minutes in a very safe part of the flight, and then land the plane. Not Mr Gann.... he got a plane flying mail in Pennsylvania ... take off and land every 30 miles in the mountains and valleys. His Pilot said, " You will do 1/2 of the take offs and landings starting today. " The man was fierce! He expected perfection in my flying. Be off 5 feet in altitude or 1/10 a degree in compass heading and he would berate you for 'flying all over the sky!!!'" "Sit up and fly straight!" "Watch what you are doing!"

He struggled and struggled until his landings were at least acceptable. Then the lessons started. he had to forecast the weather by looking at the clouds. Tell the pilot what to expect. He has to look at the runway with a glance and tell wind speed and direction from the effects on the ground. "Is that 'scheen' on the runway water or ice?" He better have the right answer....

Then the Pilot would pick out a place and say " I want the wheels to touch down there." He meant it too... no more than 10 feet off was acceptable. " You've had it too good landing and taking off into the wind... from now on you do both with the wind. And still the hard lessons continued...

He had to learn land navigation and radio navigation... where to fly thru thunderstorms and when to fly around them altogether.

When this pilot thought he had learned all he could teach him, Mr Gann was handed of to another Pilot and more lessons began again...

[castalott]

The next pilot was more demanding... Fly the plane on one engine...navigate by the stars ... land the plane on one engine... he was handed off several times...many times he wanted to quit... they baggered him..bullied him...yelled and screamed at him... But he did learn... When he got to be a pretty good pilot, the hard lessons started. navigate by sextant...diagnose the plane by the way flew or sounded... Finally the pilots got to messing with him....goof up a landing...mess with the controls at a very bad time..he was expected to recover and still land the plane safely... One pilot even lit books of matches and held them under his nose on a very difficult landing...trying to throw him off..." don't think about the flames...don't think about anything but flying the plane..." when he finally got the plane safely on the ground at the unloading point, Gann thought he would get up and slug the Pilot. That's when the pilot put his hand on his shoulder and smiled... a 'well done' smile.....

All these things saved Gann's life... You see...one day a war started and the army walked up and gave him a cap and a pistol and said, "you're in the Army Air Corp now". This was the beginning of the Air Transport command...

Gann flew all over the world... In some pretty terrible places under some really terrible flying conditions... Lots of things went wrong but when they did those hard lessons came back to save him... Even one time his airplane was on fire ... and Gann remembered his pilot...."Fly the plane..ignore the flames... fly the plane!'


All the hard lessons... that part of his life seemed to ready him for this part... Those hard, hard years saved him.....


Is God getting you ready to do something in the future? Are you learning your lessons that someday will save you?

Mercy Lord Please...Mercy for us all as we learn... Help us be ready for whatever You have in store for us... Amen

[castalott]

Today I come to raise your Spirits...

Imagine...just imagine that Hillary had won and was now in control of everything...

Supreme Court picks...The US Military....The economy.... and a thousand other important things... No ,I don't think President Trump is perfect... I would like to see some changes.... some improvements.... some things done different....


But, so far, I am very pleased to have him as POTUS. I hope you are too and will help him with Prayers and Support.


Dear Lord...Thank you for saving us from ourselves. Thank You for the Wonderful mercy You show to us. Thank you for our Freedoms and our Liberty.Please give us the Strength...The Courage.... The Faith...to always do the Right Thing... Amen


Western civilization has not yet learned the lesson that the energy we expend in 'getting things done' is less important than the moral strength it takes to decide what is worth doing and what is right to do.
Sydney J. Harris


Character is the moral strength to do the right thing even when it costs more than you want to pay.
Michael Josephson



Now some Thomas Jefferson...

12. Moral strength

“Above all things, lose no occasion of exercising your dispositions to be grateful, to be generous, to be charitable, to be humane, to be true, just, firm, orderly, courageous, etc. Consider every act of this kind, as an exercise which will strengthen your moral faculties and increase your worth.”


13. Coercive corrosion

“What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites.”

– Notes on the state of Virginia


Moral degredation

“He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.”

– Letter to Peter Carr (1785)



Big cities, big problems

“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe.”

–Letter to James Madison



Honesty is the best politics

“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”

– A Summary View of the Rights of British America


Live free or die

“…with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.”

– Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of taking up arms.

[Blackwater]

Castalot, I just want you to know how much these posts mean to me, as well as to our nation. Our nation is in dire need of much, much prayer now. Evading a Hillary presidency, and all that she'd have surely done, is just the beginning of it all. It's US who hold the reins in the horse's mouth, and if we're inattentive, or lacadasical, we'll falter and fail, and evil will overtake ALL of us! Thanks for what you began here!

And thanks too, for all those inspiring stories. Our REAL heroes are all around us. REAL heroes just don't call attention to themselves. I think maybe oftentimes it's because they're just so thankful and humbled that they survived it all? Heroes are all around us. We just don't see them because they don't make it on TV very often. Character is the essence of the REAL hero! Character to do what needs to be done in spite of any shortcomings, perceived or real, that would make most say, "I can't do that! Let someone else who's better qualified than me to do it!" But they just shoulder the load and carry it however far it needs to be carried. God looks out for folks like this, and we are ALL so very much better off for them. Heroes are legion! It's our perceptions and knowledge that is short! Thanks for the inspirations! We all need them, and appreciate them, even when they kind'a shame us a bit .... or maybe especially then?

[castalott]

A contented man is never poor. A humble man is never arrogant.
– Dr T.P.Chia

Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others.
– Gordon B. Hinckley

His name was Gene...... Big, happy go lucky guy... He was the right age so I asked... "Artillery" he said... Where?... "you've never heard of them".... try me.... he mentioned several island names you all would know.... basically up the Solomons and into the Phillipines.... really nasty places....I changed course a little... "So you shot the big guns?" "Heavens no.... I was air defense for the unit. They gave me a rifle that I was supposed to shoot at enemy planes with. What a joke...."

You must have had it rough..... " No... I had it really easy.... really, really easy...."


That was the end of the conversation but not the story. I asked a few neighbors and they said, " Gene had it rough...terrible rough... he was in some bad places...."

I know now he didn't want to talk about it...didn't want to tell about it..... didn't want to remember... he was just another 'Joe" who did his duty....

Dear Lord... Thank You for the Good People who saved my way of life... Thank You for their Courage and Strength... We owe them a debt we can never repay. Bless us all.... Heal this Land... Amen


In life humility is not a handicap, arrogance is not a strength.
– Dr T.P.Chia


A true genius admits that he/she knows nothing.
– Albert Einstein


Until you have suffered much in your heart, you cannot learn humility.
– Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica


Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.
– Rick Warren


Carry your bag by yourself; carry your umbrella by yourself; open your door by yourself; light your own candle! Do your job by yourself! Don’t use others! Don’t behave like a king, don’t behave like a queen! Be humble!
– Mehmet Murat ildan


A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.
–Benjamin Franklin


Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble.
– Joseph Addison

[castalott]

You are welcome Blackwater... The stories are getting harder to tell as I am running out of ones that don't make you cry... War is terrible.... I don't want to post those stories..

i am really glad you like them...I also am glad to tell them as they were told to me. Others need to know these stories... Dale

[castalott]

He was probably 80 when we talked about his tour in Europe. He had mentioned he had brought back a Mauser and I asked... " Infantry"...he said. Were you in any battles? "Several"

Here is the part when I was dumb and terrible....

Did you have to shoot anyone? He looked really funny as he said, " I don't know.... Everyone on this side is shooting at everyone on that side... There were 3 or 4 that I had my sights on and when I pulled the trigger...they fell..." Then he started crying... not little snivels... The crying when your Soul is in pain....

Dear Lord... Mercy Please for those who had to do things they hated... This man is with you now... Mercy for him and all like him... Help us all become the men You would have us be...Give us Faith, Hope, Courage, Strength, Wisdom, and Understanding... Amen

“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations


“Your friends will believe in your potential, your enemies will make you live up to it.”
― Tim Fargo


“Being faithful in the smallest things is the way to gain, maintain, and demonstrate the strength needed to accomplish something great.”
― Alex Harris


“It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing their imperfections.”
― Daisaku Ikeda



“A man should be able to hear, and to bear, the worst that could be said of him.”
― Saul Bellow


“Boy, the solid things you can hold in your hands are never all you've got. They're the least of what belong to you. The qualities inside you, those are what you've really got to defend yourself with.”
― Traci L. Slatton, Immortal


“She was a vixen when she went to school;
And though she be but little, she is fierce.”
― William Shakespeare


“With God, you are stronger than your struggles and more fierce than your fears. God provides comfort and strength to those who trust in Him. Be encouraged, keep standing, and know that everything's going to be alright.”
― Germany Kent

[castalott]

Dad's brothers both served in Korea... Uncle Ted offshore on an oiler for the Navy...Uncle Bud in the army. Uncle Bud worked in a supply depot. The truck to supply the front lines was getting shot up a lot and the commander wanted one guy to drive it all the time. He said, "If you volunteer to drive the truck you will have no other duties but that." Uncle Bud said he was basically lazy and besides...it was dangerous everywhere...not just in that truck. So he volunteered...had a few trucks shot out from under him..... Got some medals but I don't know what they are.

After a failed marriage, Uncle Bud moved around a lot. About 10 years before he died, he was flat broke in a small town in West Virginia. One of the locals, taking pity on him, invited him home for a meal and nights sleep. Uncle Bud stayed 10 years... The family he stayed with cried like little kids when he died.... They loved the guy they called 'Red'. They knew him as a fisherman and a hunter...and as a good man....

The funeral was the simplest one I have ever been to. No one dressed up. The men wore what we would call work shirts. The women went barefoot with dresses. They sang songs from the heart to make you cry... It was the most beautiful funeral I've ever seen....


Out at the cemetery, the Honor Guard fired salutes with Garands.. As is my custom, I picked up a shell to put with my momentos .... It was a real 30-06 case..not a blank.... They fired 21 real rounds off for Uncle Bud....


Dear Lord... Thank You for Wonderful People. They are everywhere if we will just look. Help us learn to be Good and Good for Something. Bless this Land and our Freedoms... let us be the men you would approve of.... Amen


“A man who goes into a restaurant and blatantly disrespects the servers shows a strong discontent with his own being. Deep down he knows that restaurant service is the closest thing he will ever experience to being served like a king.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy


“Ordinary imperfect people, always choose similarly imperfect people as friends.”
― Haruki Murakami, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman


“His life was unrecorded; who is there to write down the lives of ordinary people?”
― Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

[Blackwater]

FWIW, Castalot, I think it's important that we hear stories like these, so we'll recognize WHY it's so important that we not sit like frogs on a lily pad and "let George do it" all the time. It's OUR country, and we ALL need to give it our input, our concern, and our best efforts. If we don't do that, like the wonderful folks in your stories, our once great nation will falter and fall, and be cast on the dust heap of history. And all because WE didn't do what our country needed us to do. Thanks again, and keep 'em going, along with the prayers.

[castalott]

My dad went in the army in '44. He went to N Africa ( no idea why- the fighting was over) where he got malaria. Then to England, France, and finally into Germany. He drove a wrecker but it was a big one as he could retrieve tanks with it. He said, "Every tank had a hole this big in it ( holding his hands together making a circle). I looked in the first but never again. They said go get it and take it there and that's what I did."

I know there are those who wonder this....his records say:

Expert
M1 rifle
M1 carbine
45 pistol

I'm sure this is right because I never seen him miss a shot. Even hunting rabbits with a 22 pistol. We were quite the team. He carried his Sweet 16 and a 22 pistol. I had a Winchester 190 with a scope. We worked the rabbits over good and that was back when there were a lot of rabbits.

Dad was more the fisherman. Living 2 miles from a old railroad reservoir , we fished most nights he didn't work late. He would get home, eat a fast supper and clean up while I loaded the truck. When we got there it took a minute or two to load the boat. We flyfished up to where the bass fishing got good. Then flyfished home. Those are some of the happiest days... Wonderful...

We were talking whether to keep a small fish when dad held up his thumb and finger. "We brought fish this big home in the depression." Why? "A bite of meat was a bite of meat. We kept everything and your grandma was glad to clean it."

We never did anything for fun unless it had the chance to return something. Hunting and fishing are obvious examples. We went down in the bottoms where the big hickory trees are and picked up "bottom nuts" as mom and dad called them. With the big outside protective shell they would almost make a tennis ball. We picked up nuts of all kinds everywhere. Mom's big thing was picking blackberries ( I still grow them- the big European dewberries too) ,strawberries, and we all went to the orchards each year to pick apples and peaches. Did you know that one peach at the top will be the ripest, juiciest, and sweetest of them all? I came down the ladder many a time covered in peach juice....

I remember getting the 1st TV. Dad couldn't just sit and watch TV. He had to be productive so he brought a little anvil and hammer inside so he could bust Hickory nuts and pick them out while he watched TV. This was the generation that lived thru the depression...

Now you know....


Thank You Lord...Thank You for Good people.. Hard,Hard Times made Good, Good people... I don't want hard times but I realize how hard times distill our Souls...Mercy for us all...Bless our Land and our Freedoms...Amen