FRIGHT-----FIGHT------FLIGHT?

This world has always been a dangerous place.  Think about it.  The history in the Old Testament is full of battles, hand to hand, thousands killed in a single day, one at a time, spear and sword.  Rome conquered the known world with an 18 inch sword.  God the creator made us a world that was perfect and man screwed it up.  So now what?
When trouble comes to our neighborhood we fight it.  If we don't we loose the neighborhood.  Churches preach "love one another", and we try to do that.  But, push comes to shove, preachers go to the fight.
March 17 is celebrated in Boston as :"Evacuation Day", marking the day the British were forced from the city after eleven months of occupation which started April 19, 1775 and lasted until March 17, 1776.
If we taught our children History today as it was taught in my day they would learn about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and the formation of the American Army by George Washington.  They would learn that riders like Paul Revere road the countryside to warn of the British army coming to arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams.  They would learn that they were staying with Pastor Jonas Clark, who with 77 militia met the British on the Green.  They would also learn that when the British moved on to Concord they were met by 400 militia led by Rev. William Emerson.  As the British retreated to Boston  our kids would how they were punished by patriots who fired on them all along the way.  Those patriots included many pastors from the surrounding countryside, such as Philps Payson and Benjamin Blach.  They did not cower behind the pulpit.
Our children should be taught this and much more.  They should know that the Blacks, free and slave stood shoulder to shoulder with their white brothers and fired that musket, and died as Americans.
The black community has much more to be proud of than to be complaining about, and we should teach it........Medicineman!

THE "SWAMP"

Just a few years ago---when Lincoln was President Washington was truly a Swamp!  In the summers it was almost unbearable to live there.  Think about all the horses that transported folks in and out of town.  Or perhaps just stood there waiting for the owner to return.  Besides horses did you know that cows were grazed on the grass around the Capitol?  Hundreds of animals leaving their waste products where they landed.  Smell bad?  You can bet the farm on that.  Washington has come to be called,  "Foggy Bottom"from time to time, or perhaps just the "Swamp".
Now the town is full of politicians, lobbyists, hangers-on, wheeler dealers, and on and on.  President Trump is trying to fulfill the promise he made to "Drain the swamp".  Will he do it?  There is so much hate and opposition to Trump it will be a wonder if he can.  We have so many federal employees, sucking on the taxpayer's "teat", that belong to a powerful union, that makes the task of firing him/her monumental.
Many Republicans(in name only) support him unwillingly while others go so far as to oppose his efforts.  After all, he is not one of them, not politician enough and, of all things, he speaks his mind.  EGADS!...........Medicineman!

WHERE IS THE BLAME?

General Robert B. Neller, USMC, highly decorate combat "Jarhead", Commandant of the Marine Corps. now sits before a Senate Committee, the target of long winded politicians while they absorb as much of the limelight as they can while asking mundane questions (that have no answer).
The problem is not with the Corps. but with those who would allow themselves to be photographed in the nude in the first place.
General Neller rightly says "the buck stops here", but I fail to see how this can be anything but an irresponsible act by young individuals eager to attract attention!
Such hearings demean the service and dedication to duty of millions of men and women who have made the "Corps" what it is!....Medicineman!

HERO TO SCRAP!

She was just an old Italian Submarine in 1975, tired and worn out and now just $100,000 worth of scrap.  The USS Barb was given to the Italian Navy in 1953 after an incredible record in World War II service.
The USS Barb flew a battle flag unlike any other ship.  In addition to the Medal of Honor ribbon at the top of her flag identifying the heroism of her Captain, Cmdr. Eugene 'Lucky' Fluckey, at the bottom border she bore the image of a Japanese train locomotive.  Therein lies the story!
It was 4 A.M. July 18, 1945 in Patience Bay, off the coast of Karafuto, Japan.  Barb was on her twelfth war patrol, the fifth under 'Lucky' Flucky.  On January 8th they had sunk a large Jap Ammunition ship and then two weeks later in Mamkwan Harbor found more than 30 enemy ships.
In only 5 fathoms (30 feet) of water they launched the forward torpedoes, then turned and fired four from the stern tubes.  They recorded eight hits on six ships.
Now as they prowled slowly along the coast they noticed the trains that ran along the coastline, carrying supplies.  Cmdr. Fluckey decided to blow the rail line and a plan was designed to set a micro switch so that the train would blow itself up.
Billy Hatfield was a kid when he cracked walnuts under the pressure of trains on the ties and came up with this idea.  Eight sailors were picked, all single, except Hatfield, all departments represented, both USN and USNR and at least half had to have been Boy Scouts and experienced in medical emergencies.
July 23, 1945, the night was dark and the men went ashore in two rafts, set one of the subs 55 lb. scuttling charges and made there way back to the Bard, which now sat 600 yards off shore with only 6feet of water beneath her hull.  When they were only half way to the sub a train appeared on the scene and five minutes after the explosion lit up the sky they scrambled aboard and turned to watch the fireworks.  Moving at two knots it took them some time to reach deep water where they could submerge.  The Barb had sunk a Japanese Train!
The eight sailors who blew up the train conducted the ONLY GROUND COMBAT OPERATION on the Japanese homeland during World War ll.  GO NAVY!......Medicineman!

HE LOST AND WON

He lost the popular vote, but he is still President.  Because he won the Electoral vote.  The press called him all kinds of names.  "He was not qualified to be President".  He would be an "embarrassment" and disgrace the office said the press.  He entered Washington surrounded by his enemies.  The opposition party vowed to see him fail and worked toward that end.
Yes, it sounds a lot like Lincoln.  He had the same political climate when he arrived in Washington.  As a matter of fact, Lincoln had to sneak into the Capitol like a thief in the night.  We all know the kind of President Lincoln became, and what it cost him.  Pray for our President!....Medicineman! 

THE GOOD NEWS IS NOT NEWS!

When a couple of evil-doers break into a home and are shot by an eleven year old child who has learned the art of trap shooting and used her father's trap gun to dispatch the evil ones it is not news and does not make the papers.  When a motorist stops to aid a HP Officer being assaulted on the highway and is forced to shoot the malefactor, it is not news.  It is not worth the ink when a woman, home alone, scares off a would-be rapist with a shot through the door.
To the news agencies the gun is only a tool of destruction and mayhem, never the life saver it is time after time, day after day.  It is only news when a stolen gun is used to shoot up the neighborhood or kill a cop or citizen.  Then is when all the energy of the 4th estate is brought to bare on the GUN.  The gun is the problem and must be done away with.  Ban 'em all! is the cry, the only way, ban 'em all!
If motor vehicles were treated the same as guns we would all be walking!...Medicineman!