Scars HNT

As many of you know, I have about 40-45 scars with 35 of them coming from being wounded in Vietnam. Next Friday I'm going to add a new one to that vast collection when the hot Asian woman doctor cuts out a basal cell carcinoma that's on my chest.


The little hole is where she took the biopsy and all of those red marks are from the band aids I've had to wear since last week.

BIG BASS HNT

This is BTExpress as a young child at the ripe old age of 5 1/2 somewhere in the Tampa/St Petersburg, Florida area. That's my Polish grandfather in the background. We were out on one of our usual Sunday drives to who knows where. My dad always carried fishing tackle in the car and whenever he saw fishing spot where he thought he could catch something, he'd pull the car over to the side of the road and fish. He always caught something, but today was especially an good day, as you can see in the picture.

I really do remember this day because it was a day he made me lift this very heavy large mouth bass. He caught the thing, but insisted that I hold the fish and the rod so he could take my picture. I remember telling him it was too heavy, and arguing with him, but he insisted. I struggled, as you can tell by the way I was listing in the shot, but hold it I did.

Isn't it strange the things you remember?

Well, anyway, have a Happy Half-Nekkid Thursday everyone.

Want to have some fun? Click on this chicks boobs and learn all about Half-Nekkid Thursday.

Even though I know about HNT, sometimes I click on her boobs just for fun. Hee, hee..........

FLASH BACK POOL PARTY HNT

Last August Os made a trip to the east coast for my pool party. The turn out was small, the food was good and so was the company. Here are some pictures of what y'all missed.

HAPPY POOL PARTY HNT

I Made a Spaghetti Pie

Sunday I made spaghetti with brie, fresh basil and tomatoes and, trust me, it was good. Like usual, I made too much and had to figure out what to do with the left overs. Then it hit me, spaghetti pie! I'd heard of it, but have never made one, so now was my chance.

It's very easy. Preheat the oven to 350F. Beat two eggs in a bowl then dump in the left over spaghetti. Then mix. The easiest way is to just use your hands. It's messy, but works better than fighting with it. Press mixture into a greased baking dish/pan and sprinkle with parmigiana cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let rest for a little while and enjoy.

Work is Hard HNT

Lori's brother and his family came down for a visit last week.
While they were here, Bill helped me clean the gutters.

Okay, he cleaned the gutter, but I did empty the bucket.

Buried Treasure HNT

In 1981 I was on vacation in Bermuda with my wife. One day I was snorkeling in the waters next to Fort St. Catherine in Bermuda and I spotted a small piece of ceramic sticking out of the sand.



Just imagine you were the ceramic piece. That is you saw when I found you. lol

I dove down, dug the sand away and discovered this bottle. I had no idea how old it was or what it had contained, but the thrill of finding "buried treasure" made my vacation.

Thirty years of searching off and on for some information on my find and I stumbled upon the "Old Bermuda Bottles" website. I contacted the owner of the blog, Steven R. McPhee, and finally, after all those years, I finally have the information about my "buried treasure".

In his words, "That's a really nice bottle and must have been very exciting to find. It is from around the 1870s and was used mainly for beer or ginger beer, it is stoneware which would help keep the contents cooler a lot longer than glass bottles. When describing it, it would be termed an English stoneware beer (or ginger beer) bottle. These were very popular during the Victorian Era. There was a strong British military presence in Bermuda during the 1800s so it is very likely that is was tossed from the Fort."

Finally, 30 years later, a mystery has been solved. Thanks Steve, you have no idea how much this means to me.

BEFORE AND AFTER HNT

My pool before.

My pool after.

What a difference a couple of years makes.

Military Award HNT

Among my other awards for serving and being wounded in Vietnam, I recently found out that I was also awarded the "Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation".

The Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm was issued to every Allied nation which provided military support to Vietnam between 1 March 1961 and the fall of Saigon in April 1975. The unit decoration thus became the most commonly awarded Vietnamese decoration to foreigners, second only to the Vietnam Campaign Medal.



I've also received "Cold War Recognition Certificate" for serving during the Vietnam War. This is a copy of someone elses, but I do have mine.

The Cold War Recognition Certificate is a recognition certificate awarded by the Secretary of Defense to all U.S. Armed Forces personnel and qualified federal government civilian personnel who faithfully and honorably served the United States anytime during the Cold War era, which is defined as September 2, 1945 to December 26, 1991.[1] Congress established the Cold War certificate in Section 1084 of the fiscal 1998 National Defense Authorization Act.

If you know anyone that qualifies for these awards, please let them know. I can assure you, like me, they will appreciate being recognized for their service.

'Keith Nintzel Memorial 5K Walk/Run' HNT

We walked in the "Keith Nintzel Memorial 5K" on our neighborhood streets last Saturday and beat our time of last weeks walk by two minutes, 1 hr 1 min 13 seconds.

We finished pretty far back, but at least we weren't last. We beat these two women. One may or may not have a colostomy, but it still counts.

The original paperwork said the runners ran 5K, but the walkers only half that, so we decided we'd walk the mile up to the start of the race. Then after the race, we'd stop for breakfast and then walk back home. So, in reality, we'd walk about 3 1/2 miles total. The paperwork was wrong and the walkers had to walk the 5K too.

On our way home after breakfast, we ran into 3 women that asked if we'd been in the race. We told the we had, then explained how far we'd have to walk if we walked home. Two of them even offered us a ride home, but we decided to stick it out.

Hmmmm, I wonder of they were just being nice, or had ulterior motives? ;-)

When we got home, I check a website to see how far we'd actually walked; a total of 5.37 miles. No wonder our feet hurt like hell.

So in two weeks, we went from couch potatoes to walking 20 minute miles and walking over 5 miles in one day. Who'd a thunk it?

Here's a video of the start of the race. Skip ahead to the 2:15 mark and see if you can pick us out.

ATTENTION LADIES!

I checked and it's legal for a woman to be topless in my back yard, in and around the pool or the hut tub.

The state law also allows it anywhere local laws don't limit it.

The town doesn't have any ordinances against it on private property. It's only regulated on town property. For example, they limit it to certain topless beaches.

The woman cop I talked to said you'd never get arrested as long as you weren't being lewd. She wouldn't want her neighbors to see her naked, but as long as my yard is fenced and the women that are topless don't care, it's fine. Just be tasteful. She also said that the neighbors don't have to look if they don't want to see it. LOL

I have no objection either, so if any ladies want come over and hang out, it all good.

Our 1st 5K Walk

Lori and I decided it was time to get off our asses and loose some weight, so we took up walking. Saturday Lori and I were privileged to be able to join almost 2,000 other runners and walkers in the 'Long Island MacArthur Airport Run For Veterans 5K'. This was held on the property and runway of the airport.

Here I am waiting with the rest of the walkers for the start.








Soldiers lined the route every 50 or so yards cheering us on and probably making sure we didn't veer off the course to places we weren't allowed to go.






About 1 mile into the walk was the first water station. If you look close you'll see the distant walkers and runners out on the runway. They weren't even close to the 1/2 way mark.

Look off to the left and you'll notice that there weren't any jets at the terminals. I asked one of the security personnel along the route why. He said that they closed the airport to commercial traffic for this event. Now that is showing support for our vets.

Here's a short video of Lori and I on the runway.



Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk,.

Keep it up!


There it is, the end is in sight!










They announced the name of each finisher as they crossed the finish line. Lori's name was easy, but I doubts if they would get mine right or even close. Damned if they didn't get it correct!



It's official, my finishing time for the 5K was 1:03:12.0 and I finished 1,643nd, but I wasn't last, so I'm pleased. Lori finished 1 second faster than me, but only because she held back so we would finish together. If she'd have walked at her own pace, she'd have kicked my ass by a mile.

Way to go baby! I'm proud of you! Thanks for getting me off my ass and walking.

SEE Y'ALL ALL NEXT YEAR!

My Deer HNT

After we bought our boat in early 1994, we spent almost every summer weekend at Watch Hill on Fire Island where we docked our boat in the marina. Watch Hill had a large marina, a beach on both the Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, camp grounds, a nature walk, restaurant, snack bar and a bar. If you walked a few hundred yards east on the ocean beach side, you entered the wilderness area of Fire Island. The wilderness area on Fire Island is the only real wilderness area in NY State.

But there was one thing I didn’t like about Watch Hill, it was those damn deer. They were infested the Lyme disease carrying ticks. They weren’t afraid of people at all, as I guess you can tell by this picture. One day we were eating at one of the picnic tables and the person next to me got up. A minute or so later, one of the deer tried to eat the food right off the table next to me. I reached over, smacked it on the nose and it took off. Damn deer!

HAPPY SUMMER FUN HNT!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the the day we honor those that made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country. This is the story of my platoon sergeant in Vietnam, James Allen Cox, he made that sacrifice. Please read the story of the day the world lost a great man.

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Early in the morning on October 31, 1968, our platoon was on patrol searching a heavily wooded area. I was assigned to walk left flank for the first time. That means another guy and I walked out maybe ten meters to the left side of the main column. Just far enough so no one sneaks up too close the main column, but near enough so we don’t get separated from the group in case of trouble. The right flank does the same thing on the other side. There are also point men that walk a little ahead of the main column for the same reason.

We were walking through the area and came across a few huts that were unoccupied and didn’t find anything. You couldn’t see very far around us so we stayed pretty close to the main column. Suddenly there was an explosion up front. We got down then moved quickly over toward the main group. I heard some of our men return fire and then someone called for a cease-fire and they stopped. The whole thing took 30 seconds, maybe even less.

Next I heard the call, “MEDIC! MEDIC!” I knew someone had been hit. The medic gets up and runs crouched over up forward. Then they call for the M-60 machinegun up front. The machine gunner yells, “Let’s go!” He starts moving toward the front where the fire came from and I follow him along with the second ammo bearer. Not too far up ahead we run past the medic (Doc as medics were called) tending to someone. It was Sergeant Cox, our platoon sergeant. He had volunteered to walk point that day. He volunteered to walk point quite often. He said he liked walking point, but I think he really did it when he wasn’t comfortable letting someone else do it because he felt there might be trouble. That’s the kind of man he was.

We got into position, the gunner in the center and ammo bearers on either side. I toss off my backpack with the ammo and put it in front of me in case it’s needed. The gunner always kept some ammo with him just in case so mine wasn’t needed right now. I search the area looking for movement and see someone moving over to my right. I turn quickly but see it’s one of our men getting into position. More men are now also moving into positions around us. I’m really expecting all hell to break loose at this point but nothing happens. Things are pretty quite and still no shooting. I just hear the sounds of our own guys moving around and talking excitedly very quietly among themselves.

I soon hear the radio operator (RTO) call for a dust off (medivac chopper). We held our positions and waited for the chopper to pick up Sargent Cox. When the chopper got close, they tossed out a smoke grenade to identify our position and then carried the sergeant out to an open area and when the chopper landed, they put the sergeant on. They were taking him to the 12th Evac Hospital at Cu Chi. The same place they had taken me a day or two ago. This is what it had in the operational report about this incident.

At 0844H vic XT513197, Co B detonated a claymore mine positioned in a tree. Results, 1 US WIA (dustoff).

This was what it was usually like was while I was there, snipers would lie in wait for us and when we got close, they opened fire with small arms or explosives. This time it was a claymore mine positioned in a tree. Then the snipers usually disappear into thin air.

We continued our patrol that day without any more trouble, but we did manage to capture one Viet Cong soldier that afternoon, I don’t remember how though. When we got back to the base camp, we turned over the VC to the MPs and they flew him into Cu Chi for questioning.

At 1400H vic XT519201, Co B apprehended 1 male detainee who was evac to IPW.

The next day we found out Sergeant Cox sustained severe head wounds and died.


I did a search of the Internet for information about Sergeant Cox and here is what I found.

On the Vietnam Memorial web site each person listed on the wall has an information page. Here is what little bit of information is listed for James.

JAMES ALAN COX

SSGT - E5 - Army - Selective Service
25th Infantry Division
21 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on Apr 21, 1947
From HOLLIS, NEW YORK
Length of service 1 year.
His tour of duty began on Jul 01, 1968
Casualty was on Oct 31, 1968
in HUA NGHIA, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered
Religion
LUTHERAN & MISSOURI SYNOD

Panel 40W - - Line 63

I also found a web site that has rubbings of the names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Here is a rubbing of James’ name.




I clicked on a link on the Vietnam Memorial web page that took me to a page where I could leave a comment or pictures. I found this note from the daughter of one of James’ best friends’ back home in Queens.

Paula Miller
pamille5@vt.edu
Daughter of good friend
65 Blossom Hill Road
Lebanon, NJ 08833 USA
Jimmy Cox was a good friend of my father's in New York. I know little about him, but I do have the honor of holding his army green jacket with his name on it. I say I know little about him but I feel the impact of his tragically short life on my father. My father is not an emotional man, and I have never seen him cry about anything save Jimmy. I can see through my father's eyes and the tears, how wonderful this young man must have been. To Jimmy and my dad, thank you, I love you.
Peaches

I sent Paula an email offering to tell her what little I knew about James. I’ve read so many entries similar to hers on so many different Vietnam related web sites from people crying for any little bits of information about someone that they knew that served in Vietnam. Maybe I can help her fill in some of the blanks. I hoped she wrote me back, but she never did.

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If you want to read more about my tour in Vietnam, read them here. http://my-vietnam-stories.blogspot.com/

Little BTExpress HNT

Here are some shots of me as a little tyke. My mom always gave me a crew cut as I guess you could tell. We had no money, so she cut my hair.

Another thing, don't you just love the ears? Lori finds them good for pulling me in close, if you get my drift.

Heheheh!!!!!

My Grand Parents, Joe & Sophie HNT

This is Josef Czechlik, my grand father on my father's side and his wife and my grand mother Sofiya Wyochihoyitz. Josef was from Zembry, Russia and all I know about where Sofiya is from, is that she told my mother that she was White Russian. Today that is Belarus, Russia, so maybe she's from there.

Question of the day: If Joe & Sophie are both from Russia, why did they tell me I'm half Polish?

THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION HNT

If any of you have an answer for that question, I'd be very interested to know what it is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDIT: The question was driving me crazy, so this morning I started search on line for the answer. So with the help of Google, I have the answer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Poland

In 1569, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was established. In 1795 the territory was invaded and divided up between Russia, Prussia and Austria. From 1795 until 1918 there was no independent Polish state. Joe came to the USA in 1911 and Sophie came around that time too. So it looks like when Joe and Sophie lived there, they were both living in Russia, but since their ancestors were Polish, they called themselves Poles.

This jogged my memory and with things my mom told me and again with the help of Google, I know why Sophie called herself White Russian.

Sophie's father was the mayor of a town in eastern Europe and a member of the White movement (White Russian), which at some point opposed the communist (Red Russian) take over of Russia and the White controlled territory of Eastern Europe. At some point, Sophie's father saw a civil war coming, so he sent Sophie along with her 11 brothers and sisters and their nanny to the USA for their safety. His wife and him stayed behind. The Russian Civil War broke out in 1917 and lasted until 1921. In 1922 the Soviet Union was established under Communist rule.

Pool party HNT!

I opened my pool yesterday and June 4th is the first of many pool parties this year and you're all invited.

Who wants to come for a swim and a dip in the hot tub?

HAPPY HALF NEKKID THURSDAY!

DRAFTED HNT

Forty-three years ago I was drafted into the United Sates Army. This is the summary I wrote about five years ago about being drafted until I landed in South Vietnam exactly five months to the day later. You can read the rest of the story on my Vietnam blog. Feed back is appreciated.

http://my-vietnam-stories.blogspot.com/

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I was drafted into the United States Army on May 6, 1968 at the ripe old age of 19 years, 6 months and 2 days. Government policy at the time was to draft all men into the military at 19 ½ years of age if they hadn’t already joined or had a deferment of some kind. I almost joined earlier that year, but backed out to take my chances with the draft.

Although draftees were a small minority (16%) in the U.S. armed forces, they comprised the bulk of infantry riflemen in Vietnam (88% in 1969). They accounted for more than half the army's battle deaths. Because of student and other deferments, the draft and the casualties fell disproportionately upon working-class youths, black and white.

My father and stepmother drove me down to the draft board office in Smithtown NY that morning where I checked in and was put on a bus for the ride to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn for induction. I remember staring out the window during the ride into Brooklyn wondering if I would live through this adventure and make it back home again after it was all over.

We arrived in at Fort Hamilton about an hour or so later, where we were interviewed and given a short physical. They asked a lot of questions to try and find out if we were medically fit, gay or mentally challenged. Not surprisingly, some were turned down. Those that were accepted, me included, were sent into in a room with lines painted on the floor and a large American flag in front. We were told to line up along the lines and then “asked” to step forward to "voluntarily" be sworn in.

At the final phase of the induction process, a military recruiting officer will order the Registrant, and any other Registrants present, to "line up on the line.” (a line, or several lines, is/are painted on the floor). A military recruiting officer will then order all those "joining the army,” (or whatever) to “take one step forward” … THOSE WHO LINE UP AS ORDERED AND TAKE ONE STEP FORWARD JUST "VOLUNTEERED!" BY TAKING ONE STEP FORWARD, YOU CONVERT YOUR "REGISTRANT" STATUS INTO THAT OF AN "INDUCTEE"!!!!

The oath is administered:"I, (state your name) do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and will defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic, and will obey the orders of the President and the officers appointed over me, so help me God."

Well, that was it, I was now the property of the United States Army. We were then lead out of the room and broken down into smaller groups depending where we were assigned. I was assigned to Fort Jackson in South Carolina, where ever that was. My group got on a bus for the ride to JFK airport in Queens. When our plane landed in Columbia South Carolina a few hours later, we were met by someone from the Army and put on another bus for the ride to Fort Jackson where the fun really started.

As soon as the bus pulled to a stop in front of the Reception Center, the meanest man I’ve ever come in contact with up to that point in my young life, jumps on the bus and starts yelling and screaming orders. “OFF THE BUS! DOUBLE TIME! LINE UP!" and all kind of crap like that.

I spent one week at the reception center where we were given haircuts, tested a lot and were issued our uniforms. Then it was off to 8 weeks of basic training (where I met much more mean men). Next it was 8 weeks of Advanced Individual Training (AIT) not to far from where I took basic training (the men were a lot less mean here, but not nice by a long shot) where we were actually taught to be infantryman. I graduated from AIT with the rank of PFC, issued my orders for Vietnam and then given 30 days leave.

When my leave was over I caught a plane out of JFK airport in Queens bound for San Francisco California. I spent one night in a hotel room crammed in with about 8 other guys. I slept on the floor that night. The next morning I reported to the Oakland Army Terminal to begin my processing for deployment to Vietnam. I spent a few days in Oakland before getting my orders and then boarded another bus ride to the airport where we boarded a Flying Tiger Airlines plane and headed out across the Pacific on a 25 hour plane ride.

Our first stop was in Hawaii where they refueled and changed crews. We were sent to a deserted terminal while this happened, where they could keep an eye on us. When we got back on the plane, attendance was taken and one guy had bailed. Next stop was Midway Island for refueling. Midway is literally just an airstrip in the middle of a lot of small islands. We were suppose to stop in Guam next, but a typhoon diverted us to the Philippines instead. Here they refueled and changed flight crews. The whole time up to now, we flew with the sun in daylight, but the rest of the way was in the dark.

Things got pretty quite on this last leg of our journey because reality was setting in fast. I did manage to sleep a little, but mostly I just did a lot of thinking and trying to imagine what was in store. Once over Vietnam, the stewardess announced we were over the country and to wake up and get ready for landing. I remember looking out the window; I had a window seat, and seeing the vast darkness and every once in a while, a small point of light.

It wasn’t long before we were landing at Bien Hoa airbase in Vietnam which about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. The date was October 6, 1968 somewhere around 11:00 at night if I remember correctly. Just before getting off the plane, the flight crew thanked us for flying Flying Tiger Airlines and said something like “We hope to see all of you back with us in a year for the ride home”. We all looked at each other wondering which of us here wouldn’t make that flight back to the "World".

Bien Hoa Air Base was located 20 mi (30 km) NE of Saigon and near the infamous LBJ (Long Bien jail), which was the in-country military prison compound. Bien Hoa was also a huge munitions storage area. The base itself was upgraded from an old French post, and still had many of the old French buildings and small concrete bunkers scattered around the perimeter.

The Eyes Have It HNT

Here are my eyes. The Evil right eye and the Shifty left eye. It’s a long story so please don’t ask. They hate it when I talk about them.

HAPPY HNT

Rerun Embarassing HNT

I was traveling this week, so I have an excuse for posting an oldie but goodie HNT.

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This weeks HNT post is embarassing.

So, what do you think? Does it turn you on? Does it get you excited to see my,.............well, you know........?

If you want to see the uncropped version, click on the photo.

RERUN HNT: My 1st Half-Nekkid Thursday - 8/11/05

I wanted to start off with something a little less risque so as not to excite y'all too much.



You too can participate in Half-Nekkid Thursday here.

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It's been almost six years since I joined the HNT family. I started off shy, but HNT helped me loose my inhibitions. Boy, did it ever. LOL If you've been following me all these years you'd understand.

HAPPY HNT