....graduated in '65, moved to California to start college..

spent the next three years in the Army, most of that in VietNam...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't tell you how many stories I've heard in my life that started out similar to that one. All different, all the same. Love those stories, sorry sometimes that I don't have one. I told him that associating with those guys was extra special to me because I was not a combat soldier. As much as I was honored to be a part of taking the last ride with the man inside, I was honored to be standing with these folks. I thought, man, somebody should be writing this stuff down. It is history, like we studied in school, only this was people in my world, some older, some younger....heroes.

I looked at what was a most beautiful child. Mom was holding her, maybe twenty feet from me. Her little body wrapped with a black knit cap with an oversized lace rose on the side. A nice black velour dress, white stockings and tiny black patent leather shoes. Almost totally covered with a warm looking pink blanket. When she looked over in my direction, I saw her cherubic cheeks were pink because of the chilly Oklahoma breeze. She didn't squirm around and get fussy...at all. She did spend a good part of the graveside service singing that song that happy babies sing. I thought, I guess I'm here as much for her as for Sgt. Tucker.

They both had recently started a new journey. Hers, into this world, everything new and fasinating. Wide-eyed and curious, nothing escaped her gaze. His...how can we be sure? He was meeting up now with many others of his kind, including the man that raised my wife. A man I surely wish I would've known. Perhaps the others who have been laid to rest here were crowding around, getting to know the new guy.

Impressive new guy too. World War 2 Veteran. One of the first to engage the Japanese. He served with the 164th Infantry Division reinforcing the First Marine Division during landing assualts on Guadalcanal. The Secretary of the Navy authorized the troops of the U.S. Army 164th Infantry Regiment to wear the 1st Marine shoulder patch due to their service in the South Pacific. That is only the beginning. Among his awards and medals were the Purple Heart, Asiatic Pacific Service Ribbon, 4 Bronze Stars, American Defense Service Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation, 5 Overseas Bars, and the Prestigious Navy Presidential Citation issued by Major General Alexander Vandergrift.

It crossed my mind that there were 14 bikes and maybe double that in cages, but it didn't matter......no matter how many showed up, this guy was bigger than all of us put together.

Another list?

Every January, lists of this and that......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll try not to do it like everybody else, but I do want to highlight a few things..please.

I know I wasn't as prolific as I'd thought I might have been. And maybe I only seemed to write sad stuff, my thinking poignant. I know that it seems that people dread the Holidays because of the end of year regrets or of memories of those gone on to the next stage of their journey or of just plain depressing issues in their lives. Well, this year, the freight train that hits me about 2010 is the fact that I am going to be a great-gpa soon and I have a nephew that graduated college and a niece that found out she is going to have a child. Those alone have made this year very special indeed. I myself have made a couple decisions, one is I have applied for a position in Iraq and if not, my back-up plan is to go back to school in the new year. Got to keep moving, huh?

January showed up, new year, new decade, always full of promise. The ol rainbow chaser still hanging in, even though others were not with us.

February brought us the worst winter storm in many years. It knocked out power and made a mess for, in some places, a couple of weeks. We were able to get a generator and not get gouged on the price and even the gas station, the only one for a ways here, did not double the price of gas during the outage. And the people of this town remained courteous, no fights over gas or Twinkies or milk.

April is when my poor poor wife realized she had been tied to me for 5 years. Thanks goodness she likes me......still.

May is when I went on my first walk for Multiple Sclerosis. I went to honor a friend of mine and as usual, I got more out of it than I gave. We did raise a small amount of money for the cause and I was very proud to be a part of it.
We did lose Lt. John Finn this year. The first Medal of Honor winner in WW II. At the age of 100. Thanks again Lt. for a job well done. Also lost a good friend of many years during this years Iron Butt/Mom's Memorial Run. Take care Bill, I appreciate the fact that you were always good to me.

June brought about a change at work. A job that I had bid on over three years ago, I got. Better work, better conditions, pay. My blood pressure dropped noticeably, quickly. I also went on my first "mission" with the Patriot Guard Riders. Something that will stay with me and I will continue to do. Thanks to Dennis for pushing me, gently, toward joining them. It has made a difference in my life.

July is when I decided I'd had enough. Yet another motorcycle rider trashed in Oklahoma. This time it was a seasoned police officer. He wasn't killed, but was injured severely. Enough to retire from the force, not easy to replace. But, I got with my local state representative and in February, 2011, he will introduce the resolution I talked with him about, which is to assist drivers become more aware of motorcycles around them.

October is the month I "came out". I came out against others being thought of as less thans because of being who they are. Even those in our voluntary military, overseas giving of themselves to defend us and others. Heroes looked down on because they are different. Give me a break, standing in Hell so I don't have to and kids getting beat up at school. The time is passed for treating others poorly, because you want to.

December, ahhh at last December. Big for me in that I was able to successfully give blood. Maybe not a big deal for you, but if you know me, it was a monumental task, it took a lifetime just to get up the courage to do it. But then to survive it, you have no idea how uplifting it was. I finally did something good for someone, after 53 and 1/2 years. Topped off a pretty good year. Looking forward to 2011. Happy New Year to all and really, best wishes for a wonderful year.

P.S. I do plan on adding to this, as usual, if memory serves. Thanks for reading all this stuff, I appreciate your support.

Ted

Take time to listen.....you'll be glad you did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw my truck go by, so I stood up. When I did, he asked, "Is something wrong."

No I answered, I just saw my truck go into the bay that I had previously driven it into and was wondering, was it ready or were they just starting on it?

He moved over to sit beside me, so I sat back down.

One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite songs is, "all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be" so I'm really into life experiences.

He had already told me that his wife got a pacemaker in January, she had been ill in February so their son had come and insisted that she go to the emergency room. So she did, she had what they called "hospital pnneumonia". That 68 years skidded to a halt in 11 days. Damn, tough Thanksgiving.

But then, a few months earlier, his grandson....... He said that they propped him up with boards in the coffin. The only thing that didn't get crushed was his head.

Their daughter had moved in...to help. Was doing a great job, but.....she wasn't......her.

I stood up and took his hand, had it in my head to leave. They had said, "Mr. Manning, your truck is ready."

I wasn't going anywhere, Ted wanted to say something and I was going to be there for him.

Neither one of us knows anything about the word "committment". For different reasons.

He told me, "We lost more men at Omaha Beach in one day than we have during the Iraq Compaign." He teared up. We both wondered if there were enough in this country to load up those boats, knowing that the ones in the front were dead before the landing. He said they knew they were dead. Willing to sacrifice for their commrades in arms. We agreed that the soldiers we have now, no problem. But these were draftees, forced to be in that uniform. How many today would answer that call? How many would push their way to the front. To knowingly die without ever having a clue about the outcome.

He ended up as a tailgunner. Not an enviable position, laying on his belly in the rear of a B-17. His first stop after crawling in that gunner position was....Berlin. He said that the inside of that plane was well under zero F. The doors open for the other gunners. Not that there was heat, but the best place to be in that bird was in the cockpit, only because it was enclosed. They did what they had to do.

I apologized to the lady when I paid. I told her, anyone who doesn't have time to listen to a WWII vet, well.......I did and was glad I did. Fell in love with the man and I think he knew it, hope so.

Please, please, in all your doings this blessed holiday season...should you be priveledged and honored enough to have some old man have a word for you, I beg you to take a breath, look in to those knowing eyes and listen with all your heart. These people are responsible for me having the freedom to live the foolhardy life I have lived. He made it possible for me to have the kind of freedom that millions and millions of others would do anything to have. And all I did was to be lucky enough to be born here.

Thanks Ted, you are sooo much stronger than you can imagine. He thinks he is a broken man. There is nothing from Hell that could break you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

"Maxine"

"He fought for our country, he's a part of our freedom."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they called, they said, "Show up, flags unfurled and we'll do the rest."
That's what we were told at our pre-ride meeting. The town of Wetumka, Ok just wanted us to show. And we did, I counted 60 bikes and at least that many cages.

This man, this young Okie. A co-pilot in a C-47 cargo plane had just made a drop. Much needed, desired, and appreciated supplies to our ground troops in Somewhere, New Guinea. I can see the pilot, banking a bit to give that wing wave to those happy guys scrambling toward the drop. It was a moment that they had to know was possible/probable in those days during WWII. I'm sure those rounds came up from everywhere and SSGT. Glenn Webb helped land that plane.....in history...and into our hearts.

He, as I said, was a Staff Sergeant, had his pilots license for about four months. I stood and listened to a reading of the hand written letter that his mom received from President Roosevelt. SSgt. Webb had turned 20 about 9 months before. Not bad, for a man so young.

The story is that locals went in, the next day and recovered the flight crew and buried them. When they returned, one was missing. Only after several decades had passed did the technology advance to where this man could be found and brought back to his beloved Oklahoma home.

When they asked us just to show up and help welcome him home, we did that. As we rode in, even though we were not in a procession really, just some guys riding into town, they still stopped. We were motioned through the stop signs and made the turns, en masse. No one made any attempt to break our ranks, as has happened on occasion.

This little Oklahoma town, half an hour from the interstate, was wrapping us up. When the procession DID begin, with Patriot Guard, Rolling Thunder and others mixed together, from Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and even Louisiana, well, this is the kicker. That little town, had apparently dismissed school and had obviously bought every little flag available. They were standing by the main road, rows of people from the tiny pre-k crowd up to the high school age with parents and other adults surrounding them, all waving these little American flags, many with hands over hearts. The whole town must have showed up, to show respect for a man who had died before most of them were born.

It was a beautiful sight to behold. Along with the rather large military showing, there was a native American honor guard, always a pleasure to stand with.
This was my ninth mission. They are all the same, but all very different. I couldn't allow myself to miss the homecoming of a man from the greatest generation that had been on the MIA/KIA list for 68 years. And I'm so glad I didn't miss the outpouring of appreciation and respect from the whole town.

As I've stated in the past, I take more from these than I give. And by the way, that C-47 was called "Maxine".

Coming Out

For the "Kitten".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I dearly love the offspring of my siblings. No doubt, they have been as bright a light as I've had in my life. They are all so special, they make me feel......special. There is one though, that used to curl up in my lap like a kitten and sleep. Recently that one posted a notice concerning the wearing of purple...for today...for yet another group of humans being discriminated against.

A dark tale.

I guess I was maybe fourteen. My friend down the street and I had shared much time together. We had rode bikes together. We had built model cars, he had even shown me how to carefully cut and glue felt inside the cars for carpet and upholstery. We had spent time swimming in the lake, fishing and many other things that small town kids do. We had spent the night at each others house quite a bit. I even laid on the junior high gym floor once shining a light on him while he sang a song that I hated at a talent show.

One night, at his house, we had gone to bed and were sitting up talking and he asked a question that would change us forever.

He asked me if I wanted to have sex with him.

My upbringing and the time I spent in the local church quickly built a fire in me that would be many years bringing under control. My first thought was that if two boys touched each other they would both be in the fires of Hell, suffering for all eternity, almost and surely, immediately.

I went home.

Those who know me best and longest have no idea this ever took place.

Our friendship was instantly destroyed and he became the most evil I had ever known. How dare he subject me to certain damnation. The beating he took on the school bus, well...it wouldn't surprise me at all, if it was still talked about. How two close friends and neighbors who stayed joined at the hip for so long......... It was the worst beating I ever gave anyone. Before or since. Still, he came to my house once again and once again, he got a pounding. No one that age should carry that kind of rage..........or fear.

Many years later. Maybe with moving around as much as I have in my life, I came to realize we had more in common that I thought. He was different, I've always been different. But he never held that against me. Many others have throughout my life. I have done something simple for a very long time that has created more harsh responses and feelings than you can imagine. I've worn a beard. It has been the subject of countless disagreements among those I've met along my journey. Different. I actually thrive on being different. Want to insult me? Tell me about someone I remind you of. Funny, the mantra is "Think outside the box", but never ever GET outside the box.

During the time when I was learning to be Catholic (Baptist to Catholic, different)I thought I had learned first hand, discrimination. From members of my own family as well. But there have so many other ways that I have strayed. But again, during my conversion to Catholicism, I found out that my friend had died........of AIDS. I felt no such "Well, I'm not surprised!" I found myself very upset that I had never apologized to him and tried to make things better somehow. My future priest told me that he knew, my friend knew how I felt......he was my friend.

Some might say I've grown up, come of age.........given in? I don't believe in middle age crisis. It is just that maybe I'm not so concerned with what people think of me or my beliefs.

I, over the years have had to deal with the issue being challanged...er...ah...picked on for various...er...ah... non-conformity's. Those who think they have some sort of edge on you will use it to their advantage, even if one doesn't exist. It's as if your difference makes you weak. My "weaknesses" have driven my life. Wrong, but true, but I say to all of you who have "weaknesses", I'M STILL HERE ! And many I knew before...aren't. There are many issues that I'd rather not have as the topic of conversation, but I am still here. Be strong, don't give up, out live them. Be you. Those that would treat you wrong because you are different have no idea how special it is to be different. I have much respect for those who will be as they are and stick up for themselves. That is how I came to appreciate difference. Any one who will stand up and be counted, shine your light in a dark room.

And to those who want you to believe that God will strike someone down for being different than they, tell me why people will quote John 3:16, but not John 3:17.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell that kitten, I bought and wore a purple bandanna today. I'm not sure how many had any idea why, but maybe....just maybe someone saw this old man today and was inspired....to be different.

Told myself I wasn't gonna do it......

If you know me, you know I've said that before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First, let me say that I truly appreciate the Ray of Hope Baptist Church in Commanche, Oklahoma. I'm thinking that you just may be, at that.

I also wish to thank the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the City of Duncan Police Department, Stephens County Sheriff's Department, City of Lawton Police Department, Commanche County Sheriff's Department and the City of Elgin Police Department. Without you folks, our ride would be much less safe.

And of course, thank you SSGT. Vinson Bryon "Trinity" Adkinson III, for your sacrifice to keep us safe.

I went to a funeral today and I was expecting Fred and/or his associates. I was there, you were not. I wish to let you in on what you missed. I will help you to enhance your vocabulary with a few words I added to mine.

Shortly after arriving, I was greeted by more of the Patriot Guard Riders of which I ride with on every chance I get. Some of them grumbled about the possibility of Fred and/or his minions showing up and to them I responded, I want them to show, it would be an honor to the man and his family inside for them to take time out of their busy day and to come all the way down here to prove what we already knew, that this man is of great value. I felt this way after spending too much time looking at a website and letting my blood boil for too long and finally allowing the truth of the matter sink in. I know you Fred. I'm thinking the day, your son mentioned in that interview, when you changed, may coincide with the day someone just like you passed away. Another that never missed a nanosecond of sleep worrying about someone elses feeeeellllllings His spirit entered your body, yes....I know you well.

I heard of a story years ago that certain Native American tribes thought that the strength of their tribe was measured by the strength of their enemies. Well this man had stood up to his enemies, much greater than Fred, without fear. This man had shown his tribe to be very strong indeed. He was a Staff Sargent in the Army. Sure, he could've said to his men, "go!", but not him, he held up his head and stuck out his chest and said "follow me!". For this he made the ultimate sacrifice. He did not lose his life quivering in fear behind the couch as Fred or myself may have done. And Fred, this is the first word we learned today, COURAGE. A word that I'm afraid that won't likely be used when describing us.

This morning I was given the opportunity to stand with my flag at the end of the trailer carrying the Texas Liberty Bell. At one point a nice lady walked up to me and put something in my hand. She never said a word, just placed an item in my hand and walked away. I never looked at it, but thanked her and stood there until I was relieved. It was ear plugs, to protect my hearing. I had been standing there in close proximity to that huge bell, close enough not only to hear it, but to feel the power. I didn't use the plugs.

The man who rings the bell told us, "This bell tolls for a final time, 7 times, to show this man did not die early, he completed his mission."

After the service, we mounted up and rode right through Duncan to the "Y", then on towards Lawton. Passing many, many well wishers, through the obligatory rain shower, back in to the warm sun. Then on to the Fort Sill National Cemetery where we will release this son, who shined in the darkness, to his reward.

Once there, I again took a position beside the bell, flag in hand. As again it tolled, I was again handed hearing protection that I once again, did not use. I told the man later, "I'd rather go deaf than to block that sound."

This soldier's brother in arms, told of their time together, in war, during quiet times and said of his fallen brother, " I can describe my hero in one word....HONOR." Fred, that is another one neither you nor I may hear used in the elugy describing us on our last day.

Fred, you should've been there. Maybe if your god of hate would've given you two ears for hearing, you would've heard those words and the whine of the bagpipes, the 21 gun salute, the soloemn TAPS being played. You may have seen the flawless Army Honor Guard, fold that flag, slowly, precisely. DIGNIFIED, Fred, there is another word for our vocabulary. Something, yet again that we might not be accused of.

And lastly, Fred, maybe if you'd try it, come and see, come and hear. Close your mouth and watch.

Maybe then you'd see, when that flag is passed from hand to hand until it reaches that bereaved loved one, when that gloved, sharply uniformed soldier stands at attention and delivers that painfully slow salute to a greiving family, then, maybe then you'll realize and learn two more words from this lesson today, two words that come from OUR loving, forgiving God

........REVERENCE AND LOVE.