Dear list,
Had a great day last saturday. The American Legion adjutant called me at
the last minute and invited me to ride in a military vehicle in Ontario,
Oregon's Chamber of Commerce Christmas parade. I offered to bring my
own, a 1972 Kaiser M35A2, but he said the local NG unit had plenty.
It was a beautiful sunny day to ride in the turret of a Abrams tank.
What a view. As I rounded the first corner, there was my grandson
sitting on the curb, watching the parade. All along the route I was able
to greet friends and even a few grumps who are critical of me for my
Deuce, camo pants and love of military weapons.
The grand marshall of the parade had to ride in a car. Too bad for him.
I definitely had a better seat plus the tank commander gave me training
on operation of the .50 BMG and turret.
I had previously spent several hours in the tank simulator training for
fun so the beast wasn't entirely new to this disabled USA vet. I'm just
nine weeks post op on my third hip replacement. Still I was able to drag
myself up to the turret without assistance. I could really tell I was
recovering well when I could climb in the Deuce and drag main on friday
night with the teenagers. Life is so rough I hate to see it ever come to
an end.
HH
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