My dad and WWII

When my dad was a young boy, a neighbor threw a rock at him, leaving him blind him in one eye. My dad never complained nor did he say a bad word about the stone-thrower. The injury, as you would suspect, had a major impact on his life, including his service to our country.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor led hordes of young men to enlist in the military and my dad was anxious to join them. He showed at the recruitment office, ready and able. Sadly for him, the armed services did not accept those with such physical imperfections.

I believe most men at the time weren't looking for an excused absence and my dad was no exception. He wanted to do something, considering how others were risking their lives. He visited the enlistment office for a second time but once again, the answer was the same. The armed forces just couldn't accept him with partial vision.

Happily for him, the story does not end there. His third attempt would prove to be the charm. With the war raging, the enormous loss of men and fewer eligible recruits, the army had no choice but to lower its acceptance level.

My dad was given the job of a cook since he was not eligible for the infantry. He worked in a mobile hospital unit, having first taken up residence at a men's college in Paris. From there, they traveled to where they were needed, with my dad frequently having to carry the wounded.

My family also suffered a great loss in the war. My dad had been very close to his nephew, Teddy. Teddy was an aerial gunner whose plane was shot down. They never did recover his body.

After the war ended, as a reward for his service, the army offered my dad the opportunity to attend cooking school in Paris. He then went to Germany for a time and soon after he was sailing home.

A few years later, my dad met my mom while he staying with his sister in Ohio and she was visiting her aunt next door. My dad grew up in Pittsburgh so I imagine his knowledge of Connecticut was limited at the time. He must have been amused when he found out the name of my mom's hometown, Waterbury, CT. As it happened, the ship my dad sailed on when coming home from the war was none other than the U.S.S. Waterbury. Who would have thought he would one day live in a city of the same name?

My dad kept a journal of his days in the army. He would sometimes take it out, read through it and reminisce, I suppose. I do not know the depth of his writing. I never disturbed my dad during those times nor did I ask ever him permission to read the diary. It seemed too personal then, just as it does now.

Three years ago, my dad passed away at which time he was given a military funeral. The officers attending his service called out his name, “Sergeant Stanziano” and listed some of the metals he had won. I had no idea of his rank. Some time later, I was looking through his badges when I curiously spotted a pin that I had seen before but had never given it much thought. Here he had to badger the military to overlook his partial blindness and yet, here I was, holding his metal for Expert Marksmanship.

Bush/Clinton and the right-wingers

I'm not trying to create some crazy conspiracy theory but I do think there is a lot of truth in what I'm suggesting.

That is, I believe the anti-abortion Christian movement is incredibly influential and that is why, to a large degree, Bush seems to skate through his blunders while Clinton couldn't take a deep breath without an independent council investigaton.  Yes, it is also largely due to Republicans controlling both houses of Congress but then again, most ardent anti-abortion Christians are from the bible-belt states, which  traditionally vote Republican.

It was the Paula Jones scandal that brought this to light.  Remember the woman who no longer looks like herself?  A wealthy anti-abortion Christian group paid her enormous attorney fees (and possibly her make-over).

I am not trying to bash Christians or pro-lifers.   I just honestly believe that if Bill Clinton was against abortion, he would have had a much smoother presidency.

Does anyone else agree with this?

 

Bush's Missing Military Records - Yeah, Right

So they misplaced Bush's military payroll records. How convenient that is. Don't you think?

From THE NEW YORK TIMES:

He went on: "In 1996 and 1997, DFAS engaged with limited success in a project to salvage deteriorating microfilm. During this process the microfilm payroll records of numerous service members were damaged, including from the first quarter of 1969 (Jan. 1 to March 31) and the third quarter of 1972 (July 1 to Sept. 30). Bush's payroll records for these two quarters were among the records destroyed. Searches for backup paper copies of the missing records were unsuccessful."

We all know that even if they did exist, they would never have been made public. Bush would make up an excuse like, 'No other sitting (keyword here) President has ever been made to reveal their military records'.

In all fairness, I'm not surprised that records from the 1960s or 1970s are missing. A lot can happen in 30 years. What I do find interesting is that only a few months of records are missing and they just 'happen' to be the records in question. If this isn't a coverup than Bush is luckier than a Vegas blackjack dealer (at least at the tables where I sit).

slight rant/book suggestion

I find it amazing how people are so critical of hermaphodites or transexuals, much more than they are of homosexuals. I imagine that road must be one of the hardest to walk. Our gender is so much a part of our being that any confusion or feelings of being in the wrong body is so very sad.

I just found out about the recent suicide of David Reimer, author of the book 'As Nature Made Him: The Boy who was Raised as a Girl' . I had never heard of David Reimer before this and the circumstances of his operation (botched circumcision, looked it up on Google) are tragic. I would venture to guess that his parents did what they thought was best at the time.

I have seen other unfortunate stories on TV regarding gender reassignment done on babies or small children. In theory, the best way to handle it is to do nothing and let the individual decide when they are old enough but life isn't always that simple.

While I maintain that surgery should not be done, I feel the child has to identify with one sex or the other when he/she begins to socialize, especially at school. Not fitting into either gender group at such a young age seems more devastating to me than identifying with the wrong sex. I don't have any answers on how to make that choice other than to ask the child questions like, 'Do you think you are more like daddy or mommy' (I may be way off base here). In David Reimer's case, he was clearly a boy and should have stayed that way.

Ok, now that I got out, 'The Poisonwood Bible' is one of the best books I've ever read. It was written by Barbara Kingsolver. Each chapter is written by a different member of the family (except the father). The author does an unbelievable job at varying their personalites and allowing us to watch the story through each person's eyes. It may very well be the best book I've ever read.

A little warning though. I tried to get my sister to read it but she couldn't get through it. She claims the book 'She's come undone' by Wally Lamb is excellent. I've never read it so I can't vouch for it. I do highly recommend 'The Poisonwood Bible' though.

A Difference of Opinion is Good.

I recently posted my thoughts about President Bush and to be honest with you, I don't know if I would have if I was pro Bush. One reason I suppose is because anger and disappointment tend to be great motivators as opposed to content and satisfaction. I do want to make it clear, however; that I do not believe Bush supporters are any less intelligent. It's really a matter of how conservative or liberal you are.

I recently was talking with someone from work about Iraq and his view was that we should have just blown them away a long time ago. I simply stated that I will not bring the subject up with him again. Why, you ask? First off, it does not seem to me that he knows the situation very well and secondly, if he does by chance know, then that means he is willing to kill innocent people for no apparent reason.

I was totally against this war in Iraq. It seemed more of a personal vendetta than anything else. I then began reading a blog from an Iraqi doctor who is estatic about the possibility of freedom. That gave me a different perspective on things. Finally, the Iraqis can live freely and have a public voice without fear. I started to feel that maybe we did make the right decision. Then all the beheadings began and I was back to being against the war. The price we paid is too high. My heart breaks everytime I hear of another kidnapping or death for an American.

I get more upset when an American dies than an Iraqi. Is that fair? Is one life more important than another? No, but I do feel that way. I feel guilty about it but I also trust that most people feel that way about their fellow countrymen.

I listen to Public Radio, read the newspaper and watch the news on TV every night so I usually have a good handle on what is going on in the world. The people who are not well informed are the ones whose opinion I take with a grain of salt. But if I believe that you have the basic facts of the situation (you don't have to be an expert), I will respect your point of view regardless of whether it agrees with mine. Also, if you do not have all the facts, it simply means you do not know about this particular subject. It certainly does not mean you are stupid.

Remember what Will Rogers said, "All's I know is what I read in the papers". That is unfortunate for all of us because we get the journalist's slant on the facts. That is why public opinion boards like this are important so we can see what the individuals of the world see and feel.

President Bush only hires the 'C' students.

I haven’t seen Fahrenheit 9/11 so forgive me if I repeat anything the movie might have said.
Do you think there's any coincidence that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has been surging for the past 3 1/2 years?

Yes, I know they've been fighting for years but it had subsided substantially from the work that Bush Sr. and Clinton had done.

As soon as Bush gets into office, he decides he's not going to have anything to do with continuing the negotiations of his predecessors.

That really ticked me off. I also recall Bin Laden mentioning the lack of involvement as a reason for the 9/11 attack. I don't know how much truth is in that since the plan was suppose to have been in the works for a couple of years.

My second gripe is with Colin Powell. I've never seen a more incompetent Secretary of State. Think about all the work that Madeline Albright and Casper Weinberg did under Clinton or Jim Baker did under Bush Sr. or especially Henry Kissinger under Nixon.

Colin Powell has no idea what to say or do. Do we ever hear about him? Very rarely.

I've never seen more inept people in my life.

Condoleezza Rice's field of expertise is Russia. Do you think that has anything to do with why she thought Russia was more of a threat than Bin Laden?

The whole thing about Saddam was a diversion. Bush couldn't catch Bin Laden so he diverted our attention to Saddam. Saddam becomes our number 1 enemy because we know where to find him. Plus payback time is sweet (for Bush, that is).

The people with the real weapons of mass destruction, North Korea, we do nothing about. We do haphazard negotiations. They were way more of a threat to the USA then Saddam was. They told us straight out. We're making the weapons and we're not going to stop. What does Bush do? He attacks the country where they can't find the WMD.

He was certainly correct when he said that the people with the C grades can become president. That is, if they happen to be the son of a former President.