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Abilene Slim SASS 81783

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Posts posted by Abilene Slim SASS 81783

    Okinawa, WWII

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

    My grandfather was wounded and his ship sunk off the coast of Okinawa during this battle.  He was on the USS Luce, DD 522.

     

    Kamikazees struck the magazine, causing a large explosion that shredded his leg.  He was bleeding profusely, and some sailors put a tourniquet on him and strapped him to a stretcher.  They were carrying him when the order was given to abandon ship; it was going down.  The sailors dropped him and abandoned ship, leaving him for dead.  He was tied to the stretcher and unable to move as the ship listed heavily and sunk farther and farther into the water.

     

    When the ship was at about a 45 degree angle, a sailor climbed onto the deck where he was lying and cut him loose from the stretcher.  He put a life vest on my grandfather and tossed him into the ocean.  The ship sunk completely a few minutes later.  Then the Japanese aircraft flew passes back-and-forth over the survivors, strafing them with machinegun fire to kill the survivors.  My grandfather used to talk about having the bullets pass by on either side of him.  He was not hit, but he remained in the water awaiting rescue for three days, during which time the sharks were eating survivors.

     

    He survived the blast, the sinking, the machinegun fire, and the sharks.  Upon his rescue, he was evacuated to a hospital in Norman, OK and treated for several months.  He had been engaged to my grandmother before the war, so she drove from Iowa to Oklahoma and met him at the hospital, where they were married.  They remained married until his death in 2010.  She followed him in death in 2014.

     

    His leg did not have to be amputated, but he required a metal brace that started at his shoe and went all the way up his leg.  He walked with a cane and a limp, and every few years more metal would work its way to the surface and it would have to be surgically removed.  He kept a Mason jar of metal that had been removed from his leg.

     

    On December 7, 1941, my grandfather, who had recently graduated from high school, was a plumber's apprentice in Independence, Iowa.  He planned to become a journeyman and marry my grandmother, but the war changed everything.  After his injury, he could not pursue any type of blue collar work so he used the GI Bill to go to Iowa State University and become a civil engineer.  He was the first person in my family to go to college, and he later spent an entire career with the DOT and helped to design the interstate system in Iowa.  

     

    Walking was very painful for him, and come to think of it, so was sitting.  He hurt pretty much all the time, but I never heard him complain.  He used to tell me, "Every day since that day was a gift from God."

    Burr and Virginia McFarland.jpeg

    Burr McFarland.jpeg

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    A long lost Art

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

    Me too, blessing and a curse to always have been able to afford to keep and move stuff from times past.  I do play them, but less every year. I have a few years worth before your time line.

    Those are the ones I purchased with my own money. 😊

     

    I also have those my parents purchased, including one of the all-time great early “stereophonic” albums, “Persuasive Percussion” (1959). I was fascinated by the alternating left channel/right channel “cha cha” arrangement - “I’m in The Mood for Love” -  on the Heathkit stereo system dad built then. I pull it out occasionally for the memories. 😊
     

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    • Like 3

    Whistling Death

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    15 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

    Mom was a WASP in WWII.

    She was an instructor pilot for both the P-51 and P-38.

    Mom always said the P-51 would kill you faster than any other aircraft she ever flew.

    It was her(and mine)favorite.

    🇺🇸🇺🇸

    • Thanks 1

    Credit Card interest

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    When inflation was raging back in the late ‘70s, the usury caps on credit card interest fell below the ever increasing prime rate. So the banking industry lobbied and won the ability to raise their rates. Of course when the prime rate dropped, card rates didn’t. And now they’ve added all sorts of fees on top of interest, making them more like those payday loan operations. 
     

    About 10 years ago I got a Southwest Airlines VISA card to build points for travel. The introductory pitch was a new cardholder would get a  $200 credit applied to their first ticket. When I got my first statement, the credit had been applied, but I found the card came with a $200 annual fee, thus wiping out my “savings”.  I immediately cancelled the card.
     

    That’s also when I found out that affinity cards - airlines, Cabelas, Home Depot et al - are managed by Citibank or some other huge banking conglomerate. Got a problem with your Home Depot or Southwest Airlines card? Call Citibank. That’s when you find about all the caveats buried in reams of fine print. 
     

    There was a time when this kind of crud was the purview of the mob. Thanks to lobbyists, it may be legal now,  but it sure is deceptive. 

    • Thanks 1

    Cool P-40

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    To me, the P-40 is just a cool looking plane, and a very capable one to boot. They didn’t get the glory of some other single seat fighters, but they did a lot of the grunt work necessary to win the war. 
     

    I feel the same way about the P-39. The Russkies used them with devastating effect. 

    • Like 3

    Don't bother with certain medical tests if you are over a certain age?

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    I was diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 59 after a lousy PSA score suggested a biopsy be performed. The doc explained the advantages/disadvantages of plucking it and curing my cancer vs waiting and managing my cancer with radiation and hormones. I said “pluck it.”

     

    It’s a life-altering procedure, but if it gets into your bones, it’s downhill from there. Mine was gnat’s whisker from my bones and if I’d procrastinated, I wouldn’t be writing this. 

     

    Further treatment was unnecessary and I’m still plugging along at 72. 


     

     

    • Like 8

    SPAD

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

     

    Yep is is based off of the Air Tractor AT-802. The AT-802 is used all over the world as a crop duster and the FireBoss version is an Airtanker for firefighting. 

     

    Air Tractor AT-802

     

      

    My son saw the Fireboss a lot when he was a Hotshot. 

    • Thanks 1

    Tonight's Movie: American Graffiti

    in SASS Wire Saloon

    Posted

    I couldn’t wait to get out. Only a couple of folks I wonder about now who were friends then. Lost contact with them well over 50 years ago. I didn’t leave a trail so I never heard of any reunions. Wouldn’t have attended anyway. Never looked back. 
     

    Nonetheless, I enjoyed the movie when it came out in ‘73 or so. Haven’t seen it since, but think I’d still like it. 
     

     

    • Thanks 1
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