Friday?... Femme Fatale? On Saturday? ... Yes.. I have been busy....

WW2 Reenactment Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA 2016

I was at this event last weekend and it was very cold, but we did not have the snow as in some years past. The snow combined with armor, white camouflage, and lots of participants made for some great photo ops two years ago.

It Is Raining Here Too

Portrait Of A Hero

                                         Auburn, Alabama Man Was A Marine And A CIA Operative in Vietnam 

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — No one saw it coming that previously calm, cool, 1968 morning in the heart of Vietnam, and certainly not a young United States Marine captain from Auburn, Alabama, who found himself there working on a CIA mission before the enemy struck.
Sadly, 50 years ago today and during that surprise attack that changed the course of an entire war, Capt. Robert W. Hubbard lost his life.
But not until he put up a damned good fight, as one witness described it.
The following is an account of how Capt. Hubbard fought to the end, killing numerous enemy combatants while saving the lives of fellow Americans at a time when enemy yells struck fear, their bullets struck death, and heroes struck back.
They attacked everywhere
Out of ammunition, out of food, out of water and mostly surrounded, the handful of young Marines knew they had to do what Marines do: stay mobile.
It would be days after his death on Feb. 4, 1968, before Hubbard's bullet-riddled body could be recovered and returned to Auburn for burial, but the story behind the four harrowing days leading up to that tragic ending recently was allowed by the CIA to be shared by one of the men who survived the events.
It was called the Tet Offensive.
Tet, which celebrates the lunar new year, is the most important holiday on the Vietnamese calendar.
Vietnam at the time was torn from years of war, with the Communist North Vietnam battling the U.S.-supported South Vietnam. American officials feared the spread of communism if the North took control of the entire country. The war in general, however, seemed to be at a stalemate.
The overall strategy of the North Vietnamese was to inflict as many casualties as it could and try to sway an already-divided American public against the war and for the U.S. to leave Vietnam.
The war's momentum took a drastic shift with the massive holiday offensive launched on Jan. 30-31, 1968, when most Vietnamese families were celebrating the first day of Tet, associated by them with the first day of spring.
Within 24 hours, the enemy engaged in more than 120 attacks throughout South Vietnam, some of them involving massive military assaults and others involving organized suicide squads at strategic targets such as the American embassy.
One such target was the city of Hue.
Hubbard was there.
The CIA's role
Hue lies in the center of Vietnam, and in addition to a population of more than 350,000 today, it features several historically significant palaces and shrines.
Hubbard was recruited by the CIA for what some called a "pacification program," akin to more contemporary descriptions of "winning the hearts and minds" of the local people. His job was to help plant seeds on why the Vietnamese living there should be more interested in freedom and democracy than in a communist style of government.
He often wore civilian clothing because of that role, as did Marine Capt. Ray Lau, who joined Hubbard and a small group of others temporarily living and operating in Hue. It was Lau who would manage to survive the Tet attacks and who was allowed to tell his story last December to the Studies in Intelligence magazine, which focuses on topics of interest to the Central Intelligence Agency community.
Lau, like Hubbard, was recruited by the CIA to act as a so-called adviser.
The timing of his arrival, however, was a bit more ominous.
The fighting begins
Lau arrived in Hue on Jan. 30. After the long journey to get there, he was assigned to a house with two other men, and on the morning of Jan. 31, "We were awakened at about 4 a.m. to the sound of gunfire and explosions in the distance," he wrote in his first-person account.
South Vietnamese guards were concerned, reporting that a guard camp across a nearby canal was under attack, but to Lau and others, nothing seemed unusual from previous, small-scale attacks.
After a sustained firefight and the continued sound of gunfire, they realized something bigger was afoot.
Hubbard and Marine Sgt. Howard Vaughn arrived in a Jeep at about 7 a.m. Hubbard was concerned about having not had radio contact that morning with other colleagues, so he and another man named Jim, a former special-forces member, left on foot to learn more.
Lau and Sgt. Vaughn were standing by their compound's gate posts when Vaughn noticed enemy soldiers running down the street about 70 yards away.
Vaughn let go a short burst of fire with his M-16 rifle.
"Almost immediately, his volley was answered with automatic fire," Lau wrote in his accounts. "Vaughn wheeled away from the post and fell to the ground."
He was wounded, but not killed. Mortar rounds began falling and an explosion from one on a roof showered the men with debris.
Hubbard and Jim returned, and Hubbard checked on the injured Sgt. Vaughn and moved him into a side bedroom of the house they all occupied now, as they watched steady streams of enemy soldiers pour into the city across the main streets further down and wondered when more troops would approach their location.
The men took up positions inside the house, and they prepared for a fight they knew was coming.
No surrender
A foreign service officer named Tom lived in a neighboring house. As enemy soldiers began searching and destroying pockets of resistance, surrender did not seem to be an option.
Lau later would learn that Tom and the other man had surrendered when their house was surrounded.
"Tom's story was especially sad," Lau wrote. "He was in his 60s and had served in the army through World War II and the Korean War.
"In World War II, he was captured by the Italians. In Korea, he was captured by the North Koreans. This time the North Vietnamese were not so kind, as Tom did not make it."
Tom and the other man were taken into the bathroom and executed.
Although Hubbard, Lau and the injured Vaughn did not know those details at the time, they knew enough about their enemy.
Cornered in the house and already exchanging fire when an enemy soldier would approach, they began to realize the large scale of the attack and knew they would be taking enemy lives in this fight. So they made a vow:
They would not be taken alive.
Death at close range
There were two Jeeps parked in front of their house, and at least one had a radio, but efforts to reach someone for help were fruitless, as battle waged on throughout the country in the concerted attack.
American troops and officials throughout South Vietnam were fighting for their lives; everywhere.
Around 8:30 a.m., Lau saw a grenade fly through the air and land in one of the Jeeps. It exploded and the Jeep burst into flames.
The same happened to the second Jeep moments later. "So much for using the Jeeps to escape," Lau recalls.
Around 9:30 a.m., an enemy soldier entered the house.
"He walked slowly and stealthily in, toward the right-side bedroom where Bob Hubbard and Jim were," Lau said, describing how the scene unfolded. When the enemy soldier was about 10 feet away from Hubbard, "Hubbard stood up, and they both started firing on full automatic. It was like the movies, where chips of wood were flying off the door around Hubbard.
"But Hubbard's bullets found their mark, and the (enemy) wheeled, staggered a couple of feet and collapsed at our front entrance."
Lau described how seeing a man killed a close range was not the same as firing a rifle at a more-distant target.
"I thought about how easy physically it was to kill a person," he wrote, "but it is the psychological aspect that is more difficult."
Surviving another day
About 10 minutes later, an explosion blasted the house at the front door from an RPG round (rocket-propelled grenade).
Around 10 a.m., the enemy attacked again, and then, again moved onward.
The men stayed quiet and patient for the rest of the first day of battle. Vaughn's condition, meanwhile, continued to worsen as he bled from his wounds.
Day 2 arrived. Around 11 a.m., the enemy returned.
Grenades and gunfire sprayed the house and soon it was again close-quartered fighting.
"It seemed as if the (enemy) were now in the other bedroom, as one grenade rolled into our room," Lau recalled. "Bob Hubbard dived for it and threw it back outside the living room, where it exploded."
A second grenade rolled in and exploded near the doorway. Lau suffered a small shrapnel wound in his left arm.
They waited for their attackers to charge the room, but to their surprise, no charge came. Most likely, the enemy thought they were dead.
The men knew, however, they had to move. No doubt, more soldiers would be coming, and sooner or later they would be outgunned if they sat there as targets.
Hubbard helped the injured Vaughn through a back window and the men moved to a smaller house.
It wasn't long before their next encounter with NVA, or soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army.
Shots were fired into the small room they occupied. One of them hit Vaughn as he lay on the floor, inflicting yet another serious wound.
Lau recalled Hubbard's response:
"Hubbard yanked the door opened and fired, killing three NVA.
"Hubbard pulled back, yelling that he was out of ammunition."
Lau went to the door to help, but the only NVA he could see were the three men Hubbard had killed.
Once again, the American trio survived.
But how long could it last?
Looking to escape
Lau peered over the dead bodies and saw a usable AK-47 rifle and clips of ammunition. He picked them up, as the American servicemen were about out of any and all supplies.
Little did he know that simply carrying the rifle would later help save his life without even firing a shot.
During a tense moment in a move to find another location, Lau looked toward a building and saw an enemy officer staring at him. But the officer didn't order any shots fired nor took any other action before moving elsewhere.
Lau reasoned that because he was wearing civilian clothes and carrying an AK-47, the officer likely thought he was a North Vietnamese guerrilla fighter.
The men became more desperate as the days passed, supplies ran out, and the enemy continued to hold the city. They knew American forces would retake the area sooner or later, but they had no idea how widespread the attack had been, and it was obvious that their survival depended on finding help.
Lau described more firefights before the men eventually became separated.
Vaughn's injuries had become too serious to move him, and he passed away.
Lau became separated from the others because of his small body frame and his ability to crawl through a small culvert. He soon realized the others were making a dash the best way they could.
Villagers during the next several days hid Lau and gave him food and water. They stashed him away in a pig sty, but it kept him alive, as enemy soldiers continued their search for Americans.
Finally, on Feb. 7, 1968, Lau heard the most wonderful words he could hear being shouted in English:
"U.S. Marines!"
They were looking for survivors, and in Lau, they found one.
Only later did he learn that his fellow serviceman who had fought so heroically and helped save his life, Bob Hubbard of Auburn, was killed by gunfire while trying to cross a bridge in his own escape attempt. One report said he was leading others, armed only with a single hand grenade.
"He had been shot at close range and likely died instantly," Lau wrote.
But Lau hasn't forgotten about his brave friend.
And he's coming to Auburn to tell about it.
A sincere dedication
The Marines don't leave anyone behind. Nor do they forget.
Bob Hubbard, who posthumously received the Navy Cross for his bravery, had a lifelong connection to Auburn, and Auburn to Hubbard, who was a 1963 graduate of Auburn University.
Tuesday afternoon in Auburn University's Langdon Hall, an all-star cast of heroes was set for a dedication ceremony organized in part by Alabama Assistant Attorney General John Davis, a family friend.
Hubbard "spent the last Christmas of his life with my family, Christmas 1967," said Davis, whose wife Barbara, an artist, will present a portrait of Hubbard that later will be displayed in the Nichols Center, home of Auburn's ROTC programs.
Among those attending and speaking at the portrait dedication will be Medal of Honor recipient and 1962 Auburn graduate, Marine Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston; and Opelika resident and Medal of Honor recipient, Army Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins.
And, retired Marine Capt. Ray Lau.
Semper Fi, Capt. Robert W. Hubbard.
Semper Fi.
———

Information from: Opelika-Auburn News, http://www.oanow.com/

HARLEY RECALL...Harley-Davidson recalls 175K motorcycles for failing brakes

  Just an FYI for my fellow enthusiasts:



Less than a year after another large recall, and amidst disappointing earnings reports, a depressed sales forecast, and the consolidation of their Kansas City and York manufacturing facilities, Harley-Davidson announced a new recall of approximately 175,000 motorcycles for malfunctioning and failing brakes.

RELATED: This major motorcycle manufacturer is recalling a huge number of their bikes across the world
The new recall (Harley-Davidson recall number 0171) affects a lot of bikes, according to CNET. Every Touring, CVO Touring, and VSRC motorcycle built in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 with antilock brakes is affected. That includes over 30 Harley-Davidson models in total, including police models:

• Road King
• Road King Police
• Electra Glide Standard Police
• Electra Glide Classic
• Electra Glide Ultra Classic
• Street Glide
• 2008 VROD
• CVO Road King 4
• Night Rod
• CVO Ultra Classic 3
• Night Rod Special
• 2008-2010 Road King Classic
• 2008-2009 Road Glide and Electra Glide Standard
• 2009-2010 V-Rod
• 2009 CVO Ultra Classic and CVO Road Glide 3
• 2009-2011 Night Rod Special and V-Rod Muscle
• 2010 CVO Ultra Classic 5 and CVO Street Glide
• 2010-2011 Electra Glide Ultra Limited and Road Glide Custom
• 2011 Road Glide Ultra 103
• Street Glide 103
• Road King Classic 103
• CVO Ultra Classic 6
• CVO Road Glide Ultra
• Road Glide Custom 103
• CVO Street Glide 2

According to the recall, “deposits” can form “on components within the brake system if the DOT 4 brake fluid is not replaced for a prolonged period of time beyond the 2-year maintenance schedule.” If a motorcycle’s front or rear brake pedal feels “hard” (or cannot be activated at all) at startup or after an ABS event, it may already be affected by deposits in the bike’s antilock braking system.
Over 40 complaints — including three crashes and two injuries — gave cause to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to pressure Harley-Davidson to declare a national recall. The agency had been investigating complaints about the problem since summer 2016.
Harley-Davidson dealers will flush the brakes of every motorcycle covered by the recall and replace it with Platinum Label DOT 4 brake fluid, according to the recall, at no cost to the owner. Recalls are scheduled to begin February 12th; owners are urged to contact Harley-Davidson customer service with questions.


LINK <<

Uranium One Informant Makes Clinton Allegations In Testimony

Grab some popcorn and beer. Things are getting interesting after an FBI informant told three congressional committees that the Russians had routed MILLIONS of dollars to Bill Clinton's charitable efforts while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "quaterbacked" a "reset" in U.S.-Russian relations. Read the entire story HERE.

Good Job!

To Serve

                                  Tennessee sheriff boasts about fatal shooting he ordered: "I love this shit"

                           If this latest episode of overt lethal force is not a mess, it will do till one gets there.

Watch the videos (that is right there were multiple video and audio recordings), read the transcripts and decide for yourself. I have seen things similar to this where I live. A minor incident occurs and things get out of hand. In my opinion, cooler heads should have prevailed and this man did not have to die. Again I was not there, but based on the current information available I would say this is a huge mistake.

I remember when I was about thirteen there was a guy who had already graduated high school. When he was younger he rode my school bus. Anyhow, this guy bought an old Honda 750-4 right out of high school. One night the local policeman tried to pull him over for speeding and the kid gunned it. The cops were driving an old LTD with a 460 cid police interceptor. With blue lights flashing and the siren wailing the cop ran the boy on a road that was on the west side of our place and around a backroad that ran about a mile east of our farm. It was basically a lop-sided oval of about eight miles. I don't know how many times they made the loop, but each time the motorbike was pulling away from him. We were on the back porch listening and watching when they'd come down the long straight in front of my house. My daddy said to me, "if that was you, I'd whip your ass for driving that fast and running from the law. I'd also whip the dogshit out of that policeman for chasing you". His point was the cop knew who the boy was. All he would have to have done was go to his parent's house the next morning and pick him up. By chasing him, the boy could have been injured or killed as could have the policeman and anyone else on the road or even close to it.  The kid finally ran out of gas and got to go to the "stout house" over at the county seat. Anyhow, here is the "meat" of the subject.

Click here for more on this story.

Phenix City, Alabama

A couple of posts back involved the Phenix City police officer who was charged with rape. That post has nothing in common with this story except both took place in Phenix City, Alabama. I first heard of the legacy of Phenix City from my old high school principal who was a native of that area (Smith's Station) and used to tell some harrowing stories about the crime and corruption that went on in and around Phenix City/Columbus, GA. Most of the crime was prostitution and gambling and perpetuated on soldiers from nearby Ft. Benning. During WWII there were so many instances of soldiers from the U.S. Army Training Center being "rolled" in the town that Gen. George Patton threatened to roll his tanks into the town and to shut down the crime wave. He did not. The vice and violence continued on several more years and reached a climax when Phenix City native, Albert Patterson who had been recently elected Attorney General of the State of Alabama (ran partly on the premise of cleaning out Phenix City) was shot and killed outside of his office in the town by some of the local syndicate.  I was wondering if anyone had seen the 1955 movie The Phenix City Story. In the movie the AG's son gives a rousing speech to the townsfolk and is insturmental in restoring decency to the town.  In real life, Patterson's son Albert, went on to become governor of the the State of Alabama.  The movie is "OK", but the real history is fascinating. This is especially true if one is lucky enough to hear it first hand. Here is the movie poster. Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia and a YouTube snippet. 

Phenix City was notorious during the 1940s and 1950s for being a haven for organized crime, prostitution, and gambling. Many of its customers came from the United States Armytraining center at Fort Benning, Georgia. The leaders of the crime syndicate in Phenix City were Jimmie Matthews and Hoyt Sheppard. Albert Patterson, from Phenix City, was elected to become attorney general of Alabama on a platform of reforming the city, but was shot and killed in 1954 outside his office on 5th Ave, N of 14th Street. As a result, the city had a negative reputation, and many people still associate this legacy with Phenix City. The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama by Margaret Ann Barnes chronicles these events, which led the small town to be known as "Sin City, USA". The bordertown was the subject of an acclaimed film, The Phenix City Story, made in 1955.

"Chimp Out" at funeral of murdered 20 month old girl

Kandice Cabbil died last week of blunt force trauma. Her father, Samuel Cabbil, has been charged with her death. Mourners who came together to console each other ended up in a helluva brawl. The video can be seen below and the story can be read by clicking HERE.

To Serve

Phenix City police officer, Eldrick Devon Kennedy, was charged with raping a woman in handcuffs. Kennedy was put on administrative leave and then fired after a brief investigation proved Kennedy had broken multiple department internal procedures. 

Russell County Sheriff, Heath Taylor, said "Kennedy knew better. He was a five year veteran". Taylor went on to say he had no sorrow or sympathy for Kennedy and that Kennedy would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  STORY here.

Conspiratorial-"Sketchy" Federal Agent's Body Story Replaced By Hot Babe

and.... It's Monday....

Usually Around Dinner on Sunday....

An Important Fundraiser For Angel... PINNED.. newer posts below.

  Kenny over at "Knuckledraggin My Life Away" has set up a fundraiser to help Angel in her 

time of need.  Here is a link to KENNY'S page.  Please send along whatever you can to help 

someone who has definitely touched so many people in the blogosphere.

  This comment by Phil over at "THEVULGARCURMUDGEON" offers his description of 

Angel and it's spot on:


 Angel has a blog also although it went dormant a few months ago because her personal life was stressed out. She had two autistic daughters, the oldest just passed away suddenly.
How to describe Angel to someone who doesn’t know about her? Very difficult but I’ll give you a quick rundown the way I see it.
Angel is the unofficial and decidedly unwilling “Den Mother” to a an assortment of bloggers who are all a part of the American Patriot movement in one way or another.A red head from Texas, she is one very sweet lady with a huge heart who you would not ever want to piss off. There was one instance that stands out when she was out in her garage alone with the door open in front and some pervert walked in out of the blue with his little Johnson hanging out. She was cornered and reached behind her and pulled out her pistol from her waistband and chased him right the hell out.
I have no doubt she would have plugged his ass if he hadn’t took off like a scalded cat. That kind of tough. There are a lot of people with a ton of respect for the lady and I count myself as one of them.
She has had fund raisers for other people in need and as a matter of fact, the last post she put up was just that. She is wicked smart and doesn’t put up with any bullshit. Her and Kenny (Wirecutter) from Knuckle Draggin’ My Life Away have had a friendly tease the hell out of each other very publicly relationship going back years and are actually good friends. the name of her blog is The Lonely Libertarian and you can find it quite easily by searching for that.
I hope this helps explain what is going on.


 Angel's blog.........


The Lonely Libertarian

Would You Stay Home And Miss The Super Bowl IF She Asked You Too?