Memorial Day
Memorial Day is special to all who love freedom. It is a day set aside to remember the bravery, sense of duty, honor and ultimate sacrifice of those who have protected our freedom and those who do so today.
Do you remember the Big Band sound of the Glen Miller Orchestra? Can you remember the World War II tune “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else but Me?” The West Islip High School dance band often played it in the 60’s. We learned the music but not the lyrics. Play Glen Miller’s version today and listen to the lyrics. The male singer asks his girl friend to remain faithful while he’s away. She responds by asking him to remain faithful to her and not place a girl upon his knee while he is on foreign shores. They join in the reprise and promise not to sit under the old apple tree until you come marching home. The words are light-hearted emotions shared by many thousands who were separated by war.
Baseball was our favorite sport in my neighborhood in West Islip. We spent many childhood hours playing baseball and stickball. Some of the guys could really hit a baseball or a Spalding. We’d pretend we were our favorite baseball heroes. We learned to field the short hop and make the pivot for the double play at second base. We walked, talked and read about baseball. There was an illustration in the 1957 sport pages of Ted Williams trying to land a fish, which was inscribed “. 400 batting average.” Could he land that title again? And Mickey Mantle was fishing with him. Conversations were about how many home runs Ted might have hit if he had not served in WWII and rejoined the service to fly missions in the Korean War. After serving in two wars, Ted Williams hit .388 in 1957.
As kids growing up during the Cold War, we practiced air raid drills in elementary school through high school. The fear and threat was that communist Russia would launch an attack of intercontinental ballistic missiles or missiles with nuclear warheads. The theory was if the US matched the USSR, the threat of retaliation implied total destruction of life on earth. Therefore, no one would ever be foolish enough to “press the button.”
Some of the victims of the Cold War included men who died on the Scorpion, a nuclear submarine. One of those was Joe Miller from West Islip. Joe could hit a baseball a long way. We played pick up games, for example, Arcadia Drive vs. Roderick Road. If you played on Joe’s team, you’d anticipate him hitting a long beautiful arc, like Ted Williams. If you played against him, you’d hope you could run like Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle and catch his line drive. If you get a chance, stop at the intersection of Higbie Lane and Montauk Highway in West Islip. Look for a granite block with Joe’s name on it. Remember a kid who played baseball and became a member of the “silent service.”
Some volunteered and some were drafted and went to Viet Nam in the sixties and seventies. Others went into the National Guard. One who played stickball and baseball on Arcadia Drive wrestled for West Islip High School. Bill Richter was a scrapper with undefeatable spirit, who appeared in the state finals in the 98 lb class one year and the 105 lb class the next. As a Marine, Bill went to Viet Nam. During a patrol, the point man stepped on a land mine. Bill was injured, sent home and died a year later. His name does not appear on the Wall in Washington but we, who knew him, remember. Over 58,000 Americans died in VN.
My first night on a bunker near the perimeter of Long Bihn, a former rubber plantation, was in August 1971. It was cooler on top of the bunker than in it. Before dawn, there was movement on the nearby highway. As light pierced the dark sky, Vietnamese could be seen walking, carrying their children and belongings. They were refugees. Some had carts with wooden wheels drawn by water buffalo. I wondered if we had gone back in time 5,000 years? There were other nights and situations when fear gripped our squad. Men cried out to God, others for their mothers. And I wondered why a West Islip kid, who played baseball and stickball, was away from home, half way around the world.
Today, we remember those who perished on September 11, 2001. The attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center was an attack on civilization. When the WTC was attacked, we were shocked and could not comprehend the depth of evil, the evil that worships death and the subjugation of our consciousness to the destruction of existence. This evil is worse than anything we feared in Viet Nam. That initiation of force ended any thought of morality because we do not place moral sanction on murderers. Terrorists do not wish to live. Their morality is death. Death is their value system and their chosen goal. Today we are in a fight for freedom and our way of life. Paraphrasing John Galt’s speech in “Atlas Shrugged” written by Ayn Rand: “Reason, purpose and self-esteem are our values. Reason is man’s only tool. Purpose is the choice of happiness. Self-esteem is man’s certainty that his mind is competent to think and his person is worthy of happiness, which means: is worthy of living. Our morality is life while the terrorists’ is the antithesis.”
Remember the men and women of our armed services who are fighting this war against evil today. Understand their act of service for this country is to preserve our freedom and our choice to live. Let the world know that America stands for freedom for all people.
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Sunday, January 19, 2003
Nobel Peace Prize 2002
Nobel Peace Prize
The 1973 Nobel Peace Prize winner was Le Doc Tho, the North Vietnamese Communist, who, along with Ho Chi Minh and other Party leaders, imposed a vicious Communist dictatorship in North Vietnam that slaughtered at least 50,000 Vietnamese in the 1950s and then invaded South Vietnam. The death toll by that Communist dictatorship totaled 2 million. The 1994 prize went to Yassar Arafat, the brutal dictator of the Palestinian Authority, who imposed a despotic regime on his own people and initiated a murderous war against the free citizens of Israel. This years Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former President Jimmy Carter. The five member committee, solemnly intoned: “In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and international development.” Was this the criteria in 1973 and 1994?
During President Carter’s term of office: The Sandinistas seized Nicaragua and used it as a base to assist anti-American guerillas in El Salvador. Iranians overthrew the pro–American Shah, installed a revolutionary Islamic regime, and in an egregious violation of human rights and international law seized U.S. diplomats and held them as hostages. The USSR installed SS-20 missiles in its then satellites and invaded Afghanistan. These were not years of peace and tranquility.
All told, Carter’s “principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law” created a world that was far more unstable than the one he inherited. If that achievement is the one the Nobel Prize Committee wants emulated, they would have been well advised not to make the award. Carter did manage to convince Egypt to recognize Israel’s right to exist but he did not receive the award for this notable effort. (We support his legacy to the tune of $2 billion a year.) Jimmy Carter won the prize for his intervention with the North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung. At the time, Carter said about the brutal Stalinist dictator, “I found him to be vigorous, intelligent, surprisingly well-informed about the technical issues and in charge of the decisions about this country.”
The police state of North Korea is a dictatorship that starves its people while feeding its million-man army. It sells ballistic missiles to our enemies and it builds nuclear weapons. Jonah Goldberg described Carter’s intervention in the May 15, 2002 issue of the Washington Times as “bollixing up then-President Clinton’s efforts to stop nuclear proliferation in North Korea.”
On October 25, 2002 Charles Krauthammer wrote in the Washington Post, “One of the proudest achievements of the Clinton administration was the Agreed Framework with North Korea. Clinton assured us that it froze the North Korean nuclear program. North Korea gave us a piece of paper promising to freeze; we gave North Korea 500,000 tons of free oil every year and set about building – also free – two huge $ 2 billion nuclear power plants that supposedly could be used only to produce electricity. Japan and South Korea were induced to give tons of foreign aid as well…” Eight years later, we learn that a signed agreement has been ignored.
Paper diplomacy such as the North Korean fiasco or the Oslo “peace” between Israel and the Palestinians mean nothing when a dictator renews violence. Written agreements with Kim Il Sung, Yassar Arafat, or Saddam Hussein are worthless. When it comes to al Qaeda and terrorism, to Iraq, to North Korea, no accommodation or negotiation is possible. Political courage, a.k.a. leadership, the will to use force against those who initiate the use of force, is required.
The committee may have looked at the imams and mullahs around the world however the voices of high religious authority in Muslim communities have been deafening silent in the wake of 911. In the 1990s America rescued a beleaguered Islamic people: Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo. We have just liberated a fourth – Afghanistan. Who should be soul searching? Who should be atoning? Who should be reaching out for religious tolerance and acceptance? Carter may not be the worst choice in history for the Nobel Peace Prize. The question is who should have earned it in 2002?
The 1973 Nobel Peace Prize winner was Le Doc Tho, the North Vietnamese Communist, who, along with Ho Chi Minh and other Party leaders, imposed a vicious Communist dictatorship in North Vietnam that slaughtered at least 50,000 Vietnamese in the 1950s and then invaded South Vietnam. The death toll by that Communist dictatorship totaled 2 million. The 1994 prize went to Yassar Arafat, the brutal dictator of the Palestinian Authority, who imposed a despotic regime on his own people and initiated a murderous war against the free citizens of Israel. This years Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former President Jimmy Carter. The five member committee, solemnly intoned: “In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and international development.” Was this the criteria in 1973 and 1994?
During President Carter’s term of office: The Sandinistas seized Nicaragua and used it as a base to assist anti-American guerillas in El Salvador. Iranians overthrew the pro–American Shah, installed a revolutionary Islamic regime, and in an egregious violation of human rights and international law seized U.S. diplomats and held them as hostages. The USSR installed SS-20 missiles in its then satellites and invaded Afghanistan. These were not years of peace and tranquility.
All told, Carter’s “principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law” created a world that was far more unstable than the one he inherited. If that achievement is the one the Nobel Prize Committee wants emulated, they would have been well advised not to make the award. Carter did manage to convince Egypt to recognize Israel’s right to exist but he did not receive the award for this notable effort. (We support his legacy to the tune of $2 billion a year.) Jimmy Carter won the prize for his intervention with the North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung. At the time, Carter said about the brutal Stalinist dictator, “I found him to be vigorous, intelligent, surprisingly well-informed about the technical issues and in charge of the decisions about this country.”
The police state of North Korea is a dictatorship that starves its people while feeding its million-man army. It sells ballistic missiles to our enemies and it builds nuclear weapons. Jonah Goldberg described Carter’s intervention in the May 15, 2002 issue of the Washington Times as “bollixing up then-President Clinton’s efforts to stop nuclear proliferation in North Korea.”
On October 25, 2002 Charles Krauthammer wrote in the Washington Post, “One of the proudest achievements of the Clinton administration was the Agreed Framework with North Korea. Clinton assured us that it froze the North Korean nuclear program. North Korea gave us a piece of paper promising to freeze; we gave North Korea 500,000 tons of free oil every year and set about building – also free – two huge $ 2 billion nuclear power plants that supposedly could be used only to produce electricity. Japan and South Korea were induced to give tons of foreign aid as well…” Eight years later, we learn that a signed agreement has been ignored.
Paper diplomacy such as the North Korean fiasco or the Oslo “peace” between Israel and the Palestinians mean nothing when a dictator renews violence. Written agreements with Kim Il Sung, Yassar Arafat, or Saddam Hussein are worthless. When it comes to al Qaeda and terrorism, to Iraq, to North Korea, no accommodation or negotiation is possible. Political courage, a.k.a. leadership, the will to use force against those who initiate the use of force, is required.
The committee may have looked at the imams and mullahs around the world however the voices of high religious authority in Muslim communities have been deafening silent in the wake of 911. In the 1990s America rescued a beleaguered Islamic people: Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo. We have just liberated a fourth – Afghanistan. Who should be soul searching? Who should be atoning? Who should be reaching out for religious tolerance and acceptance? Carter may not be the worst choice in history for the Nobel Peace Prize. The question is who should have earned it in 2002?
Monday, November 11, 2002
Veteran’s Day
Veteran’s Day
We graduated West Islip in 1965. A few of us went to Stony Brook University. A classmate recently asked: “Isn't it strange how other people at that time took similar experiences and became anti-war activists? Did you ever wonder why you didn't? What was different about your experience that kept you from joining the mainstream at Stony Brook who were protesting the war?”
Are you asking, "Why wasn't I an antiwar protester?" The direct answer to your question is, I believed in the individual’s right to freedom. I still do. And it is worth fighting for when you understand the alternate is totalitarianism in today’s guise of terrorism.
In the thirty years that have passed since I served in VN, there have been some good times. If I were able to talk to the boys I grew up with, played stickball and baseball with, and who are no longer here, I'd talk about those times. And I am sure we would talk about baseball.
I don't think I'd tell them that one newspaper columnist described VN veterans as "either suckers or psychos, victims or monsters." Nor would I tell them the secretary of defense they fought for back then has now declared that he was not a believer in the cause for which he assigned us to our destiny. I wouldn't tell them about a draft-age kid from Arkansas who hid out in England to dodge his duty while we were fighting and dying eventually became commander-in-chief. And I wouldn't tell them we lost that lousy war. I can't even tell them we were winning when I left.
My friend, who was the quarterback of our high school football team, has written about his visit to “the wall” in Washington. I too visited "the wall". I remember taking a step back and trying to view the entire work. I tried to wrap my mind around the violence, carnage and ruined lives that war represents. I didn't have that knowledge when we attended college. I doubt that those who protested, with all respect toward their idealism, knew. I believe they cared only about themselves.
I don't feel it necessary to justify to a newspaper columnist that VN veterans have been productive members of society since we left VN. I am proud that I answered the call, and I am proud of my friends - heroes who voluntarily, enthusiastically gave their all. They demonstrated no greater love to our nation. If I could communicate with them, I'd want them to know that God, Duty, Honor and Country will always remain the noblest calling. Revisionist historians and elite draft dodgers trying to justify their own actions will not change that.
We graduated West Islip in 1965. A few of us went to Stony Brook University. A classmate recently asked: “Isn't it strange how other people at that time took similar experiences and became anti-war activists? Did you ever wonder why you didn't? What was different about your experience that kept you from joining the mainstream at Stony Brook who were protesting the war?”
Are you asking, "Why wasn't I an antiwar protester?" The direct answer to your question is, I believed in the individual’s right to freedom. I still do. And it is worth fighting for when you understand the alternate is totalitarianism in today’s guise of terrorism.
In the thirty years that have passed since I served in VN, there have been some good times. If I were able to talk to the boys I grew up with, played stickball and baseball with, and who are no longer here, I'd talk about those times. And I am sure we would talk about baseball.
I don't think I'd tell them that one newspaper columnist described VN veterans as "either suckers or psychos, victims or monsters." Nor would I tell them the secretary of defense they fought for back then has now declared that he was not a believer in the cause for which he assigned us to our destiny. I wouldn't tell them about a draft-age kid from Arkansas who hid out in England to dodge his duty while we were fighting and dying eventually became commander-in-chief. And I wouldn't tell them we lost that lousy war. I can't even tell them we were winning when I left.
My friend, who was the quarterback of our high school football team, has written about his visit to “the wall” in Washington. I too visited "the wall". I remember taking a step back and trying to view the entire work. I tried to wrap my mind around the violence, carnage and ruined lives that war represents. I didn't have that knowledge when we attended college. I doubt that those who protested, with all respect toward their idealism, knew. I believe they cared only about themselves.
I don't feel it necessary to justify to a newspaper columnist that VN veterans have been productive members of society since we left VN. I am proud that I answered the call, and I am proud of my friends - heroes who voluntarily, enthusiastically gave their all. They demonstrated no greater love to our nation. If I could communicate with them, I'd want them to know that God, Duty, Honor and Country will always remain the noblest calling. Revisionist historians and elite draft dodgers trying to justify their own actions will not change that.
Saturday, October 19, 2002
West Islip Rifle Range
West Islip Rifle Range
I am the West Islip rifle range. You never heard of me? I am part of the West Islip High School. When taxpayers voted to construct the high school, I was there and I still am. I am located southwest and at the same level as the indoor swimming pool. There is a locked door that can be opened. You travel down one flight of stairs make a left into a hall way and another door. It has been said that I am the best or at least the second best range in Suffolk County.
I was open for pistol clubs and boy scouts. You see anyone who is twelve years old can learn to shoot a rifle in New York State. Obviously, the adults who voted for the school including the swimming pool and rifle range thought it was wise to have their children learn to swim and to learn respect for the use of a .22 rifle with adult guidance and supervision.
Boy Scout Troop 118 met in the Higbie Lane elementary school during the 50’s and 60’s. The boys sold candy bars and raised money to purchase four- (4) bolt action open peep sight rifles. The rifles were kept in Scoutmaster James Badger’s house. The school had a representative who was present whenever the scouts met. Mr. Ed Guiffre and the adult scout leaders would open the range and instruct the lads in safety courses, shooting positions, firing and cleaning target rifles. Many of the adults spent their time with youth because they had been in World War II. They passed on their hard earned knowledge to these boys.
Mr. Guiffre coached the West Islip Rifle Club and the Rifle Teams for many years. Sometimes, he’d let the members of the rifle team come down at night to watch the pistol team shoot. The boys saw and learned that competitive pistol shooting is an adult sport. Sometimes the boys would get in some extra firing. It seemed that they were more relaxed at night than when they normally practiced after school.
The West Islip High School Rifle Clubs and teams were open for all students. One of the best was a girl named Barby MacNeil who went on to earn national honors on the college level. Of course, in those days, the school administration was wary of any coed sport and unfortunately Barby was not allowed to compete with the boys but she could still be a member of the rifle club.
The West Islip High School Rifle Team won a lot of matches against other schools. Principal John O’Donnell announced the scores the next morning on the school PA system. The 1964 – 1965 team was undefeated and the school received a trophy. These young men fired a Suffolk County record 919 and were led by Pete Pauwels who fired a Suffolk County and school record 191 out of a possible 200. He was hot that day! Some of these boys were drafted or volunteered and saw action a few years later in Viet Nam. I witnessed the skills that were taught and passed on to them and know that what they learned saved at least one of their lives.
Yes, I saw all of these events and many more. I saw the hallway used as a weight room. You see our football coach, Charles Skiptunas, wanted to change WI football from a bunch of kids who just wanted to have fun playing football into a program where a bunch of kids would learn what it takes to win.
But I am closed now. The favorite excuses to keep me closed are the need to improve the ventilation system, while the next is to clean out the spent lead. Obviously, ventilation and lead removal were not problems when boy scouts, pistol teams, rifle clubs or teams used me for sport and recreation. Nor was ventilation considered an insurmountable problem for weight lifters. The board is just too afraid. I am afraid as well. I am afraid that some kid from WI could have had the opportunity to learn riflery in his own high school but was denied the chance and ends up dying in some foreign land when he could have been taught the basics right here at home.
I am the West Islip rifle range. You never heard of me? I am part of the West Islip High School. When taxpayers voted to construct the high school, I was there and I still am. I am located southwest and at the same level as the indoor swimming pool. There is a locked door that can be opened. You travel down one flight of stairs make a left into a hall way and another door. It has been said that I am the best or at least the second best range in Suffolk County.
I was open for pistol clubs and boy scouts. You see anyone who is twelve years old can learn to shoot a rifle in New York State. Obviously, the adults who voted for the school including the swimming pool and rifle range thought it was wise to have their children learn to swim and to learn respect for the use of a .22 rifle with adult guidance and supervision.
Boy Scout Troop 118 met in the Higbie Lane elementary school during the 50’s and 60’s. The boys sold candy bars and raised money to purchase four- (4) bolt action open peep sight rifles. The rifles were kept in Scoutmaster James Badger’s house. The school had a representative who was present whenever the scouts met. Mr. Ed Guiffre and the adult scout leaders would open the range and instruct the lads in safety courses, shooting positions, firing and cleaning target rifles. Many of the adults spent their time with youth because they had been in World War II. They passed on their hard earned knowledge to these boys.
Mr. Guiffre coached the West Islip Rifle Club and the Rifle Teams for many years. Sometimes, he’d let the members of the rifle team come down at night to watch the pistol team shoot. The boys saw and learned that competitive pistol shooting is an adult sport. Sometimes the boys would get in some extra firing. It seemed that they were more relaxed at night than when they normally practiced after school.
The West Islip High School Rifle Clubs and teams were open for all students. One of the best was a girl named Barby MacNeil who went on to earn national honors on the college level. Of course, in those days, the school administration was wary of any coed sport and unfortunately Barby was not allowed to compete with the boys but she could still be a member of the rifle club.
The West Islip High School Rifle Team won a lot of matches against other schools. Principal John O’Donnell announced the scores the next morning on the school PA system. The 1964 – 1965 team was undefeated and the school received a trophy. These young men fired a Suffolk County record 919 and were led by Pete Pauwels who fired a Suffolk County and school record 191 out of a possible 200. He was hot that day! Some of these boys were drafted or volunteered and saw action a few years later in Viet Nam. I witnessed the skills that were taught and passed on to them and know that what they learned saved at least one of their lives.
Yes, I saw all of these events and many more. I saw the hallway used as a weight room. You see our football coach, Charles Skiptunas, wanted to change WI football from a bunch of kids who just wanted to have fun playing football into a program where a bunch of kids would learn what it takes to win.
But I am closed now. The favorite excuses to keep me closed are the need to improve the ventilation system, while the next is to clean out the spent lead. Obviously, ventilation and lead removal were not problems when boy scouts, pistol teams, rifle clubs or teams used me for sport and recreation. Nor was ventilation considered an insurmountable problem for weight lifters. The board is just too afraid. I am afraid as well. I am afraid that some kid from WI could have had the opportunity to learn riflery in his own high school but was denied the chance and ends up dying in some foreign land when he could have been taught the basics right here at home.
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