Still Good Advice Even Today

This quote is from The Gene Autry Show, "The Fight on Peaceful Mesa."

Gene Autry's answer to his sidekick Pat Buttram's question on whose side should they take in the shooting that has erupted in front of them.

"We will have to find out which side is right and which side is wrong; when somebody is shooting you can't stay in the middle."

When The Navy Had Iron Men And Wooden Ships, And Their Priorities Straight.

Some little known naval history: The U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides), as a combat vessel, carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (i.e. fresh water distillers!).

However, let it be noted that according to her ship's log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."

Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.

Then she headed for the Azores , arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England . In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland . Her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.

The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky, and 38,600 gallons of water.

Who Would Have Thought

Today I was sent to the bookstore to find a novel for my "Sweetheart Face" who is recovering from back surgery. After scouring Books A Million with no luck I decided to go across town to Barnes & Noble where I had the same luck.

With a full head of steam up, I was leaving Barnes & Noble when out of the corner of my eye I happened to notice a dark haired man in a brown corduroy jacket walking towards me from the right.

Wow, I though to myself, that looks just like the guy who writes all the articles I really like in those gun magazines. Sometimes my brain is really quick, although not often. So I swooped around to check and sure enough he looked like "whats his name."

Now I am in a quandary, he really looks like him, my favorite gun writer of all time and I can't get a handle on his name. After 45 plus years of Navy, Law Enforcement and now retirement I sometimes think some one looks like someone and most often it's not them.

So I swoop around again and I see he has just put down a gun magazine and is looking at a gun book. I tell myself this information is a real clue. He looks like him and he reads about firearms. Suddenly, I remember his name.

So on the next pass I said, "Excuse me sir, but are you a writer?" And his response was "Yes I am." So I said "Is your name Massad Ayoob? And again he responded with a yes.

We chatted for only seconds because it really is not my style to interfere with a person who I really do not know. At the airport where I worked, I was acquainted with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted and he tried very hard to maintain his privacy. Although, he never got upset if someone talked to him but he mostly stayed away from the crowd.

I really have to say, I could not have been any more excited over meeting Massad Ayoob than I would have been if I met Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or John Wayne. I have admired Ayoob's writings for a very long time.

Thank you sir for a very pleasant interaction.

C&R License Application On Its Way

Today I sent my Curio & Relic Collectors License Application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. For a fee of $30 this license allows me to purchase eligible firearms across state lines, transfer eligible weapons between licensed people, and order eligible weapons through the mail (UPS or FedEx).

Curios or Relics: Firearms which are of special interest to collectors by reason of some quality other than is associated with firearms intended for sporting use or as offensive or defensive weapons. To be recognized as curios or relics, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:

(a) Firearms that were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof;

(b) Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, State, or Federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; and

(c) Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because of their association with some historical figure, period, or event. Proof of qualification of a particular firearm under this category may be established by evidence of present value and evidence that like firearms are not available except as collector's items, or that the value of like firearms available in ordinary commercial channels is substantially less.

Hopefully in the near future I can stand with my peers on the curb awaiting the brown truck of happiness to deliver my newest adoption.

Those Who Seek To Be Leaders May Wish to Remember These Words

"Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers. We are tired of leaders we fear, tired of leaders we love, and of tired of leaders who let us take liberties with them. What we need for leaders are men of the heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers. Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away."

ADM James B. Stockdale, Medal Of Honor
1923 - 2005