SUNDRY SUBJECTS OF SOLDIERS, SIMIANS, AND STEEDS

********************************************
********************************************
Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:

Oh, by the way, before I get started on anything else, I just want to remind everybody that TODAY, Saturday 18 May 2013, is ARMED FORCES DAY.

Boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

You should SEE what just arrived in my "snail" mail!

I received two (02) movies that I ordered from the Disney Movie Club, "BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS", and - - - ,

Get ready for this - - - , 

WALT DISNEY TREASURES: "THE ADVENTURES OF SPIN AND MARTY" ! ! !

In the tin box containing the two (02) "SPIN AND MARTY" DVDs, was a certificate stating that this was Number 105,992 of 125,000, in this limited edition.

Now, you younger folks will have no idea what any of this means.

It's only us older folks who remember watching "THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB" on our black and white television sets.

When I and my two (02) sisters were in the hospital at Fort Bragg, North Carolina recovering from our tonsillectomies, Daddy brought us some gifts.

I don't know what he gave my sisters, but he gave me two (02) books, "TARZAN AND THE LOST SAFARI", and, "SPIN AND MARTY".

I fondly remember reading those books over and over and over.

Do any of you remember the "SPIN AND MARTY" series?

Last night, I watched most of the "PLANET OF THE APES" series, which I purchased the complete set of on DVD.

Long before I saw the movie, "PLANET OF THE APES", I remember having read the story in a men's adventure magazine when I was a teenager.

You younger folks won't know about this, but once upon a time, there were magazines for men.

No, I'm not talking about the sex magazines, "PLAYBOY", or, "PENTHOUSE".

I'm referring to magazines such as, "TRUE", "ARGOSY", and "TRUE DETECTIVE", which had actual STORIES of danger and adventure, such as - - - "PLANET OF THE APES"!

Or was it, "MONKEY PLANET", that I remember reading?

I don't think those magazines exist anymore. 

The first time I saw the movie, "PLANET OF THE APES", was in the base theatre at Spangdahlem Air Force Base in Germany, where I was a Private First Class in the United States Army, assigned to Company "A", 11th Air Defense Signal Battalion, 32d Army Air Defense Command, as a Field Radio Relay and Carrier Equipment Repairman (MOS 31 L 20).

Since I was in the Army, and not the Air Force, someone had to explain to me why the audience howled with laughter when the gorilla announced he was "Security Police".

Many years later, when I was at Fort Hood, Texas, I went to a drive-in movie theatre in Killeen, Texas, where in celebration of Independence Day, they were showing ALL of the "PLANET OF THE APES" movies, back to back, all night long.

Yes, I think I did nod off during part of the shows.

Anyway, now I have it all on DVD, so I can watch all of those movies whenever I please.

What is your opinion of the "PLANET OF THE APES" movies?

Although the story is very entertaining, I'm guessing that whoever wrote it doesn't know very much about the muscular strength of simians.

Also, I think apes, like all animals, can't articulate words because of the placement of their larynx and their epiglottis.

No, I haven't seen the remake of "PLANET OF THE APES", nor do I want to.

In my experience, the remake is NEVER as good as the original.

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee 

Armed Forces Retirement Home 

1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311
 Gulfport, Mississippi  39507

********************************************
********************************************

TODAY IS ARMED FORCES DAY ! ! !

******************************************
******************************************
This day, Saturday 18 May 2013, is ARMED FORCES DAY in the United States of America.

Each year, Armed Forces Day is observed and/or celebrated on the third Saturday in the month of May.

To view a larger version,
please click on the official poster.

In accordance with Army Regulation 670-1, today is an appropriate occasion for any and all military veterans to wear their authorized decorations and/or medals on their civilian suits.

******************************************
******************************************

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE WOMEN'S ARMY CORPS!

******************************************
******************************************
At the web site of "THIS AIN'T HELL, BUT YOU CAN SEE IT FROM HERE", I learned that today, Wednesday 15 May 2013, is the seventy-second (72) anniversary of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, which would later become the Women's Army Corps.

Service Medal of the
Women's Army Corps

My stepmother, Alma Capps Mallernee, was the one hundred and fourth (104) woman to enlist in the newly created Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.

 

Currently, at the age of ninety-six (96) years old, she resides in the Assisted Living section at Heritage Place in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Cake and ice cream, anyone?

Realistically, and rather sadly to say, I seriously doubt if any of the folks who operate the Assisted Living section at Heritage Place in Fayetteville, North Carolina are aware of the significance of today's anniversary, and even if they did, I rather doubt they'd have any sort of celebration to observe it.

******************************************
******************************************

MY STEPMOTHER, ALMA CAPPS MALLERNEE ! ! !

********************************
********************************
WOMEN IN ARMY IN 1940S HAD UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE

By Chick Jacobs

Staff writer for the FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER newspaper in Fayetteville, North Carolina
 

Evelyn Long holds a photo taken when she served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II.

 

Alma Mallernee looks over discharge papers from when she served in the Women's Army Corps during World War II.

She was No. 104.

She was one of the first women to hustle down to the local Army recruiting center and sign up to serve.

Was Alma Capps Mallernee really that big a patriot? Mallernee, now a bright-eyed 93, laughs at the notion.

"A patriot? No! For me, it was a chance to get out of Rockfish. I jumped at it!"

Mallernee and her friend Evelyn Sutton Long were among the first of what became more than 150,000 women in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.

"People remember the WACs (Women's Army Corps)," said Long, a native of Mount Olive. "But the WAAC is sort of forgotten."

A lot of that time is forgotten, even by those who served. But from mid-1942 until July 4, 1944, tens of thousands of women served in the Armed Forces, in effect freeing manpower for the fight overseas.

"I'm not sure the guys were all that happy to be 'freed up,' " Mallernee said, laughing. "We were taking some jobs that would never see any shooting. But remember, back then, that it was unthinkable for a woman to be in the Army at all."

For Mallernee, then Alma Capps, it was all an adventure. Raised in Rockfish, she wanted to see more of the world.

She ended up seeing Des Moines, Iowa, and Orlando, Fla. - with a month-long stay behind barbed wire at Camp Polk in the swamps of Louisiana.

"I'm glad I was young for that kind of thing," she said. "We finished our training in Des Moines, but they didn't have anywhere to put us. So they had what must have been a prison-of-war camp ready, and they housed us there."

There the women were introduced to rigors of Army life: inspections, lights out, rising at reveille and a lot of hurrying up to wait. Any weekend pass limited travel to 100 miles - not that there was anything to see in that radius.

"I think that was a rude awakening to a lot of the women," Mallernee said. "We figured they would train us and then we'd go home and do what we were already doing. A month behind barbed wire taught us differently."

Eventually, she was reassigned to "scope duty" in Florida - watching boards that traced flights of every plane coming into the country. The Aircraft Warning Service was the first active duty area to use trained WAAC recruits, eventually handling 27 companies of women along the East Coast.

"We never did see an enemy plane, but no one knew what could have happened," she said.

Long ended up in Florida as well, working with the corps finance office.

"It was like a civilian job, except we were required to wear our uniform at all times," she said. "We had to get special permission to change into civilian clothes. One of the girls in my group was getting married and it took a lot of paperwork for her to get to wear a wedding dress."

The first year of the WAACs was a time of transition, both for the women and the Armed Forces. While some branches, particularly the fledgling Army Air Corps, were eager to find jobs for WAACs, the idea of women in slacks, much less in military service, was troubling to many.

"We'd have been happy to wear civvies," Mallernee said. "But rules were rules."

A year later, when the WAAC became the Women's Army Corps, pay and benefits improved. So did the chances of serving overseas, and nearly a quarter of the women in the WAAC opted to leave.

Neither Long nor Mallernee left Florida during the war, however. And as the war came to an end, they both returned to North Carolina.

"I might have considered the service as a career, but really nobody talked to me about it," Long said. "I think they were trying to figure out what to do with everyone when the war ended."

Long became a civilian employee at Fort Bragg, where she met a soldier from Ohio named Gene. They married in 1951.

Mallernee came home to take care of ailing relatives. But she couldn't stay put. She earned a college degree at UNC-Greensboro, eventually meeting her husband, William.

"We married in 1962," she said. "I like to say I married a whole family, down to kids and grandkids, all at once."

Both have been widowed for several years, and each year a few more of their fellow WAAC veterans move on. "I have no idea how many are left," Long said. "Not too many I'm sure."

For the most part, the memories are entrusted to photos, medals and a few women who were eager to see the world.

"Would I do it again?" Mallernee mused. "Sure. I never saw a Nazi, but I met a lot of great people from all over the country."

The medals in the display case on the left are ALMA CAPPS MALLERNEE's military awards.

________________________

FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER Reader Comments:

AWED!

Visited a few years ago with a woman who went to the S Pacific and stationed on an island en route to our retaking the Philippines. When the air raid sirens sounded they had to leave their work site or tent and get into sandbagged trenches. Pretty heady stuff for an 18 -- 20 year old girls, then or now. She told me that instead of wearing their steel helmets they sat on them -- as the ditches usually had several inches of muddy water in them.

Cathy Palmer

I am a stepdaughter of Alma Capps Mallernee, and I had no idea of her military background. I knew she was associated with the military, but I did not know any details. Thank you for printing this article.

I would like to make a correction, however. Alma married my dad in 1980, shortly after I married, not in 1962 as stated in the article.

********************************
********************************

"WITHOUT YOU"

************************************
************************************
For the best effect, please be sure and enjoy watching my homemade amateur video recording of my original composition in "FULL SCREEN" mode.



"WITHOUT YOU"

Words and Music by:
JOHN ROBERT MALLERNEE
Monday 27 June 1988
Salt Lake City, Utah 

VERSE # 1:
When we married, I thought
We would never part.
Then you left, and gave me
A broken heart.
There are trials I go through
And my troubles aren't few.
It's so hard to go on
Without you. 

VERSE # 2:
Without you, life can never
Mean anything.
Once we loved and you wore
My wedding ring.
Though my journey is long
And I sometimes go wrong,
Still your memory lives
In my song. 

BRIDGE:
Without your sweet caress,
There can't be happiness.
Do you miss me the way
I miss you?
My Darling, I implore
That you love me once more.
You turn my stormy skies
Sunny blue. 

VERSE # 3:
So, I wander and try
To erase the pain.
The wild wind calls me on
Through freezing rain.
Vagabond, I must be.
Love and home aren't for me.
Lonely teardrops can fill
A raging sea.

************************************
************************************

ANOTHER BENEFIT OF AGING

************************************** ************************************** Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space: One of the benefits of attaining old age is getting SHINGLES, because SHINGLES keeps your roof from leaking. Hardee, har har! Yuk! Yuk! Thank you.  John Robert Mallernee  Armed Forces Retirement Home  1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311  Gulfport, Mississippi  39507 ************************************** **************************************

PAGING DOCTOR SCHOLL

*************************************** *************************************** Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:  Boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, but I've got some grrrrrr-REAT news ! ! ! I just now woke up and discovered - - - , I have ATHLETE'S FOOT! Ain't that fantastically wonderful? Just think - - - , If'n I crawl back in the sack and catch some more zzzzzzzzzzzs - - - , Maybe the athlete's foot will spread, and maybe, just MAYBE - - - , I'll wake up with an athlete's body! And, I won't even have to exercise to get it! Boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Nifty, huh? Boy, am I smart!  Gosh, gee whillikers, I really ought to be a doctor, huh? I wonder - - - , Is there some way I can possibly SHARE my good fortune? I want EVERYBODY to be as blessed as I am.  Thank you. John Robert Mallernee  Armed Forces Retirement Home  1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311  Gulfport, Mississippi  39507 *************************************** ***************************************

RETIREMENT HOME CONTINGENCY PLAN?

******************************** ******************************** Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space: I just now returned to my room from noon chow in the mess hall, where I enjoyed a delicious cheeseburger with lettuce and tomatoes, French fries, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich (which wasn't very good), two glasses of ice cold Coca-Cola, a bowl of tropical fruit, a bowl of blueberry bread pudding, and a cup of vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmm, boy, but them vittles was plumb larrupin'! While I was sitting at my table, I looked around at the other residents, and marvelled at our comfortable lives here in Gulfport, Mississippi, at the Armed Forces Retirement Home. For the best effect, please be sure and enjoy watching this slide show in "FULL SCREEN" mode. As I looked all around the room, I couldn't help but wonder, with our current national situation, just how much longer will these luxuries continue to last? Indeed, will ALL retirement homes soon become a thing of the past? Will anyone even be able to "retire" from a lengthy career? What's to become of all the elderly and disabled citizens in our population? You must admit, our future does not bode well. As I'm typing this message, our national debt is well over sixteen trillion dollars, and rapidly increasing. I'm wondering if anyone on the executive staff of the Armed Forces Retirement Home has created an alternative contingency plan in case of an imminent catastrophic total collapse of our national economy? What will be THEIR actions in our behalf when all utilities stop functioning, public services cease, and the local community regresses into desperate violence and total anarchy? Actually, I wouldn't expect them to be able to do anything, since logically, their first concern will be the survival of themselves and their loved ones. Will the executive administration here at the Armed Forces Retirement Home ignore these questions, and/or simply respond by attempting to lull all of us residents with politically correct meaningless platitudes? In reality, there's also a blatantly anti-White racial aspect to this looming menace, which because they are career bureaucrats, they dare not acknowledge or address. But, I'm aware of it, so are a lot of other folks, and with each passing hour, more and more White people are slowly starting to realize the danger, even if they dare not openly mention it or discuss it. And - - - , the problem is only going to fester and get worse, precisely BECAUSE the career federal bureaucrats are not able to openly acknowledge or address the issue of anti-White racial hostility. However, IF they were honest, there ARE a number of preventative steps which could be implemented at this time. First of all, be aware that when this happens, everything we currently take for granted probably won't exist. With no gasoline, no vehicles will operate, so everything will have to be done manually, on foot. Local store shelves will be empty, and even if there was anything left to buy, our money won't be worth anything. Yes, in such a predicament, we'll actually be able to live like a millionaire, lighting cigars with a ten dollar bill - - - , or whatever. There'll be no drinking water, no sewage, no garbage collection, no electricity, no gas, no telephone, no computer Internet, and no radio or television broadcasting. All medical care, to include surgery and mortuary services, would have to be done here in the Armed Forces Retirement Home, as there would be no way to transport any patients. The executive administration at the Armed Forces Retirement Home can begin stockpiling pallets, crates, and cases of military MREs, bottled water, medication, medical supplies, surgical supplies, oxygen tanks, burial shrouds, batteries of all types and sizes, manually operated generators, cold weather clothing, and sleeping bags. As there will be no transportation, has anyone decided where on these grounds will be the Armed Forces Retirement Home cemetery? By now, everyone should have deduced that, in this situation, there will also be NO response or protection from local police, fire, or ambulance services. We will all be completely on our own, with every man for himself, and Devil take the hindmost. The executive administration can begin fortifying the perimeter of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, and arming all personnel. Remember, EVERY resident here is already trained and experienced in the use of multiple categories of firearms and explosive ordnance, and many of the residents have been in close combat under harsh, rigorous, and primitive conditions. Many residents were trained to improvise weapons and booby traps, and to operate independently or in small tactical units. So, why not use that resource? Also, let's take a look at history. How did the Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C. survive during the Great Depression? How did the Naval Home in Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, survive and continue to function? What was different about our society and those two institutions during those years (which were a little over a decade in duration)? With the changes that have taken place in contemporary society, would residents of the Naval Home and/or the Soldiers' Home still be able to survive? Will anybody? Yes, the executive administration here at the Armed Forces Retirement Home can choose to ignore these questions, and/or even worse, once again refer the matter to United States Army psychiatrists, just as was done when I previously raised this issue. But, does that really solve anything? Thank you. John Robert Mallernee  Armed Forces Retirement Home 1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311 Gulfport, Mississippi  39507 ******************************** ********************************

FELONIOUS THOUGHTS

************************************** ************************************** Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space: I've been thinking (something which is ALWAYS a very dangerous thing for ME to do, huh?), and I've decided that I'd like to get rich quick by becoming a master criminal. As we all know, crime pays.  My television told ME so, and of course, if'n it's on television, then it MUST be true, because television wouldn't lie, would it?  Them there killjoys who say, "Crime doesn't pay", are just picking on me, and trying to keep ME from getting rich. I know ALL about that! It's a secret conspiracy. They're against ME. Everybody's against ME. They're ALWAYS against ME. They're spying on ME. They're plotting against ME. I know what they're thinking. I know what they're saying behind my back. (Sob, sob, snivel, whine.) But, I'll show THEM! I'm gonna get EVEN with all of them, that's what I'm gonna do! You just wait and see if I don't! Anyway, after spending many long hours stimulating my intellect by watching television shows, I reckon I might have a plan. Now, as for my life of crime - - - , Hmmmmm - - - , let's see - - - , What about blackmailing someone? That's a grrrr-REAT idea! But, unfortunately for ME, I run with the wrong crowd. I simply don't know anybody who's done something wrong and/or embarrassing which would make them vulnerable to blackmail. All the folks I know are as honest, moral, upright, squeaky clean, and downright GOOD as a Boy Scout. Not only that, but inevitably, their victims end up eventually killing the blackmailer, rather than having to continue forking over all of their life's savings. Well, what about counterfeiting? That should be a pretty easy crime to commit, shouldn't it? After all, all I would have to do is use my computer to copy a twenty dollar bill, and then print out a couple of gazillion copies. Oh, wait - - - , The federal government is ALREADY doing that. That's why the dollar has become worthless, and our national economy is collapsing. Shucky darn, I reckon I'll have to think of something else. Hmmmmmm - - - , I've got it! I'll get rich selling military secrets to the enemy! But, WHICH enemy? There's so many out there, it would be hard to choose. Besides, I doubt they'd be willing to pay for any "secret" (?) information about the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Gosh, gee whillikers, what kind of crime can I commit that'll make ME rich, and won't get me killed in the process? Suggestions, anyone? Ooooooh, look at the TIME! It's already time for me to take my medication again.  Thank you.  John Robert Mallernee  Armed Forces Retirement Home  1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311  Gulfport, Mississippi  39507 ************************************** **************************************

VFW CORRESPONDANCE: MEMORIAL DAY

************************************** ************************************** ____________________________ ____________________________ NOTICE:  Please scroll down the page to read my response to the e-mail I received from the commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States on Tuesday 07 May 2013.  For some odd reason, the text of the original e-mail will not fit within the page parameters of this blog, and thus, I recommend clicking on this LINK. ____________________________ ____________________________ Commander Hamilton, Et Alii: Just WHICH Memorial Day are you referring to? I refuse to observe the Monday federal holiday, preferring to observe the traditional Memorial Day of Thursday 30 May 2013. Every year at this time, I have to try and correct a major misconception about Memorial Day, i.e., Memorial Day is NOT the same thing as Veterans Day. Unfortunately, my attempts to enlighten my peers are almost always unsuccessful, because really, nobody cares. We should OBSERVE, not "celebrate", Memorial Day. On Memorial Day, we remember and honor our military dead. Note that in that sentence,  I specifically said, "military" dead. Families have three hundred and sixty-four OTHER days to put flowers on Granny's grave, but Memorial Day is a solemn military holiday that should be reserved strictly for honoring our military dead. Memorial Day is for the dead. Veterans Day is for the LIVING military veterans. On Veterans Day, it is appropriate to celebrate with parades, bands, barbecues, dances, balls, parties, et cetera. I don't know if there's a Tractor Supply Company in the area of Gulfport, Mississippi. Also, there's the racial elephant in the room that no one dares talk about. Is the local VFW post Black or White? The only photograph I've seen of a local VFW ceremony portrayed only Black members. No one will admit it openly, but having moved here from Washington, D.C., which is an all Black city, it is my experience that Blacks have a well deserved reputation for exhibiting overt hostility to Whites. While our indoctrinated contemporary society may regard it as"politically incorrect", the truth is that Blacks are more comfortable associating with Blacks, and Whites are more comfortable associating with Whites. Do you think our military service changed that fact? Remember all the racial violence we observed and/or experienced when we were on active duty? Do you think those harsh memories just magically disappear? Do we just pretend to ignore that, even today, there are parts of town where White people, for their own safety, dare not go? Strange, isn't it that Blacks are safe in a White neighborhood, but Whites dare not venture into a Black neighborhood? Since no White person is ever allowed to discuss this issue, the problem will just quietly simmer and fester and - - - ? Thank you. John Robert Mallernee  VFW "LIFE" Member 908355  Armed Forces Retirement Home  1800 Beach Drive, Unit 311 Gulfport, Mississippi  39507  __________________________ __________________________ ************************************** **************************************