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Sunday, January 29, 2006

161 Artillery, RNZA

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

I did a search, using GOOGLE, and found a very informative web site about the 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery.

The web site URL is:

http://riv.co.nz/rnza/rf/postww2/vn.htm

It even lists all those who served, including Mike Subritzky and his departed comrade-in-arms, Kevin Forde.

There are excellent photographs and maps.

Thank you.


John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

DEATH NOTIFICATION: Gunner Down!

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


At the special request of a Viet Nam veteran, this death notice is hereby being relayed to you and all military veteran personnel listed in my computer address book.

**********
Gunner Kevin Forde, late of 161 Battery, and a Vietnam Veteran died of Agent Orange related cancer yesterday at Waikato Hospital.

Funeral details are not known at this time, however Kevin was a native of Wellington and died whilst on hospital, so please keep your eyes peeled for death notices in the Dominion Post.

The last time I saw Kevin was at the 1996, 161 Battery Reunion in Palmerston North, and I understand that in more recent years he had been very active in the RSA in the Wellington/Johnsonville area.

Please give this email your widest promulgation via your own email loops. Thank you.

Subritzky

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Mike Subritzky is a Viet Nam veteran and a retired captain of the Royal New Zealand Artillery.

Here is the URL for his personal web site:

http://www.geocities.com/mike_subritzky/

He's a well known poet, and you can read his material at the INTERNATIONAL WAR VETERANS' POETRY ARCHIVES.

The web site URL is:

http://iwvpa.net/

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Thoughts on "THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN"

















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

Today is my birthday, and I, along with the rest of my "Baby Boomer" generation, have officially become "old", as I'm now SIXTY!

(WAAAAUGH!!! Oh, horrors!)!!!

Although I'm morbidly obese, I indulged in making myself sick eating a whole bunch of chocolate candy, while watching a wonderful movie, "THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN", on the Showtime Channel of cable television.

It's odd that the Showtime Channel would show something as positive and spiritually uplifting as "THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN".

After all, most of Showtime's contemporary programming seems to be centered around promoting homosexuality, illegal drugs, and mocking Christian religion.

Here is a web site URL where you can read about the movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250371/

Watching the movie reminded me of the great difference in the values with which I was raised, and the values that are taught in a Latter-day Saint home.

It recalled a conversation I had with my companion, when going home teaching in Saint Anthony, Idaho.

He had never been in military service, but had dutifully served a full-time mission for the Church.

I had never served a Church mission, but was a military war veteran.

I was raised a Methodist, in a segregated all white small town in North Carolina, the son of a career sergeant in the United States Army.

I grew up knowing that the most important thing I could do with my life would be to serve honorably as a soldier in time of war.

In a Latter-day Saint home, boys are taught that the most important duty they can fulfill is to serve an honorable mission for the Church, followed by marriage and family.

As I watched the movie about John Groberg's thoughts and experiences in Tonga, it reminded me of my own youthful military travels to colorfully exotic foreign lands, and how, at that time, I wished I had a female companion to share it with.

I think it's great to see positive Hollywood major motion picture productions about "Mormon" people and beliefs.

I enjoyed seeing this movie portraying baptisms being properly done, as our Lord has directed.

I've noticed that most movies, even the ones filmed in a "Mormon" community, almost always use the Catholic Church as their example of Christian religion.

I suspect that is due to the glitzy costumes, symbols, and rituals of the Catholic Church, which are very photogenic, and perfect for Hollywood hoopla.

Latter-day Saint church services are NOT photogenic by Hollywood standards, being plain and unpretentious, having no professional clergy, and without even a cross being displayed.

The only Mormon costumes or rituals would be inside of the temple, which can never be shown to the general public, nor even discussed outside of the temple.

Being a convert in the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints (i.e, the so-called "Mormon" church), I consider the movie, "THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN" to be an excellent vehicle for sharing our peculiar Mormon beliefs with those not of our faith.

It will give non-Mormons a little insight into how and why Mormons think, feel, and act as they do.

A VHS video of "THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN" is currently available for loan in the library here at the Ol' Soldiers' Home in Washington, D.C., and the movie has been shown in our theatre.

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Thursday, January 26, 2006

My Friend, The Hero














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

A dear friend of mine, Anthony Pahl, in Australia, has just received a very distinguished award, the ORDER OF AUSTRALIA.

Established by Queen Elizabeth II, the list of recipients is brief, thus denoting the auspiciousness of this honor.

Here is the web site URL where you can view the award and read about my Australian friend:

http://iwvpa.net/awards/pahl_oam.htm

He created and operates the INTERNATIONAL WAR VETERANS' POETRY ARCHIVES, and has published much of my own material, in both combat and non-combat categories.

Last year, he visited me here at the Soldiers' Home, residing in one of our guest rooms, and meeting with numerous of the residents.

He was a helicopter door gunner in Viet Nam.

You can peruse the IWVPA web site at this URL:

http://iwvpa.net/

Thank you.

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of
Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

My Latest Discovery (Today!)
















***** WARNING!!! *****

This dangerously illegal and immoral subversive underground resistance message is being surreptitiously monitored by the Beaming Internet Government Broadband Radio Oscillation Telecommunications Hearing Electronic Reconnaissance (i.e., B.I.G. B.R.O.T.H.E.R.) as part of a coordinated official clandestine domestic surveillance investigation, in cooperation with the National Administration of Zealous Interrogation (i.e., N.A.Z.I.) and the Commission On Message Monitoring Investigative Electronics (i.e., C.O.M.M.I.E.).

Serious felony criminal charges are pending, with extreme penalties yet to be determined!

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

Ah, yes, I call it my latest discovery "today", but I'm typing this in the wee hours, so technically it was yesterday.

Lately, I've been enjoying watching a lot of the programming on the MHz Television Network, which may or may not be provided by your local cable television service.

Fortunately, at the Soldiers' Home here in Washington, D.C., we can watch the MHz Network on Channel Seventeen (17).

The web site URL for the MHz Television Network is:

http://www.mhznetworks.org/

The channel features twenty-four hour programming of foreign news broadcasts, from various countries, sometimes in English, and sometimes in their native language.

For instance, Chinese broadcasts are in both English and Chinese.

They have the ONLY Nepalese broadcast outside of Nepal.

Today (or rather, yesterday), I watched "TARTAN TV" for the very first time.

The web site URL for "TARTAN TV" is:

http://www.tartan.tv/web/site/NewSite/home.asp

They talked about the Picts (from whose king, Clan Henderson is descended) and Aberdeen.

They featured a little of Clan Stewart, one of the commonest names in Scotland and America, and stated little known facts, that far more Scots live in America than in Scotland, and many Americans don't realize they are of Scottish descent.

They compared the DECLARATION OF ARBROATH with America's own DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

They even mentioned my own clan, Clan Henderson!

One of the Scots interviewed during the broadcast was surnamed, "Youngblood", which made me wonder about the origin of my own birth name, "Trueblood", which does sound so similar.

If "Youngblood" is a Scottish name, then can "Trueblood" also be of Scottish origin?

Because John and Agnes Trueblood had come to North Carolina from England, and John's father, Arnold had died in the gaol of Lincoln Castle for his religious beliefs, I had always assumed that "Trueblood" was a purely English surname.

In the the book, "THE TRUEBLOOD FAMILY IN AMERICA 1682 - 1963", there is speculation that the Trueblood name might be Welsh, or could be of Saxon origin.

One theory postulates that Trueblood is a derivative of Blood, and the most famous of them was David Blood, who held a sword to the throat of King John on the field at Runnymeade, forcing the signing of the MAGNA CARTA.

But, wouldn't it be nifty if it was Scottish?

Following the "TARTAN TV" broadcast, I watched a documentary of a modern day tour of Dublin, Ireland, and its surrounding sites.

Ireland today is so prosperous, they must import workers.

When I was at chow, one of the guys, a retired Army sergeant of proud Polish descent, told me Ireland was hiring a lot of workers from Poland, because they were more diligent and well-behaved, unlike some other ethnic groups.

I do have some sad news, which is rather shocking.

I ran across a very disturbing article, posted several months ago at THE BLOOD IS STRONG Scottish discussion forum web site.

The URL for that web site is:

http://www.thebloodisstrong.com/

It referred everyone to a report written and posted at Clan Stewart's official web site, and that URL, where you can read the full report, is at:

http://www.royalhouseofstewart.org.uk/news47.htm

Scottish regiments are no longer permitted tartans, kilts, or badges as part of their military uniforms.

The only Scottish item permitted is the hackle.

Scottish soldiers may still purchase traditional military kilts, but at their own expense, and they may not wear them as part of the uniform, or so I understand.

Even worse, Edinburgh Castle will now house an English parachute unit, and not Scottish soldiers!

Little wonder then, for that famous photograph of the Scottish colonel, attired in regimental kilt, (accidentally?) exposing himself when seated next to Queen Elizabeth at a military awards ceremony!

You can see the photograph, and read the accompanying news article at this URL:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html%3Fin%5Farticle%5Fid=325537%26in%5Fpage%5Fid=1770

So, there you have my latest discovery.

"TARTAN TV" has obviously been around for some time, but I only just now stumbled across it, and I'm delighted with the broadcast.

I hope you get an opportunity to also enjoy this program, so search your local TV schedules, or contact your local cable television provider.

Slainte Mhath, y'all!

Is Mise Le Meas,

John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Monday, January 23, 2006

MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM

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***** WARNING!!! *****

This dangerously illegal and immoral subversive underground resistance message is being surreptitiously monitored by the Beaming Internet Government Broadband Radio Oscillation Telecommunications Hearing Electronic Reconnaissance (i.e., B.I.G. B.R.O.T.H.E.R.) as part of a coordinated official clandestine domestic surveillance investigation, in cooperation with the National Administration of Zealous Interrogation (i.e., N.A.Z.I.) and the Commission On Message Monitoring Investigative Electronics (i.e., C.O.M.M.I.E.).

Serious felony criminal charges are pending, with extreme penalties yet to be determined!

********************
 

To My Latter-day Saint Brothers and Sisters: 
(or anyone else who's interested!)

After all these years in mortality, I have come to the conclusion that the more I learn, the less I really know.

But, there is something wonderful I must share with you.

I've been up all night long, listening to the "COAST TO COAST AM" talk radio program, and last night's show was VERY significant, especially for my fellow members of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints (i.e., the so-called "Mormon" church).


First of all, it was the first broadcast for Art Bell, since his wife, Ramona, suddenly passed away from asthma a couple of weeks ago.

He spoke of the difficult time he was having, coping with the loneliness, and at one point during the program, he heard an intruder alarm going off in his home.

So, he cut to commercial to see what was causing the alarm, and it was sheriff's deputies checking to see if he was okay, for a man in Oregon, listening to Art Bell's radio program, was so worried about Art's candid description of his utter lonely depression, that he assumed the worst and notified authorities in Parumph, Nevada!

Afterwards, Art introduced his guest, Dr. Michio Kaku, a professor of physics and prolific author, who was one of the creators of string theory, which is an explanation of how everything in the universe was created, and how everything works.

The professor's books are required reading in university physics classes.


I had heard of string theory, but was not familiar with the details, so I was truly interested in this program.

He said a few things that really caught my ear.

First of all, as he was explaining his theory of parallel universes and the origins of our universe, it suddenly struck me that he was describing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the professor didn't even know it!


Isn't that the ultimate cool?

Our peculiar faith has been given credence by a renowned scientist who is blissfully unaware.














Do you converts and missionaries remember the fifth discussion in a series of six?

In the years since I was taught the restored gospel, the format and method may have changed, but there used to be six discussions that the missionaries would present to the investigator, and the fifth discussion was all about string theory, which we Latter-day Saints call the Plan of Salvation, or the Plan of Happiness.

Just count the parallel states that we know about just within our world right at this very moment.

There's the intelligences, the pre-existence, mortality, paradise, and spirit prison, and yet another entity will appear when our Earth is eventually celestialized.


And that's just for THIS world right now!

According to the scriptures, there are innumerable worlds and various categories of existence, indicating multitudes of parallel universes, stuff we can only guess at and dream of.

Art Bell and the professor also discussed the possibilities of travel through space and time, and speculated that the birth of nuclear warfare in 1945 may have caused a disturbance in the rhythm of the universe, enabling our contemporary observation of unexplained phenomena and strange creatures from other worlds, both good and evil.

He stated that the language of the universe is music, because everything in the universe has a precise mathematical tempo, and being a singer/songwriter, I thought that was really neat, for now I know that when I compose a song, I'm innocently resorting to the eternal language of the gods!

I do enjoy listening to classical symphony music (I'm listening to it as I type this), and it truly does make one's imagination wander through the cosmos.

Indeed, when star-gazing in the darkness of the deserted parking lot at the destroyed Teton Dam in Idaho with my backyard telescope, I had classical music from the local LDS college playing on my car radio.

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have proved that listening to classical music while studying or engaged in creative writing (such as composing this message) stimulates the brain and enhances the ability to better express ideas.

It is called "the Mozart effect", for of all the classical composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music brings out the best results in college students.

Farmers have found that dairy cows are more productive when relaxed with background music.

Science has proved that the favorite music of dairy cows is Andy Williams singing, "MOON RIVER"!

And of course, there's the sacredness found within the holy temple, which will not be discussed in this message.

We see this language of the gods in other religions, with the Tibetan prayer wheels, the Bhuddist chanting, the singsong prayers and scripture reading by Muslims and Jews, and even in the observant Jew's rocking back and forth when praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

American Indians, when singing and dancing, are imploring the Great Spirit for divine assistance.

Even our sacred scriptures tell us that, "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me", as we sing our hymns in church or at home.

Who of us has not felt our militant blood stirred by Scottish bagpipes, which have been officially designated a weapon of war?

Our United States cavalry (whom I served with, as a scout) still charges into battle, inspired by bugle calls and the traditional Irish drinking song, "Garryowen".

The plucked strings of the Celtic harp are soothing and peaceful, although strangely, it has also been considered a weapon of war, not because of its sound, but due to propaganda created by bards to inspire heroism in battle.

According to ancient legend, the Celtic harp was allegedly introduced into Ireland by the Biblical prophet, Jeremiah, and King David's harp remains the official national emblem of Ireland to this very day.

Country and Western ballads evoke loneliness, tragedy, love, and old time religion.

Rock 'n' Roll is a happy sound, originally inspired by sex (that's where the descriptive name comes from), but today, is more indicative of nostalgia and "party hearty" time, with listeners moved to joyous dancing.

The professor spoke of how envious the rest of the world is of Americans, and predicts a bright economic future for the United States of America, because our society, more than any other on Earth, encourages individual creativity and artistic expression.

For instance, even though it might appear that Asian youth are diligently studious and American youth frequently act stupid, it was wacky oddball American geniuses who created the home computer and the Internet.

He compared the differences in attitudes towards individualism between traditional China, where "the bent nail gets hammered", and in America, where "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."

Indications of mankind's intellectual progress towards eventually attracting interplanetary communication from other worlds are the universal recognition of English as the elite language on our planet, and the establishment of the computer Internet, enabling instantaneous global communication.

The professor says our universe is destined to someday die, cold and lonely, as the celestial lights go out, his conclusion being somewhat inspired by a Nordic legend, the gotterdammerung, or "twilight of the gods".

But he thinks that by that time, mankind will create a huge machine, many times larger than Earth, using robot technology, which will enable our human DNA and memories to be transplanted to another universe, thereby continuing life, and making life eternal.

He said that explains why our life has no beginning and no end, for it has always existed and always will.

Surprisingly, the professor thinks the efforts of the SETI organization (i.e., Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) are in vain, for they don't have sufficient financial resources to do their research properly, and it will be a miracle if SETI does succeed in obtaining an intelligent signal from somewhere in Deep Space.

In case you are unacquainted with the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, they welcome volunteers who can use their home computers to help process the data which has been collected, and if signals from intelligent life from other worlds is detected by your computer, you will be given credit for the discovery.

Most home computers have sufficient memory that volunteers can constantly run the SETI program without interfering with any other computer program.

Man, oh man, all this stuff is just so neat!

Ain't it great being LDS?

Ain't it great being on the Earth at this time?

Boy, are we blessed!

Thank you.


John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My unpopular and controversial personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."
 

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Monday, January 09, 2006

Brand New Joke (I Just Made It Up!!!)

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

As most of you know, I am an "undiscovered" amateur singer/songwriter, and I've also acted in community theatre plays.

But, I am NOT a comedian.

I wish I could make folks laugh, but that is not my gift.

Never the less, I just thought up a brand new joke, right out of the blue, all by myself!

So, here goes:

**********

QUESTION:

What do you call a pharmacist in South Carolina?

ANSWER:

A drug dealer from Columbia!

**********

Yuk! Yuk!

Nifty, huh?

Thank you.


John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."

Friday, January 06, 2006

Latest Photos of Me Singing



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

Here are two (02) photographs, in JPEG format, taken last month when I was singing, "
CHRISTMAS EVE IN WASHINGTON", at our annual tree lighting ceremony here at the Ol' Soldiers' Home.

The song was composed and recorded by
Maura Sullivan, a real estate agent in Virginia, and is often played on WASH-FM 97.1, a local radio station which broadcasts ONLY Christmas songs throughout the month of December.

If you look real close at the pictures, you'll notice my
Clan Henderson tartan and badge on my left shoulder!

The photographs were taken by Sheila Abarr from the Public Affairs Office here at the
Soldiers' Home.

Thank you.
John Robert Mallernee, KB3KWS
Official Bard of
Clan Henderson
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Washington, D.C. 20011-8400

"My personal opinions are independent of my Scottish clan."