Antique Postcards ~ Come To Sunday School!

What a nice way for a Sunday School teacher to remind little Marie that she’s loved and missed at her class. Notice, once again, that no address was needed.

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Community Thanksgiving Service

Wesley United Methodist Church will host a Community-wide Thanksgiving Service, tommorrow. Sunday, November 22, 6:30 p.m.

Please join us. Everyone in the community is invited to our church as we praise God for the blessings of the year.

I know this card is not exactly politically correct.

No offense meant I assure you. I display this card because it is 100 years old and quite collectible!

Howerter’s “Win” Is a Loss For Us All

Congratulations Mike! YOU WON! ….What did Nice Mike win?

First a seat at the table with the Labette Community College Trustees.  Second, you win the battle over the President’s activity account. Mr. Knox gave back the $500 dollars. The trustees completely did away with the account. You win!

You went all the way to the state house getting expert legal opinions, finding important people who the LCC students and Parsons residents have never heard of. You went to the local media and got great coverage of your personal investigation of the college president’s lobbying with the account money. You win. Your lawyer is bigger than the college’s lawyer. You get the notoriety, the satisfaction of ‘whistle-blowing’ and finger-pointing. You get your name on the front page and the love of your loyal conservative followers! You, my fellow Parsonian, are a winner!

So who loses? (There’s always a loser when someone wins, isn’t there?) The city, the college, the students. Well, practically everybody but you loses! I would be interested in a polling of LCC students in this case, just to see if you represent them as you claim you do.

While really big expenditures for dubious purposes are rubber-stamped by our city commission on a regular basis. (see Redtail Ridge) you continue your own personal investigation over $500 of lobbying money. Not only does this seem petty at face value, but now you even bring up scenarios of criminality? Really, criminal use of $500 you claim. That’s some way to look out for the college and it’s students.

And now we get to read in the Parsons Sun, almost a full-page about your antics. Everyone in town expected this when you were elected. It is no surprise, and neither are your objections as to how you’ve now been mistreated by the college and the other trustees. How predictable.

I cannot blame the college trustees for doing the right thing, I guess you can. And what is the right thing? Just what the trustees did. They rewarded Mr. Knox for a job well done, and for his attempt to lobby a government official who may have a favorable impact on his college. They also refuse to cooperate with your self-appointed college watchdog duties, as rightly they should.

Mr. Howerter, somehow I knew that when you got in as a trustee, you would manage to turn your duties into some sort of ‘tea-party’, complete with media and righteous indignation. What will be next? Will you ask the college to pay for some criminal prosecutions? Who knows.

The city of Parsons, Labette Community College, and the students all lose when you succeed in turning our college into a three-ring media circus. And now you act surprised that the other trustees will not cooperate? Come on Mike. More theatrics!

I do not blame Sophia Zetmeier and the college for ‘pulling up the drawbridge’. You leave them no choices. You have done more to bring about division, derision and mistrust to our town and county than any college president could ever do. You win.

SCORE? …..Mr. Knox, plus $2,000 a year,

Mr. Mike Howerter, ….. minus $54.        PRICELESS!

The REAL Sarah Palin Story!

Sarah Palin has many faces: hockey mom, fundamentalist Christian, sex symbol, Republican ideologue, fashion icon, “maverick” populist. But, above all, Palin has become one thing: an American obsession that just won’t go away. Edited by two senior editors at The Nation magazine, this sharp, smart, up-to-the-minute book examines Palin’s quirky origins in Wasilla, Alaska, her spectacular rise to the effective leadership of the Republican Party, and the nightmarish prospect of her continuing to dominate the nation’s political scene.

This excerpt from Going Rouge: Sarah Palin-An American Nightmare appears in the November 30, 2009 issue of The Nation.

…she somberly raised the decision to move the “In God We Trust” motto to the edge of the presidential dollar coin. “Who calls a shot like that?” she said, insinuatingly. Actually, George W. Bush did. It was an embarrassing gaffe that also neatly captures the key elements of Palinism: fact-free conspiracy, hollow patriotism and public religiosity–the very coins of Republican populist rage.

Consider the role Palin played in the “death panel” hysteria. The source was Betsy McCaughey…. But it was Palin who popularized the term on Facebook. “The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide…. Such a system is downright evil.” Palin put a face on its supposed victims (her baby, Trig), contrived the expression “death panel” (linking it directly to Obama), raised the specter of euthanasia in the service of a state-run economy.

Palin’s power lies not in her capacity to write legislation or win national elections but in her ability to torpedo the democratic process.

In the Palin universe, her unwed pregnant teenage daughter, Bristol, is somehow a poster child for abstinence-only education. An aggressive advocate for opening up oil reserves to drilling, she labels herself pro-environment, a stance exemplified by her love of shooting animals or her husband’s hobby of racing snowmobiles across the tundra.

The secret to her success: neither the left nor the right can get enough of her….

If you’d rather not ride on the Sarah Palin bandwagon, you can at least get the real story as she cannibalizes what remains of the GOP!

OLD THINGS part 5

This is an old kitchen tool.

GEM ICE SHAVE

This tool was used when an Ice Box was just that, a box that held a big block of ice.

Before refrgieration, if you wanted an iced drink, it was up to you to chip or SHAVE some ice for your drink. The Iceman would come to your house with his horse and wagon full of big blocks of ice.

The bottom of the ice shave shows the steel blade, just like a wood plane.

 

You pull out the bottom drawer of your ice box where the block is kept, then run the ice shave across the block until you fill your shaver. Next just open the top of your ice shaver and pour your fresh shaved ice into your glass. Well, unless you are using lake ice. In that case you might just forget the ice!

Dying for Karzai by Jim Hightower

Good grief. Just when you think America’s prospects in Afghanistan couldn’t get any bleaker, Obama gets hammered by Hamid.

Hamid Karzai is president of that fractious, impoverished country, and his government is infamously corrupt, incompetent, and despised by the people. So, naturally, our political and military leaders have been backing him.

Indeed, Karzai has come to be the key factor in deciding whether to spend still more American treasure and blood in the Afghanistan war. To “succeed” in stabilizing this inherently unstable land, we’re told we must first establish a legitimate national government that’s competent enough to manage an army and end corruption. A “reformed” Karzai was said to be our best hope for this, and the U.S. supported him for a second term in August’s presidential election.

Some reformer. In the election, he openly used government money to bribe tribal warlords to back him, his vice presidential choice was widely known to be a drug trafficker, and his ballot-stuffing crew was so blatant that nearly a million of his votes were tossed out by his own handpicked election commission, forcing him into a runoff.

But the runoff election was so rigged that his opponent withdrew, refusing to sanction the charade. Yet, our leaders continue to dance with Hamid, recognizing him as the election winner and bizarrely insisting that his “victory”—achieved only by massive corruption – is legitimate under the Afghan constitution.

Karzai-the-Reformed now asserts that he’ll clean up the corruption. How? No comment. Would some of the corrupt officials in his government be ousted? “These problems,” he responded, “cannot be solved by changing high-ranking officials.”

How can Obama and the generals even think of sending more Americans to die under the pretense that this guy’s “government” is worth saving?

GOOD NEWS vs BAD NEWS

Hello honey?, I’ve got good news. I got my deer this morning!….

Prisoner Of The Japanese – CONCLUSION

A very dim and aged copy of Mike’s discharge, some of the information which is still readable is as follows:

ENLISTED RECORD AND REPORT OF SEPARATION

HONORABLE DISCHARGE

Daley, Michael J. ASN 39 156 123,Cpl., Arm of Service..AC, AUS

Organization 19th Bomb Gp. Date of separation 9 Mar 16

Separation Center, Ft. Logan, Colo., Date of induction 27 Mar 41

Military specialty number, armorer 911. AAF Air Crew Badge

Campaigns: East Indies, Philippine Islands.

Decorations: American Defense Service Medal, American Service Medal, [something illegible], Meritorious Service Unit Plaque AAF 7 Nov 45 World War II Victory Medal, [something illegible], Distinguished unit Citation with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters AAF 7 Nov 45

Lapel button issued, ASH Score (2 September 1945‑108

Prisoner of war Of Japanese Government from 8 Mar 42 to 14 Sep 45

“Separated from the Service on a Partial service record and affidavit from the Soldier”

Philippine Defense Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal

[discharging officers name illegible.]

———————————————–

Those are all of the letters, cards, telegrams and newspaper clippings. In his mother’s memory book was also a citation from the President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson:

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HONORS THE MEMORY OF MICHAEL J. DALEY

This certificate is awarded by a grateful nation in recognition of devoted and selfless consecration to the service of our country in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Lyndon B. Johnson

President of the United States

CONCLUSION

These are a few thoughts of Dolores (Rita), Bernard, Tiny Gale, Bernard’s wife Mary Jo, my wife Kitty and myself and any others from fifty years ago who may recall any of the happenings of those times.

As I keyboarded these documents some things that I heard came back to me, can’t remember who told me, as time has faded my memory. I will try to briefly recap his story. He was in a field artillery unit shipping to the Philippines and a day past Pearl Harbor when Pearl Harbor was attacked. The convoy diverted to Australia where they later reshipped to Java. In Java he was a telephone operator in the field artillery. Some one told me that they wanted to capture a Jap soldier for interrogation and the story was that “big Mike from Kansas” came back with a Jap under each arm.

The Army Air Corps took some of Mike’s outfit in as aerial gunners, later on. He or someone else told me that he was on a B17 and was shot down over Java. Also the story was that there were no tail turrets yet on the B17 and they made their own gun position in the tail to shoot at the enemy

When it was imminent that the Japs would soon overtake the Americans in Java; one last American ship was in port to take out all the survivors that they could. Soldiers with wives and children at home were allowed on first and volunteers were asked to stay on and fight. Mike was among the volunteers who stayed and fought and was captured by the Japanese when Java fell.

So the ones who survived and were taken prisoner were later taken on a horrible trip by sea from Java to Hokkaido the northernmost island of Japan. I remember Mike saying the boat trip was by far the most horrible part of the whole adventure. He related that they were attacked by American aircraft and ships, in the long and terrible trip by boat. There was no food or water for them and they were mistreated on board. They drank their own urine, many simply gave up and died, others jumped overboard to their deaths. The lucky survivors made it to Hakodate prison camp to be mistreated and starved for almost three more years.

The event that we all can remember was the Japanese dinner that Mike prepared at home for the family and a few friends. Tiny Gale and I tried to recall who all were there for the dinner but time has faded our memories too much. Rita said she would not go to it. Anyhow Mike wanted us to taste one of his Japanese delicacies: A fishhead and rice dinner. Our neighbor a grocer and butcher, Earl Snyder furnished him with the fishheads. I guess Mike did a good job of preparing the meal, but none of us could stand the sight of those fish eyes staring up at us.

When Mike went to California Rita was a little girl, but when he came back in 1946 she was a young lady. Mike had a hard time adjusting to that, as did Rita to him. Expecting to come home to a baby sister as he left her, he brought her from California a huge beautiful stuffed black and white Panda. He lugged that thing all over getting in and out of fights over it but still bringing it home to his baby sister.

Another time, I recall Mother had a beautiful cat, a black Persian named Jezebel. This cat was a real slinky, superior acting cat and was starting to get on Mike’s nerves. So, one evening he put a tea kettle of water on to boil and started to chase the cat all over the house, so he could catch it and have cat for our dinner like he used to have in prison camp. Remember, in camp they ate cats, dogs, insects, rodents any thing they could get their hands on to stay alive. This was one time Mother fought him to victory and she saved her beloved cat from the dinner table.

I don’t know what would have happened if Bernard had not been home during those trying times. He had been in a military police battalion in Egypt and had been guarding some pretty tough characters, the German and Italian prisoners of war; he also dealt with some outlaw Arabs who had been preying on American soldiers on leave. He was tough enough to make Mike toe the line most of the time and actually decked him once that I knew about.

Parsons, Kansas was a wild and wooly town in those days the Army Ammunition Plant was working full time and the Katy railroad running full blast. There were lots of all night restaurants, diners and hash houses. There were many, many nightclubs and beer joints and plenty of fights and brawls by returning servicemen, much to the delight of Mike. I don’t want to go in to detail here, but we became involved in many of them trying to keep Mike out of trouble.

Bernard agrees with the above and added that not much of the fish heads were eaten at the fish and rice dinner. He also mentioned that Mikes’ lungs were ruined by the forced labor. His job was to wear a mask and clean the hulls of ships (underwater) saving the ships from having to dry-dock.

Bernard was home from the military police in Africa when Mike came home; I did not get out of the service until March 5, 1946. I don’t think any one else could have handled Mike like Bernard did. He recalls taking Mike out on the Katy train to Kansas City and on out to the military hospital at Colorado Springs. That was a nerve‑wracking trip but he safely deposited him at the hospital. From there Mike later went back to Los Angeles.

He had to leave southeast Kansas he said because his lungs couldn’t stand our cold winters and humid hot summers. He kept in good touch with his Mother. I remember he sent her a red electric blanket when the electric blankets first came out. She was so proud of it. He phoned her frequently and his favorite past time was watching the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games.

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetary

Mike died August 8, 1966 and was buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery August 15, l966. It is a beautiful cemetery located out on the peninsula that overlooks San Diego Bay and the military installations over at North Island. The peninsula curves out and upward into the Pacific much like Cape Cod does in Massachusetts. At the very top of it is the historic old lighthouse that guided sailing vessels when California was colonized by the Spaniards. I think the cemetery is closed for further burials but is a beautiful place to visit yet. His Mother died Dec. 13, l957.

–John Daley

November 17, 1999

Good Health For ALL?