Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

I wanted to bring this up, and wasn't sure where to post it, so it's going into my journal....

this is an Email a buddy gave me ...


Shifty by Chuck Yeager

shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy company of the 506th parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If youve seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.
I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didnt know who he was at the time. I saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the Screaming Eagle the symbol of the 101st Airborne on his hat.
Making conversation, I asked him if hed been in the 101st airborne of if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served and how many jumps he made.
Quietly and humbly, he said, Well I guess I signed up in 1941 or so and was in until sometime in 1945 at which point my heart skipped.
At that point, again, very humbly, he said I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, then jumped into Normandy do you know where Normandy is? At this point my heart stopped.
I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy is and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said I also made a second jump into Holland, into Amhem. I was standing with a genuine war hero
And then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.
I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said Yes and its real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them cant make the trip. My heart was in my throat, and I didnt know what to say.
I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach and I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I would take his in coach.
He said No, son you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and who still care is enough to make an old man very happy. His eyes were filling up as he said it and mine are brimming up now as I write this.
Shifty died on Jan 17 after fighting cancer
There was no parade.
No big event at the Staples Center.
No wall to wall 24/7 news coverage.
No weeping fans on television.
And that is NOT RIGHT !
Lets give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way.
Please forward this to everyone you know, Especially to the veterans.
Rest in peace, Shifty.
Chuck Yeager, Maj. Gen. (RET)
PS I think that it is amazing how the media chooses our heroes these day .
Michael Jackson and the like.

 

[Marianne]

 

[rathbone]

Tight spot in my throat. Thank you BriteSea. I am glad you shared this.

 

[rathbone]

And now that we are getting to be friends...can I just call you BS? Just kidding.

 

[Britesea]

BS is still better than DH and my initials together.... BM!

 

[abifae]

I had a friend who was a vietnam vet and I gave him flowers and dinner for veterans day. He cried and said I was the FIRST to do such a thing... about 8 years ago!

 

[SSDreamin]

Poignant story Britesea. I read it to my 11 year old, who is a WWII aficionado!

 

[Britesea]

Even if it is never collected, every man and woman who serves in the armed forces is giving us the ultimate gift-- their lives. Yet every day they are faced with indifference, mockery, and outright hatred from the recipients of that gift. Reminds me of a carpenter I've read about....

 

[Britesea]

Busy day today. I picked up 60 lbs of Roma tomatoes and a flat of strawberries; gonna make more tomato sauce, and some strawberry syrup for pancakes. Earlier I had defrosted the freezer and collected all the bits of meat that had gotten lost in there and were freezer burned. I thawed them and ground them up with the meat grinder and canned them for making dog food. I now have 19 pints of ground meat (a mixture of beef, chicken, pork and even a few fish fillets) and 7 pints of the broth (suitable for adding flavor to the rice and vegetables I will mix with the meat)cooling on the counter. That's more than a month's worth of food for them-- I feel thrifty, because at least I didn't just throw the meat away

I found a food mill in the local thrift store for a buck, but it was missing the wooden press, so DH is custom whittling a piece of broken axe handle into a mill press. Hopefully it will be ready when I need it for all those tomatoes! I also scored another bunch of canning jars from someone at DH's work. I haven't counted them, but the boxes filled the back seat of the car and almost cut off the view from the rear window.
Also found 3 canisters to match the 7 I already have-- they seal nicely and are perfect for dried veggies; and a pair of dress slacks for DS for a buck!

We also decided I need a new and better dehydrator. I just got some unexpected money, so I decided to splurge on the 9-tray Excalibur-- I can hardly wait until it gets here!

 

[Britesea]

Took all the canning jars to my GF's house because she has a dishwasher. It still took all afternoon to do them all (116 in all- ranging from 2 nice gallon sized jars w/ bail tops down to 3 little dinky things that only hold about 1/2 a cup). While one of the loads was washing, we went shopping a bit. I found a sale of Albacore tuna for 99 cents/can and bought the max- 12 jars; then my GF did the same and turned them over to me, so I got 24 cans at that price.

When I came home, I had to go to the greenhouse and water the plants, as well as do our barter thing -- a loaf of bread for a dozen fresh eggs. She also gave me some tomatoes and peaches in exchange for some of my extra kale and chard . I also had my bucket with me and picked 10 lbs of ripe elderberries and a pound of chokecherries. I will stick them in the freezer until I have time to process them.

I made a batch of no-sugar jam with some of the strawberries (sweetened with some Stevia extract) and froze the rest until I have time to make the syrup. I also froze most of the tomatoes we got on Saturday, except for about 4 pounds that I have in my old dehydrator. Now that I have more jars washed and ready, I can start canning again tomorrow!

The peas are finally winding down in the garden. They need to be pulled and composted and the winter garden started. The beans, beets, and chard are finally doing their thing and the tomatoes are getting bigger although they are still green. It's supposed to get down to 47 F tonight