Determined to serve...

 Americans have consistently, and notably been determined to serve our country when the need arises...We are mostly aware of men like Audie Murphy because of the fame he earned as a beacon for call to arms during WWII, but others continue to pop up from anonymity such as Jack Lucas...Two days ago the US Navy commissioned its newest Arleigh Burke-class destroyer the USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) named for the youngest Medal Of Honor recipient of WWII...A mere lad of 14 when our nation was attacked by Japan in 1941, he let his anger seethe until the next year when he forged his Mom's name to enlistment papers and took the oath as a US Marine...Eventually ratted out as being too young to fight, the Corps allowed him to train as a truck driver in Hawaii, but this did not deter Lucas from his goal of combat against the enemy...

Fearing he would miss his opportunity, he deserted his post and stowed away with the other Marines aboard the USS Deuel (APA-160) bound for Iwo Jima...His moment to show what makes a US Marine came days after his 17th birthday when two Japanese hand grenades landed among his 4 man fire team...Without hesitation Lucas shoved one Marine aside, covering a grenade with his own body while taking the other grenade in his hand and pulling it under his body...The one in his hand failed to ignite, while the one under him exploded...His team went on to complete their assignment, while Lucas lay where he fell until the following day when he was found to be alive...The corpsman trying to save him had to kill another Japanese while administering medical aid...

Quoted from the Military.com article:

More than 250 pieces of metal in his body were removed during surgeries. Despite how much was removed, there would be enough shrapnel inside him to set off airport metal detectors for the rest of his life. While Lucas never saw combat again, he would join the Army in 1961, become a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne and train young troops for combat in Vietnam. He died in 2008 at age 80.

More about his life can be found in Wikipedia...The citation accompanying his Medal of Honor is shown below...

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 20 February 1945. While creeping through a treacherous, twisting ravine which ran in close proximity to a fluid and uncertain front line on D-day plus one, Pfc. Lucas and three other men were suddenly ambushed by a hostile patrol which savagely attacked with rifle fire and grenades. Quick to act when the lives of the small group were endangered by two grenades which landed directly in front of them, Pfc. Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon one grenade and pulled the other under him, absorbing the whole blasting forces of the explosions in his own body in order to shield his companions from the concussion and murderous flying fragments. By his inspiring action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, he not only protected his comrades from certain injury or possible death but also enabled them to rout the Japanese patrol and continue the advance. His exceptionally courageous initiative and loyalty reflect the highest credit upon Pfc. Lucas and the U.S. Naval Service.

I join a grateful nation in saluting the service of men like Jacklyn Harold Lucas...

Jack Lucas receives the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman on Oct. 5, 1945. (Department of Defense)

Credit...

 This article in my newsfeed this morning and the below quoted blurb led me to wonder how others manage their debt...

"Credit card balances surged from July to September as Americans continued to sink deeper in debt amid rampant inflation, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday."

My method of controlling personal debt is probably a little austere to most people, but once I got accustomed to it, it became manageable, and allows me to live within my Social Security income...I have zero ongoing debt in that my home is mortgage-free (not even a HELOC), and my truck was paid for before I drove it home that day...I use credit cards for whatever merchants and vendors will accept them without penalty...I've never had a debit card of any kind...

My five credit cards are "reward" cards which pay me a percentage of whatever I charge every billing cycle...None of mine have any annual fee or other associated use charges...If the balance is paid in full at the end of each billing cycle, there is never an interest charge...I use cash only at gun shows and garage sales when the occasional bargain surfaces, and the occasional lottery quick pick when the jackpot is big enough to catch my attention...

Each card issuer has it's own hook to justify its use...For instance American Express pays me 3% for whatever I buy at grocery stores...Two of my VISA's pay 4% at gas stations (even for a Slurpee) and 3% at restaurants including the fast food joints...My other VISA pays in "points" which equates to 2% of all charges which I apply against the monthly billing balance...My Discover Card (my very first credit card which I've had for 36 years) pays me 5% on certain categories which change quarterly...For instance I get 5% for Amazon buys right now, so I usually wait until this time of year for most of my planned Amazon expenses...

Therefore the CC companies pay me to use their services, and the only money they get is in merchant fees (which I fully understand is paid indirectly by us, the consumer)...But unless there's a cash discount by the merchandiser, there is no point in my paying cash...It's been many years since I carried a balance into another billing cycle on any of my cards, the last time in memory being when my ex-wife charged her divorce lawyer's fee on my Discover Card as a parting gift on her way out of my life...At that point I could not find the means to pay the balance in full, and was forced by the circumstance to pay the usurious monthly percentage for a short while...Since then, they've gotten nothing from me but the monthly balance...

So referencing the above news article, I see only misery in the future of those individuals and families trapped into carrying a balance on their credit cards...I know why they do it, and I also know what it will take for them to be released from the self-induced debtor's prison in which they reside...I also foresee the day when CC companies will get tired of people like me who contribute nothing to their bottom line, prompting them to eventually do away with paying cardholders anything...I'm curious how my readers here manage debt, and why your method works for you...Let me know in the comment section below...

A Small Niche in History...

One of the things I cherish most about owning guns is the history that accompanies each of them...I've written in the past of my being the direct descendant of a lineage of gunmakers whose fine firearms became a benchmark for accuracy and reliability, being put to practical domestic use as tools for stocking the larder in many frontier homes, to establishing and defending not one, but two nations...Prized for their accuracy Bean rifles were known to be used by marksmen in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 as well as by Col. David Crockett in his role in defense of the small Alamo Mission establishing the Republic of Texas...

Neither of the Bean rifles thought to have been taken to Texas by Crockett are known to have survived, but I continue to look for one to add to my own collection...In the meantime other paths are taken, and as paths do, they occasionally cross in time...On December 2, 1968, James C. Parrish, a US Navy veteran of WWII and now employed as a civilian mathematician at Holloman AFB, NM bought a S&W Model 14-2...This was a finely crafted target revolver with 6" barrel, and was purchased new at the nearby town of Alamogordo, NM...It is unknown how skilled of a shooter Mr. Parrish was, although his obituary in 2011 described him as a firearms enthusiast...Also unknown is whether his family shared his enthusiasm, but it is known that until last week his S&W Model 14-2 was for sale at a gun store in Albuquerque, NM where he lived his retirement years...

Following my finding the revolver in an internet search, and a 14-2 variant not being one I presently owned, I bought it and had it shipped...Yesterday when I received it, It was exactly as described...It has been shot, and obviously carefully cleaned and stored away from the elements...I suspect that Mr. Parrish not only understood the need for cleanliness, but also knew the value of storing guns separately from any boxes or papers with which they were originally shipped...The only marks on the gun are the carbon rings left on the front face of the cylinder from shooting it...There are no rub marks in the bluing to indicate it was ever in a holster of any kind...The cylinder has a very faint turn line...The walnut Magna grips are numbered to the gun's frame, indicating they were handfitted at the S&W factory during assembly and shipped on the gun...There are no marks anywhere on the metal nor wood to indicate any rough handling...

Inside the very crisp cardboard box which originally housed the revolver when shipped, I found the papers and seemingly unused cleaning tools and sight adjustment tool still packaged in the plastic wrapper from S&W...The anti-rust vapor paper with which S&W still wraps new firearms was still present in the box carefully folded...Under all this was the original invoice from which I obtained the information on Mr. Parrish, including his check number, and his promise to pay the balance owed, $50.00, within 30 days...Obviously his credit was good...At the time Mr. Parrish bought the S&W which I now own, I had been stationed at his place of work, Holloman AFB, for about six months, having returned with my wing to our new desert home from Spangdahlem AB in West Germany...At that time of December 1968 we were making preparations to return to Spangdahlem to support the Joint Forces War Games, an annual event...A few months later, we returned to Holloman where I received my honorable separation from service...

It is unknown to me whether Mr. Parrish and I ever saw or spoke with each other...It is possible since I interacted with many civilian contractors, both on and off duty...Either way I am glad that our mutual love of fine firearms allowed this second crossing of our paths in history...

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Notes Concerning Honorable Service...

 My longtime friend, Kevin, inspired this article with his answer to a thread I started in the Cracker Barrel, one of the few forums in which I regularly participate...Kevin pointed out the sometimes questionable circumstances for which certain awards are cited...I decided to post my thoughts here...Thanks Kevin!...

I've studied many of those early awards, and although the service of the recipients was honorable, and the cited action noteworthy, I believe the honor associated with the Medal was diminished somewhat by its wholesale distribution to those who should have been recognized for their service in another manner...In those early days even civilians, such as Billy Dixon, whose actions at the Battle of Buffalo Wallow as a scout doubtlessly qualified for the award, were recipients...The 1917 Review Board revoked Dixon's award citing his ineligibility as a civilian, a technical error later reversed in 1989 by an Army Board of Corrections of Records...Dixon died in 1913 unaware of the discredit heaped on his memory, nor the later restoration of his well earned citation...

Another later recipient of the nation's highest military honor certainly knew of the discredit assigned to him by politicians, many of whom could not claim military service on their own records...But these politically motivated aspirants were happy to deny earned honors from those who did serve and had invoked the wrath of unforgiving partisan officeholders besmirched by other actions of the recipient which were completely unrelated to the cited activity...Theodore Roosevelt, who had resigned his position as Undersecretary of the Navy to accept a commission in the US Army during the Spanish-American War, was nominated for the Medal of Honor for his combat actions at the Battle of Kettle Hill in Cuba...Before the award could be confirmed by Congress, it was blocked for political purposes by those deskbound soldiers who were insulted by the embarrassment heaped on them when Roosevelt published a letter in US newspapers revealing the deplorable treatment of sick and wounded soldiers who were left behind to garrison Cuba and ensure the peace...More than a hundred years passed before the award was presented posthumously by a grateful nation in the office of then President William Clinton...

Valor can also run in family bloodlines as evidenced by another Roosevelt, Theodore III who certainly was not required to volunteer for service in WWII at the age of 56...Yet he not only successfully argued for an Army commission, but despite his own physical infirmities led the Allied invasion of Utah Beach in Normandy on 6/6/1944...His decisive leadership on that beach while under fire, even knowing that his unit's position was far from his approaching reinforcements, contributed greatly to the eventual success of the Allied invasion...Like his father before him he died unaware that the nation had awarded him its highest honor, as he died days later from a heart attack in Normandy...His widow accepted the award on General Roosevelt's behalf in the presence of Allied commanders and the US Secretary of War...

It is certainly true that some presentations of the nation's highest military award may not have been the result of direct combat, but in my opinion were justified as they took place in war zones with the intent of bringing that war to a successful close...Two examples follow another family bloodline, that of Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher and his nephew, later Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, each of whom were nominated for the Medal of Honor for their actions in battle at Vera Cruz in 1914...Although the citations accompanying their awards seem lackluster in comparison to others, I contend that they are both well within the standards of the valorous service for which all Medals of Honor have been awarded...Both men were in command and performed their duties under fire, exhibiting the conspicuous leadership necessary to inspire the confidence of those men in their commands...In addition both men lent their names to US Navy destroyers after their deaths...

I cannot close this article without pointing out that although some high awards have been said to be overrated, others are severely underrated...Exemplary of this is the service of US Navy Cook 3rd Class Doris Miller...Miller was on board the battleship USS West Virginia when the ship was attacked along with all other ships in Pearl Harbor on the beginning morning of the Pacific War...Although untrained for combat operations nor medical service, his quick, unflinching and decisive actions were instrumental in saving the lives of many wounded...Using his great physical strength he gently moved his ship's captain to a more secure and comfortable position allowing that commander to direct combat operations and die in relative safety...He then assisted two junior officers in operating a .50 Caliber machine gun against the invading Japanese fliers...When they became disoriented in battle and unable to continue, Miller, with no training whatsoever with the heavy caliber gun other than watching the two officers, took control of the gun after seeing they were in a safe position, and was responsible for the downing of at least one, and likely two of the Japanese aircraft...

For his service that day Miller was awarded what was then the 3rd highest Navy decoration, the Navy Cross...The award itself was later upgraded to the Navy's second highest award...The Pacific Fleet's new commander, Admiral Chester Nimitz, himself of above average height, lifted himself on his toes to personally pin the medal on the chest of the towering Miller in a shipboard ceremony...Miller went on to further service, yet still as a Mess Attendant (later Steward's Mate), aboard the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay until that ship was attacked and sunk by the Japanese in the Gilbert Islands...Exactly two years after Miller's meritorious action after the Pearl Harbor attack, his parents were informed by telegram that their son was missing in action and presumed dead along with two thirds of his crewmates...

Miller was further honored in the 1970's when a US Navy frigate was commissioned bearing his name, and most recently it was announced that the keel was laid for America's newest nuclear aircraft carrier, CVN-81, USS Doris Miller...Admiral Nimitz, a man with no political aspirations but one who understood the importance and effect of politics on the Navy, used the award ceremony for Miller to springboard the need for sailors and soldiers to serve in positions for which they were qualified, not just because of the color of their skins...Even in death Miller inspired the work of civil rights leaders of all races to advance the uniform service of all members of the nation's military, regardless of race...Others, convinced that racial qualities should govern service in some areas, argued against the idea...Today that struggle continues, but the weight of the actions of men like Miller, and the influence of men like Nimitz continue to equalize opportunities for all...Perhaps in generations to come it will be decided that Miller's award deservedly be upgraded to the Medal of Honor...Until then I will point out that Miller's Navy Cross citation states that he continued his fight against the enemy until he was ordered to stand down...Such instinctive service in the face of certain death is exemplary of actions taken by all whom have been awarded the nation's highest military honor...

Such after-battle actions by committees are the work of politicians, and the toadies who seek favor from those politicians...Above all that stands the unflinching service of those noted in each citation, none of which asked to be present at the noted scenes of action and sacrifice, nor raised a hand for recognition...This is why I have always argued that awards of merit in our military are never "won," as often stated by misinformed writers...They are instead awarded to the often unwilling recipients by a grateful nation as a small token recognizing the valor of not only those who came home to wear the ribbons and medals, but also those who fell on the fields of honor...

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Legislating gun shows out of existence...

 I like to attend gun shows...I like the atmosphere, the variety of guns, ammo, memorabilia, accessories and other items I see...I like talking to the people I meet there, many of whom I've known for decades and not all by name...Some I meet and exchange ideas with whom I may never see again...I usually carry a gun with me to these events, sometimes more than one...I like to trade and otherwise acquire guns for my personal collection...This year I added several guns to my household property, while at the same time divesting myself of other personally owned items, including firearms...I like to alter the content of my gun collection by trading because it keeps me sharp concerning the relative values of firearms...Sometimes I buy outright, other times I'll sell one or more of my guns to finance the acquisition of others...The variety of the guns which hold my interest is what keeps me involved in this activity...

Upgrading the content of my meagre collection is the intent of my participation in this hobby, just as it is with collectors of other types of items...I should interject another thought at this point, I don't really consider myself a collector, rather an accumulator as I increase my knowledge in a specialized field of firearms, namely revolvers, and specifically Smith & Wesson revolvers of the 20th Century...I accumulate some of my gains in personal property through mainstream venues such as licensed gun stores and pawn shops where I've uncovered some real gems, in addition to some real clunkers...Even the clunkers have their value as they can be stripped of their more valuable parts and accessories, while trading away the remains to someone who needs the parts...In my eye there are no unloved firearms, only those which need to be relocated to a more appreciative owner...

It is well known that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for guns, as headlines are made everyday concerning those who feel it necessary to strip me and all other Americans of our constitutionally guaranteed right to do as we please as long as we don't harm others...Many of these rabble rousers are actually well-intentioned but misguided fools who simply have not thought the subject through to a logical conclusion...These can at times be convinced of the error of their ways of thinking, but the most dangerous ones are those who use the subject of gun ownership and use as a springboard to personal power, and control over wealth...Politicians, both those who are elected to office and those who prefer to own and direct the officeholders, are the true dangers to our always fragile republic...Many of these power-seekers choose to fulfill their lust for control through the fear generated by a public which feels helpless against criminals and the insane who are merely bent on death and mayhem in their frustration over their unsatisfactory lives...

The power hungry who in their insatiable greed for more and more control over the lives of others know that they cannot achieve ultimate power as long as an armed populace exists to stand in their way...Therefore they have learned that they must disarm those who would stand in their path by either convincing them they are safer disarmed, or to forcibly disarm them through legislation which makes it ever more inconvenient to hold ownership of firearms as personal property...This has been done incrementally at all levels of government as the power brokers continue to find elected officeholders who are willing to accept support in election campaigns at the expense of debt which can only be repaid with legislation which serves to increase the power of those supporters...The latest in those incremental steps takes place in a few days in Texas...

On January 1, 2021, enforcement begins of an interpretation of Rule §3.316 of Subchapter O of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Title 34 of the Texas Administrative Code...This bloated title will begin to affect gun shows in Texas through the enforcement of sales tax collection on the occasional sellers of private property...For those unaware of the people who populate gun shows, sales occur not only with licensed firearms dealers who already collect sales tax on purchases, but also collectors who sell and trade from their own collections of privately owned firearms and other items...It will make these private individuals responsible for collecting a sales tax from purchasers of their collectibles and disbursing it to the various taxing entities, both state and local, who greedily present their outstretched palms...The money thereby collected will be used to finance yet another layer of government which must be added to ensure this new source of public income will be drained of its potential...These newly appointed public servants will of course be dedicated to wringing every possible penny from these previously private sellers, making sure that their careers stay intact...

The effects on the gun shows will be multi-layered...The pushback from participating vendors who have never seen their activities taxed will be immediate and vigorous...Taxing authorities will choose some of the more entrenched vendors for exemplary punishment when they resist becoming tax collectors for the state...Attendees such as myself will resist becoming the unwilling financiers of this new layer of government, and sales will fall...Eventually as vendors and attendees drop out, the promoters of the shows will see their own incomes drop to the point where they must fold their tents and close...This has the effect of reducing the circulation of available cash leading to yet more unemployment and recession...As gun shows begin to be reduced in number, the newly appointed tax code enforcers will begin to use their interpretive powers as it applies to the law to visit their presence on those vendors at flea markets, seasonal festivals, Girl Scout cookie sales, church rummage sales, private garage sales and those who advertise their personal belongings for sale on CraigsList...No rock will remain unturned as the tax code enforcers justify their own existence...

But there will be joy in the encampments of the power brokers as their control over people and the available wealth slowly increases at the expense of rapidly depleting democracy and freedom...The only question remaining is that of who will be left at the top when there is no longer a bottom...

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Keeping It Safe...

This article was inspired by the questions from a young lady friend who is thinking ahead to her first gun safe purchase...

I've only owned National Security safes personally...That company was acquired by Liberty Safe some years ago...When I had my first FFL, I eventually bought two more National Security safes besides my original to hold everything...When I entered business as Shooter's Station, I put two of those safes into inventory, but kept the original which I still have...After buying the third safe I remembered the advice my first service manager gave me as a new auto mechanic when I was thinking about my first roll-around tool box...He said, "Try to imagine which tool box will hold all the tools you ever expect to buy in your lifetime, then buy one twice as large and it may last you five years before you have to buy a bigger one"...And he was right...The same principle applies to gun safes...

If I was buying a new one today it would be a Liberty...I think they have the best product as well as the best customer service...Liberty also still sells the National Security brand for those who don't mind paying more...You'll also find out while shopping that there are "gun safes" and there are "gun lockers" as I call them...A gun "safe" will have rounded corners which indicates 100% seam welded construction...Gun "lockers" have square corners and are spot welded which can be cracked open like a walnut shell by any experienced thief with a 12 pound sledge hammer and a prybar...I prefer safes with Sargent & Greenleaf locks (either dial or electronic), any other brand is second rate...You also want the locking mechanism to have thick bolts driven from all four sides of the door edge (mine has 16 1" steel bolts), and a glass relocking system which prevents the safe from being opened even if a thief has cut away the complete outer lock mechanism...

Ask about the thickness of the steel used in all six sides of the safe...On mine they used 1/4" steel on both the inner and outer walls on five sides (some safes don't have an inner wall), and my door is one inch thick with alternating steel and copper plates which makes cutting torches useless...Weight is a big factor also when a safe is fire-lined...Mine has thick fire-liner between inner and outer walls, and this is where a lot of the weight comes from...The fire-liner rating is important, the higher the better and the more chance that whatever is inside will survive a house fire...Remember that you can protect not only your guns, but also any important papers, old photographs, jewelry, watches, etc...And the additional weight can discourage thieves from trying to move the entire safe...At Shooter's Station we had an additional safe (besides the walk-in vault we built) that was truly old-school - it was double walled with the cavities filled with three inches of concrete for fire liner...It weighed 3500 pounds and was installed with a fork lift during the construction...It's still there today...One of the photos in my article on the store's construction in my photo blog has a partial view of it...

When you choose where to place your safe, try to pick an inner wall if possible...Thieves have been known to steal a tow truck, tear down an outer wall, chain onto a safe and pull it out of the house to another location where they can cut into with a carbide saw...Mine is in an inner closet, under a load-bearing beam, where it would be very inconvenient for a thief to even bring in industrial cutting equipment to access it...It's best to have the people you buy it from to install it because they have special equipment and methods to move it in and out without damaging the floors or walls, even climbing stairs...It's well worth the delivery/setup fee...They can also bolt it to even a concrete floor with lag bolts...The best place I know to buy a safe locally is Lone Star Gun Safe on FM 1960 in Houston...If the same people who own it now are the same who founded it, they are great to work with...Another great place to do business for safes, guns and other items is CC Plus on Hwy. 105 in Conroe...

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Living with it...

These following thoughts were spurred by the words written to me by a friend who visited blame for destruction and theft of private property on a group of people not because of the choices they made, but because of an accident of birth...No other identification of this friend will be made here...

I kid and poke fun at a lot of people and ideologues when they involve the choices people make which govern their lives...In my mind, people choose which gender attracts them sexually; they choose whether and which religion to follow; they even choose how to vote for government leadership, and they choose what to ingest in their bodies regardless of the consequences...The paths they follow as results of those choices are of their own volition, and they have the further choice of reversing course and renouncing the choices which harm themselves and others...

Two things I choose not to use for scorn or the purpose of humiliation are race and physical abnormalities...Neither were asked for, yet the consequences of both are something each individual is left to deal with over the course of a lifetime...None of us chose to be born of a particular skin color nor of the ability to move about under our own power, and yet we did choose to live and vote responsibly accepting the results of our choices, to earn our own living without harming others and to allow others the same opportunities...Or not...When the choice is made to take what seems to be an easier path to happiness, however temporary, then we must accept the consequences without falling back on the empty defense of being guiltless because of being born with less-than-popular physical characteristics...

I scorn those who wreck their own lives and the lives of others with drugs, crime and violence...I do not scorn them because they are not of the same race as I am since an accident of birth did not cause their actions; their own choices did that...I am not angry at my friend, merely disappointed...We also have the choice of recognizing our own errors and correcting the course of our lives...It's now been more than 50 years since I described anyone using the epithet now known as the "n-word"...It was slapped out of me by a friend who heard me use it to describe our mutual friend...I've always been grateful for the accidental timing which allowed that slapping to occur by someone who had my best interests in mind, and not someone who might have carried those actions further...

There is such a thing as slapping some sense into a person...

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