Survival Story – Chapter 1

There are some thing you can never have too many/much of, or so I’ve told myself for
years. Some are more important than others, but the top items on my list are Toilet Pa-
per, Cigarettes, batteries and bulbs. I keep a bundle of 50 BIC lighters on the shelf too,
that’s about a 5 year supply.

On the food front, I lived on beans for years, supplemented with American style Goulash
and with ground beef, onions, tomato sauce and elbow macaroni. I like a dash of chili
powder in mine but the rest of the family doesn’t and I’m too old and tired to argue. I like
great northern beans and pinto beans, the latter flavored with a little onion and garlic. I
also like homemade bread, but we’ve burned up 2 bread machines and the bread really
isn’t that good.

From the age of 12 years, I’ve believed in being prepared. In those days, I lived in the
Midwest in Tornado Alley. I’d fill 2 2-quart canteens and head for the basement every
time we got a tornado warning. I was lucky, the tornado didn’t come until I’d left home
and was married. It was the most powerful tornado in the history of my home state and
they ended up with urban renewal whether they wanted it or not.

More recently, I’ve been stocking up on things like flashlights, batteries and spare bulbs.
On 9/11/01, I bought 25# of rice and 25# of pinto beans. Shortly thereafter, my health
went to hell and we stopped stocking up for a while. More recently, the news has rein-
forced my plans and I made up a little shopping list.

100 pounds pinto beans

100 pounds of great northern beans
4 gallons of oil
4 6# cans of Crisco.
48 57oz cans of Folgers classic (4 cases)
4 cases of diced tomatoes
4 cases of niblets
4 cases of green beans
4 large jars of peanut butter
1 case each of tomato and mushroom soup
48 quarts of canned peaches
100 pounds of flour
25 pounds of sugar
2 jars of dry yeast
6 cartons of Quaker Oats
2 cans of baking powder
2 boxes, or more, of baking soda
36 cans of canned chicken
36 cans of canned beef
36 cans of canned tuna
36 cans of canned ham

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36 cans of Spam
1 21ft³ upright freezer filled with meat from Costco, mainly ground beef
1 7kw gas fueled generator to keep the food frozen
2 or 3 55-gallon drums of stabilized gasoline
12 2-gallon jugs of kerosene
12 cans of Coleman fuel
Replacement generators for 2 Coleman stoves
2 replacement Coleman lamps with 24 spare mantles
Increase my meds to a full 90 day supply (more is better)
6 bundles of Charmin jumbo rolls (180 rolls)
26 cartons of Kool’s 100 (box)
4 boxes of Snickers bars
When it comes to food, I’ll take anything that constitutes a meal in a can, beef stew and
chili come to mind.

While that may not sound like a lot of food, it’s a start and one hell of lot more than most
people have. I also will keep a minimum of 25# of popcorn because while it doesn’t pro-
vide much nutrition, it breaks the monotony of the above diet.

I’ve previously listed the weapons I want, but here’s a recap:

1 Mossberg 590A1
1 7.62×51mm Main Battle Rifle, M1A Loaded preferred, but any port in a storm
1 .22 rifle lever action (repeater)
1 .45ACP PT1911 pistol, but I’ll probably get a Browning Hi-Power
1 5.56×45mm semi-auto rifle, gas piston, AR-15 preferred but Mini-14 will do

Ammo will be for 2 purposes, hunting and self-defense. Therefore, 200 rounds of
7.62×51mm hunting ammo plus not less than 1,800 rounds of defensive ammo in the
same caliber. 10 bricks of .22LR, half solid and half hollow point. 250 rounds of 12
gauge slugs. 250 rounds of 12 pellet 00 buck in 2¾” shells. 250 rounds of assorted
hunting shot ranging from #2 to #6. (Possibly 250 rounds of 15 pellet 3” 00 buck and 3”
Brenneke slugs.) 250-500 rounds of Gold Dot .45ACP (or, 9mm). 2,000 rounds of
5.56×45mm. Both rifles should be magazine fed and have either 20 or 30 round maga-
zines. The pistol should have at least 5 magazines, but if I get a .45, I’ll probably buy 10
from Ammoman. He has M14 magazines at the moment for $13 each, made in Taiwan.

If there is any money left over from the spending spree, a CD V-715 package deal from
KI4U. I need enough KI03 for 4 adults and 3 children and would prefer to have enough
for 7 adults and 8 children. My shoulder is almost gone so I’ll need to replace my stock
of Vicodin, I take 2 a day, just enough to put down the pain so I can get to sleep.

I don’t have a shelter but the fire stations give out sand bags, so I’ll load up on them and
if the coming problem is nuclear, I’ll empty out the shed and cover it with about 5 layers
of sand bags. I think we’ll have some notice, so hopefully we’ll have time to fill them. 16”
of soil gives a protection factor (pf) of 10 and 32” a pf of 100. I have a camping potty in

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the shed and my camping gear. My shed is 8’×12’ so no one should get lonely. But,
we’ll probably have to sleep in shifts.

Some ask in a world gone mad, why bother? I’ll tell you why, it not for me, it’s for the
kids and grandkids. Would I really loot? I would if I could get away with it, for necessities
only. I sure as hell don’t plan on waiting 5 days for a rifle or 15 days for a handgun. Any-
thing you don’t have when the balloon goes up will be difficult, if not impossible, to find.
I, for one, don’t plan of trading off any ammo but would be willing to trade for more in the
calibers I use. Our first aid supplies are fair, but if anyone is seriously hurt, it’s going to
depend on what kind of medical assistance is available.

Living in Southern California suggests that there are two primary possibilities for a dis-
aster: Earthquake or WW III. The SAF is locked up and due for a 9.0 earthquake and all
you have to do to assess the possibility of WW III is read the news, tensions are very
high. Newt says it has already started. The house is equipped with an earthquake valve
on the gas line so with any kind of luck we won’t get a fire.

None of what I have said should come as a surprise to anyone who reads my fiction. I’m
not worried about the avian flu; isolation will be the key to avoiding that. That, my N-100
face masks and nitrile gloves. We have a few boxes of those to change the litter pans.

I have certain skills besides fooling around with computers. For example, I do know how
to trap and I don’t really think hunting down a cow would be all that hard. There isn’t
much venison in this area anyway, not that I like it. If we have a couple of days’ notice,
some of the foods items I’ve listed would be sharply increased. I pretty sure the bank
would transfer some of the principal to my account if it looked like we were about to get
bombed. They don’t like to do that because their fee is ~0.9% of the trust fund balance.

My hot water heater in new and holds 50 gallons of water. It’s strapped to the wall so
hopefully won’t fall down in an earthquake. I can also fill the bath tub to get water to
flush the stool when we come out of the shed. Survival is more than anything, a matter
of attitude. If I had to, could I actually shoot someone? Try me, but, I may puke after-
wards.

The MCLB is surrounded by about 30,000 retired military, so I doubt seriously I try to go
there. I do know where I’d go, but I’m not going to tell. He carries M1As, M1911s,
Browning Hi-Powers and Remington defensive shotguns. Plus, I don’t really like him
because he’s a jerk.

In my last story, the point I was trying to make was that the current likely disasters are a
shortage of food and fuel. But, I started it before Israel went into Lebanon and good old
Newt insists this is WW III. He could just be right, you know. If it were me, I wouldn’t
count on Russia staying out of it, a word to the wise. I’m presently working on getting 20
round mags for a M1A and 30 round mags for a Mini-14. Much of our food is grown in

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the Dakotas and they’ve lost a lot of this year’s crop due to a draught. In addition, Loui-
siana planted half their usual crop of rice. Look for the price of beans and rice to rise
sharply in the near future.

It’s been a very hot summer and even Pat Robertson is finally convinced of global
warming. The count in California is up over 160 heat related deaths, ATM. The power
grid is in serious trouble, think of St. Louis and Queens for just 2 examples. It also ap-
pears that only the criminals returned to New Orleans.

I may not be particularly well informed, but, I have read MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and
PARSIN (the handwriting on the wall). If TSHTF, we’re heading to Gassville, Arkansas
or so my younger son informs me. He’s a darned fine soldier; I’d be very comfortable
living with him. My daughter-in-law, Mary, also spent 4 years in the Army and is a better
shot than he is with the M9. I expect our biggest problem will be finding a Gadsden flag.

(If you have trouble reading my stories, it may because you have Symantec Internet
Security. Turn it off until you finished the story.) About us: I’m 63 and have multiple
medical problems. 30+ years of boozing wore my body out. Add to that, age related se-
nility and you have a good picture. 5’ 5, 150 and able to walk about one block before I’m
exhausted. I don’t use my electric wheelchair. The wife is 59, 5’4, a little over 250 but
it’s mostly a big heart. The youngest is 29 and has 2 kids. Her sister is 39 and has one 3
year old kid. Derek is 32, in good condition and has 2 kids at home. His wife is only
slightly shorter and mean. Damon, aka Raider Nation, lives in Britt, Iowa and is bi-polar.
His 3 kids live with his ex-wife. However, when it comes to our attitudes, ergo, patriotism
and politics, we’re all about the same.

If TSHTF, I’d imagine Ron will head for Cedar Hill. I haven’t talked to Clarence in sever-
al months but he might or might not head for Birmingham.

I’ve said in several stories that the 4 horsemen are already riding. I wouldn’t say it if I
didn’t believe it. You may have noticed that I’m not shy when it comes to expressing my
opinions. They said that Iraq is on the verge of a civil war – surprise, surprise, surprise. I
also believe that we’re edging closer to the same thing. That ought to be interesting, us
against the gun hating liberals. Did you hear Hillary lay out her political agenda when
she questioned’ Rumsfeld? Her husband was responsible for much of what she ac-
cused the current administration of. I didn’t notice her broom; she must have left it in her
office.

Most of the tips Russ and I have, have been related at least twice. It’s good advice but
I’m not so sure you have all that long to implement it. Do what Frugal suggests and
Build an Ark. We live in the oldest representative republic in the world but it’s a toss-up
whether the world hates us or Israel more. BTW, I heard the Valley of Jezreel men-
tioned in one news article. They were talking about where some of the fighting was tak-
ing place. Frankly, it’s hard to tell if our media supports Hezbollah or Israel. Fox sup-

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ports Israel and Wolf, bless his heart, is Jewish. But MSNBC seemed to cloud the issue.
CNN should bring Aaron Brown back, but he apparently wasn’t liberal enough. I’m get-
ting very tired of hearing about the poor Lebanese.

I also wonder what will happen if Hezbollah actual does send rocket’s to Tel Aviv. It
would be a very bad time to live in Lebanon. If the Syrians cross the border into Israel,
that’s another story, you can write off Damascus. I don’t believe that Israel will be the
first country in the Middle East to use nuclear weapons, but I’m equally certain, they’ll
be the last. If they give us leaflets and tell us to evacuate certain areas of Iraq, I’d be-
lieve them.

From the UK Guardian:

Those of us who have long been supporters of Armageddon have naturally been greatly
cheered by way the president of the United States has been embracing our cause. Our
desire to bring chaos, death and destruction to a greater swathe of humanity has, in the
past, often been frustrated by peacemakers and do-gooders of all shades of the political
spectrum.

For too long, our aspirations have been derided and criticized. In fact, to be blunt, for
more than two millennia we have had to put up with opprobrium and vilification, but now
all that will be a thing of the past, for in George Bush we have found an ally – indeed,
we have found a leader. A man who is prepared to place himself at the head of the
forces of destruction and misery, and who is unafraid of the opinion of the rest of the
world.

George Bush has finally put Armageddon firmly on the political agenda, and it is likely to
stay there for the foreseeable future.

This means that we Armageddonists need keep to the shadows no longer. Bush and his
colleagues in the White House have given us credibility and respectability. They have
made our goal their goal, and death, disease, war and famine are now the most likely
fate for more people in the Middle East than we Armageddonists had ever dared to
hope for.

What is also particularly gratifying – after this long wait – is that George could not have
chosen a better spot on Earth for the End of Things to begin, nor a more appropriate
agent than Israel to get the ball rolling.

After all Armageddon is a Hebrew word. It has come to signify the end of times or the
arrival of catastrophic events, involving huge loss of life. In its origins, however, Har-
Megiddo meant simply the mountain of Megiddo – Megiddo being a site in Israel close
to the border with Lebanon.

It is certainly a place that has seen a lot of catastrophe in its time. Although there has
not been a city at Megiddo for over 2,000 years, there are, nevertheless the remains of

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more than 20 different cities on the site, dating from 3,000 BC. That’s an awful lot of
human death and destruction.

So it’s the perfect place for George to unleash the horsemen of the Apocalypse, and, as
Armageddonists, we applaud him. The current assault on Lebanese civilians is sure to
swell the ranks of would-be terrorists beyond even our wildest dreams, spreading the
violence and mayhem not only throughout the Middle East but into the homelands of
America and Britain.

As for the country of Lebanon itself, we Armageddonists predict that, like Iraq, it will sink
into a morass of sectarian violence that will fill morgues of the future that have not yet
been built. But more than that, we Armageddonists confidently look forward to chaos
and havoc quickly getting out of hand and beyond the control of those who started the
conflict. It’s all part of the fun.

So Armageddonists of the world! Let us unite in praise of George Bush, Dick Cheney
and Donald Rumsfeld. Let us thank these men for bringing our dreams of violence and
disorder to fruition.

Let us hope that whatever half-baked notions fill what passes for their minds, they will
continue on this irreversible path to perdition from which the whole world recoils, but
seems powerless to stop.

Anyway, it didn’t matter. I discovered that when I realized the Lebanon was getting the
good press and Israel and the United States were the bad guys. What could happen,
anyway?

●Biological Threat

●Chemical Threat

●Explosions

●Natural Disasters
●●Earthquakes
●●Extreme Heat
●●Fires
●●Floods
●●Hurricanes
●●Landslide and Debris Flow
●●Thunderstorms
●●Tsunamis
●●Tornadoes
●●Volcanoes

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●●Winter Storms

●Nuclear Threats

●Pandemics

●Radiation Threat

That many? Golly, gee whiz, that’s a lot. I didn’t see any airplanes flying into the WTC
on that list. Maybe that falls under explosions. With the exception of Natural Disasters
and Pandemics, all of the above could come from a terrorist attack. Some things are
very unlikely; Hoover Dam is 660’ (200m) thick at its base and 45’ (15m) thick at its
crest. It contains 4.36 million yards of concrete; it would take a real effort to bring it
down. No problem, our borders are secure… there ain’t no way anyone could bring in
one of those suitcase bombs. However, I’m going to avoid downtown LA for a while. If
my doctor wasn’t in Northridge, I wouldn’t go there at all. But, I have to go, he gives me
free samples.

If I did loot, where would I go first? Big Five Sporting Goods is next door to Walgreens
and Wal-Mart, so, I have no idea. On one corner are an Albertson’s and the other Stater
Bros. It’s my favorite corner and it’s only 1 mile away. Looting is taking TVs anyway. Did
you see that several Wal-Mart stores are going to stop carrying guns? The world’s larg-
est retailer said it had started phasing out firearms sales at the affected stores earlier
this year. In stores where there is sufficient demand for guns, Wal-Mart says it will con-
tinue to sell them.

Who started the Lebanon conflict? At 9:05 AM local time on 12 July 2006, a ground con-
tingent of Hezbollah militants attacked two Israeli armored Humvees on a routine patrol
along the Israel-Lebanon border near the Israeli village of Zar’it with anti-tank rockets,
capturing two Israeli soldiers, and killing three. Five others were killed later on the Leb-
anese side of the border on 12 July during a mission to rescue the two captured sol-
diers. In an initial report the Lebanese police force stated that the Israeli soldiers were
attacked and captured on the Lebanese side of the border on 12 July during a mission
to infiltrate the Lebanese town of Ayta al-Sha’b, though Europe, the UN, the US, and
prominent news agencies have characterized the Hezbollah action as “cross-border”.

The IDF confirmed the capture of the two Israeli soldiers on 13 July and identified them
as Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, both reservists who were on their last day of
operational duty.

Hezbollah’s attack was named Operation Truthful Promise, after a “promise” by its
leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah to capture Israeli soldiers and swap them for Samir
Kuntar and other Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.

Hezbollah released a statement saying “Implementing our promise to free Arab prison-
ers in Israeli jails, our strugglers have captured two Israeli soldiers in southern Leba-

7
non”. Later on, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah declared that “No military operation will return
them… The prisoners will not be returned except through one way: indirect negotiations
and a trade of prisoners.” (Both Sheikh and Sayyid are titles.)

The Federation of American Scientists doesn’t agree with DHI’s list of getting ready. My
friend Russ corrected some of it, but the greatest deficits are in what they offer to help
the disabled. “I know it isn’t good to laugh about such a serious topic, but when I saw
the graphic on Ready.gov suggesting that when a nuclear bomb goes off a hundred feet
away you might want to protect yourself by walking around the corner, I just couldn’t
help myself,” said Ivan Oelrich, Vice President of Strategic Security at FAS. “After three
years and millions of dollars, taxpayers should expect a better website from the De-
partment of Homeland Security.”

Maybe I’ll be ready and maybe I won’t; and, even if I am it may not make a difference. I
don’t have any way to transport the wheelchair, if we could pick it up. An 8 hour charge
will get me 25 miles, maximum. What’s more, it’s a long way to Gassville, ~1625 miles. I
could make it in 24 hours if I had a driver’s license and all the big cities between here
and there were intact. I did a lot of driving in my day and all things equal; I can average
~70mph. On the other hand, you’ve traveled with women and kids, right? You have to
stop at every rest area and restaurant between here and there. Which means it would
only take 2-3 days, if we got lucky.

It might make a good place to circle the wagons; it’s near Bulls Shoals so I guess we’d
have plenty of fish to eat. Even better, it’s a machinegun state. I wouldn’t want a full au-
to but a suppressor might be nice in certain circumstances. I told you all about the place
in story number 29; it was part III of TEOTWAWKI Too and was called Flippin.

How to make good time driving a car: Fill your gas tank in the morning when you leave
and don’t drink a lot of coffee. Then, with a little practice, you can time it so you fill the
car’s tank and empty your tank at the same time. I usually got a coke and a snack and
kept going. At the worst, I might have to stop at one rest stop between fill-ups and that
was in the car with a 500+ mile cruising range. I could make it from Palmdale to Charles
City on 5 tanks of gas and it didn’t take much longer than taking a plane. I’ve made it
from Palmdale to Seattle, Salt Lake City or Charles City non-stop. If you’re hauling kids,
take a lot of snacks and games and plan on twice as many stops. Finally, if you need to
stop early to empty your tank, refill your gas tank at the same time, you’ll get an econo-
my of scale.

Let’s go back and talk about the ammo, the quantities I gave are less than I normally
recommend. Normally I recommend 10,000-round of .22LR, ~ 1,000-rounds of shotgun
shells and 5,000 rounds per assault/battle rifle. The new numbers are a compromise
that considers my age and advice from Derek. He says that if you get into a firefight and
a regular battle load isn’t enough, you’ll probably end up dead anyway. He recommends
a Tac Force magazine carrier. The four magazine pouches hold 2 magazines each and

8
the two grenade pockets 3 each, giving you fourteen in the carrier and one in the rifle for
a total of 300 rounds. (Wheels not included.)

Combat kit gear at savvysurvivor.com. We are proud to announce this premium Euro-
pean made gear to the product lineup here. Combat kit gear is designed by soldiers for
soldiers, and made of the best materials. The gear is designed in Norway, made in Cro-
atia, and used throughout the world primarily by European professional soldiers. It will
hold 8 M1A mags or 12 M16 mags and I saw an Israeli soldier wearing some on TV this
past week. $87 shipped. Derek’s recommendation was to buy 10 mags, one for the
M1A rifle, one for a butt stock magazine case and 8 in the chest rig. If you’re into a Mini-
14, a M16 or a 7.62x39mm rifle, the same setup will carry 18 mags. Plus you have utility
pouches for other gear. I’ve always wanted to get my hands on some M-80s, it you
tightly taped one to a BIC lighter with several layers of tape, it ought to make a pretty
good improvised hand grenade. I know they still make M-80s because the military uses
them to simulate grenade blasts. The explosive power of a BIC lighter is equivalent to ¼
stick of dynamite. An M-80 fuse is a 6 second fuse. A couple of welders at John Deere
lost legs when a drop of weld fell on their pocket and exploded their BIC. It would also
be illegal since it would constitute a bomb or a destructive device, and naturally, you
wouldn’t want to make one.

In the middle of the fourth week of the Lebanon War, the tide began to turn in Israel’s
favor. DEBKAfile’s military sources report the battlefield finally responded to the effect of
Israel’s air might, its tank columns, the pounding by mobile artillery and naval craft and
its repeated armored infantry assaults.

After losing 44 fighting men, more than 30 civilians, many thousands of wounded and
billions of dollars of damage, finally, the Israeli military was given the chance to do what
it does best: focus its firepower instead of spreading it out thin over too many targets.
The setbacks of the first three weeks were partly due to tactical incompetence and lag-
gard decision-making on the part of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister
Peretz. Israeli troops therefore spent too long in abrading combat against stubborn
Hezbollah resistance in such places as Maroun er Ras and Bint Jubeil. But as soon as
Israeli ground forces shifted to the massive, long-distance firing mode which they know
best, the impact on the warfront was immediate. The battle went their way with a mini-
mum of casualties. In places where Israeli troops adhered to the close combat tactics
practiced in the first three weeks, they continued to suffer high casualties.

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 Survival Story Chapter 2

Hezbollah soon showed signs of distress. Lacking the weapons and resources to stand
up to IDF’s precise-shooting juggernaut, their commanders quickly pulled their men out
most combat sectors of South Lebanon and ordered them to regroup in five places:

1. The Western Sector and the center of Tyre.

2. The Wadi Hajar pocket east of Tyre.
3. The Central Sector surrounding Bint Jubeil, where the outcome is still unresolved af-
ter many days of fighting.
4. The Wadi Saluki area northwest of the northernmost Israeli town of Metullah.
5. The Eastern Sector, including al Khiam, the Shabaa Farms and Mt Dov, which has
seen little fighting – although last week Israeli forces began – then stopped – a major
offensive before it got underway.

These pockets are now the main launching-pads for rockets fired into Israel. Outside,
there is no ground fighting in South Lebanon but for Israeli air strikes.

Hezbollah also has also been using the Tapuach and al-Haroub areas south and north-
east of Sidon for shooting rockets. It is from this region that Hezbollah fired the long-
range Khaibar-1 missiles at Hadera Friday night, August 4, which came 45 km short of
Tel Aviv. Saturday morning, Sidon’s 200,000 inhabitants and its outlying villages up to
the Zahrani River were warned to leave their homes and head north to escape the com-
ing Israeli air offensive.

Until the Khaibar attack on Hadera, the concentration of Hezbollah’s rocket launchers
and stores in and around Sidon had been immune from Israeli attack – largely because
Olmert and his senior ministers refused to increase the number of ground troops de-
ployed in Lebanon. The military commanders had to do their best with the limited num-
bers available.

In other words, with the right manpower level, Hezbollah’s ability to fire rockets can be
dented, notwithstanding claims by Israel officials and generals that there is no way to do
this when most of Hezbollah’s 13,000-rocket stockpile remains intact.

But even cutting down on the daily 200-plus rocket blitz on northern Israel is not plain
sailing because:

First, Neither the Israeli Air Force nor any other air force is capable of completely halting
rocket fire from the ground. In the relatively small distances between Lebanon and Isra-
el, the short-range Katyusha rockets have the effect of medium-range weapons, while
the short-to-medium range rockets perform like long-range missiles.

Second, Israel does not have enough infantry on the ground to make substantial in-
roads on Hezbollah’s rocket-firing capabilities.

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Third, Iran and Syria are constantly restocking Hezbollah’s diminishing supplies of rock-
ets of all types, launchers and operating manpower by a round-the-clock airlift from Iran
via Syrian military air fields. Some of the incoming supplies are destroyed by Israeli air
attacks as they cross into Lebanon, but a substantial part is conveyed to Hezbollah by
smuggling networks employing mules to traverse Lebanese mountain paths. Even if
2,000 have been wiped out and a similar amount has been fired, no one knows how
many are left in stock because it is replenished. As long as that corridor is not severed
by bombing the Syrian stopover air facilities, Iran will continue to top up Hezbollah’s
stockpile. Therefore, the rocket offensive cannot be reduced by very much.

Fourth, Israeli forces do not operate in all parts of South Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s withdrawal to five pockets in South Lebanon affords the IDF certain tactical
advantages - although liabilities too.

The Advantages:

It is now possible to carve the region the Israeli army controls into three sections, west-
ern, central and eastern, a tactic familiar from the Gaza Strip, for encumbering Hezbol-
lah guerrilla movement between the sections. The goal is to confine Hezbollah to the
five pockets and place them under blockade. They can then be made to capitulate or
face liquidation.

The Liabilities:

Leaving the two banks of the Litani River, the Nabatea plain and Hazbaya to the north
of the river in Hezbollah hands leaves a route open for its reinforcements to come
through and to strike Israeli forces from the rear.

Nonetheless, by Thursday, August 3, Hezbollah was showing signs of being in trouble.

A. Local Hezbollah village commanders signaled repeated appeals for more manpower
and ammunition. The appeals were not met because outside forces cannot break
through the defense lines held by the advancing Israeli troops. The village commanders
were therefore told by their superiors to fight to the last man and last bullet and reserve
the last grenade for suicide.

B. Hezbollah’s shadowy leader, the long-wanted Imad Mughniyeh, was hurriedly ap-
pointed commander of the southern front as a last resort to save South Lebanon from
falling to Israel. DEBKAfile’s military and counter-terror sources maintain that this ap-
pointment raises the conflict to a new and dangerous level on several counts.

Mughniyeh, wanted for a quarter of a century by the FBI for the huge bombing attacks
he orchestrated on the US embassy in Beirut and American and French troops, as well
as a spate of hijackings and murders, is important enough to take orders from no-one

11
ranking lower than Iran’s supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Those orders come
through the Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Rahim Safavi.

Therefore, placing Mughniyeh at the head of Hezbollah forces in South Lebanon con-
fronts prime minister Olmert uncomfortably close to Iran’s supreme leader; ranges de-
fense minister Peretz opposite his Iranian counterpart Mustafa Najer and chief of staff
Lt. Gen Dan Halutz opposite Gen. Safavi, while on the warfront, Israel’s war leaders
face the formidable Mughniyeh, Tehran’s secret weapon for rescuing Hezbollah from
collapse.

Informed circles in the West have a high opinion of Mughniyeh’s military, intelligence
and tactical skills. His hand was seen in the transformation of al Qaeda’s 2001 defeat in
Afghanistan into a launch pad for its anti-US campaign in Iraq and many other ventures
in the terror war against America. After the death of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Mughniyeh
is rated the world Islamic terror movement’s most outstanding field commander.
Therefore, while the appointment is a measure of Israel’s belated military success in the
Lebanese war, it also brings the conflict ever closer to two dangerous orbits – Tehran
and al Qaeda. Mughniyeh is the only undercover agent in the Middle East who enjoys
the complete personal trust of Khamenei and Osama bin Laden, on both of whom he is
in a position to call for aid. (Mossad got him in 2008 with a car bomb.)

On the diplomatic front, even if the United States and France can get together on a uni-
fied UN Security Council ceasefire resolution, DEBKAfile’s military sources report that
neither Iran nor Hezbollah has any intention of complying with a resolution dictated by
the United States, France and Israel.

Newt Gingrich has maintained a career as a political analyst and consultant, and con-
tinues to write works related to government and other subjects such as historical fiction.
He has expressed interest in being a candidate for the 2008 Republican nomination for
the Presidency. So has Hillary and neither one has a chance. Anyway, on Fox News,
Newt maintains that the Israeli-Hezbollah war is WWIII. He may just be right, you know,
Hezbollah won’t quit until Israel pulls out and Israel won’t quit until Hezbollah is dis-
armed and peacekeepers are on the ground. Worse, Iran admits supplying replacement
rockets to Hezbollah. At this point in time, Hezbollah has only used 3,000 rockets and
the word was that they had 12,000 or more, plus replacements!

Do I agree with Newt? Do I even like him? I never voted for him. Do you know what he
did before he was a politician besides cheat on his wives? He was a college history pro-
fessor. He may be right, the situation in the Middle East is a Mexican Standoff. We don’t
like Hezbollah because they’re the ones behind the Marine Corps Barracks bombing.
And Word and others think the correct spelling is Hizbollah. (Either is correct.)

I think it’s bean and rice time and have said so. In 90 days or less, I’ll have all the things
I’ve listed, in the meantime, I have 16 rounds for my Nazi .32 auto (7.65x17mm). After
all, Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were both killed by a .32 ACP pistol. The Sauer
und Sohn 38H is a small semiautomatic pistol made in Nazi Germany from 1938 until

12
the end of WWII by the prestigious firm J.P. Sauer und Sohn which, at the time, was
based in Suhl, Germany and is now a part of Sig-Sauer. Sauer manufactures Sig fire-
arms.

Never mind that I told you the Navy retired the Tomcat. They’re still aboard the Roose-
velt and won’t be replaced until 2007. Were they also less than truthful about the Phoe-
nix missile built by Hughes? After 30 years of highly accomplished service, the US Navy
retired its first long-range air-to-air missile, the AIM-54 Phoenix, 30 September 2004
(Global Security). The Phoenix missile is the Navy’s only long-range air-to-air missile. It
is an airborne weapons control system with multiple-target handling capabilities, used to
kill multiple air targets with conventional warheads. Near simultaneous launch is possi-
ble against up to six targets in all weather and heavy jamming environments. The im-
proved Phoenix, the AIM-54C, can better counter projected threats from tactical aircraft
and cruise missiles. US Navy – last updated 3 April 2005. The A-6E was removed from
US Naval Air Forces in February 1997. One hundred (100) aircraft are stored in War
Reserve and the additional excess aircraft are stored for potential Foreign Military Sales
(FMS).

The problem I see with assumptions made by the FAS Organization is that their first as-
sumption is wrong; they assume the Cold War ended in 1991. I ask you, did the Cold
War really end? When the Berlin Wall fell, it most certainly changed character, but I
don’t believe that it really ended. What’s more, there is really no way to know how many
nuclear nations there are. There might be some players who aren’t considered nuclear
nations, Saudi Arabia and Iran come to mind. Those 2 countries are the 2 largest pro-
ducers of oil. What all did Hugo Chávez buy from Russia? Three billion dollars’ worth of
something.

Each time Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez embarks on a world tour, he takes every
opportunity to promote his unique brand of socialism, South American regionalism and
the evil of Washington.

His current tour – which has taken him through Belarus, Russia, Vietnam and Mali – has
been a remarkable one so far. While in Russia, Chávez signed off on a billion dollars’
worth of weapons deals that have cemented as fact that the Venezuelan military has the
most firepower in Latin America.

Russian support for Chávez is irresponsible. It has given Russian president Vladimir
Putin limited leverage over his on-again-off-again ally US president George W Bush,
and a significant shot in the arm to Russia’s military industry. But the ripple effects of
Russia’s geopolitical support for Chávista power aspirations have destabilized the bal-
ance of power in South America. Most significantly, Brazil’s regional leadership has
been challenged.

Brazilian president Luis Inacio “Lula” da Silva has his hands full with a presidential elec-
tion campaign just underway. He is in no place to take a position that could potentially
be used by his competition to steal votes. However, members of the Brazilian Congress

13
are not sitting still. Former Brazilian president Jose Sarney penned a strongly worded
editorial on 23 July that acknowledged two facts that should worry Brazil: Chávez’s an-
nouncement that he would remain in office until 2031, and the fact that by the end of
this year, the Venezuelan leader will have consolidated a powerful army. (Close…
2013… not 2031.)

Writing in the Folha de Sao Paulo daily newspaper, Sarney says that Venezuela is a
major concern for Brazilian security. Brazilian war-game scenarios prepare the country’s
military to wage battle on two fronts, Bolivia and Colombia, but now Brazil must consider
Venezuela as well.

Sarney poignantly argues that the money Brazil would spend to increase its military
strength should be spent on bread instead. Brazil, like every other country in Latin
America, needs to spend more money on social programs that decrease disparity and
support the poorest, who live on less than US $1 a day.

In the meantime, Chávez, the champion of socialism in South America, spends more
money on military toys than he does on social programs.

Chávez has purchased at least 30 Su-30 fighter jets, some 53 combat and support heli-
copters, and according to reports, Tor-M1 air-defense missile systems. These conven-
tional weapons purchases stack-up against a small arms purchase of 100,000 AK-103
assault rifles from Russia. There also plans to establish at least one AK-series rifles fac-
tory in Venezuela.

But for many observers, the million dollar is question is why Venezuela needs all these
weapons if it is clear that the US will not invade.

Some believe that Chávez has purchased the aircraft and helicopters to consolidate his
power over what has been an increasingly fractious military in Venezuela by placing
most of the firepower with Venezuela’s air force, Chávez’s pet branch. But officially, the
helicopters will be used to help patrol Venezuela’s borders with Colombia, especially in
Zulia, the Venezuelan state where Colombian rebels and paramilitaries have increasing-
ly become present.

Perhaps most worrying, the rifles will be used to replace old rifles, which may then go to
the army of reservists and civilian militia currently in training. A new rifle factory could
help arm the million civilians Chávez hopes to have trained over the next few years, os-
tensibly to defend the country against a US invasion.

Meanwhile, Chávez has stepped up his regionalist rhetoric since Venezuela’s official
entrance into South America’s customs union, Mercosur. Apart from claiming that South
America, through Mercosur, should form an economic union, complete with a common
currency, Chávez says South America should unify its armed forces into one anti-
imperialist power.

14
But the idea of such an economic union backed by a region-wide military is delusional.
Nevertheless, Chávez pushes forward.

Just last May, he was in Bolivia with his defense minister, General Raul Baudel, the
former commander of the Venezuelan armed forces. Clearly, the two met with Bolivian
generals, and many believe that those meetings discussed the possibility of Venezue-
lans training Bolivians in the art of asymmetrical combat strategies - Chávez’s favored
form of warfare.

Brazil is already worried that Venezuelan and Cuban spies are crawling around in Boliv-
ia, a country that shares a very porous border with Brazil. Chávez’s recent visit there is
no doubt unsettling to Brazil’s top generals. The reality of warfare in South America is
more talked about than planned for, but pragmatic Brazilian generals cannot ignore the
threat Venezuelan military power poses to Brazilian sovereignty. If Brazil chooses to en-
ter an arms race, it would not be a stretch to speculate that other countries, including
Colombia, might soon follow.

Rather than spurring regional integration, Chávez is promoting South American frag-
mentation, and Putin’s move to sell weapons to Venezuela gives Russia geopolitical
leverage that is not proportional to the amount of destabilization it creates in South
America.

The region is a long way from international conflict, but the current path leads to ten-
sion. With all the talk of regional trade initiatives, a transcontinental pipeline and joint
initiatives to do this and that bubbling on the surface, it is easy to overlook the growing
concern in Brazil that is too deep to register with mainstream international media.

As much as Chávez desires to become the leader, commander-in-chief and ruler su-
preme of South America, he must know that it will never happen. But these are late-
night thoughts he probably keeps to himself, and certainly does not share with Putin.
Both men know that Sarney is right. Latin America should be spending its money on
bread, not bullets, but instead is playing risky war games that will lead to destabilization,
not a unified front against imperialism that Chávez claims to promote.

Sam Logan is an investigative journalist who has reported on security, energy, politics,
economics, organized crime, terrorism and black markets in Latin America since 1999.
He is currently completing his work on Nice Guys Die First, a forthcoming non-fiction
narrative about organized crime in Brazil.

Iran is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African
mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb, an investigation has revealed.

A United Nations report, dated July 18, said there was “no doubt” that a huge shipment
of smuggled uranium 238, uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania, was transported
from the Lubumbashi mines in the Congo.

15
Tanzanian customs officials told The Sunday Times it was destined for the Iranian port
of Bandar Abbas, and was stopped on October 22 last year during a routine check.

The disclosure will heighten western fears about the extent of Iran’s presumed nuclear
weapons program and the strategic implications of Iran’s continuing support for Hezbol-
lah during the war with Israel.

It has also emerged that terror cells backed by Iran may be prepared to mount attacks
against nuclear power plants in Britain. Intelligence circulating in Whitehall suggests that
sleeper cells linked to Tehran have been conducting reconnaissance at some nuclear
sites in preparation for a possible attack.

The parliamentary intelligence and security committee has reported that Iran represent-
ed one of the three biggest security threats to Britain. The UN Security Council has giv-
en Iran until the end of this month to halt its uranium enrichment activities. The UN has
threatened sanctions if Tehran fails to do so.

A senior Tanzanian customs official said the illicit uranium shipment was found hidden
in a consignment of coltan, a rare mineral used to make chips in mobile telephones. The
shipment was destined for smelting in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, deliv-
ered via Bandar Abbas, Iran’s biggest port.

“There were several containers due to be shipped and they were all routinely scanned
with a Geiger counter,” the official said.

“This one was very radioactive. When we opened the container it was full of drums of
coltan. Each drum contains about 50kg of ore. When the first and second rows were
removed, the ones after that were found to be drums of uranium.”

In a nuclear reactor, uranium 238 can be used to breed plutonium used in nuclear
weapons.

The customs officer, who spoke to The Sunday Times on condition he was not named,
added: “The container was put in a secure part of the port and it was later taken away,
by the Americans, I think, or at least with their help. We have all been told not to talk to
anyone about this.”

The report by the UN investigation team was submitted to the chairman of the UN sanc-
tions committee, Oswaldo de Rivero, at the end of July and will be considered soon by
the Security Council.

It states that Tanzania provided “limited data” on three other shipments of radioactive
materials seized in Dar es Salaam over the past 10 years.

16
The experts said: “In reference to the last shipment from October 2005, the Tanzanian
government left no doubt that the uranium was transported from Lubumbashi by road
through Zambia to the United Republic of Tanzania.”

Lubumbashi is the capital of mineral-rich Katanga province, home of the Shinkolobwe

uranium mine that produced material for the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in August 1945.

The mine has officially been closed since 1961, before the country’s independence from
Belgium, but the UN investigators have told the Security Council that they found evi-
dence of illegal mining still going on at the site.

In 1999 there were reports that the Congolese authorities had tried to re-open the mine
with the help of North Korea. In recent years miners are said to have broken open the
lids and extracted ore from the shafts, while police and local authorities turned a blind
eye.

In June a parliamentary committee warned that Britain could be attacked by Iranian ter-
rorists if tensions increased.

A source with access to current MI5 assessments said: “There is great concern about
Iranian sleeper cells inside this country. The intelligence services are taking this threat
very seriously.”

It is rare that Donald Rumsfeld, the US defense secretary, is lost for words. Yet last
week he was subjected to a tirade of criticism for his conduct of the war in Iraq from
Senator Hillary Clinton, the Democrat favorite for president in 2008.

“Yes we hear a lot of happy talk and rosy scenarios, but because of the administration’s
strategic incompetence and record of blunders and, frankly, the record of incompetence
in executing, you are presiding over a failed policy,” Clinton charged at a hearing of the
Senate armed services committee. “Given your track record ... why should we believe
your assurances now?”

Rumsfeld, who had not wanted to appear before the committee at all, reeled. “My good-
ness,” he said, before embarking on an explanation of “the unfortunate and tragic thing
that’s taking place”.

The defense secretary could not bring himself to say the phrase, civil war, but his top
commanders did it for him. Their assessment was almost as blunt as that of William
Patey, Britain’s envoy to Iraq, who warned in a parting letter to London that the country
was in a “low intensity civil war” with diminishing prospects of achieving a stable democ-
racy.

17
General John Abizaid, the head of US forces in the Middle East, told the Senate com-
mittee that the sectarian violence was “probably as bad as I have seen it, in Baghdad in
particular, and if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move towards civil war”.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace, backed him up. “We do have the
possibility of that developing into civil war.” He went on to say: “Shi’ite and Sunni are
going to have to love their children more than they hate each other.”

If there was any doubt about the enduring nature of the conflict, Pace came up with the
very same phrase that Golda Meir, the former prime minister of Israel, used in frustra-
tion about the attitude of “the Arabs” towards her young nation. That was in 1957 and,
as the fighting in Lebanon demonstrates there is still no peace in the Middle East.

The statistics in Iraq tell their own grim story. Over the course of the year, the number of
violent killings of civilians has risen from 1,178 in January to 3,149 in June, the latest
period for which figures are available.

Despite the death two months ago of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist,
there were 858 bombings in July. Yesterday there were two blasts in a market in
Baqouba, not far from where the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq was killed.

Colonel Larry Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff at the State Department,
said it was encouraging that the two top generals “were finally seen to be telling a little
bit of the truth”, but that the situation in Iraq was much worse than they admitted.

“It already is a civil war,” Wilkerson said. “Even if the killings continue at the same rate
of 40 to 100 a day, the figures are staggering. There are more deaths in Iraq than in
Lebanon.”

The generals’ admission that Iraq could slide into civil war has left Americans wondering
what kind of country their nation is fighting to defend.

With each new revelation of an atrocity by US troops, such as the alleged massacre of
24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha, Americans fear their soldiers are becoming twisted and cor-
rupted by a war that they are losing the ability to win.

In Baghdad, a pre-court martial hearing is set to open today into the case of five sol-
diers, accused of assisting in the rape and murder in March of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl in
Mahmoudiya and the killing of her family.

Attempts to blame the deaths on the psychopathic behavior of one alleged ringleader,
Steven Green, who was discharged from the army for mental problems, have fallen
apart. According to legal documents filed by a military magistrate, it appears that two
other soldiers may have raped the teenage girl before Green and that they went on to
set fire to her body.

18
The bravest names are being dragged into the mud. Four US soldiers charged with kill-
ing three handcuffed Iraqis alleged in court last week that Colonel Michael Steele, one
of the heroes depicted in the film Black Hawk Down, based on the ill-fated 1993 raid on
Mogadishu, Somalia, gave orders to his men to “kill them all” – a reference to Iraqi in-
surgents.

19
 Survival Story – Chapter 3

“I’d be amazed if Michael Steele had ordered any kind of indiscriminate killing,” said
Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, who interviewed Steele at length for his
book. “I think of him as a good soldier and a good man. It does not seem to be in char-
acter.”

For Bowden, “the truth is that atrocities happen in every conflict and always will. One of
the good things about modern warfare is that we learn about them”. But for Americans,
discomfited by the lack of progress in Iraq, the war is hurting their image of themselves.

According to the latest Gallup poll, Americans believe it was a mistake to go to war in
Iraq by a majority of 56% to 41%.

In Iraq, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser, blamed the western media for
exaggerating the hopelessness of the situation. “We are not in a civil war. I admit we
have civil strife,” he said, “but it is not between the Shi’ites and the Sunnis. This is be-
tween the extremists, a very small number on each side.”

From its inception, the democratically elected government of Nouri al-Maliki has been
promising to restore security in the Iraqi capital. Al-Rubaie said there was a “detailed
plan with the help of the multinational force” to take on the sectarians and extremists.

One indicator of the deteriorating situation is that Iraqis are now afraid of men in uni-
form, after a spate of armed kidnappings by gangs wearing the clothing and insignia of
the Iraqi security forces, and often driving a car with blue lights.

Majid Hamid, 41, a Sunni human rights worker whose brother was killed by uniformed
men, said: “Whenever I see uniforms now I figure they must be militias. I immediately try
to avoid them. If I have my gun, I know I need to be ready to use it.”

The Iraqi interior minister, Jawad al-Bolani, has ordered new police uniforms with more
complicated camouflage designs and patches designed to foil would-be impersonators
“who carry out bad activities under cover of this institution”. But the new uniforms will be
distributed to less than a fifth of the security forces and are likely to be copied within
days. A Baghdad tailor said that, at $33 apiece, the money for manufacturing illicit uni-
forms was too good to pass up.

Al-Rubaie admitted the infiltration of the Iraqi armed forces and police had made it diffi-
cult to distinguish friend from foe, but said there were new plans for vetting the “person-
ality profile” of recruits.

This weekend US troops are being drafted into Baghdad to bolster security amid warn-
ings by American commanders that there is little hope of drawing down troop numbers
in Iraq this year. Yet the moment for successfully “liberating” the Iraqi capital, the crucial
task the new government set itself at its inception, may already have passed.

20
“There’s no reason to believe they are going to get a grip on the capital, even with the
additional forces,” said Wilkerson. “The city sprawls out for miles and trying to get a grip
on it could take five or six divisions and a year to succeed.” America had neither the
time nor the troop numbers, he added.

“Matters could unravel very quickly if a confluence of events occurs,” Wilkerson warned.
“If American support for the war falls off rapidly, if we are forced to set a timetable for
withdrawal and the insurgents think they are not just stalemating us but winning they will
let it all hang out.

“The enemy can smell blood and the more you counter them with hard power, the more
you lose.”

SRIFA, Lebanon – They use three-digit numbers as code names, live off canned tuna
and tape over their jewelry so an accidental twinkle doesn’t give away their position to
Israeli warplanes.

Among the Hezbollah fighters prowling what remains of the heavily bombed south Leb-
anese village of Srifa are a pair of former middle school history teachers who have giv-
en up their grade books for two-way radios and Kalashnikov rifles.

Over cups of coffee and the din of Hezbollah’s FM radio station narrating developments
on the front lines, they opened up to visitors recently and offered a glimpse into the
guerrillas’ secretive world.

“This is the battle we have long expected and long prepared for,” said Haj Rabia Abu
Hussein – known to his soldiers simply as “103.”

“I know my mission. I must make my rockets hit Israel,” he said matter-of-factly.

The 40-year-old field commander, who oversees military activities in one sector – gen-
erally comprising three villages – of the Hezbollah-dominated south, said he has fired
many such rockets since the conflict began three weeks ago.

As Mr. Hussein talked, he fingered his Motorola radio, his means of communication with
his soldiers farther afield. He wore a blue denim button-down shirt and a baseball cap
that he slung backward when the conversation turned intimate.

Mr. Hussein sat beside Abu Mohammad, 44, a longtime friend in Reeboks, a loose-
fitting T-shirt and cargo pants.

In their fashion choices, mild manners and neatly trimmed beards, Mr. Mohammad –
code name “121” – and Mr. Hussein very much fit the Hezbollah mold.

They shift seamlessly from civilian garb to soldiers’ wear, they said.

21
“It’s not reasonable to walk around in military uniforms and carry rifles when, for exam-
ple, the Red Cross comes into town,” Mr. Hussein said.

The bucolic farming village they grew up in is one of dozens scattered across these hills
that are absorbing the brunt of the Israeli air strikes. The Shi’ite fighters are outgunned,
outmanned and confronting one of the most technologically savvy armies in the world.
Still, Hezbollah rockets continue to fall on northern Israel.

Mr. Hussein and Mr. Mohammad, not their real names, explained how the militants con-
tinue to dodge Israel’s wrath and live to fight another day.

“We use local knowledge,” said Mr. Hussein. “On the radio, we talk about a certain tree
or a certain cliff. How will the Israelis understand that?”

In their current struggle, the shared history of fellow fighters is a powerful weapon that
helps them evade Israeli intelligence, they said.

“For example, Haj used to love someone about 20 years ago,” Mr. Mohammad said. “So
I’ll tell him, ‘Haj, go and meet me at the house of the girl you used to love, who melted
your heart.’”

The men survive on what they call “the mujahedeen’s lunch.”

“We eat mostly canned food, mortadella, tuna and some chocolate,” said Mr. Hussein.
“But yesterday we had fried potatoes, and sometimes we make eggs.”

Mr. Hussein – who joined Hezbollah in 1982 to fight a previous Israeli occupation of
Lebanon that ended in 2000 – has covered a large ring on his right index finger with
tape. The ring glistens in the sun and might be picked up by a trolling Israeli drone, he
fears, but it’s his lucky charm, engraved with a prayer to Ali Ibn Abu Talib, revered by
Shi’ites as the rightful successor to the prophet Muhammad.

“It says ‘Ya Ali,’ and it protects me. It’s been blessed at a number of religious shrines,”
he said.

The fighters pepper their narrative of resistance with references to Islamic history.

“Muslims have the battle between Muhammad and the Koraysh,” said Mohammad, re-
ferring to the prophet’s early struggle against Mecca’s merchant class.

“There was a big difference in the numbers between the two parties, but the prophet
Muhammad fought and won. God said, ‘Don’t worry, I will assist you with angels you
can’t see.’”

22
Hezbollah fighters, now scattered throughout the south, “are as numerous as those an-
gels,” he said.

Despite their pious rhetoric, the Hezbollah fighters are not heartless killers in the al
Qaeda mold, the men said.

“We don’t love killing,” said Mr. Hussein. “We look at all people as brothers. We deal
with people as people, regardless of religion, but we will defend our land, our honor and
our dignity.

“Just as we love martyrdom, we also have love for life; we don’t want to die just to die.”

BAGHDAD – US soldiers sent to beef up security in Baghdad were seen for the first
time on the streets of the capital yesterday as Iraqi police used loudspeakers to reas-
sure people that the Americans were there to protect them.

But at least 21 persons were killed or found dead, most of them in the capital, wracked
by bombings and sectarian slayings.

The dead included a Shi’ite couple and their two daughters abducted earlier in the day
in Baghdad’s mostly Sunni area of Dora, police said.

With Sunni-Shi’ite killings on the rise, about 3,700 soldiers of the Army’s 172nd Stryker
Brigade were brought from northern Iraq to bolster US and Iraqi security forces that
have struggled to contain the violence in Baghdad.

Several Stryker armored vehicles took positions in the mostly Sunni district of Ghaz-
aliyah, one of the city’s most dangerous areas. Police used loudspeakers to encourage
residents to reopen shops and go about their business normally because the soldiers
would protect them.

US commanders hope the presence of heavily armed American troops will intimidate
sectarian death squads thought to be involved in many of the killings and will reassure
Iraqis that they will be protected by Iraq’s predominantly Shi’ite security forces.

Moving the Stryker brigade to Baghdad, however, meant drawing down, at least tempo-
rarily, the US military presence in northern Iraq. The brigade was based in Mosul but
had subordinate units scattered over a wide area, including routes used by foreign mili-
tants slipping in from Syria.

Fears of trouble in the north rose Friday when a car bomb killed a police colonel in Mo-
sul and triggered a firefight between police and insurgents. Iraq’s Defense Ministry and
police announced that 55 suspected insurgents had been captured around Mosul after
the violence.

23
A curfew remained in effect for a second day in the eastern part of Mosul as police
searched for insurgents who escaped.

Nevertheless, provincial Gov. Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula said he was pleased with
the performance of the Iraqi police, who fled their posts during a November 2004 insur-
gent uprising but stood their ground Friday.

“The terrorists thought that police were going to run away, but this will not happen
again. We will not give them that opportunity,” Mr. Kashmoula said.

The US command said the risk of moving the Stryker brigade was worth taking because
of the grave situation in Baghdad, where sectarian tensions are high.

Sectarian bloodshed has soared in the capital since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shi’ite
shrine in Samarra.

In addition to the Shi’ite family slain in Baghdad, police found 13 bodies yesterday – four
floating in the Tigris River 25 miles south of the capital and the rest in various neighbor-
hoods of the city. All had been shot, and most showed signs of torture, police said.

Two mortar shells landed on a house in southern Baghdad late yesterday, killing one
person and injuring two, police said, and two low-ranking members of Saddam Hus-
sein’s former regime were fatally shot in separate incidents yesterday.

In Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, two bombs exploded within minutes yes-
terday. The first bomb destroyed a grocery store, and the second targeted police and
rescuers who rushed to the scene. Eight persons were wounded, police said.

Washington Times –North Korea’s launch of seven ballistic missiles, six them over four
hours on the Fourth of July, gave us some useful lessons: confirmation that appease-
ment does not work and defenses are a good thing, and more are needed.

When North Korea’s launch preparations were seen by satellite, the whole world plead-
ed with Pyongyang not to break the missile flight test moratorium it had observed since
1999. Restraint would be rewarded with aid and benefits, at least from South Korea. But
to no avail. North Korea went ahead with the most impressive series of peacetime mis-
sile launches ever seen.

Appeasement did not work, but neither did threats. Former Clinton era defense officials
William Perry and Ashton Carter suggested a pre-emptive strike by cruise missiles to
destroy the North’s long-range Taepodong missile on its launch pad. If this provocative
suggestion was meant to cow North Korea, it did not. Instead, Pyongyang justified its
actions by accusing the US of planning to attack.

Intelligence analysts say North Korea launched three Scuds, three Nodongs, and one
Taepodong-2 (TD-2) in a single day. Some were observed or tracked by satellites, ra-

24
dars in Japan, RC-135 electronic reconnaissance aircraft and by US and Japanese Ae-
gis destroyers. The three-stage TD-2 exploded after 42 seconds and fell into the sea. It
appeared heading across northern Japan to splash down in the Pacific somewhere be-
tween Japan and the Hawaiian Islands.

In its 1998 Taepodong-1 launch, North Korea showed it had solved the formidable engi-
neering challenge of building a multistage missile. This time, it did not work. But the six
shorter-range missiles did. Four landed in the same area of the Sea of Japan, suggest-
ing improved accuracy. The sixth and seventh appear to be new extended-range Scud-
ERs with up to double the range of the 300-mile Scud-C.

North Korea already operates the 800-mile Nodong, which can reach most of Japan.
While a new 600-mile missile also could reach parts of Japan, its main purpose likely is
to hold at risk all of South Korea, including US bases, from launch-sites near the Chi-
nese and Russian borders that would be hard to attack.

The TD-2 failure provides small comfort. North Korea’s continuing missile and nuclear
weapon developments, with the help of Iran and others, endangers a large part of the
Western Pacific. Japanese press reports claim 10 Iranian observers were at the North
Korean launches. And a recent analysis of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program in-
dicates it now has enough separated plutonium for from 4 to 13 nuclear weapons, and
could have much more in just a few years.

US bases in South Korea and Japan already are under the gun. Deployment of Patriot
PAC-3 missile interceptors to Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa has been speeded up
to begin this month. And the Aegis cruiser USS Shiloh, which carries SM-3 missile in-
terceptors for flight tests, is on its way to Japan. Washington and Tokyo are discussing
possibly accelerating shipment of both PAC-3s for deployment near Tokyo and SM-3s
to be carried on Japan’s Kongō class Aegis destroyers.

The Missile Defense Agency is equipping 18 US Aegis cruisers and destroyers with
missile-tracking radar and SM-3 interceptors, 56 to be on board by 2008. A new high-
speed interceptor known as SM-3 Block 2 is being developed jointly by the US and Ja-
pan, which will enable Aegis ships of both countries, to intercept longer-range missiles
in the ascent phase. Despite its promise, the Block 2 model is not expected to be opera-
tional until 2015.

The TD-2 launch shows the importance of defending our 50th state. It may not have the
range to reach Hawaii, but North Korea and Iran are working on one that will. To defend
against such missiles the US will have 13 interceptors in Alaska and two in California by
year’s end. Since two interceptors will be fired at each missile, which is a real threat: To
increase the odds of an intercept, a total of two obviously is insufficient. Hawaii also can
be defended from California, so the missile defenses there should be increased from
two interceptors to at least 10 or 12.

25
One lesson from North Korea’s missile launches is that more and better defenses are
needed in the Pacific. As it completes action on the 2007 defense budget, Congress
should consider buying more SM-3 ship-based interceptors, speed development of the
SM-3 Block 2, and order 10 more ground-based interceptors to be based in California.
James Hackett is a contributing writer to The Washington Times and is based in Carls-
bad, Calif.

Amish among us

Drawn by reasonable land prices in northeast Iowa, they quietly change the economy
where they live.

By Erin Crawford
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
August 6, 2006

Edgewood, Ia. – Cattle shuffle impatiently in their stalls before the livestock auction be-
gins in a sale barn, but the farmers in the room are not in a hurry.

About 50 are milling in the barn, enjoying burgers and cups of ice cream from the cafe.
At least one-third are Amish.

“Good thing my air-conditioning is working,” one farmer says about the hot weather.

“Mine’s not,” replies an Amish man wearing a brimmed straw hat, black pants and sus-
penders over a long-sleeved blue shirt.

“Maybe it would work better if you went to a different church,” the farmer jokes back. He
settles into a seat in the small sale arena as calves up for sale step onto the sawdust
stage.

Such is the easy relationship between the locals and a fast-growing community of
Amish that has taken root just outside Edgewood, a small town in northeast Iowa.

“We grew by 80 people since the last census,” said Elise Bergan of Edgewood Econom-
ic Development. “That’s just the city, not the rural area.”

In the last two decades, the Amish along the county road running northeast from Edge-
wood have expanded from a few families to nearly 50.

Although they separate themselves from much of the town’s activities, their economic
presence has been felt in local businesses and in the increased sightings of horses and
buggies rolling down county road C7X.

The town seems happy to let the Amish live quietly, not making them a tourist attraction.

26
“Edgewood isn’t trying to capitalize on the Amish community,” said Jerry Maker, who
runs the sale barn. “Some towns have big signs. Edgewood doesn’t.”

The interaction is most apparent on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, when the
Amish come into town to buy or sell livestock at the sale barn, shop for groceries, visit a
chiropractor or do some banking.

Arlyn Maifield, senior vice president at the Community Savings Bank, says most Amish
families work with the bank to finance up to 100 acres, plus home construction.

“You have to learn that you can’t pick up a phone and call them, but other than that
they’re like any other segment,” he said.

In return, Edgewood residents hire the Amish to shoe horses, build barns and work on
their houses.

It’s business as usual - only without the benefit of phones, electricity, cars or computers.

County road C7X is lined with new homes, clusters of small stores and barns full of
chickens and bleating goats, all signs of the growing Amish community.

Thanks to affordable land and close family ties, the number of Amish has increased
near Edgewood, from a few families in the late 1980s to nearly 50 families and two
churches.

Stores along the road include a clock repair shop and a harness store. Other business-
es sell an eclectic variety of items, from dented merchandise to handmade rustic wood
furniture and dry goods.

The local Amish also work in carpentry to supplement or supply their income.

The families have come from Wisconsin, Montana, Illinois and the much larger Hazleton
Amish community near Oelwein, causing business to flourish and property values to
rise.

Amos Christner, 56, a tall man skilled in carpentry, moved here 10 years ago and built a
large A-frame office building for his pole barn-building business.

Several of his children have moved near Edgewood, as well. His daughter, Kathryn
Keim, 26, her husband and four children moved into the second and third stories of the
building on July 4.

They live together in one large room for the moment, though Kathryn is hoping to soon
move into her own home. The room has several beds, a sewing machine, chairs and
bureaus, a cedar chest and the peculiar devices that make Amish domestic life a little
easier, such as a gas-powered iron.

27
“(My husband) wants a place with not so much traffic,” she said. “It’s hard to keep the
children off the road.”

Christner said he is pleased with the area.

“It’s probably as good or better than any other place,” he said, noting that taxes here are
lower than in Wisconsin.

“There’s a bigger work force and a lot of business, a lot going on in Iowa. People are
good to get along with, and it’s mostly a farming community.”

He also said his land value has increased from $1,000 an acre to $4,000 an acre.

Locals said the Amish have revived farms other people were going broke on.

“They’ve mainly bought rougher farm ground that hasn’t been as productive,” Maifield
said. “There’s a misconception that (the Amish) don’t pay property and income taxes.
It’s just Social Security they’re exempt from.”

Many see it as an economic windfall.

“They’ve created a nice retirement for some farmers who had borderline land,” said Karl
Worsham, owner of Karl’s Grocery in Edgewood.

The farmers who make up the Amish community have had to be nimble to adjust to ag-
riculture’s economic realities.

They have switched their dairy herds from the less profitable cows to goats.

They sell fresh produce from their huge vegetable gardens, although they still use most
for family consumption.

A few, like John Henry Yoder, 37, are making the move to certified organic farming to
boost profits, as well as to support their own value system.

“I believe in organic,” Yoder said.

Another Hazleton transplant, Emma Helmuth, said Hazleton had flat land, “so we had to
learn different ways to farm.”

Business owners have learned different ways, too.

In mid-July, it is just a little too hot to be comfortable inside the small Woods Edge
Country Store, where Helmuth sells cloth, work boots and hats and some household
goods and accessories.

28
She wears a floor-length full-skirted dress with long sleeves, as all the women do, and
holds a handkerchief to dab sweat from her brow.

Her family moved from Hazleton 2 years ago.

“We wanted a change,” Helmuth said. “You know how the Amish are. We like to move
around.

“We miss the people, but it was nice making new friends and it helps knowing half the
people.

“Right after we got here, I thought I’ll never know everybody and my way around, but in
a couple of months, I knew everybody.”

Christner explained the Amish tendency to move: “Seems like when they start into an
area, everyone wants to move in, and when people leave, everyone wants to leave.”

Another reason the Amish move is to find a church better aligned with their own values.
Amish communities are centered around churches, which typically have about 30 mem-
ber families. Each sets its own rules.

When the Helmuths chose to leave Hazleton for another church, they gave up some of
the conveniences of a larger Amish community.

“I think Edgewood should be a little bigger,” Helmuth said. “It’d be nice to have a Fare-
way Store.”

The youngest of her eight children is now 8, allowing her to pursue the longtime goal of
running a store as her father did.

She said she enjoys book work and joked her two older daughters “fight” to take care of
customers. About half of them are “English” - the term for anyone who doesn’t belong to
the Amish sect. The Amish primarily speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and know little English
until they reach school age.

Her younger sons sometimes sell night crawlers to people on their way to the river for
some fishing, and her two older sons work at the pallet factory owned by Perry Miller,
who moved to the Edgewood area as a young man.

He was married in 1998, and now has six boys, the oldest age 7.

In December, the 31-year-old started the process of learning and taking over an opera-
tion that makes pallets from lumber. He now runs the factory, employing four Amish, the
oldest of whom is 18, to work the different lines in the factory.

29
Their work clothes are the same as the farmers - a long-sleeved shirt with black pants
and suspenders.

30
 Survival Story – Chapter 4

The Amish believe in simple clothes, though what constitutes simple is defined by indi-
vidual churches within a community. In this community, accepted colors include blue,
green, brown and black.

“People are really nice,’’ Miller said. “... I’ve made a lot of money in Iowa already.”

As the community grows, Edgewood and its neighbors may have a harder time keeping
their successes quiet.

The Amish view tourism with mixed feelings. The income is nice, but some said the cu-
riosity can be invasive and corrupts their religious goal to stay separate from what they
consider worldly.

Daniel K. Borntreger, 37, who is planning to start a fine furniture shop, sees both sides.

“It would get too busy, a lot of traffic, but in some ways it’s nice,” he said.

Perhaps tensions would be higher if Edgewood was losing population and shuttering
businesses just as the Amish were prospering.

But that’s not the case.

The local grocer, Karl Worsham, said business is as good as it has ever been.

Nearly every storefront in town is occupied, with shops including a floral and gift shop, a
small grocery store and a downtown restaurant/bar that several business leaders creat-
ed as a partnership.

“This is not a community with three to five people who do the work,” said Jay ***e, pres-
ident of Del-Clay Farm Equipment.

As owner of the local sale barn, where members of both communities frequently meet,
Jerry Maker is a pivotal member of both worlds.

“I do business with whoever does business with me,” he said.

Everyone in town has time to give Maker a hello, and the local bar has his name on a
sign, along with a photo of the Budweiser Clydesdale team, which he managed for
years.

He sports a broad mustache, drives a “farm truck” and has a ‘‘jackalope’’ hanging on his
office wall.

31
Yet, Maker is by no means a lifelong Edgewood denizen. He bought his Edgewood
business in 1995 and then moved to neighboring Strawberry Point, where he raises
horses and cattle.

He has high praise for Edgewood’s business community. The town has a large lumber
operation in Kendrick Forest Products, new manufacturing, a newspaper, a growing
bank and a farm equipment store.

A $1 million sports park for soccer, baseball and football is nearly completed. It was
half-funded by private donations.

“The average age of our business owners is 40,” Bergan said. “A lot of times, (towns)
want to be a bedroom community. We want to be self-supporting.”

The Amish, even if they don’t participate in the town’s churches, schools or civic organi-
zations, are part of that.

“It’s all connected,” Bergan said. “The more people who want to raise a family here, the
better. (The Amish have) a different way of life and people are accepting of it.”

Captions on accompanying pictures:

John Henry Yoder, 37, and his team of Belgians cultivate organic soybeans northeast of
Edgewood on July 18. Yoder farmed on relatively flat terrain near Hazleton before mov-
ing his family to Clayton County’s rolling hills several years ago. He also raises poultry
and maintains a milking goat herd. Yoder has been switching to organic farming.

Amish men and boys, wearing traditional straw hats, watch as a Holstein is auctioned at
Edgewood Livestock Commission on July 18. Jonas Hershberger, 38, center, sits with
friends Lee Geistkemper, 65, left, and Robert Schissel, 67. Hershberger is part of an
Amish community northeast of Edgewood. He raises dairy cows, grows alfalfa and has
a windmill sales and repair business.

Iowa is an interesting place, while predominately Caucasian, they are well represented
with a multitude of races and religions. After the Vietnam war, hundreds of boat people
were sponsored by various local churches. In the Muscatine area, the former pickle belt,
you find a large population of Latinos and every large city (there are 9) has a substantial
black population. These days, they mostly grow soybeans, corn, hogs, alcohol and bio-
diesel, they’ve been using E10 for over 30 years. The folks there are survivalists but not
in the usual sense. Some folks built bomb shelters during the ‘50s, but they’re few and
far between, everyone thought you were odd if you built one.

But here I sat, in Palmdale, CA, the high desert, without the money in my hands to get
prepared. I did the next best thing, I made lists. I had a food list, an equipment list and a
weapons and ammo list. A list is an interesting thing, that’s what they say a ship is doing
when it starts to tip over. It’s one thing to talk about it and quite another to do it. But

32
Sharon said I had time and she’d factored in the cost of the freezer and about $1,200
for food to fill it. That would include pork steak, pork loins, 12% ground beef (ground
round), beef roasts, beef steaks, bacon, sausage and probably some fish products, fro-
zen shrimp and the like. A survival freezer shouldn’t contain things that melt or thaw
quickly. If there’s room, a few gallon jugs of frozen water can be helpful in keeping
things frozen.

You got the water bottles by rinsing out 2 liter pop bottles and refilling them with filtered
water that could become drinking water in a pinch. If she wanted cheese, that would go
in the freezer too. The key was to date every package and rotate them, as long as you
did that the meat should always be good. The main enemy to storing frozen food was
freezer burn caused by oxygen in the package and that’s why you wrapped the meat in
plastic first followed by Kraft paper, the so called double wrap.

In order to really be prepared, one had to anticipate the ‘what’ part. Right or wrong, I
moved a nuclear attack by terrorists to the top of my list. We could have an earthquake
anytime but not another big one in my life time. I also dismissed a global thermonuclear
war simply because everyone one had too much to lose, they didn’t call it MAD or
NUTS (nuclear armed terror states or nuclear utilization theorists) without a reason.

Which, of course, brings us to the sieve we call our borders. They can’t inspect all of the
containers coming through the ports and not all nukes are large. Even some of the
bombs and warheads are relatively small. Can you imagine what would happen if 10
were imported and exploded in our ten largest cities? After examining the effects on the
FAS blast calculator, I can and it isn’t very good. Even the suitcase bombs would be
bad, but what if they could actually ‘import’ 10 strategic warheads that had been modi-
fied to be exploded without all the fancy PAL codes, etc., a ‘simple’ matter of eliminating
the arming steps.

While Washington DC isn’t one of the 10 largest cities, it has more strategic importance
than the rest. That would make the target list: Washington, New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Dallas and San Antonio. With the
exception of Washington, the other 9 cities have the 9 largest populations, each over
1,000,000. However, things aren’t always as they appear. The 9 largest metropolitan
areas are: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Miami, Houston,
Washington, Atlanta and Detroit. It makes a difference; Phoenix, San Diego and San
Antonio go away, to be replaced by, Miami, Atlanta and Detroit. It would make a differ-
ence which cities list the terrorists used.

In years gone by, we joked about people flooding into the Antelope Valley after a huge
disaster in LA. We overlooked one thing, if they came our way after a nuclear event;
they’d be right in front of a wave of radioactive fallout. Any kind of earthquake that could
actually force people to evacuate LA would probably hit Palmdale just as bad or worse;
most likely it would be ‘the big one’. All 14 overpasses on Highway 14 would probably
be down, slowing their advance.

33
A person would like to think that in a state where you almost need a license to own a BB
gun, the LA liberals wouldn’t be heavily armed. According to one website, there are only
27 assault weapons dealers in the entire state of California. One of them, Santa Fe Gun
Galleria, is in Palmdale. You can tell they’re one of a select group; their prices start at
MSRP and go up. They have 3,000 guns in stock, the largest inventory in LA County or
so they say. I think The Gun Shop in Lancaster might dispute that, but they don’t adver-
tise. Neither does High Desert Storm, the other big gun shop that Jeff and Sandy Storm
run.

We had a sample of what an emergency might be like, except we had notice and we
didn’t read it very carefully. The Palmdale Water District is replacing the water meters in
our neighborhood. The notice said to expect an outage from 7am to 4pm on August X.
The fine print said it would only be for ½ hour. We filled pitchers with water to make cof-
fee and the tub with water to flush the stool. I forgot about it when I got up and flushed
the stool. When it refilled, I turned on the water and washed up, ‘strange, I thought. I
said something to the wife and she point out the fine print.

I watched the guy install the new meter, took him less than 5 minutes and probably
more like 3. Somehow, I don’t think it was a good test, neither earthquakes or terrorists
send out warnings. Out of the list of Natural Disasters, all we have left for Palmdale are:

1. Earthquakes
2. Extreme Heat
3. Fires
4. Thunderstorms
5. Tornadoes

So far this year, we’ve had 2, 3 and 4. Numbers 1 and 5 are rare in the Antelope Valley.
However, of the two, I believe number 1 is more likely to happen. Returning to the list,
we see:

6. Biological Threat
7. Chemical Threat
8. Explosions
9. Nuclear Threats (bomb???)
10. Pandemics
11. Radiation Threat (power plant??? dirty bomb???)

About the only explosion that could affect our neighborhood would be a gas explosion, I
put that at the bottom of the list. I could go through the entire list and explain away
number 7 easily enough. I see numbers 6 and 10 as the same threat, just different
sources. One might say the same about numbers 9 and 11. In one story or another, I’d
speculated all of them and being self-interested (selfish) we Three Amigos always man-
aged to survive.

34
One rule is to never say never, a truckload of chemicals could crash on 47th Street East
in the middle of the night when the wind was out of the east. The corner of R Street and
47th Street is one of the worst in the Valley for accidents. A pandemic should give
enough notice to get some Tamiflu, seeing how I never leave the house and assuming
the drugstore has some. Somehow I believe that I’d be in the high risk group for any
kind of bug, I’m so healthy, you know.

About 10 years ago, a group of gangsters showed up at the front door one night, I’ve
told that story before. It probably wouldn’t happen again, but you never know, my ex-
son-in-law wore a blue bandana. The thing is he’s neither recovered nor reformed; he
just avoids getting caught most of the time. He’s in good shape; there are only 1 or 2
warrants out on him, ATM. You can imagine what a careful driver that makes him; he
doesn’t have a license, as usual.

While an airburst nuke produces less fallout, it damages a larger area. I used the blast
mapper at FAS.org to determine the difference between an air burst and a ground burst
of the same sized weapon. I was shocked by the change in the damage. Sure hope no-
body ever nukes us, barring the door won’t protect us against the Indians. You know the
tribe, they cause the yellow box to go click, click. My crystal ball says that whatever is
coming isn’t far off, I hope we can get ready before it comes. If it holds off until Christ-
mas 2006, we might be able to make it; otherwise…

I don’t like the Ruger 10/22, I think it was that darned rotary magazine that put me off on
the gun. I do like lever action rifles and have owned 6 or 7 over the years. I think I’d go
with a Marline 39A (2nd choice) or a Winchester 9422 (1st choice). Used is ok if they’re
in very good mechanical condition. The shotgun will definitely be a Mossberg 590A1,
I’ve owned a Winchester model 12 and several 870s and like the 870. I can buy a FAL
rifle for around $1,100 or I can buy a M1A Loaded model for ~$1,400. However, the
Mossberg has certain attractions too. I’ve owned Mini-14s and never once had a prob-
lem with them. As far as looks and function go, a Mini-14 in a Butler Creek folding stock
and after-market flashhider plus some 30-round magazines was a nice little weapon.
Tricked out, it was also illegal in California and I didn’t want to go to jail. Moreover, it is
like a shrunken M1A so it’s one less gun to learn to disassemble and clean.

Handguns: I’ve have about a dozen or more over the years and they need knockdown
power. A .357 magnum isn’t much difference in power from a .45 Colt, but both are slow
to load, hence the PT1911 and a pocketful of 8 round magazines. In some ways, a gun
is like a Ham radio setup, a great radio with a lousy antenna isn’t worth much. On the
topic of weapons, a very good gun with lousy ammo is about the same. I really like the
Browning Hi-Power but its expense and 9mm, sort of a .38 short auto. Whatever I get, it
has to fit a small set of hands.

So let’s go back to Sharon’s list and talk about the freezer. We have plenty of power
outages in Palmdale and a 3kw generator will be totally necessary. The first generator I
bought 10 years ago came from Harbor Freight Tools and Chris has it. Other than
changing the oil and sparkplug all he’s ever had to do was tweak the carburetor. We

35
don’t need much, maybe 3-4kw and gasoline is fine with me. I could run it for a very
long time of 110-gallons of stabilized gasoline. I’ll need a case of oil and perhaps some
filters plus I’m sure Chris or Matt can keep it running. It would also give us spare gas for
the Daewoo. What the hell, most of my Dell computer was built in China.

We’ve talked and talked and she’s beginning to agree to loading up on food. As I told
her, dry pasta is good forever, just like beans and rice. We’re learning on beans today,
she soaked some GN beans overnight and plans to cook them with a little leftover ham
and maybe some onion (very little, I hope). After the beans swelled, she started with 2
cups of dry beans, the bowl didn’t look very full and she asked, “Should I add some
more?” “One cup,” I said. She found a 16 ounce package and added the whole bag.
This morning, the bowl was full to the top and I just smiled, we’ll be eating beans for 3-4
days; maybe longer, I’m the only one who will eat leftovers, maybe a week.

Anyway, now she says a 3kw genset isn’t big enough. There’s a 5kw unit that runs 15
hours on 5 gallons of gas at 50% power, for under $500. Ask yourself, “If I lived 3 miles
from the San Andreas Fault, would I put in a home standby generator or a small porta-
ble generator?” If you say home standby, you must live in a house built like Ft. Knox.
What you should do is install backup power units on your computer so they can shut
down without losing anything and put in a generator big enough to power your refrigera-
tor(s) and or freezer(s). It’s not a good idea to run a computer on a portable generator. I
didn’t say it couldn’t be done, I said it’s not a good idea. A refrigerator or freezer draws
~800 watts and needs 1,500-2,000w to start. Thus the 5kw unit I described would most-
ly be at 50% power if you ran it 24/7 and 2 drums of gas should last you ~264+ hours,
11 days. If you only ran it 6 hours a day, it would last about 1½ months. Considering the
price of gas cans, 2 55-gallon drums would be cheaper.

Fleataxi and I had a long visit and discussed various topics including weapons, etc. Due
to a possible change in circumstances, my gun budget may increase to $2,500 or go to
zero, the circumstance aren’t important. After the bills are caught up, Sharon’s list in-
cludes: a new gas dryer, a new upright freezer and a quilting chair. It also includes
money for my M1A rifle. FT points out that I can’t see 600 yards, so I’ll have to scope
the rifle. He also told me that I wouldn’t need much ammo. I said, “Hah, I’m hiding be-
hind a log and doing spray and pray.” (cluck, cluck)

Impact Guns has the Loaded model in stock, hurray! After he and I talked, I got to think-
ing. I’m buying the rifle in case I need it, but primarily to leave it to Derek. I think maybe
the Loaded is the most cost effective way to go; ergo, the most bang for the buck. We
also talked about various .223 rifles and I’m going for a ranch model Mini-14. Then I’ll
buy a few parts and ‘fix’ it. California’s laws may be Constitutional, but they’re immoral, I
plan to ignore them. Yes sir, the booze I drank was VERY expensive; I went through an
entire gun collection.

I’ll only ever buy 1 M1A rifle, unless someone buys a lottery ticket and wins. If that hap-
pens, you see my new address in either Arizona or Nevada. Which reminds me, she

36
and I were talking about houses. I told her when we won the lottery; I’d build the perfect
house. She described what she thought I meant. She wasn’t even close.

My vision of a perfect house would start by putting in an underground silo and topping it
with a dome. 12” of concrete has a PF of 5. If that were covered by 64” of soil, you’d
have a PF of 5 + 17.78 = 22.78. Two to the 22.78 power = 7,191,085. The silo wouldn’t
go very deep, maybe 60’ and would serve as a storage space, much as I always men-
tioned in my stories. If the lights went out, the diesel generator would kick in and we’d
have enough fuel to last for a year. The generator would probably be a Koehler with a
maximum output of 113 amps at 240 volts (4 lead, stacked), I lean towards the
30REOZJB. 1.0 to 2.8gph which translates to 8,766 gallons and 24,545 gallons per year
(8,766 hours). So, 40,000 gallons would be more than enough because you wouldn’t
need to cool the house.

Remember, we’d only build it if we won the lottery. There wouldn’t be any windows, only
large LCD screens framed to look like windows and connected to cameras on the out-
side. Somehow, I believe it would have double blast doors, two sets, front and back.
Double doors? Think airlock not double leaf doors, although they might be double leaf
doors. The space between the doors could be filled with sand after the doors were
closed from a hopper mounted above. When you were ready to leave, the sand could
be drained into a catch basin below the airlock. (I’ve seen too many Mummy movies.) It
could then be augured back up to the overhead hopper. If you really wanted the struc-
ture strong, you wouldn’t cut any holes in the dome and enter through the silo wall. And,
the doors would be filled with concrete. You could bury the whole thing and it would only
need to be about 10’ underground. At 25’ underground, the inside temp of an uninsulat-
ed home would be about 58° but the monolithic domes I referred to have 4” of insulation
if they’re buried.

You can build additional domes as fuel or water tanks for about 25¢ a gallon. It’s a
shame you can’t fill the fuel tank for the same price. At one time you could, but in those
days, $100 a week wasn’t a bad income so it’s all relative. You’re old if you can remem-
ber when they came out with canned soda. In 1963 Ermal Fraze of Dayton, Ohio in-
vented the integral rivet and ring-pull tab for opening a can and received US patent No.
3,349,949. These pull tabs were a common form of litter – and a lingering hazard for
bare feet, especially at public beaches (as witnessed in the third verse of the Jimmy
Buffett song Margaritaville). A further danger occurred when users dropped the tab into
the can after opening it, and then drank from it; occasionally the sharp metal tab would
be ingested or inhaled. The “stay-on tab” or “ecology end” was invented in the mid-
1970’s which eliminated the hazards of ring-pull tabs.

Nibblin on sponge cake

Watchin the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil
Strummin my six-string
On my front porch swing
Smell those shrimp they're beginnin to boil

37
Chorus:
Wastin away again in margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know it's nobodys fault

I don't know the reason

I stayed here all season
Nothin to show but this brand new tattoo
But it's a real beauty
A mexican cutie
How it got here I haven't a clue

Chorus:
Wastin away again in margaritaville
Searchin for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
Now I think
Hell, it could be my fault

I blew out my flip-flop

Stepped on a pop-top
Cut my heel had to cruise on back home
But there's booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on

Wastin away again in margaritaville

Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know it's my own damn fault
Yes and some people claim that there's a woman to blame
And I know it's my own damn fault

My other list (there’s a headache in every bottle):

Jack Daniel’s
Bombay Sapphire
Jose Cuervo 1800
Chivas Regal
Maker’s Mark

That last story I wrote, When We Were Young didn’t go the way I wanted it too, either.
Listing all of the terrorists’ events was an afterthought, not the reason I wrote the story.
The stuff popped on the US Department of State website and I copied it. The list was

38
almost 30 pages long. Then to update the list, I had to look up 2004-2006 on Wiki and
sift out the other events. I could have gone back to the attempt on Truman when he was
living in Blair House while the White House was being refinished. On November 1,
1950, Puerto Rican nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo attempted to as-
sassinate Truman in the Blair House.

Insurgency is defined as: 1. The quality or circumstance of being rebellious; or, 2. An

instance of rebellion; an insurgence. The synonyms are: Organized opposition intended
to change or overthrow existing authority: insurgence, insurrection, mutiny, rebellion,
revolt, revolution, sedition or uprising. Terrorism is: The unlawful use or threatened use
of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with
the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or
political reasons.

Examples: The Haganah was mostly defensive in nature, which among other things
caused several members to split off and form the militant group Irgun (initially known as
Hagana Bet) in 1931. The Irgun adhered to a much more active approach, which in-
cluded attacks and initiation of armed actions against the British, such as attacking Brit-
ish military headquarters, the King David Hotel, which killed 91 people. Haganah on the
other hand often preferred restraint. A further split occurred when Avraham Stern left
the Irgun to form Lehi, (also known as the Stern Gang) which was much more extreme
in its methods. Haganah eventually became the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). The Irgun
laid down their weapons and became a political party, Herut and several mergers later,
the Likud. Lehi eventually dissolved and also became part of IDF.

You can be very certain that the Israelis understand terrorists; many of the former
members of Haganah, Irgun and Lehi are still around. Hell, the American Revolution
was an insurrection, the difference being that once we defeated England, we became a
country and that ended it. It took us 10 years after the war ended to actually create the
Constitution of the United States. Some issues were sidestepped at the time, like slav-
ery, but 80+ years later, we had a Civil War and got it mostly straightened out. We did
that with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and again with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It may
not be perfect, but we’re working on it. The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t really
mean squat, it was purely a political statement that didn’t really free all of the slaves, on-
ly some of the slaves.

The simple fact that we’re working on getting it right has resulted in: The United States
is the longest-surviving extant Constitutional Republic, with the oldest wholly written
Constitution in the world. Its government operates as a representative democracy
through a congressional system under a set of powers specified by its Constitution.

39
 Survival Story – Chapter 5

Well, I’ve been a Life Member of the NRA since 1964, what did you expect? I moved up
a notch to an Endowment member a few years ago and Patron later. I believe all federal
and state firearms laws are illegal and states like California only serve to exacerbate the
problem. Not letting a convicted felon owning a firearm contradicts the concept of reha-
bilitation. They can get the right restored, not an easy thing because it generally takes a
pardon. However, it can be done so I’m not going there.

In the US felons often receive additional punishments such as the loss of voting rights,
exclusion from certain lines of work, prohibition from obtaining certain licenses, exclu-
sion from purchase/possession of firearms or ammunition, and ineligibility to run for or
be elected to public office. In addition, some states consider a felony conviction to be
grounds for an uncontested divorce. These, among other losses of privileges not in-
cluded explicitly in sentencing, are known as collateral consequences of criminal charg-
es, which sound a whole lot like collateral damages.

Theoretically, federal law allows persons convicted of felonies in a federal US district

court to apply to have their record expunged after a certain period of time with a clean
record. However, the US Congress has refused to fund the federal agency mandated
with handling the applications of convicted felons to have their record expunged. This
means that, in practice, federal felons cannot have their records expunged. For state
law convictions, expunction is determined by the law of the state. Some states do not
allow this, regardless of the offense, resulting in a subclass of citizens. These citizens
can have extreme difficulty finding a job or even a place to live, regardless of qualifica-
tions or references.

1. Teach; and,
2. Entertain. (That what public TV claims they do.)

It would also be a good idea to remember what I wrote; it could come in handy some-
day. Sharon is more worried about WW III than ‘the big one’. When Iraq officially moves
from whatever its status is now, we can pull out because it will be a Civil War and we no
longer belong. My opinion. Until that happens, we need to stay and see if we can help
them establish their not our, form of democracy. The fly in the ointment is spelled Iran.

When Iran gets po’d and cuts off the oil supply it won’t directly affect the US. However, it
will put the countries that do depend on Iran for oil into the same market we’re in. I also
assume that if Iran cuts off its oil, Venezuela will follow. That’s where we get most of our
oil; there and from the Saudis. We also buy oil from Mexico and the smaller countries in
the Middle East, but some of those countries came out in support of Hezbollah at the
UN. I didn’t check on Nigeria, due to crumbling infrastructure, ongoing civil strife in the
Niger-Delta – its main oil producing region – and corruption, oil production and export is

40
not at 100% capacity. And to top it off, there’s that little problem at Prudhoe Bay that
won’t be resolved for about 5 months, January 2007.

The three major needs of humans is probably the main reason for nations to go to war.
These needs are food, water and shelter. If a nation or group is deprived of these es-
sentials they resort to war to try and attempt to fix the problem. That doesn’t include
fuel, but it’s implied; fuel is necessary to produce and transport food. Maybe my best bet
would drive my wheelchair to Blackbird Park at Plant 42 and wait for the nuke. About
the time I got there, we’d get the earthquake and I couldn’t get back home. If Palmdale
sits on a dry lakebed does that mean the soil will liquefy?

The US government said it had raised the security threat level for aviation following
Britain’s announcement on Thursday it had foiled a plot to bomb aircraft traveling from
there to the United States. “For that reason, the United States Government has raised
the nation’s threat level to Severe, or Red, for commercial flights originating in the Unit-
ed Kingdom bound for the United States,” a statement attributed to Homeland Insecurity
Secretary Michael Chertoff.

“To defend further against any remaining threat from this plot, we will also raise the
threat level to High, or Orange, for all commercial aviation operating in or destined for
the United States.”

It said security checks would be intensified and no liquids would be allowed on air-
planes, including beverages, hair gels and lotions.

British police said on Thursday they had thwarted a plot to blow up aircraft in mid-flight
between Britain and the United States and arrested more than 15 people. Britain’s secu-
rity services raised the threat level to the country to “critical” from “severe,” the highest
of its five ratings which means “an attack is expected imminently.” News of the arrests
and heightened security threat came amid high international tension over the war in
Lebanon and the week British Prime Minister headed on holiday to the Caribbean.

Did the clock just go tick again? Three of the 11 Egyptian students who failed to show
up at a Montana university last month were taken into custody Wednesday. The FBI on
Saturday issued a nationwide alert to law enforcement agencies. Included were the stu-
dents’ names, ages, passport numbers and photographs. “At the present time there are
no known associations to any terrorist groups. Approach with caution,” the lookout bulle-
tin said.

“Following this morning’s police action, the Department for Transport has asked all UK
airports to apply additional security measures designed to ensure passenger safety.
These measures will prevent passengers from carrying hand luggage into the cabin of
an aircraft with the following exceptions (which must be placed in a plastic bag):

● Pocket size wallets and pocket size purses plus contents (for example money, credit
cards, identity cards etc. (not handbags);

41
● Travel documents essential for the journey (for example passports and travel tickets);
● Prescription medicines and medical items sufficient and essential for the flight (e.g.
diabetic kit), except in liquid form unless verified as authentic;
● Spectacles and sunglasses, without cases;
● Contact lens holders, without bottles of solution;
● For those traveling with an infant: baby food, milk (the contents of each bottle must be
tasted by the accompanying passenger);
● Sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight (nappies, wipes, creams and nap-
py disposal bags);
● Female sanitary items sufficient and essential for the flight, if unboxed (e.g. tampons,
pads, towels and wipes) tissues (unboxed) and/or handkerchiefs;
● Keys (but no electrical key fobs)

All passengers must be hand searched, and their footwear and all the items they are
carrying must be X-ray screened.

Pushchairs and walking aids must be X-ray screened, and only airport-provided wheel-
chairs may pass through the screening point.

In addition to the above, all passengers boarding flights to the USA and all the items
they are carrying, including those acquired after the central screening point, must be
subjected to secondary search at the boarding gate. Any liquids discovered must be
removed from the passenger.

BAA wish to stress that these are precautionary measures. During the next few days
airports will be extremely busy, therefore only those intending to fly should come to the
airport. Passengers are also asked to use public transport to get to and from the airport
wherever possible.

Passengers are asked to be patient while these additional security measures are put in
place. Delays are likely and passengers are therefore asked to allow extra time for their
journey.”

Two full-blown crises, in Lebanon and Iraq, are merging into a single emergency. A
chain reaction could spread quickly almost anywhere between Cairo and Bombay. Tur-
key is talking openly of invading northern Iraq to deal with Kurdish terrorists based
there. Syria could easily get pulled into the war in southern Lebanon. Egypt and Saudi
Arabia are under pressure from jihadists to support Hezbollah, even though the gov-
ernments in Cairo and Riyadh hate that organization. Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of
giving shelter to al Qaeda and the Taliban; there is constant fighting on both sides of
that border. NATO’s own war in Afghanistan is not going well. India talks of taking puni-
tive action against Pakistan for allegedly being behind the Bombay bombings. Uzbeki-
stan is a repressive dictatorship with a growing Islamic resistance.

The only beneficiaries of this chaos are Iran, Hezbollah, al Qaeda and the Iraqi Shi’ite
leader Moqtada al-Sadr, who last week held the largest anti-American, anti-Israel

42
demonstration in the world in the very heart of Baghdad, even as 6,000 additional US
troops were rushing into the city to “prevent” a civil war that has already begun.

This combination of combustible elements poses the greatest threat to global stability
since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, history’s only nuclear superpower confrontation.
The Cuba crisis, although immensely dangerous, was comparatively simple: It came
down to two leaders and no war. In 13 days of brilliant diplomacy, John F. Kennedy in-
duced Nikita Khrushchev to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba.

Kennedy was deeply influenced by Barbara Tuchman’s classic, The Guns of August,
which recounted how a seemingly isolated event 92 summers ago – an assassination in
Sarajevo by a Serb terrorist – set off a chain reaction that led in just a few weeks to
World War I. There are vast differences between that August and this one. But
Tuchman ended her book with a sentence that resonates in this summer of crisis: “The
nations were caught in a trap, a trap made during the first thirty days out of battles that
failed to be decisive, a trap from which there was, and has been, no exit.”

Preventing just such a trap must be the highest priority of American policy. Unfortunate-
ly, there is little public sign that the president and his top advisers recognize how close
we are to a chain reaction, or that they have any larger strategy beyond tactical actions.

Under the universally accepted doctrine of self-defense, which is embodied in Article 51

of the UN Charter, there is no question that Israel has a legitimate right to take action
against a group that has sworn to destroy it and had hidden some 13,000 missiles in
southern Lebanon. In these circumstances, American support for Israel is essential, as
it has been since the time of Truman; if Washington abandoned Jerusalem, the very ex-
istence of the Jewish state could be jeopardized, and the world crisis whose early phase
we are now in would quickly get far worse. The United States must continue to make
clear that it is ready to come to Israel’s defense, both with American diplomacy and, as
necessary, with military equipment.

But the United States must also understand, and deal with, the wider consequences of
its own actions and public statements, which have caused an unprecedented decline in
America’s position in much of the world and are provoking dangerous new anti-
American coalitions and encouraging a new generation of terrorists. American disen-
gagement from active Middle East diplomacy since 2001 has led to greater violence and
a decline in US influence. Others have been eager to fill the vacuum. (Note the sudden
emergence of France as a key player in the current burst of diplomacy.)

American policy has had the unintended, but entirely predictable, effect of pushing our
enemies closer together. Throughout the region, Sunnis and Shi’ites have put aside
their hatred of each other just long enough to join in shaking their fists – or doing worse
– at the United States and Israel. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, our troops are coming under
attack by both sides – Shi’ite militias and Sunni insurgents. If this continues, the US
presence in Baghdad has no future.

43
President Bush owes it to the nation, and especially the troops who risk their lives every
day, to reexamine his policies. For starters, he should redeploy some US troops into the
safer northern areas of Iraq to serve as a buffer between the increasingly agitated Turks
and the restive, independence-minded Kurds.

Given the new situation, such a redeployment to Kurdish areas and a phased drawdown
elsewhere – with no final decision yet as to a full withdrawal from Iraq – is fully justified.
At the same time, we should send more troops to Afghanistan, where the situation has
deteriorated even as the Pentagon is reducing US troop levels – which is read in the re-
gion as a sign of declining US interest in Afghanistan.

On the diplomatic front, the United States cannot abandon the field to other nations (not
even France!) or the United Nations. Every secretary of state from Henry Kissinger to
Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright negotiated with Syria, including those Re-
publican icons George Shultz and James Baker. Why won’t this administration follow
suit, in full consultation with Israel at every step? This would clearly be in Israel’s inter-
est. Instead, administration officials refuse direct talks and say publicly, “Syria knows
what it must do” – a statement that denies the very point of diplomacy.

The same is true of talks with Iran, although these would be more difficult. Why has the
world’s leading nation stood aside for over five years and allowed the international dia-
logue with Tehran to be conducted by Europeans, the Chinese and the United Nations?
And why has that dialogue been restricted to the nuclear issue – vitally important, to be
sure, but not as urgent at this moment as Iran’s sponsorship and arming of Hezbollah
and its support of actions against US forces in Iraq?

Containing the violence must be Washington’s first priority. Finding a stable and secure
solution that protects Israel must follow. Then must come the unwinding of America’s
disastrous entanglement in Iraq in a manner that is not a complete humiliation and does
not lead to even greater turmoil. All of this will take sustained high-level diplomacy –
precisely what the American administration has avoided in the Middle East. Washington
has, or at least used to have, leverage over the more moderate Arab states; it should
use it again, in the closest consultation with and on behalf of Israel.

And we must be ready for unexpected problems that will test us; they could come in
Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Jordan or even Somalia – but one thing seems sure:
They will come. Without a new, comprehensive strategy based on our most urgent na-
tional security needs – as opposed to a muddled version of Wilsonianism – this crisis is
almost certain to worsen and spread.

Remarkable that the Washington Post would include an article that didn’t directly say,
It’s all Bush’s fault.

It’s only 12 days to August 22. Crap, I don’t have time to buy the M1A. The beans were
good but I should have let them cook 1 more hour to further soften the skins. About 2½
cups would have been just right. I’m writing it down so maybe I’ll remember that. We did

44
something wrong with the beans, nobody got gas. The only decision I have to make on
the Loaded M1A is the stock and I’m going with the synthetic to save $100. I was up
late again and knew about the London arrests before I went to bed. That’s why it’s earli-
er.

The more I think about it, the more I agree with Newt. Sharon just got home and said
she saw a B-2 flying over Plant 42. Some of the repairs they make to them are done
here so maybe that’s why it was in Palmdale. So now, I’ve said it: 1. the 4 horsemen are
riding; and, 2. WW III has already started. There are 2 sides in the war, Islam and eve-
rybody else. Islam has allies, of course. We have allies, too, Israel and the United King-
dom (Commonwealth of Nations).

The Commonwealth encompasses a population of approximately 1.975 billion people in

53 countries, making up about 31% of the world’s population. The total GDP is about
US$7.8 trillion (about 16% of the total world economy). The land area of the Common-
wealth nations is about 12.1 million square miles (about 21% of the total world land ar-
ea).

The four largest Commonwealth nations by population are India at 1,100 million, Paki-
stan at 159 million, Bangladesh at 141 million, and Nigeria at 137 million.

The three largest Commonwealth nations by area are Canada at 3.8 million square
miles, Australia at 3.0 million square miles, and India at 1.2 million square miles.

The four largest economies are India at US$2,600 billion, the United Kingdom at
US$1,500 billion, Canada at US$930 billion, and Australia at US$520 billion (on a pur-
chasing power parity basis, from the CIA World Factbook 2005).

The largest military spenders are the United Kingdom at US$32 billion, Australia at
US$18 billion, India at US$12 billion, and Canada at US$7.9 billion. The Commonwealth
of Nations is NOT a military alliance.

Tuvalu is the smallest member, with only 11,000 people. The United Kingdom is a politi-
cal union made up of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, and Wales on the
island of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom also has several
overseas territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. The Crown has a rela-
tionship with the dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands; they are part
of the British Islands but not part of the United Kingdom and are a possession of the
Crown. A constitutional monarchy, the United Kingdom has close relationships with fif-
teen other Commonwealth Realms that share the same monarch – Queen Elizabeth II –
as head of state. Anyway, we can always count on Australia, and these days, with a real
government, maybe we can count on Canada.

45
One thing I’m forced to do is take advice. Vietnam Era vet or not, I’ve never been in
combat. So, while I have opinions about this or that rifle, etc., I’ve never carried a rifle
except in Basic Training, for a few hours. One very good source of information is my
younger son. He’s been to Korea, Kosovo and Iraq. My older son has been to Navy ET
School and was stationed on the USS Kalamazoo, until he got out of the Navy, early. I
know how I’m going to acquire the weapons I want but I’m not allowed to explain it. The
reason is very simple; the weapons will not be California legal. They may start out that
way, BUT, they won’t stay that way. Then again, I won’t do anything to them I can’t un-
do quickly. I’d never consider making them a full auto weapon, for example.

If someone wants to go off on a tangent and act the fool, it’s ok with me. However, I do
believe the terrorist plot they foiled today was real and that doesn’t make me a sheeple,
just more careful. It also makes me want my M1A rifle all the more. And yes, I ate beans
for lunch, we cooked too many and I don’t want to throw them away. Supper was micro
waved Salisbury steaks and rice. I didn’t eat the rice, it’s better with Chinese food and
chili. I made open faced hot beef sandwiches with them, for some reason, we don’t
have any instant potatoes.

One thread in the general patriot discussion suggests that there was no plot to blow up
airplanes and that everything bad is Bush’s fault. Acknowledging that Bush has made
mistakes, I can’t believe he’s behind this stuff. Apparently the British police seized 2
‘martyr tapes’. I wonder how George got the guys to make the tapes claiming credit for
knocking the planes down. How many people were killed on 9/11? If they knocked down
10 planes, they could have killed the same number or more. I’m not sure that it was an
al Qaeda plot, but I believe that may have supplied some funding.

That’s the end of my Joe Friday bit (just the facts, ma’am). Now it’s time to have The
Happening. You remember that don’t you? It starred Anthony Quinn and Faye Dunaway
when she was young (26). We could vote on whether to have an earthquake or a nucle-
ar war but I’m not a Democracy, more of a Republic. True, it’s a representative republic,
but I only represent me. The vote is over and it has been decided, film at 11.

TATP itself is a white powder made up of crystals that form when acetone and hydrogen
peroxide are mixed together, usually with a catalyst added to speed the chemical reac-
tions. But there is no need to wait for the crystals. Acetone and peroxide is “an exceed-
ingly reactive mixture” that can be easily detonated by an electrical spark, said Neal
Langerman, president of Advanced Chemical Safety, a consulting company in San Die-
go.

Acetone is easy to obtain, hydrogen peroxide somewhat harder. The hydrogen peroxide
solution sold in pharmacies is too dilute, only 3 percent, to be used in an explosive.
Stronger hydrogen peroxide of 30 percent concentration can be ordered from chemical

46
supply companies, but concentrations strong enough to generate a powerful explosion,
about 70 percent, are not readily available, Dr. Langerman said.

That was most likely what the terrorists back in August were using, I read a report that
their bomb was peroxide based. There are several different types of liquid or gel based
explosives. Various news reports mention a peroxide-based explosive. Methyl ethyl ke-
tone peroxide is one such peroxide-based high explosive in the form of a colorless, oily
liquid at room temperature and pressure. It is related to acetone peroxide which is an
old standby for various terrorist organizations because of the fact that it can be made
from fairly common household items. The FBI-DHI stated that two peroxide-based liquid
explosive could be used – triacetone triperoxide (TAPT) or hexamethylene triperoxide
diamine (HMDT).

Terrorists could assemble bombs with these chemicals. Peroxide-based liquid explo-
sives “are sensitive to heat, shock, and friction, can be initiated simply with fire or elec-
trical charge, and can also be used to produce improvised detonators,” “For example,
TATP or HMTD may be placed in a tube or syringe body in contact with a bare bulb fil-
ament, such as that obtained from inside a Christmas tree light bulb, to produce an ex-
plosion.” The explosives planned to be used in the 2006 transatlantic terrorist plot alleg-
edly consisted of a combination of hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid.

It’s on the web, don’t take my word for it. I remember making some kind of iodine com-
pound in high school chemistry class that was so sensitive that when it dried almost an-
ything could set it off. More than one school locker has been blown up by that stuff. I
took chemistry in the 1959-1960 school year (junior year). I didn’t want to know how to
make it again. I’ll also bet that starting August 11, 2006, it became very difficult to get
70% hydrogen peroxide. I wouldn’t know, I didn’t try. What I did instead was wait pa-
tiently for the money to come. When it came, I bought 10 20-round magazines from
Ammoman and got someone to buy me the two rifles I mentioned. I still had money so I
bought 14 30-round PMI magazines for my Mini-14. I also had a Butler Creek folding
stock and a flashhider that’s kept in place with a roll pin.

The M1A excluding magazines was $1,750. The Mini-14 and magazines left me with
enough money to buy the 5 pistol mags. I still needed 2 chest packs for the magazines,
2 rifle stock magazine pouches for the extra magazine and 2 used leather GI holsters.
Plus, 3 other guns, the 590A1 shotgun, the PT1911 and that stinking Ruger 10/22. Then
I had the ammunition problem. I negotiated for ammo as my Christmas present. Wait, it
can’t happen yet, I don’t have any ammo!

So how do I do this? Each chest pouch is set up with empty magazines and I have the
loaders that work with stripper clips. I keep 2 magazines loaded for each rifle and the
remainder empty. They can be quickly loaded with the loaders and striper clips, but I
remember to rotate the magazines every Sunday. I kept ½ of the .45 mags loaded and
switch them over weekly. Which explains why I stopped writing on weekends.

47
The garage shelves are now full and we’re ready for whatever. To protect things packed
in glass, they’re on the bottom shelf and packed in boxes. The shelves are anchored to
the garage walls. I replaced the Coleman stove generators and replaced the lanterns.
We added another 12 gallons of kerosene and are up to 25 gallons of Coleman fuel. I
even found new wicks for our 5 kerosene lamps and a pair of kerosene lanterns. I found
source for wicking and bought a 33’ roll.

Telling you where I find things is just a bad habit, but sometimes it takes a lot of search-
ing to find things. When did WW II start? In 1937 Japan started the Second World War
in Asia by invading China. However, the start of the war is usually dated from when
Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party led Germany to invade Poland in September 1939, and Britain
and France declared war on Germany. In 1940, Germany conquered most of Western
Europe but failed to subdue Britain. In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, where
massive battles went on continuously until the end of the war.

It started slowly and didn’t directly involve the US. At that time, we were just recovering
from the Great Depression and our only involvement was to provide aid to Great Britain.
They called it the Lend-Lease Program. Lend-Lease was a major US program 1940-
1945 which enabled the United States to provide Britain, Russia, China and other Allied
nations with vast amounts of war matériel. Unlike the loans of World War I, the transfers
were gifts that were not to be repaid. It began in March 1941, nine months before the
US officially entered the war in December of 1941. Lend-Lease came on the heels of
Cash and Carry, following correspondence between Winston Churchill and Franklin
Roosevelt on the economic status of Britain and their inability to pay for and transport
materials as they once did. It ended soon after V-J Day, on 02Sep45. This program was
the first large step away from American isolationism and towards international involve-
ment since the end of WWI.

That was a big mistake, our getting involved – we eventually became the world’s po-
liceman and the most powerful military power on the planet. It is obvious to all that the
French didn’t appreciate the help; but, they never do. We liked Ike and the Frenchmen
liked Charles de Gaulle. The main doctrinal component of Gaullism is a desire for
France’s independence from foreign power, but there are also social and economic
components in some forms of the philosophy.

The main axis of de Gaulle’s international policies was national independence, with, as
some practical consequences, some degree of opposition to international organizations
such as NATO or the European Economic Community. The basic tenets were that
France should not have to rely on any foreign country for its survival (thus the creation
of the French nuclear deterrent) and that France should refuse subservience to any for-
eign power, be it the US or the USSR. One can also cite the policies of grandeur – that
is, the insistence that France is a major power in the world scene and the establishment
of military and economic forces to back this claim. In that respect, Gaullism significantly
influenced the Foreign policy of France in the following decades, even though Gaullists
were no longer in power.

48
It was strange how when WW III started, it was the US and France – we were the two
free countries who were in charge of the debate. At the time, they called WW III The
War on Terrorism. Many people overlook our trigger. For example, WW II had been on-
going in the Pacific for 4 years and our only involvement was the Flying Tigers and his
highness Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines. Stupidly, the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor, think WTC circa 07Dec41. The US declared war on Japan and that nut job in
Germany declared war on the US. Our only involvement in the European Theatre had
been Lend-Lease. Any parallels? More than a few, I think!

Now you see why I frequently remind you, Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it. The big difference this time is we have nuclear weapons and
even the terrorists are smart, they were going to bring down 10 planes with hydrogen
peroxide and acetone. I still say, What goes up must come down. You won’t find me on
a plane anytime soon. Flying is dangerous, I was run over by a taxi at LAX back in ‘84
and I wasn’t even flying, until he hit me. LAX can’t even keep its equipment up these
days.

Anyway, the UN dragged its feet getting a Resolution to end the clash in Lebanon and
that went to Hell. Over in Iraq, the Insurgency picked up a head of steam and we were
damned if we did and damned if we didn’t. Iran got mad and cut off its oil supply, right in
the middle of our trying to repair Prudhoe Bay. We started to suck out the replacement
400,000 barrels a day from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, not a big deal. Until Hugo
Chávez decided he like Iran more than us – they gave him a medal – and gas went to
five bucks a gallon.

I apologized to Dr. J, but told him I could only come once a quarter, it cost too much to
drive to Northridge. We had the shelves stocked although I could tell Sharon’s heart
wasn’t in it 100%. We had a freezer full of meat, a 7kw, not 5kw, standby generator and
3, not 2, drums of stabilized gasoline, fortunately bought for only $3.799 a gallon. That’s
not a lot, only 165 gallons, but it was a start. I bought a pair of drum racks from Northern
Tool and had room for one more drum. I got the drum, the valve and the vent/fill pipe
but the gas was almost unaffordable, $25 for a 5-gallon can. Every time she filled the
car, she bought another 5-gallon can of gas. Each fill up was running right at $75. I
carefully measure out enough PRI-G to preserve that gas, it was liquid gold at this point.

Obviously, Derek was back from the sandbox. They had come out for Christmas of
2006. He was involved with my gun choices because of the straw part. Besides, I wasn’t
going to live forever and they would be his. He sharpened Sharon’s knives and took
Rambo II & III back with him. He could keep Rambo III and use it as a club until he got it
sharpened. The electrical bill was down from the $700 plus a month it ran during the
summer and that left enough money to get the remainder of my guns and the ammo I
wanted. Hell, I even had a wheelchair ramp. Life was good and getting better. Fleataxi
was right; I need a scope or a sight of some kind on my rifles that didn’t require good
eyesight. I went with Aimpoint, at roughly $100+ per rifle, averaged out.

49
I had CA legal and illegal magazines and the only real problem with the Loaded model I
had was the muzzle brake. If it ever got to the point where someone wanted to give me
a hard time about how the M1A and Mini-14 were set up, it would mean TSHTF and
there’d be more important things to worry about. I hated the muzzle brake and wanted
to replace it with a flashhider with a bayonet lug, but didn’t. I went with the Mossberg
590A1. I don’t hunt anyway but I could make my weapons CA illegal.

It was cold out and I dressed warm and walked Missy the 4 blocks around the housing
tract in an effort to rebuild the leg muscle I’d lost. The idea being that I wasn’t much
good as a wheelchair survivalist. It was 2 days after Sharon’s 60th birthday, Valentine’s
Day, 2007 when the ground shook. It was like riding the worst roller coaster I’d ever
been on. I don’t like roller coasters, BTW. I was sleeping soundly, but the closet doors
started to rattle and my bed began to rock and roll.

Darn, it lasted and lasted and lasted. I was beginning to think we were in Fairbanks in
‘64 before it stopped. I could hear the breaking glass and had no idea where my combat
boots were, probably Amy’s closet. Not! I found my fake cowboy boots and a pair of
socks and got dressed before I gave a thought to leaving my bedroom.

Sharon asked, “Are you ok?”

“I’m putting real shoes on; you’d better do the same. Get dressed; it won’t be long be-
fore we get the first aftershock.”

“The lights are out.”

“I’m sure that fancy earthquake valve you bought shut the gas off too. Let me get
dressed and I’ll light some lamps and start the generator.”

“How much gas do we have?”

“220 gallons in drums and 7 gallons in the tank plus whatever you have in the car’s
tank.”

“I just filled up and I filled the gas can.”

“Fine, 230 gallons plus what’s in the car. It’s a shame we don’t have any firewood, it’s
going to get cold with the gas off.”

“Didn’t I tell you, I bought a rick?”

“That’s ⅓ of a cord, what they call a face cord, but it’s a start. Get dressed and I’ll bring
in an armload and start a fire in the fireplace.”

“Most of the stuff in the living room that wasn’t anchored tipped over.”

50
“That’s why we installed anchors, Sharon. Get Amy and the kids dressed, it’s going to
get cold soon. I’ll start the generator and run the extension cords to the refrigerators and
freezer. You check the house with your MagLite and see if you think we can stay in it.”

She hadn’t told me she’d bought a rick of firewood and stacked it behind the shed on
the concrete, but I got dressed, got my MagLite and found it. I got Amy to help me bring
in an armload and use the crescent wrench to remove the gas log. We then started a
fire, lit the kerosene lamps (only 2) and waited for the first aftershock. I checked the out-
side of the house and there were cracks in the stucco, but it appeared the house might
stand. At least until the first aftershock.

I have several transistor radios and lots of batteries, I turned one on and asked Amy to
try and find a radio station. I checked line 2 on my desk phone and there was no dial
tone so that meant that we lost the internet.

“I thought you said you bought a rick of firewood.”

“I did.”

“Well, you got a pile 8’ long, 4’ deep and almost 4’ high, I do believe you got a full cord.”

“Is that good?”

“It’s not bad. We’ll have to get the Coleman stoves out and set them up on a table. I
bring in one jug of kerosene and we’ll have fuel for the lamps.”

“Where do you want the lamps?”

“Wherever we have a table lamp, plus one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. That
will leave a couple for walking around or to lend Patti. Amy, go check on Chris and Patti
and see if they’re ok.”

“When?”

“Now would be good, you don’t have anything else to do.”

“I’m still looking for a radio station.”

“If you haven’t found one by now, you won’t; go check on Chris and Patti. Ask her if she
needs a can of kerosene for her lamps and ask Chris if he has gas for his generator.”

I loaned Chris the extra 5 gallons of gasoline and 2 gallons of kerosene. He loaned me
one of the racing radios and one scanner. I put the radio on the charger and connected
it to the extension cord for the kitchen refrigerator. I left it on and on channel 1. The old

51
generator I bought a few years back was mounted in his pickup and he could run it to
keep their refrigerator cold. He had more extension cords than I had, so I borrowed one
of his heavy duty cords and the 3-way plug I’d bought him when I was involved in rac-
ing.

Dick had a generator in his camping trailer, so he was good for now and I had told
Lance more than once to get a 5kw standby generator and a drum of gas. I know for a
fact that he’d bought an extra handgun after they’d had a bit of trouble. I had plenty of
ammo if he needed it, both 9mm and .45ACP. I had 500 rounds of each, in Gold Dot
plus another 500 rounds of each in Lawman. I also had something he didn’t have, a to-
tally illegal Mini-14 and several of the politically incorrect and totally CA illegal 30 round
magazines I had shipped to Derek which he was kind enough to bring me at Christmas
time. I didn’t tell you about the tricked out Mini-14 because I didn’t want my big mouth to
get me in trouble with any PC squirrels from CA.

That, of course, was an oxymoron, or I thought so until I read what someone wrote
when he went on a tangent in the General Patriot Discussion back last August. Lance
asked and I loaned him the Mini-14, magazines and a couple of battle packs of 5.56mm
ammo and 2 boxes of 9mm Gold Dot. He had taken my advice and had a 5kw generator
from Harbor Freight and one drum of stabilized unleaded. He could run an extension
cord to Dave Lucky for his refrigerator.

You always thought my neighbors were creations of my fiction, but they weren’t. Neither
was Ronald McDonald, he showed up with 2 5-gallon gas cans. The dummy had a
2,800 watt standby genset but only 10 gallons of gas. On the other hand, he did have a
.375 H&H magnum rifle and he was, after all, my AA sponsor. Besides he had lots of
5.56 ammo so I traded him some for 10 gallons of gas at $5 a gallon. His 5.56mm am-
mo all came from China-Mart, 50 round boxes of Remington. I traded 2 boxes per gas
can and I think he got the better part of the deal. But he was my sponsor, and he did
show me his .375 H&H magnum rifle, finally.

Yes, Virginia, MCLS is still in Barstow, but no, we didn’t discuss going there, not yet at
least. I also gave him 2 gallons of kerosene. In fact I got rid of all of my old kerosene,
fixing up my friends and neighbors and myself. Two gallon cans of kerosene will light a
lot of lamps, for a while, and Dick went around and turned off everyone’s gas valves,
because he does, in fact, work for the gas company. It weren’t no big deal, he’d already
turned off the master valve for Moon Shadows Housing Tract #6.

No hablo español, hence I didn’t have to talk to most of our other neighbors, for now.
But then, hablan inglés, un poco, unfortunately. I had more gas than Chris, but he had
extension cords, although Patti and the neighbors between us didn’t get along very well,
hence they’d only get 30 minutes of power per 4 hours and I did the same for my neigh-
bors immediately to my east, because they were semi-pleasant and hablan inglés.

Besides, they asked, and I didn’t want trouble until I knew whether they were armed.
Anyway, it was the Christian thing to do. Besides, Audrey went to school with one of

52
their daughters and Audrey and Udell sometimes played with their girls. I didn’t offer,
but they were desperate enough to ask, end of story, for now. What’s more, he offered
his can of gas for his lawnmower. 2 gallons = 6 hours of power, sort of. But they were
Catholic and the last I looked at my St. Joseph’s Bible, it counted. Besides Elvia was
Cuban and ella habló español muy bueno. It was tit for tat (repayment in kind, as for an
injury; retaliation), for now, repayment in kind. Blame the forum, not me, for the apostro-
phe, it thinks tit is ***, the same as damn is ****, spelled properly, rather narrow minded,
since you can post other words.

Some folks think I am bigoted, as in I have something against (pick a group). I honestly
don’t, I think that everyone should be able to own one or two. (Inflammatory enough???)
We’ll call them employees and pay them minimum wage, that’s about 10 times as much
as they could make in their home country. Unless they live in California, then it’s 15
times as much as they could make in Mexico. At one time or another during my unspec-
tacular life, I’ve probably said the same thing about anyone I had prejudged.

It was the darnest thing you ever saw when one day it occurred to me that I knew better.
People are just people, no matter their ethnic origin or gender or age or religion or the
other things we prejudge people by. I suppose that was 20 or 25 years ago, but the
good news it didn’t particularly make me politically correct. For instance I don’t much
care for homosexuals, or extremists, whether they be far right or far left. You know, the
white supremacists and those commie pinkos, LOL.

I lost my job doing what I did so well for giving out what was considered a ‘sexually ori-
ented’ cartoon. At the time, my employer had a large group of employees who were
guilty of sexually harassing their employees. The company I was auditing had a policy,
that I violated and I got tossed out on my bum. Next thing you know, I was ordered to
get on a plane and fly to the home office, I figured to get chewed out and pull a week or
two of suspension for my sin.

I’ve never been accused of my inability of anticipating what could happen, so I had my
resignation typed and in my pocket, just in case. Three hours into a grilling by 2 lawyers
who were both playing bad cop, I realized that I was the perfect scapegoat and was
nominated to pay for all of the accused employees’ sins. Without going into details, I re-
signed right on the spot and there was nothing they could do to me. It cost, big time,
right now my equals still with the agency are making $85,000 a year. I was 49 years old,
and never found another good job. That was my first mistake; the second was I hadn’t
discussed it with the wife before I did it.

53
 Survival Story – Chapter 6

Dumb, very dumb. I have no idea what brought that up, probably because our house
was as big a mess as I’d made of my life. Dick, Chris, Dave, Lance and I made a tour of
our neighborhood. The 2 story homes were in worse condition than the single story
homes. Our patio cover looked like it could collapse at any moment causing Dick to go
home and bring back a bag of lag screws so we could reinforce the cover.

We use some premixed concrete to patch the cracks in our 5 homes, eliminating most
of the drafts. The tract was built in 1987 and we had reasonable earthquake standards
back then so none of the houses came down. The gas lines were connected to the me-
ters with a piece of flexible high pressure hose and Dick could have just as easily turned
off the gas at individual meters – he wasn’t sure about the main lines and shut off all the
gas.

“How much water do you have?”

“Fifty gallons, just what’s in my water heater.”

“Do you have any bottled water?”

“Some, but not enough for everyone, Chris. How about you?”

“Nope, I’m not a crackpot like you, Gary.”

“Do you flush your water heater?”

“Nope.”

“Well, I guess that gives you water to flush your toilet.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“The sewer line is busted.”

“Chit, what else can happen?”

“Gary, Amy says she has KTPI on the radio, I think you’d better listen.”

“What’s up?”

“They’re giving a damage report.”

54
…Fault let loose from Llano through the Tejon Pass and into the San Joaquin Valley.
The rupture is estimated to be about 200km long and the slip ranges from 2 meters in
some places up to 5 meters in others, according to the USGS. The duration of the initial
shock lasted some 150 seconds and the Moment of Magnitude is estimated at 8.2. The
greatest damage occurred between Llano and Lancaster.

Most homes within 1 mile of the Fault collapsed or suffered enough damage that they
are being red tagged. The Palmdale Water District issued a statement indicating that it
will take anywhere from weeks to months to have water and sewer service fully restored
in Palmdale. Southern California Gas Company indicated they had breaks in several
major feeder lines requiring up to a month to repair. The other major utility, Southern
California Edison lost over a dozen towers and gave no estimate of when power would
be completely restored. AT&T said service would be restored within 2 weeks.

The Governor declared the entire region a disaster area and asked President Bush to
declare a federal disaster. Available units of the California National Guard as well as
units from Nevada and Arizona have been activated.

In east Palmdale, drinking water and food is available in the Wal-Mart parking lot at 47th
Street East and Avenue S. In central Palmdale, There are 2 locations, one in McAdams
Park on 30th Street East between Avenue R and Palmdale Boulevard and the second in
the Civic Center Parking lot. On the west side, one area has been set up in the Antelope
Valley Mall parking lot near the corner of 10th Street West and Rancho Vista (Avenue
P).

Ice, water and government rations are available to residents presenting a picture ID
showing a Palmdale residence. If your license doesn’t show a Palmdale address,
please present a utility bill and a picture ID in a matching name disclosing your resi-
dence.

Persons requiring electricity to power necessary medical equipment will be dealt with on
an individual basis. The LA County Sheriff’s Department Deputies and volunteers will
being going door-to-door to identify those needs. A small supply of generators and fuel
is available either on an individual basis or a neighborhood basis depending upon the
need. If you have power, please contact your neighbors and see if they require your as-
sistance. Persons sharing their generators with be supplied with fuel. If your need is
immediate, report to the Palmdale or Lancaster Sheriff’s Station to request assistance.

A dusk to dawn curfew remains in effect until further notice.

The announcement, which came around 4pm gave us little time to prepare for the night.
The first aftershock had been MW 6 something, enough to rattle windows and bring
down several more homes but none in our tract. Moment is a physical quantity propor-
tional to the slip on the fault times the area of the fault surface that slips; it is related to
the total energy released in the EQ. The moment can be estimated from seismograms
(and also from geodetic measurements). The moment is then converted into a number

55
similar to other earthquake magnitudes by a standard formula. The result is called the
moment magnitude (Mw). The moment magnitude provides an estimate of earthquake
size that is valid over the complete range of magnitudes above M=3, a characteristic
that was lacking in other magnitude scales.

The housing tract needed ~ 800kw for full power. It was winter and we didn’t have gas
so you could probably cut that down to 400kw, all of the homes had fireplaces, but not
everyone had wood. And then, Sharon mentioned the wood we had to Patti. Patti sent
Matt down and he hauled enough back to keep their home heated for a week. Lance
must have seen Matt and he asked if we could spare some wood.

I told him, “Sure, do you think you’ll be able to replace it later on?”

“Do you know anyone who has wood?”

“I didn’t buy it, Sharon did. You can ask her. Most likely whoever it was has sold out by
now. The only place I’ve seen firewood stacked is where we get off 14 for Balboa Blvd.
when I go to the doctor.”

“I’ll ask Sharon then. What did you put in your window?”

“The office window?”

“Yes.”

“That’s a piece of road plate held in place by 2x4s. I can sit in my wheelchair and rest
my rifle on the 2x4 on top. I don’t want to mar the rifle so I put a piece of form on top of
that.”

“Do you really think it will come down to defending our homes?”

“No Lance, I don’t. This is just another housing tract that’s no different than any other.
It’s not really an affluent neighborhood like on the west side. That said, I’d rather have
the protection in place and not need it than the opposite. Sharon, where did you buy the
firewood?”

“Where? I just called a phone number from the yellow pages. I don’t know for sure
where he was from, Littlerock, I think.”

“Do you have a name?”

“I can look in the checkbook, hang on a minute, I’ll have to find the pad of used checks.”

We always used duplicate checks, in case we forgot to stub a check. Sharon had gotten
very careful about keeping those in one place so she could find them later. This wasn’t
our first earthquake either. We moved to LA in ‘82 and the first one that really got our

56
attention was the Whittier Narrows Quake on 1Oct87. We moved a month later, to
Palmdale. We’re still debating the pros and cons of that move. Then, on 17Jan94,
Northridge shook me out of bed. That’s when I learned to keep an ear open for the
closet door rattling. In between, was the Landers Quake, MW 7.3 on 28Jun92, and the
Hector Mine earthquake MW 7.1 on 16Nov99, but I didn’t feel it at all. Interesting, Whitti-
er was only MW 5.9 and Northridge Mw 6.7.

This was the fourth destructive earthquake to occur in California in 23 years. The first
was the Mw 6.6 San Fernando (Sylmar) Quake on 9Feb71, affecting the same area in
1971; the second was the Mw 6.9 (Richter magnitude 7.1), 1989 Loma Prieta Quake
south of San Francisco on 17Oct89; the third was the MW 6.5 Coalinga Earthquake on
2May83. The 1994 event is the most damaging earthquake to strike the United States
since the MW 7.8 San Francisco Quake of 18Apr06. In terms of property damage, the
earthquake is also one of the worst natural disasters in US history, comparable to Hurri-
cane Andrew in 1992.

Despite unusually hot, dry weather across much of the Corn Belt this summer, US
farmers are poised to harvest nearly 11 billion bushels of corn, the third-largest crop on
record, and almost 3 billion bushels of soybeans, the government said Friday.

A big corn crop is welcome news for farmers who have battled drought conditions in
parts of Iowa, but it’s expected to depress market prices, the US Department of Agricul-
ture said.

The agency trimmed a dime off its price forecast for corn in the marketing year that be-
gins Sept. 1, projecting a national average price of $2.35 per bushel. Even so, that
would be 18 percent higher than the national average price of $1.99 per bushel ex-
pected in the current marketing year. (Now you know the price of corn in Iowa.)

Meanwhile here we sat in Palmdale a day after the big one and like a darned fool, I was
sharing our supplies. So far that had only been gasoline, some firewood, one weapon
and some ammo. You can go a long time on the amount of kerosene and Coleman fuel
I had in the shed. A cord of firewood would keep us warm if we didn’t share it. I figured,
hell, that’s our disaster and FEMA will show up in a couple of weeks and we’ll be ok.
Like John points out on BuildanArk.com the folks in New Orleans weren’t prepared.
They must not have cared for MREs either; there are a lot of them on EBay. At least we
didn’t need ice (yet).

The real danger was the aftershocks. If you made it through the earthquake more or
less intact, your house could still fall down when one of those hit. I didn’t patch the
cracks from the Northridge earthquake until we had the stucco painted. They were very
small and didn’t go all the way through the stucco. This time they open up good and so

57
did the ones on the other houses. Fortunately, we had 4 gallons of paint left over, I
could paint over the patches and nobody would know. Chris said I was stupid to texture
the repairs but he didn’t know about the paint.

Say, is there a place for homes like there is for cars? You what I mean, the place that
gives you the history of the car. Having spent a fortune on putting on new shingles and
painting the place I wouldn’t want the house to be classified as a lemon. These shingles
weren’t white, but they were as close as you could come. If I could find the white paint,
I’d even finish painting the eve when it got warmer. The Northridge Quake came on
Martin Luther King Day, did earthquakes have a Holiday calendar? I hadn’t bought Sha-
ron a Valentine, but I don’t really think she cared.

Did I tell you I wrote Arnold last fall? There are some really stupid bills that he might
have to veto. If he doesn’t, all guns and ammo will all but become illegal in California,
AB352 (Microstamping) and AB2714 (Interstate Ammo Sale). The good thing is its only
5 hours to Vegas. I told him I’d vote for him anyway but I sure hope he vetoes those
bills.

“Did they say anything on the radio about FEMA?”

“Amy didn’t say anything about it if they did. We should be seeing National Guard troops
pretty soon Chris. What did Dick want?”

“Propane. He’s planning on staying in his trailer and needed more propane.”

“Nine gallons won’t get him very far.”

“Dave had 2 bottles and Chris had 1. He said he already had 2 bottles and that gives
him a total of 7. He said than rather than burn up all of the firewood, Dave and he are
going to stay in the trailer.”

“We should have enough firewood to last us until it gets warmer. Since you bought a full
cord, we can give Patti and Lance each a rick. I suppose that until the Guard shows up,
it will be up to Lance and me to make sure we don’t get any looters.”

“We won’t get any looters. Anyone who needs anything will hit the Wal-Marts, grocery
stores, drug stores and places that have a lot of what they need. They won’t try to hit
the neighborhoods before the Guard gets here.”

“Then why did you put that piece of boiler plate in your window?”

“I could be wrong.”

“Yes you could. But if you have to shoot someone, you’re going to jail. This is a retreat
state, remember?”

58
“How could I forget? We may end up being out that .22 Saturday Night Special if it
comes to that, I’ll use it as throw down.”

“They’ll trace it.”

“It won’t do them any good, Dad told me he bought it from a private party without pa-
perwork. I don’t think we’ll have a problem unless the house falls down. You realize that
if this had happened 6 months ago, we would have been up the creek without a paddle,
don’t you?”

“I got tired of you making lists. And then Amy lost her food stamps and I decided that
maybe you were right about having some food on the shelf. I wanted the freezer so we
could buy meat on sale and save money on food. I thought getting that generator was
nuts but when I realized we have 3 refrigerators and a freezer and you told me they
needed that much power to start, I figured we might as well get one big enough to run
them all.”

“Did you find the camping gear in the shed? There a coffee pot in that box so we can
boil coffee.”

“I’ve been running it off the extension cord for the kitchen refrigerator. Is that ok for
now?”

“Given the choice, go ahead.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can get by on coffee and Kool’s. I don’t suppose you have a couple of cartons I don’t
know about do you?”

“No. How many do you have left?”

“3.”

“Costco is closed. Patti went there to get some things and they were locked up tight with
a guard on the door.”

“Are the streets open?”

“Some are. If you think help will be here soon, I can give her a little of what we have.”

“You’d better, seeing all the things she’s done for us. Tell her we’ll keep the meat in our
freezer until she needs it, Chris doesn’t have much gas.”

“If the Guard is going to be here soon, can’t we loan him enough?”

59
“Not more than 40 gallons, they’ll just have to empty out their refrigerator. We don’t
know how much we can get and it’s going to have to be divided at least 3 or 4 ways.
Ron will probably be back looking for more gas and I can’t really say no to him.”

“Do they need food?”

“He didn’t ask for any, but when he comes back for more gas, I’ll ask.”

“Hey partner, can I get another 10 gallons?”

“Yeah. How are you guys on food?”

“Well, we don’t have a lot; you know how Lyn usually shops 3-4 times a week, how
about you?”

“We have enough for about 90 days. Why don’t you bring Linda back and she can pick
out enough to cover you until the Guard pulls in?”

“Show me what you have. Beans? Rice? Canned vegetables? Do you have any steak?”

“I don’t have what you like, but yes, we have steak.”

“What do I like?”

“Tri-tip steak.”

“What do you have?”

“Round steak, sirloin and club steak.”

“What’s a club steak?”

“It’s also called a Delmonico – a small steak from the short loin of beef.”

“Good?”

“It’s from between the Ribeye and the T-Bone. Think bone-in New York Strip.”

“I’ll take those.”

“I owe ya, but I don’t owe ya that much Ron. We can give you 50# of meat divided be-
tween steaks, roasts, ground beef, pork and chicken. You’d better learn to like beans
and rice.”

60
“How about coffee?”

“We have lots of coffee. What I’m short on is Kool’s.”

“Smoking will kill you.”

“Not smoking will kill everyone else. I’ll trade you the meat, food and 10 gallons of gas
for 12 cartons of Kool’s.”

“Where will I find them?”

“I don’t care. Kool’s 100s box.”

They were still fighting in the Middle East. Hezbollah backed off support of the cease
fire, which in turn, forced Lebanon not to send troops south. Here’s what DEBKAFile
said about it:

Lebanon front commander Maj-Gen Benny Gantz said Sunday night the IDF will honor
the ceasefire but also defend its troops and Israeli civilians.

Have they been told to hold their fire in line with Israel’s acceptance of the UN resolution
1701 now that the Lebanese government and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah have
backtracked?

Prime Minister Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spent the day explaining that the
resolution is good for Israel and praising its unanimous endorsement by the Israeli cabi-
net Sunday. The PM plans a speech to Knesset Monday lauding the resolution as an
Israeli achievement.

DEBKAFile has learned that Tehran has meanwhile ordered Nasrallah to keep Israel
engaged in combat for another 3 to 4 months. As a result, he suddenly backed away
from his pledges to France and the Siniora government Saturday to accept a ceasefire
and a UNIFIL force in south Lebanon. Nasrallah said he would wait a month to see how
Israel’s retreat from the disputed Shabaa Farms was progressing.

At five minutes’ notice, the thunderstruck Lebanese ministers called off their meeting to
discuss the deployment of their forces in the south and the disarming of Hezbollah.

DEBKAFile’s sources are asking how it happened that the 24 Israeli cabinet ministers
who voted to accept the UN resolution all fell into the trap devised by Iran and Nasral-
lah?

This is the situation the night before the ceasefire: Israel says its troops will not be re-
called from Lebanon until a beefed up UNIFIL force is in place. However no internation-

61
al peacekeepers will deploy without a Lebanese military presence. That has now been
checked by Nasrallah because the Lebanese army chiefs refuse to deploy south of the
Litani if Hezbollah fighters are armed.

Sunday, Hezbollah deployed dozens of its combatants in furious anti-tank missile as-
saults on IDF tanks and field units along the S. Lebanese front. Fierce clashes raged
just north of the Israeli town of Metula and other parts of the former “security strip” on
the border. At least 16 Israeli soldiers were injured before noon Sunday.

Sunday, an unprecedented number of rockets – 250 – were also fired into northern Is-
rael by midday. DEBKAFile’s military sources say Hezbollah is demonstrating that its
ability to subject northern Israel to rocket barrages from S. Lebanon is unimpaired after
a month of combat.

Saturday, Israel lost 24 men in action, including 5 crew aboard a Yasur helicopter that
Hezbollah shot down.

I had to trust Ron, I gave him the food and gas and he promised to pay me back in
smokes in a day or two. The value of the barter transaction was about $200, but I didn’t
plan to tell the IRS. I figured he’d get Kevin to raid a cigarette store; I really didn’t want
to know. He got 10 gallons yesterday and 10 more today, I wasn’t Standard Oil; I
couldn’t keep that up for very long.

“Lance take one-third of the wood. Dave and Dick have the propane and I’ll give Chris
and Patti the other third. Did you get squared away with the rifle I loaned you?”

“About the same as the M14.”

“Actually, it’s a version of the M14, externally, and uses a gas piston. Don’t flash it
around, they’re illegal in California the way I tricked it out. The folding stock, flashhider
and 30 round magazines aren’t legal.”

“It’s semi-auto.”

“That doesn’t matter, Lance. It’s a ‘bad looking’ gun; in other words it looks like an as-
sault rifle and this configuration is specifically banned.”

“What about that M14 you have?”

“M1A and it’s illegal because of the national match flashhider. The magazines over 10
rounds are illegal too, so I have both 10 and 20 round mags.”

“What size magazines do you have for your Browning?”

62
“Fifteen round flush mags from ProMag.”

“The .45?”

“8 rounds. Oops, hold on, there it goes again.”

“That was fairly big.”

“Maybe a Magnitude 4. What are you and Elvia doing for cooking?”

“I have a Coleman propane stove and a 10-gallon bottle of propane. You don’t have any
extra oil lamps do you?”

“We could spare 2. I thought you had some.”

“We do, but not enough.”

“There you go, 12 cartons, but some are soft packs.”

“It doesn’t really matter, thank you. Where did you find them?”

“I didn’t, Kevin did. Why weren’t you stocked up on smokes?”

“Were you?”

“No, I needed ‘em too. About the only thing I have a lot of is .223 ammo. I suppose you
have plenty of that right?”

“I have enough unless there is trouble. The Guard should show up sometime today.”

“KTPI said they were delayed. The Sheriff’s Department is overwhelmed and can’t pro-
vide any more Deputies at the moment. Hezbollah turned over the bodies of those 2 Is-
raeli soldiers to Israel, but they hadn’t been dead very long. The missile count is up to
something on the order of 10,000 fired by Hezbollah, but they claim they aren’t out.”

63
 Survival Story – Chapter 7

“Yeah, I suspected as much, that cease fire went in place when, 14Aug06? That rag-
head running Hezbollah backed down and the Lebanese Cabinet couldn’t meet. It went
downhill after that didn’t it?”

The domino theory was first espoused by name by President Eisenhower in an April 7,
1954 news conference, and was originally applied to Indochina. If Communists suc-
ceeded in Indochina, Eisenhower argued, local groups would then have the encour-
agement, material support and momentum to take over Burma, Thailand, Malaya and
Indonesia. This would give them a geographical and economic strategic advantage. It
would make Japan, Formosa, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand the frontline
defensive states. The loss of regions traditionally within the vital regional trading area of
countries like Japan would encourage the frontline countries to politically compromise
with communism.

This is not to say, however, that the theory was not recognized. Indeed, Truman hit up-
on the idea in 1947 with the Truman Doctrine, promising to contribute financial aid to
Greece and Turkey following their decimation during WW II, in the hope that this would
impede the advancement of communism into Western Europe. In 1954, all of the coun-
tries in Southeast Asia had large popular Communist movements and insurgencies
within their borders. Eisenhower’s domino theory of 1954 was a specific description of
the situation and conditions within Southeast Asia at the time. Eisenhower did not sug-
gest a generalized domino theory as others did afterward.

The domino theory was expounded periodically since 1954 by top US leaders who used
it as a justification for expanding military programs throughout the world and more spe-
cifically intervention in Southeast Asia. Eisenhower first propped up the French in Indo-
china and then assisted in the creation of South Vietnam to protect what was consid-
ered an important “domino”. The Kennedy administration intervened in Vietnam in the
early 1960s to, among other reasons, keep the South Vietnamese “domino” from falling.

Can anyone tell who the Commie SOB, Jonathan with the British accent is (Jonathan
Hunt)? He’s the Fox correspondent in Beirut. Who attacked whom? Sure we nuked the
Japanese, ever heard of Pearl Harbor? It isn’t the Israelis putting the civilians between
them and Hezbollah is it? During WW II, Germany fire-bombed London and Coventry
and all sort of places in Great Britain. The Allies responded by fire-bombing the German
cities into rubble and/or burning them to the ground. We had real military men in WW II,
like “Bombs Away LeMay”. When I was in the Air Force, he was the Chief of Staff
(1961-65). There was a man who knew how to use an incendiary bomb and an A-bomb.

It seemed like many correspondents were blaming Israel for Hezbollah and HAMAS
kidnapping the Israeli soldiers and killing others. That included MSNBC, FOX and CNN.
I didn’t listen to the local news, all of those reporters blamed guns for everything. I can
only assume it’s because they don’t understand the function of a trigger on a gun.

64
°

As far as our surviving the big one, it wasn’t a big deal. It was waiting for the National
Guard and FEMA to show up that presented the biggest problem. We had earthquake
insurance, $15,000 deductible. Unless there was more wrong with the house than was
apparent, none of our loss was covered. Most of the things that got broken were me-
mentos. I knew we could replace every window in the house had they broken, we had
gotten an estimate because a while back Sharon wanted to replace the cheap windows
with Pella windows.

Ron had their house prepared even better than ours, they lost a couple of thousand dol-
lars’ worth of mementos. He had cracks in his stucco but those could be patched with a
matching stucco color coat. Linda and he had one up on us, they had a swimming pool.
So did our neighbor to the east and they offered water to flush the stools even though
the sewer pipes were broken. We took some anyway and used it to wash with after we
boiled it. Sharon heated water in a blue granite cold pack canner which didn’t give us
enough to bathe but did allow us sponge baths.

I don’t remember names, including my own on bad days, so I can’t tell you their names,
but they were fairly nice folks. I traded them pinto beans and rice and one night we got
invited to dinner. I was hoping for Chili Relleños but we got refried beans and pollo con
arroz. The beans were ok, but did she have to include the gristle from the chicken legs?

I ran the generator every 4 hours for 30 minutes. As soon as my small refrigerator
turned off, I unplugged it and plugged in their extension cord.

February 17th…

“The National Guard just pulled in.”

“Into Palmdale or Moon Shadows?”

“Palmdale, they’re over on the Westside, they got hurt pretty bad.”

“They were closer to the fault. Did the radio say anything about our getting help?”

“They set up several locations in the city to pass out food and water. Amy said that they
suggested bringing anyone who needed medical care to the nearest location.”

“And that is?”

“McAdams Park.”

65
“We’d better go pick up more bottled water and some of those MREs. I ride with you
and we’ll see how much they’re passing out. If it’s enough, we’ll pass the word and eve-
ryone can drive over there and pick some up. I don’t suppose they said anything about
getting gas did they.”

“She didn’t say. We should take several people in one vehicle to preserve gas. We only
had 230 gallons to begin with and it’s not lasting as well as I had hoped. I don’t under-
stand, Ron, why didn’t people take my advice and stock up on things they’d need if
TSHTF? All they had to do was look at the news. DHI said to have at least 3 days food
and after Katrina, you would have thought that people would take it seriously. They ar-
rested 3 guys in Michigan last summer for buying too many cell phones. That was stu-
pid; you don’t need 1,000 cell phones to blow up a bridge.

“Wait, I’m not done. If I were a terrorist, I sneak the stuff across the border. For all we
know, the terrorists already have. Have you been to Glendale and seen the number of
Arabs there? For all we know, some of those people could be terrorists, I mean they
don’t wear a sign saying, I’m Abdul and I’m a terrorist.”

“Bull Gar-Bear, it won’t go down that way. I tell you how it’s going to happen and mark
my words it won’t start here. Iran is the major state behind state sponsored terrorism.
Hell, they’re funding and arming everybody in the Middle East who wants to destroy Is-
rael or anything we support. I think it’s personal with them. Their principal arms suppli-
ers are Russia, China and North Korea. No way had they given their good stuff to HA-
MAS or Hezbollah. One of these days, they’ll attack Israel with missiles and Israel will
be forced to nuke them. We don’t want the Genie out of its bottle. If that doesn’t start
WW III, the terrorists will come out of hiding and kick our butts.”

“There isn’t much left to destroy in southern California, Ron.”

“It’s not the only place they could attack. They could go after tall buildings in many cities
or even the subway system like happened in London in July of 2005. They’re called ter-
rorists for a reason, not because of the damage they do but because of the fear they
create.”

“I have a few more websites, but we don’t have internet. I couldn’t copy them all, bro. I
don’t play with explosives because I don’t know anything about them. My idea of an ex-
plosive is a M67 or a M72.”

“How many of those do you have?”

“None, nada, zip. We could get them at MCLB, Barstow if WW III really happened; oth-
erwise, we couldn’t break into the place. Besides, there are 30,000 vets living in that ar-
ea so by the time we got there, they’d have the place cleaned out. Ready to go?”

“I ain’t done bitching. I no sooner bring up the subways then CNN gets off its dead
Commie butt and does a program called Target USA. I thought they were finally doing a

66
program on security and problems we had but no, it was just an excuse to beat up Pres-
ident Bush. Not that I think Homeland Security does a good job but identifying targets
for the terrorists ain’t very smart either.”

“They went to Van Nuys Airport for that report, partner. Van Nuys Airport is the world’s
busiest general aviation airport and the 18th busiest airport in the world. You wouldn’t
expect the TSA to have security there like they do at LAX. Some guy could buy a Cess-
na, fill it with explosives and take off from his back 40. You can’t guard everything or it
wouldn’t be a free country anymore. Let’s go get the water.”

“How many in your family?”

“Five.”

“Get this guy 6 cases of MREs and 6 bundles of 1 liter water bottles.”

“How do you figure?”

“Two meals a day for 5 people for 7 days. One liter of drinking water per person per
day.”

“You’re right on the food, but short on the water. I need at least 35 gallons of drinking
water.”

“How do you figure?”

“FEMA guidelines say one gallon per person per day. Thirty-five gallons is equal to 132
liters. With 6 liters per bundle, I need 22 bundles.”

“Hey Sarge, this idiot wants 22 bundles of water.”

“Mister, you can only have enough water for drinking.”

“Right, the FEMA guideline is 1 gallon per person per day and I’m getting water for a
family of 5 for 7 days.”

“Give him 6 bundles. Sorry mister, 6 liters of water per case of MREs.”

I took what they gave, we still had 2 shelves of 1 liter bottles of water in the garage.
Most of the water was used to make coffee, instant milk or cooking. We had used the
water in the hot water heater for washing. I didn’t intend to eat the MREs anyway, I
wasn’t that hungry, yet.

67
Thanks to something Fleataxi said both the rifles had Aimpoint sights, which to my way
of thinking beat the heck out of laser sights. The problem with a laser sight was you had
to be able to see the dot on the person while the Aimpoint dot just showed you where
the rifle hit. Both rifles were sighted in for 250 yards, I figured on being high at 100 and
low at 300 and had fired shots to see about how much to adjust my hold.

The fella from Argentina, FerFal, said in most situations you’d have to rely on a hand-
gun more than a rifle. But then in Argentina, you could buy hand grenades on the street,
couldn’t you? I’m not sure I could throw a hand grenade far enough not to blow myself
up anyway. I was expecting Derek at any minute; he told me when he was on leave that
if something happened in California, he was pedal to the metal to rescue. That would
work unless he told the California Border Guards where he was going.

During the Dust Bowl days, the California Agricultural inspectors had the job of keeping
the Okies out. That didn’t really work and today, lots of folks in the Big Valley (San
Joaquin Valley) have roots in Oklahoma. However, I don’t think Barbara Stanwyck ever
lived in Stockton where Barkley Ranch was. All of the footage was filmed in the LA area
except the time they filmed in Senora, CA northeast of Modesto.

“I thought your house would be down.”

“Nice to see you too, Derek. No it didn’t fall down this time and we’ve had some brutal
aftershocks. Which way did you come?”

“I-40 to I-15 to 18 to Palmdale.”

“Was the viaduct on 18 still standing?”

“Yeah, did you think it wouldn’t?”

“Didn’t know. Figured 138 would be closed south of 18. Did you have any trouble getting
gas?”

“No, I brought my own. It turned out to be about 1,630 miles and I used both drums of
gas. That guy out on the highway had a generator and gas but he wanted $6 a gallon.”

“At Oasis?”

“That’s the place.”

“Let’s have some coffee or a beer if you’d rather. It’s left over from Christmas when you
were here.”

68
“Sharon, how much cash do we have?”

“Why?”

“We need 4 drums of gas, 220 gallons and its $6 a gallon.”

“How much is that?”

“$1,320.”

“How much cash did you get for the gas you provided the others?”

“About $300, $5 a gallon, except what I traded for.”

“So you need $1,000?”

“Do you have it?”

“Yes, I have that and more in my cash reserve fund.”

“What cash reserve fund?”

“I set money aside in case we had problems last summer and couldn’t pay the bills.
Why do we need 220 gallons of gas?”

“Derek needs 110-gallons to get home and we need 110-gallons to refill the two empty
drums we have.”

“Dad, you’re coming with me!”

“No, we’re not. There’s no way we could get our gas in the back of your pickup plus all
of the food and other things we have.”

“Why would you need to take your gas?”

“If we came with you, we’d take Amy’s SUV. It would need as much gas as your pickup.
We’d need to rent a trailer to haul all of our stuff. I’m not sure how much Sharon has in
her cash reserve fund because I didn’t know she had one.”

I’d agreed to return to Arkansas with Derek if we ever had WW III. This was an earth-
quake, not a war and our house was still standing. While we didn’t have water and sew-
er, light or gas, we were getting by and I wasn’t certain that I wanted to leave. I wouldn’t
leave behind the gun I loaned Lance and we had to take all the food including the freez-
er and maybe one refrigerator; which meant taking the generator and enough gas to run
it on the trip to Gassville. How were we going to get 3 dogs and 4 cats halfway across
the country?

69
The last news I’d heard on the world situation, the Middle East, was on February 13th
and the ceasefire was more or less holding. As a younger man, I’d been well known for
my snap decisions and their accuracy. On a good day, I ran 80%, sometimes higher.
Now it took me a long time just to make a decision and no matter what I decided, it was
usually wrong, according to someone. I did the smart thing, I let Sharon decide. She
went with Derek and they filled the gas drums and any extra cans we had. Then they
got Amy’s SUV and went to U-Haul where she rented a trailer.

However, there were also problems that cannot wait for long-term solutions but need to
be tackled in the near future. North Korea and Iran present acute problems that were
discussed above and that need early solutions. It is evident, however, that all countries
possessing an enrichment or reprocessing capability are technically able – just like the
states that have nuclear weapons – to make nuclear material that can be used in weap-
ons. This is true of Brazil, Germany and Japan.

In Japan, a large plant for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel will be opened in 2006
and will further increase an already large stockpile of plutonium. To some this is a con-
cern. However, a decision to proceed to use available plutonium for weapons is a mat-
ter of political will. Hardly any plant in the world has prepared more thoroughly for the
operation of IAEA safeguards than the Japanese reprocessing plant at Aomori.

Other nuclear issues in the Middle East region are related to Israel, which is not a party
to the NPT and has significant nuclear-weapon capabilities; operational, unsafeguarded,
nuclear activities; and a variety of nuclear-capable delivery systems. As long as the
world community continues to postpone these issues, which are evidently linked to the
question of peace and security in the region, they will add to the risk of the further prolif-
eration of nuclear weapons and other WMD in the Middle East.

Israel’s right to security must be guaranteed, as must the right to security of all other
states in the Middle East. In 1995, NPT states parties addressed one vital dimension of
this challenge by including the Middle East Resolution in the package deal that led to
the indefinite extension of the treaty. This resolution endorsed the goals of the peace
process and called for the establishment of ‘an effectively verifiable Middle East zone
free of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear, chemical and biological, and their delivery
systems, and to refrain from taking any measures that preclude the achievement of this
objective.’ So far, however, the efforts to establish such a zone – a goal that all coun-
tries in the region, including Iran and Israel, have long supported – have not led to con-
crete negotiations.

In 2005 the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Sup-
pression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. As of April 2006, it has 102 signatories. The
Convention requires the domestic criminalization of acts of nuclear terrorism and com-
mits its parties to international cooperation in the prevention, investigation and prosecu-

70
tion of acts of nuclear terrorism. While offering no panacea, this convention is a signifi-
cant and welcome achievement. States should proceed to early ratification and imple-
mentation.

In January 2006, French President Jacques Chirac warned that:

The leaders of States who would use terrorist means against us, as well as those who
would consider using, in one way or another, weapons of mass destruction, must un-
derstand that they would lay themselves open to a firm and adapted response on our
part. And this response could be a conventional one. It could also be of a different kind.

The UN Charter is generally interpreted as allowing the use of armed force in self-
defense by a state that is facing an armed attack or to pre-empt an imminent armed at-
tack. In 2002, however, the United States went beyond this concept of pre-emption and
announced that it would reserve the right to use force, including nuclear weapons, to
prevent an attack possibly involving nuclear weapons even if the time, place and scale
of such WMD attack were uncertain and not imminent.

“I’m sorry Lance, but we’re leaving, I’ll have to get the rifle back from you.”

“Would you sell it?”

“I would if the price were right.”

“$1,500 for the rifle, 10 mags and a case of ammo.”

“Well, let me figure it out. (871+ 119 + 580 = 1,570) Sorry, I can’t do it for that. At least
not with the ammo in the stripper clips in the bandoleers. If you’ll settle for 1,000 rounds
of SS109 packed loose, I can do it. It’s the same ammo, packed loose in the case (871
+ 119 + 249 = 1,239).”

I have no idea how many laws I just broke, but to tell the truth, I didn’t care. Lance was
a Green Beret officer in Vietnam and in my book; it told me all I needed to know. He
counted out the cash and I went after the case off SS109. The deal didn’t include the
red dot sight. Derek said if I could find the parts, he’d mount the sight on my replace-
ment Mini-14. He claimed he could sight it in by firing just a few rounds.

Quite obviously, the decision was made and we weren’t far from being east bound and
down. Sharon loaned the oil lamps to Patti and Elvia and I divided the kerosene be-
tween Chris and Lance. Both men promised to keep a close eye on the house and
Derek gave them his number for when the phones were back up. We put the freezer
and new refrigerator in the trailer along with the generator and 3 drums of gas. Derek
loaded a third drum of gas on his pickup and all of our food and such was divided be-

71
tween the truck and the trailer. We must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies pulling
out of Palmdale. I rode with Derek and had Udell, Missy and Pyewacket with me.

Amy’s SUV was packed. It had Sharon and Amy, Lorrie plus 2 kids, 2 dogs and 3 cats.
As far as luggage went, I had my two new pairs of jeans, underwear, half a dozen shirts,
shaving kit and my meds. It took Sharon and the girls half a day to decide what to take.
This was a family affair, I didn’t think it mattered. We spent the first night in Flagstaff, the
second in Amarillo and were in Gassville the third night. Along the way, we stopped and
refilled tanks using the gas we brought with us. I hadn’t been in Gassville before; it was
a small town, population just under 2,000. There was one manufacturing plant and a
few businesses.

Out in the real world we were getting news again, although I almost wished I hadn’t.
France had only sent 2,000 soldiers to Lebanon. If we do have WW III, the first missile
should be aimed at Paris. August had come and gone and Iran hadn’t agreed with the
UN. I rather suspected that the next time Iran hiccupped the Israelis had a surprise for
them. From what I could gather from the news, the US was engaged in talks with Rus-
sia and China. China supported Iran and Russia was a major arms supplier, our com-
petitors.

I mostly stayed my bedroom at Derek’s house, nothing changed, I was just in a different
place. Our bank accounts still worked, Wells Fargo’s computer is in Oregon and Iowa
didn’t have an earthquake. I got Derek to take me to wherever I needed to go to get an
Arkansas ID card. I wanted to take advantage of the fact that Arkansas was what I
called a machinegun state. First things first, I got that darned compensator off my M1A
and converted the replacement Mini-14 to a real ‘cute’ rifle. I had sold Lance my other
cute Mini-14 and had to replace it.

Derek found the dealer and I started filling out paperwork. We even went on the web
and got the bayonet for the rifle. I gave that to Derek to sharpen. I got Sharon a pass-
port application and we went through the steps to get her one and replace mine with my
Gassville, Arkansas address. Meanwhile, I loaded up on Black Hills ammo plus maga-
zines. With no utility bills or other large expenses, other than giving Derek some money
each month, this would be my only chance. It also occurred to me that a machinegun
state is allowed to sell suppressors.

If you took time to read BuildanArk.net, you know the positive review FerFal gave sup-
pressors. I had to keep in mind that if we returned to California, I definitely had a prob-
lem. Well, may not, I don’t own a BB Gun. It wasn’t that hard to find an extended,
threaded barrel with a thread protector for my .45 and not much to get it installed. I or-
dered a FA762S, a FA556A and an Mk-23 Knight’s Armament suppressor for the
PT1911. If I shot regular ball ammo in the .45, it was pretty quiet.

72
We stored all of our stuff in Derek’s garage but used the food being careful to replace
what we used. Thirty days passed without incident and then Amy got into it with Mary.
Lorrie was talking about missing David and I just wanted Amy out of there so I suggest-
ed they go back to Palmdale and take Baby, Shadow, HB and Pyewacket with them.
We’d keep Scrappy, Missy and Sassy. I let her take 2 drums of gas.

What I didn’t let her take was any of the food that Sharon had bought unless it was stuff
that Sharon had bought specifically for the grandchildren. Knowing Amy, she’d either
feed them at MacDonald’s or make them Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. We set up
shelves in poor Derek’s garage and it wasn’t long before we had more food than we’d
moved to Arkansas.

The dealer had two types of class III weapons, pre-86 and LEO only. The price on the
pre-86 weapons was about 4 times the price of LEO only weapons. According to Global
Security (I have the internet back now!!!) the unit replacement cost of a M16A3 rifle is
$586. So I don’t get GSA pricing and I’m not a cop. Does that justify gouging me on a
weapon? I know a fella who has used full auto weapons for sale and wants over $5,000
per weapon. The only reason I can see for that is the FOPA. I believe were going to be
protected out of existence.

Maybe whoever sells the NFR weapons to the dealers is gouging them, but I doubt it.
My experience with gun dealers is that they give ½ what it worth and sell it for about 4
times that. What I needed to do was arrange to get one of those LEO only weapons at
¼ the price. I am not a cop, have never been a cop and don’t plan on becoming a cop. I
don’t think I’ve ever known a cop who would have agreed to be a straw man either.
What’s more, if you buy a NFR weapon as a lawman, you have to have a letter on the
agency letterhead confirming you’re a lawman and authorizing the purchase. It turns out
that someone in the family I was visiting knew someone who knew someone who need-
ed a little money.

He had a M16A3 that was in very good condition that he wanted to sell. I wasn’t inter-
ested until I found out that it wasn’t on the NFR. He wanted $1,500 cash money and
didn’t want to know my name, he planned to report the weapon as stolen semi-auto.
Shame on him, that kind of double dipping can get you into jail, when they catch you. I
had a Thunder Lizard (M1A) but not a Chicago Typewriter (Thompson sub ma-
chinegun). I passed on the deal and got a second Mini-14 and tricked it out.

73
 Survival Story – Chapter 8

The magnitude of the defeat is considerable. Israel appears to have lost at every level –
strategic, operational and tactical. Nothing she tried worked. Air power failed, as it al-
ways does against an enemy who doesn’t have to maneuver operationally, or even
move tactically for the most part. The attempts to blockade Lebanon and thus cut off
Hezbollah’s resupply failed; her caches proved ample. Most seriously, the ground as-
sault into Lebanon failed. Israel took little ground and paid heavily in casualties for that.
More, she cannot hold what she has taken; if she is not forced to withdraw by diploma-
cy, Hezbollah will push her out, as it did once before. The alternative is a bleeding ulcer
that never heals.

But these failures only begin to measure the magnitude of Israel’s defeat. While Hezbol-
lah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, is now an Islamic hero, Olmert has become a
boiled brisket in the piranha pool that is Israeli politics. The cease-fire in Lebanon will
allow camera crews to broadcast the extent of the destruction to the world, with further
damage to Israel’s image. Israel’s “wall” strategy for dealing with the Palestinians has
been undone; Hamas rockets can fly over a wall as easily as Hezbollah rockets have
flown over Israel’s northern border.

Most importantly, an Islamic Fourth Generation entity, Hezbollah, will now point the way
throughout the Arab and larger Islamic world to a future in which Israel can be defeated.
That will have vast ramifications, and not for Israel alone. Hundreds of millions of Mos-
lems will believe that the same Fourth Generation war that defeated hated Israel can
beat equally-hated America, its “coalitions” and its allied Arab and Moslem regimes. Fu-
ture events seem more likely to confirm that belief than to undermine it.

The cease-fire in Lebanon will last only briefly, its life probably measured in days if not
in hours. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah has genuinely accepted it. The notion that the
Lebanese Army and a rag-tag UN force will disarm Hezbollah is absurd even by the
usual low standard of diplomatic fictions. The bombing and the rocketing may stop brief-
ly, but Israel has already announced a campaign of assassination against Hezbollah
leaders, while every Israeli soldier in Lebanon will remain a target of Hezbollah.

Unfortunately for states generally, Israel appears to have no good options when hostili-
ties recommence. It can continue to grind forward on the ground in southern Lebanon,
paying bitterly for each foot of ground, and perhaps eventually denying Hezbollah some
of its rocket-launching sites. But it cannot hold what it takes. It may strive for a more ro-
bust UN force, but what country wants to fight Hezbollah? Any occupier of southern
Lebanon that is not there with Hezbollah’s permission will face the same guerrilla war
Israel already fought and lost. Most probably, Israel will escalate by taking the war to
Syria or Iran, and what will be a strategy of desperation. That too will fail, after it plunges
the whole region into a war the outcome of which will be catastrophic for the United
States as well as for Israel.

74
Before that disastrous denouement, my Fourth Generation crystal ball suggests the fol-
lowing events are likely:

● Again, a near-term resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, with Israel
succeeding no better than it has to date. In the past, the IDF has been brilliant at pulling
rabbits out of hats, but this time someone else seems to occupy all the rabbit holes.
● A fracturing of Lebanon, with a collapse of the weak Lebanese state and very possibly
a return to civil war there (which was always the probable result of Syria’s departure).
● A rise of Syrian and Iranian influence generally, matched by a fall of American influ-
ence. If Israel and America were clever, Syria’s comeback could offer a diplomatic op-
portunity of a deal in which Syria changed sides in return for a peace treaty with Israel
that included the return of all lands. The crystal ball says that opportunity will be
spurned.
● A vast strengthening of Islamic 4GW elements everywhere.
● Finally and perhaps most discouragingly, a continued inability of state militaries eve-
rywhere, including those of Israel and the United States, to come to grips with Fourth
Generation War. Inability may be too kind of a word; refusal is perhaps more accurate.

Are there any brighter prospects? Not unless Israel changes its fundamental policy.
Even in the unlikely event that the cease-fire in Lebanon holds and Lebanese Army and
UN forces do wander into southern Lebanon, that would buy but a bit of time. Israel only
has a long-term future if it can reach a mutually acceptable accommodation with its
neighbors. So long as those neighbors are states, a policy of pursuing such an accom-
modation may have some chance of success. But as the rise of Fourth Generation ele-
ments such as Hezbollah and Hamas weaken and in time replace those states, the
possibility will disappear. Unfortunately, Israeli politics appear to be moving away from
such a course rather than toward it.

For America, the question is whether Washington will continue to demand that we go
down with the Israeli ship.

Tomorrow will be our 6 month mark, and then only 6 more months to go! Everything is
fine and works in cycles. Some weeks see more activity than others based on the insur-
gents’ cycles of regrouping and refitting.

The first province was turned over to Iraqi security forces and the goal is for all the prov-
inces to be turned over to the ISF by the end of ‘07 with the exception of Anbar and
Baghdad. Baghdad is the heart of the Sunni Triangle and Anbar is the primary route of
the “rat lines”, Iraq’s Ho Chi Min Trail where the foreign fighters, weapons, and supplies
are making their way into the country.

Our new Iraqi battalion commander is turning out to be alright. He punched one of his
warrant officers because he was allowing his men to live like pigs (in the Iraqi military it
is OK for officers to strike their men, there is no official military justice system in the Iraqi
army). He has denied some of his officers leave to make them do their jobs and is dock-
ing pay from soldiers who violate rules.

75
Our old battalion commander is trying to evade his investigation about his skimming
money from Iraqi army food contracts and the soldiers themselves.

The brigade general is also involved in the corruption...which is why nothing is happen-
ing. Our executive officer returned after 6 months of paid sick leave only to find his deal-
ings in the scam are under investigation, so yesterday he went back on sick leave, all
approved by the general.

The biggest lesson I have learned over 6 months here is that the Iraqi culture is incapa-
ble of sustaining a western style military. The Arabic style military it can function with is
distasteful to western soldiers: officers who hit their men, officer and senior enlisted men
who regularly steal from their men, using leadership to openly grant yourself more food
and standard of living items while your men go without, taking food from civilians while
searching their houses, taking food from crops while searching for weapons caches,
and all the while professing to be men of God.

Not to mention the Iraqi culture is so absolutely LAZY that nothing gets done unless we
force them to do it.

More of our soldiers went AWOL, new food supplies came in yesterday from Ramadi
but were grossly insufficient, new soldiers arrived but their initial military training is sub-
standard and you can tell they are really just here for a paycheck. Iraqi army communi-
cations gear is insufficient and not encrypted (we actually have had unidentified people
calling on the Iraqi frequencies requesting tactical information...and the Iraqis actually
give it to them without knowing who it is).

So after 6 months we’ve:

● taught them techniques for planning operations...they won’t do it.

● shown them how to conduct weapons sustainment ranges...they won’t do it.
● shown them how to conduct convoys...they won’t do it.
● taught them moral and ethical behavior required of soldiers...they won’t do it.
● taught them how to manage logistics...they won’t do it.
● taught them personnel and administrative management...they won’t do it.
● taught them how to operate tactically...they won’t do it.
● taught them how to sustain the life support systems on the camp...they won’t do it.

Basically we have taught them how to be a self-sufficient battalion, but unless the Ma-
rines do it for them, they won’t do anything. They ALWAYS revert back to the “Iraqi way”
when we are not around and that involves DESTROYING and WASTING everything
they get their hands on.

But other than all that they say they are “dedicated” to the future of Iraq...should be a
bright and wonderful future.

76
°

During the period of 17-19 May 2006, the Army’s Project Manager Soldier Equipment
(PM SEQ) conducted First Article Testing of Pinnacle Armor’s Dragon Skin Full Torso
Wrap coverage level 4 body armor system at HP White Laboratory as requested by
Brigadier General Moran (he has since been forced to retire). After the first round was
fired on the 17th the test director Karl Masters and technical liaison James Zheng ar-
gued openly and loudly about the placement of the shots and what constituted an edge
for flexible armor systems. At this point Karl Masters threw down his paperwork and
stormed off as he told James Zheng “You represent the government you select the
shots and you will be responsible!” Next, Karl and James threw x-rays of our body ar-
mor at us and claimed that we didn’t know how to design a flexible armor system.

When we asked how James Zheng came to that conclusion James said “look at the
spacing of the discs, they are not evenly spaced”? We showed him that when he picked
up the vest to place it on the x-ray table he changed the spacing of some of the rows of
discs and that this is what is supposed to happen in flexible systems! You could see the
light come on over his head, no wonder they can’t seem to design anything better than
what they have. Again, deviation from the ESAPI test protocols and procedures took
place by the selection of shot placements of APM2 rounds around the ceramics in non-
rifle defeating areas (where there was an adhesive anomaly. James Zheng attempted to
induce failure with selective placement of shots at the center and edge of individually
isolated discs on the system and the system did not fail. This set James Zheng off on a
tirade saying “it’s not supposed to do that” and throwing his arms in the air and yelling.
This does not sound like fair and unbiased testing to us.

The testing was stopped by the Army at 12:37 pm on the 19th, Karl Masters and James
Zheng had just shot one of our Medium sized vest with 12 rounds of APM2 (level 4) with
complete stops on all rounds with a back face trauma average of 22.5mm for this vest
and 23mm for all the vests tested, which is a 50% reduction in trauma over the current
system. Imagine how many more lives could have been saved if the Dragon Skin body
armor system was available to our troops today. When was the last time the Army dared
to shot 12 rounds of M2AP (level 4) into any Interceptor IBA with ESAPI plates? The
reason Karl Masters, Col. John Norwood (being forced to retire early) and James Zheng
gave for stopping the testing early on the 19th was as quoted by Karl Masters: “I’m
completely baffled by this flexible technology and I’m not going to send another round
down range until I can understand how a flexible system works!” This is the same group
that falsely claimed to have paid Pinnacle Armor nearly a million dollars to develop our
Dragon Skin system as Major General Sorenson said on CNN, 31 March 2006!

All of the Government agencies that use our Dragon Skin body armor have all tested
the system and found it to be far superior to the current Army system. We are still look-
ing forward to working with the Department of Defense to conduct fair and unbiased
testing to prove that our Dragon Skin system is far superior to any other system.

77
In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories on
which more than a million Palestinians lived, many of them refugees of the war of 1948.
Some of the residents of the occupied territories belonged to various militant move-
ments. The PLO’s earlier influence in these lands was limited by Egypt and Jordan (who
saw it as a Syrian proxy); however, in 1967 it began to rapidly take over the existing in-
frastructure. Many Palestinians fled to Jordan and de-stabilized its political system.
Within months, Israel was again the target of a wave of attacks (at that time mainly con-
sisting of, but not limited to bombings), that originated either in the Palestinian popula-
tion within the occupied territories, or in Jordan, which was no longer able to contain
them.

Israel’s army and security services retaliated forcefully and eventually devised tactics
that made it possible to stop the attacks. By 1970, members of most major Palestinian
terror networks in West Bank and Gaza were identified and arrested, while the PLO’s
attempts to take over Jordan only led to armed response by King Hussein, and the for-
mers’ exile. Yasser Arafat and the PLO moved to South Lebanon.

Palestine Liberation Organization has launched numerous terrorist raids on Israeli tar-
gets from Lebanon that caused hundreds of Israeli casualties. In addition, in the 1970s
and early 1980s, various arms of the PLO have carried out a wave of terrorist bomb-
ings, massacres in synagogues and in public airports and airplane hijackings across Eu-
rope, the most famous being the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Sum-
mer Olympics, by a group called “Black September”.

In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in order to expel the PLO from there. The operation
succeeded in making Arafat and numerous PLO members flee to Tunis. During the op-
eration, Israel became entangled with the local population. By 1985 Israel withdrew from
all of South Lebanon but for a strip of about 10 miles wide (intended at preventing mor-
tar and rocket fire at Israel’s northern cities). However, Israel’s prolonged stay and Arab
and Iranian support had led to the strengthening of the Shi’ite-Muslim group Hezbollah
that began to execute attacks against Israeli and Western targets, military and non-
military alike.

In December 1987 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza rose up in a popular civil
revolt (named Intifada, Arabic for “shaking off”), opposing the continued Israeli occupa-
tion. While the Intifada began spontaneously, by January 1988 it was already under the
direction from the PLO headquarters in Tunis. However, the Intifada also signified the
rise of Islamic opposition groups to the secular PLO leadership, namely Hamas (led by
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Intifada’s terrorist effects on the Israeli population concentrated in two main areas.
First, provocateurs paid by PLO caused the daily creation of large mobs, stoning Israeli
cars and attacking Israeli civilians. These were often coordinated with international me-
dia outlets in order to maximize media coverage. Secondly, on the general background
of the unrest, there were numerous deliberate attacks made sometimes in remote areas

78
against Israeli civilians. The terrorist attacks were varied in type and style, but many of
them could be described as “local initiatives”, that did not require a central planning ap-
paratus. An example of such an attack would be the 405 Bus slaughter of July 6, 1988,
in which 14 bus passengers were killed as an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus
was driving by the edge of a cliff.

In 1993, Israel completed the Oslo Accords, a series of negotiations with the PLO, re-
sulting in mutual recognition, the agreement on the cessation of violence, and the form-
ing of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA). One of PA’s obligations, as stated
in the Oslo Accords, was the prevention of Palestinian terrorism against Israel.

Initially, as both Israel and the United States agree, the PA carried out its obligations. In
accordance with the agreement, it transformed the Intifada infrastructure into a govern-
ment-like apparatus. However, several times in the years since 1993, there were sever-
al waves of Palestinian attacks. The Palestinian Authority quickly acted against those
who carried them out, but it did not arrest the leadership of the terror movements. This
led some members of the Israeli public to suspect that the regularity of the attacks -
many waves came when the Israeli public reaction could be beneficial to some Palestin-
ian aim during negotiations, along with numerous documented facts of incitement
against Jews and Israelis in official PA-controlled media, schools, and mosques - meant
that PA complicity could be taking place.

In Autumn 2000 the Second Intifada began. The Palestinians blame Ariel Sharon, then
the Israeli opposition leader, for inciting the Intifada with a trip to the politically sensitive
Al-Aqsa Mosque with a large group of Israelis, while Israel claims the PA started it inten-
tionally to improve the Palestinian positions at the negotiating table after the failure of
the Camp David talks during the summer of 2000.

Over 100 suicide bombings, mainly targeting city buses, restaurants and open air gath-
ering places, have taken place in Israel, killing more than three hundred civilians. Ha-
mas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah are said to have at their disposal enormous quantities of
weapons and explosives, which all sides agree are not made by the individual bombers
themselves but at informal factories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel names
the towns of Hebron, Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah as centers of this activity.

Israel claims that the PA’s position regarding terrorism was shady in the first place.
While condemning some terrorist attacks, the PA has never arrested figures of im-
portance to the terrorist networks, confiscated their weaponry or even publicly de-
nounced future violence against Israelis. Operatives from the Fatah movement of the
late Yasser Arafat, the head of the PA, and Palestinian policemen are known to have
participated in a large number of attacks themselves. A radical change of the PA posi-
tion was that imprisoning militants, even those who targeted Israeli civilians, may be
seen as collaborating with Israel.

During Israel’s recent military operations begun in the late spring of 2003 into the West
Bank (including the town of Jenin) the Israeli government has obtained and published

79
thousands of pages of internal Palestinian Authority documents which demonstrate that
the PA has been covertly funding and directing, many of the suicide bombings. The
head of the United States’ CIA, as well as many other US politicians and analysts, have
gone on record as saying that these documents are without a doubt real, and prove that
Arafat personally ordered terrorism through his Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. The Palestin-
ian Authority initially responded by saying that these documents were taken out of con-
text. However, the PA’s current position is that the documents never existed, that they
are fabrications – and that they are the property of the Palestine Authority and must be
returned. The change in position is interpreted by many in the US and Israel as tacit
admissions that the documents were authentic.

As a result of the military operations, reestablishing Israeli control over areas ceded to
the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, the number of terrorist attacks has
dropped very significantly, from several a week to one a month.

Notwithstanding the continued European general condemnation of any violence towards

civilians, Israelis included, Israel continues to complain that acts taken against Europe-
an citizens are always labeled as terrorist, but that similar actions against Israelis are
seldom labeled as such.

Palestinian Terrorism has an extended history that predates the founding of the state of
Israel by several decades. Examples include the 1929 Massacre in Hebron and other
cities. The discussion below focuses on the issue of the Palestinian National Authority in
curbing or inciting violence. In the Oslo Accords the Palestinian Authority undertook to
end all incitement against Israel, Israelis and Jews.

Many Israelis and Americans blame suicide bombings on the indoctrination of Palestini-
an children, from kindergarten to college age, with pro-terrorist propaganda, citing offi-
cial Palestinian Authority television shows for 5 and 6 year olds teaching them songs
about murdering Jews. Jordanian and Egyptian books used in the schools belonging to
Islamic movements are sources of incitement on their own right. Given such a climate of
hatred over so many years, they say, it is not surprising that some Palestinian children
are eventually convinced to become terrorists.

Some advocates also feel that this does not hold true for the educational institutions of
Palestinian authority itself, saying that a new generation of Palestinian textbooks re-
leased in the year 2000 is more tolerant. In particular, a study of Palestinian textbooks
by Professor Nathan Brown of George Washington University in Washington, DC, while
not dismissing the allegations entirely, claims the book to be “largely innocent of these
charges”.

However, critics claim that these books, while not inciting directly for violence, still pre-
sent an excessively jingoistic, nationalistic and fallacious image that in effect denies Is-
rael’s right to exist.

80
A survey conducted by Gaza Community Mental Health Program on children living
close to major checkpoints in Khan Yunis and Rafah in Southern Gaza Strip states that
54.6% of the children show symptoms of severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
More than 50% had seen dead or injured people, in 23% of the cases the person was a
family member.

Several prominent leaders of Palestinian Islamist organizations such as Hamas and Is-
lamic Jihad have stated that they are fundamentally opposed to the existence of the
state of Israel.

Some commentators argue that the extent of the violence against Israel is greatly exag-
gerated; pointing out the combined homicide rate including deaths from terrorism is still
lower than that of many Western countries. For example, E.V. Kontorovich writes in the
NY Post, “The State Department last month issued a travel warning urging Americans to
‘defer travel to Israel’ because the place is too dangerous – the second such warning in
four months. Yet Israel is still safer than America – let alone other nations for which
State does not offer warnings.”

Hezbollah (aka, Hezbollah, Hizbu’lla, Hizballah or Hizbullah) is all the same organiza-
tion, the Party of God. All of the above spellings are correct and there are several more
that are also correct. The key is the Hizb part of the word. The Hezb spelling is West-
ernization of the word.

I type a lot and really should have one of those typewriters I mentioned. You can buy 50
round magazines from Auto Ordinance, but their version of the weapon is semi auto. I
saw one advertised on the Internet but God would need a loan to buy it. Back when they
came out, they sold for $225. The one I saw in semi auto for about $1,400 or $1,450
depending on model. Although the Thompson is obsolete, I wanted to own one, a real
one, something like a Model 1928 or M1A1.

While the damage caused Israel’s military reputation tops Western assessments of the
Lebanon war, our Iranian sources report an entirely different perception taking hold in
ruling circles in Tehran.

After UN Security Council resolution 1701 calling for a truce was carried Friday, Aug.
11, the heads of the regime received two separate evaluations of the situation in Leba-
non – one from Iran’s foreign ministry and one from its supreme national security coun-
cil. Both were bleak: their compilers were concerned that Iran had been manipulatively
robbed of its primary deterrent asset ahead of a probable nuclear confrontation with the
United States and Israel.

While the foreign ministry report highlighted the negative aspects of the UN resolution,
the council’s document complained that Hezbollah squandered thousands of rockets –
either by firing them into Israel or having them destroyed by the Israeli air force.

81
The writer of this report is furious over the waste of Iran’s most important military in-
vestment in Lebanon merely for the sake of a conflict with Israeli over two kidnapped
soldiers.

It took Iran two decades to build up Hezbollah’s rocket inventory.

Our sources estimate that Hezbollah’s adventure wiped out most of the vast sum of $4-
6 billion the Iranian treasury sunk into building its military strength. The organization was
meant to be strong and effective enough to provide Iran with a formidable deterrent to
Israel embarking on a military operation to destroy the Islamic regime’s nuclear infra-
structure.

To this end, Tehran bought the Israeli military doctrine of preferring to fight its wars on
enemy soil. In the mid-1980s, Iran decided to act on this doctrine by coupling its nuclear
development program with Israel’s encirclement and the weakening its deterrence
strength. The Jewish state was identified at the time as the only country likely to take
vigorous action to spike Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

The ayatollahs accordingly promoted Hezbollah’s rise as a socio-political force in Leba-

non, at the same time building up its military might and capabilities for inflicting damage
of strategic dimensions to Israel’s infrastructure.

That effort was accelerated after Israeli forces withdrew from the Lebanese security
zone in May 2000. A bunker network and chain of fortified positions were constructed,
containing war rooms equipped with the finest western hi-tech gadgetry, including night
vision gear, computers and electronics, as well as protective devices against bacterio-
logical and chemical warfare.

This fortified network was designed for assault and defense alike.

Short- medium- and long-range rockets gave the hard edge to Hezbollah’s ability to
conduct a destructive war against Israel and its civilians – when the time was right for
Tehran.

Therefore, Iran’s rulers are hopping mad and deeply anxious over news of the huge
damage sustained by Hezbollah’s rocket inventory, which was proudly touted before the
war as numbering 13,000 pieces.

Hezbollah fighters, they are informed, managed to fire only a small number of Khaibar-1
rockets, most of which hit Haifa and Afula, while nearly 100 were destroyed or disabled
by Israeli air strikes.

The long-range Zelzal-1 and Zelzal-2, designed for hitting Tel Aviv and the nuclear reac-
tor at Dimona have been degraded even more. Iran sent over to Lebanon 50 of those
missiles. The keys to the Zelzal stores stayed in the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary

82
Guards officers who were in command of Hezbollah. Nasrallah and his officers had no
access to these stores.

But Tehran has learned that Israel was able to destroy most of the 22 Zelzal launchers
provided.

That is not the end of the catalogue of misfortunes for the Islamic rulers of Iran.

1. The UN Security Council embodied in resolution 1701 a chapter requiring Hezbollah

to disarm – in the face of a stern warning issued by supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khame-
nei in person in the early days of the war. Revolutionary Guards commanders went so
far as to boast: “No one alive is capable of disarming Hezbollah.”

The disarming of Hezbollah would therefore be a bad knock to the supreme ruler’s au-
thority and prestige as well as a disastrous blow for the deterrent force so painstakingly
and expensively fashioned as a second front line to protect the Islamic republic from a
safe distance.

2. Hezbollah’s ejection from South Lebanon, if accomplished in the aftermath of the

ceasefire, would moreover deprive Tehran of the sword hanging over Israel’s head of
instantaneous attack.

For the sake of partial damage control, Tehran handed Nasrallah a set of new instruc-
tions Sunday, Aug. 13:

First, to find a way of evading the ceasefire and keeping up war operations against Is-
raeli forces.

Second, to reject the proposal to disarm before the Lebanese government meets on this
Monday afternoon. In fact, that meeting was called off after Hassan Nasrallah sent a
message to the Lebanese ministers flatly refusing to have Hezbollah give up its weap-
ons in the south. He also turned down a compromise proposal handed him later,
whereby the Lebanese army’s first mission after deploying in the south would be to help
Hezbollah evacuate its fighters with their arms to positions north of the Litani River.

The strategy evolving in Tehran since the ceasefire went into effect Monday morning
requires Hezbollah to employ a range of stratagems – not only to prevent the truce from
stabilizing but to stop the Lebanese army from deploying in the south and, above all, the
entry of an effective international force.

Furthermore, Hezbollah is instructed to stretch the military crisis into the next three or
four months, synchronously with the timetable for a UN Security Council sanctions-
wielding session on Iran.

According to exclusive reports reaching our sources, the Iranian government believes
that Israel and the United States are preparing a military operation for the coming Octo-

83
ber and November to strike Iran’s nuclear installations. It is therefore vital to keep the
two armies fully occupied with other pursuits.

84
 Survival Story – Chapter 9

Iranian leaders’ conviction that the Lebanon war was staged to bamboozle them rests
on certain perceptions:

As seen from Tehran, Israel looked as though it was carrying out a warming-up exercise
in preparation for its main action against Iran’s nuclear program. The Israeli army was
able to explore, discover and correct its weak points, understand what was lacking and
apply the necessary remedial measures. They therefore expect the IDF to emerge from
the war having produced novel methods of warfare.

They also have no doubt that the United States will replenish Israel’s war chest with a
substantial aid program of new and improved weaponry.

From the Iranian viewpoint, Israel succeeded in seriously degrading Hezbollah’s capa-
bilities. It was also able to throw the Lebanese Shi’ite militia to the wolves; the West is
now in a position to force Nasrallah and his men to quit southern Lebanon and disarm.
The West shut its eyes when he flouted the Resolution 1559 order for the disarmament
of all Lebanese militias. But that game is over. The Americans will use Resolution 1701
as an effect weapon to squeeze Iran, denied of its second-front deterrence, on its nu-
clear program.

Tehran hopes to pre-empt the American move by torpedoing the Lebanon ceasefire and
preventing the termination of hostilities at all costs.

Now I almost wish I couldn’t get the news, it wasn’t good. It seemed to me that the world
had divided itself into two camps: US and our close allies and everybody else. The War
on Terror was happening everywhere, not just in New York and Washington, but Ma-
drid, London, Germany and untold other places in the Far East, although Bali comes to
mind. I had to study to see what a 4th Generation war was:

The three classical levels of war – strategic, operational and tactical – still exist in
Fourth Generation war. But all three are affected and to some extent changed by the
Fourth Generation. One important change is that while in the first three generations,
strategy was the province of Generals; the Fourth Generation gives us the “strategic
corporal.” Especially when video cameras are rolling, a single enlisted Marine may take
an action that has strategic effect.

At the heart of this phenomenon, Fourth Generation war, is not a military but a political,
social and moral revolution: a crisis of legitimacy of the state. All over the world, citizens
of states are transferring their primary allegiance away from the state to other things: to
tribes, ethnic groups, religions, gangs, ideologies and so on. Many people who will no
longer fight for their state will fight for their new primary loyalty. In America’s two wars
with Iraq, the Iraqi state armed forces showed little fight, but Iraqi insurgents whose loy-

85
alties are to non-state elements are now waging a hard fought and effective guerilla
war. I see; Vietnam, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, now it make sense. It
seems to this tired old man that maybe we bit off more than we can chew.

From South Carolina’s budding immigrant population to the fast-rising number of His-
panics in Arkansas, minority groups make up an increasing share of the population in
every state but West Virginia, according to figures released Tuesday by the Census Bu-
reau.

“This is just an extraordinary explosion of diversity all across the United States,” said
William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “It’s
diversity and immigration going hand in hand.”

I suggested that if he liked my Tac-Force chest rig, I buy 2 so Mary and he could each
have one. Derek didn’t have a gun safe but he did have a locking closet with a dead
bolt. There were 2 keys, one on his key ring and the other on Mary’s. I bought one of
those long chains that are intended to extend light pulls but can be worn around the
neck like a dog tag chain. The duplicate key he made me went on that and I never took
it off. However, for all the weapons, magazines and ammo I had, I still didn’t have the
rifle I wanted. What I had instead was a house in Palmdale, CA that need a little patch-
ing, new linoleum/carpet and sold. Even in a housing slump some communities are
short of housing, especially after an earthquake. Sharon called Patti, they must have
gotten the phone up, to check on the house. Patti said the house was fine and Costco
and Sam’s Club were back open. The water and sewer would be on before the end of
the week and the remainder of the utilities, lights and gas, within 2 weeks.

“Matt, Gary Ott… Yes, it was pretty bad, but we’re in Arkansas at the moment… Long
story short, we have earthquake insurance but it has a $15,000 deductible. Our damag-
es probably won’t run more than $15,000 so in essence, we’re uninsured; do you see
my problem?”

I was told he was willing to take it to the Trust Committee, but no promises. I didn’t
bother to explain my plan to him. It was simple, fix the house up enough to sell and sell
it. To make that easy, Derek and I would have to return to Palmdale, rent a truck and
move our remaining stuff. That would leave an empty house that would be easy for
painters and carpet installers. When he’s in a hurry, he sort of drives like I used to, he
only stops to fill and empty, ergo, it was 24 hours to Palmdale. We took the Daewoo, it
would be easier to tow back to Gassville. We also took 5 gas cans, just in case.

When we got to Palmdale, I called Sharon and she told me that the bank had come
through. Absent garbage service, the trash company had put a 5 yard dumpster in each
neighborhood. Patti said that when it was full, you called the garbage service and they
replaced it within 4 hours. Derek and I spent the first 2 days arranging things as in find-
ing and hiring a painter and picking out new carpet and linoleum. I called a moving

86
company and found out they would pack the house for shipment, as a separate service,
so I hired them. They would also load a U-Haul truck, as a separate service.

We spent 2 days sorting through trash and filled the dumpster. I told Amy I didn’t care
where she went, but she couldn’t stay here, we were selling the house. I was forced to
rent her a storage space and prepay it for 6 months. We got the U-Haul truck and with
the help of David’s boys moved all of her junk out. I don’t believe she said more than 5
words to me the entire time. I wrote her a check for $2,500 and told her to find a place.
Then, she got in her SUV and that was the last I saw of her.

The next step was to have everything boxed to move and the following day, they loaded
the U-Haul truck. As soon as the house was empty, the painter showed up. They said
they’d be done in 2 days so I scheduled the carpet and linoleum installation for 3 days
hence. I gave Patti all but one set of keys and offered her $200 to clean up the house
after the painters and carpet installers were done. The house was listed with Coldwell
Banker in Palmdale for $250,000. It sold 2 days after the carpet was installed to the first
couple that looked at it.

We took the truck to the U-Haul store and they hooked up a car towing rig and we add-
ed the Daewoo. I may have things a bit out order here; it was all very confusing at the
time. We cleared $225,000 less the $90,000 loan or ~$135,000. The $15,000 the bank
provided covered all of our costs and then some. By the time the house sold, we were
back in Arkansas. Escrow closes quickly when the buyer has his financing pre-
arranged. Sharon arranged for the money to be wired to her savings account in Iowa.

We bought a lot and a double wide mobile home. A hole was excavated for a basement
but the basement was about 20’ deep and the only opening was on one end. The over-
head was a well-supported foot of concrete and it had footings, 9’ walls, a 12” lid and
12’6” risers to set the house on. To the casual observer, the house was 30” above-
ground. There was a ramp that started one end of the back of the house and went to the
level of the basement floor. It turned a corner and you continued to a 2nd landing turned
again and followed a tunnel to get to the, ah, er, um, Swiss PT Armored Door which had
been cast in place when they poured the 10” thick basement and armory walls. The ar-
mory had 2 steel doors with the outer door opening out and the inner door opening in. It
was a room almost half the width of the basement and 12’ deep.

Almost because it stopped short of the armored door which opened into a 6’ wide hall-
way 12’ long created by a 2”x8” wall that extended from the outside wall to create an-
other room 12’ deep housing the Kohler 30REOZJB which was on a 200amp automatic
transfer switch. The mechanical room was the same size as the armory, but not nearly
so vacant. The generator intake source was the shelter and exhaust pipes with a 3 bar
blast valves extended to the surface. The ANDAIR VA-150 with an appropriate filter plus
a separate scrubber for scrubbing carbon monoxide/dioxide from the basement atmos-
phere during a period of time when outside air might not be suitable was in the shelter

87
along with an overpressure valve. The storage room housed the freezer and spare re-
frigerators.

The two pipes in the generator room were both exhaust pipes. The first ejected the en-
gine exhaust and the second the hot air from the room. The generator burned room air
sucked in from the pipe from the shelter. With 113 amps at 240 volts, we had whole
home prime power system.

The new house, a Beacon Hills floor plan D, came with propane fueled countertop
burners, hot water heater and furnace. Sharon moved the new refrigerator to the base-
ment and put her Amana upstairs. The other refrigerator was our old Kenmore elite sid-
ed by side refrigerator/freezer that had been repaired so it didn’t leak water and the
icemaker worked. Every time the icemaker filled, it was emptied into an ice bag. The on-
ly thing that freezer held was bags of ice. The main basement refrigerator was the one
that came with the mobile home. We put in electric countertop burners for the base-
ment. Our older washer and dryers were in the basement and Sharon had brand new
Maytag washer and gas dryer in the utility room. The old dryer was worn out and fueled
by gas. She replaced it with an electric.

By the time we got it done, we were down to $25,000 give or take. I didn’t have that rifle
and probably couldn’t pick it up if I did, but it was at the top of my list. Sharon said we
had to save the left over money for taxes on the sale of our house in Palmdale. We’d
kept track of the improvements and I computed that the house we had paid $95 grand
for represented a total investment of more like $125 grand. Any of the gain we put into
the new home was considered a transfer of our basis, hence not taxable. We didn’t
want visitors so we went with the optional activity room, optional study, optional Master
Bath and 3 fireplaces. She had a huge room for her quilting and I had a study (office)
and a den (library). Aside from the things I wanted to buy, we had only one problem left,
getting Missy and Scrappy trained to potty outside.

The 30REOZJB burned diesel. I started buying deep cycle batteries, the gel kind, in ad-
dition to 1,000 gallon loads of diesel. One month we got a big check from Iowa, I went
crazy and bought 2 inverters. That was Plan B, my just in case plan, if something hap-
pened to the generator or we had to shut it down to change the oil, etc. Obsessive-
compulsive people make lists and have several sets of plans, A through Z. The EPA
certified generator burned from 1.0 to 2.8gph. A one year supply of diesel was between
8,766 gallons and 24,545 gallons per year.

They also have appliance caddies so they can move the upstairs appliances to the
basement, if they have enough time. That was one of several reasons the access to the
basement was a ramp instead of stairs. However, the ramp went down 12’ in 76’ making
it about a 16% grade, more than my wheelchair could handle with me in it.

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Here’s how worked out the propane issue: 1) we rented one 3,000-gallon propane tank
from one company and rented a second of the same size from a second company, giv-
ing us a total of 5,400 gallons capacity and those tanks were buried tanks, that was the
company preference. Buried, they would fill the tanks to 95% or 2,850 per tank. Not full,
but Sharon said we could handle $750 a month until we got them filled. That would take
15 months, but we’d have plenty of propane when we finished up. At the moment we
had about 2,500 in the older tank. It would take about 350 more to fill it to the 95% level
and then we’d start on the second which only held 300 gallons.

Once upon a time, we used a different kind of measurement. For example the distance
between point A and point B was so many miles, not measured in time. A liquid you
purchased was generally measure in gallons, not the cost. With propane hovering at
$2.25 a gallon each fill added ~ 333 gallons or $750 dollars’ worth. I also wanted a farm
gas tank to store some gasoline for whenever we were short on money and needed
gas. Some of the things we left in California had to be replaced, oil lamps, kerosene and
Coleman fuel, it was a long list.

She was holding some money back but didn’t tell me so we’d have it if we needed. Had
I known, I’m sure I could have found another gun to buy. Which brings me to the other
thing I wanted but would never have; one of those Tac-50s. I kept thinking I had to get
the batteries set up and the inverter wired in and every battery put me that much further
from the rifle. Instead of the 2 military M16A3s, we settled for the 2 Mini-14s.

Derek was working at a new job and liked it although it wasn’t anything like his previous
job. He’d worked for Tractor Supply in Des Moines before and now he was working for
the USPS in Mountain Home. I tried, really I did, but I couldn’t corrupt him. He wasn’t
about to do anything that would lose him that extra stripe he picked up when got back
from Iraq.

He claimed he didn’t have to go back unless the US declared war. Right, when was the
last time we did that? December 8, 1942! We fought in Korea, that was a police action,
and we fought in Vietnam with nothing more than a resolution. Now we’re fighting an
undeclared war against terror. Methinks somebody forgot Vietnam. John Kerry remem-
bers; he saved his Band-Aids. John McCain remembers and I happen to like him.
George doesn’t remember because he wasn’t there. Colin Powell remembers but he
threw up his hands and quit as Secretary of State. I know some of the Squirrels remem-
ber, but not me, I was a REMF.

I’m beginning to suspect that that undeclared war is going to get hot real soon. Now that
I got the internet back, I’m reading the news again. It’s not good. When the 34 day war
stopped last year, most everyone claimed they won. Iran won; they took everyone’s
mind off their nuclear program. That’s about the third time I’ve said that, I’m getting se-
nile.

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I’m not that bad, I solved the problem with that grade into the basement. I got a Warn
Winch and Derek and I attached it to the top of the ramp. We rigged a nylon strap that
attached to the wheelchair’s base and a control cable so I could control the winch from
the chair. I need that; I was up to 64 and felt like 90. It was a simple switch, forward to
lower and back to raise. It took some getting used to, I always felt like I was going to fall
out of the chair or fall over backward – we added a seat belt and I was much more com-
fortable. With two corners to turn, we had to install pulleys on the inside corners to keep
things rolling smoothly. The other advantage to the winch was getting things into and
out of the basement. We tried it with a loaded freezer and it was the cat’s whisker.

I gave up on the Tac-50 and decided instead to spend the money on a Ham radio. I
couldn’t pick it up either but it wasn’t intended to be moved. So, list no. 71 was my radio
list, Kenwood TS2000, SSB CB mobile and base radios, mast, antennas, lightening ar-
restors, you name it, the list was only a half-page long. I started with a Ham radio, pow-
er supply and antennas. Next were the cables and lightening arrestors and things like
that. Then I went looking for a used power pole. I called the utility company and asked
them how much they charged if you knocked down an electric pole in a car accident. It
wasn’t cheap, but it was cheaper than a real mast.

We dickered, half in English and half in whatever language they speak in Arkansas. I
can tell you, it included y’all and hey and words I didn’t understand. The most cost effec-
tive solution was to have them install a used pole. They know how deep to dig the hole
and had the equipment and experience. I talked to one of the men working on the pro-
ject because someone said he climbed poles. I told him I needed 2 cross beams and 4
antennas mounted plus the coax brought down the pole. He told me to get the antennas
and he’d mount them and run the coax for $25 an hour.

I know I should have used RG213 but RG8 was the only thing immediately available.
We put in the antennas I usually recommend, Comet Tribander, Diamond D130J, MFJ-
1798 10 band vertical and a Starduster CB antenna. Hey, this stuff was expensive, but
the pole and installation saved me enough over a mast to pay for the coax. I ran a 5th
strand as a backup. How did we pay for it? Simple, we didn’t have any payments be-
sides utility bills, lights, phone and propane bill. Plus groceries of course, but Sharon
was still buying like we had 5 in the home and we were getting way ahead on food.

Derek found a used farm tank somewhere, it held 500-gallons. He cleaned it out and
painted it bright red for me. We emptied the drums of stabilized gas into the tank and
had the local dealer top it off. I measured out the PRI-G and added it before it was filled,
hoping that it would blend when the gas was added. We stacked the drums, he had 2
and I had 4, and planned to fill them 10 gallons at a time. When it turned out that would
take a year, I asked Sharon to tell me when we had enough money to fill the drums.

She said to go ahead, she had the money at the moment because I deferred the Tac-
50. What, you didn’t think she knew? I’d mentioned it once or twice and it went bang;
she knew! I added the PRI-G and had the guy come out and top off the gas tank and fill
the 6 drums. Derek and I got them into the basement’s utility room to fuel the 5kw gen-

90
erator, just in case. It was pretty cool in the basement, under 60°, so maybe the gas
wouldn’t evaporate.

No, we hadn’t won the Lottery, so we didn’t have everything I wanted. No Tac-50, no
radiation suits at $1,200 each and no $10,000 medical clinic. I had to have oxygen, so
we bought a good used 10 liter machine. We had Sharon’s CPAP and I could use it if I
needed and she didn’t. We bought our own nebulizer pump, they aren’t that expensive.
None of which was getting us ahead on our prescriptions.

When the humidity came up, we got 2 70 pint dehumidifiers. The upstairs one used the
built in bucket and the basement unit, the drain hose accessory. As it got warmer, we
went out less. I only went to the doctor once a quarter; I found one I liked in Mountain
Home. He wrote quarterly prescriptions with 3 refills after I explained I had Humana. On
my first trip back, I told him I was sorry, but I lost the prescriptions he wrote. He also
gave us a large load of samples when Sharon asked.

I reviewed my stories and found the list of antibiotics I published a few times. I made up
a list and went to a store that sold veterinarian medications. I already had the ACS
(QuikClot) bandages and about all we needed was some IV sets and Ringer’s solution.
The doctor was reluctant to write a prescription so I asked Derek if he could get a case
of 500ml bags, starter sets and 24 IV sets. He said he’d work on it if we would pay for it.
I dug out my old medical supply catalog and showed him how cheap they were.

It took him a week to get a prescription for the Ringer’s and IV sets. We gave him the
money and he got them at a medical supply house. We were set, unless he was the one
who needed an IV. If that happened we were up a creek and I’m sure you remember the
name of the creek.

George said he wouldn’t leave Iraq as long as he was President. If he meant what he
said, we’d be there until January 20, 2009, the day they swore in the new Democrat
President. I support the troops 110%, but the war is quite another thing. Since early
2006, it had been a civil war and we no longer belonged. On the same day, Bush float-
ed a trial balloon testing the public reaction to the idea of our pulling out. I watched
Glenn Beck that night but he was as bad as the rest, focused on the JonBenét story. I’m
sorry that somebody murdered that little girl, but enough is enough.

We were so focused on that guy confessing that we weren’t paying attention to what
was going on in the Middle East. Israel was paying attention and managed to kill some
of those Hezbollah folks. Lebanon complained that it wasn’t fair; it seems they forgot
who started it too. That’s the problem these days; people often forget who started it; if
your reaction to their behavior is deemed too severe, like how we ended WW II with Ja-
pan. They think it would have been better to kill a couple of million people by invading
Japan rather than dropping 2 bombs that killed a fraction of that.

Hiroshima claimed 80,000 lives immediately and 60,000 thereafter, let’s round it off at
150,000. Nagasaki lost 70,000 immediately and about 75,000 later, let’s round it off at

91
150,000. So, 300,000 lives were more important than 2,000,000 lives? I’m sorry, that
doesn’t compute. In fact, more civilians died in the Battle of Okinawa than did in the ini-
tial blast of the atomic bombings. Years after the war, Secretary of State James Byrnes
claimed that 500,000 American lives would have been lost – and that number has since
been repeated authoritatively, but in the summer of 1945, US military planners projected
20,000 – 110,000 combat deaths from the initial November 1945 invasion, with about
three to four times that number wounded. Many military advisors held that a worst-case
scenario could involve up to 1,000,000 American casualties.

In a study done by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in April, the figures of 7.45 casualties/1000
man-days and 1.78 fatalities/1000 man-days were developed. This implied that a 90-
day Olympic campaign would cost 456,000 casualties, including 109,000 dead or miss-
ing. If Coronet took another 90 days, the combined cost would be 1,200,000 casualties,
with 267,000 fatalities. A study done for Secretary of War Henry Stimson’s staff by Wil-
liam Shockley estimated that conquering Japan would cost 1.7-4 million American cas-
ualties, including 400,000-800,000 fatalities, and five to ten million Japanese fatalities.
The key assumption was large-scale participation by civilians in the defense of Japan.

With that in mind, when push comes to shove, I certainly hope we nuke Iran assuming
all of our troops are home. I sure we could spare one for Syria too. In fact 14 nukes
would take out every major city in Syria. It wouldn’t take many more than that to wipe
out Iran; we could probably do the whole job with 2 B-2 Spirits or 4 missiles from one
Ohio class SSBN. If anyone else needs bombing, I’m sure the Israelis can handle it.

On Wednesday July 4, 2007 we were having a picnic. We invited Derek and Mary,
Mary’s parents and some of her other relatives. We had hamburgers and hot dogs for
the kids and chicken on the grill. Sharon made pistachio salad and I did the macaroni
salad. Mary was baking the beans and her mother was planning on bring a devil’s food
cake, my favorite. I gave Derek some cash and told him to buy whatever kind of beer
everyone like. We had several cases of Coke and C2.

By 2:00, everyone was there so I fired up my propane grill and started to cook the
chicken. I found out a long time ago there was 2 ways to cook chicken on a grill. The
fast way required a hot grill and a lot of attention. Conversely, a slow grill let you put the
chicken on and turn it after 30 minutes resulting in a very tender and moist grilled chick-
en. I also borrowed Derek’s gas grill and was cooking up about 5 chickens I’d cut up
myself.

My favorite way to cut up a chicken is to cut out the backbone and then halve it. Two
more cuts get the leg and thigh off and separated and one more cut gets the wing off. I
doubt it took me more than 15 minutes to cut up the 5 chickens. Then I washed them
and dried them off. They went back into the refrigerator until it was time to cook. When
people showed up, I took them out and let them warm a little before I put them on the
grills.

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It wasn’t southern fried chicken, but they seemed to enjoy it since there wasn’t any left
over. The second favorite item was the macaroni salad. Besides the macaroni and
mayo, it contained green onions, celery, green pepper, black olives, pimento and
cheese. There was a morning of dicing the veggies and I always felt it was worth it. I
stuck a transistor radio in my pocket with an ear plug in my good ear; I intended to listen
to the news on this 4th of July.

Iran and North Korea had been acting up again although there wasn’t much news on
the radio. I guess I didn’t need to wear it. We had a good time and later in the evening,
some of the folks left to see the fireworks. I once wrote that if you’ve seen one hole in
the ground, you’ve seen all the holes in the ground. I’ve seen fireworks before and they
don’t interest me. Now, if I could get my hands on a gross of M-80s or M-100s, that
would be different.

All legal fireworks have a maximum charge of 50mg of flashpowder. The maximum on
an aerial device is 160mg. In the ‘good old days’ firecrackers had the following amounts
of flashpowder: Cherry Bomb 1g; Silver Salute 1.5g; M-80 3g; Super M-80 6g; Super M-
100 7g; Quarter Sticks 15g; Barrel Bombs ??; Half Sticks 25g; and, M-1000 50-100g. If
you tightly taped a Quarter Stick to a BIC lighter, you have an incendiary hand grenade
with a 6 second fuze. Jails are houses with bars on the windows.

It didn’t look like anything was going to happen this 4th of July so I went to bed around
midnight, early for me. Right around 5am, the alarm I had connected to the automatic
transfer switch went off indicating that we’d lost power. That should answer the question
of how do you know if the power goes off in the middle of the night. I used a horn from a
security system; they’re loud enough to wake the dead. I got my robe and slippers on,
turned off the alarm and went to the living room to turn on the TV. There wasn’t a signal
on any channel.

“Sharon, get up, something is wrong.”

“Isn’t it just a power outage?”

“I don’t know, there are no TV stations on the air. I’d better call Derek and you’d better
get dressed.”

The phone was dead, it was time for plan B. I had a fleeting thought, today was Lorrie’s
40th birthday.

“The phone is out too, try your cellular.”

“Sorry Gary, I can’t get the tower.”

“You’d better go get Mary and Derek. Tell him to bring their weapons, I don’t like this. I’ll
go to the shelter and fire up the radios.”

93
“Shouldn’t you start emptying the refrigerator?”

“Not until we know what is happening, no.”

“I’ll be back.”

Ten minutes later, Derek, Mary, Elizabeth, Joshua and newborn Thomas showed up
trailing behind Sharon.

“What’s up Dad?”

“Power and phones are out. I couldn’t get anything on the TV so I came down here and
fired up the radios. I’ve been listening on 75 meters and there have been explosions in
3 large cities. That sounds like terrorists, but terrorist prefer to strike at rush hour.”

“It’s rush hour in New York and the entire east coast Dad. What cities are involved so
far?”

“Washington, New York and Atlanta. It took the entire power grid down as near as I can
tell from Ham radio, the blast in Washington was a nuclear blast.

“I’m going after Mary’s folks. When I get back, I’ll stop by the house and empty the re-
frigerator. I think we’d better button up until we know what’s happening.”

“Ok, I’ll go get my computer and wheelchair. Ask Mary to help Sharon empty our refrig-
erator.”

When I was finished getting my stuff to the basement, I sat down to think about what
was happening. If it were terrorists, one would have thought that they set off all their
bombs at once. Of course, that flew in the face of rush hours. The rush hours were all
generally at the same clock time which was an hour later in the time zones as you
moved west. Did that mean the Central Time Zone would go up at 6am? If it did, that
would make the police frantic trying to find bombs. There wouldn’t be time to evacuate
cities, if that was the plan.

94
 Survival Story – Chapter 10

America’s emergency care system is in critical condition. The signs are unmistakable:

● Emergency room (ER) crowding: Over the last decade, ER visits increased 26%.
Meanwhile, the number of ERs declined 9% and hospitals closed 198,000 beds. Do the
math. ER crowding was inevitable.
● Ambulance diversion: When crowding reaches dangerous levels, ERs divert inbound
ambulances. In 2003, diversions happened half a million times – an average of once per
minute.
● Uncompensated care: Americans are legally entitled to emergency care, but no fund-
ing is provided to pay for it. This contributes to the closure of many ERs and trauma
centers.
● Fewer “on-call” specialists: The rising costs of uncompensated care and fear of legal
liability have led more specialists to opt out of taking ER calls.

Inadequate emergency preparedness: If ERs and trauma centers are already jammed
with patients, how could they respond to a disaster or a terrorist strike?

These challenges are highlighted in 3 new reports from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Among the IOM’s recommendations, 4 stand out:

1. Congress should designate a lead agency to coordinate federal support for emergen-
cy and disaster care.
2. Federal agencies should develop a focused program of emergency care research.
3. States should regionalize delivery of emergency care to create a seamless delivery
system.
4. Hospitals, CMS, and the Joint Commission (JCHAO) must end ER crowding and am-
bulance diversion to restore access to emergency care.

The IOM envisions a coordinated, regionalized, and accountable emergency care sys-
tem. It is up to us to make that a reality. When your life is on the line, you want your
doctor, not your ambulance, to go the extra mile.

So let’s say you’re George and you’re out of town. At 6am EST, several nukes go off,
putting the whammy on several East Coast cities. Naturally the Secret Service is going
to hustle you and whoever is with you to a secure location. You remember 9/11 and
how there was a 4th plane. Would you ask yourself if they are going to hit more cities? If
so, when? How about 6am, the beginning of the morning commute? Now what? You
can’t evacuate, that could take too long, look at New Orleans. Duck and Cover? It won’t
help much, but that’s about the only option. No matter what you do, the Democrats are
going to claim it’s your fault, remember New Orleans? Why did you make the wind blow
so hard and why didn’t you force them to evacuate? Your best bet would to be to by-

95
pass Chertoff, which might save more people. Do an EAS message and tell everyone to
get to a place of safety. Tell them that Laura and you will pray for them, they like that.

I could be wrong, but I think it’s a little late to worry about no emergency rooms. There
were some cities that I didn’t hear about, Detroit, Cleveland, Miami and Boston. If I
guessed right, the Central Time Zone was going to go in about 10 minutes. It wasn’t
long before a Little Rock radio station came on the air, I assume they had backup pow-
er. It was KARN FM 102.9 (AM is 920). The country was at Threat Condition Red. The
announcer listed the 7 cities that had been bombed, all with nuclear weapons. They
were ground bursts, carried in panel trucks or rental trucks. It wouldn’t pay to be a truck
driver this morning.

A few minutes later the announcer indicated that more bombs had gone off. Chicago,
Minneapolis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Dallas. These bombs weren’t in trucks
but luxury cars. I checked the clock and it was 6am CDT. That confirmed that whoever
was behind this was working their way across the country hitting large cities with nucle-
ar weapons. So far, they’d exploded 12. I couldn’t project how many more there’d be but
there were 2 time zones left.

The Mountain Time zone held Denver, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tuc-
son and Salt Lake City. However Arizona didn’t observe DST, except for the Navaho
nation. The Pacific Time zone held Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and
San Diego, most of them military towns. That made 11 more cities, was I missing one?
We’d know in an hour or two.

Derek was back with Mary’s folks and some of her relatives. He’d cleaned out the re-
frigerator and Mary and Sharon had finished so I slide the ramp cover over the ramp
and closed the blast door. I wasn’t worried about blast damage in the Bull Shoals area,
but the wind was in the west. I was worried that they hadn’t exhausted all of their op-
tions when it came to delivering the weapons. If this country were hit by 2 dozen nukes,
NCA would practically be forced to retaliate, but against whom?

I gave them about a week to figure out who was behind this and retaliate. The an-
nouncer reported that Israel had attacked Syria with nuclear weapons. We still had
about 130,000 troops in Iraq and more in Afghanistan. In round numbers we had about
24 thousand troops in South Korea and the Kitty Hawk’s home port was Yokosuka. I just
bet all ships were ordered out of port when the bombs went off on the east coast. All of
our troops were being brought home.

I was very, very tired, I usually get 8-9 hours of sleep starting at 1-2 am. When I was ex-
tra tired, I might sleep until 1pm. All I needed to do to get back to sleep was take my
morning pills and shot plus eat breakfast. No amount of coffee could keep me awake on
only 4 hours of sleep. We dug out the used camping cots I bought and I put new batter-
ies in the CD V-717 and CD V-715. Sharon fixed pancakes and we all ate.

96
“What do you want me to do?” Derek asked.

“Monitor the radios and the CD V-717. Record the radiation reading every fifteen
minutes; I’m going to get some sleep. I’ll spell you when I get up and you can take a
nap. At the moment, I think we have more bombs to go so listen to KARN and keep
track of where they attack. We have no way to contact Damon or your sisters, do you
think they’ll come here?”

“Hell, who knows? Damon might, he knows that Sharon and you moved here. I don’t
know about Amy or Lorrie.”

“Odds are Amy doesn’t have money for gas. If she can come up with it, she might try,
but she’d have to go through Albuquerque. I have it on my list for the Mountain Time
zone. I mapped the radiation from LA and if the wind is in the west, Palmdale won’t get
any fallout.”

“Are you talking about Amy and Lorrie?” Sharon asked.

“Yep, Damon may show up but I doubt Amy has money for gas and I’d expect Albu-
querque to be bombed.”

“I sent her enough money to fill to the drums of gas. That’s enough to get here, can’t
she go around Albuquerque?”

“She could take the Devil’s Highway to 160 and take the roads east to Springfield, Mis-
souri then turn south to get here. It’s only 4am in Palmdale; I doubt she’s even up yet.”

I’d forgotten that she’d changed jobs and was working for the LA County Sheriff’s De-
partment in Downtown LA. If she was smart, she’d be taking the train from Palmdale to
Union Station and a bus to Monterey Park. She had her BA in Law Enforcement or
Criminal Science from Bakersfield. It was an administrative job and I doubted she even
had a gun.

When I woke it was 11am. I spelled Derek and he hit the sack. He’d taken regular read-
ings of the CD V-717 and there were notes indicating cities where explosions had oc-
curred. The one I’d missed was Cheyenne. With 24 bombs confirmed, whoever had set
off the bombs hadn’t missed any cities. The fallout had steadily increased to 200R/hr
but hadn’t gone any higher. I got out my handy dandy seven ten rule spreadsheet and
looked it up. It said we’d reach 100mR/hr around 615 hours.

“John, are you awake?”

“What’s up?”

“I’ve calculated the shelter time, its right at 25 days.”

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“Damn, that’s almost 4 weeks. Are you sure?”

“100mR per hour is right at .0005 of the peak level and according to my spreadsheet, it
will take 615 hours to achieve.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I’m not sure, but I’m pretty damned close.”

“Son of a gun, 4 weeks. Do you have enough food down here?”

“Six plus months, maybe a little more. I’ve got plenty of coffee. There’re beans and rice
and all the food we usually eat. I can keep this few people fed pretty good for 6 weeks
and not need to go looking for food once we get out.”

“Why do you have that much food?”

“Why not? Maybe you didn’t know but we’ve been sitting on the edge of a food crisis
since hurricane Katrina and Rita hit Louisiana. With fuel prices being what they are, all
excess corn is being converted to ethanol and the Dakotas had a bad drought in ‘06 and
lost a major portion of their crops. We’ve been short on beans, rice and wheat to make
pasta. Katrina drove the price of Folgers coffee up a buck a can. At least we don’t have
earthquakes here.”

“We’re not that far from the New Madrid Fault.”

“In Palmdale, we lived 3 miles from the San Andreas. The overhead of this ‘basement’
is 12” of reinforced concrete covered with 64” of soil. That gives us a conservative pro-
tection factor around 7,191,085. We have 5,700 gallons of propane and enough diesel
fuel to run the generator for about 2,400 hours at near full power. I have my old backup
7kw gasoline generator to keep us going when we have to service the big generator.”

“What else do you have?”

“The number one item is toilet paper. There are some things you can’t really have too
much of. When I was a kid, I remember wiping my behind with pages from a Montgom-
ery Ward catalog; I don’t plan on ever doing that again. When I was in the Air Force, I
worked on the Space Program. That taught me about redundancy. One of anything is
ok, but two is better. We have a 500 gallon farm tank plus 6 55-gallon drums of gas,
stabilized. Let’s wait and see how this situation works itself out, but it’s the end of civili-
zation as we know it, that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean by that?”

98
“Have they rebuilt New Orleans? No and it’s been almost 2 years. Now they have 24
more cities to rebuild. The only good news I can think of is that the phones are out.”

“Why’s that?”

“They can’t activate Derek.”

“Sure they can, they’ll use the radio and issue recall orders that way.”

“Crap.”

Derek didn’t have his MOPP gear at home; I didn’t have protective suits. Translation –
Nobody is going anywhere until the radiation level was well below 100mR/hr. I didn’t
have enough of the CD V-742 dosimeters for everyone, I had 6 but thanks to XORuss
and my buying extra, we weren’t short on KI/KIO3. I guess I should have bought more
dosimeters but they were $45 each. I wondered about him, but he lived in Payson and
was good friends with the folks who owned USS. He told me that Sharon Packer got a
kick out of the free advertising she got in my stories.

I just replied to someone who wanted some information. Permit me to repeat what I
said. Muslim, Jew or Christian, we all believe in the same God, ain’t it a shame!!! Is
there any difference between a black Baptist and a white Methodist? Not if they practice
what they preach. A member of the LDS church is the same person as the Roman
Catholic if both believe and practice what they preach. We’re going to destroy the world
over Denominations!!!

When I show up at the Pearly gates, I toting my Catholic Bible, my Book of Mormon and
my King James Bible, just in case. Sorry, I don’t have a copy if the Quran or I’d probably
take it too. I’ll bet the 10 Commandments, they’re politically incorrect you know, are the
same in all the books. Besides, St. Pete has it all written in his book. It says, Thou Shall
Not Murder, not Thou Shall Not Kill. I can read; that’s why I call it strategic reallocation.
Funny thing is, it’s just words, and it depends on your INTENT. Do you eat beef or pork
or fish or chicken? Do you think the animals committed suicide? Get real. Those veg-
gies you’re eating were alive until you harvested them. They call it the food chain. I think
onions are an exception.

I saw two male lions eating a sick female lion on the Discovery Channel. That happened
right after the Hyenas ate her two cubs. It was sad, but it was a FACT OF LIFE. We’re
born, we live and we die. I think it’s been that way for a while. What pisses me off is
somebody trying to change when I die. Your honor, it was self-defense.

The judge might let me go, but the other guy will still be dead. Oh well, it’s something to
think about.

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°

“At 7 hours after the peak, it was 20R/hr and falling. In 2 days it would be 2R/hr and fall-
ing. In an absolute emergency, we could go out if we had to, but not for very long. At the
end of 2 weeks, we could spend half days topside, but I don’t recommend it.”

“What are we going to do until then?”

“We have several hundred movies, watch TV. They’re a box of books somewhere and
some of them are Tom Clancy. Do the Gunny Highway thing.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Eat, sleep, monitor the radio and clean my guns, with time out for potty breaks. I’ll
probably smoke a few packs of cigarettes and drink a lot of coffee. What I’m not going
to do is worry about it, that’s why I bought a CD V-717.”

“You should quit smoking; it’s going to kill you.”

“I’ll tell you what, you guarantee I won’t die and I’ll quit.”

“Everybody dies.”

“Right. I get there my way and you get there your way.”

“Do you need guns to do that?”

“I hope not. Would you prefer to have a gun and not need it or to need a gun and not
have it?”

“How bad was it out in California when you had the earthquake?”

“It could have been worse. We didn’t get killed and our house didn’t fall down. The
earthquake valve shut off the gas supply and I had a 7kw portable generator and 3
drums of gas. I also had my shiny new M1A rifle.”

“How many people did you shoot?”

“Never even had to fire the gun.”

“Could you?”

“It’s never been put to the test. I don’t really know. If someone messed with your grand-
children, could you?”

100
“In a New York Minute.”

A New York minute is a very short period of time, sometimes significantly shorter than
sixty seconds, and sometimes a form of hyperbole for “perhaps faster than you would
believe is possible”. The term refers to the common perception that New York City is
very busy, with much happening at all hours of the day, and people often in a hurry and
likely to be impatient.

It is a joke, especially in New York City, to define a New York minute as the amount of
time between the light in front of you turning green and the taxicab behind you honking,
and to suggest this may actually be half a second or so, or a negative quantity of time. A
New York minute may be compared to the idea of Internet time, and contrasted with
those of a country mile and Colored People’s Time. This usage may have inspired use
of the same term to mean “intense verbal abuse”. Colored People’s Time, Colored-
People Time, CP Time, or CPT, is an American expression (potentially pejorative) refer-
ring to a stereotype of African Americans as less scrupulous at keeping commitments in
a timely fashion. It is often used self-referentially (in other words, by African Americans
themselves).

“John, it’s ok for one black to call another black by the N word, but never appropriate for
a white person to use the term. Take my word for it; I have 2 mixed race grandchildren. I
learned the term CPT from Jasper Minniefield, Sharon’s boss at Gibraltar Savings. He
and I joked about it. A country mile is an informal term used to mean a great distance,
significantly longer than a real mile. The term has a number of possible derivations.”

Jasper also bought me my first IBM computer, an XT, and I worked it off creating Lotus
1-2-3 spreadsheets for him. That was when the XT came out. At the time, the machine
operated on PC DOS and it was another friend who got me to use Windows 3.1. The
longest I ever used any OS was Windows 2000. I only went to XP when my home built
computer died. That’s about right because Microsoft is about to bring out Vista. There is
a website you can go to and test your computer to see if it can handle Windows Vista.
My computer was overkill for the OS. You needed 800Mhz or faster processor, 15Gb
free HHD space, 512 Mb of memory and a video card that could run DirectX v. 9. I had
too much speed, too much HDD space, too much memory and was using v. 9. My com-
puter probably wouldn’t work.

The first 2 weeks, 343 hours, were absolutely boring. We had a chance to get really well
acquainted with our in-laws, a good thing. We loaded all of the rifle and pistol maga-
zines using the 9 for 10 rule, ergo, 18 rounds in a 20 round mag and 27 in a 30 round
mag. The mags for my .45 held 8 and I just loaded them with 8. I couldn’t decide how I

101
wanted to load the shotgun, all 00, all slugs or a mix. I went with half and half, every
other round was a slug and the first round was 12-pellet 00. The loads with more pellets
kick more, or so I’ve been told. I ain’t one those 113 pound weaklings, I got about 35
pounds on that. I guess that makes me a 148 pound weakling. I thought about it and
decided I’d probably never have to shoot the gun.

If there was any way I could do it, I wanted to carry my rifles, .45 and shotgun. I got
John and Derek to see if there was some way to modify my chair to carry the guns. My
chest pack could carry 14 M1A magazines and my pistol belt all of my .45 magazines. I
had a bandoleer for shotgun shells. All I had to figure out was were to store the maga-
zines for the Mini-14. The separate vest I had for it held 16 magazines. I used the center
pocket for a map of the local area. John suggested I drape the .223 vest over the left
arm of the chair. I could lay the M1A across the arms and they figure some way to
mount some canvas scabbards for the shotgun and Ruger. Right, I keep 10 yards of
heavy canvas in the shelter just in case I need to build scabbards for the saddles I didn’t
have for the horses we didn’t own. My wheelchair is the type with the little joy stick and
has 5 speed settings, ranging from take your lunch with you to 5mph. I’d need it if I
wanted to get out and about.

Say, do you watch CSI? When the CSIs arrive at the scene, they never turn on the
lights and instead search the scene using flashlights. I’ve never seen them dust the light
switch for prints, so why don’t they just turn on the lights?

Right on schedule at 14 days, the radiation level was 200mR/hr. Although it would be
another 11 days before full egress, we began the KIO3 treatments in preparation for
leaving to have a look around. We did that for 3 days and recharged the dosimeters. A
maximum of 6 people could go. The group consisted of Derek, John, Mary’s two broth-
ers and me. We hadn’t done a good job of circling the wagons, Damon was in Britt and
Amy and Lorrie in Palmdale.

News was spotty at best. We knew the cities the terrorists hit but no details. I was
guessing that the government hadn’t gone to the cities waiting for the radiation to die
down. I’m not going to repeat the effects of a 1mT ground burst, see my previous story.
None of them were close to us anyway. Fallout generally leaves a long narrow path if
the winds are high or a short wide path if they aren’t. We started at John’s home and he
grabbed some clean clothing and his reserve supply of meds. We did the same for Jack
and Ray and then hit Derek’s, emptying refrigerators as we went. Power had been local-
ized and mostly restored to the area. I don’t know why we were still on generator power.

The sign on the Wal-Mart in Flippin said they were open from 10am to 2pm 7 days a
week. I asked John what he took and he said Diovan 160 BID and Prevacid QD. I had
enough of that for both of us, and I told him if he was willing to use doctors’ samples, I
had him covered. We didn’t make it back to Gassville before a Deputy pulled us over.
He looked like a Starship Trooper in the getup he was wearing.

“The radiation is too high for you to be out just yet fellas.”

102
“We’re wearing dosimeters, Deputy, and are only about 5 miles from home. Have you
heard anything about what happened?”

“It was a massive terrorist attack using nuclear weapons. Now there is some kind of bug
going around and they don’t know if it is related to sanitary conditions or some bio-
weapon. I recommend that you get home and monitor the radio for reports the CDC will
be issuing.”

“I thought that Atlanta got hit.”

“It did, but that’s not the only facility that the CDC has. You fellas need anything?”

“No, we have food, water and power and a means to defend ourselves in the unlikely
event that become necessary.”

“Do you have a stamp for that suppressor on your rifle?”

“At home in my safe, stop by anytime and I can show it to you. Give me some paper
and I give you our address.”

“Could I see some ID?”

We showed him and he wrote it all down. I told him that the federal stamp was at my
address. I didn’t see any sense in telling him that it wasn’t my only suppressor. The only
reason I like the Surefire Suppressors is their long life, 30,000 rounds; the barrel would
be worn out long before the suppressor failed. Neither Derek nor I had enough ammo to
wear out the barrels unless we got into a firefight and overheated them.

“Say, do you have any word on cleanup?”

“I know they haven’t started. I heard a rumor that they know who was behind this and
are considering their options.”

“Been any trouble?” John asked.

“Couple of break-ins the morning of the attacks. One grocery store and a gun store.
They were in and out of the gun store before we could respond. Took 2 rifles, 2 pistols
and 2 shotguns plus ammo. Then they hit the grocery store going in through the loading
dock. Their alarm didn’t have backup power. Manager said they got about a grand worth
of canned goods. Could have been the same bunch or maybe not. You’d better get
moving, the radiation is still up a little.”

“I sure wish I knew my algebra better.”

103
“Why Dad?”

“Because, there has to be a formula to describe radioactive decay.”

“There is, Dad. Using that seven-ten rule of yours, the fallout level can be measured
very simply, but not elegant. Where the exponential n is used to modify two numbers,
you can make a chart. For example, where n=1, the time factor is 7 to the first power
and the residual radiation is 0.1 to the first power. Where n=2, the time factor is 7 to the
second power or 49 and the residual radiation is 0.1 to the second power or 0.01. I’d
have to fuss with it a little to either polish the formula or make a graph, but you get the
idea. It would probably be easy to graph it on log paper, which should give you a
straight line.”

“Sorry Derek, I don’t have any logarithmic graph paper.”

“How long would it take you to make a spreadsheet?”

“Plain or fancy?”

“Plain.”

“Five Minutes.”

“Fancy?”

“Ten minutes.”

I began to look for Damon and Lorrie and Amy to show up. In Lights Out, it took the
main character’s brother months to show up after an apparent EMP attack. Knowing
her, she’d find a vehicle and gas, even if she had to borrow it at the point of a gun; she
had the throw down. I made a joke about where we lived, calling it ‘Beantown’, and then
explained that the name of the town was Gassville. She wasn’t likely to forget that, her
memory for my gaffs was perfect.

104
 Survival Story – Chapter 11

Damon would no doubt come up with a shotgun and a hacksaw. After that, he’d find a
van or something, load up his kids and come on down. My boys both served, Damon
was an ET in the Navy and Derek loves Armor. On top of that, he’d been an MP in Ko-
sovo and Iraq, so he knew the military side of the law. These days Derek was in a coun-
terfire unit and Damon was trying to get his meds worked out. His situation with his ex
and Derek’s situation with his ex-wife absolutely proved that there is no such thing as an
amicable divorce.

To be perfectly honest, I had the same problem with the boys’ mother, but I think there’s
a rule that says, ‘Don’t badmouth the dead’. It was amiable as all get out, until she got a
lawyer. It was even amicable after, for about 2 years. Then she changed her mind and
wanted the kids.

Fortunately, John had a heavy canvas tarp and we brought it back and solved the scab-
bard problem. It’s not a good idea to sew canvas on a $2,000 Viking so Sharon used
her White portable (and muttered the whole time). They mounted the Ruger on the right
and the shotgun on the left and I was ready to rumble, if we ever got out of this stinking
hole in the ground.

“Reading?”

“100mR/hr.”

“How long has it been?”

“615 hours.”

“Damn.”

“What?”

“I did something right for a change. What day is it?”

“July 30th.”

“Too late to plant a garden, huh?”

“Might be easier to go to the grocery store.”

“I’ve got to start taking vitamin C.”

“Why?”

105
“In 2 days it will be August. I always get a cold in August and unless I take vitamin C
and use the nebulizer, I really get sick.”

“Why?”

“Because I smoke and have COPD.”

Yes, I should stop smoking but I’d still have COPD. It was getting to the point where it
was easier to list what I didn’t have. I had trouble maintaining my blood sugar and
seemed to have regular episodes of hypoglycemia. It’s easy for others to tell, I get a
dumb look on my face and can’t answer any questions I’m asked. When my blood sugar
gets back to normal, I can talk but still have the dumb look. I guess one out of two ain’t
bad. Marie had recurrent melanoma that finally metastasized. It went into her lungs and
they operated. That happened right around the time of the earthquake. I’m fairly sure
she had not more than 9 months to go when I last talked to her. Of course, her folks
were in denial and guess who had to explain it to them?

I once said to a doctor, “Aren’t you going to chew me out for smoking?”

His reply, “Why? If you don’t quit, you’ll get sick and I make a lot of money treating your
illness.”

Everybody said thanks and left. I got out the garden hose and washed the house down.
Then I took the CD V-715 and checked the radiation level around the house. And, then I
washed the water away from the house. It was only then that I realized I’d left my
wheelchair and everything in the basement. Note to self: Install handrails. Anyway, I
unwound the winch and got to the basement. I turned everything off except the genera-
tor, it was between oil changes, and hooked my chair to the winch. Then the winch and
the chair gave me and my guns a ride to the top. I sent a handheld CB with Derek so
once I was on the deck I called him with my handheld.

“What?”

“You’d better come back and get some food and your guns. I have gasoline if you need
to fill your tank.”

“Is everything ok at your house?”

“I washed the house down and then washed the water away from the house. I got my
wheelchair and guns upstairs, what’s not to be ok?”

“We had a break in.”

“What did they take?”

“Nothing, I figure they must have been looking for food.”

106
“Come back and get food and your guns. If they come back you can do whatever you
must to protect Mary and the kids. You’d better contact the Police and report the break-
in. Do you need the generator?”

“No, everything is on.”

“I’ll have to go and see if the generator is still running.”

“I’ll do it when I come back.”

“When you have time, we need to add handrails to that ramp. I used the winch to let me
down, but I wouldn’t have except I left my chair in the basement.”

“You should probably just buy some railings and we can attach them with lag bolts.”

“I’ll have to engineer it first.”

“Break 17.”

“Go ahead breaker.”

“The police are monitoring channel 9 if you need to contact them. I heard one of you say
that everything was back on, but the phones are still down. It will be a couple of days
before they’re back up.”

“Rog, thanks.”

“Dad, base plus 10.”

I switched to channel 29.

“I’ve switched.”

“We shouldn’t have been putting info on the air like that. I’ll be over in a bit, what’s for
supper?”

It was lose-lose. More than once someone tried to tell me what to do. Imagine my out-
stretched hand, see, I’m an amputee. I lost my pinkie, ring finger, index finger and
thumb. My one remaining finger is outstretched, what did Goose call it, The Bird?

Charlie: Eh lieutenant, what were you doing there?

Goose: Communicating.
Maverick: Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. You know, giving him the bird!

107
Goose: [Charlie looks puzzled, so Goose clarifies] You know, the finger
[gestures appropriately]
Charlie: Yes, I know the finger, Goose.
Goose: I-I’m sorry, I hate it when it does that, I’m sorry. Excuse me.

I could have done with more of the flying and less of the bedroom stuff, but it’s one of
my favorites. Point being, it’s hard to flip someone the bird over the internet or a CB ra-
dio. My boys and I served because it was our duty, we weren’t drafted. I didn’t tell them
to go into the service, but I did offer it as a choice. When Damon wanted to go, I sug-
gested the Navy because he was interested in electronics. I didn’t know about his prob-
lems back then, they lived with their mother.

Derek wanted to go into the Army, his choice. Eventually, he got into armor and worked
his way up from a driver to a loader to a gunner to a commander. However, once he got
home, the Guard didn’t have an Armor unit close to him. Neither did they have an MP
unit so he became a counterfire radar operator. Odds are he’ll serve until he has 30,
who knows. Thing was, ATM, he was needed at home. If he had to go, there wouldn’t
be any little birdie, he’d go. Mary was in the Army too, that’s where he met her. She can
shoot good and he’s outstanding. Sharon used to go hunting with her father and is very
familiar with a shotgun. You come our way there will be an old guy in a wheelchair and
two women you ought not to mess with. If Sharon runs out of shells she’ll snatch your
hair out until you’re bald. (I wear a butch)

Normally, the first position on a tank is as the loader. However in his case, they had a
new loader and needed a driver so he was the driver until it was time for the loader to
move up to driver and they switched places. He then became the gunner and became
very skilled at that. They qualified the M256 with near maximum scores.

I told you that he got the knives sharp didn’t I? Anyway, he kept Rambo II and Rambo
III; I finally got First Blood sharp top and bottom. Rambo III has an 11” blade and a 5¼”
top edge. It was similar to the Model 12 “The Smithsonian Bowie” – 11” blade, 2¼”
wide, of ⅜” stock. (01 carbon tool steel) Top cutting edge sharpened. 5¼” (approximate)
leather handle. Brass lugged hilt. Duralumin butt cap. A replica of the famous Bowie
knife of a century ago, similar to type displayed in the Smithsonian and used in the mo-
tion picture The Iron Mistress (Alan Ladd). (Wt. 28-34 oz.) Price: $520. (Russell made
knife.)

Except Rambo wasn’t made by Randall, and was ¼” stock about 2” wide. All of the big
Randall Bowie knives are the same price, $520. I paid $100 apiece for my 3 Rambo
knives; they get very sharp and hold a good edge. If I ever have to skin anything again,
I’ll borrow my Bear skinning knife I bought when I was in the Air Force from Derek. No
doubt if I’d had a third son, he’d have gone in the Marines.

108
The answer to his question was fried chicken, Sharon and taken out two bags for some
reason even she couldn’t explain. She put fresh grease in the fryer and had french fried
potatoes.

“I checked and I’m out of a job for a month. They don’t want to build any more boats un-
til they see where the country is headed.”

“Take some extra food then, Derek. I’ve been worried about WW III for so long I forget
about the possibility of a terrorist attack. How, in the name of God, did they manage to
smuggle in that many weapons?”

“My neighbor said he heard that some weren’t smuggled in, they were in containers in
our ports. He went on to say that Iran and Saudi Arabia provided the funding.”

“Did he say what we were going to do about it?”

“He didn’t know. The problem is, if we attack Iran and Saudi Arabia, it will cut the oil
supply to us and Europe.”

“Are you going to be activated?”

“I haven’t heard, but it doesn’t matter, I’ll report in the morning. I should have gone to-
day, but I wanted to make sure Mary was squared away.”

“Mary, if you have a problem with rent or anything, you can always move in here. We’ll
put your stuff in storage or store it at you Dad’s. Take everything you need, we have
plenty. I don’t know if we got my disability check or our pensions, but once the phones
are up, I can always call Iowa. I think this qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance.”

We finished up dinner and Mary loaded the dishwasher for Sharon. Derek and I went to
the basement and began selecting what Mary would need for a couple of months. I
wasn’t a lot of help, but I knew where everything was. BTW, the generator was shut
down. The room was so well sound proofed you couldn’t tell unless you opened the
door. He took a case of every kind of veggie we had, pasta, meat, Coke, and cigarettes.
I hauled 2 bundles each of toilet paper and paper towels up to the pickup.

“We’ve got to get going; it’s about time for the kids to go to bed. Is there anything you
need?”

“I could use a couple of cases of hand grenades, a SINCGARS radio and a bunch of
other stuff. I have a list somewhere.”

“I meant is there anything you need that I can get?”

“Nope.”

109
°

I assume he left the next morning, the phones were still out and Mary probably went
over to her parents in Flippin. I did what I could to help Sharon and we dusted, vacu-
umed and did laundry. Later we went down to the basement and picked out some things
we need to stock our shelves in the house. I had one of those flatbeds like you see at
Costco and it had an eyebolt that I could connect the winch to. Once we were loaded
up, she went back to the house to work on the laundry and I used the winch to pull the
flatbed up to ground level. She came out and helped me push it up the wheelchair ramp
to the front deck. We did need some things we didn’t have: milk, eggs and bread. There
was powdered milk and eggs and Sharon could bake bread if we couldn’t get fresh food
from a grocery.

The cops were going door to door checking on everyone. When he showed up, I asked.

“Are there any grocery stores open?”

“Wal-Mart in Flippin is open starting tomorrow, what did you need?”

“Milk, eggs and bread.”

“Gee, I don’t know, I guess you just have to drive over and see. Everybody here ok?”

“Yes, we had a shelter.”

“Do you have a CCW for that pistol?”

“We haven’t lived in Arkansas one year yet. The way I read the law, I’m not eligible.”

“Where did you come from?”

“California.”

“Anywhere near that earthquake they had?”

“Right on top of it, we lived in Palmdale which is on the San Andreas Fault.”

“I can see why you moved here.”

“Didn’t do much good. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Do you have any news on
what the government is going to do about the attack?”

“Not officially, but if you have a shelter, I’d restock it.”

“Do you know if we can get propane?”

110
“I think they’re open. You don’t have natural gas?”

“I didn’t want to pay to have the line run. Besides, in an emergency the natural gas
might get cut off and I’d still have to run my generator on propane.”

“You know you can contact us on channel 9 if you have an emergency?”

“Thank you, I heard.”

We were getting our propane from AmeriGas in Mountain Home. Unfortunately, we

didn’t have enough cash on hand to buy what we’d need. Man, did I need a phone! We
couldn’t even buy many groceries, but then, we didn’t need many. It fell to me to deter-
mine what we needed so I got a tablet and went back to the basement. I listed every-
thing we had removed from storage and it looked like about $750. I checked the freezer
and decided we needed a case of chickens, a case of pork loins, a dozen beef roasts
and about 50# of ground beef. That would probably run another $750. There were 2
cartons of Marlboro and only 8 cartons of Kool’s. I needed 8 of the former and 12 of the
latter. Crap, figure $600 minimum. Then, I checked the propane tanks. It appeared we’d
burned up about 100 gallons @ $2.25 per. When I could get on the phone, I’d have to
explain about not getting our government and retirement checks and ask for $5,000 to
$7,500.

Diesel fuel cost double what propane was going for. When I stuck the tank, it appeared
we’d burned around 1,900 gallons. We hadn’t gotten the tank full before this crap went
down and only had a 5 month supply at 100% power.

I had to refill prescriptions, top off the barrels of gasoline in the basement and buy more
ammo, if I could get it. Derek wasn’t here now to tell me I never need over 1,000
rounds. Damon and his kids plus Amy and Lorrie and their kids were MIA; they should
have been here by now. This was what they call a 3 Xanax moment. Sometimes my
brain goes into overdrive and I am forced to use chemical means to shut it down. I had
a lot of that on hand, it was on my never too much of list.

“Matt, Gary Ott… Yes, it was pretty bad, but we had the shelter and got through it ok. I
didn’t receive my disability check or my pension because of the attack. Sharon didn’t get
hers either… She did, oh that’s right it’s deposited in the saving account in your bank. I
need a little help, how much is there in the checking account? $2,500? I don’t suppose
there is any way you could let me have another $5,000 is there? You could? Why that
much? I see, was Damon ok? When did he leave? In that case, he should be here fairly
soon. Just put Derek’s in my account and I’ll write Mary a check. He’s on duty with the
Guard. Thanks Matt.”

Damon had been to the bank and persuaded Matt to give him $10,000. Matt was going
to keep things even and give each of the beneficiary’s the same amount. Damon, Derek

111
and Sharon were the beneficiary’s. I said thanks because he had already put Sharon’s
in our account and said he’d deposit Derek’s check immediately. That gave Sharon and
me $12,500 to get squared away. I figured I better take any leftover money out in cash,
just in case. Meanwhile, we needed to drive to Mountain Home plus stop by Derek’s on
the way to give Mary the check.

There is a Wal-Mart in Mountain Home and that was where we began our shopping af-
ter we stopped by AmeriGas. I’d say that we made out fair. I got Sharon to take me by
Bob’s Guns and I bought more ammo. We went home, unloaded and headed to Flippin
to the Wal-Mart store there. That’s the store where I fill our prescriptions, so we took
care of that. I also picked up a little ammo in addition to the food and supplies we need-
ed.

Now it was the reverse, loading up the flatbed and lowering it to the basement. Plus, I
had to cut up the pork loins. It must have been 7pm by the time we finished. Sharon or-
dered pizza. We were just sitting down to eat when Damon pulled in with his 3 kids. She
called back and ordered 2 more pizzas, one combo and one pepperoni for me.

“I went to the bank in Charles City.”

“I know. Did you find a shotgun?”

“I bought an 870 8-shot and a case each of 12 pellet and slugs. How did you know?”

“I consulted my crystal ball. Have any trouble getting here?”

“Not really. Got stopped by the cops a lot and had to show my ID and explain where I
was going.”

Damon’s kids are: Britney 16, Aaron 14 and Eric 12. If two pizzas wasn’t enough to fill
them up, I’d get out a 50# bag of popcorn and pop some of that. One down and 2 to go.

“Did you get guns for the kids?”

“Carrie would have had a hissy.”

“How did you manage to talk her into letting them come down with you?”

“Don’t ask; I’m not going to answer that. I persuaded her.”

“How’s the gun work?”

“Don’t know I haven’t shot it yet.”

That told me all I needed to know, she and her husband weren’t floating in Clear Lake.
We visited while we ate and after supper, Sharon showed the kids where they’d be

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sleeping. Damon got the ammo out of the back of his vehicle and we took it to the shel-
ter. Because I hadn’t had the gas tank topped off yet, I asked if he needed to fill his
tank. He did and then proceeded to fill 5 5-gallon gas cans.

“Tomorrow morning you can fill the drums in the generator room of the shelter from the
gas tank using those cans. Then I’ll call and have the gas tank refilled.”

“Are you expecting more trouble?”

“A cop came by and when he found out that I had a shelter, he suggested that I restock
it. Sharon and I spent the entire day doing just that. AmeriGas is bringing by about 100
gallons of propane tomorrow and I want to refill my farm tank and get it stabilized.”

“Where is Derek?”

“Fort Chafee. He reported to his unit yesterday morning.”

“Where’re Amy and Lorrie?”

“Darned if I know. As much as I hate saying it, I hope they show up soon.”

“I suppose that you feel the same way about me.”

“Nah, you admit you’re crazy. Derek is the only sane one in the bunch. How are you on
meds?”

“I’m a bit short, I didn’t stock up like you told me to.”

“We’ll fix that tomorrow, if we do have to use the shelter again, I don’t want you down
there going crazy.”

“What makes you think we’ll need the shelter? What that cop told you?”

“No son, bad things happen in three’s.”

“What are you thinking, another terrorist attack?”

“I’m thinking that Dubya is going to exact revenge for the bombings. It was probably ei-
ther al Qaeda or Hezbollah. Maybe with the participation of HAMAS or one of the other
Muslim terrorist groups. I heard maybe Saudi Arabia and or Iran helped fund it.”

“Chit.”

“Exactly.”

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That was the most exercise I’d gotten in about 4 years. I was so tired I didn’t need a
Xanax to get to sleep. I ran the oxygen machine that night, hoping to regain some ener-
gy.

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Pancakes ok?”

“Sure.”

“Did you sleep ok?”

“I haven’t slept that sound in a very long time, how about you?”

“I slept ok. I have a feeling that Amy and Lorrie will show up today and that will be the
end of my getting a good night’s sleep.”

“I need to take the boys to Bob’s Guns today.”

“What are you going to get them?”

“Anything I can find in .223 that takes an M16 magazine.”

Damon and I went back to Mountain Home. He paid for 3 Bushmaster 20” barrel semi-
auto M16A3s, 3 mounted Aimpoint sights and 30 magazines. I was a local so I pur-
chased them using his money and didn’t mention that they were for the 3 kids. I also
bought one case of .223 ammo that I paid for. That was all that the store had available.
Damon also wanted the Browning Hi-Powers when he saw them in the case. We bought
4 of those, extra 13 round magazines and 2,000 rounds of 9mm Gold Dot 124gr +P.
That took care of most of his cash. I bought each kid a Cold Steel SK5 Laredo bowie
knife and Damon a FGX Boot Blade I.

There is a surplus store in Mountain Home. Some say that the guy who runs it isn’t nice
to deal with and is overpriced on everything he sells. I figure that if he had what we
wanted, military holsters, pistol belts, two canteen pouches with stainless canteen, one
cup, one stove, heat tabs and magazine pouches, I couldn’t care less. Instead of maga-
zine pouches, I got Damon shotgun shell pouches. Some of this stuff dated back to Vi-
etnam but cost like it had been made by Blackhawk.

When we got home, the girls were there looking pretty grim. They had Udell 6, Audrey
8, Jeffrey 4 and Baby (who knows) with them. Baby immediately tried to assert herself
as the Alpha female. Scrappy would have to stand on Missy’s back to look Baby in the
eye, Baby won.

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“Hey kid, did you bring back my throw down?”

“Not all of the bullets.”

“Give it to me and I’ll clean it. I’ll take you to Mountain Home tomorrow and we’ll get Lor-
rie and you each a 9mm pistol.”

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 Survival Story – Chapter 12

I had 4 more boxes of the 71gr FMJ for the .32 pistol in the basement. I figured we use
up the some of the ball ammo teaching everyone to shoot and I’d replace it with new
ammo. The feed ramp needed polishing and Bob got that done. I wasn’t sure that it was
a good idea to give Eric the 9mm pistol just yet; he was only 12 and had behavior prob-
lems. The girls were stressed to the max and I was tempted to offer them each a Xanax,
but didn’t. Amy hadn’t taken very good care of my little pistol, either.

“You’re back?”

“Yes, my two daughters just moved to Arkansas last night and I need to get them each
a pistol.”

“Did you stop by the DMV and get them Arkansas IDs or licenses?”

“Should I?”

“I’d recommend it.”

“We’ll be back. We’ll need 2 9mm Hi-Power Classics and 4 extra 13-round magazines
per pistol. Say, do you carry Speer ammo?”

“I have some in 9mm.”

“I’ll buy that right now if it’s ok.”

“I have 2 cases of 124gr Lawman.”

“Perfect, how much?”

I paid for the ammo and we headed to the DMV. On the way back we stopped at the
surplus store and I put up with a little more abuse to get the girls equipped with belts,
holsters, mag pouches, etc. Then we went back to Bob’s and bought the two pistols and
the extra magazines. I asked about the Bushmaster’s but he recommended 870s and
they were much cheaper. I bought a case each of 12-pellet and slugs. I asked if he
could get more ammo and he said he wasn’t sure, but he would try. Next, I asked about
knives and he had those so they were added to the purchase. He’d ordered 4,000
rounds of Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P, good stuff.

That took care of the kids; they had the means to defend themselves if it came to that.
The only way I could get any peace and quiet was to sleep in the shelter. That was a
good idea considering I was thinking it would take one more emergency to put life back
into balance. It would have been totally ok with me if we hadn’t had the big one out in
California and terrorists hadn’t set off nuclear weapons around the country. However,

116
based on Dubya’s track record, it wouldn’t be long before he ordered strikes on those
thought to be guilty of involvement in the bombings.

My dirty little secret was that I voted for him both times. If you consider the choices in
the 2000 and 2004 elections, I had no regrets; Dubya was the lesser of 2 evils. I re-
membered the ‘60s and early ‘70s when we were bogged down in Vietnam. I didn’t ob-
ject to people expressing opinions about the war, this is a free country. They went too
far, spitting on returning soldiers and calling them baby killers. We didn’t have the pa-
rades for our returning heroes. Those of us with the names of friends and family on the
wall were more inclined to blame the Administration and the politicians who insisted on
running the war from Washington. The track records of most administrations show that
Republicans do better on foreign policy and Democrats do better on domestic policy.

Those days are long gone; people these days have different expectations. I blame the
government for that due to the increasing intrusion into our lives. Read this and tell me
what’s to interpret:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the gen-
eral Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do or-
dain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

1. Form a more perfect Union

2. establish Justice
3. insure domestic Tranquility
4. provide for the common defense
5. promote the general Welfare
6. secure the Blessing of Liberty

The remainder of the document describes how the government goes about doing those
things. At least, that’s the theory. It creates a set of checks and balances to keep one
branch from gaining too much power; an 18th century version of paper, scissors, stone.
The problem is we’ve been interpreting the document since it was adopted. There isn’t
any doubt where I stand on the issues; I’m a loyal, but moderately conservative, Repub-
lican.

I have no trouble accepting Social Security Disability; I paid the required amount for 24
years, 96 quarters. When I became disabled I applied and was accepted on my first ap-
plication. The same applies to my retirement. I get 19/30 of a discounted percentage.
The discount is based on age 65 and I lost a percentage for every year I retired early.
Instead of monthly payments of $1,400, I get $600. I applied because I was already on
disability. I contacted IPERS and asked that they deposit my payments in my Iowa ac-
count. I’m sure they were just running late, no major city in Iowa was hit.

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The beauty of sleeping in the shelter was the absolute quiet. I was still tired, running to
Mountain Home 2 straight days buying guns and that very long day when we went
shopping. I slept like a log and didn’t even hear Damon and his kids come down and
grab bunks.

The next morning, the smell of fresh brewed coffee woke me. I got up, used the bath-
room, put on my robe before sitting down to the table to drink the coffee I thought Sha-
ron made and brought down.

“Good morning!”

My heart must have skipped three beats before I realized it was Damon.

“When did you come down here?”

“Last night. With Amy and Lorrie here, you were short on beds. Mary called and said
that Derek would be home on Friday night. She said he had something for you but
wouldn’t say what it was.”

“Maybe he was able to get some M16 magazines.”

“She’d have said so if that was what he had. What did you ask him for?”

“Hand grenades, a SINCGARS radio and M16 magazines. I had some other things I
wanted but didn’t mention them.”

“Like what?”

“LAWs.”

“You can’t have grenades or LAWs.”

“Not legally. I think we still in for a very bad experience, if I’m right we’ll need everything
we can lay our hands on.”

“Did you ever buy the M82A1?”

“By the time you buy the rifle, a good scope and some ammo, you have 10 grand tied
up so I haven’t been able to buy one. Anyway, I changed my mind and want a Tac-50.”

“What’s a Tac-50; and, out of curiosity, what kind of ammo?”

“Last question first, Mk 211, Raufoss Multi-Purpose. The McMillan Tac-50 came out
around 2001 or 2002. It’s guaranteed to shoot 0.5MOA groups. A complete rifle pack-
age including the scope, etc. is less than an M82A1M. It’s a bolt action and you can in-
stall a suppressor. McMillan sells the Elite Iron suppressor but Mike’s Guns in Texas

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sells a titanium suppressor called the Jet suppressor. It cost double the Elite Iron but is
lighter.”

“You won’t be able to get that?”

“I priced it all out and it would run about 13 grand with the Elite Iron suppressor and an-
other grand with the Jet suppressor. That doesn’t include night vision. That’s with two
magazines and I’d need 8 more at about $400 each.”

“What does the ammo cost?”

“I have no idea, but I did a web search and I think I found a store that sells it for a shade
over $5 a round plus shipping for Hornady A-MAX 750gr Match. Of course, if you get
caught with Raufoss, they’ll put you in the slam. It’s HEIAP.”

“Huh?”

“The round combines armor-piercing, explosive, and incendiary effects and uses a high-
ly effective pyrotechnically initiated fuze that delays detonation of the main projectile
charge until after initial target penetration – moving projectile fragmentation and damage
effect inside the target for maximum anti-personnel and fire start effect. While the round
can be used in sniper rifles similar to the Barrett M82A1/M107, it has the equivalent fir-
ing power of a 20 mm projectile to include such targets as helicopters, aircraft, light ar-
mor vehicles, ships and light fortifications, and can ignite JP4 and JP8 military jet fuel. It
is manufactured under license by several American companies.”

“High Explosive would be military only.”

“That’s why I said you’d end up in the slammer.”

When Derek showed up on Friday night, he had 4 boxes with him that he put in the ar-
mory in the basement. He put a note on them that said, “Do Not Open until TSHTF.”

“What’s in the boxes?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why can’t I look inside?”

“You can when TSHTF. I’m going to buy a rifle.”

“What kind?”

“An Armalite AR-50.”

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“Can you get ammo?”

“I should be able to. I’ll have more boxes later on; they’re issuing ammo and equipment
in case the President has to suspend Posse Comitatus.”

“Why would he do that?”

“It’s just rumor, but he’s getting ready to retaliate for the bombings. The stuff in the box-
es was distributed among several NCOs so we didn’t have all of our eggs in one bas-
ket.”

“I never heard of them doing anything like that before.”

“We’ve never been on the verge of WW III before.”

“Wrong! October 1962 we came about oh so close.”

“So what have you been doing?”

“Got the shelter restocked, on the advice of a local cop. Your brother showed up and we
went to Mountain Home and armed his kids. Then Amy and Lorrie pulled in and I took
them and armed them too. If you can get your hands on an M-9, I have plenty of 9mm
ammo.”

“What did you buy?”

“Some Bushmaster rifles, some Remington 870s and a whole lot of the Browning Hi-
Powers. Why do you think we’ll have a war? I’d guess the attitude of the country would
support it, but who would we be fighting with?”

“Russia and China. The rumor mill says that Iran and the Saudis funded the attacks and
those countries support Iran. It doesn’t matter if we attack or the Israelis attack, we’re
going to take the blame. You do know that Bush has never said we wouldn’t make a first
strike.”

“Who is running the country?”

“Bush. Cheney survived too. They had to replace Rumsfeld with Gordon England, but
the Pentagon made it through the attack mostly intact.”

“Why haven’t you been federalized?”

“Governor Beebe refused the President’s request.”

“Why?”

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“I have no idea.”

“Isn’t England the guy from General Dynamics who was never in the service?”

“That’s the guy.”

The Rumsfeld Doctrine and the Powell Doctrine had little in common. The Rumsfeld
Doctrine is primarily concerned with the transformation of the US Military. It would be
considered Rumsfeld’s own take on RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs). It seeks to in-
crease force readiness and decrease the amount of supply required to maintain forces,
by reducing the number in a theater. This is done mainly by using LAVs to scout for en-
emies who are then destroyed via air strikes. The basic tenets of this military strategy
are:

● High technology combat systems

● Reliance on air forces
● Small, nimble ground forces

Afghanistan and the Iraq wars are considered the two closest implementations of this
doctrine.

The Powell Doctrine simply asserts that when a nation is engaging in war, every re-
source and tool should be used to achieve overwhelming force against the enemy. This
may oppose the principle of proportionality, but there are grounds to suppose that prin-
ciples of Just War may not be violated. The questions posed by the Powell Doctrine:

● Is a vital national security interest threatened?

● Do we have a clear attainable objective?
● Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
● Have all other non-violent policy means been fully exhausted?
● Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?
● Have the consequences of our action been fully considered?
● Is the action supported by the American people?
● Do we have genuine broad international support?

Both men are military veteran’s, Rumsfeld a Naval Aviator who flew the F9F and retired
in the Reserves as a Captain (O-6). Powell was a General (O-10).

The Foster Doctrine comes from Pam Foster of Pamela Foster and Associates in Atlan-
ta. It’s a very simple doctrine:

WHAT’S ALL OF THE FUSS?

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“Are we fighting a war on terror or aren’t we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic
people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

“Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day,
in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation’s capital and in a field in
Pennsylvania? Did nearly three Thousand men, women and children die a horrible,
burning or crushing Death that day, or didn’t they?

“And I’m supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was “desecrated” when an over-
worked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don’t; I don’t care at all.

“I’ll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all
those innocent people on 9/11.

“I’ll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Ho-
ly Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime In Saudi Arabia

“I’ll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick
Berg’s head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.

“I’ll care when the cowardly so-called “insurgents” in Iraq come out and fight like men
instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

“I’ll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care
about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

“I’ll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties
are somehow derived from international law instead of the United State Constitution’s
Bill of Rights.

“In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave Marine roughing up an Iraqi terror-
ist to obtain information, know this: I don’t care.

“When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated
in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don’t care.

“When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move be-
cause he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don’t care.

“When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a Prayer mat, and fed ‘spe-
cial’ food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being
‘mishandled’, YOU can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don’t care.

“And oh, by the way, I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s spelled ‘Koran’ and other times
‘Quran’. Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and – you got it, I DON’T CARE!

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“If you agree with this view point, pass this on to all your e-mail Friends. Sooner or later,
it’ll get to the people responsible for this Ridiculous behavior! If you don’t agree, then by
all means hit the Delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don’t com-
plain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great
country.

“If you can read this, Thank a teacher!

“If you are reading it in English, Thank a Veteran.”

It was September 11, 2001 if you disregard the first bombing of the World Trade Center
by Islamic militants on 25Feb93. Either way, it was Islamic militants. We didn’t like Sad-
dam Hussein but we dislike Iran even more. Never mind Saddam mostly used Soviet
weapons, he didn’t like Iran. When it comes to foreign politics, the US has never been
too particular who it got in bed with, following the Doctrine of the End justifies the
Means. This phrase the ends justify the means is closely associated with Machiavelli
and The Prince, credited with helping to advance the colonial and modern forms of im-
perialism. Though it should be noted, Machiavelli never wrote the phrase. A more literal
translation is “One must consider the final result.”

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intoler-
able one. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings
are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise. Thomas Paine 1737-1809: Common
Sense (1776)

If we take it as a given that Islamic militants were responsible for 05Jul07, the next
question becomes where did they get the bombs? I am reminded that one country
seems to have trouble keeping track of their bombs. Did the terrorist buy them from the
Russian Mafia? Maybe, maybe not, but they had to be expensive and you have to ask
yourself, “Who could afford to buy 24 bombs?” If you went on to assume that they sold
for $100 million each, who has $2.4 billion laying around? Who might be angry enough
with the US to part with the money? They can deny it because their nuclear program
has been under the scrutiny of the entire world for some time.

To pull this off, we need plausible deniability. That limits our delivery system to the B-2
Spirit bomber. We can’t use any of our current weapons, but we have some old dirty
bombs in our reserve inventory so we’ll use those. Maybe the Mk-53, it’s dirty and we
have 50 in the reserve. They have a yield of ~9mT, perfect since our largest weapon is
the B83 with a yield of 1.2mT. The bomb doesn’t use Plutonium either, that’s even bet-
ter. Since Pluto isn’t a planet can we still call it Plutonium? If we do, it’s named after a
dog.

We spent the weekend getting things around. Derek got his Armalite rifle and when I
asked him about ammo he said, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll get some.” I ask him again

123
what was in the boxes and he reminded me he was just holding them for the Guard. I
wasn’t going to call him a liar, but I didn’t believe him.

I was guessing that maybe a couple of the boxes were 5.56 ammo, they were about the
right size. Someone has used a can of spray paint and painted over the printing on the
outside of the boxes. I noticed when he left Monday morning around oh dark thirty he
had Rambo II strapped on his web gear with some of that olive drab duct tape. Not ok to
carry in Iraq, but ok to carry in the US of A? Strange.

I didn’t expect to see him again until the weekend but he showed up Wednesday night
with more boxes with the printing blacked out. His scope had come in and he spent
much of the evening mounting it and using a bore sighting device to get it approximately
sighted in. I was going to ask him Thursday morning, but he was gone when I got up.

The women and small kids were in the house and Damon and his kids were with me in
the basement. On Thursday, Sharon and the girls went to Flippin shopping and left Da-
mon and me to watch the kids. I plunked their butts in chairs in front of the TV and
asked them which movie they wanted to watch. After I got it going, I told them to just
shut up and watch the movie, I knew right where my flyswatter was (it was in Palmdale).
Udell aka Junior is a terror and Jeffrey isn’t much better. Put the two of them together
and pretty soon you’re thinking about murder. I decided to let Damon handle Junior,
they’re both bipolar (so is Eric).

BTW, Amy’s car is a KIA Sportage. That’s what they took to Wal-Mart. When they came
home, they had folded all of the seats and had it crammed to the roof, probably found
some pork steak.

“When we sat out that terrorist attack, we had Derek’s family, Mary’s parents and Sha-
ron and me plus 4 more of Mary’s relatives. That was 12 people and it used up our fold-
ing cots. Assuming we have the same people plus you, Amy and Lorrie, we’re going to
need more cots if we have to shelter again. You and I need to go find 9 more cots. Wal-
Mart didn’t have any.”

“Then let’s not go to Wal-Mart.”

“What would you say to air beds?”

“That ought to work.”

“Ok, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Wal-Mart.”

“You need a China fix or something?”

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“Or something.”

“What was in those boxes Derek brought home?”

“It wasn’t LAWs rockets.”

“How do you know?”

“LAWs are packaged as five complete M72-series LAWs within a fiberboard inner pack
for a total weight of 12.5 kilograms (27½ pounds). Three inner packs are then placed in
a wire-bound wooden box, the gross weight of which is 54.5 kilograms (120 pounds). It
looked more like ammo boxes than that.”

“What if he took the fiberboard boxes out of the wooden case and repacked them a
cardboard box?”

“That would be stupid.”

“It would weigh 37.5 pounds less too.”

“You’re right, I hadn’t thought of that. He said he was just storing the stuff for his unit.”

“Do you believe him?”

“No.”

“Ok, we’re here. Maybe you’d just better buy a dozen single air mattresses.”

“I didn’t plan on inviting the whole town. Oh well, maybe they’re on sale.”

No sale, so I bought the ones for $34 apiece and hoped they wouldn’t leak. They were
the Coleman 4-in-1 king/twin airbed system. They were also imported, probably from
China. The bonus was we could open them up and have 24 single beds. We had room
and we had enough food. On the other hand we were relatively new to the area and
with me not getting out much I didn’t know any people beyond Mary’s relatives. It’s hard
making new friends when you’re a Yankee in Dixie. I didn’t start that darned war and I
have no opinion on either side, most of the Generals were trained at West Point. Lee
was the Superintendent at West Point just before the war.

At the time of the Civil War, my family lived in Pennsylvania about 50 miles west of Get-
tysburg in a town named McConnellsburg. They were farmers and I have no idea if they
fought in the war or not. I check the internet before the big one in Palmdale and there
were 13 listings in the phonebook for the name Ott in McConnellsburg. I sure that most
of the ones I met were long dead but some of the little kids would be about 50 now, if

125
they’re still alive. I saw at least 2 people who were named after my grandfather. He’s
been dead 50 years, he was about my age when he dropped dead from a heart attack.

If Dubya went ahead and bombed Iran, the Russia would probably feel forced to retali-
ate unless he was slick about it. That’s why we couldn’t use missiles, they could track
those right back to the launch site. This situation called for the Powell Doctrine, slam
them fast and hard. The Israelis couldn’t be blamed, they didn’t have any stealth aircraft
and unless they could somehow track the B-2s, nobody could prove anything. If he tried
to get cute, the jig was up.

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 Survival Story – Chapter 13

If we could pull it off, it would be a Corbomite Maneuver. Within the fictional Star Trek
universe, “Corbomite” is itself a fictitious substance and device, carried by all Starfleet
starships: Captain James T. Kirk comes up with the ruse to bluff an alien starship into
not firing on the Enterprise in the episode The Corbomite Maneuver. In another episode,
the Enterprise is being scoped by Romulan ships which are preparing to attack. Captain
Kirk instructs Uhura to send a message to Starfleet using code 2, which was known to
have been decoded by the Romulans, that the Enterprise was to activate the Corbomite
self-destruction device and to avoid the area for a certain amount of time thereafter. The
Romulans, having decoded this and thinking that such a device would destroy them as
well, retreated. Those aliens couldn’t have been too advanced; they couldn’t tell that
Kirk was lying.

The very first munitions the B-2 was rated as combat ready for was in 1993 and were
the B61 and B83. It could carry 16 of either bomb. The maximum payload of the B-2 is
40,000 pounds. If they were sent to Iran with Mk-53, they’d actually be limited to 4
bombs because the weapons weigh 8,850 pounds. The upside to that is that we have
20 B-2s, more than enough to carry all of our biggest weapon in inventory. Not all of
them are equipped to carry nukes. The Y1 version is dirty and the Y2 version is clean.
We could do it unless the Russians could track us from space.

“More boxes?”

“Only six.”

“Those boxes look familiar, I think I’ve seen them on Global Security. They’re made out
of fiberboard, aren’t they?”

“No comment. Look Dad, I’m just following orders. I’m not allowed to tell you what’s in
the boxes so please don’t ask.”

“Ok, I won’t say anything else. I’ve got the field manual on my computer anyway and
chapter 2 covers the contents of those boxes.”

“Which Field Manual?”

“FM 3-23.25. It covers the M72 and the M136.”

“How many of the field manuals do you have?”

“Close to 300.”

“Do you have one on the M14?”

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“Yep, but, I don’t have anything I couldn’t get for free. Now that you’re home, I’m not al-
lowed on Army Knowledge Online so I have to do it the hard way.”

“What’s that?”

“Copied them from Global Security into a Word document and converted the document
to a pdf file. That happens to be how I got that particular manual.”

“Do you also have FM 3-23.30?”

“Grenades and Pyrotechnic Signals? You bet. So, are you home for the weekend or do
you have to go back?”

“All the equipment is up and we’ve distributed our extra matériel among the NCOs. I’d
like to make a suggestion but I can’t explain it.”

“Do we need to circle the wagons?”

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t. I’ve been thinking what I’d do if I were Dubya given the way he’s acted these
past 6½ years. What I’d do is take some Mk-53s and load them aboard some B-2s and
bomb Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

“What’s an Mk-53?”

“The biggest ones we’ve, got 9mT and dirty. We could pull it off unless someone de-
tected the B-2s.”

“And, if that happened?”

“I think Russia would attack us. They really lost face in 1962 and I’m sure there are still
people who remember. It’s a good thing we didn’t invade Cuba, they had tactical nukes
that we didn’t know about until years later. If we get caught, Russia may not have a
choice, politically speaking.”

“Whether it happens or not, when I leave, I’ll be taking these boxes and I won’t be back
for a while. They’re now going to mobilize all of the National Guard units for cleanup.”

“Why did you bring the boxes home? Wouldn’t they have been safer at the Armory?”

“Normally we don’t keep ammo there. We were short on storage space and the Compa-
ny Commander ordered the NCOs to divide it up and take it home or to somewhere they
thought would be secure. We don’t usually have anything but rifles or pistols.”

“That makes sense for a counterfire radar unit.”

128
“We were issued additional items in the event we have to protect ourselves during the
cleanup. The rules of engagement are very severe; we will be up against other Ameri-
cans if we’re attacked during that time. People are going to be desperate and there
could be trouble.”

“People are also going to be dead because they’ve held off as long as they have. This is
Katrina times twenty-four and anyone who survived the bombing may well have died in
the aftermath from radiation poisoning, lack of medical care, filthy water or lack of food.”

“All of the troops are home from Afghanistan, Iraq and Korea. Any ship that could sail
left port. It’s going down this weekend, Dad.”

“Damon and I went to Wal-Mart and picked up more air mattress. We can sleep up to 24
additional people including Amy, Lorrie, Damon and the kids. When do we need to get
everyone together?”

“Tomorrow morning, early. The attack is scheduled for around midnight local time. Teh-
ran is GMT plus 3:30. Riyadh is GMT plus 3.”

“And we’re GMT minus 6. The time difference is 9 hours, so midnight over there will be
3pm here. So, are they going to warn the public?”

“No. First, it could be construed by people in the Middle East as a warning of an attack;
and second, it would eliminate our plausible deniability.”

“How early? I’m still worn out, I’ll need to take something to sleep otherwise my brain
won’t shut down and I’ll toss and turn all night.”

“Not later than 8am Dad. I think people will start arriving by then; Mary let her family
know what to expect. Either we’ll pull it off and will be able to leave the shelter or we’ll
get caught. In that case, I really don’t know. If we’re caught and if the Russians or China
react, you know what to expect. How long can we run on the propane?”

“He filled them to 95% of capacity because it’s late in the year and the tanks are buried.
That gives us 5,700 gallons plus any 25 pound bottles people might have. My best
guess is about 3,560 hours, 148 days. We used about 1.6gph last time. There’s also
165 gallons for the gas generator and it uses roughly one-third of a gallon per hour just
handling the freezer and refrigerator. If the background level is low enough, the farm
tank is nearly full.”

“Are we well-armed and have enough ammo if there’s trouble?”

“The biggest weapon is your AR-50. We have a few 7.62x51mm and more of the
5.56x45mm. Most of the pistols are 9mm shooting Gold Dot plus a few .45s. Shotgun
wise, we have 4 or 5 870s and maybe 1,250 rounds total of 00 and slugs.”

129
“I’ll tell you what’s in the boxes, but don’t repeat it. We have 6 cartons of LAWs, that’s
thirty. There are 100 M67s, a case of 30-round M16 mags and 2 1,680 round cases of
M855 and 500 rounds of 9mm ball. The 5.56 is packed on 10 round strippers in bando-
leers with a charger.”

“What about ammo for your .50 cal?”

“300 rounds of Raufoss and 300 rounds of APIT.”

“I can replace the NBC filter on the VA-150. We don’t want to do that until we know we
need to. However, with that many people in the shelter I’ll do the maintenance on the
scrubber. I’m taking my pills and hitting the sack. See you in the morning.”

The majority of people in American aren’t prepared in the event that TSHTF. I suppose
there is such a thing as being over prepared or overly cautious. At least half of us had
been through this before after the terrorist attacks a couple of months back. Before I
went to bed, I set out 6 chickens to thaw, we might as well have our Labor Day picnic
early. There was everything on hand to make a batch of macaroni salad and both had
been praised on our Independence Day picnic. I could give Derek a $20 to pick up a
case of beer for those that could. You can buy a case of beer for $20, can’t you?

Between what I schemed and what Derek had said, I thought I had it all figured out. I
was wrong. One of the reasons we only have 20 B-2s is the fact that they cost so much.
However, with a single refueling, they can strike any target in the world with a payload
of 16 B61s or 16 B83s. They could also be configured to carry 4 Mk-53s.

On Saturday morning, I got up, showered and ate pancakes. Then I cut up the 6 chick-
ens and started in on the macaroni salad. I chopped until my arms were ready to fall off.
Sharon boiled the macaroni and set it aside to cool. I got the jar of Miracle Whip and as-
sembled the salad and put it in the refrigerator to cool.

As expected, people showed up early, the last arriving around 10am. Around 11, I fired
up the gas grills so they could preheat and got ready to slow cook the chicken. Derek
went after the beer, he bought 2 cases, and we prepared to have our early Labor Day
picnic. Cox Communications had cable TV back up and Derek was glued to FOX News.

“Mind if I have a beer, Dad?”

“Have one for me Damon. If I’m right, the Middle East is going to become a glowing cin-
der at 3pm. We’ll use those dirty 9mT bombs and they won’t have a clue. Dr. J moved
his entire family to LA several years ago.”

“Who?”

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“My doctor in LA. He’s from Iran. He married a nurse from Ireland and last I knew, they
had 4 kids. You knew I went to college with a guy from Iran, didn’t you?”

“No. What did his family do?”

“Habib told me his father was a farmer and grew oil wells. That was back in the day of
the Shah and I have no idea how they made out after the Ayatollah took over. Besides,
Iran nationalized the oil in the early ‘50s. The grill’s hot, I’d better start the chicken.”

Sharon had taken out hot dogs and hamburgers because the kids probably wouldn’t
want chicken. When the chicken was finished, I stacked it on my grill to stay warm and
cooked the other stuff on Derek’s grill. By 1pm, the food was finished and we all sat
down to eat.

“Any news?”

“It’s still early. Just the usual Labor Day coverage.”

“There won’t be many people celebrating this Labor Day. This has been an especially
bad year, Derek. First we had the big one in California on Valentine’s Day and second
the terrorists struck of July 5th. Dubya will probably end up starting WW III.”

“It got you out of California.”

“Every cloud has a silver lining?”

“Something like that. I haven’t been able to get everyone to agree to stay over for the
night in the shelter.”

“No one is more than 15 minutes away. They can go home if they want as long as
they’re ready to come back quickly. You have talked with John, haven’t you?”

“Mary talked to her Mom.”

“Do they understand what might happen?”

“Understand, yes; believe it, not entirely.”

The Ohio and 3 other subs had been converted to SSGNs. Each could carry 22 tubes of
Tomahawks with each tube containing 7 missiles, 154 per boat. The US built ~350
TLAM-N W80 warheads and ~1,800 ALCM/ACM W80 warheads. It was going to cost
the US a bunch of money to refurbish the warheads which have a yield of 150kT.

131
The whiz kids are always with us. They fielded the M16 to replace the M14. They fielded
the M9 to replace the M1911. They dreamed up the XM-29 OICW. Rumsfeld scraped
the Crusader and the Comanche. Personally I believe the M14 was the finest MBR the
US ever fielded. The M1911 must have been ok, it was around for 70 years and some
soldiers still use it. In this case, they decided to use 2 SSGNs to launch 308 TLAM-Ns.
The President should have gone on TV and told the world we were going to nuke the
Middle East.

Not to disparage the Tomahawk, it’s a jet not a rocket and it is very accurate. They’re
stamped, Made in the USA. George put Vlad in a very bad position when he allowed the
whiz kids to talk him into using the TLAM-Ns. Maybe that’s why Derek was glued to
FOX News. I learned when he was in Iraq that he didn’t tell me everything. Did that
have anything to do with why he brought those boxes home?

When I was in the Air Force, we got a list of vacuum tubes that were outdated with in-
structions to discard them in the trash. I took them out of the trash and took them home.
Not long after we had a shakedown inspection and there I was with those tubes from
the trash. I didn’t keep a copy of the memo that said to throw them away. Since the
tubes hadn’t been manufactured for a very long time, the current price was like the price
of antiques. Never, ever take things out of military trashcans!!! I went to ISU, Warburg
and Drake. As a result, I had an MBA. What I learned in those 3 schools was nothing
compared to what I learned in the School of Hard Knocks. I was still learning from that
school into my 50s.

“Dad you’d better come into the house.”

“Why?”

“FOX News has a Breaking News Alert. They’re saying that the US attacked Iran and
Syria using TLAM-Ns.”

“No way anyone in the Administration could be that stupid,” I said heading for the
house.

In late May, 1989, I was sitting in the house watching TV when the CNN began broad-
casting from Beijing, China. They were there because of Gorbachev’s visit. I think the
entire world watched Tiananmen Square and the Statute Goddess of Democracy. It was
shocking. This was more shocking, Wolf Blitzer doesn’t usually work on Saturdays. To
tell the truth, I thought he was dead, he usually broadcasts from New York. Be that as it
may, he was somewhere broadcasting for CNN. The lead story was bombings of cities
in Iran and Saudi Arabia, allegedly with Tomahawk nuclear cruise missiles. I think that
CNN is an International news organization, viewed in something like every country in
the world. It has the second largest audience in the world (BBC has the largest).

132
“Son of a bitch. Grab the TV and I’ll tell the girls to get their things. Tell Damon to help
Sharon empty the refrigerator. You’d better send Mary home to empty yours. Tell her
she has 15 minutes and not one minute more.”

“But Dad…”

“This ain’t the time for a debate Derek. I’ll get my computer and wheelchair. At the min-
imum we have maybe 30 minutes and at the maximum, who knows, maybe one or two
hours.”

He shut up, grabbed the TV and headed out the door. In a minute I heard a vehicle
leaving and then Sharon and our children came in the door.

“CNN is reporting that we attacked Iran and Saudi Arabia. I expected we’d retaliate ex-
cept I thought we’d be more discrete. We could have used B-2s and some of the old
bombs in the permanent inventory and no one could have pinned on us. The attack, ac-
cording to CNN, was made using TLAM-Ns.”

“What’s that?”

“Nuclear Tomahawks.”

“Does anyone besides us have them?”

“We sold about 100 of the conventional version to the UK. I think we’re the only country
with N model.”

“Then Russia and China can prove it was us.”

“Right. We’re going to need to sit it out in the shelter until we know if they will retaliate.”

“I’ll empty the refrigerator and get everyone into the shelter. What are you doing?”

“Getting my chair and computer equipment. You’d better get your sewing machines
too.”

My chair still had the canvas scabbards with the weapons and both of my chest pouch-
es. I slipped into the M1A, loaded the computer, monitor and speakers and headed to
the ramp. Mary was just pulling in and she scurried to get the boxes of food to the
basement. John had gone to the shelter and had the radio warmed up and was glued to
the TV. When everyone was in, we slid the ramp covering closed and closed the blast
door. I quickly did the work on the carbon monoxide/dioxide scrubber and looked for the
replacement GF150 Gas Filter for the VA-150. With the food put away, we all grabbed a
chair and listened to the news on CNN.

133
I don’t like CNN or CBS, generally substituting the word Communist for the C word. If
they just reported the news instead of spending most of the time trying to put a spin on
it, I might think otherwise. At the moment Wolf was speculating whether anyone would
retaliate for the strike. One of the other commentators was speculating that it wasn’t us
but the Israelis. All of the non-Fox commentators were raking Dubya over the coals.

About 45 minutes after we settled in the EAS tone sounded. I glanced at Derek and he
at me. I rolled my eyes and he shook his head. George wasn’t even wearing a suit; in-
stead he was dressed like he usually did when he was in Crawford giving Cindy
Sheehan a hard time. I didn’t listen because I knew what he was going say, “Bend over
and kiss your butts goodbye.”

I had work to do and got Damon to help me. I had to put the new filter in VA-150 now
that I was sure an attack was coming. I told Derek to turn off the radios and make sure
the antenna switches were in the ground position. After only God knows how many sto-
ries, I had a list in my head of things we had to do in the event of an attack. I should
have used the handle Preparedness Preacher instead of Tired Old Man. We’d watch TV
until it went off the air, which would tell us the attack had begun.

Back in Palmdale I had an earthquake alarm. It never worked except when you
slammed the front door, but I had one. We had to install a carbon monoxide detector to
conform to the California law. We didn’t have a security system in our new home, we
didn’t need it. West of us about 190 miles was Tulsa. The metropolitan area included
about 1 million people; I figured it would make the target list.

“Is he in the White House?”

“I don’t know if there is a White House. Oh, you mean the blue backdrop? I think he car-
ries it with him so nobody will know where he is.”

THREATCON DEFINITIONS

The threat conditions (THREATCONs) describe the progressive levels of protective

measures implemented by all DoD components in response to terrorist threats.

Terrorist Force Protection Condition (FPCON)

A Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-approved program standardizes the military ser-
vices’ identification of and recommended responses to terrorist threats against US per-
sonnel and facilities. This program facilitates interservice coordination and support for
antiterrorism activities. Also called FPCONs.

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FPCON NORMAL

Exists when a general threat of possible terrorist activity exists but warrants only a rou-
tine security posture.

FPCON ALPHA

This condition applies when there is a general threat of possible terrorist activity against
personnel and facilities, the nature and extent of which are unpredictable, and circum-
stances do not justify full implementation of FPCON BRAVO measures. However, it
may be necessary to implement certain measures from higher THREATCONS resulting
from intelligence received or as a deterrent. The measures in this THREATCON must
be capable of being maintained indefinitely.

FPCON BRAVO

This condition applies when an increased and more predictable threat of terrorist activity
exists. The measures in this THREATCON must be capable of being maintained for
weeks without causing undue hardship, affecting operational capability, and aggravating
relations with local authorities.

FPCON CHARLIE

This condition applies when an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating

some form of terrorist action against personnel and facilities is imminent. Implementa-
tion of measures in this THREATCON for more than a short period probably will create
hardship and affect the peacetime activities of the unit and its personnel.

FPCON DELTA

This condition applies in the immediate area where a terrorist attack has occurred or
when intelligence has been received that terrorist action against a specific location or
person is likely. Normally, this THREATCON is declared as a localized condition.

DEFCON DEFense CONdition

In the event of a national emergency, a series of seven different alert Conditions

(LERTCONs) can be called. The 7 LERTCONs are broken down into 5 Defense Condi-
tions (DEFCONs) and 2 Emergency Conditions (EMERGCONs).

Defense readiness conditions (DEFCONs) describe progressive alert postures primarily

for use between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of unified commands.
DEFCONs are graduated to match situations of varying military severity, and are num-
bered 5,4,3,2, and 1 as appropriate. DEFCONs are phased increases in combat readi-
ness. In general terms, these are descriptions of DEFCONs:

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DEFCON 5 Normal peacetime readiness
DEFCON 4 Normal, increased intelligence and strengthened security measures
DEFCON 3 Increase in force readiness above normal readiness
DEFCON 2 Further Increase in force readiness, but less than maximum readiness
DEFCON 1 Maximum force readiness.

EMERGCONs are national level reactions in response to ICBM (missiles in the air) at-
tack. By definition, other forces go to DEFCON 1 during an EMERGCON.

DEFENSE EMERGENCY: Major attack upon US forces overseas, or allied forces in any
area, and is confirmed either by the commander of a unified or specified command or
higher authority or an overt attack of any type is made upon the United States and is
confirmed by the commander of a unified or specified command or higher authority.

AIR DEFENSE EMERGENCY: Air defense emergency is an emergency condition, de-

clared by the Commander in Chief, North American Aerospace Defense Command. It
indicates that attack upon the continental United States, Canada, or US installations in
Greenland by hostile aircraft or missiles is considered probable, is imminent, or is taking
place.

“It’s an Air Defense Emergency, Dad,” Derek explained.

“Huh?”

“Incoming.”

“I should have had T-Shirts printed, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb.”

If you take a gander at a map of Arkansas, the most obvious target is Little Rock. About
30 miles south of there is the Pine Bluff Arsenal. We’d managed to circle the wagons,
one more time. As luck would have it, we had more than enough beds, tables and
chairs. I’d taken the cop’s advice and got the shelter restocked, I’d have been foolish
not to. We even managed to fill the diesel tank and replace the oil and filters. When the
folks in Florida get a hurricane warning from the Governor, they believe him. Between
the way Derek had been acting and what the cop said, I had held the Labor Day picnic 2
days early. Maybe I was finally getting some common sense and listening for a change.

136
 Survival Story – Chapter 14

Maybe the terrorist attacks were just drills, whatever they were, they were our shake-
down cruise. Although we hadn’t had any serious problems the first time, I couldn’t
promise we wouldn’t this time. Then, the lights flickered out and the generator alarm
went off, right about the time we felt the small earthquake. I quickly turned it off only to
listen to 5 frightened children screaming. Elizabeth and Audrey were the first two to re-
gain their composure followed by Udell and finally Jeffrey and Joshua. I turned on the
CD V-717 and started a new log in a new notebook.

The TV was off and unplugged, Derek had done that as soon as he explained we had
an Air Defense Alert. I could have looked it up, in my Resources subdirectory, I had files
with all of those acronyms and what they meant. Incoming said it all, succinctly. I want-
ed to scream at the top of my lungs, “Why didn’t those idiots use the old bombs?” May-
be it wouldn’t have made a difference, assuming the Russians knew we had 9mT
bombs in our reserves, we may never know. However, WW III made three for those of
you who believe in the Rule of Threes.

My old partner Ron’s life had been saved because he got cancer. Maybe our lives had
been saved because of the big one. On the other hand, may I’d better wait to count the
chickens when the eggs hatch. I was supposed to write stories about the end of the
world (as we know it), not experience it. The list of cities they’d have to rebuild just went
from 25 to an unimaginable number.

There were things on my computer that would help, I downloaded gigabytes of material
before the big one and more after we were setup in Arkansas. I didn’t have everything I
wanted, you never do. That mostly ended with the terrorist attacks. There was one as-
set we had that no one else had, SSgt. Derek Ott. He had combat experience in Kosovo
and Iraq. He could drive, load, gun and command a M1 Abrams. He had Depot level
training in maintaining small arms. He was our jack of all trades and master of some. He
was also our limited medical resource with his Combat Lifesaver Training.

I had a Physician’s Desk Reference that wasn’t too far out of date and could find re-
placement drugs, if required. First things first, we had to ride out the radiation. We had
practice with this, thanks to the terrorists. It may have been foolish, but we were thinking
of our neighbors. We had enough room and food to help any who knew to show up. I
hadn’t been like the guy on Twilight Zone and made a big to do about our basement aka
shelter. Neither did I lie about it and there were people in Gassville who had been in-
volved in its construction.

There were also people who serviced our location, delivering propane and diesel, and
they had to know something, who else had 2 3k tanks with a 95% fill and a 40,000 gal-
lon diesel tank? I hadn’t put in solar panels for several reasons: they are very expen-
sive, they’re susceptible to EMP, they require huge battery banks and large, expensive
inverters. The only inverters I had were two 6kw, just in case the 7kw gasoline fueled

137
generator wouldn’t start when we needed to shut down the Kohler 30REOZJB. Maybe
being obsessive-compulsive wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

With Tulsa being 190 miles to the west (heading was 275°) and the wind at a steady
rate of 12mph, Derek and I agreed that the CD V-717 would start to click ~16 hours af-
ter the generator kicked in, give or take. He turned on an AM/FM radio and picked up a
station in the area. The announcer was explaining that they were on backup power and
would remain on the air for about 14 more hours, if possible. After, they were heading to
a shelter.

The station didn’t have any news about Little Rock, but they’d seen at least 2 dim flash-
es of light to the south and a very dim one to the west. They gave the wind direction as
95°, indicating that with a little luck we might miss major fallout from Tulsa. Little Rock is
~110 miles south on a heading of 176°. Pine Bluff is ~145 miles on a heading of 170°.
We’d survived the terrorist bombings, how much different could this be?

The answer is: a lot different. We could only make assumptions about what cities had
been hit. We didn’t know if the focus was on military or civilian targets. Obviously some
civilian, but how many? Would whoever struck the US re-attack the 24 cities that the ter-
rorists had struck or would they retarget the weapons to other targets of opportunity? I
sure hope Ron got the heck out of California and moved to Cedar Hill. For him, it was
six of one and a half dozen of the other, there were no targets near Cedar Hill, but the
elevation was >4,000’, which would aggravate his medical condition.

“I don’t suppose that that stuff you’re storing includes a SINCGARS radio does it?”

“It doesn’t. It was actually just what I told you it was, Dad, we were storing a few things
under orders. When we can get to Fort Chaffee or Mountain Home, I can get you a ra-
dio. I won’t be able to leave this shelter for some time and can’t report as ordered.”

“Hello the basement!”

“Get that would you, there are a few people who know about this shelter, like the con-
struction people and the gas man.”

Derek slipped into his chest pack and Damon and John grabbed 870s. They could exit
the blast door and look around the corner and up the ramp to see who was there with-
out revealing their position. I heard a, “Who goes there?” from Derek and barely heard
the reply, “Gas man.”

“Let him in,” I yelled.

“He has his family,” Derek replied.

138
“Let them in,” I yelled back.

I can’t tell you what church the guy belonged to, but he has taken the Bible’s advice lit-
erally, they had 6 kids. He also drove a semi and pulled a propane tanker. He and his
wife had driven their van to the terminal and packed the kids into the sleeper compart-
ment of a tractor hooked to a tanker that had been loaded the day before with 9,000 gal-
lons of propane for delivery Tuesday. His bona fides were in order. Man, were they in
order!!! All we needed to have a complete set was a carpenter, a plumber, an electrician
and a diesel mechanic.

Because some cars use fuel injection, I suppose that you could say we aced out. The
mechanic was a gasoline engine mechanic and the other guy was a construction super-
visor, the supervisor on our basement job, and he knew a little about plumbing, car-
pentry and electricity. They bought their families, but I assumed they were Methodists
because they only had a pair of kids, each. That made 16 additional people and I told
Derek to close the ramp cover and the blast door, we were full up.

“Someone might steal the propane, Dad.”

“Did he pull the keys from the truck?”

“I did, Mr. Ott, thank you. We have a few weapons, and ammo, but not much food.”

“What is a few?”

“A FN FAL, an AR-15 and 2 9mm pistols.”

“Food isn’t a problem, but we’ve never been formally introduced.”

“Arthur Benson and my wife Carol. Do you need the kids’ names?”

“Someone will, but I’m a recovering alcoholic and we’re really bad at remembering
names. Ok Art?”

“That’s what most people call me.”

“How did you know to bring the propane?”

“You are the largest residential customer, in terms of storage capacity and I knew about
your shelter. I sort of figured that a tanker of gas was worth a place.”

“Good guess. Catholic or Mormon?”

“LDS.”

“I have a Book of Mormon some place if you forgot yours.”

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“Are you LDS?”

“No, Art, I’m not, but I try to cover all bases. I also have a Catholic Bible. I am a Method-
ist, but hope you won’t hold it against me. Derek is a Baptist and I don’t hold it against
him. I do have some friends who are LDS, but they are not from around here.”

“Utah?”

“As a matter of fact, Payson. My friend is a CERT and a friend of the folks who own
Utah Shelter Systems.”

“So he has one of their shelters?”

“He told me he didn’t but was working on something else. They build a good shelter and
have the National dealership for ANDAIR systems. This shelter has an ANDAIR VA-150
and supports 50 people running fulltime.”

“How big is it?”

“Same size as the house, 30’x76’. That’s ~2,280ft² less the thickness of the walls. We
never got a chance to finish it so there is the bathroom, the power room and the armory.
What you see is what you get.”

Derek spent time getting to know the contractor, Bob and our mechanic, Joe. I was
mostly sitting at my radio desk with the headphones on listening for radio signals and
keeping an eye on the CD V-717. You wouldn’t know it but I tend to be a little shy, prob-
ably because I feel less than most folks. It is just part of my makeup, I didn’t ask to be
this way and I’m too old to change. To really know who I am, you have to have been
where I’ve been and done what I’ve done. In bygone days, I had a really quick mind, but
like the flip of a coin it was only right about 50% of the time, except when it came to tax
law.

To create a little privacy in the shelter, we’d drilled holes and used anchors after the ter-
rorist attacks to anchor hooks in the ceiling. From these, we could hang sheets or what-
ever we had and create family sleeping areas. It was an illusion, you could hear some-
one break wind from 3 compartments away, but you could dress and undress. Modesty
seems to run the gambit from none to excessive. I had big plans for walls; this way, we
had more flexibility and saved a lot of money.

In all of my stories, most of which envision WW III, salvage becomes important. Unless
you’re Bill Gates and have a couple of bucks, you could never store everything you’d
need for the remainder of your life. Unless you died really quick that is. In the aftermath
of WW III, we all have an idea what to expect, nothing. No or little government, certainly

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no help. Nuclear winter or not, the growing season is sure to be messed up. They will
be general disorder, if not chaos. Law enforcement, depending on the location, maybe
excessive or nonexistent. Your best friend may be the weapons you have, especially if
law enforcement is nonexistent.

The laws on the books won’t mean much; I mean who cares if your weapon is Politically
Correct as long as it works? The single most important thing will be your ability to shel-
ter beyond the reach of the radioactive fallout. You may not be able to completely pro-
tect yourself, BUT, if you can keep your radiation dose under 300REMs over 120 days,
you will probably survive, or so I’ve heard. What do you need to survive? Air, shelter,
water, food, in that order, 3 minutes, 3 hours, 3 days and 3 weeks, another rule of
threes. There is safety in numbers and you can increase your numbers if you can pro-
vide the first three things listed.

Many people seem to think that they wouldn’t want to live in the mess that would be the
aftermath of WW III. That suits me just fine, it’s their choice and that will leave more for
the rest of us to salvage. Salvaging will rule the day, trust me on this. If you really be-
lieve FEMA will be there to help you, you haven’t heard of New Orleans. Some people
will be running around in the fallout trying to collect what they need to survive the time in
the shelter. Some of them are going to die, from various causes. If you ain’t got it, you
probably won’t find it, prepare, prepare, prepare. Do I hear an Amen? The Good Book
reportedly says, God helps those that help themselves. (Not true.) Does that mean God
approves of people helping themselves in the aftermath?

You can take that any way you want, but there is a difference between salvaging and
looting. Loot: To pillage; spoil. Salvage: To save from loss or destruction. Strategic: Im-
portant or essential in relation to a plan of action. Reallocation: Allocate, distribute, or
apportion anew. Therefore, I conclude that strategic reallocation is a redistribution of
essential assets to survive. A large screen TV, a bottle of booze or jewelry probably isn’t
essential, but food, water, weapons, ammo, fuel and vehicles very well may be. Even
Louisiana allows you to take essentials in an emergency, whereas California would
probably go around collecting guns and your food to redistribute to the poor so they’d
have better arms when they looted. Another thing you should be very careful about is
helping others. If they die on you, the state of Louisiana will charge you with murder.

And now you know why I locked the door and what I plan to do when it is reopened.
Have you read Paradise by Flight ER Doc? I wish Rick had stopped in when he went by
Palmdale. The main point is that Rick and Lisa had the right idea. They salvaged all
kinds of things and used those things to help other people. Remember, however, that
people who become doctors are usually codependent, not that that is a bad thing, un-
less you work in New Orleans. I don’t have to be too smart to know that Rick had big
ones, he flew a Wild Weasel. On top of that, he had 3,000 hours in a Hercules. I flew in
a C130 twice and never again.

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Derek was at the radio table when the CD V-717 started to register radiation. He noted
the date, time and level in the log book and continued to do so every 15 minutes there-
after. When he had determined a peak level, I dug out seven ten rule.xls and plugged
the peak level of 3,000 into the box. I confirmed that our current level corresponded to
the decay level in the hours since the dentation… it was very close. Then I scrolled
down column H to the number 100. From there, I moved to the B column and got the
number of hours. It also showed the number of days (hours divided by 24), number of
weeks (days divided by 7), months (days divided by 30.4375) and years (days divided
by 365.25). In this case, we had a peak level of 1,035R/hr which yielded 2,401 hours to
reach 103.5mR/hr. I sent the spreadsheet to several people and was more than willing
to share it with anyone who asked.

Speaking of Wild Weasels, I once read a series of novels about Wild Weasels, these
guys were flying the Phantoms, and a principal character in the story was a guy named
Waters, Muddy Waters. In real life, there was a Wild Weasel nicknamed Muddy Waters.
I found the story, The Warbirds by Richard Herman Jr. The novel begins with the 45th
Air Wing posted to Egypt, where the first segment of the book begins. As storm clouds
gather in the Persian Gulf, and following a clash with Libyan planes, the unit is reposted
to RAF Stonewood for training purposes, under its talented new leader Muddy Waters.
The last third of the book covers its posting to the Persian Gulf to oppose an Iranian
campaign to overrun the oilfields.

Richard Herman has a real talent in populating his novels with distinctive and memora-
ble characters. The Warbirds establishes the core group of the early Herman novels, in
particular: Anthony Muddy Waters, Jack Locke, James Thunder Bryant, Doc Landis,
Rupert Stansell and Ambler Furry. Herman defines his characters by their actions. The
result is a set of interesting and likable individuals.

Perhaps by virtue of his own Air Force experience, Herman’s depiction of the service is
frank. Particular emphasis is paid to the necessity of adaptation under training and
combat conditions. Bureaucracy takes its toll on the characters, and the hero, Muddy
Waters, is forced to repeatedly defend both his men and his command from rivals in the
Air Force.

The last third of the book contains some very well rendered depictions of combat. The
45th is steadily attritted by combat against an Iranian army, and, in the final section of
the book, forced to fight for its life against an amphibious attack. The losses it suffers
are made vivid by the author’s willingness to sacrifice likable characters (something
lacking in other genre authors).

Good characterization, tense action and (amateur editorial review above to the contrary)
solid plotting make The Warbirds an early classic of the military genre and a great first
novel for Richard Herman. By all means read this and then Force of Eagles, which is its
immediate sequel.

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Set in the immediate future, this sequel to The Warbirds tells of a mission to rescue 300
Air Force prisoners left in Iranian hands at the end of the first novel. Starting slowly, with
many flashbacks to its predecessor and confusing shifts of scene, the story finds its
pace once the operation itself gets under way. Ample and convincing air and ground ac-
tion animates the 30-day enterprise, which involves a small force of Rangers, supported
by fighters and gunships. Herman, a retired Air Force pilot, handles technical details
and interservice politics with convincing finesse. His characters are two-dimensional,
but sustain their plot roles adequately without getting in the way of the action that is the
book’s focus. Refreshingly, the rescue plan depends for success on neither an unlikely
perfection of execution nor an implausibly incompetent enemy.

In taking great pains to show the dangers in high-level micro-management of fast-

moving special operations, however, Herman diminishes his argument by overkill. So
anyway, if you want to read some fiction about Wild Weasels, give Herman a chance.
The real Wild Weasel started out in F-100Fs and transitioned to F-105F and next to the
F-4C, the F-4E and the F-4G before the F-16 block 50D/52D, the current Wild Weasel.
Maybe some of those politicians in wherever the Capital is today ought to read Her-
man’s stories.

Sorry about that, but I got to thinking about Wild Weasels and had to find the story and
mention it. The unofficial motto of the Wild Weasel crews is YGBSM: You Gotta Be Shit-
tin’ Me. As the story goes, this was the response of the initial Wild Weasel EWO’s –
former B-52 electronic warfare officers – when they first learned what the mission en-
tailed. The missions were so dangerous and required so much teamwork that before
starting their combat tours, some crews, graduating from “Weasel College” (the Nellis
Air Force Base training program), took part in a mock wedding ceremony. The “WW”
tailcode of the 35th Fighter Wing derives from its Wild Weasel heritage. We all know the
mission, go out and get your aircraft painted by enemy radar so you can lob a HARM (or
before that SHRIKE) into the radar dish of the SAM unit while 2-3 SAMs were coming at
you.

With the radiation level peaked right at 1,035R/hr, unintentional number, I assure you,
and needing a maximum level of 104mR/hr, we had to spend 7 to the 4th power of
hours in the shelter, 100 days plus 1 hour. And even then, no children nor men or wom-
en of child bearing age would be allowed out for more than 12 hours until the level fell to
50mR. Call it dumb luck, but I got our 400+ VHS movies back from Amy when we
moved and we had another 100+ DVDs. I had a DVD player and Sharon had a
VHS/DVD player. They were easy to switch depending upon what movie people wanted
to watch. At the end of the first two weeks, some of the newcomers thought maybe we
could leave.

“Folks, it’s like Hotel California, you can check out, but you can never leave. At 10R/hr,
you would accumulate a fatal dose of radiation in 30 hours. I’ll let you out, but you’re not
coming back in. Assuming we all sleep an average of 8 hours per night, and we have

143
400 movies with an average of 2 hours running time, that’s enough movies for half of
the remaining time.”

“To continue, we have a few boxes of paperbacks if you’d rather read. I’m sure that
Sharon and Mary could use help planning and preparing meals. If all they ever prepared
was homemade chili, I be in Heaven. However, we have a 25ft² freezer mostly full of
meat and enough choices to make everyone happy. To resolve the smoking issue, we’ll
only smoke in the armory, unless you want smoke in the generator room. I wouldn’t rec-
ommend it, the generator isn’t as quiet as I would like it to be, it’s hot and the room isn’t
that big. We don’t have enough weapons to go around, but if you have your own, we
can try to come up with ammo. We’re heavy on .22LR, 5.56, 7.62 NATO, 9mm and
.45ACP. Our shot gun ammo is limited as primarily defensive ammo opposed to hunting
ammo. Any questions so far?”

“Do you have any 30-06?”

“There one case of Korean Garand ammo in the 8-round enbloc clips. We’ll try to hit
Wally World first thing and go for a list of priority items on my computer. If you need
something, let me know and I’ll consider adding it to the list.”

“How come you’re in charge?”

“It’s our shelter. For the duration, this is not a Democracy. I will consider any suggestion
and consult with my advisory group before we decide whether or not to accept the sug-
gestion. My advisory group will consist of John, Mary, Derek and one wildcard, Damon.
No weapons will be allowed out of the armory with live ammo, but you should keep your
weapons serviced. We’ve already done this once and we have an idea what to expect.
For anyone who has claustrophobia or any anxiety, see me, I have a large supply of
chill pills.”

“What if we don’t want to go along with you?”

“There’s the door, don’t let it hit on the ass on your way out.”

“What about my propane?”

“Art, I’ll reimburse you exactly what you paid for it.”

“Oh. But I looted it from my employer.”

“Have someone explain strategic reallocation to you. What you did was to salvage the
propane. If you brought a 42” LCD screen TV with you that you don’t own, that’s loot-
ing.”

“You’re from California?”

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“Iowa, actually. I was born in California, raised in Iowa, spend most of my enlistment in
California and worked in Iowa for several years. I’m 64 and I’ve only spent 32 years in
California, so I consider myself an Iowan.”

“Are we going to have trouble once we leave?”

“I’ll consult my crystal ball, but off hand, I say we’ll have some.”

“What about our medical needs?”

“What about them?”

“I don’t have enough of my pills for more than 4 weeks.”

“We will try and improvise something. Joe, you’re in charge of maintaining the generator
The owner’s manual is in the generator room together with enough oil and filters to ser-
vice it 36 times. Unless the opposing force used a high altitude bomb to create an EMP,
your vehicles should all run. Sharon and I have one of those automotive emergency
packs that carries air and a jump starter. By the time we can leave, you may have dead
batteries, but don’t sweat it. I’m sure Joe can get most of the vehicles running if he can
get parts.”

“Excuse me… EXCUSE ME ! Would all of the adults and anyone age 16 and up please
join together at the tables?”

“Thank you. If you don’t know, my name is Gary Ott and my wife Sharon and I own this
hole in the ground. The peak radiation level appears to have been in excess of 1,000
Rads/hr. Our survey meters only go to 500 Rads but we can make estimations based
on the seven ten rule and a spreadsheet I have. Our best guess is about 1,035 Rads. I
won’t be safe to leave the shelter on a fulltime basis until the outside radiation level is
104mR/hr or less. That will take 100 days.”

I paused to let them discuss that among themselves. We had time and I didn’t want to
get too pushy, yet.

“May I continue? We have enough consumables to handle everyone’s needs for the 100
days and sometime after. What I want talk about is the after. The odds are that every-
thing will look pretty normal unless there has been a fire somewhere. We think the radi-
ation peaked on September 2nd or 3rd. That will put our Freedom Day around Decem-
ber 12th. Although I’m not familiar with the winter weather around here, there’s going to
be snow on the ground. There will be a lot of crap in the air cooling the planet. Blame
Carl Sagan, they call it nuclear winter.”

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Many of them had heard of the TTAPS Study. Some of them thought it had been dis-
proved. In fact, it hadn’t, recent models showed that the study was flawed but only in the
sense that it hadn’t gone far enough, being a 2 dimensional model. I let them yak, it
wouldn’t change the outcome; recent models showed that it could spread to the south-
ern hemisphere.

That reminds me of a song:

Our day will come

And we’ll have everything

I liked Zager and Evans better:

In the year 2525

If man is still alive.
If woman can survive, they may find.

Now it’s been ten thousand years

Man has cried a billion tears.
For what he never knew,
now man’s reign is through.

But through eternal night.

The twinkling of starlight.
So very far away.
Maybe it’s only yesterday.

The most dangerous animal on planet Earth is man. Man has a higher order brain and
can think, not always a good thing. On the other hand, man is far from perfect and we
couldn’t even manage to kill ourselves off, at least not in the beginning. If we weren’t
Clint Eastwood fans, we didn’t have a chance because we wouldn’t know to Improvise,
Adapt and Overcome.

Very few animals kill out of spite or because they’re just plain mean, like a wolverine.
The exception is the human animal that doesn’t really need a valid reason to kill. Hu-
mans have created tools, ranging from something with an edge up to and including nu-
clear weapons. We have perfected the art of killing and are still looking to make im-
provements. That’s the truth and I’m sorry for you if you don’t believe it.

“To continue, please. Unless the attacker used an EMP weapon, we should be able to
get your vehicles to start, eventually. The problem will be getting fuel, of course, and
parts. Our primary needs will be food and medicine. Believe it or not, there is a differ-

146
ence between taking something you need to live and something you want. Salvaging
can be viewed as saving while pillaging can’t, in my mind, be justified.”

147
 Survival Story – Chapter 15

“I view salvaging as preserving the basic essentials of life. Since they weren’t yours to
begin with, you are obligated to share them, with deserving people. That would include
bartering them for something that you need but don’t have.”

“Ok, let’s talk about a means of protection. If you have things, there are some who
would take what you have by force. You need the means to repel that force and to pro-
tect your loved ones. In most cases, the most effective tool to accomplish the task is a
firearm. In the view of many, you will need a handgun and some sort of long arm. You
will need to know how to effectively use the weapon and how to keep it functional. You
talk that over among yourselves and we will revisit the issue long before we ever leave
this shelter.”

That started a discussion I didn’t want to get involved with. Survivalists tend to lump
people into 2 categories: survivalists and sheeple. That overlooks a large group of peo-
ple I’ll call them the unprepared willing. It may have been financial circumstances that
prevented them from preparing adequately, but they had a good idea what they need
and were willing to get it and use it.

There is another group out there that we will need to deal with. We watched TV and saw
New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. One of the first things we heard was gunfire.
Shall we say a criminal element broke into guns stores and used the weapons to fire on
the few police officers who were able to show up? For the sake of simplicity and avoid-
ing hurt feelings, I just call them the BGs (Bad Guys, non-gender, non-ethnic specific).

Firearms sometimes put people off. Perhaps the reason is that they are unfamiliar with
them. That’s easily remedied, buy one and get training. Keep the weapon secure and
store your ammo in a separate place or keep it all in a gun safe. Depending on the fire-
arm involved, a trigger lock or action block (cable) will prevent the curious from using
the firearm. I’m a believer of the cocked and locked philosophy (Condition 1), but some
aren’t.

Condition 0 - A round is in the chamber, hammer is cocked, and the safety is off.
Condition 1 - Also known as ‘cocked and locked”, means a round is in the chamber, the
hammer is cocked, and the manual thumb safety on the side of the frame is applied.
Condition 2 - A round is in the chamber and the hammer is down.
Condition 3 - The chamber is empty and hammer is down with a charged magazine in
the gun.
Condition 4 - The chamber is empty, hammer is down and no magazine is in the gun.

When the gun is cocked and locked, the sear is blocked from releasing the hammer.
Further, unless a firing grip is on the pistol, thumb safety swept off, and the trigger is
pulled, the gun will not go off. For my money, this is much safer than a Glock or some of

148
the other new pistol designs which have no external safety. The Glock, by the way, is
also pre-cocked which is why it can have a much lighter trigger than a real double action
gun. It could be said that the Glock is “cocked and unlocked” which is called “condition
zero” with the M1911. Anecdotally, we hear of many more “accidental discharges” with
Glocks than with M1911 pattern guns. The 1911 has two manual safeties. It may look
scary, but it is really much safer than many current designs.

Other issues come into play when you’re considering keeping a 1911 loaded for home
defense, such as if you have small children in the home and how much access your
friends have to your home, but there is nothing inherently dangerous with having a
cocked and locked gun at the ready. If you have really small children who are too young
to train on firearms safety, then condition 3 – empty chamber – is definitely the way to
go because the child will not know to rack the slide to load it and they will lack the
strength in their hands and arms to do it. If you are a very social person who has a lot of
parties and people running through your house all the time, then you really should wear
it, concealed of course, so that the pistol is under your immediate control and you don’t
have to worry about someone finding it and doing something stupid. If that’s not possi-
ble, lock it up or find a smarter circle of friends who won’t go through your stuff when
you’re not looking.

Finally, the real cure for cocked and locked anxiety is to get “un-new” to the gun. Shoot
it, get used to it, learn it so that you don’t have to think about it. Familiarity will dispel
that anxiety. Get some training if at all possible. Pistols really require some training and
practice to use effectively. A good training session with a qualified professional trainer
will help to separate the fact from the fantasy about what you can actually do with your
pistol when the chips are down. – Syd

Gee, he said about what I said. For something like a pump shotgun, I’d use Condition 3.
The sound of you racking the slide may be the only deterrent you need. For a military
style rifle fed by a magazine, I recommend a buttstock magazine pouch with one loaded
magazine, Condition 4. You can go from Condition 4 to Condition 0 in a couple of heart-
beats, plus you have the advantage of the racking sound. If I had a pistol just lying
around, I’d use Condition 3 or 4. When a soldier is in a battle zone, they do what I sug-
gested; use the buttstock pouch when they are in camp. I haven’t inquired how they car-
ry the weapons when they are in the field, I’d say at least Condition 3 although, I’d pre-
fer Condition 1.

It is possible to check the peak radiation level to an extent, even with a survey meter
that has a maximum range of 500R. You can pick a point where you think the level
peaked and check 7 and 49 hours later, both levels should be within the range of your
survey meter. It’s really not that important, you aren’t going anywhere unless you have a
Tyvek suit and a gas mask.

“Derek, do you have your MOPP gear?”

149
“That’s obsolete, we use JSLIST now.”

“What is JSLIST?”

“Components include an Overgarment to be worn over the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU),
and the Multipurpose Rain / Snow / CB Overboot (MULO). These items allow complete
MOPP and heat stress management flexibility while tailoring the protection levels rela-
tive to mission scenarios and threat. Procurement of these items began in FY97.

“The JSLIST program developed and is fielding the JSLIST Overgarment and is manu-
facturing Multi-purpose Overboots (MULO). The JSLIST Overgarment and the Multipur-
pose Overboot (MULO) were adopted by all four services. These items, when combined
with standard CB protective butyl gloves and masks for respiratory protection, allow
complete MOPP flexibility. The Joint Firefighter Integrated Response Ensemble (J-
FIRE) will also utilize the JSLIST overgarment.

“The JSLIST overgarment is designed to replace the Battle Dress Overgarment, the
USMC Saratoga, and the Navy Chemical Protective Overgarment. It is lighter and less
bulky than the previous Battle Dress Overgarment (BDO) chemical protective garments,
is durable for 45 days, can be laundered up to six times and provides 24 hours of pro-
tection against liquid and vapor chemical challenges. The overgarment consists of a
coat and trousers. The trousers have bellows-type pockets, high-waist, adjustable sus-
penders, and adjustable waistband. The trousers also have a slide fastener front open-
ing with protective flap and a bellows pocket with flap located on each thigh. Each leg
opening has two hook and loop ankle adjustment tabs. The waist-length coat has an in-
tegral hood, a slide fastener front concealed by a flap with hook and loop closure, en-
closed extendable elasticized draw cord hem with jacket retention cord, full-length
sleeves with hoop and loop wrist closure adjustment tabs, and an outside bellows pock-
et with flap on the left sleeve. The outer shell of both pieces is a 50/50 nylon/cotton pop-
lin rip stop with a durable water repellent finish. The liner layer consists of a nonwoven
front laminated to activated carbon spheres and bonded to a tricot knit back. Garments
are being procured in 4-color Woodland Camouflage or 3-color Desert Camouflage pat-
terns.”

“That’s nice, does it protect you against radiation?”

“Not completely, no. The bulky charcoal layer found in the older BDO is replaced with a
selectively permeable membrane that is lighter and will block harmful substances, rather
than absorb them. More perspiration will also be able to escape. Weighing just under six
pounds, the new suit is about half the weight of the BDO. It is available in 4-color Wood-
land or a 3-color Desert Camouflage pattern. It can be worn in an uncontaminated envi-
ronment for 45 days with up to six launderings or for over 120 days with no launderings.
The JSLIST can be worn in a contaminated environment for 24 hours. Each soldier is
issued two JSLIST.”

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His no sounded a lot like a yes. We did what people in our situation always do, watched
movies on TV, read, ate and slept. Given various radiation levels at select times, I was
able to ascertain that the peak radiation level was probably around 1,035R. Plus or mi-
nus a bit, it’s really hard to be sure when you lack the means to measure it accurately.
We had a conservative protection factor of 7,191,085, ergo, the radiation level in the
shelter was below the normal background level.

It was then that I just sat and thought about all of the Patriot Fiction stories I’d read.
There was probably no one as prepared as Percy had been. Rick and Lisa more or less
proved my point about salvaging. In most of the stories, the people died, but it was usu-
ally due to BGs or some disease. Dubya gave Rick a promotion to bird colonel and put
him in charge. Talk about a cliff hanging ending, Paradise, really left me wondering
about the broken test tubes or vials. Not all bad things are as big as a bullet.

About 343 hours after the radiation peaked, the outside level was at ~1R. It had hit
~100R at 7 hours and ~10R at 49 hours. I figured it was time to bring the discussion of
self-protection up again.

“Derek we need to have another meeting to discuss self-protection.”

“Why so soon, we still have 85 days in the shelter?”

“People need to be able to use whatever weapon they end up with. What I’d like you to
do is training on each of the weapons we have in our armory. Everyone 16 and up
should attend. You can take your time and make sure they know all of the weapons in-
side and out. They need to know how to sight them in, breathing control and how to
clean them.”

“Give me a day or two to go through the weapons and figure out some kind of syllabus.”

I wanted to attend his lecture on the AR-15. It would end up with me attending them all,
no doubt. I knew a fair amount various firearms but a person is never too old to learn. If
you are totally opposed to firearms, get baseball bat. However, you’d be ill advised to go
up against someone with a firearm. A firearm is just another tool, like a hammer or a
knife.

He came to me 3 days later with his notes and wanted me to look them over. It was an
outline and covered topics. He said he could use the same outline for each firearm and
had notes in the outline indicating differences he wanted to point out. He also had a roll
of dimes that he wanted to use to teach everyone to have a smooth trigger squeeze. I
thought we used pennies in basic training, it must be inflation. He made snap caps out
of empty brass and pencil erasers. Altogether, we spent about 2 weeks on the gun train-
ing. I got better on handling the Bushmaster A3 and that was all I wanted.

151
After that I dug out my military movies and watched us win WW II and kick some Arab
butt. When I got tired of that, I began to organize the files on my computer, especially
those dealing with fallout. At one month we were down to about 412mR/hr and at 2
months just under 200mR/hr. At 100 days (3.3 months) the reading was about
103mR/hr and it was time to go check on things. I dug out my winter coat, boots, mit-
tens, long johns and was ready to go. I took the shotgun and my .45. Derek and John
both had the Bushmasters and Damon a shotgun.

“Temperature?”

“Let me get a scarf, I don’t want to catch cold. Are we ready?”

“Yes, we’ll go to Condition 1 before we move the ramp cover.”

“Will it move?”

“Sure, but we might get snow on the ramp.”

“Damon, there’s a snow shovel in the generator room, you’d better get it.”

I decided to climb the ramp today because I had people with me. We’d talked about
those handrails but never put them in. Some climbed ahead of me and moved the ramp
cover. That caused snow to fall into the ramp and Damon had to shovel it. By the time I
got to the top, the way was clear, and I could stop and catch my breath. There was less
snow that I thought there would be but more than the remainder were accustomed to.

Damon cleared a path on the deck and I went in and raised the thermostat from 55° to
70°. The pipes all had heat tapes even though I was told I wouldn’t need them. Maybe
this wasn’t Davenport, Iowa where we had our first mobile home, but the lessons we
learned were burned into our memories. If you live in a mobile home, it’s a very good
idea to tape, and then insulate, the pipes. You can use the kind of tape that only kicks in
when the temperature gets low or install a separate switch to power the heat tapes.

Our home was fine and I checked it over carefully. Meanwhile Joe came topside with
the portable starter cum air bottle and went to work on Derek’s truck. He pulled the bat-
tery and replaced it with a fully charged battery from the basement. Derek filled his tank
with stabilized gas and when Joe turned the key, it ground then fired up.

“Guess we didn’t get any EMP. Did everyone remember to leave their furnaces on?”

“On Labor Day Weekend, you’re kidding, right?”

“Are you all on natural gas?”

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I got several nods; it probably wouldn’t have made a difference. We climbed aboard the
pickup and headed out to check on various homes. A couple of places in Gassville had
clearly been broken into and several more were burned to the ground. It was a while be-
fore we saw our first body. It was hard to tell with the snow on the ground. Derek’s
house was a block of ice and there was no electricity so even if he had natural gas, he
couldn’t fire the furnace. We spent several hours outside checking homes, gathering
clean clothes and even some firearms but it was the same everywhere, surreal at best.

John had a list of drugs he’d put together by talking to people and I had a list of our
drugs committed to memory. We found a drug store that hadn’t been broken into and
broke into it. We cleaned the shelves of the drugs we took and I added a few things
listed on my antibiotics list, the real stuff instead of pet meds. I also grabbed more sy-
ringes and what Humalin 70/30 was available. It was in an unpowered refrigerator which
kept it from freezing. We also took some other things, feminine hygiene supplies, Band-
Aids, etc. When we got back, I checked on the house and it was 70° so I set the ther-
mostat to 72° and we all returned to the basement.

“The only house that’s livable at the moment is ours, people, sorry. There appears to be
no utilities and Flippin and Gassville. We stocked up on meds for everyone, see John.
There are also some things for the ladies. We have 2 cords of firewood but only one
portable generator.”

“I can get propane tanks and fill them with the tanker,” Art offered. “There’s more pro-
pane where that came from.”

“What about jets or orifices for the appliances?”

“We have some at the shop; we sometimes have to switch peoples appliances over to
propane.”

“What size of tanks are available?”

“Mostly 550 mostly, a few 1,100 gallon size. I know where we can get about 6 of the
RS12000 LP fuel generators. They’ll only burn a little over a gallon per hour at 25%
power.”

“Is there enough propane available for 6 families?”

“For a few years, yes.”

I needed to do a head count. Sharon and I had a generator, we were ok. Derek and
Mary would need one, as would John, Art, Bob and Joe. We’d have to find an empty
house to put the girls and their kids in and maybe one for Damon. That made 7 genera-
tors and sets of tanks. Plus, Gassville has a ¼ million gallon water tower and if we could
power the pumps, Gassville would have running water and hopefully sewer. We needed

153
none of it, we had our own well and septic system. Darn, I forgot Mary’s cousins and
Aunt and Uncle. Before this was over, we’d need about 10 generators.

“Dad, they have 4 portable diesel generators in Mountain Home at the Armory.”

“What about fuel?”

“We have some JP8.”

“How about some fun things, a Ma Deuce or an Mk-19 comes to mind?”

“Sorry, no.”

“M1114s?”

“Eight in running condition, but no weapons.”

“No M1114s with the CROWS?”

“We have one but it hasn’t been repaired. Ok, that means we have one remote con-
trolled Ma Deuce.”

“Maybe we can get Joe to repair it. Any spare SINCGARS?”

“Yes and replacement vehicle antennas.”

“That’s a start. We can use those instead of phones. Art, what would it take to install
tanks, fill them and install the generators?”

“Joe can help me haul the tanks and Bob can wire in the generators. If we have the
necessary jets, we can have all of the homes up and heated in a couple of days.”

“Good, now what about the City water supply for Gassville?”

“I’ll have to check it all out, but no doubt there are frozen pipes.”

“Ok, I can supply well water for a while. Please make sure my propane tanks are topped
off. John, are you sure you want to go back to Flippin? We’ve have better security if you
stayed in Gassville.”

“Its home and we won’t be alone, there will be 4 families.”

“Derek, hadn’t you better give John some of the stuff you’re storing in the armory?”

“I suppose it doesn’t matter now. I’ll give him one box of LAWs and one box of gre-
nades.”

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Although they had a M1114 in for repair, and it had the CROWS, he didn’t say anything
about .50 caliber ammo. Ammo isn’t usually stored in Armories, rather in distribution
points. He’d know where that was, but getting there could be a problem. If I had to
guess, I’d say Fort Chafee. Although our house was warm, we spent the night in the
shelter. I suggested to Sharon that we should do that until everyone could leave.

“I’m sick of this place.”

“No more than I am. Tomorrow you can go up to the house for the day. You can take
people with you because they probably feel the same as you and I do. I know you don’t
like to handle guns, but you’re going to have to take something with you, probably a Hi-
Power and a shotgun. I think I’ll move my wheelchair to the house, Damon cleared off
some of the snow.”

“How bad is the snow?”

“John said that for this part of the country, it was pretty bad. We’ve seen much worse
snow in Iowa, and other than being cold, it isn’t that bad.”

“How cold is it?”

“According to the weather thingy, it gets down close to zero at night and up to freezing
in the daytime. We had weather like that in Palmdale.”

The weather thingy was a Davis weather station, I forget the model. I had it hardwired
and the cable came in with the antenna cables. It didn’t tell you everything, but it told
you the outside data and the inside data wherever you had it. When I had it upstairs, it
was wireless. It was just another of my boy toys. Speaking of boy toys, I’m happy now
that I didn’t get the Tac-50. I couldn’t even lift it, let alone fire it. I knew because Derek’s
AR-50 weighed about the same as a Tac-50.

“Derek, do you know where we can get ammo for the CROWS?”

“I do. I don’t know if we can get there. That will keep for now; we have other things we
need to get done sooner.”

“What is you highest priority?”

“Food.”

“We can hit Wally World in Flippin and Mountain Home.”

“If somebody didn’t beat us to it, we can.”

“What do you want to do?”

155
“While the others find and install power and get the propane set up, I thought that Da-
mon and I could go looking for food. Once we have the food secure, we can worry about
bigger weapons.”

“If you’re going to Wally World, I can give you John’s and my drug lists and you can look
around. I also have a list of other drugs you can look for.”

The terrorists could have released a biological weapon after they detonated the 24
bombs, but didn’t so far as I know. After a nuclear event, or events, odds favor an out-
break of disease anyway. Typhoid and Cholera come to mind. However:

Cryptosporidium infection
(Cryptosporidiosis, pronounced krip-toe-spo-rid-ee-oh-sis)

Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection (E. coli infection)

Giardia infection
(Giardiasis, pronounced GEE-are-DYE-uh-sis)

Hemolytic uremic syndrome

Commonly caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7. Results in acute kidney failure.

Hepatitis A

Cholera
Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacte-
rium Vibrio cholerae.

Typhoid
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi.

156
 Survival Story – Chapter 16

The list wasn’t meant to be exhaustive, just to include some of the diseases likely to oc-
cur in filth and with a poor water supply. You can get more information on them at the
CDC website. It gives new meaning to the expression cleanliness is next to Godliness.
But then, all of the squirrels have a gallon of liquid Dial antibacterial soap, don’t they?
Plus a couple of boxes of examination gloves to change their litter boxes, right? N-100
aren’t that costly, but N-95 will do in a pinch. Because of the H5N1 (avian) flu scare,
most people probably had Tamiflu, right? Oh that’s right, you’re a sheeple and the gov-
ernment will give it to you if you need it. ~$50 a card with a prescription, less than life
insurance costs. Remember New Orleans!!!

“Give me the list, but no promises. We’ll probably all end up in a camp somewhere.”

“That won’t happen if Flight ER Doc is right Derek. For all of the faults that are attributed
to President Bush, I don’t for a minute believe that he would go along with that. When
the truth came out about New Orleans, Brownie, who was doing one heck of a job, lost
the job. Personally, I lay much of that problem on Chertoff, but once they incorporated
FEMA into Homeland Security, it went to Hell in a handcart. The remainder of the prob-
lem was the fault of Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco.”

“I talked to him, ya know?”

“Talked to whom, Damon?”

“Flight ER Doc. I needed information about rabies for that story I wrote.”

“I looked it up on CDC. I downloaded something, but I didn’t have time to read it. That
reminds me, we’ll have to watch for feral dogs. I have a pdf file on them too.”

I had no way to test the well water to determine if it were contaminated. Normally that
only occurs with flooding or seepage from manufacturing plants. You could write what I
knew on that subject on a piece of paper that would pass through the eye of a needle.
Perhaps the main thing was it didn’t click. The well had been tested when we bought the
land and it passed.

“Is your well ok?”

“I don’t know John, but if you think about it you may.”

“The water for the shelter, where did it come from?”

“The well.”

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“If it was bad, we’d all be dead?”

“Could be. I don’t feel any sicker than I did when we went in.”

“Pretty bad, huh?”

“Shhh, don’t tell anyone.”

“Guys like you live forever.”

“I hope so. I figure the water is ok or as good as it was when we bought the land. They
tested it and didn’t say it was bad.”

“I found some milk cans and washed them out. Is it ok if I fill them?”

“Help yourself, John. I wish you’d reconsider and move to Gassville.”

“You could reconsider and move to Flippin.”

“We can agree to disagree.”

Mary told me they’d lived in that home for a long while and she also could see why I
didn’t want to move. They were renting but their landlord wasn’t anywhere to be found. I
suggested that there were several empty homes closer to our place. She didn’t seem to
be too enthused about moving. I’m only putting down the conversations I can remember
in case you’re wondering why there aren’t many verbatim conversations.

Damon and Derek found a semi-tractor and got it to run. Next, they found an empty
trailer and used pallet jacks to load it. I stayed home because it was eerie here with no
people around. When they had what they wanted from Flippin, they brought the semi
home.

“Dad, I got the drugs, they’re in some boxes in the sleeper. I also got ammo but only the
stuff we could use. We’ll go to Mountain Home tomorrow.”

“How full is the semi?”

“Packed.”

“Where am I going to store that?”

“For now in the trailer. When everyone is out of the basement, we’ll move some of it
there.”

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“I hope it fits.”

“Not all of it, I plan to divide it up.”

“Can you find another empty trailer?”

“Probably in Mountain Home.”

The following day they went to Mountain Home. It was a different story there; there were
more than a few people around. Mountain Home had a median age of 53, it was a re-
tirement community. The people had used the empty semi to create a roadblock on
412/62. Sgt. Bubba Jones was the Police representative at that roadblock. (Yes, really,
you can go to the Mountain Home Police Department and see his picture.) He asked for
Identification and Derek produced his Arkansas DL and Damon his Iowa DL. Then,
Derek fished out his Military ID and told Sgt. Jones he was with the 142nd Fires Brigade,
142nd Field Artillery Regiment there at Fort Chaffee.

Gary,

Go for it! Anything else you need just let me know. I copyright them so people won’t put
them up as their own... “for the good of the cause”. I’m sure you know the drill. I’ll cc this
to Russ because he is XO of Medical Corps. Howzat?

Chuck

PS If things get real bad I’m expecting an outbreak of Typhoid. Doxy won’t touch it so
you might want to find some Cipro just in case.

Here it is:

All antibiotics are not alike. They do their job in different ways.

159
Trying to remember what guidelines apply to which antibiotic can be confusing. There
are, however, general guidelines which can be observed and will take the guesswork
out of what to do.

Remember, these are “General”.

1) Antibiotics are NOT good for you. Antibiotics are for killing a living organism – as in a
disease. If you do not have a disease, then do not take them.

2) Antibiotics will not kill a virus. Antibiotics do not help flu or colds because flu and
colds are caused by a virus. Do not take them for colds or flu.

3) If you have an allergic reaction, quit taking the antibiotic and, if possible, change anti-
biotics. Allergic reactions may include one or more of the following: rash, intense itching,
hives, vomiting, swelling and other unusual symptoms.

4) More is not better. Read the label. If the antibiotic is supposed to be taken 3 times a
day then take it 3 times a day. If it says to take 4 times a day then that is what you
should do.

5) Antibiotics can increase the effect of anticoagulants. Some antibiotics will make the
effects of anticoagulants-such as Coumadin-more intense.

6) Unless specifically directed, two different antibiotics should not be taken together. For
instance, the Penicillins and Tetracyclines will cancel each other out.

7) Do not take antibiotics with antacids, certain supplements, laxatives or food.

Certain antibiotics will combine with metals such as calcium, iron, magnesium and alu-
minum and render the antibiotic useless or less effective. Some supplements contain
calcium, magnesium or iron.

Laxatives may contain magnesium. Food often has calcium such as from animals. Anti-
biotics should be taken either an hour before a meal or two hours after.

8) Antibiotics interfere with birth control pills. Some antibiotics can render birth control
pills less effective. If someone starts taking antibiotics while counting on birth control
pills then they can become pregnant.

9) Antibiotics make humans susceptible to sunburn.

10) Antibiotics will give you diarrhea.

General Guideline “dose” for antibiotics used for preventing symptoms from a biological
attack (for prophylaxis). The number of days to take the antibiotic will depend on the
agent used—example: Anthrax 60 to 100 days.

160
Doxycycline (Taken orally)
Adult (8 years and older or weigh more than 100 pounds--45kg): 100mg by mouth every
12 hours. Children (Children under 8 years or less than 100 pounds—45kg) 2.2mg per
kg of weight, taken by mouth every 12 hours (1kg equals 2.2 pounds)

Ciprofloxacin (Taken orally)

Adult (8 years and older or weigh more than 100 pounds--45kg): 500mg by mouth every
12 hours.

Children (Children under 8 years or less than 100 pounds—45kg) 10-15 mg/kg taken by
mouth every 12 hours, not to exceed the total of 1,000mg per day

Amoxicillin Anthrax exposure: Alternative for allergies to Doxycycline and Ciprofloxacin

Adult (8 years and older or weigh more than 100 pounds--45kg): 500mg by mouth every
8 hours.

Children (Children under 8 years or less than 100 pounds—45kg) 80 mg/kg/day divided
every 8 hr, not to exceed 500 mg/dose taken by mouth every 8 hours

Note: Amoxicillin is not a drug-of-choice for most biological weapons.

Copyright 2005 Chuck Fenwick, MedicalCorps.org

Funny, I was speculating when I mentioned Typhoid. It makes sense when you think
about it, in the aftermath, hygiene will be very difficult.

Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. In

the United States about 400 cases occur each year, and 75% of these are acquired
while traveling internationally. Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world,
where it affects about 21.5 million persons each year.

Typhoid fever can be prevented and can usually be treated with antibiotics. If you are
planning to travel outside the United States, you should know about typhoid fever and
what steps you can take to protect yourself.

Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in
their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons, called car-
riers , recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and
carriers shed S. Typhi in their feces (stool).

You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by
a person who is shedding S. Typhi or if sewage contaminated with S. Typhi bacteria

161
gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid fever is
more common in areas of the world where hand washing is less frequent and water is
likely to be contaminated with sewage.

Once S. Typhi bacteria are eaten or drunk, they multiply and spread into the blood-
stream. The body reacts with fever and other signs and symptoms.

Two basic actions can protect you from typhoid fever:

1. Avoid risky foods and drinks.

2. Get vaccinated against typhoid fever.

It may surprise you, but watching what you eat and drink when you travel is as im-
portant as being vaccinated. This is because the vaccines are not completely effective.
Avoiding risky foods will also help protect you from other illnesses, including travelers’
diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis A.

“Boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it”

● If you drink water, buy it bottled or bring it to a rolling boil for 1 minute before you drink
it. Bottled carbonated water is safer than uncarbonated water.
● Ask for drinks without ice unless the ice is made from bottled or boiled water. Avoid
popsicles and flavored ices that may have been made with contaminated water.
● Eat foods that have been thoroughly cooked and that are still hot and steaming.
● Avoid raw vegetables and fruits that cannot be peeled. Vegetables like lettuce are
easily contaminated and are very hard to wash well.
● When you eat raw fruit or vegetables that can be peeled, peel them yourself. (Wash
your hands with soap first.) Do not eat the peelings.
● Avoid foods and beverages from street vendors. It is difficult for food to be kept clean
on the street, and many travelers get sick from food bought from street vendors.

If you are traveling to a country where typhoid is common, you should consider being
vaccinated against typhoid. Visit a doctor or travel clinic to discuss your vaccination op-
tions.

Remember that you will need to complete your vaccination at least 1 week before you
travel so that the vaccine has time to take effect. Typhoid vaccines lose effectiveness
after several years; if you were vaccinated in the past, check with your doctor to see if it
is time for a booster vaccination. Taking antibiotics will not prevent typhoid fever; they
only help treat it.

The chart below provides basic information on typhoid vaccines that are available in the
United States.

● Ty21a (Vivotif Berna, Swiss Serum and Vaccine Institute) is given by capsule, consist-
ing of 4 doses 2 days apart and protects you for 5 years.

162
● ViCPS (Typhim Vi, Pasteur Merieux) is an injection given once at age 2 a requiring a
booster every 2 years.
● The parenteral heat-phenol-inactivated vaccine (manufactured by Wyeth-Ayerst) has
been discontinued.

Persons with typhoid fever usually have a sustained fever as high as 103° to 104° F
(39° to 40° C). They may also feel weak, or have stomach pains, headache, or loss of
appetite. In some cases, patients have a rash of flat, rose-colored spots. The only way
to know for sure if an illness is typhoid fever is to have samples of stool or blood tested
for the presence of S. Typhi.

If you suspect you have typhoid fever, see a doctor immediately. If you are traveling in a
foreign country, you can usually call the US consulate for a list of recommended doc-
tors.

You will probably be given an antibiotic to treat the disease. Three commonly prescribed
antibiotics are ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and ciprofloxacin. Persons
given antibiotics usually begin to feel better within 2 to 3 days, and deaths rarely occur.
However, persons who do not get treatment may continue to have fever for weeks or
months, and as many as 20% may die from complications of the infection.

Even if your symptoms seem to go away, you may still be carrying S. Typhi . If so, the
illness could return, or you could pass the disease to other people. In fact, if you work at
a job where you handle food or care for small children, you may be barred legally from
going back to work until a doctor has determined that you no longer carry any typhoid
bacteria.

If you are being treated for typhoid fever, it is important to do the following:

● Keep taking the prescribed antibiotics for as long as the doctor has asked you to take
them.
● Wash your hands carefully with soap and water after using the bathroom and do not,
prepare or serve food for other people. This will lower the chance that you will pass the
infection on to someone else.
● Have your doctor perform a series of stool cultures to ensure that no S. Typhi bacteria
remain in your body.

Content source: Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases / Division of Bacterial and
Mycotic Diseases

Some of these diseases can get you if you live on the upper west side or the lower
eastside. They are equal opportunity diseases. In the summer, after it warms up, we’ll
have to worry about West Nile and various types of viruses carried by mosquitoes.
There is malaria in Mexico, so don’t discount the possibility of our getting it here. Sorry, I
guess I told you that before. I haven’t said this yet (in this story): prepare for the worst
and hope for the best. (ATM, there is a worldwide shortage of ammo. You’d better get it

163
while you can. This story may come true, or at least parts of it. Possibly before the end
of 2006.)

I know some of you have considered issues raised in these stories and that is gratifying.
A generator won’t do you any good if you don’t have fuel for it. The cheapest, most sim-
ple foods to prepare will carry you for a time, including beans, rice and pasta. Their big
advantage is that they’re inexpensive and filling. They can also be prepared over a fire
in a Dutch oven. You WILL need a means of self-defense, count on it. Remember what I
said about going up against a gun with a baseball bat. In the movie ‘Raiders of the Lost
Ark’, Harrison Ford was ill from food poisoning and in the scene where he was sup-
posed to defeat the guy with the sword, he simply shot him. That was very realistic.
The people you are likely to encounter probably won’t have baseball bats. Be careful
out there.

“I haven’t heard that your unit was activated.”

“I haven’t either Sgt., we just came to check. I work here in town at the post office.”

“Post Office is closed.”

“I figured it would be. What are the chances of my brother and me getting to the Ar-
mory?”

“Two, slim and none. We already cleaned it out. What were you looking for?”

“SINCGARS radios and M1114 HMMWVs, plus fuel for the vehicles.”

“The only vehicle left is a broken down hummer.”

“That may be the one I wanted. We hoped to pick it up and have the engine repaired by
our mechanic. If you go there, you see my name on the rosters.”

“Follow me and we’ll take a look.”

“That’s the one, the one up on blocks.”

“You can fix that?”

“You bet.”

“What’s the thing on top?”

“It’s called CROWS (Common Remotely Operated Weapons System). It’s functional,
but there isn’t any ammo.”

164
“How do I know you’re supposed to have it?”

“I guess you don’t, I couldn’t find the L-T over in Gassville.”

“Take it; it won’t do us any good.”

“Damon, give me a hand and let’s get it hooked to a wrecker.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Shhh, it only needs brakes. I put the parts in the back with the extra SINCGARS and
antennas, plus 4 extra windows. We can pull a 500 gallon fuel trailer of JP8.”

It only took Joe a few hours to do the brake job and about a day to install the transpar-
ent armor in the window wells. Derek gave Damon a refresher on the vehicle and they
headed back to Mountain Home 3 days later for another trailer load of JP8. This time
Derek wore his BDUs and made it to the armory without trouble. They topped off the
HMMWV and loaded another 500 gallons of JP8. When they got back they drove over
to Flippin and picked up a second empty semi-trailer so they could divide up the con-
tents of the first trailer into some kind of order.

The radios were 28 volt and I didn’t have a 28 volt power supply. I used the batteries in
the basement to set up the necessary power and we mounted the vehicle antenna on
the light pole I was using for a mast. Derek set the channel and then drove over to Flip-
pin to give John a radio and antenna. He also put one in his home so Mary could keep
in touch with the rest of us.

“Damon and I are going to get ammo for the machine gun tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you use the 3 belts of APIT you have for now and replace it when you find
the ammo?”

“I’m going to take Mary along, can you watch the kids?”

“Pick up some BDUs while you’re at it.”

“If I can.”

“If you can find stripes, I wore 3 back them and Damon was a PO3. They call that a
Senior Airman now. I’ll need boots; I wear a civilian size 9½.”

“What pay grade?”

165
“E-4”

He couldn’t find Naval or Air Force rank insignia so Damon and I ended up wearing
Corporal pins. He did find boots and brought several sizes. I found a pair that fit and got
him to show me how to blouse my trousers. Believe me, I didn’t much look like a soldier,
especially wearing European designed web gear and riding around in a wheelchair. He
did give me 2 LAW rockets and 4 hand grenades. Sharon made me another scabbard
for the wheelchair. I think I need a new set of batteries, the ones I have don’t seem to
hold a charge. They found enough ammo for the Ma Deuce for several fire fights. The
CROWS system uses a large ammo case limiting the number of times the crew needs
to leave the vehicle to start another belt. I have to make one point about the 25mm am-
mo they use in the LAV-25. The target ammo (793) is used in several combat situations
because of its ability to penetrate soft targets.

“How much .50 caliber do we have?”

“Enough. I got the combat ammo, AP and APIT in the 4 to 1 mix.”

“When are you going to sort the food and distribute it?”

“We’ll need a couple of days to sort it, and then we’ll deliver it. Everyone has propane
and electricity now and we’re using the SINCGARS for comms. Once we get everyone
supplied, we’ll move the remainder to the basement and keep the empty trailers to store
future salvage.”

“What’s it going to take to restore water in Flippin?”

“We haven’t looked. You’ve been giving John water so it wasn’t a high priority. Flippin
gets its water from Bull Shoals Lake. All they need is a large generator to pump the wa-
ter and purify it.”

“Why don’t you pull one of those trailers and block 412 east?”

“Ok, we’ll do that, but who are we going to get to man the roadblock?”

“I don’t know; we don’t really have enough people.”

“Have you sorted through the drugs?”

“Yes, Sharon and I took what we use and I set out John’s drugs. You’ll have to give
them to him and let him distribute them; I don’t know who gets what. We have enough
for about 3 years so we’ll have to find some more. I missed a couple items and I wrote
them down. Those are the drugs I use in my nebulizer. No hurry, I have enough for the
moment.”

166
“What do you use?”

“Albuterol and Atrovent. If you can’t find Atrovent look for Combivent or DuoNeb, it’s a
combination of Albuterol and Atrovent. Anticholinergics relax and enlarge (dilate) the
airways in the lungs, making breathing easier (bronchodilators). They may protect the
airways from spasms that can suddenly cause the airway to become narrower (bron-
chospasm). They also may reduce the amount of mucus produced by the airways.”

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 Survival Story – Chapter 17

While he was in Iraq, Derek used the CROWS system equipped with the Ma Deuce. He
took time to train Mary on its use and from that point forward, I baby sat and the three of
them used the Hummer and a trailer. They made a second pass through Flippin, gather-
ing things that might prove beneficial in the future. These were sorted and divided
among those who had sheltered in our shelter.

I didn’t know about Russ but if he was able to implement his plan, he was well sheltered
and probably out there helping the folks in Payson. Either that or maybe Sharon Packer
had been able to offer him and his wife space in her shelter. I had a fair idea of some of
his firearms and he was in pretty good shape on that score. When I dropped him a note
and said he was an expert, he disputed that. As far as I’m concerned, he is an expert in
some of the most important aspects of post calamity survival.

Lacking any real combat skills or the physical ability to do much, my talents were best
used guarding the home place. I mounted a manpack SINCGARS in my wheelchair af-
ter we found me new wheelchair batteries. The manpack, using 12v batteries, was a
model RT-1523E. To complement the SINCGARS, everyone had a Spearhead and eve-
rything was set to the same channel. The Spearheads went about 1¼ pounds, had 8
hours of operation on one battery and 3 power selections, 4W, 2W and 100 mW.

It seems that about the only thing they hadn’t cleared out of the armory and stored
offsite were their weapons and the Hummer that needed the brake job. When Derek
mentioned that his LT lived in Gassville, I began hoping he’d turn up. The butterbar had
been promoted from SFC to 2nd Lieutenant during 2006 and he was an electrical engi-
neer. He was also a Mustang; they make good officers, remember Chesty Puller?

In no time at all, the salvaging operation was over and our share was organized and in
the basement. Our ghost town turned out to have a few survivors, as did Flippin. This
was a retirement area for fishermen being as close to Bull Shoals as it was. There are
differences between generations and given a choice I preferred the older crowd. Some
had fought in Vietnam and anyone who could afford to retire probably knew the value of
a dollar.

The next order of business was to get the survivors organized and clean-up Gassville,
there were bodies to be located and buried. Although, technically, we were newcomers
and for the most part outsiders, I got off my duff and went with Damon, Derek and Mary
to meet the remaining residents. This wasn’t a rich community, but it was home to a
group of very nice people. Basements had been converted to adequate shelters surpris-
ing me. With a generator on the town’s water supply, only phone, electricity and natural
gas were missing.

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I shook hands with many Johnny Reb’s and more than a few displaced Yankees. We
began to share stores out of the basement and long discussions were held to decide
what to do next. I always carried a small bottle of Purell hand sanitizer, shaking hands is
one way to transfer those tiny little BGs and we all know it’s impolite to shake hands
wearing gloves.

One fulltime, one reserve policemen and the LT were among the survivors so we had
some law and order the same as Mountain Home. Over in Flippin, several of their offic-
ers survived and they were busy working to get Flippin up and running. The LT gave
Derek a field promotion to SFC and reminded Damon and I that we weren’t real Corpo-
rals.

According to information on the Ham bands, the country had lost up to 70% of its popu-
lation between the terrorist attacks and the war. It wasn’t long before a Mountain Home
radio station got its act together and began broadcasting local information. A person
could create an obituary based on what they carried as news. It was déjà vu and re-
minded me of Charles City after the tornado hit. I got more than one chuckle when I
showed up in a wheelchair that looked like a portable arsenal.

“Has anyone thought to look on the highways for abandoned vehicles?” I asked.

“I guess we didn’t think of that,” the LT replied.

“This country has been living hand to mouth for years and you should be able to find
some grocery supply trucks and maybe some fuel tankers. Its salvage LT, not stealing.
A fair share of your Company lived here in Gassville; you should be able to put together
a couple of squads or even a Platoon. We have a semi-tractor running and got the
M1114 with the CROWS repaired so you do have a little firepower to protect your peo-
ple. It’s just a suggestion, but if I were in charge, I’d be out salvaging.”

“Why don’t you organize that?”

“What’s to organize? If you get the stuff, we can inventory it and set up a community
dispersal point. BTW Brownie is doing one heck of a job and FEMA should be here in a
couple of years.”

I believe I made my point. They got organized and went shopping. I got labeled as a
consultant and when they couldn’t figure something out, I’d give them my 2¢ worth.
Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, and I was great at making suggestions,
some good and some bad. Frankly, I was more interesting in keeping my family togeth-
er. My adrenalin surge finally wore off and I was more tired than I could remember.

“What about the money in the bank in Charles City?”

169
“What about it? Assuming there is a Charles City, they had the money invested to pro-
duce income. It’s a long way to Charles City, assuming we could get there, and if the
bank were still there, they wouldn’t give me any money.”

“Then we’re broke?”

“What’s new about that? Hell, even if they did give us the money, as far as I know
there’s no government to back up the FRNs. We were never able to buy any gold or sil-
ver. We have 4 children and they are our security now. Art will keep our propane topped
off and Joe will repair anything that breaks. If we need a plumber or electrician, we can
contact Bob. Don’t worry about it, everything will be ok.”

She stopped that discussion even though I was pretty sure she wasn’t satisfied. For cry-
ing out loud, we had indoor toilets, running water and a generator. I could remember
when I had none of those things. Sharon could too, and after she thought about it, she
came back and said she was sorry. She even offered to fix chili and rice for supper. She
still had that cash reserve fund although I had no idea how much was in it. I was content
to go to the basement and count my cases of ammo.

Derek didn’t approve of the ammo I bought from Ammoman. It was packed loose and
labeled ‘For Training Purposes Only’. That meant it was mixed lots left over from pro-
duction runs at the Lake City ammo plant. I only had 500 rounds of the M118LR. The
175gr bullet needed the 1 turn in 10, not the 1 turn in 11, to realize its maximum accura-
cy. However, my rifle was sighted in for 250 yards so I didn’t think it mattered. I wasn’t
happy anyway; I didn’t have any cowboy guns.

It was awfully cold that first winter. In late April, the snow started to melt off and by May,
it turned hot and humid. Damon moved my radio equipment up to my den and I spent
most of my days sitting in front of the radios, listening. As it was, I could keep pretty
good track of what was going on in the area. That improved when Damon found me a
trunking police band scanner. As far as I was concerned, life was back to normal.

“We’re done salvaging semi-trailers, Dad.”

“I listened, all things considered, you made out pretty well. What’s new?”

“The local police went to Mountain Home and recovered the weapons that were taken
from the Armory. We made another ammo run and got what we could. I suppose there’s
enough food now to keep the survivors in Mountain Home, Gassville and Flippin going
for a year. What does your crystal ball tell you about growing food this summer?”

“I don’t really have a crystal ball, you know. After a nuclear winter, we’ll have a nuclear
summer. It will be very hot. One of the main concerns will be ultraviolet radiation from
the sun. A Nuclear summer is a hypothetical scenario resulting from nuclear warfare

170
that would follow a nuclear winter. In this scenario, the amount of water in the strato-
sphere would increase, causing greenhouse warming of the surface. The nuclear deto-
nations would also produce oxides of nitrogen that would then deplete the ozone around
the Earth. This layer screens out UV-B radiation from the Sun, which causes genetic
damage to life forms on the surface. Possibilities of any existing species to survive in
this extreme condition will be less. The absorption of ozone also results in a heating of
the stratosphere, which results in a further contribution to greenhouse heating. But, it’s
only a theory.”

“Can we grow gardens?”

“Yes, there is a case of heirloom seeds in the basement. They’ll produce seed that you
can use to grow food next year.”

“I know what heirloom seeds are, where did you buy them?”

“Walton Feed and the Ark Institute. Flight ER Doc bought his seeds at arkinstitute dot
com.”

“Do we have canning jars?”

“Only a few, Sharon didn’t want to save them and I never got off my behind and bought
any. What you guys should do is make a house to house search and look for Mason
jars. We have a 7 quart pressure canner if you can find a new sealing ring for it. Some-
where, I have the Ball Canning Book. Sharon started to save canning jars when the ter-
rorists struck so she has a few. I think she even bought lids and rings, but I’m not sure.”

“When was the last time you canned?”

“Uh, 1979, just before we bought the trailer in Davenport.”

“What did you can?”

“Green beans and bread and butter pickles. I think we did about 47 quarts of pickles
and 126 quarts of green beans. If you look on my computer, you will find a set of USDA
canning guides and more in the pdf files. If you can find an All American Pressure Can-
ner, get either a 30 or 41.5 quart, which will let you can either 14 or 19 quarts at once.
Plus that canner doesn’t have gasket to wear out.”

“Why didn’t you buy one?”

“It was on my list, probably a 30 quart.”

“Where did you find out about it?”

171
“Canning Pantry, but more precisely on the Internet. If I had a dollar for every search I
made on the Internet, we’d live in a stone castle surrounded by a moat and have Mk-
19s and Ma Deuces in the towers. Most times, I included the links to information in my
stories. The stories weren’t really that good, but the information was a gold mine.”

“Why did you write the stories?”

“Desert Doc said he was moving to Colorado and suggested starting a survival commu-
nity. That’s when I wrote The Ark. I sat at my computer all day and needed something to
do. So, I did research and wrote stories around the research. Later I began to analyze
the news and to include that in the stories. I was predicting WW III back in 2004.”

“Just how long have you been predicting WW III?”

“Since October of 1962.”

With all of the downtime, I started to read the files on my computer. I wasn’t going to
read those Field Manuals, they were only for reference. Since Derek was interested in
canning, I started to read the pdf files I’d downloaded from Canning Pantry. The source
of the material was the Utah State University Extension and the University of Florida in
cooperation with several other State University Extension Services and the USDA. It
had one advantage; it was handy, and easier to access than the Ball Canning Book. It
was also free.

We started the onion seeds to get shoots we could plant. A person can’t really go wrong
if they follow the directions. There was more than one vegetable I wouldn’t eat like broc-
coli so there were plenty of seeds to share. There are also those categories that I’ll eat
reluctantly, like cabbage. I don’t care if it’s good for me, I don’t like the taste. All the
foods I do like probably aren’t the best choices. One of Derek’s favorite foods was Okra.
I gave him the zucchini seed and told him to use his imagination.

We didn’t have to reallocate a garden tiller, John had one. And, of course, I had gaso-
line. I gave John some of my seeds and he shared them with the Flippin survivors. I got
put on a spot and ended up sharing some of my seeds with the folks there in Gassville.
One sure way to keep them from stealing food out of the garden was to let them grow
their own. Somehow I doubted I get a statue on the Courthouse lawn; it did get us left
alone.

Desirous of being a good neighbor, lacking the needed cash and some insight from my
late father persuaded me not to fence our property in. Whoever said ‘Good fences make
good neighbors’ probably didn’t have a friend in the world. I did, however, win a few
friends when I hung that Gadsden Flag. What is usually called “The Confederate Flag”
or “The Confederate Battle Flag” (actually the Navy Jack) is still a widely-recognized
symbol. The display of the flag is a controversial and very emotional issue, generally

172
because of disagreement over exactly what it symbolizes. To many in the US South it is
simply a symbol of their heritage and pride in their ancestors who held out during years
of war under terrible odds and sacrifice. Couldn’t fly one because I didn’t have one. The
Gadsden flag eliminated the controversy associated with choosing a flag that would
please everyone.

Not only was I getting ready for growing season, I was pondering our future. Did we
have one? George W. Bush was alive before the missiles started coming, where was he
now? Probably in seclusion (hiding) but where, certainly not New Orleans. California
wouldn’t have been a good choice either, not after the big one, terrorist strikes and WW
III. If he went back to Crawford, he’d have to put up with his new neighbor, Cindy
Sheehan. Offutt? Holloman? Barksdale? Not that it mattered, we weren’t getting any na-
tional news.

I looked up one April morning and swore I saw a contrail. It had to be a military jet, the
airlines weren’t flying. I rushed back into the house, set the radio to VHF Guard
(121.5mhz) and said, “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday.” Nobody answered so I switched the
radio to UHF Guard (243.00mhz) and kept calling. Either the pilot didn’t hear me, was
out of range or was ignoring me.

“I’m telling you I saw a plane.”

“Did you try to raise them on Guard?”

“VHF and UHF, the pilot didn’t respond.”

“Only 1 plane?”

“Yes, why?”

“Military jets usually fly in pairs, the lead and a wingman.”

“If they did that, it should have left 2 contrails.”

“Each engine leaves a contrail, Dad. You might have gotten 4 contrails with 2 twin en-
gine jets or a single 4 engine jet. Are you sure it wasn’t a Cirrus cloud?”

“I guess it doesn’t matter, the winds aloft blew the cloud away and I can’t prove it.”

“What have you been doing to keep busy?”

“Reading the books on gardening.”

“And?”

173
“You get the zucchini. The book says it grows like weeds. Why do they always put
things in those seed packs that people don’t like?”

“For instance?”

“Swiss chard, zucchini.”

“If you don’t like it, give it away.”

“I did. I’d kill for a few pints of fresh strawberries.”

On the average, garden vegetables take ~75 days to reach harvest, depending on the
variety, etc. That gave us ~105 days to find Mason jars and lids. The younger people
did a door to door search and even put an ad up on a bulletin board seeking jars, lids
and rings. By now it was apparent that no one was coming to the Bull Shoals Lake area
to rescue us. I figured, “Good, then they can’t tell us what to do.”

These days, most of the folks in the area went armed 24/7. There was almost no trou-
ble; an armed society is a polite society. Guns were usually checked anywhere they had
liquor or in the churches. There were more churches than establishments with liquor
and what liquor there was, was mostly homebrewed beer. It didn’t take some of the
folks too long to come up with stills. Those stills only produced raw ethanol; it would
need aging to be anything more than Vodka. Somehow, I’d managed to stay on the
wagon, maybe I was afraid that if I took a drink I’d die. Contrary to anything medical sci-
ence may tell you, there isn’t a pill that will cure alcoholism. I won’t bother to explain
that, again.

“I’m sorry I missed your birthday, but I did get you a present.”

“Derek, at my age, you sort of quit counting.”

“How old are you now?”

“Uh, 65. I guess I’m in the prime of my life.”

“Does this look familiar?”

“Where did you find a Winchester?”

“One of the abandoned homes. The guy must have been into cowboy action shooting,
check this out.”

Before me lay 3 revolvers, all genuine Colts, a 4¾”, a 5½” and a 7½”.

174
“He couldn’t have been into action shooting, they’re new.”

“Not all of them.”

“These three are.”

“True, but they’re the pick of the litter. We found 6 revolvers, 2 rifles and a couple of
coach guns. He had regular .45 Colt and cowboy ammo.”

“Holsters? Scabbards?”

“No scabbards and the gun belts are too small for you.”

“I guess we can come up with a canvas scabbard for the rifle.”

“You won’t have to, I took a road trip.”

“It’s a long way to Laredo, Derek.”

“Maybe that’s why I didn’t go to Laredo.”

“Where did you go?”

“Howard, Kansas.”

“What’s there?”

“A mercantile that sells Fitzpatrick leather.”

“A Laredoan?”

“A Laredoan cross-draw, a Tequila shotgun belt and a bunch of leather scabbards. Plus
I got Sharon a John Wayne rig with a really long belt for the 5½” Colt.”

“Funny, I don’t feel dead.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I must have died and gone to heaven.”

“But wait, there’s more.”

“What else?”

“That would ruin the surprise. I do need to make some measurements.”

175
“You put any more stuff on this wheelchair and the motor won’t drive it.”

“I got you a new one. It’s a BCW Powerchair Heavy Duty Power Wheelchair that will
carry up to 600 pounds. Two 4-pole motors provide the power you need to get you
where you’re going. And the BCW electric wheelchair is available with options like cus-
tom seating, power recline and power leg lifts to customize the electric wheelchair just
for you.”

When they came back, I didn’t even notice the wheelchair. It had been modified and
had what amounted to a pintle mount in which you could rest a rifle. The new leather
scabbards were fitted to the new wheelchair and while I sat there with my jaw on the
floor, Derek transferred my weapons from the canvas scabbards on my old chair to the
leather scabbards on my new heavy duty chair. Rarely am I at a loss for words.

“Where did you get that?”

“Salvaged it.”

“What kind of scope?”

“Nightforce 12-42×56mm.”

“Where’s Geraldo?”

“What?”

“600 yards…”

“Anyway, there are 10 extra magazines and I loaded them with Raufoss.”

“Did you get one for yourself?”

“Sort of, yes.”

“Magazines?”

“20 of the 5 round plus the ones that came with the uppers.”

“You’re going to need an ammo carrier.”

“I know.”

“Hey, do you want to see my fast draw?”

176
“Sure.”

“You say go.”

“Go!”

“Uh, Dad, I think maybe you’d better shoot them in the back.”

“I used to be much faster.”

“I sure hope so. Did Sharon like the Duke rig?”

“Yes, she did. She said she wouldn’t wear it in the house. I didn’t know you went to
Tennessee.”

“I didn’t, I went to Kansas.”

“Murfreesboro is in Tennessee.”

“I know. My Armalite AR-50 has bit less recoil than your Tac-50.”

“So what?”

“So nothing. Anyway, I got you Hornady A-MAX Match, 10 cases. The hard part was
finding you a MUNS, but I found 4 and you get two.”

“Right, Russia is going to come out of that snowstorm and attack us. Oh, alright, I’ll take
it, but I don’t know that I’ll ever use it.”

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 Survival Story – Chapter 18

Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life
so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? For-
bid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me
liberty or give me death! Patrick Henry

During Liddy’s tenure as a radio talk-show host, many controversial statements have
been attributed to him, including giving out John Dean’s home phone number in 1993
on the radio when Dean was threatening to sue Liddy for defamation (Dean later won a
settlement). Some of his comments lead to condemnation by then-President Bill Clinton.

● August 26, 1994 - Now if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms comes to dis-
arm you and they are bearing arms, resist them with arms. Go for a head shot; they’re
going to be wearing bulletproof vests.” ... “They’ve got a big target on there, ATF. Don’t
shoot at that, because they’ve got a vest on underneath that. Head shots, head shots....
Kill the sons of bitches.

● September 15, 1994 - If the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms insists upon a
firefight, give them a firefight. Just remember, they’re wearing flak jackets and you’re
better off shooting for the head.

Liddy claims that his detractors omit some important context:

“I was talking about a situation in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
comes smashing into a house, doesn’t say who they are, and their guns are out, they’re
shooting, and they’re in the wrong place. This has happened time and time again. The
ATF has gone in and gotten the wrong guy in the wrong place. The law is that if some-
body is shooting at you, using deadly force, the mere fact that they are a law enforce-
ment officer, if they are in the wrong, does not mean you are obliged to allow yourself to
be killed so your kinfolk can have a wrongful death action. You are legally entitled to de-
fend yourself and I was speaking of exactly those kind of situations. If you’re going to do
that, you should know that they’re wearing body armor so you should use a head shot.
Now all I’m doing is stating the law, but all the nuances in there got left out when the
story got repeated.”

What Liddy didn’t tell you was the flak he got from Bill Clinton. It came right after the Ok-
lahoma City Bombing, President Clinton criticized radio talk show hosts. “They spread
hate. They leave the impression that, by their very words, violence is acceptable.” Clin-
ton did not mention anyone by name, but later singled out the radio host G. Gordon Lid-
dy (who had told his listeners to shoot federal ATF officers, who had illegally entered
their homes, in the head rather than the chest because they wear bullet proof vests).

I was busy calculating how much money the rifles and handguns represented. It easily
got into 5 figures and gave me a headache. Conversely, it probably meant I never get

178
another birthday or Christmas present, unless it was ammo. Had the weapons been
purchased, the same money probably would have gotten us a new car.

I tried sitting on the front deck and watching vegetables grow but I’m convinced they on-
ly grew at night. When it finally warmed up, it got downright hot, and humid. Before the
war, the humidity sometimes got up to 98% around midnight. That hadn’t bothered me
because I was inside with the air conditioner and dehumidifier running. We found one of
those camping canopies and put it over the deck allowing me to sit out and not get as
red as a radish. I was thinking, “Life is good and getting better.” I didn’t say it though, I
didn’t want a jinx. If I said it, it would be just my luck that Yellowstone would blow. Or,
possibly a NEO would slam into the planet. If Clarence was still alive, I’m sure he’d be
the first person to see it.

This year my cold came early, not August as it usually did but, in June. I broke out the
Vitamin C, the ephedrine and my nebulizer doing one breathing treatment about every 4
hours. Most, if not all, colds are caused by a virus, therefore there wasn’t any antibiotic
to take. There is no cure for the common cold. The most important thing you can do is
drink a lot of fluids to keep your body hydrated. This will help prevent another infection
from setting in. Avoid drinks like coffee, tea, and colas with caffeine. They rob your sys-
tem of fluids. As for eating, follow your appetite. If you’re not really hungry, try eating
simple foods like white rice or broth. (You don’t have to take the advice.)

● Chicken soup is comforting, plus the steam helps break up nasal congestion. Ginger
seems to settle an upset stomach. A hot toddy may help you sleep, but beware of mix-
ing alcohol with other cold remedies.
● Over-the-counter cold medicines can offer relief from aches and fever. However, doc-
tors no longer believe in suppressing low-grade fever - except in very young and very
old people, or people with certain medical conditions such as heart or lung disease.
Low-grade fever helps the body fight off infection by suppressing the growth of viruses
or bacteria and by activating the immune system.
● Aspirin. Young people and children should not take aspirin because of the risk of
Reye’s syndrome.
● Decongestants can help make breathing easier by shrinking swollen mucous mem-
branes in the nose.
● Saline nasal sprays can also open breathing passages.
● Cough preparations are not hugely effective. For minor coughs, water and fruit juices
probably help the most.
● Gargling with salt water can help relieve a sore throat.
● As for vitamin C’s effects, a recent survey of 65 years’ worth of studies found limited
benefit. The researchers found no evidence that vitamin C prevents colds. However,
they did find evidence that vitamin C may shorten how long you suffer from a cold. One
large study found that people who took a vitamin C megadose – 8 grams on the first day
of a cold – shortened the duration of their colds.

The good news was I had chewable Vitamin C. The bad news was it tasted awful. I
didn’t figure Tamiflu would work on a cold, it was probably a different virus. There are

179
over 250 viruses that cause the common cold. Tamiflu probably help number 260. It
wasn’t the flu, it didn’t involve my stomach or digestive system.

Shortages in the US and other countries led to pressure on Roche to speed production
by licensing Tamiflu to generic manufacturers. The company resisted, arguing that
Tamiflu’s production process is too complex for other companies to complete quickly.
But Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who this week threatened to push legislation forcing
Roche to relent, today announced that the company had agreed to meet and negotiate
with generic drug makers. That was from 2005. What about the patent? Oops, I forgot,
Chuckie and Hillary and all those folks are above the law. Fineswine was behind the .50
caliber ban in California. Ronnie got even; he won’t repair the LAPD’s rifle.

“You should go to the doctor with that cold.”

“Why?”

“It could be something else.”

“He might get upset if I showed up in a wheelchair that was better armed than a Hum-
mer.”

“Take you old wheelchair.”

“I don’t really need a wheelchair unless I’m armed or have to travel over a block. Be-
sides, it needs to be charged. I took 16 Vitamin C, I’ll be ok.”

“You don’t sound like it.”

“Am I wheezing again? I’ll run the nebulizer. I guess I can’t sit on the deck and watch
the veggies grow. By the way, I forgot to thank you for the canopy. When are we going
shooting so I can check out my new rifles?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah right. You got to go to war and have all the fun. What about me, sitting in Califor-
nia checking the fatality details every day?”

“I told you not to worry.”

“Next time we have a war, I’ll go and you can stay home. Just try to not worry. That’s my
job as your father. I prayed a lot too.”

“What did that change?”

“I don’t know that it changed a thing. That’s not the point. You just wait and see when
the BGs show up and I’m out there preserving the American Way, you’ll worry too.”

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°

Once upon a time I was in a McDonald’s and the guy in line in front of me was a Hindu.
I was young and brash so I sez to the guy, “I thought Hindus didn’t eat beef because the
cow is sacred.”

“Only Indian cows are sacred,” he replied.

“Yes mortadella is made from pork, but I won’t tell Mr. Hussein if you don’t.”

Mortadella is a finely hashed/ground heat-cured pork sausage which incorporates lar-

dons of pork fat (principally the hard fat from the neck of the pig). It is delicately flavored
with spices (including any of pepper, in corns or ground, myrtle berries, nutmeg and co-
riander) and typically pieces of pistachio nuts. Traditionally the pork filling was ground to
a paste using a large mortar (mortaio) and pestle. Two Roman funerary stele in the ar-
chaeological museum of Bologna show such mortars. Alternatively, according to Cor-
telazzo and Zolli Dizionario Etimologico della Lingua Italiana 1979-88, Mortadella gets
its name from a Roman sausage flavored with myrtle in place of pepper. The Romans
called the sausage farcimen mirtatum. Anna del Conte (The Gastronomy of Italy 2001)
found a sausage mentioned in a document of the official body of meat preservers in Bo-
logna dated 1376, that may be mortadella.

Mortadella originated in Bologna la Grassa, the “fat” city of Emiliia-Romagna overflow-

ing with bounty; elsewhere in Italy it may be made either in the Bolognese manner or in
a distinctively local style. The mortadella of Prato is a Tuscan specialty flavored with
pounded garlic. The mortadella of Armatrice, high in the Apennines of northern Latium,
is unusual in being lightly smoked. A similar commercial product, called “bologna” and
often omitting the lardons, is popular in the US. The American version can alternatively
be made out of chicken, turkey, beef, pork, or soybeans. “My bologna has a first name,
it’s O-S-C-A-R...” (often pronounced and/or spelled baloney)

You knew about the revolution in Mexico, right? Lopez Obrador had already said he
wouldn’t recognize the electoral court’s decision, and he planned to create a parallel
government and rule from the streets. Many had feared the deepening political turmoil
over the election to replace Fox could explode into violence, but Lopez Obrador called
on his supporters to remain peacefully gathered in Mexico City’s Zocalo plaza – instead
of marching on Congress as they had previously planned.

“We aren’t going to fall into any trap. We aren’t going to be provoked,” he told tens of
thousands who waited in a driving rain to hear him speak. Protesters said they were
ready to do whatever it takes to support Lopez Obrador. Fernando Calles, a 26-year-old
university professor, said he was ready to fight for the former Mexico City mayor “until
the death, until the final consequences.”

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“We lived 500 years of repression, and now we represent the new face of Mexico,” he
said.

Anyway, you get the idea. We hadn’t heard anything since the big one; I wonder how
that all came out. That’s just what we needed, a Marxist government on our southern
border. Last I knew, there was fighting in the streets. Come to think of it, I wonder how
Ron and the other folks in Palmdale made out. There was only 2 ways to find out, carri-
er pigeon or go there. I left there; there was no way I was going back.

“Can I go to the store?”

“What store?”

“Hancock Fabrics.”

“I didn’t know we had one in Gassville.”

“We don’t.”

“Then where are you going?”

“Lancaster.”

“Get outta here.”

“Ok.”

“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant it like, you know, it was a ridiculous suggestion.”

“I wonder if there is one near hear?”

“Rogers, Arkansas.”

“Where is Rogers?”

“The same place it’s always been.”

“I know, but where is that?”

“Get yourself on Highway 412 and go west, 120 miles, give or take.”

“Will you come with me?”

182
“Sure, we’ll go tomorrow, right after I get Derek to help me with my new rifle. I think
maybe 30 rounds will be enough.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Oh, sighting it in. We’ll need to take my new, heavy duty wheelchair.”

“What caliber is that barrel?”

“You’re going where?”

“Rogers.”

“But that’s over 100 miles.”

“120, actually.?”

“How much ammo do you want?”

“11 magazines, 50-50. Cocked and locked, you know, condition 1.”

“I screwed up.”

“How?”

“How were you planning on getting the ‘tactical wheelchair’ there?”

“I was going to put it in the back and wear a motorcycle helmet with a visor. Say, maybe
we’d better add the seatbelt off the other chair to this one.”

“And tie down straps.”

“Yeah, that too, good thinking.”

“Say, why are you going to Rogers?”

“Sharon wants to go to Hancock Fabrics.”

“They’ll probably be closed.”

“Probably, but whatever she needs will be cheaper.”

“I thought you only salvaged for necessities.”

“If she needs it, it’s necessary for my piece of mind.”

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“How much fabric does she need?”

“How much will your pickup hold?”

“Can I write a check?”

“Sure, but the store will probably be closed.”

“Then why are we going?”

“Oh, they’re having a sale, 100% off.”

“Did Derek get you set up with your gun?”

“Yes, he’s driving his pickup and coming along.”

“Maybe Mary would like to come too.”

“She is; Damon and she are driving the Hummer.”

“Who is going to watch her kids?”

“We’ll drop them off at her mom’s. Say, maybe she’d like to come and we can stick John
with babysitting.”

“Why don’t we get Amy and Lorrie to baby sit? I’ll get on the radio and call over there
and see if she wants to go too.”

“She who?”

“Mary’s mother, Helen.”

Rogers is a city in Benton County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, the city is the ninth
most populous in the state, with a total population of 38,829. As of April 2006, the city is
preparing to undertake a special census that is expected to show a large population in-
crease, in line with other cities in the area. Rogers is famous as the location of the first
Wal-Mart. It is also where comedian Will Rogers married Betty Blake.

Frequent Wal-Mart customers show some demographic trends. Polling Data reported by
John Zogby suggests there is a correlation between how often consumers shop at Wal-
Mart and how conservative they are. In the 2004 US Presidential election 76% of voters
who shopped at Wal-Mart once a week voted for George W. Bush while only 23% voted
for John Kerry. By contrast 80% of voters who never shopped there voted for Kerry with
18% voting for Bush. African American and Hispanic voters who shop there are de-

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scribed as “significantly more conservative” than their non-Wal-Mart shopping peers.
When measured against other similar retailers in the United States, Wal-Mart frequent
shoppers were rated the most politically conservative. I guess that’s why I read so much
talk about Wally-World at the tree.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an
American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department
stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world’s 18th largest public corpora-
tion, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when
ranked by revenue. It is also the biggest private employer in the world with over 2 million
employees, and is the largest company in the world.

The State of Maryland passed a controversial bill in January of 2006 requiring that all
corporations with more than 10,000 employees in the state spend at least 8% of their
payroll on employee benefits, or pay into a state fund for the uninsured. Wal-Mart, with
about 17,000 employees in Maryland, was the only known company to not meet this re-
quirement before the bill passed. On Wednesday 2006-07-07, the Maryland law was
overturned in federal court by US District Judge Frederick Motz who ruled that the law
would “hurt Wal-Mart by imposing the administrative burden of tracking benefits in Mary-
land differently than in other states.”

“I didn’t know that Rogers was so large.”

“Right around 40 thousand.”

“Maybe we’d better not go Gary.”

“When I checked on the Hancock Fabric locations in Arkansas, Rogers was the closest
one.”

“When did you do that?”

“Right after we moved into the house and got the internet back up. There’s a store in
Springfield, Missouri however it’s about the same distance.”

“Are those the only 2?”

“No, there are about a half dozen. I have no intentions of going anywhere near Little
Rock. I think they nuked Little Rock and maybe Pine Bluff.”

“That’s right, they nuked Little Rock, Dad, but they didn’t nuke Pine Bluff.”

“How do you know?”

“Pine Bluff was a chemical weapons plant and storage area. A biological weapons mis-
sion was added in 1953 and continued until 1969. Pine Bluff was the site of the Produc-

185
tion Development Laboratories, responsible for manufacturing and loading biological
munitions. President Nixon banned biological weapons in 1969 and manufacturing
ceased. The bioweapons production facility at Pine Bluff was abandoned and partly
dismantled in 1969. In 1972, this part of the complex was renamed the National Center
for Toxicological Research, removed from the jurisdiction of the Arsenal and placed un-
der the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

“Currently, it manufactures chemical, smoke, riot control, incendiary and pyrotechnic

mixes and munitions. Limited production facilities also are used to manufacture chemi-
cal defense items such as clothing and protective masks. Pine Bluff is the only active
site at which white phosphorous-filled weapons are loaded. I didn’t get the stuff there; I
got it at Ft. Chaffee.”

“Never heard of it.”

“South of Ft. Smith and it’s used as a training range.”

“Is that where you need to go to get more ammo?”

“Maybe.”

“You know what; the country has been nuked, not once but twice. As far as I can tell,
there isn’t an operational government anymore, contrail notwithstanding. I think we
should consider getting all the weapons and ammo we can find. That Hummer doesn’t
make for much of an Army. If I were still in California, I have been to MCLB Barstow
long before this. I don’t know how, but Ron and I would have broken in and cleaned up.
After we leave Rogers, let’s go to Ft. Chaffee.”

“But Dad, if I get caught it would end my Army career.”

“If you don’t you could just as easily end up dead. I wouldn’t mind more machine guns
and ammo, like a couple of M1114s equipped with an Mk-19 and another Ma Deuce.”

“There aren’t any more CROWS Systems.”

“Is there any more of the bulletproof glass?”

“In Mountain Home.”

“Fine, we’ll get a couple of Hummers equipped as I suggest and all the ammo and JP-8
we can haul. Get on the radio and let Damon know.”

Picture this if you can: 3 men and 1 woman in Army uniform. One SFC, 2 Corporals and
1 PFC plus two women in their 60s. One of the Corporals is older than Patton when he
died (age 60) and he’s riding in the back of a pickup in a wheelchair wearing a motorcy-

186
cle helmet and visor. I can see the cartoon they’d put in a newspaper, with the caption,
“Your tax dollars at work.”

Rogers was not heavily populated and when they saw the CROWS equipped Hummer,
no one bothered. I expected people to have a million questions, beginning with, “Where
is FEMA?” Followed by, “Where is the National Guard.” It didn’t happen; maybe the
CROWS put them off. The ladies spend about 30 minutes in Hancock Fabrics and we
hit the road. “Make a note Zelda, that was the shortest trip in shopping history.”

It was about 85 miles to Ft. Chaffee. The closest I can come to describing what we
found would to be to remind you of Navajo Depot. We commandeered 4 Hummers,
M1114s, 1 MK-19, 1 Ma Deuce and 2 M240s and 4 trailers of JP-8. We packed all the
ammo we could into the Hummers and the back of the one we already had. Yes, I drove
one, but it had an automatic transmission and we kept it under 55. That was the first ve-
hicle I’d driven since 2003. My driving skills left a little to be desired; what can I say, I
didn’t wreck it.

“How much of the AP did you find?”

“Not much, maybe 500 rounds, it was mostly TP. I’m going to try something. I’m sorry
Dad, I just don’t know.”

Derek even had to show me how to start the Hummer; it wasn’t exactly a Buick Park
Avenue Ultra. And while I’m on that subject, buying the Park Avenue was the dumbest
mistake I’d made in a lifetime of mistakes and also the nicest car I ever owned. We got
back to Gassville in an uneventful, if meandering, drive. When we dropped Helen off,
we let John and her keep the M240 equipped Hummer for Flippin’s defense. The Mk-19
and the Ma Deuce stayed in Gassville parked downtown and the other Hummer went to
Mountain Home.

187
 Survival Story – Chapter 19

The LT didn’t commandeer the CROWS equipped Hummer but he did make Derek his
official driver, same difference I guess. The LT seemed to think that before the year was
over some kind of military action would take place in an effort to rebuild the country.
He’d been working on the problem and had a squad in each of the 3 communities as-
sisting local law enforcement. Those other M1114s in Mountain Home? They were now
cop cars.

We were working off a new set of rules perhaps more in line with what the framers
wanted. We didn’t have CCWs any more, that was replaced by a must carry rule. The
people with the stills had to pony up at least half of their ethanol to be blended with gas-
oline. It was blended with benzene and further refined into anhydrous ethanol then
blended with the remaining stores of gas. Vehicles not designed to run E-85 were side-
lined and flexible fuel vehicles ruled. The few people fortunate to have the flex fuel vehi-
cles ended up ferrying people around.

I wasn’t going to share what little gas I had outside of the family. However, I wanted to
be part of the solution instead of part of the problem so I strategically relocated a very
nice Dodge 3500 RAM with the Cummins Turbo diesel. Damon and Derek helped and
we constructed a loading dock so I could load my tactical wheelchair in the back. Sorry,
no tactical wheelbarrow.

You may recall that I talked myself into a diesel generator. That was nice, but we were
now short on diesel fuel. JP-8 is very similar to Jet Fuel A.

JP-8 jet fuel was developed as a jet fuel in response to problems encountered in use of
JP-4 jet fuel. By the fall of 1996, JP-8 completely replaced JP-4 in the United States Air
Force. Compared to JP-4, JP-8 has a higher flash point and lower vapor pressure, mak-
ing it less volatile; contains less benzene, a known carcinogen; and contains less n-
hexane, a known neurotoxicant. Moreover, as a kerosene-based fuel, JP-8 has a strong
odor and is oily to the touch, while JP-4, a kerosene-gasoline mix, is less pungent and
has a non-oily, solvent-like feel.

It has been estimated that approximately 60 billion gallons are used worldwide each
year, with 4.5 billion used by the US Air Force, the US Army, and NATO. The US Navy
uses JP-5, which is very similar to JP-8. JP-8 is also used to fuel heaters, stoves, tanks,
and other vehicles in military service; and used as coolant for engines and other aircraft
components. JP-8 is planned on being used at least until the year 2025 as the battle-
field fuel for all US military operations. The Department of Defense has recognized JP-8
as the single largest chemical exposure for its personnel. JP-8 without several additives
is Jet A or commercial fuel.

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The Airports at Flippin (FLP) and Mountain Home (BPK) had 100LL and Jet Fuel A. All
we needed was tansport so I asked Damon to see what he could arrange. He told me to
load the wheelchair, we were going shopping. He loaded 20 gallons of JP-8 and battery
cables, I was guessing we were looking for a fuel transport. He directed me to drive
west on 412 and junction with US 65. We hadn’t gone more than 20 miles down 65
when we saw a Citgo tanker. We stopped and he checked the tanks. One had gas and
was about ⅓ full; the other had diesel and was about ½ full. Nice. The gas wouldn’t be
any good unless we could come up with about 1½ gallons of PRI-G. It would take 2 gal-
lons of PRI-D to restore the diesel fuel, but there were plenty of marinas at Bull Shoals.
The ratio is one gallon of stabilizer to 2,000 gallons of fuel. We found plenty.

Once he got the tractor running, we headed home. I was thinking about Chris and his
race car. He ran it on 100LL. IIRC, his engine was a Dodge 416. I figured we’d add the
fuel supplement and haul the tanker to one of the airports and finish filling the tanks with
either 100LL or Jet fuel A. The process of filling the tanks ought to work to our ad-
vantage, mixing the PRI products. That would solve our gasoline and diesel fuel prob-
lem, probably for a while. We got home and unloaded my wheelchair. Damon said he’d
find the PRI-G and PRI-D and get some help to refill the fuel tanks.

I didn’t have any problem taking the Citgo tanker; you know who owns Citgo, don’t you?
I’ll tell you since you want to know, the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company
(Hugo Chávez). I felt better knowing we’d stuck it to Hugo, if only a little bit. I’ll tell you, I
was looking forward to celebrating Independence Day. And, thanks for asking, my cold
is much better, I did the megadose of Vitamin C, 16 pills. Vitamin C is water soluble so I
don’t believe you can overdose on it. Now I’m taking all B plus C, but it hasn’t improved
my hearing.

Slowly, the story of what happened to the country was coming together, via the Ham
radio net. The US has 361 metropolitan statistical areas. While none of the Hams was
sure who attacked the country, the money was on China and/or Russia. While certain
key military targets were hit, the list of MSAs almost constituted a target list and MSAs
of 500,000 and over were hit, some with multiple weapons. 24 of those had already
been hit in the terrorist attacks and if the war had come one week later, Derek might
have been in one of those cities. That’s a sobering thought, if I were drinking.

The total? Somewhere around 340 cities and ~120 military installations, but I was still
counting. With no better information, I was holding to the 70% population loss figure.
Palmdale got a double whammy, LA and Edwards ABF had both been hit. Plant 42 es-
caped the attack. One Ham mentioned an attack north of Nellis AFB at the test range,
Area 51?

Any local bad actors were quickly rounded up, or shot. Like I said, there were a lot of
retired folks in the area, plus the National Guard survivors weren’t taking any chances.
Wearing BDUs helped to identify us as the good guys, whatever that means. I guess it

189
means we didn’t steal TVs and shared some of our booty with the others, except for
fuel. There is an exception to every rule and when Art showed up with more propane,
we quickly filled his tank and 2 55-gallon drums he brought along with the diesel/JP-
8/Jet fuel A combination.

“Derek, in most of the stories I wrote, I had my Dodge Ram all tricked out. You know, a
12k Warn Winch, extra fuel tanks and sometimes a topper. The truck has a towing
package so if we could find the other things, I’d be set.”

“Didn’t grandpa have a winch that raised and lowered Gayle’s wheelchair into the back
of his Lincoln Town Car?”

“Yep, but I don’t know where he got it. Isn’t that combat wheelchair a little heavy to lift?”

“I don’t know, maybe a ramp?”

“Have we weighed the wheelchair?”

“Loaded or unloaded?”

“No, but I do know it weighed 125 pounds before I loaded it down. It might go under
200. I think a ramp is the best way to go. We can do an 8’ ramp and if you can find a
second winch, we can install it in the truck bed.”

I love those boys of mine. Notwithstanding that, they found an under-bed auxiliary tank,
3 winches, running lights, but no topper. They got Joe to install an extra generator and
extra battery so I had lots of power to run the junk. I’ve known people to drive for years
without driver’s licenses; I used to live in California. He even installed an inverter so I’d
have 110v in the back. I soon found that I wasn’t as aggressive as I used to be once I
was behind the wheel. I didn’t realize it until someone mentioned it, but I was getting
around better and not using the wheelchair as much. Maybe in a pinch, I could run 100’.

“Did you catch the broadcast?”

“What broadcast?”

“Bush.”

“Is he still alive?”

“Sure sounded like him.”

“What’s he going to do, cut taxes and nuke Africa?”

190
“He said he was broadcasting from Cheyenne Mountain. He went on to say that enough
radio stations were back on the air so his message should reach most of the country.
He has issued several EOs and rescinded others. With most of the Governor’s killed in
the attack, he’s federalizing the National Guard with each unit to work within its home
state, suspending Posse Comitatus and the Writ of Habeas Corpus. He went on to say
that he’s suspending ALL federal gun control laws but that persons who use guns in
crimes will be shot on site.”

“Most of the supplies that FEMA and the government squirreled away were in or near
large cities and lost in the attack. He’s authorized all citizens, his exact words, to recov-
er such things as may be necessary to maintain life, such as food and drugs. He went
on to say that the military, not FEMA, will be in charge of the recovery effort.”

“Did he admit he made a mistake in using the TLAM-Ns?”

“No, he’s a politician, they don’t make mistakes. He did say that satellite reconnais-
sance shows that both the northern and southern hemispheres were involved in the af-
termath of the attacks.”

“That supports the theory espoused by the World Climate Research Program back in
the mid ‘80s. I suppose that means you’re going to have to leave.”

“Yep. The LT said we’d take the M1114s and head out tomorrow. Those of you staying
behind will have to make do with what you have. Just so you know, the Tac-50 was Na-
vy property called an Mk-15. You need to find someone to mount a rail on your Loaded
to hold your second MUNS and an A.R.M.S. mount for a scope. Here’s a Nightforce 8-
32x56mm for your Loaded. I’m leaving all of my personal weapons behind, except for
the knife and I consider the .50 cal to be a personal weapon. If I can, I’ll try to contact
you periodically on channel 1500. Let’s set the time at 2100 hours.”

“Do you know where you are headed?”

“Little Rock, clean up detail.”

“Burying the dead?”

“At first, yes; plus help any survivors we find. You never know, there may be a few.”

“Ok, I’ll monitor channel 1500 at 2100 every night. You keep your powder dry and watch
your six. Are you going to lose the field promotion to SFC?”

“I really don’t know, Dad. Relax, this can’t be as bad as Iraq.”

191
IMHO, the other guys started the whole thing. They bombed the WTC in ‘93 and
brought the towers down in ‘01. I don’t know if this meets the definition of a just war or
not, it doesn’t seem as important. My view says that Saddam started it when he invaded
Kuwait. We intervened which made Osama bin Laden angry. That blind Egyptian
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and Ramzi Yousef were responsible for the ‘93 attack. In
‘98, bin Laden was behind the US Embassy bombings and they attacked the USS Cole
in 2000. And then came 9/11 which resulted in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Despite Bin Laden repeatedly referring to the Palestinian cause in his manifestos and
interviews, some in the region villainize the organization for allegedly ignoring the Pales-
tinian cause. There could be an endless list of reasons why al Qaeda are seemingly in-
active in the Palestinian territories; one theory is that al Qaeda is unwilling to co-operate
with the mainly Shi’a groups such as Hezbollah who fund Palestinian terrorism or re-
sistance (depending on the viewpoint) against Israel. Another theory suggests that Pal-
estinians don’t wish to be stained further by the extremist ideology driving al Qaeda fol-
lowers, and prefer to conduct combat according to their own principles.

Al Qaeda is suspected, however, to have planned and carried out two nearly simultane-
ous terror attacks against Israeli civilian targets in Mombasa, Kenya, on 28Nov02. The
one successful attack, a car-bomb placed in a resort hotel popular among Israeli tour-
ists, claimed the lives of 15 people. The hotel bombing occurred 20 minutes after a
failed attack on an airplane, when a terrorist fired an SA-7 MANPAD against an Israeli
airliner carrying 261 passengers, which was taking off from the airport. The rocket nar-
rowly missed its target and landed in an empty field.

Then they had the 34 day war with Hezbollah and our withdrawal from all foreign con-
flicts after Israel attacked Syria. I didn’t know if our troops made it home or not. I didn’t
think to ask Derek before he left this morning, either. I was more concerned about losing
our M1114s and the weapons that went with them. A Dodge Ram isn’t bulletproof un-
less you send it out and have that added. You can get most any vehicle bulletproofed if
you have the money. Or, you can spend the same money and buy a house, for cash.

Sharon and I had a pretty good view and I could see most of the town from our deck.
Mary brought me a telescope to use but warned me about looking into bedrooms. What
are they going to do, take away my driver’s license? I wasn’t interested anyway; I totally
lost interest after the diabetes got to me. Not that I didn’t still check out the ‘legs’, maybe
DOM is more correct than TOM. Here is where I tell you that love and hate are the
same emotion and that indifference is the opposite.

I maybe forgot to tell you about the Vietnam veteran whose oldest son did a tour in Iraq
and his younger son is there now in a Stryker Brigade. To top it off, his middle child,
Kathleen, is in the military and somewhere in the Middle East. After I read the article he
wrote about his son, Casey, I wrote him and told him I’d add his son to my prayers. It
doesn’t matter what I said to him, but I liked his reply:

192
My prayers are with you and with your son. In addition to active duty, I spent 12 years in
the Texas Army National Guard, 1978-90, eight-plus of those as a fulltime Training
NCO. The Army put me out on a disability in 1990, or I would be in Iraq now, by my own
choice, since I am 60.

Most people have no idea how it is, being a soldier. I guess it’s always been that way.
Even during World War II, when 12 million men were in uniform still that meant that the
great majority of Americans remained civilians.

There are times when I wonder if war is worth the sacrifice, not just of lives, but the time
and mental and physical energy required from soldiers. Some days I feel as though
someone hit me in the stomach, hard. I felt that way in 2003, when my oldest son was in
Iraq, and I certainly feel that way now, with my youngest in Iraq. But I would never tell
them that. Our children’s service takes a toll on us, but that is such a small amount,
compared to what they go through. Thank you for your letter, and especially for your
Prayers.

I sometimes wonder too. War seems as old as human society, and certainly features
prominently in the recorded histories of state-cultures. In tribal societies engaging in en-
demic warfare, it is typical for the tribe’s armed force to consist entirely or mostly of mili-
tia or a warrior caste. The earliest city states and empires in Mesopotamia became the
first to employ standing armies. Organization and structure has since been central to
warfare, as illustrated by the success of highly disciplined troops of the Roman Empire.

As well as organizational change, technology has played a central role in the evolution
of warfare. Armies with iron weapons might easily defeat armies armed with copper. In-
ventions created for warfare play an important role in advances in other fields, but mod-
ern technology has greatly increased the potential cost and destruction of war.

Throughout history, war has been the source of serious moral questions. Although
many ancient nations and some more modern ones viewed war as noble, over the
sweep of history concerns about the morality of war have gradually increased. Today,
war is generally seen as undesirable and, by some, morally problematic. At the same
time, many view war, or at least the preparation and readiness and willingness to en-
gage in war, as necessary for the defense of their country. Pacifists believe that war is
inherently immoral and that no war should ever be fought. This position was passionate-
ly propounded by the Indian leader Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi.

The negative view of war has not always been held as widely as it is today. Many think-
ers, such as Heinrich von Treitschke saw war as humanity’s highest activity where
courage, honor, and ability were more necessary than in any other endeavor. At the
outbreak of WW I the writer Thomas Mann wrote, Is not peace an element of civil cor-
ruption and war a purification, a liberation, an enormous hope? This attitude has been
embraced by societies from Sparta and Rome in the ancient world to the fascist states

193
of the 1930s. The defeat and repudiation of the fascist states and their militarism in the
WW II, the shock of the first use of nuclear weapons and increasing belief in the value
of individual life have contributed to the current view of war.

Today, some see only just wars as legitimate, and believe that it is the responsibility of
world organizations such as the UN to oppose wars of unjust aggression. Others be-
lieve that world organizations have no more standing to judge the morality of a war than
that of a sovereign country.

“Just War theory” refers to modern political doctrines which promote the view that war is
“just” (i.e. justice), given satisfactory conditions. As “conditions” tend to be variable,
open to interpretation, and otherwise subject to political obfuscation, the concept of Just
War itself, even apart from any specific formulated doctrines, is controversial. While
proponents claim such views have a long “tradition,” critics claim the application of “Just
war” is only relativistic, and directly contradicts more universal philosophical traditions
such as the Ethic of reciprocity (The Golden Rule). War is war is war. It’s “just” if you
win and not if you lose. And, that’s a fact, Jack!

The idea that history is written by the victors has been wrongly credited to Winston
Churchill, but he did say, If you are going through hell, keep going. But you wonder
whether years from now – 5? 10? 50? – there will come a day when the victors actually
know that they’ve won, that the battle is over and they can set about the writing. And
whether even then, we will be sure that we have got the story right. (Time) Who controls
the past, ran the Party slogan, controls the future: who controls the present controls the
past. George Orwell, 1984.

How would you like to be the only person in a class in 1969 who was supporting the
War in Vietnam? The whiners were complaining about everything from the fire-bombing
of Dresden to the A-Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We didn’t bomb Lon-
don and we didn’t bomb Coventry into a pile of ash. We didn’t attack Pearl Harbor. We
did unto others as they did unto us. The nuclear weapons saved lives by taking far few-
er than if they had not been used, IMHO. Half of the class was draft dodgers. I’d lost
anybody I cared about in Vietnam by 1969. The class was called, The Great Issues –
War and Peace.

A war is nothing more than a country sized disagreement. Sometimes the countries
gang up and we have so called World Wars. That all changed in Chicago with Enrico
Fermi. When man first achieved the first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction, a coded
phone call was made to one of the leaders of the Manhattan Project, James Conant:
The Italian navigator has landed in the new world... The natives were very friendly. On
28Nov54, Fermi died at the age of 53 of stomach cancer in Chicago. As Eugene Wigner
wrote: “Ten days before Fermi had died he told me, I hope it won’t take long. He had
reconciled himself perfectly to his fate”. Although opposed to the H-Bomb, Fermi helped
design it.

194
The natives in Gassville were very friendly too. In fact some of those ladies had very
nice ‘legs’. I didn’t look into any bedroom windows and thus avoided being called a
‘peeping’ TOM. Every night I sat by the SINCGARS radio at 9pm listening to channel
1500. Every night I went to bed disappointed, for a while at least.

“Dad, are you there?”

“Number 2 son?”

“Roger. This is the first break I’ve had. Man it’s just awful down here. We started on the
Westside along 430 and worked our way in. Ground Zero must have been the I-30
bridge over the Arkansas. A second weapon hit Little Rock ABF, the C-130 base. I’m
tired.”

“I’m not as worried as I was when you were over there, but I’m concerned. Is the radia-
tion level low enough?”

“Yes, it’s been over 9 months. Plus I have that bottle of KIO3 you gave me. We’re run-
ning about 80mR and we get rotated out when we hit 200R. I’m due to rotate soon, but
not due to the radiation.”

“Coming home?”

“Negative. Our unit is being moved to where you thought the other bomb might have hit.
Don’t mention any names, please.”

“Gottcha (Pine Bluff). It’s been quiet on the home front. Mary brought me a telescope
and I’ve been keeping an eye on things. Bunch of people making alky-hall and some of
the folks been enlisted as temporary police. I can see east and west on 412 so I com-
municate with the cops.”

“Roger. I got to go, Dad. Mary, are you there?”

“I’m here.”

I didn’t want to eavesdrop on their conversation so I turned the radio off. Most of the
time I called the cops it was just local folks that I didn’t recognize. Over time, I learned a
few new faces and who had vehicles and I had to call in a lot less. They had roadblocks
set up anyway so all I was doing was giving them a bit of a heads up. At least I was
good for something. We had started early collecting jars, rings and lids and Sharon told
me that she thought we had enough. She said she also found Gayle’s recipe for the
bread and butter pickles. If I had been thinking about 10 years back, I’ve gotten my Aunt
Ruth’s dill pickle recipe, the best ever. They were getting wood boxes filled with sand to
store the carrots in the basement. She said she’d do a few jars of beets and some

195
creamed corn which she was partial to. Lots of green beans of course, that’s what I’m
partial to.

Missy laid down the other day and didn’t get up. I balled my eyes out, she was 11. I
wrapped her in a blanket and put her in a nice wooden box. I dug the hole without help
and set the box in it. Then I filled the hole back up and put up a white wooden cross just
in case dogs have a religion. I wrote her name on the cross and underneath, ‘My Friend
– 1997-2008’. And then, I just sat down on the ground and cried some more, that wound
cut pretty deep. I got her during my away time and she stuck with me through thick and
thin.

Damon would come by from time to time to visit. When he saw how upset I was about
Missy, he sent Aaron to come and sit with me. Aaron was 15 and quite the young man. I
don’t think he understood about how I felt about Missy, but he tried. I put him on the tel-
escope because his eyes were so much better than mine.

As many may recall, in the previous story, I listed terrorist events running from 1961 to
the present. Altogether, it ran over 40 pages. Some might say that what I reported was
propaganda. It was the truth, whether or not it was propaganda remains to be deter-
mined. You’ve heard me say that there are 2 sides to every coin. Was The Ugly Ameri-
can just a character in a novel or does he/she really exist? The Ugly American refers
not to Marlon Brando, but to the character played by Pat Hingle, Homer Atkins who lives
with the local people, comes to understand their needs, and gives genuinely-useful as-
sistance with small-scale projects such the development of a simple bicycle-powered
water pump. It is argued in the book that the Communists are successful because they
practice tactics similar to Atkins’.

Why do I tell you this? It’s really simple; I found ‘the other side’s website. Man, it’s a Lu-
lu. All of the bad guys are Americans, Israelis or people one of us trained. As a fresh-
man in college, I took a class named Propaganda Analysis taught by the English De-
partment at ISU. One time I especially remember from the class was the look we took at
3 publications, Newsweek, Time and US News and World Report. Two are left of center
and one is right of center, none are without an evident bias. Newsweek is generally
considered the most liberal of the three major newsweeklies.

The point is, I retained a bit of what I learned in that class I took in 1965. Hence, when I
happened upon this website it only took a couple of sentences to have this guy’s num-
ber, a big fat zero. Why do ‘they’ hate us so? Are we all Ugly Americans to ‘them’? If
that’s the case, why do so many of ‘them’ live here?’

This is a warning that Chapter 20 is not for the faint of heart. It is absolutely anti-Israeli
anti United States. In order for the author to get about 30 pages of negative things to
say about things the US has done, he had to go back to 1864 to the Sand Creek Mas-

196
sacre. I’m surprised he didn’t accuse us of murder in the Revolutionary War because he
sure did when it came to the Israelis fight for independence in the late ‘40s.

That’s one of the clues about this piece, the choice of language. It was written in British
English not American English and I converted it to American English. In Chapter 20,
we’re the BGs. I do not dispute the events cited occurred. I do dispute the interpretation
given many of the events, but not all of them. My Lai was not our finest moment. Neither
was Sand Creek, Wounded Knee or the Trail of Tears. Only God is perfect, we aren’t.
We have made mistakes over the last 230 years. I won’t dismiss our mistakes by saying
chit happens.

If an innocent person is killed, it’s sad and terrible whether it was a Native American or a
pioneering family. It’s equally sad and terrible if a military unit wrongly identifies a target
and ‘innocents’ are killed. Hezbollah counted on that when they chose to launch mis-
siles into Israel from civilian neighborhoods. I assume that some of the people were in-
nocent civilians, but not all were. This leads me to a discussion I can’t answer, “Were
German and Japanese civilians during WW II innocent bystanders?” May I suggest to
you that if Hitler had perfected the ICBM that could have reached the US and nuclear
weapons, the story would be vastly different. I can’t accept that he wouldn’t have used
them indiscriminately against the eastern coast of the US.

In the late days of WW II in the Pacific, the Japanese hatched a plot to destroy the Pan-
ama Canal. Earlier, they invaded Dutch Harbor as a diversion for their attack on Midway
Island. I believe that both Pearl Harbor and Dutch Harbor were US Territories then and
are now parts of the 49th and 50th states now. They chose to become states, remem-
ber that when the author mentions our invasion of the Hawaiian Islands.

In the 21st Century, the greatest danger doesn’t lie with the major nuclear powers, di-
rectly. It lies with the wanttabe nuclear nations, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran
and as some suggest, Saudi Arabia. The US and Russia fought the Cold War for 40
years. We came very close more than once, but we managed to avoid WW III, the nu-
clear confrontation. Sometimes we avoided WW III because of something we did and
sometimes it was a Russian. Consider the policies of two of our Generals, MacArthur
and LeMay. “You are about to enter the Spin Zone.”

The sun’ll come out

Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
‘Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You’re always
A day
A way!

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 Survival Story – Chapter 20

January 2
In 1904 US troops invaded the Dominican Republic and stayed until February 11 to en-
force US interests at Puerto Plata, Sosua, and Santo Domingo. American customs
agents took over the state’s finances to assure payment of its external debt.

January 4
In 1948 Jewish terrorists from the Haganah bombed the Arab Semiramis hotel in Jeru-
salem on the night of January 4/5. A total of twenty-six people were killed, including a
Spanish diplomat and numerous women and children. The British report called the
bombing ‘wholesale murder of innocent people’.

January 8
In 1948 Jewish terrorists placed a booby-trapped car and blew up the headquarters of
the Arab National Committee in Jaffa. The explosion killed 70 Arabs and wounded many
more.

January 16
In 1893 US Marines landed in Honolulu armed with Howitzer cannons and carbines. A
group of 18 men – mostly American sugar farmers – staged a coup, proclaiming them-
selves the “provisional government” of Hawaii. The US minister to Hawaii, John L. Ste-
vens, gave immediate recognition to them as Hawaii’s true government.

In 1948 Jewish terrorists disguised in the uniforms of British soldiers entered a store
near the “Maghrebi Building” located in Salahuddin Street in the city of Haifa under the
pretext of inspection. They placed a time bomb which exploded, destroying the building
and its vicinity, killing 31 men, women and children and injuring double that number.

January 17
In 1961 Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the newly independent Congo was
assassinated by the CIA under direct orders from US President Eisenhower, who had
financial interests in the former Belgian colony. There followed several years of civil
conflict and chaos and the rise to power of Mobutu Sese Seko, a man not a stranger to
the CIA. Mobutu went on to rule the country for more than 30 years, with a level of cor-
ruption and cruelty that shocked even his CIA handlers. The Zairian people lived in ab-
ject poverty despite the plentiful natural wealth, while Mobutu became a multibillionaire.

January 18
In 2004 a US Apache helicopter attacked “armed militants” in Saghatho village in
Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. According to local people 11 villagers, including four
children, were killed.

January 23
In 1870 at first light, in numbing cold, 200 dismounted US cavalrymen lay spread out in
ambush positions along snowy bluffs overlooking the Marias River in Montana and the

198
large winter campsite of the Piegan leader Heavy Runner. The camp was surrounded,
its warriors were away hunting, and the edgy troopers awaited the command to fire.
Then the old chief came out of his lodge and walked toward the bluffs, waving a safe-
conduct paper. An Army scout, Joe Kipp, shouted that this was the wrong camp; he was
threatened into silence. Another scout, Joe Cobell, fired the first shot, dropping Heavy
Runner in his tracks. What followed, according to Lt. Gus Doane who commanded F
Company in the attack, was “the greatest slaughter of Indians ever made by US troops.”

Some 200 Piegans, most of them either elderly or women and children, were killed by
the relentless firing of the Army’s Springfield rifles. The .45-70 shells, half an inch thick,
riddled the lodges, collapsing some on to smoking fire pits and suffocating the half-
awake, terrified victims. Some of the big bullets killed children under the protecting bod-
ies of mothers and grandmothers. Those who ran to the sheltering cut banks of the river
were rounded up later; a total of 140 captives was turned loose without adequate food
and clothing – some of them froze to death trying to walk to Fort Benton, ninety miles
away.

January 25
In 1999 a cruise missile stuck Basra’s Al-Jumhuriya residential area, while US/British
warplanes attacked Abu Flos, Abu Kaseeb, Basra airport and Al-Rumeila oil field. 17
people died, 100 persons were injured and 45 houses were damaged. A UN team visit-
ed on January 27.

January 26
In 1911 US troops landed in Honduras in support of former president Manuel Bonilla
against the legitimate regime of Miguel Dávila, whose liberalism was opposed by Wash-
ington. Bonilla’s revolt was financed by American banana tycoon Sam Zemurray and led
by the American mercenary, Lee Christmas, who became Commander-in-Chief of the
Honduran Army.

January 28
In 1948 Israeli terrorists of Hadar neighborhood overlooking the Arab Abbas Street in
the city of Haifa, hurled a barrel filled with explosives. It destroyed the houses with their
inhabitants inside. Twenty Arabs were killed and about 50 were injured.

In 2004 Israeli occupation forces killed eight (some reports said 13) Palestinians in an
assault on a neighborhood in the Gaza Strip. Among those killed were three teenagers:
Sami Badawi, 16; Akram AbuAjami, 17; and Sameh Toteh, 16. Like many other such
assaults, the mainstream media in the United States ignored this event or made cursory
mention of it. No mainstream newspaper mentioned names of those killed, let alone de-
scribed the Israeli assault as terrorism.

February 2
In 2003 Israeli soldiers raided the medical center of the Union of Palestinian Medical
Relief Committees (UPMRC) in the Old City of Nablus. The soldiers destroyed three

199
hospital beds, furniture, a defibrillator, and various containers of medicine. (Source: US
State Department Human Rights Report)

February 4
In 1899, the US started the Philippine-American War by initiating an encounter with Fili-
pino revolutionary forces. It used the false allegation that Filipino troops would start kill-
ing all foreign residents in Manila on February 15, 1899. US imperialism sent more than
126,000 troops to pacify the Filipino people and caused the death of up to 1.4 million
Filipinos from 1899 to 1913.

February 7
In 1951 Israeli soldiers sneak over the Jordanian border and kill 10 people, mainly
women and children in the village of Sharafat in Jordan.

February 11
In 2003 Asma Abu al-Haija was arrested at her home at 3am by Israeli troops. She is a
sick woman with a brain tumor, who is going blind, has undergone brain surgery twice,
who has five children left alone at home in the refugee camp, without a mother, without
a father, without their older brother. She spent nine months in prison, sleeping on the
floor of her cell. She was not accused of anything and was released nine months later,
without any explanation.

February 13
In 1991 during the Gulf Massacre (Operation Desert Storm) the Allies first escalated
their bombing strategy to terrorize the Iraqi people. Two missiles launched from a US
stealth bomber hit a civilian establishment – an air raid shelter – killing 1,500 civilians,
many of them women and children. In response to international concern and outrage,
the US claimed that the shelter was a cover for a military outpost. Yet neighborhood
residents insistently pointed out the existence of constant Western aerial surveillance
overhead which clearly would have observed the daily flow of women and children into
the shelter, and Western reporters at the site admitted that absolutely no signs of mili-
tary use could be discovered.

In 1989 Iktimal Dim (6) was killed, and her brother, ‘Isam Dim (10), injured by shrapnel
from an exploding device thrown from an Israeli helicopter hovering above the village of
Tayasir.

February 14
In 1945 aerial slaughter in Europe reached a climax at Dresden. The briefing for air
crews misrepresented Dresden as “an industrial city of first-class importance.” Dresden
had always been a center of art and artists, one of Europe’s most magnificent cities, it-
self a work of art; Dresden’s “heavy” industry was the manufacture of porcelain shep-
herds and shepherdesses.

Other industries, according to Kurt Vonnegut, held as a POW near Dresden, consisted
largely of hospitals and cigarette and clarinet factories. The Royal Air Force gave the

200
city and its civilians an all-out scourging with 1,400 bombers carrying high explosives
and incendiaries. The following day, February 14, 1,350 USAAF heavy bombers at-
tacked the marshaling yards with high explosives. USAAF tactical fighters flew over in
daylight and strafed survivors who had sought refuge along the river banks. Estimates
of the dead vary from 35,000 to 250,000. The raid was specifically described by Church-
ill as “simply for the sake of increasing terror”.

In 1948 twenty houses were blown up together with their inhabitants in Sa’sa, and some
sixty Arabs were killed, most of them women and children, by the Jewish Haganah.

February 20
In 1948 the “Lehi” Stern Jewish gang stole a British army vehicle, filled it with explosives
then parked it in front of al-Salaam building in Jerusalem. The explosion killed 14 Arabs
and injured 26.

February 21
In 1973 an Israeli aircraft shot down a peaceful Libyan civil Boeing 727 airliner, murder-
ing 106 innocent passengers. This brazenly criminal act was perpetrated over the then
illegally occupied Egyptian territory of Sinai. The airliner was in distress, and Israel’s
leaders, not caring about its civilian passengers of many different nationalities, had their
fighters shoot it down. On the same day Israel landed commando units on the coasts of
the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. They attacked two Palestinian refugee camps, dy-
namited several houses and buildings, some over the heads of their occupants, killing
35 refugees and wounding a similar number.

February 23
In 1991 the ground war part of the “Gulf War” begins. In this so-called war, between
100,000 and 200,000 Iraqis were slaughtered: American losses were 148, the majority
caused by friendly fire.

February 24
In 1965 operation Rolling Thunder, a bombing campaign, began and lasted until the end
of October 1968. The plan was to destroy the North Vietnamese economy and force it to
stop helping guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam. In all, the US military flew 304,000
fighter-bomber sorties and 2,380 B-52 bomber sorties over North Vietnam under Opera-
tion Rolling Thunder, dropping almost 1 million tons of bombs on the country. According
to US estimates, 182,000 North Vietnamese civilians were killed.

February 25
In 1969 in an isolated peasant hamlet called Thanh Phong in Vietnam’s eastern Mekong
Delta, a group of US Navy Seals led by ex-senator Bob Kerrey deliberately killed at
least 13 unarmed women and children.

In 1994 American-born West Bank settler Dr. Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslims
praying at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. He killed 29 Palestinians before being beaten to

201
death by the worshippers. Settlers established a shrine to him that was forcibly removed
by the Israeli Government only in 1999.

February 26
In 1991, after a cease fire had been declared in the Gulf Massacre (Operation Desert
Storm), US pilots spent 48 hours relentlessly bombing tens of thousands of Iraqi sol-
diers in retreat from Kuwait. Initial bombing blocked escape from either end of the 60-
miles-long column of vehicles on the highway to Basra. Thousands of civilian refugees
were also incinerated in the atrocity, which US military personnel referred to as a “turkey
shoot” and “like shooting fish in a barrel”.

February 29
In 1948 the Jewish Stern group bombed the Cairo-Haifa train, killing 27 British soldiers.

March 3
In 2003 an Israeli bulldozer killed a nine-month pregnant Palestinian woman, Nuha
Sweidan, while destroying the house next door in a dilapidated Gaza refugee camp.
Palestinian witnesses said that Mrs. Sweidan, 33, bled to death under the rubble as she
cradled her 18-month-old daughter. Her unborn baby also died.

March 4
In 2002 an Israeli tank fired at a civilian car in Ramallah governorate in an apparent at-
tempt to assassinate a Hamas activist. He was not in the car at the time; instead, his
wife was transporting three of their children family from the school. They and another
two children were also killed.

March 9
In 1906 the US colonialist army slaughtered 600 Filipino resistance fighters including
woman and children who had retreated to the Dajo crater. From the sides of the crater
the US military used artillery and deadly small arms fire against a foe armed mainly with
knives and clubs. The official report extolled the “gallantry of our troops”.

March 10
In 1945 300 B-29s dropped 2,000 tons of incendiaries on one section of Tokyo – a
space seven-tenths the size of Manhattan – and in 2½ hours “scorched and boiled and
baked to death” 100,000 people. The quoted words are from General Curtis LeMay who
later became famous for his boast of bombing Vietnam back to the Stone Age.

In 1998 Israeli soldiers opened fire with automatic weapons on a van full of unarmed
Palestinian workers, killing Adnan Abu Zneid, 34, and two other Palestinians. Two more
laborers were wounded as the group returned from helping to construct a building near
Tel Aviv. Eyewitnesses described the Israeli gunfire as “indiscriminate.” Israeli Army
Maj. Uzi Dayan said that the soldiers acted “according to regulations” in opening fire on
the van with automatic weapons at a checkpoint outside Hebron. Ali Abu Zneid, 37, a
cousin of the deceased, was in the van and fell uninjured under the others’ bodies. He

202
said that the Jewish soldiers, “shot to kill.” Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai
described the killings as an “accident”

March 13
In 1948 the Israeli Haganah terrorist gang attacked the village of Al-Hussainiyya, an Ar-
ab village in the district of Safad, destroying its houses with explosives and killing 30 of
the inhabitants.

March 14
In 1978 Israel invaded Lebanon and occupied the southern part of the country killing
several thousand Lebanese and Palestinians, driving hundreds of thousands to the
north, and leaving a region of the south under the control of a murderous proxy force,
Major Haddad’s militia. The militia originally known as the “Army of Free Lebanon” was
later renamed the South Lebanon Army (SLA).

March 16
In 1968 the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Divi-
sion entered the village of My Lai in Vietnam. “This is what you’ve been waiting for –
search and destroy – and you’ve got it,” said their superior officers. A short time later
the killing began. As the “search and destroy” mission unfolded it soon degenerated into
the massacre of over 300 apparently unarmed civilians including women, children, and
the elderly.

In 2003 Rachel Corrie, a young American was murdered by Israeli occupation forces
while she was trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.

March 17
In 1978 Israeli warplanes destroyed the mosque of the town of Abbasieh, South Leba-
non over the heads of the women, children and the elderly who used the holy place as a
shelter from the heavy Israeli shelling. 80 civilians aged from 2 to 80 died.

March 18
In 1970 the CIA overthrew the neutral government of Prince Sihanouk in Cambodia, and
installed a puppet government under Lon Nol, the chief of staff of the Cambodian army.
Demonstrations erupted against the fascist military regime in 17 of Cambodia’s 19 prov-
inces. But they were drowned in blood. Hundreds of Lon Nol’s opponents were execut-
ed by beheading. When reporters later asked President Richard Nixon about Lon Nol’s
slaughter of unarmed men, women and children, he replied: “The Lon Nol government
is a sovereign government. We cannot do anything.” The American interference in
Cambodia led to the rise of the Khmer Rouge which achieved power in 1975 and mas-
sacred millions of its own people.

March 21
In 1994 Israeli warplanes targeted a school bus in Nabateya, South Lebanon, killing two
and wounding 28 children.

203
March 24
In 1976 Jorge Rafael Videla led the military coup which ousted the ineffective president,
Isabel Perón. Though armed leftist groups had been shattered by the time of the coup,
the generals still organized a counter-insurgency campaign to eradicate any remnants
of what they judged political subversion. By 1983 during the so-called Dirty War the mili-
tary slaughtered from 10,000 to 30,000 Argentineans. Relatives of the victims, however,
continued to uncover evidence that children taken from their mothers’ wombs some-
times were being raised as the adopted children of their mothers’ murderers.
In October 1976 Henry Kissinger, then Secretary of State, in a discussion with the visit-
ing Argentinean foreign minister, Admiral César Augusto Guzzetti, reassured the foreign
minister that he had US backing in whatever he did.

In 1999 NATO began the bombing of Serbia which lasted 79 days. Several thousand
civilians were killed and more than 6,000 sustained serious injuries, while a large num-
ber of them will remain crippled for life. Children make up 30% of all casualties, as well
as 40% of the total number of the injured, while 10% of all Yugoslav children (approxi-
mately 300,000) have suffered severe psychological traumas. For the most part, chil-
dren have been victims of the sprinkle cluster bombs with delayed effect. NATO strikes
seriously damaged many clinical and hospital centers and abruptly put a stop to the ed-
ucation of close to one million pupils and students in the Federal Republic of Yugosla-
via. More than 480 schools, faculties and facilities for students and children were dam-
aged or destroyed (25 faculties, 15 colleges, 100 secondary, 320 elementary schools,
20 student dormitories), as well as more than 50 pre-school facilities. NATO destroyed
or damaged during its two month long bombing more than 365 monasteries, churches
and other religious shrines, as well as other cultural and historic monuments of excep-
tional cultural and civilizational value, some under UNESCO protection.

Preliminary estimates indicate that barbaric air strikes of the NATO alliance against in-
dustrial, commercial and civil facilities and infrastructure throughout the territory of the
FR of Yugoslavia, have incurred damages in excess of 100 billion dollars.

March 26
In 2003 at least 14 civilians were killed and 30 injured after coalition air strikes hit a
market in Baghdad. Witnesses at the scene reported burned bodies on the streets of
the northern residential Shaab district. Television footage showed a large crater in the
middle of the road, smoldering and damaged buildings, a child with a head bandage,
and bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting in the back of a pick-up truck. Wrecked cars
were strewn across the roads, some still ablaze. The center of the blast seems to have
been a busy shopping street of ground floor shops under blocks of flats. Residents said
there were no military targets in the area. Others described hearing a low flying aircraft
followed by two loud explosions. Local people claimed “dozens and dozens” were dead
while Lieutenant Colonel Hamad Abdullah, head of civil defense for the area, said 14
people were killed and 30 injured when two cruise missiles hit the area. In London, the
Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Downing Street was seeking information about
the market blast, but at this stage did not know the cause of the explosion. He added:
“We have always accepted that there will be some very regrettable civilian casualties.”

204
March 28
In 1954 a force of Israeli paratroopers attacked the Palestinian Arab village of Nahalin,
killing nine of its inhabitants and injuring 19 others. The commander of the operation
was Ariel Sharon.

In 2003 some 55 Iraqi civilians were killed and 50 others injured when US and British
warplanes bombed a residential marketplace in Baghdad. The attack occurred in a poor
district in the western Sou’la district. Iraqi sources said Cruise or Tomahawk missiles
were used in the new Anglo-American bombing.

March 29
In 2002 the Israeli army launched Operation Defensive Shield, the largest military offen-
sive against Palestinian civilians since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. During the operation,
the military used the most advanced weaponry at its disposal: Merkava tanks, Apache
attack helicopters and F-15 fighter jets. When the operation ended on April 21, Israel
had destroyed the Palestinian economic and social infrastructure, leveled large swathes
of residential area, killed 220 people, injured hundreds more and arrested thousands.

April 1
In 1964 a CIA backed military coup overthrew the democratically elected government of
João Goulart in Brazil. The junta that replaced it became one of the most blood-thirsty in
history. General Castelo Branco created Latin America’s first death squads (secret po-
lice who hunt down “Communists” for torture and murder, usually just political oppo-
nents). Later it was revealed that the CIA trained these death squads.

April 2
In 2002 the Israeli Army attacked the area around Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.
US-made Israeli helicopter gunships, backed by F-16 fighter jets, hovered over Manger
Square machine-gunning Palestinians near Jesus’ traditional birth site. Some ten Pales-
tinians were killed in the onslaught, including an 80-year-old man. At the nearby Santa
Maria Convent in downtown Bethlehem run by the Salesians, an order of nuns, a Pales-
tinian mother and her son were also killed: 64-year-old Samieh Abdeh and her 38-year-
old son Khaled, were wounded by Israeli fire, then bled to death after Israelis prevented
ambulances from reaching them. A reporter for al-Jazeera satellite television, Majdi Be-
noura, was shot in the neck by Israelis as he was photographing the Israeli assault on
Bethlehem from the roof of a hotel.

April 3
In 1948 the people of Cheju Island rose up to protest the rule of the US military govern-
ment and the separate election in South Korea which threatened to divide the nation.
The uprising lasted for seven years, during which nearly one-third of the island’s popula-
tion, or approximately 80,000 people, were killed because they were accused of being
communists.

205
In 2002 the Israeli Army launched a massive military assault on the men, women and
children of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, Palestine. For days on
end the Israelis fired shells from tanks and missiles from Apache helicopter gunships
into the houses of the densely populated camp, as Israeli snipers picked people off one
by one, and Israeli soldiers went house to house, blowing people up, kicking in doors
and machine-gunning everyone inside. The exact number of dead may never be known,
because the Israelis made every effort to cover up their war crimes, literally. Using giant
armored 60-ton Caterpillar bulldozers they tore down every house in the huge central
area of the camp where most of the murders took place, burying some people alive,
along with most of the corpses of those who were already dead.

April 9
In 1948 the Irgun Zwei Leumi led by Menachem Begin, a former Israeli Cabinet Minister
and former leader of the Opposition in the Israeli Parliament, attacked the small Arab
village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem. Three hundred persons were massacred ... with-
out any military reason or provocation of any kind; old men women, children, newly-born
were savagely murdered with grenades and knives by Jewish troops of the Irgun, entire-
ly under the control of their chiefs.

April 12
In 1999 in Grdelica gorge on the bridge over the Juzna Morava river a NATO warplane
destroyed a civilian passenger train that was crossing the bridge. In the description of
this massacre, it is said that the F-15 pilot fired two bombs. The first one hit the metallic
structure of the bridge after which the train stopped. But the pilot did not stop. After the
first bomb, he fired another one directly at the train. 11 people were killed and several
badly injured.

In 2002 the US supported a coup against the democratically elected (in 1998) govern-
ment of Venezuela under President Hugo Chávez, an outspoken anti-Imperialist and the
most popular Venezuelan president in history.

April 13
In 1929, protesting against the British enactment of Rowlatt Act in 1919, which gave
wide coercive powers to the government, thousands of Indians gathered in the Jali-
anwalla Bagh in the heart of Amritsar city, one of the major towns of Punjab state. The
occasion was Baisakhi Day, a traditional festival on which people celebrate the begin-
ning of the harvesting season by congregating in community fairs. The gathering was in
defiance of the prohibitory orders banning a gathering of five or more persons in the
city. The Bagh, or park, was bounded on all sides by brick walls and had a single nar-
row entrance/exit.

Accounts of the British motives vary. One account says that the massacre was a repris-
al for the deaths of four Europeans, and the beating of a woman missionary. Another
explanation is that it was to crush the gathering.

206
Troops marched to the park accompanied by an armored vehicle on which machine
guns were mounted. The vehicle was unable to enter the park compound due to the
narrow entrance.

The troops were commanded by General Reginald Dyer who after a couple of perfunc-
tory warnings to the crowds, ordered his men to open fire. Since there was no other exit
but the one already manned by the troops, people desperately tried to exit the park by
trying to climb the walls of the park. Some people also jumped into a well to escape the
bullets.

When the firing was over, hundreds of people had been killed and thousands had been
injured (official estimates were 379 killed and 1,200 injured, though the actual figure
could be much higher).

In 1996 in Mansouri, South Lebanon, an Israeli helicopter spotted an ambulance moving

up a road near Tyre and hit it with a rocket, killing 3 small children, their mother and 3
other women. Israeli officials attempted to justify the attack by claiming that the driver
was a known fighter with Hezbollah and that the ambulance belonged to the organiza-
tion.

April 14
In 1989 Israeli border guards and settlers attacked the peaceful and unarmed village of
Nahalin near Bethlehem. Eight Palestinians were massacred for no reason and over 50
were injured. The killings took place late in the night and at the beginning of the Holy
month of Ramadan.

In 1999 in the NATO attack on two ethnic Albanian refugee columns on the Djakovica-
Prizren road in Kosova with four cruise missiles, 75 civilians were killed (among them 19
children) and 100 wounded, of whom 26 critically.

April 15
In 1986 19 warplanes of the US Air Force took off from their bases in Great Britain and
flew to Libya, whereupon the F111 pilots bombed the private house of Muammar
Qadhafi and murdered his two-year-old daughter. At least 100 other people – including
civilian men, women and children – were slaughtered as the heroic US Air Force pilots
bombed private homes and mosques all over Tripoli and Benghazi.

April 18
In 1996 the Israelis perpetrated a horrible massacre against hundreds of civilians taking
shelter in the UNIFIL headquarters in Qana, Lebanon because of fear of shelling. Not a
single body could be recognized because they were burned to death in a massacre
which shocked the world.

April 19
In 1993 the US government massacred at least 80 people including women and chil-
dren in Waco, Texas using chemical weapons and gunfire.

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April 20
In 1914 20 innocent men, women and children were killed in the Ludlow Massacre on a
day of infamy for American workers.

In 1999 on the same day twelve people were gunned down at the Columbine school in
Littleton, Colorado, the US dropped hundreds of bombs on Kosova, more than on any
other day. Bill Clinton, the US president who ordered the bombings, said about Colum-
bine that “[we must] hammer home to all the children of America that violence is wrong
[and] show our children by the power of our own example how to resolve conflicts
peacefully.”

April 21
In 1967 the democratically elected government of Greece was overthrown by a CIA
coup led by George Papadopoulos who became the dictator. During Papadopoulos’ first
month in power, 8,000 so-called “leftists” were imprisoned and tortured. Greece was
expelled from the European Commission on Human Rights but continued to receive US
aid. The junta finally fell in 1974.

April 28
In 1965, in order to “prevent another Cuba”, to suppress a popular insurrection, an esti-
mated 20,000 US troops invaded the Dominican Republic. Most of the whites in the
country were evacuated by US forces, the popular revolt was crushed and US troops
remained in the country until 1966.

April 30
In 1999 US/British warplanes carried out several sorties over the areas of Ninewa Gov-
ernorate, Iraq. The jets fired four missiles at Bashiqa area near Mosul city. At Kuban vil-
lage (30 km from Mosul) 7 civilians were killed, a shepherd and six members of his
family. 101 livestock died. A UN team visited on May 2.

May 1
In 1999 a NATO missile blew up a civilian bus on a bridge 10 miles north of the Koso-
van capital Pristina, killing at least 24 people and critically wounding 16 others. Tanjug,
Yugoslavia’s official news agency, reported that 40 people had been killed. The private
Beta news agency reported 60 people dead. The Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said 47
were killed. Paul Watson of the Los Angeles Times reported that, “A bomb exploded on
that bridge about 1:51 p.m., and when a clearly marked civilian ambulance tried to cross
along a smaller, parallel bridge at 1:55 p.m., a second bomb struck. Shrapnel from that
blast wounded a civilian medical technician in the forehead and prevented other ambu-
lances from reaching the carnage at the destroyed bus.”

May 4
In 1970 National Guard troops opened fire at American students at Kent State Universi-
ty in Ohio. Four unarmed students were murdered outright, another was permanently
paralyzed, and eight others were wounded by gunfire. Some of the victims were in-

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volved in an anti-war protest, but others were merely walking by the killing zone on their
university campus.

May 7
In 1999 in the southern city of Nis, Yugoslavia, NATO claimed it made a mistake. In-
stead of hitting a military building near the airport about three miles (5 km) away the
bombers dropped their lethal load in a tangle of back streets close to the city center. At
least thirty-three people were killed and scores more suffered catastrophic injuries;
hands, feet and arms shredded or blown away altogether, abdomens and chests ripped
open by shards of flying metal. This had been no “ordinary” shelling, if such a thing ex-
ists. The area had been hit by cluster bombs, devices designed to cause a deadly spray
of hot metal fragments when they explode.”

May 12
In 1999 US/British war planes flew over the governorates of Thi-Qar, Muthana, Basrah
and Missan and fired at service facilities around Mosul. Two were killed and seven oth-
ers wounded in the south. In an air strike between 11:00hrs and 13:00 hrs in the village
of Abuwini, 90 km NW of Mosul 14 shepherds/farmers were killed and 22 injured. 300
livestock also died. 1 vehicle, 1 wagon and 1 harvester were destroyed. A UN team vis-
ited on May 14.

May 13
In 1985 police and National Guard forces were used to attack the MOVE activist com-
munity in Philadelphia, United States. In the process, the various forces opted to aerial
bomb the MOVE activists, destroying 60 homes and killing eleven people, including
small children.

May 14
In 1999 NATO planes bombed the village of Korisa near Prizren in Kosova, using clus-
ter bombs. Officials said that the investigating team had so far registered 81 bodies of
ethnic Albanians killed. Parts of the burned body parts could be found up to one kilome-
ter away from the site....killing what Serbian officials and survivors say were more than
80 Albanian refugees. The attack on Korisa killed perhaps more Albanian civilians than
any other in the two-month-old NATO air campaign, which has been criticized for its fa-
tal mistakes. At the time, NATO officials said the village was a legitimate military tar-
get...”

May 16
In 1916 after years of interference in the Dominican Republic US troops landed to sup-
press a popular insurrection and stayed until 1924.

May 18
In 2002 eleven people at an Afghani wedding party were killed by US bombing in the
village of Balkhiel, near the Pakistani border. US officials insisted their aircraft came un-
der attack, but the Afghans said they were firing into the air to celebrate a wedding.

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May 19
In 1999 NATO warplanes resumed the bombardment of Belgrade, striking the capital
city of Yugoslavia repeatedly in the night of May 19-20. Bombs and missiles destroyed
part of a major hospital complex and hit the embassies or residences of seven foreign
ambassadors. It was the first large-scale strike on the city since the destruction of the
Chinese embassy May 7. After the usual initial denials, NATO spokesmen admitted that
a missile fired into the Dedinje district had hit the Dragisa Misovic hospital. The blast
killed at least three people and injured many more. It destroyed the hospital’s intensive
care unit and neurological center and damaged the maternity unit and emergency room.

In 2004 Israeli tanks and helicopters fired missiles and shells at a Palestinian demon-
stration in the Gaza Strip, killing at least ten children and teenagers and wounding doz-
ens.

May 20
In 1990 an Israeli soldier called Ami Bouber, using a machine-gun, opened fire on a
group of Palestinian workers who assembled early in the morning in the Palestinian vil-
lage of Oyon Qara near Tel-Aviv, killing seven of them on the spot.

May 21
In 1948 an Israeli force arrived in armored vehicles at Beit Daras, a Palestinian Arab vil-
lage 46 kms northeast of the city of Gaza, and surrounded it to prevent the arrival of any
reinforcements. The force began to heavily shell the village with artillery and mortars.
The Israelis asked the women, children and elderly people to leave the village. When
they reached the outskirts of the village, the Israelis opened fire on them, giving no re-
gard to their being women, children and elderly.

May 22
In 1948 on the night of May 22/23 Israeli troops occupied al Tantura, a Palestinian Arab
village located on the seaside of the Mediterranean, 24 kms to the south of the city of
Haifa. The killers took the men of the village to the village cemetery and made them
stand in lines. The Israeli commander asked his troops to select ten of the men, who
were led near the cactus trees, where they fired on them. The killers then took the other
men to remove the bodies of the first ten, whereupon they fired on them. This method
continued unabated until more than 200 Tantura villagers, mostly unarmed young men,
had been shot.

May 30
In 1999 NATO warplanes demolished the bridge on Velika Morava River near Varvarin
in Yugoslavia. At least 11 civilians were killed and 40 persons were severely injured.
The special hospital for tuberculosis, a home for the elderly and two pavilions of the
Refugee centre in Surdulica were hit. At least 17 children and helpless old people lost
their lives.

June 6

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In 1982 the Israeli armed forces invaded Lebanon for the second time. Around 18,000
people were killed and 30,000 injured and between 500,000-800,000 made homeless in
the first three months of the invasion.

June 7
In 1981 the Israelis bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osiraq. International Atomic En-
ergy Agency (IAEA) officials stated that no weapons had been manufactured at Osiraq
and that Iraqi officials had regularly cooperated with agency inspectors. They also
pointed out that Iraq was a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (informally called the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT) and that Baghdad had
complied with all IAEA guidelines. The Israeli nuclear facility at Dimona, it was pointed
out, was not under IAEA safeguards, because Israel had not signed the NPT and had
refused to open its facilities to UN inspections.

June 8
In 1967 Israel attacked the USS Liberty with aircraft and torpedo boats, killing 34 young
men and wounding 171. The attack in international waters followed over nine hours of
close surveillance.

June 18
In 1954 the CIA sponsored a military coup in Guatemala. Most historians now agree
that the coup was the poison arrow that pierced the heart of Guatemala’s young democ-
racy. Code-named “PBSUCCESS,” the covert operation overthrew Jacobo Arbenz
Guzman, the second legally elected president in Guatemalan history. Guzman had
threatened to nationalize the Rockefeller-owned United Fruit Company, in which CIA
Director Allen Dulles also owned stock. Over the next four decades, a succession of mil-
itary rulers would wage counter-insurgency warfare that also would shred the fabric of
Guatemalan society. The violence caused the deaths and disappearances of more than
140,000 Guatemalans. Some human rights activists put the death toll as high as
250,000.

June 19
In 2004 US forces launched an air strike on a safe house they linked to elusive al
Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the flashpoint Iraqi city of Falluja, killing 22
people in a “precision strike”. “An American plane hit this house and three others were
damaged. Only body parts are left,” a witness said, as rescuers dug through the rubble
of the shattered house for survivors. “They brought us 22 corpses, children, women and
youth,” Ahmed Hassan, a cemetery worker, said after the blast.

June 21
In 2002 two Palestinian boys, 9-year-old Ahmad Ghazawi and 6-year old Sujud
Fahmawi, were killed by Israeli tank fire in a market in Jenin after unknowing breaking
the curfew. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli occupation soldiers fired tank shells
aimed directly at the citizens who came out to buy bread and other foodstuffs they badly
needed, after having been confined to their homes by the 3-day-old Israeli-imposed cur-

211
few. Two crowded market places and several neighborhoods were fired at, even though
swarms of children as young as three were filling these areas, eyewitnesses confirm.

Ali Jabarin, vice chairman of Jenin’s Al-Razi hospital, where many of the wounded were
taken, said that hundreds of people were under the impression that the curfew had been
lifted and were milling about in the streets when tanks fired shells and Israeli soldiers
fired with machine guns in several areas: two market streets and a number of neighbor-
hoods. “Even if everyone was mistaken and the curfew was still in force,” he said, “that
did not give the Israelis the right to fire on civilians with the 105mm or 120 mm cannons
that commonly equip Israel’s 65 -ton Merkava tanks. They could have said over a loud-
speaker: ‘People of Jenin, we did not lift the curfew, please go home or we will open fire
in 10 minutes,’” he added. “But they did not. They just opened fire on people who were
out to get food and water for their children.” “The [Israeli] force erred in its action,” said
the Israeli occupation army yesterday in a short statement.

June 24
In 1999 Israeli war planes carried out a series of raids against bridges and the electricity
network in Lebanon. The bombardment resulted in killing six Lebanese civilians and
wounding 86 others.

In 2002 an Israeli Apache helicopter fired two missiles against a taxi carrying five pas-
sengers. When hit, the taxi was only about 500 m from Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital.
The shelling completely destroyed the car, all five passengers were killed. In addition,
other cars driving in the area, were hit by big pieces of shrapnel. Midhat ‘Abdul Hadi al-
Jourani, 17, who was sitting in the back seat of one of the cars, was killed when his
head was separated from his body by shrapnel. Thirteen other bystanders were injured.

June 27
In 1973 the Uruguayan President and Military, backed by the US, formed a military-
civilian dictatorship dissolving parliament and illegalizing unions. This marked the culmi-
nation of 5 years of military civilian cooperation in war on “communist” terrorism which
was used as a cover to disrupt and repress social movements. In the 12 years of the
dictatorship many activists were assassinated, one in every 50 Uruguayans were jailed,
more than 300,000 fled into exile, and approx. 170 were disappeared. The fabric of so-
ciety was torn apart through direct repression, censorship, and control.

In 1986 the World Court ruled that American actions to destabilize the democratically
elected Sandinista Government in Nicaragua represented an unlawful use of force. The
US completely ignored this ruling and continued to carry on their campaign of destruc-
tion.

June 30
In 1946 at 22:00:34 GMT (09:00:34 1 July local time) the first of 67 atomic/nuclear tests
was conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands. The first test in the “Cross-
roads” series was the experimental “ABLE,” 23KT, which was air-dropped over Bikini
Atoll. The following links (omitted) are just a starting point in the horrendous account of

212
nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands including first-hand accounts by Bikini Elders and
US seamen along with radio links, photos and artwork.

July 1
In 2002 a US AC-130 helicopter gun-ship and B-52 bomber blasted a wedding party in
the village of Kakarak in Afghanistan, leaving scores of people dead – among them
women and children – and at least 40 injured.

July 2
In 1954 an Israeli spy ring in Egypt planted firebombs at several locations, including the
US Information Service libraries in Cairo and Alexandria. The attacks were intended to
damage US-Egyptian ties.

July 3
In 1988 the USS Vincennes shot down Iranair Flight 655, which resulted in the deaths of
over 290 innocent passengers.

July 6
In 1938 a member of the Irgun (the Israeli terrorist group under the leadership of Ze’ev
Jabotinsky), disguised as an Arab, went to the Arab market in Haifa, placed a large par-
cel beside one of the barrows in the center of the market and left. Shortly afterwards
there was a heavy explosion, which killed 21 Arabs and injured more than 50.

July 7
In 1898 the US annexed the Hawaiian Islands, the culmination of more than fifty years
of growing US commercial interests in Hawaii.

July 11
In 1938 a Jewish terrorist hurled a bomb into a Mosque in Jerusalem. Ten people were
killed and 30 other people saying their prayers were wounded.

July 17
In 1927 the US Marine Corps engaged in its very first aerial dive bombing attack. The
dive bombing was against Nicaraguan peasants who had successfully surrounded US
occupation troops at Ocotal, Nicaragua.

In 1982 US supplied Israeli F-4 and F-5 jets swooped low over Beirut, Lebanon in 4
passes, bombing the densely-populated Fakahani district. Five tall apartment buildings
were destroyed, 200 people were killed and 800 wounded. Forty percent of the victims
were small children, and one of the survivors was an unborn baby pulled by doctors
from the dead mother’s womb.

July 18
In 1999 US/British planes attacked several civilian facilities in the southern no-fly-zone
in Abu Sukhayr between Najaf and Samawa (12 km south of Najaf, about 200 km from
Baghdad) and Al-Khider on Samawa-Nasirriyah road (300 km south of Baghdad, about

213
40 km south of Samawa). Another airstrike took place in the northern no-fly-zone, sev-
eral civilian facilities were hit. 17 persons were killed and 18 were injured. A number of
houses were demolished in Al-Manathra area in Abu Sukhayr in Najaf governorate. 4
missiles crashes on or near a main road leading south from the city of Najaf and several
cars were burnt out in Sunday’s attack. A pregnant woman and her husband were killed
in a pick-up truck and 6 others in an all-terrain car.

July 22
In 1946 the King David hotel in Jerusalem was bombed, killing 92 Britons, Arabs and
Jews and wounding 58. It was not just an act of “Jewish extremists”, but a premeditated
massacre conducted by the Irgun (under the leadership of future Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin) in agreement with the highest Jewish political authorities in Palestine
– the Jewish Agency and its head David Ben-Gurion.

In 2002 an Israeli F-16 jet dropped a one-ton guided bomb on an apartment block in
Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of 15 people including nine children, one a 2-month-
old baby. Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said “there was no intent on
harming civilians.” Ariel Sharon described the attack as “one of the great successes”.

July 24
In 1943 Operation Gomorrah, the “total destruction” of Hamburg, Germany’s second
largest city, began, and continued for two more days with daylight raids by USAAF For-
tresses. A final attack on the night of 27 July dumped another 1,200 tons of incendiaries
on workers’ housing.

A new and unforeseen weapon came into play at Hamburg – the firestorm. Martin Mid-
dlebrook describes one in The Battle of Hamburg. “A thermal column of wind generated
heat in excess of 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, melting trolley windows and the asphalt in
streets, the wind uprooting trees. When people crossed a street, their feet stuck in the
melted asphalt; they tried to extricate themselves with their hands, only to find them
stuck as well. They remained on all fours screaming. Small children lay like “fried eels”
on the pavement. The firestorm sucked all the oxygen out of the city; a 15 year-old girl
said that the brains of people in shelters “tumbled from their burst temples and their in-
sides [extruded] from the soft parts under the ribs.” There are claims that Bomber
Command killed at least 45,000 men, women, and children at Hamburg.

July 25
In 1898, US troops landed in Puerto Rico and seized the island as a prize of the Span-
ish-American War. The colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico
has not fundamentally changed since that time. The island remains a political anachro-
nism, a throwback to the age of gunboat diplomacy and the handlebar mustache. Colo-
nialism is inherently anti-democratic. In Puerto Rico, the population cannot vote for
president of the United States, but can be drafted to fight and die in the wars of the
United States. The island is represented in Congress only by a non-voting resident
commissioner, yet Congress controls virtually all significant aspects of Puerto Rican po-
litical life.

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July 28
In 1915 the US invaded Haiti to suppress a popular insurrection and remained there un-
til 1934, turning Haiti into an American protectorate. The US Marines’ first action was to
blast into the Haitian national treasury, take all the gold, and ship it to the First National
City Bank in New York. They tore up the Haitian Constitution, and Franklin Delano Roo-
sevelt, then Secretary of the US Navy, wrote a new one. His allowed foreigners to own
land. US companies then grabbed the most fertile valleys and set up agribusinesses
growing sugar, rubber, sisal, and other crops. Haitians were again enslaved. In a true
expression of imperialist disdain for the Haitians, the US installed president of Haiti was
banned from the US Officers’ Club in Port-au-Prince because he was black.

In 1967 an elite US Army unit known as Tiger Force approached 10 elderly farmers in a
rice paddy in Quang Ngai, Vietnam. With bullets flying, the farmers – slowed by the
thick, green plants and muck – dropped one by one to the ground. Within minutes, it
was over. Four were dead, others wounded. Some survived by lying motionless in the
mud. Four soldiers later recalled the assault. “We knew the farmers were not armed to
begin with,” one said, “but we shot them anyway.”

July 29
In 1999 US/British planes bombed several civilian facilities at Al-Kut (170 km southeast
Baghdad). Several civilian facilities near Mosul (Al-Jarrar and Al-Numanniyah) were al-
so hit. 8 persons were killed and 25 near Al-Kut. 1 person was injured in Mosul.

July 30
In 1999 US/British planes bombed several civilian facilities and service installations
north and northwest of Mosul in Iraq. Another airstrike took place in the southern no-fly-
zone, where a civilian facility in Najaf was hit. 6 persons were killed and 21 were injured
near Mosul. In the south, 3 persons were killed and 2 were injured in Najaf.

August 6
In 1945 the US dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima even though Japan was trying to
surrender. As a result hundreds of thousands of people died.

August 9
In 1945 the US dropped an atom bomb on Nagasaki even though Japan was trying to
surrender. As a result hundreds of thousands of people died.

August 11
In 2000 in Southern Iraq 2 civilians were killed and 19 injured in Samawa when Brit-
ish/US planes hit a warehouse used to store food for the UN oil-for-food deal as well as
several homes.

August 19
In 1953 the CIA overthrew the popular Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and re-
installed Reza Pahlavi as Shah of Iran. Over 300 people were killed and many hundreds

215
were wounded in the nine hours of fighting. The future cost to the people of Iran was
incalculable. Thousands were executed during the next twenty-five years of the Shah’s
reign, and the people became more impoverished. SAVAK, the secret police created
and trained by the CIA, was described by Amnesty International in 1976 as having a
“history of torture which is beyond belief. No country in the world has a worse record in
human rights than Iran.”

August 20
In 1995 in “Operation Infinite Reach” President Clinton launched a cruise missile attack
against a civilian pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum on the spurious charge that it was
involved in the production of nerve gas. Later it was confirmed that not only was the fa-
cility not used for making chemical weapons, it was even contracted to the United Na-
tions. It produced 90 percent of Sudan’s major pharmaceutical products. Sanctions
against Sudan make it impossible to import adequate amounts of medicines required to
cover the serious gap left by the plant’s destruction. Thus, tens of thousands of people –
many of them children – have suffered and died from malaria, tuberculosis, and other
treatable diseases.

August 21
In 1971 the CIA backed a military coup in Bolivia against leftist President Juan Torres.
He is replaced by the brutal dictator Hugo Banzer. Actively supported by right-wing
leaders in the US and Britain, he was responsible for at least 72 murders and 33 disap-
pearances of Bolivians in Bolivia, 36 murders and disappearances of Bolivians in Argen-
tina, eight murders and disappearances of Bolivians in Chile, 15,000 arbitrary arrests
and an indeterminate number of cases of torture, according to human rights groups.

August 23
In 1953 the Israeli army attacked Breij Camp, a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza
Sector and hurled hand grenades into the windows of the shacks. They then fired at the
refugees who were trying to escape. They killed 20 persons, and injured 62 others. The
massacre was perpetrated by Unit 101, led by Ariel Sharon, who personally took part in
the massacre. The killers blew up a great number of houses. Israeli sources admitted
killing 20 persons and wounding 20 others.

August 30
In 2004 eight Afghan villagers were killed and an Afghan aid worker injured when US-
led coalition planes bombed a northeastern village after a firefight with militants, a Dan-
ish aid group said. It happened at Waradesh in Pech district in Kunar province. The
Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) staff operating a water pipe-
line project said their water supply tank was also bombed and an aid worker injured.

September 8
In 1972, without any apparent cause or reason, Israeli Phantoms bombed Palestinian
targets in Lebanon and Syria in a series of raids killing hundreds of civilians. This action
was explained by the Israeli prime minister the next day, who said in the Knesset, that

216
“Israel had now adopted a new policy to strike at the terrorist organizations where ever
we can reach them.”

September 11
In 1973, in a bloody coup, Henry Kissinger and the CIA helped General Augusto Pino-
chet overthrow the democratically-elected leftist government of President Salvador Al-
lende. The Fascist puppet-regime of Augusto Pinochet then embarked on a 17-year ter-
ror campaign against the people of Chile, which included mass arrests and executions,
death squads, torture and disappearances. Many of the victims were fingered as “radi-
cals” by lists provided by the CIA.

Santiago’s national stadium was used as a mass execution site. Robert Saldias, the first
army officer to come forward publicly without concealing his identity, said prisoners en-
tering the stadium were identified by yellow, black, and red discs. “Whoever received a
red disc had no chance,” Saldias said.

Many of the professional torturers and assassins in the Chilean military (and in every
other Fascist country of Central and South America) were trained at the School of the
Americas, in Fort Benning, Georgia.

September 11th – and no mention of the World Trade Center? I forgot; this is the SPIN
ZONE.

September 16
In 1982 fifty members of the Falange, a group supported by Israel, entered the Sabra
and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon and butchered 3,500 Palestinian men women
and children over a period of three days, while the Israeli invasion force looked the other
way. Ariel Sharon was later found to be personally responsible by an Israeli inquiry.

September 17
In 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte, a UN mediator, was murdered by the Israeli terrorist
group known as the Stern Gang. Bernadotte, a Swede with family ties to the Swedish
King, gained international recognition through his work as head of the Swedish Red
Cross during World War II. Bernadotte had used his position to negotiate with Heinrich
Himmler and save thousands of Jews from concentration camps. The Stern Gang was
at the time part of the Israeli military. The man generally acknowledged to have signed
off on the hit, Yitzhak Shamir, went on to become a prime minister of Israel decades lat-
er.

September 26
In 2002 Israeli forces killed Gharam Mana’, who is less than one year old. She died after
exposure to tear gas, while being with her grandmother in Bab al-Zawiyya in Hebron.
Israeli forces regularly discharge tear gas not only to quell demonstrations, but also as a
means of punishment and harassment. When used improperly, tear gas is a lethal form
of ammunition; hence practices such as throwing it into enclosed spaces or aiming it di-

217
rectly at individuals clearly violate the international principles of necessity and propor-
tionality concerning law enforcement conduct.

September 28
In 2000 Ariel Sharon made a well-planned, provocative little “visit” to the Al-Aqsa
mosque in Jerusalem accompanied by a thousand heavily-armed Israeli troops. (All au-
thorized by Prime Minister Barak.) This touched off a spontaneous riot among the Pal-
estinians who were there, during which six Palestinian people were shot dead by the
Israelis.

September 30
In 2000 Muhammad al-Dura, a twelve-year-old Palestinian boy, was shot and killed in
front of TV cameras by Israeli occupation forces. He is just one of the 450+ Palestinian
children killed by the Israelis since September 2000.

October 3
In 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia, a group of 40 Delta Force, Special Forces and about 75
Rangers set off to try to capture Somali leaders supporting General Mohammed Farah
Aideed, the Mogadishu warlord, who were meeting in a house near the center of town.
Helicopter gunships began the ill-fated raid by firing anti-tank missiles into houses. The
US troops took hostages and murdered wounded Somalis and a prisoner. They also
used the bodies of Somalis as barricades. Ambassador Robert Oakley, the US special
representative to Somalia, said that more than 1,000 Somalis were killed during the
raid. In all, between 6,000 and 10,000 Somalis died during the US/UN intervention. US
Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni estimated that two-thirds of the casualties were
women and children.

October 6
In 1976, a Havana-bound Cubana Airlines DC-8 was destroyed in mid-air by a bomb.
The plane had taken off from Caracas, Venezuela with 73 people aboard. Of those, 19
were members of the junior fencing team (mostly 18, 19 and 20 year olds) who had just
won all the gold medals at a fencing competition in Caracas. The flight was routine and
of no military significance. There were no survivors. Four anticommunist Cuban exiles
were arrested in Venezuela and charged with this dreadful crime. All were revealed to
have been trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency and had long-term associa-
tions with US intelligence agencies. All were veterans of the CIA-orchestrated invasion
of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

The masterminds of the airplane bombing, spirited out of Venezuelan prison by bribing
jailers and judges, still enjoy the protection of the US government and CIA. Luis Posada
Carilles, who walked out of the prison and “disappeared”, later surfaced as a CIA asset
in El Salvador helping run the guns-for-cocaine flights for the Nicaraguan Contras. (He
more recently turned up taking credit for the ordering the bombings of a number of Cu-
ban hotels and restaurants that left one Italian-Canadian visitor dead, others scarred
and mutilated, and many more traumatized.) The other, Orlando Bosch, freely walks the

218
streets of Miami, after a judge was persuaded to turn down the Immigration Depart-
ment’s request to deport him as a proven and repeated terrorist.

October 7
In 2001 the US started the war against Afghanistan. An estimated 3,767 civilians were
killed in the initial bombing campaign that lasted eight and a half weeks.

October 10
In 2001 the Sultanpur Mosque in Jalalabad, Afghanistan was hit by a US bomb during
prayers, killing 17 people. As neighbors rushed into the rubble to pull out the injured, a
second bomb was dropped killing at least another 120 people.

October 11
In 2001 the farming village of 450 persons of Karam, west of Jalalabad in Nangarhar
province, Afghanistan, was repeatedly bombed, 45 of the 60 mud houses were de-
stroyed, killing at least 160 civilians.

October 13
In 2001, in the morning, an F-18 dropped 2000lb JDAM bombs upon the poor Qila Meer
Abas neighborhood, 2 km south of Kabul airport, killing 4.

October 14
In 1953, in the Jordanian village of Qibya, a total of 69 civilians were murdered in a six
hour killing spree, which almost totally destroyed the town. The attackers blew up about
forty houses, a school, water pumping station, police station and telephone office. At the
head of the Israeli special forces group responsible was Ariel Sharon.

October 16
In 2001 the US bombed Red Cross warehouses in Kabul, Afghanistan, destroying vital
food supplies. The warehouses contained food and blankets the Red Cross was in the
process of distributing to 55,000 disabled and other needy Afghan civilians. Despite the
buildings being marked by a 3m x 3m Red Cross flag, the Americans claimed it was an
“accident”. Ten days later they bombed the warehouses again, despite the buildings
now being marked by a 9m x 9m Red Cross flag. On October 29, CNN reported, “Pen-
tagon sources say despite a public apology, the United States intentionally bombed a
Red Cross warehouse in Kabul for a second time, in order to deny food to the Taliban.”

October 17
In 1948 Israeli planes attacked Al-Majdal, a Palestinian Arab town, 25 kms north of the
city of Gaza. It had a population of 10,900. A large number of its inhabitants were killed,
besides some Palestinians who had taken refuge in the north of Majdal and were living
in tents.

October 18
In 2001 the central market place of Sarai Shamali in the Madad district of Kandahar, Af-
ghanistan was bombed by the US, killing 47 civilians.

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October 19
In 2001 US planes circled over Tarin Kot in Uruzgan, Afghanistan early in the evening,
then returned after everyone went to bed and dropped their bombs on the residential
area, instead of on the Taliban base two miles away. Mud houses were flattened and
families destroyed. An initial bombing killed twenty and as some of the villagers were
pulling their neighbors out of the rubble, more bombs fell and ten more people died.
One of the villagers recalls: “We pulled the baby out, the others were buried in the rub-
ble. Children were decapitated. There were bodies with no legs. We could do nothing.
We just fled.”

October 21
In 2001 at least twenty-three civilians, the majority of them young children, were killed
when US bombs hit a remote Afghan village, Thori, located in the Urozgan province of
Afghanistan.

In 2002 a 28 year old Palestinian male was kidnapped by Israeli settlers from Itmar,
considered to be a haven for one of the most violent settlers on Palestinian territory.
They kidnapped him while he was harvesting his family’s olive groves alone. They or-
dered him down from the tree and began to viciously beat him by kicking him and
punching him all over his body. The settlers then proceeded to bind his legs and arms
and then took him to an undisclosed location where they continued to torture him by
melting plastic pipes all over his body as he lay blindfolded and bound by hands and
ankles. The Palestinian man escaped and was found by local fellow villagers who took
him to the Nablus hospital known as Rafidya where he is in critical condition. He is suf-
fering from burns and broken bones from his tragic ordeal with the settlers.

October 22
In 2001 at least twenty-five, and possibly as many as thirty-five, Afghan civilians died
when US bombs and gunfire hit their village, Chowkar-Karez. Sardar Bibi, aged about
forty, told Human Rights Watch, “I was wounded five days ago. It was at night, at about
11:30 or so, I don’t know the exact time as we were sleeping. Suddenly the bombard-
ment started. We went out of the house because we were afraid they would bombard
the house. Then, we were running with our neighbors. Another bomb fell down. ...The
plane was circling and also shooting. First, a plane came and dropped a bomb, but the
other plane kept circling.” Her husband, Daulat Khan, and all of her six children were
killed during the attack. Her children included two one-and-one-half-year-old twins, Mo-
hammed Yasin and Mohammed Yusof, fourteen-year-old Akhter Bibi, fifteen-year-old
Najia, sixteen-year-old Maimana, and eighteen-year-old Mariam. Later, unidentified
Pentagon officials told CNN that Chowkar-Karez was “a fully legitimate target” because
it was a nest of Taliban and al Qaeda sympathizers. “The people there are dead be-
cause we wanted them dead,” an official said.

October 25

220
In 1983 the United States invaded the island of Grenada, a tiny island nation with a
population of 160,000 and a per capita income of $390 per year, causing civilian deaths
of up to 4,000.

In 1999 a US bomb hit a fully loaded city bus at Kabul Gate, in Kandahar, Afghanistan,
incinerating 10-20 passengers.

October 26
In 2002 the US bombed Red Cross warehouses in Kabul, Afghanistan for the second
time. The first time was ten days earlier on October 16.

October 27
In 1948 Al Dawayama Village in the district of Hebron was attacked by Israeli
stormtroopers using automatic weapons. The village was completely destroyed, 200
were killed and the surviving villagers fled. “The children they killed by breaking their
heads with sticks. There was not a house without dead… one commander ordered a
sapper to put two old women in a certain house … and to blow up the house with them.
The sapper refused… the commander then ordered his men to put in the old women
and the evil deed was done. One soldier boasted that he had raped a woman and then
shot her…”

October 29
In 1956 the Suez War had just begun. Though Jordan was not involved in the war, a
5pm to dawn curfew was declared on all the Arab villages in the area close to the Jor-
danian border. However, many of the Arabs of Kfar Kassem were away from the village
when the curfew was declared and were not informed about it. As they returned to the
village after 5pm, they were lined up and shot dead by Israeli Border Police.

October 30
In 1948 the Carmeli company of the Israeli army occupied the Palestinian Arab village
of Al-Hulah without resistance. The acting company commander was Shlomo Lehis,
who later on became the director general of the Jewish Agency. Shlomo assembled the
70 Arabs who remained in the village in one of the squares. He and another officer
killed them all, and then blew up the houses. Shlomo was tried in court and sentenced
to prison, but before starting his prison sentence, he was pardoned by the head of
State.

October 31
In 1948 Israeli troops surrounded the two towns of Ba’na and Dair al-Asad. The force’s
commander ordered the inhabitants of the two villages over loudspeakers to gather on
the plain located between the two villages under guard by Israeli soldiers, then killed a
group of young men in a way which was described by a UN observer as “brutal murder,
since it took place without provocation or even an expression of anger on the part of the
people.”

221
In 2001 the US bombed a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing 15 staff and patients
and severely injuring 25 others.

November 3
In 1956 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in south Gaza Israeli soldiers massacred 250
Palestinian civilians. Source: UN.

November 10
In 2001 the villages of Shah Aqa and a neighboring village, in the poppy-growing Kha-
krez district, 70 kilometers northwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan were bombed by US
warplanes, resulting in over 300 civilian casualties.

November 11
In 1975 the democratically elected, left-leaning government of Prime Minister Gough
Whitlam was toppled by a CIA-engineered coup. The CIA did this by giving an ultima-
tum to its Governor-General, John Kerr. Kerr, a longtime CIA collaborator, exercised his
constitutional right to dissolve the Whitlam government. The Governor-General is a
largely ceremonial position appointed by the Queen; the Prime Minister was democrati-
cally elected. The use of this archaic and never-used law stunned the nation.

November 12
In 1956 in the Khan Younis refugee camp in south Gaza, nine days after the first mas-
sacre, Israeli soldiers massacred a further 275 Palestinian civilians.

In 1991 on this and following days several hundred innocent East Timorese civilians
were murdered in Santa Cruz by the brutal Indonesian troops which had illegally occu-
pied their country for the last 21 years, with American, British and Australian support.
Since 1975 the people of East Timor had been subjected to many massacres which the
Indonesian military could deny. Again this time, their response was one of deceit and
pretense that nothing had happened. Yet the world was deeply shocked by the images
of the cold blooded murder that took place on that November day, shown on interna-
tional television thanks to the courage of journalist Max Stahl.

The Indonesian authorities, forced to acknowledge that an ‘incident’ had taken place,
tried to offer excuses devoid of credibility. Most foreign governments, keen on their lu-
crative business ties with Indonesia have so far tried to protect the Suharto dictatorship
from criticism, despite ample evidence about the genocidal nature of the occupation of
East Timor, and the clear signs of dissatisfaction of the oppressed people of Indonesia
itself.

November 13
In 1966 a large Israeli force, including tanks and armored cars, attacked the village of
al-Sammou’ in Jordan, destroying 125 houses, a school and a clinic and 15 houses in
another village, killing 18 and wounding 54.

November 16

222
In 1989 26 US trained and armed Salvadoran soldiers killed and mutilated eight people,
including six Jesuit priests. The UN Truth Commission investigating the massacre con-
firmed that 19 of the 26 soldiers involved were trained in torture by the US “School of
the Americas”.

November 17
In 2001 US bomb strikes in Khanabad near Kunduz, Afghanistan, killed over 100 peo-
ple. The town of Charikar, 60 kms north of Kabul, was attacked with bombs and mis-
siles, killing two entire families, one of 16 members and the other of 14, living in the
same house.

November 18
In 2001 US planes bombed the mountain village of Gluco, located on the Khyber Pass,
killing seven villagers. The village was far away from any military facilities. A reporter for
The Telegraph visited Gluco, noting “their wooden homes looked like piles of charred
matchsticks. Injured mules lay braying in the road along the mountain pass that stank of
sulfur and dead animals…”

November 26
In 2001 after heavy US bombing in the preceding days of the Shamshad village in
Nangarhar province, one or three Afghan children were blown up and seven wounded
by a cluster bomb as they were collecting firewood for burning at home. The United Na-
tions mine-clearing officials in the region, noted that 10-30% of the U.S missiles and
bombs dropped on Afghanistan did not explode, posing a lasting danger. Such muni-
tions dropped in civilian areas poses a lasting danger. Fourteen thousand unexploded
cluster bomblets littered the fields, streets and homes of Afghanistan by late November
2001.

November 29
In 1864 Colonel John Chivington led his troops, many of them drinking heavily, to Sand
Creek and positioned them, along with their four howitzers, around the Indian village. An
interpreter living in the village testified, “they were scalped, their brains knocked out; the
men used their knives, ripped open women, clubbed little children, knocked them in the
head with their rifle butts, beat their brains out, mutilated their bodies in every sense of
the word.” By the end of the one-sided battle as many as 200 Indians, more than half
women and children, had been killed and mutilated.

In 2001 American B-52’s dropped 25 JDAM MK-83 1000 pound bombs on the village of
Kama Ado in Afghanistan killing a reported 200-300 villagers. 156 were confirmed killed
by a village elder. Khan-e-Mairjudden was also bombed and the death toll was as high
as 200 with over 150 confirmed dead. Another nearby village Zaner Khel was also
bombed, hitting a minor Taliban leader’s house, with a death toll confirmed of at least 60
dead.

December 1

223
In 2001 US aircraft dropped bombs on the village of Kama Ado in Afghanistan, report-
edly killing over one hundred civilians. Surviving villagers maintained that no members
of al Qaeda were ever there. The US completely denied the incident occurred.

December 2
In 1980 four American women were abducted, raped and killed by Salvadorian soldiers.
These soldiers were trained in the United States and used guns made in the US, yet,
nothing happened when these women – Ida, Mora, Dorothy and Jean – were killed.

December 3
In 1984 Union Carbide’s pesticide-manufacturing plant in Bhopal, India leaked 42 tons
of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate into a sleeping, impoverished community – killing
more than 2,500 people in the first night of the disaster and injuring up to 200,000 oth-
ers. Union Carbide has since abandoned its Bhopal plant which originally produced pes-
ticides for use in cotton production and has refused to clean up the extensive pollution
of water and soil it left behind. The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.

December 5
In 2003 the US bombed a compound near Gardez in Paktia province, Afghanistan and
killed eight civilians, including six children.

December 6
In 1929 US Marines gunned down 264 protesting peasants in the town of Les Cayes,
Haiti.

In 2003 US gunships attacked an Afghan village, Hutala, in Ghazni province, opening

fire with rockets and bullets, and killed nine children.

December 7
In 1975, one day after Henry Kissinger and US President Gerald Ford gave the go-
ahead, Indonesia invaded East Timor and systematically murdered about a third of its
inhabitants over the next 17 years.

December 10
In 2001 two Israeli Apache gunships fired two missiles at a group of civilian cars
stopped at a traffic light in the northwest of Hebron, apparently targeting Mohammed
Ayoub Seder, an activist of the Islamic Jihad wanted by Israeli occupation forces. Two
children, Burhan Mohammed Ibrahim El-Haimuni,3 and Shadi Ahmed ‘Abdel Mu’ti ‘Ara-
fa,13 , were killed and 14 people were injured. Seder survived as he was able to get out
of the car.

December 11
In 1981 in El Mozote, the inhabitants of a small Salvadoran hamlet were systematically
exterminated by the Atacatl Battalion, a US-trained counterinsurgency force. The
Reagan administration, determined to preserve US support for El Salvador’s war
against leftist guerrillas, downplayed reports of this massacre. The White House ignored

224
and deflected reports that hundreds of unarmed women, children and men were shot,
hung or beheaded.

December 12
In 1954 Israeli warplanes forced a Syrian Airways Dakota passenger craft carrying four
passengers and five crewmen to land at Lydda airport inside Israel. The passengers
were interrogated for two days before international protests, including strong complaints
from Washington, finally convinced Israel to release the plane and its passengers.

December 13
In 1947 in the Palestinian village of Yehida a group of Jewish terrorists disguised as
British soldiers arrived in four cars and sprayed the villagers with machine-gun fire. Only
the arrival of real British troops saved the villagers, except for the seven who were mur-
dered.

December 20
In 1989 the United States broke both international law and its own government policies
by invading Panama in order to bring its President Manuel Noriega to justice for drug
trafficking. It resulted in the loss of hundreds of Panamanian lives and damage to Pan-
ama City and El Chorillo.

In 2001 US warplanes bombed a convoy of tribal elders traveling to Kabul for the inau-
guration of President Karzai. Around 60 people are thought to have died in the attack,
near the town of Khost, which turned up to 20 vehicles into flaming wrecks.

December 22
In 1998 seven members of a family were killed in the eastern Bekaa, Lebanon, during
an Israeli air raid on a farm that was described by an Israeli spokesman as “the mistak-
en shelling of a building”. Three other civilians were wounded when four Israeli fighter-
bombers fired a single missile each at 2:40 P.M. at the farm near Junta and Nabi Sheet
worked by Mohammed Amin Othman, wounding him and killing his wife and six of his
children. A spokesman for the UN force said that the house in which the family was liv-
ing was hundreds of kilometers away from the Israeli border and no military actions
have been taken in its vicinity.

December 28
In 1968 Israeli commando units transported by helicopter attacked the Beirut civil airport
in Lebanon and destroyed 13 civilian aircraft, causing damage of 22 million pounds ster-
ling.

December 29
In 1890 the US Government (with Hotchkiss guns throwing 2 pound explosive shells at
50 a minute – always developing new weapons!) massacred more than 300 men, wom-
en and children at Wounded Knee.

225
In 2001 US bombs, missiles and cannon fire slaughtered at least 207 Afghan people in
the village of Niazi Qalaye in Afghanistan. Many of the dead and wounded were women
and children who were murdered as they slept in their beds. Some were blown to piec-
es. One Western cameraman saw scraps of flesh, pools of blood and clumps of human
hair.

December 31
In 1947 on New Year’s Eve Jewish armed forces massacred 60 Arab villagers in Balad
El-Sheikh with hand grenades and machine-guns.

The author of that website describes himself:

I created this non-commercial site as a counterweight to the received wisdom propagat-

ed by the mass media. This received wisdom includes the following:

● The US economy is improving. If we forget the rising unemployment, the falling stock
market, the corporate accounting scandals, the falling dollar, the increasing foreign
trade deficit and the national debt of over $6 trillion.
● Yasser Arafat Hamas is solely responsible for the violence in the Middle East. If we
ignore the nearly 40 years of Israeli illegal military occupation, the continued expansion
of illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories, the brutal suppression of the Palestini-
ans and the theft of their land and water.
● George W. Bush is doing a great job as US president. To mention the fact that he was
not even elected, that his “War on Terrorism” has not achieved anything tangible, that
Enron financed his campaign, or that his reaction as Commander-in-Chief to the attacks
of September 11 was to run away and hide, is anti-American.
● The attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon was an attack on American freedom
and democracy. It had nothing to do with the US military and financial support for Isra-
el’s policies in the Middle East, the US-led sanctions against Iraq that have cost millions
of lives, or the US support for evil dictators.
● Saddam Hussein was entirely responsible for the death of at least 500,000 children in
Iraq. The destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure, including water purification, and the sanc-
tions preventing medicines and equipment necessary to rebuild the infrastructure from
reaching Iraq and the statements by ex-UN coordinators and inspectors are not rele-
vant.

“I have no political agenda – the purpose of this site is to educate and inform. If you find
the articles of interest, that’s fine. If not, that’s okay as well. This site does not generate
any income by advertising, referrals, requesting donations or whatever.

“On a personal note, I’m just an individual with no political affiliations, living in the Neth-
erlands. I was born in the United Kingdom but prefer not to live in the “51st state”, prefer
wine to beer, rock music to classical music and make a living from mainframe comput-
ers when I’m not traveling.” – Author of the foregoing list.

226
I believe the information speaks for itself and the bias is evident to a blind man. We
should consider where we are and not how we got there. That doesn’t mean that
George Santayana was wrong, he may have been more right than he knew. In my view,
our singular error has been trying to export Democracy. Everyone should mind his/her
own business, including us.

Don’t elect someone like me to a position of power, I’d start by giving the UN 20 minutes
to get out of Dodge and then I’d extend the invitation to all sorts of liberal groups. For so
very long, the Bill of Rights has been misinterpreted. Freedom of speech means you
can say anything, regardless of how harmful. The Right to keep and bears arms now
only refers to your left and right arms. The USA Patriot Act gutted several of the
Amendments. I’m still trying to figure out when they repealed the 10th Amendment,
States Rights.

The Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War (I know the War of Northern
Aggression) were fought on American soil. None of the rest were and I say that because
I don’t believe we declared War against the Indians. We had a war with the Indians, but
was it a declared war? Has it occurred to you what would happen if we quit importing
more than we export? It would improve the balance of payments and several countries
would declare war on us. Plus Wal-Mart would probably go broke.

Anyway, this chapter was a little time out for those of you who follow what I write. You
Johnny Rebs who read my stuff know that I’ve never bad mouthed the South or the
Confederacy. I have bad mouthed ‘Reconstruction’, another American shame. If you re-
ally think about it, Lincoln never wanted the Civil War. Most of the Southern Generals
were educated at West Point and the remainder probably at VMI (established in 1839).
A couple come to mind, Stonewall Jackson and John C. Breckinridge. A total of 7 Con-
federate Generals were graduates of VMI. George Patton graduated from both VMI and
West Point.

I rather suspect that our displaced Briton doesn’t much care for Tony Blair. If Wiki was
still up, you could look for ‘Coalition of the Willing’ and find out we weren’t alone in our
fight against radical Islam. I suspect that the only reason we went ‘over there’ was be-
cause ‘they’ exported terrorism ‘over here’. It wasn’t bad enough we had our own
homegrown terrorist, like Tim McVeigh. If you believe in conspiracy theories, you should
realize that the main culprit is the media. I knew Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) was
dead very shortly after it happened, so efficient is the media at spreading the news. I’m
convinced they would do anything for a story. You gotta watch the government too, Ru-
by Ridge and Waco come to mind. The punishment wasn’t proportional to the crime.

227
 Survival Story – Chapter 21

I had to correct chapter 4 and replace milk jugs with 2 liter pop (soda) bottles. I added a
caution about Tamiflu in response to what Russ said. My doctor won’t prescribe the
stuff. “TAMIFLU attacks the influenza virus and stops it from spreading inside your
body.” Dr. J says that that isn’t the only thing it attacks. Whether or not its effective has
been questioned by some. My response is, ‘Any port in a storm’. Even with the new ge-
netically engineered vaccine, it will take time to develop a vaccine against H5N1 if it mu-
tates into a human transmitted form. The advantage is once the virus is mapped the
new production method will result in the vaccine being produced quicker than the pre-
sent method of using chicken eggs. H5N1 has been discovered in mallards on the US
East Coast.

Your government is storing Tamiflu in case of an outbreak. Not enough for you or me,
they’re only storing enough for a very small percentage of the population. If you think
you need to protect yourself against the avian virus, you’ll need exam gloves, N-95 or
N-100 masks, plenty of anti-bacterial soap and preparations. Why? Because the best
protection against getting H5N1 will be ISOLATION. Let me repeat, ‘Cleanliness is next
to Godliness.’

Roche says:

Observed During Clinic Practice

The following adverse reactions have been identified during postmarketing use of
Tamiflu. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain
size, it is not possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relation-
ship to Tamiflu exposure.

Body as a whole: Swelling of the face or tongue, allergy, anaphylactic/anaphylactiod re-

actions.

Dermatologic: Dermatitis, rash, eczema, urticaria (hives), erythema multiforme, Ste-

vens-Johnson-Syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Digestive: Hepatitis, liver function tests abnormal.

Cardiac: Arrhythmia.

Neurologic: Seizure, confusion.

Metabolic: Aggravation of diabetes.

Or, so it says at near the end of that long strip of paper that comes with the drug and is
printed in about 2 point type that’s hard to read with a magnifying glass.

228
Before I continue with the story part, let me say this: If you find an obvious error in the
story, like the milk jugs thing, email me and I’ll correct it. This is my best shot at helping
folks; it doesn’t matter that I can’t leave the house. I don’t want to put out bad infor-
mation that could get anyone hurt or killed. You don’t have to get KIO3 from Gonzales,
Texas if you don’t want to; Frugal sells it and so does MedicalCorps.org

“Are you any good with that rifle, Aaron?”

“Grandpa, I can hit what I shoot at.”

“Did your Dad teach you?”

“No, Uncle Derek did. How come he had to leave?”

“It was his duty, Aaron. In this country, our militia is mainly composed of the National
Guard. Some states have State Defense Forces too. The difference is that with the
permission of the Governor, the National Guard can be federalized and work for the
federal government while State Defense Forces can’t. Have you ever heard the term
Aztlán?”

“What’s that mean?”

“Much of the southwestern US used to be part of Mexico. Aztlán is the legendary ances-
tral home of the Nahua peoples. ‘Azteca’ is the Nahuatl word for ‘people from Aztlan’.
Due to the association of Aztlan with Mexican national identity and an indeterminate
northern location, the name Aztlán was taken up by some Chicano activists of the
1960s and 1970s to refer to the area of the Southwestern US ceded to the US after the
Mexican-American War. In fiction, Aztlán has been used as the name of speculative fic-
tional future-states that emerge in the southwest US and/or Mexico after the central US
government suffers collapse or major setback.”

“Like now?”

“Exactly like now. Do you know anything about Socialism or Marxism?”

“I’ve heard the terms, but we haven’t studied it in school.”

“Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a

socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to
social control. As an economic system, socialism is usually associated with state or col-
lective ownership of the means of production. This control may be either direct, exer-
cised through popular collectives such as workers’ councils, or it may be indirect, exer-
cised on behalf of the people by the state.

229
“The modern socialist movement had its origin largely in the working class movement of
the late-19th century. In this period, the term “socialism” was first used in connection
with European social critics who condemned capitalism and private property. For Karl
Marx, who helped establish and define the modern socialist movement, socialism im-
plied the abolition of money, markets, capital, and labor as a commodity.

“Marx was a German living in England. Marx addressed a wide range of issues; he is
most famous for his analysis of history in terms of class struggles, summed up in the
opening line of the introduction to the Communist Manifesto: The history of all hitherto
existing society is the history of class struggles.

“The Bolshevik faction of the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party led by
Vladimir Lenin seized power in Russia in 1917 in an event known as the October Revo-
lution. Shortly after seizing power, the party changed its name to the Russian Com-
munist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1918 and was generally known as the Communist Party
after that point.”

“What does Russia have to do with Mexico?”

“It’s sort of complicated; do you think you can follow me?”

“I can try.”

“Ok. The breeding ground for socialism is poverty. For many years, this country tried to
keep Communism and Socialism out of the Western Hemisphere. In so doing, we in-
stalled a bunch of petty dictators in several Central and South American countries.
Eventually, the people of those counties revolted and formed new governments. The
continent, like many others, became a battlefield of the Cold War in the late 20th centu-
ry. The government of Chile was overthrown in the early 1970s, as a late development
of the Monroe Doctrine.

“Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Peru suffered from internal conflicts. Other revolu-
tions and military dictatorships have been common, but starting in the 1980s a wave of
democratization came through the continent and democratic rule is widespread now.
Allegations of corruption remain common, and several nations have seen crises which
have forced the resignation of their presidents, although normal civilian succession has
continued. In recent years South American governments have drifted to the left, with
socialist leaders being elected in Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, and a leftist president
in Argentina and Uruguay.

“While the political violence of the 1970s and 80s has subsided significantly, Central
America still faces serious challenges in the consolidation of democracy, protection of
human rights, and in ensuring accountability and transparency in government. Peace
accords in El Salvador and Guatemala and the end of the Contra War in Nicaragua sig-
naled the beginning of a new era in Central America. However, the implementation of
reforms has been incomplete and many democratic institutions remain weak. Increasing

230
political violence in Guatemala, in particular, is a grave reminder that the conflict of pre-
vious decades has not been laid to rest in Central America.

“The economic and social conditions that lay at the root of armed conflict still persist. Of
the eight poorest countries in Latin America, the Central American States of Honduras,
Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador comprise one half, with Honduras and Nicara-
gua experiencing the highest rates of poverty. Youth gang violence is a serious problem
in Central America. While rooted in the specific realities of the countries in the region, it
is also linked to the problems of Central American immigrant communities in North
America, and to the growing global phenomenon of youth gangs.

“Estimates indicate that there are some 25,000 to 300,000 active gang members in
Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, which have extended their sphere of influence
beyond their traditional urban areas to some of the most remote corners of Central
America. The Central American gang phenomenon is also growing in North America,
with Central American gangs now active in various parts of the United States including
Los Angeles, the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Chicago, Long Island, Houston,
Durham, Omaha and Anchorage, as well as throughout urban and rural areas in Mexico
and Canada.”

“Thanks for the history lesson, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Mexico had an election in 2006. The election was highly contested and the socialist
said he’d never admit defeat. It may be the basis for another Mexican Revolution; they
have a lot of those you know.”

“So what?”

“Go back to what I said about the nation of Aztlán. Aztlán has been used as the name of
speculative fictional future-states that emerge in the southwest US and/or Mexico after
the central US government suffers collapse or major setback.”

“Like now?”

“Exactly like now.”

Radiation decays, another fact. With the passage of time, much of the southern part of
the US in the aftermath of WW III would be open to conquest by a determined enemy. I
wonder if Mexico raised a large Army and issued them the FX-05s? If the socialist,
Lopez Obrador finally gained power, the Nation of Aztlán could become a reality. They’d
probably come in through California, California won’t allow its citizenry to have firearms,
legally. That’s not to say that there aren’t any, nor to say that those that have them
wouldn’t resist. I have no intentions of learning Spanish! I know all of the Spanish I need
to know and the expression is offensive.

231
“Switzerland has one of the highest rates of political participation of any advanced de-
mocracy. It also scores impressively in international surveys that measure levels of vot-
er satisfaction. Most observers acknowledge that this is a direct result of the country’s
system of direct democracy.

“Swiss citizens have the right to call a referendum on any subject they want as long they
can gather the required number of signatures. At a national level this is set at just under
1.5 per cent of the electorate – about 100,000 people. If enough names are collected
within an 18-month period, then a proposal can be put on the ballot paper and voted on
by the general public. If it is passed, it becomes law. A study highlighted in Richard
Layard’s book, Happiness, even showed that Swiss in cantons with the most direct de-
mocracy were happier than those with more limited rights.

“I was brought up to value Britain’s democratic tradition and to think of it as a corner-

stone of national stability. Sadly it is clear that most citizens no longer feel any real
sense of ownership of our democracy. Politics is something that happens to them and
around them, not something they feel that they can control in any meaningful way. And
it is not apathy but disempowerment that is the root cause of the problem – just look at
how many join single-issue groups or were prepared to march for the countryside or
against the Iraq war.”

It would be easy to substitute ‘the United States’ for Britain in the article from the Lon-
don Times.

It used to be that disasters happened but were few and far between. That somehow
changed and perhaps technology is to blame. It’s ok to say that, machines don’t have
feelings and won’t cry if you badmouth them. Over the years, I’ve called my computers
every name in the book and they’ve simply ignored me. One of the disasters ABC high-
lighted in their show, The Last Days on Earth, which ran on Wednesday, 30Aug06, was
the scenario taken from the Terminator series of movies, could machines develop intel-
ligence and take us over? Does the term artificial intelligence ring a bell?

Hollywood did a few films on the subject like Colossus: The Forbin Project and War
Games. Perhaps Fail Safe belongs in that category. There were probably more, Holly-
wood tends to beat a subject to death. When they got hooked on asteroids, they made
Deep Impact and Armageddon. One of the most frightening movies ever filmed was The
Day After, a made for TV film. ABC did that one too.

Explaining about Aztlán to Aaron got me to thinking about a lot of things. Carl Sagan
was right about nuclear winter and nuclear summer. Not every nuclear weapon in the
arsenals had been used or it could have been the end of mankind. How many of us
would develop cancer in coming years? When you’re 65, I guess it doesn’t really matter.
What kind of diseases had emerged in the aftermath? Did my antibiotic guides give me
enough information to treat whatever showed up? Would I recognize it for what it was?
You couldn’t just give a person one of each pill, tetracycline cancels out penicillin.

232
Was there a scourge of BGs zeroing in on the little towns like Flippin and Gassville?
When we got the M1114s, I thought we had it made. Did more politicians survive than
we knew about? I’ll take the BGs, thank you. I had rarely met a politician I couldn’t learn
to dislike. Many of them were lawyers, you know. Lawyers should practice law; instead
they become politicians and occasionally reporters. Derek had sighted in the Tac-50 for,
gasp, 600 yards and at 42 power I could see that far.

To enable the shooter to engage targets out to 2,500 meters, Barrett has developed an
integrated ballistic computer/ riflescope system known as BORS (Barrett Optical Rang-
ing System). Historically, long range shooting has been a highly technical endeavor in
which the shooter had to make a number of calculations before the trigger could be
pulled. These calculations included range to the target, the effects of barometric pres-
sure and air temperature, and the type of ammunition loaded. BORS automatically cal-
culates all these variables, and adjusts the sight reticule accordingly.

All the shooter needs to do is enter the ammunition type into the BORS (using touch
pads on the BORS console) determine the range (either mechanically or through a LRF)
and crank the elevation knob on the scope until the proper range appears in the BORS
display. The BORS automatically determines the temperature and barometric pressure,
as well as the cant or tilt in the rifle itself, and incorporates these enviro-physical factors
into its calculations. Once the proper range has been entered, the shooter need only put
the target under the crosshairs and pull the trigger.

The Block I version of BORS was available now, Block II (which included an integrated
range finder) became available in ‘05 with Block III (new optics, Night Vision capable,
wide angle, stabilized image) became available in ‘06. Lastly, Barrett believes that the
BORS system will be completely compatible with the 25mm air-bursting grenade fea-
tured on the OICW and that similar ammunition could be developed for use in the M-
109, as well as adapting the BORS to the OICW, to provide ranging and environmental
information to the 25mm grenade launcher.

The centerpiece of the M-109 system is the 25mm HEDP ammunition it fires. A scaled
down derivative of the low velocity 30mm HEDP M789 ammunition fired by the AH-64
Apache attack helicopter, the MX-109’s 25mm ammunition has been judged to be 2.5
times more effective at destroying targets than a .50 caliber armor-piercing round. It is
expected that this ammunition can penetrate nearly 40mm (an inch and a half) of armor
plating at 500 meters, or blast open doors from around the corner. In other words, it
gives the Soldier breaching capability on fortified positions, while minimizing exposure
to enemy fire, thanks to its effectiveness at greater distances. Also in the works are a
number of specialized rounds, ranging from solid core AP ammunition to non-lethal/
crowd control munitions utilizing inert rubber balls, and RC agents.

M1049 Armor Piercing improvements include removal of the nose fuze for greater pene-
tration. The base fuze utilizes existing HE safe and arm. It has reduced parasitic weight,
added a self-destruct feature. It provides basis for high explosive dual purpose (HEDP)

233
airbursting capability. I’m confused, I’ll stick with the AP because I know it works, Derek
said so. The word is Barrett was working on it.

Like I’d ever need to shoot the Tac-50, my ‘Barrett’. Well, never say never. I saw an
O’Reilly show one night where he had a fella named Garcia on. Mr. Garcia was saying
that the term illegal alien was akin to the ‘N’ word. O’Reilly was saying that according to
the law, people who were here illegally were in fact illegal aliens. You’ve been warned,
use of the term illegal alien may not be used when you’re referring to illegal aliens, it’s
discriminatory. You’ll end up with the EEOC on your back, unless you hire them and
then it will be USCIS (INS – now called the United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services, a part of Homeland Insecurity).

Oh, it gets worse, created in March 2003, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
is the largest investigative branch of the Department of Homeland Insecurity (DHI). The
agency was created after 9/11, by combining the law enforcement arms of the former
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the former US Customs Service, to
more effectively enforce our immigration and customs laws and to protect the United
States against terrorist attacks. ICE does this by targeting illegal immigrants: the people,
money and materials that support terrorism and other criminal activities. ICE is a key
component of the DHI “layered defense” approach to protecting the nation. Did you see
that? They used the term illegal immigrants! Worse, they couldn’t do the job and had to
bring in the National Guard.

All the government accomplished when they created the Department of Homeland Inse-
curity is to mess up what we already had and add another layer of bureaucracy. That
came before Congress created the office of Director of National Intelligence (DNI). De-
spite having no prior experience in the intelligence community, President Bush named
Ambassador Negroponte as the first Director of National Intelligence in 2005. Prior to
this appointment, Negroponte served as the US Ambassador to Iraq. I don’t know him,
but his credentials don’t impress me. If he had been on the job, those terrorists wouldn’t
have exploded 24 nukes. I love to blame him for the earthquake, too, but maybe that’s
going too far.

We bagged the spuds and put them in the basement. The only time I went down there
now was when Damon came by to service the generator. I’m sure glad someone
brought up Onan earlier; I might have bought the Generac. Kohler, Onan or Cummins
was ok, as long as they had the 1,800rpm engine. This one had given good service but I
was told they can only run from 13k to 15k hours before they need to be rebuilt. They
never explained what they meant by that, it could mean the engine needed to be rebuilt
or maybe the alternator. If I had to guess, the alternator might need new bearings and
the engine totally rebuilt.

Years before, my brother worked for Winpower in Newton, Iowa. Winpower sold genera-
tors and he once bragged that they had a generator that ran 179 hours non-stop. At the

234
time I was impressed, that was a little over a week. I didn’t know much about the com-
pany but I later learned that the headquarters was in Minnesota and they had been in
the generator business since before WW II. That was around 1965, more than 43 years
ago.

Roger thought I was a crackpot because I was one of the early ‘survivalists’. That pre-
dated my being prepared, except in the gun department. The guns came in 1979
through 1989 and then my boozing got so bad I had to sell them to pay the bills I
couldn’t pay because of the money I was drinking up. Back when I could have had a
HK91 for under a grand, I didn’t spend the money and then came FOPA.

Damon helped me out with the things I couldn’t handle and it was generally Aaron when
I had the ‘day watch’. He’d watch and I’d daydream, getting on the radio whenever he
saw something or someone he didn’t recognize. I finally decided that I should teach him
how to handle my firearms, starting with the M1A. Aaron is a good sized kid so I figured
if he could handle the M1A, I might see what I could do to find something in 7.62x51mm
for him. He had the Browning and the Bushmaster but neither was heavy enough.

I don’t believe there is any firearm that will produce a guaranteed one shot kill. A full
load of buckshot probably comes as close as anything but bullets don’t always expand
like they’re supposed to. It depends in part on where they hit on a person’s body. Even
a heart shot might not prevent them from returning fire. That’s why there’s that thing
they call the failure to stop drill, two in the torso and one in the head. You could reduce
your ammo consumption by ⅔ if you shot them in the head to begin with, but that’s a
smaller target.

“Grandpa, look!”

“Son of gun, it’s Derek. Do you suppose he saved the world?”

“Is he coming here?”

“Not likely, he’ll stop by home for a while, we might see him tomorrow.”

“No, he’s coming here.”

“He should know better than that, Aaron, Mary will kill him.”

“Hey kid.”

“Hi, Dad.”

“What are you doing home?”

“We got the weekend off. We’re being redeployed.”

235
“No, out to your old neighborhood. You’ll recognize the other boxes.”

“I thought you went to Pine Bluff. Aaron, would you unload the boxes? Please be care-
ful.”

“I did, but we weren’t there very long. NCA ordered 100,000 troops to the Mexican bor-
der. I’ve been moved to a different unit and I got my own M1A2SEP. They added a
steel-grilled hoop skirt to protect us against the Russian anti-tank missiles, the Metis
and the Kornet. Is Aaron done, I’ve got to go?”

“He’s done. Will you be back?”

“No, I’m spending some quality time with my family then leaving. Enjoy playing with your
new boy toys.”

Where did he find an M-79 Thumper? I’d need another scabbard for my tactical wheel-
chair. Aside from the Thumper, it was just more of things we already had. It was all
USGI but wasn’t intended for the general public. There was more Raufoss, I’d only fired
a few rounds at the range, an assortment of 40mm grenades, some of those sticks of C-
4, 6 of the Claymore sets, and a note that said, Don’t blow yourself up.

I send Aaron running after his Dad. He came back and I gave Damon the M-79 and the
grenades, he like shotguns and this thing was just an oversized shotgun. I told him to
give the local cops the Claymores and tell them to use them on the roadblocks, if they
wanted to. Remember Harry Chapin’s Cat’s in the Cradle? It is the story of a father who
is too busy with work and related obligations to have enough time to spend with his son,
though in the chorus the son comments to his dad “I’m gonna be like you”. Later, after
his son grows up and he now wants to spend time with him, the son now finds excuses
to avoid spending time with his father. Too late, the father discovers his son has grown
up just to be like him.

Is that a universal truth that applies to all families or did it just apply to mine? Derek had
my firearms interest and was more of a survivalist than Damon. He wasn’t laid back like
his older brother. On the other hand, Damon had quite a load to bear and worked hard
to do the things he was capable of doing. Like Chapin’s character, I wasn’t there either;
she got to raise the kids. I did what I could, but I wasn’t there. Like their father, the boys
leaned toward the conservative, Derek more so than Damon. Back when we could still
watch TV, Derek watched Fox News.

He left late Sunday night, Mary took him somewhere and Amy and Lorrie watched the
kids. The border with Mexico is very long, 3,141km, ~1,952 miles. He had never said
where he’d be on the border, it could be anywhere from Texas to California. Oh wait, he
did say that he was going to my old neighborhood, which must mean that he went to
California. In the US, Texas has the longest stretch of the border of any state, while Cal-

236
ifornia has the shortest. In Mexico, Chihuahua has the longest border, while Nuevo Le-
ón has the shortest.

The boundary follows the middle of the Rio Grande – according to the 1848 Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo between the two nations, “along the deepest channel” – from its
mouth on the Gulf of Mexico a distance of 1,254 miles (2,019 km) to a point just up-
stream of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It then follows an alignment
westward overland and marked by monuments a distance of 533 miles (858 km) to the
Colorado River. Thence it follows the middle of that river northward a distance of 24
miles (38 km), and then it again follows an alignment westward overland and marked by
monuments a distance of 141 miles (226 km) to the Pacific Ocean.

“Dammit.”

“Grandpa, you shouldn’t swear.”

“Sorry, Aaron. I’ll do better someday.”

“When?”

“When I die.”

“Don’t talk like that. What were you cussing about?”

“I was just thinking about your uncle Derek going out to California. I thought my worrying
was over when he got back from Iraq. Aaron, I’m just too old to deal with it. He spent 13
months in Korea when he was on active duty. Then he spent 6 months in Kosovo and a
year in Iraq. Back in the fall of ‘06, Dr. J got concerned about my health and I had to un-
dergo an ultrasound examination of my blood vessels. I never liked him doing exams
because they always found something else. Over the years since ‘03, I began to lose
cognitive function, very slowly, but constantly. Lost hearing in my right ear and I started
to talk like I had a mouthful of oatmeal. Don’t let your kids to grow up to be soldiers.”

“Wasn’t there a song like that?”

237
 Survival Story – Chapter 22

“Sorta, the song was, Mama Don’t Let Your Boys Grow Up To Be Cowboys. It came out
in ‘78 on the album Waylon and Willie. Willie is probably still around, but, Jennings suf-
fered from diabetes. On 19Dec01, his left foot was amputated in a Phoenix hospital due
to infection arising from his diabetes. Then, on 13Feb02, Jennings died in his sleep of
diabetic complications at age 64 in Chandler.”

“Uncle Derek will be ok.”

“Is that a promise?”

“No grandpa, it’s an educated guess. He’s really smart and won’t get anywhere near
trouble.”

“Aaron, it doesn’t work that way. If we are really going to have trouble with Mexico, I
don’t know if those extra skirts the put on the Abrams tanks will do much good. That
Kornet is very similar to our TOW missile and it has a 2 mile range. I don’t have any da-
ta on how many tanks Mexico has either.”

“They don’t have any, Uncle Derek told me.”

“Maybe not, but they could have anti-tank missiles. The Mexican Army might be a joke,
Aaron, but I’m not laughing. I guess it all depends on how we approach it. If we did it
right, we’d kick butt and take names. We’d do it the same way we did it twice in Iraq,
come in with the Air Force and then the ground forces. You can’t win a war without us-
ing infantry. I think it’s just a faction of the people of Mexico who want to reclaim the ter-
ritory anyway. The Mexicans have never been able to defeat us.”

“What about the Alamo?”

“What about it? Less than 200 men held up Santa Anna’s entire force for 13 days. A
month later at the Battle of San Jacinto, we defeated him. Don’t get me started on the
Battle of the Alamo, I’m a Marty Robbins fan.”

“Grandpa look.”

“What do you see?”

“3, no 4, trucks at the west barricade. Wait, they’re shooting.”

“Gassville police, this is TOM on the over watch, you have trouble at the west barricade.
I say again, trouble on the west barricade. Shots fired.”

“Aaron, help me get the .50 caliber set into the rest. Grab a magazine with the red tape
on it, that’s the Raufoss.”

238
“This is heavy.”

“I know, I can’t even pick it up. Use the laser rangefinder and give me the range to the
first BGs pickup.”

“1,375 meters.”

“Got it. Plug your ears.”

Craaack.

“You hit, it, you hit it, shoot the second one.”

Craaack.

“You missed.”

Craaack.

“You hit it now, stop shooting, here come the cops.”

“I know, I can see them in the scope. Did I destroy those vehicles?”

“I don’t think so. You punched holes in them.”

“What about the BGs?”

“There’s a couple of them that aren’t moving.”

“Huh, I don’t feel like vomiting. Maybe shooting distant targets is like being a bomber
pilot.”

I wasn’t long before the same cop as before showed up.

“Did you shoot those trucks?”

“Yep. 2 out 3 ain’t bad.”

“What kind of ammo were you using? Those guys were full of holes.”

“Raufoss. It’s military ammo my kid got.”

“Is it explosive?”

239
“It’s HEIAP.”

“What’s that in that scabbard?”

“M1A Super Match with a Nightforce scope and a UNS.”

“You carry all of those guns with you?”

“Yeah, I never know what I might need.”

“What’s their condition?”

“They’re in perfect condition. Oh, do you mean Condition 0, 1, etc.?”

“Yes.”

“The pistol is Condition 1. Everything else is Condition 3 or 4.”

“How old are you?”

“65, what does that have to do with anything?”

“This boy a relative?”

“My grandson, Aaron.”

“How old is he?”

“15.”

“You know the law about minors with guns?”

“I bought the guns and his father paid for them. He’s been trained in proper handling,
etc.”

“I’m going to have to take your rifle in.”

“Mister, are you familiar with the expression, my cold, dead hands?”

“You’re one of those?”

“Patron member. Besides, what’s to compare, the Raufoss is HEIAP and you won’t find
anything to test.”

“You’re right, forget it. You’re Tom, right?”

240
“Gary D. Ott. The Tom comes from my nickname, Tired Old Man.”

“Did you move your entire family to Gassville?”

“Derek lived here, we came after the earthquake. The other kids showed up later, but I
think they’re going to stay.”

“Yankees?”

“Not now.”

“Damn Yankees.”

“My kid is good enough to serve in the Arkansas National Guard. Don’t be talking down
Yankees, nobody chooses where they’re born. I’m an American, period. You don’t see
any Yankee flag on the pole, do you? Those people at the roadblock weren’t after me.
Besides, at this range, I was just shooting the vehicles to try and disable them until you
could send more people to that road block. God Bless the Confederate States of Ameri-
ca, God Bless Robert E. Lee. What kind of damn fool Yankee would say that?”

“I don’t know, but that somehow seems familiar.”

The idiot, all I did was paraphrase the line out of Little Big Man. I didn’t get the cops
name, Bubba, do you suppose?

The 911 Commission Report

The report makes for interesting reading. The part about bin Laden and our apparent
incompetence in doing anything about him during President Clinton’s Administration is
most revealing. Clinton authorized all sort of plans but the powers to be couldn’t seem
to get them implemented. The first part of the report describes in horrific detail what
happened on 9/11. The bottom line was, we didn’t have our shit together. Never mind
the intelligence failures, if any, we weren’t prepared for what happened. There were too
many layers of bureaucracy, within all of the agencies involved and a general lack of
coordination. I read parts while Aaron was watching the approaches to Gassville.

As near as I could tell, 40% of the personnel sent to the border were active duty per-
sonnel and the other 60% were Reserves or National Guard. Cities like ours that didn’t
get hit in the attacks simply got no attention. I somehow think that was better than hav-
ing a Company of National Guard in our faces. A couple of squads would have been
nice, divided up among the three towns, probably one in Mountain Home and a second
divided between Flipping and Gassville.

241
In The Armed Citizen, the NRA claims that sometimes the mere presence of a firearm
without a shot being fired prevents crime in many instances. I can only guess that when
the Mexican Army ran up against more than 200 soldiers, they backed down. At San
Jacinto, with his army of 800 men, Houston decided to attack Santa Anna, whose troops
numbered about 1,400. The Texan army moved quickly and silently across the high-
grass plain, then when they were only a few dozen yards away, charged Santa Anna’s
camp shouting “Remember the Alamo” and “Remember Goliad”, only stopping a few
yards from the Mexicans to open fire. Confusion ensued. Santa Anna’s army were pro-
fessional soldiers, but were trained to fight in ranks, exchanging volleys with their oppo-
nents; also ill-prepared and unarmed, at the time of the attack. In 20 minutes, the Texan
army had won, killing over 600 Mexican soldiers and taking 730 prisoners.

“Measured by its results, San Jacinto was one of the decisive battles of the world. The
freedom of Texas from Mexico won here led to annexation and to the Mexican War, re-
sulting in the acquisition by the United States of the states of Texas, New Mexico, Ari-
zona, Nevada, California, Utah and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklaho-
ma. Almost one-third of the present area of the American Nation, nearly a million square
miles of territory, changed sovereignty.” – San Jacinto Monument

With that in mind, you soon realize why Mexico wanted to take back the territory it lost,
a million square miles. The area of present day Mexico is 761,605 square miles. The
area of the US is 3,718,695 square miles. So, do you know what the first European set-
tlement in America was? Jamestown (1607) – bzzzz; St. Augustine, Florida (1565). As
new territories were being incorporated, the nation was divided over the issue of states’
rights, the role of the federal government, and, by the 1820s, the expansion of slavery.
One out of three ain’t good. The problem is the feds forgot about the 10th Amendment
and are power hungry. I can prove that if you want, with the following references: Na-
tional Firearms Act, Gun Control Act and Firearms Owners Protection Act.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis made no explicit reference to slavery at all in his
inaugural address. The Confederate States Constitution provides much insight into the
motivations for secession from the Union. While much of it was a word-for-word dupli-
cate of the US Constitution, it reflected a stronger philosophy of states’ rights, curtailing
the power of the central authority, and also contained explicit protection of the institution
of slavery, though international slave trading was prohibited. Two out of three ain’t bad. I
shoulda told that cop that.

Word came on the radio that the Mexican Army had withdrawn. This was good, because
according to the Rule of 3s, if you had 4, that meant you were in for 9. Out here in the
rural part of the country, really a major recreation area, there weren’t many things that
BGs could use. Ranger made boats in Flippin, Mar Bax Shirt Factory was in Gassville
and Mountain Home was the county seat for Baxter County and most of all, a retirement
community. We probably would have located in Mountain Home if there hadn’t been a
very affordable lot available in Gassville, the Marion county seat.

242
Someone might be looking for drugs in Mountain Home, but who would want to steal
shirts? Stealing a boat isn’t as easy as it sounds, you’d need a trailer, you’d need to get
past the Flippin Police Department and you’d have break into the place that Ranger
stored those bass boats. Then, you’d need to steal the motor. Hell, it would be easier to
rob a bank and buy the boat.

Piece by piece this area of the country was coming back together. The towns got water
and sewer restored first. The phone system was ready to go, waiting only for the resto-
ration of electricity by Entergy. When the day came in September, I finally shut down the
generator and ask Joe to look it over.

“Whatever it needs, check it out thoroughly in case we need to use it again for an ex-
tended period. I don’t know the hours on it, but there’s a log in the utility room in the
basement. I’m not saying to spare no expense, we may not have the money, but if you
can, get it back up to 15,000 hours of running capacity.”

“Are you sure you want to do that Gary?”

“Want to? Not particularly. Need to? I don’t really know. However, it’s better to be safe
than sorry. We got some money in one of our bank accounts now and Sharon told me
we were getting back to our condition before all the crap happened.”

“I heard TV is coming back soon.”

“Really? We may not get much national programming, most of that comes from satel-
lites. I need to get with Art and see if I can get another big propane tank. I’m glad now
we didn’t buy one of those big screen TVs.”

“What’s your opinion on how this will all work out?”

“Joe, anything I said would be a guess; hell it wouldn’t even be an informed guess. At
my age, and given my medical issues, I may not live to see it. Have you thought how
much energy we’ve directed at the earth’s crust with all of those nuclear weapons? We
could have an increase in volcanism, more earthquakes, who knows? I haven’t heard
anything on the radio that suggests that the war didn’t damage the ozone layer. It was
recovering before the war but I honestly don’t know now.”

“If you had to guess?”

“I can give you a list of natural disasters and manmade disasters; you can take your
pick. Both Long Valley and Yellowstone could erupt and that could be an Extinction
Level Event. We could have a significant period of cooling and another ice age or little
ice age. There are something like 30 to 40 Supervolcanoes spread around the planet.
There was some talk about a mega tsunami caused by a land collapse on La Palma in
the Canary Islands. They can’t predict earthquakes and there are several faults in the

243
US. On the other hand, we could go years with nothing more significant that an occa-
sion tornado or hurricane.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

“Give me a week on the generator and I’ll have it good as new.”

“Great, thanks.”

“When did you get back?”

“Late last night. They backed off once their reconnaissance showed we could defeat
them in a few weeks. What’s new with you?”

“Just working on getting everything restored to what we had before the war. I murdered
pair of pickups last week. They came up to the road block on the Westside of town and
Aaron spotted them. I called the cops and Aaron helped me get the .50 cal setup. I just
slowed them down until the cops showed up. Later a cop came and was snooping
around about my rifle and a few things. Sucker called me a damned Yankee. How long
do you have off before you have to go back?”

“Maybe a week or 10 days, we’re waiting on orders.”

“We have electricity and the phone back.”

“Mary told me.”

“I’d like to be able to get more ammo. No one has any available.”

“Why?”

“Been teaching Aaron to shoot the M1A. Burned up about half of what I have. Cop
wanted to seize my rifle. I muttered something about my cold, dead hands. He left.”

“When my enlistment is up, I may not reenlist.”

“Be still my heart. Really? Jeez, I hope so. I don’t know what the world is coming to.
May end up being the radical Muslims against the rest of the world. I’ve been saying
that the 4 Horsemen are riding and I could be right; I sure wish I wasn’t.”

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A plague of modern times
By Tsotne Bakuria

It strikes without warning – the guilty and the innocent. It appears in every country, cruel
and devastating, destroying families. Terrorism is faceless. It kills without discretion.
The strong, the weak, the rich and poor. It’s the 21st century’s deadliest disease. And
there is no cure, no antidote, no immunization.

No one, in any country, is safe. As long as there are people willing to strap bombs
around their waist and make videos proclaiming their wish to be surrounded by virgins,
the innocent will die: children, women, the old, the infirm. Rarely do terrorists target the
guilty. It’s one bomb fits all.

Capture of would-be airline bombers in London strikes home to those of us familiar with
their tactics. I am a citizen of Georgia. Russia, my neighbor, has witnessed firsthand the
ugly face of terrorism, the widows and orphans. My other neighbors, Turkey and Israel,
are deeply familiar with terrorists. And it’s not only young men: Family members – even
women and children – are routinely recruited.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States vowed to defend it-
self, and President Bush made it his first priority. I applaud Israel for its show of force
against Hezbollah. The Jewish state has a right to defend itself and has gone not one
day without some threat or other. Who won and who lost is beside the point. In the end,
everyone loses.

Israel has shielded other countries from aggression. The Israelis have taken the brunt of
terrorism. Everyone understands Palestine has the right to establish an independent
state. Their leaders are quite capable of doing so. But this issue involves radical fac-
tions like Iran who want to wipe Israel off the face of the map.

Where did all this hatred come from? What deep resentment gives life to those who only
honor maiming and murder? Yes, it’s murder, coldblooded. Terrorism is not a tactic of
war; it is a single act, by a single person, aimed at causing the utmost confusion and
terror in the hearts of the innocent.

So many children died in this latest skirmish, that it brought tears to many eyes. This is
a barbaric punishment not worthy of any civilized society. Terrorism is the worst form of
cowardice. There is no glory, and no God associated with such cynical disregard for
human life. Former President Clinton, told Osama bin Laden had been located in an Af-
ghan village, considered taking him out. He was stopped by the fact there were innocent
women and children in the vicinity. He refused to give the order. Do these children real-
ize their lives were saved by the decision?

My wife and I just saw World Trade Center. It is a sober account of the devastation and
human loss that occurred on American soil. But it is not an isolated event. You could

245
make a 24-hour film of all the terrorist acts around the world during the last 10 years
and still not have the whole picture.

Here I am, in America, with security tightened and everyone on alert. At Penn Station in
New York, the other day, I was happy to hear an announcement warning commuters to
be on alert, to report anything unusual. America has lost its innocence.

How brave are the citizens of other countries: Russia, Israel, Turkey, Iraq, all of them
potential victims, potential bodies, in this bloody year. Diplomacy has failed.

We need to readdress our thinking and attack those who would attack us. George Bush
is serious about battling terrorism, and he should use every means possible to wipe out
the threat. That includes monitoring phone calls, searching airline passengers, and seiz-
ing expensive perfumes from some outraged American housewives who value their
cosmetics more than their lives, and the lives of others. I just want to scream, wake up.

We in America are freshmen on terrorism. We need to graduate, grow up and face the
threat as have other countries. Though we cannot change foreign cultures, we can
begin to educate children around the world who are in danger of being brainwashed into
thinking death will ensure their heavenly afterlife. It is imperative that civilized societies
band together in this mission.

We may not be able to save young men and women already enlisted in these organiza-
tions, but we can rescue their children and grandchildren by education and literacy. The
next generation simply cannot afford to be inflicted with this disease, which like the
Plague, is not hereditary.

That is one way to avoid another September 11 and another sobering Hollywood film.

Tsotne Bakuria is a former member of Parliament of the Republic of Georgia. He is writ-

ing a book on post-Soviet emerging democracies.

Terrorism was the root cause of WW III. Like Israel, we had a right to defend ourselves.
I suppose the average man on the street could have told you how we’d respond, nuke
‘em and let God sort ‘em out. Most of us saw it coming; the only limitation on our preps
was how much money we could spend. That makes it difficult to sort the good from the
bad, if we hadn’t had that earthquake and gotten out of Palmdale, we wouldn’t have
been as well prepared. I guess that was what happened to Ron when he got cancer, it
saved his life.

When I think about it, building the basement wasn’t that big of a deal, we just dug deep-
er, topped it and then put in those risers like Gil had done back in Davenport. I don’t
have many original ideas, but even now, my memory isn’t half bad. Gil only used 3’ ris-

246
ers, not enough in Iowa, the ground freezes deeper than that. I stored that and used it
when I had the chance.

Experience is the greatest teacher, not any schools you attend. The basement walls
were made 10” thick to accommodate the blast door and the lid the 12” thick to support
the soil. It was maybe 2-3 loads of extra concrete, in retrospect, well worth the cost. The
30kw generator was big enough and kept the batteries charged. Having what amounted
to a big unfinished room worked in our favor, we could accommodate more people.

I never explained how Joe came to be among us, did I? You see, Bob worked for the
firm that built the basement and Joe serviced our car. He was a very good mechanic
and he and I got to visiting one day when I rode along with Sharon to have a tune up.
He had one of those Confederate Naval Jacks hanging in his shop and I asked him if he
was Bo Duke. He laughed and said he didn’t think you could find many ‘69 Dodge
Chargers anymore; they’d used them up making the TV show. He was working these
days trying to convert some of the cars around town to run on E85.

When the phones were finally up and long distance restored, I called Iowa.

“Matt, Gary Ott. No, the whole family is in Gassville, Arkansas now. Can you tell me
how much money is in the account? I see. How much of the trust is left? That’s not as
bad as I thought; you had a lot of Iowa investments? Derek works for the post office and
if he wasn’t on active duty, they wouldn’t have any income. Damon is disabled and can’t
work. Neither he nor I have gotten any disability payments in several months. Yes, I
agree, it’s a terrible mess. You obviously know why I called, what can you do to help us
out? Is that in addition to the money in the checking account? Yes, I can cut them
checks but it might be better if you wired all of the money into Derek’s account here and
Gassville, can you still do wire transfers? I see. Well, if Damon and I drove to Iowa
could you have the money for us in cash? Ok, It will take a few days, and then we’ll see
you. Thanks, Matt.”

“Damon and I have to drive up to Charles City.”

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 Survival Story – Chapter 23

“Why?”

“To get the money Matt has for us. I called him like you asked and he’s going to have
the balance of your savings account, our checking account and a portion of the CDs
converted into cash. He can’t wire the money; we have to go pick it up.”

“That’s a very long way to travel with cash.”

“You’re right; I wouldn’t mind having a Hummer with a Ma Deuce. We’ll drive something
inconspicuous; maybe we can borrow an old pickup.”

“Well, ok, but you be very careful. You could take Derek with you.”

“He has to leave in a week or so. We’d better leave him here or Mary will kill me. Be-
sides what if there’s trouble, he’s the soldier. I have a map and I think we’ll mostly take
less used highways and blacktops. It will take us longer to get there, but we should be
able to avoid trouble.”

“How far is it?”

“About 610 miles using the shortest route. We’ll be going through Kirksville and Waver-
ly. I sure like that mapping software on my computer. We’re going to have to divert
around Springfield, that’s no big deal. We won’t leave until the day after tomorrow, Matt
said he needed time to get the cash.”

“How bad did the trust get hurt?”

“About ⅔ intact. It far better than I thought it would be. He said they dumped some in-
vestments and reinvested the money in Iowa. I’m going to ask him what he can do to
get Damon and me our disability funds. He might know something that will help.”

That 12 hour drive took 24; we were especially careful and avoided nearly every town
on the way north. Having Damon drive was a better idea than I realized, truckers know
where the scales are and know a lot of ways to avoid cities. Joe loaned us his pickup for
the trip, it was a nondescript ‘70s GMC than he’d modified as a flex fuel vehicle. It had
an auxiliary tank made out of a 100-gallon fuel drum. If I’d have dressed in bib overalls
and a John Deere hat, the odds are you’d have mistaken me for a farmer.

“I need to pull up and rest a while.”

“Do you know where we are?”

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“Just south of Kirksville. If you want to stay awake, all I need is about 3 hours of sleep.”

What the hell, the coffee was still lukewarm and I hadn’t taken my sleeping pills. This
was one of those times a guy really needed a cruiser version of a shotgun, one of those
with the very short barrel ala 12” long. Don’t get me wrong, I was well armed, I had both
Colts plus one of those WW II military shoulder holsters with my PT1911 and the Nazi
.32 auto in my pocket. I was doing pretty good until a dog wailed. Man, that made me
cringe, I’m not partial to the dark.

“Wake up, you’ve had your 3 hours, let’s go.”

“I need a few minutes to wake up, Dad.”

“Like father, like son? Hell, you snore as bad as I do.”

“Any coffee left?”

“I saved you a cup.”

“Let me get out and stretch and you can divvy up the coffee.”

“Here, clean your hands.”

“What’s that?”

“Purcell.”

“Do you always carry a bottle of alcohol?”

“Not the kind you can drink, no.”

“Where are we?”

“You said we were south of Kirksville.”

“Oh, right. Are you ready to go?”

“Let me stretch and wash my hands.”

“We’re here.”

“Huh?”

“Charles City, you’ve been sleeping since we left Missouri.”

“Pull into that restaurant, I need coffee.”

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I hadn’t been in Charles City since 2001, when my father died. I hadn’t lived in Charles
city since 1970 when we lived in Dad’s house while I was going to Wartburg. Nobody
knew me and I didn’t really know anybody in Charles City. I’d left in ‘61 and had never
really returned for very long. We peel off the weapons and went into the restaurant for
coffee. Then we headed up Main Street to the Bank. I grabbed a knapsack I’d borrowed
from Audrey to carry the money. We had to wait for Matt to be free and then I had to
sign for the money. Matt said to be careful carrying that much cash.

We departed town immediately and made it to Kirksville where we stopped, got more
coffee and continued on. The return trip was much faster, about 12 hours. The money
was in manila envelopes, each marked with a name. When we got home, we stopped
by Derek’s and gave him his. Then we went by the house and I took Sharon and my en-
velope and Damon refilled the tank on Joe’s pickup. He said he’d drop it off and I told
him I’d settle up with Joe tomorrow.

I gave Sharon the money, took a shower and crawled into bed, I was tired. The next
morning she had pancakes and after I ate, I sat down to my computer to read a file I’d
created in the fall of 2006. It was from DEBKAfile:

The extraordinary buildup of European naval and military strength in and around Leba-
non’s shores is way out of proportion for the task the European contingents of expanded
UNIFIL have undertaken: to create a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah.

Close investigation by DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources discloses that

“Lebanese security” and peacemaking is not the object of the exercise. It is linked to the
general anticipation of a military clash between the United States and Israel, on one
side, and Iran and possibly Syria on the other, sometime from now until November.

This expectation has brought together the greatest sea and air armada Europe has ever
assembled at any point on earth since World War II: two carriers with 75 fighter-
bombers, spy planes and helicopters on their decks; 15 warships of various types – 7
French, 5 Italian, 2-3 Greek, 3-5 German, and five American; thousands of Marines –
French, Italian and German, as well as 1,800 US Marines.

It is improbably billed as support for a mere 7,000 European soldiers who are deployed
in Lebanon to prevent the dwindling Israeli force of 4-5,000 soldiers and some 15-
16,000 Hezbollah militiamen from coming to blows as well as for humanitarian odd jobs.

A Western military expert remarked to DEBKAfile that the European naval forces cruis-
ing off Lebanese shores are roughly ten times as much as the UNIFIL contingents re-
quire as cover, especially when UNIFIL’s duties are strictly non-combat. After all, none
of the UN contingents will be engaged in disarming Hezbollah or blocking the flow of
weapons incoming from Syria and Iran.

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So, if not for Lebanon, what is this fine array of naval power really there for?

First, according to our military sources, the European participants feel the need of a
strong naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean to prevent a possible Iranian-US-
Israeli war igniting an Iranian long-range Shahab missile attack on Europe; second, as a
deterrent to dissuade Syria and Hezbollah from opening a second front against America
and Israel from their eastern Mediterranean coasts.

Numbers alone do not do justice to the immense operational capabilities and firepower
amassed opposite Lebanon. Take first the three fleet flagships.

From France’s nuclear-powered 38,000-ton Charles De Gaulle carrier, 40 Rafale M

fighter craft whose range is 3,340 km can take off at intervals of 30 seconds. The ship
also carries three E-2C Hawkeye surveillance craft. The combat control center of the
French carrier can handle 2,000 simultaneous targets. The carrier leads a task force of
7 warships carrying 2,800 French Marines.

Charles De Gaulle is also a floating logistics center operating water desalination plants
for 15,000 men and enough food to feed an army for 90 days.

The USS Mount Whitney has the most sophisticated command and control suite in the
world. Like the French Charles De Gaulle, it exercises command over a task force of
1,800 sailors, Marines, Air Force medical and other personnel serving aboard the USS
Barry, the USS Trenton, HSV Swift and USNS Kanawha.

Available to the fleet commander, US Vice Admiral J. “Boomer” Stufflebeem, formally

titled commander of Joint Task Force Lebanon, is the uniquely advanced C4I command
and intelligence system through which he can flash intelligence data to every American
commander at any point between the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf and
Iran. USS Mount Whitney communications are described as unsurpassed for the secure
transmission of data from any point to any other point in the world through HF, UHF,
VHF, SHF and EHF.

The third carrier joining the other two is the Italian aircraft-helicopter carrier Garibaldi,
which has launch pads for vertical takeoff by 16 AV-8B Harrier fighter-bombers or 18
Sikorsky SH-3D Sea King sea-choppers (or Italian Augusta Bell AB212 helicopters), de-
signed to attack submarines and missile ships.

Military experts estimate that the Garibaldi currently carries 10 fighter planes and 6 heli-
copters.

The new European naval concentration tops up the forces which permanently crowd the
eastern Mediterranean: the Italian-based American Sixth Fleet, some 15 small Israeli
missile ships and half a dozen submarines and the NATO fleet of Canadian, British,
Dutch, German, Spanish, Greek and Turkish warships. They are on patrol against al

251
Qaeda (which is estimated to deploy 45 small freighters in the Mediterranean and Indian
Ocean). The British have permanent air and sea bases in Cyprus.

This vast force’s main weakness, according to DEBKAfile’s military sources, is that it
lacks a single unified command. A sudden flare-up in Lebanon, Syria or Iran could throw
the entire force into confusion.

On paper, it has three commanders:

1. French General Alain Pellegrini is the commander of the expanded UNIFIL ground,
naval and air force in Lebanon. In February 2007, he hands over to an Italian General
who leads the largest of the European contingents of 3,000 men. It is hard to see
France agreeing to place its prestigious Charles De Gaulle flagship under non-French
command.

2. The American forces opposite Lebanese shores are under direct US command.
Since the October 1993 debacle of an American peace force under the UN flag in So-
malia, Washington has never again placed its military under UN command. (There is no
American contingent in the UNIFIL ground force either.)

In other words, USS Mount Whitney, while serving the European fleets as their opera-
tional and intelligence nerve center will stay under the sole command of Vice Admiral
Stufflebeem in all possible contingencies.

3. Similarly, the NATO fleet will remain under NATO command, and Israel’s air and na-
val units will take their orders from Israeli Navy Headquarters in Haifa and the General
Staff in Tel Aviv.

The naval Babel piling up in the eastern Mediterranean may therefore find itself at cross
purposes when action is needed in an armed conflict. Iran, Syria and Hezbollah could
be counting on this weakness as a tactical asset in their favor.

If one thought about it, Europe had been more worried about Iran than they let on. Blair
was out in ‘07, just after the earthquake but before the terrorist attacks. Labour thought
they had the election in their pocket, the Tories (Conservative Party) won. The reason
was because Labour was divided after the wars that Blair had support George Bush in.
Then we had the terrorist attacks and I lost track.

Our attack on Saudi Arabia and Iran was seen by most Americans as retaliation for the
terrorist attacks, according to the radio. As I said before, if we’d done it right, no one
would have been totally sure who had made the attack and it might not have resulted in
the war. Without faulting Bush, I’ll have to say we should have been more discrete. I will
believe to my dying day that Russia would never have attacked us had we done it my
way. Not that Russia had become a Democracy, they hadn’t but because of MAD. No

252
doubt they’d shelter their populous in shelters in advance of their attack; they could do
that while the US didn’t have a Civil Defense System. We canned the Federal Civil De-
fense Authority in ‘79 and replace it with FEMA, thanks Jimmy. In 1993, President Bill
Clinton elevated FEMA to a cabinet level position and named James Lee Witt as FEMA
Director. Witt initiated reforms that would help to streamline the disaster recovery and
mitigation process. The end of the Cold War also allowed the agency’s resources to be
turned away from civil defense to natural disaster preparedness.

Do you remember what I taught you? The Cold War never ended, I wrote a story just to
explain that to you; at best it changed character. IIRC, we ended up in Arkansas in that
story too. When we got the big one in California, we ran. That may have been one of the
best decisions I ever made. It was cultural shock moving from a city of 125,000 to a little
town of 2,000, we got over it. Our only complaint was the humidity. There were plenty of
Wal-Marts around; I didn’t miss Costco that much.

In a fore comment to that story, I told you, there may be nothing more dangerous than
people being misinformed. I heard the President say last night that Russia and China
are the US’s allies when it comes to keeping Kim Jong-Il in his place. When did the Cold
War end? I went on to say, there is only one thing wrong with the information about the
Cold War at Global Security. The Cold War never ended; it simply went underground for
a few years. That was never more apparent than in the year 2005. During early 2005,
the Russians held joint maneuvers with the Chinese. Later in 2005, the Russian sup-
plied missiles to Syria and nuclear technology to Iran. That’s fact, not speculation. After
the 34 day war, I’m sure more people believed me.

Buy some KIO3 from SOMEONE, you’d hate to need it and not have it. Radmeters4U
has more than enough survey meters on hand; buy some. Medical Corps has lots of
KIO3, as does Frugal. I ordered my 10 M1A magazines from Ammoman on 6Sep06,
and had them shipped to Arkansas. IN STOCK: As of this afternoon (Wednesday, 3:40
PM CST, 9/6/2006) we have about 2,200 successfully tested and calibrated dosimeters
in inventory. These have been both electric leak and radiation accuracy tested. (BTW, 3
of these tested dosimeters along with a tested dosimeter charger are included in The
Package detailed above.)

They don’t include enough KI in The Package so you will have to buy more, either Fru-
gal or Medical Corps. Nobody expects a terrorist attack; there is no absolute proof that
one is going to happen, especially with WMD. While the Sheeple are waiting for it to
happen, many Squirrels are preparing because they understand it’s not a question of if,
but rather when and what. WMDs are chemical, biological or nuclear. You’re going to
need gas masks with NBC filters.

“What are you doing?”

253
“Ruminating (to go over in the mind repeatedly and often casually or slowly or to chew a
cud).”

“About what?”

“If people took me seriously. You know the old adage that you can lead a horse to water
but you can’t make them drink. My stories weren’t very good, most survival stories are
action filled; mine assembled information and drew conclusions. That may have been
the know your enemy part. I rarely left my characters totally unprepared because I
wanted to show that with nominal preparations, the odds favored surviving.”

“Did you write many?”

“Close to 50 Derek, most of them making the same point. Because I know a little bit
about medicine, I included tips about drugs and always told them to buy beans and rice.
I had my must have list that included things like toilet paper, coffee, smokes plus the
beans and rice. What I didn’t know, I either learned from readers, other authors or the
internet. That’s why my computer has over 400,000 files.”

“You do know I have to leave, don’t you?”

“Can’t violate your oath, but do like I always tell you, keep your powder dry and cover
your six. I see you still have the stripe, is that permanent?”

“Field promotion that could become permanent, depending on how things work out. I
suppose it might; there are vacancies in the ranks.”

“Can you get some more BDU’s? I forgotten how much I liked to wear them, especially
these new ones. I presume this is the new digital camouflage pattern.”

“I can get some, how many people want them and in what sizes?”

“I’ll get that for you and you can pick them up before you leave. I’m buying so if you
need more, get those too.”

“I’m going to let Damon used the .50 cal while I’m gone, and take it back when I get
home. Don’t let him get too attached to it.”

“I won’t, he’s not a firearms person, that shotgun and pistol of his are all he ever uses.
Do they feed you ok?”

“T-rations most of the time, occasionally MREs. I have some Tabasco sauce because
some of the MREs that need it don’t include it. When we were collecting the bodies in
Little Rock, I didn’t eat much.”

“You haven’t said much about your trip to California.”

254
“Not much to tell, we pulled in the HETS, unloaded, revised our combat load to reflect
new guidelines and headed to the border. We were the first detachment to arrive and by
the time we got there some of the Mexicans were already pulling back. That’s the first
time we loaded canister. I was the Platoon Sergeant and my new LT was the Platoon
Leader.”

“Will they turn around and come back?”

“Don’t think so, we left what was left of the Air Force behind. I think they were loaded up
with cluster bombs.”

“As long as we bomb them on our side of the border that might work. If they had built
the fence, the pilots would know which side they were on.”

It wasn’t likely anyone would mistake me for a soldier, even if I was wearing BDUs and
LBE. While I could get myself around without support, in the form of a cane or wheel-
chair, once I got loaded down with my weapons (including Rambo I) I couldn’t move
more than 50’ without assistance. The diabetes had atrophied not only the nerves in my
hands and legs, but the muscles in my legs. I figured that was because I couldn’t walk
far. Fifteen years back, I had a set of calves, let me tell you. It came from toting a 30#
briefcase and a 10# laptop everywhere I went.

All of my ruminating included thinking about the war and why it happened. I decided that
wasn’t a single cause, rather an accumulation of events. For 40 years, it had been the
US and Russia holding each other at arm’s length. Russia was exporting Marxism and
we were exporting Democracy. Not any Democracy would do, it had to be our flavor.
There was nothing wrong with our flavor, for us; others lacked some of the things it took
to come up with our flavor. Hindsight is 20/20.

Which is getting me away of relating how we were doing there in Gassville. Pretty good,
all things considered. The family was together; we salvaged enough food for a while
and had managed some gardens. Our propane was topped off, the generator rebuilt; we
had all the JP8/Jet A/diesel we could hold and enough gasoline to get by if we didn’t
take many road trips. I had my ‘around house’ wheelchair and my heavier ‘tactical
wheelchair’.

“Would breakfast be ok for supper?”

“Did you find eggs?”

“Yes, I got 3 dozen from a friend of Mary’s.”

“Wow. Three over medium with bacon and toast.”

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“You’ll have to slice the bread if you want toast; I never get it thin enough.”

You all knew that the man who came up with sliced bread was born in Des Moines and
raised in Davenport, don’t you? When he perfected his machine, the first mass market-
ed sliced bread was Wonder Bread from Chillicothe, Missouri. That was in the 1930s.
We hadn’t found a bread slicer we could salvage and I was going to put it on my ‘A’ list.

It was late in the year now, early October. It had been over a year since the war. We’d
gotten by so far because of our preparations. The country was starting to dig itself out,
but that could take years. The GPS still worked so either the satellites hadn’t failed or
the government had been able to launch new ones. Not that it matters, I had a Magel-
lan. It was cooling off now and Aaron was in school so I didn’t go sit on the porch and
maintain the day watch.

Derek left before I had a chance to say goodbye, keep your powder dry and watch your
six. Mary told me they were going back to Little Rock and he’d be able to come home
from time to time. I hadn’t fished for years and didn’t even have any tackle. John came
by one day and asked me to go fishing. He had a boat but it wasn’t one of those fancy
Ranger boats. I agreed because he had life preservers and extra fishing tackle. I got a
light jacket and my Nazi .32 and we headed to Bull Shoals Lake.

When we got there, I held the rope while he backed into the ramp and pushed the boat
into the water. John said he knew a good hole not far from the landing. He powered up
his electric motor and we were there in minutes.

“Try this lure on that extra rig I have.”

Jeez, it was a Mitchell Garcia 300, be still my heart. I cast and retrieved 3 or 4 times be-
fore I got a hit. It was a stubborn fish and didn’t want to join us in the boat, but it didn’t
know how bullheaded I could be.

“That one will go about 3 pounds.”

“It felt much bigger John. For a while I thought I hooked Moby Dick.”

We fished until John got tired and called it a day. I had 9 fish ranging in size from 3
pounds to 4 pounds. They were big mouth bass, not record size, but good size. When
we got back to the house, John came in and took a few minutes to fillet them for me.
Rather than deal with creating a second mess at home, he filleted his too. Sharon kept
out two fillets and wrapped and froze the rest. We’d probably have fish and fried pota-
toes for super.

256
I finished reading the 9/11 Report. It mainly blamed the bureaucracy and not individuals.
It appeared that we’d missed the lesson we’d been taught by the Japanese on Decem-
ber 7th. Abuse of power and the so called end of the Cold War had led to gutting agen-
cies that could have given us warning. Insufficient focus was given to events that could
have warned us. When we did react, after 9/11, the so called Muslim fanatics were well
established and it was all downhill from there. As noted in the 9/11 Commission Report,
hindsight is 20/20. I’m not sure that some of the things the government did in the after-
math were the correct things to do; it was what some call a knee-jerk reaction.

The real clue came, in my mind, with the 34-Day War. It was around then that Sharon
got serious about our preparations. Even then, we couldn’t go far enough because we
were like many others and lacked the funds. That’s why I said earlier that like Ron’s
cancer, the big one really worked to save our lives. Her settlement in the lawsuit allowed
us to start. If we had the full amount and not the net amount, we could have bought a
shelter from USS. The lawyers got $43,000 of the settlement. Sharon Packer would
have been more than happy to sell another shelter system.

We’d deserted Palmdale in favor of Arkansas and later decided to live there. We no
longer had anyone living with us, a real blessing. Hah! 2007 wasn’t the best of times at
all. What’s that saying? It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age
of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring
of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing be-
fore us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way… –
Charles Dickens

Yes, we’d turned control over to the Iraqi Army, but they said they’d need our help. We
were trying to force Iran and North Korea to eliminate their nuclear programs, to no
avail. The Taliban in Afghanistan had a renewed energy and was giving us and NATO
fits. The UN had done exactly nothing to stop Syria and Iran from resupplying Hezbol-
lah. The Olmert government had proven ineffective in Israel. Personally, I’d prefer an
Army or Marine General to be the Chief of the Joint Chiefs.

As I said, hindsight is 20/20. Back in late 2006 a person could feel it coming. If my wife
was concerned enough to begin to prepare, the entire world should have been getting
prepared. Remember what Chris said, Nope, I’m not a crackpot like you, Gary. Crackpot
or not, we were more ready for the earthquake than anyone in the neighborhood. There
comes a time when it’s very appropriate to get the hell out of Dodge. We did and didn’t
go back except to unload the house.

Mobile homes are built slightly different these days and they’re still not tornado proof.
They do look more like a real house inside and if they’re properly anchored to concrete
risers are probably as safe as a real house. If a tornado hits a house, any house, it’s a
goner and that’s why you need a tornado shelter.

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 Survival Story – Chapter 24

What’s difference between a tornado shelter and a bomb shelter? I suppose maybe it’s
the blast door, the air system and the standby power. The air system is very important
because you need fresh air that’s been cleaned and you need a scrubber to remove CO
and CO2. After you’ve gone that far, what’s the big deal about adding a survey meter
and some dosimeters? You don’t need top of the line Ham equipment; you can get by
with some good used equipment. The combined antennas aren’t as good as some oth-
ers, but you can also get by with them.

“Oh, hi Aaron, how was school?”

“Boring.”

“Not as exciting as going to the range and shooting, huh?”

“Can we?”

“It’s a little cold out. Maybe you can get your Dad to take you.”

“He’s busy with his guinea pigs.”

“I thought he kept them separate so they wouldn’t have any more babies.”

“So did I grandpa.”

“Did you know that one of my readers worked for The History Channel?”

“Who?”

“I didn’t get a name, but when I was writing one of my stories linking the 34-Day War,
the History Channel ran a program called, “World War III? Beyond Lebanon”.

“Aw, you just watched too much TV, grandpa.”

“Maybe I did Aaron, maybe I did. Sharon and I had already begun to make preps when
that program aired on September 8, 9 and 10 of 2006. On the other hand all we had at
that time was our list of things. I had purchased the magazines for my M1A rifle, but not
the rifle or the ammo yet. Aaron, it seemed that war was inevitable. I read everything I
could get my hands on. To understand where you’re going, you have to understand
where you’ve been. I added the Christian Science Monitor to my newspaper list and the
current news at Global Security. Do you remember studying The Crusades in school?”

“That’s what we’re studying now.”

“Pay attention, Aaron, the Crusades, like the Cold War, never ended.”

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“That isn’t what my teacher said.”

“Aaron, the Crusades had profound but localized effects upon the Islamic world, where
the equivalents of ‘Franks’ and ‘Crusaders’ remained expressions of disdain. Muslims
traditionally celebrate Saladin, the Kurdish warrior, as a hero against the Crusaders. In
the 21st century, some in the Arab world, such as the Arab independence movement
and Pan-Islamism movement, continue to call Western involvement in the Middle East a
‘Crusade’. The Crusades were regarded by the Islamic world as cruel and savage on-
slaughts by European Christians.”

“Let’s go back to the TV show, grandpa.”

“Ok, if you like. The TV show was making a point. Iran was using a surrogate, Hezbol-
lah, to attack Israel and in so doing making an indirect attack on us. I don’t remember
anymore. We were on the brink and some folks were warning us.”

“Will it be a lot different now, Grandpa?”

“I think so. The technology that survived will wear out. I’m not sure we’ll be able to re-
place most of it. Maybe you can in a few years, but any factory they manage to get up
and running will be producing essentials. We moved so much of our industry overseas, I
don’t know how long it will take to get it back.”

“What’s going to happen now?”

“I’ll be danged if I know. The attack must have cracked my crystal ball. In part, it de-
pends on who survived. In part it depends on how many of the younger generations
who are only interested in drugs and violence survived. Really, I think it depends on
how successful we are at keeping the BGs out of this area. If we succeed, life will go
back to what it was 60 years ago; before rural America had electricity. Maybe, even be-
fore the tractor when some people farmed with horses.”

“But grandpa, we have all the utilities back now.”

“For how long, Aaron? What are we going to do when they run out of coal or natural gas
or whatever they use to produce electricity? What is this family going to do when we
can’t get any more propane, diesel or gasoline? Our saving grace may be that we have
knowledge and can come up with alternatives. Like, for example, a wood fired steam
engine to drive the alternator to produce electricity. Right now is when we need to be
thinking about the alternatives. Which reminds me, I need to get your Dad to check out
a computer store. Maybe he can pick up 3 or 4 computers and we’ll use them up one at
a time.”

“We studied steam engines in school.”

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“Hmm, if we could get a steam engine that ran at 1,800rpm, we could get a spare alter-
nator for our generator and rig something up. Could you excuse me? I have some plan-
ning to do.”

My uncle Glenn’s hobby had been steam engines and I was just a kid when he died.
Jeez, that was a long time ago. Up in Floyd County Iowa, they had a group who collect-
ed and operated old engines, including steam engines. Maybe if we looked around, we
could find one in this part of the country and either restore it or duplicate it. Steam was
still used to generate electricity but it was usually with turbines. I was moderately sure
that someone probably built a steam powered generator. The trick would be in finding
one.

Anything we used would represent a problem. Wind turbines only work where the wind
blows. Solar cells were expensive and required batteries to store the energy and sever-
al inverters to power one house. There was no way we were going to Palm Springs or
Tehachapi to steal a large wind turbine. Or Kansas for that matter, there was a wind
farm in Kansas that I wrote about. Not that we didn’t have time to figure it out, Art said
he could keep us in propane for years. Could we get diesel and keep the Kohler genera-
tor running for years?

At the moment, our generator was in good shape because Joe had rebuilt the engine.
That might not help when it needed to be rebuilt again because parts might not be
available. Someone has to worry about these things and I was elected because I wor-
ried about everything, it’s in the nature of an obsessive compulsive person. Once school
started, I spent a lot of time in the basement inventorying what we had. I didn’t have Ac-
cess, but a spreadsheet accomplished the same task.

“I’ve finished and know what holes we need to fill in.”

“Good, where are we going to get it?”

“Should I include the stuff we canned out of the garden?”

“You’d better.”

“Ok, I’ll inventory it and add it in, that changes everything. I think we’re getting close to
eating Spam, tuna and other canned meats.”

“Why?”

“We have one freezer serving five families, Sharon. It seems like someone is here every
day getting more things out of the freezer. Do you have any idea where we might get
more?”

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“There a packer in town, they process beef, pork and chicken, Twin Lake Packing. The
Meat Shop in Mountain Home specializes in Black Angus and I don’t what the Meat
Corral and Deli carries.”

“Black Angus? I wonder if we could get a whole beef, a couple of cases of chickens and
some pork?”

“Do we have room?”

“If we don’t, we can borrow another freezer. I’ll talk to Damon and ask him to find one. I
know you can put a whole beef in a 25 foot chest type. I assume you’ll want pork loins,
bacon, hams and pork steak. There have to be some empty homes that had freezers.
We may have to air it out, scrub it and use baking soda to absorb the odor; I’ll mention
that to him.”

“Has anyone thought of looking for a grocery warehouse?”

“Well, I thought about it. Since we’re new to the area, I’m not sure where to look.”

“I’ll call Helen, maybe John or she will know.”

Damon found 2 identical freezers, one didn’t work and the other was filled with spoiled
meat. He threw away the meat and swapped the cooling components from the one that
worked to the one that didn’t. Before he tried that, he tried to clean the one that stank
with ammonia, vinegar and baking soda, none of which worked. He fooled around with
the freezers for about 3 weeks and I was getting worried because Sharon had talked to
Helen and found out where to get meat. Damon and I manhandled the freezer into the
basement, I ran the winch, and Sharon handed him an envelope of cash.

“Damon, the places you need to go to pick up the meat are on the envelope together
with how much you have to pay. After you get it back here, we’ll wrap it and divide it up
with you kids.”

“Do you want to ride along as shotgun, Dad?”

“Weeell… sure, why not, give a minute to get my shotgun.”

“I thought you were getting your shotgun.”

“I did.”

“Why did you get your revolvers?”

“For when I run out of shotgun shells.”

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“I didn’t mean it literally.”

“Why not, do you have any idea what the meat is worth?”

“Yes, I do it’s written on the envelope.”

“Damon, it’s worth more than money, that’d our food for the next year. I don’t believe
we’ll have any trouble, but you can never be too careful.”

“We’ll stop by my house get my shotgun if you’re worried.”

“You take my shotgun and I’ll get my M1A. It would waste gas going back to your
place.”

Our first stop was in Mountain Home to pick up a whole Black Angus from the Meat
Shop. They usually got orders for quarters or sides but rarely did people buy 2 sides at
the same time. Sharon had ordered a case of boneless to use up more of the fat and
they threw in a full case of hot dogs. From there, we went back to Gassville and to the
packing house. We picked up boxes of prime cuts, ergo, Boston butts, boneless loins,
hams, bacon, Pullman hams and 4 boxes of chickens, about 200 birds. Finally, we hit
the Meat Corral and Deli where we picked up minced ham (bologna), salami, ring sau-
sage and condiments.

“We’ll sort the meat as we put it in the freezer, Damon. That should make it easier divid-
ing it up. Put the boxes of chicken in the kitchen and the prime cuts on the basement
floor, we do those after the chickens.”

“Ok. What do you do to the chickens?”

“That’s the easy part, take them out of the box and wrap them whole in kraft paper. We
can cut the loins into chops with my butcher knife and do the hard part last.”

“What’s that?”

“Cutting the pork steak. It will be easier if it’s about half frozen, I have to use a meat saw
on it.”

Pork steak is the same thing as chuck steak or a 7 bone roast. The bones are nearly
identical and most meat departments cut pork steak with a band saw. When I did it by
hand, I made a cut to the bone, used the saw to get through the bone and finished with
my knife. When I was young, I watched a butcher making pork chops the old way, with a
cleaver. By the time I learned to cut meat, we cut pork chops with the band saw. Hughie
never bought boneless pork loins and was too lazy to use a cleaver. He also bought the
bologna (minced ham) in the 6’ sticks.

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We all know that bologna isn’t really made out of ham. However, when I was 10 years
old, stores like Fareway in Charles City called it minced ham. I was thinking about that
as I cut and Damon wrapped. With a band saw, I could have made short work of those
Boston butts. Today, I hated pork steak just because of the amount of work it was taking
to cut it up. Not that I liked pork steak in the first place, I found it to be too greasy. Once
I got past the bone part of the butt, I left the remainder as a pork roast rather than cut-
ting boneless pork steak. If I had been thinking, I’d have cut boneless pork steak and
left the bone in portion of the butt as the pork roast. Maybe next year…

By the time we got done, it was nearly supper time so I showed Damon how I cut up a
chicken. He wanted to know about the Pullman hams and I explained you sliced them
and served them as boiled ham or ‘ham slices’. I looked around and Britney, Aaron and
Eric had shown up so I cut up a second chicken.

“Did you guys have a good day at school?”

“Boring.” (Aaron)

“Great.” (Eric)

“Just another day.” (Britney)

“Fried chicken ok for supper?”

“Sure.” (chorus)

“You didn’t pull guard duty today?”

“Your Dad and I have been very busy today, Aaron. We picked up a year’s supply of
meat and cut and wrapped the prime cuts.”

“Doesn’t it come cut and wrapped?”

“Only the beef came that way. We’ve been cutting up the pork.”

“You were just cutting chickens.”

“Yes, we cut them as we use them. Any more questions?”

“Can I have white meat?”

Back when we got the money before the earthquake, I made sure we bought a knife
sharpener from Harbor Freight Tools. It was a belt sharpener that was something like an
upside down belt sander with a blade guide. It was much easier to cut meat with a sharp

263
knife. The only thing I hadn’t gotten was a flat steel. I had one on my list, but as we be-
gan to burn through the settlement money, I decided to forego the steel until we had
more money, and somehow I managed to never buy one. I had a commercial steel but
not the best.

“Fried potatoes or mashed potatoes and chicken gravy?”

“Mashed potatoes and how about a quart of the home canned green beans?”

“I don’t have one up here.”

“Damon, when you put the last of the meat in the freezer, would you grab a couple of
quarts of green beans and a quart of bread and butter pickles?”

“Sure.”

“Here you go.”

“Give them to Sharon. I don’t suppose you’ve seen a powered meat saw anywhere,
have you?”

“Not really, all the places that would have them are still open for business. If you want
me to find one, I suppose I could go to Little Rock.”

“No, I’ll just cut boneless pork steak next year, thanks anyway.”

“What’s for supper?”

“Damon go get 2 more chickens out of the freezer, would you please? Chicken, girls,
with smashed potatoes and green beans. Sharon do you want me to peel more pota-
toes or will you?”

That night after supper we gave Damon, Lorrie and Amy meat to take home with them. I
sort of figured I have to get out a Pullman ham the next day and cut up lunch meat for
them; ham, salami and bologna. It wasn’t that hard, we spent about $400 on a commer-
cial slicer before the earthquake. I think we’d bought 2 of the cheap slicers over the
years but they were just that, cheap. Getting a real slicer had been on Sharon’s list.

Although John wouldn’t ship ammo to California, I managed to find some dealers who
had the South African surplus who would. It turned out that you couldn’t ship ammo to
Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County. I had the ammo shipped to Sister
Charlene in California City. I suppose some people must be wondering about her. Cali-
fornia City hadn’t been seriously affected by the earthquake and Charlene’s son Geof-
frey and his girlfriend were living with Charlene. She wasn’t interesting in moving to Ar-

264
kansas with us. California City hadn’t gotten any radiation from Los Angeles during the
terrorist attacks and we were out of touch after the war. As luck would have it, Sister
Shirley and her boyfriend Darwin, weren’t in Des Moines the day the war started, and
we weren’t sure where they ended up.

I had never maintained close family ties but Sharon did. I won’t say I didn’t care, but
there was nothing I could do and most of my relatives were in Iowa and none of the
people I cared about were in Des Moines. Besides, we knew Charles City was still there
so most of my family probably was too. More than once Sharon wondered aloud about
both Charlene and Shirley but I never heard her mention her younger brother Johnny.
Despite Johnny suffering from PTSD, I wouldn’t mind having a Vietnam vet around in
case the BGs showed up, assuming we could afford it. Johnny had one of the early is-
sue M16s in Vietnam and it frequently jammed. One day he got tired of that and
wrapped it around a tree. We had Bushmaster’s and current issue ammo so maybe that
wouldn’t happen. The problem was, he didn’t know where we lived now or even if we
were alive.

Who in America didn’t have PTSD? Maybe we were too busy just surviving to notice. I
had a book so I could have looked up the symptoms, but I just didn’t care. With Derek
gone back to Little Rock, I didn’t feel as secure as I had when he had been home. We
were getting periodic updates on the radio claiming the progress the government was
making with the cleanup. I was skeptical because I wasn’t sure how long it would take to
bury 200 million bodies; it had taken weeks to handle the dead in our 3 city area.

It was probably the dead that brought the scope of the tragedy that I called WW III to
our attention. It also got me to thinking about the rule of threes. Arkansas hadn’t had an
earthquake so I guess that means they only had the terrorist attacks and the war that
affected them. Hmm, did that mean we had one to go? Crap, we’re going to have a tor-
nado or the New Madrid Fault is going to let loose. Maybe not, that would most affect
northeastern Arkansas, so it had to be a tornado.

There had only been one way to handle that many bodies, mass graves. Although town
officials, those that remained, could identify the deceased, there weren’t enough coffins
available to give everyone a separate burial. Really, there weren’t even enough body
bags. Each of the 3 towns had to handle their own burials and in Gassville a large area
was excavated and the bodies all buried in the same place. Eventually, the holes had
been filled in and grass seeded.

Those that remained, the town government, were spread thin. Not that Gassville had
that many to begin with, but with more than half of their number gone, there had been
trouble filling the ranks. The packing plant was forced to cut back on their staff because
they were only processing meat for local consumption permitting the town to put some
of their employees to work.

When that was first announced shortly after we came out of the shelter (the second
time), I wondered how the town could pay the people to work for them. It wasn’t like the

265
town of Gassville had large revenues to begin with. After the war, most people didn’t
have any money so they couldn’t levy taxes to get funds to pay wages. The town did
just exactly what we did, salvage. The employees were then paid wages in supplies.

I had always thought that money wouldn’t be worth the paper it was printed on. Very few
people had any gold or silver and the FRNs were the only means of exchange. While
that might change in time, it hadn’t for the first year or more after the war. And, when
Damon and I went to Charles City, all the bank could give us was paper money. How
many stories had I written that assumed cash wouldn’t be king? All of them to this point.
Not everything had quite worked out as I had hoped Derek was gone, there wasn’t any
gold and silver to be had and we didn’t have any permanent source of power.

9/11 came and went this year and I didn’t even notice. We had just been finishing up the
harvest from the garden and still had spuds to dig. There had been too many events
since the WTC and Pentagon. It was all part of the same event that had started way
back with the first Gulf War. We hadn’t really had any peace since. I listed the events in
When We Were Young and don’t need to repeat them.

The question asked often in the articles, analyses and programs marking the 5th anni-
versary of the attacks on New York’s Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington is:
Why has al Qaeda never launched another attack in America on the same scale?

There are plenty of answers: a homeland security department was created, intelligence
services are better coordinated within the US system and with outside agencies; some
even say there are no Muslim terrorists in the United States, or that the numbers of
those still at large outside America have been pared down and disabled by the global
war on terror.

But the true explanation is to be found in the modus operandi of al Qaeda and its fellow
Islamic terrorist organizations, which consists mainly of these elements:

1. The element of time – or patience:

Al Qaeda and its regional jihadist affiliates in the Far East, the Middle East and the Eu-
rope-North Africa branch set their clocks according to a time system quite unrelated to
that of the US or intelligence - or for that matter any military or terrorist outfit geared to
the principle of instantaneous cause and effect.

They have all the time in the world and endless patience, because their operational
tempo is dictated by the tenets of their brand of fundamentalist Islam.

It took al Qaeda two years from the planning stage in early 1991 until implementation in
February 1993 to execute its first attack on the Twin Towers of New York.

Since the targeted buildings were left standing with “only” six people killed and some
1,000 injured, Al Qaeda judged the operation a failure. There and then, its master plan-

266
ners began plotting the next attack, which was finally executed eight years later on
Sept. 11, 2001.

Similarly, in 1994-95, al Qaeda operative Ramzi Yousef failed to carry out a plot to hi-
jack 12 airliners taking off from different departure points in Asia and supposed to blow
up over American cities. A New York district court sentenced him in 1998 to 240 years
solitary confinement.

Yet the plot was not abandoned. Al Qaeda patiently assembly a new scheme and was
ready to put it into practice 13 years later. In July 2006, British security authorities dis-
covered a plot to hijack 6-10 American airliners from British airports and explode them
over American cities.

What this means is that al Qaeda will keep on trying, however long it takes: time is no
object.

2. No clues left at the scene of the crime:

The perfect terrorist crime is a typical feature of al Qaeda’s methods of operation. Its
operatives never leave behind clues that might betray the mastermind of any terror plot.
Six years after a suicide bomb-boat rammed a gaping hole in the American destroyer,
the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden; five years after 9/11; two years after the Ma-
drid rail bombings; and more than a year after the lethal explosions on London trains
and a bus, not a single US, European, Middle Eastern or Israeli intelligence service can
claim to have a lead to the plotters, the organizers or the individuals who launched the
terrorists on their missions of death. The same applies to dozens of smaller attacks.
Neither has any counter-terror agency any clear concept of how the mechanism which
sets the attacks in motion works. There are plenty of theories, but no solid information –
a lacuna which raises two serious problems.

First: It partially explains why al Qaeda has not carried out a large-scale attack inside
America. The organization does not lack local cells or the ability to penetrate the United
States. In an open society, that poses no difficulty. But al Qaeda’s master-terrorists
want to be absolutely sure that their next attack leaves no tracks leading to the level
which controls the perpetrators-suicides. That is the sine qua non for Osama bin Lad-
en’s operation and that is the insuperable challenge confronting Western intelligence.

Second: Notwithstanding American intelligence and counter-terror achievements in the

war on terror, and the elimination of many high-profile operatives, still somewhere in the
world an al Qaeda team or teams are putting together a horrendous terrorist attack for
execution in the United States, Europe or Israel, which may take one year, five years or
twenty to perpetrate.

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 Survival Story – Chapter 25

3. Other American fronts:

American politicians, intelligence experts, researchers and some members of the Amer-
ican public prefer not to classify the vicious war al Qaeda has conducted against US
forces in Iraq and the sabotage of White House goals there as a deadly attack on the
United States.

But al Qaeda’s leaders see it differently. For two years, Osama bin Laden has staked
huge resources in generating violence, misery and untold death in Iraq because he re-
gards this campaign as the ultimate assault on the United States and all it stands for.
It took him a while to decide on this high-stake venture. In the early part of the war from
April to July 2003, he pondered deeply the pros and cons of moving Iraq to center-stage
of the al Qaeda confrontation with America.

It was a hard decision. It entailed his giving up direct command of his fighting forces on
the ground and placing them under the direct command of Johnny-come-lately Abu Mu-
sab al Zarqawi, an outsider to the band which founded, fashioned and formed the sin-
ews of al Qaeda.

Bin Laden saw that Zarqawi would need a helping hand to assemble a winning team. In
the second half of 2004, he ordered a worldwide recruitment campaign to bring young
jihadis for Iraq, exactly as twenty years before, he spent Saudi and CIA funds on raising
an army of young Muslim zealots to drive the Red Army out of Afghanistan.

So fixated was bin Laden on the Iraqi front against the US army, that he was prepared
to defend Zarqawi and his methods against long-time companions like his No. 2, the
Egyptian Jihad Islami leader Ayman Zahahiri.

The al Qaeda leader was not disappointed in his protégée.

After the Americans killed Zarqawi last June, he counted up his achievements as com-
mander of al Qaeda in Iraq with its affiliates, chiefly Ansar al Islam and Ansar Sunna.

Of the 2,165 American soldiers who died in combat from the start of the Iraq war until
Sept. 9, 2006, al Qaeda and its affiliates were responsible for about 1,000 deaths.

John Mueller, Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University, pointed out in the
Sept-Oct 2006 issue of Foreign Affairs that the number of Americans who were killed
after 9/11 by al Qaeda or al Qaeda-like operatives outside Afghanistan and Iraq “is not
much higher than the number who drown in bathtubs in the United States in a single
year, and that the lifetime chance of an American being killed by international terrorism
is about one in 80,000 – about the same chance as being killed by a comet or meteor.”

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This opinion exemplifies the way most Americans separate the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq where Americans are under constant assault from al Qaeda from their own imme-
diate reality. The main issue here is not the number of casualties but the fact that it took
the US Army three years to eliminate Zarqawi, three critical years which finally made the
Iraq war unwinnable.

By now, the level and intensity of terror in Iraq are such that the US army is not only in-
capable of gaining victory but even of curbing the Iraqi insurgency. American forces no
longer control large swatches of the country – and that applies even more to the New
Iraqi Army.

And shortly before his death, Zarqawi managed to kindle the flames of sectarian civil
war. In no time, the religious violence raging between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims wiped
out the last slim chance of establishing in Baghdad a stable federal regime. In the long
term, the Shi’ite-Sunni dissent will have a far-reaching impact on the internal cohesion
of the entire Muslim world.

In sum, it may be said that George W. Bush’s democratic ideal, the fountainhead of his
worldview and policy, has not thus far gained the upper hand over al Qaeda’s funda-
mentalist Islamic – terrorist creed; quite the reverse.

And Iraq’s volatility is irradiating other parts of the Middle East as well. Islamist terrorist
movements had learned from the Iraqi model to use democracy and President Bush’s
New Middle East vision as leverage to the seats of power in their countries. The ballot
box gives their violent, coercive methods the stamp of legitimacy. The Palestinian Ha-
mas was one such example; the Lebanese Hezbollah another.

Counter-terror experts predict that in the post-Zarqawi era, his terrorist movement in
Iraq would crumble into splinters which will be soaked up by the larger Sunni guerrilla
organizations, at which point al Qaeda will fold its tents in Iraq and move on to new
fronts. The United States of America will again rise to the top of bin Laden’s targets.

It cannot therefore be said that al Qaeda’s threat to America has faded; the menace ra-
ther may come back full circle at some time in the future.

In a video marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, al Qaeda’s No. 2 Ayman
Zawahiri told Western leaders they will soon be evicted from the Gulf and face econom-
ic doom. As for Israel, al Qaeda’s “holy war” is closing in and “your end will put an end
to Zionist-crusader supremacy.” Zawahiri went on to say the forces in Iraq and Afghani-
stan are not worth defending; they are doomed to failure. He added cryptically, “new
events” are on the way.

Ceremonies took place on Monday across the United States to mark the attacks on
New York and Washington which killed almost 3,000 people and triggered the Bush
administration’s global “war on terror”.

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On Sunday September 10, 2006, al Qaeda’s media arm al-Sahab released a 92-minute
video entitled “The Manhattan Raids”, showing bin Laden with 9/11 attackers for the first
time and the men training in an unidentified location. One image showed Ramzi Bi-
nalshibh. Bin Laden has not been seen on any new videotape since late 2004 although
audiotapes were released with his authenticated voice during 2006.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The threat of terrorism against the United States remains chill-
ingly lethal five years after 9/11, and officials predict another massive attack is not a
matter of if – but when.

Despite a government overhaul and more than $250 billion spent to bolster security on
airlines, at borders and in seaports, few doubt al Qaeda’s intent to strike the US again.
That the nation hasn’t been hit since Sept. 11, 2001, may say as much about terrorists’
patience as it does about steps taken to stop them.

“I know of nobody in the intelligence field who doesn’t believe there will be another at-
tack,” said Thomas Kean, former New Jersey governor and Republican chair of the 9/11
Commission that investigated the government’s security missteps leading up to the
2001 hijackings.

“There’s going to be another attack,” Kean said. “They just can’t tell you when.”

In a new age of rapid and widespread ID checks, locked and bulletproof cockpit doors in
airliners, armed pilots, tracking foreigners’ visas and monitoring Muslim and Arab com-
munities, few expect a precise repeat of the plot that used airline hijackings to bring
down big buildings.

The unsettling reality of terrorism, however, is that it is always in search of new ways to
accomplish mass death and destruction. And always in search of the weakest link.

Authorities have disrupted a number of high-profile plots, including last month’s bomb-
ing scare on as many as 10 Britain-to-US flights. The CIA has helped ensnare some
5,000 terror suspects around the world. And the government has imposed hundreds of
security measures on foreign visitors and US residents alike, from making travelers take
off their shoes at airport checkpoints to eavesdropping on phone and e-mail conversa-
tions.

But glaring gaps in the security net remain.

Undercover inspectors testing the nation’s security system have repeatedly sneaked
weapons through airport checkpoints, entered the country with fake identification and
foiled detectors that catch the trace amounts of radiation in kitty litter and bananas, but
not always nuclear materials. Air testers to sniff out biological agents are becoming ob-
solete. And not all port or airline cargo is rigorously inspected.

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And, as Hurricane Katrina showed last year, disaster response systems at all levels of
government are woefully unprepared for a catastrophe.

“No matter what you do, it’s not enough,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, co-chair of
a congressional 9/11 caucus. “But the systems we’ve worked hard on to put in place are
not working.”

Homeland Insecurity Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department was created in

2003 as a result of 9/11, points to strides made in sharing intelligence and screening
passengers and cargo on flights and at seaports as proof that the country has been
made safer without shutting down commerce. Yet he acknowledges more needs to be
done in his agency that largely grapples with reacting to past crises while also thinking
about what terrorists might try next.

The intelligence community spends a significant amount of time doing what Chertoff de-
scribed as “putting ourselves in the heads of terrorists – looking at emerging techniques
and trying to figure out how terrorists might exploit our systems.”

In one example, Chertoff said, the department last year relaxed its ban on scissors and
small innocuous tools from being carried on planes to give inspectors more time to look
for explosive devices. Screeners also are now being trained to interpret facial expres-
sions and other behavioral patterns to pick out suspicious travelers.

‘‘We will live with some form of this problem for a very long time,’’ Chertoff said in an
hour-long interview last month wedged between a phone call with British Home Secre-
tary John Reid about the foiled flight plot and a meeting with FEMA director David Paul-
ison about the hurricane season.

Several government-appointed panels – including the 9/11 Commission – have con-

cluded over the last five years that the nation was vastly unprepared for the deadly at-
tacks.

Their findings triggered a massive reshuffling of the government’s counterterror mis-

sions, the largest since the Defense Department was created in 1947. In addition to
merging 22 agencies into the new Homeland Insecurity Department, a new position of
intelligence director to oversee the nation’s 16 spy agencies was established.

Congress approved policies such as the USA Patriot Act, allowing more surveillance in
counterterrorism investigations. Federal spending on domestic security programs has
more than tripled since 2001, to $55 billion this year, almost equal to what is spent on
education.

The results have been mixed. Criticism for Homeland Insecurity has run from sweeping
(for cutting emergency responder funding to New York and Washington) to nitpicky (the
color-coded threat alert system is too vague to be meaningful).

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“Everything the department was supposed to do is still, at best, a work in progress,” said
Clark Kent Evin, Homeland Insecurity’s former inspector general.

Meanwhile, the government’s once-greatest target in the war on terror – Osama bin
Laden – remains on the loose. Michael Scheuer, the former head of the now-defunct
CIA unit dedicating to finding the al-Qaida leader, said catching him now is mostly a
matter of luck. “He’s going to have to zig when we zag and we’ll end up in the same
place at once,” Scheuer said. (He proved to be right!)

With or without bin Laden, authorities expect al Qaeda’s threat won’t dim in coming
years.

Some sympathizers – including small pockets of homegrown Islamic extremists already

in the United States – may not even be directly linked to al-Qaida but aim to carry out its
mission. Those who make up al Qaeda’s core will wait years, and even decades, for the
chance to attack when America least expects it.

“I’m convinced they’re prepared to wait centuries if they have to,” former Homeland Se-
curity Secretary Tom Ridge said. “They’re looking much longer term than we are. So we
have to match their patience with our persistence and our continued focus. We can
never let our guard down.” It just points out how hindsight is 20/20.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

Provide adequate radio spectrum for first responders

The pending Fiscal Year 2006 budget reconciliation bill would compel the return of the
analog TV broadcast (700 Mhz) spectrum, and reserve some for public safety purposes.
Both the House and Senate bills contain a 2009 handover date – too distant given the
urgency of the threat. A 2007 handover date would make the American people safer
sooner.

Establish a unified Incident Command System

Although there is awareness of and some training in the ICS, hurricane Katrina demon-
strated the absence of full compliance during a multi-jurisdictional/statewide catastrophe
– and its resulting costs.

Allocate homeland security funds based on risk

Congress has still not changed the underlying statutory authority for homeland security
grants, or benchmarks to insure that funds are used wisely. As a result, homeland secu-
rity funds continue to be distributed without regard for risk, vulnerability, or the conse-
quences of an attack, diluting the national security benefits of this important program.

Critical infrastructure risks and vulnerabilities assessment

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A draft National Infrastructure Protection Plan (November 2005) spells out a methodol-
ogy and process for critical infrastructure assessments. No risk and vulnerability as-
sessments actually made; no national priorities established; no recommendations made
on allocation of scarce resources. All key decisions are at least a year away. It is time
that we stop talking about setting priorities, and actually set some.

Private sector preparedness

National preparedness standards are only beginning to find their way into private sector
business practices. Private sector preparedness needs to be a higher priority for DHI
and for American businesses.

TRANSPORTATION SECURITY

National Strategy for Transportation Security

DHI has transmitted its National Strategy for Transportation Security to the Congress.
While the strategy reportedly outlines broad objectives, this first version lacks the nec-
essary detail to make it an effective management tool.

Improve airline passenger pre-screening

Few improvements have been made to the existing passenger screening system since
right after 9/11. The completion of the testing phase of TSA’s pre-screening program for
airline passengers has been delayed. A new system, utilizing all names on the consoli-
dated terrorist watch list, is therefore not yet in operation.

Improve airline screening checkpoints to detect explosives

While more advanced screening technology is being developed, Congress needs to

provide the funding for, and TSA needs to move as expeditiously as possible with, the
appropriate installation of explosives detection trace portals at more of the nation’s
commercial airports.

Checked bag and cargo screening

Improvements here have not been made a priority by the Congress or the administra-
tion. Progress on implementation of in-line screening has been slow. The main impedi-
ment is inadequate funding.

BORDER SECURITY

Better terrorist travel strategy

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The first Terrorist Travel Strategy is in development, due to be delivered by December
17, 2005 as required by PL 108-458.

Comprehensive screening system

We still do not have a comprehensive screening system. Although agencies are moving
ahead on individual screening projects, there is lack of progress on coordination be-
tween agencies. DHI’ new Screening Coordination Office still needs to establish and
implement goals for resolving differences in biometric and traveler systems, credential-
ing and identification standards.

Biometric entry-exit screening system

The US-VISIT system is running at 115 airports and 15 seaports, and is performing
secondary screening at the 50 busiest land borders. But border screening systems are
not yet employed at all land borders, nor are these systems interoperable. The exit
component of the US-VISIT system has not been widely deployed.

International collaboration on borders and document security

There has been some good collaboration between US-VISIT and Interpol, but little pro-
gress elsewhere. There has been no systematic diplomatic effort to share terrorist
watch lists, nor has Congress taken a leadership role in passport security.

Standardize secure identifications

The REAL ID Act has established by statute standards for state-issued IDs acceptable
for federal purposes, though states’ compliance needs to be closely monitored. New
standards for issuing birth certificates (required by law by December 17, 2005) are de-
layed until at least spring 2006, probably longer. Without movement on the birth certifi-
cate issue, state-issued IDs are still not secure.

Part II: Reforming the Institutions of Government

THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

Director of National Intelligence

The framework for the DNI and his authorities are in place. Now his challenge is to ex-
ercise his authorities boldly to smash stovepipes, drive reform, and create a unity of ef-
fort—and act soon. He must avoid layering of the bureaucracy and focus on transfor-
mation of the Intelligence Community. The success of this office will require decisive
leadership from the DNI and the president, and active oversight by the Congress.

National Counterterrorism Center

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Shared analysis and evaluation of threat information is in progress; joint operational
planning is beginning. But the NCTC does not yet have sufficient resources or person-
nel to fulfill its intelligence and planning role.

Create FBI national security workforce

Progress is being made—but it is too slow. The FBI’s shift to a counterterrorism posture
is far from institutionalized, and significant deficiencies remain. Reforms are at risk from
inertia and complacency; they must be accelerated, or they will fail. Unless there is im-
provement in a reasonable period of time, Congress will have to look at alternatives.

New missions for CIA Director

Reforms are underway at the CIA, especially of human intelligence operations. But their
outcome is yet to be seen. If the CIA is to remain an effective arm of national power,
Congress and CIA leadership need to be committed to accelerating the pace of reforms,
and must address morale and personnel issues.

Incentives for information sharing

Changes in incentives, in favor of information sharing, have been minimal. The office of
the program manager for information sharing is still a start-up, and is not getting the
support it needs from the highest levels of government. There remain many complaints
about lack of information sharing between federal authorities and state and local level
officials.

Government-wide information sharing

Designating individuals to be in charge of information sharing is not enough. They need

resources, active presidential backing, policies and procedures in place that compel
sharing, and systems of performance evaluation that appraise personnel on how they
carry out information sharing.

Homeland airspace defense

Situational awareness and sharing of information has improved. But it is not routine or
comprehensive, no single agency currently leads the interagency response to airspace
violations, and there is no overarching plan to secure airspace outside the National
Capital region.

CIVIL LIBERTIES AND EXECUTIVE POWER

Balance between security and civil liberties

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The debate surrounding reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act has been strong, and
concern for civil liberties has been at the heart of it. Robust and continuing oversight,
both within the Executive and by the Congress, will be essential.

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board

We see little urgency in the creation of this Board. The President nominated a Chair and
Vice Chair in June 2005, and sent their names to the Senate in late September. To
date, the Senate has not confirmed them. Funding is insufficient, no meetings have
been held, no staff named, no work plan outlined, no work begun, no office established.

Guidelines for government sharing of personal information

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has not yet begun its work. The DNI just
named a Civil Liberties Protection Officer (November 2005).

CONGRESSIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM

Intelligence oversight reform

The House and Senate have taken limited positive steps, including the creation of over-
sight subcommittees. However, the ability of the intelligence committees to perform
oversight of the intelligence agencies and account for their performance is still under-
mined by the power of the Defense Appropriations subcommittees and Armed Services
committees.

Homeland Security committees

The House and Senate have taken positive steps, but Secretary Chertoff and his team
still report to too many bosses. The House and Senate homeland security committees
should have exclusive jurisdiction over all counterterrorism functions of the Department
of Homeland Security.

Declassify overall intelligence budget

No action has been taken. The Congress cannot do robust intelligence oversight when
funding for intelligence programs is buried within the defense budget. Declassifying the
overall intelligence budget would allow for a separate annual intelligence appropriations
bill, so that the Congress can judge better how intelligence funds are being spent.

Standardize security clearances

The President put the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in charge of standard-
izing security clearances. OMB issued a plan to improve the personnel security clear-
ance process in November 2005. The Deputy Director of OMB is committed to its suc-
cess. All the hard work is ahead.

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Part III: Foreign Policy, Public Diplomacy, and Nonproliferation

NONPROLIFERATION

Maximum effort by US government to secure WMD

Countering the greatest threat to America’s security is still not the top national security
priority of the President and the Congress.

FOREIGN POLICY

Long-term commitment to Afghanistan

Progress has been made, but attacks by Taliban and other extremists continue and the
drug situation has worsened. The US and its partners must commit to a long-term eco-
nomic plan in order to ensure the country’s stability.

Support Pakistan against extremists

US assistance to Pakistan has not moved sufficiently beyond security assistance to in-
clude significant funding for education efforts. Musharraf has made efforts to take on the
threat from extremism, but has not shut down extremist-linked madrassas or terrorist
camps. Taliban forces still pass freely across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and op-
erate in Pakistani tribal areas.

Support reform in Saudi Arabia

Saudi authorities have taken initial steps but need to do much more to regulate charities
and control the flow of funds to extremist groups, and to promote tolerance and modera-
tion. A US-Saudi strategic dialogue to address topics including reform and exchange
programs has just started; there are no results to report.

Identify and prioritize terrorist sanctuaries

Strategies have been articulated to address and eliminate terrorist sanctuaries, but they
do not include a useful metric to gauge progress. There is little sign of long-term efforts
in place to reduce the conditions that allow the formation of terrorist sanctuaries.

Coalition strategy against Islamist terrorism

Components of a common strategy are evident on a bilateral basis, and multilateral pol-
icies exist in some areas. But no permanent contact group of leading governments has
yet been established to coordinate a coalition counterterrorism strategy.

Coalition standards for terrorist detention

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The US has not engaged in a common coalition approach to developing standards for
detention and prosecution of captured terrorists. Indeed, US treatment of detainees has
elicited broad criticism, and makes it harder to build the necessary alliances to cooper-
ate effectively with partners in a global war on terror.

Economic policies

There has been measurable progress in reaching agreements on economic reform in

the Middle East, including a free trade agreement with Bahrain and the likely admission
of Saudi Arabia to the WTO before long. However, it is too early to judge whether these
agreements will lead to genuine economic reform.

Vigorous effort against terrorist financing

The US has won the support of key countries in tackling terrorism finance—though
there is still much to do in the Gulf States and in South Asia. The government has made
significant strides in using terrorism finance as an intelligence tool. However, the State
Department and Treasury Department are engaged in unhelpful turf battles, and the
overall effort lacks leadership.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Define the US message

Despite efforts to offer a vision for US leadership in the world based on the expansion of
democratic governance, public opinion approval ratings for the US throughout the Mid-
dle East remain at or near historic lows. Public diplomacy initiatives need to communi-
cate our values, way of life, and vision for the world without lecturing or condescension.

International broadcasting

Budgets for international broadcasting to the Arab and Muslim world and US-sponsored
broadcasting hours have increased dramatically, and audience shares are growing. But
we need to move beyond audience size, expose listeners to new ideas and accurate
information about the US and its policies, and measure the impact and influence of
these ideas.

Scholarship, exchange, and library programs

Funding for educational and cultural exchange programs has increased. But more
American libraries (Pakistan, for example) are closing rather than opening. The number
of young people coming to study in the US from the Middle East continues to decline
(down 2% this year, following declines of 9% and 10% in the previous two years).

Support secular education in Muslim countries

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An International Youth Opportunity Fund has been authorized, but has received no
funding; secular education programs have been initiated across the Arab world, but are
not integrated into a broader counterterrorism strategy. The US has no overarching
strategy for educational assistance, and the current level of education reform funding is
inadequate.

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 Survival Story – Chapter 26

The Man Who Predicted 9/11 was Rick Rescorla of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, not
John O’Neill; O’Neill was The Man Who Knew. I just wanted you to keep the good guys
straight. Both men died at the WTC on 9/11/01 in WTC2, the south tower. I watched that
movie when ABC showed it, I can’t see why Clinton was upset, Bush’s people looked as
inept as his did. I’m talk about the Path to 9/11. I’d give it about an 80 on historical accu-
racy. We all know what happen on that day, most of us watched it on TV. Compare the
death toll on 9/11/01 to the death toll at Pearl Harbor, they were pretty close. Rescorla
was a natural survivor; he was a subordinate officer to Hal Moore in the Ia Drang Valley.
He’s the soldier on the cover of Moore and Galloway’s book.

You knew if they killed 3,000 it was just a matter of time until they killed 3 million. The
problem with state sponsored terrorism is that the individuals who carry it out aren’t al-
lied with the funding state. Al Qaeda is primarily funded by contributions, bin Laden is
broke. On the other hand the 1993 bomb they used on the WTC only cost ~$300 to
make, according to the information highway. So now you know why we had WW III, we
went after the sponsors instead of the terrorists. Translation: nuke ‘em all and let God
sort ‘em out.

The older I became the more conservative I became, I was lost in the ‘50s and we ain’t
talking money. We didn’t have squat in the ‘50s; that came later. We didn’t have squat
until the big one put our house on the market. We burned through her settlement money
and got prepared to a point. And, sometimes, that’s all it takes. We don’t care for the
humidity, but Gassville is a very nice small town and we have our family around us but
not living in the same house.

What’s more the only thing I’ve murdered so far is a couple of pickups. The drivers were
collateral damage. As we moved from the fall of ‘08 into winter, I caught another cold
and started with the megadose of C, the nebulizer, Benadryl and ephedrine. Before
thanksgiving I ended up on oxygen. That frosted me good, you couldn’t smoke with the
oxygen running. Don’t tell anyone I told you, but I was feeling poorly. I have no idea
where my energy went.

In desperation, I dug out my diabetic diet books and tried the 6 small meals a day bit. By
Thanksgiving I was feeling good enough to sit at the table with the family for Thanksgiv-
ing dinner.

“Dear Lord,

We thank you for the blessing of getting us though the past few months and a good har-
vest. We pray that good Christians everywhere have enough to eat this year. In the
name of Jesus, Amen.”

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“Thank you Derek, that was nice. Everybody dig in before it gets cold.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So tell me, are you home to stay or are you just visiting?”

“I don’t really know. The LT said to hang out until we got orders. Mary said there hadn’t
been any more trouble.”

“Not since I put those rounds of Raufoss in the pickups. Are you going to be able to get
more or should I hang onto it for emergencies?’’

“They’re mostly back to the normal rules, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“I don’t really need much I only fired 3 rounds.”

“How much of the .50 cal do you have?”

“All of but 33 rounds.”

“I can show you or I can write it down for you.”

“You’d better write it down, I might forget.”

“I think I’d better take you to the range, you can’t tell them to hold fire while you read the
instruction.”

“Can’t do it today, after I fill my tummy with turkey, I imagine it will be time for a nap.”

“Are you really that feeble or is this just an act?”

“Both. I don’t hear so good, my eyes are gone and I don’t have a lot of strength, but
other than that I’m doing just fine. You haven’t said anything about the time you spent in
Little Rock, what’s with that?”

“We did a house to house search and collected anything worth keeping. Then the Corp
of Engineers came in and bulldozed large sections. Everything was boxed according to
the house address and put up in a warehouse.”

“Everything”?”

“Almost. I kept my eyes open for any nice firearms and other things you might want.
You’re going to have to wait for Christmas to find out what I found.”

“As long as I don’t need to buy another size of ammo, we’ll be fine.”

281
“No, you have the ammo so that isn’t a problem.”

“I almost wish you hadn’t told me, I’ll drive myself nuts in the next 5 weeks.”

After that we concentrated on cleaning up as much of the food as we could. After my pie
and Cool Whip, I got into a nice soft chair and woke up about 10pm. I missed taking my
meds so I got that out of the way, made a turkey sandwich so I wouldn’t go hypoglyce-
mic during the night and crawled into bed.

Aaron was right, it was boring. I didn’t really mind because since becoming progressive-
ly disabled, I had gone anywhere or done anything worth mentioning. I got out of the
house to keep doctor’s appointments and not much else; until we had the earthquake
and moved to Arkansas. It could have been either, but it gave me a new lease on life. I’ll
have to admit that buying the M1A and the PT1911 .45 was an awful good start. I or-
dered high capacity magazines and had them shipped somewhere they were legal and
forwarded to me, an old family tradition.

I began giving the PRK the bird long before I left, but leaving was the best decision we’d
ever made. We didn’t get many, if any, earthquakes in the Bull Shoals area. Nah, we
got nuclear weapons, instead. For the first time in history, I might add and it happened
twice. Does that prove the theory that you can run but you can’t hide? We had our three
and should have been done. Not so the little town of Gassville, Arkansas. When I men-
tioned the subject to Sharon, her first thought was tornado; both of us were thinking we
had bad weather ahead.

Between Springfield, Missouri and the Arkansas border is a strip extending for most of
Missouri border north of Arkansas that averages between 11 and 16 tornadoes per
1,000mi². That was a few miles north, but not that far. It didn’t help having a weather ra-
dio either; the NWS was busy trying to get reorganized. Hey, I didn’t start the war and it
was only one stinking little war with ~400 warheads, ~424 if you count the terrorist at-
tacks.

Sixteen months after the war, we were well recovered in our area. The main complaints
seemed to be we weren’t getting tourists to go bass fishing and most people had to
grow their own food. I thought it was great; it’s pretty hard to tell a tourist from a BG just
by looking. As I began to recover, I began to get antsy over what I was getting for
Christmas.

You know, when you need a tactical wheelchair just to carry your firepower and that in-
cludes a Tac-50, a M1A Loaded and a Super Match, 590A1 with bayonet, Mini-14 rifle
and 4 handguns plus combat loads for all of the guns, you don’t drive your wheelchair in
the snow. And, you don’t wear the guns in the house, Sharon’s rule. When you do have
to go to the basement, you leave the wheelchair in the house, grab the Nazi .32 and

282
walk. I preferred to use my cane and a basket and to wear my nonskid boots with the
Vibram soles. All to get a jar of green beans or maybe a bundle of toilet paper.

Yes, it snowed this year too but we didn’t get much, just enough to really make a mess.
The December climate starts out with highs in the low 50s and lows in the low 30s. By
the time you get to the end of the year, you’re looking at a high of 44° and a low of 24°
plus about 10” of snow. However, this was snow and the worst of it would come in Jan-
uary.

The kids enjoyed the snow and there were hills around they could use toboggans on. I
suppose when I was their age I didn’t get either. Now I was wearing a parka in Arkansas
in December. I tried one day to call Ronald but the number was disconnected. Later that
day, Sharon tried to call Patti but couldn’t get through so she tried Charlene and did get
through. Charlene told her they hadn’t had any radiation in California City, that she
knew of. Geoff and his girlfriend were there and Charlene hadn’t heard from Shirley or
Johnny since before the war.

Sharon told Charlene that the entire family had moved to Gassville and Amy was work-
ing for the Police Department as a dispatcher/secretary and Lorrie was working part
time as a sign interpreter. She had her hearing aids and could lip read a little, that was
self-taught. She had taken a class at AV College before the earthquake to start the
steps to become a certified interpreter. She still needed more classes but she was good
enough she found part time work.

All of which raised an interesting question and I had to ask, “How are you going to be
paid?”

“In cash, that’s all they have. They tried to collect gold and silver but they didn’t find
enough to use it for trade.”

“Will we still to be able to use paper money for a while? Or, do we need to see what we
can do about acquiring gold and silver, Amy?”

“Acquiring? That’s a strange choice of words. What do you plan to do, rob a bank?”

“Right track, wrong train, banks don’t have gold and silver. I think it may be more like
strategic reallocation. In case you don’t know kid, that’s salvaging not looting.”

“Where are you going to where you can do that?”

“I was thinking of asking Derek where cleanup hasn’t started yet. It would need to be a
good sized city to find precious metals.”

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He was hired by New York City station WABC-TV to be a reporter for Eyewitness News.
In 1972 he garnered national attention and won an Emmy Award for his report on sexu-
al abuse of mentally retarded patients at Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School, and
began to appear on ABC national programs such as 20/20.

In 1985 ABC’s Roone Arledge refused to air a report he’d done on the relationship be-
tween Marilyn Monroe and JFK. He publicly criticized Arledge’s journalistic integrity
(claiming that his friendship with the Kennedy family had caused him to spike the story)
and was fired.

In 1986 he hosted a live two-hour special on the opening of what he called The Mystery
of Al Capone’s Vault. However, it is more noted for its disappointing denouement: the
contents revealed turned out to be a pile of dirt and a bottle of bathtub gin. The program
garnered the highest rating of any syndicated special in television history. Nielsen rec-
orded a 34 average rating and 48 average share in eight markets, and an astounding 57
rating and 73 share in the Chicago market.

In 1987 he began hosting a daytime talk show, which was oriented toward controversial
guests and theatricality - one of the early shows was titled Men in Lace Panties and the
Women Who Love Them. His nose was broken in a well-publicized brawl that occurred
on a 1988 show with Neo-nazi skinheads, anti-racist skinheads and black and Jewish
activists, which sparked Newsweek’s characterization of his show as Trash TV.

Also in 1987, he hosted the first of a series of special reports in prime time dealing with
an alleged epidemic of Satanic ritual abuse. He stated: Estimates are that there are
over 1 million Satanists in this country ... The majority of them are linked in a highly or-
ganized, very secretive network. From small towns to large cities, they have attracted
police and FBI attention to their Satanic ritual sexual child abuse, child pornography and
grisly Satanic murders. The odds are that this is happening in your town. Subsequent to
the programs, there were outbreaks of Satanic hysteria in various American cities.

He was noted for self-promotion and for inserting himself into stories: he twice had plas-
tic surgery on his program, and his autobiography Exposing Myself caused headlines in
1991 by discussing his sexual dalliances, which included encounters with Bette Midler
and Margaret Trudeau.

In 1994 he began hosting a more sedate nightly discussion of the news on cable station
CNBC while continuing to host long running show. The show was portrayed in the final
episode of Seinfeld, with him as himself reporting on the lengthy trial of the show’s four
main characters.

In 1997 he contracted with NBC to work as a reporter for 6 years for a fee of $30 million.
During 1998 and 1999, he extensively covered the impeachment of President Bill Clin-
ton. Following the 9/11 Terrorist Attack, he accepted a pay cut and went to work for the
Fox News Channel as a war correspondent starting in November 2001.

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And, some people think I don’t like him… that isn’t true, substitute despise and you’re
getting warm. It’s his behavior I don’t like, I have nothing against the man personally,
the closed I’ve been to him is 600 yards (in my stories).

“You want to know what?”

“I need a list of large cities within 24 hour’s drive that were nuked.”

“How large a radius is that?”

“Let’s say less than 750 miles.”

“Why do you want to go there?”

“Salvage operations.”

“We’re in pretty good shape, what do you want to salvage?”

“Precious metals.”

“Do I include really large cities, like Chicago on the list or just cities under a quarter mil-
lion?”

“I’m not sure, have you heard of any places that were evacuated or didn’t have any sur-
vivors?”

“No, I haven’t.”

IN THE SUMMER of 2000, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin told me a story that I
have been unable to get out of my mind. We were meeting in the Kremlin, and I raised
the grave danger facing the world from the transfer of missile technology and nuclear
material to the Iranians. In Putin’s view, however, the real danger came not from an Ira-
nian nuclear-tipped missile or, for that matter, from the lethal arsenal of any nation-
state.

“Imagine a sunny and beautiful day in a suburb of Manhattan,” he said. “An elderly man
is tending to the roses in his small garden with his nephew visiting from Europe. Life
seems perfectly normal. The following day, the nephew, carrying a suitcase, takes a
train to Manhattan. Inside the suitcase is a nuclear bomb.”

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The threat, Putin explained to me a year before 9/11, was not from this or that country
but from their terrorist proxies – aided and supported quietly by a sovereign state that
doesn’t want to get its hands dirty – who will perpetrate their attacks without a return
address. This scenario became real when Al Qaeda plotted its 9/11 attacks from within
Afghanistan and received support from the Taliban government. Then it happened
again this summer, when Iran was allowed to wage a proxy war through Hezbollah in
southern Lebanon and northern Israel. But this time, the international community’s weak
response dealt the global war on terror a severe blow.

Five years ago, after 9/11, such a lack of culpability seemed inconceivable. That was
when President Bush abandoned the conventional approach to fighting terror by vowing
that the United States would henceforth make no distinction between terrorists and re-
gimes that support them. You are either with us or you are with the terrorists.

In the pre-9/11 world, regimes were rarely held responsible for the actions of terror
groups. Now the Taliban regime was being held accountable.

This was critically important for two reasons. First, it recognized that international terror-
ism relies on the support of sovereign states. It is regimes, after all, that give terror
groups territory on which to train, arm and indoctrinate their members, and regimes that
provide them critical financial, diplomatic, logistical and intelligence support.

Second, although shadowy terror cells are difficult to eradicate fully and suicidal fanatics
impossible to deter, the regimes that support terror groups do have a return address
and are rarely suicidal. Thus, holding the Taliban responsible for the actions of Al
Qaeda, and elevating the logic for doing so to a central principle in the war on terror,
greatly enhanced deterrence. Every single regime was immediately put on notice.

Fast forward five years. Hezbollah launches an unprovoked attack on Israel. It is clear
that Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran. It is public knowledge that Hezbollah receives more
than $100 million a year from the Iranian regime, as well as sophisticated weapons and
training.

Yet Iran has paid no price for its proxy’s actions. No military strikes on Iranian targets,
no sanctions and no threat whatsoever to Iranian interests. On the contrary, in the wake
of the war, there have been renewed calls in the democratic world to “engage” Iran.

Symptomatic of the moral myopia in the West is a farce worthy of Orwell: Former Irani-
an President Mohammad Khatami, under whom students were tortured after a 1999
crackdown at Tehran University and whose rule was marked by the continued stifling of
dissent, spoke Sunday at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government on “Ethics of Tol-
erance in the Age of Violence.”

The Iranian regime’s intentions are clear. It calls for “wiping Israel off the map” and tells
its followers to “imagine a world without America.” It seeks to dominate the Middle East.
By failing to hold Iran accountable for its brazen support of Hezbollah, the free world

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has undermined a central pillar in the war on terror and given the Iranian regime a huge
weapon for achieving its ambitions. Now the mullahs know they can attack a democratic
country with impunity.

Considering the apocalyptic fanaticism of Iran’s leader, it is an open question whether

the current regime in Tehran is capable of being deterred through the threat of mutually
assured destruction. But given how the world has responded to Hezbollah, the point
may be academic. For surely Iran would be better served by using proxies to wage a
nuclear war against Israel. And if there is no accountability, why stop with Israel?

The road to a suitcase bomb in Tel Aviv, Paris or New York just got a whole lot shorter.
– NATAN SHARANSKY is a former deputy prime minister of Israel and currently a
member of parliament for the opposition Likud Party

“Your brother didn’t know anywhere we might be able to go to salvage gold and silver.”

“He’s such a Boy Scout; he wouldn’t tell you if he knew.”

“The US Mint has a list of dealers for their coins on their website. I copied it into a doc-
ument file and converted it to a pdf file a few years back. I’ll have to look on my comput-
er and see if I can find the file. I can print it out and we can locate the dealers within a
one day radius.”

“You do know that if they have the coins on hand, they’ll be locked up tight. They prob-
ably have safes that you need a crane to lift. How do you propose to break into the
safes?”

“Let the Good Times roll.”

“Huh?”

“Dy-No-mite!”

“Do you have any dynamite?”

“No.”

“Do you even know how to use dynamite?”

“No. Look, I don’t think we’re talking about a bank vault here, probably just a large floor
safe weighing a few tons. A large dealer might have a walk in safe, but I don’t really
know if we’ll find a large dealer.”

“But, you have a list of names?”

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“It’s a start.”

“So, maybe Springfield, Kansas City, Des Moines, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Little
Rock, Topeka, Wichita, Omaha and Dallas?”

“Forget Des Moines, if there was a coin dealer there, he’d be small time.”

There are actual 3 coin dealers in Des Moines, one in the Insurance Exchange and two
on West Hickman Road. I only know because Damon came to me with a phone book
and showed me the Des Moines Yellow pages. I’m not big on slapping my forehead
when I realize that I’ve messed up, so I didn’t. When Derek was storing those things in
the Armory, his stash included some C-4. He took all that stuff with him, but he should
have checked to boxes closer. Damon hadn’t asked me if I had C-4, so it wasn’t like I
lied to him. I didn’t know how to use C-4 either, but I assumed you inserted the detona-
tor and set it off. Blowing yourself up may be rocket science, but it’s not exclusively in
that domain.

I was assuming we could use the C-4 in a shaped charge to ‘punch’ the safe and ac-
cess the inner door workings. Big assumption, I’ve never seen the inside of a safe door
before. There were probably hundreds of squirrels who’d tell me how wrong I was if I
wrote a story and did that. This was like Butch and Sundance; it was metal coin, not pa-
per money.

“What are we going to do for food on this trip?”

“Back in Palmdale after the earthquake, Ron and I got a few cases of MREs from the
National Guard. They should be good; I stored them in the Armory.”

“What are we going to do for fuel?”

“We’ll take 3 drums of gas, that’s about the weight limit on the truck.”

“Do you really think we’ll find any gold or silver?”

“Son, I really don’t know. It wouldn’t take much, not with gold probably running over
$1,000 an ounce and silver at least $20 an ounce. It varies from time to time, but gold
and silver usually trade at prices where the price of gold is between 50 to 55 times the
price of silver. Last time I looked, it was trading at 53 times the price.”

“When was that?”

“Maybe mid ‘06. Right after the price run up in gold, maybe around early September.”

“At $1,000 an ounce, that would make gold worth $12,000 a pound; jeez, I see what you
mean. It would take about 50 pounds of silver to equal a pound of gold.”

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“Did you get an A in math?”

“What are we taking with us on the trip for protection?”

“You can take your pistol, shotgun and the Thumper. I’ll take my 1911, M1A and the
Tac-50. If that isn’t enough, tough. I think maybe a standard combat load out for each
weapon and a couple of backups; I don’t want to get in a fight if we can avoid it.”

“Are you taking your heavy duty wheelchair?”

“Nah, it would take up space and I’d rather have the weight allowance for any valuables
we find. I’ve been working out, you know. I can pick up a case of paper so I think I can
handle the heavy guns. That Tac-50 is pretty much a crew served weapon anyway.”

“We could take Aaron with us to help you out.”

“What about school?”

“He’s on extended Christmas vacation. School won’t start back up until the second
week of January.”

And that’s how we ended up on the trip to recover precious metals. It was probably the
most fun I ever had in my life, but more than once, I came close to wetting myself.

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 Survival Story – Chapter 27

I’ll bet you thought I was going to describe the trip. Sorry, but that would be telling.
Since a person can’t eat metal, recovering gold and silver comes a bit too close to loot-
ing to suit me. I’d prefer to look upon it as aiding the local economy by adding precious
metals to the mix of paper money. The local bank could accumulate the metal and use it
to back up the paper money. I’ll summarize for you.

First off, Damon did the driving and Aaron sat in the middle. He was the other half of my
team and carried the heavy stuff. He brought his 9mm and Bushmaster with the same
combat ammo loads. We headed to Springfield because it was the closest city. I had my
Arkansas ID Card, my Passport and my Medicare card for identification. Damon had his
Iowa Driver’s License and Aaron his Iowa Learner’s Permit.

Springfield Coins & Stamps was the coin dealer there and they were closed. They were
good for 1 pound of gold and 15 pounds of silver. After that, we hit several dealers in
Kansas and came up short, only recovering 3 pounds of gold and 12 pounds of silver.
Next, we tried Kansas City. I don’t really know if we were in Kansas or Missouri, but
probably Missouri.

After that, we went to Nebraska, checking out Omaha and Grand Island. There were 3
places and we ended up with an additional 6 pounds of gold and 40 pounds of silver. Up
to this time, we hadn’t had trouble. Driving across Iowa on I-80, Damon let Aaron drive.
He thought, and I agreed, that the likelihood of an Iowa State Trooper being on the road
handing out tickets was nigh on impossible. Nevertheless, Aaron got pulled over.

“License, registration and insurance please.”

“I was only going 55.”

“This is a learner’s permit, I have to see an Iowa License.”

“That’s me,” Damon replied handing over his license. “Why did you stop us, Aaron
wasn’t speeding.”

“We’re stopping all vehicles and getting ID. Excuse me, Sir could I see you ID please?”

“Dad, he needs your ID card.”

I dug it out and passed it over.

“Not from Iowa, are you.”

“The hell you say. I graduated from Charles City High in ‘61, Wartburg in ‘70 and Drake
in ‘72. I worked for the Iowa Department of Revenue for 19 years. Doesn’t matter any-
way, I’m an American and I don’t recall repealing the Constitution.”

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“What are you doing here?”

“Who me? I’m riding along. Damon and Aaron are headed back to Britt. We’re all that’s
left of the family. Thank God they rescued me.”

“I’d recommend you men avoid Des Moines, it’s a disaster area. You can skirt it and go
north on highway 69.”

“Ames?” Damon asked. “My uncle Jerry is a Detective Sergeant with the Ames Police
Department.”

“You’d better check with him when you go through Ames, then. Please continue to drive
carefully,” the Trooper said returning our IDs.

West of Des Moines, we got off I-80 and headed north on R22 to Waukee. There, we
turned east on US 6, aka Hickman Road. As we got closer to Urbandale, I was lost.
When I lived in Des Moines, all this area was fields, not residential housing and busi-
ness firms. About the only thing on west Hickman Road was K-Mart and it had been
built in what was, at the time, a field.

“Maybe we should just look at the 2 places on west Hickman and avoid the other 2
places altogether, they’re both close to downtown.”

“Whatever you suggest Damon, I’m lost.”

“Didn’t you live on Hickman Road at once time?”

“Yes, 5106. I think we may have lived there when you were born, I can’t remember.”

“But you moved, right?”

“Yes, to Easton Place and from there to 5460 Merced Street. I think we lived on Merced
Street when Derek was born. That’s where we had you big train set.”

“I sort of remember.”

“I’m trying to forget.”

From there, we went to Davenport, St. Louis and several places I’d never been before.
It had been creepy being in Des Moines. The last time I could recall being there was
when I drove through on I-35 back in 2001 to attend my father’s funeral. I had never
been back since. Most of the people I’d worked with at the IDR had retired by ‘06. Had I
stayed with them and not had health issues, I’d have retire in September of ‘03. My
pension would have been 3 or 4 times as much. Damon and I hadn’t gone near Des

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Moines on our trip to Charles City. We returned on December 24th, I didn’t want to miss
Christmas and was dying to learn what Derek had to give me.

“How did you make out?”

“Not as well as I’d hoped, Derek. We ended up with 12 pounds of gold and 100 pounds
of silver coins. I was doing the math in my head and that’s 144 ounces of gold that’s
probably worth about $1,200 an ounce. If you figure the silver at $24 an ounce, the
combined total is about $200,000 give or take.”

“Did you have any trouble?”

“Got the creeps a couple of times. The only human contact we had the entire trip was
an Iowa State Trooper west of Des Moines on I-80. He wanted to see some ID.”

“What kind of coins did you get?”

“All US mint Eagles, 1, 0.5, 0.25 and 0.10 ounce gold and 1 ounce silver. Oh, and a few
rolls of pre-65 90% silver coins, most dimes and quarters.”

“We won’t have to work so hard now. This will allow us to buy what we need,” Damon
added.

“Wrong. We have to do everything in our power to get through this. For all we know,
we’ll get hit by a tornado in the spring. Ask Derek, Damon, he knows. We have the right
mindset and many of the supplies we’ll need. No doubt others have some things we
need and don’t have. We can either barter with them or use the gold and silver we
found to buy them, assuming they’re will to part with them. We just spent a lot of time on
the road salvaging that gold and silver and we used up what plastic explosive I took
from Derek to open those safes.”

“Sorry.”

“Forget it. I once read that it takes much more than the knowledge and skills to build
shelters, get food, make fires, and travel without the aid of standard navigational devic-
es to live successfully through a survival situation. Some people with little or no survival
training have managed to survive life-threatening circumstances. Some people with sur-
vival training have not used their skills and died. A key ingredient in any survival situa-
tion is the mental attitude of the individual(s) involved. Having survival skills is important;
having the will to survive is essential. Without a desk to survive, acquired skills serve
little purpose and invaluable knowledge goes to waste.

“There is a psychology to survival. The soldier in a survival environment faces many

stresses that ultimately impact on his mind. These stresses can produce thoughts and

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emotions that, if poorly understood, can transform a confident, well-trained soldier into
an indecisive, ineffective individual with questionable ability to survive. Thus, every sol-
dier must be aware of and be able to recognize those stresses commonly associated
with survival. Additionally, it is imperative that soldiers be aware of their reactions to the
wide variety of stresses associated with survival. This chapter will identify and explain
the nature of stress, the stresses of survival, and those internal reactions soldiers will
naturally experience when faced with the stresses of a real-world survival situation. The
knowledge you, the soldier, gain from this chapter and other chapters in this manual,
will prepare you to come through the toughest times alive.” Army FM 21-76 (Survival)

“Did you memorize that?”

“Not really, but you need some guiding principle to get you beyond what we’ve been
through. I might have gotten a few words wrong, but you get the general idea. There’s
more to survival than living through the disaster or attack. Surviving is what comes after,
otherwise, why bother?”

After I surmised that Derek took his older brother in tow and explained what he’d seen
when he’d been activated after the war. I asked him about it and he avoided the ques-
tion just like he did when he got back from Iraq. Both times it appeared at first that he
might say something and both times, he paused and said he couldn’t tell me. As a kid in
Iowa I tried to ask WW II and Korean vets about their experiences and most just wanted
not to think about it. I had been born just at the right time and avoided Vietnam because
of circumstances. Occasionally it bothered me to point out I was a Vietnam era vet with
the attached benefits. He was able to put me off on Iraq claiming it was classified and
about post WW III because he said he couldn’t stand to talk about.

I had all but given up following the news before the earthquake; it was bad and getting
worse. I knew it was just a matter of time, but I didn’t expect the prequel, that earth-
quake. The terrorist attack came as no particular surprise; they were late, perhaps due
to our increased homeland security. It got so a person could predict what would be in
the paper the next day, brinksmanship on a grand scale.

We eased our way through the winter of ‘08-’09. I was admiring the presents Derek had
come up with. The first one was a pair of knives, a Randall model 2 stiletto with a 7”
blade and the second a Randall model 12 Raymond Thorpe Bowie. The third present
was a Marlin rifle, model 1895 Cowboy, complete with a scabbard and 500 rounds of
Buffalo Bore 405gr FNL .45-70.

We got maybe 16” of snow, more than normal but not significant. It made the kids very
happy; they spent their free time sliding down the hill. Britney had met a boy she liked
and had talked to her Dad about the possibility of getting married when they finished
High School. He was grousing to me about her growing up too fast. I didn’t know what
to say, she’d be 18 come September, this was her last year of school.

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The gold and silver we garnered on the long road trip was stored in the Armory. As
needs arose, I shared it with the family, it not like we had a lot. More than most folks in
Gassville, but they could have done the same thing Damon, Aaron and I had done. I
had long since concluded that it would be 2 or 3 generations, if ever, before the country
got back to normal. If it got back to what was normal before the country started, I hoped
it never got back to normal.

Fathers had come home from WW II and we had the baby boom. The boomers were
generally spoiled by grateful parents because after the war the economy was so much
better. Then the kids had kids and spoiled them all the more. Morality was on a
downslide for much of the county as was patriotism. We had 300 million people and 40
million of them were probably illegal aliens from somewhere.

We were a nation of immigrants so it’s a complicated discussion when it comes to im-

migrants. As long as the immigrants were here legally, it wasn’t much of a problem. Our
porous borders had forced us to offer amnesty more than once just to clear the slate.
We might not have a problem with the Country of Mexico for a while because of our little
get together on the border, but the conditions in Mexico that had encouraged so many
of them to come here hadn’t changed. The terrorists had no doubt taken advantage of
those borders to bring in some of the bombs.

I wasn’t the best practicing Christian around, I didn’t like to attend church, a bias I de-
veloped in my youth. As I grew older, I examined many religions and decided what I had
was just fine. Maybe it was John 3:16 that drove the point home for me. In terms of vio-
lating the 10 Commandments, I’d probably broken ⅔ of them over the course of my life,
but not the important ones, 1 & 2. Plus I’d finally cleaned up my act, late, but I did it. In
truth, I had a bad attitude when it came to the various denominations. As far as I was
concerned, there was one denomination in the Christian faith – Christian. That’s proba-
bly why I didn’t discuss religion a lot in my stories except to empathize that my particular
domination was Methodist. We all read the same Bible. Perhaps when we get older and
have experienced life and all of its sides, we get closer to our Creator.

One thing I got from what had happened was that most times we couldn’t blame God for
what had happened, we did it to ourselves. The attacks and the war had solved some of
our problems, only to create others.

Cogito, ergo sum – René Descartes (I think, therefore, I am)

Existentialism is a philosophical movement that is generally considered a study that

pursues meaning in existence and seeks value for the existing individual. Existentialism,
unlike other fields of philosophy, does not treat the individual as a concept, and values
individual subjectivity over objectivity. As a result, questions regarding the meaning of
life and subjective experience are seen as being of paramount importance, above all
other scientific and philosophical pursuits.

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There are several philosophical positions all related to existential philosophy but the
main identifiable common proposition, is that existence precedes essence. By this, exis-
tentialism states that man exists and in that existence man defines himself and the
world in his own subjectivity, and wanders between choice, freedom, and existential
angst. Existentialism often is associated with anxiety, dread, awareness of death, and
freedom. Famous existentialists include Sartre, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Camus, and de
Beauvoir.

Existentialism emphasizes action, freedom, and decision as fundamental to human ex-

istence and is fundamentally opposed to the rationalist tradition and to positivism. That
is, it argues against definitions of human beings either as primarily rational, knowing be-
ings who relate to reality primarily as an object of knowledge, or for whom action can or
ought to be regulated by rational principles, or as beings who can be defined in terms of
their behavior as it looks to or is studied by others. More generally it rejects all of the
Western rationalist definitions of being in terms of a rational principle or essence or as
the most general feature that all existing things share in common. Existentialism tends
to view human beings as subjects in an indifferent, objective, often ambiguous, and “ab-
surd” universe in which meaning is not provided by the natural order, but rather can be
created, however provisionally and unstably, by human beings’ actions and interpreta-
tions.

Existential themes have been hinted at throughout the history of western philosophy,
including Socrates and his life, the Bible in the Book of Ecclesiastes and the Book of
Job, Saint Augustine in his ‘Confessions’, and Descartes’ ‘Meditations. It was reflected
in song:

To everything, turn, turn, turn

There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die

A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

A time to build up, a time to break down

A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

A time of love, a time of hate

A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

A time to gain, a time to lose

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A time to rend, a time to sew
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of peace, I swear it’s not too late

The Byrds – based on Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8, written by Pete Seeger (song, not the Book)

I may be an Existentialist, but I don’t really know. I do believe in God and the Trinity.
The one question I’ll admit I’ve never asked God is, “Why me?” Maybe because I was
afraid of the answer. IF God made a mistake, it was in giving mankind free will. Perhaps
free will was God’s method of population control. It worked very well, we got to 6 billion
plus people before another round of free will reduced the population to the carrying ca-
pacity of the land, worldwide maybe half, but who knows for sure.

“Did we harvest seeds this year so we could plant next year?” I asked.

“Yes, of course, dear. It wasn’t easy either. We even planted some of those pinto beans
and they grew. Does that mean they were an heirloom variety?”

“If you plant the beans you got this year and get the same crop, probably yes. I’ve never
farmed, I just lived on a farm and was associated with a lot of farmers in my early days.”

“At least we’re out of California. If we were still in Palmdale, I hate to think what it would
be like.”

“The humidity would be lower and the temperature higher. We might not have snow on
the ground and I’d probably be out of ammo, assuming ‘they’ hadn’t already killed me.”

“What do you intend to use that new rifle for?”

“Balancing out the wheelchair; I don’t really know, but it’s a nice rifle.”

“What’s so special about those knives?”

“Other than I got them for free? They’re Randall made knives from Orlando, Florida.
Each one is handmade and if you could order one, the waiting list was 5 years long.”

“They had them in Solvang, if I remember right. You stood in front of that case and
drooled. Why didn’t you buy one then?”

“He wanted about $100 more than the MSRP. For the same money, I got the 3 Rambo
knives. Say, now that I have a Bowie and a stiletto, do you want Rambo I?”

“Put it on my gun belt, Gary. I don’t wear that either.”

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As time had passed, the cities had gotten slack about their security. For that matter, so
had we. Because the 3 communities hadn’t experienced any physical damage, just
deaths, and perhaps because we hadn’t seen many BGs, many folks concluded we
never would. I was unconvinced of that but I wasn’t going to sit on the deck when it was
really cold out. The view I had from inside the house wasn’t the greatest either. The
study was on the front side of the house and my den was on the backside. In a couple
of weeks, would be the 2nd Anniversary of the earthquake. I needed to get Sharon
something for Valentine’s Day, but the stores didn’t have any candy.

Although I’d recommend anyone in our situation to get on the interstates and look for
trucks filled with supplies, the idea wasn’t unique to me. The locals did that without any-
one even suggesting it. Between the loss of population and the trucks they found, the 3
communities and even Yellville had enough food and supplies, for now. Yellville was
about 7 miles southwest of Flippin on 412.

The Days After September 12, 2006

The inspired prophecies show that the world will experience nuclear war in and around
the great river Euphrates that will involve two great armies and kill a third part of man
over a fourth part of the earth.

The days following September 12, 2006 will be filled with fear of reprisal and more nu-
clear destruction. The cause of war and fighting will still remain; as long as the cause
remains so will the threat of war. The cause is plainly shown in the inspired prophecies
from Genesis to Revelation.

The Prophet Isayah was inspired to write that the cause of what we see taking place
now in 2006, which will grow much worse in 2007, is the breaking of Yahweh Laws.

The inspired prophecies show that the world will experience nuclear war in and around
the great river Euphrates that will involve two great armies and kill a third part of man
over a fourth part of the earth.

The days following September 12, 2006 will be filled with fear of reprisal and more nu-
clear destruction. The cause of war and fighting will still remain; as long as the cause
remains so will the threat of war. The cause is plainly shown in the inspired prophecies
from Genesis to Revelation.

The Prophet Isayah was inspired to write that the cause of what we see taking place
now in 2006, which will grow much worse in 2007, is the breaking of Yahweh Laws.

Isayah 24:1-6 –

1 Before Yahweh’s very eyes, the earth is made empty and it is made waste; the face of
it is perverted and its inhabitants scattered abroad;

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2 And it will be: as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his
owner; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as
with the lender, so with the borrower; as with him who takes usury, so with him who
gives usury to him:

3 The land will be utterly emptied and utterly plundered, for it has come to pass that this
judgment has been pronounced.

4 The earth mourns and fades away, the world mourns and fades away, and the haugh-
ty people of the earth languish.

5 The earth also is defiled because of the inhabitants of it, for they have transgressed
the Laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Because of this, the curse has devoured the earth, and they who dwell therein are
desolate; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

I know that what follows will sound strange to most of you but I beg you to study all of
this information very closely, and then make your judgment. Deception is sometimes
hard to understand when one is raised in it. One tends to draw their conclusion based
on what they have been taught by a religious leader whom they trust.

Because they changed the Laws of Yahweh that were written to guide us to perfect
health, peace and joy, the curse has been laid on all of mankind, the earth is defiled and
nuclear wars are coming that will leave few survivors.

In commenting on what the inspired prophets wrote for this time period, the Savior gave
a scenario of what we can look for. The final picture of the events we are heading into is
given in the Book of Revelation. Notice the severity of what we will experience in the
next thirteen months.

Mattithyah 24:21-22 –

21 For then will be great tribulation, such as has not come to pass since the beginning
of the world to this time – no, nor ever will be.

22 And unless those days were shortened, there would no flesh be saved; but for the
elect’s sake, those days will be shortened.

From what the Savior says here we see that everything shown in this chapter will be the
worst ever in the history of mankind. Deception is the first thing the Savior warns us
about (Mattithyah 24:4-5). Remember, this will be the worst ever. Looking at the activi-
ties of the nations, we see distinct signs of deception.

Remember, for this time period these things will be the worst ever. If mankind continues
to follow this pattern, which he will, it is obvious that in the next thirteen months the de-

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ception and hatred will become worse, and the love will grow colder, which will lead to
the final nuclear wars that will darken the sun.

If you come out from among these deceiving religions and be separate, repent and con-
vert to walking in Yahweh’s Way, you will understand what is coming and can prepare
yourself and your family. If you do not, you will surely perish with them.

Or, so said The House of Yahweh who went into a shelter on 9/13/06 for a year. They
must have been awfully surprised when they came out about 2 days after the war. All of
their food was gone but Africa hadn’t been attacked anyway, except for Egypt and Lib-
ya. They were probably ok as long as they didn’t listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers music.
I had listened to part of one song and I’d have told the CIA anything they wanted to
know, even if I had to make stuff up, including and limited to my name, rank serial num-
ber and date of birth.

I’m a big fan of that Dragon Skin Body Armor. I think I should start the next chapter off
with the final results of the tests conducted by the National Institute of Justice.

Because I brought up the possibility of a third disaster for the folks in Arkansas, I was
doing research on my computer. I had material I downloaded from ABC news, and my
file on Yellowstone. I searched using the term asteroid and it brought up was some of
my stories. They were written on my old computer and I lost all of the reference files. If
the asteroid were big, it wouldn’t matter because we’d all be dead. Unless we could get
Bruce Willis to do a suicide mission.

The idea espoused by those movies probably wouldn’t work anyway; the asteroid would
still hit us, just in smaller pieces. I think I saw that either on Discovery or National Geo-
graphic Channel. Or, was it the History Channel? After considering all of the possibili-
ties, I concluded that the odds favored a tornado, the last great big rock was 65 million
years ago and Yellowstone was 640,000 years ago. On top of that, the USGS had sug-
gested that Yellowstone might not blow at all. If a really bad, as in Category 6, Hurri-
cane hit the coast, all we’d get in northern Arkansas would be a very bad storm.

I didn’t believe the show Last Days, probably because I hadn’t seen it. All ABC did was
summarize stuff that had been on cable anyway. I’d never seen a story that said The
Terminator could really happen. The Forbin Project was probably more correct than
Terminator.

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 Survival Story – Chapter 28

09-13-2006

Dragon Skin Passes Dept. Of Justice Ballistic Tests

Panic is rampant today inside one sector of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Com-

plex (MICC) as word spreads that Pinnacle Armor’s Dragon Skin flexible body armor
passed the ballistic tests conducted Monday and Tuesday at United States Test Labora-
tory in Wichita, Kansas, on behalf of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).
Formal certification by NIJ of Dragon Skin for Level III protection is expected within the
next few weeks.

Unlike the buggy-whip manufacturers who tried to ignore the foreseeable consequences
the internal combustion engine would have on their products, the rigid ballistic-
protective plate manufacturers fully comprehend the probable results of NIJ’s certifica-
tion. They will no doubt redouble their efforts to keep Congress from asking the tough
questions about Army and Marine Corps fraudulent misrepresentations on this issue of
life-or-death importance: What is the best-available body armor that our troops should
be wearing?

When queried by Defense Watch about Monday’s NIJ test, Murray Neal, President of
Pinnacle Armor provided this statement:

“We have been working with the NIJ personnel in an aid to their establishing a test pro-
tocol and procedure for flexible rifle defeating body armor systems. We are pleased that
it has come to fruition and that we have the first and only flexible rifle defeating armor to
receive that certification. This is truly a milestone event for law enforcement and military
personnel who have been looking for that validation. It has been a long 5 year process.
Dragon Skin body armor does substantially enhance the protection capabilities of rifle
defeating body armor with less trauma to the body, increased ballistic and multiple re-
peat hit capabilities, combined with flexibility and coverage options up to a full torso
wrap for both males and females. Our mission has been and will always be, to provide
the best armor that technology can provide for the survivability and protection for those
who protect us.”

A former President of Point Blank Body Armor, Inc., James Magee, Colonel, USMC
(Ret.), had this to say when informed of the NIJ test results, “If Dragon Skin is NIJ certi-
fied for Level III protection, it will be the only body armor in the world that doesn’t require
augmentation with additional plates to achieve this level of ballistic protection.”
The potential consequences of NIJ certifying Pinnacle Armor’s Dragon Skin cannot be
overstated. In an earlier interview, Magee said that if DOD were to ever decide to make
Dragon Skin its standard-issue body armor, due to some event like NIJ certification, “...
of 23 body armor companies in the US, 18 would go away and the remaining 5 largest
would either buy Pinnacle Armor, or buy licenses to produce Dragon Skin.”

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In this same interview, Magee said, “Dragon Skin is hands down, the best body armor
out there by two generations.” His view has now gained crucial, independent confirma-
tion as a result of this week’s test results.

Another industry source, and a current competitor of Dragon Skin, reminded Defense
Watch that the Army’s procurement system had spent millions of dollars over the past
three decades on body armor, and yet “all the technology in Interceptor [Body Armor
design] today existed in the early 1970’s.”

He went on to say, “NIJ has set the standard for bullet penetrations, and [Pinnacle Ar-
mor] has met the NIJ standards. Dragon Skin has fulfilled very rigorous standards of
performance. The Army has never set up a standard, but uses the NIJ standard when
convenient, then switches when it chooses to. Trying to get a handle on the Army
standard is like trying to grab an eel... Passing the NIJ test preempts anything the Army
is thinking about.”

America’s Grunts finally have the unimpeachable results of an honest test of Dragon
Skin conducted away from the corrupting influence of the US Army’s acquisition mafia,
particularly James Zhang, Steve Pinter, Karl Masters and their ilk.

Given previous mendacious statement by four staff members of the House Armed Ser-
vices Committee, the Army procurement capos will continue to be aided and abetted by
their congressional lackeys in their efforts to keep billions of DOD dollars going to fa-
vored producers of the clearly inferior Interceptor Body Armor.

Proving once again that the lives and limbs of American Grunts mean nothing inside the
Beltway when weighed against protecting the financial interests of powerful elements
within the Military Industrial Congressional Complex.

Note: Corrupt elements within Army acquisition will no doubt point out that the NIJ tests
did not include all the components in a DOD First Article Test (FAT), such as environ-
mental tests. These shysters will ignore that in the second of two ballistic tests of Drag-
on Skin in 2006, but not controlled or directed by Natick/PEO-Soldier mafia, Dragon
Skin has again passed. The first such successful test was the February 13 test on be-
half of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations conducted by the Army Aberdeen
Test Center.

It would be awfully nice if we could find some of that Dragon Skin. Unfortunately, we
should have gotten that before we left California, the company was located in Fresno
and it was highly unlikely that they were still there. The best time to have done that was
just before we left Palmdale for the last time. The Interceptor Body Armor Derek could
get was heavy, especially when you added the plates. The other thing I didn’t like about
it was you had to replace the ceramic plates if you were shot.

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It was getting harder for me to move around, primarily to the osteoarthritis. In early ‘06, I
finished wearing out my left rotor cuff. By the time we had the earthquake the right
shoulder was going too. I can give you a clue on how to determine if your bones are
wearing out. Rotate the joint slowly and listen carefully. If you hear a series of bump and
grinds, you have a calcium build up. With enough exercise you can eliminate the small-
er pieces of calcium to make the joint operate smoother, a trick I learned from a gal who
was into yoga.

My favorite OTC medicine to use was Icy Hot 16%. We had several rollers on the shelf
and I think everyone in the family had, at one time or another, used it to relieve the
muscle pain. It’s sort of like gel Ben Gay and it gets very hot, especially if you rub it in.
We generally used exam gloves so the person applying it didn’t get it on his/her hands.

When Sharon first presented her shopping list in mid ‘06, we sat down and talked it
over. I had my own list and we combined them and even added a few things from the
list xoruss sent me. The most important rule is to only buy things you eat regularly, oth-
erwise they’re just taking up space on your shelves. I like Dinty Moore beef stew, but we
didn’t buy it because no one else did. Hormel, the packer, had a full line of products:
Beef Stew, Chicken & Dumplings, Chicken Noodle, Chicken Stew, Meatball Stew, beef
tamales and Turkey Stew. We could agree on Van Camps pork and beans and used
them to make beans and wieners. It didn’t matter in this case because there were so
many selections those days in the grocery stores.

On March 23rd, I turned 66. I honestly never thought I make this far. What work I was
able to do to help out was having benefits, I lost a couple of inches off my gut and re-
built the muscles in my arms and legs. I also noticed that I had developed problems with
my balance, no doubt caused by my closed up ear. I could now get down and up the
ramp leading to the basement, on foot. The climb back up required a couple of stops but
I didn’t need to monkey around with either of my wheelchairs. I also had one other prob-
lem, my cholesterol was too low. Maybe my low fat diet didn’t contain enough fat.

We both felt pretty good given the circumstances. Being as far south as we were, the
weather soon warmed and it was time to get seedlings going. We brought the tables up
from the basement and set them up in the living room. The living room had the most
light of any room in the house and together with the two improvised grow lamps, we
soon had seedlings. Sharon had also started to save the potato eyes. We had seedlings
for our entire family and among us, we had more than enough garden space. John was
kind enough to rototill again this year.

We planted early hoping we could get a bumper crop. We were mostly done by late
April, early May. Sharon said this year she’d use one of the recipes on my computer
and try her hand at dill pickles and if she could one load of sweet pickles. She also gave
me a list of things she wanted me to do:

1. Add PRI-G to the gas

2. Order propane, pay for it in gold and silver

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3. Get Joe to check over the generators
4. See if you can find more canning jars and especially, lids
5. Sharpen my kitchen knives
6. Inventory the basement supplies and fill in missing items

I checked the farm tank and the drums in the basement and we needed about 300 gal-
lons of gas. When I got the fill up, I’d add the PRI-G. I contacted Art on the propane and
told him we’d probably need more than one delivery. He told me that the limit was now
5,000 gallons per year and, but he’d do what he could. I didn’t need that much so I
thought we’d be good. Joe said to let him know when the big generator was shut down
and cooled off, he’d check it out and come back later to check the portable. I suggested
he come now, both were shut down until we lost power again. Some of the townspeople
had been checking highways and they had new, in the box, canning jars and lids for $20
a box on the jars and $4 a box on the lids.

“Derek, when you have time, Sharon needs the kitchen knives sharpened. I’m going to
inventory the basement and you try to think where we might be able to get the supplies
to fill in.”

“Gassville probably has all we need, Dad. They collected those trucks as a town project
and the revenues go to the town. If we need something they don’t have, it’s possible
that Flippin or Mountain Home have it. I’ll come over later today and work on Sharon’s
knives.”

When I inventoried the basement, I made 2 lists, one of things we had to buy and one of
things we could produce ourselves. I had help, Aaron and Eric. The good news was, it
didn’t take long and the bad news was they found one of my boxes of Snickers Almond
candy bars. When we finished inventorying the supplies, I suggested we inventory the
armory, we should be good on ammo, still, I wanted to know exactly how much we had.
It occurred to me that we needed to schedule some time on the range and take the
brass to Mountain Home and get it reloaded.

“Being you found those Snickers bars; you can keep them for helping with the invento-
ry.”

“Thanks grandpa. Is this your last box?”

“I don’t really know, Aaron, I stashed boxes of candy everywhere, like a drunk hides his
booze,” I lied, there were several more boxes in the freezer. I kept candy because I
liked it and as a hedge against hypoglycemia. If I told them about it, they’d want to eat it
and as of late candy had been a luxury item. It was a simple pleasure when nothing was
simple anymore.

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The lights were one of those on again-off again propositions. The old coal fired plant
that we in the area depended on was burning wood, but wood only had about 8-9% of
the energy of coal. While coal wasn’t hard to find, there was a major transportation
problem and they were clear cutting areas to have enough wood for the boilers. By now,
we were resigned to our fate. I suppose the way things were now was a mixture of the
way things had been. I still had a computer and power to run it. Because I was born in
‘43, I didn’t remember what it was like during WW II, but I did remember what it was like
when I was about 4 years old. I hoped we never got back to rural Iowa in 1947.

We tended to take our modern conveniences for granted. If we lost electricity perma-
nently, it would mean we needed an icehouse to store frozen food. Appliances wouldn’t
work and we’d have to have manual everything. That might not be a bad thing, if we
could find all of those manual gadgets. It wasn’t like we could pick up the phone and or-
der them from a specialty store. Most of the old mechanical devices used in kitchen and
around the house were available but not everywhere. At least we used an old fashioned
can opener and I had a Coleman camping toaster somewhere in my camping supplies.

Joe checked both generators over and said both were ready to go. He also told me
where to find more oil filters and oil. The generator took 6 quarts of oil with a filter
change meaning I’d need several cases if we ran it for a long while, the recommended
oil change was after the first 50 hours (break-in), then every 250hrs or six months,
whichever occurs first (twice every 3 weeks). (It’s in the owner’s manual and Kohler has
it on their website.)

I was angry because we had the best armory in the area and except for that one time
we hadn’t seen any BGs. I forgot for a moment that God has a sense of humor, some-
thing I’d soon learn to regret. We were ready to plant when the weather permitted and
soon had our garden in. John kept busy with his rototiller digging the weeds between
the rows and we hoed in between the plants.

“You’re still here?”

“Yes, Dad, we haven’t been activated again, no orders.”

“Is the Post Office up and operating?”

“Local mail only. I haven’t been called back to work.”

“What are you doing to keep busy, you know, to earn a living?”

“Took a job as a reserve policeman with the Gassville PD. I was thinking of spending
my other time manning the lookout from your front deck.”

“You gotta watch those pickups, you know,” I advised.

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“You only got 2. It takes 5 to become an Ace. Why are you leaning on the hoe?”

“Catching my breath, I hoe for a couple of minutes, catch my breath for about five and
then hoe again for a couple of minutes.”

“You look like you need a break, let’s go up to the deck and sit down for a while.”

“I’d like to kid, but I have to finish this row.”

“Give me the hoe, you head back to the deck.”

I made a determined charge to the deck, but Derek beat me.

“I thought you were going to finish that row.”

“I did and 3 more besides. Don’t you feel good?”

“I feel fine. I have a little indigestion and my left arm hurts is all.”

“How bad is the pain?”

“Not bad. Let me catch my breath and I’ll dig out my tactical wheelchair. Man, I really
like that new rifle you got me. Where did you find it?”

“Little Rock. We were checking homes and came upon a former Marine who had an ex-
tensive knife and gun collection. The LT said we could each take one gun and one
knife. I already had the stiletto stuck away so I opted for the Super Match and the bowie
knife.”

“How did you know it was a marine?”

“He had his medals in a case on the wall. The guy fought in Korea. I suppose he must
have been in his seventies or early eighties.”

“You don’t know?”

“Nobody there, maybe they bugged out or something. I found a Garand clip so I assume
he had at least one military rifle.”

“I tried to buy one of those from the SCM, but there was some kind of problem and I
didn’t get it worked out in time. The M1A is just a Garand with a box magazine and a
few minor changes. If you ever find one, I have Army Field Manual for the M1 Garand
on my computer.”

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“How long did it take you to get your M1A?”

“About 3 months after I got serious about it. The first thing I did was to buy magazines
from Ammoman and have them shipped to Mary. Then I ordered some of that South Af-
rican surplus and had it shipped to Charlene. Next, you bought me a Tac-Force vest
and finally we got the riflethe rifle. After, I had Sandy install the red dot sight and I was
set. Ron took me to a place where we could fine tune the sight and all I needed after
that was to add more weapons.”

“So it took a while.”

“Not once I had real money to spend. I managed to get some other things that the state
of California didn’t like. They don’t like anything, Derek, you can’t even legally have a
Berkey water filter and, they don’t even like some of the generators on the market. Man,
am I glad we got out of there.”

“Are you feeling better?”

“A little. What I wouldn’t give for a pitcher of homemade lemonade.”

“I haven’t seen a fresh lemon in quite a while.”

“We have a couple of cases of that frozen concentrate, but it just isn’t the same. I not
sure that things will be the same in my lifetime, and possibly not in yours. Sharon can
make us some lemonade and we can sit a while. I’ll tell her when I get my wheelchair.”

“It’s really strange, if you know what I mean. Most of the areas I’ve seen don’t have any
damage. Some of them got fallout but were too far from the explosions to get any dam-
age. Of course, that didn’t keep the people from dying, first from radiation sickness and
later from disease, starvation or bullets. I guess I didn’t know what to expect if the coun-
try ever was attacked by nuclear weapons.”

“Derek, I tried to anticipate what would happen. I figured on large population centers
and critical military targets. There were also infrastructure targets on the list like the 104
nuclear reactors spread around the country. Anyone who attacked the US had to as-
sume we’d backtrack the missiles and blow the country of origin to kingdom come. It
worked from ‘47 to ‘07 so it’s hard to argue against the principle of Mutually Assured
Destruction. However, the same nuclear nations didn’t have enough weapons to equal
our a strike and I believe that’s why they used their weapons rather than lose them.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The nations that bought nuclear weapons with their oil money and salted them away
while they pretended to develop peaceful nuclear energy.”

“Iran?”

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“And Saudi Arabia and who knows who else. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hugo Chávez
bought a few. Compare a nuclear weapon to running planes into buildings. It only took a
year or so to clean up the WTC site and a few more years to start construction. With
nuclear weapons, it might take 10 years or longer before you could even begin to try
and clean up the site of the attack. They haven’t done anything to rebuild Little Rock
yet. It’s probably cheaper to just build new cities. I suppose they could fence the cities in
and label them as Dead Zones We could leave them alone for 10 years or more before
we tried to rebuild them, if at all.”

“So great seer, what does your crystal ball tell you about the future?”

“That I’m going to die in a few years and it will be up to your generation to rebuild the
nation. Just remember something, be careful who you put in office, we don’t need full
time politicians except in a few cases. The public doesn’t always have the right to know
things either. Reporters should just report the facts and let the readers draw their own
conclusions. Never talk to a reporter and if he persists, shoot him AND the cameraman.
Then, steal the tape and destroy it.”

“Is there any good news?”

“Yeah, now that you ask, there is. I figure that a lot of those liberals and sheeple died in
the attacks and the aftermath. There will still be some around because they were so
cowardly they found someplace to hide. Whatever you do, don’t let them get power
again. You’re a good Christian, so I can say this and you won’t misunderstand, live by
the Golden Rule.”

“That’s a nice philosophy, but it could get you killed, Dad.”

“I didn’t say turn the other cheek. If they point a gun at you, shoot first and ask ques-
tions after. If they’re carrying a gun, it may mean that they’re on your side so try to find
out their intent before you’re forced to shoot. Derek, a gun is just a tool that can be used
for both good and bad purposes. Don’t be afraid of the tool, but the fool who is holding
it. I’ve told you that before, and I’ll repeat it until I’m sure everyone understands.”

“Is the nation worth rebuilding?”

“Not the way it was no. If it is worth rebuilding what the founders intended, yes. If you
somehow get involved with that, remember that the founding documents were the Dec-
laration of Independence and the Constitution including the Bill of Rights. I’ve got to go
rest for a while, I don’t feel good. Sorry, pal.”

He laid down alright, but he never got up. We sort of figured it was his heart. He said to
never leave any story without a conclusion so, I’ll finish the chapter for him. He knew

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that he couldn’t take anything with him and left specific instructions of what he wanted
done with his things. He didn’t have a will that we could find, only a handwritten list of
instructions:

1. Sharon gets the house and anything she wants.

2. Damon and Derek get first choices of anything I own that counts as a weapon includ-
ing but not limited to my guns, knives and computer.
3. Damon and Derek should go to Charles City and insist that the Bank distribute any
remaining balance of the trust fund.
4. Don’t fight with each other over what we have. It isn’t much but it was all a gift from
God.
5. Be grateful for the friends you have, you never have many good friends, but the ones
you have are as precious as gold.

Sharon said that he wanted to be cremated and under the circumstances we decided to
do it ourselves. We built a large pyre and placed Dad on the top of the pile. And then,
we lit it and left. The next day we raked up the remaining bones and buried them next to
Missy.

That’s it, dead men tell no tales.

© 2011, Gary D. Ott

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