HAPPY BIRTHDAY “SPEEDY!”

I’d like all you guys to wish a good friend of mine and Deb’s a very, very Happy Birthday today, and he goes by the name of “Speedy!” Or at least to me he does!

“Speedy,” turns 92 today…April 17th.

He and his wife both are just two great people, and we love them to death! The only problem that I’ve ran across in regards to him is simply…he’s a darn Yankee!

I say this because he’s from New York originally, which normally would make no difference to me, BUT…he calls me a REDNECK!! Even asks me when I call, to hold please, says he has to find an interpreter to understand me!

If that don’t beat all! I usually don’t take such as this, but I was taught from a young age to respect my elders! Also, at my age, it is getting kind of hard to find many anymore that are older than I am, so on account of this…I let “Speedy” slide!

This guy is “sharp as a tack,” and I can only imagine what he must have been like at 35, whew! I guarantee you he was literally, the cat’s meow! Matter of fact he still is!

His wife, Heidi, is very dear to Deb and I both, and honestly she ought to receive a “Distinguished Service Medal” for simply tolerating this guy, man she’s one tough cookie!

This man writes a weekly paper called “The Revolution,” and honestly, he is very, very good at it! After the Republicans took back the House and gained seats in the Senate, he dropped the “R” and it became the Evolution.

Anyway, I’d like to share with you just a couple of paragraphs of his writings! These are from April of last year (2010).

CAPITALISM GONE WITHOUT A WHIMPER…..IT MUST BE SAID, THAT LIKE THE BREAKING OF A DAM, THE AMERICAN DESCENT INTO SOCIALISM IS HAPPENING WITH BREAKNECK SPEED, AGAINST THE BACK DROP OF A PASSIVE, HAPLESS PEOPLE….

the final collapse came with the election of Barack Obama….his speed over the past year has truly been impressive…..his spending and money printing, has been record setting….if this keeps up for more than another year, and it appears that it will, America at best will be another “banana republic”…

    It is the opinion of this paper, that there is a design for our future, not only by an non elected panel, made up by from the very vultures they claim to despise, who are now gorging themselves on Trillions of American dollars, in one “bail out” after another, and at times usurping the rights and power of the American congress……with majority of Congress applauding their “piracy”…..Obama took command  of General Motors and forced the president of that company to resign, so much for “free markets”, ….the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEO’s and we can assume other companies as well…..should we be surprised that our president has followed up this move by declaring that he and another group of unelected “stooges” will now redesign the entire automotive industry, and will even be the guarantee of future automotive policies……….and then there is the controlled Democratic Congress is working on passing a new regulation that will give the Treasury the power to set fair”maximum salaries,,evaluate performances, and control how private companies award bonuses and raises in salary….(at this point in time, that “control” may be limited to those companies that have received federal funds at one time or another) this must make Barney Frank and Henry Waxman jumping with joy……..

THOUGHT  THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Our government knows where ONE COW with Mad Cow disease is located, among millions of cows in America, but haven’t a clue where illegals and terrorists are located……..maybe we should put the the Department of Agriculture in charge of Immigration and  Homeland security……

GOOD AND BAD NEWS
For the first time since 1972, prison number were on the decline….ALAS the decline was not due to the reduction in criminal activities, but the cost of over crowded jails, and the cost to build new facilities…….one remedy now being tested, the prisoner commits himself for rehab, job training, anti abuse and anti substance abuse…….anyone want to speculated what the ratio for success will be ?……there are about 2,300,000 prisoners in jail plus 100, 000 juveniles which cost the public $70 billion a year, 70% are non white, 80% are males…..about 30% are Federal, the balance being in state institutions. and 27% are illegals 30 % of those paroled return to prisons before 3 years

NCAA BASKETBALL
Starting with the period immediately after the war…..during the war many outfits had basketball teams that were filled with ex college players and some who played for the AAU teams……I played for the Fourth Air Force  team as the ninth man, the first eight were former college players…….my biggest thrill came when I was assingned to guard the great Stanford All American Hank Luistti,…because I was quite fast (stop laughing) my job was to try to stay close to Luisetti, hopefully to tire him….DIDN”T WORK……..

Good stuff, huh. He does this and just sends it to friends via e-mail. Through this example I’m only trying to show everyone how on top of things he is…even at his age. This is amazing to me, and I really enjoy his picking at me.

The guy has more knowledge in his little toe than I have in my whole head, and for all that’s seen my picture…there’s a whole lotta head there!
I’ve been fortunate enough for him to share his memoirs with me, and honestly, this is really a very interesting man.

He did nose art on warplanes during World War II, as a hobby and a way of making an extra buck or two, and this is one of his works.

He is actually a very good artist and has blessed Deb and I with a couple of his works, and we treasure them!

A quick look back by “Speedy” in regards to his nose art, and a little background about Shoo Baby.

“I had been assigned to the easiest job in the Air Force, head of the department that repaired any damages to the planes fabric surfaces, making some mechanical drawings for teaching classes. This gave me the opportunity, and materials to set up an artist gallery where I drew cartoons on the sides of a plane that was headed over seas. The crews selected the picture from a catalogue I had put together, and I started this unincorporated business where I charged (I think) $75.00 for one side, $50 for the other side, plus an extra if the drawing was complicated.( pictures of some of work are attached) One funny scene was when I was doing a nude, nipples, pubic hair, and along came a Colonel, who insisted that we were not allowed to do NUDES….we solved that problem by informing the crew that we were applying a “bathing suit” in water colors, and all they needed to do when they reached their destination, was to pressure wash the “bathing suit area, and they would have their nude. I got so busy that I hired Chuck Scoville and Pop Hannah to assist me. I would do the outline and they would fill in the field. We would pool our money and get weekend passes to Frisco, staying at the Cliff House Hotel, immediately paid for the rooms and deposited enough bus money for our Monday 5 AM ride back to the base, the rest was SPENT nearly to the last penny. While we started off scouting various “hot” spots, we usually ended up at the China Doll night club where we got treated real well, or better than the officers, since we probably had more money then they had. Our only problem was that we had to evacuate all establishments where alcohol was served by midnight. That became only a minor problem, as there were always 3 or 4 China Dolls who found ways to go AWOL, and joined us at the hotel. One of my plane paintings became quite famous, called SHO SHO BABY, and the “model” was a most attractive civilian, whom everyone noticed when she would pass by, riding a jeep up and down the line. When she saw what we were doing she asked us to hold, until she came back with a bathing suit picture of herself, which was smashing. The picture on the plane was supposed to be an image of her, along with other photos she had taken…”

So once again, you guys can see “ole Speedy” is quite the character!

I’d like to take this moment and tell him and Heidi both, we love you guys, and hope you have a wonderful day today!

We think of you two quite often, and wish you all the best! Take care and God Bless!

Dub and Deb