EMPEHI.blogspot.com: January 2019

Jan 29, 2019

Airplanes For Ray

Airplane Photos for Ray Justinic MPHS Jan 66

Would be a better picture if there was a airplane behind them..

RayJ

Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, last summer

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7LxQwSKek5BRm98T6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/W3TeBobva5RMBVcv6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DmjHR8TWhWdGouX78

Jan 27, 2019

OK, Ray, here are some planes. This plane was in front of air ops. Some of us thought we would be flying on it. It is a 747 - some of us thought it was Air Force 1, or maybe an old Air Force 1. And we knew Melania had flown to Florida - there was conjecture this was the plane.

It is actually this plane.

The Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP), the current "Nightwatch" aircraft,[2] is a strategic command and control military aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). The E-4 series are specially modified from the Boeing 747-200B for the National Emergency Airborne Command Post(NEACP) program.

The E-4 serves as a survivable mobile command post for the National Command Authority, namely the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and successors. The four E-4Bs are operated by the 1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron of the 595th Command and Control Group located at Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, Nebraska. An E-4B when in action is denoted a "National Airborne Operations Center"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-4

This was the plane we flew - a 757. The front part of the plane was for cargo, the rear with 40 seats.

Ascension Island

We flew to Ascension Island and returned Jan 21-24, 2019. Very Interesting place, south of the equator and midway between Africa and South America. Story and photos at

http://ascensionspacea.blogspot.com/

Government Center Building in Georgetown. We needed to go here to get our passports stamped.

The tradition here is to pour a paint can on this memorial when you leave the island.

Mule and donkey water tanks and stables near the top of Green Mountain. The Royal Marines also worked here.

Man who helped Colin Powell change tire

Thanks to Marie Stazzone MPHS For Sharing This Story

Yesterday was a reassuring day for me. I was on my way to Walter Reed Military Hospital for an exam. As I drove along Interstate 495 my left front tire blew out. I am a car guy and knew I could change it but it was cold outside and the lug bolts were very tight. I jacked the car up and got several of the bolts removed when a car suddenly pulled up in front of me.

As the man got out of his car I could see that he had an artificial leg. He said he recognized me and wanted to help me. We chatted and I learned that he lost his leg in Afghanistan when he worked over there as a civilian employee. He grabbed the lug wrench and finished the job as I put the tools away. Then we both hurriedly headed off to appointments at Walter Reed. I hadn't gotten his name or address but he did ask for a “selfie”. And then he sent me the message below last night.

"Gen. Powell, I hope I never forget today because I’ll never forget reading your books. You were always an inspiration, a leader and statesman. After 33 years in the military you were the giant whose shoulders we stood upon to carry the torch to light the way and now it is tomorrow’s generation that must do the same. Anthony Maggert"

Thanks, Anthony. You touched my soul and reminded me about what this country is all about and why it is so great. Let's stop screaming at each other. Let's just take care of each other. You made my day.

Colin Powell on Facebook

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Great story. Thanks to Anthony Maggert and Colin Powell.

Colin Powell is a class guy.

My neighbor told a great story about General Powell. She was a Vietnam War refugee who got came here at the end of the war. She ended up in Washington DC and started a florist shop. One day she received a call to deliver a large number of flowers. She took the flowers, and a staff member told her he would sign for the flowers, but she insisted that the owner sign. So Secretary of State Colin Powell came and signed the contract. She had no idea who he was.

When she went back to the shop she told her son what had happened. "You met Colin Powell!" he said. He knew who he was, and asked his mother to return and ask Secretary Powell sign a copy of his book that the son owned. So she did, and Colin Powell graciously signed the book.

Craig Hullinger

___________________________

Man who helped Colin Powell change tire: ‘If you don’t know what altruism is, you’re probably not doing it’

by Diana Stancy Correll

January 25, 2019

Anthony Maggert, the man with a prosthetic leg who helped former Secretary of State Colin Powell change his tire this week, is an Army veteran who lost his leg while serving in Afghanistan.

"If you don't know what altruism is, you're probably not doing it," Maggert told the Washington Examiner.

Maggert told the Washington Examiner he served in the Army as a contracting officer and served several combat tours: three in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. Ultimately, he lost his leg due to a flesh-eating bacteria.

Maggert and Powell’s meeting went viral Thursday after Powell, who served in the Army for 35 years and reached the rank of a four-star general, shared a selfie of the men together on Facebook. Powell said he was headed to Walter Reed Medical Center when his front tire went flat on Interstate 495 and Maggert quickly pulled up beside him.

Powell said Maggert had recognized him and that he shared the story of how he lost his leg with Powell as they changed the tire.

“He grabbed the lug wrench and finished the job as I put the tools away,” Powell wrote.

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Jan 25, 2019

Here Today and Gone Tomorrow

Click to see the video:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/QoDXTAajEzY?rel=0

Thanks to Charles Van liere MPHS Jan 66
for sharing.

Jan 17, 2019

BAPA

January 17, 2019

View this email in your browser

Brews and Views. March 17 will be here before you know it. Don’t miss the chance to get off the ground at Brews and Views, BAPA’s South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade Rooftop Party at Open Outcry Brewing Co. Party with us from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admission includes, food, drink specials, live music and the best views on the parade route. Tickets go on sale soon.

Fill the Shelves. BAPA, 1987 W. 111th St., is among the sites collecting non-perishable food items to restock the Maple/Morgan Park Community Food Pantry. The collection is sponsored by the Morgan Park Beverly Hills Business Association and continues through Jan. 31 at participating businesses during business hours: Solution 3 Graphics, 10547 S. Western, Connections Learning Center, 2744 W. 111th St., Beverly Review, 10546 S. Western, Kean Gas Station, 2632 W. 111th St., and Smith Village, 2320 W. 113th Pl.

Give Where You Live. Join BAPA in protecting our historic neighborhood, beautifying community spaces, attracting exciting business investments, strengthening schools, welcoming new neighbors, inviting visitors to experience our Village in the City, and helping neighbors age safely in the homes they love. Be a BAPA member.

Enjoy paradise in 2019... Linda Larson.... class of 66’....!!!!

Jan 7, 2019

A Wild Night At Our Houe

A Wild Night At Our House

HOW TRUE IT IS

Another year has passed

And we're all a little older.

Last summer felt hotter

And winter seems much colder.

I rack my brain for happy thoughts,

To put down on my pad,

But lots of things,

That come to mind

Just make me kind of sad.

There was a time not long ago

When life was quite a blast.

Now I fully understand

About 'Living in the Past'.

We used to go to friends homes,

Football games and lunches.

Now we go to therapy, to hospitals,

And after-funeral brunches.

We used to have hangovers,

From parties that were gay. (did I say GAY??)

Now we suffer body aches

And sleep the night away.

We used to go out dining,

And couldn't get our fill.

Now we ask for doggie bags,

Come home and take a pill.

We used to travel often

To places near and far.

Now we get backaches

From riding in the car.

Used to go out shopping

For new clothing at the Mall

But, now we never bother...

All the sizes are too small.

That, my friend is how life is,

And now my tale is told.

So, enjoy each day and live it up...

Before you're just too old!!

You pass this way only once so enjoy it while you can;

Live A Lot, Laugh A Lot and Love A Lot!

Charles Van liere MPHS Jan 66

______________________

I live in Sarasota, Florida. Two of old folks jokes are:

All the old people live in Sarasota. And their parents live in St Petersburg.

9:30 pm - Sarasota Midnight

Craig Hullinger MPHS Jan 66

Jan 5, 2019

The City of New Orleans Arlo Guthrie

The City of New Orleans

Arlo Guthrie

Riding on the City of New Orleans
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields
Passin' trains that have no names
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles

Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

Dealin' cards games with the old men in the club car
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor
And the sons of Pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steam
Mothers with their babes asleep
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel

Good morning America how are you?
Said don't you know me I'm your native son
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

Nighttime on The City of New Orleans
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
Half way home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea

But all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news
The conductor sings his songs again
The passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues

Good night, America, how are you?
Said don't you know me I'm your native son
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

Songwriters: Steve Goodman