Friday, October 22, 2021

Stephen Pless: "Eventually he was flying so low, his own machine gun rounds impacting the ground sent mud flying onto his windshield."

 

  

The most decorated air crew of the Vietnam War. Left to Right: GySgt Leroy Poulson, LCpl John Phelps, Capt Rupert Fairfield, Capt Stephen Pless. USMC Photo.

  

In January 1969, Pless (second from left) was presented the Medal of Honor at the White House, along with 3 other servicemen. (Drew Dix is the last man on the right.)

My Friend, NAGO And Drew Dix, CMOH Winner

On 19 August 1967, an Army CH-47 Chinook flew north along the coast of Vietnam. It came under heavy ground fire a mile south of Chu Lai and was forced down on the beach of the South China Sea. Four soldiers exited the aircraft to inspect the damage sustained.

As they inspected the bird, a grenade suddenly exploded in front of the chopper and small arms fire followed after. The soldiers sprinted towards the rear of the aircraft to board and escape the ambush. The pilot saw enemy soldiers emerging from the trees nearby and bullets kicked up the sand all around. Next mortar rounds began falling around his aircraft. He hastily yanked the chopper back into the sky, without realizing his passengers had not yet made it back on board.

As he gained altitude, the pilot saw the four soldiers stranded on the beach with the enemy closing in. He called over the radio for help from anyone who might be listening.

More @ Battlesite Zero

Study: U.S. Military ‘Marginally Able’ to Defend America’s Vital Interests

Via Billy

The United States military said it is “only marginally able” to defend America’s vital national interests, according to a conservative think tank’s comprehensive annual review of the nation’s military strength.

“As currently postured, the U.S. military continues to be only marginally able to meet the demands of defending America’s vital national interests,” said the Heritage Foundation’s 2022 Index of U.S. Military Strength, which was released Wednesday.

More @ Breitbart

Emails Reveal NSBA Top Officers Worked with White House on Letter Targeting Parents as ‘Domestic Terrorists’

 People hold up signs during a rally against "critical race theory" (CRT) being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Virginia on June 12, 2021. - "Are you ready to take back our schools?" Republican activist Patti Menders shouted at a rally opposing anti-racism teaching that critics like her say trains white children to see themselves as "oppressors." "Yes!", answered in unison the hundreds of demonstrators gathered this weekend near Washington to fight against "critical race theory," the latest battleground of America's ongoing culture wars. The term "critical race theory" defines a strand of thought that appeared in American law schools in the late 1970s and which looks at racism as a system, enabled by laws and institutions, rather than at the level of individual prejudices. But critics use it as a catch-all phrase that attacks teachers' efforts to confront dark episodes in American history, including slavery and segregation, as well as to tackle racist stereotypes. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) 

People hold up signs during a rally against “critical race theory” (CRT) being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Virginia, on June 12, 2021. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

 Protesters and activists stand outside a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia on October 12, 2021. - Loudoun county school board meetings have become tense recently with parents clashing with board members over transgender issues, the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Covid-19 mandates. Recently …

Emails obtained through a public records request by Parents Defending Education (PDE) appear to indicate the top officers of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) worked with the White House prior to sending their September 29 letter to President Joe Biden requesting federal law enforcement assistance to target parents voicing concerns at local school board meetings.

The emails, which were reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, reveal that Viola Garcia, NSBA’s president, and its CEO Chip Slaven, sent their letter to Biden without the approval of NSBA board members.

More @ Breitbart

Open-borders Biden admin wants to ease asylum process

 Compelled to comply, but foot-dragging expected

The open-borders Biden administration plans to loosen the famously difficult asylum process to help more people gain legal entry into the U.S., and an immigration watchdog group is warning about that policy during a public comment period.

Federation for American Immigration Reform jumped at the opportunity to share its views after the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Dept. of Justice announced a plan to allow asylum officers the authority to grant full and immediate asylum to illegal aliens requesting it at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"This is one more example of this administration making it easier to get into the country illegally,” Ira Mehman, a spokesman for FAIR, says, “in this case the broad political asylum process.”

More @ AFN

Trial By Fire

 Via Dan

 

All of these usage regulations and land confiscation plans are based on the primary principle of Marxist philosophy that the private ownership of land must be forbidden.

A fire in any location requires three components, heat, oxygen, and fuel, to start and continue to burn.  Oxygen is necessary for human and animal life and makes up roughly 20% of the atmosphere.  In small spaces such as inside commercial buildings, equipment is available to reduce Oxygen concentration to 15% which is equivalent to the inside of an airliner at flight altitudes and below the 16% necessary to support fire.  Oxygen reduction technology is not a practical solution for private homes or outdoors. 

Many substances are combustible and can provide fuel for fires, but their combustion temperatures vary based on physical and chemical constituents.  The “auto-ignition temperature” is defined as the minimum temperature at which any dry substance will ignite in air without a spark or flame.  Auto-ignition temperatures are surprisingly high.  Gasoline spontaneously ignites at 536 °F, diesel at 410 °F, rifle powder at 550 °F, and propane at 842 °F.  The primary combustion temperature of wood ranges from 536 °F to 896 °F depending on the type of wood, resin content, and state of decay or dampness.

 More @ Dr. Dan's Freedom Forum

Lawmaker Born In USSR Grills Merrick Garland: ‘The FBI Is Starting To Resemble Old KGB’

 

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), who was born in the Soviet Union, grilled U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday over the actions that the FBI is allegedly taking and over a variety of security concerns that have erupted under President Joe Biden’s administration.

“Mr. Attorney General, as someone who was born in the Soviet Union, I am disturbed, very disturbed, by the use of the Department of Justice as a political tool, and its power as the police state to suppress lawful public discourse,” she said. “The FBI is starting to resemble old KGB with secret warrantless surveillance, wiretapping, and intimidation of citizens. School board [inaudible] is the latest example.”

More @ The Daily Wire

Putin Warns Wokeness Is Destroying The West: It Happened In Russia, It’s Evil, It Destroys Values

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed during a speech on Thursday the far-left woke ideology that he said is causing societal ills throughout the Western world, saying that it is no different than what happened in Russia during the 1917 revolution.​ 

More @ The Daily Wire

Gun Owners Force Virginia Energy Company to Revoke $200K Donation to Anti-Gun PAC

The gambit worked. Van Cleave reported in a subsequent email that Dominion was “absolutely inundated… with unhappy calls and emails,” and the company announced later that morning that it had “failed to vet” Accountability Virginia’s actions.

Gun owners forced a Virginia energy company to revoke this week a $200,000 donation to a political action committee running ads designed to suppress the Republican vote in the state’s gubernatorial election this November.

Dominion Energy, a large energy company working in 16 states including Virginia, sent the donation to Accountability Virginia PAC, according to media reports over the weekend.

Accountability Virginia used that money to run social media ads attacking Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin for his supposed silence on Second Amendment issues. The ads were designed to trick viewers into thinking Accountability Virginia is a pro-gun group warning gun owners about Youngkin’s candidacy.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-2A group that spearheaded the Second Amendment sanctuary movement, sent an email to supporters urging them to contact Dominion Energy and express disapproval of their donation.

More @ GOA