military: past, present, future, kinda sorta

I hadn't woken up with the thought to have "military" as a theme for the day, but that's certainly how it's been.

The past was represented by the movie, "Warfare", which I've abstained from seeing until now.

I happened to catch a panel discussion with the writer-directors Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland as well as a couple of others.

It's not technically a documentary, as it wasn't filmed during the actual events on November 19, 2006, but it is real and it is intense.

I've spent enough time around folks who have been in combat to know.

That's why I had not gone before, and what I saw reminded me of how terrifying that situation is.

Civilians don't have a clue.

The first twenty minutes are the 'waiting' part, with everyone in position and on guard for any signs of a jihad in the making.

Waiting, waiting, waiting... a big part of being in the military, whether it's Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard, whether it's US forces or those of any other country.

Then, everything changes, and the madness of engagement with the enemy takes over and goes on and on and on, relentlessly, with the screams of the wounded and the smells of blood and explosions and spent ammunition all around as it goes on and on and on.

Every single one of our lawmakers need to see this.

Every single one of them.

 

The present was represented by those of us from the American Legion Posts 36 and 500 who attended the special meeting at Two Firsts this afternoon.

Located right outside the Montgomery Street gate of Hunter Army Air Base, this club is still under construction.

We had all hoped to have it open for Memorial Day, but, nope.

The other four of us there today are hoping for completion by Flag Day or possible in time for the Fourth of July.

Honestly, my estimate is Veterans Day of this year.

 

The hood for the canteen is in place, but not completely installed, as that would entail cutting a hole in the roof.

As that action would void the 30-year roof warranty, it's imperative to get the company that issued that warranty to do the work.

Lawyers, right, Doug Andrews?

(A little joke, as we all are aware he is a lawyer and knows this stuff.)

The construction crew is also still waiting for the roof in the women's bathroom to be repaired, as that is something the original roofers must do.

That's not the only snafu gumming up the works.

 

The construction crew is still waiting for the approval of the anti-fire water sprinkler system so they can install that throughout the building.

The construction company is still waiting to install the flooring throughout after the walls are spray-painted, but need the sprinkler installed first.

The construction company is still waiting to install ceiling tiles throughout after the walls are painted, but need the sprinkler installed first.

The construction crew has had all of the wiring and plumbing and HVAC lines approved by the City of Savannah, but the final inspection is awaiting the actual completion of the cosmetic stuff... but none of that can be done until the sprinkler installed first.

Sigh.

Meanwhile, the soldiers at Hunter have to party in the city's establishments, as they have no place to do so on post.

 

The future was represented by the Philo Cafe discussion at Foxy Loxy downtown this evening.

The title of our philosophical topic was "Right and Wrong and War".

I was the only veteran there.

Our little group was rounded out by Dan Baisden, Don Jarvis, and Roberta Hopkins, whose topic this was.

As usual, we strayed off that theme repeatedly, having started with an AI-generated 4-page summation that was garnered from all over the internet.

That's how those things usually are, though many are inclined to accept them at face value instead of seeking original works.

That led to a discussion of several themes: AI-art; search engines and their increasing reliance on AI to gather info; whether WWII could be called a 'just' war; the situation in the Ukraine and Russia; the situation in the Middle East; what defines the right reason for war and who defines the wrong party of such.

Of course none of those questions could be answered in the space of an hour, but that's not the reason for these gatherings.

Discussion is the point.

I just wish the topics were a bit lighter.

 

Still, it was good to see Dan, Don, and Roberta again.

It was also good to see Doug, Byron, and Billy again.

It's been quite a while since I've seen any of them.

Hopefully that will change.

not that kind of movie

Today, I went to see "Kingsman: The Secret Service" for the second time. I had mentioned to Barbara at Tuesday's trivia how much I had liked it and that it definitely warranted a second viewing, so she had suggested this afternoon. She was able to play hookie from school - I forget just why that was - and could take in an early afternoon show.
And so we did!
Again, "Unbreakable" came to mind when Harry Hart and Richmond Valentine are together. They are about to dine on Happy Meals, so to speak, and are talking about the glorious spy films of old. The lisping multi-billionaire Valentine, wearing mismatched styles, says how much he had always wanted to grow up to be the gentleman spy. The ever-impeccably clad Harry replies that he had thought being a colorful megalomaniac was the better option for him.
It's implied, in the subtext of their eyes and their vocal tones, that they each recognize what roles they now play in the game of life. They recognize that they, the villain and the hero, have now met.
That is what reminded me of the horrifying speech between the incredible fragile Elijah Price and the indestructible David Dunn.
I do have to wonder if having Samuel L. Jackson as the villain in both films is what tipped the scales? Would I have seen the similarity if a different actor had been cast as Valentine?
I have no idea. Maybe I should pose that as a topic for discussion at Philo Cafe some time. It would be good to have others' takes on the subject of villains and heroes and the actors who play them.
Just like it would have been good to talk to Barbara about my visit with the ex last night.
I hadn't even known he was in town until I got out of lab and saw that he had texted me.
Strike that.
I hadn't consciously known he was in town.
Perhaps my remembrance on Tuesday about that inside joke between him and my youngest brother didn't just pop out of nowhere. Perhaps there remains a psychic link between us, after sixteen years together, that allowed me to sense his arrival in town that day.
Hey, stranger things happen, right?
His elder daughter had given birth and he texted me a picture of the boy, obviously in a medical setting. He was in town, less than a mile away, at Memorial Hospital. His younger daughter, a troubled teen twice this past year, was there, too, as he had fetched her so she could visit her half-sister and meet her nephew.
At first, I had misunderstood. I thought he had been in town since the birth of his grandson on February 23rd. (That would have been my stepdad's 93rd birthday.)
No.
Only since Tuesday. And he left this morning at 8 AM, transporting the younger one back to her mom before continuing his trip to his home in Saginaw, MI. She barely made it back to the hotel in time for the trip.
You see, she had hooked up with a facebook pal and jetted from the hospital about ten PM last night. She said he was taking her to dinner. After Jeff insisted on meeting the guy, Dani later texted Kaity that they were at the guy's house.
Beauty queen turned drama queen.
Anyway... her running off left Jeff free to come visit me. So, after he walked his other daughter over to the Ronald McDonald House, he came by here to talk.
He talked about his new little grandson, born with the umbilical cord strangling his chest. The doctors said the child would be in NICU for three weeks while they tried to determine if he had suffered any brain damage. I do hope the child makes a full recovery. I told Jeff I was so sorry his daughter was having this burden, and I truly am. Having a baby is stressful enough without medical complications.
He talked about the results of his colonoscopy last month. When I had asked him a week ago, he did not yet have the word back from the doctor. Now, he did. The word was "pre-cancerous", sadly, and not the hoped-for "benign". As I told him, the good news was they didn't feel the need for any surgery at this time. He will have to return to the gastroenterologist in three years to check for more polyps.
He talked about the continuing lack of a job and the "situation wanted" ad he had posted. ("Do your local radio ads suck? Of course they do! All local radio ads suck! Let me make it not suck for you!") I hope that gets him some prospects, especially someone who will appreciate his sense of humor.
I remembered that I had several articles I had meant to mail out. The page-and-a-half on the Polish group in town that was offering free language classes. The article, just last week, about a group that offers grants to cover early-in-the-year medical costs. (That may even help Kaity out.) The cartoon about barbequeing in the snow. (He thought that was funny! He said he would do that, but his grill is iced over.)
There were a couple more cartoons, but I don't recall the details of them right now.
I'm glad I was able to give all of that to him in person. I always feel like I'm following in his mom's footsteps when I mail him stuff from the newspaper. Mother Pat did that often, enclosing little notes with the folded, and carefully clipped, articles.
I guess I try to distinguish my mailings by the ragged, obviously torn-out, borders of any newspaper-derived items of interest. I may even be consciously leaving those edges ragged.
He left before midnight, knowing he had an early - and long - drive ahead of him.
I really would have liked to talk to Barbara about his visit.
Just to air it, you know? Some words need to be spoken aloud for them to find a restful home.
Or maybe that's just me.

final farewells to fellow beach lovers

Farewell to you, Panda Ann.
Why attach that sobriquet to her given name?
She would have it no other way.
Of that, I am certain.
She chose to be known as Panda, ostensibly because of the huge tattoo on her left side.
Or was it on her right?
She had revealed it one night at the post-Philo Cafe-discussion at Chili's, but that was long enough ago that the details are lost to me.
Perhaps her wardrobe was carefully chosen to reflect that choice in her new identity.
She was always sporting the black hat with her dark clothes.
When did she get the tattoo?
I don't recall ever knowing that.
Was the work done here in town?
Somehow, I doubt it.
I think it more likely that it was done overseas.
Ann Kropf Unemori.
Now, her ashes will travel to Sandusky, Ohio. (That is also the home of the Merry-Go-Round Museum which I visited during my Midwest-Canada Adventure in 2012.)
Her presence will remain here, though, in the form of her son and two daughters. Two of the three have been active in the philosophy group for the past few years. At last Monday's meeting at Savannah Coffee Roasters, her son even proposed a topic that she had requested of him for the coming Monday's discussion. Now, he will chair the upcoming meeting, as her topic was elected by those of us present.
What topic, you may ask?
"What impossible thing has occurred that you never thought would happen?"
I wonder if Daniel will have an answer from her to share with us. I imagine he will, since she had requested that he broach the subject.
I wonder if her answer will involve dying at age 55 while both of your parents are still alive.
Regardless, that should make for a lively round of ideas. I would imagine, though, that the term "impossible" may need to be defined first.
(smile)
Some of her other favorite topics? "Is it better for your enemies to lose or for you to win?" "Who will be left alive when the aliens come?" "Is revenge best served cold or hot?"
Ah, yes, her contrariness will be missed.
And how did I know about her fondness for the beach?
Her son told me.
On Monday, as the six of us (me, Cedric, Connie, Gwen, Ellen, and Daniel) were continuing in each others company at Chili's, as is our wont, he was talking about his mom and her last few days. He related that Cedric had brought his guitar to Hospice and played "Amazing Grace" as the last song. He said how much that song had meant to all of them.
He also spoke of a kindness on the part of the team transferring his mom from the hospital to Hospice. When they asked if there was anywhere she wanted to go, she had responded that she would like to see the ocean, as it had been a while. So, down to Tybee they went. They didn't stay long, but they did set her up so she could enjoy the view one more time.
That was very good of them.
I know she appreciated it greatly.

Marlin was a beach lover, too.
She had found Tybee to her liking thirty years ago and decreed it as her new home.
Living down there and dancing on the sand certainly agreed with her.
I had no idea she was 75 years old.
That's almost Mama's age.
I had thought she was just a few years older than me.
This photo shows how wrong I was about that.
I had snapped it as part of several to commemorate the occasion at the August 11, 2009, ballgame. Dr. Cedric Stratton, the British contingent of Philo Cafe, was to sing the national anthem in his rich baritone and some of us fellow philosophers had come out for morale support.
None of us knew that Carl Fleischaker, the former sailor sitting beside her, would be dead in just three short months.
Marlin took his death very hard. She was especially hurt that the news took so long to get to her. She even quit coming to the philosophy group for a couple of years.
Now, she's gone, too.
Marlin Jeanette Brown-Gordon.
The news about her traveled to interested parties much faster. She would have been pleased about that improvement in communication.
(See? Facebook is good for something, after all.)
I will miss seeing you at the Sand Gnats' games, your mass of platinum curls bowed over the score sheet, your Pink In The Park jersey announcing your presence behind home plate and three rows in front of Mister Willie on the green-painted wooden bleachers.

I will miss both of these women.
I wish I could have known them better.