No, that wasn't me, was it? ;)
Huntsville Christmas Tree Recycling Project -- 1990
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Who is this person trying to impersonate me 22 years ago?!
Oh, the days when I worked at GE as a schedule analyst on weekdays and a Christmas tree recycling expert on weekends?
No, that wasn't me, was it? ;)
No, that wasn't me, was it? ;)
Friday, August 19, 2011
In Honour of the Last Bataan Death March Survivor
Lest we forget the brutality of war, let us pay a leafy tribute to the men who died during the Bataan Death March, and all the millions of others who've suffered and died because of our inhumane treatment of one another, no matter how un/justified it seemed at the time or in the long reflection of history.
And don't worry, the future is the same in one form or another -
let descendants decide how to measure our progress in developing a civilised world.
As we have done for our ancestors...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
A Backward Look Forward
Saturday, February 26, 2011
What do you know about brothers who go click and clack near Gentle Store in Limrock, Alabama?
I was scraping the skunk junk off my junk sailing between Eris and Sedna on a junket to decide if Jimmy Dykes and Brad Nessler influenced the outcome of my bookie's income because of what happened to Walker in the fourth grade.
Knit 1, PEARL10.
Thanks to Josh at Hiley VW for cleaning his father's Ford Explorer Sport Trac.
Thanks to the Rite Aid pharmacist who recognised us at McCutcheon's Magnolia House Restaurant. The owner of the restaurant told us she'd taught dance at UTK for 37 years and was sad to see the university end the dance program. However, she was glad to be back in the house where she and her brother grew up after her grandmother died. Honey, there ain't nothin' like good ol' fashioned Southern comfort comfort food!
The owner of Keepsakes Scrapbooking, Gifts & Antiques, who had opened the store as a "project" for her daughter, whose divorce led her to get a fulltime job and away from assisting her mother, has run the store for seven years and looks forward to the day when the economy picks up and she can sell the store for what it's really worth, having made no profit for the last two years. Oy vey!
Meanwhile, last Saturday at UBC, a new sales record was set, with 300 more transactions than the busiest business day (not counting the ski sales). A thanks to the ever-smiling, beautiful/handsome faces of Gail, Brittany, Pam W., Janet G., Aaron, Josh and Samantha. Oh yes!
I don't know which made me happier today, the May 1962 copy of Boy's Life for $19.99 at Keepsakes, or the 64GB Apple iPad for $620.99 at UBC (the lesser bargain of the two correction: it was/is a better bargain).
I wonder out loud here. If, in the past, some xx% of marriages were basically women being slaves to men and children, does that account for the fact that only 40% of people today see value in the partnership that marriage is supposed to be?
Like a friend of mine told her ex-husband and son, "I don't care where your clothes are or what you want for dinner because you don't care about the kind of day I had."
Labels are not excuses for the way we treat one another. Rude or disrespectful behaviour is indicative of your character and not something that is allowed because of a title or role you pretend to carry around with you like a badge.
Like Steve Jobs said, one day you're going to wake up and realise that you really are going to die one day.
Today is the first day of the last days of your life together with the rest of us.
I'm exposing the emperor's new clothes from now on even if it's the nonpaid role I've assigned myself because all I'm going to do is die one day...
...because all our species is going to do is suffer another lost civilisation and if we're lucky we'll leave enough clues for the next civilisation to make better progress the next time.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
In my opinion, political boundaries don't exist anymore. Mexican military forces are said to invade our land while Chinese/Russian satellites invade our space and we do nothing in return. Canadian spies come and go and we say nothing, too.
If a person can run a pet cremation business and make a profit, then I'm sure Humpty Dumpty can be put back together again.
Janet, you repeated over and over the name of your son's agribusiness specialty of landscaping and lawn care. Avast? Avert? Avant? I can't remember. May his Twickenham, Ledges and other neighbourhood work keep him busy, if not making a living wage - it's happening to all of us, as can been seen by empty shopping centres from here to California and back.
When your cities and towns are the gold rush that spiked and collapsed, what's next?
Stay tuned.
The Book of the Future actually has good things to say about our continuously-moving moment together.
I didn't say easy. Good.
You'll see.
Just like Claire saw the old Chattanooga Choo-Choo train station for the very first time. Wish I coulda been there, Claire. Life is full of eye-opening experiences.
Could Jeff Gordon win tomorrow?
Did the guy at UBC buy the iPod Touch so he could add a Tom-Tom GPS unit and CoPilot Live?
Who has correctly predicted the cricket champ?
Will the forces of free enterprises win for the people or for the...
[Please recharge your battery at this time to continue enjoying the free Internet service we provided in exchange for promoting us]
Yes, Laurie Anderson, we are all going down together but it's going to be a glorious ride! Buckle up! The weather's calling your name! Got your fishing poles and tackle box ready?
Knit 1, PEARL10.
Thanks to Josh at Hiley VW for cleaning his father's Ford Explorer Sport Trac.
Thanks to the Rite Aid pharmacist who recognised us at McCutcheon's Magnolia House Restaurant. The owner of the restaurant told us she'd taught dance at UTK for 37 years and was sad to see the university end the dance program. However, she was glad to be back in the house where she and her brother grew up after her grandmother died. Honey, there ain't nothin' like good ol' fashioned Southern comfort comfort food!
The owner of Keepsakes Scrapbooking, Gifts & Antiques, who had opened the store as a "project" for her daughter, whose divorce led her to get a fulltime job and away from assisting her mother, has run the store for seven years and looks forward to the day when the economy picks up and she can sell the store for what it's really worth, having made no profit for the last two years. Oy vey!
Meanwhile, last Saturday at UBC, a new sales record was set, with 300 more transactions than the busiest business day (not counting the ski sales). A thanks to the ever-smiling, beautiful/handsome faces of Gail, Brittany, Pam W., Janet G., Aaron, Josh and Samantha. Oh yes!
I don't know which made me happier today, the May 1962 copy of Boy's Life for $19.99 at Keepsakes, or the 64GB Apple iPad for $620.99 at UBC (
I wonder out loud here. If, in the past, some xx% of marriages were basically women being slaves to men and children, does that account for the fact that only 40% of people today see value in the partnership that marriage is supposed to be?
Like a friend of mine told her ex-husband and son, "I don't care where your clothes are or what you want for dinner because you don't care about the kind of day I had."
Labels are not excuses for the way we treat one another. Rude or disrespectful behaviour is indicative of your character and not something that is allowed because of a title or role you pretend to carry around with you like a badge.
Like Steve Jobs said, one day you're going to wake up and realise that you really are going to die one day.
Today is the first day of the last days of your life together with the rest of us.
I'm exposing the emperor's new clothes from now on even if it's the nonpaid role I've assigned myself because all I'm going to do is die one day...
...because all our species is going to do is suffer another lost civilisation and if we're lucky we'll leave enough clues for the next civilisation to make better progress the next time.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
In my opinion, political boundaries don't exist anymore. Mexican military forces are said to invade our land while Chinese/Russian satellites invade our space and we do nothing in return. Canadian spies come and go and we say nothing, too.
If a person can run a pet cremation business and make a profit, then I'm sure Humpty Dumpty can be put back together again.
Janet, you repeated over and over the name of your son's agribusiness specialty of landscaping and lawn care. Avast? Avert? Avant? I can't remember. May his Twickenham, Ledges and other neighbourhood work keep him busy, if not making a living wage - it's happening to all of us, as can been seen by empty shopping centres from here to California and back.
When your cities and towns are the gold rush that spiked and collapsed, what's next?
Stay tuned.
The Book of the Future actually has good things to say about our continuously-moving moment together.
I didn't say easy. Good.
You'll see.
Just like Claire saw the old Chattanooga Choo-Choo train station for the very first time. Wish I coulda been there, Claire. Life is full of eye-opening experiences.
Could Jeff Gordon win tomorrow?
Did the guy at UBC buy the iPod Touch so he could add a Tom-Tom GPS unit and CoPilot Live?
Who has correctly predicted the cricket champ?
Will the forces of free enterprises win for the people or for the...
[Please recharge your battery at this time to continue enjoying the free Internet service we provided in exchange for promoting us]
Yes, Laurie Anderson, we are all going down together but it's going to be a glorious ride! Buckle up! The weather's calling your name! Got your fishing poles and tackle box ready?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Picking Up Where I Left Off Repeating Myself Again
So, after the family from Detroit moved into the neighbourhood, the parents introducing swinging (and I don't mean dancing, this time), I learned that talking about my friends, who others had labeled with the 'n' word because of their skin colour, tended to get me beaten up by the white guys (pretty much just the front line for our successful junior high school football team, it seems to me in retrospect).
Silence was my best friend throughout junior high and high school.
So, when college came along, I was able to get back with people of any size, shape, belief and colour, without fear of physical harm.
As I mentioned in a long-ago blog entry, the college foursome that when to Fort Myers for spring break caused a stir.
And later, when I finally moved up to supervisor, my first employee happened to have dark skin and which adults now call African-American.
At last, I was free of the negative thoughts that hung over my head for much of my childhood.
I was luckier than many. My parents provided a home that was free of racial bias. I watched Bill Cosby on television and listened to Richard Pryor on LP records. But also watched Andy Griffith on TV and listened to him on LP record. Cheech and Chong on 45 RPM record (and later, 8-track tape). Varieties of people on PBS (television) and NPR (radio).
My life has been easy but listening to the perpetuation of negative stereotypes has not been easy.
Turn the other cheek is easier said than done but it provides resistance of another sort.
That's why I support many of the uprisings going on right now around the world because peaceful resistance wins in the long run, although it is painful to bear, including the restructuring of school districts to eliminate, as best we can, racial inequality that still exists today.
Defending oneself is different than fighting for freedom.
We are a very young species and keep learning what works better and better.
Those of us who are here to talk about it are the ones who set the example for ourselves and future generations.
Gandhi and MLKJ may have been rabblerousers of a sort, but they represented a voice that needed and wanted to be heard, just as the people of the American continent wanted to be heard but were ignored by ol' King George and British Parliament in the 1700s (they should have learned that lesson before the Indian subcontinent uprising dozens of years later, huh?).
Our species has thousands of years of cyclical changes ahead of us. Let's set good examples now, or as many as we can, knowing that people will do what they have to do to feed their families, despite negative consequences for the species on the local/global scale.
Silence was my best friend throughout junior high and high school.
So, when college came along, I was able to get back with people of any size, shape, belief and colour, without fear of physical harm.
As I mentioned in a long-ago blog entry, the college foursome that when to Fort Myers for spring break caused a stir.
And later, when I finally moved up to supervisor, my first employee happened to have dark skin and which adults now call African-American.
At last, I was free of the negative thoughts that hung over my head for much of my childhood.
I was luckier than many. My parents provided a home that was free of racial bias. I watched Bill Cosby on television and listened to Richard Pryor on LP records. But also watched Andy Griffith on TV and listened to him on LP record. Cheech and Chong on 45 RPM record (and later, 8-track tape). Varieties of people on PBS (television) and NPR (radio).
My life has been easy but listening to the perpetuation of negative stereotypes has not been easy.
Turn the other cheek is easier said than done but it provides resistance of another sort.
That's why I support many of the uprisings going on right now around the world because peaceful resistance wins in the long run, although it is painful to bear, including the restructuring of school districts to eliminate, as best we can, racial inequality that still exists today.
Defending oneself is different than fighting for freedom.
We are a very young species and keep learning what works better and better.
Those of us who are here to talk about it are the ones who set the example for ourselves and future generations.
Gandhi and MLKJ may have been rabblerousers of a sort, but they represented a voice that needed and wanted to be heard, just as the people of the American continent wanted to be heard but were ignored by ol' King George and British Parliament in the 1700s (they should have learned that lesson before the Indian subcontinent uprising dozens of years later, huh?).
Our species has thousands of years of cyclical changes ahead of us. Let's set good examples now, or as many as we can, knowing that people will do what they have to do to feed their families, despite negative consequences for the species on the local/global scale.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Personal info under consideration
Naval record of the man I knew as my grandfather (nonbiological):
[note to self - these entries need correction, per email input from mon père on 22nd Feb 2011]
Lee Bruce Hill -- 1911-1978
Born Red House (Joppa), Grainger County, TN, 27 Jan 1911
Died Valrico, Hillsborough, FL 33595 (a/k/a Venice, Sarasota County, FL), Apr 1978
Completed 9th Grade, Central High School, Knox County, Fountain City (Knoxville), TN, 1926.
Moved to Kansas in 1926. Drove moving van until enlisting in the US NAVY, 1929.
Sub Chaser
SC 516
SC-497 Class
Casa Grande (LSD-13) was launched 11 April 1944 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. G. Delapalme, and commissioned 5 June 1944, Lieutenant Commander F. E. Strumm, USNR, in command.
Sailing from Hampton Roads 19 July 1944, Casa Grande was delayed at Balboa, C.Z. for repairs en route to Pea. l Harbor, where she arrived 21 August. Here she offloaded landing craft brought from the east coast and loaded men and equipment for the invasion of Yap. However, upon her arrival at Eniwetok 25 September she was ordered to Manus to prepare for the Leyte operation. Assigned to the Southern Attack Force, she entered Leyte Gulf uneventfully, and took part in the initial assault on 20 October. Her men worked at fever pace under enemy air attack as they launched their landing craft and serviced other small craft engaged in this triumphant return to the Philippines, and on 22 October, she withdrew for Hollandia. During the next month, she made two voyages from New Guinea to Leyte, ferrying reinforcements, and evacuating casualties.
December 1944 found Casa Grande preparing for the second of the massive operations in the Philippines, and on 31 December she sailed in TF 79's Attack Group "Baker" for Lingayen Gulf. First enemy contact came at sunset on 8 January 1945, as a small but determined group of kamikazes attacked. One of these broke through to damage Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) severely, but Casa Grande came through unscathed, and joined in driving away the scattered individual enemy aircraft which pushed the attack onward.
Although sporadic attacks by Japanese aircraft and small ships tried to disrupt the landings, the long months of detailed planning bore fruit as Casa Grande and the others of her group carried out their landing assignments smoothly on 9 January 1945. She continued to operate in support of the invasion, plying between Lingayen, Leyte, and Morotai until 30 January. Casa Grande next cruised among the Solomons to load Marines, landing craft, and tanks for the invasion of Okinawa. She took departure from Ulithi 26 March, and arrived off Okinawa at dawn of 1 April. Landing equipment and troops under the first of the kamikaze attacks which were to bathe the Okinawan operation in blood, she moved to Kerama Retto 4 April to operate a small boat repair shop there until 3 June, when she sailed for a minor overhaul at Leyte.
Through July 1945, Casa Grande sailed between ports of the South Pacific and Philippines transporting men and landing craft, and on 23 July she sailed for drydocking at San Francisco.
Between 12 September 1945, when she returned to Honolulu, and 20 April 1946, when she docked at San Francisco, Casa Grande supported occupation and redeployment operations in the western Pacific. She ferried landing craft and motor torpedo boat squadrons, calling at ports in the South Pacific, China, Japan, Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines. and Alaska. On 14 May 1946; she left San Francisco for Norfolk, Va. where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 23 October 1946.
Dad was aboard for both commissioning (5 Jun 1944) and decommissioning (23 Oct 1946)
In 1956, the Oglethorpe was dispatched on a "classified" mission to the Mediterranean as an experimental "maritime Pre-positioned Shop" for rapid deployment. Partly modified, she carried ammunition, fuel, guns, vehicles and supplies and cruised the Mediterranean independently for 5 months under the direct operational control of CNO. Her ultimate destination was to land on the Island of Cyprus, combat load her cargo to support elements of the 82nd Airborne out of Europe.
In July 1958, the Oglethorpe was part of the fleet that transported the Marines to Lebanon.
(See attached file: Hill, Lee Bruce CHBOSN 1950's.gif)
1958 Norfolk, VA
Retired from U.S. Navy after 29 years active service. In his career, he was successively promoted from Seaman Apprentice (Recruit) to Chief Warrant Officer. He was promoted to CPO (Chief Petty Officer) in ~11 years (1929-1940), an unusually short time for those promotions "between the wars". ============================================================================
During his career, he served in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, the China Sea,the Red Sea and others.
He served in two wars, WWII and the Korean "Conflict", as well as the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the Lebanon Crisis of 1958.
He was stationed aboard the USS Maryland in Pearl Harbor, T.H., as early as 1932, when he saw the disguised "high-powered Japanese fishing boats...." (aka "spy boats") *. A scant 9 years later was 7 Dec 1941, the "day that shall live in infamy....FDR". Thankfully, he had been transferred off the USS Maryland in 1940.
* Conversation, LB Hill, with RL Hill.
[note to self - these entries need correction, per email input from mon père on 22nd Feb 2011]
Lee Bruce Hill -- 1911-1978
Born Red House (Joppa), Grainger County, TN, 27 Jan 1911
Died Valrico, Hillsborough, FL 33595 (a/k/a Venice, Sarasota County, FL), Apr 1978
Completed 9th Grade, Central High School, Knox County, Fountain City (Knoxville), TN, 1926.
Moved to Kansas in 1926. Drove moving van until enlisting in the US NAVY, 1929.
Lee Bruce Hill...from Seaman to CPO (Chief Petty Officer);
his US Naval service for the period 1929-1940
his US Naval service for the period 1929-1940
BB-46 USS Maryland
- Colorado class battleship:
- Displacement: 32,600 tons (normal) / 34,946 (full load)
- Length: 624'
- Beam: 108'1"-114'
- Draft: 33'7"-34'8"
- Speed: 21 knots
- Armament: 4x2 16"/45, 8x2 5"/38, 11x4 40mm, 1x4 20mm, 29x2 20mm, 2 21" tt; 3 planes
- Complement: 2100
- Propulsion: Turbo-electric, 8 285 psi boilers, 4 shafts, 28,900 hp
- Built at Newport News and commissioned 21 July 1921
- Modernized at Puget Sound Navy Yard 30 Dec 41-26 Feb 42
Lee Bruce Hill...from CPO to CWO (Chief Warrant Officer);
his US Naval service during WWII
his US Naval service during WWII
Sub Chaser
SC 516
SC-497 Class
- Displacement: 98 tons
- Length: 110'10"
- Beam: 17'
- Draft: 6'6"
- Speed: 20 knots
- Armament: 1 3"/50, 2x2 .50-cal. mg
- Complement: 2 officers, 20 enlisted
- Diesel engines, twin screws 1,200 shaft hp
Dad served aboard SC 516 during the period 1942-1944. He held the rank of Chief Bosatswain's Mate (Chief Petty Officer). Since there were only two commissioned officers, he was third officer. The assigned area was the Caribbean, chasing German subs, until late 1942. The craft was then deployed across the Atlantic to Fedala, Morocco, arriving there 2 weeks after the beginning of Operation Torch (Nov. 1942).
SC 516 was used as protecting craft for the larger ships, and was eventually turned over to the Free French via Lend-Lease.
Dad's personnel record shows he was a plank owner and de-commissioning crew member.
Attached is photo of Lee B. Hill, BMC, Bos'n and 3d officer, SC 516, Miami, FL, October 1942.(See attached file: HILL, Lee Bruce BMC (Gold Stripe) Oct 1942.GIF)(See attached file: Hill,Lee Bruce BMC Oct42 Trinidad,BWI.gif)
Following service on SC 516, Dad returned to the USA and received his promotion to Warrant Officer by order of President F.D. Roosevelt. He was then assigned to the USS Casa Grande, then under construction:
LSD-13 USS Casa Grande
SC 516 was used as protecting craft for the larger ships, and was eventually turned over to the Free French via Lend-Lease.
Dad's personnel record shows he was a plank owner and de-commissioning crew member.
Attached is photo of Lee B. Hill, BMC, Bos'n and 3d officer, SC 516, Miami, FL, October 1942.(See attached file: HILL, Lee Bruce BMC (Gold Stripe) Oct 1942.GIF)(See attached file: Hill,Lee Bruce BMC Oct42 Trinidad,BWI.gif)
Following service on SC 516, Dad returned to the USA and received his promotion to Warrant Officer by order of President F.D. Roosevelt. He was then assigned to the USS Casa Grande, then under construction:
LSD-13 USS Casa Grande
- CasaGrande class Dock Landing Ship:
- Displacement: 4,032 tons (light), 7,930 (full)
- Length: 457''9"
- Beam: 72'
- Draft: 8'3" forward, 10'1" aft (light); 15'6" aft, 16'2" aft (loaded)
- Speed: 17 knots max, 15 knots cruising
- Armament: 1 5"/38 DP, 2x2 40mm, 2x4 40mm, 16 20mm
- Complement: 17 officers, 237 enlisted
- Capacity: 92 LVT, 108 DUKW
- Steam turbine engines, twin screws
- Built at Newport News and commissioned 5 June 1944
Casa Grande (LSD-13) was launched 11 April 1944 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. G. Delapalme, and commissioned 5 June 1944, Lieutenant Commander F. E. Strumm, USNR, in command.
Sailing from Hampton Roads 19 July 1944, Casa Grande was delayed at Balboa, C.Z. for repairs en route to Pea. l Harbor, where she arrived 21 August. Here she offloaded landing craft brought from the east coast and loaded men and equipment for the invasion of Yap. However, upon her arrival at Eniwetok 25 September she was ordered to Manus to prepare for the Leyte operation. Assigned to the Southern Attack Force, she entered Leyte Gulf uneventfully, and took part in the initial assault on 20 October. Her men worked at fever pace under enemy air attack as they launched their landing craft and serviced other small craft engaged in this triumphant return to the Philippines, and on 22 October, she withdrew for Hollandia. During the next month, she made two voyages from New Guinea to Leyte, ferrying reinforcements, and evacuating casualties.
December 1944 found Casa Grande preparing for the second of the massive operations in the Philippines, and on 31 December she sailed in TF 79's Attack Group "Baker" for Lingayen Gulf. First enemy contact came at sunset on 8 January 1945, as a small but determined group of kamikazes attacked. One of these broke through to damage Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) severely, but Casa Grande came through unscathed, and joined in driving away the scattered individual enemy aircraft which pushed the attack onward.
Although sporadic attacks by Japanese aircraft and small ships tried to disrupt the landings, the long months of detailed planning bore fruit as Casa Grande and the others of her group carried out their landing assignments smoothly on 9 January 1945. She continued to operate in support of the invasion, plying between Lingayen, Leyte, and Morotai until 30 January. Casa Grande next cruised among the Solomons to load Marines, landing craft, and tanks for the invasion of Okinawa. She took departure from Ulithi 26 March, and arrived off Okinawa at dawn of 1 April. Landing equipment and troops under the first of the kamikaze attacks which were to bathe the Okinawan operation in blood, she moved to Kerama Retto 4 April to operate a small boat repair shop there until 3 June, when she sailed for a minor overhaul at Leyte.
Through July 1945, Casa Grande sailed between ports of the South Pacific and Philippines transporting men and landing craft, and on 23 July she sailed for drydocking at San Francisco.
Between 12 September 1945, when she returned to Honolulu, and 20 April 1946, when she docked at San Francisco, Casa Grande supported occupation and redeployment operations in the western Pacific. She ferried landing craft and motor torpedo boat squadrons, calling at ports in the South Pacific, China, Japan, Korea, Okinawa, the Philippines. and Alaska. On 14 May 1946; she left San Francisco for Norfolk, Va. where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 23 October 1946.
Dad was aboard for both commissioning (5 Jun 1944) and decommissioning (23 Oct 1946)
Lee Bruce Hill, CHBOSN (CWO-3) Naval career...1946-1958
1946 Norfolk, VA
Decommissioned USS Casa Grande (LSD-13). He was one of few who were both "Plank Owners" and were still assigned to the ship at its decommissioning. His wife, Thelma Eldridge Hill, was one of two officer's wives who was aboard at both ceremonies as well.
1946-1947 Solomons, MD
Was AOIC (Assistant Officer-in-Charge or XO), then OIC (Officer-in-Charge or CO) of the US Navy Base, ODC (Operational Development Center). He was the de-commissioning officer of this base. His step-son, Richard Lee Hill, was present with Lee B. Hill at the ceremony when the National Colors (US Flag) was/were hauled-down for the last time.
1947-1948 Washington, D.C.
AOIC, US Naval Facilities, Quarters "I" and "K". Quarters "I" was the domicile for the Bachelor Male Personnel assigned to the Pentagon. Quarters "K" served the same fucnction for Bachelor Male Personnel assigned to the various US Navy Facilities in Washington itself. Those who lived in these Quarters ranged in rank from Seaman through Rear Admiral.
1948-1953 Boston, MA and Newport, RI (home ports)
Ship's BOSN, USS Worcester (CL144).
The Worcester was twice (?) deployed to the Med in the period 1949-1950. While on her second deployment, she was ordered to the waters off Korea following the outbreak of the Korean Conflict. She was one of the prime bombarding ships at the Inchon Landing by Gen. McArthur's Command . In conjuction with the assignment, the Worcester set records for "most rounds fired" and "longest steaming without refueling". She was also in one other battle while assigneed to the Koean area. (More on that later).
The second campaign/battle in which the Worcester was involved was the Wonsan Landing on the east coast of Korea.
The Worcester returned from Korea by crossing the Pacific, thence to the Atlantic. In so doing , she completed a round-the-world-cruise. This was also LB Hill's only round-the-world-cruise in his 29 year Naval career. He continued to serve on the Worcester until being transferred to shore duty.
1953-1955/56 (?) Orange, TX
U.S. Naval Base
OIC, decommissioned ships*, (not his exact title, but this was his responsibility).
*This base had ships in "mothballs", which constituted a portion of the US Navy's Reserve Fleet of that era.
1956-1958 Norfolk, VA (home port)
Ship's BOSN, USS Tidewater and USS Oglethorpe, both AKA ships.
Lee Bruce Hill, CHBOSN (CWO-3), USN, was Ship's BOSN, circa 1956-58.
USS Oglethorpe
AKA 100
Ship's characteristics:
Decommissioned USS Casa Grande (LSD-13). He was one of few who were both "Plank Owners" and were still assigned to the ship at its decommissioning. His wife, Thelma Eldridge Hill, was one of two officer's wives who was aboard at both ceremonies as well.
1946-1947 Solomons, MD
Was AOIC (Assistant Officer-in-Charge or XO), then OIC (Officer-in-Charge or CO) of the US Navy Base, ODC (Operational Development Center). He was the de-commissioning officer of this base. His step-son, Richard Lee Hill, was present with Lee B. Hill at the ceremony when the National Colors (US Flag) was/were hauled-down for the last time.
1947-1948 Washington, D.C.
AOIC, US Naval Facilities, Quarters "I" and "K". Quarters "I" was the domicile for the Bachelor Male Personnel assigned to the Pentagon. Quarters "K" served the same fucnction for Bachelor Male Personnel assigned to the various US Navy Facilities in Washington itself. Those who lived in these Quarters ranged in rank from Seaman through Rear Admiral.
1948-1953 Boston, MA and Newport, RI (home ports)
Ship's BOSN, USS Worcester (CL144).
The Worcester was twice (?) deployed to the Med in the period 1949-1950. While on her second deployment, she was ordered to the waters off Korea following the outbreak of the Korean Conflict. She was one of the prime bombarding ships at the Inchon Landing by Gen. McArthur's Command . In conjuction with the assignment, the Worcester set records for "most rounds fired" and "longest steaming without refueling". She was also in one other battle while assigneed to the Koean area. (More on that later).
The second campaign/battle in which the Worcester was involved was the Wonsan Landing on the east coast of Korea.
The Worcester returned from Korea by crossing the Pacific, thence to the Atlantic. In so doing , she completed a round-the-world-cruise. This was also LB Hill's only round-the-world-cruise in his 29 year Naval career. He continued to serve on the Worcester until being transferred to shore duty.
1953-1955/56 (?) Orange, TX
U.S. Naval Base
OIC, decommissioned ships*, (not his exact title, but this was his responsibility).
*This base had ships in "mothballs", which constituted a portion of the US Navy's Reserve Fleet of that era.
1956-1958 Norfolk, VA (home port)
Ship's BOSN, USS Tidewater and USS Oglethorpe, both AKA ships.
Lee Bruce Hill, CHBOSN (CWO-3), USN, was Ship's BOSN, circa 1956-58.
USS Oglethorpe
AKA 100
Ship's characteristics:
- dp 14,200 tons
- 1.459',2"; b. 63'; dr. 26'4"; s. 16.5 k; cpl. 425
- a. 5" .38, 8 40 mm
- cl Andromeda
- T. C2-S-B1
In 1956, the Oglethorpe was dispatched on a "classified" mission to the Mediterranean as an experimental "maritime Pre-positioned Shop" for rapid deployment. Partly modified, she carried ammunition, fuel, guns, vehicles and supplies and cruised the Mediterranean independently for 5 months under the direct operational control of CNO. Her ultimate destination was to land on the Island of Cyprus, combat load her cargo to support elements of the 82nd Airborne out of Europe.
In July 1958, the Oglethorpe was part of the fleet that transported the Marines to Lebanon.
(See attached file: Hill, Lee Bruce CHBOSN 1950's.gif)
1958 Norfolk, VA
Retired from U.S. Navy after 29 years active service. In his career, he was successively promoted from Seaman Apprentice (Recruit) to Chief Warrant Officer. He was promoted to CPO (Chief Petty Officer) in ~11 years (1929-1940), an unusually short time for those promotions "between the wars". ============================================================================
During his career, he served in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean, the China Sea,the Red Sea and others.
He served in two wars, WWII and the Korean "Conflict", as well as the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the Lebanon Crisis of 1958.
He was stationed aboard the USS Maryland in Pearl Harbor, T.H., as early as 1932, when he saw the disguised "high-powered Japanese fishing boats...." (aka "spy boats") *. A scant 9 years later was 7 Dec 1941, the "day that shall live in infamy....FDR". Thankfully, he had been transferred off the USS Maryland in 1940.
* Conversation, LB Hill, with RL Hill.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Bring It On
I love watching overt government crackdowns around the world - it tells me one and one thing only:
'Nuff said.
the people always win.
'Nuff said.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Award For The Paragraph Outside Of Time a'Goes To:
[pardon me while ah rustle some papers]...
Now, back to reading about the fascinating, nail-biting, suspense-filled tale of the invention of the fireplace grate. How ingratiating.
Too bad DEJr is little more than a shadow of his father and a little more than his half-brother, Kerry (in other words, I'm envious of their racing pedigree).
Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker!
Now, back to reading about the fascinating, nail-biting, suspense-filled tale of the invention of the fireplace grate. How ingratiating.
Too bad DEJr is little more than a shadow of his father and a little more than his half-brother, Kerry (in other words, I'm envious of their racing pedigree).
Thursday, February 3, 2011
We Come In Peace. Ignore The Military Buildup Back Home.
The Committee announced today that it's time to rotate the team leader position to another person.
Everyone looked at me.
Time and again (and time and again, etc.), I have spoken to individual members of the Committee, expressing my reluctance to assume the leadership position because my only goal to reach as leader is to reveal that we all lie to each other.
Like my friend who edits a family publication and tries to reach out to young people to get news material from the youth point of view, my talks with the Committee members have fallen on deaf ears.
Now who in their right mind is going to let an ol' suburbanised country boy tell the people what it is they're supposed to want to do next?
I'm only supposed to observe and report. That's the agreement I have authorised, notarised, framed and gilded, proudly displayed in a hidden hallway in the super-superattic of the Solar Museum of Rational History.
So, Committee of 7.5, if I do this, I don't do this, if you know what I mean.
In other words, I want to hear what the future leaders of countries in turmoil have, not only the words of promise to their people, but also the business and military connections to back them up with.
In other words, it's an ol' Texas Hold'em call - show us your cards.
Otherwise, all the demonstrations show me is a temporary release of a culture's pentup frustration.
Time to negotiate, not loot or fight or burn or any other brief respite from the toils of daily life.
If you won't talk or negotiate, then let me feel free to expose the lies involved in what's really going on.
Layers of the onion, my friends, tossed into a cotton candy machine - do you really want me to make a sticky mess out of pulling apart and showing you what's slithering through the goo?
Time for a joke to tell in the next blog entry.
Everyone looked at me.
Time and again (and time and again, etc.), I have spoken to individual members of the Committee, expressing my reluctance to assume the leadership position because my only goal to reach as leader is to reveal that we all lie to each other.
Like my friend who edits a family publication and tries to reach out to young people to get news material from the youth point of view, my talks with the Committee members have fallen on deaf ears.
Now who in their right mind is going to let an ol' suburbanised country boy tell the people what it is they're supposed to want to do next?
I'm only supposed to observe and report. That's the agreement I have authorised, notarised, framed and gilded, proudly displayed in a hidden hallway in the super-superattic of the Solar Museum of Rational History.
So, Committee of 7.5, if I do this, I don't do this, if you know what I mean.
In other words, I want to hear what the future leaders of countries in turmoil have, not only the words of promise to their people, but also the business and military connections to back them up with.
In other words, it's an ol' Texas Hold'em call - show us your cards.
Otherwise, all the demonstrations show me is a temporary release of a culture's pentup frustration.
Time to negotiate, not loot or fight or burn or any other brief respite from the toils of daily life.
If you won't talk or negotiate, then let me feel free to expose the lies involved in what's really going on.
Layers of the onion, my friends, tossed into a cotton candy machine - do you really want me to make a sticky mess out of pulling apart and showing you what's slithering through the goo?
Time for a joke to tell in the next blog entry.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Another Reminder To Self...
In telling myself I am not original, I give my thought set over to the storytelling of my ancestors, both direct, through bloodlines, and indirect, through indebtedness to my elders.
Out of Math and Physics is History...
Looking back over some old bookmarks, I came across this.
It is good to remember when there were times that large groups of people got along. Here is one person's view of such times for us to consider when deciding how to react rationally to world events:
Let's hope we do this right and not jump back into recent derogatory quarrels that get us nowhere.
It is good to remember when there were times that large groups of people got along. Here is one person's view of such times for us to consider when deciding how to react rationally to world events:
As you know, Islamic civilizations rise in the 7th century, and start to fall dramatically in the 14th century for many reasons.
When we discuss the history of this civilization, you could understand that fact.
Before start to talk about contribution of Islamic civilization in human civilization, I would like to present some historical facts, also some ‘’western’’ references:
Here are some interested points:
- Baghdad was the center of the world in the 9th century. It population around two millions.
- The first translation university was built in Baghdad in the 9th century. It was called (Dar Al Hikmah) or Wisdom House. They translated hundred thousands of Greek, Persian, Roman, Hebrew, and Indian documents and books to Arabic.
- For the first time, Jews, Muslims and Christian succeeded to live in peace in liberal (semi democratic society) in Spain in the 10th century.
- Many schools of laws were established in 11th and 12 century.
- The largest Islamic State is Indonesia (20% of Muslims in the world), no Islamic army reached this State. The people converted to Islam due to economical relations, the same as Malaysia and SE Asia.
The collapse of Islamic civilization could be concluded by these reasons:
- Crusaders wars: 200 years of religious catholic wars against Muslims, Jews and orthodox Christian. These wars exhausted the ME societies.
- Mongolian wars: Before the end of crusaders wars, Mongolian invaded the East. They destroyed Baghdad, killed 800000 people and burn its well known library.
- Fall of Spain: Muslims lost Spain in the end of 15th after 800 years of great civilization. Spanish changed the trading from ME to South Africa, which had great economical impact.
- Islamic scholars stopped developing the laws since 14 century, which made many of them not suitable for modern societies.
- Ottoman Empire, ruled the Islamic world recently. They involved in many wars with Russia, Romania, Balkan, Greece, UK, France , Egypt … which converted it to military State.
Islamic civilization and Science
Specific Muslims scientists and their contribution in human civilization:
- Alhazen, is considered as the father of modern Optics:
http://www.unhas.ac.id/~rhiza/saintis/haitham.html
http://brightbytes.com/cosite/what.html
-Sample of Muslims scientists and their contribution in different fields:
http://www.unhas.ac.id/~rhiza/saintis/
-The first world map by AL-IDRIS
http://www.soundsofislam.com/idrisi.html
- Islam and medicine:
Guardian Newspapers, 9/10/2003
http://www.buzzle.co.uk/editorials/9-10-2003-45271.asp
Chemical medicine
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/ch...medicine5.html
Chemistry or al-kimiya
http://www.tlchm.bris.ac.uk/webproje...mer/arabic.htm
Muslims and Weapon
http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sc.../Weapons2.html
- Mathematics
History of mathematics: you can choose from 500 to 1300, most of scientists have Arab or Islamic names:
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~...ogy/index.html
About 810
House of Wisdom set up in Baghdad. There Greek and Indian mathematical and astronomy works are translated into Arabic.
About 810
Al-Khwarizmi writes important works on arithmetic, algebra, geography, and astronomy. In particular Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala (Calculation by Completion and Balancing), gives us the word "algebra", from "al-jabr". From al-Khwarizmi's name, as a consequence of his arithmetic book, comes the word "algorithm".
About 850
Thabit ibn Qurra makes important mathematical discoveries such as the extension of the concept of number to (positive) real numbers, integral calculus, theorems in spherical trigonometry, analytic geometry, and non-euclidean geometry.
About 850
Thabit ibn Qurra writes Book on the determination of amicable numbers which contains general methods to construct amicable numbers. He knows the pair of amicable numbers 17296, 18416.
About 900
Abu Kamil writes Book on algebra which studies applications of algebra to geometrical problems. It will be the book on which Fibonacci will base his works.
920
Al-Battani writes Kitab al-Zij a major work on astronomy in 57 chapters. It contains advances in trigonometry.
About 960
Al-Uqlidisi writes Kitab al-fusul fi al-hisab al-Hindi which is the earliest surviving book that presents the Hindu system.
About 970
Abu'l-Wafa invents the wall quadrant for the accurate measurement of the declination of stars in the sky. He writes important books on arithmetic and geometric constructions. He introduces the tangent function and produces improved methods of calculating trigonometric tables.
976
Codex Vigilanus copied in Spain. Contains the first evidence of decimal numbers in Europe.
About 990Can we see how it is one species here and not groups partitioned by political boundaries?
Al-Karaji writes Al-Fakhri in Baghdad which develops algebra. He gives Pascal's triangle.
About 1000
Ibn al-Haytham (often called Alhazen) writes works on optics, including a theory of light and a theory of vision, astronomy, and mathematics, including geometry and number theory. He gives Alhazen's problem: Given a light source and a spherical mirror, find the point on the mirror were the light will be reflected to the eye of an observer.
About 1010
Al-Biruni writes on many scientific topics. His work on mathematics covers arithmetic, summation of series, combinatorial analysis, the rule of three, irrational numbers, ratio theory, algebraic definitions, method of solving algebraic equations, geometry, Archimedes' theorems, trisection of the angle and other problems which cannot be solved with ruler and compass alone, conic sections, stereometry, stereographic projection, trigonometry, the sine theorem in the plane, and solving spherical triangles.
About 1020
Ibn Sina (usually called Avicenna) writes on philosophy, medicine, psychology, geology, mathematics, astronomy, and logic. His important mathematical work Kitab al-Shifa' (The Book of Healing) divides mathematics into four major topics, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music.
1040
Ahmad al-Nasawi writes al-Muqni'fi al-Hisab al-Hindi which studies four different number systems. He explains the operations of arithmetic, particularly taking square and cube roots in each system.
1072
Al-Khayyami (usually known as Omar Khayyam) writes Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra which contains a complete classification of cubic equations with geometric solutions found by means of intersecting conic sections. He measures the length of the year to be 365.24219858156 days, a remarkably accurate result.
1130
Jabir ibn Aflah writes works on mathematics which, although not as good as many other Arabic works, are important since they will be translated into Latin and become available to European mathematicians.
1142
Adelard of Bath produces two or three translations of Euclid's Elements from Arabic.
1149
Al-Samawal writes al-Bahir fi'l-jabr (The brilliant in algebra). He develops algebra with polynomials using negative powers and zero. He solves quadratic equations, sums the squares of the first n natural numbers, and looks at combinatorial problems.
1150
Arabic numerals are introduced into Europe with Gherard of Cremona's translation of Ptolemy's Almagest. The name of the "sine" function comes from this translation.
1411
Al-Kashi writes Compendium of the Science of Astronomy.
1424
Al-Kashi writes Treatise on the Circumference giving a remarkably good approximation to in both sexagesimal and decimal forms.
1427
Al-Kashi completes The Key to Arithmetic containing work of great depth on decimal fractions. It applies arithmetical and algebraic methods to the solution of various problems, including several geometric ones and is one of the best textbooks in the whole of medieval literature.
will be continued ..............
Let's hope we do this right and not jump back into recent derogatory quarrels that get us nowhere.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Reproduction of an Original Watercolour
During the Committee's decennial viewing of "Citizen Kane," one member asked for my opinion about the following.
A stash of documents thought to have been destroyed long ago was found buried in the courthouse garden of a caretaker's cottage on an abandoned estate that is said to have belonged to a long line of English knights.
The documents shed light on daily life of a feudal society during the Dark Ages.
The Committee member wanted to know if we should release all the documents for public dissemination without adding waves of prereleases which include expert opinion about chivalry, gallantry and the sense of fair play that, we find quaint today, was established during the reign of sympathetic feudal lords and knights in the British Isles. Polls and TV documentaries would give the people a sense of ownership of that time period.
Does it make sense? It seemed so to me.
The Committee member then showed me one sheaf that was bothering him.
The text, barely legible and in a mix of Latin, Greek and what I assume was the English of the day, described the first meetings between a group of lords and an unidentified group that was fixated on sending men and weapons to save Jerusalem from captivity.
The scribe noted the lords' lucrative business relationships with Spanish traders who were of pagan, Christian and Mohammedan religions, describing the traders as equals to the lords, and hinted that the lords would consult with the traders before taking action.
The Committee member worried that the information presented an ambiguous start to a seemingly well-documented history of contact between Europeans and those along the Mediterranean.
I promised the Committee member I'd think about the issue for a few days before making my ruling.
If the Crusades were merely a matter of business, what does that tell us today about the groups who want to claim there's a secret religious war that's been raging for centuries?
What if we could prove to you that most of what you think is religious - the way you dress, speak or interact with others - was a commercial or economic decision made so long ago we've forgotten why we made that decision in the first place?
Does it matter in respect to your belief that the gods, God or Allah influenced that decision?
It should.
Your Deity or deities know(s) that environmental and social conditions change, meaning that what was sacrosanct ten generations ago is not necessarily sacrosanct in the same way today.
I'll report back to the Committee next week, so consider this blog entry a placeholder for a more important, detailed one later on because I'm too busy right now.
I've got some research to perform and press releases to generate in the form of fake book reviews written by a menagerie of virtual friends hidden in plain view on social networks (so many layers of experts referencing experts you won't know which so-called reclusive ones aren't real and took over for real ones no one knew had died) and industry-sponsored scientific reports for which I'll buy off my cadre of professionals with questionable credentials and/or immoral habits (heavy debt is immoral, don't you know?) to swallow their pride and write for me once more.
Phew! I'm breathless. Talk to you later.
A stash of documents thought to have been destroyed long ago was found buried in the courthouse garden of a caretaker's cottage on an abandoned estate that is said to have belonged to a long line of English knights.
The documents shed light on daily life of a feudal society during the Dark Ages.
The Committee member wanted to know if we should release all the documents for public dissemination without adding waves of prereleases which include expert opinion about chivalry, gallantry and the sense of fair play that, we find quaint today, was established during the reign of sympathetic feudal lords and knights in the British Isles. Polls and TV documentaries would give the people a sense of ownership of that time period.
Does it make sense? It seemed so to me.
The Committee member then showed me one sheaf that was bothering him.
The text, barely legible and in a mix of Latin, Greek and what I assume was the English of the day, described the first meetings between a group of lords and an unidentified group that was fixated on sending men and weapons to save Jerusalem from captivity.
The scribe noted the lords' lucrative business relationships with Spanish traders who were of pagan, Christian and Mohammedan religions, describing the traders as equals to the lords, and hinted that the lords would consult with the traders before taking action.
The Committee member worried that the information presented an ambiguous start to a seemingly well-documented history of contact between Europeans and those along the Mediterranean.
I promised the Committee member I'd think about the issue for a few days before making my ruling.
If the Crusades were merely a matter of business, what does that tell us today about the groups who want to claim there's a secret religious war that's been raging for centuries?
What if we could prove to you that most of what you think is religious - the way you dress, speak or interact with others - was a commercial or economic decision made so long ago we've forgotten why we made that decision in the first place?
Does it matter in respect to your belief that the gods, God or Allah influenced that decision?
It should.
Your Deity or deities know(s) that environmental and social conditions change, meaning that what was sacrosanct ten generations ago is not necessarily sacrosanct in the same way today.
I'll report back to the Committee next week, so consider this blog entry a placeholder for a more important, detailed one later on because I'm too busy right now.
I've got some research to perform and press releases to generate in the form of fake book reviews written by a menagerie of virtual friends hidden in plain view on social networks (so many layers of experts referencing experts you won't know which so-called reclusive ones aren't real and took over for real ones no one knew had died) and industry-sponsored scientific reports for which I'll buy off my cadre of professionals with questionable credentials and/or immoral habits (heavy debt is immoral, don't you know?) to swallow their pride and write for me once more.
Phew! I'm breathless. Talk to you later.
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