Review of the Video Game "America's Army". Brainwashing Your Children in the Comfort of Home. Programming Them To Become Killers for Corporate Profit and then Throwaway PTSD Victims...

full text of the newspaper article I wrote for The Lumberjack Newspaper: 

US Army designs "shoot 'em up" VIDEO GAME.

I was outraged to see that the Taxpayers paid the US Army to create a Video Game that teaches teenagers about war and gives them an opportunity to explore careers in the military. www.americasarmy.com is the home of a game that lets people experience virtually the art of war using a military simulator

that teaches tactics and strategies to civilians. Blow stuff up too. This game is rated "T" for teen by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

Players may join virtual teams to compete online with others across the internet. A headset microphone is recommended for shouting orders to your teammates. The marketing strategy is brilliant. A teenager might make the intellectual leap from "Gee, It's a lot of FUN to blow up people in this Video Game " to "Gee, if I enlist, I can blow up people FOR REAL". A player may get a copy of the game on CD by visiting their US ARMY recruiter. The talents of a Video Game player would be very useful to an army that uses complex computer controlled weapons. I remember that the CNN broadcast of the bombing of Baghdad looked eerily familiar. The surrealistic green color scheme of the night-vision cameras and the trails left by the bombs seemed to be identical to the Video Game "Missile Command". However, unlike a game, when a player kills a person in reality they stay dead, no replays. The graphics in this game are superb, a typical scene shows oil wells and a "Escher-like" tile floor. The action appears to take place in a Middle Eastern city.

A link to shopping lets you purchase dolls to play with offline. Handy to have when your kid sister wants to serve tea to her dollies. You can have your action figures shoot up the tea room and blast all the bad guys. One doll is an Indigenous Soldier. "Special Forces teams have a proud history of training

indigenous forces to fight to liberate their countrymen from oppression". Another doll is a Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant. "The Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant is responsible for collecting and providing essential intelligence during missions, conducting and handling agent reports,

analyzing risks associated with friendly and enemy courses of action, and acts to counter or neutralize identified intelligence threats". Of course, the intelligent Sergeant needs a machine gun to fill out those reports. OOPS, I typed intelligent when I meant Intelligence... A slip that anyone could make... Assuming the Sergeant to BE SMART, not collect rumors.

A basic concept in mind-control is to saturate the subject with virtual blood and gore to allow them to become used to seeing horrible sights. When faced with actual blood and gore, the person is not offended due to familiarity. The actual US Military has been using motion pictures to train soldiers for

years. The first time a new recruit sees a "sucking chest wound" they are disgusted and often vomit. Upon repeated exposure, the new recruit becomes comfortable with the images. Training soldiers often uses the concepts of Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. This style of training is effective, a soldier should

not question a command but execute it instantly for the Army to function properly. If a soldier has lingering doubts about the wisdom of invading a foreign country that has no WMDs, no ties to Al-Qaeda and nothing at all to do with the mass murder on 9/11/2001, then they will hesitate when the time comes to pull the trigger. Just like practicing flying an airplane using

a flight simulator, a "shoot 'em up" Video Game can be used to speed up reaction times. This opportunity to program your own mind is now available to any teenager with a computer and an Internet connection. Playstation and XBOX versions are available too.

SEE, they learned a lot from project MKULTRA.

www.riseofasoldier.com is the website for the new version of the game created by UBISOFT. Epic Games designed the underlying architecture for these games. The U.S. Army announced that it has licensed Unreal Engine 3 for the next generation versions of America's Army. In addition

to serving over 5 million registered users playing more than 1.34 billion missions "a wide variety of agencies from the U.S. Navy to national laboratories have re purposed America’s Army for applications ranging from appended training devices for weapon systems to adaptive thinking and leadership training simulations".

 ~~~end of article by gregvanderlaan ~~~

~~~and now, years later... more thoughts~~~

Farmville is a completely different video game that is played by 1% of the world's population. It teaches cooperation and working together with your neighbors. If you help each

other, everyone benefits... quite a different message... Hopefully, this concept will spread. What if?

A friend of mine has intentionally selected people that live on different CONTINENTS to be her Farmville Neighbors. Some of the websites are written in different Alphabets and different Languages. Fortunately, we have auto translate built into the computer system. Babblefish and Google both will give a machine translation... Often that is  close enough for her to understand people a world away... If the internet can connect  us all, war will become a quaint historical memory... Why Not?

http://www.babblefish.com/ 

http://translate.google.com/

The game teaches scheduling and keeping appointments. Important life skills often overlooked in this ADHD world. A player plows and plants crops that are to be harvested in a specific time. If you plant a crop of strawberries, they are ready to harvest in 4 hours. If a player fails to harvest them in a timely manner, they wither and are not sell able. In my game, on the weekend I plant short time crops and during the work week I plant crops that take 2,3 or 4 days to mature. 

Animals never need attention... go figure... One would think that slopping the hogs would be required. However, it's just a game. I "harvested" my pigs yet got no bacon.

Two thumbs UP for Farmville. Both my friend and I feel it is a good game for KIDS of all ages.

Here is what my farm looks like. I found GOD on Farmville... Actually, CROP CIRCLES are a popular pastime on Farmville. People engineer beautiful farms and on the ZYNGA message board they enter their creations in a contest. With virtual coins as a prize.

This style of game has become so very popular that there are now MANY similar games. Fishville, Cafe World, Frontierville, Farm TOWN... all based on SIM. Simulating a real world scenario and letting multiple players interact on the same game. For example: I just sent my friend a Surfboard and now her gameboard has it proudly displayed. Another friend sent my the PINK COW that is the center of the "G" shown above. Without a little help from my friends, my farm would not be as fun...

and now ZYNGA, the parent company, has decided to borrow a billion dollars by having a Stock Market IPO. What could they do with all that money? Have they already built their good idea?  Will everyone who invests simply lose their money? 

I plan to buy some stock, for amusement purposes only.  Maybe they will give stockholders some cute virtual animals...

~~~~~~the IPO has happened~~~~~~~

Stock prices have mostly remained the same as the $10 they started it at. and the quality of the game has gone down... 

Since August 15th, 1945 the US Military has NEVER defended the country. Not Even Once... We Just Blow Up Other Countries for CORPORATE PROFIT.

There was a need to defend the country on 9/11/2001 but the military failed completely. Civilians brought down the airplane in Pennsylvania...

Read History, Learn.

Ever since VJ DAY all the wars have been marketing tools to sell weapons. Why not cut the defense budget in half... Refund the Wasted money to the Taxpayers... WELL, WHY NOT?

We keep on going to other countries and choosing sides it THEIR civil wars. Why not let foreigners figure out solutions to their Own problems... OR... NOT figure out solutions to their own problems... I couldn't care less what they do over there. It's THEIR country...

Since 1973 all soldiers have been Volunteers... Why would anyone Volunteer to go Kill People for Corporate Profit?

We are STILL in Afghanistan and Iraq... and now Syria... President Trump TRIED to Stop the War in Syria but he FAILED... We Have Gone Back... Why? What possible Mission could there be?

Imagine if we had spent that money on something useful?

Eureka, Peace March

Eureka Peace March

August 15th, 1945 was VJ Day. Victory over Japan in World War Two... To the Veterans that fought in WW2, Thanks... That was an important Victory against a real enemy. Since Then we have invaded many countries for no valid reason.



Read More: AMERICA'S BOGUS WARS
https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2019/07/great-book-americas-bogus-wars-since.html

I feel very Patriotic towards California but not much towards the USA... We would be Better Off if At Least Half of the Country was a Different Country.

Idaho, Utah, Texas, the Midwest and the South are a financial drain on the USA... Let those states secede and stop holding us back. 

I do not feel "Patriotic" support for our Military Industrial Complex. Whenever I'm called upon to "Support the Troops" I reject that Idea because it's an all volunteer army. The Military has not defended the country in my lifetime. SO, all those Volunteers are Brainwashed Dupes and I do not support them. They should go AWOL. Refuse to murder. Come home and Get Real Jobs.

Divest from the War Machine. Invest in stocks from Companies that make useful stuff. It's a waste of engineering talent to design weapons. The Merchants of Death are destroying the USA.

Once we understand that we have been lied to... AWAKENING HAPPENS. 

Great Documentary: Enemies of Peace.

Increase quantity of Jobs using Solar and Wind Energy. 

Green Power = More Jobs. 

Frree Coloring Book - Bicycle Power Generator
 feel free to print this drawing and color it using felt pens 

My Dad was a WW2 Veteran. He Worked as a Typist in the War Crimes Trials about The Bataan Death March in Manila, the Phillipines - General Homma was Convicted and Executed for Crimes Against Humanity

Dad was given a test when drafted and he proved that he could type fast on a typewriter... so he was stationed in an office in Manila. Often students would interview dad on veterans day and write newspaper articles about him.

The History of the Baatan Death March is Clear... General Homma Deserved to Die for War Crimes... One Day he decided the American Prisoners should Move from One Prison to Another One... The Australian Army offered to Use Their Trucks to Move the Prisoners from one Prison to The Other. General Homma said NO... The Prisoners MUST WALK... and Hundreds of Soldiers Died Walking in the Intense Heat... 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March

War crimes trial

In September 1945, General Masaharu Homma was arrested by Allied troops and indicted for war crimes.^[36] Homma was charged with 43 different counts of crimes against humanity.^[37] Homma was found guilty of permitting members of his command to commit "brutal atrocities and other high crimes".^[38] The general, who had been absorbed in his efforts to capture Corregidor after the fall of Bataan, claimed in his defense that he remained ignorant of the high death toll of the death march until two months after the event.^[39] Homma's verdict was predicated on respondeat superior, but with an added liability standard, since the latter could not be rebutted.^[40] On February 26, 1946, he was sentenced to death by firing squad, and was executed on April 3, 1946, outside Manila.^[36]

On Facebook, my friends Posted:

HWP: My dad served in the Philippines as well.

MW: my dad too, he was in a pow camp. for 3 1/2 years

HWP: Oh Michael, how horrible for him! God bless those men who fought for our freedom that we tend to take for granted!

KD: Greg, my dad was in the Philippines too during WW2. He never did anything as interesting as your dad. He was too young. He did get to go to Japan when the war was over.

CR: My Dad was a paratrooper with the 101st "Screaming Eagles" he didn't talk about it much he jumped behind the lines in the Battle of the Bulge.

HWP: My dad was a civil engineer and was in the Seebees. I think that's how you spell it. He told some stories to my brother and sister and me, but it wasn't until he got Alzheimer's disease he started remembering the horrors of what he had seen. I had never seen my father cry until then. He was tormented with the memories he had stuffed way down and had bubbled to the surface.

PRM: A friend of my folks was part of the Bataan Death March. He died at age 59, his health was severely compromised as result.

HWP: I too knew a man who had been forced to walk on the Bataan Death March.

KOK: My grandfather was shot in France, but he made a full recovery. And not by a German soldier either, but by a French fascist guerrilla, weeks after the Germans had already surrendered in France.

JVD: So sorry Pam. In gratitude for his service, may he rest in peace .

DSW:  My dad flew a P47 fighter. He was shot down in Jan.'45. They told his parents and my mom he was presumed dead. He was actually in a German prison camp that was eventually liberated by Patton. Got home June 14, 1945.

CR:  I've read several books on the Bataan Death march. It's heart breaking to learn what our soldiers endured. I can never do enough to thank them.

JT: My 4 year old father and his family was shipped to a relocated camp in the desert for being of Japanese heritage by the US govt. Bless our veterans for fighting for our freedom, but we civilians have to do our part to ensure we don't allow government to take away those freedoms.

HWP: John, I'm sorry about your family's experience. I absolutely agree with you that we should never allow that to happen again in our country!

My Dad also brought back dried Moths. 4 inch wingspan. It's incredible to imagine what they would be like fluttering around... especially in swarms of a hundred or more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.com

I was born in San Jose Hospital in 1954. Lived on Hedding Street in the flight path for the Airport. When I was six, they started landing Jet Airplanes and all the people had to leave our neighborhood. We moved to Los Gatos and we moved the House my grandpa built to Almaden. They just picked it up and put it on a truck... 

GET ALL US SOLDIERS OUT OF SAUDI ARABIA - Let Them Fight Their Own Wars - Remember 9/11? That was a Saudi Arabian Attack! Osama bin Laden and 14 of the Hijackers were Saudis

Why are we Rushing to Defend Our Enemies?  Is Trump a SLAVE to Mohammed bin Salman?

HEADLINE: U.S. to deploy military forces to Saudi Arabia, UAE after drone attacks on oil sites
"The president has approved the deployment of U.S. forces which will be defensive in nature," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/u-s-deploy-military-forces-saudi-arabia-after-drone-attacks-n1057216


HEADLINE: Robert Mueller helped Saudi Arabia cover up its role in 9/11 attacks: suit... 
https://nypost.com/2019/09/07/robert-mueller-helped-saudi-arabia-cover-up-its-role-in-9-11-attacks-suit/

HEADLINE: Trump Administration Turns Over Official’s Name Amid Dispute Over Saudi Role in 9/11 Attacks. The limited disclosure, which follows pressure from victims’ families, comes amid strained U.S. relations with Riyadh... 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-to-release-name-of-saudi-official-who-allegedly-helped-9-11-hijackers-11568317330

ARMED TrumpNiks Will Be Unhappy WHEN He Loses in 2020. Will He Refuse to Leave the White House and Crown Himself CZAR? Will TrumpNiks Surround Him and Use Assault Rifles to Prevent the US ARMY from Defending Democracy? Will They Start the Second Civil War?

 Will It Will Be Fun To Watch on TV? 
I Certainly DO NOT Plan to Participate in Any Riots... 
Nope, Not Me! That's for YOUNG People! 

Opinion: What are the chances that America’s disunion turns into Civil War? Strong rhetoric and violence on both sides of the political spectrum are reaching a fever pitch.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-are-the-chances-that-americas-disunion-turns-into-civil-war-2018-11-07

Boston University Historian Answers: Are We Headed for Another Civil War? Mueller report has Democrats and Republicans feuding—just how bad could it get?
http://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/are-we-headed-for-another-civil-war/


Groups like Antifa and Alt-right, who lack any centralized structure and are both incapable and unwilling to coordinate on the national level can use their decentralization to their advantage. They would wage asymmetric warfare, aimed at maximum effect through violence and casualties.
https://foreignpolicyi.org/what-a-second-american-civil-war-might-look-like/

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

and some people are trying to Make a Buck on the Fear!

Selling "Investment Advice" for a Post Apocalyptic World...
or selling Psychedelic Art Painted on a Coffee Cup!

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~

Underwater Paradise Mug FOR SALE!

Plenty of room for Words on this Coffee Cup... or just enjoy it as a Tropical Fish Fantasy... with no fish... oops!

Underwater Paradise Mug
by gregvan

Is America On the Brink of Civil War?

Written by a group Called "The Outsider Club" 
(FREE! Investment Advice)
 Nick Hodge: 111 Market Place #720 
Baltimore, MD 21202 

Tel: (855) 877-8623

https://secure.outsiderclub.com/51317

Something big is looming...

I know you've felt it in the pit of your stomach... that feeling that the market is going up for all the wrong reasons and will soon come crashing down, yet again...

That feeling that somehow, somewhere along the way, America has gone terribly wrong.

I can't tell you when things got this bad.

I can't tell you why millions of Americans continue to vote for the most corrupt government in U.S. history, hoping the next guy will somehow be better than the last... or when money from their corporate masters overtook the concerns of you and me.

But I will tell you that people are starting to notice. And they're not happy about it.

Colorado, Texas, Maryland, and California all have secession movements underway. Congress is so divided, it actually allowed the government to shut down.

Some are saying it's a Civil War-type environment.

It's no wonder more citizens think the American Dream is dead than alive.

And you may be one of tens of millions of Americans who agree. If so, you'll love this...

I recently created a highly controversial report outlining some of the main reasons this country has gone downhill... and what concerned citizens like you are doing about it.

It's called: "America: On the Brink of Civil War?"

It's a must-read for anyone afraid of disappearing rights and liberties, or for anyone simply wondering, “What the hell is going on in America?”


And I'd like to give it to you...

I don't think we are going to HAVE an Election in 2020. If Trump Loses, He will declare the Election FAKE and remain in the White House as CZAR.

 Defended by GUN NUTS just like they did in Oregon This week... They keep on Talking about the coming Civil War and... IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE. 

AMERICA IS HEADED TOWARDS A CIVIL WAR

 L.T. SMASH 

http://www.returnofkings.com/191926/america-is-headed-towards-a-civil-war

The people of a nation must have common ideological, economic, political, and social ideas they agree upon or the nation, the civilization, will eventually die. Civil war is coming to the United States. Division, contention, fear, and silent invasion are being used to “reshape America.” The civil war that will emerge in the United States will not be like the previous one. This war will be for the mind and heart of the United States. It will be for the soul of the United States. What will we do when this occurs and what will be rebuilt.

HOW THE SECOND AMERICAN CIVIL WAR WILL UNFOLD

 L.T. SMASH

https://www.returnofkings.com/192863/how-the-second-american-civil-war-will-unfold

The coming U.S. Civil War will not have the same outcome as the U.S. Civil War in the 19th Century. As society breaks down, other parts of our economy and civilization break down. Businesses will cease to operate. General services will become unavailable, and confidence in government is destroyed. The legal framework is being destroyed because justice is denied because of ideological lies. When the legal framework is destroyed, the entitlement among the population mindset will lead to murder, rape, destruction of property, starvation for some, and cannibalism for others.

There is no civilization without law and order. A barbaric society is a society with little or no law and order. When Europeans came to the Americas, they brought civilization, i.e. law and order, with them. While there were atrocities committed, the overall effect of European influence was to civilize, to bring law and order, to the peoples in the Americas.

One of the signs of barbarity, or the lack of law and order, is the systematic killing of babies and children (this includes unborn babies). Other signs of barbarity are the lack of children born in the bulk of a nation’s marriages and the decline of marriage.

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE: He was arrested for REPORTING about the US Military Murdering Civilians in Iraq. The people that ACTUALLY COMMITTED THE MURDERS have NOT been arrested. That's Backwards!

 And now the US Government has dusted off "Espionage Act" Laws [over a Hundred Years Old] to Charge him. The Espionage Act was written to force Americans to go Fight in World War One. At that time most Americans did not want to go all the way over to EUROPE to fight in SOMEONE ELSE'S WAR... Most Americans lived on Farms and Young Men were needed to do work and harvest the crops. No time or enthusiasm to go Halfway around the world to die. 

Why do American Laws Apply to Julian Assange at all? Wikileaks started in ICELAND and has Offices in Sweden... SO... How do USA Laws Apply? FREE JULIAN ASSANGE... FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IS IMPORTANT.

WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organisation that publishes news leaks,[5] and classified media provided by anonymous sources.[6] Its website, initiated in 2006 in Iceland by the organisation Sunshine Press,[7] claimed in 2016 to have released online 10 million documents in its first 10 years.[8] Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director.[9] Since September 2018, Kristinn Hrafnsson has served as its editor-in-chief.[10][11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks

Ads on TV Make Killing for the US Army look FUN... Before anyone Joins, Ask a Veteran How Much Fun War is... I interviewed Hundreds of PTSD Homeless Veterans when I worked at The Welfare Office... All felt ABUSED by the Military.

The Fundamental Flaw with Killing People for The Fake Wars Started by the US Government is that IT'S NOT AT ALL LIKE A VIDEO GAME... 

City of Flint sorry for not warning residents of Army drill explosions. The Army Just went in and shot the place up with guns and rockets...

https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/06/flint_officials_apologize_for.html
FLINT, MI -- A city of Flint spokesman apologized today, June 3, for not notifying neighbors on Flint's east side in advance of Army training that included thunderous explosions this week.

"We apologize that the timing of the public notification was a little bit off," city spokesman Jason Lorenz said. "In the future, as the military is working, we will try to let people know as early (as possible) in advance that this is going on."

The city said in a news release Tuesday that residents should expect until June 12 to hear noises associated with Army training and to see military helicopters at locations that have not been disclosed.

Military Madness in Flint, Michigan

Let's reduce the defense budget to half by ending CrazyWars... I wonder what the Mission is... Any GOAL? Anything?

 Obviously, It's not to defend the USA. The Military has not Defended the USA since 1945. There was a real attack on us on 9/11/2001 but the military failed to protect the country. Total Failure... So there must be some other reason we have invaded Vietnam, Nicaragua, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Is it simply to sell weapons to the Pentagon? Whenever we have a war we sell a lot of weapons, meals, tents, bandages, trucks, and airplanes... Corporations make a great profit. Soldiers die, civilians die, enemies die, but nothing is really accomplished. After all, what difference did it make who won the war in Nicaragua? None. It made a difference to the people of Nicaragua but it had no effect on life here in the USA. None of these Crazy Wars have made any difference to the people of the USA. NONE! The only military action that made any sense was the dozen men that assassinated Osama bin Laden. That was a worthwhile mission.

Therefore, It's really important to remember to NOT VOLUNTEER for the military. I saw President Trump talking at a Wounded Warrior Event today and it reminded me that all those people VOLUNTEERED to go die for nothing. OOPS, they got wounded because ___________. Fill in the blank if you know why. Was it simply because they couldn't find a civilian job and the military was hiring? Was it because they saw a John Wayne movie and got all inspired? Was it because they were easily brainwashed?

If we cut defense spending in half we could afford many wonderful things. We could prevent hunger 100%. We could pay for health care for all. We could pay for great school for all. We could pay teachers more... Not only is defense money wasted but people's lives are wasted also. The engineers that invented drone airplanes could have been designing better electric cars... BUT, they wasted their talents making drones... Most soldiers spend their entire career without once doing anything of value. What IF we hired them to rebuild our infrastructure? We have roads that need paving but no money to fund construction crews. WHAT IF WE STARTED BEING SMART?

So, what can one person DO to end Crazywar? Vote Democratic... and write to your representatives and ask them to stop funding stupid stuff. For example: You could copy and paste this message and email it to them.

I oppose sending US ARMY troops to the Border with Mexico to enforce US Laws. It's a step towards MARTIAL LAW - POLICE STATE.

One of the arguments for keeping the Second Amendment to the Constitution is that we may need guns to fight against the US Government. Ruby Ridge. Waco... An armed militia can prevent a dictatorship from taking over our Country...

WELL, Using US Army Troops to enforce US Laws is NOT FREEDOM. It's TYRANNY...

My Dad was a WW2 Veteran. Worked in the War Crimes Trials about Bataan Death March

My dad was in WW2 in the Philippines... He was given a test when drafted and he proved that he could type on a typewriter... so he was stationed in an office in Manila. He worked on the War Crimes Trials about the Bataan Death March. They convicted the Japanese General Masaharu Homma and he was executed by firing squad. Often students would interview dad on veterans day and write newspaper articles about him.

On Facebook, my friends Posted:

HWP: My dad served in the Philippines as well.

MW: my dad too, he was in a pow camp. for 3 1/2 years

HWP: Oh Michael, how horrible for him! God bless those men who fought for our freedom that we tend to take for granted!

KD: Greg, my dad was in the Philippines too during WW2. He never did anything as interesting as your dad. He was too young. He did get to go to Japan when the war was over.

CR: My Dad was a paratrooper with the 101st "Screaming Eagles" he didn't talk about it much he jumped behind the lines in the Battle of the Bulge.

HWP: My dad was a civil engineer and was in the Seebees. I think that's how you spell it. He told some stories to my brother and sister and me, but it wasn't until he got Alzheimer's disease he started remembering the horrors of what he had seen. I had never seen my father cry until then. He was tormented with the memories he had stuffed way down and had bubbled to the surface.

PRM: A friend of my folks was part of the Bataan Death March. He died at age 59, his health was severely compromised as result.

HWP: I too knew a man who had been forced to walk on the Bataan Death March.

KOK: My grandfather was shot in France, but he made a full recovery. And not by a German soldier either, but by a French fascist guerrilla, weeks after the Germans had already surrendered in France.

JVD: So sorry Pam. In gratitude for his service, may he rest in peace .

DSW:  My dad flew a P47 fighter. He was shot down in Jan.'45. They told his parents and my mom he was presumed dead. He was actually in a German prison camp that was eventually liberated by Patton. Got home June 14, 1945.

CR:  I've read several books on the Bataan Death march. It's heart breaking to learn what our soldiers endured. I can never do enough to thank them.

JT: My 4 year old father and his family was shipped to a relocated camp in the desert for being of Japanese heritage by the US govt. Bless our veterans for fighting for our freedom, but we civilians have to do our part to ensure we don't allow government to take away those freedoms.

HWP: John, I'm sorry about your family's experience. I absolutely agree with you that we should never allow that to happen again in our country!

My Dad also brought back dried Moths. 4 inch wingspan. It's incredible to imagine what they would be like fluttering around... especially in swarms of a hundred or more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.com

I was born in San Jose Hospital in 1954. Lived on Hedding Street in the flight path for the Airport. When I was six, they started landing Jet Airplanes and all the people had to leave our neighborhood. We moved to Los Gatos and we moved the House my grandpa built to Almaden. They just picked it up and put it on a truck...