Monday Facts

Fact:  I missed posting and reading Monday facts during December.

Fact:  Irene and I moved on December 10, 2011. Shannon, Sonja, Madilynn, Bryttany, and friends Larry and Alex did the complete move for us. They loaded and unloaded the UHaul. Praise God for their help!

Fact:  Irene and I love our new place. It is a small apartment, but what the heck? It is only us two now, oh yeah, and Fi Fi. It is cozy and warm.

Fact:  We froze for seven winters in our previous home. If there is one thing I will not miss about that house it is the freezing cold during the winter.

Fact: I now have a galley kitchen. It is unbelievably small. I am still having a difficult time getting use to cooking in it. I love the rest of the apartment but the kitchen is terrible. It is really for a single guy who lives on peanut butter sandwiches, potato chips, and soda. There is not even enough counter space for my griddle, I now use three pans for breakfast (in place of the griddle) to cook bacon, eggs, and hash browns. It was a dark- comedy trying to cook black bean soup yesterday and baked Cornish game hens. (This is not the kitchen, it was just a shot of a galley kitchen to use as an example.)

Fact:  We had a wonderful "Christmas." Irene went down to Sonja's on Saturday to help prepare Christmas dinner. I got up leisurely, had biscuits and gravy and then gathered with the body at Coal Creek. I then drove down to Vancouver and enjoyed Christmas dinner with Irene, daughters Shannon and Sonja, granddaughters Madilynn and Bryttany, and nephew and niece Dan and Lupe. We had ham and a great roast.

Fact:  My niece Lupe gave me a framed picture of the plaque and four rocks from the Areopagus where Paul preached on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece. Yes I am pretending Paul stood on or held those very rocks.

Fact:  We spent New Year's Eve at home watching Season Six of Law and Order. Very quiet, very safe, and very cozy. Stayed up this year and watched 2012 arrive, usually I go to bed early and miss the arrival of the new year.

Fact:  After being assigned to HMM-261 and transferring to HMH-461 MCAS New River, NC, I was ordered to join VMA-211 a light anti aircraft bomber stationed in Iwakuni, Japan. I was the NBC NCO, Training NCO, and Operations Clerk. My overseas tour was for 13 months and included Okinawa (The Rock) and Olongapo City, Philippines.

Marine Attack Squadron 211 (VMA-211) is a United States Marine Corps attack squadron consisting of AV-8B Harrier (V/STOL) jets, known as the "Wake Island Avengers."

VMA-211 can trace its lineage to January 1, 1937 when Marine Fighting Squadron 4 (VF-4M) was activated at Naval Air Station San Diego, California. Although it was the second time a VF-4M had existed, the previous one was decommissioned in 1931 and it was not considered the same squadron. The squadron was decommissioned in 1933 but was recommissioned as VF-8M in 1935. On July 1, 1937 VF-8M was re-designated Marine Fighting Squadron 2 (VMF-2) and by the end of the year, had completely reequipped with Grumman F3F-2s which replaced F3F-1s and a few even older F2F-1s. The squadron participated in annual Fleet Problems while at San Diego and even played a part in the making of the movie "Dive Bomber." Several future Medal of Honor recipients served with the squadron during this period, including Henry Elrod, Robert Galer, and Gregory (Pappy) Boyington. In January 1941, the squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Hawaii and was re-designated VMF-211 on July 1, 1941.

With escalation of the Vietnam War, VMA-211 moved to Japan in 1965 and commenced the first of four deployments to the Republic of Vietnam. In August 1976, the squadron returned to MCAS El Toro.

VMA-211 was deployed in the spring of 1972 to Naha Air Force base on Okinawa and within three months was redeployed to Bien Hoa Air Base in Viet Nam. It was the only strategic American fighting unit left in Viet Nam except for small Army Air Cav unit in Bien Hoa.

In September 1987, the squadron celebrated an aviation milestone when it passed 30 years of flying the McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. After successfully completing the last overseas deployment with the A-4M Skyhawk in 1989, VMA-211 began transferring these aircraft to the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing in preparation for transition to the AV-8B Night Attack aircraft. In June 1990 the squadron began flying the Night Attack variant of the Harrier. During this time the Avengers were awarded Marine Corps Aviation Association "Attack Squadron of the Year" three times, in 1995, 1996, and 1998.

In September 2000, the squadron began introduction of the latest Harrier variant, the AV-8B II+ radar aircraft. The squadron soon fielded a complement of both Radar and Night Attack Harriers.

 



Fact:  Fi Fi likes working at the apartment offfice. Everyone loves her, gives her treats, and is spoiling her rotten. I should be treated this well. The tenants call her the "Assistant Manager."

Fact:  Web Pierce was a great singer. He did a great job on "I Can't Help It if I am Still in Love with You." But He ain't no Hank Williams. Still love the original. However, it still didn't stop me from turning him up and rockin' the office a bit.

Fact: He put in a pool at his Nashville home in the shape of his guitar. That's Web standing on the diving board.