USS Pickens at Okinawa

Yes, I know, I wrote about the invasion of Okinawa on April l the last two years, and I am going to commemorate this event as long as I am able. Sixty-seven years ago on Easter morning the battle for Okinawa began with an attack by Japanese planes  on the 1200 ships and other crafts of the United States and England.


The  Pickens was second in line behind the USS Hinsdale, APA 120, in column of attack transports carrying the Second Marine Division.  Around 5;;50 a.m. a Japanese plane hit the Hinsdale around the water line, exploding several bombs and blowing holes. Another plane headed for us but did not clear the mast of an LST, fell to the deck and exploded.  We put boats in the water and picked up 735  survivors from LST's-884 and 724 and the Hinsdale.

The Battle of Okinawa has been called the largest sea-land-air battle in history.   . Casualties were very high, 72 thousand for the Allies, over 100 thousand for the Japanese, and tens of thousands civilians. Suicide planes took a heavy toll of our ships and sailors and influenced President Truman to drop the atom bomb and avoid invading the homeland.

The time I slept through the call for Gerneral Quarters

It was early morning March 30, 1945, and the USS Pickens was part of the armada heading for Okinawa. For several days all of the ships were calling General Quarters to be on full alert for possible attacks by Japanese suicide planes. The Japanese  liked to attack at dawn from the east and the rising sun.

On this morning I awoke to an empty compartment and eerie silence.  I had done the unthinkable -- slept through the blaring sound of a call to General Quarters.  I didn't know what time it was but I quickly dressed and headed to an outside deck, thinking it would be the quickest.  There was a problem -- my right leg was asleep and I had to drag it.  As I crossed the boat deck I had to go over a cable.  I couldn't raise the right leg and could only drag it over the greasy cable.

I finally reached the radar shack, only a few minutes late, and nothing was made of it.  Two days later we would face an attack and I would be fully awake during it.

A promise from Obama -- higher utility rates

"If someone wants to build a coal-fired plant, they can but we'll bankrupt them because they will be charged  a huge sum for the greenhouse gases  being emitted."  This is a direct quotation by Obama and it   can be seen and heard all over the internet.

That promise -- or threat -- is being carried out with the new regulations being imposed on coal-fired electric generating plants.  The Obama administration  is convinced this will keep any other such plants from being built and will begin to force others to close.  Remember when Obama made the promise to eliminate coal-fired plants, he also promised much higher utility rates.  Rates have already been increasing and if this summer is hot and dry, brown-outs are certain in parts of the country.

With gasoline prices soaring (which is what the Obama group wants according to the energy secretary) and utility rates doubling, Obama will have a lot of what he promised. 

I have commented many times about energy -- that we must become self-sufficient, which will create jobs, aid the economy, and improve  national security.  We have huge reserves of coal; now we know we have ample supplies of natural gas and enormous reserves of petroleum.  By developing these resources we would create millions of jobs.  To accomplish this we must defeat Obama.

Our interest in annivserary of War Between the States

The writer of the book we are using in Sunday School raved about General Grant demanding unconditional surrender from General Buckner and the Confederates at the Battle of Fort Donelson. I thought this was very inappropriate to say the least. Our lesson was from John's Gospel and the message was that whosoever believes on Jesus Christ shall have everlasting life.

The nation is supposed to be observing the 150th anniversary of the War Between the states, which began April 12 with firing on Fort Sumpter and officially ended with the last shot being fired June 22, 1865.  I hope that this observance will not be used to create bitterness.   Our family has a huge stake in the war.  The eight of us are grandchildren and great grandchildren of former Confederate soldiers.    

Grandfather T. T. Lowe fought in many battles, including Chickamauga (where he was wounded), Atlanta, Nashville (where eight Confederate generals were killed), and finally at Bentonville. After Lee surrendered, his group surrendered, and he was imprisoned for some time

Col. Joseph W. Berry, our great grandfather on the other side of the family, was in the Louisiana state legislature and voted to secede from the union.   Of course, he was out of the legislature while carpetbaggers were in control, but he was later again elected.  Later he was clerk of court for Webster parish.  Whether we want to or not, we have  an interest in how this observance is carried out.

Race for Republican nominee for president needs to end

Today is the election; thank goodness the robo calls have stopped.  I received nine calls Thursday and Friday asking me to vote for Santorum or blasting another  candidate.  No calls for other Republican candidates although I did hear from Wolfe, a Democrat seeking the nomination opposed to Obama.   

I will be happy to see the contest for Republican presidential nominee come to a close.  The longer it goes on the more Obama benefits and I sincerely believe the nation cannot survive four more years of him and the Democrat senate.

As I have said before, I hat e the phone

 I should do away with my land line phone.  Almost every call I get is a solicitation of some kind. Yesterday was a busy day for the phone and I must admit that I wasn't always polite and got rid of  every call as soon as I could. Each time it rang I had to get up and limp to the phone, my hip giving me a high level of pain. I wish there was some way to block the daily calls from credit card companies wanting to reduce my interest rate; I never let a card bill go long enough to pay interest, but they have some gimmick they want me to fall for so they can  get  money out of me. 

My last call was from a pollster.  I went to hang up immediately but waited when the caller said there would be just three questions and would take less than 30 seconds.  He lied; maybe he wasn't counting the questions to determine that I was a male and over 65.  He asked if I was going to vote Saturday; I answered yes.  The next question was who I was voting for; I told him.  Then he wanted to know if I might change my mind -- no. A second choice  -- I gave him one.  Then came this question -- are you a evangelical.  I said no; I don't even know how people define evangelical.  I saw where 35 per cent of the people who call themselves evangelicals believe Santorum is an evangelical even though he said, as a Roman Catholic, that Protestant churches are not Christian.

I am very much opposed to churches getting involved in partisan politics and would walk out of our church if a person running for any office took over the pulpit or the minister said or did anything in favor or against a politician.

Jen babysits in North Carolina

Jen left yesterday for North Carolina to take care of Lily and Oliver while Julie and Mark attend conferences or business meetings.  Jen was looking forward to being with the children until Sunday when she returns home. She will enjoy being with them but I expect she will find it a bigger job than she expected.  Julie had known for some time that the would be attending a conference and then Mark found out the company wanted him to go to Austin for a business meeting.  Jen didn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity to be with the children.  I wish I could have gone but  I have too many physical problems.

This leaves me alone again. Last weekend Jen was off with the Cub Scouts. Thinking about it, for the last several years most of my waking minutes I spend by myself.  I think that as one gets older the added aches and pains are not as bad as the loneliness you have.  It  is much worse for me now that I  can't have a garden or even a flower bed unless I can get help in preparing the soil.