..."tear down this wall!"

It was 26 years ago yesterday that President Reagan, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, challenged ... "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Words have meaning and some will live forever in our memories, whether we heard them in our lifetimes or learned them many years after they were first spoken.  School children are familiar with Patrick Henry's
   ..."as for  me, give me liberty or give me death,"  but they will have to also learn, as their parents are learning every day, these words by Chief Justice Marshall, "The power to tax is the power to destroy."

That has us crying for help, "Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax the man behind the tree."

We face biggest threat ever to our freedoms

Benghazi foul up and cover up; State Department sex scandal and cover up; attacks on news media and on reporters; IRS criminality-- all together they pale  beside the shattering of the Fourth Amendment and the invasion of the privacy to which we are entitled.

The action giving Obama and his administration the means to incarcerate or kill any American citizen could be the biggest threat to our freedom since the founding of this nation.  Think about this; drones have already been used by the United States to kill Americans.

   Fun for Shellbacks  --not so much for us Pollywogs.

Will no one rid me of this turbulent group?

Most likely there is nothing in writing where Barack Obama directed the IRS to attack tea parties and other conservative groups that were supporting his opponent.  However, his  speeches and the campaign ads left no doubt that this was what he wanted.  He used a government department for political purposes.

Americans have a right to be disturbed to learn that this administration is gathering information on every citizen while saying "just trust me." What is going to stop Obama from mining the information to search out those opposed to Obamacare, for example, and sick the IRS on them?

Shellback initiation

June 10, 1945.  We were crossing the equator and our ship had been taken over with the Royal Navigator in charge.  Initiation of all the Pollywogs on board, who were to be tried and punished for their crimes, with the first  initiate being the captain.

 My lasting impression is of being blasted with the full force of a fire hose.  Next was having your crimes listed and  being told your punishment, which included kissing the baby, being placed in stocks and shocked, given a dental treatment with a plumbing brush, almost drowned in a tank until you uttered shellback a few times.  At the end of your ordeal you slid down a greased and slanted board while shellbacks beat you with clubs.  As you reached the bottom of the board and with barely enough energy to rise, Davy Jones used a trident to give you another shock. All in all, a real fun experience.

After all I went through, I cannot prove I'm a Shellback; my locker was broken into months later and my wallet was stolen.  It was assumed that the perpetrator was the same guy who broke into the ship's post office.  The shipmate serving as postmaster was required to repay all the funds stolen or he would not be able to be bonded in the future.

(I posted some pictures showing initiation activities, but I was unable to attach them to this account of the initiation. Two pictures show the court of Neptune Rex.  A picture made two days earlier depicts Davey Jones telling the captain that the ship will cross the equator June 10 and Pollywogs will be initiated into the mysteries of the sea.  Please note the slide; thank goodness it was greased; the faster one slid the less time Shellbacks had to wield their clubs.

All pictures were taken by Mark White, pharmacist mate and ship photographer.  He was a Shellback and his position in the court was as  Royal Photographer.  The late Mark White was the father of John White, who provided the photos and much other material about the Pickens.

How true

Thirty-five years ago we had Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash and Bob Hope. Today we have Obama, no cash and no hope.

Davy Jones comes on board USS Pickens

To shipmates -- Let's go back to June 8, 1945.  The USS Pickens, traveling with other APA's and an AKA, was headed to New Caledonia when Davy Jones and his one-legged companion, came on board and informed the captain that the ship would cross the equator June 10.  At that time Neptune Rex would board the ship and all Pollywogs would be initiated into the mystic rites of the sea.