The Forkes Report - HOLIDAYS

Happy Independence Day!

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 06:01:00 -0600

”When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

And so begins the Declaration of Independence, ratified on this date, July 4th, 1776 — 234 years ago. Since then we’ve had a confederation of states, that soon fell way to our current constitution that has now produced 44 presidents — from George Washington, a slave owner, to Barack Obama, the son of an African immigrant.
 It should be noted that Washington came to believe slavery was wrong, but chose not to pursue the abolition of slavery lest it tear apart the new nation, which eventually occurred, about 62 years after he died. But Washington had his slaves freed after his wife, Martha, passed away and set in his will provisions to care for the elderly slaves and educate those who were not of age.

We’ve seen more wars than I care to count, including a great Civil War that claimed the lives of over 600,000 Americans on the field of battle alone.

We’ve had great social and industrial transformations. The Industrial Age may have started in Great Britain, but the United States became the biggest, most industrious and creative force in that period.

We’ve had the Jet Age, the Space Age, the Computer Age, not to mention, the Age of Aquarius!
 When the moon is in the 7th House, and Jupitor aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets and love will rule the stars!
 This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius!

In the 1960’s women and minorities changed the societal conceptions on equality as African-Americans pushed their way to the table of American Democracy. The Women’s Movement soon followed, although today both still have hurdles to overcome for truly equal justice and treatment under the law.

And today we have a Black President; never thought I’d see that in my lifetime. It wouldn’t be a surprise then if we were to have a woman president before I leave This Mortal Coil. We might even have a third party win the presidency, although it won’t be the Tea Party.

So, we’ll have our barbeques, go to the beach, eat ice cream and watch the parades and fire works. But let’s not lose sight of why we celebrate this day. Millions have fought to preserve our independence and millions of those gave their Last Full Measure of Devotion.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence:
 New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
 Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
 Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
 Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
 New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

 New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
 Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
 Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
 Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
 Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
 North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
 South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
 Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

The 13 original colonies that eventually became the 13 original states. These, my friends, are the Founding Fathers, 56 in all. We hear that term bandied about a lot. Well these are the men we are talking about. It is their collective and individual memories we invoke when we use the term, “Founding Fathers.” Use it wisely.

Stay safe and enjoy this 4th of July!

In Memory of Those Who Served

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:01:00 -0600

Today is Memorial Day, 2010. Like every Memorial Day for the past eight years, I’ll be at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery honoring the men and women who gave Their Last Full Measure of Devotion to this country, as well as those who served and were blessed to have lived beyond their service years and died in the Land of the Free. Like my father Carl P.J. Forkes and my brother Carl C. Forkes, who is interred at Fort Rosecrans.
 My favorite snipe at the Navy men in the family — and my friends who served in the Navy — They chose to serve their nation in the Navy, but I chose the military instead when I joined the Marines. D’OH!

Dear Old Dad served in World War II. He signed up for the Navy in January 1942, a little over a month after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. I don’t really know the details of how and why he decided to join the Navy, other than a desire to serve and defend his country, a sentiment shared by millions of his generation at that time.

He became an Electrician’s Mate by chance. According to the Old Man, when a crusty old chief asked for any experienced electricians to step forward, Dad did so, even though he had never had a moment of electrical training or experience.

Whether he had any experience from working on anything electrical on the family farm is questionable; most of the place didn’t get electricity until the late 1930’s at best. But, Dear Old Dad learned a trade in the Navy, while fighting and defeating the Japanese.

Pop didn’t start his Navy career in the Pacific though. First he was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Texas, a mainline battleship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Shortly thereafter he came down with some disease, the specifics of which he never explained, and was sent back to a Naval Hospital in Philadelphia. Maybe Grandma was happy; her son might be spared serving in a war zone and sent home, but that was not the case.

Towards the end of 1942 dad was sent to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to pick up his next duty, a Destroyer Escort: The U.S.S. Wyman, DE-38. Man, that must have been a bummer! From one of the biggest ships of the Navy — the pride of the Navy — to the smallest, most unglamorous ship. Service aboard the corvette may not have been glamorous, but it proved every bit as dangerous as any ship serving in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Destroyer escorts were small, with crews of less than 300. The skippers were generally commanders, or even lieutenant commanders. The job of the DE was to escort convoys and main battle groups, task forces, to and from various locations. They were submarine hunters primarily and DE-38, the Wyman, had two confirmed kills. The first was the Japanese submarine RO-48 on July 19, 1944 and the second, I-55, on July 28, 1944.

Right after sinking the first submarine, the Wyman’s whaler went to investigate the wreckage of the sunken sub and was strafed by friendly planes that thought it was a surfaced Japanese submarine. None were killed, although several men had been injured.

Afterwards, the Wyman served on escort duty, with time spent in “Taffy 38,” the task group charged with the invasion of the Philippines, and then with duty in the operations to invade Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The war ended for Dad when the Japanese signed the instrument for surrender on September 2, 1945.

Young Carl’s story is different. He joined the Navy early in 1963 and served aboard the U.S.S. Pickaway, APA 222, from 1964-1967. Most of his time was spent taking Marines to and from the Western Pacific, with occasional stops in Hawaii, Guam and The Philippines. He saw the effects of war up close as Marines returning to San Diego from Vietnam would board the Pickaway for the arduous ride home.

Most people remember American forces getting to and from Vietnam by aircraft, but for a while, the Marines were arriving the old fashioned way: by taxi. Carl and I used to pick on each other with our inter-service rivalry and I always referred to Carl and the Navy as the Marine Corps’ taxi service.

The most memorable exercise Carl and his crewmates participated in was landing the 2/9 — 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment — on the beaches of Da Nang, South Vietnam. That was July 7, 1966.

Carl was supposed to start his Navy career as a radioman, but due to circumstances entirely in his control, he became a boatswain (pronounced “bosun”). Entirely in his control? Well, let’s just say he failed to meet the daily requirements needed to graduate “C” School.

He eventually moved from being a deck ape to the radar room, but I never lost the pleasure of calling him a boatswain’s mate!

Both my brother and dad have passed on, Dad over 30 years ago and Carl just under four years ago. His ashes are interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery and it is for him primarily I attend the Memorial Day Service at that cemetery every year.

We all served, and those who lived to tell the tale are every bit as important as those who gave their lives in defense of this nation. All gave some; some gave all. And for that we should all be grateful.

Semper Fi My Friends!

Happy Easter!

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:01:00 -0600

For two days my little site here as been off the Internets. Couldn’t figure out why. So, after having breakfast with about 500 of my closest friends this morning, I called the web hosting company to find out what’s up. Turns out the domain name had expired and needed an infusion of cash to continue on. Took care of that and voila! The Forkes Report is back in the Internet tubes!

Gosh, I’m going to miss Ted Stevens. As you may recall he was the Alaskan senator who was driven from office by an over zealous Justice Department — a Republican Administration Justice Department. It was the Obama Justice Department in 2009 that set the wrong right after Attorney General Eric Holder said there had been severe prosecutorial misconduct in the case. Guess it takes a Democrat to do the job right.

Anyway, it was Ted Stevens who called the Internet a series of tubes. To be fair, Stevens was using the phrase as an analogy, but it was a real stupid one.

But, we still have Tom Coburn and James Inhofe of Oklahoma in the Senate, not to mention Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Oh! And let’s not forget Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota! The laughs just keep coming!

Today is Easter Sunday when all Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. I would like to wish all my family and friends who celebrate this holiday a Happy Easter. The Spring Equinox came on March 20, also a day of celebration for many religions. Missed it.

Obviously the previous post was an April Fools prank. Sadly few people fell for it. I thought it was convincing enough, but apparently the photo of me wearing a Hooters t-shirt sort of gave it away. That and the people who know me best … sigh … just knew it was a joke. Why doesn’t anyone believe I could be a Catholic Priest? I should join a seminary just to prove them all wrong!

Or not.

Happy Easter Elaine. You will be at the table — in our hearts.
•••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• •••• ••••
Wow! We just had a big earthquake! Shook everything pretty violently! According to the U.S. Geological Service, it was a magnitude 7.2 quake, about 16 miles S/SW of Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico; about 110 miles from San Diego, CA. It happened at 3:43 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

March Out!

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:01:00 -0600

Today is the last day of the month. A year ago today I was in the Veterans Administrations Medical Center in La Jolla recovering from cardiac bypass surgery. Sharing a room with an old man, an old crazy man. My, how time flies.

Today, my sister Elaine is still in a hospital recovering from a March 10 surgery that had a complication. She is doing much better now, but she expected to be home in time for Easter, which is now just four days away. We all hope Lainey will be released next week sometime. I get teary thinking of my little sister in the hospital.

Her son is Dan and his blog is posted at the upper left of this page; Eschew Obfuscation. Nothing to note about Young Dan, other than he raises some interesting topics I wouldn’t have thought of, but he thinks on a much different plane.

• Did you know that on this day in 1917 the United States took possession of the Virgin Islands? News to me, but what the Hell, now we have a place in the Caribbean we can call all our own! Don’t need a passport to go there!

• A year later we adopted Daylight Savings Time. Springing ahead gives us more useable daylight hours so employers can effectively get more overtime — hopefully unpaid — out of their employees.

A year after World War I, Daylight Savings Time was repealed, sort of brought back for World War II to save energy and then made official in 1973 by decree of President Nixon to once again save energy. Our energy consumption has been steadily rising since then. And I have to get out of bed an hour earlier? Sheesh.

• On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot (and almost died) by crazy man, John Hinckley, Jr. who was trying to impress Jodie Foster. And people wonder why I was so worried about sharing a hospital room with a crazy man.
 Just for the record, regardless of how I feel about the political leanings of our public figures, I don’t advocate, promote or condone violence and assassination as a means of changing our national policy.
 John Hinckley had no political ambitions, he was just crazy, but either way, he should not be allowed to roam free in public.

Not much happens at the end of March, although we are on the cusp of Easter or into Holy Week at least, the most sacred time of year for all Christians. My sister Elaine is a Good Catholic and I won’t make any jokes at her or her religion’s expense. She takes this week quite seriously, as our mother did when we were growing up.

Good Catholics will go to church nearly every day, if only to mark the Stations of the Cross. Thursday through Sunday of course are the really sacred days of Holy Week: marking Passover and the Last Supper (Thursday), Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, Saturday, which is a day of mourning and then Easter Sunday when Jesus was said to have risen from the dead.

Scripture says Jesus was to rise from the grave “three days” after his crucifixion, but really, it was only two days. Anyway, this is the Holiest time of year for Christians.

Me, I’m more into bunnies, chocolate and otherwise. My friend Alan was commenting about this blog and was dismayed at the lack of bunnies of the otherwise variety. He and I share political views and that’s what we usually talk about when we see each other — that and riding bicycles.

Alan is the guy who, seven years ago, convinced me to buy a bicycle, a Trek no less. That is how the Trusty Trek came into my possession. Alan rides road bikes and is quite an accomplished rider. He’s conquered, on several occasions, the Pomerado Road Grade, a long, steep climb that boggles my ideas of riding bikes.

He said he hasn’t ridden his bike for a while. Get your ass off the couch and onto your Trek, old man! We ain’t getting any younger! Yeah, it gets harder, boy is that apparent, but as we get older we have to continue riding. Even if it’s only two laps around Lake Miramar.

Alan and I hadn’t seen each other in months, but Monday when we met, his first topic was the lack of bunnies of the otherwise variety these past few weeks. So, my friend, bunnies you can appreciate.

For me, I’d like a chocolate bunny, with some of those marshmallow bunnies, peeps. I love those, and jelly beans, chocolate eggs filled with sweet stuff and more chocolate. Candy!

Then of course there is Easter Dinner. Usually, in our house it was ham, or maybe the occasional leg of lamb. Mom was Greek and her Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary would often cook a leg of lamb for Easter.

This year Easter falls on the same Sunday for the Catholic and the Greek Orthodox Churches. Back in the day this would have been an Easter Dinner with a leg of lamb. Don’t know what I’ll have for Easter Dinner this year, maybe a nice ham with all the goodies.

Sadly, my doctors and nutritionists would all say none of this should be on my menu this year, or any year in the future. Fortunately, I’m not telling them what’s on my mind for Easter. But they’re right, none of it, the ham with all the goodies, the chocolate and other candy, ought not me on my menu, but it’s Easter!

So, here’s to the end of March and the beginning of April! And here’s to Elaine’s speedy recovery! May she get home soon and have an Easter Dinner of her own, albeit a week late.