DEMOCRAT CANDIDATES FACE VOCAL PROTESTS

ANNUAL EVENT MARRED BY RIOT AND ARRESTS
Public Wants Prez Candidates to take Polygraph and MMA Challenge

Des Moines, IA (Nov.11, 2007) Every November the Democratic State Party of Iowa hosts the Jefferson-Jackson dinner. Normally, this is a fund raising event and an opportunity for rising stars in the Party to introduce themselves to the public in a state that takes retail politics seriously. During a presidential campaign season, even more emphasis is assigned to this unusually bland and staid affair. Last night was anything but normal or usual here.

Outside the Veterans Memorial Arena where upwards of 9000 Party activists gathered to hear six democratic presidential hopefuls speak, the scene was raucous and rowdy. As the unseasonably mild night progressed, tempers flared, and various groups of protesters erupted into an angry, violent mob. The des Moines Police were caught off guard by this atypical scene. It was reported later that most of the DMPD officers assigned to the event were actually inside the arena eating some of the left over brautwursts, shredded pork, corn dogs, corn fritters and creamed corn from the earlier banquet. “Had all the cops who should have stayed on their assigned posts outside the arena, things would probably have not gotten so out of hand so quickly”, commented Major Burle Bumphfiester from the Iowa State Patrol.

The protests and riot last night capped off what was a very difficult week for the candidates in Iowa. Dogged by questions related to the two “challenges” issued to the them, the democratic candidates were met with hostile crowds and persistent reporters at every event. This was supposed to be a big week for them here, with the First in the Nation Iowa Caucuses just eight weeks away. Instead, their standard stump speeches and usual blather were not well received by the usually polite, docile Iowans. Many groups from outside of Iowa sent scores of protesters into this state, some to express support for the candidate of their choice, others to be as disruptive as possible.

Last nights riot was triggered by a contingent of protesters representing the Mud Wrestling Midget Tossing Association had an angry clash with the Lesbians Transgender Action Committee. Once these two groups became physical it appeared that the 2000 or so other protesters became enraged and were no long content to just carry signs and yell their causes slogans.

While the protesters seemed to represent very diverse groups, they seemed to share their support for the Democratic Presidential Candidate Polygraph Challenge as well as the UFC offer to have the candidates fight each other in the Octagon. “You’re goddamned right I want to see them all hooked up to a polygraph and I want to see them kickin the ever lovin crap outta each other”, said Earle Belcher from the organization, Bikers United Against Genital Warts.

While the riot was relatively quickly subdued, inside the Arena, the Party faithful heard the six candidates present deliver their standard pitches. Senator Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton appeared to step up their contest within a contest. Each made pointed references to the other yet neither moved non-committed voters their way. At one point Senator Obama called Hillary a controlling, castrating bitch who is so confused about her own sexual identity that she would be ineffective as president”. Mrs. Clinton, who revealed a violent somewhat psychotic side this week, countered during her speech that “My opponent from Illinois can’t answer a straight question, has no record in the Senate and would invite Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Ill and Hugo Chavez to the White House for Kwanzaa. Give me a fuckin’ break”.

“I like Hillary and Mr. Obama. I really don’t know who I will vote for. I sorta wish that little guy that looks like an alien was here”’ said Dolores Udder from Dung Flats, Iowa referring to Dennis Kucinich. Aides to the Ohio Congressman said that Kucinich had decided to skip the Jefferson-Jackson banquet to devote time to his physical training. According to these unnamed sources, Mr. Kucinich is planning to announce this week his decision to accept both the “Polygraph” and UFC Challenges. “Dennis feels very strongly that the public has the right to see the candidates be asked questions under polygraph. That is what makes this country great. Dennis also thinks it is very important that American’s are sure that the next president is tough, strong and can take a punch. He plans on fighting everyone of his democratic opponents in the Octagon and is also considering challenging Dick Cheney to a duel. Most folks outside Cleveland don’t realize that despite his sickly, leukemic looks and malnourished appearance, he was a gifted wrestler in grade school and one beat a stray dog with a stick. He’s no pushover.” It has been rumored that Kucinich has secreted himself in an isolated camp somewhere in California with a group of professional trainers, athletes, coaches, swamis and New Age herbalists. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that the Kucinich training team includes Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, Pete Rose, George Foreman and luminaries from the world of MMA including Tim “The Maniac” Silvia, Mad Dog Bersurka, Rabid Raymond Gouge and The Magnificent Mimi. All indications are the diminutive Kucinich is taking his training very seriously.

None of the democrats seeking their party’s nomination has yet decided to accept or refuse either challenge. Much of the violence outside the arena tonight was a direct reaction from an increasingly angry public. Polls conducted this past week by major media outlets consistently illustrate the publics overwhelming support for both challenges.

As the campaign edges ever closer to january 3, 2008, top advisers from each candidates camp agree that this upcoming week is very important. Chet Cremasteric, media adviser to the Edwards camp said “These “Challenges” are sucking the oxygen from the campaign. They threaten to derail some well laid plans. We must prepare to announce our decision this week or it could get very nasty. Frankly, I’d like to see Hillary hooked up to a lie detector. That would be historic and it would certainly be the end of her presidential aspirations”.

Copyright © 2007 TBC All Rights Reserved

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES MUTED BY “CHALLENGE” TO DEMS

GOP Candidates Show Confusion;
Walk fine line between Glee & Concern

Des Moines, IA (Nov. 6, 2007, TBC Exclusive) In the wake of the dramatic “Polygraph Challenge” issued by an anonymous financier to the democratic presidential candidates, those vying for that office on the GOP side have been remarkably quiet. They seem apprehensive in offering their comments regarding the “Challenge”. Some pundits have speculated that the republican candidates are worried that they may soon find themselves facing the same predicament as their democratic rivals. “If they gloat over this thing they may find it backfiring. It would not take much for some wealthy individual to lay down a similar gauntlet to the republicans”, said former Reagan Administration Communications Director, Ed Rollins.

These concerns where echoed in various ways by operatives from each of the GOP candidate’s camps. Actually, some have expressed a sense of resignation, saying that it is “just a matter of time” before they have to confront a similar challenge. “This can get awful sloppy real quick”. said a top advisor to Mitt Romney, adding “If lie detectors are going to be used in presidential campaigns, how are we supposed to function”?

This question is being asked by politicians of every stripe across the country. While they wrestle with the concept, public support for candidates being subjected to questioning under polygraph is rapidly catching on. A telephone poll conducted by InSight, Inc. and the Wall Street Journal yesterday showed an overwhelming number of respondents, 87%, were in favor of having candidates take lie detector tests administered by independent or neutral parties. This level of consistency held across all demographic lines including race, gender, income and party affiliation. “They have brought this on themselves”, said Jeanette Furpo from suburban Chicago. Mrs. Furpo added that “since we have been lied to for so long about such gravely important matters, we should have some sort of proof that candidates seeking our votes are telling the truth”.

While the voting public may be excited about seeing candidates take lie detector tests, political scientists, consultants and officials from both major parties, are not as fond of the idea. Dr. Norman Hale Splain, head of the Political Studies Department at North Central Canyon State University in Nampa, Idaho said “we have a democratic process that has stood the test of time for hundreds of years. It used to be that American’s could sense when they were being lied to. Actually, it was not until they realized that they had been lied to did they begin to realize that they should have known they were being lied to all along. It was basically after Viet Nam that the public came to grips with the fact that their government could, would and had lied to them”. Former Kansas Senator and GOP presidential candidate in 1996, Bob Dole commented, “ah…lie detectors? That makes no sense. What exactly are they trying to detect”?

A small minority of commentators not only embraced this idea but propose taking it a few bold steps further. Gillian Raye Snodgruss from Planned Parenthood stated “Every republican office holder should not only be put under oath and hooked up to a polygraph, they should all be asked questions in a public forum and stoned to unconsciousness if they lie”. Larry “Slug” Ramson, co-founder of ‘Screw the World’, a right wing political action committee said, “ hail, they should all be beaten up, given truth serum, stripped naked and deprived of food, water, sleep and toilet privileges. I bet they’d start singing like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir when they was asked questions under them there conditions”.

Copyright © 2007 TBC All Rights Reserved

POLYGRAPH CHALLENGE STIRS UP RACE IN IOWA

Candidates Struggle with Decision to Participate or Not
Public Supports the “Challenge”

Clive, Iowa (Nov 5., 2007, TBC Exclusive) As a Canadian front passed over this state last night, unusually high winds followed behind it. Much of Iowa was under a strong wind advisor today while the Democratic presidential candidates tried to weather the winds that came out of nowhere yesterday in the form of a mysterious challenge. While the man behind what is being dubbed the “Democratic Candidate's Polygraph Challenge”, remains shielded behind high powered New York law and public relations firms, the candidates themselves suddenly find themselves in an especially awkward position.

Yesterday, each of the campaigns received a set of legal documents which posed the challenge to them to submit to questioning while being polygraphed. The questions will be asked by the mystery man who has vowed to award the first Democratic candidate who passes the lie detector test $2.5 million which the winner can dole out to charities, organizations or nonprofit groups as they see fit.

As the democrats fanned out across the state, none seemed willing to comment directly about the “Challenge”. As Hillary Clinton made an appearance at the Turkey Truckers Association of Iowa, she was pelted by questions from the press and public. She ignored all inquiries regarding whether or not she would accept the “Challenge”.

While evading this question was the tactic of choice for Senators Clinton, Obama and Dodd, the average Iowan expressed enthusiastic endorsements of the concept of having candidates polygraphed. “Heck, it’s a real shame it takes something like this but, shoot, they simply won’t tell the truth otherwise”, lamented Stump Grubberling, a turkey farmer from Newton, Iowa. Most of the citizens attending today’s events were urging all the democratic presidential hopefuls to accept the “Challenge”. “Shouldn’t be a big deal now should it sweetie”?, asked Phyllis Schwackenbokken, a retired mule breeder from Duncombe, Iowa.

Behind the scenes each of the campaigns had operatives here in Iowa, as well as in Washington DC and New York City feverishly trying to determine the identity of the man behind this “Challenge” as well as meeting with party officials on how best to navigate the storm gathering around them. “We have been on this all night and all day. We have some very good intelligence and politically connected insiders and we still don’t know who this guy is”, said Lawrence DuPont, a top advisor to Senator Joe Biden.

The prestigious New York public relations firm, Donahue, Duffy and Dowd, who represents the mystery financier, continued to deflect all attempts at unmasking his identity. Francis McNamara, speaking for the ‘Triple D” PR firm stated, “Our client will make his identity known as soon as one of these candidates steps up and accepts his proposal. Until that time, he will remain anonymous”.

Each of the campaigns internally have been speculating about the identity of the very wealthy man whose proposal has the potential to alter the entire presidential race. One of the many attorneys in the Hillary Clinton camp, who made her comments anonymously noted, “This is a scary situation. Donald Trump might be behind this whole thing or it could be just another fringe element from the vast right-wing conspiracy.”

Ohio Congressman and presidential candidate, Dennis Kucinich thus far, has been the only candidate, in the field of seven, to actually say he will “accept the challenge”. However, his advisors seemed to be backing away from that position today saying that “Dennis meant what he said last night. He will take the lie detector challenge but, he has to know a bit more first”. This statement did indeed put some distance between Mr. Kucinich’s very passionate comments made late last night in the lobby of the Motel 8 in Blotchard, Iowa.

Perhaps the most cautious, circumspect and cryptic comments came from the Barak Obama camp. One of his top media strategists told a local radio show in Hiawatha, Iowa that “The senator is considering all the facets of this complex issue. He is, naturally, intrigued by the notion of answering questions on substantive issue while hooked up to a polygraph machine, he is reluctant to commit before he can commit himself to examine his reluctance”.

At the busy Flying J Truckstop off interstate 80 in Clive, hungry truckers bellied up to the expansive buffet spread as the sun slid into the western horizon. A self described ‘Independent’ voter, driver Doyle Tandunm from Carthage, Missouri said, “I think all them oughta be tarred and feathered. Anyone running for president should have to take not only a lie detector test but should also have to wrassle a rabid grizzly bear”. When further queried about his comments, the moderately obese trucker elaborated that “I learnt what hard times is when I was a POW in Nam. They captured me and connected the battery from a warship to my privates and turnt up the juice. I tolt them nothin’ but my name, rank and serial number. That’s whut i learnt about the damned truth, mister”. Mr. Tandunm seemed to become increasingly agitated and ultimately had to be physically restrained by several of his brother truckers. One of them, a close friend from Carthage said, “Doyle’s a good ole boy. He come home from Nam kinda squirrly. He was a black-ops, sniper-type re-con Marine in the Special Forces assigned to a CIA Seal Team. You can’t talk no politics to him”.

Obviously, the talk about the $2.5 million “Challenge” is just beginning. Shortly, as the public support for this event grows, each of the democratic hopefuls will have to take a stand. If Mr. Tandunm is representative of the public sentiment, than it would be wise for the candidates to make their decisions known sooner rather than later.

Copyright © 2007 TBC All Rights Reserved

POLYGRAPH CHALLENGE ISSUED TO DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Mysterious Financier Behind $2.5 Million Offer
Campaigns React with Concern & Apprehension

Des Moines, Iowa (Nov. 4, 2007, TBC Exclusive) In the chilly predawn hours this morning, representatives from the exclusive New York public relations firm Donahue, Duffy and Dowd, fanned out across this bland midwestern state capitol to deliver documents to the campaign headquarters of each of the democratic presidential candidates. Soon after receiving these documents, a series of phone calls, e-mails and text messages were flowing between high level advisors and operatives from each of the candidates camps.

At an unprecedented, hastily arranged meeting several hours later, they all gathered in a private dinning room at the Holiday Inn on Merle Hay Road, across from the State Fairgrounds, to discuss the set of documents each had received and read. Among the participants were some of the candidates closest confidantes. This reporter was permitted exclusive access under the auspices of Donahue, Duffy and Dowd. (Full disclosure compels this reporter to reveal that there has been a previous business relationship with Donahue, Duffy and Dowd and that they initiated contact with this reporter in this matter.)

As their discussion unfolded, cappuccinos, hot coffee, and soy milk was consumed in abundance, it soon became clear that each of the campaigns had received identical sets of documents. The only difference between them was to whom they were addressed. This reporter was given a brief opportunity to read through a set of these documents and was able to examine each of them to confirm that they were in fact contextually identical as well as to confirm that there was one set addressed specifically to each democratic presidential candidate by name.

After several pages of legalese, contractual language and binding stipulations, the actual message contained within them became clear. At first glance they could be easily dismissed as some kind of a hoax or prank. However, the fact that the highly esteemed New York Law Firm , Palermo Associates, (who represent some of the wealthiest, most secretive clients in America), had drafted these documents, immediately dispelled the notion that they were anything other than valid. One conference call to the Palermo Associates office in New York City quickly confirmed that the proposal, specifics and details stated in these identical sets of documents were authentic and to be taken seriously. Since the terse end of that conference call, they have indeed been taken very seriously.

Essentially, each of the candidates has been issued a direct challenge from one of the wealthiest men in America. His identity remains unknown by the candidates but, Palermo Associates have provided sufficient proof that his challenge, the proposal as delivered is absolutely legal, binding and nonnegotiable. The money offered is in a secure escrow account presently.

The challenge is that the first democratic presidential candidate who passes a privately issued polygraph test, will receive $2.5 million dollars. The polygraph will be paid for and conducted by the Palermo Associates client, at a neutral, secure facility to be revealed only upon acceptance of the challenge. If any of the candidates actually accept this challenge and prevail, then the award money would immediately be directed to the organization of their choosing. One of the stipulations of the challenge is that all the questioning asked the polygraph will be conducted by the mysterious financier himself. Additional stipulations and clauses dictate details such as travel, logistics and security matters for any of the candidates who agree and accept the challenge. Palermo Associates, issued a statement from their client which read, in part that “Our client will pay all travel, lodging, security and incidental expenses for each candidate that accepts my challenge”.

A high ranking campaign operative from the Hillary Clinton’s staff commented anonymously that she doesn’t know “if this money is coming from Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or Hugo Chavez. We just know it is a large amount of money”. The comments from the Edwards camp were somewhat mildly enthusiastic seemingly indicating that Mr. Edwards may be interested in accepting the challenge. One of his closest advisors, who provided his comments not for attribution stated, “John Edwards tells the truth. He could pass any polygraph at any time. I assure you, he will consider all the details of the challenge very carefully, and will do what he thinks is right”.

After 90 minutes this advisors meeting adjourned. Each of the campaign representatives hurried back to their respective hotel suites to discuss this extraordinary proposal with the candidates personally. “This is a remarkable development in an already intense campaign season” said Leonard Coyle, a Political Scientist at the Hoover Museum in West Branch, Iowa. “I don’t recall any similar event ever occurring. Actually, if you think about it, it is an intriguing conundrum. If a candidate refuses the challenge, that begs the question, ‘what are they hiding’?, but, if a candidate takes the polygraph and fails, well, then their political life is over” added Dr. Coyle.

This reporter received an e-mail from Dino Venucci, an attorney with Palermo Associates that said, in part, “ Our client is a serious man, not affiliated with any political party, cause or ideology. He is a patriot, a strict believer in our Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and our Constitution. He is of the firm belief that much of the rationale of our Founding Fathers is revealed in the Federalist Papers. Frankly, it would be an insult not to my client, but to the entire population of the United States for any of these candidates to not accept his challenge”. Within this same e-mail several other details were reiterated including the conditions that would befall any candidate who failed the polygraph. Basically, they would have 24 hours to publicly announce that they had taken and failed the polygraph. They would also publicly declare that they were immediately ending their presidential bid and would resign from whatever public office they may hold within 30 days. If either of these conditions are not met, the video tapes of their actual polygraph sessions will be released to all the major media outlets.

Francis Xavier McNamara, Chief Information Officer for Donahue, Duffy and Dowd said during a phone interview that “ Our client is among the richest men on the planet, certainly one of the most private. His identity, at this time, is wholly unimportant. What is important is the truth. He is willing to pay for the truth, to see if any of the democrats seeking to be our next president, can and will tell the truth”. McNamara added that, “our client is not trying to create a circus here. His is a simple proposition. He will ask a series of questions to a candidate during a video taped polygraph session at a secure undisclosed location. It will be a non-confrontational session. It will be a political issues oriented Q and A. What candidate can refuse”?

Despite Mr. McNamara’s and Mr. Venucci’s comments, it became apparent as the day unfolded here in Iowa , that not each of the presidential hopefuls agreed with them.

All of the democratic candidates have campaign headquarters in Des Moines. The upcoming Iowa Caucuses to be held on January 3, 2008, are the first true test among actual voters for them. They are all presently in,or will be in Iowa within days to campaign this week. All of the candidates admit to the importance of the Iowa Caucuses. Politically, Iowa is the first major test for presidential aspirants from both parties.

As of this evening the only candidate’s staff to release an unambiguous reply to the challenge has been the Kucinich Media Office. In a brief press release they state that “Denis Kucinich will answer questions, debate, argue, with anyone, anywhere about anything anytime for free. He does not require some financial incentive to tell the truth. You can count him in. Actually, he is already planning how he will disperse his $2.5 million award. He will give equal portions to MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood, The Rainbow Coalition,The NAACP, The ACLU, and The Area 51 Truth Project”.

Highly regarded political reporter from the Des Moines Register, David Yepsen, seems to have been caught off guard by this development. Unusually adept at breaking Iowa political headlines, Yepsen’s staff said he has been “on the phone all afternoon trying to get a handle on this. Hillary and Edwards are in Iowa today campaigning. They are being very tightlipped about this challenge. David tried to speak with Dodd and Biden but was unable to. Bill Richardson was very cautious with his comments. He really couldn’t get much done because Denis Kucinich kept calling. Finally Yep had to get out of the office”. His staff implied that Yepsen is meeting with representatives of several candidates tonight somewhere near Fort Dodge to attempt to “ Figure this out. This is big...no, it’s huge.”

Indeed, in the history of presidential primary campaigns this challenge is an unprecedented phenomenon which each of the candidates will have to carefully consider. Their are inherent risks in every phase of a political campaign. All variables, unknowns or surprises are unwelcome and can be unsettling. Each of the candidates must be comfortable with their decision to take this challenge, (or not). Each of them must decide and weigh the repercussions of being directly questioned under polygraph, while being video taped. They will be alone in a room with the men asking the questions, no advisors or handlers will be present. Their decisions and response to this challenge will, most assuredly, alter the face of the campaign and may, in fact, determine who our next president will be.

Contributors to this exclusive were Cletus E. Yoder and Farley Marsden from TBC, Ann Marie Tucci from the New York Independent and Som Yong Foo from WART Syndicated Radio Networks. Article written by Feature Reporter, TBC.
Copyright © 2007 TBC All Rights Reserved

ONE OF THOSE MEN

He was one of them. One among the millions who answered their country’s call during a time of great need. He had lived through the Great Depression with them and, when war came to America, he and his brethren brought the fight to our enemies. Behind their military efforts millions of others labored on the “home front” unleashing unparalleled industrial productivity, engineering ingenuity, scientific development well beyond its time thereby forever altering the course of history and all that was to follow. In four short years they prevailed on numerous military fronts, ultimately victorious in a world wide war, they showed their greatness as beneficent victors. They returned home igniting the growth of this nation allowing it to emerge, as they aged, as a pre-eminent global leader, standing alone by 1989, triumphant, as the” Lone Superpower.”

He was of that generation that, almost posthumously, became celebrated as “The Greatest Generation”. And that they were. They put one foot in front of the other and carried on. They did what needed to be done without question, complaint or conflict. They did not seek recognition or reward. Most never spoke of their experiences during those years. It was this quiet strength and humility that finally brought them their due as we looked inward at what we had become.

He was one of those millions who did not seek the moment yet gracefully allowed the moment to find him. Indeed, many were called, few chosen. History found these men and women, they sought it not.

We learn about some of these people, we are somewhat vaguely familiar with their names. Today, they are probably alien to students in high school and college. Students, media and our culture as a whole, are more interested in celebrity and sports, scandals and crime than in our not-so-distant-history.

Putting aside all the subsequent controversy surrounding his most historic act, for the moment putting on hold the debate that has raged for the last 60 years, we should take a moment to look simply at the man. Yesterday, November 1, 2007, 92 years after his birth in Quincy, Illinois on February 23, 1915, Paul Tibbets died.

Paul Tibbets, who was hand-picked in September 1944 to lead the ultra secret 509th Composite Group of the Army Air Corps, will live on in history more for what he was part of than for who he was. But, he was one of them. He was given a task, a task so new and novel that many involved feared they could ignite the atmosphere and destroy the earth.

While the famous and not yet famous scientists, physicists and engineers labored under the tutelage of Robert Oppenheimer at Los Alamos, while General Leslie Groves oversaw a vast, unprecedented industrial effort with facilities from coast to coast, Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets had to devise the safest, most effective method by which to deliver the first atomic bomb. He carefully chose his crews and staff, stripped down the huge B-29 “Flying Fortress” to accommodate the weight of his unique payload and trained for precise delivery for many months in secrecy near Wendover, Nevada before relocating his operations to the theater of combat in the South Pacific. The 509th set up shop on Tinian Island and prepared for the day President Truman would send word to make the 1700 mile flight to Japan. That call came and his famously “infamous” mission began in the predawn hours of August 6th, 1945.

The utilization of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima that day and on Nagasaki, three days later, was the course chosen by Mr. Truman as an alternative to a land invasion of main land Japan. Estimates of American casualties from such an assault ran as high as one million dead. General Douglas MacArthur speculated it could take up to “ten years” top wipe out pockets of Japanese resistance.

Paul Tibbets memorialized his mother by painting her name, Enola Gay, on the B-29 he piloted that day. He knew not, could not have possibly ever imagined, the ramifications, repercussions and perpetual consequences his mission would produce.

Before his death Retired general Paul W. Tibbets requested that his ashes be scattered over the English Channel where he had flown so many missions prior to his command of the 509th. Also, at his request, there will be no tombstone or marker signifying his final resting place. He feared such a site would attract his detractors, protestors and that it would become not a place of rest but a scene of conflict. This humble, decent man had endured enough back lash in life, he sought true rest for his eternal soul.

Paul Tibbets said as late as 2005 that he never regretted dropping the bomb, never lost sleep over it. Such comments have been used by his many detractors to caste him as cold, monstrous, unfeeling. He was none of those. He was much more than he ever let on or anyone ever knew.


In my life I have been blessed to know some of them. Men, whose names are never to be written in history books, yet none less heroic for their efforts during World War II. I have sat besides them on the subway, passed them on the street, and have seen them in church. I have drank with them in bars from the South Bronx to Hoboken. Some remained strangers; nothing more than familiar faces here and there. Others I came to know well, very well, some well enough to mourn their passings to this day.

Men like my uncles Joe and Steve. Men like Sante Cantonese from South Philly and Sergeant Major Larry Massino who turned 18 as a Marine on Tarawa. Men like John Avallone, Bill Boss, and Bill Collins. Men who were on Normandy, and in North Africa. Men, who as boys served on ships, make shift bases and in the infantry. Men (boys) who knew, as they stood on a wooden landing craft riding the waves into some anonymous out-cropping of rock in the South Pacific, that they would most likely die that very day. They were my mentors and teachers, coaches and disciplinarians.

Of course, there is my father; a man possessed of such quiet dignity and strength. He lived through it all from the depression and into today always teaching, always speaking quietly, telling me the stories of those men. It was he who sat on the edge of my bed in the Murphy room when I was a child and told me things like, “With the help of God and a few Marines, MacArthur returned to the Philippines”, and “Uncommon valor was a common virtue”.

I am proud to have known such things from such an early age; it has some how allowed me to have, to feel a connection with that time. It has provided me a respect for history and those who made it even though they did not realize it at the time.

Today, as I approach deeper middle-age, I appreciate it all the more. Reading of Paul Tibbets death yesterday stirred me. It hit me subtlety and overtly, it brought back some memories I’d not pawed in some time. I thank my father for the memories, lessons and appreciations he gave me. I prayed for Paul Tibbets soul last night. May he find eternal peace. And that is the prayer I will offer for my father when his time comes which, I believe, remains a long way off. After all, those guys are survivors.

Copyright © 2007 TBC All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2007 BronxWest Consulting