billcoe

Good on you for carrying on that work Toast! I woke up this very morning and my first thought was thinking of John Bachar's recent fatal free solo fall and how amazing of a climber he was... and some of the free-solos I'd personally seen him do....and then...BAMMM! this old Kiichi story next near immediately hit me out of the blue: I thought, all that fantastic amazing shit John did was really nothing in comparison to what this group of non-climbers did when they took a shot at doing their very first climb ever! A mandatory first-ascent, big assed long free-solo... in the pitch dark.... with no backup... no pro....no rope....carrying lots of extra weight in ammo, knives and rifles....no climbing shoes just combat boots.... not on any kind of a regular climbing route.... and most likely certain death above even if ya did make it up there. Straight up into the dark and unknown. Holy f@@@K!!! BTW, it was the General I believe who you meant to reference above. The story is that the Colonel cried when the General asked where the rest of i company was. I think that "The Boys" even as old guys mostly felt that the General was a racist, and he sure may have been - there was a lot of that then, but it is certainly true that he was a dumbass: no question. He sent those Texans right into the jaws of hell and death even after an aide both told him it was a bad idea and why it was a bad idea based on accurate intel that the Germans were there in depth and entrenched and could surround and cut them off. He doubted the intel, ignored all information contrary to his misinformed belief - sent them in and they got trapped just like everyone but him saw before he sent them in and the 442nd was his bail out attempt. Many people, both Nisei and Texans died due to this stupidity. My favorite uncle on either side of the family was my wife's Uncle Kenji. They use to group folks together, so Kiichi and Kenji served together. It is hard to imagine seeing a guy like Kenji, perhaps 4 and a 1/2 foot tall in shoes as an elderly gentleman, and one with the sweetest disposition and of such gentle, kind and solid character: running straight at some big assed Germans armed to the teeth, but that's what they did....all the time. Those guys have stories of having discussions with Germans even as they were trying to kill each other. The Germans sometimes only 20 feet away, once they got over their first shock and confusion of seeing what they saw as Japanese, would at first try and explain to the 442nd guys that the Japanese were their allies and their friends and they were on the same side. What a horror story for everyone, everywhere, all sides, civi's and soldiers both in many many counties. What the Germans and Soviets went through on the Eastern Front or the Japanese and everyone in that theater of war....whew. Anyone complaining today has only to look back a bit to realize that in many ways, we are soooooooo blessed! Others may feel differently. That's my take and thoughts for me anyway. I wish Bachar was still alive, but I wish even more that Uncle Kenji and my father still were: but that's just the cards that got dealt. Warm regards to all: Bill

I want to share this true story before it disappears from the face of the earth. It's short as I got it 2nd hand so stay with me. My wife's late father, Kiichi Sonoda, was in the 442nd in Europe, i company. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd They eventually became the most decorated unit serving in WW2, mostly because they were ordered to do the real shit jobs, and they took these head on uncomplainingly. Kiichi was on patrol outside of Pisa when some Germans jumped up out of the tall grass next to the waterway they were walking and opened fire. Kiichi thought he snapped a shot off from the hip and nailed the guy who shot him but wasn't sure as at the same time he took a hit to the chest that knocked him on his back. Kiichi watched as the head of the medic who came over to assist him and bandage his chest wound exploded and the dead medic slumped on top of him. Eventually he got the dead man off of him and with his wounded buddy (sorry, forgot his name) walked the 10 miles to the aid station. There was a vehicle available, but they wanted to leave that for those who were seriously wounded so they walked. This wound saved his life as it turns out...perhaps more than once. The main one he missed was the rescue of the Lost Battalion. Ken Burns covered that pretty well in his documentary of the unit so I won't cover it here. However, before they were ordered to go save the lost battalion, they were pulled out of Pisa and sent to Northern Italy to dislodge the Germans in the cliff side fortifications of the Dolomites there. Regular US troops and extensive bombardment had failed to roust the Germans in there. In fact, a couple of years later these very Germans who had dug in so well, that they were still in there after the war was literally over. They had not surrendered and were still fighting in Italy even as Berlin had fallen. So the US think tank sees that this has to be some mandatory ugly manno-to manno stuff and decides to send the 442nd in there to do the job. The kids get there and try an attack and get shit on bad almost as soon as they show up. There's no easy way up to the Germans as the few trails through the cliffs were very heavily defended by machine guns in strongly fortified positions from above. Many of the kids die learning this the hard way trying this and that. After a while, they finally decided that the only way to get up there to kill these Germans, the ONLY way, was right up the very cliffs. But the catch was, a daytime climb, although possibly able to be done physically, would expose them to murderous fire from above. They feel that they might be able climb it in the dark. With weapons. In combat boots. Free solo. Silently. No one gives this much of a chance, but it's the only way of overrunning these German positions ever happening. So the bulk of the boys pull back to fixed positions and while waiting try for an occasional sniper shot. They were waiting for the moon to wane so that it would be very very dark. The moon finally goes dark and they organize and start up, climbing by feel up the cliffs in the blackest of night. It's steep, it's black, and there are men on top who will kill them. The part Kiichi really wanted to share with me, was that on that cliff, in the dark, men started to fall off. And when they fell, they did not utter a word. Not a scream, not a humpph, no utterance of any kind. They fell to their deaths forcing themselves to die as silently as possible so as to not betray the position of those friends who would hopefully be left living. Eventually this tactic as well was shown to be a failure, and these kids, who did not know the word fail and had still not given up, were pulled out by the upper ups for an emergency rescue of a Texas battalion who had been surrounded and were trapped. That's a whole 'nother story though.

Love to hear it....I think....

LOL!

...whose cock was so big he could suck it... He said with a grin while wiping his chin....

It appears to me that in this very post, you do.

Being stalked by a shark when you are out of your element? Lets ask these seals who were in their element: ...and what is the answer there?

Is what bad?

Snopes says it's NOT photoshopped.

That's what it appears to me too. I suspect that Obama has 2X the mental capacity and physical stamina of Grandpa Simpson though. With McCain you were one heart attack away from having a quitter in the White House.

IRAQ: Most of the money for Iraq has been spent, why toss it down the toilet now and walk away when we should be reaping any alleged benefit? Extracting oneself from quicksand isn't ever a fast or easy process but it is happening. http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home Asscrackistan: is an extension of Pakistan and that's a whole nother box of complex rotten tomatoes that I won't open, but this link will show that we are heading the direction Obama promised (there were many versions of that promise BTW, dude is a politician after all). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050704239.html Looks to me that candidate Obama started out without a clue (the out of Iraq promise NOW that he later modified as he got more info) and certainly seems to have one now as President. I don't like the massive spending either, but remember that Bush was proposing $700 billion in stimulus spending and had no idea how screwed up things were at that time.

Check out Da Bus!!!! http://www.ericandlucie.com/Bus/bus.htm Sorry for the size, but it MUST be seen in wide screen:-) Where's Erik Wolfe?

Have you read the constitution lately? BTW - we/you can still complain about it, and blaming Obama for the bankruptcy spending policies of the Bush Republicans is absurd. It's like if your kid gets a credit card and spends his way into deep debt (Bush), and then you, the parent, can't eat out at nice places because the kid walked away and left YOU the obligation and you are trying to manage it.

Cat Fight! Cat Fight!!

Looks like this may be true, fall on Dike Wall, Eastern Sierra. Don't know what route. Several there. http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=895790&tn=0&mr=0

Quitter. Could you even imagine her under the pressure cooker that Bill Clinton dealt with daily? Between North Korea/Iran/Iraq and all this personal stuff, she'd crack and quit. God that would have been ugly. Good-by for good is my thought. She'll be around as a TV commentator and make a good living doing that I suspect.

Check ST for all the details... http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=849454&tn=0&mr=0

YEAH! What Rob said. But why can WE be kinder to each other. Why all the adversarial posts here between us? Both ways. Are we all so fucked up that we can't find common ground? [font:Arial Black] Shit[/font] Come on ! Are we not all better than that?

Robogeisha? \been done.

Did I leave? Yes you did, you said "goodby" and then ceased posting. Click this Link Of course, it was a simple Geo. Bush tractor beam troll which sucked you back into the vortex again...LOL!

proof, i want proof of this. names, i need names.is this documented joseph? how many people broke the closure? what about all the work jimmy opdyke did for beacon and the times he got the rock open early? oh yeah, what did ex ranger steve johnson have to say at your luncheon? do i need to call the ranger station an apologize for climbing during the closures in my passionate liberal state of mind. i was already punished for this mr. healy, so the state is going to punish everyone for me ignoring the closure? sounds like my third grade teacher. the guilty should be punished not everyone else. what a crock of donkey shit. lol!! Jimmy Rocks BTW, this may not be helpful but I know of 3 others that *cough* got caught poaching off season * cough.

Bush wrote Stewarts stuff, all John Stewart had to do was quote it and give that funny look to a camera or pause.....magic. Memories....ahhhhh.....Bushisms copied and pasted, there's hundreds more if anyone wants: _ "There's an old saying in Tennessee _ I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee _ that says, fool me once, shame on _ shame on you. Fool me _ you can't get fooled again." _ Sept. 17, 2002, in Nashville, Tenn. _ "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." _ Aug. 5, 2004, at the signing ceremony for a defense spending bill. _ "Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." _ Sept. 6, 2004, at a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo. _ "Our most abundant energy source is coal. We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge." _ April 20, 2005, in Washington. _ "We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job." _ Sept. 20, 2005, in Gulfport, Miss. _ "I can't wait to join you in the joy of welcoming neighbors back into neighborhoods, and small businesses up and running, and cutting those ribbons that somebody is creating new jobs." _ Sept. 5, 2005, when Bush met with residents of Poplarville, Miss., in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. _ "It was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship. After all, 60 years we were at war 60 years ago we were at war." _ June 29, 2006, at the White House, where Bush met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. _ "Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die." _ Dec. 7, 2006, in a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. _ "These are big achievements for this country, and the people of Bulgaria ought to be proud of the achievements that they have achieved." _ June 11, 2007, in Sofia, Bulgaria. _ "Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." _ September 2007, in Sydney, Australia, where Bush was attending an APEC summit. _ "Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech." April 16, 2008, at a ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House. _ "The fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place." _ May 27, 2008, in Mesa, Ariz. _ "And they have no disregard for human life." _ July 15, 2008, at the White House. Bush was referring to enemy fighters in Afghanistan. _ "I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office." _ June 26, 2008, during a Rose Garden news briefing. _ "Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people." _ July 4, 2008 in Virginia. _ "The people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer _ prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them. It's good to come down here." _ Sept. 3, 2008, at an emergency operations center in Baton Rouge, La., after Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast.

Originally Posted By: rob Step it up, folks!!!1 Holy shit spray is boring today. Can't we argue about something? Yr fucking killing me. RIGHT HERE: Bill Steps up thread Hello!!

The last 3 days the John Stewart minute has NOT been funny. Has been funny ....[font:Arial Black]NOT! [/font]Oh they have a laugh track going, like it is funny, but that even makes it worse when you go..."why are those idiots laughing". I am laying the blame for the squarely on Bush's shoulders. Stewart was F*ing hilarious with Bush as a foil and now he's all flat and not funny. Please help me in bringing both George Bush and humor back to John Stewart. Trying to help out Rob here: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/890049/2/BORING If Kevbone was still here you'd all not need to resort to such shenanigans ya know....

As if on cue, there's this post from 2007 that someone just bumped over on gearhead thread. CCH called the guy who broke an early dimpled one a liar and then just walked away. Then other Aliens started to break. CCH ignored it and ignored it and ignored it. God bless Paul Fish of Mountain Gear. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/746786/gonew/1/Mountain_Gear_props#UNREAD