Jack D. Deal's Free and Inquiring Mind Applied; Change before you have to...831-457-8806

CNN and Time's World's Most Influential People? "Chapo" Guzman Drug Lord is pictured right over Obama!

Legal Advice: You be the Judge...

ATTORNEY's ADVICE - NO CHARGE Not A Joke!!  Even If you dislike attorneys...You will love them for these tips. Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday.  Maybe we should all take some of his advice!  A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company:  1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put 'PHOTO ID REQUIRED.' (or SEE ID). 2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the completeaccount number on the 'For' line.  Instead, just put the last four numbers.  The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it. 3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone.  If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address.  If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address.  Neverhave your SS# printed on your checks. (DUH!)  You can add it if it is necessary.  But if you have it printed, anyone can get it. 4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine.  Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc.  You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.  Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad.  We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a Name, address, Social Security number, credit cards. Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month.  Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more. But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:  5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately.  But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them. 6. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen.  This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one). But here's what is perhaps most important of all:  (I never even thought to do this.) 7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number 1-877-438-4338.  I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done.  There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert.  Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in).  It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks. Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, if it has been stolen:  1.) Equifax:  1-800-525-6285. 2.) Experian (formerly TRW):  1-888-397-3742. 3.) Trans Union :  1-800-680 7289. 4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line):  1-800-269-0271. We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything.  If you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.

 

 

Penn Gillette's Version of "the Sky is Falling"...ha...

"Obama tells us that we can spend our way out of debt. He tells us that even though the government had control over the banks and did nothing to stop the bad that's going on, if we give them more control over more other bank-like things, then they can make sure bad stuff doesn't happen ever again. He says we can get out of all those big wars President Bush caused by sending more troops into Afghanistan. And I don't know. I really don't know." --Penn Gillette, CNN.com

New meaning for have a heart?

The blue whale has a heart the size of a volkwagen and scuba divers say it sounds like a pile driver when they get next to one...new meaning to have a heart? 

Lone Star State to Secede from Union? gasp...

I may run for president of Texas.  That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state.--Chuck Norris

Isn't it really time for a blessed, kinder and gentler world?

Five Guantanamo prisoners accused in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S. staunchly defended their actions, calling the operation "blessed" and "great" and the accusations against them "badges of honor." --CNN.com

But won't burning pigs hurt one's carbon footprint?

A self-described anarchist who said he wanted to use Molotov cocktails to disrupt the Republican National Convention was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Wednesday, according to the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Matthew B. Depalma, 24, of Flint, Michigan, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of destructive devices.

An FBI affidavit also said he wanted to attack police outside the convention, saying, “I will light one of those pigs on fire.”

--CNN.com

New buzz word of the day "Repurposing Waste"

New buzzword term of the day "Repurposing Waste" ; what's wrong with "recycle"?

Quote of the week (and then some)

"A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her."  --Head Saudi Cleric Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom's grand mufti as quoted on cnn.com

401ks, Stockbrokers, Declining Verticals, 'Spare Change' and the 'We' in Collectivism

	jackddeal tough to see good, hardworking blue collar folk losing their 401ks...what dream? time to move to the jungle in Mexico...ha...funny? less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal a great biz could be 'tin cups'...ha...don't laugh to hard...groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal from my biz perspective, all verticals are declining...except for management consultants and search marketers...ha... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal will 'change we can believe in' be replaced by 'spare change?' ha...don't laugh...groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal yet still the cry from stockbrokers..."buy, buy, buy"...ha...what's GM at? It can't go to zero, can it? ha...groan. ha and groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal an amazing biz page in today's paper: Circuit City, AIG, DHL, Starbucks, GMAC, GM...enough to drive an investor to drink, no? salud! ha... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal American Express is becoming a bank, Circuit City is belly up and the U.S. taxpayer will pay trillions to 'fix' the meltdown... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal "say goodbye to the USA as a sovereign nation being surrendered to the spirit of the 'we' of collectivism"..and the free and inquiring mind? less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal SJ Mercury News had a letter to the editor calling us the USSA: United States of Soviet American...ha...that's funny, no? no? ha... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal those that can, do; those that can't, legislate...ha... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal maybe GM could take out a loan from the autoworkers union...no? ha... we don't need any stinkin' hybrids...ha... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal the politicos and guvment are up to bailing out everything that is not nailed down...except for little ole us...ha...groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal GM stock at 50 cents right now...and who said Americans are weak on management? ha...more SUVs anyone? ha... less than 5 seconds ago from web

Harvard, Ford, GM and the nasty mess we are calling a "Downturn"...

	jackddeal GM and Ford are basically saying "We are too stupid to manufacture cars and trucks without government subsidies." Duh... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal the Lincoln Navigator and the Ford Expedition are great boondoogles to hang on the union...where's the union leadership? ha... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal caught a piece where the GM chief said their stock would soon be approaching zero...what is Toyota and Honda at? are we stupid or what? less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal DHL headquarters in Ohio is feeling the brunt of the downturn...sorry folks, it's time to be on our way to India, China, and Pakistan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal love the GM comment that they couldn't make fuel efficient cars and pay union wages...that's why they want a bailout... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal with a $40 Billion endowment Harvard is having to cut back; lost 12% off its stock during the downturn...$40B is one federal loan to AIG less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal economic news worsens..check out the letter from the President of Harvard on my blogs www.jddeal.com and www.freeandinquringmind.typ... less than 5 seconds ago from web

Why Revealing Your Personal Flaws is Not Always in Your Best Interest and Sarah Barracuda

	jackddeal by stating publicly that he has to take four days to study up for Sarah, Joe is removing all doubt about his ability to be VP...groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal if Joe has to study up to debate Sarah, who is more competent? duh... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal the pig comment was certainly not cute...it was stupid...time to get rid of Burton and Axelrod... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal whether he meant it or not Burton and Axelrod should have known the pig comment would be perceived as a personal attack on Sarah... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal calling folks 'liars' is not the high road...groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal looks like the Burton-Axelrod strategy is full scale retreat...groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal the last think Obama should ever do is associate himself with John Kerry...what kind of lame strategy is that, Chairman Burton? less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal Obama just said the McCain campaign are 'liars' and they are trying to pull a Swift Boat...shades of John Kerry? why mention Kerry? groan less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal my Repub pal laughs "funny thing...I've never seen John McCain wear lipstick. Sarah wears lipstick..." groan...what a flub... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal Wonder how many days Sarah will take off to train for her debate with Biden? groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	jackddeal Biden said he was going to train four days before the debate with Sarah...groan... less than 5 seconds ago from web
	suddenly Good Ole Boy Joe isn't seeming so Vice Presidential...groan... about 1 hour ago from web
	CNN: in the Sarah debate, "Biden said he would "try very hard" to keep the focus on health care, the struggling economy and foreign policy." about 1 hour ago from web

Why Pig Lipstick is Suddenly in Fashion and Why in Politics Reason Often is Trumped by Emotion

	Fox News reports Obama said "you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig." can this actually be true? groan... about 5 hours ago from web
	"There is no doubt Governor Palin attracted a lot of attention this week,"It has brought excitement to the Republican Party." --Obama about 6 hours ago from web
	Time: "But if he is going to win over the Wal-Mart moms, Obama is also going to have to make a stronger case for himself." about 9 hours ago from web
	"The American people aren't stupid." --Obama about 9 hours ago from web
	"You can't just recreate yourself; you can't just reinvent yourself." --Obama about 9 hours ago from web
	Time: "The McCain campaign hopes female voters will relate to Sarah's thoroughly modern and complicated everywoman story" ...and Hilary? about 9 hours ago from web
	Did you catch the Washington Post survey just released showing McCain has gone up 20 percentage points with white women, Chairman Burton? about 9 hours ago from web
	Time:In the Washington Post-ABC News survey released Monday, McCain enjoyed a 20 percentage point turnaround against Obama among white women about 9 hours ago from web

Why Bill Clinton is Still the Smartest Democrat and Wny California Just Doesn't Matter Anymore

	BTW, just where is Bill Clinton? about 7 hours ago from web
	Who cares what Ron Owens and the rest of us in California think...it's now about Terre Haute and Dayton and Pittsburgh and Orlando. about 7 hours ago from web
	Burton set up the command but forgot the control as he led us down the perfect storm path and the only possible way McCain could ever win... about 7 hours ago from web
	Obama has to keep yelling "It's not the little baby, for God's sake!" and yet the militants amongst us have already been unleashed by Burton about 7 hours ago from web
	this whole mess now takes on the eery appearance of having been orchestrated by the McCain campaign...groan...they are in control... about 7 hours ago from web
	God bless Good Ole Boy Joe Biden and pray that he can go toe to toe with Sarah...sure wouldn't be thinking that about Hillary...groan... about 7 hours ago from web
	just caught Ron Owens on KGO infer that Sarah can't do it not because she is inexperienced, but because she is a woman...groan...double... about 7 hours ago from web
	hey Chairman Burton! Obama looks worn out...how about a little rest? groan...Burton's still upset over Palin... about 8 hours ago from web
	secret change agent Good Ole Boy Joe Biden; what was Burton thinking? about 8 hours ago from web
	and please Chairman Burton, don't let Obama say his executive experience is 'running a campaign'...groan...

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What do You, Me and Mr. Paul K. Miller have in Common?

You might know Paul.  I do not.  But through fate I came to know some things about him; enough to have some questions.   But interestingly I found out that Mr. Miller and you and I have something very much in common.  But first a bit of background on Paul.

Paul grew up on a farm.  He had an older brother and a younger sister.  His father was a generic farmer doing a bit of this and a bit of that.  He had some cows and several horses.  And a big tractor.   Paul knew about the farm and how to work it.  He grew up on one.   

Mama came from a German family and was tough as nails.  But had a laugh that would not quit. Not the one to shy away, she would mount her horse in her dress.  Like most German mothers she grew in girth as she aged.  She managed to work all day on her farm and eat lots of her very delicious country cooking.

Paul's favorite aunt was Sallie.  Sallie most likely was born around 1890 and dressed it.  She had the clearest of German eyes and a face showing a heart of gold. 

Ma and pa prospered and eventually bought a brick house in town; probably sold the farm to a subdivision.  Paul's dad traded in his horse for a bicycle and when Old Spot died they bought a French poodle.  The family grew but older brother and younger sister mysteriously faded from Paul's life. 

Paul was a piano player and moved to the big city.  San Francisco?  One can only imagine what it must have been like.  Country Mouse going to the Big City.  Paul was young and Paul was handsome and Paul could play that piano.  Paul was not going back to any farm. 

And Paul was charismatic.  Customers loved his charm and funny hats that he wore with his tuxedo.  And he was good looking.  He had a series of promo portraits taken; some were composites of his portrait with his hands on the piano keys. 

Paul loved to party but it was unclear if he liked the ladies.  Therein lies part of his mystique.  On scattered photos we searched for rings but it was unclear; Paul wore a ring on his wedding finger but it did not appear to be a common type of male wedding ring. 

Paul became better known and was invited to play at swankier clubs and parties.  Always a fun guy, Paul started to drink and was such fun when tipsy.  He could play and drink all night.  The party hosts loved him. 

Financially times were good.  There was the retreat house in the mountains...sort of a Mediterranean villa in the hills.  A small river ran nearby and Paul loved to come and spend time relaxing and drinking.  Hard to tell just how much a problem for him drinking was...he probably didn't admit to much. 

As the years went buy he became more famous and took some updated promotional shots.  The years were not so kind but then again Paul stayed up most nights working and drinking so what could one expect? 

And then, it's as if time stopped.  It abruptly ended right then and there.  All that was left was the picture of a burnt piano in what looks like to be a burned out nightclub.   Was Paul burned to death?  Did he die at his piano?  Where did his brother and sister go? 

It most likely appears that Paul is now dead.  I can't be sure and a Google of his name turned up nothing of significance other than there are lots of Paul Millers in the world.  Perhaps I will never know if he died a natural death or burned up in a nightclub tragedy. 

The man I bought the photo album from didn't know either.  He said it was odd, especially the picture of the burnt piano.  Five bucks.  For five bucks I'll take a chance and see what I could find out.  But it came to a dead end. 

I doubt Paul would have ever imagined his faded blue photograph album would be bought by a total stranger at a swap meet for five bucks.  Therein lies the connection between you, me and him. 

One day you and I will die...or at least you will, ha.  And when we do, what will become of our stuff?  Will our descendents treasure the pictures from their ancestors or see them as junk?  Will they take your pictures and your stuff down to the local swap meet and sell them to total strangers like many people do? 

Probably so, is my conclusion.   There's no guarantee what kind of progeny you will have if in fact you do have children.  If you don't have kids, rest assured your stuff will end up at the flea market and thrift store. 

So you might want to make some simple plans and simplify your stuff in advance.  If you go suddenly odds are your surviving relatives will divvy up what they want and Goodwill what they don't. 

And somebody like me will be going through your pictures trying to connect the dots...

Non-Dairy Creamer: Modern Angst Miracle Product

Non-dairy creamer has to rank as one of the marketing coups of all time.  From a marketing standpoint the non-dairy creamer makes great sense.  From the consumers it is a big joke.

The premise is many fat folks like to put cream in their coffee or tea.  Why we put cream in our coffee is a question that puzzles the coffee purists...suffice it to say many have allergies or have problems with high fat dairy products.   So the ever astute marketers saw a market and went for it. 

Think of these dynamics: I can't use cream because I'm allergic to dairy products or weigh 400 pounds.  So I take a small container of non-dairy cream and open it.   I could even buy a half gallon milk carton size -- so  even the cartons are the same.   But the similarities end there...

Non-dairy creamer does not taste or smell like cream but why not put it on anyway...chemicals and all.   Why?  Because some marketer says it looks like cream when I stir it into my coffee!   I have faked myself out!   And my auto-suggestion allows me to know it's not cream but I'm happy anyway!

And non-dairy creamer has progressed to the point where it ihas its own line of products.   Many people now, who do not have health concerns, buy non-dairy creamer for their coffee.   Many now think it tastes more like cream than cream does...

So the next time you have coffee visualize yourself pouring non-dairy creamer chemicals into your cup.   The marketers are certainly planning it that way...

Jack D.  Deal

Mad Madalyn's Management Mania: Exploitation, Office Manager, Embezzlement, Murder, Gold Coins, New Zealand

     

We often look to cause and effect for the answer to the question 'why?'  This is one that I've thought on for a number of years and can't quite seem to resolve…

An old friend was raised in a conservative, fundamentalist family.  As a rebellion to his upbringing, he studied philosophy and psychology and eventually came into contact with Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the famous atheist that challenged prayer in schools in the famous Supreme Court Case in 1963.  The good folk of

Austin

,

Texas

referred to her as Mad Madalyn.   She was always in the local newspapers doing something outrageous...

My friend made several trips to

Austin

and the

American

Atheist

Center

.  O'Hair eventually offered him a job as office manager for the Center.  He understood that working for a 'cause' organization would require long hours with meager pay but he believed in the cause and moved to

Austin

.

He lived simply so the minimum wage pay was enough for him to get by.  His 40 hour week soon ballooned to 60, 80 and 100 hours.   O'Hair kept giving him more work.    Even without benefits and half the minimum wage he gladly put in his long hours.  He would go home to sleep and fix most of his 'meals' at work.  He became sleep deprived and malnourished but it was all in the name of the 'cause'.  He told me that others before him had done the same.  It was expected by Mad Madalyn...

Incredibly this continued for years as he took on more and more responsibility.  When his landlord raised his rent, he asked Mad Madalyn for a raise citing his long list of responsibilities and long hours as a justification.   Madalyn escorted him to the door and told him not to come back.   My friend could easily be replaced as there were many others willing to 'work for the cause.'   And maybe even for less money...

She replaced him and the cycle continued.  Eventually, she hired a manager that had a criminal background but was willing to work cheaply for the cause.  He worked for the cause but mostly for himself and managed to embezzle $50,000 in the process.

But not to worry...there were always more willing to work for the cause.   She just found another office manager and the cycle continued.

But one day she just disappeared.   Employees could not find her and a list of creditors showed the Center was in deep financial trouble.   Most people on the inside thought she had left the

U.S.

with her son and granddaughter and gone to

New Zealand

, a plan she had spoken of before.   And so she remained incognito with only an occasional article questioning what beach resort she had retired to.

And then piece by piece, it began to unravel.

The police began to pursue an ex office manager and the trail began to warm.  After a number of months and speculation, the case broke.   The office manager and some of his criminal cronies had kidnapped the O'Hairs and held them for ransom, eventually getting $500,000 in gold coins that had come from the 'cause.'   After they had gotten the coins, which were stored in a storage locker, they killed the O'Hairs, chopped them up and buried them in a shallow grave on a south

Texas

ranch.

At one point I conducted a four hour taped interview with O'Hair.   She came across as intelligent, insightful, and committed to ridding the world of the evils of religion.   She made no apology for the way she treated her employees.

If there is a moral to the story it's that short term employee exploitation can bring short term results but watch out for long term exploitation...ha.

If Mad Madalyn were alive today, would she admit her management style was flawed? 

Or would she say, 'hey, you, you're not going to church on Sunday...why can't you work?'

Two Deaths on the Same Afternoon...

I guess it's not unusual for two people you know to die at the same time.   It happens and it happened to me the other day...

The first was Dr. Jefferson.   I knew him when I worked in the local hospital as a Grief Counselor and Pastoral Care Coordinator.   I worked critical care and the emergency room.   Dr. J was arrogant, wealthy and somehow oblivious to all the death he dealt with every day.   Not that he wasn't a good doctor; I suppose in terms of skills he was a good as the next one in line.   But like many doctors he was driven by a bottom line...his. 

He drove a fancy Euro sedan and always wore lots of gold jewelry.   He seemed to be one of those that if he has it, he has to flaunt it.   To him, everyone that wasn't a doctor was simply in the wrong caste and social level.   Simple employees were definitely not worth much on his status scale. 

When I  quit the hosptial I opened up a used car lot and became a used car dealer.   I also ran an auto repair shop and got to know the Mrs. Dr. Jefferson.   She was a whiny, neurotic type that always was in a dither about something on her car or in her personal life.   She would complain that the good Dr. was not giving her enough allowance and it was through this happy couple that I first began to see the California non-divorced status.  It's all about the money, honey. 

California is a common property state and by law assets are split down the middle in a divorce case.   Over the years I saw many male business men that were set back 10 years in their businesses by a divorce.   The smarter ones simply did not divorce and that was the route the good Dr. J chose.   He told his 'ex' that he was not going to divorce her but would give her a monthly allowance instead.   I forget what that amount was but it was a nice pension for having lived with the presumptuous Dr. J for for some 20 years.   But it wasn't enough to cover what she felt were her necessities let alone what she 'deserved'.   She was always stressing over her 'baby' car and bringing it in for rattles and other imagined problems.   We always charged her to look especially since I had to spend a lot of time on her explaining why many of her car problems were imagined.   I expect that in her distorted world there were many other things in her life that were imagined...

So the good Dr. J died and went to wherever and I just hope he managed to salvage a few assets and status perks that he  could take with him...and I wonder if she went to the funeral.

The other death was Sarah Teal.   Oddly enough I met her ex before her but like so many people I have come across I got to know her pretty well by connecting dots and pieces of her psyche over an extended  period of time.   This of course is a not too hidden secret for understanding the human psyche and developing people skills.   

She was so sweet...always had a smile and a good word for others even if her day and life were going sideways and she seemed to have more than her share of sideways days.  I  sold her two cars...the second a low mileage Euro sedan I bought at Golden Gate car auction that she just loved.   The car was from Alaska and had one of those electric plugs sticking out of the grill to preheat the engine on subzero mornings.   She probably drove that car a good ten years and I would see it and her all over town.   I remember her bringing her car on the very day her scheduled maintenance was due...she loved that car.  She even got me to help her out feeding the homeless at the Episcopal Church downtown.

She recovered from her lousy marriage and managed to bring up her two kids by herself with dad taking them an afternoon a month.   Some dads are such jerks and she sure married a dud.   I  have come to since realize that who one marries is absolutely critical as it can take decades to recover from a bad marriage especially if children are involved.   She had even dated some of my old friends trying to find a Mr. Right if there is such a thing.   I remember she went out with one of my oddball friends she met at one of our famous Solstice parties.   She said he grabbed her on the first date and she whacked him.   Needless to say they only went out once.   

I last saw her several years back at BK.   She had remarried and moved to Carmel and her new fella seemed like a really nice guy...something she really deserved and I was so happy for her.   She showed me her newly constructed teeth and was so happy about them and her willpower to stop smoking cigarettes to keep those teeth sparkling white.   I guess her teeth stayed white but years of chain smoking had damaged her lungs and she died of lung cancer.   I couldn't remember the exact ages of her kids but both were adults at least so they can fend for themselves...

Such is life and such is death.   In the end I suppose we all get what we deserve...

Jack D. Deal

WW II Suicide Bomber Letter from Battle of Okinawa May 4, 1945

Blogmaster Note:

(Suicide bombers were prevalent in World War II although in much different form than in today's Mid East.  The following is an exact transcript of a letter written from the sea battle off Okinawa from Naval Gunnery Officer Lawrence Warneke to his mother and father in White City, Kansas.  I found this in a stack of letters at a flea market including some from Warneke's time after the war as a government official on the South Pacific island of Yap.  I paid $3.00 for the letters and did not see the suicide bomber letter until later -- what I saw was Warneke's  jungle letter from the Island of Yap and I wanted to  compare jungle stories.   What is interesting to note is how many hundreds of times this battle scenario and others like it were played out in the Battle of the Pacific.   This incident caught my attention because of Warneke's articulateness, accuracy, vantage point and the fact the letter was written during the battle period to his parents.  I would especially like to thank Warneke himself and doubt he would ever have imagined his letter would later be posted on Internet for all the world to see. Also see the prior two posts regarding Ungrateful Americans. Jack D. Deal)

Dear Folks:                                                                             May 4,  1945

     We arrived in San Diego on the 30th of April and now are undergoing a short yard period.   We will probably leave again on the 14th of this month so once more there isn't enough time to get much leave.  We are getting the usual five days.   That isn't much but it helps. 

     Julia was here when we got in and we are now living in Coronado.  I am taking the second leave so don't get ashore much this week (every other day.)  We have so much to do on the ship -- it makes pretty long days when you only have half of the ship's company aboard. 

     I received a bunch of the registers (ed.note: newspaper from White City, Kansas) when we got here but haven't been able to read them yet.  We had a little action while on this trip and you will probably want to  hear about it so I will start from the beginning of the cruise.

     We left Pearl Harbor with 65 Marine pilots and planes who were to  be land based at Okinawa as soon as an airfield was taken.   The ground forces were expected to take a certain field 5 days after they landed at which time we were to be stationed 90 miles from this field so we could send planes in. 

     We arrived in Ulthia two days before the strike so expected to lay around for five days.   The landing forces surprised everyone by taking the field intact the first day so naturally they began yelling for the planes.   Here we were three days travel time from there and they needed the planes now.   We oiled as soon as we could and left for the area.   Just before we got there  we received orders not to come in but to reverse our course as the area where we were to launch our planes in was infested with Jap planes.  Also, the island was under constant attack.   

     For a day and a half we stayed clear but finally we received word the area had cleared somewhat.  We steamed in to about 60 miles.   With  us was two destroyers and another carrier.   About 1300 we started launching planes.   All the time some of us were listening to the play by play account of the battle, just 40 to 60 miles away.   For one hour I listened and heard the Navy splash 28 planes.   

     Several times we went to our battle stations because Radar kept picking up Jap planes which would close in to about 20 miles and then go out again.   

     At about 1500 we had just five planes left to  launch when we went to our battle stations again.  Radar had picked up two planes at about 25 miles on our port bow.   They were tracked at that range around to the port quarter.   One plane went on aft and Radar lost him at 50 miles but the other stayed at about 25 miles.   We were about to secure from our stations when we received word he now had closed to 20 miles.   Some of the planes we had launched  were still flying around so we directed them to investigate.   By this time he had closed to 11 miles and we could see it by eye but weren't sure what it was, friend or foe.   

     At five miles (coming in from the  port quarter) we knew it was a Jap because he was heading for us, altitude about 1000 feet speed 420.  At about three miles from the ship our own planes winged over and  headed for him.   We wanted to open fire but hesitated because our own planes were in the line of fire.   When he reached two miles from the ship we knew we had to open up or he would get us.   Our planes had hit one of his engines and it was smoking but it didn't slow him up any.   When we opened up he was on the beam altitude about 80 feet speed about 450.  All our guns on the port side put lead right in his nose (we were also clipping our own planes but they soon got out of the line of fire) but he kept coming on in headed for the bridge.   At 500 yards we saw his whole forward section catch afire and at one hundred yards he blew up with a terrific explosion.   People inside the ship thought we were hit.  When the plane exploded cheers went up from the crew as if someone had scored a touchdown in football.   

     We now have seen a suicide plane and know they are very determined to get what they are after.   No one cares to see any more.   Several pieces of the wreckage hit the ship but no damage was done. 

     One hundred yards on land seems like quite a distance but on the sea you just don't get that close to each other -- then to something coming at you in excess of 400 miles per hour covers that distance in the flick of an eyelash.   

     My station is gunnery control officer on the Bridge so I could see it all.  I always thought I would get very nervous but never at any time did I ever think of it.   When he blew up I noticed how calm I had been in directing the fire and my hands were not shaking a bit.   Everyone around me had no color in their faces, maybe I didn't either -- I don't know. 

     When the plane was real close I did get behind the shield in gunnery control -- which comes to my shoulder -- and ducked so that only my eyes were exposed, helmet covering my head.   The reason was that I expected him to open up with his machine guns.   He did but they went wild. 

     I hope I have made this clear so you can understand it.   There are a lot incidents I failed to see as others saw it but as a whole there wasn't much I missed. 

                                                                   Lawrence