About

Personal observations:

As a psychotherapist, I’ve never believed in or advocated a geographical fix for ones problems… everywhere you go, there you are.

However, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor and living to fight another day is paramount.  Thus I find myself in Texas after most of my life in God’s Country, which we all know is Colorado.

My best friends, my beloved Tripoli (whom I lost four years ago), Sparky, Cooper and Jack have bounced around with me the last several years and they have adjusted as only dogs can to a variety of living locales, situations and surroundings. I’ve done pretty well, but not so well as they.

About a year and a half ago we became a fire-team. A young Marine was in a fix… headed to Pensacola for flight school and could not take his Blue Merle Aussie (like Tripoli) with him; well, I was done… an Aussie, a fellow jarhead in need, and whatthehell… four’s not much different from three, no?

Reporter, media relations manager, government worker, car salesman and therapist; obviously there is no gold watch or golden parachute in my future… but it has been interesting and I’ve met a lot of fascinating people. Started my own private practice in 1990 and I cannot imagine why I every worked for someone else; obviously, it’s not in my nature.

As a former editor put it… “He’s great at the things he’s interested in.” I think you can see he was working hard at being positive, yet truthful in the conversation with my next boss. That’s all you can ask of a man.

“Gary is capable of much better work if he would apply himself.” – virtually half my teachers from 7th grade through my undergrad years had variations on the theme.

Now it’s fashionable to claim attention deficit disorder out of the gate… I didn’t know it until a few years ago… when I uh, …. I’ve always wanted to build a kit plane like one of those Burt Rutan designs…..

See what I mean?

Anyway, it always seems that there’s something more interesting… right.. over… there.

Thus, no one was more surprised that I that I earned a masters degree; I’m sure some of my former teachers would doubt it.

The most important thing I ever did was join the Marine Corps in 1968… the Corps took the raw material and shaped me for the rest of my life. I am eternally grateful. I got an early exit from Vietnam 18 months later courtesy of those little black pajama-clad bastards… cost me eight months in various hospitals but given all that, I’d do it all over, exactly the same way, except I’d try to be a better Marine.

That, of course was in the Sixties; and I’ve been at war with my generation… the so-called Baby Boomers… ever since.

By the time we all shuffle off this mortal coil we will be hated by those behind us for we have been the least grateful, most self-absorbed and largely silly people since perhaps the Roaring Twenties.

Peace. Love. Hippies.

Crap.

After we were in charge, our first master stroke was the election of Bill Clinton, one of the more mediocre presidents of last century.

Please forgive us, and shame on those older and younger who voted for the buffoon. He is one of us… I am sorry.

However, we did make up for that mostly with George Bush; history will prove me right.

And now, we have a socialist buffoon for POTUS… thanks, you 68 million numb-skulls; that lets my generation off the hook; The Obamanation is worse than Carter, Nixon and Clinton combined.

Tolerate diversity, don’t celebrate it.

Hyphenated-Americans have no place in America, and neither do illegal aliens.

An increasing number of Republicans… aren’t.

Yep, we live in a world gone mad when the Pope and Christ are ridiculed, their images desecrated and banned from school, but if you try that with Mohammad, his followers will kill you and the ACLU and liberals will send them a mouthpiece before your blood dries.

… and it’s no longer questionable whether or not your own government would help you.

Huge numbers of our countrymen dissolve into a pathetic puddles when confronted with Swine flu, Y2K or the or rumors of a toilet paper shortage. Should we ever be invaded, the fifth column in this country and the news media would sell you down the river for an extra piece of bread.

We in many ways have become a frivolous nation;  essentially held up like stalwart poles do a tent… a very large area supported and sheltered by only a handful of strong and dedicated warriors.

Here’s to them.

18 Responses to About

  1. AFVET says:

    Well said !
    Air Force ’69 to ’73.
    There were many times throughout my life that I wished I had re-enlisted.
    Being young and stupid I decided to launch into the private sector, ‘the world’ as we knew it.
    Then Carter was elected.
    Damn !

  2. “We in many ways have become a silly nation.” A real feat that, given the fact we don’t even have a Ministry of Silly Walks.

    Great intro. Welcome to the blogosphere.

    On a personal note, Devil Dogs will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks for your service in the Corps. Not pronounced corpse, btw Mr. President.

    Linda

  3. thewinchman says:

    Welcome home and thanks for your service Marine!

    Kinda new at this Blog Stuff and beginnig to get my feet wet. Shopping around the site to see what it’s all about and places I may like to visit on occasion. We may have shared some of the same real estate back in the 60’s. I’m Navy but was attached to the 9th Marine Expeditionary Bragade in 65 when we landed in Danang RVN.

    I agree with your observations in full. Who’d ever thought that when the show ended in VN we have to fight these numbskull’s again some 45 years later. We have no choice, the brave men returning home now know that we have thier back. Back in the day we didn’t get that support.

    Semper Fi!

  4. Welcome aboard…. yeah M/3/1 was part of the BLT in the DaNang landing in ’65, a long time before I got there in early ’69. I was originally to 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade but orders were changes in Travis as we headed to Oki. All contribution welcome…

    Reagrds,
    GA

  5. No Fear says:

    Gary you seem to be a man that dwells on the past and is very afraid of the here and now. I do not think yhat you are evil but i do think that you are a man with out a true woman you have fully embraced. I was a Marine for 32 months. I do not feel a need to advertise it nor does it define me.

    • If your Marine Corps service does not “define” you and you are not proud of the title, then there’s nothing more for you to say to us is there?

      As far as women……. I’ve simply embraced all that I care to, a sizable number as I recall, and they weren’t concerned about where I went to boot camp.

      Just curious? MOS… motor pool, sanitation, hydraulics of some kind? And don’t get me wrong, if you are a Marine you are my comrade until you prove unworthy. But I find that there are some jarheads who didn’t get the full effect of serving with Uncle Sam’s finest.

      So…. Semper Fi, do or die… except for ezzen@rock.com who failed the Marine Corps… it did not fail him.

  6. David Justice says:

    I love the rubbish that you right wing gun sucking nutcase psychopaths spread claiming its the truth. No wonder we are getting are asses kicked in the middle of the world. Its stupid fools like you that keep me armed to protect real people not you republican ass licking fools. We can’t fight a real war because the training is WW2 still

  7. Sharon Massey says:

    I wanted to thank you for using my stock photo in your blog … the handgun shot on the page with Chris Kyle …. I was googling some images and ran across your page …

  8. Brent says:

    Interesting blog. You seem a might tad angry at some Americans yet forget the true Americans are the ones who were here first. However, if you are born in the land, you are of the land. The picture of the dead soldier in the Custer battlefield section should be beside another photo of the dead the cowards killed at Wounded Knee. In the end, both sides committed crimes, but only one side stole land.

    • Pictures: I’m not obligated to provide a tit-for-tat account of history… just pointing out what invariably happens to indigenous peoples who stand in the way of progress; and, to remind that before Europeans arrived the leading cause of death of Indians was… Indians.

      And that continued for as long as there were hostile Indians.

      Stone Age people were simply going to lose… no written language, not skills other than hunting and gathering; those who adapted did well. Those who didn’t… didn’t. Sadly, the Indians have largely failed to take advantage of America and continue to live on the federal dole that should have ended a century ago.

      In the end, the problem with the Red Man is not the White Man…. the problem with the Indians tribes, like blacks, is themselves.

      So they and their white-guilt supporters, need to move on…. Custer died in 1876, get over it.

  9. Gary
    I just discovered your blog today, but be assured, I will be “following” you. I too am a Marine from the Vietnam era, in-country June 67-November 69. I find that you and I think a lot alike, but I am unable to express things as succinctly as you do. I appreciate that you “put it out there” for all of the draft dodgers to see, but mostly that you tell things that I cannot. Welcome Home, Brother.
    Semper Fi
    Senior Lance Corporal (I think you’ll get it)

  10. Semper Fi says:

    Was an absolute f****** racist nutcase you are. Feel free to stop living 50 years in the past. Oh, and I was a Marine for 8 years. 0311 1st and 3rd Force, 2nd Force attached to the 22nd MEU. Navy Comm w/ a V. So, Semper Fi but seriously stop spewing your hate and racism and bigotry. It’s absolutely appalling. The words that come out of your head and onto this blog make me embarrassed for you and ashamed that you were ever a Marine. You obviously forgot what you were fighting for.

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