A Different Kitty

[Jim Beckley]

I was in Southern Az, Deer hunting this past week. Friday evening I was making my way back to camp via an old cattle trail, when I heard a stirring in the tall, dry grass when I hit the spot with my 2 cell AA Mag Lite, I was smack dab in front of a Kamping Kitty (Skunk, Polecat, Pepe Lepew) standing on all toenails, tail straight up! Now I'm not saying that I was running in reverse, but any Frenchman would have been proud of me, that is of course until I tripped over a rock or my own feet, anyhow I went down and by the time I got up the Skunk was moving off on his merry way, I was pretty glad I didn't get sprayed!

[Bob Mc Alice]

That's a funny story Jim. By the way, did you get a deer, or did you have to settle for a day old road kill again?

[Jim Beckley]

Bob, No deer. There were 5 of us in camp. Manny, Bill Cole, Rob and his buddy Tom (Rob and Tom don't shoot silhouette), and myself. We saw a total of 10 does, 3 or 4 coveys of Quail (scaled and Montezuma), 6 Javelina, and 1 Skunk. I know that there is some road kill here and there, but you don't see them to often here (not enough deer).

[atomicbrh]

This post brings up two subjects totally unrelated to Rifle Silhouette but here goes:

Where are the Pepe Lepew, Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoons(Looney Tunes?)? We have 90+ channels on our local cable network but we cannot find these cartoons anymore. Were they removed because they promote "violence" and are not politically correct? What gives?

That Pepe Lepew brings up another subject, the French and please do not make this a French bashing topic because that is not my intent. Pepe Lepew was always trying to get that cat that he thought was a female skunk to go to the Casbah with him and have a "lovely time". After the French surrendered to the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu in the Mid 1950's and were released after being tortured, with many killed in captivity, by the Viet Minh they were immediately sent to Algiers to suppress the FLN revolution. The French so to speak "rocked" the Algerian Casbah. The French military leaders promised their men that Dien Bien Phu would never happen to them again and the French fought with brutal effectiveness in the Casbahs. Watch the movie "Battle Of Algiers". The movie was required viewing by the American Department of Defense and Pentagon personnel that formulated the "warfighting" plan for the present turmoil in Iraq. If the planners had really paid attention to what the French did in Algiers, Iraq would have been made safe in a very short time with very little loss of life. Our American soldiers should be allowed to fight in the Iraqian Casbahs as the French did in Algiers. I am not taking up for the present day French but to understand our present situation you must go back to the French at Dien Ben Phu where in my humble opinion brave men did their best to fight and survive after being placed in an impossible to win situation by their leaders. No one in America knew it but there were lots of Americans supporting the French at Dien Bien Phu. If you watch the movie, you must get on the internet and research the real life characters in 1950's Algiers. It will take you down unbelievable trails and explain what made the French the way they are today and how it has affected America. Also the movie gives you many of the little details about how the Algerians used their religious policies and activities to carry out their terrorist activites. For example, the many different ways the berka can be used for the smuggling of weapons and ied's through checkpoints and the placement of ied's. Just remember that even from the first few seconds, the movie is a total lie, but a very useful one. If any of you take the time to watch this movie and cannot figure out the lie, just pm me and I will let you in on it. I cannot explain the lie here because the names I will mention explaining the lie will attract too much attention on search engines.

Very few people really understand how the French and their activites trying to regain control of their pre-World War II colonial empire has hurt America. The French soldier and Legionaire can and will fight but his government will not support him because the French leaders are afraid of offending other "Nations". I am afraid the American soldier is now in the same situation as the French soldier. Our leaders do not want to offend any other "Nations"or "Religions". We should not be worried about offending anyone. The American soldier should be allowed to fight and win with the full support of his country. Who cares what other nations think about America? The only rule in a just war should be do whatever it takes to win that war.

Bobby R. Huddleston

[Jim Beckley]

Mr. Huddleston, You are correct on many points, Bugs is my favorite. My only problem with the French is that they missed two really good chances to be speaking German and we helped them out both times, and to quote Gen. Colin Powell "When we go in and help out any foreign country with a war, the only thing we ask for in return is a little bit of land to bury our dead". I'm a little rusty on Dien Bien Phu, but the bottom line is that the French way over extended it's supply line, was laid siege to by at the time a rag tag Viet Minh Army. Toward the end of the siege a group of French paratroops jumped in to the base to try to rescue the rest. IMHO they either had balls that clanged when they walked or they were tired of living. It wasn't known until years after that Americans were involved in the evuaction. I was talking to a former Marine who said he was there and the French were running like rabbits, but the diffenerce between a war story and a fairy tale is that one starts out once upon a time and one starts out with this aint no shit! The major point that you hit on the head was in war go all out and win at any cost!

[sobrbiker883]

Where are the Pepe Lepew, Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoons(Looney Tunes?)? We have 90+ channels on our local cable network but we cannot find these cartoons anymore. Were they removed because they promote "violence" and are not politically correct? What gives?

What about Heckle and Jeckel??

I guess the old cartoons were too much for modern kids, with all the explosions, guns and hunting references. Now its so much better that its all Pokemon and other anime crap. I swear they are filling our kids heads with subliminal codes (could be blatant even, no adult can stand to sit threw the new cartoon BS). One day they'll toss out the code word and our "manchurian candidate" children will take over!

I'm not saying that I was running in reverse, but any Frenchman would have been proud of me

-now that's funny.........

[atomicbrh]

Funny thing about the Battle of Dien Bien Phu from my understanding is that both sides were using the same American-Made artillery. The Viet Minh were using artillery Americans had abandoned in Korea(maybe on the bugout from Chosin) and the French were using artillery that America had sold them or "lent" them. Obviously the Viet Minh were more skilled with the artillery. I guess after the Viet Minh took it apart, lived with it, hauled it all over creation, and put it back together in the middle of nowhere they knew alot about how it worked. (Hey! That kind of sounds like what we do with Silhouette Rifles.)What was unusual about this Viet Minh victory was that as far as I know it was the first time in history a ragged guerilla resistance movement advanced through every stage of development all the way into an organized fighting force able to win a decisive major battle throwing a colonial power out of their country. A three tour Vietnam Vet friend of mine suggested I read the book "Hell in a very Small Place" about Dien Bien Phu. I have not had time to read that one yet. The really odd thing about Dien Bien Phu that I found out was that the loadmasters kicking out cargo there for Air America trying to supply the French were Forestry Service seasonal smokejumpers from the Missoula, MT. Base Station. To me that was unbelievable. I guess GS-9 pay looked awfully good compared to GS-4 pay. The other odd thing was that a lot of the Legionaires there were of course War Criminals such as ex-Waffen SS trying to achieve a new identity and eventually "earn" that French citizenship. Some were even French Algerians. Then think about the Air America pilots wearing Hawaiian shirts and bedroom slippers while flying their missions. What a wild mix of characters. The only other place I think you could find such a wild mix of characters is at a Smallbore Silhouette Match.

Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck. How can kids grow up to be normal without these cartoons? I cannot watch the new cartoons for 5 seconds and do not want future generations of my family to grow up warped by them. I have got to get some copies of the old cartoon classics to leave to my family.

Thanks for the replies. I never have time to talk about things like cartoons and the French at the Matchs. Too busy spotting, shooting and playing match director.

Bobby R. Huddleston

[Jim Beckley]

I think it was about 1979, about half way through my hitch in the Army, we got a new guy in our unit, he was quite a few years older than the rest of us, matter of fact most of us were late teens or early twenties and this guy was like grandpa, late thirties or early forties, he was in the French Foreign Legion. He was placed in the 3rd Plt. and I was in 1st, so I really didn't know him at all, just to say hey, but when he processed into our Company his DA Form 1307 (Individual Jump Record) had his 5 jumps at Benning, 1 at the 82D Reppo Deppo, and then he had signed underneath that, he had over 500 jumps with the Foreign Legion (nobody doubted it, from our C.O. on down), Every one in the 3rd herd called him Frenchy, they said that Frenchy could hold his liquor and tell some amazing stories, but on his first jump with the 3rd herd, Frenchy broke his leg, and I don't know what happened to him after that, but he didn't come back to our unit.