Cool Weapons

[Lamplighter]

OK, he has got his salt embedded in a fly.
Now, he needs a fly-shaker or a fly-grinder to get it onto his food.

Did that fellow just have a dumb idea,
or does he have another buy-one-get-one-free ?

[Cyber Wolf]

The humble mango.



http://wtop.com/681/2956505/Mass-wom...-fruit-at-them

Eh? No? Okay...

[Gravdigr]

B-1B.

[Gravdigr]

A Marine is a cool weapon. And a Marine is always, and forever, a Marine.

These guys...Cool Weapons.

These men fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam

MISSION VIEJO – They are a two-man band of brothers – on a final mission.

Both joined the Marines at age 16. Both stormed the beaches of Guam in 1944. And both got wounded. Later they fought in Korea. And in Vietnam.

For more than 50 years, they've stayed friends. Through marriages and births, heart attacks and the loss of their wives.

Almost every day, they call to say hi.

"He's my best friend," says Tom Spry, 86, of Mission Viejo.

"He's like a brother," says Jerry Hanson, 87, of Boise Idaho.

Recently they got asked to help again. So they did what they always do. Said yes.

One last time.

•••

It's easy to remember their names. Tom and Jerry; like the old cartoon. Tom's the funny one, cracking jokes after everything Jerry says. Jerry's the tough one, an infantryman wounded three times in three wars.

Says Tom: "I introduce him to everyone: 'This is my best friend, but if you have to go to war, stay as far away from him as you can!' "

They laugh.

Jerry recalls the time he was shot by a sniper in Guam; the time he was hit by a grenade in Korea; and the time he was hit by a mortar in Vietnam. These stories, however, don't make him blink. It's the story about Paul Nye that puts a hitch in his voice and draws a tear. After a long pause, he says:

"I don't know if I can go back up there."

But up there – Guam's Fonte Hill – is where he's going.

•••

It was 68 years ago this month, July 21, 1944, when these two landed on Guam with 25,000 other Marines.

Their mission: retake the 30-mile island from Japanese occupiers as the U.S. pressed its war in the Pacific toward the Japanese mainland.

This was Tom's first and Jerry's second beach landing, running past dead and wounded comrades into the face of gunfire, mortars and artillery explosions.

"If anybody ever says they weren't scared," Tom says, "I'll show you a complete idiot."

"Or someone who wasn't there," adds Jerry.

"When you know you're going into action, you're scared as hell. When the shooting starts, your training takes over. Then, when it's over, the fear takes over again."

By day's end, the Marines had secured a beachhead. But this battle wasn't about the beach.

It was about what loomed 1,200 yards away, just beyond the beach and bomb-cratered rice paddies. That's where Japanese Lt. Gen. Takeshi Takashina waited with nearly 20,000 troops in a fortified command post – looking down over the field of battle.

From atop Fonte Hill.

•••

Fonte Hill was the key to Guam.

Whoever held it, held the high ground. The Marines were determined to take it. The Japanese were determined use it to drive the 3rd Marine Division back to the sea.

The Marines began their assault on July 25. By dusk, one battered company had reached the top – without knowing what was about to unfold. After midnight it came, as Takashina unleashed his six battalions.

Orange Japanese flares lit the night. Rifle fire and grenade concussions mixed with screams of Banzai! and Marine, you die!

"They just come at you, screaming, with everything they have," recalls Jerry, whose 21st Marine Regiment formed the center. "Waves of them with guns and swords. Some just had sticks with bayonets tied to them."

Back and forth the battle raged, at times hand-to-hand, as the Japanese launched seven banzai attacks.

By morning, the Marines prevailed – breaking the back of Japan's defense. It was a pivotal point in retaking the island but, for Jerry, it came with a cost.

"It's painful," he says, "and you feel guilty."

That's how he remembers watching Paul Nye die.

•••

The years came and went. Tom and Jerry fought at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. Then later volunteered for Vietnam.

Did they ever feel it was someone else's turn to fight?

"No." They look at each other: "You get in the habit."

So, naturally, in 2009, when Guam invited them back for the 65th anniversary of Liberation Day, they said yes.

They were treated like royalty, dining with the governor and honored at a parade. They also visited Fonte Hill (renamed Nimitz Hill), bearing the names of those Marines who died there.

Jerry named 15 men before reaching the plaque, then ...

"I broke down," he says. "I really broke down."

The one name he was looking for was missing.

•••

When Jerry pointed out that Paul Nye's name was missing, the tour guide asked if he was sure Nye died on Fonte Hill.

"Damn sure," Jerry told him. "He and I were carrying a wounded man up this hill. And just at the top, Nye was shot twice through the lungs. And I wasn't touched. He fell forward, trying to say something, and he died in my arms."

That's why Jerry didn't know if he could ever return to Fonte Hill. But this year, when Guam called again – inviting Tom and Jerry to the 68th anniversary of Liberation Day and the opening of a War in the Pacific museum – they did what they always do.

Said yes.

"I'm glad we went back," Jerry said after returning this week. "You bet. It felt good."

Guam loves its liberators so much that it celebrates Liberation Day each July 21, the day the Marines landed to liberate them. Tom and Jerry again were honored at parades, ceremonies and the governor's mansion.

"I expressed my deep gratitude," Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo said, "for their sacrifice and the blood they spilled for our liberty."

And there on Fonte Hill, officials expressed another form of gratitude, promising to add a name to a new plaque that'll soon go up. Sixty eight years after his death, Paul Nye finally will be recognized for giving his life to liberate Guam.

Thanks to a small band of brothers, now 86 and 87, who just keep answering the call of duty.

Contact the writer: tberg@ocregister.comBy TOM BERG / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

[zippyt]

OOOOOOHHHH FUCKING RAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!

[classicman]

Powerful.
I attended a funeral today. It was for another decorated Marine who fought in the Pacific. He was the father of one of my best friends. As kids he used to keep us in line by telling us stories of what happened to those who didn't follow orders.
Even at 87 he still held a commanding presence. RPI Jiggs.

[Clodfobble]

Joined at 16... I am truly awed by their lifelong sacrifice, but Jesus. Look at those pictures--the one on the left looks like he could just be wearing a Halloween costume.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Joined at 16...

It is shocking. They're just kids!

I've been thinking about this song...
"Our sons need never be soldiers, our daughters will never need guns.
These are the years between, these are the years that were hard fought and won"

[classicman]

[BigV]

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/...ng-ball-mortar

[ZenGum]

oyyyyyy.... the shot at 4.40 ... breaks the mortar, sends the ball 1,000 feet up ... with cars driving by on a public road in the background. Ummmm .....

[zippyt]

I didnt need the info that a bowling ball will fit in a Oxy Cylinder ,
BAD V !!!

[ZenGum]

You want me to hold your beer?

[Aliantha]

I think a bottle of tabasco could be a pretty cool weapon.

[zippyt]

You want me to hold your beer?

Not yet , but i do have a whole bucket full of 4" steel bearings that i need to do something with