Motivational Poster Thread (warning content)

I can post all sorts of terrible GIF's with snaps of current affairs and really annoying music, but I don't think it's time to leave Earth yet.

 

https:/ww.witn.com/2022/08/16/jacksonville-police-officer-65-years-wwii-veteran-gets-lifetime-achievement-award/

I may not be able to post pictures, but I can post links and and I can tell stories. My friend, Officer XY Brown told me he'd be 100 years old in four years. He's still on duty, and his service stripes go nearly all the way up his arm. I couldn't post a little clip a friend sent me of him working as a crossing guard at the local high school, but I heard the story, and have watched XY handle traffic in the most dangerous intersections with ease.

He's been a force of nature around here since most of us were teenagers. I've only seen him in civilian clothes a half dozen times in forty years. He looks like he just walked out of 1970 and wears silly old-man hats with narrow brims. Nobody would mess with XY Brown, even now. This last incident was a perfect example of what the Marine Corps calls "force." I'll tell it the way I heard it.

He was working a 4 way intersection, stopping traffic for the school kids. A woman in a BMW drove into the intersection and was almost across it when he yelled at her. She stopped. Everybody stopped. Time felt like it stopped.

XY marched slowly across the intersection, his long and lean frame moving with youthful ease. He looked at the driver and pointed his white gloved hand at the STOP sign he held. He walked right up to the front of her car and made her back all the way back across the intersection before he let anybody move.

Even at 96 years old, nobody messes with XY Brown.

The thing I admire most about him, besides his amazing ability to control traffic, is his presence outside the gate of the Veteran's Cemetery when we follow the hearse and he controls traffic as we make that last turn. By presence, I don't just mean he's there... He stands out like a shining light. White shirt, white cover, white gloves holding a rigid salute as we accompany the veteran to their final resting place. I'm usually good to go until I see him, then I lose it and start to cry... every time.

 

Cool story there ,, that's pretty wild ,, a WW11 vet still working . That's great , and awesome , at the same time . God Bless him .

I'm about to finish up my projects down south of J'ville . I might take a weekend and go on a tour of the old stomping grounds ,, although I'm sure it's changed a bit since the 80's ,, I wonder if any of them old bars are still open ?? I can think of a couple that if they are ,, they may still have a few of the same old dancers ,,,, ,,,

 

Shirley's V Bar is still downtown, the Platinum Club is still out by the river. First club as you come out the gate toward town. Can't remember what it was called in the 80's. I want to say "Putter's Palace," but I don't think that's right. Driftwood, that's what it used to be. Toby's is unchanged, out by the Air Station. The Brownbagger, sadly, is gone, as is Mickey's out by the drag strip. Alibi Bar, has a new name (Dino's Tavern) and more parking. The Mad Trapper's Pub, which was my home away from home is closed down. I don't know where the Pagan's went, but I kinda miss them, since they kept the place open.
Georgia, the second lady RSO I ever knew, and her smiling faces moved up North somewhere last time I saw her. She might have to actually start wearing (warm) clothes.

 

Since I can't post pictures, and maybe that's a good thing... let me tell you a story about the first lady RSO I ever met. I was working the line when I met her, and she'd come to visit as a shooter. I got enough time to talk with her that day to verify that the stories I'd heard about her were undoubtedly true. She'd been a Marine, like most of us on the range, and every bit as charming as I'd been told. What was interesting about her time as the RSO was how she got the brass picked up at the end of the day. I'm old, inflexible, and don't see so well, so I run everybody off and crawl the 100 yards or so of firing line picking up brass in a sieve.

Her technique was quite different and far more efficient than mine. On hot summer days, after the range was closed she'd strip down to a bikini to police the brass. She didn't need to do much bending, since she always had plenty of eager volunteers to help.

 

Those are stories well worth hearing ,, classics ,,

 

Yep ,, the Driftwood was a good one . That was a long ride back in the 80s from Geiger ,, Toby's was cool ,, the EGA was an old hangout. Remember the Shipwreck , outside Gieger ?
Ya say the Pagans aren't around anymore . I met the Prez about 15 yrs ago ,, they weren't around in the 80s that I remember . Remember the DeathRiders ?? From the 80s in J'ville ?? I was at the EGA outside Little River one night ,, DeathRiders was there ,,, a bunch of Jarheads rolled up trying to confront the DR'S,,, one guy had a Ruger mini 14,, popped of a round in the dirt ,,, 1 of the DR's grabbed the rifle from the boys hand ,, jacked all the rounds out of it ,, then cracked it across a telephone pole ,, and threw it across the parking lot .
About 25+ yrs ago ,, I was with a bunch of Viet Nam Vets MC ,, was telling that story ,, and 1 of the Vets spewed beer across the bar ,, he was the one that snatched the rifle from that boys hands all them years earlier . I was at that man's funeral about 8 yrs ago ,, his wife had me ride his bike too the funeral home ,, then to the Salisbury VA cemetary, where he rests today .

Yea ,, I believe I'll make that trip and do a little reminiscing ,, stop by the Beruit Memorial at Camp Johnson and pay my respects there as well .

Dammit man ,, sure feels like a bunch of years have gone by in a short period of time .

Just remembered,, did ya ever get out to the Eagle Pass Saloon ?? Used to have some good times out there ,, it was a long ride back to Geiger at 0200 after an all day drink fest on 2 wheels .
Yep ,, them was some of the good Ole days .

 

We're back!

Post away

 

Man, I bet Diggity has ton of memes saved up! This is gonna be epic.