Mike

#15

#14

#13

#12

#11

#10 Here's a healthy young lad !

#9

#8

#7

#6 I don't have to know the language to know what this garbage is --

#5

#4 ..looks like Heydrich was in on this article

#3

#2

I've had this for years ..but unfortunately I can't read German. Maybe a fellow collector could give us an idea of what it says.

Hi everyone ....a good friend of ours is on his way Home ! I thought I'd share his final Email with you --

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Hello All,

So this will most likely be my last long email to the entire group. Before I go into anything else, I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for the past year. Whether you sent a box, email, or just said an extra prayer, it has been greatly appreciated on this end of the world. You?d be surprised how the smallest things to you can mean so much more on the other end. I will do my best while I am home to make up for all of it, but considering the size of this email list, that may be damn near impossible. Thank you will have to suffice for now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone and yes it is rather belatedly. My Christmas consisted of a pretty good meal, a bunch of meetings, and a nap. The best thing to do around here is to ignore the holidays completely as it can get pretty depressing if you think about it. It will be like I stepped into a time machine and skipped the entire year. As usual, I will get over it soon enough I am sure. I have moved FOB?s to LSAA Anaconda. That means nothing to you, I know, but the danger level for me and my platoon has dropped significantly and we no longer have to patrol a thing. For those of you who may have suspected, yes, perhaps I did slightly underreport the amount of danger I have been in for the past year. I will reveal nothing more except to say that the war stories I will tell in the bars of (******) will be infinitely more exciting than what I shared in my emails. Yes, I do require a free drink first.

Now of course I have been asked quite often what is Iraq really like, are we winning this war, how is morale, etc. All of these are great questions that are not very simply answered. I will do my best to answer them but I refuse to go into the politics of any of this. The reason being as an officer in the Army, I am not a political creature, and if this email is forwarded as I expect it to be, I could find myself in a whole lot of trouble. Plus, I refuse to deal with Tommy Holmes any more than I need to as far as politics are concerned.

Are we winning? Of course we are. TV makes it look like we have no chance to win, and that are losses are too high, and that we need to leave. First of all, we can win ANY war; it all depends on the stamina of the American people, not the American military. With the way the war is being reported, I am sure that it will not be the military who decides to leave here. We build schools, we capture terrorists, we train security forces, we deliver supplies, and yes we get shot at while doing it. The losses we suffer are too high some say. I say that?s pretty obvious. Losing one soldier is too many. We never want to lose a single soldier, but did some people actually think we would fight a war and not suffer a single fatality? We are fighting a war against people that are plain scum. There will be casualties. The real question is how many is too many? That is your choice as an American and a voter. I would like to point out that many politicians voted for this war and now denounce it. I would like to point out that my friend Mike C. was killed two weeks ago. He doesn't?t get to have his life back, so they don?t get their vote back. People want an exit strategy, but I would like to point out that our mission is not done yet. We don?t fight to a time standard; we fight to accomplish an objective. Did we talk about an exit strategy while we were storming Normandy?

How is morale? It?s just fine. We don?t like this place particularly, but then again who the heck would really like a desert with huge explosives in the ground? I can tell you that our recruiter in theater met his quota 2 months into our deployment. I can tell you there is plenty of complaining. I can also tell you a lot of the same people would be complaining when they are home in the states as well. I think the most telling part of our outlook is the amount of people who wonder what it will look like in ten years. They plan on showing their children this place at some point. You see, while the media will tell you this is a losing effort, we can?t picture anything else but success. Maybe we are naive, but then again we are the ones actually fighting the war.

What is Iraq really like? It?s a desert. There really isn?t all that much to expound on there. The weather is pretty awful 100% of the time. If you have ever been to Egypt, I would compare it to that, minus pretty much anything that reminds you of civilization. There are a lot of farmers, who walk their cows, and no camels. Baghdad, from what I understand, is almost like most major cities, as far as the Western influence. I have not had the pleasure (ha!) of visiting so I won?t comment on that one any further. I was in the middle of nowhere just south of Samarra. There was nothing there.

What are the people like? Now this is a complicated question. Let?s start with the average farmer. He has a farm, a wife, kids, and a donkey. All he knows is his wife, farm, kids, and donkey. All he cares about is his wife, kids, farm, and donkey. Nothing happens to them if he shuts his mouth and ignores the fact that bad guys keep putting bombs in the street and they blow up American vehicles. I have had an extremely hard time trying to decide how I truly feel about these people. How would I be in their situation? Why would I care about Americans when it could possible put me and all I know in jeopardy. I have decided that I neither like them or dislike them. I pity them. They will always be prisoners to someone willing to hurt them. I suppose that is the biggest difference between an American and an Iraqi. You can train any Iraqi all you want, equip him to the utmost, but courage is something you are born with. The best way to illustrate my point would be to look at Rosa Parks. She just got sick of putting up with something that didn?t make sense to her. She didn?t know what would happen maybe she?d get lynched, beaten, whatever. She just got sick of it and decided to do something about it. I have yet to meet someone like her here. Someone willing to bring about change even if it means losing all they have. Perhaps it is an oversimplification of the entire thing, but then again, doesn?t everyone know exactly who Rosa Parks is?

The children are an entirely different story. They are extremely happy to see us due to the fact we always give them things, but they are also very curious about anything and everything American. As I have said in previous emails, many of them can either read English, or even speak it fluently. They almost always wave when we went by, and even helped out in our cause from time to time. I specifically remember one time where we were blocking off a road from any traffic. We gave the kid and his father some candy to spread around, and then they proceeded to be our traffic cops for the rest of the day. They set up rocks in the street so no cars would even make the turn, and waved away any foot traffic. So the children are for the most part the only saving grace of this place. The adults can range from helpful to totally useless.

The last group of people are the bad guys. What I like about them is they give me reason to fire my tank. They are evil, conniving, and a slew of other things. One thing they are not is dumb. I saw very few bad guys in my time here because they knew the sound of the tanks, and they knew they had no chance. They usually left explosives behind for us to run over, but IED?s to a tank are inconvenient more than anything else. Allow me to go off on yet another tangent.

I love my tank. Emma saw me through good times and bad. Leaving her a couple days ago was a hard thing, but I gave her a kiss and went on my way. Emma and other tanks just like her are the most beautiful beasts on Earth. Many of you have seen the video of a tank being destroyed. That is about as rare as a Republican liking Barbara Streisand. Also, tanks don?t catch on fire. I laughed my butt off when CNN reported that an American tank was set on fire. I assure you, it was not the case. It was some equipment on the outside of the tank. However, that isn?t news now is it? Tanks are like a drug. It is indescribable the feeling of supremacy you have while riding on one. I know my mom always worried that I had too much faith in them. They aren?t indestructible. Well, they are close enough for me!

Finally, the most important thing that got me through the last year was my soldiers. Many of you may or may not know this, but soldiers get paid next to nothing. A private in the army can make barely $20K a year ( reg pay) . They do all the maintenance, the horrible jobs, the interminable guard shifts, and yet find the strength to continue to do it and sign up for more. It is quite amazing just how they do it each and everyday. I cannot say enough to explain what they mean in the great scheme of things. I have attempted in previous emails to articulate this, but ended up deleting it every time. It is their blood, sweat, and tears that keep our amazing military machine running.

And now to lighten the mood, the Top Ten Things I will miss about Iraq:

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See you all real soon.

P.S. If you do forward this, please ensure my name is NOT attached.

Thanks Tom , I'll got to Sears and pick it up. I hope the engraving is not pitted --Mike

#3

#2 ...

My Dad took his Knights Templar Sword with him when he moved to Florida ..and the moisture took it's toll. Some of the rust is light but , there are patches of caked on rust ...I put some oil on the blade for now but was wondering what the safest way to remove the rust growth and restore the blade (if poss)

Something like this KT jewel Mike.

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That's it ..with the gold finish and I remember it didn't have any markings on the back BUT ..it also didn't have any top named "rocker" with the pin. I think the pin set up was just stitched to the top of the ribbon.

Thanks for confirming that ...now if I can only find where he put it

I don't think I can reply to that.

Don't worry ...he had a great sense of Humor and knew I was joking. When things settled down he even asked me what type of Uniform I got for it !

There was one medal he had and I can't find ...it was almost a Maltese Cross with deep red enamel and a black ribbon. I'm guessing that it was Knights Templar related ..does it sound familiar to you ?

I think you're right and the older Lodges over here did 'recycle' their jewels , many prob still do. Years ago (before I took my 3d) my Dad asked if I wanted to keep his Jewel and if not , he wanted me to give it to the Lodge. But it means a lot to me and I don't want to see it modified. If it had been made as a generic Jewel with a backplate (pocket slide) so many names and dates could be engraved ..that would have been a different story and of course I would have given it back. ..I don't know if they still even make Jewels like this anymore.

This Jewel meant SO MUCH to him ...when he fell Ill in Florida ..I flew down and stayed with him. While he was in the Intensive Care Unit and heavily sedated ...he kept asking me if I took his Jewel out of his house to protect it ! After he asked me the fifth time ...I told him I traded it for a Nazi Uniform ..what a response that got ...even on the Drugs , his eyes opened right up and he said "don't play games with me !"

Mike,

Thank you for sharing these treasures with us (possibly another reason why they should be called 'jewels'). The items I really love in my collection are those of which I know some of the history behind them, whether that is an anecdote about the Lodge or the Brother to whom the jewel belonged, it doesn't matter, because it's interesting to me. I can now understand why the military medal collectors like to research named pieces now.

What is important to you is that those pieces you shared with us are not only Masonic, but given to you by your father as well. I have a drawer in my chest containing some very ordinary looking items, including tatty aprons and other things that perhaps in truth are really only fit for the rubbish. BUT, they were given to me by Brethren that I have stood 'shoulder to shoulder' with in a Lodge Room, or their widows, and that means more to me than anything.

Tonight, I was at a meeting of a Lodge that was founded in 1732 (St John the Baptist, No. 39) and with me was a very good friend who showed me that under the flap of his apron were about six names of Brethren who had owned and worn the apron before him, going back - we guess - to the 1920s. History and pride in such items cannot be bought, we are just their temporary custodians. Just add your love to these items and make sure that, when you join the Grand Lodge above many years from now, they are passed on to someone else who will appreciate them.... whoops! In danger of getting sentimental and going off topic again!!

I think I made my point somewhere in all that!

WM , There were many "Points" made in your post and they are all right on the mark.

I've collected WW2 Militaria for over 40 years, and yes I have a room full of History but I never looked at that room as an investment or saw only the cash value of an item ...I get really upset at the Dealers out there who break up a grouping to maximize the profit.

But until now , I've never made any correlation between my caring for my Father's Masonic items and caring for say ...a Medal grouping that belonged to someone I never knew . Of course my Fathers items will always be on a higher value level to me..but as you said --"Just add your love to these items and make sure that, when you join the Grand Lodge above many years from now, they are passed on to someone else who will appreciate them.." I hope that years after I'm gone , these items end up with someone who will take care of and value them. I'd like to think that 200 years from now his Jewel will end up in some Masonic Museum instead of ending up at a Pawn Shop and melted down for the Gold.

The West Point Museum is only 20 min away ..I know several of the Curators and one told me the same thing. Basically all we are doing is baby sitting these items for future generations ...and we pay good money for that privilege. In the mean time we get to enjoy ,study and learn from our collections . In the end, we all have one thing that we can be very proud of ...our contribution to keeping History and memories alive

Thanks WM

--Mike