We had our first real frost last night. I had covered my tomato plants but they didn't survive. I didn't really expect them to but I was hoping. I just picked A LOT of green tomatoes. I'll fry some of them for dinner and then make pickled green tomatoes with the rest. Are any of my "northern friends" on here familiar with pickled green tomatoes or is that a "southern thing?" (And, yes, as a life long Texan I agree with RJS that Texas really isn't part of "the South.")

I remember the day I found out I got into West Point .

My mom actually showed up in the hallway of my high school and waited for me to get out of class. She was bawling her eyes out and apologizing that she had opened up my admission letter. She wasn't crying because it had
been her dream for me to go there. She was crying because she knew how hard I'd worked to get in, how much I wanted to attend, and how much I wanted to be an infantry officer. I was going to get that opportunity.

That same day two of my teachers took me aside and essentially told me the following: Nick, you're a smart guy. You don't have to join the military. You should go to college, instead.

I could easily write a tome defending West Pont and the military as I did that day,
explaining that USMA is an elite institution, that separate from that it is actually statistically much harder to enlist in the military than it is to get admitted to college, that serving the nation is a challenge that all able-bodied men should at least consider for a host of reasons, but I won't.

What I will say is that when a 16 year-old kid is being told that attending West Point is going to be bad for his future then there is a dangerous disconnect in America , and entirely too many Americans have no idea what kind of burdens our military is bearing.

In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years.


In Vietnam , 4.3% served in 12 years.


Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.


These are unbelievable statistics.

Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the burden and it is only getting worse. Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with only one person having a child in the military.


Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts.

The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation. You.

You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You've lost relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart from kids you'll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even professional athletes don't understand.


Then you come home to a nation that doesn't understand.
They don't understand suffering.
They don't understand sacrifice.
They don't understand that bad people exist.



They look at you like you're a machine – like something is wrong with you. You are the misguided one – not them.


When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU WERE THERE and can't understand the macro issues they gathered from books ,with your bias.


You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at that.
Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay, while they ask you to do more.

But the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your country will never pay back what you've given up.


You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or appreciate
what you have done for them.


Hell, you know that in some circles, you will be thought as less than normal for
having worn the uniform. But you do it anyway. You do what the greatest men and women of this country have done since 1775 – YOU SERVED. Just that decision alone makes you part of an elite group.

Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.

I received a phone call from BadFisherman this morning and he is still quite down over the loss of his brother. Another calamity has risen up as well. It appears that his sister who has other issues has contracted covid-19 and they are treating her with the same medication that they treated President Trump with when he contracted covid-19. They are trying to treat her at home and keep her out of the hospital. Right now it doesn't look good for her because of the other issues. He also stated that it will probably be longer now with the situation with his sister. I just wanted to relay this info to you for your information. He also said that you had his phone number and you could call him if you choose. He also mentioned that when he has called you before that someone answers your phone and hangs up before he can even say anything. That is the all that I know at present but you could call him if you want. I will also try to get more info on NPP if I can and let you know how he is doing as well.

Just wondering, 60 years ago most of the kids hunted coon, it was great. The hills would look like Christmas trees with all of the lights shining from the hunters. The pelts were worth decent money. One year, I got a 108 coon and averaged $56.00 apiece for the pelts. You do the math, that's decent money for a kid for a couple of months of fun. I live in the woods now, and never see anyone hunting coon. I know the pelts are not worth anything, but just do it for shi1s and giggles. I'm too old to hunt alone, but I'm going to see if my neighbor wants to go coon hunting just for shi!s and giggles. Anyone want to come along?