I love America's veterans and I hope you do too. Where I work we recently had special day and open house for Veterans. I didn't get a lot of work done that day. I was busy introducing myself and sharing stories with other veterans from Massachusetts.... it's the next best thing to being in Heaven!

I just recently met Sparky Bob on the Internet. Yup! Old Sparky Bob was snooping around my website (all veterans are snoops) and good thing for you we are. Bob is a classic example of America's finest!

I myself am not a decorated veteran, just a veteran. Actually I was an 18 year old trouble maker but that's another story. Course I'm not a trouble maker anymore. So I really do appreciate the decorated ones.

That a BIG RAR (ROGER and OUT in morse code), Sir!!! Almost everyone I met in my oil field days from over there has been real good folks, and that was a bunch. ITS them OTHER CAMEL-RIDIN', THIEVEN SON OF A BITCHES that ought to have about an acre of damn hot sand crammed up their ass that I'm all jack-jawed about.

Anyway, Tried and True Vet, just maintain yore cool, and BY GOD, if it comes our time again, we GOT ready once, me and you and a bunch of others, we are ALREADY now, and we will sure as HELL be ready then.

Your Old Real Buddy

Sparky Bob!

Well folks and America in general.

How can you not love a guy like Sparky Bob!

A made in the USA Decorated Veteran!

Hi Sparky Bob,

I have already been to hell and there is nothing left down there! You see Bob, I faced the devil himself on his own very dark and hallowed ground. I said pleased to meet you, I'm the Fisherman, the Smoke and the Ghost and then I killed him.

Bob I'm an ex-commercial fisherman. I say ex very lightly here because your always just one heartbeat away from going back to your one and only true lover (check my home-page 'The Perfect Storm') lots of fishing folks today do.

A very dangerous lover - but a lover none the less. The ocean, she will love you to death. Commercial fishermen Bob they make movies about those brave men and women too.

Back to camel riding and hot sand! Many years ago I was in Yenbo, Saudi Arabia and you're right Bob I met a lot of real good Arab people there myself. But one night - probably some of those same thieven son of a bitches you just mentioned (every country has them - even ours). Well they were shooting at my ship and hitting us.

We had to darken ship and run like rabbits to save our ass. Why did we run? My Captain later told us if we fired back (and we would have smoked their ass) it would have caused a national incident and would be in newspapers around the world the very next day.

You know the score Bob and probably seen it many times yourself. Civilians never see or hear about this kind of stuff.

On the other side of the coin I got to ride a camel in the desert with my buddies watching. Here's what happened. My guide, who was leading his camel with me on it, couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Arabic. I remembered the scene in the movie 'Lawrence of Arabia' where actor Peter O'Toole whacks the camel on his ass with a stick and yells 'Hut! Hut! Hut!'.

Bob I did the same exact thing and the camel took off like a rocket down the desert with me holding on for all I was worth. I didn't know they could run like that. I'm screaming at the old man for help, he's yelling at me in Arabic, we don't understand how to stop this camel. My Navy buddies? Forget it! They were all choking up and laughing like the camel planned the whole thing.

In the end the old man caught up with us, said something to the camel and I went flying in the air and landed on my ass in the desert sand.

Sparky Bob, see you in Valhalla you happy son of a bitch!

Joe and love ya!

PS, Hal Doucette, and I know you're reading this, you get special mention on the 'Indian Burial Grounds Page'

Visitor, Hal Doucette is another highly decorated veteran and my best friend. His outfit is famous and called The Grim Reapers' & The Devils Own....more about him later.