Bump's Stump

The First Warning In 1955 Germany was still a scene of considerable damage.  World War II had thoroughly devastated most of the country. Bricks, dust, broken glass and other debris lay in piles at the side of the road. There were scarred and broken buildings, rooms missing a wall or two and the remains of furniture exposed to the elements. Evidence of firestorms told a story of horror that few Germans had survived. In the cities and villages the pock marks of ordinance, twisted pipes, and other remnants of distruiction, were serious survivors of horror, and death.  Germany was raw and exposed like an untended graveyard with broken headstone.  The country was divided into four areas; French, American, British, and Russian.  I was then a member of the first tactical guided missile group deployed in Europe. We were physically located in Sembach, a small village not far from Kaiserslautern. We were within   the French partition. Our guided missiles were ...

Living in Tripoli While out on the test range we shot several missiles toward the Atlas Mountains in the south.  We usually stayed deep in the desert for a few weeks before returning to Wheelus A.F.B.  From time to time we had  a short rest period. We took a supply helicopter or a weapons carrier back to the big city.   While in Tripoli they tried to keep us separate from regular base personnel. Impossible. Space was short on the base and our crews had to find a place to stay outside of the base. Our Lieutenant at the time, (probably Manny Groves, Richard Bass, or Prahalis), after a major search,  found a small house for us. It didn't look like much from the outside, but inside it was worse. The rooms were small with much sand on the floor, but generally clean. It was  a palace compared to our nearest neighbors hovel 100 yards away. Each of our small rooms held from 4 to 10 of us, and w e slept on war surplus Army cots, wires and springs, and no m...

There are a few American politicians who are either stupid, incompetent or both. These people never give up trying to change our government - whether it needs it or not. They purposely ignore, avoid or disregard following the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and other founding documents. Their intent is destroying America's carefully balanced trilateral system, diminishing the effects of the Free Market, and eroding our position as a world leader.  And we, you and I, LET THEM DO IT.   The extremists, radicals, and social engineers have moved in to  rebuild our government by imitating the failed European Socialist models. It makes no sense whatever. Forgotten in the wind is the fact that socialism alone does not work, and their notion that a larger and growing government should control more and more aspects of an individuals life is CONTRARY to our American tradition.  (1)  This week our President spec...