New Sign for 11/27/07

In loving of Lois R. Mills. Love, Rachael.

New Signs for 11/24/07 - 11/25/07

Put your birthday, yard sale, anniversary, or make a personal Christmas card on here. Ricky 478-697-2175.

Happy 5th birthday Ben. Love Momma, Daddy and Elizabeth.

Congratulations Lisa and Wally Braddy on you new baby boy.

"Where Love Grows" by Cynthia Reese. At Soperton Pharmacy, Kroger.

Shelled Pecans For Sale. Call 912-529-3092. Bobby Nobles.

Lost Dog. Orland Area. Black with Small Amount Tan. White Feet. 012-529-4408.

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton
Support Our Troops and Veterans. Ask your Congressman and Senators to sponsor additional funds for them.

JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT

RULES OF THE SOUTH

That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot...his name is "Sir," no matter how young he is.

We have lots of pine trees. They have sap. It drips from them. You park your Navigator under them, and they'll leave a logo on your hood.

You burn an American flag in our state, you get beat up. No questions. The liberal contingent of our state legislature -- all four of them -- enacted a measure to stop this. There is now a $2.50 fine for beating up the flag burner.

No, we don't care how you do things in California or up North. If it is so great, why not stay there?

And no, down here we don't have an accent, you do.


NOTES ABOUT GEORGIA

The local papers cover national and international news on one page but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit "a little warm".

You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, still Summer and Christmas.

You know whether another Georgian is from Atlanta, north or south as soon as they open their mouth.

Going to Wal-mart is a favorite past time known as "goin' Wal-martin" or off to "Wally World"


You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good pinto-bean weather.

A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola or pop...it's a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. Example: "What kinda coke you want?"

Fried catfish is the other white meat.

We don't need no stinking driver's ed....if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.


REMEMBER WHEN

When a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?

No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?

Lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, "That cloud looks like a "

and playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?


REARRANGED LETTERS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters: ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

TES MIDGET FOOTBALL TEAM OF 1977

NOVEMBER 1977 5TH WEEK
How many of the members of the TES Midget Football Team do you recognize? The coaches were Gregg Braddy, Tommy Cullens, and S. D. Hanson. Sweat's donated the meal for their end-of-season banquet.

Other pictures: Basketball season began. Jill Robinson wrote her letter to Santa. Remember Robinson's Department Store that moved into the Segall location for several years?

C. D. Williams at Alabama/Second St. S.

NOVEMBER 1977 4TH WEEK
I had no idea, when I made the picture, the house would be gone so soon. It accompanied a picture in the newspaper's "Treutlen Scrapbook" of the C. D. Williams house when it was under construction in 1901, loaned by Mrs. Eva Crumpler. Bill Estroff and Morris Ricks bought the house about 1950 and converted it to apartments for new school teachers. The original single gable was replaced with the three dormers. The inside staircase was replaced by the outside one. After the Baptist Church bought the property, the building was sold and removed by Roeldon Moseley, and a bequest fROm Miss Jeanette Holmes financed the construction of the bus barn. For a while it was the popular boarding house of Mrs. George Ricks, relocating from the old Flanders house, on which PROPERTY the new Farm Bureau now stands.

Other pictures: Pilgrims?, Mrs. Smith's 1st grade Thanksgiving program at TPS, 4-H annual banquet, Jimmy Truett, Clayton Stephens and W. W. Kea at Sportsmen's Club, 4-H'ers who attended state rally, Velma Purvis' 67th birthday, Cancer Crusade leaders Kay Hall and Katherine McLendon, TES posters for American Education Week. Leotis Smith Jr. died in motorcycle accident, Mrs. Donnie Hackle injured. Pharis Jennings made a Social Studies display at TES on irrigation.

New Signs for 11/20/07 - 11/21/07

Happy Thanksgiving To You and Yours from Reese Signs.

Remember What U Are Thankful For Today. Enjoy Your Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday Frances Johnson. And Many More!

Crow-Mart's Mullet Eating Champ Ready To Take On The Thanksgiving Turkey.

The Hulk Is A Mutation, Too!

I've just finished watching the Hulk movie on the USA channel. I enjoyed the old TV series better, but the movie does capture much of the comic book flavor, and there are plenty of images of the American desert, full of UFO's, ghost riders, etc.

As a young teenager, I preferred the science fiction of the Amazing Colossal Man, Rodan ( a star before Godzilla). The werewolves and vampires gave me nightmares.

The Hulk story is about a man who was exposed to gamma radiation. The movie captures the ancient military industrial complex but in today's world. Easy to accept and understand when we throw trillions of American dollars into a nebulous conflict in Iraq, while we underfund the genetic research that could help those who are presently dying and those who will suffer in coming years, because we have policies of not really caring about human beings.

The VA has caring doctors and nurses, but there is another side of the VA in which whose motto is "If they die waiting, we don't have to spend a dime on them."

Most people do not realize that veterans are not equal in the VA system. There are limits to what a particular veteran receives from VA medical care. The VA officials don't want you to know that. The Congressmen and Senators who had rather give dollars to Blackwater don't really want you to know it either. If we spend money to provide free unrestricted medical care to every veteran, we won't have those dollars to spend in Iraq.

I'm in my third year trying to get at least a 10 percent disability from VA. I have little hope of receiving it, although I'm due it. Unless more genetic diseases are considered presumptive for Agent Orange exposure or exposure to Ionizing Radiation I will never receive justice from the VA.

I met a veteran last week at the VA center in Dublin. He said that he has a throat cancer that requires "scraping" at times. He got 100% disability 21 years ago (which means full medical treatment by VA plus over $30,000 per year disability compensation). He said that the VA gave it to him because he was one of the 12,000 advisers in Vietnam in 1960, before JFK took office. It's doubtful that Agent Orange was used (or even invented) at that time. The arbitrary rules of VA allow him the benefit because he was actually in Vietnam.

I say, good for him, for that veteran, but there are countless other veterans who are denied benefits because of the arbitary rules and the failure of Congress to adequately fund the VA.

Last year I paid private doctors to examine my left ear, because VA denied my request for a VA exam. I have severe hearing loss due to otosclerosis. It is a genetic disease, one which does not run in my family. Although there are several genetic diseases on the VA presumptive lists, otosclerosis has not yet been declared presumptive. Pituitary tumors, thyroid deficiencies, hepatatic and biliary sclerosis, and many other genetic diseases are not considered presumptive by the VA.

Now, about that ugly picture up there: The pale white "butterbean" is a healthy kidney, about the size of a fist. I have a similar one implanted in my lower right abdomen. The other "boogerish" object is a Polycystic Kidney. It is loaded with cysts. No, don't look away! You need to see reality. The VA bureaucrats also need to see reality. I have two of those ugly, bleeding, over-size boogers still living inside of me. Think of that the next time you see me on the street. How can I live with such mutated organs inside my body? I don't know. It would be very major surgery for them to be removed.

High blood pressure and kidney disease are prime contibutors to my unhealthy cardiac situation: One heart attack, triple bypass, three strokes, and a new defibrillator paid for by me and Blue Cross, not by the VA.

In the past few years scientists and doctors have made strides on the human genome, but our government has provided only limited funding. The answers on my particular genetic diseases will be available in time, but not likely during MY time. If I could find even one blood relative who has PKD or otosclerosis or any of my other genetic diseases, I would give up my disability claim altogether. But it's reasonable that my Army service contributed to my medical problems, likely caused them, as surely as if I had been hit by a lead bullet.

The Hulk is a mutation. He's an important fictional figure. I am a muation, too. I'm a living human being, an injured Army veteran.

"A grateful nation thanks you for your service." How grateful are you? How much thanks are you willing to give during this special week? Enough to write your Congressman? No, I didn't think so.

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton

New Signs for 11/17/07

The question is, what's for Thanksgiving Dinner --- Crow or Turkey?

We hope that Donald Brantley enjoyed his birthday, and that Autumn Stewart is enjoying hers today.

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton

New Signs for 11/15/07

Have you seen the comet yet?

Got God? Well, do you?

Our First Citizen of the Year

NOVEMBER 1977 2ND WEEK

The first Citizen of the Year award was presented to W. W. Kea (right). Community leader Jack Pournelle presented the award. Pournelle was a City Councilman And Mayor Pro-Tem. He and his wife, Mary, were the founders of the Million Pines Festival, which he chaired for many years. He organized the Chamber of Commerce and served as the first president. He also led the effort to move th eBarwick log house to I-16 to become the Million Pines Welcome Center. He, as much as anybody, was responsible for the dynamic growth and the enthusiasm in the 1970's.

Other pictures that weeK: FFA Banquet - Carmen Heath was the first female member; Aubrey Braddy; Council candidates George McLeod and Gerald Smith; Juanita Youmans and Judge Towson; Choo Choo Home Center; the Football game; and a few hundred photos of the Festival.

Wonder whatever happened to the Citizen of the Year program? I know a lot of citizens who deserve the honor.

Posted by Bill Ricks - The Snapshooter of Soperton (or at least he used to be).

The Bulldogs Romped

NOVEMBER 1977 3RD WEEK
Although Wheeler County didn't play region varsity football until 1968, their program grew so well that they beat the starch out of Treutlen in the Vikings' final game of the season, 32-0.

Other pictures that week: 4-H square dancing, Library-Media Club went to convention; Mrs. Moxley's second graders presented a program at TPS; and Judy Jones's second graders made a field trip to Higgston.

Did you notice that I got ahead of myself? Mr. Kea's picture should have run before this one with the Mighty Vikings. Well scroll up and find the photo for the 2nd week of Nov. '77.

That's what happens when I get behind and try to catch up.

Thanks for all the comments about the blog. Took long enough. Longer than it took for you notice the 13x19's at Morings.

New Signs for 11/12/07; 11/13/07

Jackie McCoy was driving by and did a double-take, circled the block, got out and took a picture to show his friends hoe much a deer slayer he is.

Does Hunter Byrd hunt birds? Yes, he does, and other legal game, too.

Birthday wishes to Barry Norris and Lynn McDonald, too!

Hub Communications' Grand Opening is still going on.

A sign on a sign? Why not? Anything to move one of Cynthia Reese's best-selling books.

Two versions of Cynthia's sign. Just wanted you to study the lighting.

Cole and Cory! What a combination! Bush and Howell!

We got behind on the blogging, on the signs, and the 1977 picture posting. What do you expect? I'm not retired. As my intro tells you, I want my VA disability so I will have more time for blogging and other pursuits.

By the way, have you contacted your Congressman yet? If not, why not? Don't you think those old radiated veterans need some recognition? Am I shaming you? I hope so!

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton - "The Picture Man" and on behalf of "The Sign Man"

Veterans Day Special 5

PHOTO: ATMOSPHERIC TESTING AT NEVADA SITE AS 'ATOMIC VETERANS' OBSERVE

The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is located in Nye County in southern Nevada; the southernmost point of the NTS is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Las Vegas. The site contains 1,350 square miles (3,500 square kilometers) of federally owned land with restricted access, and varies from 28-35 miles (45-56 kilometers) in width (east-west) and from 40-55 miles (64-88 kilometers) in length (north-south).

From the end of World War II until 1951, five U.S. nuclear weapons tests were conducted at distant islands in the Pacific Ocean: two at Bikini atoll and three at Enewetak atoll. Testing at those sites required an extensive logistic effort and an inordinate amount of time.

After review of known information about fallout, thermal, and blast effects, it was determined that an area within what is now the Nellis Air Force Range could be used for relatively low-yield nuclear detonations. The Southern Nevada site was selected from a list of five possibilities which included Alamogordo/White Sands, New Mexico; Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; Pamilco Sound/Camp Lejuene, North Carolina; and a 50-mile-wide strip between Fallon and Eureka, Nevada. Although the NTS originally was selected to meet criteria for atmospheric tests, it subsequently also was used for underground tests.

The predominant geological features of this area are the closed drainage basins of Frenchman Flat and Yucca Flat where the early atmospheric tests were conducted. The main Control Point has remained on the crest of Yucca Pass between these two basins. Additional land was added to the site in 1958, 1961, 1964, and 1967, thereby enlarging the site to its present size of about 1,350 square miles (3,500 square kilometers).

SUPPORT ATOMIC VETERANS BY GIVING THEM THE MEDAL THAT THEY DESERVE -CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN!

Veterans Day Special 4

Again, I urge you to call your Congressman and Senators asking for their support of the Atomic Veterans Medal Act of 2007.

Below is an example of the bureaucratic BS that our veterans endure to prevent their just compensation for service-connected conditions. An instant exposure to radiation in the military service may show no instant effects, but mutations can grow over time with consequences as deadly as a bullet:


Testimony of Charles L. Clark, president
Radiated Veterans of America, Inc.
To
Veterans Advisory Board on Dose Reconstruction
Las Vegas, Nevada
March 7 & 8, 2007

The POISON MUSHROOM

Chairman Zimble and Board Members:

My name is Charles L. Clark. I am the president of Radiated Veterans of America, Inc., a non-profit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) (19) Veterans Service Organization. Our membership is more than 90% statutory war veterans. I am a World War II U.S. Navy veteran of the occupation of Nagasaki, Japan, arriving there soon after the bomb was dropped in August 1945.

We are here to discuss the radiation Dose Reconstruction program. Your committee is charged to determine how to fix it. My organization is here to suggest that the only fix is termination of this expensive and time consuming prejudicial program that purposeful or not is but an extension of a radiation denial program that began even before the nuclear weapons program was begun.

It all started in 1939 when two refugee physicists at Columbia University were having an informal discussion on splitting uranium atoms. They were Italian exile Enrico Fermi and Denmark's Neils Bohr who spoke two words (“assist” and “cover up”) to the New York Times reporter William L. Laurence that would change mans’ destiny forever. (See the book 'NEWS ZERO', by Beverly Ann Deepe Keever)

It was the onsite reporting of Laurence at the Trinity Test Site, July 12, 1945, committing the sin of omission, when he and the photo editing staff covered up the government's lie about the presence of radiation. This began the sin of misleading the public about the true dangers and effects of radiation.

Laurence had agreed to be the embedded reporter for General Leslie Groves and served as an agent for the “atomic curtain for propaganda”. In doing so the author and the New York Times served to legitimize a government policy that would early on deny the existence, persistence and menace of atom bomb radiation and thus withheld vital information from readers.

Today, some 67 years later, the exposed Atomic Veterans remain under the ominous cloud of the mushroom. It was the military, and its contractors, both in academia and industry, that introduced the contamination into our lives and they must be brought to task by we that have been exposed! I say this, because unfortunately, the government, including this Committee, has failed to do so to date!

Attempting to create a “fix” to the broken Dose Reconstruction (DR) issue is not the way to bring justice to exposed Atomic Veteran, their families and survivors. Playing with statistics based on poor original data, and fudging to come up with an “upper limit” is plain poor science … especially when baseline (lower limit) exposures cannot be adequately computed as to effects on the human body. Identifying only certain cancers for purposes of a politically determined presumption of cause, while good for those who have the “right illness”, simply cheats others who must go through the unproven DR for conditions many in the medical community state can or may be caused by exposure to low-level radiation.

If it is true that no amount of radiation is safe, then the only issue for the Atomic Veteran, and the government, should be “was he/she there” and if so there is no need for a DR. The program should be terminated, and we strongly suggest this Committee should recommend such termination.

The history of radiation readings has never been consistent in methodology or measurement criteria. For example, radiation values as reported and recorded with Geiger counters for future study are now out of date and style since the advent of film badges and computer fractions (I personally have received ratings in three decimal points ie .025 and .075 rem). Yet the scientific community still is not able to determine single or multiple individual radiation doses.

In attempting to “recreate” a dose the only reference used by the DTRA’s contractor SAIC is to group activity participation or environmental conditions, when these are known, and oftentimes even these factors were poorly recorded.

This creates “uncertainty”, the term used in so many reports. Attempts to “guesstimate” upper limits of exposure are simply window dressing.

Dose Reconstruction, as a pseudo science, results in creating resentment against the DTRA and Veteran's Administration, and even worse, disenfranchisement for many Atomic Veterans.

Also, many in the Atomic Veteran community feel completely alone and frustrated because they are NOT kept abreast of the continuous changes being negotiated between the government and the Dose Reconstruction contractor SAIC, resulting in undue expense and wasted time. And as the Logo for my organization, Radiated Veterans of America, states, “Time is Running Out” for those in the Atomic Veteran community.

Thus again we must ask the age old question: why are we the tax payers paying such exorbitant costs for nothing, or at best, so little?

Atomic Veterans have no priority position that gives them a say on matters of their personal plight. As an, example, the VA recently notified some Atomic Veterans with pending claims that their cases were being transferred to Jackson, MS, to who knows who, or with what expertise, to decide compensation claims.

The continued distorted communications coming from the BVA makes for resentment. As a personal example I received a correspondence dated 25 October, 2006, stating the following: "troops participating in the occupation of Japan did not receive a dose from neutron radiation". This statement cannot be accepted because it cannot be proven. Can the writer prove that I didn't ingest or breathe neutron radiation while in Nagasaki. Or is the statement just another cover up, as so many statements made to Atomic Veterans appear to be?

If justice is to prevail the Atomic Veteran must ask the question "when"? It is very difficult to attempt to answer family notices of the death of a father and they didn't know that he, the father was exposed to radiation because no one cared to give the veteran the benefit of the doubt.

The growth of the poison mushroom must stop, We, the Atomic Veterans, desire and demand the full light of day. Code 500 another atomic veteran! Code 500 another atomic veteran.

Respectfully submitted

Charles L. Clark
President Radiated Veterans of America, Inc.

Please help Charles Carr in his quest for justice by forwarding his message to your friends. Also visit the website through my link Atomic Veterans Rad Vets.

Thanks, Bill Ricks of Soperton

Veterans Day Special 3

MUSHROOM POISONING CAUSED LASTING CONSEQUENCES FOR OUR VETERANS

Please join the fight to give our original Atomic Veterans the medal that they have long deserved.

Call or write your Congressman asking for support of "Atomic Veterans Medal Act of 2007" HR 3471.

Call or write both of your Senators asking for support of "Atomic Veterans Medal Act of 2007" S 2218.


ATOMIC VETERANS LEGISLATION
Bill honors those exposed to atomic weapons testing
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) today introduced the Atomic Veterans Medal Act of 2007, legislation which would honor members of the Armed Forces who were exposed to atomic testing between 1945 and 1963. "America owes a great debt of gratitude to all those who made sacrifices while serving our nation," said Brownback. "I am proud to join my colleague Senator Roberts in commending the service and bravery of these veterans."

Atomic veterans were exposed to ionizing radiation as a result of participating in a test of atomic weapons conducted by the United States between 1945 and 1963. The legislation introduced today calls on the Secretary of Defense to design and produce a military service medal to honor atomic veterans. Similar legislation was introduced in September in the House by Representative Todd Tiarht (R-KS).

"These veterans showed courage to further the cause of liberty and freedom and deserve recognition," Roberts said. "Our inherent rights are protected by the men and women who have worn and are wearing the uniform and I am pleased to work with Members of our Kansas delegation to honor those who have sacrificed."

Senator Brownback is a member of the Senate Appropriations and Judiciary Committees. Senator Roberts is a former Marine and former senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.


Congressman Todd Tiahrt’s
U.S. Capitol Update
September 7, 2007
Atomic Veterans Medal Act

This week I introduced the Atomic Veterans Medal Act of 2007. This legislation requests the President of the United States to authorize production of a special U.S. Atomic Service Medal to honor Atomic Veterans. The medal, to be known as the “Atomic Testing Service Medal”, would recognize those members of the Armed Forces who were exposed to ionizing radiation as a result of atomic weapons tests conducted from July 16, 1945 to 1963. I had the pleasure of meeting with the Mulvane American Legion Post 136 last week where the crowd of veterans and their families were very appreciative and enthusiastic about this new bill. These American heroes served their country and for decades were silent about their sacrifice. While we can never fully thank these veterans, this long overdue military medal is one small way to honor them and show a nation’s appreciation.


Use the links at the right to contact your Congressman and Senators. If you need help, leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Bill Ricks of Soperton

SUPPORT THE "ATOMIC VETERANS MEDAL ACT OF 2007" HR 3471 IN THE US HOUSE AND S 2218 IN THE US SENATE!

Veterans Day Special 2

HELP A VET!

Want to really help some old veterans this Veterans Day?

You can do, but it may take you a few minutes.

E-mail your Senators and Congressman and ask them to support the
"Atomic Veterans Medal Act of 2007" HR 3471 in the US House and S 2218 in the US Senate.

MY LINKS MAKE IT EASY!

Look over to the right and find Georgia's two U S Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. Use the link to write each of them a brief note stating that you want them to support S 2218 for our elderly Atomic Veterans.

Then do the same with your Congressman on HR 3471.

Notice on the lists below how well Georgia is represented in the Committees on Armed Services and Veterans. We have the power to move the bills out of committee for a vote by the full membership of both houses.

PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO ADD YOUR SUPPORT.

PLEASE ASK YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THEIR PART, TOO.

Thanks, Bill


U S SENATE VETERANS COMMITTEE

Daniel K. Akaka, HI CHAIRMAN
John D. Rockefeller IV, WV
Patty Murray, WA
Barack Obama, IL
Sherrod Brown, OH
Jon Tester, MT
Jim Webb, VA
Bernard Sanders, VT
Richard Burr, NC
RANKING MEMBER
Arlen Specter,PA
Larry Craig, ID
JOHNNY ISAKSON, GA
Lindsey Graham,SC
Kay Bailey Hutchison, TX
John Ensign,NV


U S HOUSE VETERANS COMMITTEE

Bob Filner (CA) Chairman
Corrine Brown (FL)
Vic Snyder (AR)
Steve Buyer (IN)
Cliff Stearns (FL)
Michael H. Michaud (ME)
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)
Jerry Moran (KS)
Richard H. Baker (LA)
Harry E. Mitchell (AZ)
John J. Hall (NY)
Henry E. Brown, Jr. (SC)
Jeff Miller (FL)
Phil Hare (IL)
Michael R. Doyle (PA)
John Boozman (AR)
Ginny Brown-Waite (FL)
Shelley Berkley (NV)
John T. Salazar (CO)
Michael R. Turner (OH)
Brian P. Bilbray (CA)
Ciro D. Rodriguez (TX)
Joe Donnelly (IN)
Doug Lamborn(CO)
Gus M. Bilirakis (FL)
Jerry McNerney (CA)
Zachary T. Space (OH)
Vern Buchanan (FL)
Timothy J. Walz (MN)


U S SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

Carl Levin (Michigan)Chairman
Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts)
Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia)
Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut)
Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
E. Benjamin Nelson (Nebraska)
Evan Bayh (Indiana)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York)
Mark L. Pryor (Arkansas)
Jim Webb (Virginia)
Claire McCaskill (Missouri)
John McCain (Arizona) Ranking Member
John W. Warner (Virginia)
James M. Inhofe (Oklahoma)
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)
Susan M. Collins (Maine)
SAXBY CHAMBLISS, GEORGIA
Lindsey O. Graham (South Carolina)
Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina)
John Cornyn (Texas)
John Thune (South Dakota)
Mel Martinez (Florida)
Bob Corker (Tennessee)


U S HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

Ike Skelton, Missouri, Chairman
Duncan Hunter, California, Ranking Member
John Spratt, South Carolina
Jim Saxton, New Jersey
Solomon P. Ortiz, Texas
John M. McHugh, New York
Gene Taylor, Mississippi
Terry Everett, Alabama
Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii
Roscoe G. Bartlett, Maryland
Silvestre Reyes, Texas
Buck McKeon, California
Vic Snyder, Arkansas
Mac Thornberry, Texas
Adam Smith, Washington
Walter B. Jones, North Carolina
Loretta Sanchez, California
Robin Hayes, North Carolina
Mike McIntyre, North Carolina
W. Todd Akin, Missouri
Ellen O. Tauscher, California
J. Randy Forbes, Virginia
Robert A. Brady, Pennsylvania
Jeff Miller, Florida
Robert Andrews, New Jersey
Joe Wilson, South Carolina
Susan A. Davis, California
Frank A. LoBiondo, New Jersey
Rick Larsen, Washington
Tom Cole, Oklahoma
Jim Cooper, Tennessee
Rob Bishop, Utah
JIM MARSHALL, GEORGIA
Michael Turner, Ohio
Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam
John Kline, Minnesota
Mark Udall, Colorado
Candice S. Miller, Michigan
Dan Boren, Oklahoma
PHIL GINGREY, GEORGIA
Brad Ellsworth, Indiana
Mike Rogers, Alabama
Nancy Boyda, Kansas
Trent Franks, Arizona
Patrick Murphy, Pennsylvania
Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania
HANK JOHNSON, GEORGIA
Thelma Drake, Virginia
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington
Joe Courtney, Connecticut
Michael Conaway, Texas
David Loebsack, Iowa
Geoff Davis, Kentucky
Kirsten Gillibrand, New York
Doug Lamborn, Colorado
Joe Sestak, Pennsylvania
Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona
Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts
Elijah Cummings, Maryland
Kendrick Meek, Florida
Kathy Castor, Florida

Veterans Day Special 1

July 1957

“It was the dirtiest test stateside in terms of radiation fallout,” says R.J. Ritter, national commander of the National Association of Atomic Veterans. “And they walked about 2,200 Marines right into ground zero.”

Test shot Hood was five times greater than the bomb that killed 90,000 people in Hiroshima, Japan. And no one was sure what would happen this close to ground zero.

We'll never know what Marine Maj. Charles Broudy saw in the trenches when Hood exploded. Or what he breathed when he marched – like King and Brower – to ground zero. He died of lymphoma in 1977.

Broudy's widow Pat Broudy, 83, of Dana Point, fought an 11-year battle to help win benefits for atomic veterans, who now can claim relief for 21 kinds of cancers.

For many, however, it's too little, too late.

“Most of our guys are old,” she says. “And they don't have the fight or will or knowledge to confront our government agencies anymore.”

The number of living atomic veterans is hard to place. But the National Association of Atomic Veterans estimates that more than 900,000 men and women took part in about 1,000 nuclear tests from 1945 to 1992. And more than 140,000 may have suffered cancer or other illnesses as a result.

For the full amazing story click on
http://brianarchy.blogspot.com/2007/07/wow-amazing-story.html

IT'S VETERANS DAY WEEKEND!

HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE?

How about including the Atomic Veterans, the old soldiers who are quickly fading away --- many of them with suffering from the mutations created by ionizing radiation.

It took several million Vietnam Veterans 15 years before our government began dealing with the affects of Agent Orange.

The half-million original Atomic Veterans have been fighting their war since the first atomic device was detonated in 1945.

Congress will not even give a medal to recognize these old soldiers, those who endured the atmospheric and underwater testing from1945 through 1962.

Another half-million suffered in the underground testing 1962-1992. I am one of those veterans. Thousands of American troops serving in the Iraq War have been exposed to radiation through the depleted uranium used to harden projectile casings. They are the new generation of Atomic Veterans.

I am fighting for those original Atomic Veterans, who have asked time after time for a medal to honor their service and sacrifice. They deserve it. The current bills were introduced about a month ago, and they are in the Veterans Committees of the House and the Senate. They will just sit there unless people like you express your feelings to your Congressmen and Senators. Those who serve on the Veterans and Armed Services Committees have a special responsibility to move on the legislation promptly so that the full bodies can vote on it.

If our nation won't honor those old soldiers, we should be ashamed.

You can spread the word by e-mailing this post to a friend. Click the "envelope" below.

New Signs for 11/07/07; 11/08/07

From the Ohoopee River to the Oconee River and Pendleton Creek in between, all fish period. That's Wyman Poole for you!

The ladies at the Bank of Soperton always deserve a nice day.

The big day is coming Friday for Hub Communications - Soperton's Alltel.

DO SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR VETERANS!

By Bill Ricks of Soperton

Hot News

I've added a new link to the blog--- Vidalia Communications

Here are two excerpts from the site tonight:

In Soperton, former city councilman Reggie Evans defeated current council member Johnny B. Johnson 515 to 366 to succeed veteran mayor Greg Higgs in the Soperton mayor's race.

November 6-- Governor Sonny Perdue and a host of state and federal officials joined the leaders of Range Fuels and Treutlen County Tuesday afternoon to break ground on the country's first plant designed to turn wood by-products into ethanol and methanol fuel.

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton

New Signs for 11/06/07

James Monroe (Crow) Moxley is getting ready for Thanksgiving down the street at Crow-Mart. From selection, preparation, cooking, carving, tasting, eating and sandwich and salad conversion, the master of the turkey and his able brain trust can help you with every turkey need. Gravy? Absolutely!

The new Alltel store is holding its grand opening, just down the street on the south side of Crow-Mart. Just south of Alltel (across the alley) is Soperrton Pharmacy, local agent for Cynthia Reese's Harlequin SuperRomance novels. 'The Baby Wait' and 'Where Love Grows' are available. May we suggest both volumes as a gift for your reading family and friends.

Posted by Bill Ricks

New Signs for 11/04/07

Christmas Open House continued through the festival weekend at Dennard Drugs.

Small Town Holidays owned by Teresa Hayes, held Christmas Open House Sunday afternoon.

Country Wares continued their sale, featuring Walden's Way jewelry.

The bottom picture shows what can happen when the auto-exposure into the bright sun results in drastic under-exposure, then enhanced on the computer.
Autumn feels good, but the bright sun without clouds and haze sure does cause problems for photography.

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton

The Day Razzy Bailey Came To Town

Were you in the crowd? It was the worst weather in the history of the Million Pines Festival. (Actually it rained during the festival weekend three years in a row, one of them enough to collect $10,000 in rain insurance.) In 1986 the leaders took a big chance paying $5,000 for a top entertainer to appear.

It flooded all day Friday, the day before the festival. George McLeod and Chester Kight were called on for every bale of hay they could haul to cover the soupy mud. During the night the rain stopped and it turned cold --- very cold! At 2 a.m. James Windsor and I were still working at the park putting up the green and gold entrance flags. Jeanne McLendon worked in the rain and cold, smilingly mothering every exhibitor's need.

Teddy Holton had arranged the entertainment, including the star performer. Thousands of dollars were spent in promotion to tell the entire region that Razzy was coming and Bugs Bunny and friends would be coming down from Six Flags for the weekend.

Bobby Cammack managed ticket sales in the secure, weather-proof gazebo built by Gene Pullen, who with his brother, Ralph of McRae, were the roving ambassadors of good will who visted every town, spreading posters, brochures, bank inserts for weeks ahead of the festival.

Everything paid off. Paid attendance in the awful weather was greater than previous festivals with sunshine. What could have been a major disaster turned into a day of salvation for the festival. We didn't buy any fire trucks that year, but the festival continued. And look at all those chilly, happy faces!

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton

New Signs for 11/02/07

Happy Birthday Liza Shivers. Have you picked up your cake yet?

The Re-Grand Opening continues at Farmers. Several hundred people showed up. Chan Carter said that it was the biggest special event they'd ever had, and they have always had some big ones!

The Country Wares - Tommy and Patsy are ready for extra business this weekend. Actually it's only about 1.5 miles, but let'snot be picky.

Alltel's new phone shop is ready for business!

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton

New Signs for 11/01/07

Happy Birthday Gregory Mason. 16 Years! How does time go so fast?

The Parkerville neighborhood Halloween gets better and better.

Did you know that the Farmers Furniture chain started with one store in Soperton. Founder Sherwin Glass was driving through one Saturday in the 1940's and saw crowds of farm families (typical back then) and knew it was a good place to start a business. The Carters and the Garretts were the two families who helped build the company. Chan Carter ran the Soperton store, and his brother Dick ran the Swainsboro store. As they say, the rest is history.

Did you know that it's easy to forward one of my blog posts to a friend? Just click on the "envelope" icon at the bottom.

Posted by Bill Ricks of Soperton