But wait! THERE’S NO MORE!!

Billy Mays, 1958-2009, "King of the pitchmen" dies.
Billy was a hero of mine.


Read about Billy here

Versailles Indiana Legion Car Show

The Versailles Legion Car Show was a great success again this year. See the photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.demaree/LegionCarShow09#

newspapers24.com

US Newspapers - Explore the most complete list of national and local newspapers from US. Get multiple perspectives on US news, current events, politics and business; read articles and commentaries about US sports, travel, real estate, culture and entertainment; search obituaries and classifieds ads; as well as browse US newspapers archives. In addition to the list of newspapers, you can find also US maps, pictures and brief information about US.
http://www.newspapers24.com/us-newspapers/index.html

American Legion Versailles Indiana

A new web page has been created for the Versailles American Legion.
Check it out at:
www.legion.ripleycounty.net

CALLING ALL HAMS!

Are Ya Ready?

Field Day 2009 is just a week away.
RCARC will have our FD activities at the Milan,Indiana Park (east shelter). Everyone is invited to sit at a radio and make some contacts. The radios will be available starting at 1:00 p.m. with operations continuing until 12 noon Sunday.
Antenna setup starts at 8am Saturday. Contact Delbert at wy9l.thebigdog@gmail.com for more information.

SEE YOU SATURDAY THE 27th!!

Versailles Indiana Legion Car Show

Versailles Legion's annual car show held over beautiful downtown Versailles, Indiana. Saturday June 27th. 50+ trophies are handed out, along with 'tons' of door prizes! This is held in connection with the Lions Club chicken BBQ, and the Chamber of Commerce 5K run. The public is welcomed at no charge. Come and see the cars and feast on chicken BBQ. See the Versailles Legion Page

June 21 Summer arrives

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun's apparent position in the sky to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction.

The term solstice can also be used in a wider sense, as the date (day) when this occurs. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some cultures they are considered to start or separate the seasons while in others they fall in the middle. The English expressions "midwinter" (winter solstice) and "midsummer" (summer solstice) may derive from a tradition according to which there were only two seasons: winter and summer.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Akutan Zero

I'm a sap for a good airplane story, this is a good one and true........ Jack

The Akutan Zero, also known as Koga's Zero and the Aleutian Zero, was a type 0 model 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero Japanese fighter plane which crash-landed on Akutan Island during World War II. It was captured intact by the Americans in July 1942 and became the first flyable Zero acquired by the United States during the war. Following its capture, it was repaired and flown by American test pilots. As a result of information gained during these tests, American tacticians were able to devise tactics to defeat the Zero, which was the Imperial Japanese Navy's primary fighter plane throughout the war.
The Akutan Zero was "a prize almost beyond value to the United States", and "probably one of the greatest prizes of the Pacific war". Japanese historian Masatake Okumiya stated that the acquisition of the Akutan Zero "was no less serious" than the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway, and that it "did much to hasten Japan's final defeat".
The Akutan Zero was destroyed in a training accident in 1945. Pieces of it are preserved in several museums in the United States.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colts Visit Versailles

June 18th was a memorable day in Versailles. It looked as a mini Pumpkin Show had arrived on the town square. The crowd was lined up 1st North street and around the corner of Tyson hoping to get an autograph. I snapped a few photos but did not stay very long. See them at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.demaree/IndianapolisColts#

New Web Cam in Versailles

Located in Rolling Hills Sub Division Versailles Indiana.

http://68.46.219.192:8080/

O.J. Simpson was arrested

June 17th 1994 – Following a police chase along Los Angeles freeways and a failed suicide attempt, actor and former American football player O.J. Simpson was arrested for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Read the full story

Earthquake Map

Latest Earthquakes in the World

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

Missing man formation fly by

This text has been received a few times in my mail in-box with the text and location a slight bit different in each. Therefor I feel it is most likely untrue, but wherever or whoever or not at all, its a great story and makes you think about the sacrifices our solders give.
Jack

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.

The complaint: 'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base:

Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 A.M, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyn's early bird special? Any response would be appreciated.

The response:

Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets on June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four- ship fly by of F-16's from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques. Capt. Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9 a. m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of the fly by, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured. A four-ship fly by is a display of respect the Air Force gives to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects. The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air show? The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives. Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you....Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr.

USAF

Ed Freeman Medal of Honor

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is out numbered 8-1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the doctors and nurses. And, he kept coming back, 13 more times and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Recipient Medal of Honor, Ed Freeman, died on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at the age of 80, in Boise, ID. May God rest his soul.

Thursday June 11

Starting at 7:30 The Versailles American Legion Post #173 will install it's new officers for the coming year at the Legion Memorial Park just east of Versailles on highway U.S. 50. This ceremony is open to the public and you are invited to attend. The American Legion provided many services both local and national. Food will be served after the ceremony.

Well, you get the Idea

Nascar last Sunday

Kyle Busch breaking the trophy guitar is as stupid as a burnout !

http://www.nascar.com/video/busch/2009/06/06/nns.nas2.high.winner.nascar/index.html?MostPopular

Mt. Comfort Air Show

Saturday June 6th two friends and I traveled to Mt. Comfort near Indianapolis Indiana to see the air show. I suppose I went overboard on the picture taking but what the heck. Click the link to see the show.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.demaree/MtComfort09#

See Cockpit video of the Blues taken on a Flip video recorder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM_ZB7jqxz8

D-Day 6 June 1944

Operation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of northwest Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began with the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944 (commonly known as D-Day), among the largest amphibious assaults ever conducted. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than 3 million troops had landed by the end of August.
Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on D-Day itself came from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Free French forces and Poland also participated in the battle after the assault phase, and there were also contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway. Other Allied nations participated in the naval and air forces. Once the beachheads were secured, a three-week military buildup occurred on the beaches before Operation Cobra, the operation to break out from the Normandy beachhead began. The battle for Normandy continued for more than two months, with campaigns to establish a foothold on France, and concluded with the close of the Falaise pocket, the subsequent liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944, and the German retreat across the Seine which was completed on 30 August 1944.
Click image to inlarge
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O'Grady Shot Down June 2, 1995

Scott F. O'Grady is a former United States Air Force captain who gained prominence after the Mrkonjic' Grad incident, in which he ejected over Bosnia when his F-16C 89-2032/AV was shot down by a Bosnian Serb SA-6 on June 2, 1995 while patrolling the no-fly zone.
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