Tag: USS Cole
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In a Destroyer’s Wardroom
“TRAINING AND CROSS-TRAINING” by OPOVV, ©2017 (Sep. 22, 2017) — “Victory at Sea Theme” 0:57 Captain enters the wardroom and sits at the head of the table. “As you were. I’m not going to mince words, so I’ll get right to the point. The scuttlebutt is that the crew is somewhat, and there’s no other…
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Guard at 0200
“A ONCE-PROUD AND EFFECTIVE FIGHTING MACHINE” by OPOVV, ©2016 (Dec. 31, 2016) — “What you got there, Williams?” “My ‘Book of the Month Club’ book.” “Oh, I bet those guys in postal really like you.” “It’s just a book a month.” “Okay, but how many of us get one of those books? What if we all got…
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Audacity
“IT’S ALL SO TRANSPARENT” by OPOVV, ©2016 (Sep. 21, 2016) — “What’s the point? I mean, are we here to gripe and that’s it? It would be one thing if our dissatisfaction with how we’re being treated would lead to a positive response, but all I see is just more of the same, day after day.” “Look,…
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Veteran Denied ER Services (RR)
“PURE UNADULTERATED FRUSTRATION” by OPOVV, ©2016 (Aug. 25, 2016) — “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to ‘Pulse of the Nation.’ Our editor had a conniption when she saw that we vacated our approved sidewalk and went to another one up the line, so here we are, back where we started from, across from the…
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The Patrol
“A WELL-TRAINED CREW” by OPOVV, ©2016 (May 19, 2016) — ACT I The curtain rises as the song “For What it’s Worth,” by Buffalo Springfield, is heard. The stage is set on a bridge of a US Navy destroyer. The backdrop is of grey seas and a grey sky at twilight. Captain: “Left 10 degree…
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The Breakdown
“ROBOTS” OR “CITIZENS?” by OPOVV, ©2016 (May 12, 2016) — “Okay, then, break it down.” “Well, the way I see it, we’ve painted ourselves in a corner.” “How so?” “When I say ‘us,’ I don’t mean you and me. The whole system is broken, and when I say ‘broken’ I’m addressing our procurement procedures. We’re…
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It’s All Been Said Before
BE ARMED AND READY, “BUT STAY COOL” by OPOVV, ©2015 (Nov. 15, 2015) — “Let’s see if I got it right.” “Listen, I’ve gone over it twice before and nothing’s going to change the third time I tell it.” “But it doesn’t make any sense. Look, I’m confused. You say we’re supposed to guard this-here ship,…
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An Act of Valor
“GOVERNMENTS LIE” by OPOVV, ©2015 (Oct. 23, 2015) — ACT I The curtain rises to the music of Richard Rodgers’ theme from “Victory at Sea.” The stage is set as the aft end of a US Navy destroyer, with a group of men lounging around, dressed in short-sleeved dungarees. The backdrop is of a harbor…
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Motorized Camels (A Play)
WILL THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE “DEFEND” ITS OWN, OR PROSECUTE? by OPOVV, ©2015 (Aug. 3, 2015) — ACT I The curtain rises to the sound of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” by Charlie McCoy. Sandbags are arranged in a semicircle with an M119 howitzer facing away from the audience. The backdrop is of a valley…
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The Desensitizing of the Human Race pb
PEOPLE ARE KILLED EVERY DAY BY ISLAMIC TERRORISM by OPOVV, ©2015 (Mar. 26, 2015) — Bombarded daily by unimaginable horrors is the stark reality of the battlefield. Everyone deals with it in his own way. The trench warfare of World War I is an example of thousands upon thousands of either side participating in a shared…
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The 71st Anniversary of Operation Torch
“A SUICIDE MISSION” by Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III (Nov. 8, 2013) —
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Fitzpatrick: There was no Aircraft Carrier in the Mediterranean Before Benghazi Attack
“FROM THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI” by Sharon Rondeau (May 13, 2013) — On Saturday, CDR Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III (Ret.) told The Post & Email in an interview that the absence of an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea on the night of September 11 when a U.S. compound came…
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Our Uncertain Destiny
“NOT A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE” by Paul R. Hollrah, ©2012 (Sep. 14, 2012) — On November 4, 1979, a crazed mob of Iranian “students” attacked and seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two American diplomats were taken hostage and held for 444 days. On April 18, 1983, a van packed with 400 pounds of explosives drove into…
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Jihadists in Plain Sight
IS THE AMERICAN MEDIA WHITEWASHING THE THREAT OF GLOBAL TERROR? by Sharon Rondeau (Oct. 14, 2010) — A former North Carolina resident and U.S. citizen who left the United States is now involved in publishing an online magazine entitled Inspire, which reportedly encourages readers to “wage jihad for the rest of our lives until either…