In memory of . . . .

In memory of the Skynyrd Plane crash:

On October 20, 1977, just three days after the release of Street Survivors, Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair CV-240 ran out of fuel near the end of their flight from Greenville, South Carolina, where they had just performed at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium, and were en route to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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And the fact they made me remove the rear window Screen from my Truck

I finally installed the NEW Window Screen to inside of my Sunroof on the Challenger.
I was disappointed you can't see it from the outside, or even in the inside in daylight.
but at night and on my way to work, it's awesome!

 

Not sure how those two points have any correlation but ok.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of my favorite groups when I was in high school. One More From The Road was my favorite Skynyrd album and it was always playing on the tape deck in my car. I wore out multiple copies over the years, mainly during my many long drives while in the Navy. I get how Southern Rock could tie in with the Confederate Flag but to be honest I always saw that flag as a "prop" that people liked to display on their cars or whatever more of a symbol of being cool (being a "rebel") than anything. The only flag I have ever displayed in any way is the American Flag. Matter of fact, it's the only sticker I would put on my Challenger!

 

Our Governor and Mayor won't let Cops or Fire display THOSE Flags.
But BLM, www.Antifa.com , and "I Can't Breath" T-Shirts are fine

Yes, Rebel until I die.

 

Unfortunately, elected officials have to (or should) try to de-escalate the situation regardless of their personal feelings (yeah, I'm looking at you Trump). Even though I have found myself on opposing sides with police officers at times, I have had a lot of great friends on the force over the years. I've also known a lot of great firefighters. Matter of fact my Daughter is dating (and soon to be engaged) to a firefighter/paramedic down here in Florida. I whole heartedly support the thin red and blue lines! Believe me, my friends and family wanted to take my temperature when they saw me put a sticker on my car, that's how much I believe in supporting them.
Now regarding being a "Rebel"...
Friends and family know I'm the last person who would suggest "going along" with what's popular. Hell, I won't even consider buying any Apple product just because everyone else does. Ok, that's not the ONLY reason. And I don't have any social media accounts, even though all my friends and family do. Bottom line, my Father raised me to strive to "be different", whatever that means. It worked against me in school since my teachers always hated being questioned but in my mind my motto was always "question authority". That doesn't mean to be disruptive, or disrespectful but in my mind it means to always have the courage to go your own way, even when it's not popular. Odd, considering I was definitely an insecure kid but it helped me grow into a very secure adult.

 

My wife was born in Jacksonville, Fla. She and Gary Rossington were in the 7th grade together. Her family later moved north to Smyrna, Ga. just outside of Atlanta. During the summer of '67 my wife and her older sister went down to Jacksonville for a week. While they were there they visited their old church during the week and ran into Rossington and some of his friends setting up their instruments and playing their music. When she and her sister got back from Fla. she told me about it and said that the music was "loud and weird" and that she had never heard anything like it. That band later became Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The Confederate battle flag was a prop. Too bad it got hijacked by a bunch of sheet wearing white boys. To many people from the South the battle flag is just a symbol of their version of "southern pride". I grew up in north Georgia and many people owned the battle flag. I do not ever remember anyone making any racial remarks associated with that flag. I do understand how many people are offended by that banner. The beat goes on.

 

I knew plenty of people who displayed that flag one way or another. Shirts, posters, stickers. Don't ever remember anyone being racist about it. They all just got into the whole southern rebel thing. Can I understand how people could find it offensive? Yeah, I guess but in life it's not hard to find reasons to be offended if you try hard. The question is, why are people trying so hard to be offended these days?

 

I've lived in Jacksonville since 1965 when my Dad was transferred here. (He was a sales guy ... not a Navy guy.) When I was in high school, it wasn't unusual to hear Southern Rock, Classic Rock, and Disco all on the same radio station. However, my 8-Track case in my '73 Firebird Formula 350 was mostly Classic and Southern .... with just enough Pop tapes to keep the ladies happy.

I was in the 2nd Quarter of my Freshman year at the University of Florida in October of 1977. The crash happened at about 8pm (EST) but it seems like the news spread very quickly through the dorm area. By Friday morning my friends in Jacksonville were spending money to make the long-distance call to my dorm room in Gainesville to make sure I knew. And as the news spread, just about the only music you heard coming from the open dorm room windows was Skynyrd. I remember my roommate and I made the short drive to Jacksonville to go to The Still on Friday night with a group of friends to enjoy some live Southern Rock and remember the good times!

 

We live in a very sensitive society. My parents generation survived the great depression, went to war to defeat tyranny and the outcome of that war was not certain. After the war they went on and created a strong and vibrant economy. When I was in school all of my teachers were either veterans of WWII and or Korea or they were married to these vets. It was yes sir and no mam when spoken to. One of my favorite games in elementary school was dodge ball. Every kid, boy and girl got smacked in the head playing dodge ball. We learned to be clever and competitive. I do not recall any kid crying and whimpering and screaming "unfair" during or after the game. If I had a beef with another boy on the playground and if we decided to duke it out and if we were about the same size, one of the teachers and many times the teacher was a woman would referee until it really got serious or until she figured we had gone on long enough. I got and gave many a bloody nose or a shiner back in the day. Five minutes after the match we were pals again.

Try this today and everyone goes to jail. Teachers and parents are turning out a generation of crybabies and bedwetters. Along with that everyone is overly sensitive. Many people are quick to judge and criticize others but when it it their turn they get all sensitive and butt hurt. This is not and never will be the generation to defeat a Hitler, Hirohito or Mussolini. A while back the U.S. Army filed a detailed report about how out of shape and unfit for duty a large percent of draft age men are.....pudgy and soft.

Another good example of how far down the civility scale we have gone and how far up the sensitivity scale we have gone is to look at these presidential debates. I am old enough to remember the Kennedy/Nixon debates of 1960. They were civil. They were gentlemen. They respected each other. Those days are gone forever.

 

No doubt about it, young people these days have no idea how good (and easy) they have it. Unfortunately, my generation was more concerned about being their kids friends instead of their parents and it ended up giving us people with no ethics or sense of honor. They're all just spoiled, disrespectful, self indulgent whimps.
And that's how we ended up with the government we have. All gutless, corrupt butt kissers.