I drove with abandon on the semi-broken sometimes dirt road called Route 66, as the dream smooth hurtling along, even at only fifty miles per hour or so, disappeared behind us. We were finally headed in the right direction, east, instead of the circuitous selections Matt had chosen to throw off any pursuit that was likely ever coming.
“Find us another hole-in-the-wall cheap motel where we can refuel this thing,” Matt instructed.
Oh,man! It just keeps getting deeper and deeper. I really can’t stop reading.
Thanks ever so much for the compliment of your comment. Much appreciate on this stormy morning here….
Semper fi,
Jim
Jim,
Sorry for my delay. No excuse. Poop happens.
Matt continues to suggest/confirm his ‘not first rodeo’ in various ‘situations’. From deftly dealing with the Trooper situation to his bringing extra cans of fuel – From the potential critical ‘show stopper’ (Trooper) to the simple ‘show stopper’ (Fuel). Both would have had the same result – ‘show stopper’. Though, depending on his ‘mission’ of getting you/artifact where you needed to be (‘no matter what’?), things could have been different. Glad they weren’t & glad you had him, as I imagine you were.
Matt’s claim of this being his “first field work of any way” belies the airplane ride & his offer for any future events, which you took advantage of. Perhaps someone was thinking ahead, about your move & the best, safest way to move the artifact as well. I imagine Matt had a report to file to someone. Ditto reference the fuel cans & about the call to Mary – his ‘analysis of Mary from your comments during your brief time with him – the call reaching “other eyes & ears” – His reply to your comment about what if you “might not want to give up the object”? – Short, sweet, to the point (A point you could carry with you the rest of your career.) Don’t even think about it. Not his “first field work of any way”/rodeo. Regardless.
Then Reed, the 3 marines, the Western White House & the artifact wrapped up in a few words. And then there was the A Shau. Yea, that’s enough. And why do I believe you’re ‘running in to’ a bunch more poop with your new, continuing career? Just sayin’.
Well, at least your foster care of the artifact will soon be over, becoming little more than a memory with no more contact AND you get a new car! Hopefully, it will at least be comparable to Mary’s. Looking forward to the future.
Regards my friend,
Doug
Spot on Doug! Yes, the mixed thing about the artifact. I could finally be done with the thing that was not only so disconcerting and discomforting but also was such a weight that if mentioned would likely cause me to lose all credibility unless the thing was taken out and demonstrated. If that was done, then things got even worse as someone else’s life was now also served up. Matt was an enigma but also held true to what so many of the players of the time were life, delving into areas of my life and coming up with stuff that it was unbelievable that they could know…but know they did.
Thanks for the usual depth and breath of your comment and your friendship.
Semper fi, my friend
Jim
So it went to the labs at Los Alomos, that could explain a lot.
Bob, yes, it will explain a lot and, well, still is as time goes by and you
see more of the changes coming to physics as the old rules are tossed out…finally.
Thanks for the comment and the compliment contained within it.
Semper fi,
Jim
I’m a patient man but after reading this last chapter I can’t wait for the next one, LT. Great writing as always keeping me very interested I don’t want to come to the finish of this book.
This book will be followed by another volume Robert so your worries can be minimized in
that regard. I mean if I am still capable of getting them out!
Thanks and,
Semper fi,
Jim
What a hell of a way to start work with/for the company. What a hell of an adventure in life.👍👍
Thanks for the great short complimenting comment Bruce. Yes, it was a hell of a start and then a helluva run
as well, as you will see. Training, unlike the Corps, was much lighter with learning y association in the field
and being in the field almost all the damned time was everything.
Semper fi,
Jim
This is an extremely good read just keeps getting better your life will never be normal has to be an adrenaline rush like the times in Vietnam.
Thanks ever so much Pat, as I am trying although a poor judge of whether a chapter is better or not. You guys and gals on here
sure provide me with plenty of back chatter with respect to that and I remain ever appreciative. Thanks for the compliment,
as well.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank for sharing how Steele died. It was never clear to me and you might want the funeral chapter to elaborate more on it. Of course, I did finally find out.
I was surprised you shared any of that information with Matt. This could not have been his first action. He knows too much.
By the way, my last two comments and especially your responses have not been answered
Kemp
H Kemp, there is only this one comment. I have searched high and low but I also would never fail to answer your comments if I saw them.
thanks for this comment and please put the other two up here on this feed and I’ll get right to it!!!
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Jim,
Another good one!
Enlightening…intriguing…some added doses of mystery…Glad “the package” is behaving itself in the back of the truck.
Matt is right that you cannot put the deaths of the 3 marines in S. Cal. nor Steed’s death on yourself. Matt seems to know a lot about you, but you know little about him.
Nice that Matt foresaw the possibility of a potential fuel problem and planned ahead.
This episode reminds me of the Jackson Brown song with the lyrics “running on empty,…running blind…”
“Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
Look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes I see them running too
Running on, running on empty
Running on, running blind
Running on, running into the sun
But I’m running behind”
Waiting for the next twists and turns…
Stay healthy, Sir.
THE WALTER DUKE. Wow, but you certainly can excerpt from song lyrics to match me, and more. What an apropos
extraction with a depth of meaning which makes it appear like it was written with this story in mind. Herbert was my ‘control’ officer but Matt was given to me as a guide. Why that uncommon bifurcation was made will be explained in later chapters, as well as the outlandish attention that was paid to my prospective value. Sometimes we all ask ourselves ‘why me,’ and then, if we find out are pretty befuddled about the logic of the answer. Thanks for another great comment and compliment in its writing.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
“I marveled at the miscellaneous information a “mere” enlisted member of the Air Force had”? I am somewhat surprised and disappointed at this statement Jim!
Joe, my regard and respect for the enlisted ranks is well known and very well and often written about. The ‘tongue in cheek’ offhand comment I made was not well written or meant to be insulting. The word ‘mere’ should never appeared there and I’ll fix that. I’m alive because of enlisted men. My father was enlisted. Thanks for putting me back on the straight and narrow with this comment. Very well received here and will get my immediate attention.
Semper fi,
Jim
James. every chapter brings more questions to mind. If I had the completed book in hand, I would read all night. It really bothered me when you stated that Paul had saved your life. After all you went through in the hospital in Japan it is hard to believe that you could have had thoughts of harming yourself. Ever the Hero, it is a wonder that you survived rescuing that soldier from the surf.
Why did the chief throw so much hate your way for wearing your Marine uniform to Rick’s funeral? Obviously, that was to honor Rick. ‘
Now you reveal area fifty-five. I have read about area 51 for years but this antigravity research is new to me and I hope that I can find out more. It is amazing as well that Brother John is still playing songs with such meaningful titles. Keep up the great writing, I will read the completed book cover to cover as soon as it is available.
John. Thanks for this terrific and revealing comment. I believe heroism is first occurrence, then observation of the occurrence, and then taking action to to what can be done to accommodate, fix or solve the problem the occurrence displays. That’s it. Some are exposed, many are not. Some have the ability to observe what’s really going on, and some don’t. Finally, probably only a few can immediately take formative and effective action. That last one is more about life experience, I think.
Area 51 is out in the southwestern desert and is a base all of its own. The tech areas of Los Alamos were all fenced in high security labs all of their own. Brother John. I was and remain disappointed my visualization of him has him playing plastic disks in Na Trang to this day. He never left the USA, of course. Everyone on earth has the ability to make the decision to remain in the life or leave it and it’s near impossible to deny anyone the ability to act on such a decision. Almost everyone also thinks about that now and then, but never discusses it. Suicide is a bad word, but not wanting to be here anymore is not only more acceptable to discuss it’s also thought about a lot more than any of us want to discuss. CERN, the speed of light experiments, the discovery of the Higgs Boson…all things you might want to look into if you have a sincere interest in anti-gravity. Thanks for the stunningly great comment.
Semper fi,
Jim
LT, the artifact reminds me of the cube in the movie Super 8
Love that movie JT, although the Argus cubes which when put together formed a ship, were
not at all what the artifact was, and likely remains, all about.The cubes did something dedicated
while the artifact reacted in a physical way without ‘doing’ much of anything. Great comparison, however.
There are a lot of odd objects found on this planet over time, although this one was the oddest by far of my entire
life.
Semper fi,
Jim
Mr. Strauss, Sir,
This segment has got my head spinning. I can’t begin to write what all is going on in there (inside my head, that is), but I guess it is a feeling that my friend, (you so many years ago), is being toyed with and used like a puppet on a string. (Isn’t there an oldie that has a line ‘You’re My Puppet’). I know you survived all that back then, but it feels like I’m reading a novel or watching a scary movie, and I’m so afraid that my friend is in trouble, big trouble. Thank you for the amazing way that you make this so real to me that it creates a physical change in my body as I read it. Cudos to the writer that you are.
Thanks very much Keith for this quite wonderful comment. I write without the intention of creating a reaction but the reaction comes in and I’m always surprised.
The depth the story has reached, and is reaching you, is evident in what you’ve written here and that makes me feel great in getting that kind of very high
compliment. Thanks for always being there for me too…back then, as well as now.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Still here, still amazed at every chapter, feeling totally overwhelmed while putting the history I lived into the context of yours. If that makes sense…
Thanks Charley, for the perspective you put into things on a personal basis. I once saw a school wall that had art passages of history flowing, on above the other…all grand stuff in history that was going on at the same time but not seen by us in our individual studies that way. Your pursuit reminds me of that.Thanks for sharing it with everyone reading along on here.
Semper fi,
Jim
I was wrong on the manner of Ricks death , no matter how he died it was still a tragedy . Now you are involved in a completely different game . What a wild ride you seem to be in for !
Yes, Chuck, you were in error. I did not explain as I waited, as I waited in real life, trying to process the outlandish
and wild chances that I would lose another of my men in such way. It was like, from the time that Daniel J. Morrell went down in Lake Huron on into the A Shau, my brother’s death, the 3 Marines and then Steed. My life at that time was like the dragoman rowing the boat across the river of death in old mythology. The game is the same, however, but it now takes another turn into a different direction.
Thanks for the compliment and
Samper fi,
Jim
LT, this has got to be one of the best chapters you’ve written in a while. Lots of intrigue yet some warm conversations between two men on same paths yet different paths also.
The dialogue between Matt and I still plays in my mind, as that trip and the result was so memorably astounding.
Thanks for pointing that you here on this site.
Semper fi,
Jim
Sounds like Matt has been solidly placed in a mentorship role to ensure you are successfully inboarded to the CIA! While as an operator you will not have a normal employment if their is one, A much more informative chapter
Another accurate comment my Colonel! Normal employment has been about as distant to me as it has been to you!
Thanks for the compliment, even as dryly as it was given.
Semper fi, my great friend,
Jim
What an exciting chapter, Jim! Kept me entranced the whole way through. Thank you for enlivening my day.
Very happy that you are happy with the chapter, my friend. The next is a ‘boomer’ as well,
and I write on thinking of your and the others like you…not that there are that many like you, on here
riding along. Much appreciate the compliment.
Semper fi
Jim
My friend. I didn’t put that in the comment but it sure as hell applies!!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
“In the year 2525, if man is still alive…
Still the same today !!
Great Chapter James, and thanks for the update on Steed, I was in the dark about that part.
Thanks SgtBob for sticking it out. The same ‘stutter’ you ran into reading that part of the chapter about Steed was what happened to me back then. I had a real hard time accepting his death and then working to understand that it wasn’t about me.
It was about life itself and how it comes at us all. We want to accept full responsibility but seldom does that really apply.
Smeer fi,
Jim
this may be the best chapter you’ve written by far the dialogue between you and Matt is so raw and honest that it is compelling
two men working for a very peculiar organization very dim life experiences yet you combined to a function and certainly it is fascinating that you’re taking the place to the home of the UFO
what really reached me though was when he was talking about how you experience things and you take on responsibility for things that are they really your responsibility?
I have had the same problem throughout my adult life and I was at a retreat one time and of course AA retreats are very big on the serenity prayer and I asked the priest one time why doesn’t the serenity prayer tell us what were responsible for and not and being a a Jesuit he was all knowing and here is what he told me The Serenity Prayer, often attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, seeks divine assistance in three key areas: acceptance of what cannot be changed, courage to change what can be changed, and wisdom to discern the difference. Its simplicity and broad applicability are part of its power, allowing individuals to apply it to their unique circumstances.
However, the prayer does not explicitly define what individuals are responsible for because responsibility is context-dependent and subjective. Each person’s life circumstances, values, beliefs, and experiences shape their sense of responsibility. The prayer encourages personal reflection and reliance on spiritual wisdom to navigate these complexities rather than prescribing specific responsibilities.
By focusing on acceptance, courage, and wisdom, the prayer provides a flexible framework that can be adapted to various situations, encouraging individuals to seek clarity and take appropriate actions based on their personal discernment and the guidance they receive. Thank you
Today we thank God for Willie Mays
Another interesting and very personally revealing post my friend. Thanks for that. The Serenity Prayer has always been
one of my favorites, sort of like some of the lines in Amazing Grace. Before any of it, however, we must want to effect change,
wherein so many don’t want to either risk or bother. Acceptance is not common to the human condition, as you well know and
hasn’t been a big part of my own development either, sometimes, with the agreement of my wife, to my great detriment.
Much appreciate the depth and length of this well thought out and expressed comment.
Semper fi, my friend,
Jim
Now we’re getting somewhere LT!
Truer words were never written. If I only got to eat and sleep along the way!
Matt was a wonderful man but a harsh task master.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for answering some of our questions, the rest I’m sure will be forth coming. Again your writing is awesome, my butt is sore from the ride….Lol. Just keep them coming Lt and Semper fi sir
That deuce was heavily modified under the hood but the suspension not so much and those damned
cheap seat set on a bed of springs was just awful after a few hours. My body would ache from the
constant adjusting it took to stay in or on that damned thing. Had to love the totality of
the thing though. Like riding a dragon through the night!
Semper fi,
Jim
Since when did they put AM radios in military vehicles?
I cared my portable Roberts which I think I mentioned in the previous chapter, Robert. There were, and probably are not now, civilian radio
receivers mounted in any police or military vehicles that I ever knew of. Thanks for bringing that up though. Maybe I wasn’t clear enough
back there.
Semper fi,
Jim
Matt shows respect, but also fear of you. Great read, but did you share to much info during the long ride?
Thanks for the comment about my relationship with Matt, which was pretty damned great. Another gunny in my life. You have to trust was an
agent in the field. The world is just too big and complex not to need the council of others and you can only get that by giving trust and
some information to support it. Risk. It’s a game of great painstaking risk out there but I was and remain sorry that I left it behind.
Running on all twelve cylinders was a heady experience whenever it took place.
Semper fi,
Jim
It took the deuce up to eighty, where the speedometer
*I took
“The thing,” Matt said, not letting the question he earlier said he didn’t want the answer to go.
* needs clarity
Thanks for the help here Don, and Chuck will catch this right away if not tomorrow.
Much appreciate this kind of editing help.
Semper fi,
Jim
great work sorry it ends
Dennis: I’m not sure what end you are bringing up as there is no end in
sight for this story that I am able to calculate yet. Not for many years ahead
anyway…and I’m not done with the living, much less the writing just yet!
Semper fi,
Jim