Pine Wood Derby
Showing posts with label Rex Liked This. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rex Liked This. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Rex Liked: Meridian Magazine Article, August 2005
Click here: Meridian Magazine :: Articles : Making the Grade: Study Pointers for LDS Students
Dear Girls,
I thought that this guys approach to "learning" was very interesting. His story about being just an average student in high school rang a bell with me.
I know my mind is capable of much more than I make it do.
His story is encouraging that I can improve my mind and my way of learning and digesting knowledge.
There are 4 or 5 more parts to this article which will be on this website over the next few days. I hope this strikes you as something worth pursuing and looking into. At age 51 I see how much more I could have done (or learned) if I had just attempted to stretch myself. I also see that those who learn how to "learn", end up making more money and that as you well know, is BETTER than making or having less money. Knowledge opens more opportunities, for sure.
D&C 130:18 - Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
v.19 - And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.
v.20 and 21 are also very interesting.
I love you girls more than you will ever know,
dAd
Dear Girls,
I thought that this guys approach to "learning" was very interesting. His story about being just an average student in high school rang a bell with me.
I know my mind is capable of much more than I make it do.
His story is encouraging that I can improve my mind and my way of learning and digesting knowledge.
There are 4 or 5 more parts to this article which will be on this website over the next few days. I hope this strikes you as something worth pursuing and looking into. At age 51 I see how much more I could have done (or learned) if I had just attempted to stretch myself. I also see that those who learn how to "learn", end up making more money and that as you well know, is BETTER than making or having less money. Knowledge opens more opportunities, for sure.
D&C 130:18 - Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
v.19 - And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.
v.20 and 21 are also very interesting.
I love you girls more than you will ever know,
dAd
Friday, May 14, 2010
A Tale of Six Boys
Hi Girls,
This is an interesting story. Gpa McBride also fought on the island of Iwo Jima in February and March of 1945. The battle lasted about six weeks including the "mop up" (rooting out the last of the Japanese soldiers hidden in tunnels and foxholes after the main fighting was over).
He told me once that he was not close by as the flag was raised because his unit was fighting farther away from that location. But, he told me he was able to look over and see that the flag had been raised. He had been busy doing his own fighting with his unit. He did see it after it was up.
Think about it ... Gpa was in close proximity to one of the most historic events of the battle. He was 19 years old and wouldn't turn 20 for another 7 months. He had already been in the Marines since he was 17.
Both of your Grandfathers experienced amazing challenges as young men.
I know they love each of you in their own way of being able to express those feelings.
I hope that each of you girls know that I love you. You don't know how much that is because it is hard to place a "quantitative value" (ability to measure) of how much I love you. Just know that I do. I wish there was a way to express it in such a way you might be able to see or know.
I'm proud of each of you for your accomplishments. I'm proud of you for your potential. I'm proud of you for just being the enjoyable and interesting personalities that make up your ... "you".
Love you,
dAd
Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI. where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.
On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II.
Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, "Where are you guys from?"
I told him that we were from Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story."
(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C., but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night).
When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night).
"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called "Flags of Our Fathers" which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.
"Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called "War." But it didn't turn out to be a game.
Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old.
(He pointed to the statue) "You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph. ...a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.
"The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the "old man" because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'
"The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero.' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?' So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32. ...ten years after this picture was taken.
"The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
"The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers, or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.
"You see, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain.
"When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'
"So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time."
Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.
We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice. Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom. Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world. STOP and THANK GOD for being alive and being free because of someone else's sacrifice.
REMINDER: Every day that you wake up FREE, is a Great Day
This is an interesting story. Gpa McBride also fought on the island of Iwo Jima in February and March of 1945. The battle lasted about six weeks including the "mop up" (rooting out the last of the Japanese soldiers hidden in tunnels and foxholes after the main fighting was over).
He told me once that he was not close by as the flag was raised because his unit was fighting farther away from that location. But, he told me he was able to look over and see that the flag had been raised. He had been busy doing his own fighting with his unit. He did see it after it was up.
Think about it ... Gpa was in close proximity to one of the most historic events of the battle. He was 19 years old and wouldn't turn 20 for another 7 months. He had already been in the Marines since he was 17.
Both of your Grandfathers experienced amazing challenges as young men.
I know they love each of you in their own way of being able to express those feelings.
I hope that each of you girls know that I love you. You don't know how much that is because it is hard to place a "quantitative value" (ability to measure) of how much I love you. Just know that I do. I wish there was a way to express it in such a way you might be able to see or know.
I'm proud of each of you for your accomplishments. I'm proud of you for your potential. I'm proud of you for just being the enjoyable and interesting personalities that make up your ... "you".
Love you,
dAd
A Tale Of Six Boys
Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI. where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.
On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II.
Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, "Where are you guys from?"
I told him that we were from Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story."
(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C., but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night).
When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night).
"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called "Flags of Our Fathers" which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.
"Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called "War." But it didn't turn out to be a game.
Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old.
(He pointed to the statue) "You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph. ...a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.
"The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the "old man" because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'
"The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero.' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?' So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32. ...ten years after this picture was taken.
"The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
"The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers, or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.
"You see, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain.
"When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'
"So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time."
Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.
We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice. Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom. Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray for those still in murderous unrest around the world. STOP and THANK GOD for being alive and being free because of someone else's sacrifice.
REMINDER: Every day that you wake up FREE, is a Great Day
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Letter From Dad: Favorite Movies and Haircuts (January 2003)
Hey. I saw an ad on TV at the Wandviks last night. TNT channel... whatever that is. Ted Turner? A new (made for TV) movie spread over 3 nights...
"from the makers of LONESOME DOVE"
Starring...
Tom Selleck, Isabella Rossilini......... then one of the Wandvik kids screamed and I took my eyes off the screen. Never did see or hear the name of it. But the Cowboy Western flavor of the ad was intriguing. Check out if you can find it.
Your Mom always liked Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I. ........Hence, that is why when I was asked 'how I wanted my hair?' by whomever was cutting my hair, my response was to make it look like Tom Selleck. It never worked.
Why is it that when a female went in and asked for a Princess Di, or a Jennifer Aniston cut or whoever is the current trend of the week ... THAT is what they get. By the way, just what IS the current trend?
Back in the day, during the married years, I'd ask for a "Tom" and all I get is a stare. Even now, younger hairstylists just ask "Who?" Explaining 'who' Magnum P.I. was, becomes a problem for most hairbabes mid 20s or younger. Don't these gum chewing, tattooed, over-coiffed, over-pierced, and sometimes over fed 'professional' mallrat hairstylists ever watch daytime TV? I know Magnum is still on somewhere. I know he is more "OUT" than Hootie and the Blowfish but just who is "in" these days? Enrique Iglesias? Is he in? Ricky Martin? Him? Tom Cruise? I don't even get a "Tom" Cruise haircut offered to me.
Would I get a better cut if I asked for a BRAD PITT? Then, would my guy friends come up to me at the construction site and say "Oh, you got a Brad cut. It looks dreamy." ....I DON'T THINK SO.
I guess I should be just glad that my hair is shorter when they are done with me, and that I'm not bleeding anywhere.
whoa..... sorry Rachel... I almost went off on a tangent. It's good that I caught myself before doing any real harm.
Better close and say I love you. (and your sisters too)
dAd
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