Michael Yon Dispatch: ‘Photos and Captions’

22 July 2009
Filed from Sangin, Afghanistan

(This dispatch is from Ghor Province, though I am now with British forces down south.)

Lithuanian soldier on Swedish C-130 from Kabul to Kandahar and finally to Chaghcharan. On his left are Filipino workers. Filipinos are like birds; the only place that an American has stepped that a Filipino hasn’t is the moon. Yesterday was a special anniversary for space travel: man first landed on the moon. I watched the launch from our family boat when I was five years-old. Apollo 11 was bright, and loud. Many people think that the Russians also walked on the moon, but this is untrue.

The Swedish C-130 landed at Chaghcharan “airport.” Landmines still wait in ambush in the fields around the airstrip, and in fact a legacy mine (previous war) was found just about three feet off the road—just a minute from the base—while I was there. The mine has been next to the base for about five years and apparently nobody stepped on it. When soldiers say to you, “Sir, please don’t step off the road,” they mean “DON’T STEP OFF THE ROAD!” The director of the local hospital told me that mines strike about one person per month in this area. (more…)

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Tags: Afghanistan, Apollo 11, Chaghcharan, Filipinos, Ghor Province
Posted Jul 22nd 2009 at 12:11 pm in Michael Yon Dispatches, Military | 18961425 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/myon/2009/07/22/michael-yon-dispatch-photos-and-captions/Michael+Yon+Dispatch%3A+%27Photos+and+Captions%272009-07-22+19%3A11%3A11Michael+Yon

Moonwalker: The Difference Between Achievement and Artifice

This month marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind.

Mr. Armstrong is still alive, and, as far as I know, in good health.  But alas, one day, like all of us, Armstrong will shuffle off this mortal coil.  When he does, his passing will no doubt be news – it will lead on all of the broadcast and cable news programs, and decorate the front pages of the daily papers.  He might even for a brief moment replace The Chosen One’s smiling visage on the covers of the etiolated news weeklies which grow thinner in size and substance with each passing week.

But will millions tune in to watch the funeral proceedings from across the globe?  Will thousands descend into the streets in tears, inconsolable at the loss?  Will there be a sports arena filled with famous and non famous mourners, gathered to celebrate his life?  Will models and preachers and sports stars proclaim his heroism? (more…)

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Tags: Apollo 11, Culture, Michael Jackson, moonwalk, Neil Armstrong
Posted Jul 14th 2009 at 8:38 am in Celebrity News | 180978177 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mpatterson/2009/07/14/moonwalker/Moonwalker%3A+The+Difference+Between+Achievement+and+Artifice2009-07-14+15%3A38%3A47Matt+Patterson