CLICK: Attention All Hands. Now Hear This…

Posted on by

Item 1: The staff of this blog is touched by the outpouring of messages, comments, and contacts from former shipmates about the crew of Ranger 12. I am still seeking pictures. If any of you have pictures of the guys, or know their families, I’d like to use them down the road to honor the crew.

Item 2: I realized a lot of you are still hurting all these years later from the loss of those fine men. I want to talk about that below the bar here.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

Ladies and gentlemen: I realize that spooks don’t have mental health problems. Not a one of us. You get your badge pulled for admitting that you have issues.

Well, that may have been true 27 years ago, but I’m begging you to listen to the reality of today: If you’re feeling overwhelmed and sad, thinking about harming yourself, call 800-273-8255 and talk to someone immediately. If you want to chat, hit the bottom of the page and use that logo. If you’re a friend of mine, call me. But don’t sit there and stew: reach out.

I’m a blunt person: I’ve lost too many friends in the last 30 years to suicide. Reading some of the stuff this brought up I worried about all of you and wondering how we ever made it this far. We didn’t go for help, we just gutted it out. That’s not working. I’m weary of opening my email and Facebook and reading of another CT who took their own life.

People, you’re all amazing if you were in the business. Not a one of you is anything less than a valuable asset to national security. Each of you is smart and a part of the family. I realize depression and suicide don’t let you think rationally about things when you’re in the midst of the darkness. So I’ll say it loud and clear:

YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE ONE OF US. CALL A SHIPMATE OR 800-273-8255 AND GET HELP NOW!!!

I hate caps lock, but that needed to be shouted out.

Now, for the rest of you hoodlums, the ones who are momentarily in full possession of your faculties, resume your preparation for the snooperdull on Sunday.

That is all. Now sweepers…

********* ********** *********** ***********

I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.

Bangles On The Radio, Reagan In The White House, Memorial Services Back Home.

Posted on by

In 1987 The Bangles were capturing the airways of the world with their music. Ronald Reagan was in the White House winning the battle for the soul of the human race and crushing the Soviets, and the crew of Ranger 12 joined me under the ocean. I would return to the surface, they are still lost all these decades later.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

The first paragraph might sound disrespectful to the crew of the mission, but it was part of the joking back and forth between the submarine riders and the flight crew of the era that “there were a lot more airplanes in the ocean than submarines in the sky.” We busted each other’s chops all the time back in 32 Division: where the riders, flyers, and skimmers came to roost between deployments. The humor of that statement left when I found out about the death of my friends CTI3 Patrick Price and CTI3 Craig Rudolph a few weeks later. (I’d love to link pictures of them, but the web wasn’t around yet. I can still picture them in my mind. Forever young.)

I’d been out on a mission on a submarine with a detachment of people who knew the air crew. We’d been a tad bit busy, and we had not received word of the crash that killed our friends. But the dark depths we’d just left were the grave of our comrades. When we found out, weeks after the deaths and the memorial service, we held our own impromptu memorial at the enlisted club in Naples, Italy.

The Cold War wasn’t all that cold for the people who flew the missions from carriers, or who rode the submarines. Nor was it cold for the men on the DMZ in Korea, or the plains of the Fulda Gap in West Germany. It was hot. Shots were fired, people hacked to death with axes, and planes plummeted to the bottom of the sea with the crew still strapped in their seats. We lived in a Europe racked with terrorist actions. It impacted our lives directly.

Today, 28 years later, people in the United States think that terrorism is something relatively new. Not for us. We all had stories about places we’d just left being blown up. I can count two different places that went bang within 24 (or 2-4) hours of my departing. It was a tense time for everyone. Every mission we went on, surface/subsurface/air, could be the one that started WW III. Sound like an exaggeration? Not to us: we were the guys who collected the intelligence that war decisions would be based on back in Washington. If we hit the panic button, bad things would happen to people as a result. Consequently we trained hard, we treated every single trip as a wartime event. We had fun like all young men like to (it was just men back in the 80’s) but when things got tense, we hunkered down and did our best.

I remember Craig as a quiet guy who was a good student. He sat across the aisle from me in class for the final part of our spook training. He had a partner in crime in another student (who didn’t complete the training pipeline: about 40% drop rate at that time) and so our contact was somewhat minimal. He went to flight school and I went to surface school.

Pat was the quintessential southern gentleman. I remember him as a friend of everyone. He was the guy who would hold the door open for you in a driving rain even if he didn’t know you. There was a smile in his eyes whenever you talked to him. He was in love with his wife. He loved to fly, and I know he’d think it funny and touching that the gymnasium at the Defense Language Institute is named in his honor, yet there is nothing about him on the webpage for the facility: not even a picture. That’s sad. He was a good looking young man.

This weekend marked that anniversary for the people who were friends and relatives of the crew of Ranger 12. I’ve written about it before, I’ll write about it again. Those deaths were part of the sacrifice made to keep a nation free. The deaths of my friends and classmates on Ranger 12 were the last Cryptologic Technicians to die during the Cold War. I know it’s not how some would view the military during the Cold War era, but they were brave young men on the front lines of a struggle for the soul of mankind. If you doubt their integrity, loyalty, or zeal for the mission, I pity you.

Freedom isn’t free. RIP, shipmates. I still miss you.

LT Stephen H. Batchelder
LCDR Ronald R. Callander
AT2 Richard A. Herzing
LT Alan A. Levine
CTI3 Patrick R. Price
LT James D. Richards
CTI3 Craig H. Rudolf

*******update 1020 Central************update 1020 Central*******

If you have a photo of the crew members (any of them) or a picture of just Pat and/or Craig, please contact me privately. We have a DLI contact who will get that web page updated with info if he can. joseph AT commotioninthepews.com Thanks.

***************** ******************* *************** ************************

Ranger 12 Memorial

Ranger 12 Memorial

********* ********** *********** ***********

I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.

Another Miracle To Report

Posted on by

Discretion sometimes causes a lag on items in this blog. Specifically, I hesitate to talk about children that I come in contact with as Santa.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

Today that cannot be the case. I have three miracles to report. Not the “Oh, that’s cool” kind of miracles, but the stuff of biblical proportions.

No names, not fair to minors. But this past year I have seen two children who were not supposed to make it come through and thrive. There is a third who just got a clean bill of health after a major surgery to remove a tumor. A tumor that was ruled untreatable just a month ago.

It may just be me, but it seems that most people think miracles are reserved for the Bible. Since Jesus went to Heaven nothing all that special has happened according to many people. Like someone forgot the recipe for something complicated and nobody has been able to recreate it in the meantime.

Miracles are like ice cubes: the recipe is simple. For miracles you need faith and prayer. Great doctors, inspired and guided by God, are certainly a part of that equation. But more than once I’ve seen those who would be ruled beyond hope come back and continue. It moves me each time.

God works in our lives. Just the fact that people know you have prayed for them does them a world of good. It inspires them to know that you love them enough to ask God for His help. Think about that: this person is so important to you that you take the time of the Creator of the universe to ask for His intercession.

I post prayer requests here from time to time. More often, as in almost daily, I stop what I’m doing and ask for God to help lead someone, heal someone, or bring joy to someone. It’s rewarding to me to have that time with Him. It also benefits someone else.

Today, when you are finished reading this piece, take a couple of minutes to pray for someone who needs your help. If you don’t know someone, here’s a list of names:

Ken
Bruce
Deb
Bob
Pamela
Craig

Each of them could use a bit of prayer. Thank you for interceding with God on their behalf.

********* ********** *********** ***********

I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.

There’s Folks Hurting And They Need Your Prayer.

Posted on by

I write from time to time about people struggling with different things in their lives. Sometimes it’s financial, sometimes medical, sometimes emotional, and often spiritual.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

Today’s post is a prayer request for a few people, a link or two, and some suggestions. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.

First, please pray for my lovely friend Rajdeep Paulus and her Husband. Go read the blog at this link. That could be any of us on any day of our lives. I love reading about love.

I’m also asking for prayer for my friend Mary Kay and her beloved Dell. Dell is in a treatment facility to recover from a serious respiratory episode. He’s got bleeding issues and if ever you were going to whip out the Holy Spirit and pray hard, this is the time to do the work.

My friend John has a young son who’s been behind in development. Turns out it was a very scary brain tumor. He’s doing much better, but if you’d pray for the young fellow it will help him heal. Pray for John and his wife as well, and throw in the brother who stands to the side and encourages. All of them need you today.

Pray for Bruce who has shattering headaches and injuries from a motorcycle accident a few years ago. He’s in constant pain and needs that blessing.

While we’re talking about motorcycle accidents, pray for my friend Eric who almost died in a crash a few weeks back. I’m very worried about him, because even though he’s out of intensive care he got a mani-peddi yesterday. His man card is in jeopardy.

Please pray for my friend Vicki’s son. He had major surgery on his noggin this week to remove a fast growing tumor that was destroying his hearing.

Pray for those people you know with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, PTSD, and other ailments of the spirit. Pray for their families as well. This man rather elegantly tells his tale about having a mentally ill spouse. There is so much love in the article that you don’t know whether to cry for joy or sadness.

This story about art therapy for wounded warriors moved me so much that I had to walk away for a bit. All of it touches each of our lives at some point. None of us are immune.

Pray for me. I will pray for all of you.

Many thanks.
********* ********** *********** ***********

I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.

Man, Those Photos Helped

Posted on by

I was all set to write a post about a very political topic when I got distracted. A rather common thing for me, the shiny objects get me every time. Tonight it was for the better.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits!

I had to find a picture of my wife for a special project. I thought, “Hey, one of those pictures from Haiti has a great smile.” Out came the Haiti file folder, and this one caught my attention:

Me and my peeps

Me and my peeps

This caused me to rethink the other post. It will be done, just not today.

Today I want to think about those beautiful people I met on this trip. Not just the people of Haiti, but my fellow missionaries and the support staff.

I looked at a lot of those pictures tonight, and I am made glad by the beauty they bring to this earth.

Thank you, God, for an amazing trip just about two years ago. It was a blessing.

Have you made a missions trip? If you had the glow I have right now you’d sign up in a heart beat. Why not tromp on over to www.healinghaiti.org and see if you can join them for a life changing experience.

********* ********** *********** ***********

I have a favor to ask of my readers: would you kindly share this blog with your friends, family, and colleagues? We hit a million views in 2014, and while the readership continues a nice growth trend, it could be a lot better. Just hit the Facebook like button, share it on your timeline, tweet the blog with a link, and tell that person at the next desk that there’s this lunatic who writes about all sorts of stuff that they might like.

I appreciate your help. When we hit 2,000,000 readers I will give away something cool to a drawing from the subscribers (that’s the box on the right toward the top) who have helped promote this mess. No used sheets, probably not honey, more likely gift cards. Be a part of it. I’ll update from time to time where we’re at in the count. Thanks.