You have no idea how humbling the response as been to Absolved and this website. These are serious issues. Issues that, in the fullness of time, could get people killed. Yet what I write apparently resonates with people because God has given me a talent for expressing what they have long believed.
All of my work has been motivated by a desire to avoid conflict over these principles we hold so dear. If I bluntly warn liberal politicians, media types and academics of the folly of their proposals, it is because I don't want my children and grandchildren to have to suffer the ghastly experience of civil war.
It has always been my belief that if people understood where this is heading, there was a least a chance of avoiding it. As we proceed into the Era of Obama, I am afraid that is becoming more and more a faint hope.
As some of you know from bitter personal experience, taking a stand does not come without cost. There are dangers, even now, to having political opinions. Just ask David Olofson. From time to time, people express concern that I may fall victim to ATF retribution or FBI miscalculation. There is, in fact, little I can do about that, for that move is up to them. Like Luther, here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. There are no free lunches. It is what comes of being a free man. Or as my Grandpa Vanderboegh used to say in an imitation of a cartoon character, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."
But I was reminded this week that no man is an island, entire of itself. On my trip to the post office box, I was rewarded, in addition to statements from Social Security and the power bill, a single anonymous envelope. It was postmarked from somewhere in Oklahoma. It said this in handwritten block letters, spelling and punctuation as written:
Sir,
I have read you on the internet and believe in what your doing. One day the ATF will come to count coup on you & take your head. I promise to take One hundred heads for yours.
Cheyenne 0317/8541
There is a small, delicate ink drawing on the bottom of the sheet, showing what appears to be a coup stick crossed with a tomahawk and over-arched with what I'd guess are eagle feathers. 0317/8541, for the uninitiated, are the current and former MOS numbers for a Marine Scout/Sniper.
One hundred heads. I sat in the car, reading and rereading this piece of paper, touched by its simple sincerity. I have no doubt the man means what he says. I also have no doubt that a Marine scout/sniper has the skills to take a hundred heads if, God forbid, this should come to guns.
I shared this with a friend yesterday, and he had only this comment: "A hundred heads properly targeted could finish this thing." Indeed.
On the assumption that Cheyenne is reading this, I would like to tell him this:
I do not ask you to take those hundred heads, sir, but I appreciate the commitment to our common cause that such a promise implies. I do not know what the future may bring, but if it should be grim I merely ask that you get the right hundred heads.
In liberty, and with gratitude,
Mike Vanderboegh
III
24 comments:
Humbling indeed, I'm sure.
Amongst the many other lessons that we are attempting to pass along to those that should heed them, this one should be at the head of the pack.
While the III may not be as large as an American Idol audience, they are a far, far more serious crowd. Cheyenne's note exemplifies that.
While most of us are clearly not of the experience and capability base of Brother Cheyenne, we may yet take a page from his war book.
So perhaps (hypothetically) each of the III could make a pledge to themselves for a mere tenth of what Brother Cheyenne has? For any of the III that fall, they could ensure that Ten of the usurpers of our heritage join them.
All hope that the number will be zero, but it is critical that those considering pushing the III further understand that the time for pushing has passed. It's time for them to back off.
Only then will there be no reason for counting of coup.
Again - I am almost speechless here.
Short of actual open combat, where else can you be so honored as to meet such men as this, men who are brothers of the truest kind?
I bow in respect.
As what Stewart said in a previous post: Every Mike Vanderboegh you meet on the Internet is just the vocal tip of a massive iceberg of defiance.
Best luck to your book, Mike.
I agree with j3maccabee. We live in times where people you think would be willing to fight for their rights are nothing but cowards. It is truly awesome to know that there are some out there that will fight.
"We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
The men who signed the Unanimous Declaration (also called the Declaration of Independence) knew what risks they were taking. As, I think, do we.
And so I agree (as Atlas Shrug suggested, and hypothetically) to a tenth.
My hope is that it is never required, but my expectations are different...
I served alongside many Scout Snipers. A solid bunch they are. Take comfort in the fact that you have entirely too many Marines on your side. I would consider that anything over two. Remember GySgt. Hathcock and Cpl. Burke.
Semper Fi, 0352
My neighbor and I were having a discussion about such things a few years back regarding if they started going house to house. Incidentally, one of his sons is a 0317.
We came to the conclusion that the warrantless invaders would soon learn how ineffective IIIA with chicken plates is against determined neighbors of the person you're assaulting. Kinda hard to run an assault on a house if all your Supervisors, Sentries, and C&C are getting sniped by others that live in the area and the roads are blocked by tractors and trucks and your only way in and out is by helicopters being shot at or on foot through the brush. We aren't short of Dumptrucks and semi-trailers to park crossways at intersections and we all have wells and generators...Lots of trees, no real good LZs that wouldn't be under accurate small arms fire as you'd be trying to land helicopters in people's front yards. I don't think the US people would put up with Helicopter Gunship or A-10 strikes on rural American homes. Bit of a pickle for an assault then, isn't it?
FBI and BATFE raids are nothing but houses of cards if people outside of the house(s) they intend to hit fight back too.
When Whitman climbed the tower, it was civilian marksmen with scoped deer rifles, more than anything else, that forced him to keep his head down.
The people that live on my dirt road could keep illegitimate LEOs bent on confiscation and murder away and everybody knows everybody out here so there ya have it.
I bet they stay up nights worrying about the fact that most of us are aware of just how vulnerable and small of a force they are.
There's a lot of "Northern Alabamas" in the USA.
I'm in favor of protecting against all enemies foreign and domestic even if they wear fancy uniforms and think they're gods. I know only one God and he isn't any of them.
And One Hundred More
82 Abn
Ya, unfortunately like your friend at the gun show said: "were all just waiting for them to come and kill you first." Never fear, the battle cry will be," Remember Mike!" mthead
God bless Cheyenne 0317/8541. His letter brought the same emotions that I feel when I see our servicemen carring our flag.
He gives me hope as also does Mike V., John Longenecker, David Codera, Rawles, and Western Rifle Shooters Association, and others. You give us hope even though I don't see any way around the trouble that is descending on us like a tsunami of biblical porportions (to borrow a phrase.)
I know that decisions of actions have to be decided before they are needed and Cheyenne 0317/8541 has done that. I think all III's have already made their decision.
What really puzzles me is why politicians expect us to risk our lives in the service of our country so that our loved ones may live in a free land yet expect us to be cowardly sheep in our own homes. Most of us who have served have done so voluntarily. Don't those idiots realize that we are even more willing to fight and die on our home turf if need be to keep our loved ones safe and free? They need to realize that we have made our decisions and will act without hesitation when the time comes.
Mike you are doing a dangerous, but sorely vital job of warning them and keeping our moral up for the time ahead. Thank you. God Bless you.
There's a fine line between being observant and being seditious, whoever reads this can judge me if they like BUT I came up with a good analogy for my previous typing:
Think of the illicit government getting "Randy Weavered" by a Superior force that has them flanked and shut off from the outside world putting them in a situation where they'd need internal and external defensive perimeters while they try to "Randy Weaver" someone in a rural area with few roads.
If they want a Dien Bien Phu, we'll supply it. No "Ft. Sumters" on our part and they better not try another "Weaver or Waco".
They'll look dumber than they did at WACO, get slaughtered because nobody will let them get home to reload or let in resupply (unless they have it air-dropped, which very well might re-arm even more the forces arrayed against them if they guess wind drift wrong), and come back with US Military forces to be used against civilians defending their homes, outraging the American populace and comitting suicide all in one shot. Medevacs won't be flying in and out either.
Be the dumbest fucking thing they'd ever do.
I hope their smarter than that. I doubt they are. Resignations are significant of late at both the FBI and BATFE because a lot of the old timers are "smarter than that" and getting out while the getting is good.
They have us surrounded. THE POOR BASTARDS!
Hi All,
WOW!, This is getting heavy. How far away is "Critical Mass??" It appears that it's no longer "IF" but "When??" Meanwhile, back at the ranch, before I have to start burning powder, I will continue to use a lot of "INK!!!" Right now ink is a lot cheaper than gunpowder and I'm slinging it! "Think Globally, work locally!!" Start with "YOURSELF" your home, your neighborhood, your friends, your town, your county, your State, Your Country!! Look around, talk and be heard! Write letters to the editor, the mayor, your local, state and national politicos, post to blogs, pound that keyboard till you get caluses on your fingers a Rock Guitar player would be proud of!! You've already started by reading this blog!! Now get crakin'!!!
"straight shooter"
"South River Defense Force"
"A militia of ONE!"
One Man,
One Fist,
One Voice,
One Vote,
One Pen,
and if need be,
One GUN!!
Time to fly the Gadsden Flag,"Don't Tread on me!"
"Freedom ain't Free and if it has a color it's RED, BLOOD RED!!!"
Straightarrow:
I like SFC Jerry M. "Mad Dog" Shriver
s (MACV/SOG) famous radio call:
When his little SF team got encircled by a probable battalion sized NVA force he radioed his worried commanders: "No, no, I've got 'em right where I want 'em -- surrounded from the inside."
And they proceeded to fight their way out with minimal wounds.
The US military has trained a lot of such people over the years and we're training them again in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think more are on our side than on the side of gun grabbers. Hopefully we never have to find out.
F'in "A", bubba. III.
As an ex navy corpsman I have seen what Marines have done in the face of certain death in order to get things done. My thought,then,was Im glad there on our side. My thought,now, is I hope we can keep them on our side.
The Big Brother state has a list of ALL of us who are a "threat" to them. They know all there is to know about us - including where we go when we go out (if you use a DEBIT or CREDIT card for purchases - it pinpoints your travel patterns). They know the websites we visit, the guns we have, the ammo, the accessories. They know where to find us and when.
Now, where is OUR LIST of the enemies of freedom - with their home addresses and other pertinent data such as license plate, make and model of vehicle, etc?
Two things: I've often wondered how strangers who feel the same would help other individuals who come under attack as did the Weavers and those in Waco. That has now been answered for me. Counter-attack at each and every scene by those near enough or otherwise able to respond sounds good to me.
The notion of a list of our own has been in my thoughts for some time, but I have not been able to figure out how to achieve this. All I have been able to come up with is archiving photos and related news articles on some of our domestic enemies, so at least it might be possible to target the "right hundred heads". This I have begun to do, until a better list becomes available. I do believe it is time for the Term Limits and Unintended Consequences that Flynn and Ross have written about.
The people of the US watched and did nothing while US Military Tracked Vehicles took out the Branch Davidian. They would likely do nothing because of A-10s or Apatche Gun Ships. Thank God there are likely no ATF or FBI types qualifide to drive those.
Paladin~45~
and a 100 more.
I am but a humble ex-Squid, and an engineer at that. But I've taken up the hobby of putting five 7.62x54r rounds at a time into four inch groups, from a couple hundred yards away. With iron sights. So I should be good for a few heads myself. Keep fighting Mike, we got your six....
Mayberry III
I am proud and humbled to be in the company of patriots...
Cheyenne 0317,
Got your six
M21 11B4PB4
The people of the US watched and did nothing while US Military Tracked Vehicles took out the Branch Davidian. They would likely do nothing because of A-10s or Apatche Gun Ships. Thank God there are likely no ATF or FBI types qualifide to drive those.
Paladin~45~
_________________________________
Those pilots weren't born in their machines. They don't sleep in them for more than a few minutes, eat in them, drink in them,
sh t or p ss in them. In other words, at some point in time they have to get into and out of them.
Don't fight the machine, fight the man.31
Post a Comment