A question answered

I had asked the question of my friend some 30-plus years ago.
“Oh, just a little hand-to-hand,” he responded and said no more.
He had been one of only two people in our field who had been awarded the Silver Star for action in Vietnam. And, as with most people who receive awards for heroism in combat, he was not willing to talk about it — until last week.
The Silver Star is the third highest medal given for heroism and may be awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity with the U.S. armed forces, distinguishes himself or herself by extraordinary heroism.
“Vietnam, huh?” he responded to my question.
“Only if you want to,” I answered.
He paused for quite a while before he began. He had been in country for four weeks, stationed at Pleiku. His unit supported Special Forces bases by responding to calls for destruction of unexploded ordnance and booby traps. A Special Forces camp had been attacked by North Vietnamese and needed help removing unexploded rounds.
They flew in, he and his NCO, the camp still receiving fire, he told me. The pilot told them he couldn’t land but would get about 10-feet above the ground. They would have to kick out their equipment and drop to the ground.
“The ground was covered in body parts,” he reflected, his eyes focusing on that faraway place.
They made their way to the command post to find that only seven Americans were still alive. The rest were South Vietnamese, some Montagnards.
They continued to receive fire for two weeks.
He said he was in a mortar hole when the Special Forces lieutenant said he and his team were going to the top of a hill to their right. When it was secure, the lieutenant said he would fire a green flare and they could follow.
“I could see green tracers coming across from the hill to the left,” he recalled, his voice subdued.
When the men stood to move forward, machine guns opened up from several directions, killing three men immediately.
“I looked around and the Vietnamese were all hiding behind sand bags,” he said. “I slapped one up side the head, grabbed his M-60 (machine gun) and some ammo.”
His voice began to break and he struggled to control his emotions as he relived that day so long ago. It was the first time in over 30 years I had seen him struggle so — it broke my heart.
“At the end there were 70 dead,” he said quietly, adding that they were men, like him, doing for their country what he was doing for his.
“I didn’t want the Silver Star,” he said. “I told my captain I didn’t want it.”
Special Forces had nominated him for the award and his commander convinced him to take the few minutes to accept it.
“Have you ever talked about this before?” I asked.
“No,” he said almost inaudibly, nearly sobbing.
I know he didn’t tell me everything that happened that day, but he told me all he could.
Nor has he forgotten returning and the people at Seattle who spit on him as he came home from a war he did not start but one in which he served his country.
He has spent his life serving his nation, continuing even after retiring from the U.S. Army — no bitterness, just the memories of a man who asked for nothing yet gave so much.
Including his name is not important — it is but one story of courage — like so many more rememberances of veterans who still struggle with the memories of a time long past, yet the events remain so fresh.
There are heroes among us, those who give their all for their comrades and their country. Their stories often go untold, their deeds forgotten by others. But their memories of the horrors of war linger long after the ceremonies and honors they so richly deserve.
God bless them one and all and may they find his peace.

"Charlie Goodnight's Last Night"

Barry Corbin will play the legendary Charlie Goodnight at the future amphitheater site for the Texas Frontier Trails at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7.

Corbin said he’ll have to brush up a little – it has been awhile since he played the role.

“I’ve done it several times, but not for about five years,” he said.

Those performances included the National Western Heritage Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City; the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Fort Worth; Washington state; Nevada; and others.

Corbin said he was looking for a one-man play. He had read Charles Goodnight, Cowman and Plainsman by J. Evetts Haley and wanted a play.

In his research, Corbin came across a song and poem written by Andy Wilkinson.

The two got together and Wilkinson would write some, send it to Corbin who would work on it and return it to Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said he had never written a play, instead he was a song writer and poet.

“I’d written a long piece of music and poetry about Goodnight,” he said, adding that in the beginning he thought it be like writing a long set of lyrics.

“Getting to work with Barry was terrific,” Wilkinson commented. “It was an invaluable experience.”

Wilkinson said the play is not so much about Goodnight’s remembering the past, although there is some of that.

“The real focus of the play is how do we move from our prime, as the world sees us, to our dotage?”

Wilkinson said in the 1920s, the world saw Goodnight as an old man who had lived an adventurous life, but a man whose time had passed, a man who had little to contribute in “the modern age.”

But the legendary cattleman saw himself much differently – he was still a vibrant and thoughtful man who had ideas and was willing to experiment.

“He was forever experimenting with cross-breeding cattle and cross-breeding buffalo,” Wilkinson explained.

In fact, Wilkinson said Goodnight wrote a letter to a friend in New York. The friend wrote back and asked Goodnight what he was doing.

“I have 25 years of projects in front of me,” Goodnight responded.

He was in his 80s when he wrote that letter.

“He was never ready to retire,” Wilkinson said.

The site of the play is at the old Pollard Creek Park at the far north end of Oak Avenue in Mineral Wells.

Gates will open at 7 p.m. and there will be a shuttle service from the parking area to the performance site.

Organizers will have water at the outdoor stage and rest rooms will also be at the location.

There are a limited number of tickets available for the one performance that will showcase not only Charlie Goodnight but also the TFT goal of building a permanent amphitheater for summer performances highlighting the history and heritage of Palo Pinto County.

Following the performance there will be a reception and an opportunity to visit with Corbin.

TFT is also seeking event sponsors for the fund-raisers. Sponsors get tickets, preferred seating, parking and acknowledgement of their contribution through advertising and special recognition.

For tickets or to become a sponsor, contact the Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce, 940-325-2557; Farm Bureau Insurance, 940-325-9412; or Texas Frontiers Trail, 940-327-8386.

Bail Out

Dennis O’Neill, creator of the proposed TV series “Bail Out,” was at Boyce Ditto Library in Mineral Wells, Texas, May 15 to talk about the series and show the trailer.

The story is about a tough, gritty New York cop who gets crosswise with the mob and his superiors and leaves the Big Apple, ending up in Fort Worth.

“Jimmy O’Neill leaves New York,” said O’Neill, director, writer and actor in the series. “He lost his girl, is having problems with the (police) department and hits a mob guy who is on the city council.”

Part of the show’s trailer was filmed with people from Mineral Wells, Millsap, Fort Worth and members of the acting class he teaches in Fort Worth.

“Originally we did a class project – it just took off from there,” O’Neill said, noting that it wasn’t long until it became a serious project.

“We had 22 people involved, it came down to five of us,” he added.

Those five are Pattie Walters Hart, a producer from Cool and daughter-in-law of Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Bobby Hart; Dana Brumley, producer; Julie Hutt, assistant director; David Pinkston, direction of photography; and O’Neill, the primary writer, director and star of the series.

Co-starring with O’Neill is Terry Kiser.

Kiser, perhaps best known for his role as the dead guy in “Weekend at Bernie’s,” plays O’Neill’s partner. He has appeared in over 180 television and movie productions, including “Baretta,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story,” and more.

O’Neill said Kiser is a gifted and versatile addition to the production.

“He brings his years of experience and his skills for acting and improvisation,” said O’Neill.

In fact, much of the dialogue in the trailer was improv.

“Everything in the trailer is not scripted,” he continued. “We’d come up with one word – say, ‘cigarette.’”

In the trailer is a scene where O’Neill and Kiser are sitting in a car and Kiser pulls out a cigarette. O’Neill tells him don’t smoke in his car. When Kiser protests, O’Neill reminds him it has always been that way over their 20 years of working together.

And Kiser has been a director.

“He was the director of a lot of the Carol Burnett shows.”

In addition, Dean Smith will appear. Smith, who lives in Stephens County between Graham and Breckenridge, is an Olympic gold medalist who parlayed his athletic prowess into a movie and television career that began in 1957.

“Again, what I feel he’s bringing is his positive attitude, his zest for life and his years of experience,” O’Neill reflected.

He said Smith has appeared in over 122 films and television programs, including 11 John Wayne movies, as a stunt man and actor and been behind the scenes as well, directing stunts.

“He’s in the Cowboy Hall of Fame,” O’Neill continued. “He’s a complete actor – his life experiences, acting skills and attitude.

“If you have a positive attitude, we have a place for you here.”

The trailer for the show has humor and action with real people.

“Some of the things in ‘Bail Out’ really happened,” O’Neill said.

He reflected that, when he first arrived in Texas, he went to a grocery store where the clerk asked, “How y’all doin’?”

“Why?” he said he answered, cautious because no one in New York ever asked such a question unless they were looking to create a problem.

“‘Just thought I’d ask,’” he said the clerk answered.

“I was really suspicious, I really didn’t get it,” O’Neill added.

“One thing we all agreed on, we didn’t want him coming from New York not liking Texas,” Hart said of the character. “We wanted him to fall in love with Texas.”

Of the people portrayed, there are no exaggerated drawls or mannerisms.

“We wanted them to be just the way they are,” she said.

Locally, Judge Bobby Hart plays – a judge. The trailer has him in his courtroom in the Poston Building in Mineral Wells. There were also scenes shot at the Mineral Wells Police Department, Holiday Inn Express, Nancy’s Italian Texan Grill and locations in Cool and Millsap.

Other local talent included Lucas Mitchell and Doug Hart, son of Bobby Hart.

The music for the show, “Southern Lullaby,” was written by Caleb Williams and performed by his band, Noltey. Williams, who attended high school in Santo, is a cousin of Pattie Hart.

“What we needed was a song,” said O’Neill, adding that Hart suggested her cousin, who he thought was someone who just believed they could sing.

“She lent me his CD,” he continued. “Two weeks later I listened to the CD. ‘Oh my gosh, she really has a cousin who sings.’”

Hart said she called Williams and explained in a few words what they were looking for – something that was closer to talk, but not, and not rap.

Two weeks later she brought the recording, “Southern Lullaby.”

“She just came to the school with the CD,” said O’Neill. “When I played it, I could not have written a better song.”

O’Neill and Hart continue to try to market it as either a TV series or made-for-television movie.

“We have a possible investor,” he said. “He wants to help us raise money for a movie or six episodes. We’re pitching it everyday.”

“Bail Out” is on Facebook, YouTube and at thebailouttvshow.blogspot.com/.

The series tag line, “Everybody has a story,” certainly applies, both to the proposed series and the people making it a reality.

The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy

The movie, “The Legend of Hell’s Gate: An American Conspiracy,” is in post production and very near completion.

“It’s in the final stages of post production,” said Tanner Beard, who wrote, directed and stars in the full-length feature film. “We definitely have picture lock.”

Once post production is complete, Beard plans on taking the film to some high-profile film festivals.

“We’ll go to the Toronto Film Festival or the Venice Film Festival for premieres.”

The story takes a look at 1876 Texas history and the legend of Possum Kingdom Lake’s Hell’s Gate. Beard, who is originally from Snyder, said he often came to PK Lake when he was growing up.

“It’s kinda the same story,” he said. “Growing up at PK, researching the legend of Hell’s Gate. “

But in researching 1876 Texas history, he found a lot of legendary names in that year including one of the most famous of the Comanche chiefs – Quanah Parker, who came to Scurry County.

Beard said it was amazing to be able to incorporate that into the script.

“I personally like it,” he said of the film. “I think it’s a solid story. I’m excited for it. You feel like you’re there.”

Many of the actors in the film, like Beard, are from Texas.

He noted that Chris Kinkade, Summer Glau, Jenna Dewan and Russell Cummings are among cast members who are from Texas and Buck Taylor lives in the state.

“Jim Beaver and Buck Taylor, having these western legends come on board with the western’s younger generation of actors is great,” Beard said.

Glau, who plays Maggie Moon, has appeared in a number of movies and TV series including “Dollhouse,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “The 4400,” and “The Unit.”

Taylor played Newly on the TV series “Gunsmoke,” and has appeared in countless movies including “Tombstone.”

“We hope the movie comes out in 2010,” Beard continued. “There’s no way to know, we’re looking for some entity to purchase it. We have some studio interest, but who knows what that means?”

But there is a also a lot of interest in Europe and the far East.

“We have a lot of European interest – Germany, Japan – they love westerns,” he added. “There’s definite interest, we’re just taking it one day at a time.”

As for what’s on the horizon, Beard has plans.

“We’re in the process of looking at a sequel and other projects,” he said. “I’m currently writing the sequel.”

The title will be “The Legend of Hell’s Gate: 1877.”

The trailer for the movie can be see at www.thelegendofhellsgate.com.

It's a quiet home until ...

She and her husband, John, live in a quiet part of northwest Mineral Wells in a nice brick home with a fenced yard and three dogs.

They draw Social Security, a couple that is like so many others in Mineral Wells and the county – that is, until the phone rings. Those phone calls have sent Vi Shaffer to some of the worst catastrophes of the last 20 years – the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., following the attack on 9-11; New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina; Del Rio following the devastating floods of 1998; and Oklahoma City after tornados ripped through that state.

Vi and John Shaffer train and deploy cadaver search dogs.

I first met Vi some nine years ago, on a search for remains in the southern part of Palo Pinto County. For those nine years, she has been adamant that the story is not about her nor about what she does. She remains so today, instead focusing on those she helps.

Vi Shaffer has been doing the same thing since 1991, volunteering her time and money to help police departments, fire departments, the FBI and other federal agencies – any agency that needs her particular services, and there have been a lot, including Palo Pinto County.

“Almost all (search handlers) are volunteers,” said Vi Shaffer. “You set your priorities.”

And with those priorities come sacrifices – staying home instead of going out to eat, staying home instead of going to a movie – bypassing many things others take for granted.

She said she has been a part of murder investigations, a lot of searches for murder victims and evidence. In fact, she said she has taken part in over 300 searches, mostly murder investigations.

“In the Casey Elliott search, Mercy found the blood drop in the house where the murder took place,” she recalled.

Helen Moore was arrested in March 1996 and convicted in the murder of her boyfriend, Elliott. She was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Law enforcement found body parts scattered across the county, but needed evidence of where the murder took place.

Mercy and Grace were Labs she trained, both have since passed away. Today, she has Spirit, a black Lab she has trained for the past eight years. Mercy was the first cadaver search dog to be recognized by the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team by proving beyond a doubt that a cadaver search dog could find bodies in a mass casualty event.

“They have to alert only on human remains,” said Vi. “In a mass fatality, there is body fluid and blood everywhere. They have to find the actual remains. Mercy proved it could be done.

“I don’t do it for publicity, praise or pay,” she said. “We don’t charge law enforcement agencies for our services, it’s our way of paying back.”

And there has been a lot of paying back over the years, including the disappearance of Madalyn Murray O’Hair. It was Mercy and Grace that found her body on a ranch in a lonely stretch of Texas far from anywhere.

“Things led to going to cadaver search,” she reflected. “I think it’s something the Lord wanted me to do.”

Those things included her work with search teams after she began, then realizing how much training and work would be involved that others were not committed to.

”I became independent and constantly train and work to become a resource for police departments and fire departments,” she said.

While she still assists in body searches, her focus has also moved to disasters with mass casualties.

“After every major disaster, people start coming out of the woodwork,” she remarked regarding those with dogs who want to help in search operations. “They’re good people. Good intentions do not make a search team. People wanting to help can be a hindrance.”

Shaffer said it takes a first-time handler two years to become mission ready.

“Unfortunately, there are search teams and dog teams in it for the publicity.

“I’m very passionate about it,” she said. “No search dog handler or team has any business talking to the media (on a search).”

She said when media is at a mass casualty scene, she and her husband and dogs make themselves scarce.

“The only time we’ll speak to media is if law enforcement asks us to.”

Shaffer completed 40 hours of intensive training and testing last week in Mineral Wells, a program that led to certification of Spirit, by Law Enforcement Training Specialist International, perhaps the premier program in the nation that requires a rigorous testing program and extensive training.

The test for certification included a five-acre search area, a building filled with machinery, tools and other items with minute samples placed in difficult areas for dogs to find.

She has worked on the DMORT since 1997 where she has been the chairman for DMORT committee for establishing standards and requirements for search teams – the Federal Mass Fatality K9 Standards and Requirements Committee.

“I’ve tried for 13 years to get this adopted (by the federal government),” she said. “I won’t quit until it’s done.”

In addition, she was a founding member of Homeland Security.

“Me and 5,000 other people,” she said with a smile.

“It’s not a hobby, it’s not a pastime, it’s not a fun game,” she said of her work. “Someone’s life may depend on it.

With so much emotion, time and money invested there are rewards.

“To feel that you have helped bring some kind of peace to a family, it’s rewarding,” said Vi. “The only name that’s important is the name of the victim. The deceased deserve dignity and respect in how they’re treated, the utmost respect.

“There is no such thing as closure,” she added. “What there is for families is a point of contact.”

“We like to think of it as bringing peace,” John added.

Library Book Signing

I didn't write, didn't even pay for it:

BLOOD Spirit at the Library

BY BARBARA MANSON

Mark Engebretson will be at the Boyce Ditto Library for a book signing of his new book, Blood Spirit, Saturday, May 15th at 2:00PM. Mark has extensively researched the history of the Cross Timbers area. If you like western Novels and history of this area, you need to pick up Mark’s new book.

Blood Spirit is an action packed, real western novel in the flavor of Zane Gray placed in a historical perspective similar to James Michener’s style. Mark does an excellent job of weaving actual historical events and real people from the era into the fictional account of his hero, Buck Landers. For those of you who have roots in the Palo Pinto County area, feel free to read your ancestor’s history into the fictional characters.

Ranchers, Indians, Rustlers, Gun Fighters, Cowboys and Solders are all set in the post Civil War 1871 time frame when Texas society was trying to emerge from its rough and tumble frontier beginnings. The ranching and Indian societies clashed. Opportunists used this turmoil to take what they wanted. Life was dangerous for ranchers such as our hero, Buck Landers, and his family.

Honesty and virtue had been instilled in Buck through years of building his ranch and cemented into his every being by his service in the Civil War. Buck was no man to trifle with. If the sheriff needed a man to get the job done, to correct a wrong, Buck was the man. Buck was a successful Palo Pinto rancher living in his comfortable ranch home that began as a simple log cabin. His only goal was to build a safe future for his sons, Will and Matt, and his wife Catherine. Frontier life challenged his very being. As Buck set off on his first adventure, he said, “But I kept a sharp eye. There were hills and washes that could hide any number of warriors and they would have no mercy on a lone white man. There were still outlaws as well, rustlers, robbers, murderers. They had always been a threat and since the war, it had only gotten worse.”

Follow Buck’s action packed adventures in this exciting era. If you like real western novels, this book of Mark Engebretson’s is a quick, fun read and you will not be able to put it down once you begin.

We will see you at the Boyce Ditto Library Saturday May 15th at 2:00 PM.

2300 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Street

Mineral Wells, Texas 76067

(940) 328-7880

There is no charge and yes those surprise Library refreshments will be served.

Bail Out theme song

Music friends ... this young man attended Santo (Texas) High School, wrote this in nothing flat and it is now a theme song for Bail Out. I've listened to it a number of times, still get chills. Well worth the few minutes.

Give it a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_w-WlszJUM&feature=related