I was recently trying to google my own name when I found an essay that I submitted following the attacks on September 11th.
 
God Bless the USA!
 
I attended basic military training at Lackland, Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas during the spring of 1996. It was there that I experienced true patriotism for the first time. During a general assembly an American flag was displayed on a large overhead as Lee Greenwood's song "I'm proud to be an American", played over the loud speakers. We stood in silence for the first few words until one by one we each joined the chorus. I started to sing the words, "I'll proudly stand up next to you and defend her still today", but I began to waiver as I tried to hide the tears that welled up inside me. I quickly glanced around hoping that my fellow troops hadn’t seen me cry. To my surprise I saw before me a sea of patriots. Hundreds of young men and women in green uniforms brought to tears by their love for their country.
 
As I began my transition into the civilian world at the end of my enlistment I realize that for most of our country patriotism was dead. I can't begin to speculate the reasons why but it was obvious to me that a love for our country was the last thing on most Americans minds. It was the last thing on mine. Now everywhere you turn there are stories of heroes emerging from the smoke of New York’s twin tower. Their legacy is not only their love of country, sacrifice, and loss of life. They are true heros because they have inspired and reawakened the patriots in all of us. Today as I drove to work I passed house after house proudly displaying our flag. The radio began to play a familiar song and tears rolled down my face as I sang "There ain’t no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA!"
 
Submitted by:
Andrew Blumhardt
 

I went down to my home field, Sudden Impact, for a nice relaxing day of rec ball. There was a bachelor party and two church groups there. Most players were rentals, all were mech semi-auto. I decided to take it easy and enjoy the day. I like to play but there isn't much joy in pounding a bunch of noobs, though several of them were pretty good with a rental.
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I tried out my Tac-8 and new Proteous mask. The Tac-8 was a blast! I got three people out in the first game. After two rounds I switched back to a 98C for the day. The Proteous mask was pretty nice. It feels like the least protection money can buy for those that don't like a bulky mask. For the first time I could really smell the paint when I got paint on my mask. I also had paint come through the mask on two occasions, once getting in my eyes. Small price to pay for a mask that is so light you forget its even there!
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I also started working on my own Tac-8 extended silencer barrel. I should be finished in a week or two. Pics and instructions will follow if I can get my digital camera to work right.
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Bad news from the D-Day SPPL qualifier. The team I had hoped to play with, Overkill, came in dead last with a negative 70 something points. I'm not sure if I could have made it better or worse...maybe they'll want to set the record straight at the Michigan qualifier in August?
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Later, Crew