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I want to start this morning with one of America's biggest badasses -- 107-year-old WWII vet Harold Nelson
With just 167,000 World War II veterans out of 16 million who served still alive as of the latest statistics, we're getting to that point where time is running out to honor those who deserve special recognition for their service.
This week one of those honor ceremonies took place in Fort Carson, Colorado when Staff Sgt. Harold A. Nelson finally received a Silver Star. After 80 years of waiting for the medal, he'd all but given up on it happening during his lifetime.
Life changed this week.
”Harold Nelson served our nation with honor and distinction and I am grateful that we could honor his service today,” Maj. Gen. Charles Costanza, 3rd Infantry Division commanding general, told a crowd gathered for the ceremony. “It is important to ensure that the service and sacrifice of our Veterans, those whose shoulders we stand upon now, is never overlooked or forgotten. Harold is a Dogface Soldier and I’m proud to call myself one too.”
Nelson would've received his Silver Star way before he turned 107, but a 1973 fire at a military records storage facility took out the supporting documents that would have resulted in the medal.
What were Nelson's credentials?
According to the vet, he served in Northern Africa, in Sicily and in Operation Avalanche and Shingle in Italy.
Nelson told the military records board in one particular battle "he had run out of ammunition, ran a couple hundred yards under enemy fire, climbed on top of an abandoned German tank and fired the machine gun at the enemy to allow his men to advance.
"However, a German saw Nelson and threw a hand grenade at him which hit his backpack. The grenade tore Nelson’s backpack apart and while he smelled blood, he could not find any on himself and continued shooting until the Germans finally surrendered."
Harold Nelson finally has his medal this weekend and it means the world to him.
“This moment means I’ve had a great life, a great family and great friends,” Harold said during his ceremony. “And a lot of fun throughout the years.”
Asked by a TV reporter this summer what his secret is to such a long life, he told the reporter it's going to the casino and gambling.
Have a helluva weekend, Harold.
Spotted Cow in Charlotte
• Al in Lansing, MI made a great observation about Will Kunkel's garage fridge:
Where does your buddy in Charlotte get his Spotted Cow since it is only sold in Wisconsin?
I sent Kunkel an email saying readers would like to know how to get Spotted Cow in Charlotte.
His response: "I bet they would."
What a man of the people. Kunkel went to Northwestern, so the theory here since he won't reveal it, has to be that either he was up in Evanston and took a trip over the state line or he had a Wisconsin friend/family deliver it to North Carolina.
Quick TNML reports
• Mark W. in Franklin, TN:
Didn't have enough light to take a shot last night. Stripes down, edging done, and flower beds weeded. Calling for frost here tomorrow night, so the transition is coming from laying stripes to raking leaves.
• Sean C. in Granger, IN writes:
As I was driving in the neighborhood around 5:15 this Thursday, I counted no less than 12 people mowing their lawns. I don't know if I recalled seeing that many people on a Thursday at the same time all year. I don't know if it's because this movement is truly growing in my neighborhood, or if it's just a subconscious thing that people have picked up on.
I will say, because of the demographics of my neighborhood, high school football pretty much eliminates half my neighborhood from Friday mowing. Then on Saturday, you have Big Noon on Fox (Michigan and IU for the local flavor here), with a full slate all day. Then the NFL starts at 9:30am on Sunday. And with it being cooler in the morning, maybe people figured this was their only shot before the weekend. Who knows WHY it's happening, but as the year draws to a close, I feel like the TNML is gaining momentum within my neighborhood.
I noticed a couple things tonight. When the sun is out, I typically don't run into too much trouble getting my mow, edge and trim in before dark when starting after work on a Thursday. But when it's overcast, boy, was it a close one. Not to mention, I think there was about a 10-degree drop from 5:30 to 6:30. It was certainly noticeable. The other thing I noticed, and I've noticed this over the last few years. It seems like leaves are turning later and later in the year. It's Oct 6th, and there is ONE tree in my view that is starting to turn. And against all the other green trees, it really pops.
I also am going to throw a neighbor under the bus here. In general, my neighborhood does a fantastic job as a whole with the quality of yards. They follow basic etiquette, and most go above and beyond. Like Jim across the street, I swear the guy mows every other day. But what in the world is this grass pile that I noticed driving through the neighborhood ????? It's been here for almost 2 weeks now! Does the guy think it's like leaf pickup?? I don't know who this guy is, but now the TNML community is aware of his antics and can ridicule and shun him as he deserves.
I was actually shocked by the number of neighborhood people getting in a mow last night since it hasn't rained in at least three weeks. Seriously, I'm looking at the yards around town and they're drying up.
Typically this time of year we start to get that lush college football stadium turf. Not this year. Bone dry. The only rain in the 7-day forecast comes next Thursday. The way it's looking, I might have one or two true mows left this season before we get to November and I just mulch the fallen leaves.
The season truly is coming to an end and it's hard to come to terms with.
• Tim G. in the 419 writes:
Season is winding down in the 419, but the yard still looks green and nice. A beautiful site on a Thursday night!
It's baseball trash-talk season
• Eddie from Acworth writes:
You have to use this in your “numbers from” section. I am biased as I am a massive Braves lifer-but it is still amazing and funny.
ESPN needs to be flogged 20 times for this huge woke mistake
• Terry M. in Bend, Oregon writes:
Don’t know if you caught this at the end of tonight’s Padres/Mets game, but woke ESPN’s graphic department was doing a promo for tomorrow’s Tampa/Cleveland game and get a load of their screwup. Love it!!
Full disclosure this morning: I watched more baseball last night than the past four months combined. This Wild Card weekend thing out of MLB is actually a winner. As a fan, I'd love the idea of being able to reserve 2-3 nights at a hotel, buy tickets and have a solid weekend of guys being guys.
Now I just need the Reds to not lose 100 games so maybe one day I can get a group together to make it feel like 1990 all over again.
Let's get rolling. I have a golf tournament to play in at 8:30. Have a great day of college football, Wild Card Weekend and preseason NHL.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com