Oasis: Chapter 56

[Ok, Sorry about the wait. I'm out of town and pressed for time, so I'll have to update the links and stuff later.]

Pure Pressure

Countless hands pounded down and brought me to my hands and knees.

A zombie flopped down on my my back.

Another teeth-chattering roll of thunder.

That’s not thunder. It sounds more like…

A severed forearm splashed in the puddle just off to the left of my head. Thick, coagulated blood oozed out into the water.

My stomach churned. What would (more…)

Memorial Day Thanks To Grandpa

These days, many folks just use Memorial Day as an excuse to take a 3-day boating excursion or take a similar trip.That’s all well and good, but I think it’s nice to remember why every once in a while. So here’s a quick history lesson and a remembrance.

History of Memorial Day (From the wikipedia)

Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances eventually coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days.

According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while captive. The freed slaves reinterred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to individual graves, fenced in the graveyard & built an entry arch declaring it a Union graveyard – a very daring thing to do in the South shortly after North’s victory. On May 30, 1886? the freed slaves returned to the graveyard with flowers they’d picked from the countryside & decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the 1st Decoration Day. A parade with thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.

The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter, and because it is likely that the friendship of General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who led the call for the day to be observed each year and helped spread the event nationwide, was a key factor in its growth.

General Logan had been impressed by the way the South honored their dead with a special day and decided the Union needed a similar day. Reportedly, Logan said that it was most fitting; that the ancients, especially the Greeks, had honored their dead, particularly their heroes, by chaplets of laurel and flowers, and that he intended to issue an order designating a day for decorating the grave of every soldier in the land, and if he could he would have made it a holiday.

Logan had been the principal speaker in a citywide memorial observation on April 29, 1866, at a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, an event that likely gave him the idea to make it a national holiday. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans’ organization, Logan issued a proclamation that “Decoration Day” be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance of this day.

Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day, due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army and also because there were very few veterans of the Union Army who lived in the South. A notable exception was Columbus, Mississippi, which on April 25, 1866 at its Decoration Day commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.

The alternative name of “Memorial Day” was first used in 1882, but did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967 . On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend and for the first time recognized Columbus Day as a federal holiday. The holidays included Washington’s Birthday (which evolved into Presidents’ Day), Veterans Day, and Memorial Day. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971 . After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply at the state level, all fifty states adopted the measure within a few years, although Veterans Day was eventually changed back to its traditional date. Ironically, most corporate businesses no longer close on Columbus Day or Veterans Day, and an increasing number are staying open on President’s Day as well. Memorial Day, however, has endured as one holiday during which most businesses stay closed because it marks the beginning of the “summer vacation season,” as does neighboring Canada’s Victoria Day, which occurs just before, on the third Monday in May.

Thanks, Grandpa

I’d just like to take a minute to honor my Grandpa Stan.

During World War II, he served as a crew chief in the 305th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps. His group sent planes on 110 consecutive combat missions without mechanical abortion, a feat for which he received the bronze star. It’s thanks to efforts like his that Nazi Germany and Japan were defeated.

He died July 25, 2005, and I will always regret not spending enough time with him learning of his life, and therefore my own past. He was a hero and a great man, and I will forever be grateful to him, along with the many other patriots throughout the ears who have helped secure my freedom.

Oasis: Chapter 55

[Author's Note: I've been waiting for two years or so to finally write this and the next couple of chapters. I hope you enjoy it. If you've never read Oasis before, you'd better start with Chapter 1.]

Fire & Rain

The cart shook and rattled as it splashed across the parking lot. The heavy coat weighed heavier and heavier with each step. My socks and shoes were drenched.

On top of everything else, I knew my plan didn’t have much of a chance.

I pulled up to the tank.

I remembered Max Cooper almost killing himself by shooting a much smaller propane tank. Max hadn’t known that a propane tank will not just burst into flames when you shoot it. The thing had taken off like a missile, broken his arm, and knocked him cold. He would have died there in the street if I hadn’t been there to back him up.

I don’t have backup.

The rain kept falling and the small puddles were working their way into a complete layer of water.

The ground wasn’t dry next to the propane tank, but at least the one (more…)

Oasis Chapter 54

[Author's note: It's good to be back. If you haven't read Oasis before, you should probably start with Chapter 1.]

Arson & Assault

Dark storm clouds blocked out most of the sunlight. Lightning flashed somewhere and thunder rolled down the streets. The rain pounded down and drowned out all but the loudest of sounds.

My feet were already soaked. The fireman’s equipment seemed heavier and heavier. I was exhausted and hungry. Still, there was no giving up.

The lot was littered with debris. A line of police tape had been put up around the trailer.

The closest deads I could see were not moving very fast, and they were still more than half the parking lot away.

I was pretty sure that I could get in and out of at least one trailer without engaging any of them physically.

The cart tore through the police line.

I let it go and only held on to the ax.

The rain drowned out much of the noise as the cart crashed into the stairs of the trailer.

I ran up the stairs and grabbed at the door handle.

The clumsy protective gloves wouldn’t let me (more…)

Oasis Hangup

Sorry, folks, some personal issues came up and it doesn’t look like I’ll get an Oasis Chapter up this week. I’ll make sure next week’s chapter is at least twice as awesome, though.

spoiler (kind of): I think the word “zombie” may actually appear for the first time in the Oasis text.

Plinking With The New Guns

Please excuse my poor video editing (and marksmanship).

We went shooting last weekend, here’s some “highlights.”

Aurora shot her brand new Kel-Tec PF9 for the first time. She wasn’t quite ready for the recoil, but by the end of the day, she was shooting much better (I probably should have gotten video of that, too…)

Mike just bought a Springfield XD 40, so he needed to put a few rounds through it and make sure it works.

I am still breaking in my Smith & Wesson M&P Compact 9mm. (Awesome gun).

My brother Bart, his wife Raquel and Mike’s dad whose name escapes me came along, too.

I’d also like to publicly apologize to Bart for making fun of his need to practice in the video. Also, the black rifle you see in the video is his Mossberg .22.

Mike’s dad brought the 50 caliber black powder rifle that Aurora shoots at the end. He also brought a fun revolver that shoots the 22 magnums. I forgot to get video of that.

Music by Kevin MacLeod

Oasis: Chapter 53

[Author's note: If this is your first time reading Oasis, please start with Chapter 1.]

A Burning Discount

The wind whipped against me and the rain beat down.

My hand shook as I fumbled with the key.

The deads continued their march. Every moment closer.

Only fifteen feet away.

The key finally slid in the hole.

I wiggled it side to side.

One of the deads raised an arm.

The lock finally broke free and the key turned.

I pulled open the door, (more…)