January 12, 2010
Today’s Program: Ahura Scientific Today’s Speaker: Bill Murphy
Bill Murphy is retired from the New York Port Authority Police department after twenty years of service, serving on the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
After serving over 35 years in law enforcement, Bill now travels the world as a consultant in matters of terrorism and narcotics interdiction. Formerly with GE Homeland (the inventors of the puffer machines) he left GE to found Ahura Scientific, Inc., and titled as a Senior Homeland Security Specialist.
Ahura Scientific are leaders in chemical weapons and explosives identification instruments for the military and law enforcement.
Bill has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice as well as two masters’ degrees in business and public administration.
He currently lives in Tierra Verde with his wife, Carol.
What’s Happening
Double Your Pleasure
Kiwanians raised $135.00 for the college education of Frank Ranieri’s first granddaughter, Savannah Rae Lindquist, born to Amanda and Ryan on December 29th. Frank, in turn, throws in double that amount to start the Savannah’s college nest egg.
Scholarship Letters
This scholarship letter is from Abigail L. who is a Seventh Grader at Tyrone Middle School:
Dear Mr. Byelick,
Thank you for the wonderful gift. I always wanted to go to college. I want to be a Kindergarten teacher. Thank you so much.
It would be a dream come true for me to be what I always have wanted to be. The one question I have is, “Will I ever get a mentor”. I have been on the honor roll five times. One time I got all A’s. I try so hard to get a 4.0. I know this is a huge responsibility and a mentor would be very helpful.
I am a very helpful person to others. My Mom says I am very smart. She is so proud of me for getting a scholarship. I have a lot of friends, and I love school. My birthday is December 4, and I am in the seventh grade.
Sincerely, Abigail L.
Volunteers for YWCA Painting Project
The following Kiwanians scheduled to appear Saturday, January 16, at the YWCA:
Melissa Hongo Charles Stuart Biff Baker Kathy Condon
Pat Bisciotti Carl Miller Jerry Little Pat Kraujalis
Jim Beach Marvin Gay Frank Ranieri Bob Byelick
Bret Jahn Doug Lampe Harry Eisnaugle George Gower
Bill Holloway Melissa Kelley
Fischer-Carr Memorial Banquet
The kick-off meeting for the 2010 Fischer-Carr Memorial Banquet is scheduled at the office of Worth Blackwell, 721 1st Avenue N, on Wednesday, January 15. This year’s date is Saturday, May 15, and is located at St. Petersburg Country Club. In 2009, we raised more than $37,000.00 from the Bash which will all go toward providing free college tuition to deserving students in grades 6 through 11 in St. Petersburg.
By partnering with the Mayor’s Mentors and More Program, matching funds were recently received to make the 2009-2010 school year our best yet as additional 45 students received scholarships. With the 113 we have sponsored in the past, this gives us 158 children whose lives will be changed in the names of Jim Fischer and Skip Carr thanks to Kiwanians. Jim and Skip made a difference in our Community during their lives, and thanks to your time and donations we will continue to make a difference in our Community in their names.
Last Week at Kiwanis
Kiwanian of the Day, Ron Braun, introduced us to Dwight McCormick, local businessman and a World War II veteran of nineteen bomber missions over Europe. A most colorful and outspoken speaker, Dwight regaled us with stories of how he managed his way through the War.
As a gunner aboard a B24 Liberator, he was constantly subjected to anti-aircraft (AA) fire as well as the German Luftwaffe fighters. Finally, his luck ran out as his plane, hit by AA, forced him to bail out prior to crashing. Alone, in rural Germany with little supplies, Dwight foraged for food as he walked for ten days, crossing the Rhine River on a piece of damaged dock to reach Belgium. There, rescued by a British tank battalion, his reward yielded a trip back to England to join his bomber squadron, and more missions. The Brits, happy about his rescue, did send him along his way after much celebration with pink champagne.
A later mission for Dwight resulted in a painful injury to his gluteus maximus, as AA shot through his aircraft as he sat at his tail gunner position.
Finally, after being shot down and the ignominious injury to his rear, Dwight celebrated VE day in London’s Piccadilly Square, “drunk as a skunk”, according to Dwight. At war’s end he left the Army Air Corps as a Master Sergeant. He displayed to us his ribbons and medals… but no Purple Heart.
After the war, Dwight’s father petitioned for Dwight to receive a Purple Heart. Amazingly, the Purple Heart was denied as an examination to Dwight’s posterior showed his butt contained aluminum from his plane, but not German shrapnel. Chagrined by this finding, Dwight dismissed it as a military snafu and moved on.
Surprisingly, in 2007 Dwight received a letter readdressing his Purple Heart application. Dwight’s first reaction was unfit for this publication; only later to reconsider after he learned he would receive a tax credit. He expects a response in sixty years or so.
Dwight, a big salute from the Kiwanis Club for exemplary service to our country.
Guests and Visitors
We had 55 members and 4 guests: Jake Holehouse, guest of Ron Holehouse; Kathy and Dennis Smith, local residents.
This Week’s Quiz
- Who was the only President of the United States elected as a bachelor?
- Caramel candy and caramel syrup is a derivative of what ingredients?
- Who generally gets credit for the invention of the chocolate chip cookie and where did this happen?
- Name the states the Mississippi River flows through or that border the river.
- Who was the first black baseball player in the American League?
Last Week’s Quiz
- After the Nagasaki mission no atomic bombs remained in the United States inventory.
- The April 1942 air attack on Japan, launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet and led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, was the most daring operation yet undertaken by the United States in the young Pacific War. Though conceived as a diversion that would also boost American and allied morale, the raid generated strategic benefits that far outweighed its limited goals.
- The leader of the Luftwaffe was Hermann Göring, a World War I fighter ace and former commander of Manfred von Richthofen's famous JG 1 (aka "The Flying Circus") who had joined the Nazi party in its early stages.
- The American Bomber that was the most produced in World War II was the B24 Liberator.
- The Bombing of Dresden by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Force (USAAF) between 13 February and 15 February 1945 remains one of the most controversial Allied actions of the Second World War. In four raids, 1,300 heavy bombers dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on the city, the Baroque capital of the German state of Saxony. The resulting firestorm destroyed 39 square kilometers (15 sq mi) of the city centre.
|
