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Date with fate post 52 - Who killed the grass on the "Grassy Knoll" ?
This entry was posted on 9/1/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies.
As a chemical applicator (in standard Texan colloquial fashion, they called us "Spayers") with the City of Dallas Park Department one of my many tasks was to chemical over-spay winter weeds that popped up on the dormant Texas turf in the winter. However, the caveat is that if you wait too long into the spring of the year you could nip the new crop of turf grass - bad, bad, thing. A boss of mine who was determined to be mayor someday wanted the "Grassy Knoll" in Dealey Plaza, of President John F. Kennedy assassination lore, to look perfect. Not a weed there, need be seen, or some such nonsense, due to all the Kennedy tourists and self anointed sleuths that cased the joint 24-hours a day. A guy I worked with used to drop a few empty riffle bullet shells down by the sidewalk there once in a while to rile up a sucker or two. But I digress.
Boss-man demanded I kill the weeds on the infamous "Grassy Knoll" in the spring of 1985. Problem being however, it was getting too long into spring and the tips of the perennial Bermuda turf grass were already greening up.
I tried to make my case, but my Boss-man was a Texas A & M Grad and those ol' boys had a reputation of thinking they...., knew it all.
You know the old Texas joke: What do you call a recent Texas A & M graduate after two weeks on a new job?
Answer: The boss!
"Y'all spay'em good, Mr. Keith," Boss-man demanded.
So, with a stiff and permanent weed killer, for three days I nuked the "Grassy Knoll" and Dealey Plaza - it is a bigger place than one might expect. Suffice it to say, two to three weeks later the odious "Grassy Knoll" was dead as...., Kennedy. A month along it was still like Kennedy - deader than dead.
Bigger Boss-man from City Hall happened by Dealey Plaza one day in early May. Word was, the "Big Man" was not too pleased with a dead...., "Grassy Knoll."
Within a few hours of the "Big Man's" assessment and displeasure with said dead grass, my Boss-man and a cobbled-together crew were re-sodding the whole of the "Grassy Knoll."
I was spared the indignity. I resisted saying, "I told you so...., fool!"
Yes, good people, Cool Dadio actually killed the grass on the "Grassy Knoll."
It was one of my finest artistic presentations!
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Sergeant Paul Jed Atim, 27, Green Bay, Wisconsin, was killed on Saturday, April 16, 2011 in Ahmad Khan, Nimroz province, Afghanistan. He was one of three soldiers killed when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device (roadside bomb). Atim was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, New York.
The Green Bay Press Gazette notes that Atim was on his second deployment to Afghanistan. He had joined the army in November, 2006; and, he his first deployment in the country was from April 2009 to April 2010.
The television station WLUK Fox 11 via their Web site said Atim came to Green Bay because of a personal relationship and to raise his son. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2005 and 2006. Paul Atim had come to the United States from Uganda in 2005. Shortly after arriving he joined the military. Compassion International sponsored Atim while he was a child beginning at 8 years old while in Uganda. It is a charitable organization that provides for children living in extreme poverty.
The WLUK story went on to note that Compassion International said Atim had four brothers. Their father had died. Atim had completed the program in 2005 and came to the United States not long afterward.
The University of Wisconsin Green Bay Web site said Atim had an outgoing personality and took part in International Student Orientation activities at the campus.
The Web site proko-wall.i-lived.com posted an obituary regarding Paul Atim and noted he was born in Kampala, Uganda on June 3, 1983. Paul Atim often went by "Atim." He played drums and guitar at Kampala Baptist Church. Atim graduated from secondary school at Makerere Higher College School in Kampala. As a young man he was a champion boxer, and worked as a DJ.
The proko-wall.i-lived.com went on to say Atim was active with the Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay. He was employed by FedEx and as a DJ at Club FiveSix. Atim's father had served in the Ugandan Army. Via his dad's experience Atim had planned to make the military his career.
Sergeant Atim's military awards and decorations include, but are not limited to: Two Army Achievement medals; the Meritorious Unit Commendation; the Army Good Conduct Medal; the National Defense Service Medal; the Army Commendation Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; the Army Service Ribbon; and, the Overseas Service Ribbon. Atim also completed the army’s Warrior Leadership and Combat Life Savers courses.
At the time of his death Army Sergeant Paul Atim was survived by wife Kasey M. Atim; step-son Quency Wade; his son, Ethan C. Wall-Atim whose mother is Sara R. Wall; mother Ann Mary (Akiiki) Kababito; sister Mbabazi Veronica; four brothers, Francis Anyuru, Joseph Ikong, Dennis Omodo, and James Ochen; and, maternal grandmother, Abooki. Paul Atim was preceded in death by his father Genesios Omodo Anyuru.
Army Sergeant Paul J. Atim was the 30th Wisconsin military service person killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
102,298 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,477 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1749 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
944 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,175 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
13,447 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
34 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
149 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
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