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Joe's Home Page
(Joe Schlatter, Jr., that is.)
Thank you for visiting my home page in the
Schlatter Family Site. I am Joe Schlatter, Jr. More about who we are and our
genealogy is here.
My home page contains the following
articles:
(arranged in no particular order)
Politics
I am a populist and liberal and have not voted for a Republican since the one time I
voted for Richard Nixon ... I should have known better. And if the Democrats don't
restore their souls soon, I will not vote for another Democrat, either.
For little it's worth, here is my view of the current state of our
politics:
- Both major parties are under control by the most radical, far-out
elements of each party:
- The Republican Party is under the control of the most reactionary
radicals this nation has ever seen -- religious zealots, bigots,
corporate robber barons, you name it;
- The Democrats, meanwhile, can't make a move without the approval of
left-wing dingbats and have abrogated their historic dedication to working people;
- Our lives are being controlled more and
more by corporations that answer to no one;
- "Economic globalization" is doing nothing but "corporatizing" profit and
socialize misery;
- Both political parties are now nothing but an extension of corporate
America; and,
- The American public wants political leaders who will (1) unify us with a
vision for the future, and, (2) provide us with workable solutions to the
challenges we face at the beginning of the 21st century.
I don't want a third party in American politics -- I want a
second party.
On this page are links to articles I have
written and links to important political action organizations.
Check out this
website:
www.rightwinglies.com
Amateur Radio
I am an amateur radio operator, call sign W4HH. I hold an Extra Class license and have been licensed since
1958:
Novice, KN4FPT, November 1958;
Technician, K4FPT, February 1959;
Advanced, K4FPT, April 1979;
Extra, K4FPT, September 1992;
Received vanity call W4HH, January 6,
1997.
While stationed in Japan, July 1990 -
July 1993, I held Japanese amateur radio license 7J1AJJ.
This is a LONG story so I'll cut out all but the bottom line -- right now, as
of October 2006, my only station is the mobile rig in my pickup. Here is a
link to a series of articles describing how I mounted
a Yaesu FT-857D in my 1997 Mazda B4000 truck.
Here's a link to my W4HH website.
This link takes you to another website.
Amateur Radio Links
These are some of the amateur radio links that I use.
- American Radio Relay League This is
the premier amateur radio organization in the country. I like to check in with them
early Saturday morning and read the weekly newsletter that is posted each Friday
night. If you are not an amateur radio operator, they have information on how to
obtain your license.
- Look up call signs by call, name, or location.
This link takes you to the web site of QRZ. You can go here and use
their search routines to search for a call sign, name, or location. Their database
returns name, address, call, date licensed, e-mail, and other data.
- This is a link to The Ole Virginia Hams
Amateur Radio Club in Manassas, Virginia. I joined OVH years ago and maintain
membership. They have an excellent hamfest held on the first Sunday of June each
year. Lots of folks attending and a huge flea market. Take a few days off, go
to Manassas, visit the Civil War battlefields in the area (First and Second Manassas/Bull
Run), Wilderness, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville), tour Washington, D.C., then take in
the hamfest.
APRS
APRS -- Amateur Position Reporting System -- is a system developed by Bob Bruninga,
WB4APR, that uses amateur radio to
transmit position reports, weather reports, and messages between users. APRS is
fascinating. The software runs on a computer that is connected to an amateur radio
packet station. The station receives formatted position reports from other stations
then the software plots the reports as symbols on a map in real time, allowing you to see
where other stations are located. I have GPS receiver in my old VW Beetle
hooked up to my amateur radio transmitter. As I drive around, the GPS reads my
position, direction, and speed and feeds it to the radio, where it is transmitted,
allowing other APRS stations to track me. The system has all sorts of uses;
commercial truck fleets use the system to keep track of where their trucks are. To
see a real time display of APRS activity, go to
this link. It defaults to a map of Florida; the Java applet takes about
two minutes to load; you can go to other map displays. (APRS is a
registered trademark of APRS Software and Bob Bruninga, WB4APR.)
For more details, go to my APRS page.
Click here to return to top of page
Missing-in-Action (MIA)
Facts Site
During the approximately one decade that the United States fought a war in Southeast
Asia, over 58,000 Americans were killed in action. A small number of prisoners of
war were released while the conflict was still going on and, in Spring 1973, during
Operation Homecoming, 591 American prisoners of war (POW) were released.
At the same time, there remained over 2,500 personnel whose fates were not entirely
determined.
- Some of these were lost under circumstances where they may have been captured, yet
they were not returned and were not seen by other prisoners.
- Others were known to have been killed but their remains could not be recovered, either
at the time they were lost or through follow-up search operations.
- Others were missing, with little known about their disappearance.
Extensive intelligence operations and reviews of all available evidence collected
during and since the end of the Vietnam War can lead to only one conclusion: All
American prisoners of war who were alive at time of Operation Homecoming were released by
their captors.
In spite of overwhelming evidence to support this position, there remains an active
claim that the U. S. government knew of prisoners who were not released at the end of the
war and that there has been and continues a conspiracy throughout the U. S. government to
hide the evidence of this abandonment and the evidence of live Americans who are still
held, even almost 25 years after the war ended.
This claim of live prisoners and a cover up and conspiracy can be found on many
Internet websites. Proponents of this claim cite evidence that seems
convincing. The MIA issue continues to be plagued by this same sort of
misinformation and pseudohistory. What is almost completely missing from the Internet is a
lay-out of the facts.
While on active duty with the Army (28 years), I served as Chief of Analysis for the
Defense Intelligence Agency Special Office for POW-MIA Affairs, then as Chief of the
Special Office. Later, I served as Deputy Director of the Defense POW-MIA Office.
I have collected from others and have written myself articles that present
factual information on various aspects of the MIA question. The MIA Facts Site is found here.
The MIA Facts Site is a living document. That is, there will always be pages under
construction. I will do my best to keep things updated.
Click here to return to top of page
Vietnam Veterans
You may be interested in the newsgroup soc.history.war.vietnam
. It is a moderated group that provides an opportunity for folks to exchange ideas,
experiences, and what-have-you on the Vietnam War. I recommend it. The
moderators are professional and keep the dialogue at a high level. The folks
who maintain SHWV also have an excellent site full of resources on the Vietnam War at this
URL: http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/shwv/shwvhome.html
I am a Vietnam Veteran: 2d Battalion, 13th Field Artillery; February 1969 --
February 1970.
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W4HH - I support know code.
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