THE FAMILY WALKER 2010
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much!
"25 OR 6 TO 4 JVE REMIX"
A TECHNO REMIX from the Awesome Double Album, Chicago II Released in 1970!
Thank you so much to"PEGS" Larson for the
awesome Chicago Logos!
Terry Walker's Crew Makes News In Afghanistan!!
Air-Ground team airlifts
newest howitzers in historic first
“When the Marine Corps decided to procure a lightweight 155mm cannon in the 1990s, it was largely driven by the need to have a more air transportable capability,” explained 3/11 commanding officer Lt. Col. James C. Lewis. 3/11, operating under Regimental Combat Team 3, is the only Marine artillery battalion in Afghanistan. “Our maneuver tonight is the first combat test of that capability.”
While the Marines were moving the artillery pieces across country, 3/11 still had to maintain their capability to provide support when needed for the Marines around Nawa and Garmsir, where 1/5 and 2/8 have been operating since early July. So 3/11 sent Marines to Golestan to receive and emplace the guns upon their arrival.
“Sending an advanced party down to set up the gun positions while maintaining firing capability was important,” said Gunnery Sgt. Marcus Chestnut, Battery I gunnery sergeant.
In order to successfully pull off this complicated maneuver, these units which don’t normally operate together had to work hand-in-hand, according to Chestnut. As it turns out, bringing them all together was the key to success.
Rather than towing the howitzers as an artillery battery is trained to do, these guns had to be transported between Fiddler’s Green and Golestan by air because of unique conditions here. That’s where HMH-772 and CLB-8 came in.
“The IED threat and terrain constraints were a huge factor deterring 3/11’s ability from being able to safely (move) the guns to this position,” said Staff Sgt. Bryan T. Housel, CLB-8 landing support platoon commander. “By externally lifting the howitzer and gun teams by air, we were able to safely move the weapons into place without the added risk of ground transport to the weapon or Marines.”
Marines on the five-man Helicopter Support Team, a part of Housel’s platoon, are responsible for rigging loads with cargo straps so they will be balanced under the aircraft. Once the aircraft arrives overhead, one of them must guide the pilot who can’t see what is taking place underneath and 30 feet behind him. After the aircraft is guided down over the waiting cargo, another Marine smacks the helicopter’s dangling cargo hook with a metal rod to dissipate the static electricity built up by its rotors. Two others then hook up the cargo – in this case a 9,800 pound artillery piece – all while the second largest helicopter in the world bobs and weaves within arm’s reach overhead. This process usually takes place in less than 30 seconds.
Sling-loading equipment or supplies under a cargo helicopter is dangerous business. However, after a successful lift, the feeling of accomplishment is impossible to ignore.
“I am so proud of my guys for how flawlessly and professionally they performed,” Housel said. “Safely lifting that piece of gear is no easy feat, but you would not have known it by watching them.”
Now that 3/11 has another footprint in Golestan, they will be able to provide on-call artillery support when the Marines on the ground there call for it.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Lewis said. “The Marine Corps trains as an air-ground team and this is just a product of that coming together.”
SSG Kristy Walker-Negron! Go Kicky, Go Kicky!!
Kristy, Terry's sister, also served in Afghanistan in 2006!
We are so proud of you Kristy & Terry!
"Mommy, take me to see Grandpa Walker"!!!
Beautiful Daughter-in-Law Julie with
our Grandson, Danny Joe!
Mrs. Eddie Walker in 1987 with kids Kristy & Terry (He is Danny's Dad!) FAMILY FLASHBACK!
The former Ginny Secretario, now Mrs. Eddie Walker, Jr., with their 2 oldest, Kristy & Terry in 1987 @ a fund raiser given by the Magnum PI crew, a celebrity softball game @ Pearl Harbor, featuring the Magnum PI crew and of course, star Tom Sellack.
Bill Champlin Leaves Rock Band Chicago
BILL CHAMPLIN LEAVES CHICAGO FOR SOLO CAREER...
After 28 years with the classic jazz-rock ensemble, the singer-keyboardist-guitarist simply tired of playing other people’s songs every night. Tunes such as "Saturday in the Park” and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” just weren’t his cup of cool.
The soulful, Hammond organ-driven funk of "Total Control” and the bluesy jamming of "Tuggin’ on Your Sleeve,” from his new solo album "No Place Left to Fall,” reveal a decidedly different musical sensibility.
When Champlin called from Santa Barbara, Calif., recently, the first question one had to ask was why so long since his last solo outing, "He Started to Sing” (1995)?
"I really just got busy with pretty much a slew of Chicago gigs and haven’t really had a chance to do my own music for a long time,” said Champlin, 62, who announced his departure from the band Aug. 17, less than a week before Chicago played a scheduled show with Earth, Wind and Fire at Oklahoma City’s Zoo Amphitheatre.
"You don’t get a chance to do much but pretty much the same thing over and over again with any band like Chicago for the most part,” he said, although his contributions to that band have been anything but negligible.
He was featured singing several songs on "Chicago 16,” including "Bad Advice” and "Follow Me.” 1984’s "Chicago 17” had the Champlin compositions "Please Hold On” and "Remember the Feeling,” and he sang with Peter Cetera on the hit single "Hard Habit to Break.”
In 1988, Champlin sang on the hit singles "Look Away,” "I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love” and "You’re Not Alone” from "Chicago 19.” He wrote, produced and sang lead on "Hearts in Trouble,” a Chicago song for the film "Days of Thunder.”
And most recently, he co-wrote four tracks on the band’s 2006 album "Chicago XXX.”
"I’ve sung four or five tunes for ’em,” the Oakland, Calif., native said modestly.
Champlin began work on "No Place Left to Fall” during a break in touring two years ago, gathering a band of friends and family including guitarist Bruce Gaitsch (Madonna), bassist George Hawkins Jr. (John Fogerty), drummer Billy Ward (B.B. King), wife and sometime co-writer Tamara Champlin on vocals and son Will Champlin on vocals and Wurlitzer electric piano.
Recording was done at the Barber Shop Studios, an old converted church building in Hopatcong, N.J., and Champlin had to choose from about four dozen songs he had accumulated over the past decade.
"Yeah, we had to kind of listen to all the stuff I had,” he said. "Originally I wanted to do a kind of a real offshoot bluesy album. And the guys at Dreammakers Music (Champlin’s label) just went, ‘Dude, you’ve got all kinds of music. Why don’t you record it, do a lot of different kinds of stuff, and go in a lot of different directions.’”
That was the kind of meandering stylistic path Champlin followed when he first rose to prominence as the leader of the Sons of Champlin in the latter days of San Francisco’s late-’60s psychedelic scene. What set that band apart from other Bay Area acts of the day was a prominent horn section and complex song structures.
Then, as now, Champlin’s soul influences were very much in evidence.
"When I was a kid, I think Lou Rawls, maybe, obviously Ray Charles,” Champlin said. "You listen to Ray or Aretha (Franklin) or something, and you just go, ‘Wow, this is not even music. This is a primal force.’ And somewhere along the line, I really discovered Lou Rawls, and I was kind of able to sort of break his vocals down into a style. He’s so good at back-phrasing things. Just the phrasing, I’ve always thought Lou was one of the best, one of the best singers ever.
"I used to come home from school and just play those ‘Black & Blue’ and ‘Tobacco Road’ albums just over and over again and just really study him, you know?”
Judging from the consistently high quality of Champlin’s work — in and out of Chicago and the Sons of Champlin — he obviously learned his lessons well.
Edward J. Walker, Jr. in "War & Remembrance"
Family Flashback! Such Sweet Memories! See the video on our Video Gallery Page. The filiming took place @ Campbell Industrial Park, West Shore, Oahu in June - July 1987. The mini-series portion shown here stars Robert Mitchum as the Commanding Officer Victor Henry of the USS Northhampton (CG-26) and actor GW Bailey, as the Executive Officer. The battle shown here represents the battle at Tasafaranga pass. So many ships were lost in this battle that the Marines dug in on the shore referred to the waters as "Iron Bottom Sound".
Our Hero! SGT Terry Walker, USMC!
SKATEBOARDING CHAMP!RACE CAR CAM!SHOOT THE MOON!
:lol:
SCARY RIDE!!TAKIN IT EASY!NEW MACHINE!
R2D2
Quote of the Day
Cool Pics of Chicago & Family
HEY SPIDERMAN!
