so, i have bragged on my nephew here more than a couple times.

[mopinko]

lest you think i was exaggerating, here is his retirement video.
mark e mitchell.

&fbclid=IwAR10XD8ZU8rbhQlXErQq0kCfZlKponjkY0glarJj2iIzWb7LhMcWTFxWWZU

the orange anus' flunkie, john rood, pushed him out of the pentagon, where he was asst sec def for jsoc.
i hope he applies to go back.

[mopinko]

1. i'm rly glad i stubbled across it just now.

i forgot there was a pic in there of him w joe biden.

[mopinko]

2. there are pics in there of him w a bunch of little kids.

those are from afghanistan. he hit up the fam for children's books.
his team built a couple of schools over there.

[mopinko]

3. he is 1/2 of the lead character in the movie '12 strong'.

and he is in the doug stanton book 'horse soldiers'

[mopinko]

4. and i have no idea who that long hair in the tn is. anyone?

[blm]

6. Cool blood, kiddo.

Sounds like an amazing guy.

[mopinko]

13. and that's just the live ones.

you should see who is in my family tree.

like this dude-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dwyer

i'm descended from one of his sibs that stayed behind in ireland when they sent him to botany bay.

[Chili]

34. okay, so "this dude"...

...and Governor William Bligh. Now you're in my territory. It was so immense that I haven't finished either of them, but I started both a novel and a screenplay based on Mutiny on the Bounty, but from a different POV. Bligh was complex, both good (had sauerkraut stored on the Bounty to prevent rickets), mediocre - terrible leader on both land and sea - and cruel, as your Dwyer ancestor suffered from. The moment I read that Dwyer arrived in Australia in 1806, I knew Bligh would be mentioned in there somewhere. Are you close to your Australian relatives? Did you attend any of those family reunions? That would be very cool!

[mopinko]

36. i'm not but

one way i figured it out was that i kept seeing dna relatives in australia and new zealand.
it wasnt rly on my travel list, cuz of the bigotry.

but i def would love to go to one of the reunions.
i'm 3rd gen here, but a lot of these cousins are tagged 3rd to 5th.
at least one of his sibs went there, too.

he wanted to come here. can you imagine?
i rly think this would be a different country if they had let him.

[Chili]

47. when you say bigotry...

... do you mean against the Aboriginal community in Australia, the Maoris in New Zealand, or both?

[mopinko]

49. i had a bf that moved there, cuz

"it's the last bastion of the white man"

as a long time birder, and parrot keeper, i used to want to go. but...

[Chili]

53. ah

I don't know how the brown people in AUS and NZ are fairing. I know it's been historically horrendous. It's such an issue here, I haven't checked out other nations in a long time.

[reACTIONary]

58. Had a "not friend" who did the same. nt

[yonder]

72. First, nice post and good on your nephew - staying true to himself.

Second, your reference to your great, great uncle?, Michael Dwyer got some old ballads about him rattling around in my head. Over the years, I've come across at least one song and the one linked to is from a favorite Irish singer, Andy Irvine. Martin Carthy might have sung another about your ancestor but so far I can't find it. If I do, I'll PM you.

Here's the Andy Irvine version of "The Wicklow Chief" aka Michael Dwyer that he calls Michael Dyer's Escape:

[mopinko]

73. yeah, not sure how many greats.

i figure about 6.
thx so much. i have been down an irish music rabbit hole for about a month now.
he is mentioned in 1 song that i have heard so far.
but this is just awesome.

[Rorey]

8. There were a few people I wondered about

I saw GWBush and Maria Shriver and, of course, President Obama. I think our new President was there just for a sec.

[mopinko]

12. i'm disappointed there was no pic of him and stormin norman.

they were jogging buddies.
mark was in charge of the logistics of the 'hail mary' tank brigade.

[mopinko]

14. yeah, just one shot.

not surprised, tho the kid is a lifelong republican.

[BComplex]

5. Wow, Mopinko!!! That's awesome.

[Rorey]

7. That was so cool!

Thank you!

His family is just lovely.

[mopinko]

33. didnt they do a great job?

i love how they put in so many family pics.

their wedding was in the pabst mansion in mke.
amazing space.

[Hekate]

9. Wonderful, mopinko

[MLAA]

10. Wow, Mopinko! What a man, no wonder you are so proud!

[malaise]

11. Lovely

Thanks for this

[mopinko]

16. hey. thanks all for the love.

i thought for sure this would sink like a stone.

[malaise]

17. No we need and love good stories

and this is lovely.

[mopinko]

21. ikr? the only sad note

that year in the obama wh was when danny pearl was murdered.
after all he went through, those vids gave him ptsd.

he's doing better now that he is out of it. i keep telling him he needs write a book.
now that mango mussilini is gone, maybe he will. he needs pentagon approval of anything he writes.
trust me, if he does, i will let y'all know about it.

[malaise]

26. Glad he's doing better

Hope he writes the book

[panader0]

15. What a very impressive career! Here's to you Colonel Mitchell.

Beautiful family too.

[mopinko]

18. arent they tho.

his wife was a kindergarten teacher.

she was an army brat herself, so she handled most of it pretty well.
but, he got a medal for putting down the uprising at muzar el sharif.
that earned him a fatwa from obl himself. she slept w a shotgun by the bed for years.

[panader0]

23. Side note--I saw the Special Forces logo early in the tape.

My son will complete his Special Forces training at Ft Bragg in the spring. A long slog made
longer by the virus.

[mopinko]

30. best of luck to him.

it is tough. mark went through cere and everything.
airborne. if it was hard, he did it.

[Chili]

25. holy sh*t!

Well, now they can have a feeling of security with a peaceful quiet life - well earned!

[mopinko]

31. know how he did it? get this-

he borrowed a guy's turban, scaled the water tower and flooded the bsmt.
killed 600 taliban.

[Chili]

35. whoa!

And if you ran into him by accident in the grocery store, you would have no idea who you just bumped into... and who is helping you pick up your peanut butter!

[mopinko]

41. he never used to talk about what he did.

but his kid brother used to say- he knows 13 ways to kill you w a playing card.
so, yeah, nobody cheated at poker in my family is he was at the table.

[Chili]

48. 13 ways

Good to know!

[mercuryblues]

19. What a beautiful slideshow

Thank you for sharing. I'll know who to call when my kid becomes eligible for a Pentagon or NATO assignment.

[mopinko]

27. i'd be happy to put in a word.

not sure he'd pay much attention to his old hippie aunt, tho.
through it all, he loved me anyway, tho.

[mercuryblues]

40. Would it help if I said her Grandma was a Mitchel too?

Along with about a million others in this country. LOL.

[mopinko]

44. it wouldnt hurt.

and yeah, the germans were almost as prolific as we irish.

[mercuryblues]

55. She's an Irish Mitchell and has the DNA to prove it

She has learned to control the temper. And because of her position only drinks at home.

[Chili]

20. WOW!!!

What an honored career - and in the Oval with our Prez O - fantastic!

And a happy family too - you can't beat that!

[mopinko]

22. he was up for a general's star, and wanted to retire when he didnt get it.

they begged him for 1 more year. he was liaison to jsoc.

[Chili]

45. okay, I had to google "jsoc"

Special Ops! Whew! Is he allowed to write a memoir? Too classified?

[mopinko]

64. he's allowed to write it, just not publish it

w/o pentagon review.

[GoCubsGo]

24. I hope he applies to go back, too.

I'm sure the Pentagon is going to want to have people like him back to clean up the syphilitic, orange manbaby's shit mess.

Watching your grandnieces grow up in that video makes me feel old--and they're not even my kids!

[mopinko]

29. nieces. only nieces.

dont make me feel older than i am!

[monmouth4]

28. Absolutely awesome. Lovely wife and daughters obviously engaged also. Thanks so much for posting.

[mopinko]

39. she was an army brat.

they met when he was in ft campbell, ky. her pops retired there.
so, she knew what she was signing up for, which helped a lllllllotttt.

[monmouth4]

51. I would say. What a lovely family they are. I enjoyed "watching" the girls grow up. Tks. again.

[mopinko]

52. me too.

i dont see them often. in fact, i have barely seen them irl.
somehow i missed that one of them is a redhead. i dont know how.

redheads are a family treasure. my mom was one, her mom was, and she never did get a redhead kid.
my younger sister and i have had auburn hair w red highlights. all 3 of my girls had the same.
watching that baby hair come in, and praying for a redhead much have broken mom's heart. i know it did mine.
she did get 3 redhead grands, tho.

his youngest brother is a flaming redhead. thick and curly. the spitting image of danny partridge.

[grantcart]

32. Thanks for sharing

[mopinko]

37. most welcome friend.

[likesmountains 52]

38. Thank you, that was lovely.

[mopinko]

42. i'm just tickled that ppl are enjoying it.

[smirkymonkey]

43. That was great, mopinko!

You must be very proud! And I loved the accompanying soundtrack! It was perfect! Very uplifting!

[mopinko]

46. i am most proud

that despite our differences, he always love his old hippie auntie.

i spent many days babysitting for the whole clan. 1 girl, 3 boys. hell on wheels they were.
and i was only 10 when the first 1 was born.
talk about having your hands full!!

[mopinko]

50. srsly ppl. all this love.

ya bout to make an old lady cry here.

[PatrickforO]

54. He has served this republic with honor. May he and his family be blessed,

And may his service, and the service of all others in the military, bless us all.

Especially in these times, when they may have to step forward and stop a coup.

[mopinko]

57. i can just hear him saying 'hell no' to any orders from cheato

to engage on american soil.
he told john rood to get fucked. never thought he would leave on those terms.
but the dude insulted both his intelligence and his patriotism.

btw, he also has a phd from harvard war college.

[diva77]

59. What was his thesis topic?

[mopinko]

63. no idea.

prolly something about logistics, if i know him.

[MustLoveBeagles]

56. This was wonderful

I loved the slideshow. You must be so proud.

[JohnnyLib2]

60. Really enjoyed pictures of his long career.

So much experience in so many places, and leadership that has been recognized and rewarded through the years.
We need people like this, now more than ever.

I would bet he does equally as well in whatever comes next. Yup, going back would be good for the nation.

Keep right on bragging, Aunt mopinko!

[AllaN01Bear]

61. hope he applies to go back, im glad the orange jerk is out and biden in . byedon

[Illumination]

62. Wow! This makes the rest of us feel like LOSERS! Very awesome video. Thanks!

[mopinko]

65. yeah, me too.

i come from thoroughbreds.
but some of us are stuck pulling carts.

[Illumination]

66. What's great about this world, is that everyone is different. Some of us are content with a low key

lifestyle. Your nephew has left quite the legacy! Bravo!

[mopinko]

67. yeah. i've reinvented myself many times.

i've had an interesting life. succeeded at some things, failed at others.
but even at 66, i'm still trying new things. i think that is the key to not getting old.

[Illumination]

68. I'm one year older than you! That's great you have such an open mind. You're right!...we can't

stagnate. Good to chat with someone from my era! Please keep us all updated on your nephew. You & your family take good care mopinko!

[mopinko]

69. i started taking voice lessons a couple months ago.

i had so much singing as a kid. but my voice was flat from neuro issues.
i'm not too bad, having a blast. learning irish drinking songs, in prep for a trip there once this plague passes.
tracing my tree. just need to learn the tin whistle, and i'll be able to pass in the pubs.

[Illumination]

70. LOL...If you get too good, you'll find yourself on stage! You're never too old for a new career!

That will be lots of fun in Ireland! You & your nephew have a real zest for life! Keep smiling & enjoying yourself! That's what it's all about!

[mopinko]

71. singin in pubs

for pints and proposals is all i want.
money i have. and some level of infamy.