Note: During the Whetstone reunion in San Diego, quite a number of us got to tour a modern LSD, the USS Pearl Harbor. Reading this article, I saw a 'real ship', one that I had been on.  (JW)

Building up for a possible war against Iraq, the Navy is deploying a seven-ship armada with about 7,000 Marines from California, matching a force already under way from the East Coast. The new amphibious task force would mirror a seven ship deployment of Marines that headed out the same week from bases on the Virginia coast, Navy officials said .

Together the task forces will present Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander who would run a war against Iraq, with the option of amphibious assaults from the northern Persian Gulf, the officials said. The Marines also could go ashore in Kuwait to be part of an Army led land attack into southern Iraq.

Trained to operate in austere environments, the Marines also could move by helicopter into Iraq from their ships in the Gulf or from Kuwait to establish forward bases, as they did in southern Afghanistan early in that war. The movement of naval forces is part of a broader buildup of American military might in the Gulf region.

The vessels pegged for movement with Marines from the West Coast are the amphibious assault ships USS Bonhomme Richard and USS Boxer, two amphibious transport dock ships that carry troops vehicles and cargo - the Cleveland and Dubuque - and three dock landing ships that carry troops and amphibious craft like air cushioned troop transports- the Comstock, the Anchorage and the Pearl Harbor.

All seven are based at San Diego. The Marines they will transport are based at Camp Pendleton.

A separate deployment of Marines aboard Navy ships, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa, left San Diego earlier. That group, with 2,200 Marines the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard, is on a regularly scheduled effort. A similar sized unit led by the USS Nassau and carrying Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit has been off the coast of Yeman for many weeks.

Can you guess which of the following are true or  false ?

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking  you up in the morning.

2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a bellybutton.

3. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's  from being indoors a lot more.

4. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop even  your heart!

5. Only seven ( 7 ) per cent of the population are  lefties.

6. 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites  every minute.

7. Babies are born without knee caps. They don't  appear until they are 2-6 years old.

8. The average person over fifty will have spent 5  years waiting in lines.

9. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.

10. The average housefly lives for one month.

11. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each  year.

12. The average computer user blinks 7 times a  minute.

13. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than the  rest of the day.

14. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

15. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the  sand is to search for water.

16. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself  without turning its head are the rabbit and the  parrot.

17. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South  Carolina State anthem.

18. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used  in place of the milk.

19. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on  the same airplane just in case there is a crash.

20. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in  1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor.

21. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would  be green

ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE TRUE......who knew???!

"The difference between Europe and the US is that in the US, one hundred years is a long time, and in Europe, 100 miles is a long way"

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