User:Cuprum17



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I will try to check in here at least once a day just in case there is something that needs my attention.







My interests:

Welcome home, Brother!
To all fellow Vietnam Veterans a heartfelt "Welcome Home, Brother". This phrase, exchanged between Vietnam Vets helps to provide a sense of belonging to a special group of people that were often ostracized by their fellow countrymen following their return from an unpopular but deadly and ugly war. It is felt by many of those veterans that any welcome home, even one years later is better than the one received when they actually returned to the "World". If you feel this way, greet a fellow Vietnam Vet by saying "Welcome Home, Brother!" and leaving me a message on my talk Page.

In Loving Memory...
In Loving Memory of Private First Class James Paul De Bruler, RA17709977, United States Army, 01 October 1947-21 May 1966, Panel 07E, Line 94, Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A High School friend and true buddy. Rest in Peace, Brother, you are not forgotten...

My military career
'''My ribbons as they appeared on my "dress bravos" the day of my retirement from the U.S. Coast Guard... 8 April 2007'''

I retired from the Coast Guard Reserve in 2007 with a total of 24 years of creditable Federal service; including Army (2 years, 10 months, 13 days), Army Reserve (3 years, 1 month, 17 days), and Coast Guard Reserve time (18 years, 2 months, 14 days). I joined the Army in January 1966 and after an extremely cold winter in basic training at Little Korea, I was trained at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey as a photo lab technician (MOS 84G20, a job description no longer in today's digital age) and arrived in Vietnam in September 1966. I spent my year in 'Nam and extended my tour twice for 6 months each, leaving Vietnam (and the active Army) in December 1968. While there I saw lots of the Vietnamese countryside as I served as an aerial photographer part of the time. After getting out of the Army I served in the Army Reserve for 3 years before receiving my Honorable Discharge. Like most Vietnam Vets, I went to school, got married, raised a family, got a job, voted, paid my taxes, and generally got on with my life. The Hollywood portrayal in the films of the 70's and 80's of the homeless, alcoholic, druggie, sociopathic Vietnam Vet is one of my biggest pet peeves.

After a 20 year break in service, I joined the Coast Guard Reserve in 1989 and ultimately retired as a Chief Machinery Technician in 2007. In addition to the usual monthly training drills and annual training, I served during several floods and hurricanes. After September 11, 2001 and during the Iraq War in 2003; I, along with my shipmates, served at Port Arthur, Texas providing port security for the oil refineries and the Sea Port of Embarkation (SPOE) located at the Port of Beaumont, Texas. October 2005 found me in Louisiana serving in the Coast Guard and helping with the damage recovery efforts from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In April 2007, I was ordered home by the Commandant of the Coast Guard as I had reached manditory retirement age. I miss being able to get underway with my shipmates in the early morning on training exercises and patrol work.

I am a Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and a Life Member of the U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer's Association. I am also a member of the American Legion, United States Naval Institute and the Society for Military History.

I am a Vietnam Veteran and damned proud of it!

That's right! I'm a proud Kansan
Yep! Born in Columbus, Kansas and I have lived at one time or another in Columbus, Pittsburg, Kansas, Coffeyville, Kansas, Independence, Kansas, rural Emporia, Kansas, and extremely rural Alma, Kansas. As a part of my military career I have spent a significant amount of time in Topeka, Kansas and Leavenworth, Kansas. I have traveled either for business or pleasure to almost all parts of Kansas except the extreme northwestern part of the state. I love driving rural roads and seeing the local sights. Small Kansas towns fascinate me.

Other places I've spent more than 30 consecutive days

 * Rural Grove, Oklahoma
 * Cuchara, Colorado
 * Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (courtesy of U.S. Army)
 * Fort Monmouth, New Jersey (courtesy of U.S. Army)
 * Oakland Army Base, California (courtesy of U.S. Army) (OK, I wasn't really there 30 consecutive days; it just seemed like it! Probably 15 days on three separate occasions)
 * Republic of Viet Nam (courtesy of U.S. Army) (Two years, two months, 7 days)
 * St. Charles County and St. Louis Counties in Missouri (courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard) (Great Flood of '93)
 * Randolph County, Monroe County, and St. Clair County, Illinois (courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard) (Great Flood of '93)
 * Port Arthur, Texas (courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard) (Post September 11, 2001)
 * Omaha, Nebraska (courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard) (USCGC Gasconade (WLR-75401))
 * Lake Wabaunsee, Kansas (rural Alma, Kansas)
 * Leavenworth, Kansas and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard)
 * Alexandria, Louisiana (courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard) (Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita)

As you can see most of my travels were at taypayer expense. If you want to travel, contact your local recruiting office of any of the armed forces!

The real-world education of Cuprum17
I am first and foremost an autodidact. I am also a graduate of the School of Hard Knocks. I learned a great deal during my Army service in Vietnam that you don't find just anywhere. For you enthusiasts of a more formal education, I did manage to graduate from Emporia State University with a degree in Business Administration. That was done mostly with GI Bill money as I couldn't have afforded it any other way. The most practical course taken during my college education was Welding and Foundry, with Silversmithing I running a very close second. The most worthless courses I ever took were any of the Economics courses, but most especially the one titled Social Security 201. As a confirmed autodidact, I am still learning new skills everyday. If it interests me, I have to know everything about it that I can possibly absorb.

Cuprum
The name alludes to element number 29 in the Periodic Table of the chemical elements. Copper is the main component of the metal wall sculptures that I create. For now, I do it just as a hobby, but hopefully, as I can devote more time to the activity and become more skilled in technique; I hope to be able to sell some of my works. I have won a first place in the sculpture division of a show with one of my earlier pieces.

17 (number)
You guessed it! Obviously my favorite number and one that is associated with many important events in my life.

Commonly used references
Cite Book


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Cite Web















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Two cutters of the United States Coast Guard have been named XXXXXX


 * USCGC XXXXXX (WXX-999), a XXX ft tender commissioned XX June XXXX.
 * USCGC XXXXXX (WXX-001), a XXX ft Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender commissioned in XXXX.

Useful links

 * COMDTINST M5000.3 (series)
 * COMDTINST M1000.6A


 * MediaWiki
 * Glossary
 * Template index/Sources of articles
 * Manual of Style
 * Manual of Style (dates and numbers)
 * Manual of Style/Layout
 * Manual of Style (footnotes)
 * Citing sources
 * Manual of Style/Military history


 * Article development
 * Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment/B-Class criteria
 * Good article criteria
 * Template messages/User talk namespace/Multi-level templates
 * Template messages/Maintenance


 * Vandalism
 * Administrator intervention against vandalism
 * Article development
 * Criteria for speedy deletion
 * Cheatsheet
 * Template messages
 * Disambiguation pages with links
 * Barnstars


 * WikiProject Ships/Guidelines
 * Template:Ship
 * Template:Infobox Ship Begin
 * Template:Infobox ship begin/doc
 * Template:Convert
 * Template:Sclass - italicized font (noun)
 * Template:Sclass- - italicized font, hyphenated (adjective)
 * Template:Sclass2 - normal font (noun)
 * Template:Sclass2- - normal font, hyphenated (adjective)
 * Rivers of Vietnam
 * Ships of the Republic of Vietnam Navy
 * Template:PD-USGov-DHS-CG
 * Template:Location map many
 * Dash


 * Live edit log of all Kansas articles
 * Most popular Kansas articles for last month
 * Template:WPMILHIST Announcements
 * Template:Cite web
 * Template:Cite book
 * Wikiproject Watchlist - WikiProject Ships

Lazarette
Lazarette: A compartment in the stern of a vessel usually used to store spare items used on the deck of the vessel such as lines, tackle, fenders, and tools. This lazarette is used by me as a storage place for articles that I am in the process of editing. Sometimes old articles get lost in the bottom of the lazarette only to turn up later when you least expect them.

Sandboxes
Sandbox Coast Guard Squadron Three Point class project Commandant sandbox USRC cutter sandbox USCGC cutter sandbox Vietnam map sandbox Greenland Patrol Project Sentinel Class cutter sandbox