Hi friends, Pappino wrote this message under a picture in the album :

[color=#000000:adb6b6c39d][i:adb6b6c39d]Hi Folks,

This photo is of two buddies of mine from The 6th Tank Battalion in Korea. They both look dirty and scruffy, but you would too, if you didn't have a bath in two or three months. It was also rare for us to get a hot meal. My tank crew found out how my Italian temper can be aroused. One morning I fired over their heads with a 45 caliber sub-machine gun. We had hit a tank mine that blew the left front road wheel off and threw the left track. We worked through the night to fix the tank. No easy task to change a road wheel and getting the damned track back on. I took a little nap, and when I woke up, I found that the crew didn't leave anything for me to eat. I cocked my 45 caliber machine gun, affectionately called a 'grease gun' and fired a whole clip of thirty rounds over their heads. I told them that the next time they didn't leave anything for me to eat, I'd drop my aim a few clicks. If you look at the right side of the turret, you'll see the number 15 inside a triangle. Also the fenders have D-15 on them. That was my tank in Korea. The 'D' stands for Dog Company, the 1 stands for the first platoon, and the 5 means that it is the fifth tank in the first platoon. Just thought I'd throw that in for good measure.

I thought this photo was appropriate for what I have to say. Most have heard the old saying, "Old soldiers never die... they just fade away."

Well folks, I think it's time for this old soldier to just fade away. I'm a lung cancer survivor and I was supposed to be history a little over two years ago. I've proved the doctors wrong, so far, but weekly chemotherapy for six months has left me with a number of side effects. One of the effects of the chemo was that it killed some of the nerves in both of my hands. As such, my hands become almost completely numb. The numbness hinders my efforts doing anything constructive in Poser. At least anything worthwhile to post here. Besides, it is difficult to keep up with all of you talented folks here at Posetteforever.

I'd like to thank all of you for your constructive comments and for being more than kind in your critiques. I'll stop by from time to time, just to see the work that you talented folks keep pumping out. I'll also try to keep up with GP's charm, wit, and humor... not to mention her beautiful renders. I'm glad I found an old Harley buddy here too. Tormentor, you're doing a wonderful job with Posetteforever. I know that keeping your site as a free forum for us folks isn't an easy task. I maintain a website, so I know that it takes a good deal of time and effort, not to mention the cost. Thanks for providing a place for folks to display their art and to share their comments. If it's okay with you, I'll put a link to your site at my site.

If any of you wish to see if I've come up with anything new, you are welcome to visit my site. The URL address for my site is: http://www.phil-deriggi.com

Once my homepage loads, you will find a text link for my Poser 5 graphics index page. You can also left click the 'Graphics' menu button. When the main graphics links page loads, you'll find a text link for Poser 5 graphics. I have two index pages for my Poser work.

Take care, stay safe, and be good. Sorry for taking up so much space with this message.

Ciao,
Phil[/i:adb6b6c39d][/color:adb6b6c39d]


I thought that putting his message in the forum was the right thing to do, I'm very, very sad, also because I was too much time away from the album because of my troubles and lazyness and I'm watching his pictures only now...
What I think is that anyone of us has a personal story and it is sad that only few persons know it... I didn't know that you were ill Pappino, I'm very sorry, I saw the pictures of your army period and I understand how you are proud of what you've done there. I know only a little the feeling: I saw the effects of a civil war as a U.N. soldier in Mozambique (I was a paratrooper of the italian "Folgore" division and of the "Paratroopers alpinists" company), but the Korea war was a serious thing and even if today it's one of the "forgotten wars" I red a lot about it.

Phil, don't worry if you have problems using Poser because of your hands, we are here only to have fun and relax, it's not an obligation to post pictures...
I'm glad to have known you, thank you for your kind words !