Index – The Best of Neptunus Lex

On March 6, 2012 we lost Lex. He died doing what he wanted to do, teaching Naval Aviators how to be even better.

For many of us, the Lexicans, he became more than just a blogger but a friend.  Carroll “Lex” LeFon not only enjoyed writing, but he enjoyed the interaction of the “commentariat”, many of whom he called “the best friends I never met”.

Soon after his accident, his website, Neptunus Lex, went down. If it weren’t for one Lexican, who copied and pasted most (about 70%) of his posts for later reading, “the lightness of Lex”, all 9  years’ worth of his work, would have disappeared into the digital ether.

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In Memory of CAPT Carroll “Lex” LeFon, and the Wonderful Community He Fostered

Welcome. The idea was floated that a ‘talk amongst yourselves’ blog would be a good addition to for the Non-Facebook Crowd. Here it is.

Whisper: Happy Birthday America

By Whisper, on July 4th, 2011

The Fourth of July is obviously a day of stirring patriotism.  I was raised to associate the 4th with going out in the boat and having a beach picnic then watching some fireworks.  In the later years a cold adult beverage of course became a staple.

So this year I found myself out on a boat – surrounded by sand – and flying a jet loaded with fireworks!  Just missing the friends, family, and would kill for an adult beverage…

Today it was two hops in the Arabian Gulf, a day Case III recovery, and in a tanker for the last event – and I got to share it with some of the greatest Americans you will ever meet!

The LSOs were in rare form.

Happy Fourth!

By lex, on July 4th, 2011

My father was born in 1916, and grew up in Glen Allen, Virginia, just north of Richmond. Glen Allen has become a suburb of Richmond these days, but back then it defined rural. Dad’s father worked the railroads. Mom was born in 1920 and grew up in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. Her old man had gone from coal miner to soldier in the Great War before coming back home again to serve as a paymaster for the company. He died in the aftermath of a train robbery that left the family destitute, and what with the Great Depression going on in their childhoods, those were hard times all around. She always kept the larder full, and my old man ate heartily. They remembered times when hunger wasn’t something that came up just prior to lunchtime, but rather something you lived with.

Right here in America.

Somalia, Now

By lex, on July 2nd, 2011

The US is now plinking Shabab militia leaders with al Qaeda links, according to the Gray Lady, in a headline entitled, “U.S. Expands Its Drone War into Somalia”:

The clandestine American military campaign to combat Al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen is expanding to fight the Islamist militancy in Somalia, as new evidence indicates that insurgents in the two countries are forging closer ties and possibly plotting attacks against the United States, American officials say.

An American military drone aircraft attacked several Somalis in the militant group the Shabab late last month, the officials said, killing at least one of its midlevel operatives and wounding others.

Fair and Balanced

By lex, on June 22nd, 2011

Last week we learned that our Pakistani allies were rounding up some of the usual suspects on suspicion of having provided the US with information on Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts.

This week we learn that the army’s internal security division has detained a Pakistani brigadier on suspicion of collaborating with the Hizb-ut-Tahrir militant group:

The detention of the officer, Brig. Ali Khan, raises serious concerns about the infiltration of elements sympathetic to Islamic extremists in the higher ranks of the army. While the lower ranks of the army, air force and navy have long been known to have elements sympathetic to the Taliban and extremist organizations, the arrest of Brigadier Khan is the first known arrest of an army official.

Misplaced Priorities

By lex, on June 14th, 2011

Pakistan’s ISI has finally gotten around to capturing the true miscreants responsible the revealed presence of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad:

Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested some of the Pakistani informants who fed information to the Central Intelligence Agency in the months leading up to the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, according to American officials.

Pakistan’s detention of five C.I.A. informants, including a Pakistani Army major who officials said copied the license plates of cars visiting Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the weeks before the raid, is the latest evidence of the fractured relationship between the United States and Pakistan. It comes at a time when the Obama administration is seeking Pakistan’s support in brokering an endgame in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.

It’s good to learn that, with near daily explosions in the schools and marketplaces of Pakistan’s urban warrens, the intelligence service has kept its eye on the prize.

Pakistani Judge: You have been charged with providing information leading to the death of the world’s most wanted terrorist. How do you plead?

Defendant: Is this a trick question?

Back To The Index 

The Glory Hole

By lex, on June 10th, 2011

Between July and November 1916, Commonwealth and French troops engaged the Kaiser’s forces in the disastrously bloody Battle of the Somme, a campaign that cost the British army 420,000 men killed for the temporary gain of two miles territory – a cost of two men per centimeter. The British suffered 60,000 casualties on the first day alone.

The little French town of La Boisselle sat directly athwart the main line of advance. Over the years of static warfare leading up to the battle, mines and counter-mines were tunneled by the opposing forces in an attempt to breach the trenches that characterized the war on the Western Front. One collapsed in November 1915, having run into a German mine that touched off a huge store of explosives. Twenty-eight British colliers died there and have been entombed ever since, the site remained in private hands and untouched.

A Reminder That I Am Getting Older

Although I was not sent to Vietnam, a lot from that era is still raw with me. Doesn’t take much to bring it back up.

Some months ago, PBS I believe, ran a program on the life of Janis Joplin. A friend of mine of many years says that I tend to be obsessive. I never considered myself as such, but with a bit of reflection, I tend to agree. I will dig and dig learning about things that interest me.

Anyway subsequent to the program I come to learn that someone from her old band – Big Brother & The Holding Company – was having a talk about Janis in Vallejo and I am all ready to get a ticket and attend.