Old Grouch’s Military Surplus

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Disrespect For War Memorials

October 24, 2022 by 2 Comments

Haywood County, North Carolina is not a place where you would expect to find politicians who disrespect memorials to fallen service men and women. I lived there for over 30 years. It is and was a patriotic county filled with many veterans. Thus, when I read the post by my friend Tim who owns Old Grouch Military Surplus, I was shocked and saddened.

His store is located in the center of the town of Clyde across from “the big gun”. That is a decommissioned 50mm naval gun which serves as a memorial to the fallen in all wars from Clyde. The “big gun” is even incorporated into the town’s seal.

In front of the “big gun” is a stone monument in memory of Sgt. Charles Crockett Matthews who was killed in action in Vietnam in 1969. It was placed there by his wife Mary as Sgt. Matthews was the first person from Clyde killed in action since WWII.

From Tim:

They (local Democrats) decided to use the base of the Big Gun as a platform to make political speeches from. I don’t see that as an appropriate activity at a war memorial, no more than it would be a President having a campaign event at the Vietnam Wall would be, but I guess maybe some people could argue differently. But how they did it was utterly disrespectful and disgusting, and nobody can argue it was ok.

There is a stone monument in the front of the Big Gun, a memorial to SGT Charles Crockett Matthews who was killed in action in Vietnam. He was the first person from Clyde to be killed in action since WWII, so to add his name to the memorial his wife had the stone monument you see in the picture made and placed by the gun. When the Big Gun was relocated to its present position a raised pedestal was made to place it in a position of honor in front of the gun.

At least two of the politicians/candidates speaking proceeded to STAND ON the monument to SGT Matthews. And I mean the soles of their shoes right on his name engraved in the stone. Joe Sam Queen did and Jasmine Beach-Ferrara not only stood on it, she used for a step-stool to get up on the platform.

They STOOD ON the monument to a fallen Soldier so they could make political speeches.

For those that are unaware, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara is the Democrat nominee for Congress in the 11th District of North Carolina. She is a Buncombe County Commissioner as well as an ordained minister. What makes this even worse is that she has support for veterans as one of her campaign planks along with abortion, legalizing marijuana, gay rights, and climate change.

Tim notes that none of these pictures are “gotcha, hidden camera pictures” but rather came from the Facebook pages of the candidates involved.

What makes this even more disappointing is that some of the candidates involved such as Josh Remillard and Larry Bryson were veterans. They knew better and still just went along with it.

Tim concludes:

Everyone there- from those who organized it to the candidates it was for to those in attendance- saw a memorial to those from Clyde who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation as a good prop for partisan campaign speeches, didn’t take a second to reflect on if their actions were appropriate, and saw no problem with people standing and walking on top of that memorial for SGT Matthews as they did so. Had they simply stood in front of it and not hung campaign signs on it their event would have been 100% respectful. But that isn’t the path they chose.

I think Tim is 100% correct.

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“Gravity Violence”

March 24, 2021 by 4 Comments

The gun prohibitionists like to conflate suicide death by firearm as “gun violence.” Suicide, whatever the instrument, is sad occurrence and can be devastating to those left behind. Today on the Senate floor, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was railing about “gun violence” (sic) and was inflating the numbers as usual. Emily Miller pointed out the hypocrisy of Facebook in not forcing posts of Schumer’s speech to give attribution for these numbers.

My friend Tim Glance of Old Grouch’s Military Surplus fame pointed out the absurdity of referring to suicide by firearm as “gun violence” since no other means used to kill oneself is characterized that way.

Do the same people that label suicides “gun violence” also label people jumping off bridges or buildings as “gravity violence”?

Is overdosing “pharmaceutical violence”?

Is hanging yourself “cordage violence”?

Since it’s not you can see right away the dishonesty in the narrative.

As Tim noted to me in a message when I asked permission to quote him, asking if all suicide is violence shuts down those who are argue that suicide by firearm is “gun violence.”

If you are thinking of ending your life, please get help. There are a lot of good groups out there like Walk The Talk America, the American Society for Suicide Prevention, and Forefront Suicide Prevention. There is also the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-8255.

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I’m Proud Of My Local Military Surplus Store

January 18, 2013 by 5 Comments

I’ve written in the past about Old Grouch Military Surplus. They are my local military surplus store and harken back to the days when surplus stores were just that. On Tuesday, they took a stand in support of the gun owners of New York who just had their Second Amendment rights trampled upon.

In support of our customers in the state of New York, effective today we are cancelling all orders to any state or municipal government agency customers in the New York and will accept no more. While we can’t stop the trampling of rights that is occurring there, we certainly can make sure we don’t assist in it in any way going forward.

They do a substantial mail order business and are one of the only places to find some items. I’m proud of their stand and I hope the majority of firearms manufacturers will emulate Tim’s approach – or as others have called it, the Barrett approach in honor of Ronnie Barrett’s stand against California and their .50 BMG ban.

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Osama bin Laden Is Dead Sale

May 2, 2011 by

My favorite surplus store, Old Grouch’s Military Surplus, is having a sale to celebrate U.S. forces taking out bin Laden. Here is what they posted on Facebook.

Some have said we shouldn’t cheer Osamas death. Screw that, our Bin Laden is Dead Sale starts now-15% off “infidel” is the coupon code.

No limits, no restrictions, 15% off every purchase on the website, or in the store if you mention the sale when you checkout!

Please share with your friends and spread the word, lets celebrate in proper decadent western capitalist pig style!

The sale goes on for one week. You can access their store website here.

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Real Military Surplus Stores

February 28, 2011 by 7 Comments

When I was a kid, Army-Navy stores were common and they were filled with surplus items from WWII and Korea. Since it was before the Gun Control Act of 1968 you even found racks of old Mausers and Springfields full of cosmoline. If you wanted to play Army (how un-PC is that!), they had all the stuff you needed.

Today it is rare to find a real military surplus stores that has actual surplus items and not crap made in China. Usually the closest they come to surplus is selling ribbons, medals, and insignia for wannabe SEALS and other “SpecOps Operators.”

I am fortunate that I have a real military surplus store little more than 5 miles from my house. The Old Grouch’s Military Surplus sells the real thing whether it is surplus USMC motorcycles, wooden practice shells for a 3″ naval gun, or an Alice pack. You keep going back because you just never know what they will somehow lay their hands on. They are located in beautiful downtown Clyde, NC, population 1,324. The store is right across from an old naval gun that is the town’s war memorial as you can see in the picture below.

Thanks to the second generation in the business, the Old Grouch’s son Tim, they now have both a blog and an online presence. They even have a Facebook page! If you are some of the more unusual surplus items along with the common stuff, I suggest giving them a try. If you are ever visiting western North Carolina, drop in to see what a real military surplus store looks like.

Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast just put out a video review of surplus Italian Army alpine rucksacks sold by Old Grouch’s. I have one of the bunch that they sold earlier minus the assault pack. I concur with Jack that they are well made.