Cannon salute to the veterans

StanFoster

Active Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2003
Messages
17,139
Location
Paxton, Il
Aircraft
Helicycle N360SF
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I want to say thank-you very loudly with this cannon to the veterans that keep this country free. I never was in the military, but always have regretted not having the experience. I built this 6 pounder civil war cannon carriage 30 years ago. The city of Paxton is the county seat of the last county in Illinois formed back in 1859. The U.S government gave Paxton this 6 pound civil war cannon barrel because of this. BTW...that means it shoots a 6 pound iron ball....the barrel weighs 925 pounds. They ran an ad wanting someone to build a rough carriage to get the barrel off the ground.

I volunteered to restore it and was given the job. The barrels touch hole was welded shut back in 1903 when a person celebrating at the 4th of July blew his arm off loading it...not knowing what he was doing...I told them that if I were going to the expense of building that carriage...that mother was going to fire again. Long story short...after it was first fired on the family farm...they gave me the honor of saluting the dead at each years Memorial Day service. Today was the 30th anniversary that I have fired this cannon.

The first year I fired it... I actually loaded a 4 pound can of concrete in it and shot it out into the wide open countryside. It was found 3/4 of a mile away! This was being televised...and the cameraman was out in the 45 degree blast zone in front of the muzzle. He dropped his bulky tv camera because of the ear piercing blast that shook the place.

Since then I load a pound of flour on top of the powder.....its a little more gentle on the crowd that gathers.

The duct tape that you can see on the breech end was to keep my powder dry in the touch hole. It was raining lightly and I wanted to make sure it fired. There were at least 500 people behind honoring this special day.

Thank-you veterans for defending this great way of life I feel priviledged to live!

Stan
 

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Nice job Stan!
We veterans are proud that you support us! And all the troops.
 
Salute

Salute

We all serve in different ways, Stan. Thank YOU.

:usa2:
 
Heros

Heros

Stan,

As one who did serve, let me tell you heros come in different forms. Your recognition and dedication through restoring this piece of art shows that gratitude is shown im many different ways.

Today you became a hero...:usa2::usa2::usa2:

Thanks for sharing both your art, and your story.

God Bless and stay safe.
 
Your such a great person Stan, I like your style buddy!!
And how cool to be able to fire a cannon!
 
Stan, I salute you.
 
Thanks for the comments....I just will always feel in debt to you people that served this country. This is just a minor thank-you...but a rather loud one!:yo:


Stan
 
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