HAPPY 100th. BIRTHDAY...Abuelita!

Maria Corrales Franco was born on February 20, 1917 in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and was later destined to be the wife of Cruz Corrales Sr. that will last for fifty-three gracious years.  During their lengthy marriage, she gave birth to 12 children during their stay in Mexico-Benjamin Corrales, Inez Corrales, Diego Corrales, Rosendo Corrales and Cruz Corrales (all residing in the City of Dinuba), Jesus Corrales (Chihuahua), Alicia Soto (Reedley), Lupe Corrales (San Diego), Irma Sanchez (Reedley), Isela Ivanez (Five Points), Rodolfo Corrales (Reedley) and Jaime Corrales of (Fresno).  In the early 50’s, Cruz Sr. traveled alone to Dinuba where he worked and endured the harsh life of a Bracero in the agriculture field and as soon as he was able to settle down and establish a comfortable home, he arranged to have his wife and 11 children ( one of the children, Jesus, had died at a early age from a severe sickness in Chihuahua) to obtain their U.S citizenship and move to Dinuba in 1963.   In 1986, Cruz Sr. passed away at the age of 85 of failing heath and was laid to rest at the Smith Mountain cemetery in Dinuba.  

This Sunday, February 20 2017, Maria will turn a hundred years old and is still in general good health, but she recently has been battling against a slight case of Dementia and currently residing at a local convalescent home in Dinuba because she still wanted to cling on to her self-independence as she have done the majority of her life.  Her remaining 11-Children, 44-Grandchildren and over 30 Great-Grandchildren are planning to visit her this Sunday and celebrate her 100th birthday with her starting with a Happy Birthday song from a local Mariachi band.  Maria’s eleven children would like to thank all the staff of Dinuba Convalescent Care for taking great care of their mother and hope that they will join them at her birthday party this Sunday.  Feliz Cumpleanos...mama y gran-abuelitia....Te Queremos Mucho!

HONORABLE MENTION: D.A "Jelly" Bryce-F.B.I's very 1st. sharphooter

1. 

D.A. “Jelly” Bryce was born on 1906 in Mt. View, Oklahoma and according to legion was known to be a exceptional shooter and hunter since childhood using all types of firearms (handguns, rifles and shotguns) who later reflected in his life to Life Magazine that because during those times, life was tough, game was scarce and ammunition was precious, so he had no other choice, but to make every bullet count and become a perfect shot. His career in law enforcement began when he was about to enter a shooting contest where 1st. place was to be a hundred dollars in gold.  When he arrived, the Chief of Police of Oklahoma City PD asked him to test his ability, so Bryce placed his shots no bigger than a dollar bill into a envelope stuck on a tree.  After he picked his jaw off the ground, the Police Chief asked Bryce to become a member of the Oklahoma Police department, who also went out to win the $100 dollars in gold.

Just after a couple of days on the job, Bryce was involved in his first Police officer shooting when he spotted a man sitting in a car acting peculiar as he was leaving a diner while off duty.  Bryce approached the vehicle and identified himself as a Police officer and the strange man quickly reached for his handgun, but was shot dead by Bryce before the suspect could get off a shot.  Since Bryce was a new hire, he did not have a Police badge yet and was subsequently arrested by his own Police department, but the Police Chief sprung him out and Jelly Bryce was backed on the job the very next day.  In 1927, while on patrol, he observed two burglars trying to break into a store and confronted them where gunfire was exchanged and the two burglars were killed instantly making this dead man #3 for Bryce’s first year as a Police officer.   In 1934, The F.B.I were informed of three outlaws (one who frequently associated with famed criminal, Clyde Barrow) who were hiding out at the Wren Hotel in Oklahoma City.  When Jelly Bryce questioned the hotel owner, he immediately slammed the door making Bryce to forced his way through and confront criminal, J. Ray O’Donnell, who was holding two automatic pistols while Bryce was still unholstered. When O’Donnell raised his guns up to shoot, Bryce pulled out his revolver and shot O’Donnell in the chin killing him instantly.

Bryce earned his nickname when he and his partner were involved in a gunfight with a couple of crooks where one of the suspects crawled into a movie theater and passed out.  He later woke up and saw Bryce standing over him while he laid there bleeding. The crook later told officials that looking up at Bryce was like looking at a “jellybean,” which was a term at the time that meant “fancy dresser,” thus, given the nickname “Jelly” by his law enforcement associates.  After hearing about the shooting incident at the Wren hotel, the FBI scooped Bryce up in 1934 and he eventually got involved in several more shootings totally 19 men altogether that he had killed in his lifetime as a law enforcement officer (some were actually committed with a Tommy machine gun) from there on, he gradually became the FBI’s shooting instructor that would later earned him national recognition.

He was known to carry a Smith and Wesson .44 revolver with the ivory grips embossed with a black cat and the number #13 and a steer’s head on both sides where he practiced his method of the fast draw for 8 hours straight in front of a mirror tuning in on his already mastered skills or identifying any potential problems.  Bryce also included a gun stance in his practice where he would shift his body weight forward so that if the officer got shot, he would fall forward and still be able to shoot back, which later became a standard practice for law enforcement officers.  During the FBI shooting exercises, Bryce would perform shooting demonstrations that became legendary wowing audiences with shooting exhibitions, for example, taking a pill box and placing it on the back of his hand and than draw and hit the pillbox before it reached his waist.  He would also shoot Mexican pesos with a .22 rifle or clay pigeons with his .357 revolver while holding the gun upside down.  He wore a diamond ring and would use it as a mirror to shoot targets over his shoulder, in fact, Life Magazine  once clocked how fast Bryce could draw  his revolver and got a shot off on a target two-fifths of a second.  

D.A. “Jelly” Bryce retired from the F.B.I in 1958 and ran for Oklahoma governor because he was fed up with corruption going on across the state, but eventually lost after a close race.  Bryce’s later years were marked by tragedy when his wife, Shirley, died in a auto accident in 1973 and from that time on Jelly Bryce had never been the same and constantly would worry that someone would take revenge on his only son for his (Bryce) work as a lawman.  Then on a Saturday, May 1974, Bryce appeared tired and worn out after a F.B.I gathering of veteran agents and he retired early in his hotel room, but the very next day several of his associates knocked on his door and no-one answered.  It was later discovered that D.A. “Jelly” Bryce died that very night in his sleep of a heart attack and was buried next to his wife.  The life of the F.B.I’s very first sharpshooter had finally ended...in peace.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON, LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER

  I remembered reading my daughter's English essay when she was in the 4th grade and I laughed how a 9-yr old child communicated about her feelings with the rest of the world.  Thirteen years later and on her 2nd quarter at Fresno City College, she handed me her first reading assignment to proofread and to be truthful...I was quite impressed by its quality content.  Of course, you might say..well..she's older now..duh!  Yes I know that..ok!!  But I was really amazed how her writing style have changed throughout the years showing evidence of her maturity level of life that I wanted to show-off to my fellow readers how much my little girl have grown not just by the normal wages of time, but by her understanding of the obligations that is required by a person to become a responsible parent, so here is my daughter's, Rosa T's story regarding  child-development titled-Like Father Like Son, Like Mother Like Daughter.

  How can parents provide enough discipline to their children, so that they can function properly in public as well as at home?  Every parent want their child to be happy, respectful and successful in return to be respected by others.  Nobody wants to raise a spoiled brat.  The parents play a major role in how their children manufacture themselves and the main responsibility as a parent is to teach their offsprings the appropriate attitude in life and avoid any misguided behavior that are either expected or shunned by today's society.  Children, who do not grow up with the understanding of self-respect, later turn to adolescents, who do not respect themselves and more than likely have the tendency to consume alcohol, experiment with drugs and have sexual relations before adulthood.   Their lack of self respect places them with a mind frame that they simply do not care for themselves or for anyone else for that matter where harmful judgements are frequently made or make satisfying choices that are only to their best self-interest.

  The benefit of teaching shows the values of self respect early in childhood that reaps their lives with much happiness, become more successful, have healthier relationships, become unselfish, considerate, generous and caring with respect and trust for their parents and other influential adults with honorable but reasonable boundaries that foster their positive development contrary to the assertion of their culture.  Folk phrases like "The apple does not fall far from the tree." "Like Father like son." "She lives up to the family name," which are either complimentary or not, sum up family characteristics that infer that parents are mainly to blame for how their kids turned out to be, but in general, they do tend to follow their tracks especially if the parent's behavior, may it be good or bad, is frequently conducted at the home, for instance, if the parent smoked, the child tends to be a smoker, if the parent uses drugs, the child will tend to use them also, if the parent consumes alcohol, that child will tend to drink or become a alcoholic, if the parent was a child abuser than that child will abuse their children as well and a parent, who shows low self-esteem, will have raise their child with the same affliction.  Children especially at a very young age have the tendency of mimicking their parent's behaviors and are sensitive with the uncanny ability to distinguish between adults, who only talk a good game and those who play the game by the rules.

Credible parents inspire a child's confidence and build a positive legacy for them to inherit by introducing them to family traits that are worth believing in and give them the admiration to continue building for the next generation to become.  Everything that surrounds a child's environment becomes a important factor on how they will become, for instance, a parent's happy married relationship gives that child a learning tool to build positive relationships between man and women, boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife where the term "love" has a true meaning and purpose for the benefit of our society as fellow human beings.  One idea that comes to mind in regards of handling today's child's harmful behavior or negative attitude toward world views is to stop with the everyday chores of your personal life for just a moment and have that child learn from the ground up the importance of appropriate behavior with prerequisites containing self-respect, high self-esteem, healthy habits and most importantly the possible achievement of accomplishing their dreams and goals, but this difficult task could only be done by a committing parent, who has the time and energy to engineer a well-planned directive or strategy that consistently encourages these healthy behaviors.

Now I am very much aware that even if a parent takes all the right steps, it does not guarantee that that child will bloom to be a perfect angel for they do face other obstacles in life, for example, peer pressure by their personal friends, boss, girlfriend etc, that influences bad behavior, but than that's where the parent should play a positive role and intervene  by giving them the special attention they need overcome by love, understanding and what a lot of parents overlook acceptance because sometimes we don't get what we ask for.  A child is not the only one who needs to learn and develop the concept behind human behavior.  Cooperation needs to come from both sides of the relationship...Like Father Like Son...Like Mother Like Daughter...a nourishing tool that comes along with the family package!


"Heh..Heh...that's my girl!"-cbj

COOL FLICS TO WATCH!

Now In Theater:
SPLIT-Movie Thriller starring James McAvoy
FOUNDER-True story regarding the McDonalds franchise starring Michael Keaton

Now on DVD and Blu-Ray
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS-Chic Flic
WAR ON EVERYONE-Dark humor starring Michael Pena

NIGHT CRAWLER

It was the middle of winter on a heavy foggy night with very little visibility on the road when I received the call, “2117, we have a report of a possible prowler at 1471 E. Kamm Avenue , R/p indicated hearing noises coming from the back shelter.”  I was a little confused at first because I had tried to picture the location in my mind, but all I could remember was a large orange orchard in that general area. As I approached the scene, I could see a small dirt road leading to a lonely farm house situated at the very end of the path surrounded by orange trees and almost completely secluded from the rest of the world.  The residence was pitch black as I exited my patrol car and I was surprised to see no signs of any large dogs lingering around as I pulled out my long flashlight from my back pocket and gently tapped on the front screen door.  After a few minutes passed with no response, I tapped again.  Finally someone slowly opened it, but it was so dark inside that I couldn’t quite see their faces.  “Good evening...did you called the Police?” I asked.  The person at the door did not answer me and because of the darkness I couldn’t tell if there was anyone still standing there or if they had just left the door opened for me to come in, so I became a little nervous and placed my hand on the butt of my handgun and even thought of backing away from the front doorway and just wait for my backup to arrive before I proceeded to go any further.  “There’s somebody back there.” said a female voice, “I could hear cans being moved around.”   “Do you have a shelter back there ma’am?” I asked.  “Yes...and it’s only me and my daughter here,” she replied. “We’ve been hearing those noises for awhile..and I store my food there.”  “Do you have any dogs back there?” I asked.  “We use to have a light brown labrador,” she replied, “But I haven’t seen her lately...she usually lets us know when someone's around.”

My partner, Devon Popovich, finally arrived and I quickly briefed him of the situation.  “Ok...let’s go check it out,” he said.  We noticed that the front door from the wood shelter was kicked in and there were cans of food on the floor along with several glass jars with their lids taken off.  I discovered a large muddy shoe print on the floor that led out toward the orange orchard. “She said she’s been hearing these noises for awhile.” I said.  “I wouldn’t be surprise if he lives somewhere out there.” replied Devon.  “In the orchard?” I asked.  “Where else,” he said, “There no houses anywhere near here.”  We entered the orchard with our weapons drawn and began searching from tree to tree using our flashlights.  The fog was so intense and it was almost visibly impossible to make out anything clearly and as we were about halfway inside the center core of the orchard village, Devon happened to come up with a clever idea, “Lets split up...it’ll be a lot quicker.”  “What!” I replied.  I suddenly started to remember about those dumb fools in those “Halloween” movies where they always made the same mistake by separating themselves and ended up getting whacked one by one by some crazy fucker with a sharp knife.  “Uh..uh...not this Mexican!” I thought.  At the time, Devon was looking inside a certain orange tree as I approached him from behind and he turned around all of sudden and nearly bumped right into me, which startled the hell out of him, ‘What the fuck...dude!”  he yelped.  “Hey man...just call me Scooby-Do.” I replied.  I was about to tell his ass off for separating us in the first place especially when the current situation was about looking for someone in a frickin foggy-ass orange orchard, but he motioned for me to be quiet and instructed me to take a look inside the same tree that he had just searched.  I thought he was going to follow me as I was about to go in, but I noticed the scared look on his face as he stood there watching everything else around him when I entered.  There was a small fire burning next to a small pile of dried up orange leaves and I noticed all the insides of the orange tree had been trimmed off and thoroughly cleaned out as if it was made for someone to live in it, which was supported by scattered women’s clothing on the ground that was either used as a bed or a blanket along with several opened cans of food, but what really concerned me was the next thing I saw hanging from the main branch of the orange tree...which was this!

This photo was taken the following morning

I now had a pretty good idea what had happened to the R/p’s brown pet, which by the looks of things, appeared to had been hanging there for quite awhile plus there was a small puddle of blood found underneath it that had dried up and soaked into the ground.  The poor thing looked more like a worn out coat than a once-alive animal, but what really spooked me, besides the lit fire, was the fact that there were no traces of the dog’s inner organs or intestines added immensely by the numerous and obvious signs of torture.  

We immediately called for more back-up and a thorough search of the premises was conducted, which ended up with negative results.  Upon hearing of our findings, the female and her daughter became extremely upset especially after learning what had happened to their pet labrador, so they quickly packed up their belongings as we stood by and they left their home alone for several weeks until they eventually sold it and moved to another state perhaps to be as far away from danger as they possibly could.  Not much came out from our incident and I’m not sure if the prowler or as I call him another fuckin "Michael Myers" was ever caught doing the same thing somewhere else although there had been no more similar reports to the one that we encountered.  Later in the years, I started to work for the detective division and I remembered passing through by that same ranch on my way to working a case and I noticed that all the orange trees around the farmhouse had been cut down.

“Well, it’ll be a lot more difficult for that maniac to sneak around this time.” I thought.  As my mind started to think about the poor dog, “I wonder if that crazy son-of-a-bitch had been watching that female and her daughter from afar as they slept comfortably in their own beds without any clue that they were actually being watched.” I asked myself, “Or I wonder if he was watching us from another orange tree as we were poking around inside his secret hide-place.”  Just the thought of it started to make the hairs in the back of neck to rise up. ”Or worse yet!” I thought, “I wonder what would of happened if by lucky chance I would of located him that night?” Could it of ended with him going down with a pocket full of bullet holes or could it been me hanging from that same orange tree next to that poor Lab...I shatter the thought!