My daughters are having a New Years Eve party, and they've invited several of their little friends. The Hooples have a New Years Eve party family tradition that is 40 years old. It began when my Dad was stationed in Jacksonville, NC after fighting in Vietnam. He invited several of his officer buddies over because he didn't want them out on the road late at night with amateur drunks and crooked North Carolina cops on the road. Anyway, after 1970 rang in, Dad and his Commanding officer had the bright idea of shooting flares at the house across the street, where another officer in his unit lived (a real *******). You haven't had fun until you've been out shooting flares at houses, with a bunch of drunken Marines just home from Vietnam.
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