>>Is there any way to stop the axis from rotating but allowing the object to translate or is there a trick to get around this.

Yes, use push and pop matrix for that, as well as return the original...

" YOU (firstPerson): Hi! I'm the sucker who's gonna help you cheat your
class! Here's the code including comments! Say hi to your teacher for
me ok? "

Hilarious. Ok, no more freebies. I thought...