November 25, 2006
H&I Fires, 25 Nov 2006
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
*****************************************
Things are more or less back to normal, with some improvements for readers (and yes, I know about the missing html buttons).
A good time was had with Thanksgiving with the family, and I'm pleased to see you all behaved yourselves and had a good time here, too. Except for that dammed brit cell phone spammer (my spam filter is still broken).
Today is Heavy Labor day at the Castle with the scheduled raising of the Garden Shed of Argghhh! This will require the Armorer to handle pointy-things, so who knows, we might have a bloody appendage picture for you...
Let's move on to something more important... Lizzie's Troop Batteries. Tissue alert.
Buck Sargent on "The Enemy of Good." H/t, Mike D.
Snerk - Jules on The Dowager of Doom - or, as his commenter Rebecca put it - Palestinian Medicare.
Okay, I'm off to annoy the neighbors with my hammer! -the Armorer
***********************
Okay, let's have a two-fer.
It's Saturday, hardly anyone visits anyway... except for you hard core types!
Okay - Whatziss? There are a few of you who have a real chance at this one.
Now, on this one, I'm just being flat mean.
Anyone who gets this one is a real geek brainiac when it comes to their militaria.
It *is* an ordnance item.
A little Gunner Zen.
6 inch coast defense gun. Anybody know where it's located?
» Righty in a Lefty State links with: The Cannon in Woodland Park
November 23, 2006
Well, you *can* comment.
And read the comments - but you have to hit the Permalink button at the bottom of the post. It's the pop-up window that's broken.
That is all.
Update by the guy who hasn't been sacked yet.
The pop-up commenty thingy is back working. It ain't as purdy as it once was, but it's functional. I'll get to dressing it up shortly.
Oh, the rememberer thingy that remembers your information is broked right now too but that my bloglets is also in the works.
Fall out, or something.
For all of you warriors away from home today... and those who await your return...
This may be from last year - but it doesn't look a whole lot different this year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
AR RAMADI, Iraq – 1st Sgt. Daniel Calderon, 1st. sergeant for Headquarters and Service Company, serves Marines during Thanksgiving here at the Hurricane Point chow hall Nov. 24.Photo by: Cpl. Shane Suzuki Submitting Unit: 2nd Marine Division
Photo Date:11/24/2005
Happy Thanksgiving, all.
From an email. H/t, Dave F.
All,This morning I went to my local US Post Office to mail 7 care packages to my son Daniel. (and his fellow Rangers)
While I was standing at the counter, talking to the Postal Clerk working on my packages, a man came over from another window after he was done with his transactions and asked if he could pick up the freight? I said "Sure" not fully understanding what was asked until a minute later and I told the gentlemen I had lots of packages and he didn't need to pay that much and I would split it with him. He insisted on paying the whole tab. ($70) and told me to send more next time. I thanked him and he told me to thank my son. I was overcome with emotion to say the least.
After the gentlemen paid and left, the Postal Clerk said "That was awful nice, do you know him."
I said "I have never seen him before in my life."
The postal clerk and I were both awe struck of the moment. We exchanged Happy Thanksgivings and shook hands then I left. I was overcome with emotion. I couldn't even look at anyone else in line because of my tears. I had to sit in my car to gather myself before I drove off. I watched this great American pull out of the post office in his Maroon PT Cruiser and drive off. I never even got as much as a first name or a license plate number.
We truly live in a great country with great people. Everyday people who understand the importance of thanking those who give of themselves for the greater good and wanting nothing in return.
I can't think of a better way to start my Thanksgiving holiday then to follow this man's example of a random act of kindness and be thankful for all that I have and share that with my fellow man.
I am thankful for so much and thankful that I have so many friends and family which I can share this great story.
Happy Thanksgiving
God Bless the average American
God Bless our troops
God Bless each one of you
God Bless America
Dan Alexander
Yes, things are still hosed.
The person who hired the person to do the update has been sacked. The person hired to replace the person hired to do the update has also been sacked. The person who sacked the person who hired the original person to do the update has also been sacked.
A wholly new person has been hired to do the update.
The creator of this post wishes you to know that he, too, has been sacked.
And the comments still don't work.
Except that they do, for some people.
Which is really very odd.
Those of you for whom the comments work - you're sacked.
That is all. Do have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Old soldiers, fading away.
Ry sent me an email stream. It starts with two lines.
89th Division Association from WWII is dissolving. The greatest generation is slipping away.
Ry added:
We can't let that go unnoticed can we? I'm going nuts trying to write the China sub thing, keep Al's kids in line over at GX40, and answering HE. Can't we tap someone else to do this? Pleeeeeeease? ry
I suppose we can't, Ry. But we'll take it as a *good* thing, in a bittersweet way.
The 89th Infantry Division, also known as the Rolling W and/or the Middle West Division, was raised at Camp Funston, Fort Riley, August 27, 1917, as a part of the National Army (the National Army was a distinct formation, raised for the purpose of the war, it essentially evolved after the war into the Army Reserve). The division was recruited in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri, and had a Donovan in it - my grandfather, a 2nd Lieutenant of Field Artillery. The Institute of Heraldry (the Army's official insignia designer) descriptions of the divisional patch aver that this patch designated the "Middle West" Division, as it can be read as an "M", turn it and it can be read as a "W". The description adds that the letter can also be read as a Greek sigma, the symbol of summation; and the circle implies the ability to exert force in any direction and to resist in any position. The unofficial explanation is that the "W" patch, created during World War I, pays tribute to the first three commanders of the 89th Division, Major Generals William Wright, Leonard Wood, and Frank Winn. Larry the Cable Guy stole the Division motto and southern-fried it... the motto is "Get it done! vice Larry's "Git 'er done!"
In World War I the division deployed to France in 1918, and received campaign credits for Lorraine, St. Mihiel and Meuse Argonne. (Say the last out loud - just where did the moose go?)
When the Army Reserve was created, the Division was reactivated as a component thereof in 1921. It was recalled to active service in 1942 at then-Camp Carson, Colo. - and designated as the 89th Light Division. As the Division trained and organized, doctrine changed as a result of war experience and the division was reorganized and re-designated as the 89th Infantry Division in 1944.
The Division landed in France at Le Havre on 21 January 1945, They spent several weeks in pre-combat training before moving into the line near Echternacht on 11 March. On 12 March the Rhineland offensive kicked off, and the 89th crossed the Sauer and thence to and across the Moselle River on 17 March. The Division crossed the Rhine on 26 March, between the towns of Kestert and Kaub. In April, the 89th attacked toward Eisenach taking the town on 6 April. The next objective was Friedrichroda, in the heart of much-ballyhooed National Redoubt in Thuringia. The city was secured by 8 April. The Division continued to move eastward toward the Mulde River, capturing Zwickau by the 17th of the month. The advance halted on 23 April, and from then until VE-day, the Division saw only limited action, engaging in patrolling and general security. With only 57 days in combat, the division got off comparatively lightly in WWII (though not for any of the casualties and their families, certainly).
Killed: 222
Wounded: 692
Missing: 91
Captured: 1
Battle Casualties: 1,006
Non-Battle Casualties: 1,074
Total Casualties: 2,080
Percent of T/O Strength: 14.6
Earning the following awards:
Legion of Merit: 5
Silver Star: 45
Soldiers Medal: 1
Bronze Star: 164
I would note things were different then. Now, there would be a lot more Bronze Stars (due to changes in how the medal is awarded (a policy under review, btw) and, of course, every LTC would have to have a Legion of Merit these days).
It was the Rhine crossing at Oberwesal where the 89th gave us one of the iconic pictures of World War II. The baby-faced Lieutenant up in the front of a landing craft, looking back at the soldiers in the boat.
Less well known is the picture of what he was looking at...
The Division reactivated in 1947 with headquarters in Wichita - They were re-designated the 89th Division (Training) in 1959 - and again re-designated the 89th United States Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) in 1973.
In 2003 all Regional Support Commands were re-designated to Regional Readiness Commands.
In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended to realign the Wichita US Army Reserve Center by disestablishing the 89th Regional Readiness Command. This recommendation was part of a larger recommendation to re-engineer and streamline the Command and Control structure of the Army Reserves that would create the Northwest Regional Readiness Command at Fort McCoy, WI.
I would note the Grand Army of the Republic no longer exists, either.
And the American Legion is actually struggling, in many areas, as is the VFW, though the GWOT will probably help in that regard.
Truth is, the Rolling W saw it's combat in WWI and II. And in WWII it was only 57 days of combat, with the highest award being some 45 Silver Stars.
And it hasn't seen action since. It hasn't been a true division since 1959, when it converted to a readiness command, and is going to dis-establish altogether as a result of the 2005 BRAC.
There simply isn't much of a binder anymore, as the last of the WWII veterans die out.
It's sad in a way, but it's also indicative, in the same way the passing of the GAR was, of the passing of an era.
Flip side, the societies of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 82nd, 101st Infantry, 1st Armored, and 1st Cavalry Divisions are all doing fine, as are the newly combat bonded elements of several National Guard divisional and brigade societies (which in some aspects is more important, as those guys are actually much more visible to the public eye and the bindings of their communities than the Regulars). But since we no longer have combat formations (except SOF) in the Reserve, and haven't had functional divisions (we've got some named such, but no *real* divisions) in the Reserve, this is not an unexpected outcome. In many ways, the Reserve is the bastard stepchild of the Army for good or ill.
Be wistful, not sad. It's combat that binds those associations - take solace in the fact that some of our old soldier's associations are fading away, and not growing strong with new blood.
In other words, today, be thankful that thus far, our wars since WWII have not taken an Army the size of the ones that fought WWI and WWII. Because in the final analysis, that's why the 89th Division Association is fading away. It's a Band of Brothers in a family that has not had to keep growing. In a very real sense, they did their job. And so, just as the Grand Army of the Republic is a memory marked by monuments and encampment medals for sale at militaria shows and antique shops, so to will the 89th Division hopefully never need to be resurrected and sent into battle for the Republic.
» Murdoc Online links with: Friday Linkzookery - 24 Nov 2006
November 22, 2006
Yes, yes, I know!
We're tinkering under the hood today.
So things look different.
And they might not work at times.
No worries - we're trying to clean things up so they look right in more browsers, so it loads faster, and stuff like that there.
So I don't need any more notes telling me it's all different, thanks!
November 21, 2006
H&I Fires, 21 Nov 2006
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
*****************************************
"Even though the court recognizes that it could have unfortunate consequences, they're saying that Congress controls this area," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.
I rather daresay *especially* a Republican-controlled Congress, in the opinion of this particular court. I guess they felt they could do that now that the Congress is safely in Democrat hands for the next two years.
Or izzat a libelous and defamatory statement?
To find out just what the heck this is about - go visit Jules and his post, "Free Speech, or a diaper for bloggers?" Hmmmm, do I detect a little MSM condescension there from the Big League Journo regarding us Bush-leaguers? /snark
************
For people who like to sue for open records, the ACLU has certainly gotten all interested in their own institutional privacy all of a sudden.
***********
CAPT H points us to Celestial Junk, who have a collection of videos from Dutch, Canadian, and Brit troops in Afstan. He points you in particular to video number two, apparently because there are some tanks or something in it from some collection of rowdies known as "Straths" and as CAPT H is somewhat inordinately fond of a unit known as Lord Strathcona's Horse, you might begin to understand his desire to pimp 'em... -the Armorer
*********************************
I was gonna mention this Navy Tempest, but I think Chap's got it covered pretty well over at Milblogs. -the Armorer
********************************
For those of you who detest Ann Coulter, skip this post. That said, I think this is the Quote of the Week:
"Six imams removed from a US Airways flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix are calling on Muslims to boycott the airline. If only we could get Muslims to boycott all airlines, we could dispense with airport security altogether."
Seems they were also chanting, "Allah! Allah!, Allah!" as they were boarding. Yeah, that would make me feel good as the Captain (as I reached for my FFDO sidearm).
Makes sense to me...heh. -Instapilot
********************************
Support and the Soul
Jules Crittenden's provocative column, "Quitting a Worthy Fight Would Be a Great Mistake," has created some interesting discussion on his blog. The issue of "supporting" the troops but not the war came up in the context of the reception Vietnam veterans received upon their return home.
When the U.S. military went into Afghanistan, I had a powerful personal reaction to thoughts of what was being done on my behalf. It was a reaction of overwhelming sorrow and humblest gratitude. At a level that was as yet inarticulate, I understood I was inextricably linked to what happened on the battlefield and that the aftermath of those events created in me and every other U.S. citizen a response born of moral obligation and a debt that would never be repaid. And so from that day I knew at a deeper level than ever that support for our military and its goals was my obligation now that the fighting had started.
But yesterday at Crittenden's blog, a commenter finally gave me words for what I knew in my heart five years ago. He articulated exactly why it's not only incorrect to say one can support the troops without supporting their goals, it's morally reprehensible.
I had first written in comments (in part):
...[Vietnam veteran] soldiers who came home and were told their service was either dishonorable or useless (due to us giving up) had a harder time coping with the psychological and physical aftermath of that service. Humans can bear an amazing amount of suffering if they believe it is a result of [in service of] something noble or admirable, but being told they suffer for nothing good can literally make it harder to cope.
The response from commenter NAMedic:
As a combat medic and Vietnam Veteran who is 100% disabled due to PTSD, I can confirm the general point you make. It was not until five or six years of therapy, peeling away all the layers of horror from the war, that the final root of my problems was revealed. The worst trauma was in coming home, by far, and by far it was the hardest to see, and the most painful to admit. [snip]A nation cannot ask normal human beings to engage in warfare unless that nation, top to bottom, validates what they have to do in such extremities. Normal human beings cannot remain psychologically whole, believing that their behavior was immoral - and all warfare is internally recognized by any soldier as profoundly immoral unless it is validated by a "higher power" outside the individual soldier.
Yes, it is our obligation to fight a wrong policy with every ounce of our strength before it is implemented, particularly when it involves issues of life and death. But war is a very special case, for so many lives hang in the physical and psychological balance. Once a war has begun, there can be only one course of action. To do otherwise than embrace the soldier for what he does for you is a kind of pernicious evil that takes the selfishness of one's natural desire to avoid the ugliness of this world to a new low [quote continued from above]:
This is also why the whole pose of "support the troops but oppose the war" is so insane and naive, if not deliberately and hypocritically self-serving. The "support" that counts, the only support that counts, is moral validation. If you oppose the war, you are withholding that very validation. You are destroying the soldier’s soul.
Yes, this is a democracy and you have every right to think your soldiers are on a fool's errand. But once it's been started, shut the hell up! Let them do what they must to win so that the duration is shorter and the suffering is less.
With the military power we possess, we have the capacity to win any conflict (it simply matters how much damage we want to inflict), so you cannot argue that a war we are engaged in is fundamentally unwinnable. It simply comes down to whether or not you want to pay the cost. If you don't, or you think that the prosecution of that war is a bad thing, then fine. But the only other option to winning is losing. So face up to it and admit that you want our soldiers to lose, you want them to believe they are doing immoral things for no moral reason, you want their death and suffering to be in vain, and that you are (in the words of someone who has "been there, done that") "destroying the soldier's soul."
Don't you dare stand there and clothe yourself in the rightousness of being "anti-war!" For your actions are not only prolonging the conflict and increasing physical suffering (on both sides), but they are robbing your fellow citizens of the healing they require for what they have done in your defense. And no, short of taking up citizenship in another country, you cannot repudiate their gift to you. It is always there, staring you in the face whether you pick it up or not. And frankly it's a defining moment for your philosophy and and relationship to humanity: are you going to pick it up and embrace the giver in sorrow and gratitude? Or are you going to try to simultaneously kick aside his gift as stupid at best and try to tell him that walking the darkness with the demons was wasted on you as you assure him you "support" him?
This is why what Code Pink did in the beginning months of their protest at Walter Reed ("Maimed for a Lie," etc.) was so evil. This is why military support volunteers do what they do. This is why a wounded senior NCO at WR once said to a friend of mine: If it wasn't for y'all [the volunteers here], half these boys would be suicidal.
War is not something that happens to others on a distant shore. It happens to all of us, and all of us have an impact on how it plays out and what happens to those most directly involved. What's your impact?
If you haven't yet, please read NAMedic's entire comment at Crittenden's; he has important things to say.
[A cross-post from Fuzzilicious Thinking, with the Armorer's permission]
[Say, rather, at the Armorer's urging... -the Armorer]
The Sunday Whatzis, revealed.
Confused? Click here.
That's a bullet for the Nordenfeldt 1-inch anti-torpedo boat gun. The Nordenfeldt guns were an early type of machine-gun. Like the Gatling gun, they used multiple barrels and mechanical power to operate. Unlike the Gatling, the didn't last very long in the grand scheme of things, much less enjoy a renaissance when someone realized what electricity might accomplish when applied to the concept.
Here's a group of Brit tars training with one (though no feed hopper has been loaded).
The Nordenfeldt guns were developed between 1873 and 1878 and were very popular in Europe, especially amongst the sailors. They generally had four barrels in line horizontally and were fed by gravity-feed hoppers. You can see them with 5 barrels or as few as two. One advantage the Nordenfeldts had over the Gatling was that the mechanism was much easier to get to for the purpose of clearing jams. Plus, if the jam was too complex and the situation dire, you could simply disconnect the barrel and keep firing with the remaining barrels. Unlike the Gatling, which used a rotating crank to cycle the gun, the Nordenfeldts used a lever that was moved back and forth. I've seen both a lever in the vertical plane, on the left side of the gun, or a handle that moved in the horizontal plane, on the right side of the gun. The sailor on the left right (sigh, I suppose, in the future, I'll just submit all posts to CAPT H for editing before publishing) in the picture has his hand on the lever for this particular gun. The cyclic rate of fire was about 350 rounds per minute.
Here we can see some more sailors getting it on for the camera. This gun has its feed-hopper mounted.
All that flailing about did affect accuracy a bit, but heck, they weren't used as sniper weapons.
The Brit National Maritime Museum has a wonderful copyright protected (way too expensive to buy permission to use) photo of a 1-inch Nordenfeldt anti-torpedo boat gun right here.
The Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds has a nice little four-barrel Nordenfeldt - which shows the lever nicely, too.
November 20, 2006
H&I Fires, 20 Nov 2006
Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.
You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...
*****************************************
63 years ago today - if there was any doubt in the mind of the Japanese about US resolve...
Tarawa ended it.
***********
Leaving aside the other aspects of this survey... look who's the weaseliest "journalist". H/t, Mike D.
Snerk! This isn't the post Jules shilled me for - but it's the one I like best: Botchulism.
That oughta get ya started. -the Armorer
**********************************
The Smink is getting married! "Sminklemeyer" of In Iraq for 365 is tying the knot. For those of us who followed his stories of Iraq and his struggle with the aftermath, this is a wonderful thing. I'll never forget him talking about how shallow the girls seemed when he got back. Sounds like he found a deep one. Congratulations!!! And do not miss the proprosal story--complete with pictures, of course. - FbL
**********************************
Ok, JimB has something in the H&I Fires for 20 NOV 2006 comments that is making me crazy. These people are organizing a GlobalOr&asm. Ok, on the face of this, it sounds good. But no…..it’s a peacenik thing. These people (granolas, as my sister calls them) aren’t going to be happy until normal people have nothing left. No firearms, no smoking, no transfats…….now they want to interfere with my or&asms! I will not think about World Peace and they can’t make me. First off, it’s just silly. An or&asm is explosive thing, not a peaceful meditative thing as Ms. Sheehan states. Second, I can’t think of anything that would kill the deal faster than thinking of a woman named Sheehan. As Bosquisucio says “Sorry folks, but if Mrs. Sheehan is in the middle of that pile, my missiles won’t **er** launch.” Next, if you are achieving this or&asm with the assistance/thought of a man who blows things up, shoots things, drops out of airplanes, chases bad guys across the water with a fast ship it probably negates the whole deal. Like marrying a democrat, you cancel each other out.
So instead, I propose “Or&asm for Victory Day”. On December 22, 2006, when all the smelly, long-haired, rope-smoking, Birkenstock-wearing, moonbats, John Kerry supporting hippies are having their peaceful, blank, meditative state………..I propose that you cause and/or share an or&asm with a sailor, soldier, airmen, marine or veteran of the U.S. Military. Their website focuses on fleet buildup in the Persian Gulf, so please pay special attention to sailors and marines. To be sure that you achieve the best possible or&asm, please practice as much as possible in anticipation of the big day. The organizers believe that their movement can have global consequences. I want global movement, as in earth-shaking!!!! – Princess Crabby.