Blog number 285 **** 23 February 2009
When I was in the Air Force, safety was of paramount importance. We had flight safety lectures once a week, squadron safety lectures once a month and base safety lectures once a year. Every Air Force magazine has articles on how to be safe. We even had an Air Force safety magazine that came out I think, once a month.
Smoking in bed was punishable by court martial because of the possibility of burning down a barracks, killing men. Venereal disease was punishable by court martial when I first went in, in 1949, as was sun burn severe enough to be hospitalized. We could not wear jewelry working around electricity. It was forbidden. Be safe Be safe Be safe.
I was so safety oriented by Air Force safety propaganda that I had a fear of drowning while scuba diving - not from the drowning itself, but from drowning because I didn't have a diving buddy - which I never had. I could imagine being ostracized, condemned, ridiculed, chewed out, all because I had broken an important safety rule and gotten myself killed. Shame shame shame.
With this personal background, it was with some uneasiness that I learned by watching a documentary that those men trying to make safe a live bomb during the war were not all volunteers, but had been assigned that job upon graduation form basic training.
"Congradulations, Private Loser. Your orders are for the First Bomb Disposal Squad now being formed at Swampville, La."
What brought this to my mind was reading today about WW I infantry attacks consisting of four waves. The first three waves were expected to be cut down by machine guns or mortars while the last wave was supposed to make it to the enemy, thanks to the sacrifice of the first waves.
Were safety lectures given to the men before they went over the top, do you suppose?
Nah.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
A DIFFERENT TIME*
Blog number 284 **** 22 February 2009
These vignettes also* come from a book called, Over There, by Byron Farwell. It's about WW I.
For those in France the YMCA published a pamphlet with such helpful French expressions as, "I should like very much to see the periscope of a submarine," "Do not stick your head above the trench," and "I have pawned my watch."
When the American military authorities demanded that French brothels be closed, the French chief of missions attached to the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) assured the Americans that unlicensed prostitutes would be relentlessly suppressed, but "a careful distinction must be made between professional debauchery and passing shortcomings and efforts must always tend to safeguard family honor." A young woman who wished to earn a few extra francs should not be exposed as a harlot by the forced issuance of a license.
* See Blog number 283 below.
These vignettes also* come from a book called, Over There, by Byron Farwell. It's about WW I.
For those in France the YMCA published a pamphlet with such helpful French expressions as, "I should like very much to see the periscope of a submarine," "Do not stick your head above the trench," and "I have pawned my watch."
When the American military authorities demanded that French brothels be closed, the French chief of missions attached to the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) assured the Americans that unlicensed prostitutes would be relentlessly suppressed, but "a careful distinction must be made between professional debauchery and passing shortcomings and efforts must always tend to safeguard family honor." A young woman who wished to earn a few extra francs should not be exposed as a harlot by the forced issuance of a license.
* See Blog number 283 below.
Friday, February 20, 2009
A DIFFERENT TIME
Blog number 283 **** 20 February 2009
These vignettes come from a book called, Over There, by Byron Farwell. It's about WW I.
Considering conscripts in the early nineteen hundreds in America; "It came as a surprise to army recreational directors that so many young men did not know how to play any game; some did not even understand the concept of play."
Can you imagine this? It must have been work work work from dawn to dusk for many men in America in those days. All work and no play - you know what they say.
American soldiers were sent to France to fight for France. Not only that, but America was charged for the transportation to get there aboard French and English troop ships.
"The French made an attempt to charge for every man sent to fight for them as if they were a prewar passenger on a liner instead of a human sardine on a troopship. When the Americans refused to be gouged the price was reduced from $150 per man to $81.75."
What chutzpah!
Captain George C, Marshall aboard the Tenadores "noticed that his lifeboat, if launched, would pass over a section of the lower deck quartering several hundred black stevedores who in an emergency were expected to use such rafts as might be found in the water. Marshall was not surprised when at the first submarine alert they swarmed onto the upper deck to commandeer lifeboats."
On board the President Grant, "the heads backed up and fresh water was in such short supply that unconscionable sailors sold it to the soldiers."
"The attempt at secrecy [concerning General Pershing's boarding of the liner Baltic in route to Europe] was a failure, much to General Pershing's annoyance. For two days boxes plainly marked "General Pershing's Headquarters" sat on Pier 60 in New York for all to see, and now, as they were leaving, an artillery salute was fired from Governor's Island."
Loose lips sink ships.
These vignettes come from a book called, Over There, by Byron Farwell. It's about WW I.
Considering conscripts in the early nineteen hundreds in America; "It came as a surprise to army recreational directors that so many young men did not know how to play any game; some did not even understand the concept of play."
Can you imagine this? It must have been work work work from dawn to dusk for many men in America in those days. All work and no play - you know what they say.
American soldiers were sent to France to fight for France. Not only that, but America was charged for the transportation to get there aboard French and English troop ships.
"The French made an attempt to charge for every man sent to fight for them as if they were a prewar passenger on a liner instead of a human sardine on a troopship. When the Americans refused to be gouged the price was reduced from $150 per man to $81.75."
What chutzpah!
Captain George C, Marshall aboard the Tenadores "noticed that his lifeboat, if launched, would pass over a section of the lower deck quartering several hundred black stevedores who in an emergency were expected to use such rafts as might be found in the water. Marshall was not surprised when at the first submarine alert they swarmed onto the upper deck to commandeer lifeboats."
On board the President Grant, "the heads backed up and fresh water was in such short supply that unconscionable sailors sold it to the soldiers."
"The attempt at secrecy [concerning General Pershing's boarding of the liner Baltic in route to Europe] was a failure, much to General Pershing's annoyance. For two days boxes plainly marked "General Pershing's Headquarters" sat on Pier 60 in New York for all to see, and now, as they were leaving, an artillery salute was fired from Governor's Island."
Loose lips sink ships.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
BON MOTS
Blog number 282 **** 19 February 2009
The ubiquitous Wallgreens, a drug store chain, won't accept our medical insurance for drugs, but Safeway, a grocery story, does.
Montana Senator Baucus was named "Wheat Leader of the Year." Now don't laugh. This is "the highest public service award in the wheat industry."
I looked through a UPI photo book yesterday. On two opposing pages were three photos. One was Princess Grace of Monoco, head slightly down, eyes staring up with what I perceived to be a very lustful look, at John F. Kennedy. Another was a photo of Pat Nixon winking at Nixon's vice president Spiro Agnew, behind Nixon's back. This one looked more like the two were sharing a humorous moment. The third was of President Carter sitting between his wife Rosalyn and Joan Kennedy. President Carter is holding Joan's hands, which are in her lap, and Rosalyn is staring at the three hands with a very disagreeable and suspicious face.
My favorite photo in the book is preceded by a photo of a Kamikazi airplane about to strike the side of a battle ship, hitting the ship on its most protected point - the thick steel band around its hull, missing several gun crews just above. The Kamikazi explodes and its machine gun is hurled into one of the battleship's five inch guns, impaling itself in the barrel of the five incher.
There is the photo - this stark gun barrel sticking up into the air, a machine gun barrel and breech sticking out of it, like a straw sticking out of a tree after a tornado.
That's all I got.
Sorry.
...not really.
The ubiquitous Wallgreens, a drug store chain, won't accept our medical insurance for drugs, but Safeway, a grocery story, does.
Montana Senator Baucus was named "Wheat Leader of the Year." Now don't laugh. This is "the highest public service award in the wheat industry."
I looked through a UPI photo book yesterday. On two opposing pages were three photos. One was Princess Grace of Monoco, head slightly down, eyes staring up with what I perceived to be a very lustful look, at John F. Kennedy. Another was a photo of Pat Nixon winking at Nixon's vice president Spiro Agnew, behind Nixon's back. This one looked more like the two were sharing a humorous moment. The third was of President Carter sitting between his wife Rosalyn and Joan Kennedy. President Carter is holding Joan's hands, which are in her lap, and Rosalyn is staring at the three hands with a very disagreeable and suspicious face.
My favorite photo in the book is preceded by a photo of a Kamikazi airplane about to strike the side of a battle ship, hitting the ship on its most protected point - the thick steel band around its hull, missing several gun crews just above. The Kamikazi explodes and its machine gun is hurled into one of the battleship's five inch guns, impaling itself in the barrel of the five incher.
There is the photo - this stark gun barrel sticking up into the air, a machine gun barrel and breech sticking out of it, like a straw sticking out of a tree after a tornado.
That's all I got.
Sorry.
...not really.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
IT'S RAINING MEN
Blog number 281 **** 17 February 2009
We went to Starbucks today. First time in several weeks. Met two Brits there. They were in Casa Grande for sky diving stuff. In November we met two German sky divers. Something about the air here that attracts them from all over the world. Weird, huh?
We had rain again last night. Been raining two or three times a week now for a few weeks. We have a rainy season in the fall and another one in the spring. Then a few rainy days in the "dry" season. Lots of rain falls in the desert. I can never get over that.
We went to Starbucks today. First time in several weeks. Met two Brits there. They were in Casa Grande for sky diving stuff. In November we met two German sky divers. Something about the air here that attracts them from all over the world. Weird, huh?
We had rain again last night. Been raining two or three times a week now for a few weeks. We have a rainy season in the fall and another one in the spring. Then a few rainy days in the "dry" season. Lots of rain falls in the desert. I can never get over that.
WELL, HE WAS JUST LUCKY, THAT'S ALL
Blog number 280 **** 17 February 2009
Charles Dickens wrote twenty books and none of them were ever out of print.
Charles Dickens wrote twenty books and none of them were ever out of print.
Monday, February 16, 2009
EXCITING TIMES
Blog number 279 **** 16 February 2009
I don't remember which book I got this from. I copied it onto a piece of paper, stuck it in my billfold and forgot it until yesterday when I went out from a restaurant to get my lost billfold out of the car and all my loose papers fell out and this was in there.
The above explanations reminds me of something else I read. It went; "Don't explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies don't care."
So ... the item I found yesterday when I went out to the car from the restaurant and it fell out of my billfold along with some other loose papers... "A large [Japanese] ammunition freighter got hit and exploded in a blinding flash. When the ship blew up, the pilot house was blown onto another ship, which exploded and the debris rained down on us almost a mile away from the blast."
I don't remember which book I got this from. I copied it onto a piece of paper, stuck it in my billfold and forgot it until yesterday when I went out from a restaurant to get my lost billfold out of the car and all my loose papers fell out and this was in there.
The above explanations reminds me of something else I read. It went; "Don't explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies don't care."
So ... the item I found yesterday when I went out to the car from the restaurant and it fell out of my billfold along with some other loose papers... "A large [Japanese] ammunition freighter got hit and exploded in a blinding flash. When the ship blew up, the pilot house was blown onto another ship, which exploded and the debris rained down on us almost a mile away from the blast."
Monday, February 9, 2009
THE BRAD CONNECTION
Blog number 278 **** 09 February 2009
We - my favorite wife and myself, went to see the movie, "Burn After Reading." I had read not too good a thing about Brad Pitt's acting in this, and my wife said he acted like a fool, but I got to tell you, I loved that character of his!
Every time he came on the screen I was especially happy to see him. Don't get me wrong, all the other characters were excellent, it was a well crafted funny movie, but for some reason I was really taken by Brad's (I call him "Brad") character. What a nut. He seemed to me, a real nut - like someone you might know that everyone makes fun of behind their back.
We - my favorite wife and myself, went to see the movie, "Burn After Reading." I had read not too good a thing about Brad Pitt's acting in this, and my wife said he acted like a fool, but I got to tell you, I loved that character of his!
Every time he came on the screen I was especially happy to see him. Don't get me wrong, all the other characters were excellent, it was a well crafted funny movie, but for some reason I was really taken by Brad's (I call him "Brad") character. What a nut. He seemed to me, a real nut - like someone you might know that everyone makes fun of behind their back.
KARMIC, I GUESS
Blog number 277 **** 09 February 2009
This marine who fought at Iwo Jima said, "And the Japanese seemed like they were never, ever taught not to say anything. Once they get captured, they just talk. They just talk, talk, talk. They'll tell you almost anything. And then you question them and they'll tell you about the tunnels and everything."
I think it is probably true that the Japanese soldiers and seamen were never taught not to talk when captured, because it was assumed that none of them ever would be captured, so why waste training time on nonsense?
This marine who fought at Iwo Jima said, "And the Japanese seemed like they were never, ever taught not to say anything. Once they get captured, they just talk. They just talk, talk, talk. They'll tell you almost anything. And then you question them and they'll tell you about the tunnels and everything."
I think it is probably true that the Japanese soldiers and seamen were never taught not to talk when captured, because it was assumed that none of them ever would be captured, so why waste training time on nonsense?
THIS IS NEWS TO MOI
Blog number 276 **** 09 February 2009
There were three shock waves from the Hiroshima weapon. The first one was a good jolt... There was, and I was quite aware of, a brilliance in the airplane ... simultaneously with that, I tasted it... I tasted that thing (the bomb) just as clear as could be.
- Colonel Paul W. Tibbets
[Pilot of the Enola Gay]
There were three shock waves from the Hiroshima weapon. The first one was a good jolt... There was, and I was quite aware of, a brilliance in the airplane ... simultaneously with that, I tasted it... I tasted that thing (the bomb) just as clear as could be.
- Colonel Paul W. Tibbets
[Pilot of the Enola Gay]
Monday, February 2, 2009
WAS ABU GHRAIB REALLY THAT MUCH OF A SURPRISE?
Blog number 274 **** 02 February 2009
A very interesting tome called, "A World At Arms" by Gerhard L. Weinberg delves into the discrete workings behind the machinations of the eventually warring peoples before and during WW II. One of the items it reveals was something that had only before been hinted at or mentioned in passing in other books about WW II.
With the cooperation of important segments of the SS and the MEDICAL profession, thousands of GERMANS were taken out of hospitals, mental institutions and old folks homes and transferred to what can only be called murder factories and killed and cremated there.
By August 1941, the "factory" at Hadamar held a special party for its employees to celebrate the cremation of the ten-thousandth body.
Germany is a Western culture, as is the American culture a Western culture. One should be very careful of just how "patriotic" one should be, shouldn't one, with a warning of hidden inclinations inherent in Western cultures such as was shown to us by the Nazis?
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