April 27, 2022

From FB:

“The 44th Foot fought in the First Anglo-Afghan War and the regiment formed the rearguard on the retreat from Kabul. After a continuous running battle in two feet of snow, the force had been reduced to fewer than forty men.

On 13 January 1842, the few survivors of the decimated regiment made a last stand against Afghan tribesmen on a rocky hill near the village of Gandamak. The ground was frozen and icy. The men had no shelter and were starving. Only a dozen of the men had working muskets, the officers their pistols and a few unbroken swords.

When the Afghans surrounded them on the morning of the 13th the Afghans announced that a surrender could be arranged. “Not bloody likely!” was the bellowed answer of one British sergeant. It is believed that only two survived the massacre.”

Vienna, Virginia (2013)

Rick Rescorla

From FB:

“Ia Drang was the Army’s first major battle in Vietnam, and one of its bloodiest. The battle claimed 305 American lives, soldiers who died in fierce combat with a North Vietnamese regiment that also took heavy losses. (1LT Rick ‘Hard Core’) Rescorla commanded 1st Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and was almost worshipped by his soldiers, who called themselves the ‘Hard Corps’ after his nickname. But his courage and infectious optimism resonated beyond those under his immediate command.

Payne remembers Rescorla ‘leaping off [a] chopper and strutting into our small very beat-up group of survivors’ during the night. After placing his men to fill the gaps in Payne’s line and pausing to speak quietly to each soldier, he walked toward Payne.

‘I was so amazed to see him walking around because we had all been crawling on our stomachs for eight hours,’ Payne said. Speaking in a low, confident voice, Rescorla complimented Payne on establishing good fields of fire.

‘Then he looked me in the eye and said, `When the sun comes up we are going to kick some ass.’

I will never forget his words or the look in his eye. He said it in a confident, matter-of-fact way. He was not boasting, it was resolve.'”

April 25, 2022

“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”

“No Country For Old Men”

“At the end of the ridge was a rockslide, a rough trail leading down. Candelilla and scrub catclaw. He sat in the rocks and steadied his elbows on his knees and scanned the country with the binoculars. A mile away on the floodplain sat three vehicles.

He lowered the binoculars and looked over the country at large. Then he raised them again.

There looked to be men lying on the ground. He jacked his boots into the rocks and adjusted the focus. The vehicles were four wheel drive trucks or Broncos with big all-terrain tires and winches and racks of rooflights.

The men appeared to be dead. He lowered the glasses. Then he raised them again. Then he lowered them and just sat there. Nothing moved. He sat there for a long time…”

The Golden Isles, Georgia (2016)

From FB:

“Spying on Jimmy in the front yard as he goes on his magical quest…”

April 23, 2022

“April 23rd is dedicated in England to the country’s patron saint, St. George, and is a remnant of an ancient festival of fertility, as well as a traditional day of parades of dragons and hobbyhorses. St. George is a version of the Greek chimera-slayer, Bellerophon, and the northern European hero, Sigurd the Dragonslayer – the Siegfried of Wagner’s opera.

Few facts are known about the actual St. George, other than he died a martyr’s death around 303 CE. He is thought to have been a soldier and visions of him during the First Crusade were reported as omens of victory, leading to his adoption as the patron saint of arms and chivalry.

The legend of St. George and the Dragon, in which the hero fights and kills a dragon to save the life of a princess (and to secure the conversion to Christianity of her father’s subjects) dates from the 12th century. Like other dragon legends before and since, it is an allegory of the triumph of good over evil, of light over darkness, or, in a pagan interpretation, of Spring over Winter.

In Bermuda, April 23 is Peppercorn Day on which the Masonic Lodge that occupies the Old State House on St. George Island must pay its annual rent of one peppercorn to the Governor. The ‘rent’ is collected with much pomp and circumstance in a traditional civic and military ceremony dating from 1816.”

Sterling, Virginia (2015)

St. Louis, Missouri (2010)

From FB:

“Allegorical stained glass window in the former Union Station train station. The figure on the far right represents New York City, while the figure on the far left represents San Francisco. Sitting beside them with the old Court House in the background is an allegorical figure representing St. Louis.

It’s sad to see what’s become of this place when right here is evidence of how they once viewed themselves in comparison to two truly great cities.”

Gone For Soldiers

From FB:

“Jackson reached General Scott and said, ‘Brevet Major Thomas J. Jackson, sir. Magruder’s battery.’

A silent moment passed. Scott suddenly dropped his hand, left Jackson’s hand in the air, said, ‘I don’t know if I will shake hands with Mr. Jackson.’

There was a quiet hush, and Lee leaned forward slightly, saw Jackson’s face, a look of embarrassed horror. Scott held the silence, waited, the dramatic pause, then said, ‘If you can forgive yourself for the way you slaughtered those poor Mexicans with your guns, I’m not sure that I can.’

Jackson glanced to the side, and Lee saw a look of quiet panic, but then Scott reached out, took Jackson’s hand, gave it a firm shake. There was laughter now, and the men close began to applaud. Lee watched Jackson’s face, saw his relief, the horror fading, the stare returning, Jackson’s eyes holding the calm blue light again.

The line moved again and Lee was smiling now, could feel Scott’s good humor infecting then all. He heard more laughter, the familiar sounds of the artillerymen, more teasing of Jackson. Lee couldn’t see them, his vision blocked by the line of men in front of him, but thought, ‘There is still something in the man’s eyes, something unsettling, something that says he NEEDS a war….’”