Fort Benning, Georgia (1994)

From FB:

“Surreptitiously tucked in the corner listening to my cassette of ‘Jar of Flies”‘towards the end of AIT right before Airborne school.”

Walpurgisnacht

From FB:

“The eve of May Day, April 30th, is a time when witches were believed to fly abroad. In Germany it is known as Walpurgisnacht after the pagan fertility goddess Walpurga.

A goddess of beauty, warmth, fertility, the renewal of life, and grain, Walpurga was once the focus of rituals intended to defeat the forces of Winter and permit the emergence of Summer. For nine days before May Day, the Wild Hunt (traditionally most active in cold weather) pursues Walpurga. She is their quarry. If they can capture her, they can prolong Winter, prevent Summer, and keep riding all night.

May Eve is Walpurga’s night. If she can survive this night, then Summer’s arrival is ensured. Meanwhile, the Wild Hunters intensify their pursuit in one last-ditch attempt to maintain their power.

Under Christian influence, Walpurga’s Night transformed into a time to banish forces of Paganism. Eventually, it was remade as a holiday honoring a saint (the English nun Saint Walpurgis, abbess of Heidenheim in the 8th Century).

In Germany, witches are said to gather this evening on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. There they carouse with the Devil until midnight when the Queen of May appears to oust the Hag of Winter. In Ireland and Scotland, bonfires were lit on this night and cattle driven between the flames to protect them from witchcraft and other undesirable influences.

From Bram Stoker’s short story, “Dracula’s Guest,” an Englishman (whose name is never mentioned) is on a visit to Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night, and in spite of the hotelier’s warning not to be late coming back, the young man later leaves his carriage and wanders toward the direction of an abandoned “unholy” village. As the carriage departs with the frightened and superstitious driver, a tall and thin stranger scares the horses at the crest of a hill.

Today is also the birthday of Willie Nelson (87) and was the day in 1900 when Casey Jones, an engineer with the Illinois Central railroad, died in a famous train crash in Vaughan, Mississippi after having forfeited his chance to jump in order to stay at the controls.”

The Retreat From Kabul

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.”

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.'”

“Like A Hero Going Home”

From FB:

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”

– Attributed to Tecumseh

St. George’s Day

From FB:

“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.”

José Rizal

“I don’t see why I should bow my head when I could hold it high, or place it in the hands of my enemies when I can defeat them.”

Old Blue Light

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….’”

– “Gone For Soldiers”

You Alone Of All The Nation

“Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. And it is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catch-phrases of politicians.

Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t.

You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may.

If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country – hold up your head! You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

– Samuel Clemens

April 19, 2023

As a kid, I wanted to be Colossus.