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Well, to be honest, I don't know. Maybe it's over, maybe it's not. And that's me being indecisive, oh well, gomen nasai!
The story feels done, extending it beyond the short lived revolt in California feels artificial. So for now, let's call it done. (But not done done. If you know what I mean. Sequels are always possible. Right now I kinda want to get back to World War II. Book Three as it were.)
Anyhoo, while looking at photographs with which to open the post, I entered "exhausted soldier" as my search term. One of the photos which popped up is that one above.
I see the photo I automatically think 1940, France. But I don't remember rain being mentioned during that campaign. (Not saying it didn't rain, but the guy in the foreground looks wet and miserable, along with being a POW. He's sitting on the back of a Pzkw III (which model I don't know). The caption at the source (under the photo) was way off.
Because there's another photo of that scene above. Look at the next photo, same guy in the flat helmet, but turns out, he's a Kiwi (New Zealander). The original Bundesarchiv caption says so. It also says that the photo was taken in Greece, which makes sense.
So the year is 1941 and that Kiwi has been captured by the Germans. Imagine how he must feel, he's already thousands of miles from home and he faces the prospect of being in a German POW camp for the foreseeable future. (Which we now know means the next four years.) Given German success up to that point, one could easily foresee a very long stint as a POW.
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I just started reading Masters of the Air by Donald L. Miller and it's pretty good. I'm not that far into it yet but I'm already disliking the Bomber Mafia. (I've always been a fighter guy.) It's not that they want to bomb the shit out of everything that moves and that they think "the bomber will always get through" and killing civilians will make them quit ...
Well yes, it is precisely that.
What's the Bomber Mafia you ask? Early advocates of airpower like Giulio Douhet, Billy Mitchell, Hugh Trenchard, Carl Spaatz, and others. All were early military air pioneers, but they thought the bomber was the centerpiece of an Air Force. And it is, it's been said that fighter pilots make headlines, bomber pilots (crews actually) make history. They didn't foresee a need for fighter aircraft, at least that's my take.
As always the reality is much more complex. Balance is essential in most things, airpower is no different.
I wonder how they would have felt about drones, which are being used to great effect in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As of today, I have 94 days until I retire. That's calendar days, work days account for about 54% of that. Time at the paying gig is winding down. (Maybe then I'll get my ass in gear and publish Almost a Lifetime.)
Ciao.
I have sometimes wondered how the author decides that this point, right here, is the end of the story.....for now. I enjoyed the read very much and look forward to the next adventure.
ReplyDeleteThe bomber people were sincere and very very detached from reality. I think LeMay was the only one that flew the missions into the fire while the rest had survived WWI and led from their desks and I have never been able to rectify how the massive deliberate massacre of civilians is the goal of one force in war and that the accidental killing of even one innocent civilian will see any soldier or Marine up on charges and found guilty at court martial. On the other hand all European powers had accepted it as their right to go in an subdue any city with naval gunfire right up until 1916 or so.
I would venture a guess that 75% (at least) of the world's problems are caused by sincere people detached from reality.
Delete75%? Doesn't a figure that size make whatever it is "normal"?
DeleteSure seems that way.
DeleteMy wife says that one of the most damning phrases in the English language is, "He means well."
DeleteC.S. Lewis wrote, "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals." (God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology))
Re "omnipotent moral busybodies" - lot of that going around lately.
DeleteBut I think many, if not most of the moral busybodies are faking it- they're really just in it for the power and graft.
DeleteNo doubt!
DeleteComing late to the party; but glad to see the Lewis quote for it is one of the most apt ever.
DeleteBoat Guy
Yup, and it fits our times to a T, sadly enough.
DeleteA little over three months.......Christmas season Sarge! Hoping there'll be a dead tree version of Almost A Lifetime........ :)
ReplyDeleteI hope so too!
Delete"Bomb the h*ll out of the enemy to make them give up" - paraphrasing Arthur "Bomber" Harris (CIC RAF bomber command 1942-45). Controversial then, still so now, depending on what one reads. Ultimately - seems that if it's truly war then do everything to make the other side quit.
ReplyDeleteIf the aggressor does everything to make the other side quit, it's a war crime (well, waging a war of aggression is :illegal" innit?). If the defender does it?
DeleteThe best way, in my book, to make the other side quit is to "render them incapable of further resistance." That's in quotes because that's the really, really, hard part and should be somewhat obvious.
Tough questions indeed.
Seems to me that "illegal" & "war crimes" are things the victor brings out to further punish the loser in our modern times. I read a thing, Julius Caesar had a town to surrender to him, he then sold the 50k inhabitants in that city to a slave trader. That took care of that, no need for punishment as the losers were now property.
DeleteWe have war crimes instead.
This is a common misconception. The Geneva and Hague Conventions, which have been modified and added to since the 19th Century all codify what is "legal" and what is "illegal" in terms of conduct during wartime. These things are spelled out in international law, it isn't something the victor decides. No one can disagree that the Germans and the Japanese did some pretty heinous things between 1937 and 1945. Sure the Allies did as well, but nothing on the scale of the Holocaust or the Rape of Nanjing.
DeleteYes, the loser tends to get punished by the victor. Fortunately the loser has typically been the aggressor in the first place during the major wars of the 20th Century. So punishment well-deserved in most cases.
All of this making of laws governing armed conflict really didn't start until after the Battle of Solferino in 1859. An eyewitness noticed the horrible suffering of the wounded in the aftermath of that battle. Conventions were established governing treatment of the wounded and of POWs. As politicians and diplomats can't really stop once they've started on a quest, many more things were established as to what was lawful and what wasn't. Really the goal was to protect non-combatants, the wounded and POWs were considered non-combatants after their wounding/capture.
As to what happened in "classical" times, things were more tribal, more dog-eat-dog in those days. That feeling hasn't completely gone away. Witness the Morgenthau Plan which called for dividing post-war Germany into a bunch of small, primarily agricultural, states. Not quite selling the population into slavery, but damned near.
Wow, I could do a whole post on this. I think I'll stop here for now.
A thought-provoking comment Rob. You and Joe are keeping me on my toes today!
If the Germans & Japanese had won "war crimes" would be nonexistent.
DeleteSo would most of us.
DeleteWhen you think historians claim we went nuts over the germans launching unrestricted uboat warfare and our response was to fire bomb their cities into ashes....
DeleteA lot changed between WWI and WWII. Always remember, politicians have the attention span of a squirrel.
DeleteThanks for the wonderful story telling. It is a sign of a good work when you want more when it's done.
ReplyDeleteIt is a Bad sign when you think "That went on too long". So as a fan and reader I can wish for more and appreciate that I might not appreciate it when I's gets what I wants.
When the Current gig is retired you may find that all that free time is still elusive (My experience anyway).
Please be kind enough to let us know when the WWII book drops, I for one am Interested...
(Voiced in my best Stalag 13 German American: "Berry Berry In Ta Resting")
MSG Grumpy
People keep telling me how busy I'm going to be in retirement, one of my goals is to make writing a professional thing, i.e. make money from it. If I can do that, The Missus Herself will no doubt let me slide in other areas. I hope.
DeleteYou sound like a person who stays busy, retired just gives you the option to pick where your time goes. Writing fiction or pulling weeds or watching every cat video on Youtube...it's a personal choice.
DeleteI do stay busy, not productive mind you, just busy.
DeleteWith apologies, "The Musing finger writes, and having writ, moves on." The only novels I've read that wrap up everything in a nice, tidy package have been so-so at best. The good ones leave some questions unanswered, or, if you prefere, some avenues unexplored.
ReplyDeleteThe DC situation and the Sivers - I have some questions there about who was behind them and who was secretly with them. The situation with China, India, and the Philippines could be explored more, but why? As a Californian I'd like to know what happened to the female member of the Legislature who tripped while running. Also, how was that whole situation fully resolved. But my world won't end if not of those are fully resolved in my peabrain.
Bomber Command....There's a fine kettle of drummers to march to. Until very recently the idea of war was to eliminate or enslave as much of the enemy population as possible, not just the military. Men who grew up on "the classics," tales of the Greek and Roman heroes and conquests were used to that idea. Also, bombing of civilian areas was, with a few notable exceptions, to take out the industrial capability of the enemy, not to kill for the sake of killing. I can't fault them too much for holding on to the idea that bombers bristling with heavy machine guns, and massed together should be able to fend off tiny fighters with a pair of pop-gun, rifle caliber machine guns. They had, for the most part, flown "kites" in The War To End All War and knew how slow and fragile fighters were.
Ah, we always have questions, don't we?
DeleteYour thoughts on Bomber Command are interesting. Also the idea of how things were in "classical times." Much to think about.
Thank you! High praise, that.
DeleteI may be full of 狗屎 (gǒushǐ) on that, as opposed to full of gioza, but it sounds reasonable to me.
Reasonable indeed.
DeleteI'm more interested in your WWIII history; I'd like to see how that turns out.
ReplyDeleteWWIII? Who knows, I might chase that at some time in the future. That topic has tempted me for quite some time, as abhorrent as the actual event would prove, it would make an interesting story. (It would be a really short book if it went full nuclear at the beginning.)
DeleteThis last story ended with the world players (China, India, The US...) in interesting positions, be neat to see what the muse might do with that world.
DeleteMy thoughts exactly.
DeleteBoron....Spoiler Alert re WWII....the Allies won!
Delete(sorry, sorry. I could only resist for so long.)
He said WWIII, not WWII.
DeleteHow do authors know when they are done? I think it is more of sense than a clear decision.
ReplyDeleteWriting is, ultimately, story telling in a written form. And stories have a beginning ("Once upon a time"), a middle (everything that happens in between), and an end ("And they lived happily ever after"). It is no different from our lives in the various facts really: we have trajectories that start, continue, and then end. When the story is done, it is over.
Where a lot of authors get themselves into trouble is not knowing what that story is and so not knowing the end, or because of greed deciding they need to keep telling the story. Sometimes that works, but not very often. To my mind, the very best stories are those that have an ending, but leave us wishing there was just one more book.
Congratulations on the countdown Sarge!
Knowing when to stop writing is nearly as important as knowing when to stop talking.
DeleteAh, WWII bombers. By the end of the war, single engine bomb-carrying aircraft had roughly the same bomb-load as the heavy bombers, and were faster. Imagine if Great Britain had concentrated on Mosquitoes instead of all the heavy bombers. Less crew, less engines, same bomb load and far faster. And we could have done the same, as the lowly A1 'Spad' was a late war airplane. Or a 2 seat bomber version of the P-47 or F-82 or such.
ReplyDeleteAs to War, the only rule is to fight to win, no matter what. Hague conventions? Geneva Conventions? The League of Nations or the UN? Fugedaboutit. Win. Win so horribly that anyone thinking of doing it again to the victor gets pimp-slapped by all the ghosts of their ancestors.
I mean, yeah, there are rules of war, always has been. Like the Medieval European rules of war. 1. No fighting on Sunday and Wednesday. 2. You don't target the peasant or serf population because if you win you'll have them working for you. 3. No fighting during planting or harvest season, because if you do, ain't no food. 4. The Rule of the Siege (3 parts) A: Pull up to a fortified place, call for surrender, little damage done. B: If they resist, pop a hole in the wall and then call for surrender, some looting and pillaging if the place doesn't cough up treasure. C: If they still resist, kill them all, God will know his own. These worked for all medieval wars, including the Crusades. It's the reason the Sack of Jerusalem occurred (see Rule 4 C.)
But past the medieval period? Rules got closer and closer to win at all costs. Actually all wars break down to that, win at all costs. Do what you have to do to come out on top. Anything else is holding one or two hands behind your back.
Sigh. If only things were 'clean' and 'only the warriors and leaders pay' yada yada yada. Pure pipe dreams. The Civilians have always paid the costs of war, either by being raped, slaughtered, enslaved, impoverished. War has never been clean. Bullies in the school yard beating up nerds have more constraints on their behavior (or used to be) than war.
The idea of RAF Bomber Command using a preponderance of Mosquitos was mooted by a middle ranking RAF officer in 1942 (I can't remember where it was posted but it was an idea that didn't see the light of day) The reasons were economic, the Mosquito could be mass produced using locally available wood and only needed two crew and two merlin engines, as you say it delivered a hefty bomb load over a long distance and was virtually immune to interception.
DeleteThe thing was 'Bomber Harris' had a lot of influence over Churchill and Churchill needed to show the British public that offensive action was being taken against Germany. The trouble was that equipping and manning Bomber Command took up a disproportionate amount of the British war effort. Churchill's main scientific advisor, Lord Cherwell was adamant that a strategy of 'de-housing' the German population would work. It didn't. Both population and industry proved more resilient than previously thought. Harris also fought tooth and nail against the use of Bomber Command on what he called 'panacea targets' i.e. transport, oil etc.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing however.
Retired
Beans - No, it's never been clean. But rules are necessary in order to severely punish the barbarians at the end of the war. Legally.
DeleteRetired - Oh yes, Air Marshal Harris had a lot of influence. Also, the Mossie was "immune" to interception in its reconnaissance version. Loaded with bombs would've slowed the Wooden Wonder down. Besides, AAA doesn't need to chase you, you have to fly through it to get to the target.
DeleteBut oh yes, what a magnificent aircraft.
Beans, as far as I know, no single-engine aircraft in World War II ever managed to approach the bomb-load of an Avro Lancaster, some 4,000 to 22,000 pounds.
DeleteThe Mossie could carry 4,000 lbs of bombs. Not sure what that did to its performance. (Mossie is twin engined BTW)
DeleteThe "No need for fighter aircraft" myopia sounds similar to the thought back in the 80s/90s that we didn't need carriers- long-range USAF strike aircraft could handle the load. But that would require massively more tanker support, overflight rights, or friendly countries to land in- never a guarantee. As for Uprising, it's been a compelling read, but I could have used a "hover-over" capability where I could have had a pop-up explaining who this or that character was. But that's just me- I have poor recall ability when I don't have a book in front of me to flip back pages.
ReplyDeleteI know your pain, which is why I have a Word copy for reference. 😁
DeleteSarge, maybe a character thesaurus at the beginning or end. Look up Joe Bagodonuts and get a short synopsis, what side they’re on. Unit, personality, etc. Granted, I could only read a short passage each day and maybe reading the entire novel in a couple of days would allay the problem, but I had similar issues as Tuna. But…You’re the author, and I’m going to buy the book. So as they say “Git ‘er done!”
Deletejuvat
I like the character sketch idea, I just might do that.
Delete(Promises, promises ...)
Finis at this point would be acceptable, with a fine story told. There are endless variables and possibilities, but you don't want to spend the rest of your life combating dystopian fantasies in the name of Truth, Justice and the American way. This was a great story, but so were your WW2 and frontier tales.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to 20 December! You've earned it.
JB
I look forward to it more and more as each day passes.
DeleteAnticipated congratulations, Sarge. But it will be a bittersweet day, like when the Queen Mary docked at Long Beach and the engine room telegraph moved for the last time to "Finished With Engines".
DeleteYes and no. I'm not tying up to the pier, just moving on to a new adventure.
DeleteThe RAF famously moved Australia several thousand miles to further their claim that land based air power could replace aircraft carriers. They won. The CVA 01 project was cancelled.
DeleteRetired
That's funny in some ways, sad in others.
DeleteHey Old AFSarge,
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't picked a publishing house yet for your upcoming novel, I would suggest the "Raconteur Press", It is "Lawdog's" venture, a small publishing house that gives independents a shot at getting published. Just a thought.
Got any good contacts over there, MrG? I've given them a thought.
DeleteOldNFO publishes out of there and he posts here. And Lawdog's website gives you a link to them. Lawdog himself might be interested to guide you.
DeleteWe'll see, all of that still takes time and effort, which I don't have right now.
DeleteAgain, late to the party, but you'd be in good company there, Sarge. I recommend looking into whoever Peter at Bayou Renaissance Man uses. I have purchased several of his "Ames Archive" books.
ReplyDeleteBoat Guy
Peter is a very good writer.
Delete