The Holiday Season

(Source)

It's a time of year when we should appreciate all that we have. I know, Thanksgiving was last month, but seriously, is that the only time of year you are thankful for your family, your friends, and all you hold dear? I think not.

I saw something on the Book of Face the other day which set me to cogitating, never something to be approached lightly. Makes my head hurt it does. But regardless, I pressed on and let those remaining brain cells do their thing.

First of all, while many of us will be with family or friends to celebrate the birth of our Savior this Friday, and that is what we're celebrating, n'est-ce pas, there will be those who are alone, those missing a loved one who is gone, those who are far from home, and many who find the Christmas season depressing, for one reason or another.

Well, I feel bad for those folks, I will pray for those folks, but that's not what this post is about.

Now remember, before I go much further, I served 24 years in the Air Force, over half of that time overseas, but, with one notable exception (which I wrote about here), I was with my immediate family, starting with a wife. Then a wife and a son, then a daughter, then another daughter, then we added a couple of felines (in Germany). So while I was away from home, my ancestral home, and was missed dearly by my Mom, Dad, maternal grandmother, and two brothers (well, okay, I'm not sure how much they missed me, after all, with me overseas, they would be getting more attention, neh? Yeah, I'm sure they missed me, in a brotherly kind of way, but it's not the same as a parent or grandparent missing someone at the Christmas feast, I've been there, done that, on both sides of the equation), I was still spending the holidays with family. Just not all of them.

There are those in the military this season who will be miles, sometimes thousands of miles, from their families. Now for the single folk, it's different. When you're in a good outfit, the guys and gals you serve with become your family. You sweat with them, you eat with them, you sleep with them (not in that way you prurient types) and sometimes, yeah, you bleed with them. So while you miss mom and dad, the grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and the siblings, it's different from the married folk. Odds are, the single kids will figure out a way to enjoy the season. They're with their buddies. That phrase "band of brothers" isn't just a saying, it's real in many, many ways.

Now the married folks, if they're serving an unaccompanied tour (that is, someplace remote where you can't bring your family) have a much tougher row to hoe. Their spouse and kids (if they have any) are not there. While they are serving within that "band of brothers" and won't be completely alone, there is a special pain in being separated from the wife/husband and the bairns. Even the toughest troop will shed a tear or two while thinking of a loved one so far away. Don't get me started on how the kids feel when Mom or Dad are deployed. There is a certain age where they don't really understand. They get the concept of Mom or Dad having to "go to work" for long periods away from home, but it's tough when little Billy down the street always has both parents at home.

Military kids are tough, for the most part they learn to deal with it, but being "used to it" doesn't make it any easier.

There's another group of people, not in the military, who might be in town for the holidays, maybe even at home for part of the holiday. Sometimes they're in the same town or city as their loved ones for the holiday, but they're not at home. They're working.

I was struck by that thought on Thanksgiving Day. The womenfolk of the tribe discovered that we were missing some common, but necessary, element for the feast. Sure we could make do without it, but it would be "not as good." So I was dispatched to fetch that needed ingredient and The Sea-lawyer came with me. As we headed out of the house we heard the plaintive cry, "Oh yeah, whipped cream, we need whipped cream for the pie!" So now our mission was two-fold. That key ingredient (which the nature of escapes me) and whipped cream.

So we headed a quarter-mile down the hill to the Shell gas station. There is a mini-mart therein where folks may obtain any number of needful things. That mystery ingredient being one, whipped cream (I thought) being another. Yes, I have to say I panicked a bit until I saw one last can of Reddi-Whip (okay, not the finest of whipped creams but better than no whipped cream). Quickly I glanced about, ready to hip check, body check or otherwise impede any other customers from grabbing that last can. No one was near, I dashed over to the cooler, grabbed it, and did a little victory dance. Luckily no one was watching.

As I paid for the stuff (The Sea-lawyer had found the mystery ingredient, nope I still can't remember what it was, it'll come to me, five minutes after this post hits the inter-webs no doubt), I happened to realize that the kid behind the counter was working. On a holiday.

He was not home with his family. He was gainfully employed and providing a necessary service. Stuff needed by the forgetful (that would be me) and probably fuel for those driving to and fro on family type holiday outings.

So I thanked him for being there. For working on a holiday.

He was a bit nonplussed when I did that. Then he saw my hat (the one with "USAF" seemingly all over it, see below) and his eyes lit up. I said that I was very appreciative of the folks who worked the holidays (for whatever reason, be in monetary, be it lack of seniority, what-have-you), because they are the ones who keep society working. We can't all just knock off for a few days and trust that we have everything we need ready to hand. He smiled, we shook hands and he thanked me for my service. A classy gesture on his part. Another one of those good kids you usually never hear about.

Okay, it doesn't have "USAF" all over it,
but over most of the front anyway...

So this holiday season, remember the working folk, those far from home, perhaps those just down the street. The cops, the firefighters, the ambulance crews, the airline crews, the long-haul truckers, the train crews, the folks manning the innumerable gas stations, Kwiki Marts, truck stops, and the like. The doctors, the nurses, the hospital techs, the nursing home attendants, and others involved in tending to the sick and the elderly.

Perhaps you've "been there, done that." Wouldn't it have been nice if someone thanked you for that? It doesn't need to be a big deal, yeah, some folks will be pricks about it, but you don't have to be. After all, a favorite coach of mine in these parts is fond of telling people to "just do your job."

These folks are doing precisely that. They make society work, they make life better for the rest of us. After all, there is a lot of truth to that old saying, "Somebody's got to mind the store..."

Give thanks for what you've got and for what others provide. Anyhoo, that's how I feel about it.

The universe is so vast and ageless that the life of one man can only be measured by the size of his sacrifice.*

A couple of months ago, I happened to have some time to tour the parade ground at Lackland AFB and came across a monument honoring the Air Force (and its predecessor organizations) Medal of Honor recipients.  There are 60 and while I had a fair knowledge of some of them, I realized that I didn’t even recognizing recognize some of the names.  I resolved to rectify that lack of knowledge. This post will be the third in this series.

SSgt Henry E. Erwin, “Red” to his friends, was born in Alabama in 1921.  When his father suddenly passed away, he dropped out of school to work in a steel mill to feed his family.  When the war came, he went to train as a pilot, but eventually washed out.  He then was selected for Radio Operator school and did so well that he was offered a commission.  He turned that down believing that WWII would be over before he could join the fight.

Now, I realize that in this day and age of microaggressions and safe spaces, this kind of man might be threatening to some, so if anyone reading this falls into that category, please excuse yourself and leave. As I finished reading this section of his bio, I respected him already.  

He made it to the war, flying missions as a radio operator on B-29s.  The Air Force at this point was flying fire bombing missions over Japan.  

This required the B-29s to fly at relatively low level where AAA and enemy fighters would be most effective. 

 On April 12th 1945,  SSgt Erwin’s crew were in the lead bomber.  That bomber, and its Radio Operator, had an additional duty.  They were to drop phosphorus grenades to signal attacking aircraft when the lead plane was in a designated assembly area. 

From SSgt Erwin’s Citation.

"He was the radio operator of a B-29 airplane leading a group formation to attack Koriyama, Japan. He was charged with the additional duty of dropping phosphoresce smoke bombs to aid in assembling the group when the launching point was reached. Upon entering the assembly area, aircraft fire and enemy fighter opposition was encountered. Among the phosphoresce bombs launched by S/Sgt. Erwin, 1 proved faulty, exploding in the launching chute, and shot back into the interior of the aircraft, striking him in the face. The burning phosphoresce obliterated his nose and completely blinded him. Smoke filled the plane, obscuring the vision of the pilot. S/Sgt. Erwin realized that the aircraft and crew would be lost if the burning bomb remained in the plane. Without regard for his own safety, he picked it up and feeling his way, instinctively, crawled around the gun turret and headed for the copilot's window. He found the navigator's table obstructing his passage. Grasping the burning bomb between his forearm and body, he unleashed the spring lock and raised the table. Struggling through the narrow passage he stumbled forward into the smoke-filled pilot's compartment. Groping with his burning hands, he located the window and threw the bomb out. Completely aflame, he fell back upon the floor. The smoke cleared, the pilot, at 300 feet, pulled the plane out of its dive. S/Sgt. Erwin's gallantry and heroism above and beyond the call of duty saved the lives of his comrades."

OK, He’s in his compartment which apparently is 2 compartments back from the cockpit.  He’s got a burning incendiary device, which burns between 1000 and 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, on the floor of his compartment.  

He’s blinded by the explosion and smoke is so thick that the pilot, two compartments forward, can’t see the instrument panel to fly the airplane.  He picks up the device and carries it into the Navigator compartment, but can’t get through, so puts the burning device under his arm and clears the obstruction.  Once cleared, he continues forward into the cockpit and feels his way to the window, opens it and throws the device out.  The pilot is then able to recover the aircraft from the dive at 300’ ASL, so all this was done while the aircraft was out of control.

Because Phosphorus burns when in contact with Oxygen, SSgt Erwin is still on fire when he collapses in the cockpit.  Other crewmembers put the fire out by wrapping him in clothing, but anytime SSgt Erwin became uncovered, the fire restarted. 

The Aircraft diverted to an emergency field on Iwo Jima which had been taken by the Marines only a couple of weeks prior.  SSgt Erwin is conscious for the entire flight.  Once on the ground, medics begin to treat him but believe his injuries are too severe to survive. 

Believing the SSgt is not long for this mortal coil, General LeMay approves the Medal of Honor.  According to this source, the only actual Medal of Honor, in the Pacific was on display at Hickam AB Hawaii.  Lemay dispatches an aircraft to retrieve it.  However, the display is locked and no one can be found to unlock it.  Aircrew being Aircrew, and LeMay being LeMay, the Aircrew breaks into the display, grabs the Medal and returns to Guam.

SSgt Erwin is presented the Medal on the 19th of April, finally passing away on January 16th 2002 at age 80. “Never give up, Never surrender”, although spoken in a comedy, has been something I’ve always strived for.  Pretty sure SSgt Erwin is a proponent of that philosophy.  

It took 30 months and 41 surgeries for him to recover enough to be discharged from the Hospital and the Army.  Upon return to civilian life, he worked for the VA as a benefits counselor for burn patients.  Below is a MSgt Erwin telling his story for a History Channel episode.

 Warrior!

* The quotation is from a letter written by Flying Officer V. A. Rosewarne to his mother to be delivered in the event of his death.  Flying Officer Rosewarne was co-pilot on a Wellington Bomber shot down over Dunkirk while on a mission to support the evacuation.  All 6 members of the crew were killed.  The letter was eventually published and made into a short film which was released to try and raise spirits at a dark time in WWII.  Below is a version of the letter read by John Gielgud  

Advent

  © Copyright nick macneill and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Luke 1:26-38 King James Version

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

As Christmas approaches, I feel like a child once more. The magic, the mystery, the anticipation, the lights, the very smell in the air.

It is a time for family, for friends, for the giving of gifts (and they need not be material). It is a time for love.

For without love, we truly have nothing.

Nothing at all.

That is the secret, that is the message. That was His message.

He will come again.

Count on it...

Matthew 22:36-40 King James Version

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The song "Gabriel's Message," as performed by Sting, shall always be a favorite, it has a great deal of poignancy attached to it. Lex featured it in a Christmas post in 2011. I truly wish I could find that post.

Forward, MARCH!

I Corps of Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon Deploys Forward of Napoléon's main line.

Most of you probably know that I have a great interest in the Napoleonic Wars, especially the Battle of Waterloo, of which I have written a number of times. This year marked the 200th anniversary of that event. A game company (one I have only in the past few weeks became aware of) happened to release a computer simulation of that momentous event in history.

Of course, I had to have a copy.

So, naturellement, I acquired one. Now it's learning the nuances and techniques to not only manipulate the units within the simulation, but to actually learn how to fight a Napoleonic battle. It's not easy. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

The farm of La Haye Sainte, the right of Wellington's position lies along that ridge in the background. The Brussels chaussee runs in front of the farm, north is to your right.

You can set various things within the game, including the aggressiveness of the AI (that would be Artificial Intelligence) and how many men are represented by each "sprite."

sprite (noun)

1. an elf or fairy.

2. a computer graphic that may be moved on-screen and otherwise manipulated as a single entity.

Yes, definition 2 applies. Though I haven't had the chance to play the game extensively, I have yet to notice any elves (or fairies) upon the field, lurking in the woods, or hiding amongst the troops.

Looking south from the position of Bijlandt's Brigade. Why yes General Bijlandt, that is the entire French I Corps coming at you.

Each figure on the screen is a sprite (ahem, definition 2 people!). One can set the number of humans represented by each sprite. Now being the sort of fellow I am (I like things as realistic as possible) I set that value to "1." That way the units take up more space on the field and look closer to the real thing. The unit in the preceding picture represents two battalions of French infanterie légère, light infantry, distinguishable by their dark blue trousers, which match their dark blue tunics. (In the first picture those are regular, or line, infantry, infanterie de ligne, note the gray trousers. Also many are wearing overcoats and covers on their shakos, the name for their head gear.)

Light infantry were considered elite units, they were trained to fight in the mass units of their regular infantry cousins or dispersed for skirmishing. The entire battalion could deploy as skirmishers or just a company or two. When skirmishing, one part of a company would stay formed as a support, the rest of the men would fight in pairs. One firing, one holding his fire until the other man was reloaded. They would move from cover to cover and essentially "annoy" the enemy. The support would occupy an intermediate position between the skirmishers out front and the remainder of the battalion (or brigade) to the rear. The deployed fellows could fall back on the formed part of the company if needed. (If cavalry was around, that was important. Cavalry could cut skirmishers to pieces if the skirmishers weren't careful.)

Now you can fight this simulation in a multitude of ways. Their are scenarios where you command a single brigade, four to six battalions under your control. This is not as taxing as trying to command larger units. Here you can (and must) order the individual units to move hither and yon and also what formations to adopt.

You can command larger units with some difficulty. The best way to do that is to order the individual unit commanders (brigade and division) to do things. Such as "move there" (by clicking on the map and commanding a formation), "hold here" and things of that nature. I discovered that you really need to rely on your subordinates. For computer generals they are competent and will not throw themselves into stupid attacks.

Also, if things get a little rough you may notice that some of your troops have decided that they have a pressing engagement elsewhere. That elsewhere being to the rear, where no one is shooting at them.

A quick word about formations, essentially there are four. March column, think four abreast one rank behind another. Just like we learned in Basic Training. Just like some of us still remembered years later and were still pretty damned good at. (As an aside, I found nothing quite as satisfying as drilling a unit of forty or so troops until they moved as one. They moved, changed direction, and halted at the sound of my voice. Pretty cool if you knew what you were doing. Which I did.) March column is used to get from Point A to Point B quickly with some semblance of order.

Line formation spread the troops over a broad front, three men deep (two for the British). A large unit could occupy a hundred yards or more in line. Great for bringing all of your weapons to bear, great for not taking a lot of casualties under artillery fire, terrible for moving, and not so great when facing cavalry. Unless your troops were very well trained and very steady. (Think the Thin Red Line at Balaclava.)

The Thin Red Line, by Robert Gibb, 1881

The ideal formation to use against cavalry was the square.

The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras, by Lady Butler

The troops face outward, their backs protected. The beauty of this formation was that horses won't go charging into all those bayonets, no matter how much their riders want them to. Problem is, this formation is very slow moving (contrary to some historians, squares could and did move) and a beautiful target for those mean artillerymen with their big cannon.

One last formation available is best described as a combat column. It's nearly as maneuverable as a march column and presents a wider front, more muskets can be brought to bear, hence more firepower to hit the enemy with. (In the game, and in reality, the combat column in the game is called a column of divisions. Not the big 3,000 to 10,000 man units known as divisions. A division was also a name given to a unit comprised of two companies, a company being 50 to 120 men or so. Column of divisions was two companies abreast with the other divisions of the battalions lined up behind them. The military back then, as now, liked to use terminology confusing to civilians.)

The drill we learn in modern times is derived from what they actually used in combat in olden times. So why did they bunch up like that? Isn't that foolhardy when someone is shooting at you? Sure it is, but the old weapons were mostly smoothbore, think no rifling to impart spin to the projectile. These black powder weapons were very inaccurate and relatively slow to load. They were one shot, then you got to reload. Again and again and again. While someone is shooting at you.

They were also muzzle loaders, meaning you poured your powder down the barrel then rammed the musket ball and the cartridge's paper wrapping down on top of the powder, using the ramrod slung under your musket. Oh yeah, don't forget to take that ramrod out when you're done. Otherwise it will fly off (hopefully to skewer an enemy) and now you have no means of reloading.

Bottom line, the weapons were so inaccurate that you had to fire a bunch of them, grouped together, all at once if you hoped to inflict damage upon your enemy.

Also, in order to control the troops, the commander had to be nearby, in shouting range, literally. Drums and bugles were good for simple commands (like move forward, stop, fall back, etc.) but not enough if you wanted to do something a little more complicated.

Which was also the reason commanders were on horseback, having a flag for each unit helped as well. If you could stay with your flag, odds are you wouldn't get in trouble. In some armies they had sergeants and junior officers trailing the formation. Turn around and they would literally beat you back into formation.

King's German Legion light infantry scrambling to fall in as Quiot's division of I Corps advances down the ridge and along the Brussels chaussee in front of La Haye Sainte.

So far the game is engaging and very, very colorful. The units move nicely and the AI seems good. I haven't played enough to gauge it's overall accuracy but so far, it's awesome.

The only thing is, there isn't enough smoke. There's some, enough to give it a nice "feel" but not nearly as much as you'd find on an actual Napoleonic battlefield. Which is probably a good thing because after 30 minutes or so, you wouldn't be able to see anything. Obviously that would detract from the overall "ooh ahh" experience, but it might be cool.

I also need to try commanding from horseback. In the game you can do that, which means no zooming the camera around, no God-view of the battlefield. You can only see what is near you. In order to command your units you have to send couriers to them or be right next to them. That could be interesting.

I will report more at a later date. Right now, there's a battle to be won!

En avant mes enfants, à la victoire!

Update:

Juvat has pointed out in the comments that I neglected to mention the game's name and the publisher. When I awoke this morning I had the same realization and hoped that I could mend it before anyone noticed.

Can't get anything past a fighter pilot...

The game is Scourge of War: Waterloo and is available from the publisher Matrix Games (who has lots of other cool games) or from Steam (where I do most of my game shopping).

There ya go Juvat, fixed it for ya.




Except for the two paintings noted, the rest of the pictures are in game screenshots. Press F12 and bingo, screenshot. I have cut them down to save space. Some have been edited to remove game markers and the like. There were no floating symbols above unit objectives in real life. The game has them as an aid to game play. As in "What the Hell was I supposed to attack? Oh, there it is."

Gee

Three-quarters of a million.

Dang.

We opened the doors for business on the 22nd of March in the Year of Our Lord Two-Thousand and Twelve. Which was (by my count as of the 18th of December in the Year of Our Lord Two-Thousand and Fifteen) one thousand three hundred and sixty six days ago. Yup, 1,366 days. We've averaged over 549 hits a day in that span of time.

Of course, that's an average. Number of hits divided by number of days. Back in the day we considered ourselves fortunate to get fifty hits in a day. Woo-hoo! Fifty hits! I wonder how many were actual humans?

Now here we are - 1,366 days, 1,581 posts, and 18,364 comments later.

All I can say to our readers and fans is...

And we did it without (much) profanity and no nekkid people!
Well, I think it's a big deal, YMMV... 
I'm sure Buck would have something pithy to say, he always did. 

One Year...

My Mentor, My Friend

I remember firing up the old computing apparatus that day and noting that my friend Buck had a new post up. As was my wont, I headed over to the Exile in Portales to see what new gem Buck had posted.

Here's what I saw...

Five days later, he was gone.

I didn't see that post above until Friday night, there had been no word on Buck's condition since that Saturday post. Personally I was in the holiday zone, I had just posted this, not knowing that he was gone.

Though it's been a year, I still look for his comments here at The Chant, he left quite a few. Then there was "The Blog War" which we both had a lot of fun with. (If you want to follow the whole thing, chase all the links and hit "Newer Post" when appropriate. Some of our respective readers thought we were both going insane. My question was "Going?")

Damn but I miss that man.

We've Made the Big Time, I Think

(Source)

I have been digging lots of crap out of the spam filter lately. Annoying, but somehow amusing. Based on the amount of spam coming in, I think that officially, The Chant has made the big time.

After all, little, unknown blogs don't get a lot of hits, nor a lot a spam. We're seeing a lot more hits lately. Consequently a lot more spam.

The two might be related.

All I can say is that we're big now.

Comrade Spambot loves us anyway.

For an amusing take on Spam, you should read this. Says it all quite well.

Not much of a post today, I know. But I spent last night at my favorite restaurant. I should point out that it was truly the last night I will spend there.

No, the service was great, the food superb, and the company sublime. But they're closing at the end of the month. Starting a new venture from what I hear, but in 2016, Johnny's Atlantic Beach Club will be but a fond memory.

Yes, that sucks.

Farewell, I shall miss you...

(Source)

A lot.