Patrick Shrier

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Book Review: Westmoreland’s War – Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam by Gregory Daddis

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Westmoreland’s War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam is one of those increasingly rare history books that seeks to explain the why of history instead of assigning blame for past events.  Specifically, this book looks at the situation in Vietnam prior to and during William Westmoreland’s tenure as Commander, Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV).  In the process, it illuminates how complex were the strategic and tactical problems faced by Ameria in Vietnam and how the situation was not amenable to a decentralized, mostly military … More after the Jump…

My First Book is Officially Released-22 January, 2014

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I just want to take the opportunity to announce that my first foray into publishing was released on Tuesday, 22 January, 2014.  It is a survival/forest quick reference book titled The Simple Survival Smart Book.  I started working on the idea several years ago and finally finished it recently while I was stuck in the house after surgery and had no other excuses for not working on it.  It is available on Amazon as both a paperback and Kindle version.  So everyone get on over there, buy it, an make me rich.  Don’t forget to write a customer review about how awesome it is while you are at it.

Book Review: Churchill’s Bomb by Graham Farmelo

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Have you ever wondered why Winston Churchill does not get more opprobrium for failing to capitalize on the talent pool (particularly the Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany) in Britain and doing more to support the development of the atomic bomb? Neither have I. Then I received this book for review. Churchill’s Bomb: How the United States Overtook Britain in the First Nuclear Arms Race purports to explain why and how Winston Churchill failed to support nuclear research into a bomb despite being … More after the Jump…

WWII Animated Day-by-Day

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Below is an animated map of the progress of WWII day by day from 1 September, 1939 to October, 1945 when the last major units of the Japanese military surrendered.  It provides a fascinating view of the way in which the fortunes of the went back and forth.

Book Review: Come and Take Them by Tom Kratman

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I will make no secret that I am a fan of Tom Kratman’s work and would be thrilled to see more authors of his caliber and outlook writing in Sci-Fi.   Come and Take Them is the next installment in the Carrera series and I have waited almost 2 1/2 years for it to come out.  I hope the wait for the next installment is not that long in coming.  I do have to admit that COL Kratman had another book from a different series come out in that time. At 512 pages of story it is a respectable sized book.  A few people on Amazon complained about the amount of space in the book devoted … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston

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Earth Unaware is the first book of the Formic War trilogy, which is the prequel to the The Ender Quartet that first appeared in the 1980’s.  It essentially tells the story of how earth and humanity got into the position of developing Battle School and the fleets that Ender uses to wipe out the Formics in Ender’s Game. This book starts off with rather a whimper but quickly picks up speed and keeps you glues to the pages.  I got the distinct impression that my wife was annoyed because I would not put the book down in the evenings while I was reading it.  Anyone who has read the Ender Quartet will … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Hundred Days – The Campaign that Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Hundred Days: The Campaign That Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd is one of those rare books that should start a trend.  His topic is one that has been, if not ignored, then glossed over in virtually every history of World War I.  There have been literally hundreds of books written about the origins of World War I but the end of the war has been ignored.  In fact, most histories seem to end right about the time the Second Battle of … More after the Jump…

Congress makes Courageous Decision to CUT Military Retired Pay

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In the news: Ryan Defends Reduction to Cost-of-Living Adjustments for Early Military Retirees

In a stunning display of which segment of society politicians are really afraid of last week politicians in Washington agreed to cut military retired pay in an effort to offset the sequester cuts that they put in place just two years ago.  Unsurprisingly there has been absolutely zero talk about attempting to curb growth in other entitlement spending such as SNAP and TANF (welfare)being the two largest programs.  The logic behind it is clear.  There are more people receiving welfare than military retirees thus making welfare recipients a more powerful voting bloc.

Military RetirementThe numbers just for SNAP & TANF
SNAP – 46,670,373 people or 14% of US population cost = $71.8 Billion annually
TANF – 12,800,000 people or 4.1% of US population cost = $131.9 Billion annually
By contrast here are the numers for military retiress – 2,300,000 military retirees in the US or roughly .7% of US population cost = $52.4 billion annually

What is the difference between the two groups?  Easy, military retirees dedicated a significant portion of their lives to serving the nation, welfare recipients did not.

Total honesty, I myself am a military retiree and feel betrayed by both my country and my elected representative.  My Congressman (John Carter, TX-32) voted yes.  I made a deal with the nation, I would serve and go where they wanted me to and fight who they told me to fight, in return I would receive a set amount of benefits after twenty years service.  I did so for 23 years and went to two wars.  Now I find out that my country is not going to keep up their end of the bargain.

For some reason I am not surprised at this, just disgusted.

Book Review: Slow Apocalypse by John Varley

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Slow Apocalypse by John Varley is one of those books that only come along once every few years.  It is a book that makes you think without even realizing it.  The first Varley book I ever read was Steel Beach and Slow Apocalypse is on a par with that book.  It is an absorbing read and somewhat of a morality tale. The book itself 438 pages long and I would guess it runs about 60,000 words. The premise is interesting and plausible.  Imagine some mad scientist developing a bacteria that breaks the hydrogen bonds in petroleum turning oil into worthless sludge.  That is what happens in this book.  The story itself follows the … More after the Jump…

Jihadis must be sodomized – A Fatwa says so

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The truth is really stranger than fiction.  I first heard about this one in a National Review opinion piece then I had to actually watch it.  Apparently, a Muslim cleric has made the claim that repeated sodomy is a requirement for Jihadis who want to commit a suicide bombing with explosives in their colon.  Apparently, that is the only way to ensure the colon is stretched wide enough to comfortably accept the explosives.  This is too funny for words.  If that is not the craziest explanation for sodomy I don’t know what is. Video below; I love the way the announcer pauses at 51 seconds when he gets to the part where the OP … More after the Jump…

Book Review: The True German: The Diary of a World War II Military Judge

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] The True German: The Diary of a World War II Military Judge by Werner Otto Müller-Hill is one of those rare books that come out of war.  A diary written by someone to satisfy themselves with no expectation that it will ever get published.  As such, it provides an almost unique view into the mind of the person writing it.  The vast majority of war memoirs are self-serving and written to make a point.  Diaries tend to be less so, and this one … More after the Jump…

The Crete Campaign: 20-29 May, 1941

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Last Spring I did a presentation to my local Military History group about the Crete Campaign of 1941 and figured that since I now have the time I would put something up here about it as well because I find the whole campaign to be a comedy of errors by both sides in this misguided, ill-conceived, and poorly executed excuse for a battle. First, we should examine the strategic situation in May of 1941.
In May 1941 England had been run out of Greece with its tail between its legs and was using Crete as both a staging ground for evacuation and they were hoping like hell they could hold it and stop the Mediterranean, or at least the eastern part from turning into a German Lake. For their part, Germany did not know what to do. They were in the last stages of planning the attack on Stalin’s Russia set to commence in June but in the meantime they had all these troops hanging out in Greece with nothing to do. The possession of Crete would have conferred no strategic or even operational advantage to the Germans as the British still controlled Malta and the British navy still controlled the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

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