As a platoon of trainees stood in formation at an Army Base, the Drill Sergeant walked up and said, “All right! All you retards fall out.”
As the rest of the platoon wandered away, one soldier remained at attention.
The Drill Sergeant walked over until he was eye-to-eye with him, and then raised a single eyebrow.
The soldier smiled and said, “Sure was a lot of ’em, huh, Drill Sergeant?”
Legatus
Book Review: Power Games by Richard Peters
[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] I get 5-10 requests a month from publishers and authors to review their books here on B&BR and usually accept 3-4 of them because I don’t have as much time to read as I would like. When Richard Peters, the author of Power Games: Operation Enduring Unity I contacted me and inquired about reviewing his book I had a stack of 5 other books I was working through and initially almost turned him down for lack of time. Man, am I glad I did … More after the Jump…
The Makin Raid of 1942 and the Recovery of the Marines Lost After the Battle
In August 1942 the 2nd Marine “Raider” Battalion raided what was then called Makin Island in the Gilbert Archipelago of the South Pacific. The present name of the island is Butaritari in the island nation of Kiribati.
In 1942 the island had a small, roughly 160 man garrison, and was the site of a Japanese Airfield. The raid was conceived as a way for the Marines to gather intelligence on what and how many Japanese forces were stationed in the Gilbert Islands. The plan was for 211 men from companies A and B of the 2nd Marine “Raider” Battalion led by LTC Evans Carlson to land on the island under cover of darkness, neutralize the small Japanese garrison and ransack the island for anything of intelligence value before destroying the facilities and leaving the island. The Marines would land from two submarines the USS Nautilus and USS Argonaut using small rubber boats equipped with outboard motors.
Book Review: A Mad Catastrophe by Geoffrey Wawro
[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] A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire by Dr. Geoffrey Wawro is the first book I have read about WWI that does not treat Austro-Hungary as an afterthought after the outbreak of the fighting in August 1914. In fact, Austria-Hungary and the course of the fighting in Serbia and Galicia in the first year of the war is the central theme of the book. Dr. Wawro applies his usual exhaustive research methods to exploring … More after the Jump…
Taliban Capture a War Dog
The Taliban capture a British dog of war Just before Christmas last year the Taliban in Afghanistan apparently captured a British War Dag and true to form have posted a capture video of it. Now that is going too far. I wonder if they are torturing the dog and trying to get information out of it. It would not surprise me if they were. The dog appears to be a Belgian Malinois, one of the favorite breeds for working dogs because they are smart, diligent, and not easily distracted from their tasks. There is apparently some confusion as to whether it is a British or American dog. As the article … More after the Jump…
The Difference between Officers and NCO’s
A Platoon Sergeant and his Platoon Leader are racking out in the field for
the night. The Platoon Sergeant looks up and says, “When you see all the
stars in the sky, what do you think, LT?”
The LT replies, “Well, I think of how insignificant we really are in the
universe; how small a piece of such a grand design. I can’t help but wonder
if what we do truly means anything or makes any difference. Why? What do
you think of, Sergeant?”
“I think somebody stole the freakin’ tent.”
Book Review: Westmoreland’s War – Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam by Gregory Daddis
[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
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
[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
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
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
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…
Merry Christmas
I just want take a moment to wish all the readers of Battles & Book Reviews a very Merry Christmas.
Book Review: Hundred Days – The Campaign that Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd
[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
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.
The 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.