PHOENIX

Meet Demon, the Phoenix Bird of Pineland:

Demon is the mascot of my buddy JD's guerrilla unit. As a part of Exercise Robin Sage, JD provides training to Special Forces candidates by a combination of of challenging dilemmas and psychological cruelty.


Pineland:

The Special Forces Qualification Course ("Q-Course") is culminated by Operation ROBIN SAGE, a 4 week long large-scale unconventional warfare exercise conducted by the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and over 50,000 square miles of North Carolina. For more than half a century, around a third of North Carolina has served as the fictional "People's Republic of Pineland" for the 28-day exercise which culminates in the 19-day Robin Sage. During this unconventional warfare training exercise, the Special Forces students are required to apply and exercise the skills taught in the Special Forces Qualification Course.

The 15 counties of North Carolina that make up the People's Republic of Pineland include: Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Davidson, Davie, Guilford, Hoke, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, Rowan, Scotland, Stanly and Union.


The students are put into 12-man Operational Detachments 'Alpha', (ODA's). Students are isolated for 5 days and issued an operations order. They begin their planning process and study material required to execute their detachment's mission during the exercise.

On the last day of isolation the detachment presents its plan to the battalion command and staff. This plan will explain how the commander intends to execute the mission. The next day, the students make an airborne infiltration into the country of Pineland. They then make contact with the guerrilla forces and begin Robin Sage. Students will then begin their task of training, advising, and assisting the guerrillas. The training will educate the guerrillas in various specialties, including weapons, communications, medical, and demolitions. The training is designed to enable the guerrillas to begin liberating their country from oppression. It is the last portion of the Special Forces Qualification Course before they receive their "Green Berets".

ROBIN SAGE involves approximately 100 Special Forces students, 100 counter-insurgent personnel (OPFOR), 200 guerrilla personnel, 40 auxiliary personnel, and 50 cadre. The local communities of North Carolina also participate in the exercise by role playing as citizens of Pineland. Many of the OPFOR and guerrilla personnel are North Carolina residents who are financially compensated for their participation. The role of the guerrilla chief, or "G-Chief," is played by a retired Green Beret.

Bob Snyder, also known as Pineland Bob, right, maps out a transportation plan with a soldier during the Special Forces' Robin Sage exercise in Ramseur, N.C.

There is nothing like Exercise Robin Sage - on such a scale at least - in any other military organization in the world. Since my retirement from active duty I have been involved in two major corporate security organizations, working side-by-side with fellow Special Forces veterans, and the principles and truisms of guerrilla warfare learned in Robin Sage are constantly referenced. The corporate suits in the boardrooms are never able to outflank us with their office politics and agendas. We know the battle before it is fought; if we can prevail, we engage and overcome. If there is no tactical victory to be achieved; combat is declined.

The SEALs and the MARSOF are trying to replicate Robin Sage; my advice to them is why re-invent the wheel? Come over to the Dark Side - Pineland already exists - use the existing training lanes and G-networks that are already in place; there's plenty of contractors coming back from the Sandpile who are willing to plus-up the cadre.

The Anthem of Pineland is as follows:

This is the Land of the of the Tall Pine Tree

Where All of Us used to Live so Free

THIS IS PINELAND

A Place to Live and a Place to Play

But the UPA took it All away

THIS IS PINELAND

A Place where We are all Free to Work Together

Where our Crops can Grow and the Sun will Shine Forever

A Beautiful Land with Much to Give

This is where We'll Always Live

THIS IS PINELAND

ZIGGY ZOGGY ZIGGY ZOGGY OY! OY! OY!

ZIGGY ZOGGY ZIGGY ZOGGY OY! OY! OY!

ZIGGY ZOGGY ZIGGY ZOGGY OY! OY! OY!

PINELAND! PINELAND! PINELAND!

Speaking of Birds, today's Mystery Bird is HERE

GERMANY DENIES ASYLUM TO AMERICAN DESERTER

Remember THIS guy?

April 05, 2011 Agence France-Presse

Germany has denied asylum to Andre Shepherd, a former US Soldier who deserted his unit in Iraq citing opposition to the war, a spokesman for the federal office for migration and refugees said on Tuesday.

"The asylum claim was rejected because there is no evidence to suggest that the asylum seeker could have been involved in war crimes or other crimes during another posting to Iraq," the office said in a statement.

"He could not cite any concrete crimes his unit committed during his first tour. In addition, as a helicopter mechanic, he was not in danger of becoming involved in fighting and therefore in possible crimes," added the office.

Shepherd, 33, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, walked off his base in southern Germany in 2007 and spent 19 months on the run before applying for asylum.

Before then, he had completed a five-month stint in Iraq between September 2004 and February 2005 where he serviced Apache helicopters as part of the 412th Aviation Support Battalion.

When ordered back to Iraq, he felt he could not continue to take part in what he said was a "completely illegal war" and became the first US Soldier to claim asylum in Germany.

His lawyer, Reinhard Marx, said his client would likely contest the decision but that a forced return to the United States was "out of the question."

"He has married a woman with German nationality, so he has a residence permit. This is about whether the German authorities accept his status as a refugee," Marx told AFP.


This is a good first step - too bad it took two years. Now, for our laws and our oaths of military obligation to have any meaning whatsoever, Andre Shepard must be tried for desertion during wartime. American forces defended Germany for over fifty years - we stared down the Soviet Red Army at Checkpoint Charlie, we did the Berlin Airlift, and we called out the Communists at the Wall, provided moral support and more, until at last that wall came down and Germany was unified once more - and all the while Germany's economy benefited from not having to maintain a huge defense budget. The least Germany can do now is to extradite this piece of excrement so he can face the consequences of his actions. Otherwise, NATO is a joke and Germany will share the same shameful status as Canada during the Vietnam conflict - refuge for deserters.

- SEAN LINNANE SENDS

"Footprint of the American Chicken"

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THEY'D MURDER ME IF THEY EVER FOUND OUT . . .

The Incredible Story of Lt. Col. William M. Hoge and the Army's First Obstacle Course

Written by Dwight Jon Zimmerman for the Defense Media Network

Officers train on an obstacle course at Camp Edwards, Mass., around 1942. Hoge's invention of the American version of the obstacle course solved the problem of limited space and prompted countless groans and curses from generations of warfighters. Library of Congress photo


When World War II started in Europe in September 1939, the United States was the 17th largest military power. Its army, containing just 190,000 troops, was effectively a constabulary force. By February 1941, all that had changed. Thanks to the recently passed conscription law, the number of recruits had ballooned almost ten-fold, with millions more to come.

Before they could be shipped out to the new and expanding training centers being prepared for them, they had to be shaped up. While all base and camp commanders had that problem, it was particularly acute for Lt. Col. William M. Hoge.

Hoge’s most vexing problem was how to provide proper military outdoor physical exercise training. Because he was located on a peninsula, he couldn’t expand. Space was at a premium.

. . . one of his subordinates, Paul W. Thompson, had spent a year in Germany as an attaché. Calling Thompson into his office, Hoge asked him, “What in the hell do the Germans do to get exercise for their men? They have much less area than we have.” Thompson told him about specially designed fields filled with a variety of trenches and constructions that the men had to overcome through climbing, crawling, swinging, hopping, and jumping.

Hoge brought in the officer responsible for physical training and the three drew up a blueprint for the Army’s first obstacle course.


Read this incredible story in it's entirety HERE.

Enlisted men training on an obstacle course during World War II. The original caption reads: "Swinging across fifteen feet of horizontal ladders are soldiers of the anti-aircraft training center. This is the next-to-the-last obstacle on the course and comes at a time when a man's wind is coming hard and his arms are feeling fatigue. Library of Congress photo.



Today's Bird HERE


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THE ETERNAL MERCENARY - Part II

Barry Sadler (November 1, 1940 – November 5, 1989) was a Green Beret medic in Vietnam, and of course his main claim to fame was as singer songwriter of the immortal BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS.

There's another side to the great balladeer of Special Forces, however: Barry Sadler was also the author of the notorious CASCA THE ETERNAL MERCENARY series of novels.

In an earlier era they would have been labelled "pulp fiction."

The "Casca" saga centers on the title character, Casca Rufio Longinius, a Roman soldier who stabbed Christ during the crucifixion, and is cursed to remain a soldier eternally till the Second Coming. The series of novels takes Casca through to the 20th century. Sadler himself wrote only the first few, with the remainder of the original 22 books being farmed out by the publishers to other writers and issued under his name.

There's a STORMBRINGER tie-in, of course: a private in the barracks in the early eighties could not escape these sacred texts. So somewhere between pulling CQ runner duties or one of those stupid details where they'd have you guarding a building and if you got lucky there'd be a jeep or a truck you could sit in to keep out of the rain, bust out your L-shape and read a few chapters of CASCA or CONAN THE BARBARIAN or maybe even MACK BOLAN.

FAST FORWARD: Kuwait, 2001. We were doing this unGodly commute down the National Highway back and forth to this Kuwaiti camp where their guys were pulling their annual training and we were the lucky guys who drew the short straw, which meant we got to train these poor rich slobs who really didn't want to be there.

Anyway our team Warrant Officer was Eric Rojo - not his real name - the best damn Warrant in Special Forces and probably the oldest, and one of the most lethal men I ever had the pleasure of serving next to. A cowboy from Oklahoma who held advanced science degrees and had once worked as a chemist for Exxon; Chief Rojo always got a lot of respect. Anyway Rojo popped this CD into the dashboard; yep, you guessed it; CASCA THE ETERNAL MERCENARY.

Well this was good, and all of us poor slobs who had soldiered through and paid our dues in the early eighties happily listened to the adventures of Barry Sadler's alter-ego, nodding our heads approvingly, knowing that we were receiving Green Beret lore and wisdom straight from the source. We'd tapped into the mother lode, apparently, because Rojo had brought the entire 22-volume collectors edition disk set, and suddenly this deployment began to look a little more bearable.

Of course the Team Captain hadn't been there in the early eighties - the youngest NCO on the team probably had more time under canopy that he had in the Army - he had no idea what this tripe was we were listening to and he couldn't figure out for the life of him what the hell it was all about. Finally on the second day he goes, "What is this sh*t we're listening to?"

Suddenly the CASCA material doubled in value, because IT PISSED OFF THE OFFICER! Because I was the 18F - team intell sergeant and resident philosopher - I spoke up in this serious tone of voice; from the back of the van I started with, "You are ignorant of your Special Forces heritage, Sir . . ."

He came back with, "What? WHAT? What the hell are to talking about ? ? ?"

This was license to push it, and I started getting more and more disrespectful in an oblique way; the Captain hated me so it was glorious fun, of course, and everybody else was digging it. The Captain was going nuts - he had self-confidence issues to begin with - until finally Chief Rojo spoke up, "He's talking about Barry Sadler, Sir."

"Huh? Barry who?"

"You know, the guy who wrote BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS."

"Huh? Oh yeah, him. What's that got to do with this crap we're listening to, this Mickey Mouse sh*t that Linnane likes?"

"Barry Sadler wrote it, Sir."

"Huh? What, the song? I KNOW THAT . . ."

"No, the book, Sir."

"Book, what book?" I'm telling you, this Captain was a real specimen - the kind the Brits call a Rupert.

"CASCA THE ETERNAL MERCENARY, Sir - this stuff we're listening to . . ."

The Captain goes, "Huh? What?" a few more times, then starts studying the box the disk came in; like a hog staring at a wristwatch.

Anyway I couldn't do a post about Barry Sadler and not mention CASCA THE ETERNAL MERCENARY - a character that Sadler modeled after himself, apparently, and then set out to emulate.

The Kuwait deployment actually had a couple high points, but it ended bad - real bad - like everything else in that particular twelve-month period. And like every significant event in my life, what happened to my team in Kuwait was eclipsed six months later when the buildings came down in New York and everything changed for all of us, from now and forever more, into . . . eternity . . .
SEAN LINNANE SENDS




Thursday Bird HERE



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TRAINING FILMS

Navy Opens Investigation into Raunchy Videos

Washington (CNN) -- The Navy has opened an investigation into how a series of raunchy videos, full of sexual innuendo and anti-gay remarks, were produced and shown to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise while on deployment supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Navy spokesman Cmdr. Chris Sims said the videos, which were shown to the crew in 2006 and 2007, are "inappropriate."

Excerpts from the videos and descriptions of their content were first published Saturday by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia.

The videos on the paper's website, reviewed by CNN, feature a man identified by two Navy officials and The Virginian-Pilot as Capt. Owen Honors, who at the time was the executive officer, or second-in-command, of the Enterprise. He recently took command of the carrier, winning one of the most coveted assignments in the U.S. Navy, which has only 11 aircraft carriers.

Honors is shown cursing along with other members of his staff in an attempt to demonstrate humor, according to videos. There are also anti-gay slurs, simulated sex acts, and what appear to be two female sailors in a shower together.


I've seen the video - - - talk about Yawnsville - - - if you think THAT is "Raunchy" and it offends you, then you don't belong in the military. That kind of Vanilla-flavored stuff doesn't offend me. THIS is what offends ME:





OH YEAH SQUID ? ? ?


Well CHECK THIS SH*T OUT -






Tuesday Tart HERE.

ART OF THE AMERICAN SOLDIER

More than 15,000 paintings and sketches created by over 1,300 American soldiers in the line of duty - in curatorial storage in Washington, D.C. for decades - these powerful works of art will be on display at the National Constitution Center from September 24, 2010 through March 31, 2011. The exhibition, featuring a never-before-seen collection, was created by the Center in partnership with the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the National Museum of the United States Army. Following its world debut at the Center, the exhibition will begin a national tour.

Official site of the Art of the American Soldier.

That 2,000 Yard Stare - Tom Lea, 1944



Friday Filly HERE



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SSG ROBERT J. MILLER, MEDAL OF HONOR, AFGHANISTAN

This one slipped under my radar screen somehow - S.L.

MEDAL OF HONOR TO GREEN BERET KILLED IN AFGHAN WAR

SSG Robert J. Miller, MOH

WASHINGTON (AP) October 6, 2010- In a ceremony that mixed pain, pride and determination, President Barack Obama on Wednesday awarded the Medal of Honor to a young Army Green Beret who saved his patrol by holding off a Taliban ambush in a snowy Afghan valley two winters ago.

He told the parents of Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller, "You gave your oldest son to America, and America is forever in your debt." Miller was killed in the ambush.

Miller, 24, was a Pashto-speaking Special Forces weapons expert who led a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol _ and allied aircraft _ in attacking a suspected Taliban compound in northwest Afghanistan's Kunar province, near the Pakistani border.

In pre-dawn darkness on Jan. 25, 2008, his patrol was moving in to survey the damage when a much larger Taliban force opened fire. After ordering his comrades to fall back, Miller rushed forward, firing his weapon and hurling grenades in a bid to draw off the enemy attack. In ferocious fighting, Miller seemed to disappear into clouds of dust and debris, but his team could hear him on the radio, still calling out the enemy's position . . . And then, over the radio, they heard his voice. He had been hit.

Accepting the award from Obama were Miller's parents, Philip and Maureen Miller, while all seven of his brothers and sisters _ and 12 members of his patrol _ looked on. Obama noted Miller's brother Tom is currently undergoing Green Beret training.

Miller, a native of Harrisburg, Pa., was the third U.S. service member from the Afghan conflict to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for gallantry

Honor him.



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THE BALLOON NEVER WENT UP

The Berlin Wall fell twenty-one years ago this week.


Back in the Eighties there was a protest song by the German singer Nena: "Neunundneunzig Luftballons". Originally sung in German, it was later re-recorded in English as "99 Red Balloons".




The song tells a story of 99 balloons floating into the air, floating over the Berlin Wall to the Soviet sector and triggering an apocalyptic overreaction by military forces.




In the U.S. Army we have a saying: "When the Balloon goes up." This means when war breaks out, and we strap on our chutes, load up onto the C-130s and take that famous one-way trip:




I don't know where that saying comes from. I always wondered if it was from the time frame when they used hot air balloons for aerial observation posts.





In 1989 I was working with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment, a.k.a. the Berkshire & Wiltshire Regiment (the famous “Berks and Wilts”) when The Wall came down. Everyone was totally amazed, incredulous. The general feeling was none of us expected to ever see that thing come down without a shot being fired.





Fast forward to Bosnia, mid-nineties: I was entertaining my counterpart, Lt. Col. Leonid K_______ of the Ukrainian Army. I asked him where he was from, he replied; Odessa. I proceeded to lay out a map of Odessa with a pen and paper. I drew the esplanade, from the north where the Black Sea fleet was docked to the sand cliffs to the south, the east-west running main avenue where it went up past the Railway Station, I sketched in the rail lines came in from the north to the coal depots by the power plant. Leonid stared at what I was doing, and asked, “You have been to my country?”

“No, never,” I replied.

“Then, how?”

I shrugged and said that he knew what I was – “Spetznaz Amerikanski” – American Special Forces. I told him that if the balloon had ever gone up, I had a one-way ticket to his country.

Then he realized what I was saying – if the balloon had ever gone up, we would have both been hamburger.

And one more thing: America still IS the best country to live in, and it WILL be, for centuries to come, unless we continue on this path of giving it all away, and letting the illegals swarm in and infest.

I know – I’ve lived in more countries than most people visit in a lifetime; and a lot of those countries had great potential, only to be wasted by their own political leadership.


The smartest guy in Eastern Europe - making a break for it . . .



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ANTI-WAR ORGANIZATION PHONY

Theo sent me this link to a post at THIS AIN'T HELL and I'm sorry I didn't get back to you earlier on this Theo - I've been heavily engaged. To anybody who knows the meaning of the phrase "gooks in the wire" - well, I've been involved in the corporate equivalent of that, past couple of weeks now.

This imagery is apparently from a recent anti-war protest in Seattle. Act Now to Stop the War and End Racism (ANSWER) was there, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans For Peace and some other participants.

OK the focus is on this guy: four rows of ribbons with the Combat Infantry Badge beneath them, and his pin-on Master Sergeant rank there on his pocket flap.



Any vet who was ever earned the CIB would put it above everything. Period.

OK lets take it from there: Master Sergeant rank - only enlisted rank higher is Sergeant Major - there is no way a real Master Sergeant would get his fruit salad wrong like this guy:



Top row: Korean Defense Service Ribbon, Army Commendation Ribbon, Meritorious Service Ribbon;

Second Row: Army Achievement Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal;

Third Row: Iraq Campaign Medal, Overseas Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters - DEAD WRONG - lovingly referred to as the "Basic Training Ribbon" or "Thanks For Showing Up" there are NO Oak Leaf Clusters, numeral devices, NOTHING for the ASR - you only get one, once).

Fourth Row: National Defense Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait).

Award precedence is right to left, top to bottom - so he's all wrong there; his highest award is the MSM, which should be top right. Korean Defense, which he has as the highest award, should go below the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the National Defense would go before either of those.

If he really earned an Iraq Campaign Medal and the Saudi/Kuwait stuff, he should also have a bronze service star on the National Defense Service Medal, and a GWOT Service Medal at a minimum. The Kuwait ribbon is upside down, it also looks like the campaign star(s?) on the Iraq Campaign medal are upside down.

Now, it's possible (I suppose) for a Master Sergeant with combat infantry experience NOT to have earned a Bronze Star - but I haven't ever seen it like that.

There’s no NCO Development Ribbon - impossible to make it to Master Sergeant without picking up this one. So he thinks he’s a Master Sergeant, but got his ribbons and medals mixed up and upside down? And if I’m not mistaken, the Korean Defense Medal is for combat during the Korean War, or some of the post-war DMZ engagements - last one of those I'm aware of was a thirty-minute firefight up there in 1984.

I'm calling this guy out as a phony. This guy is a Phony Wannabe; full of Phony Baloney.

OK now, I have a question for the Veterans For Peace organization: if you've got to front up obvious fake veterans like this Bozo to promote your agenda, what does this say about the legitimacy of your cause?

There's a greater question, of course: How come none of the Batt Boys from 2nd/75th were there to kick this disrespectful sunnuvabitch's ass?


SEAN LINNANE SENDS


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ALLEGED DRUG USE, MURDER IN AFGHANISTAN

Allegations of Rampant Drug Use at Base in Afghanistan, and U.S. soldiers charged with murdering Afghan civilians.


If one percent of this story is true it is absolutely disgraceful. The fact that soldiers have actually been charged lends credibility to the allegations. -S.L.


An attorney for Corporal Jeremy Morlock, one of the soldiers charged in the case, describes a drug-filled base in Afghanistan, where he said many soldiers were often high during missions.

"Many people at that Fort (sic) Operating Base on Ramrod were smoking hash," Waddington said. "Much of the hash smoking that was going on involved hash-laced opium."

There are also allegations that at least one of the soldiers reached out for help back in the U.S., allegedly afraid his life would be in jeopardy if he spoke out on base about the killings.


Specialist Adam Winfield tried to blow the whistle, was afraid for his life.


Go to this site and watch the video of what the parents of one U.S. soldier claims - his story is disturbing and rings of truth - S.L.



POWDER-KEG SITUATION


SEATTLE (AP) - Those who have seen the photos say they are grisly: soldiers beside newly killed bodies, decaying corpses and severed fingers.

The dozens of photos, described in interviews and in e-mails and military documents obtained by The Associated Press, were seized by Army investigators and are a crucial part of the case against five soldiers accused of killing three Afghan civilians earlier this year.

Troops allegedly shared the photos by e-mail and thumb drive like electronic trading cards. Now 60 to 70 of them are being kept tightly shielded from the public and even defense attorneys because of fears they could wind up in the news media and provoke anti-American violence.


Read more HERE.


There is a common myth amongst liberals, left-wingers, the Anti-America crowd in general, that ALL U.S. military conducts itself like this. I have encountered these types in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and even here at home in the United States.

But the aspect of the situation they never seem to get is that whenever our military becomes aware of such conduct, the perpetrators are arrested, charged, tried and sent to prison. When the OTHER side conducts FAR WORSE as a deliberate tactic or plan - think of terrorist acts such as 9/11; think of the abduction and beheading of journalist Daniel Pearl - the SAME PEOPLE who are all about pointing fingers and casting blame at the U.S. military for war crimes, they become strangely silent, or they make apologies and reasons for how and why WE are to blame for "Why they hate us."

The enemy does far worse, and they get a pass.


SEAN LINNANE SENDS



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FINALLY SOMEBODY OUT THERE GETS IT

COMBAT's POSITIVE EFFECTS EXAMINED


Army Sgt. Dustin Waggoner, left, and Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Frikken work on the rifle range in Forward Operating Base Airborne in Afghanistan. Frikken says his tours have changed him for the better. Photograph by Sgt. Teddy Wade, U.S. Army


By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

WARDAK, Afghanistan — Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Frikken says three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan have robbed him of precious time with his family, but have also changed him — in some ways for the better.

A sense of personal strength, appreciation for life and love of family have all been enhanced, says Frikken, 39, who directs artillery fire for 10th Mountain Division troops fighting here. "I will never be the same person I was before my combat experiences," he says.

What happens to soldiers like Frikken has led Army leaders to develop a resiliency program that urges GIs to look inward and discover how combat may have made them emotionally stronger.

Research appears to show that many people can emerge from traumatic experiences with greater self-confidence, a keener sense of compassion and appreciation for life, says Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, director of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program. Cornum and other experts call this concept post-traumatic growth.

Although the military focuses attention on troops who develop mental health conditions in combat, Cornum says, the majority of war veterans do not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other problems.

Read more HERE.

THE MOST SPECIAL FOURTH OF JULY

The din of muskets and cannon had faded but the stench and pall of battle still hung in the air; two American armies stared at one another in a heavy rain across bloody fields on the Fourth of July in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1863.

Both armies began to collect their remaining wounded and bury some of the dead. Between 46,000 and 51,000 Americans were casualties of the three-day battle. Union casualties list 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured or missing), while Confederate casualties are estimated 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured or missing).

Bear in mind this was an era when anything more than a simple flesh wound meant certain slow death by infection, and prisoner-of-war captivity was almost a death sentence.



Gettysburg Day 1: Union dead along McPherson Ridge.


Nearly 8,000 Americans were killed outright; the bodies lying in the hot summer sun needed to be buried quickly. A proposal by Lee for a prisoner exchange was rejected by Meade. Nearly a third of Lee’s general officers were killed, wounded, or captured in the Gettysburg campaign. Total casualties for both sides during the entire campaign were 57,225.



Gettysburg Day 2: Union and Confederate dead near the Emmittsburg Road.



Gettysburg Day 3: "Harvest of Death" - aftermath of Pickett's Charge.



Lee started moving the Army of Northern Virginia late in the evening of July 4 towards Fairfield and Chambersburg. Meade’s army followed, although his pursuit was half-spirited. The recently rain-swollen Potomac trapped Lee’s army on the north bank of the river for a time, but when the Federals finally caught up, the Confederates had forded the river.

Also on July 4, 1863 the Vicksburg garrison surrendered to Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant; another significant turning point of the war when the Federals regained control of the Mississippi, an important supply route.


GETTYSBURG IS SPECIAL

On July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, more Americans fought and died here than any other battle in American history. Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, it was the turning point when the ultimate victory of the North over the South – and the preservation of the Union – was determined.

As brilliant as the Founding Fathers were in establishing the Republic, they knew their work was not complete as long as the question of States Rights could not be resolved, in the areas of commerce but most visibly with slavery. This struggle was addressed and postponed for almost seventy years until things finally came to flash point at Ft. Sumter.

The Civil War was not only the most important war America ever fought, it was also the most stupid; because it was Americans killing Americans. What occurred at Gettysburg was not simply a key battlefield victory of a single war but THE pivotal battle that preserved our Republic from a tragic war that had to be fought, and just as importantly had to be won. Without a Union victory at Gettysburg, the Confederacy may possibly have prevailed; had such a circumstance come about, America as we know it would not exist.

This point was driven home by Lincoln’s brilliant Gettysburg Address, given five months later on the same battlefield:






Despite my sympathies for the Southern Cause - particularly regarding States Rights – I am aware that the Union had to ultimately prevail. This is the sad irony of this terrible war. This Fourth of July I will travel with my family to pay my respects at Gettysburg. - Sean Linnane

MILBLOG GOES OFFLINE

From Milblogging.com

Long-standing Military Blog "Sgt Hook - This We'll Defend" Goes Offline: Had Been Online Since 2003





One of the longest running military blogs SGT Hook - This We'll Defend has gone offline. The website had been online since 2003, making it one of the first military blogs in the milblogging community. According to archived records the last post appeared on Thanksgiving 2008. According to his profile on Milblogging.com:


This site is a collection of my writings, thoughts, and ramblings and in no way reflects the official positions of the United States Army or the Department of Defense.



As of today, the domain has been parked at BlogsAbout where Sgt Hook's blog was hosted.



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A FELLOW MELBURNIAN

Hi Sean,
I enjoy your blog, and check it out daily. How did you come to join the US military?





So, a Melbourne boy, huh? And a 'Pies supporter too. Definitely authentic, as nobody would make that up.








Blood is thicker than water.






I too am from Melbourne, variously Box Hill, Mount Martha and South Yarra. But happily in Perth these last 20 years. Yet still a Hawthorn supporter these past 40-odd years.










Anyway, my question is this: Why does the US military designate a 2LT with gold bars, but a 1LT with silver?










Second Lieutenant, United States













First Lieutenant, United States




Likewise, a major with the gold device, but a Lt Col with silver? You'd expect the reverse, eh?

Just curious.


Regards,

Greg


*********************************************************************


Hello Greg,

Good to hear from a fellow Melbournian. Tell me was I exaggerating about the penguins? I swear I saw them swimming in the bay that one time.


The Natives are Friendly


I joined the US Army because I wanted to be a soldier, ever since I was a kid. I considered joining the Australian Army, but at the time they weren't going anywhere except the outback; I love Australia, but I wanted to see the world. I SERIOUSLY thought about joining the French Foreign Legion - all I had to do was make it to Tahiti, but the US military seemed like such a better deal.


Sean Linnane, STORMBRINGER


It turned out to be a good plan - I saw the world, I have enough adventures to fill ten lifetimes, and I retired from active duty into the most incredible professional network in the world.

As far as the bars and the oak leaves go - here's what I learned:

The present system of US officers’ grade insignia began on 18 June 1780 when it was prescribed that Major Generals would wear two stars and Brigadier Generals one star on each epaulette. In 1832, the Colonel’s eagle was initiated and in 1836, leaves were adopted for Lieutenant Colonels and Majors, while Captains received two bars and one bar was prescribed for First Lieutenant. Second Lieutenants did not receive the gold bar until December 1917.










Major, United States


In General Regulations of 1835, the leaf was first introduced to designate Lieutenant Colonels and Majors. It stated that it was embroidered on the shoulder straps of the frock coat, one at each end, each leaf extending 7/8 of an inch from the end of the border of the strap. The color for Lieutenant Colonels was to be the same color as the border. At this time, Infantry Lieutenant Colonels had a silver border and other Lieutenant Colonels had a gold border. For Majors, it was stipulated that the insignia would be the same design as the Lieutenant Colonel except the leaves would be silver where the border was gold and the insignia would be gold if the border was silver. This policy resulted in the use of both gold and silver leaves for both ranks.










Lieutenant Colonel, United States


In 1851, the border of all shoulder straps was changed to gold. As a result, the leaf for Lieutenant Colonel became silver and for Major it was gold for wear on the shoulder straps.

I don't know about the reasoning behind the silver insignia for First Lieutenants, and gold for Second Lieutenants.

You'd expect the reverse - what can I say? That's officers for you.

Thanks for reading STORMBRINGER, and thank you for your support.

- Sean L.


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Onya Sean! And you're right, that's officers for you.

Happy landings,

Greg

SITREP

Readers send me all kinds of stuff to post. I love it, and I intend to post it - the stuff keeps piling up, and my time is limited, so don't be disappointed if you don't see your stuff right away.







This week was incredibly busy; I pulled more than 80 hours, and I don't get paid by the hour. The blog posts suffered, of course; hey, what can I say? Gotta pay the bills.







My good friend Mark the Shark sent me these World War II posters, and I thank him. Those of you who are regular readers know that I immigrated to this great country; I didn't even become an American citizen until I'd been in the US Army for three years and already had a couple deployments under my belt. I live my life to embody to this kind of thinking, I get a lump in my throat when I see this material. I like thinking: PATRIOTISM, it is the AMERICAN way! I am glad to see that somebody saved them. Enjoy . . .