#Midnight on the Marne

[drogba-prospect]

Octave Garnier - Wikipedia

Octave Garnier (25 December 1889 – 14 May 1912) was a French anarchist and founding member of the infamous Bonnot Gang.

Born in Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne on Christmas Day 1889, Garnier worked as a butcher and baker at an early age. He took up theft at the age of thirteen and had served his first prison term by age seventeen. Garnier later wrote, "prison had made me even more rebellious."

Following his release from prison, Garnier dabbled in, and then became disillusioned with, both union syndicalism and revolutionary politics before turning to anarchism.

On 14 May 1912 Garnier and René Valet were killed in a shootout with French authorities when their safe house in Nogent-sur-Marne was raided by police. Armed with seven 9 mm Browning semi-automatics and two long-barreled Mausers, the two outlaws, who had barricaded themselves inside the rental house, faced 50 detectives, 250 police from Paris, Republican Guards, and 400 Zouaves from Nogent. As the six-hour stand-off stretched on, Valet and Garnier burned 10,000 stolen francs but managed to hold back the army outside.

At midnight, having failed to remove the bandits, French authorities succeeded in positioning one and a half kilograms of melinite in the house. The resulting explosion rendered the structure's inhabitants unconscious, and Garnier was then executed by a 9 mm shot to the right temple. Both men were buried in unmarked graves.

A memoir, found by police on Garnier's body, explained his criminal activities and summed up: "It's for all these reasons that I rebelled, it's because I didn't want to live this life of present-day society, because I didn't want to wait and maybe die before I'd lived, that I defended myself against the oppressors with all the means at my disposal..."

#3RDHEIRACHY

GERVÄIS PRINCE DU PETIT CHAMPLAIN

[currentmediasstuff]

Behind Amazon Manager's Murder, 'Maya Gang' Led By 18-Year-Old

Mohammad Sameer alias Maya recently turned 18. He was involved in at least four murders as a juvenile, police have found.

New Delhi: Four murder cases, a dozen gang members, Insta reels with guns and filmy dialogues — the prime accused in the midnight murder of Amazon manager Harpreet Gill is an 18-year-old like none other.

The bio on his Instagram profile, with over 2,000 followers, reads, “Naam badnaam, pata Kabristan, umra jeene ki, shauk marne ka — roughly meaning, “I am infamous, the graveyard is my address, It’s my age to live, but I wish to die”.

On scrolling down, you find Mohammad Sameer alias Maya posing for photographs in flashy clothes and sporting long hair. The photos suggest his love to be clicked. So far, it’s a profile of a teen who loves to dress up and pose.

But click on the highlights, and you are in for a shocker. One reel captioned “jail” captures several youngsters behind bars, another shows Maya posing with and firing guns. There is one which is captioned “Maya Gang” and shows about a dozen teenagers. This is not a random group of teenagers wanting to show off, but a gang that has terrorised Northeast Delhi, according to police.

The gang calls its self “Maya Gang” after its leader. Maya and his 18-year-old associate Bilal Gani have been arrested in connection with the murder of Gill and police are looking for the other accused.

Maya, who recently turned 18, was involved in at least four murders as a juvenile, police have found. His associate, Gani, turned 18 this Sunday and was involved in a murder and a robbery case last year. Gani was sent to a Children’s Observation home, but he managed to come out and had been working at a welding shop.

While Harpreet died on the spot, his uncle Govind, 32, is fighting for his life after Maya allegedly shot them in the head.

The shooting, police have found, was the fallout of a road rage incident.

Around 10.30 pm on Tuesday, Harpreet and Govind were passing through a narrow lane on a bike, police have found. Accused Maya, Gani and their associates Sohail (23), Mohammad Junaid (23) and Adnan (19) were returning from a party on two scooters. The two-wheelers faced off in the narrow lane. An altercation began on who would give way. The argument snowballed into a fight that ended in Maya allegedly shooting Harpreet and Govind.

The arrests were made after police scanned footage from a CCTV camera in the lane. The visuals show two accused, their faces covered, on a scooter.

Police said efforts are being made to catch the other accused and further probe is on.

[wordexpress]

7 Children, Mother Suffocate To Death After Fire In France Home: Cops

The father attempted to put out the fire while the children and their mother sought refuge from the flames on the second floor of the house, but that move turned out to be a trap.

A mother and her seven children aged two to 14 died after a fire broke out while they slept in their house in northern France on Monday, police and firefighters said.

The raging blaze, the deadliest such fire in France in a decade, broke out shortly after midnight in the family home in the town of Charly-sur-Marne, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Paris.

The mother and her children died from asphyxiation, local prosecutor Julien Morino-Ros told AFP.

The origin of the fire appeared to have been a malfunctioning clothes dryer on the ground floor of the house, he said.

Neighbours called the fire department to report the blaze just before 1:00 am (0000 GMT).

The woman's husband, father to three of the children, was seriously burned and transferred to a hospital, they said.

His life was saved by a firefighter who lives nearby and who intervened before his colleagues arrived.

The children included five girls and two boys. Four of them were from the mother's previous relationship.

The father appears to have attempted to put out the fire while the children and their mother sought refuge from the flames on the second floor of the house, but that move turned out to be a trap, the prosecutor said.

While black smoke filled the house, firefighters were having trouble getting ladders to the top windows of the house which is nestled in a narrow street in the centre of the village of 2,600 inhabitants.

The house's electric window shutters were blocked because of a power outage, further hampering the rescue effort, he said.

A total of 80 firefighters were called to the scene, and the fire was extinguished after several hours, local authorities said.

The tragedy was the worst such incident since 2013, when five children between two and nine died asphyxiated in an accidental fire, also in northern France.

[arun-pratap-singh]

Mother, seven children die in fire in France

A mother and her seven children aged two to 14 died after a fire broke out while they slept in their house in northern France on Monday, police and firefighters said. The raging blaze, the deadliest such fire in France in a decade, broke out shortly after midnight in the family home in the town of Charly-sur-Marne, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Paris. The mother and her children died from…

[its-my-spice-of-life]

Midnight on the Marne by Sarah Adlakha

Midnight on the Marne by Sarah Adlakha

Usually I read more along the lines of WWII nonfiction and sometimes fiction. In receiving an advanced preview of Midnight on the Marne, the description peaked my interest. I am so glad I chose to read this novel which can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Current pricing is $13.99 for Kindle and $26.99 hardcover. May 1991, Marcelle receives a diary from an American, George, that she vaguely remembers…

[leahclearwaterqueen]

2020 by Edward Cullen

[charaznablescanontoyota]

good news for people who love bad news

[paneerlajwanti]

of all the things i have suppressed my guilt for,

and for all the years i successfully buried it,

why oh why you show me my deepest fears,

in this moment of weakness and vulnerability,

show me the dreams i crushed and held too close,

do it again, let me feel,

take me through the path i so long forgot existed.

[sillyrabbit81]

Henry Cavill Fic Recs

This is a list of my favourite stories and I will add to it as I go. It is by no means complete.

Please read the authors notes and warnings on all fics as some are dark. Be responsible for your own reading.

🥵 Smut

🤗 Fluff

😭 Angst

Henry Cavill

Series

@cavillsthighs The Finish Line You meet a handsome, mysterious man while running a marathon. What will happen when you realize he’s a lot closer than you think?

@greensleeves888 Widow's Pique Penny is a 41 year old mother of one, existing day to day in the normal world until a chance encounter changes everything, for everyone.

@henryobsessed I Took You Home Reba is a writer who is working in London, lonely and seeking company she heads to her local bar to her friend Bob the bartender. Not happy with the crowds she attempts to leave that is until she meets a drunk Henry.

@henryobsessed Baby Boy Henry Marne lived alone, she lives a controlled neat and ordered life. The only time she diverts from this is when her 4yr old Nephew comes over to have a sleepover. But that’s all about to change when one night she hears someone crying outside and goes to investigate only to find a tall muscular man sitting on her footpath dressed in an onesie and crying around a pacifier.

@henryobsessed The Veterinarian and The Werewolf Jessie struggles to make connections with humans her greatest friends are animals.

@nashibirne Gimmie Shelter Henry Cavill faces a crisis and struggles with his mental health but he finds shelter with his old friend Sam and his sister. Kat and Henry have a history - they used to be best friends until something happened that ended their friendship forever.

@unauthorizedhenry Red and the Woodcutter Little Red Riding Hood is not so little anymore.

One-shots

@angryschnauzer Ripe 🥵 Having spent the better part of a week in a car in the hottest place on earth, when Henry returns to you he is dirty to say the least. In fact he’s so ripe it turns your brain feral. Henry shows you just how much he missed you in the garages of the ‘Driven To Extremes’ garage away from prying eyes.

@blakerogue Devil woman 🥵Henry sends you a tease, you return the favour.

@honeydulcewrites In Which Henry Discovers You Have A Spit Kink 🥵 Headcanon

@littlefreya Night Drive 🥵 A midnight drive turns into an absolute nightmare once Henry decides to take what he always craved for.

@nashibirne Rear Window 🥵 Henry watches his hot neighbour secretly and enjoys himself a lot.

[acknowledgetheabsurd]

“Here you are again, all alive, in me. If you only knew! Something's been going on lately: a great event that I wouldn't know how to tell you but whose threads you'll unravel, perhaps, when you read my diary. It's an inner upheaval that I'm only now beginning to realize but whose chaos I can't yet explain. Could I ever explain it, for that matter? I continue my quiet and peaceful life, my intimate conversations with Pitou and dad, my sunbathing (when the sun is shining).

Recently, my "moral crisis" has cloistered me a little more than usual and I have forgotten my walks on the quays and my days on the Marne. I'm going to take them back. On the other hand, I've been reading a lot and listening to music for a long time. Hypersensitive as I was (and still am), I drew extraordinary joys from it. I will never forget the books I read: The Stranger and The Negro of Narcissus. I then felt ready to take on Peter or the Ambiguities*. I started it and I drink it with all the joy it brings to find oneself in a certain way. Luckily I waited. Before, I would have missed it. In music - among the records I have - it's Beethoven, Bach, sometimes Mozart.

But enough about me. I now have only one idea in mind: to reread everything I read before, to hear everything I heard again and, finally, to meet you again, now that I seem to know you better. I have never loved you so much, my love, and I believe I have never loved you better. You're going to come back to me. The idea of you being with me in the coming fortnight is almost unbearable for me. When I try to think about it, I feel caught in a kind of weakness; an abyss opens up in me and I am overcome by a vertigo that I cannot prolong for more than a moment.

I have always feared meetings, but never as much as this one. It seems to me that we have been separated since time immemorial, that a thousand things have happened since we left each other, that perhaps we have become different each in our own orbit; I am afraid of our physical state, of our mutual reactions, of that mystery that is always hidden by confrontation, by real presence, what do I know! - and I put so much of myself into this encounter, I expect so much of it, that I cannot physically suffer the senseless flame that it ignites in me.

Yet I know you and I know myself and I know that it will be simple and sweet, that in the first minute we will be overwhelmed and that the wonder that would be painful if it were sudden, will come only afterwards, much later, little by little, slowly. Oh, my love, what you are to me! Of course, I'd rather wait for you at home. I prefer to have your arms around me right now. You know that while I sometimes feel sorry for you, most of the time I find myself envying you a little. It was a very annoying trip, but how much I'd like to be in your pocket to walk through the bush and attend the indigenous festival, for example. I admit that I would be less happy in front of the ladies with "feathered hats", especially if they are beautiful, but this is obviously a very personal reaction.

Dad is still the same: much better, but still unable to get dressed and go out. Nevertheless, he already wanders a little on the balcony. There's my love. I'm leaving you because tomorrow I have to get up very early. It's almost midnight and I still have to write my diary page. And if I had to tell you everything that you bring out in me, I would never shut up again. I love you. I'm waiting for you."

— Maria Casarès to Albert Camus, Correspondance, August 11, 1949 [#80]

* L'Étranger by Albert Camus (1942); Le Nègre du Narcisse by Joseph Conrad (French translation in 1924); Pierre ou les ambiguïtés by Herman Melville (French translation in 1939).

[daydreamingabouthockey]

Happy 23rd Birthday Mitch Marner, The best maple leaf, king of red bull and sponsorship ads, smiley boi and twitch streamer.

You are one of the reasons I started to support the leafs 2 years ago when I got into hockey. Thank you for being a ray of sunshine always on and off the ice. You twitch streams have kept me somewhat sane during this lockdown even if you do streams start at midnight my time! Your the reason I started to learn to ice skate in hopes I can one day learn to play ice hockey! So happy I got to watch a leaf game before everything happened! Didn’t get to meet ya but maybe one day I will. Hope you have a fab day day drinking or whatever you get up to!

Sophie,

U.K. Maple leaf fan, Mitch Marns fan

and fellow red bull enthusiast x

[ahmeddocuments]

Day 3, (Paris: Disneyland Paris/Midnight in Downtown Paris), 27-9-2019

Written by Ahmed Hassan, edited and corrected by Aya Ashraf.

The alarm went earlier today, it was set to wake me up at 6:00 AM. I gotta say, a busy day I'm having today. I've been alive for 28 years and I spent most of these years fantasizing about visiting Disneyland. It was all linked with my childhood, and how this place always looked like a sanctuary of my childhood fears, also a way to look up to a future built on fulfilling dreams.

I started to get ready, left the house around 7:00 AM. I was heading back to Charles de Gaulle Airport as Mohamed, a friend of mine, will join my tour for the upcoming two weeks. It took me like 20 minutes to get there, started looking for his flight and turned out I'll have to wait for like 45 minutes. I was extremely hungry actually but decided I'm going to wait for him till he arrives to make him have the full experience from day 1. It was his first time in France and Europe so he was pretty excited, in a way that made him buy us the two Disneyland tickets! I've known Mohamed since we were together in university, so we're talking about 11 years at least here, and Mohamed has always been a lovely caring and generous person.

After hearing the call for Mohamed’s flight, and it was a matter of minutes till he shows up. He finally appeared and it was an emotional scene full of mutual excitement about what we're going to witness later. Mohamed needed to have a french SIM card to use internet, so we made sure we got that at the airport. It was almost 8:15 AM and we're having two tasks before going to Disneyland: 1- to check-in in Mohamed’s hostel in Downtown Paris. 2- Start the journey to Disneyland!

We moved by RER and metro to Montmartre. At the hostel,  he left his luggage and changed his clothes quickly to more Disneyland-appropriate outfit. But no matter what he did, nothing would have ever topped my planned outfit for the day! It was just a few days before travelling when I was surprised by Ahmed Hamdy, one of my best friends, giving me this t-shirt as a souvenir from his south-east Asia trip, and I instantly decided that this is gonna be my Disneyland day t-shirt!

So that’s it, we’re ready to go. Before going, we had a sneak peak at Sacré-Cœur of Montmartre, and it really felt nice seeing that one year later. I really like the idea of an important building appearing in the middle or a regular city scene, like it’s just blended there making everything look beautiful.

We had the longest RER trip ever, around 70 minutes to reach Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy station, which is commonly known as the Disneyland station. For those who don’t know me well, a very important pleasure of mine is to introduce something I really like to someone and see their reactions to it. And that’s exactly how I felt guiding Mohamed around the RER system and how everything is operating, I felt good about myself knowing more about Paris and actually started guiding people there, or at least discover it together all over. I also felt good seeing him really excited and his eyes sparkling as the RER starts moving, as people go inside the train and leave. I’ve felt the same back in 2018 and I’m still feeling it to date!

We’re going up to the park entrance, and we were instantly overwhelmed by how long the queue looked like.

We had the one day, two parks tickets; which allows us to have best of both words: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. The queue we saw at the main security gate took only a few minutes to pass, and we decided we’re starting our day with the Studios park first as it closes a few hours earlier than the main park. Nothing feels like seeing the Disney sign at the entrance, as if you’ve voluntarily chosen to teleport two decades back to your childhood and enjoy what you've been missing.

We stepped our feet inside Disney studios, and suddenly we’re in a scene of Animaniacs. Everything looks so colorful like it was painted a few hours ago, and the Weather was just PERFECT!

I also loved the level of details, which is what Disney is all about. I mean, I’m literally inside the first building and I’m already fascinated!

The first thing we saw after passing through the main entrance was the Park’s main feature: The Hollywood Boulevard. It was basically a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse greeting incoming visitors. I’m still shocked with how pretty that looked. Sometimes you just can’t help but recall moments like this just to feel you’ve done something right to yourself.

Both statues were followed by a replica of a typical Hollywood street, with multiple shops and stores that represent different styles. The street ended by what looked like a Hollywood sign in the horizon, which looked brilliantly real from far.

Using the Disneyland mobile application, we started to check the games with the least queues. The park was really busy that day, we had to go for the Hollywood Tower Hotel, which is one of the few rides I knew from before. I’ve always watched videos of how cool some of the rides were, and I couldn’t believe that I was actually waiting in line for it. (Later I couldn’t believe I’ve actually waited for 45 minutes, that turned out to be the least time spent in a queue for a ride that day)

The dominating style of the game, and most of the studios, is Art Deco. Which is one of my classical fantasies. It was a horror game in an elevator going speedy over multiple floors with very exciting free falls in the elevator shaft. It felt absolutely crazy being inside this game!

We later went for the longest queue of the day on Crush Coaster. It’s a one-car roller coaster that had Finding Nemo Theme. We thought it’s not gonna be an exciting game, but it turns out to be a great experience! We waited for 90 minutes, but it was worth it.

We stopped for a drink later and took a walk to freshen up. I’ve had the opportunity to take a picture that made my day, I’ve finally found my real match!

The Last ride we had at the first park was Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic. It was a 15 minute tour of studio effects, shooting stunts and special effects simulation in movies. I enjoyed every part of it, to the extent that I recorded the whole 15 minute ride, but I’m sharing below the most interesting part of it.

And like it couldn’t go more Art Deco, there was this restaurant that played live jazz music to attract customers and I absolutely loved it!

Now as much as we were sad leaving the first park , we were pretty excited about visiting the other park. We were going through the entrance of the main park and It’s passing through Castle Club hotel building.

Now nothing felt as great as walking down the main street and seeing the “Sleeping Beauty” castle up in the horizon, like yes, I instantly went back to when I was young, caring less about anything but beautiful colors and details.

As we started getting closer, surrounded by music and happy kids, the castle started getting bigger and bigger, revealing of course everything I've imagined when I was younger; pure happiness. It looked real not just an illusion, it actually existed and people are visiting it!

I had the opportunity to go around the castle, and even go inside. I never thought I’d find anything interesting inside, but it turned out to be even more beautiful. The interior looked like a huge hall with stairs and a very beautiful ceiling.. The second level of the hall was surrounded by beautiful glass windows, that let the light do the work.

We decided to end our fairy tale for a while since we still have a full park to discover. Most of the things we wanted to visit were really busy and required queuing for at least two hours. We found a ride called Phantom Manor, which was, as described, a haunted house ride. We’ve decided to give it a shot since it had a 30 minute waiting time only. The building looked as creepy as it should, making us feel excited cause we literally don’t know what’s going to happen next.

We went inside and discovered it was mainly inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, making it more creepy. It was mainly an underground carriages ride, telling a story of a marriage between the evil and the good. Everything felt completely real; the mansion interior, the theme, the music, the forced-marriage.

It was 5:30 PM already, and we wanted to get ready and save ourselves a spot near the daily fireworks show at 8:00 PM. So we moved to my most awaited ride of the night; Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain.

Not only for being a star wars fan, but for the sake of how I wanted to have that space mountain ride experience, I’ve watched multiple versions of the game and nothing made me feel lucky more than having the opportunity to have it in a Star Wars theme.

The queue lasted for approximately two hours, it even rained while we stood there. We knew it was worth it so we decided to wait. Later when we were finally in, we had the time of our lives! It was a really fun ride with so much adrenaline for being in one of the Star Wars’ galaxies with a very high speed! We were screaming like we have never done that day, we wanted to have another but that would’ve been a waste of time indeed. We saw one of our on-ride photos which described our excitement in a funny way!

That was followed by a quick ride that’s right in front of it, Star Tours, another Star Wars themed ride! Man, I was on fire today! The ride was a cinema simulation of a ride in the world of Star Wars. The queuing didn’t last 15 minutes, and it felt like nothing because it was all themed with everything I loved about this world!

I mean, Come on! I saw a talking R2-D2 and C-3PO!

The ride was just brilliant, I absolutely loved it and loved how real it felt. The ride has a separate Star Wars gift shop that felt like heaven!

It was 7:30 PM, we ran our way to the castle again to find a good spot, and we were very lucky finding a good place to witness the fairy show!

And now It was starting to get darker...

We waited for a couple of minutes before the beauty started. It was a recap of Disney’s well known movies and tales, made in a very beautiful way. The light system on the castle and the surrounding was just on point. It was accompanied by a very beautiful soundtrack, and most importantly: The greatest fireworks show I had ever witnessed to date! Here’s a small sample of my full 20 minutes video of the whole event!

After the show ended, everybody applauded and screamed like I had never heard before. That was the end of the day for what I assume to be everyone’s best day of their lives.

Everybody was leaving the park extremely happy, and as we welcomed the park by the same shot, we were saying goodbye the same way. It had all started only a few hours earlier, which felt like days ago!

Everything looked beautiful as it was the best way the park is saying good bye to us!

It was 9:00 PM , we were facing a nightmare trying to leave, as thousands of people were leaving the park at the same time. The RER station was packed with people. We could find a train of course but it was super crowded. I suggested that since we’re both starving, we might step out at the next station to have a meal at Val d’Europe. I had visited that mall back in 2018 because it wasn’t far from where I was staying, and I knew the whole mall would’ve been closed by now except for restaurants. We had to walk all the way around the mall till we found the food court and had MacDonald’s. The time we had our meals gave us the opportunity to wait for people to leave from Disney, and have a much emptier train for our long ride home.

I was extremely tired on my way back. I texted Islem to make sure he’s home and awake, and instead, he told me not to go home and meet him at Gare du Nord. Mohamed was heading to his hostel and I went up to meet Islem at 11:40 PM, just a couple of minutes away from midnight. I said, Okay that’s a good time to go home and rest, but no. Turns out He was with his Algerian friends, who I knew one of them from the year earlier. They had a car and they waited for me to do like a Midnight tour of Paris! That was an experience of a lifetime! We went through Rue de Rivoli, Place de la Concorde then passing to the other bank along the Seine. Then we parked right in the middle of Champ de Mars right behind Eiffel tower. The tower looked more beautiful at night, allowing me to see other side of Paris I haven’t seen before.

Somehow, such a scene brought me back to the movie Midnight in Paris. It was about all the fun starting when nobody is around. It was all about yourself and your thoughts, and how reality can be better than imagination. The tower was, as usual, well-lit. We parked the car and took a walk around it, had a very nice orange juice and then decided to leave.

I can’t remember pretty much what happened after I got in the car, because I was extremely tired. But as my google maps timeline shows, we went outside Paris to drop off one of Islem’s friends to his dorm. We then headed to our home which was a really long drive.

We arrived home at 2:40, I was dead tired in a way that I instantly wanted to just sleep and have no thoughts about what happened during the day. but as someone who’s writing that a few months after this day, I gotta say it felt priceless. Deciding to go through such details made me remember this all over like it was literally a few hours ago.

I’m grateful for everything that turned out to be well-planned, and I’m grateful for any pop ups or events that spiced it up and made it look the same way I’m documenting it.

[decayingphoenix]

From the Desk of Decaying Phoenix: The Truth About the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Welcome back my little chicks for another horror filled story. In my travels over the world, I have been told many stories myself, but one I find truly inspiring is the truth behind The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Let me grant you a bit of background on this tomb. On March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American soldier from World War I in the plaza of Arlington National Cemetery's new Memorial Amphitheater. The journey of the World War I Unknown to Arlington began in France in September 1921, when four American bodies were exhumed from unmarked battlefield graves. U.S. Army Sgt. Edward F. Younger (a World War I veteran who was wounded in combat and received the Distinguished Service Medal) selected the Unknown Soldier from among four identical caskets at city hall in Chalons-sur-Marne, France. The chosen casket was then transported to Washington, D.C. aboard the Navy cruiser USS Olympia. Those remaining in France were interred in the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, one of several dozen foreign cemeteries operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The World War I Unknown arrived in Washington on November 9, 1921 and lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda for two days. Some 90,000 visitors lined up to pay their respects. On Armistice Day (November 11) 1921, body bearers from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps transported the casket to a caisson for the large ceremonial procession to Arlington National Cemetery. At the Memorial Amphitheater, President Warren G. Harding officiated at a ceremony attended by over 5,000 people. The U.S. Marine Corps band played the national anthem, followed by the Army Chief of Chaplains' invocation and two minutes of silence. President Harding then addressed the crowd and placed the Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross on the casket. Foreign dignitaries added more medals. The ceremony then moved to the east front of the Amphitheater, where, as a battery cannon fired three salvos, the casket was lowered into the crypt. A bugler played Taps, followed by the battery firing a 21-gun salute. The Unknown Soldier was home.

In the following years, thousands of people flocked to Arlington National Cemetery to pay their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which soon came to symbolize the sacrifices of all American service members. While the Tomb drew many respectful mourners, it also became a tourist destination. Photographers stationed themselves by the Tomb and charged people to take their picture, and visitors left trash strewn around the site. In 1926, Congress established a military guard to protect the Tomb during daylight hours. Since midnight on July 2, 1937, the Army has maintained a 24-hour guard over the Tomb. Sentinels of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, "The Old Guard," assumed these duties on April 6, 1948, maintaining a constant vigil regardless of weather conditions.

There, now with that little bit out of the way, let’s tell you the real story. There is no Soldier buried in that crypt, here is the truth.

On March 4th, 1921 Congress approved the burial, or should I say incarceration of an immortal. Yes you read that correctly, there is an immortal buried at Arlington National Cemetery. I’m sure you’re all wondering what immortal is locked up. Well? The tomb was created for a soldier, just not a human soldier, hidden within the tomb is Raziel, one of the archangels. Not much is known about this immortal, all that we do know thus far is that it doesn’t require food or water. The tomb has had to be modified several times throughout the years to help study this creature underground. After various tests we still don’t know what is actually keeping it alive with no food or water. The Angel Raziel just kind of floats there in the middle with it’s arms crossed and it’s head bowed. What appears to be a sword can be seen hanging from it’s waist. We have tried numerous times to attempt to communicate with Him, all to no avail.

Today Raziel did something different. He looked straight up at the ceiling above him as though looking up at the sky, his eyes squinted a bit. What could be coming? The angel has been getting fidgety as of late. He looks tense, what does he know that we don’t. Raziel can be seen muttering something under his breath, but we can’t tell what it is. I’m looking at past reports to see if this has ever happened before, but it doesn’t appear as though it has. No, this can’t be, Raziel is moving, his arms are uncrossing and his wings are spreading...

Well my little chicks, this is where our story ends, this was all that was recovered from the remains of what was once known as D. C. sweet screams my little chicks.

[today-in-wwi]

The Final German Offensive

The Germans used about 20 tanks in their offensive, many of them captured British models.  Most were quickly knocked out by French artillery.

July 15 1918, Dormans--The long-delayed German offensive against Rheims finally began shortly after midnight on July 15.  The Germans knew that surprise would be key, but the long preparation time, the short summer nights, and deserters from an army tired of repeated offensives meant that the French had a decent idea of where the attack was to fall.  The Germans would strike on both sides of Rheims--striking across the Marne in the west and in Champagne in the east, hoping to cut off the city.  Its capture would greatly improve German logistics, would demoralize the French, and would hopefully draw off large numbers of reserves from Flanders, where Ludendorff wanted to strike next.

The Allies, aware the strike was coming, even down to the hour, launched their own preemptive barrage before the Germans did.  Many of the German gas attacks were ineffective due to the wind.  In Champagne, the French had learned well the lessons of the last few months, and kept only a token force near the front line.  The German bombardment thus missed the main French positions to the rear, and the Germans infantry took heavy casualties advancing over open ground.  By 11AM, the Germans realized their predicament, and halted their advance after failed costly attacks on the main French line.

To the west, the Germans had more success.  The French had hoped the Marne would serve as an effective natural barrier, but they were able to cross the river at night with relative ease, and the French and Italian defenders in the area bore the brunt of the German bombardment.  The Germans advanced four miles across the river, but the Allies had kept adequate reserves in the area to contain them.  Among these were elements of the US 3rd Division, which held its position and even counterattacked against a German force that outnumbered them three-to-one.  To this day, the 3rd Division (and especially its 38th Infantry Regiment) is nicknamed the “Rock of the Marne.”

Today in 1917: Kadets Leave Provisional Government over Ukraine Today in 1916: South Africans Fight for Delville Wood Today in 1915: South Wales Coal Miners Strike Today in 1914: Lützow Warns British Ambassador of Imminent Austrian Note To Serbia

Sources include: Randal Gray, Chronicle of the First World War; Robert B. Asprey, The German High Command at War; David Stevenson, With Our Backs to the Wall.

[leahclearwaterqueen]

So, it’s canon now. Alice is gay.

[charaznablescanontoyota]

‘marn are you about to be midnight baking again’ you bet your ass i am