#north bay battalion

[pokemonwearingsportsmerch]

[valentin10]

OHL Highlights : North Bay Battalion @ London Knights Nov. 8, 2024

[amarriageoftrueminds]

If The Howlies were real...

I've been thinking about Steve's time during the war, and wondering if anyone has any headcanons about, eg. where he was stationed, how exactly the Howling Commando mission planning went, etc?

In the comics, Steve isn't assigned to the 107 but to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division (aka the ‘Big Red One’.)

They were part of D-Day landings, on Omaha Beach.

In deleted scenes / clips from the Smithsonian, it’s implied that Steve was also a part of D-Day: 

(That’s General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander.)

(These landing craft 👆 were only used at D-Day. Although it’s possible this is propaganda footage of a rehearsal.)

If the Howlies had the same set up as the 26th, then Steve and the guys would’ve been stationed in Swanage, Dorset:

(Members of ‘A’ Company 26th Infantry Regiment US Army, billeted at Craigside in the High Street opposite Purbeck House Hotel, Swanage, around 1943 – 44.)

That’s 114 miles south west of Camp Griffiss in Bushy Park, Teddington, where General Eisenhower had his SHAEF HQ, starting from January 1944

(before that his HQ was at No.20 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, in London -- aka ‘Little America’ or ‘Eisenhower Platz’ -- a couple of miles northwest of Churchill’s War Rooms, which inspired the underground bunker HQ seen in CATFA.)

Thousands of American troops, including the 26th Infantry, started arriving in Dorset in November 1943 -- which is also when Steve arrived in England after rescuing the 107!

While in Dorset, the US troops were largely engaged in rehearsing for Operation Overlord, aka D-Day. 

One such rehearsal was the disastrous Operation Smash, on the 18th April, 1944, which was a live-ammunition practice for beach landings at Normandy. (Disastrous because six men accidentally drowned when their Valentine semi-submersible tank... sank.)

Operation Smash was staged in Studland Bay (that’s 4.5 miles north of Swanage). Present to observe were: Winston Churchill, King George VI, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, and Acting Admiral Louis Mountbatten. They did so from ‘Fort Henry,’ a 90 foot long bunker (built and named by Canadian engineers in 1943 -- so it would’ve been there by the time Steve n’ Co got there -- and it’s still there today!) overlooking the bay. 

The US troops moved on from Swanage in late April 1944, and departed England entirely (from nearby places like Weymouth, Poole Quay, Portland Harbour, etc.) on 5th June 1944. D-Day was on the 6th.

In the deleted scene from Avengers, Steve is clearly shown crossing  the Ludendorff Bridge:

...But this is impossible!

Because that bridge (at Remagen) was only captured on the 7th of March 1945:

(9th Armored Division in Remagen, Germany, recorded 9th March, 1945).

...and Steve had already crashed the Valkyrie 6 days prior!

(So unless that bridge was captured earlier, possibly because of Steve n’ Co., that footage can’t be right! 

CATFA does have a habit of putting the US Army in places they had no business being yet at that time of the war -- i.e. showing the US Army right up at the North of Italy, when in reality the Nazis still held it. 

(In fact, Mussolini’s Nazi puppet republic, the Republic of Salò, was nicknamed after a lake in Brescia... which is 200-ish miles further south than the US Army are shown in November ‘43.)

So I guess it’s possible that Steve & Co really were in Remagen, Germany, and crossing the Ludendorff Bridge before March ‘45! 

Or (perhaps more likely) we’re supposed to read it as some generic bridge in Western Europe, captured on D-Day (a la Pegasus bridge). 

.

Where exactly the Hydra factories were (and thus most Howlie missions) is not categorically stated. However, what Steve says / taking rough guesses from the map we see in Krausberg...

...it looks like the Howlies would’ve had missions in: Italy, France, (then) Czechoslovakia, Poland, and... Greece. 

(The script also mentions Belgium and Russia, which are neither shown on the map nor mentioned. However, there is a shot of them creeping through snowy forests, which looks very much like the Ardennes. That might put them in Belgium as part of the Battle of the Bulge -- which in turn gives us a date that could be the ‘difficult winter’ mentioned in the Smithsonian footage.)

If the Howlies were an active team from say 14th November 1943 -- 1st March 1945 (when Steve went down in the Valkyrie) 

That’s 473 days / or 1 year, 3 months, 15 days / or 15 months, 15 days.

If they had 9 missions total during that time...

6 Hydra factories around Europe

+ 1 winter mission to save over a 1000 men (as mentioned in Smithsonian; could be Battle of the Bulge? 🤔)

+ 1 D-Day mission (possibly including amphibious landings &/or bridge captures)

+ 1 Zola-capture mission, probably somewhere in the Alps. 

+ 1 Valkyrie mission makes 10. 

...That would give them 52.5 days (less than two months) to both plan, travel in and out, and execute each mission. That seems like a pretty tight turnaround, especially if each factory was different enough to warrant a new/fresh plan. 

(One difficulty never mentioned because their raids are relegated to a montage: the fact that Hydra factories appear to be staffed by slave labour. Means the Howlies can’t just bust in guns blazing! Or, at least, I don’t think Steve would stand for it. They’d have to free the workers first, and hopefully they’d be workers both physically capable and willing to join in the fight.)

In the film, they are never shown being back in the UK between these missions,  right up until the last Valkyrie mission in 1945, and dialogue seems to suggest there hasn’t been any personal contact between them and the HQ staff in between. 

(It does seem a bit nuts to be shipping them out and back every time, rather than just keeping them on the continent. Also nuts to be planning their most important Valkyrie mission only the day before. But anyway...) 

In order to take part in D-Day, they had to have been back to England at least once, to receive those highly classified orders and to rehearse (can’t be discussing details of D-Day over radio!) 

Also, they couldn’t have been allowed to go haring off attacking Hydra bases any old where, because it might have been inconvenient for D-Day (ie. if the Nazis increased defenses in certain places just because Captain America had been sighted there recently.)

TPTB could have used the Howlies as a diversion, sending them on dummy missions designed to make the Nazis think D-Day is going to happen somewhere else. I think Greece and Italy would be a great way to convince the Nazis that an invasion will be coming from the south, not the north! They could even have used doubles of the Howlies to throw the Nazis off the scent, as part of the Ghost Army (they did this IRL with Bernard Montgomery!) 

Maybe the SSR would be advised to keep the Howlies’ real missions as far away from Normandy as possible, earlier on, and then the reverse right before D-Day? (ie. damage Hydra’s factories that are nearest to Normandy, close to D-Day, so that they can’t supply weapons and don’t have enough time to rebuild).

Other possibilities: 

If they were not stationed in the UK between missions, and weren’t with the US Army of occupation (because it hadn’t invaded that part of Europe yet) Steve & Co. might have been living undercover in Nazi-occupied territory in the run up to missions against local Hydra bases (in, eg. France and Poland. Chance for Frenchy to get his Maquis on!) Very dangerous, very nerve-wracking, very Inglourious Basterds of them. Also potentially very dangerous for the locals, too, since there would surely be reprisals against them after any successful anti-Hydra attack by Howlies. 

IRL There was a concentration camp called Terezin in Czechoslovakia, near-ish where that one Hydra base is shown. (It’s the one that the Nazis famously filmed a propaganda movie in, after cleaning it up and deporting a bunch of people to Auschwitz to seemingly reduce overcrowded living conditions, to fool the visiting Red Cross.) So Steve and the Howlies might have gone off-mission to go and liberate that; could be that was a source of slave labour for the nearby Hydra factory.  (From a character POV, Terezin was known for having a big artistic culture among the inmates, and surely Steve would feel empathy for those used in propaganda, having been made to do that himself.)

Logically speaking, I would’ve expected that last Hydra base to be in Holland or Denmark -- not Greece -- to complete the ring of bases formed around Germany. 🤔 Maybe even more likely to be Denmark, since the Tesseract (which kicked off the whole Hydra supremacy thing) was discovered in Tønsberg, SE Norway.

[jedi-hawkins]

Shockpack

Word count: 2.9k

A/N: This is an edit/repost of the original I made a while back.

Warnings: WHUMP, Cardiac arrest, CPR, AED usage, broken ribs, medical terminology, Crosshair is a bit of a bitch

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Disclaimer: Though this is fairly accurate to the correct process of CPR, please do not use this as educational material or attempt to perform CPR if you have not been trained how to do it. In an emergency always call 911 (US) or the appropriate number for your country/region.

While on standby for their next mission, some drastic measures may start leading to a new connection.

"Hunter, that needs to be more to the left."

Hunter brings his head back out of the engineering bay he and Tech are working on. Both brothers have removed their upper armor to make it easier to reach into the tight spots. "Tech, why did you ask for my help if you're just going to correct everything I do?"

"Because, I need an extra set of hands, Hunter. The General is busy working and you sent Crosshair and Wrecker out for supplies."

Bryn chuckles at the two arguing brothers before turning back to the holomap in front of her.

"Well if you keep telling me what to do, then you'll have to grow the extra set of hands yourself." Hunter snaps back.

Tech sighs. "I'm just saying, if that component is not at the optimal angle, then it may not remain stable-"

"It's attached to the ship, Tech. What's next?"

Footsteps signal the return of Crosshair and Wrecker, the latter sets down two large crates as his brother hefts two packs from his shoulders.

"The med supplies are in here, General." Wrecker says, pointing to one of the large crates.

Bryn smiles, "Thanks, Wrecker. You guys get everything else?"

"Apparently ration packs for this sector are in short supply, so bars will have to do." Crosshair says. "Much to Wrecker's disappointment."

His brother grumbles in response as a few metal clanks and choice curses from Hunter float over from the side of the Marauder.

"That sounds fun." Crosshair says, placing a toothpick in his mouth.

Bryn rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I think Hunter is getting close to strangling Tech with one of the exhaust hoses."

Wrecker chuckles. "Heh, there's the quick way and the Tech way."

"What's the word?" Crosshair asks.

Bryn shrugs, "Command sent high praises for our work in our first month on active duty, but nothing on a new assignment. They'll let us know where they want us soon."

Wrecker looks over Bryn's shoulder. "Whatcha working on?"

"Well I'm supposed to be finishing the mission report for our work on Lutrilla, but instead I'm working on this for Obi-wan." Bryn replies.

"General Kenobi?" Crosshair's interest is piqued and he moves to stand on Bryn's other side.

"Yeah, long time friend of mine." Bryn mumbles. "He's currently stationed on Ques and the terrain is giving them some trouble in clearing out the Separatists. I'm trying to see if I can come up with something to help."

The sniper's lip curls, "Do that a lot? Help Kenobi?"

Bryn hums, turning the map. "We help each other. We came up together in the Order, he's a good man, and a better leader."

"High praises coming from you, I'm sure." Crosshair says, though not without a hint of sarcasm.

"What's their issue with the terrain?" Wrecker says, standing on the other side of the table.

Bryn points to a section on the map. "The Seppies have taken this canyon as their central point of operation. Their base is halfway between the north and south entrances and they have battalions on the high ground posted along both the east and west rims. It's basically impossible to get down to their base. What do you two think?"

Wrecker brings his hand to his chin in thought. "Ques you said? That system has a network of catacombs going through its ridges. They were drainage and aqueducts for some ancient civilization there, pretty much abandoned now. It'd be a risk, but if they could find a way to get into the tunnels outside of the Seppie's sights, a few carefully placed detonations, and they should be able to blow straight through the canyon wall right outside the main base."

"That could work." Crosshair agrees. "If they make enough noise when they storm the base, they could draw the forces off the rims and into the canyon, making way for a second wave of Republic air support to claim the high ground."

Bryn smiles at her teammates, "That sounds perfect. Obi-wan has the special forces that could handle the catacombs and the numbers to take the ridges. Where did you hear about those tunnels, Wrecker?"

He just shrugs. "I was reading up on the history of some antique weapon classes and came across some records about them."

Before anyone can say anything else, a large bang comes from the Marauder. Bryn, Wrecker and Crosshair run over to see Hunter is lying on his back, eyes closed, and Tech is shaking his brother's arm.

"Tech what happened!?" Bryn shouts, sliding to a stop on her knees at Hunter's shoulder.

"I-I don't know General. I told him that component could become unstable at the wrong angle."

Her gaze follows Tech's finger that's pointing to a small metal part lying a few feet away from Hunter.

Bryn's eyes widen and she elbows Tech out of the way, nearly causing him to fall over. "Move." She leans her cheek close to Hunter's face and places two fingers on his neck.

"It happened so quickly, but I think it hit him. At first he seemed okay, but then he just collapsed." Tech stammers out.

Wrecker's brow furrows as he watches the Jedi move to her hands and knees, locking her fingers together and positioning the heel of her hand over Hunter's sternum. "What are you-"

"Hunter's heart isn't beating. Shockpack in the med bay. Bright orange. Go." Bryn says.

Wrecker disappears as Bryn starts leaning all her weight onto her Sergeant's chest in rhythm. Crosshair can hear her muttering under her breath.

"fifteen... sixteen... seventeen..."

Wrecker returns with the case and sets it down at Hunter's side opposite Bryn. "Now what?" he asks.

Bryn stops pressing on Hunter's chest and pulls a vibroblade from its sheath on her thigh, sliding it through the front of the Sergeant's upper blacks. She immediately goes back to thrusting her hands into Hunter's chest. "Open the case. Put the pads on his chest like the picture and turn it on. Work around me." She says, her breath starting to become labored.

All the brothers freeze when Bryn suddenly leans down and presses her lips to Hunter's. The General is kissing their ori’vod.

After a couple seconds Bryn straightens back up and goes back to pushing into Hunter's chest. When she notices the squad frozen around her she barks at them, "I gave you an order!"

Her voice shakes Crosshair and Wrecker form their daze and they quickly work together to follow her instructions. They peel the backing off the sticky shock pads and press them to Hunter's chest. Wrecker presses the green 'on' button and a smooth voice comes from the shock pack.

'Device on. Pads attached. Analyzing heart rhythm. Do not touch the patient.'

Bryn stops her movements and holds her arms out to keep the brothers back.

'Shock advised.'

'Do not touch the patient. Deliver shock.'

Bryn reaches across Hunter and presses a big flashing button on the shockpack and Hunter's body jolts with electricity.

'Continue Compressions.'

Bryn immediately jumps back to Hunter's chest, sweat beginning to bead on her forehead. "Come on, Hunter. Come on." She mutters under her breath.

A few sickening cracks come from the Sergeant's chest and Tech adjusts his goggles. "It appears you have broken his ribs."

Crosshair balls up his fists. "She just broke his what?"

Tech peers over her shoulder. "Are you sure-"

"Of course. I'm sure." Bryn snaps as she continues pressing on Hunter's chest.

Crosshair reaches out and wraps his hand around one of her wrists, trying to stop her motions. "Do you really think I'm going to let you keep doing that?"

"Crosshair, please." She huffs, continuing against his tightening grip.

"How do we know you actually know what the hell you're doing-"

"How dare you. I'm trying to save him. You have to trust me." Her eyes flash with fire, making him release her.

She leans down and presses her lips to Hunter's again. The brothers look on helplessly as their General returns to compressing Hunter's chest.

After a mother minute, the eerily calm voice speaks from the shockpack again.

‘Analyzing heart rhythm. Do not touch the patient.’

Bryn holds her arms out over Hunter, waiting for the device.

'Shock advised.'

'Do not touch the patient. Deliver shock.'

This time, Tech reaches down and presses the flashing button on the orange device and Hunter's body jolts once more.

'Continue Compressions.'

Strands of hair fall into her face as Bryn braces against Hunter again. After she presses her lips to his once more she starts muttering under her breath.

"Come on Hunter. Breathe. Come back." Bryn feels a pull in the Force and she reaches out for it, pushing it through her palms into her Sergeant.

A tear falls from her face and hits Hunter's cheek. Suddenly, he takes a gasping breath, his eyes flying open. His brothers immediately lurch forward to be closer as Bryn takes her hands off him and leans back on her heels.

Hunter's eyes move frantically around him to get oriented. "Wh-what?"

He tries to sit up but Bryn presses a gentle hand to his shoulder to keep him laying flat. She shushes him gently, "It's okay, you're okay. Just lay still for a second."

Hunter blinks. "What happened?"

Bryn gives him a weak smile. "Your heart stopped."

"That component that you fitted blew off the ship and struck you." Tech remarks. "What I don't understand is how it caused this."

Bryn strokes a few strands of Hunter's hair. She responds without moving her eyes from him. "Commotio cordis. When an object hits someone in the chest in just the right spot at just the right time in their heartbeat, it causes the heart to stop."

Wrecker's eyes widen. "That can happen?"

"It's rare, but yes." Bryn nods as she peels the shock pack pads off of Hunter.

"Oh so that’s what our chest plates are for." He says sarcastically.

A laugh escapes Bryn as she shakes her head. Hunter tries to sit up again but groans in pain and lays back down.

"I get my heart stopped, but it's working now. Does someone want to tell me why my chest hurts so bad?" He moans.

"The General broke your ribs." Tech says simply.

Hunter looks back at Bryn who gives him an apologetic face. "Broken ribs or death. Those were your options." She simply replies. "Bacta patches should be on the ship. Do you think you can get up or do you want us to bring one to you?"

Hunter shakes his head. "No, I'm good. I can get up."

Bryn offers Hunter her hand and supports his back with the other as he gingerly sits up. Another groan passes his lips as he stands with additional help from Tech. The perma-bunk in the Marauder's med bay creaks slightly as Bryn and Tech sit him down on it, leaning him back on pillows.

"I'll leave you to it, General." Tech says.

As the door slides closed behind him, Bryn moves over to the med cabinet and pulls out the bin of bacta patches. After fishing out the correct size, she turns around to Hunter who's watching her intently.

The bunk creaks again as Bryn sits down on its edge. She peels the backing off the patch and gently presses it over the center of Hunter's chest where she felt his ribs break. Hunter hisses at the pressure.

"I know, I'm sorry." Bryn says, tossing the patch wrapper in the trash bin.

Hunter shakes his head. "Don't apologize. You saved my life."

Bryn gives him a smile as she reaches over to grab some trauma scissors off the counter. "These blacks are spent, I'm assuming you don't want them?" She says, gesturing to his cut upper blacks, revealing the continuation of his skull tattoo.

He laughs, "I don't know. This could be my new look."

Bryn rolls her eyes again as she cuts up each sleeve, allowing the fabric to fall from Hunter's figure. He leans forward with a grimace to allow Bryn to pull the shirt out from behind him.

"You're going to need to rest for a bit before you're back on your feet. With the bacta, a couple hours should be enough." Bryn says, standing up from the bunk. "Here, I can take your armor off to make you more comfortable."

Hunter nods his consent and Bryn gently slides his feet out of his boots and undoes the fastenings on his lower armor pieces, shifting him gently to remove them. In just his lower blacks, he settles into the medbunk, looking much more content. Bryn turns to leave the med bay, but Hunter grasps her wrist.

"Stay?" He asks, pleading with wide eyes.

His demeanor shocks Bryn for a moment, but the look on Hunter's face draws her back to the medbunk. Slowly, she sits back down on the bunk and scoots in next to Hunter. He turns his body to curl into her and rests his head on her chest, breathing in her sweet woody scent.

Bryn can feel his energy swirling, it's tense, jittery. "It's okay." She mutters.

"I've never heard of anything like that happening before."

Although Hunter put up a front of strength for his brothers, it is quickly slipping in Bryn's calming presence. She bites her lip as the miniscule tremble in Hunter's voice reminds her how little of the galaxy the clones have seen.

Bryn's arm wraps around his back. "I know that was scary."

It's barely noticeable when Hunter nods his head. "Different from battle. If you hadn't..."

She gently shushes him. "I've got you, just rest."

Hunter's breathing slows into little puffs of air as Bryn absentmindedly plays with his soft curls. He stirs for a second and mumbles something she can't quite hear.

"What was that?" She asks.

Hunter lets out a little huff of air. "Tech is never going to let this go."

Bryn laughs lightly, and rests her chin on the top of his head. "Next time, I'll work on the ship with Tech."

The door to the medbay whooshes closed behind Bryn as she steps into the Marauder's hallway and straight into an armored figure.

"Wha- Crosshair." She says.

The sniper's lip curls at her. "Break anything else?"

Bryn shakes her head. "He just got to sleep, can we at least do this outside?"

Crosshair looks her up and down and turns to leave the Marauder without another word. Sighing, Bryn follows after.

Their boots crunch in the dirt as Crosshair stomps down a trail towards the nearby river. When he reaches the banks, he turns around to face the Jedi behind him. Bryn stands with her arms crossed. "Well, go ahead."

"Go ahead with what?" Crosshair sneers.

Bryn drops her arms, resting a hand on her belt. "You obviously have some choice words you want to say to me. I thought we were past this, Crosshair."

His temple twitches as he clenches his jaw. "We're taught to keep our opinions about superiors to ourselves." he spits out as if the words are poison.

Bryn's eyebrow twitches in amusement. "Well then, if that's how you want to do it." She shakes her head and straightens her posture to full attention. "I, Jedi Master Bryn-ayla del Caro, member of the Jedi High Council and General of the Galactic Army of the Republic, permit you, Clone Commando CT-9904, designation Crosshair, to speak freely without risk of penalty or court martial for misconduct or insubordination." She finishes in a mocking tone.

This just makes Crosshair roll his eyes as he starts stomping back and forth along the river bank. "Do you have to make a joke or positive spin out of everything?"

Bryn smirks. "Like you don't always have a remark? You're throwing stones from a glass house."

"Aurgh!" He growls out. "You're infuriating. Look at you, high and mighty Jedi Master, nothing can touch you, the galaxy is at your feet. And my brothers! My brothers falling in love with you instantly, I'm not so easily turned..."

Bryn takes a breath. "Crosshair... I've really been trying with you. I'm not forcing myself into your space, I'm giving you time to get used to me, letting you process. You're like a karking tooka, one day I think you're warming up to me, the next you can't stand the sight of me. What, do I need to leave out a saucer of blue milk for you?" 

The sniper's eyes are nearly glowing. "I am not some mindless animal for you to wrangle-"

"Of course not." Bryn cuts him off. "You're human, with thoughts and emotions all your own. It's not my job to wrangle you. My job is to protect you. You think I'm untouchable? I envy you, Crosshair. Your brothers are still alive, you got to grow up with them, know them for who they are. The closest thing I've had to a family is the Order and even then, they're not the most understanding bunch. The four brothers I had were taken before I got a chance to see who they had become. But I see you, Crosshair." 

His feet come to a stop under her gaze and he gets that feeling again, that she's looking through him. 

"You are so full of emotion, though you try to hide it." Bryn says, her voice calm. "The love you have for your brothers, the anger at the other clones for shunning you. Your worry that you won't be able to protect them. I haven't delved into your mind out of respect for your privacy, but I do get waves of what's overflowing from you. Your frustration with me. You've been treating me like I'm going to treat you as the rest of the galaxy has, but you're realizing that I'm different. That scares you, and you're resisting. You're resisting your desire to drop the act and accept me." 

Crosshair's shoulders drop as he finally lets some tension go. Bryn can see the words turning over in his head. What she said was true, they both know it. He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, Bryn is knocked over by an unseen force.

Blinking from the impact with the ground, she sees Crosshair, draped in a heavy net, same as what hit her. He stops struggling against the net as his eyes set on something behind her.

"Well, well. What do we have here?” A voice sneers, dirt crunching under boots. “A trooper, and a Jedi. That should get us a nice score."

Another voice snickers. "Hondo will be pleased."

Bryn starts to retort, but the nets pinning her and Crosshair to the ground light with electricity, searing through their bodies before their vision goes black.

A/N: As I was doing the final formatting to post this chapter I was thinking. Why wouldn't the Batch know how to do CPR since they are trained in basic field medicine? I mean you could say the Kaminoans didn't think it was necessary training for them since they're not GAR Medics, or that the Clones are engineered to not have heart defects and their armor protects them, or their chest plates have AEDs inside them to detect a cardiac arrest and shock them automatically (because CPR doesn't really revive someone in cardiac arrest, an AED does. CPR just keeps the blood/oxygen circulating through their body long enough for the shock to work). But the longer I thought about it... It likely just wasn't taught because there were so many clones in the GAR, if one dropped from Cardiac Arrest, they'd just call it a KIA fatality or a 'defective' and move on, which then gave me the sads (wow what a surprise, an author giving themselves the sads with something they are wholly responsible for writing). The clones deserved so much better.

Taglist:

@callsign-denmark @arctrooper69 @anxiouspineapple99 @clonethirstingisreal @photogirl894

[miitgaanar]

Whumptober prompt!

No. 21: BODY HORROR

Body Horror | Tattoo Gun | Spirit Possession | “Let the bedsheet soak up the tears.” (Apparat feat. Soap & Skin, Goodbye)

Okay. So. Hear me out. This is an incredibly self-indulgent crossover/AU. I started writing it back in December of last year, and slowly chopped away at it. When I saw that there was a Whumptober prompt that (loosely?) applied, I forced myself to get to the finish line.

And so this was borne of my friends and I saying "Surely Lemuel would allow a sadistic, hedonistic demon to share his body if it meant he got all of the power that came with it?"

Anyway. You can read this if you want. But. Yeah. <3

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

There was a shift in the air as Addilyn approached him.  She had no talent for pymary, no sense for the khert and its delicate intricacies—and yet the air felt heavier here, thicker in a way she could not explain.  It was as if the khert had shrunk away from this place, unwilling to be tainted by the slaughter that had occurred.  Blood and viscera had turned the earth to mud, her every step sounding with a revolting squelch as her boots sunk into the fetid sludge.  

And in the middle of it all stood Lemuel Adelier, drenched in gore and bits of flesh, a grotesque grin splitting his features.

A laugh then pierced the quiet, the sound grating and manic, and Addilyn froze.  It was not at all the charming chuckle she’d become so familiar with.�� Even when dancing on the edge of madness, she’d never heard Lemuel emit such a shrill cacophony.

“Oh, what a day,” he said, the laughter tapering off into an almost euphoric moan.  He sounded wrong; that delightful tenor dipping into a sinister baritone.  Had she not known any better, she would have sworn that an entirely different man stood before her—but his golden hair shone bright in the light of the setting sun, Ataret and Kossaul in hand and streaked with Gefendur blood.

And yet her blood turned to ice in her veins as she watched him, her skin prickling with unease.

“Captain,” she tried, her voice low, hardly even a croak as her too dry throat forced the simple word from her lips.

Almost lazily, Lemuel turned to face her, a strange expression crossing his blood spattered face.  It was akin to irritation, but with the slightest undercurrent of curiosity.

Her confusion only mounted as he stared at her, unrecognizing.

“If you’ve come to grovel, your head’s a bit high for my liking,” he said, the words cold and lacking any playful bite.

“Sir,” she tried again, her heart stuttering out a staccato rhythm as a thin trickle of fear began to slither its way down her spine.  Wrong.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  “We’re regrouping to the north.  We need to head out if we’re going to link up with the battalion.”

He stared at her for a beat longer, his annoyance seeming to momentarily morph into something closer to anger, but it quickly vanished, and at last there was a flash of recognition in his eyes.

“Ah,” he said simply, that monstrous grin returning, and Addilyn had the brief thought that she rather preferred his ire.  “The Lioness.  And here I thought I’d never have the pleasure of a formal introduction.”

A nervous laugh was all she could muster, her body going rigid with the inexplicable urge to flee.  “Very funny, sir.  Never heard that one before.”

“You haunt his every thought,” Lemuel continued, stalking forward with the preternatural grace of a predator on the hunt.  “It was fairly fucking irritating that he worked so hard to keep me at bay where you were concerned.  You and his doe-eyed brat.”

The sun hung low in the sky, but still painted the area in a bright, crimson glow.  The shadows grew long and deep and dark as dusk loomed, and so Addilyn had not questioned the shadows that seemed to fall over Lemuel’s features.

But as he drew closer, she realized it was neither shadows nor streaks of quickly drying blood that coated his face, but solid black markings.  They lined his jaw, symmetrical in their placement, starting from the corners of his eyes and ending at his chin.  A single slash of ebony crossed the center of his nose, while a strange symbol sat painted upon his forehead.

It left her speechless, and she fought the urge to step back as he closed in.

“But it looks like he didn’t account for how hard it would be to shove me back in my cage once he deigned to set me loose,” he drawled, his voice entirely unfamiliar.  At this proximity, she realized that his eyes glowed an insidious shade of red, their warm, golden hue entirely absent.  “Such is the usual gambit borne of human desperation.”

Addilyn moved to draw her blade, muscle memory taking hold as alarm bells rang out loudly in her mind.

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG

The sword was scarcely out of its scabbard when he moved, nearly too fast for her eyes to register.  One moment her blade was in hand, the next a loud clang resounded through the piercing silence, a sharp pain shooting up her arm as the weapon was knocked free of her grip.  It fell to the earth with a dull splat a few feet from where she stood, the heavy steel sinking slightly into the putrid mixture of mud and viscous fluid.

And all the while, she stared up at Lemuel in horror.  She knew how he fought down to her very bones.  There was strength behind each movement, though there was always a thoughtless precision that came with each slash and parry, drilled into him from decades spent on training grounds and battlefields.

But there had been no finesse in how he had disarmed her, no elegant violence, merely raw power.

A horrifying realization dawned, and it left her near paralyzed with utter terror.

“What are you?” she demanded, a pathetic tremor undercutting her words.

The creature wearing Lemuel’s face grinned lasciviously and raised Ataret to her throat.  Just beneath each eye, a second pair of smaller, crimson colored irises stared back at her.  “A question your dear captain probably should have asked, Lioness.”

Not him.  Panic gripped at her lungs tight enough to burn.  Not him, not him, not him.

Addilyn didn’t think, couldn’t allow herself to think.  She ducked back and out of reach of the blade’s tip, knocking the scarlet stained steel away with her armored forearm.  She turned to bolt, unsure of where to go, only that she had to get away.  Away from this thing that had claimed Lemuel’s visage as its own.

But it hardly mattered, a deranged cackle splitting the air as the creature reached for her.  Her head jerked back as she felt its fingers bury themselves in her hair, the clawed tips of its gauntlets digging painfully into the flesh of her scalp.

“Now, now,” it chided, tugging her back toward it.  She latched onto its wrist, desperate to wrest herself from its grasp—but its hold remained solid, immovable.  Even without Lemuel’s plate armor in the way, she doubted her feeble attempts would have amounted to much.  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  I haven’t dismissed you yet, Private.”

“Where is he?” she ground out, her jaw clenched to the point of aching.  Tears welled in her eyes from the pain along her scalp, blurring her vision.  “What have you done to him, nuofhen?”

“Ever the loyal little soldier,” it crooned, its free hand coming up to grip at her chin.  “More sacrificial lamb than fierce lioness.”

Belatedly, Addilyn realized it no longer wielded Lemuel’s blades.  It had likely discarded them when she tried to run.  In a stroke of hysteria induced insanity, all she could think about was how furious Lemuel would be to see his prized swords festering in a pool of blood and entrails.  

“Answer me.”  Her voice continued to tremble as she glared at it, warm rivulets of blood beginning to soak into her hair where the gauntlets had cut through skin.  Nausea ate away at her gut as she met its gaze.  She had never seen such gleeful malice etched into Lemuel’s face before.

“He lurks,” the creature said, the claws at her chin digging into the sensitive flesh as it angled her face upwards.  “He’s been quiet since the culling began.  Willing to sit back and let me have my fun.”  It chuckled darkly, the sound an ugly and repulsive thing.  “Oh, the sins etched upon his soul, Little Lamb.  So ready to do whatever is necessary, the consequences be damned.”

It pulled her closer, its nose nearly brushing her own.  It smelled of death, of sickly sweet rot and the metallic tang of blood.  There was no lingering scent of vliegeng musk, no heady aroma of sweat and hodo.  It was as if the creature had snuffed out Lemuel entirely, like a flame smothered beneath a woolen quilt.

“Though every human has a line they won't cross.  No matter their resolve.”  The creature licked its lips, and Addilyn’s stomach turned, the urge to rip the flesh from its face all consuming.  Anything to tear away the depravity etched into Lemuel’s features.  “Why don't we find his?”

A fresh agony burst to life at her scalp, ripping a strangled cry from her lips as the creature forced her to her knees.  The panic that had curdled within her veins melted into white hot fury as thick, pungent muck soaked through her trousers.  Fury at the debasement, at the shame that flooded her like a burst dam.  And all at this creature’s hand—this hellish thing that appeared to her wearing Lemuel Adelier’s face.

The throwing dagger was in her hand before she even thought to reach for it, torn from the sheath built into the armor at Lemuel’s hip.  Rage clouded her mind, her eyes unseeing as she drove the knife into its thigh, relishing in the give of flesh beneath a freshly sharpened blade.

But the creature did not cry out, nor did it so much as loosen its hold upon her.  A low chuckle instead filled the silence, fiendish and foreboding in its tenor, chilling the fire that had sparked to life within her.

“And so the claws finally come out,” it rumbled, its gaze never wavering.  Its eyes unblinking.  Addilyn’s hands began to shake.  “Brazen little wretch.”

It struck fast, swift as an adder as it sent her sprawling with a backhand that made her vision go white.  She fell to the ground, her ears ringing with the force of the blow as she struggled to push herself to her feet.  Her cheek burned like hellfire, and she realized it had likely sliced at least one sizable gash in the skin.

But then there was a sudden weight at her back, pushing her down into the putrid muck.  Pressing the air from her lungs.  Dragging a pitiful mewl from her throat.

“Bleat away, Little Lamb,” the creature said, its breath tickling the shell of her ear as it dug its knee further into her spine.  Addilyn clawed at the earth, trying not to think of what slimy bits were tangled between her fingers.  “He’s yet to stir.”

“Maafit!” Addilyn bit out, only for a ragged scream to leap from her tongue as it stabbed the throwing knife through her hand, piercing the meager armor lining her glove.

“Careful, girl,” it purred, the tips of its clawed gauntlets dancing up the length of her arm.  Addilyn could only sag where she laid, her fingers twitching helplessly as the dagger continued to cut through muscle and tendon with each minute movement.  Bile churned within the depths of her stomach and she swallowed the urge to vomit.  “You’d do well to mind who you bare those teeth to.”

The crushing pressure suddenly lifted as the creature rolled her onto her back, allowing her a brief moment to suck in a greedy breath—only for its weight to settle at her hips.  Straddling her.  Trapping her.

And then its hands were at her neck, its teeth bared in depraved delight.

Logic fled as instinct took hold.  Addilyn thrashed beneath it, her feet struggling for purchase in the slippery mud.  Her back arching in a vain attempt to escape.  Her fingers tearing at its steel bracers.  Desperate to dislodge its grip.  Desperate to get away.  Desperate to breathe.

“Writhe all you like,” it said, its voice like honey.  Deep and sultry.  Though its eyes were wild.  Manic.  Addilyn dimly thought of how frighteningly familiar the expression seemed on Lemuel’s face.  “It seems he’s left you to your fate, Lioness.”

A soft wheeze was all she could manage, her lungs spasming violently within her chest as her vision narrowed.  The hands at her neck were cold, the armor like ice against her feverish skin.  She tried to pry them away, but her fingers had grown numb, her limbs like unwieldy lead blocks as that dark void loomed, pulling her under…

“... —ilyn!”

“...dilyn!”

“Addilyn!”

Addilyn jolted upright with a gasp.  The earth seemed to tilt beneath her as she choked and gagged and heaved, only adding to the vile concoction of bodily fluids seeping into the ground.  Her throat throbbed in time with the erratic beating of her heart, the muscles beneath the abused flesh aching with an intensity that could only suggest severe bruising was yet to come.

And then there was a weight upon her back, the touch gentle and tentative—and she immediately knocked it away with a strangled yelp, moving to scramble back from it.  She had to get away.  She had to—

“Addilyn!”  Lemuel grabbed for her, keeping her in place.  “Addilyn, it’s me.  Stop it.  Stop!”

Addilyn froze, daring to meet his gaze, her hands trembling as she tried to keep herself from crying.  From begging and pleading.

But his eyes were a warm, welcoming gold, and his face devoid of the black markings that seemed to signify the presence of the creature.  The only sign it had been there at all were a pair of small scars below each eye.  Where that extra set of scarlet irises had stared back at her.

She gaped at him, shaking like the last leaf on a dying tree.  Her horror must have been clearly written upon her face, as Lemuel’s gaze softened, his brow furrowed in what she could only assume was concern.

“Are you all right?”  he asked, his voice soft, thick.  A far cry from the malicious drawl that had come from his lips before.  “Say something, da lledeol.”

Lemuel reached up toward her face, as if to brush the hair from her eyes or to wipe the blood from her cheeks, but she flinched back, a pathetic whimper leaping forth unbidden.  He froze, something like hurt flashing across his features.  Hurt, and maybe the slightest hint of guilt.

“Addilyn, I—”

“What—” she rasped, a violent coughing fit wracking her body.  It hurt to talk.  It hurt to breathe.  Each breath akin to a thousand shards of glass shoved down the length of her throat.  But still she stared at him, unwilling to rein in the fear.  The anger.  The revulsion.  “What did you do.”

His face fell, and he let his arm drop back down to his side.  She expected shame to be reflected back in his gaze.  Shame for what he had done.  For what he had almost done.

But his eyes only darkened, his mouth set in a firm line as he pushed himself to his feet.  And in that moment, she could see a shadow of the creature that had so delighted in her torment.

“What was necessary.”

[qsycomplainsalot]

Oil on canvas, Charles Louis Mozin

The Capture of the Dutch Fleet at Den Helder, 23rd of January 1795

  In which the French armed forces demonstrates that not having the best navy can in fact be okay.

Context

  The French Revolution in 1789, followed by the imprisonment and then execution of Louis the XVIth in 1793, led to most major autocratic powers in Europe declaring war on France to restore the status quo. France was thus engaged on multiple fronts by many of its neighbors which, surprisingly, at the time included Austria through their ownership of the Southern Netherlands. Both Netherlandses had witnessed failed republican uprisings in the previous decades, and as such the new France Republic pushed through the Austrian Netherlands to declare war on the -nominally only- Republic of United Netherlands in the North.

The “Battle”

  After two years of campaign the combined efforts of the French revolutionary army and Dutch patriots had all but closed this front of the war, and the French commander of the Army of the North was garrisoned in Amsterdam when he caught wind of the Dutch fleet being anchored at the mouth of the Zuiderzee bay, just north of there. Due to temperatures averaging -10°C in the past weeks, the entire bay had frozen over, which he decided to use to his advantage.   He immediately sent Dutch patriot Gnl. Jan Willem de Winter at the head of about two hundred men from the French 8th Hussar and the 3rd Battalion of Belgian Skirmishers, also raised from sympathizers to the republican cause. Muffling the sound of their horses’ hooves with cloth and arriving during the night each with a Belgian infantryman riding with them, the hussars sneaked on the entire Dutch fleet frozen at anchor and captured it without a fight.

  In a single cavalry charge the French Republic had captured five ships-of-the-line, three frigates, six corvettes and several merchantmen with crew, for a total of about 850 guns. This is one of only two recorded instances of a cavalry force charging and capturing ships in a battle and one of few instances where having light infantry ride as voltigeurs proved to be even remotely useful. There is debate whether the Dutch sailors and marines would have actually resisted capture however, as the Netherlands had essentially already been knocked out of the war by then and might have been ordered to surrender, which the French may have known as well. It is hard to discern the truth of the matter when what was two hundred men sent to secure a fleet that may have already been surrendered to them gets painted as a full army corps marching in tight formation on the ice.   In any case, a squadron of hussars captured a fleet of ships and that’s awesome.

  Following the capture of the fleet, the evacuation of the remaining Allied troops to other fronts or England and finally the surrender of the Austrian duchy of Luxembourg, the Dutch Patriot party were given the reins of the Netherlands renamed as the Batavian Republic - more or less a puppet state and the future Netherlands - while the Austrian Netherlands - future Belgium - and Luxembourg were incorporated in the French Republic as new departments.   The captured fleet was ransomed back to the Batavian Republic in exchange of a small loan of a hundred million guilders.

[emilykaldwen]

@mercurygray called my ass out and sent me Moonlight Serenade to finally get me to start that WWII!Abrogon AU, If Found, Please Return. Which is basically Westeros 1940s esque dragon war.

Send me a Song title au + oc/ship!

this was supposed to be a list of ideas buuuut instead you get a two page drabble because I had feelings. this is unbeta'd and like, I literally just finished writing it but it came to me so fast so it's a good monday methinks

Aegon didn’t want to go.

Oh, he’d been ready, Warrior save him (and hells, how his mother would not stop praying and trying to fit every little woven symbol of the god among his things to the point where he gently, but firmly, told her to stop and give some to Aemond. Him and Vhagar were headed towards Volantis with the Redwyne Raiders to hold The Orange Coast), Aegon had been eager in the way someone who doesn’t fear the Stranger could only be.

What better way to prove himself than command his own battalion from the back of his dragon and show that he was made of sterner stuff than the soft bellied boy that his grandfather spat at him.

What better way to gain his own father’s attention?

Cold fingers tighten through his and he brushes his lips against the crown of Abrogail’s hair, where all he can smell is bergamot and rose and feels the knot of nerves inside him ease.

“I stand and I wait for the touch of your hand in the June night,” he sang to her as the music of the band wafted over them. He felt her little huff of laughter against his shoulder where her cheek rested, breathless from the wild spinning along the dance floor moments before. He could feel the way her heart hammered against her ribs and how it echoed in him.

‘Why leave?’ He thought. Why leave when he could crawl between her ribs and settle himself in the space inside where he was loved and wanted, and he could keep her warm. He could stay with her. 

Maybe he should demand his battalion get sent to Norvos where Abby’s own orders were sending her. His little rabbit had answered the call and was a nurse at the hospital there.

‘I won’t be far.’ He would be in the hills and patrolling up towards Lorath Bay. How far the Triarchy wars had spread and Westeros had entered the fray once Tyrosh fell and the Velaryon fleet in the Stepstones had been attacked.

“I should put labels in your clothes as I do my sketchbooks,” Abby murmured and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. Aegon cuddled her closer. “If found, please return.” The front of her sketchbooks held the same plea, decorated with little rabbits with pleading faces and the address of her father’s law office in King’s Landing.

Aegon chuckled and tilted his head down so he could brush his mouth against the shell of her ear. “So if they find me, they’ll dump me on your father’s desk. I’m sure the man wants words with me.”

“If you’re implying he’s hoping you do not come back, you are sorely mistaken.” Her kiss was warm against his shoulder and Aegon shivered, his hand tightening against the curve of her hip. “If you do not come back, neither do-”

“Hush,” he cut in, a nip to her ear for such talk. She tilted her head back to look at her. Eyes as blue as the Narrow Sea, as blue as the sky he and Sunfyre adored. Abby’s heart shaped mouth was painted a deep red, her curls brushed into submission into a golden red cloud around her shoulders. Aegon rested her other hand on his shoulder so he could cup her cheek. “We’re both coming back. As if anything happens that far north from the fighting anyway. The worst that’ll happened is I’ll get court martialed for getting caught coming to see you.”

Abby scrunched her pretty face up in a familiar, disbelieving expression. “Well, I will miss Sunfyre awfully much. Almost as much as I’ll miss you.”

“I stand at your gate and I sing you a song in the moonlight,” he continued and Abby’s scrunched up face eased into the soft, dreamy expression that made him wish they were alone, made him wish they were back in his room or away at the little cabin outside Harrenhal where none would bother them.

“A love song, my darling, a Moonlight Serenade,” she sang back to him and he pressed his mouth to hers. Her fingers tangled into his short hair to hold him close, feet moving to stand on his so he could guide them both.

taglist: @fyeahhotdocs, @ocappreciation, @stannisfactions, @fragilestorm, @starcrossedjedis, @darkwolf76, @arrthurpendragon, @dopedaegus, @hiddenqveendom, @mantillon, @lightofthearrow, @songsonacliffside, @acrossthesestars, @insabecs, @prosemoireia, @dragonsbone, @corporalicent, @jadore-andor, @selfproclaimedunicorn, @gwenllian-in-the-abbey, @notbloodraven, @impales, @arcielee, @thesunfyre4446

[davidshawnsown]

USA BASEBALL RPF (MODERN SETTING) 2 - Campaigns in the Ukraine (Chapter 5a)

(AN: It's been a long way since I last wrote on Tumblr. I've been doing one shots set in the war on Discord on my server there and will transcribe them here. With the situation as worse as two years ago, I have long had a writing pause to focus on Discord. But still, I did some content there, here on Tumblr, and now on Substack. I am still writing now on what the 78th BCT prepared for in the weeks and months before and after the start of their Ukrainian deployment, and expect that there will be chaptered one shots set in Ukrainian battlefields, both on the perspective of the 1st Battalion and of those individual fighters as well. I have resumed writing the RPF of the hockey boys and girls too. All these I do so that not only the world be aware of what is going on in Ukraine be known and that every effort be made to help arming the nation and financially assist its defense industry and national reconstruction, but also so that the memory of the fighting men and women of Ukraine and the many international fighters especially those who have perished will be remembered long after the end of this war. These first chapters will also serve as an introduction to the cast of characters of this series.)

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIE MAYS AND ORLANDO CEPEDA

DUKE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA

Friday, January 15, 2022

1045H EST

For the first time since activation elements of A and B Companies of 1st Battalion performed their first weekly Combat Water Survival tests in preparation for their potential Ukrainian deployment. The reason why is not just as a refresher training given that all those who were called for the mobilization program already had it done, but also to prepare for scenarios of crossing the rivers and lakes of Ukraine - as well as marshlands and swamps - without any vehicle or boat support, as well as in any scenario of any type of bridge being destroyed by Russian enemy fire as well as any Russian destruction of vehicles while crossing waterways by any means. Plans are made to make this a weekly duty as the other companies of the battalion are being activated from reserve and cadre status.

However Captain Frazier's 1st Platoon under 1LT Tyler Austin - the so-called Tokyo Boys - have some more time for swimming duties and water survival outside these, as per the behest of one of its men, as MAJ Sogard and some others view the proceedings. He can hear him shout "On me, go!" as the water splashes.

"Is that Sergeant Joe Ryan leading the company staff and 1st Platoon elements?"

BG Randolph replies, "He's the one. We all saw those swim pictures and videos he frequenly sent to us in Cary via email. He's grown so much since Tokyo."

"That's one of my A Company sergeants," the major answered.

Planned to be promoted to lieutenant colonel for his work in the brigade's reactivation to active duty, MAJ Scott Brosius added, "He's definitely been training in the pool in between our combat and training operations, Sogard."

"I'm sure he has been. And is that Major Nick Swisher?"

"Affirmative. Part of the 3rd NY, and as part of our brigade's training program, he has returned here to help in mobilization efforts. Ever the natural swimmer he is."

"Has Captain Plata known of this?"

"Has his seal of approval. And he's gonna make it a near daily duty outside of the weekly combat swim survival drills because 1st Battalion needs to be the vanguard in Ukraine operations."

"All normal so far for these lads, " added 1LT Mattalino. He says that through these and the other exercises they have been kept even more fit and healthy for operations ahead.

Sergeant Joe Ryan of 2nd squad, 1st platoon of A Company had been a part of the 2021 mobilization unit and ever the swimmer he was, alongside some of that unit, he was the lead NCO whenever pool and open water swims would occur. A native of San Francisco, CA, Ryan was selected to be a part of the 98th Tampa Bay but by the time he was already in Japan as a member of the 78th Brigade's Tokyo task unit in July of 2021, he had been transferred to Minneapolis and the battalion of the 1st Minnesota based in St. Paul operationally, since he had been named a part of its 1st Battalion upon his transfer. Being the lead swimmer in such training fixtures whenever a water scenario occurs he has been a big motivator for everyone in A Company. Captain Jake Arrietta of B Company could not help but watch from the sidelines at poolside as Joe and the 1st platoon finished their individual swim drills and emerged from the pool, all wet and bodies drenched by the water, before transitioning to combat water training invidiually - this time wearing combat shorts or speedos unlike in the earlier training in full battle gear. In both cases, the servicemen would carry their M4 rifles, which they have been inspected so that they would not be damaged by exposing to the water. It has been Joe's duty to help the company adapt to their role as the assault vanguard and to help them be ready for such scenarios in inland waters or in ocean waters. In this manner and reflecting where the 78th BCT is planning to head for deployment duties, preparing to swim in the fast flowing rivers of Ukraine, its lakes and swamps would be very easy if everyone would be prepared either if the crossing would be by themselves carrying their gear and rifles, inflatable boats or by their combat vehicles. All this was Joe's proposal when the 2021 contingent got formed up, for while this would be a reminder of his swimming days out west when he was young, it would also prepare them for the hard tasks of having to cross any inland body of water without any form of vehicular support. All of these, supervised by the medical staff, lifeguards and battalion and company leadership, would continue even during their deployment as preparation for the tasks they would do there.

"Cannot believe this Dex. How cost THEY do that?" Jake asked his XO.

1LT Dexter Fowler replied, "They did this before in Japan, I was told, and right here at stateside."

SFC LaPorta added, "I'm sure Baker Company will do the same iin the future."

"Same for me here, hoping that we would do the same as they do", added SSGT Blaine Neal.

After individual and then squad level drills, Joe's group - the A Company officers and assigned NCOs and 1st platoon personnel together - would do platoon level swim duty as a group, as usual wearing speedos or shorts to simulate a platoon level river crossing without uniforms but with rifles. Everyone at poolside has been impressed by what they have done.

And then comes that part wherein the whole drill is repeated but with combat gear and bags to simulate moving these thru rivers and lakes.

After all come out of the pool and bring their bags and gear to poolside for a final inspection, Major Sogard greets them. "Well done 1st Platoon of A Company, and to you Sergeant Ryan. Your efforts will make this unit ready for what the coming weeks and months will bring."

"It was my idea after all, for I've been a swimmer all my life," the sergeant replied. After learning that the 78th would plan to come to the aid of Ukraine in case of the feared Russian invasion that week and indeed he and his companions were the first to be mobilized officially, he devised a plan, he said, to prepare his mates in the Tokyo contingent - the first ones of A Coy 1-78th IBCT that got mobilized - for the challenges that lay in Ukraine's rivers, lakes, marshes and swamplands and how to cross them in the absence of amphibious-ready armored vehicles and any crossable bridges in the immediate vicinity, either temporary or permanent. This would continue even after they have been deployed because such a duty would happen by order of company leadership.

"Have the rifles been checked, sarge, post-swim?"

"Yes sir, all well and in good condition."

"Well noted Ryan. Well done everyone. This is just a start for this company, right Captain Frazier?"

"Affirmative sir, " Todd replied. "We will do this again in a few days and then we will do it twice every week to prepare the boys for such scenarios."

"Same for me major," added CPT Tulowitzki.

"I hope this continues well for A Company. Dismissed."

As the major left, Todd looked to Sergeant Ryan, saying "There's more we can do to prepare for these. We have a hard task to do."

"Noted, captain. Is that the same, SFC Gose?"

The company first sergeant replied, "Yup. That's the same thing Joe."

"Hoping we're ready for the next one lads. There will be more of these that will come as we prepare to answer Ukraine's call."

78TH BRIGADE COMMAND MESS

1600H EST

"Maxwell, we now have a commander for D Company of 1st Battalion, also set to be activated from cadre status."

That was the word that LTC Dale Murphy informed BG Maxwell. The search was over, 1LT Bailey Ober can finally be appointed D Company CO by the orders of LTC Fenster.

"Who's that?" Maxwell asked.

"Assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Minnesota based out of Minneapolis. He's from Huntersville."

"Why he is being recalled?"

"Part of 2014 contingent from universities and colleges, general. The very things he learned there he now applies as a platoon XO there," Dale replied.

"That explains everything. And who chose him?"

"Major Sogard, sir. On the suggestion of no less than Sergeant Joe Ryan from A Company."

Jason then ended the talk saying, "I therefore hope he will be informed at once that he's being recalled to the active ranks. He must be ready for his first command billet. So have you guys have found a company first sergeant for these boys now that this company will be reactivated from being in the reserves?"

"Yes also. SSGT Lucas Sims, 1st Battalion 1st Cincinnati City. He too will be informed in a few days of his appointment to the role."

Then Major Sogard arrived, stunned by the decision to activate D Company.

"It now has a new commander and first sergeant? That D Company?"

"Yes Major, the one being set to be prepared for active duty," replied LTC Murphy.

"Noted gents. In a few days from now we can finally activate this. We have to hand over command to the newly selected members of the command team. Those being cadre, the last of the peacetime rifle companies, are being transferred to the battalions being activated."

"Affirmative, major. Slowly 1st Battalion is completing its mobilization phrase."

"But how about the rest of 169th Corps? Have they been informed?"

BG Maxwell replied, "Now more than ever, we have to inform them we are being mobilized given what's going on in Ukraine. They better be ready to recieve the mobilization order from USEC Manfred and his command team led by LTG Halem, who for the past years was also Corps JAG until he handed over to a new general officer this year. We must be ready to tell them now is the time to prepare the work needed for mobilization, whether Russia gears up to invade Ukraine or not."

"Noted sir. And has Swaggerty been informed of the appointment of his company XO?"

"Yes he has been called of this," Sogard replied.

"I'm sure he will be ready to be recalled to active service."

"He will be ready, Josh, to renew his commissioning oath as he prepares for this new assignment."

"And is the 4th and 5th battalions set for activation orders?"

"Yes major. They will be raised soon."

"And our tank battalion?"

"Its M60s and Abrams are being reconditioned as well. They too will have drills with us. The same goes for our field artillery battalions, soon being set to become a regiment under brigade headquarters. We have a whole lot to do to prepare for our future operations in Ukraine, even the equipment, uniforms, weapons and logistics assistance needed."

"Noted sir. Back to D Company. Are we looking on who will be filling its ranks?"

"2013-2015 collegiate, 2017 and 2018 pre-training, 2011-2015 high schools. We will notify them at home and their families. If the names called are absent due to various reasons we will be informed. If overseas by the time they are being called, we will email them to ask them to be here in Cary. Those who are overseas who are willing to wear the uniform, we will try to call them even if not named in these lists. For they too will be a part of this if they accept that mission."

@joeybosa-aaronjudge @lukeexplorer @lightninging @homerofthebraves @dilangleywritesfanfic @alekmanoah @ilovetheyankees @darkorderaf @highwaytothedangerzone502  @zackcollins

[captain-price-unofficially]

105mm gun from Battery B, 205th Field Artillery Battalion, in a camouflaged position at Saluse Village, Saluse Lake, north of Nassau Bay, New Guinea. 17 July, 1943

[mariacallous]

NWAARE, Ghana—In July 2023, an audio message, calling for attacks on the Ghanaian government in response to the forced repatriation of ethnic Fulani asylum-seekers, spread via WhatsApp in northern Ghana.

“The Ghanaian government has begun to forcefully arrest and deport Fulani refugees to Burkina Faso … to destroy and exterminate the Fulani population in Ghana … I’m appealing to [Muslims] located along Ghana-Burkina Faso border to hurry to intervene,” said the message, which was heard by thousands of people. “Please do well to retaliate the blood spilt by the Ghanaian government,” it concluded.

The message was recorded and distributed by a media wing of Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), a West African jihadi insurgent group affiliated with al Qaeda.

Between JNIM and affiliates of the Islamic State, insurgents today control almost half of Burkina Faso, parts of central and northern Mali, and territory along Niger’s borders with the two countries. Over the past two years, they have slowly expanded their campaign south into the northern parts of West Africa’s coastal states. Despite a handful of messages attempting to incite attacks against the Ghanaian government, of the four coastal states bordering Burkina Faso, Ghana is the only one that reports that it has not suffered an attack by insurgents.

In interviews, representatives of the Ghanaian government chalk this up to their firm response and the country’s inherent resiliency. However, despite Accra’s confident messaging, evidence gathered across Ghana’s northern regions suggests that insurgents are already operating there. At this point, it appears that insurgents see their access to the country as a safe haven and smuggling route as too useful to destabilize with direct attacks.

However, if the militants’ calculus were to change, they would find many of the same vulnerabilities in Ghana that they have exploited in other countries.

Officials in air-conditioned offices in Ghana’s capital, Accra, projected confidence as they insisted that their government’s robust response has kept the insurgents at bay. Ghana’s decision to spearhead the Accra Initiative, a regional association intended to prevent the spillover of terrorism from the Sahel toward coastal countries, is one of many examples, said Daniel Osei Bonsu, the deputy director of Ghana’s National Counter Terrorism Center.

Since being established by Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Benin in 2017, a handful of joint operations along border regions and meetings of intelligence chiefs have been coordinated through the initiative, which is funded in part by the European Union. At a summit in November 2022, leaders announced the creation of a multinational joint task force that will be comprised of 10,000 soldiers and headquartered in Tamale, a city in northern Ghana.

Meanwhile, the Ghanaian government has reinforced the military’s presence across the north. In 2020, Accra released the funds to construct and upgrade 15 forward operating bases close to the borders of Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Three new brigades and two battalions were created and deployed to the Upper East and Upper West regions. The military has acquired new vehicles and communications equipment from the United Kingdom and Israel. And the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, recently promised “aerial surveillance, electronic warfare [systems] and river crafts” as a part of a 20 million euro ($21.5 million) aid package to the military.

In 2022, the government launched a “see something, say something” campaign to urge citizens to report suspicious behavior. While officials say the program is a success, Ghanaian journalists have reported officials bemoaning the number of people calling with no other reason than to beg for cell phone credit.

Members of the National Counter Terrorism Center insisted that Ghana’s relatively high level of development compared to some of its neighbors and its culture of democracy protect the country from the same fate that has befallen Mali and Burkina Faso. They pointed out that the country is economically far better off than its Sahelian neighbors, with a GDP per capita more than twice that of Mali and Burkina Faso.

As coups spread across the region, insecurity is growing—and international military involvement could make it worse.

Furthermore, they added, unlike Sahelian countries where most people are Muslim, Ghana is split roughly in half between Christians and Muslims, and thus calls to radicalism have fewer potential followers. Referring to the insurgents’ strategy in the Sahel, they insisted that aggrieved Ghanaians would never be lulled by jihadis promising a more just order because “people know they can receive justice through the country’s institutions,” as Bonsu said. “There might be sentiments in the north,” he continued, “but there are no grievances.”

However, while officials insist that the government is mounting a robust response, there is significant evidence that it has failed to stop insurgents from entering Ghanaian territory.

Communities across Ghana’s 374-mile border with Burkina Faso have long used small footpaths and dilapidated dirt roads to smuggle fuel, fertilizer, and other basic goods far from Accra’s watchful eye. Over the past few years, insurgents have used these informal networks to acquire resources for their campaign in Burkina Faso. Dynamite manufactured in Ghana has been found at militant camps in Burkina Faso.

Sources in Ghana’s Upper East region—who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons—indicated that insurgents have paid Ghanaians to smuggle fuel and personnel across the border on motorcycles. Last September, Burkinabe security forces raided an insurgent camp close to the border and found Ghanaian voter registration cards along with receipts from a Ghanaian shop for bicycles, likely used for the smuggling of goods across the bush paths as motorcycles have become too conspicuous.

Beyond using the Ghanaian border to meet their immediate material needs, there is concern that militants are also involved in trafficking illicit goods to boost their coffers. Analysts have raised the alarm about the presence of insurgents at artisanal gold mines in the Upper West region as well as involvement in the opiate trade. And Maxwell Suuk, a Ghanaian journalist, recently reported that cattle stolen by jihadis were being sold in Ghana’s lucrative livestock markets.

Furthermore, as fighting in Burkina Faso has approached Ghanaian territory, there have been reports of militants retreating tactically across the border and using Ghanaian soil as a temporary safe haven. Late last year in Garinga, a Burkinabe border community, civilian auxiliaries to the Burkinabe military complained that the absence of Ghanaian troops nearby meant jihadis sometimes escaped across the border.

In the nearby Ghanaian village of Nwaare, a community leader confirmed that locals had seen mysterious men who pushed their motorcycles around the edge of town and spent the night in nearby shrubs. Local assemblymen and village chiefs from half a dozen nearby communities reported similar sightings.

Beyond the immediate border, insurgents from Burkina Faso have used Ghana for recuperation. Sources in Tamale who asked to remain anonymous for their safety revealed that they personally knew at least two young Ghanaian men who spent around four months in 2022 resting and receiving medical care at a local hospital before returning to Burkina Faso.

Ghana is not a hotbed of recruitment, but there have been some notable cases. In 2017, Burkinabe preachers visited the dusty town of Karaga and urged young men to join the fight in the Sahel; around a dozen people heeded the call. In 2021, one of these recruits—with the nom de guerre Abu Dujana—recorded a video urging Ghanaians from the Fulani ethnic group to join the jihad. The man later committed a suicide attack against French forces in northern Mali.

While the insurgents operate in Ghana, reports suggest that they explicitly avoid targeting Ghanaian citizens who travel through the territory that they control. There have been multiple reports of people with Ghanaian identification cards being spared at JNIM roadblocks in Burkina Faso. A Ghanaian man who had been detained by insurgents told one of the authors that his captors released him once he was able to prove his nationality.

Ultimately, the insurgents derive significant benefits from using Ghana as a place to rest and restock. “If the insurgents attack Ghana, it would become much harder for them to use Ghana as a safe haven,” said Clement Aapengnuo, a peace and security activist: “At this point, Ghana is more useful stable.”

But the strategy of insurgent groups could change.

Ghana suffers many of the same vulnerabilities that militants have preyed upon in other countries. Similarly to other coastal states in West Africa, northern Ghana is comparatively less developed than the south—a trend with roots in the nation’s colonial history, as a recent analysis by Ghanaian Ph.D. candidate Iddrisu Mohammed Kambala showed. Banditry—ambushes of container trucks, kidnapping of wealthy individuals, and even attacks on businesses in towns—has long been a problem. Beyond relative deprivation and a degree of lawlessness, there are social cleavages and disputes over chieftaincy that could be manipulated by savvy recruiters.

Growing anti-Fulani sentiment across Ghanaian society is also concerning. In the Sahel, some insurgent groups initially attracted recruits from marginalized segments of Fulani communities, which led to stigmatization and widespread abuses against Fulani, which in turn facilitated further recruitment. In Ghana, where Fulani make up around 1 percent of the population, they are often derided as foreigners, scapegoated for crimes, and victimized in mob violence—and high-level officials still repeat dangerous tropes about Fulani being rootless nomads prone to criminality.

These attitudes have resulted in the kind of discrimination that feeds insurgent propaganda. In mid-July 2023, Ghanaian security services forcibly repatriated at least 250 Burkinabe Fulani asylum-seekers who had fled to Ghana. The government claims that these were targeted operations based on security threats, but multiple communities describe mass arrests targeting Fulani—including Ghanaian citizens.

There also appear to be worrying lapses in the Ghanaian government’s response to the escalating conflict in Burkina Faso and Togo. Ghanaian troops were deployed in border regions in 2021, but it was not until a JNIM attack that struck two miles from the border in early 2023 that the soldiers began to patrol with any regularity. A local military source who requested anonymity revealed that the infrequency of patrols was related to a lack of fuel. Residents of border communities still complain that they only see security forces on weekly market days, when they harass rural residents traveling into towns.

Despite the fanfare around the Accra Initiative, information-sharing between Ghanaian forces and their counterparts in neighboring countries is sparse. A Burkinabe commander in the border town of Bittou complained that his conversations with Ghanaian security personnel were infrequent compared to talks with Togolese commanders, and that he instead relied on trusted Ghanaian citizens to pass important messages to Ghanaian soldiers. Beninese Col. Faïzou Gomina confirmed that bilateral channels have thus far been far more useful for coordination than going through Accra. Meanwhile, the multinational joint task force has barely broken ground on its Tamale headquarters.

Informal conversations with police, immigration officers, and other security services reveal a profound ignorance of the severity of the situation in Burkina Faso and Togo. The military purposefully deploys soldiers from southern Ghana; as a result, personnel lack local context and often do not speak the languages of the places they are deployed. When visiting the hamlet of Zakoli, where eight Fulani were killed in mob violence in April 2022, nearby soldiers asked one of the authors to translate for them so they could speak to the survivors that they were guarding.

Furthermore, there have been a number of incidents in which Ghanaian soldiers reportedly used excessive force against citizens, further alienating themselves from the population they are meant to serve. In October, personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces stormed the town of Garu in Upper East, allegedly brutalizing around a dozen men in retaliation for an attack on national security operatives by local vigilantes. In June 2022, police responded to students protesting in Kumasi with pepper spray and live bullets.

While the situation across coastal West Africa is precarious, Ghana is better positioned than its neighbors to confront it. Accra still has time to increase investments in infrastructure, health, and education in the north. Changing the narrative around Fulani and other minorities is also critical. Abuses by security services must be investigated, and perpetrators held accountable.

Ghana can learn from its neighbors and eschew the overly militaristic, Western-led “counterterrorism” approach that enflamed the crisis in the Sahel. It is not too late for Ghana to harness its institutions, resources, and personnel to deal with the threat at its doorstep.

[taraross-1787]

Medal of Honor Monday: Johnny Lee Canley

On this day in 1968, a hero engages in an action that would earn him the Medal of Honor. Nevertheless, Johnny Lee Canley didn’t receive that Medal for decades. His heroism had come during the Vietnam War, at the Tet Offensive, but he received his Medal fifty years later.

Would you believe that he joined the Marines in 1953, when he was only 15 years old? He used his brother’s paperwork to get in.

On January 31, 1968, Canley was a Gunnery Sergeant serving with Alpha Company, First Battalion, First Marine Regiment. About 150 Marines from his company would help take back Huế City, which had been seized by the North Vietnamese.

“As we approached the outskirts of the city,” Marine Corps veteran John Ligato later described, “NVA machine guns opened up from the north. An open rice paddy was to the east and the NVA blocked any southern retreat back to Phu Bai. Co A was now stuck in a deadly crossfire with no options, so we hunkered down and waited.”

It wasn’t pretty. The commanding officer was badly wounded, so Canley took over. He must have been all over the place during those hours? His citation describes Canley “repeatedly rush[ing] across fire-swept terrain to carry his wounded Marines to safety.”

“They’re alive, right? So I’m going to try to get to them,” Canley shrugged.

The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-john-l-canley-moh

[valentin10]

OHL Highlights : North Bay Battalion @ Windsor Spitfires Nov. 7, 2024

[contremineur]

But the best glass is in the chancel, depicting St George and St Edmund above a landscape of Suvla Bay, and is by William Aikman in 1925. St Edmund and St George remember Edmund Gay, who was a soldier in the infamous 1st/5th Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment. Largely recruited from farmworkers on estates in north Norfolk, they sailed for Gallipolli, and were wiped out during the attack on Anafarta in Suvla Bay on the 12th August 1915. Because they had fallen behind enemy lines, they were listed as missing, and a Norfolk legend grew up that they had vanished into a mysterious cloud and were taken up out of this world. This sounds bizarre, but it was of a piece with legends like the Angel of Mons leading the British troops to escape death in Flanders, and with the great rise in spiritualism in this country in the years immediately after the War. [...] Many of the dead boys were workers from the Sandringham estate, and when the bodies were eventually found and identified this knowledge was kept from Queen Alexandra, because it was felt that the truth would be too upsetting for her. Thus, she died believing the legend.

Simon Knott, from St George, Aldborough

Just one entry in a remarkable gazetteer of the medieval churches of East Anglia...

[casbooks]

Books of 2023

Book 30 of 2023

Title: To the Limit: An Air Cav Huey Pilot in Vietnam Authors: Tom A. Johnson ISBN: 9780451222183 Tags: AC-47 Spooky, B-52 Stratofortress, CH-47 Chinook, CH-54 Tarhe, EOD, LAO Laos, LAO Laotian Civil War (1959-1975), LAO Operation Commando Hunt (1968-1972) (Laotian Civil War) (Vietnam War), LAO Operation Shining Brass / Prairie Fire / Phu Dong (1965-1975) (Laotian Civil War) (Vietnam War), O-1 Bird Dog, OH-13 Sioux, OH-23 Raven, OV-1 Mohawk, Pathfinders, UH-1 Huey, US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, US USA 11th Aviation Group, US USA 11th Aviation Support Group, US USA 12th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 12th Cavalry Regiment - 2/12, US USA 15th Medical Det. - Mercy, US USA 173rd Airborne Brigade - Sky Soldiers, US USA 1st Cavalry Division, US USA 1st Cavalry Division - 11th Pathfinder Co., US USA 20th Aerial Rocket Artillery Bn, US USA 20th Aerial Rocket Artillery Bn - 2/20 - Blue Max, US USA 227th Assault Helicopter Bn, US USA 227th Assault Helicopter Bn - C/227, US USA 228th Assault Helicopter Bn, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - A/229 - Bandit, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - A/229 - Python, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - B/229 - Preachers, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - D/229 - Smiling Tiger, US USA 229th Assault Helicopter Bn - D/229 - Tom Cat, US USA 478th Aviation Co, US USA 7th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 7th Cavalry Regiment - 1/7 - C Troop, US USA 7th Cavalry Regiment - 2/7, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 1/8, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 1/8 - B Troop, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 1/8 - C Troop, US USA 8th Cavalry Regiment - 2/8, US USA 8th Engineer Bn, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment - 1/9, US USA 9th Cavalry Regiment - 1/9 - C Troop, US USA Fort Polk LA, US USA Fort Rucker AL, US USA Fort Rucker AL - Hanchey Army Air Field, US USA Fort Wolters TX (1963-1973), US USA General Creighton Abrams, US USA General John "Jack" Norton, US USA General John Tolson, US USA LRRP Team (Vietnam War), US USA United States Army, US USA USSF Green Berets, US USA USSF Special Forces, US USMC 3rd MarDiv, US USMC United States Marine Corps, US USN Construction Battalions (Seabees), US USN SEALS, US USN United States Navy, USA 5th SFG, VNM 1968 Tet Offensive (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM A Louie Airstrip, VNM A Shau Valley, VNM An Khe, VNM An Lao Valley, VNM Ba To Airstrip, VNM Battle of Hue City (1968) (Tet Offensive) (Vietnam War), VNM Battle of Khe Sanh (1968) (Tet Offensive) (Vietnam War), VNM Bong Son, VNM Bong Son Pass, VNM Bong Son River, VNM Camp Evans (Vietnam War), VNM Camp Radcliff (Vietnam War), VNM Cay Giep Mountains, VNM Central Highlands, VNM Command and Control North/FOB-4 (Vietnam War), VNM Da Nang, VNM Dak To, VNM Dam Tra-O Lake, VNM Dia Dong, VNM Dong Ha, VNM DRV NVA 22nd Regiment, VNM DRV NVA 325C Division, VNM DRV NVA 325C Division - 7th Bn, VNM DRV NVA 325C Division - 9th Bn, VNM DRV NVA 3rd Division, VNM DRV NVA North Vietnamese Army, VNM DRV VC Viet Cong, VNM Highway 1, VNM Highway 19, VNM Hill 450, VNM Hill 814 (LZ Peanuts) (Vietnam War), VNM Ho Chi Minh Trail (Vietnam War), VNM Hon Kon (Hong Kong Mountain) / (Signal Mountain), VNM Hue, VNM Hue Phu Bai, VNM I Corps (Vietnam War), VNM II Corps (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Bird (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Dog (Vietnam War), VNM LZ El Paso (Vietnam War), VNM LZ English (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Geronimo (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Laramie (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Pat (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Pepper (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Sally (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Sandra (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Sharon (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Signal Hill (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Stud (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Thor (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Tiger (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Tom (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Two Bits (Vietnam War), VNM LZ Vicki (Vietnam War), VNM Marble Mountain, VNM Nui Mot (The Rockpile), VNM Operation Arc Light (1965-1973) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Delaware / Lam Son 216 (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Jeb Stuart (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Pegasus / Lam Son 207 (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Pershing (1967-1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Phan Rang Air Base, VNM Phu Cat Mountains, VNM Quang Tri, VNM Quang Tri Province, VNM Qui Nhon, VNM RVN ARVN Army of the Republic of Vietnam, VNM Song Ba, VNM Song Chal Truc, VNM Song Re, VNM Song Re Valley, VNM Tam Quan, VNM US MACV Military Assistance Command Vietnam (Vietnam War), VNM US MACVSOG (1964-1972) (Vietnam War), VNM US UH-1 Huey Firefly Missions (Vietnam War), VNM US USAF Phu Cat Air Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USMC DHCB Dong Ha Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USMC KSCB Khe Sanh Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM US USMC MMAF Marble Mountain Air Facility, VNM US USMC QTCB Quang Tri Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM Vietnam, VNM Vietnam War (1955-1975) Rating: ★★★★ (4 Stars) Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Aviation.US Army.Helos.Slicks, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Laotian Civil War.Aviation.Helos

Description: **The riveting memoir of a Vietnam War helicopter pilot. “When you step into a Huey with Tom Johnson, you’re in for the real thing. No one has previously captured the Vietnam helicopter experience with such gripping authority.”—Robert F. Dorr, author of Chopper   **   From June 1967 to June 1968, Tom Johnson accumulated an astonishing 1,600 flying hours piloting the UH-1 “Iroquois”—better known as the “Huey”—as part of the famous First Air Cavalry Division. His battalion was one of the most decorated units of the Vietnam War, and helped redefine modern warfare. Johnson’s riveting memoir takes us into key battles and rescue missions, including those for Hue and Khe Sanh. In harrowing detail, he tells of being shot down in the battle of A Shau Valley, of surviving enemy attacks during the Tet Offensive, and of a death-defying nighttime river rescue, in which only the bare feet of soldiers hanging off the Huey’s skids kept the helicopter from plunging under water. From dangerous missions to narrow escapes, Johnson’s memoir vividly captures the adrenaline rush and the horror of war, and takes you on a ride you’ll never forget.

[three-headed-monster]

EXACTLY. Adam definitely fits in with these Canada boys and is happy. And he's literally said that he chose the ushl and ncaa because if he went to the whl he wouldn't have been draft eligible for a few more years and that he thought it would be best for his development to play against older people who are more physical rather than kids his age.

okay i am gonna clear things up for everyone JUST SO WE DON’T GET IT WRONG AND MIXED UP

why adam fantilli didn’t go to the ohl

1) denied exceptional status and bumped back down to his own age group

idk who many people actually know that the year they played each other in the OHL cup, both shane and adam were playing a year ahead of their age group in the ‘03 group. adam and shane both applied for exceptional status at the time but adam was denied and shane was accepted. this makes sense, they usually only grant 1 person per age group exceptional status no matter how many apply. however, this became problematic for adam because while shane was allowed to play in the ohl and continue along with the ‘03 age group, he was not. adam actually switched teams temporarily from the red wings back to the jr. canadiens to go BACK to his age group with his peers because he wasn’t old enough to go to the ojhl or the ohl. this meant he was playing with lesser teammates and in a whole new team dynamic he hadn’t been apart of for years. without that exceptional status year, he was actually going to be quite a few years behind the 03s draft wise due to his late birthday. therefore he searched for a new route to try to continue playing with better competition and teammates.

2) luca

i won’t deny that missing luca probably was a huge factor for adam going to kimball union in particular. he has never played without his brother being at home and that was definitely tough on him. i think they have a deep connection and a strong bond and i have no doubts that adam most of all wanted to be near luca wherever he played hockey.

3) he’s a pat brisson client

sorry to say but there’s a known track record of pat brisson clients specifically on the umich team taking unconventional routes in development. for example, briss went to shattuck before the ushl which is quite unusual considering he grew up in la. as well, bords headed to the ntdp based on the hughes suggestion; jim hughes, pat’s employee. you also have to look no further than jonathan toews (shattuck -> college), sidney crosby (shattuck -> qmjhl), and nathan mackinnon (shattuck -> qmjhl) to realize that there is a trend of his high profile clients going to prep school instead of playing chl and/or cjhl. i would bet money that if a spot on the kimball union team hadn’t opened up, adam would have shipped himself over to shattuck or another prep school.

4) the ohl team that drafted him was rebuilding

again, i have no idea how many people know that adam actually was drafted into the ohl quite high and he considered going. like look he even did a prospects feature for them just like everyone else. he actually made his decision to sign an letter of intent with umich quote late in the game, only a year before his intended freshman year. the reason was, the saginaw spirit owned his ohl rights and despite already committed to playing in the ushl, he still wanted to canvas his options. the spirit were very very good before the covid-19 pandemic hit and were probably an option for adam considering they were poised to win. it was also in michigan, so he could be close to luca as well. however, by the time the 2021-22 season rolled around, the spirit were in a much different place. many of their star players had aged out of the ohl during the cancelled season and they did not collect enough draft capital to replace it. they lost the majority of their games that season and were actively starting to rebuild, as they are now. they traded his rights away to the north bay battalion, who were also not good at the time, under defected player rules because they knew he wasn’t coming to them during their current rebuild. saginaw is also a small market compared to chicago and ann arbor for hockey.

5) his best friend rutger was committed to umich

not enough is made about how adam had a whole surrounding community that was dedicated to umich. his brother AND his best friend from the time he was 14 were both going there and it was probably a simple decision to make when just considering that. he loves them and would follow them to umich too.

so there you go! all the big reasons why adam decided to go to umich and NOT the ohl. it has nothing to do with him feeling like he’s being bullied by his peers or feeling shit on by people who he thinks are his friends. not at all. it’s also not him using luca as a crutch or anything. simply that it comes down the numbers and ages just making sense for him and him wanting to be close to rutger and luca (but not only that). suggesting otherwise is just conveniently twisting facts to match the idea that adam hates canada.

[captawesomesauce]

Thoughts at 7pm...

I tag my books in Calibre with people and places and things I think will come up again and again across books. 

This can be a slow and agonizing process, but I find that I keep coming back to it over and over again, because I’ll read a book years later that mentions a battle on Hill 488 and think... fuck, what book was it that I read about that from someone else’s perspective?!!?!? 

Tags help with that. 

I don’t tag everything, or everyone... just stuff I have a feeling will come up over and over, and yet for a single book I’ll end up with this:

Averell Harriman, Bess Clements Abell, Camp David, Catoctin Mountains MD, CH-34 Choctaw, CH-46 Sea Knight, Chaplain, CIA, CIDG, From LAPL, General Herman Nickerson, General Samuel B. Griffith, General William Westmoreland, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, John F. Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr, Maryland, North Korea, Okinawa, Okinawa - Northern Training Area (NTA), Robert McNamara, Soviet FROG-3 Missile, SpecOps, US Capitol Building, USA 3rd Infantry Regiment, USAF Kadena Airbase, USAID John Paul Vann, USMC, USMC 12th Marines, USMC 1st Force Recon Co, USMC 1st Force Recon Co - Team Brisbane (Vietnam War), USMC 1st Force Recon Co - Team Circumstance (Vietnam War), USMC 1st Force Recon Co - Team Club Car (Vietnam War), USMC 1st Force Recon Co - Team Countersign (Vietnam War), USMC 1st Force Recon Co - Team Killer Kane (Vietnam War), USMC 1st Force Recon Co - Team Swift Scout (Vietnam War), USMC 1st MarDiv, USMC 1st Marine Air Wing, USMC 1st Marines, USMC 1st Marines - 1/1, USMC 1st Marines - 1/1 - F Co, USMC 1st Marines - 2/1, USMC 1st Marines - 2/1 - E Co, USMC 1st Recon Bn, USMC 1st Recon Bn - E Co, USMC 1st Tank Bn, USMC 26th Marines, USMC 26th Marines - 1/26, USMC 26th Marines - 1/26 - F Co, USMC 2LT Paul Young, USMC 3rd Marines, USMC 3rd Marines - 2/3, USMC 5th Marines, USMC 5th Marines - 2/5, USMC 5th Marines - 2/5 - F Co, USMC 7th Marines, USMC 7th Marines - 1/7, USMC 7th Marines - 2/7, USMC 7th Marines - 2/7 - G Co, USMC 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, USMC Air Observers - Black Coats (Vietnam War), USMC Camp Hansen, USMC Camp Pendleton, USMC Camp Schwab, USMC Col. Andrew Finlayson, USMC Force Recon, USMC LtCol Alex Lee, USMC Marine Barracks Washington (8th and I), USMC Scout Dogs, USMC SgtMaj Maurice J. Jacques, USMC The Basic School, USMC Washington Barracks Guard Co., USN Corpsman, USN LCDR Ray Stubbe (Chaplain), USN USS Pueblo (AGER 2), USNA, VNM 1968 Tet Offensive (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM A Shau Valley, VNM A Vuong River, VNM An Bang, VNM An Hoa, VNM An Long, VNM An Son, VNM Antenna Valley, VNM Ap Ba, VNM Arizona Territory, VNM Ba Na Mountain, VNM Base Area 112, VNM Battle of Hue City (1968) (Tet Offensive) (Vietnam War), VNM Battle of Khe Sanh (1968) (Tet Offensive) (Vietnam War), VNM Camp Hansen, VNM Camp Reasoner, VNM Charlie Med, VNM CIA Phung Hoang / Phoenix Program (1965-1972) (Vietnam War), VNM Col de Ba Lien, VNM Command and Control North/FOB-1 (Vietnam War), VNM Da Nang, VNM Da Son, VNM Dam Cao Hai Bay, VNM Dong Nhut Mountain, VNM DRV NVA 2nd Division, VNM DRV NVA 320th Reconnaissance Regiment, VNM DRV NVA 368th Artillery (Rocket) Regiment, VNM DRV NVA 3rd Regiment, VNM DRV NVA 402nd Sapper Battalion, VNM Elephant Valley, VNM Freedom Hill PX, VNM Happy Valley, VNM Hiep Duc, VNM Hill 170, VNM Hill 199, VNM Hill 203, VNM Hill 224, VNM Hill 324, VNM Hill 327, VNM Hill 35, VNM Hill 372, VNM Hill 381, VNM Hill 387, VNM Hill 406, VNM Hill 417, VNM Hill 441, VNM Hill 452, VNM Hill 454, VNM Hill 478, VNM Hill 498, VNM Hill 502, VNM Hill 537, VNM Hill 575 (Tam Dieo Mountain), VNM Hill 582 (Kon Chay Mountain), VNM Hill 592, VNM Hill 594, VNM Hill 623, VNM Hill 678, VNM Hill 749, VNM Hill 800, VNM Hill 89, VNM Ho Chi Minh Trail, VNM Hoi An Thuong, VNM Hon Cau Mountain, VNM Hue, VNM Khe Dienne River, VNM Khe Gio tributary, VNM Khuong Dai, VNM Loc Tu, VNM LZ Finch, VNM MEDCAP, VNM Mortar Valley, VNM Nam O Bridge, VNM Ninh Dinh, VNM Ninh Khanh, VNM Ninh Long, VNM Nong Son Coal Mine, VNM Nui Ba Hoa, VNM Nui Chom, VNM Nui Nhu, VNM Nui Son Ga (Charlie Ridge), VNM Ong Thu Slope, VNM Operation Arizona (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Calhoun (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Claxon (1968) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Knox (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Pecos (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Snoopy (People Sniffer) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Union I (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Union II (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Operation Wheeler (1967) (Vietnam War), VNM Phouc Ly, VNM Phouc Tuong, VNM Phouc Tuong (Dogpatch), VNM Phu Bai, VNM Phu Gia Pass, VNM Phu Loc, VNM Quang Duc Duc, VNM Quang Nam Province, VNM Quang Tri Province, VNM Que Son Mountains, VNM Que Son Valley, VNM Route 1, VNM Route 545, VNM RVN RVNP CSDB PRU Provincial Reconnaissance Units (Vietnam War), VNM Saigon, VNM Song Cu De, VNM Song Ly Ly, VNM Song Thu Bon, VNM Song Tinh Yen, VNM Song Vu Gia, VNM Song Yang, VNM Tam Kho, VNM Tam Talou Tributary, VNM Thach Bich, VNM The Enchanted Forest, VNM The Garden of Eden, VNM Thua Thien Province, VNM Thuan Long, VNM Thuong Duc, VNM Ti Tau Mountain, VNM Trang Bang, VNM Trao Hamlet, VNM Tu Phu, VNM US MACVSOG (1964-1972) (Vietnam War), VNM US MACVSOG Road Runner Teams (Vietnam War), VNM USMC AHCB An Hoa Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM USMC Combined Action Platoon, VNM USMC KSCB Khe Sanh Combat Base (Vietnam War), VNM Vietnam, VNM Vietnam War (1955-1975), VNM Yellow Brick Road, Washington D.C

Thankfully I can easily use calibre’s tag search function to grab what I need!