Eleventh day, eleventh month, eleventh hour
Alan Lothian
Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
Here dead we lie because we did not choose
To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
But young men think it is, and we were young.
Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
here.
--
"The past resembles the future as water resembles water" -- Ibn Khaldun
If you wish to email me, try putting a dot between alan and lothian.
Blueyonder is a thing of the past.
Eugene Griessel
wrote:
>
>Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>
>God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
>bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>
>Here dead we lie because we did not choose
>To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
>Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
>But young men think it is, and we were young.
>
>
>Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
>Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
>here.
Anyone know how many WW1 vets are still alive? I was recently reading
an article on the French 75mm gun and in it the statement was made
that all the US guns fired one last shot at 10 minutes past eleven on
that fateful November day before falling silent. Wonder just how true
it is?
Eugene L Griessel
I shall now ask my colleague to tell you how good I am at delegating
- I post only from Sci.Military.Naval -
Chris
> Anyone know how many WW1 vets are still alive?
According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_veterans_of_World_War_I
the US, Canada, and the UK each have one man left. The last Central
Powers soldier died in 2007. (There is also one man from the Polish-
Soviet War.) None of the three survivors were actually infantry men
in the trenches- a RN sailor, a Canadian who never left Canada during
the war, and the American was an ambulance driver. It is possible that
they missed someone, but if they did my bet would be on the Russians-
with as many government changes as they've had it is possible that
someone fell through the cracks.
Chris Manteuffel
La N
There are so many MANY people I want to thank for their service, which
include an uncle who is buried in France, and these two people, my late Mom
and Dad who served in the Canadian Armed Forces:
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/nilita2004/WWII.jpg
- nilita
BlackBeard
> Alan Lothian <alanloth...@mac.com> wrote:
>
> :
> :Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
> :
> :God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
> :bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
> :
> :Here dead we lie because we did not choose
> :To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
> :Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
> :But young men think it is, and we were young.
> :
> :
> :Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
> :Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
> :here.
>
> Here's to all those good men who never came back from all those wars
> we *didn't* fight in.
>
> Missing comrades. Absent friends.
To those that passed, remembered and renowned, some their faces
still clear in my memory, others their stories recalled. I raise a
glass in their honor and give thanks in memory of their sacrifice. To
the humble heroes.
Slainte.
BB
Alan Lothian
<02116808-adf0-4a66...@w37g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
BlackBeard <spk...@msn.com> wrote:
Very well said, Sean. As indeed were Fred's remarks.
What got me seriously thinking was a visit to a micro-village in la
France profonde... a *tiny* place that gave nine young men (that must
have been an easy 50% of its young male population, and quite possibly
far more) to the jaws of Moloch.
Still, you Americans have that splendidly heart-breaking memorial: the
kid carrying another kid, with the caption "He ain't heavy, Paw, he's
my brother."
In Realpolitik, lives must be spent. Let them be spent wisely, and not
without tears.
Keith Willshaw
"Chris" <cman...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:884b35e3-8db9-4c15...@p19g2000vbq.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 10, 7:29 pm, Eugene Griessel <eug...@dynagen.co.za> wrote:
> Anyone know how many WW1 vets are still alive?
According to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_veterans_of_World_War_I
> the US, Canada, and the UK each have one man left.
The last 3 British veterans died this year.
Keith
Keith Willshaw
"Alan Lothian" <alanl...@mac.com> wrote in message
news:111120090531411417%alanl...@mac.com...
> In article
>
> Very well said, Sean. As indeed were Fred's remarks.
>
> What got me seriously thinking was a visit to a micro-village in la
> France profonde... a *tiny* place that gave nine young men (that must
> have been an easy 50% of its young male population, and quite possibly
> far more) to the jaws of Moloch.
>
The policy in the British Army was to keep groups who enlisted
from a single area together, the so called pals battalion. This
could go horribly wrong and a village could lose most of its men
in a single day.
The war memorial in the Cambridgeshire village I live in is a
four sided stone obelisk. The names of the dead from WW1
fill 3 of its four sides. Most fell on one day at Paschendale.
The 'Day the News Came' is still remebered in village folklore.
Keith
Alan Lothian
<ke...@nospam.kwillshaw.demon.co.uk> wrote:
I don't need to take you on trust (although I have no reason to
distrust you, indeed absolument au contraire). I've been among that
pain.
Specifically today, when I found myself in the midst of a French
commemoration of 11.11
Started, strange to relate, in a bar, where there was much joking as
the tiny President Sarko made a (rather good) speech along with Angela
Merkel at the Arc de Triomphe.
Then the locals did their stuff. Keith, this is a very small town. Its
associated communes are much smaller. The maire of each community,
about as many female as male, came and read out a long, long, list of
names. One by one, slowly and with very careful diction. Shocking
number of shared surnames. After each name was read, some sort of
master of ceremonies pronounced "Mort pour la France."
I behaved exactly as you would expect a tough, hard-drinking,
two-fisted, quarterstaff-wielding Scotsman to behave. I cried my
fucking eyes out. All I can say in my defence is that I wasn't the only
one.
Andrew Chaplin
alanl...@mac.com:
> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>
> God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
> bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>
> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>
>
> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
> Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
> here.
I fall in to parade on Confederation Square in less than two hours.
For once, even the local bus company is getting with the programme:
http://www.octranspo.com/Whats_New/Veterans_week_menuE.htm. This, for me,
evokes even more the last lines of Causley's "Armistice Day":
Into my eyes the stiff seahorses stare,
Over my head sweeps the sun like a swan.
As I stand alone in Parliament Square
A cold bugle calls and the city moves on.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
dott.Piergiorgio
> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>
> God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
> bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>
> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>
>
> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
> Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
> here.
huh ??
...
Ah...
I'll raise also a Glass, and deeply Apologize for the lack of immediate
understanding (here, V-day is 4th November...) :#)
Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.
dott.Piergiorgio
> Specifically today, when I found myself in the midst of a French
> commemoration of 11.11
>
> Started, strange to relate, in a bar, where there was much joking as
> the tiny President Sarko made a (rather good) speech along with Angela
> Merkel at the Arc de Triomphe.
>
> Then the locals did their stuff. Keith, this is a very small town. Its
> associated communes are much smaller. The maire of each community,
> about as many female as male, came and read out a long, long, list of
> names. One by one, slowly and with very careful diction. Shocking
> number of shared surnames. After each name was read, some sort of
> master of ceremonies pronounced "Mort pour la France."
>
> I behaved exactly as you would expect a tough, hard-drinking,
> two-fisted, quarterstaff-wielding Scotsman to behave. I cried my
> fucking eyes out. All I can say in my defence is that I wasn't the only
> one.
I'll suspect that in the next days someone offer to you a visit to the
local grave of fallen WWI/WWII British servicemen...
(I don't know exactly you are, but surely in the 50-100 km. range should
be at least a grave of a downed aviator or maquis liaison...)
La N
"Andrew Chaplin" <ab.ch...@yourfinger.rogers.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9CC0577FD5...@216.196.109.144...
> Alan Lothian <alanl...@mac.com> wrote in news:101120092343174463%
> alanl...@mac.com:
>
>> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>>
>> God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
>> bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>>
>> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
>> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
>> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
>> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>>
>>
>> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
>> Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
>> here.
>
> I fall in to parade on Confederation Square in less than two hours.
>
> For once, even the local bus company is getting with the programme:
> http://www.octranspo.com/Whats_New/Veterans_week_menuE.htm. This, for me,
> evokes even more the last lines of Causley's "Armistice Day":
>
> Into my eyes the stiff seahorses stare,
> Over my head sweeps the sun like a swan.
> As I stand alone in Parliament Square
> A cold bugle calls and the city moves on.
Today we gather at our own Cenotaph where unfortunately the flag has been
flying at half-mast too often lately with the loss of lives of our Canadian
soldiers in Afghanistn.
- nilita
La N
"dott.Piergiorgio" <dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote in
message news:EmAKm.32397$813....@tornado.fastwebnet.it...
> Alan Lothian ha scritto:
>> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>>
>> God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
>> bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>>
>> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
>> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
>> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
>> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>>
>>
>> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
>> Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
>> here.
>
> huh ??
>
> ...
This reminds me. I wonder if Juergen is around to mention how/if they
acknowledge this day in Germany.
- nilita
Arved Sandstrom
Assuming you literally don't mean _today_, as in the 11th of November
(which is just a regular workday for Germans), but a similar day, it
would be Volkstrauertag, which I believe would be coming up this Sunday.
As for the differences in observation, judging by this link
(http://www.haz.de/Hannover/Aus-der-Region/An-der-Leine/Neustadt/Gedenkfeiern-zum-Volkstrauertag)
it looks like for the organized commemorations there are a lot of
similarities to what we do in Canada.
AHS
La N
German is one language that I didn't manage to learn ...:)
btw, because of the anti-German sentiment in those days, my father's family
were among the many in Canada who felt forced to slightly change the
spelling of their last name to sound "less German".
- nilita
Ray O'Hara
"Keith Willshaw" <ke...@nospam.kwillshaw.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:0NuKm.25642$TK7....@newsfe18.ams2...
The U.S.Army chose to mix up Brigades in the Civil War to avoid any one
state having such a disaster as the Pals, the CSA didn't and Virginia
suffered heavily for the disaster that was Pickett's charge.
dott.Piergiorgio
> This reminds me. I wonder if Juergen is around to mention how/if they
> acknowledge this day in Germany.
well, the German "acknowledgement" of 11/11/18 was the true Mother of
all Wars, that was, World War II....
at least Vittorio Veneto was a decisive and definitive Victory, a
Delenda Asburgica.
Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.
P.s. I'm thinking about names for an hypothetical 4-class of Vittorio
Veneto ships (Large DDG or somewhat like); the only usable names today
are V.Veneto and Roma; for the other two, one should be Alessandria, but
for the fourth I'm undecided between Quattro Novembre and Stella d'
Italia; Opinion on this ?
Ray O'Hara
"Fred J. McCall" <fjmc...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a38lf5d6svv1jeitk...@4ax.com...
> "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> :
> :There are so many MANY people I want to thank for their service, which
>
> It's not "thanking people" when you're thumping your chest about what
> you and yours have done, Nilita. That's called 'self-aggrandizing'.
>
> [Dammit, I tried to let all this sort of thing from her go by in the
> spirit of the day and all, but she's just thumping this particular tub
> too hard. Can't this bint ever talk on ANY subject without us getting
> the "Me ... Me ... ME!!!" show from her?]
>
there are times you are beneath disgusting , this is one.
La N
Ya think?
He who suffers from Nilita Derangement Syndrome has for several years been
in my killfile.
La N
>
> P.s. I'm thinking about names for an hypothetical 4-class of Vittorio
> Veneto ships (Large DDG or somewhat like); the only usable names today
> are V.Veneto and Roma; for the other two, one should be Alessandria,
> but for the fourth I'm undecided between Quattro Novembre and Stella
> d' Italia; Opinion on this ?
My opinion? Sounds like classy names for a potentially good Italian wine ..
:)
- nilita
David E. Powell
> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>
> God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
> bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>
> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>
> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
> Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
> here.
Michael Palin did a special on the last day of World War One a while
back, it was very, very good. He talked about the final causualties of
the war and how it ended.
Jack Linthicum
<ke...@nospam.kwillshaw.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> "Alan Lothian" <alanloth...@mac.com> wrote in message
The 29th Division had a similar problem, one small town in Virginia
lost many men on D-Day. Bedford had 34 men in Company A, 116th
Infantry, 29th Division. 19 were killed.
Ray O'Hara
"La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:reCKm.52390$PH1.8448@edtnps82...
yes he does.
Canadians were probably the best troops the allies had in Europe and they
had the lowest surrender rate of all except the Japanese.
a great book is Farley Mowat's "And No Birds Sang" one of the best first
person memoirs of combat I've ever read.
Most know Mowat{Never Cry Wolf} as an iconoclast tree hugging nature writer
but he served in the Canadian Army as an infantry officer in WWII and he saw
a lot of action. It's a great read.
Ray O'Hara
"Jack Linthicum" <jackli...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1ad72ec5-2176-4ce6...@m35g2000vbi.googlegroups.com...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a few Guard Divisions like the 29th{Pa-Va} and 36th{Tx} were shipped
overseas intact but most were shuffled a bit before being deployed.
in WWI the guard units that went over kept their local flavor.
it's a debate between the morale advantage gained by the closeness of the
men versus the social damage a unit getting smaked about badly causes, from
all accounts the Pals Somme disaster is still felt in the mid-lands.
La N
Thank you for that, Ray. I occasionally bring up my own military family
background, but only to allow that there are reasons for my interest in
things of the military. I have never until now posted photos of my mom and
dad in their military uniforms. First of all, because I feared it would
bring out the kook(s) like Fred. Secondly, it elicits some kind of sad
memories of their being laid to rest in poppy adorned coffins, each with a
lone bugler at graveside.
- nilita
Alistair Gunn
> This reminds me. I wonder if Juergen is around to mention how/if they
> acknowledge this day in Germany.
Seemed to pass unnoticed in Austria ... The closest thing to a war
memorial in the village I live in is the book of remembrance in the the
local church which is lists all the dead from the village from Big
Mistakes 1 & 2. The entries for WW2 have a photograph, and list where
they fell.
--
These opinions might not even be mine ...
Let alone connected with my employer ...
Andrew Chaplin
4c71-b8fe-7...@x16g2000vbk.googlegroups.com:
> On Nov 10, 5:43�pm, Alan Lothian <alanloth...@mac.com> wrote:
>> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>>
>> God rest all those poor young men. �I just about managed in the lowlife
>> bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>>
>> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
>> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
>> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
>> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>>
>> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
>> Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
>> here.
>
> Michael Palin did a special on the last day of World War One a while
> back, it was very, very good. He talked about the final causualties of
> the war and how it ended.
Did he deal with the advance on Mons on the ultimate day, and the libel
case it produced for Sir Arthur Currie?
Andrew Chaplin
_And No Birds Sang_ should not be read without its companion piece,
published some years before, _The Regiment_, Mowat's history of the
Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment (alias "The Hasty Pees"). Mowat has
obviously analyzed himself in his memoire. What he reveals is how he was
at the end of his tether -- and how his superiors tried to help him hang
on.
j...@cix.compulink.co.uk
ke...@nospam.kwillshaw.demon.co.uk (Keith Willshaw) wrote:
> "Chris" <cman...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > the US, Canada, and the UK each have one man left.
> The last 3 British veterans died this year.
Claude Choules is a slightly complicated case. He was born in the UK and
served in the Royal Navy during WWI; he is the last surviving witness of
the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow. But he has lived in
Australia since the late 1920s, and is thus a bit inaccessible to the
average British journalist, which is why he gets missed out.
--
John Dallman, j...@cix.co.uk, HTML mail is treated as probable spam.
j...@cix.compulink.co.uk
<02116808-adf0-4a66...@w37g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
spk...@msn.com (BlackBeard) wrote:
> To those that passed, remembered and renowned, some their faces
> still clear in my memory, others their stories recalled. I raise a
> glass in their honor and give thanks in memory of their sacrifice. To
> the humble heroes.
I have never known anyone who died in war, nor have I known anyone well
who has suffered that loss. Through study and conversation, this day has
nonetheless become important to me. I don't pretend that what I feel in
any way compares to the loss of the bereaved, or the honour due to those
who fell. But it gives me some idea of just how strong those feelings
must be.
We will remember them.
H. Wilker
Arved Sandstrom <dce...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> La N wrote:
((snip))
> > This reminds me. I wonder if Juergen is around to mention how/if they
> > acknowledge this day in Germany.
> >
> > - nilita
> Assuming you literally don't mean _today_, as in the 11th of November
> (which is just a regular workday for Germans), but a similar day, it
> would be Volkstrauertag, which I believe would be coming up this Sunday.
>
> As for the differences in observation, judging by this link
> (http://www.haz.de/Hannover/Aus-der-Region/An-der-Leine/Neustadt/Gedenkfeiern-
> zum-Volkstrauertag)
> it looks like for the organized commemorations there are a lot of
> similarities to what we do in Canada.
Arved is right. Volkstrauertag is meant to remember all war dead. There
is no emphasis on veterans, based on post-WWII sentiment: soldiers were
not generally seen as heroes.
Interestingly, this year Chancellor Merkel visited France to take part
in the official French commemoration:
http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/ersterweltkrieg110.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8353809.stm
Helge
Alan Lothian
dott.Piergiorgio <dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote:
<snippaggio>
>
> I'll suspect that in the next days someone offer to you a visit to the
> local grave of fallen WWI/WWII British servicemen...
> (I don't know exactly you are, but surely in the 50-100 km. range should
> be at least a grave of a downed aviator or maquis liaison...)
Les Vans, 07140.
Ho visto 'ste tombe. E le tombe di "italiani sconosciuti" messi a pace
tra loro nemici nel cimitero britannico nell'isola di Creta. Frammenti
umani, seppolti con rispetto et con un po' di amore. E certo, con
onore. Frammenti, Pigi.
Ti dico una storia. Nella piccolissama frazione di Pergo, del comune di
Cortona, esiste un albero, dove fu impiccato nel '44 un russo,
combatante coi partigiani. Ogni anno, si fecero (e per quanto so io, si
fanno ancora) i rispetti. Se avesse vissuto, il gulag al migliore. Ma
......
troppo, troppo. Torno al whisky, e perche' non?
Niemals wieder.
La N
It's been ages since I've read these. I'm going to have to visit the
library again soon.
- nilita
La N
Interesting. Thank you.
- nilita
La N
> In article <hvAKm.32409$813....@tornado.fastwebnet.it>,
> dott.Piergiorgio <dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote:
>
> <snippaggio>
>
>>
>> I'll suspect that in the next days someone offer to you a visit to
>> the local grave of fallen WWI/WWII British servicemen...
>> (I don't know exactly you are, but surely in the 50-100 km. range
>> should be at least a grave of a downed aviator or maquis liaison...)
>
>
> Les Vans, 07140.
>
> Ho visto 'ste tombe. E le tombe di "italiani sconosciuti" messi a pace
> tra loro nemici nel cimitero britannico nell'isola di Creta. Frammenti
> umani, seppolti con rispetto et con un po' di amore. E certo, con
> onore. Frammenti, Pigi.
>
> Ti dico una storia. Nella piccolissama frazione di Pergo, del comune
> di Cortona, esiste un albero, dove fu impiccato nel '44 un russo,
> combatante coi partigiani. Ogni anno, si fecero (e per quanto so io,
> si fanno ancora) i rispetti. Se avesse vissuto, il gulag al migliore.
> Ma ......
>
> troppo, troppo. Torno al whisky, e perche' non?
>
> Niemals wieder.
Ay! he does Italian too! Well, Mr. Lothian, turning the page to something
less serious ... since you penned a nice erotic fantasy the other day about
Swedes, I dedicate this song to you, and hopefully apart from you and el
dottore, nobody else will understand ...;p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ931JSSTIg
ciao
- nilita
Ray O'Hara
> "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Un-fucking-believable. First she tries to make Veterans' Day
> (Canadian 'Remembrance Day') all about her, now she wants to try to
> use her own dead parents to take a swipe at me.
>
> This is one sick woman...
>
showing her parents who served is not "all about her"
Alan Lothian
<nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Ay! he does Italian too!
It's my second language. Pour re-apprendre le fran�ais, il m'a fallu en
faire des gros dommages.
> Well, Mr. Lothian, turning the page to something
> less serious ... since you penned a nice erotic fantasy the other day about
> Swedes, I dedicate this song to you, and hopefully apart from you and el
> dottore, nobody else will understand ...;p
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ931JSSTIg
Je regrette, Madame, que jusqu'au moment quand arrivera' mon acces
internet haut d�bit, disons trois semaines, je ne peux pas me servir de
votre "link". Ce n'est pas perdu: je le tiendrai.
Alexander
> "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Un-fucking-believable. First she tries to make Veterans' Day
> (Canadian 'Remembrance Day') all about her, now she wants to try to
> use her own dead parents to take a swipe at me.
>
> This is one sick woman...
Give it a rest.
>
BlackBeard
> In article <StJKm.52476$PH1.27112@edtnps82>, La N
>
> faire des gros dommages.
>
> > Well, Mr. Lothian, turning the page to something
> > less serious ... since you penned a nice erotic fantasy the other day about
> > Swedes, I dedicate this song to you, and hopefully apart from you and el
> > dottore, nobody else will understand ...;p
>
> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ931JSSTIg
>
> Je regrette, Madame, que jusqu'au moment quand arrivera' mon acces
> votre "link". Ce n'est pas perdu: je le tiendrai.
>
For those of you that don't parlay-voo Fran-say here's the
translation.
He is having internet problems caused by the afro hairdo popularized
by a character on the old TV show "Mod Squad."
I'm just here to help... ;)
BB
La N
> In article <StJKm.52476$PH1.27112@edtnps82>, La N
> <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Ay! he does Italian too!
>
> It's my second language. Pour re-apprendre le fran�ais, il m'a fallu
> en faire des gros dommages.
>
>> Well, Mr. Lothian, turning the page to something
>> less serious ... since you penned a nice erotic fantasy the other
>> day about Swedes, I dedicate this song to you, and hopefully apart
>> from you and el dottore, nobody else will understand ...;p
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ931JSSTIg
>
> Je regrette, Madame, que jusqu'au moment quand arrivera' mon acces
> internet haut d�bit, disons trois semaines, je ne peux pas me servir
> de votre "link". Ce n'est pas perdu: je le tiendrai.
C'est domage .. es tres joli .. and because Spanish too is the loving tongue
... te esperamos ... vale la pena ...;p
- la nilita
Alan Lothian
Griessel <eug...@dynagen.co.za> wrote:
> On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:43:17 +0100, Alan Lothian <alanl...@mac.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
> >
> >God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
> >bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
> >
> >Here dead we lie because we did not choose
> >To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
> >Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
> >But young men think it is, and we were young.
> >
> >
> >Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
> >Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
> >here.
>
> Anyone know how many WW1 vets are still alive?
All dead now. According to France's tiny President, in a rather good
speech made over the flame of the soldat inconnu yesterday, side by
side with the Chancelloress of Germany, the last dead frog was actually
an Italian, who had made a new life in frogistan and foolishly
volunteered. Lived into deep old age, mind you, unlike most of his
fellow-volunteers. We Britistanis lost our last veterans this year,
too. I think (but stand subject to correction) that the very last one
died in Australia.
> I was recently reading
> an article on the French 75mm gun
You must absolutely and at once acquire a copy of "Ma Piece" (grave
accent on the first e, can't be arsed hunting it down on my Mac
keyboard) translated into English as "My 75", by Paul Lintier, who
died, not from natural causes, a decorated sergeant of artillery in
1916. A very fine writer, and one of many losses not yet entirely
unremembered. It stands as one of the two or three best books ever
written about 1914. Best if you can read it in French, but the English
version is effective and honest and a credit to the translator.
> and in it the statement was made
> that all the US guns fired one last shot at 10 minutes past eleven on
> that fateful November day before falling silent. Wonder just how true
> it is?
I haven't a clue. It's just the sort of stupid thing that some officer
in the Quartier General might have ordered, though. I sometimes think,
in my darker moments, that human history is a relentless struggle
between shit and arseholes. So far, the arseholes are winning, but it's
pretty, ah, tight. And there's always plenty of shit ready for the
next round. But then, looking on the bright side, we're not exactly
short of arseholes.
William Hamblen
<eug...@dynagen.co.za> wrote:
>On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:43:17 +0100, Alan Lothian <alanl...@mac.com>
>wrote:
>
>>
>>Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>>
>>God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
>>bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>>
>>Here dead we lie because we did not choose
>>To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
>>Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
>>But young men think it is, and we were young.
>>
>>
>>Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
>>Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
>>here.
>
>Anyone know how many WW1 vets are still alive?
There is exactly one US WWI veteran still living: Frank Woodruff
Buckles, age 108.
>I was recently reading an article on the French 75mm gun and in it the
>statement was made that all the US guns fired one last shot at 10
>minutes past eleven on that fateful November day before falling
>silent. Wonder just how true it is?
I don't think it is true. There was a lot of short time attitude on
that day.
There is a once famous photograph of a chart recording made of sound
pressures on the western front on the 11th of November, 1918, that
showed the guns suddenly falling silent.
Bud
La N
> of his fellow-volunteers. We Britistanis lost our last veterans this
> year, too. I think (but stand subject to correction) that the very
> last one died in Australia.
>
Are you Brit or Scot, Mr. Lothian? Never mind, here's an interesting piece
of history that I knew nothing about until I was scouring the UK papers
tonight:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6913476.ece
From The Times
November 12, 2009
Memorial for Czechs SOE agents who set Europe ablaze
Scotland Staff
(Iain Ferguson/The Write Image)
Colonel Jaroslev Klemes, the last surving Czech who parachuted into his home
country during the Second World War, salutes his fallen comrades at the new
memorial
Image :1 of 2
A monument to hundreds of Czech and Slovak Special Operations Executive
agents who were trained in commando and sabotage techniques at a remote
Scottish village before being parachuted back into Nazi-occupied Europe, was
unveiled yesterday.
The statue, unveiled by George Reid, the Scottish Parliament's former
presiding officer, will be adopted and maintained by the Czech government
and commemorates the sacrifice by more than 300 Czechoslovakians who were
trained for SOE missions at Arisaig in Inverness-shire after their homeland
was overrun by the Nazis.
Many paid with their own lives.
Czech and Slovak dignitaries and nine commando veterans attended the
ceremony.
The sculpture depicts a landing parachutist. The Czechoslovakians were at
the village in the early 1940s as trainers and trainees in the SOE. They
were billeted mainly at Traigh House, Camusdarach and Garramore, while other
nationalities were in Morar and Lochailort. They were trained to use
explosives, in the methods of silent killing and how to sabotage railways.
Their training complete, they were parachuted behind enemy lines to carry
out a secret war against Nazi Germany.
The memorial is the idea of Dr Paul Millar, Honorary Czech Consul General,
who formed a charity to raise the money required and the ceremony included
the laying of wreaths by The Royal British Legion and the Community Council.
SOE began in July, 1940, when Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed a
civilian, Hugh Dalton, to be SOE's political master and then promptly
ordered him to 'set Europe ablaze!'. With just a few agents in the field and
no effective wireless communications, the swift expansion of SOE became a
priority and in comandeered country estates from the Highlands to the New
Forest agents were taught how to kill with bare hands, how to disguise
themselves, how to derail a train and even how to get out of a pair of
handcuffs using just a piece of thin wire and a diary pencil.
Following training in Scotland, those volunteers evaluated as suitable for
clandestine operations were given parachute training at Ringway, near
Manchester, and finally special agent instruction in southern England.
SOE's first headline success came in June 1941 when agents blew up the
Pessac power station in France with a few well-placed explosive charges. The
precision blast crippled work at a vital U-boat base in Bordeaux, and
brought the all-electric railways in this region to an abrupt halt.
The operation led to hundreds more in Europe and in the Far East against the
Japanese.
SOE operations in occupied Czechoslovakia came to a head in 1942 with the
assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, deputy to SS leader Heinrich Himmler and
the governor of Bohemia and Moravia.
Two Czech SOE agents who had trained in Britain, Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik,
ambushed Heydrich as he drove through Prague in an open car. When Gabcik's
weapon failed to fire, Kubis threw a grenade which wounded Heydrich who
climbed from the car to chase his would-be assassins on foot before
collapsing from shock.
Heydrich died from scepticemia a week later. In investigation ordered by
Himmler incorrectly linked the SOE mission to the villages of Lidice and
Lezaky. All adult male occupants were murdered and the villages burnt to the
ground. Around 13,000 Czechoslovakians were imprisoned, deported or murdered
as part of the Nazis' revenge.
SOE training in Scotland ended in May 1943. The number of Czechoslovak
trainees who had passed through Arisaig is believed to have been more than
300, while the total number of exiles trained including those in England, is
thought to be more than 500.
Kubis and Gabcik died a fortnight after Heydrich in a prolonged gun battle
with the SS after their group's hiding place in a Prague church was
betrayed.
La N
> On Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:29:43 +0200, Eugene Griessel
> <eug...@dynagen.co.za> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:43:17 +0100, Alan Lothian
>> <alanl...@mac.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>>>
>>> God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the
>>> lowlife bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>>>
>>> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
>>> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
>>> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
>>> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>>>
>>>
>>> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass
>>> afterwards. Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais
>>> plus, around here.
>>
>> Anyone know how many WW1 vets are still alive?
>
> There is exactly one US WWI veteran still living: Frank Woodruff
> Buckles, age 108.
>
The last living Canadian WWI veteran is John Babcock who is living in
Spokane Washington. This interview with him was when he was 106. Evidently
he is 109 now, but if I'm wrong, maybe one of my compatriots could let me
know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKqiqehKQC8
- nilita
Ray O'Hara
> "David E. Powell" <David_Po...@msn.com> wrote in news:b7427d8f-ae6e-
> 4c71-b8fe-7...@x16g2000vbk.googlegroups.com:
>
>> On Nov 10, 5:43 pm, Alan Lothian <alanloth...@mac.com> wrote:
>>> Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>>>
>>> God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
>>> bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>>>
>>> Here dead we lie because we did not choose
>>> To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
>>> Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
>>> But young men think it is, and we were young.
>>>
>>> Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
>>> Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
>>> here.
>>
>> Michael Palin did a special on the last day of World War One a while
>> back, it was very, very good. He talked about the final causualties of
>> the war and how it ended.
>
> Did he deal with the advance on Mons on the ultimate day, and the libel
> case it produced for Sir Arthur Currie?
he mentions the fighting at Mons but not any libel case.
they ran it on the Military channel today.
William Black
> We Britistanis lost our last veterans this year,
> too.
Harry Patch, the last Briton to serve in the trenches, died this year.
He always refused to go to Remembrance Day events.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6954937.stm
--
William Black
"Any number under six"
The answer given by Englishman Richard Peeke when asked by the Duke of
Medina Sidonia how many Spanish sword and buckler men he could beat
single handed with a quarterstaff.
Jack Linthicum
with the caption "Remember, this used to be our Armistice Day too"
Andrew Chaplin
> Alan Lothian wrote:
> > of his fellow-volunteers. We Britistanis lost our last veterans this
>> year, too. I think (but stand subject to correction) that the very
>> last one died in Australia.
>>
>
> Are you Brit or Scot, Mr. Lothian?
Holy #%^*, Nilita, look "Lothian" up in a gazetteer. Or are you just
funnin' with him?
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
Andrew Chaplin
news:g8LKm.52495$PH1.30048@edtnps82:
> Alan Lothian wrote:
> > of his fellow-volunteers. We Britistanis lost our last veterans this
>> year, too. I think (but stand subject to correction) that the very
>> last one died in Australia.
>>
>
> Are you Brit or Scot, Mr. Lothian?
He is a self-confessed Glaswegian.
Jack Linthicum
wrote:
I used to live on Lothian Road, in Fairfax, Va.
Andrew Chaplin
news:0846a50a-b310-485a...@o9g2000vbj.googlegroups.com:
> On Nov 12, 7:00�am, Andrew Chaplin <ab.chap...@yourfinger.rogers.com>
> wrote:
>> "La N" <nilita2004NOS...@yahoo.com> wrote
>> innews:g8LKm.52495$PH1.30048@ed
> tnps82:
>>
>> > Alan Lothian wrote:
>> > > of his fellow-volunteers. We Britistanis lost our last veterans
>> > > this
>> >> year, too. I think (but stand subject to correction) that the very
>> >> last one died in Australia.
>>
>> > Are you Brit or Scot, Mr. Lothian?
>>
>> Holy #%^*, Nilita, look "Lothian" up in a gazetteer. Or are you just
>> funnin' with him?
>
> I used to live on Lothian Road, in Fairfax, Va.
I am sure there are lots of places named for Lothian, but it belongs to the
area around Edinburgh, Scotland.
Roger Conroy
Scot is a subset of Brit, so the question doesn't really make sense
La N
You're right, of course. I was being somewhat facetious, as I know many
Scots who don't wish to be referred to as Brits, but as Scots in much the
same way as many people from Quebec prefer to be referred to as Quebecois
and not Canadian.
- nilita
La N
> "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:g8LKm.52495$PH1.30048@edtnps82:
>
>> Alan Lothian wrote:
>>> of his fellow-volunteers. We Britistanis lost our last veterans this
>>> year, too. I think (but stand subject to correction) that the very
>>> last one died in Australia.
>>>
>>
>> Are you Brit or Scot, Mr. Lothian?
>
> He is a self-confessed Glaswegian.
Parliamo Glasgow Alan? ...;)
- ni
La N
Or, more correctly ... parliamo glesga' ?
William Black
The Irish don't like being called 'Brits' either.
But it doesn't stop them being British.
Myself, I prefer 'Evil bastard English'...
Or, better still:
"The murderous popinjays and gilded assassins of Perfidious Albion".
dott.Piergiorgio
>> Are you Brit or Scot, Mr. Lothian?
>
> Holy #%^*, Nilita, look "Lothian" up in a gazetteer. Or are you just
> funnin' with him?
well, the geographical area has so many times changed hands, as Berwick
upon Tyne...
A clear sign is that Alan use "Kirk" instead of "Church" ;)
Best regards from Italy,
Dott. Piergiorgio.
dott.Piergiorgio
> Scot is a subset of Brit, so the question doesn't really make sense
Good luck... Have prepped & primed your absestos armour ? ;)
Chris
wrote:
> I used to live on Lothian Road, in Fairfax, Va.
Actually, my wife works right near that road.
Chris Manteuffel
Jack Linthicum
Hospital or dr's office? We were there about two weeks ago.
Alan Lothian
Chaplin <ab.ch...@yourfinger.rogers.com> wrote:
> "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:g8LKm.52495$PH1.30048@edtnps82:
>
> > Alan Lothian wrote:
> > > of his fellow-volunteers. We Britistanis lost our last veterans this
> >> year, too. I think (but stand subject to correction) that the very
> >> last one died in Australia.
> >>
> >
> > Are you Brit or Scot, Mr. Lothian?
>
> He is a self-confessed Glaswegian.
The very and inescapable truth. Now resident in a small town (les Vans,
and you pronounce the final s, in southern France. 07140, if you want
to play Google Earth.)
Vive l'ancienne alliance.....
dott.Piergiorgio
> Ay! he does Italian too! Well, Mr. Lothian, turning the page to something
> less serious ... since you penned a nice erotic fantasy the other day about
> Swedes, I dedicate this song to you, and hopefully apart from you and el
> dottore, nobody else will understand ...;p
Alan has lived in Tuscany for many years (a decade, I think)
BTW, for alan: Obviously I wasn't surprised, both of his honours and his
fate if he return to the Rodina; the major post-war mistake done by
stalin was the gulagization of the russian ex-POW...
Chris
wrote:
> Hospital or dr's office? We were there about two weeks ago.
Hospital. She does disaster planning for the Northern Virginia
Hospital Alliance.
Next time you come up, email me and I'd be happy to get together.
Chris Manteuffel
dott.Piergiorgio
>> P.s. I'm thinking about names for an hypothetical 4-class of Vittorio
>> Veneto ships (Large DDG or somewhat like); the only usable names today
>> are V.Veneto and Roma; for the other two, one should be Alessandria,
>> but for the fourth I'm undecided between Quattro Novembre and Stella
>> d' Italia; Opinion on this ?
>
> My opinion? Sounds like classy names for a potentially good Italian wine ..
> :)
Actually Alessandria in Italy (the only Alexandria NOT founded & named
by the God of War) was nearby Asti (where was the best Italian spumante
[1] ) so I guess that you're in a certain sense correct... But for
Stella d' Italia (that is, the Star of Italy, astronomically Ceres, but
also the main emblem of Italian military, whose is on the prow of
Italian warship and collars of Italian servicemen) I guess your
inspiration is rather analholic.... (S. Pellegrino water)
[1] Now the thread surely degenerate in champagne by spumante debate...
La N
I remember the Asti Spumante of my youth - marginally better than Baby Duck
... :)
- nilita
Rich Johnson
wrote:
> Alan Lothian <alanloth...@mac.com> wrote in news:101120092343174463%
> alanloth...@mac.com:
>
> > Just something to bear in mind in these troubled times.
>
> > God rest all those poor young men. I just about managed in the lowlife
> > bar here in Les Vans to translate these lines:
>
> > Here dead we lie because we did not choose
> > To live, and shame the land from which we sprung.
> > Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose
> > But young men think it is, and we were young.
>
> > Two minutes' silence, gentlemen. And the raising of a glass afterwards.
> > Niemals wieder, as my German friends might say. Jamais plus, around
> > here.
>
>
> For once, even the local bus company is getting with the programme:http://www.octranspo.com/Whats_New/Veterans_week_menuE.htm. This, for me,
> evokes even more the last lines of Causley's "Armistice Day":
>
> Into my eyes the stiff seahorses stare,
> Over my head sweeps the sun like a swan.
> As I stand alone in Parliament Square
> A cold bugle calls and the city moves on.
> --
> Andrew Chaplin
> SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
> (If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
My village had a very good turnout to the Remembrance Day ceremony at
our cenotaph, I'd guess about 1000 showed up. We parade up from the
legion to the Cenotaph with a pipe and drum band leading, followed by
the legion members, cadet core, RCMP, firemen, scouts (that would be
me) and guides. I'm pleased that all my Venturers (older scouts for
non-canadians) showed up, for that matter we had a pretty good turnout
from all sections.
It was a little different for me this year as my son has just joined
up as a trooper with the Halifax Rifles (RCAC), when they read the
list of war dead from the village from both wars all that kept going
through my mind is that I hope that his name is never read there.
Rich
Enfield NS
Canada
La N
> up as a trooper with the Halifax Rifles (RCAC), when they read the
> list of war dead from the village from both wars all that kept going
> through my mind is that I hope that his name is never read there.
>
Amen. My nephew's best friend has just deployed to Afghanistan as an
engineer, having gone through training in Edmonton. Shortly before he left,
I asked him how he felt about going over. He said he was pretty excited,
especially that a young lad like him could be making such good money and
doing interesting work. He's an engineer who will be going on bomb
searching missions with the infantry. I gave him a hug and told him to stay
safe. And that's when the smile left his face, and he said, "realistically,
there are no safe places there", but he was reassured by his training that
all would go well.
- nilita
Jack Linthicum
Something you might have seen briefly on TV
My solemn meeting on Veterans Day with President Obama at my friend's
resting place in Arlington
BY James Gordon Meek
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Thursday, November 12th 2009, 4:00 AM
President Obama places a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier on
Wednesday.
Miller/News
President Obama extends a hand to James Gordon Meek (left) of the
Daily News Washington Bureau.
Gravestone of Pfc. David Sharrett at Arlington National Cemetery.
Pfc. David H. Sharrett II with his proud father, also named David, at
Fort Benning, Ga.
ARLINGTON, Va. - He didn't introduce himself. He didn't have to.
President Obama simply stuck out his hand and asked for my name as he
stepped toward me amid a bone-chilling drizzle in the Gardens of
Stone.
This was Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. I wasn't there as
a reporter, but to visit some friends and family buried there when
Obama made an unscheduled stop - a rare presidential walk among what
Lincoln called America's "honored dead" - after laying a Veterans Day
wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
What I got was an unexpected look into the eyes of a man who
intertwined his roles as commander in chief and consoler in chief on a
solemn day filled with remembrance and respect for sacrifices made -
and sacrifices yet to be made.
I'm sure the cynics will assume this was just another Obama photoop.
If they'd been standing in my boots looking him in the eye, they would
have surely choked on their bile.
His presence in Section 60 convinced me that he now carries the heavy
burden of command.
I had stopped at Arlington to see the resting place of Ken Taylor, Ed
Lenard and Dave Sharrett. Ken and Ed survived their service, in World
War II and Korea, and died as old men. Dave did not leave Iraq alive.
He was 27.
Obama arrived just before noon at the serene Section 60, where many of
the dead from Iraq and Afghanistan are buried together - and where
many more heroes will undoubtedly be laid to rest before this
President leaves office.
It's a section typically bustling with those visiting loved ones.
Every time I go there, more and more graves have been dug into the
earth.
The President and First Lady Michelle Obama emerged from their armored
limousine hatless in the frigid downpour and took a slow stroll into
the soggy rows of white marble headstones.
They stopped first at the grave of Medal of Honor recipient Ross
McGinnis, an Army private who threw himself on a grenade in Iraq three
years ago to save four buddies.
A sad-faced woman reached for Obama's hand and pointed him to a nearby
plot.
The face of another woman - who had grimly sat in a folding chair for
hours next to a headstone she'd arranged flowers around - suddenly
broadened into a smile as she stood to embrace Obama and thank him for
paying his respects.
She was so overcome with emotion that a soldier from the Army's Old
Guard had to console her afterward.
The President patted backs of a dozen other Gold Star relatives and
troops visiting buddies now in the ground.
He gave hugs. He shook wet, chilly hands. He wanted to know something
about each fallen warrior.
He began to slowly trudge back toward the motorcade - and to another
White House huddle with his war council, which is advising him whether
to send up to 40,000 additional troops into harm's way in Afghanistan.
And then Obama noticed a tall, bearded figure. He probably didn't see
the mud-caked combat boots I trudged around Afghanistan in a few years
ago.
"What's your name?" a somber President asked as he extended his hand.
"James Meek, sir," I replied, struggling to pull off my wool glove and
pull my hood back from my head. "I'm here visiting a friend, Pfc.
David H. Sharrett II, who was killed in Iraq last year."
He asked how I knew Dave. I explained that his father, also named
David, was my high school English teacher in nearby McLean, Va. My
classmates and I knew Dave as a little boy playing at our feet.
"He became a star football player and was one of the toughest soldiers
in the 101st Airborne Division," I told Obama.
I didn't tell the commander in chief that Dave was killed by friendly
fire. Or that the Army bungled notifying Dave's parents of a probe
that concluded his lieutenant tragically mistook him for a terrorist
in the dark and shot him. Or that his family had to fight for
accountability - which two battlefield commanders promised but
stateside generals derailed.
That wouldn't have been appropriate, Dave's deeply grateful father
later agreed.
"Well, we appreciate his service very much," Obama told me.
I then told him I'm a reporter for the Daily News - but was just there
to visit friends.
"Well, James," he said, looking me in the eye, "just because you're a
journalist doesn't mean you can't honor your friends here."
The First Lady smiled and squeezed my hand. I thanked her for coming
to Section 60.
Her face opened up into a smile filled with warmth and comfort, a
welcome antidote for the weather and sadness around her. She said
there was no finer place to be on Veterans Day.
Ironically, I was ready to leave the cemetery an hour earlier, but it
went into lockdown because of Obama's visit.
"Sorry for any inconvenience," a terribly polite Secret Service agent
whispered in my ear.
As the Obamas ended their pilgrimage through Arlington's hallowed
ground, inconvenience was hardly what I felt standing there as the
rain pelted my coat, staring at blades of grass around a headstone
etched with a name and a date I will never forget.
La N
> On Nov 12, 11:05 am, "La N" <nilita2004NOS...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Something you might have seen briefly on TV
>
>
> My solemn meeting on Veterans Day with President Obama at my friend's
> resting place in Arlington
>
> BY James Gordon Meek
> DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
>
> Thursday, November 12th 2009, 4:00 AM
> President Obama places a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier on
> Wednesday.
> Miller/News
>
>
I heard about this. Yesterday was a very emotional day for many many of my
friends and acquaintances in the US and Canada, somehow more so this year
than previous, for some reason. Maybe I'm just noticing it more because of
Facebook. I posted some photos and memories too there.
- nilita
Jack Linthicum
Obama has rejected the four scenarios offered on Afghanistan, the
ambassador has warned him not to add any troops, decision time and he
is trying to put himself in the position of making a wise decision.
La N
Yes. I was listening to a discussion of same last night on CBC Radio.
Jeffrey Hamilton
> On Nov 10, 7:29 pm, Eugene Griessel <eug...@dynagen.co.za> wrote:
>
>> Anyone know how many WW1 vets are still alive?
>
> According to:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_veterans_of_World_War_I
>
> the US, Canada, and the UK each have one man left. The last Central
> Powers soldier died in 2007. (There is also one man from the Polish-
> Soviet War.) None of the three survivors were actually infantry men
> in the trenches- a RN sailor, a Canadian who never left Canada during
> the war, and the American was an ambulance driver. It is possible that
> they missed someone, but if they did my bet would be on the Russians-
> with as many government changes as they've had it is possible that
> someone fell through the cracks.
>
> Chris Manteuffel
Regarding the Canadian vet Chris, not quite.
I watched a show on him last night produced in 2007.
John Henry Foster "Jack" Babcock (born July 23, 1900) is, at age 109, the
last known surviving veteran of the Canadian military to have served in the
First World War and, since the death of Harry Patch, the conflict's oldest
surviving participant. Babcock first attempted to join the army at the age
of fifteen, but was turned down and sent to work in Halifax until he was
placed in the Young Soldiers Battalion in August 1917. Babcock was then
transferred to Britain, where he continued his training until the end of the
war.
Having never seen combat, Babcock never considered himself a veteran and
moved to the United States in the 1920s, where he joined the United States
Army and eventually became an electrician. In May 2007, following the death
of Dwight Wilson, he became the last surviving veteran of the First World
War who served with the Canadian forces.[1] Since then, he has received
international attention, including 109th birthday greetings from the Queen
of Canada, the Governor General of Canada and the Canadian Prime Minister.
[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Babcock
At the age of fifteen and a half, Babcock was impressed by two recruiting
officers, one a lieutenant and one a sergeant, who quoted from The Charge of
the Light Brigade at Perth Road.[5] Babcock was recruited in Sydenham,
Ontario and joined the 146th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary
Force.[3] He was then sent to Valcartier, Quebec. There Babcock underwent a
physical, where it was discovered that he was underage. He was designated
status A-4: physically fit, but underage.[5] At the time, the minimum age
for combat was nineteen.[6] Babcock was turned down, but managed to make it
all the way to Halifax by train before he was stopped by the company
commander.[5]
In Halifax, he was sent to Wellington Barracks, the city's peacetime
barracks, where he wrestled freight onto large army vehicles. Tired of the
work, Babcock took the opportunity to volunteer for the Royal Canadian
Regiment when fifty recruits were called on, claiming that his age was
18.[5] Officials quickly discovered that he was only 16, however, and they
placed him in a reserve battalion known as the Boys (or Young Soldiers)
Battalion in August 1917.[3] Babcock then undertook an ocean voyage to
England and, in Liverpool, he was stationed with the 26th Reserve and sent
to Bexhill-on-Sea where he trained with about 1,300 others, about a third of
whom were veterans from battles in France.[5]
The Young Soldiers Battalion trained the recruits for eight hours a day. In
his spare time, Babcock went on leave to Scotland, where he met his first
girlfriend, a woman from the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. He was also
introduced to the pleasures of beer and the horrors of war that some of the
older veterans had come across.[5] Babcock asserts that he would have fought
in the war, given the chance,[7] but the war ended before he could be
brought to the front lines. For this reason, Babcock claims that he never
felt like "a real soldier"[8] and rarely talked of his experiences until his
centenary.[7] He also never joined any veterans associations.[3]
Experiences
Babcock's brother Manley enlisted after John and served with the engineers
as a sapper. Manley suffered a nervous breakdown after the war. This, in
Babcock's eyes, was one of many psychological problems that occurred during
and after the war.[5] He recalls at least one instance where a soldier shot
himself with a .45 after his comrades discovered that he had emigrated from
Germany, while another ran himself through with a bayonet after a pack
drill.[5] Babcock also recounted the importance of honesty in the Canadian
Army. In one case, one of his fellow comrades stole a dollar watch and
received nine months in prison and Babcock cites that as an example of the
strict discipline in the military structure.[5]
After World War I
With relatives in the United States, Babcock paid the $7 head tax[5] and
moved there in the 1920s.[3] He became a United States citizen in 1946[7]
after serving in the United States Army and achieving the rank of Sergeant.
He still retained a Canadian Army pension that totaled $750, and he took
advantage of veteran vocational training to become an electrician. He ran a
small light plant in his home neighborhood of Sydenham.[5] Among his World
War II duty stations was Fort Lewis, located in Tacoma, Washington.[7]
At the age of 65, Babcock became a pilot.[3] As of 2006, he was in good
mental and physical health, displayed by his ability to quickly recite the
alphabet backwards, spell out his name in Morse Code and take daily walks
with his wife to keep in shape.[3] At the age of 100, he wrote an
autobiography titled Ten Decades of John Foster Babcock. It was distributed
only to family and friends.[3][7]
Babcock has been married twice, first to Elsie, then to Dorothy, a woman
nearly thirty years his junior[9] whom he met when she was taking care of
his first wife while she was dying.[3] Babcock has one son (Jack Jr.),[9]
one daughter, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. One
grandchild, Matt, was an army dentist in Iraq during the Iraq War.[5] John
and Dorothy live in Spokane, Washington, where Babcock has lived since 1932.
Babcock's longevity is not entirely unprecedented; his younger sister Lucy
died in July 2007 at the age of 102.[9]
cheers.....Jeff
Jeffrey Hamilton
> "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> There are so many MANY people I want to thank for their service,
>> which include an uncle who is buried in France, and these two
>> people, my late Mom and Dad who served in the Canadian Armed Forces:
>>
>> http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/nilita2004/WWII.jpg
>>
>
> It's not "thanking people" when you're thumping your chest about what
> you and yours have done, Nilita. That's called 'self-aggrandizing'.
>
> [Dammit, I tried to let all this sort of thing from her go by in the
> spirit of the day and all, but she's just thumping this particular tub
> too hard. Can't this bint ever talk on ANY subject without us getting
> the "Me ... Me ... ME!!!" show from her?]
Your such a ****ing sociopath, Fred. Why don't you tell us all about your
*mama and her ilk* and the part they palyed, during two world wars.
Nilita's parents fought for *our* side, Fred.
Why shouldn't she be proud of them ?
Why shouldn't she remember them ?
You horrible waste of skin......
cheers......Jeff
Andrew Swallow
{snip}
>
> The Irish don't like being called 'Brits' either.
>
> But it doesn't stop them being British.
That is British as in British Empire. Ireland is not part of
Great Britain although it all used to be part of the United
Kingdom.
Andrew Swallow
William Black
> William Black wrote:
> {snip}
>
>>
>> The Irish don't like being called 'Brits' either.
>>
>> But it doesn't stop them being British.
>
> That is British as in British Empire.
Goodness no.
'British' as in Ireland is one of the British Isles...
Keith Willshaw
"Andrew Swallow" <am.sw...@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:nOidncZOsosDLWHX...@bt.com...
The six counties of Ulster are both Irish and part of the UK
Keith
Roger Conroy
"Keith Willshaw" <ke...@nospam.kwillshaw.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:lkaLm.7245$iJ4....@newsfe21.ams2...
Great Britain = England, Wales and Scotland. (Yes/No/Don't Know)
UK = The United Kingdom of Great Britain (see above) and Northern Ireland
(Yes/No/Don't know)
The British Isles = ????
If we take the point of view of an alien cartographer, meaning we look at
the the lumps of rock protruding from the sea without regarding their
politics and history, would one "naturally" recognise the lump of rock known
as Great Britain and the one known as Ireland (together with the smaller
fragments around their fringes of course) as a single archipelago?
(Yes/No/Don't know)
If yes, what name do we give the archipelago in its entirety?
The way I understand it the answer is "The British Isles".
Where do the Channel Islands and Isle of Man fit in?
Orkney, Inner and Outer Hebrides are part of Scotland, is that correct?
dott.Piergiorgio
>> But it doesn't stop them being British.
>
> That is British as in British Empire. Ireland is not part of
> Great Britain although it all used to be part of the United
> Kingdom.
But "British" don't mean "from the British Isles" (that is, Britannia
and Hibernia) ? In this sense, an Irish *is* British...
La N
"dott.Piergiorgio" <dott.Pierg...@KAIGUN.fastwebnet.it> wrote in
message news:_rcLm.34367$813....@tornado.fastwebnet.it...
> Andrew Swallow ha scritto:
>
>>> But it doesn't stop them being British.
>>
>> That is British as in British Empire. Ireland is not part of
>> Great Britain although it all used to be part of the United
>> Kingdom.
>
> But "British" don't mean "from the British Isles" (that is, Britannia and
> Hibernia) ? In this sense, an Irish *is* British...
>
Anyway, as I mentioned before, some Scots are very sensitive about being
referred to as Brits. I tread carefully in those waters.
- nilita
William Black
Some Scots, very few as it happens, are a bit over-sensitive about
just about everything...
dott.Piergiorgio
>
> Some Scots, very few as it happens, are a bit over-sensitive about
> just about everything...
.. like the wallet ?
(It's an joke here in italy, about scots and genoese having a really
strict control of expenses....)
fact are, that at Genoa are:
1) a highway tunnel whose light are really placed low on the sides
instead on the ceiling (savings on scaffoldings & repairs, I guess...)
2) a number of "tavola fredda" ( literally, "cold table" instead of
"tavola calda" ("hot table"), as we call the takeaway food shops), I
guess because of savings in not heating the food....
3) and the most spectacular: at the Quarto dei Mille (where the
expedition of The Thousand set sail) the monument was... the actual
rocks !!! and on top it, a (small...) plaque says along these lines:
"Avremmo potuto dedicare un grande ed inponente monumento di bronzo e
marmo all' Evento Unificatore della Patria, ma ci e' sembrato pi�
solenne dedicare e tutelare le rocce stesse su cui passarono Garibaldi e
i suoi uomini per imbarcarsi sulle lance" (translation omitted for sake
of Italian Fatherland...) all this to save the expense of an appropriate
monument.... I laughted more than half an hour in front to this plaque
whose is the top of the Genoese scrooging :D
(Alan, how is "spilorciaggine" in Inglese ??)
La N
> William Black ha scritto:
>
>>
>> Some Scots, very few as it happens, are a bit over-sensitive about
>> just about everything...
>
> .. like the wallet ?
>
> (It's an joke here in italy, about scots and genoese having a really
> strict control of expenses....)
Heheh ... this reminds me of another news bite I found in some UK newspapers
a couple weeks back (and I'm a fan of news of the absurd!):
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6898166.ece
GERMAN USE OF MEAN SCOTS IS BRANDED RACIST
Jason Allardyce and Julia Belgutay
The Scottish National party is to lodge an official complaint with Germany's
advertising association about the use of the phrase Schotten Preise, meaning
Scottish prices, to advertise discounted goods.
It believes the long-established marketing technique is offensive and
promotes an unfair racial stereotype of Scots people as mean.
Angus Robertson, the SNP's group leader at Westminster, is to write to
officials in Germany seeking an end to the use of the phrase, which has
promoted products ranging from fast food to air fares. Robertson, the son of
a German, said it was unacceptable to portray Scots in such a pejorative
way, which he believes could harm the country's reputation.
Many discount stores in Germany begin with the prefix "Mac". Geizkragen, one
of the country's most popular price-comparison websites, depicts a Scot
wearing a kilt and tartan hat chasing coins and advising Germans how to save
money.
Travel agents regularly advertise "Scottish prices" for bargains and last
year the ADAC, a German motoring club, sent an e-mail to 15 million
customers featuring a kilt-wearing Scot, with the caption: "It doesn't have
to be this way." Robertson said: "You wouldn't do it with orthodox Jews, so
why do it with Scots? The constant association of our country and people
with meanness and cheapness is beginning to hit at the borders of defamation
and insult."
The origins of Schotten Preise in Germany may come from the 15th century
when many Scots lived in German-populated areas of the Baltic and are
believed to have offered goods at competitive prices.
David McAllister, leader of Germany's governing Christian Democratic Union
party, who is of Scottish descent, said it would take years before Germans
dispense with the stereotype of Scots as skinflints. "Germans are generally
careful not to employ national stereotypes," he said. "But there seems to be
one nation exempt from that, and that's Scotland."
Oliver Flask�mper, who founded Geizkragen, said the mean Scot on his website
was intended to be endearing. "We have never had any complaints, even though
we are near a British army base with a lot of Scottish soldiers," he said.
Alex Johnstone, a Conservative MSP, accused the SNP of "a kind of political
correctness we could well do without", saying it should act "in a more
light-hearted and engaged way".
Last year, a Scottish cultural society in Hungary complained about a
"Scottish menu" by Burger King, saying it portrayed Scots in a poor light.
In 2002, the then shadow transport minister Kenny MacAskill, now justice
secretary, branded a Ford campaign as racist. The advert in Austria had
bagpipe music playing when a mechanic opened a bonnet, with a voice saying:
"Experience the saving potential of the new Ford engine."
Eugene Griessel
wrote:
>dott.Piergiorgio wrote:
>> William Black ha scritto:
>>
>>>
>>> Some Scots, very few as it happens, are a bit over-sensitive about
>>> just about everything...
>>
>> .. like the wallet ?
>>
>> (It's an joke here in italy, about scots and genoese having a really
>> strict control of expenses....)
>
>Heheh ... this reminds me of another news bite I found in some UK newspapers
>a couple weeks back (and I'm a fan of news of the absurd!):
>
>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6898166.ece
>
>GERMAN USE OF MEAN SCOTS IS BRANDED RACIST
And so it should be! BTW did you know that copper wire was invented
in Scotland? Two Scots fighting over a penny.
Eugene L Griessel
It is possible for your mind to be so open that your brain falls out.
- I post only from Sci.Military.Naval -
La N
> On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:50:51 GMT, "La N" <nilita20...@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>> dott.Piergiorgio wrote:
>>> William Black ha scritto:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Some Scots, very few as it happens, are a bit over-sensitive
>>>> about just about everything...
>>>
>>> .. like the wallet ?
>>>
>>> (It's an joke here in italy, about scots and genoese having a really
>>> strict control of expenses....)
>>
>> Heheh ... this reminds me of another news bite I found in some UK
>> newspapers a couple weeks back (and I'm a fan of news of the
>> absurd!):
>>
>> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6898166.ece
>>
>> GERMAN USE OF MEAN SCOTS IS BRANDED RACIST
>
> And so it should be! BTW did you know that copper wire was invented
> in Scotland? Two Scots fighting over a penny.
>
LOL!!! I wonder if I dare share that with some Scottish friends ...;p
- nil
Jack Linthicum
Or the Scotsman on the train with a valise?
La N
You guys are racist! ;p
Jack Linthicum
Scots is not a race by itself.
La N
Of course not. That's what made the headlines funny in the various UK
papers WRT "racism".
Eugene Griessel
wrote:
>Jack Linthicum wrote:
Show me somebody who claims not to be and I'll show you a hypocrite.
Eugene L Griessel
Never try to outstubborn a cat.