25 years later......

 

I have posted this before in remembrance of 9-11-01.  Unfortunately I believe that we as a society have forgotten what has happened, and we are importing people that believe the same way as the people that crashed into the buildings back in 2001.  I fear that we are in for a rude awakening....again.   We have a mayor of New York that is a muslim and supports the goal of the same people that caused 9-11-01. 

 When they celebrate "Muslim American Heritage Month and orders Freedom plaza to be lit green that to me is bowing to islam and sends the wrong message and we have the same governor of New York wearing a hijab in the presence of muslim men, they are putting their culture and beliefs above our own.  When you keep importing 3rd world to our world, you will make our world like theirs, look at Europe, the elites are sheltered by the poor decisions they make but the common people are having to deal with the ramifications of unfettered immigration and the grooming gangs.  It is no wonder that the "right leaning party AFD" won elections in Germany a few days ago...the regular Germans are getting pissed, despite the constant bombardment of propaganda they are getting from the state, it ain't syncing up with they are seeing.

      Well anyway, it is 25 years since 9-11-01 and the world changed for us.

  I set to post this on the scheduler thingie to drop on Sept 11, 2026.  I wrote this post back in November of 2018,  I have blogged before about Rick Rescorla, to me he went to Valhalla on the wings of Valkyries.  To use a phrase that isn't used much anymore, "He died Well".  Everyone dies, that is the truth of our existence, but some choose to run forward despite the almost certainty of death to make a difference.

 

 

 

The Battle of la Drang Valley was the first major battle in the Vietnam War. 36 years later, the first major battle of the War on Terror was the bombing of the Twin Towers.

There are many people who remember both events, but Rick Rescorla is the only person who was at the heart of both.
Rick Rescorla was born in Cornwall, United Kingdom, but was one of the most distinguished heroes in the initial battle of Vietnam. He gave his life on September 11, 2001.
 

 

Just before the collapse of WTC 2. You can see all floors fully involved with fire and         structural failure is imminent

Rescorla’s career in the military started at the age of 17 when he joined the British military. There he trained as a paratrooper and would later serve in Cyprus. At the end of his Short-Service Commission, he joined the Northern Rhodesia police before returning to London to join the Metropolitan Police Service.
Rescorla’s tenure with the Met police was short-lived and he soon emigrated to the United States where he lived in a hostel in Brooklyn. He stayed there until he was able to enlist in the United States Army. He completed basic training at Fort Dix.

After basic training, he completed Officer Candidate School and airborne training, graduating with the assignment of platoon leader.
He became infantry leader of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. Rescorla and his men were one of the first combat units on the ground in Vietnam.
In November 1965, he and his unit were involved in the battles in the la Drang Valley. One of the moments from these battles was captured by a war correspondent and appears on the cover of We Were Soldiers Once And Young. This iconic image is of Rick Rescorla holding his rifle with bayonet attached and marching forward into battle.

Rick Rescorla during the war, 1965

Rescorla and his unit fought at Landing Zone X-Ray before being extracted and provided with a brief rest. They were then instructed to return to the valley and reinforce another unit. The battles lasted three days, during which time the companies faced superior numbers but were able to hold off and drive the enemy forces back.
For his part in the war, Rescorla was honored with the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, a Purple Heart, a Silver Star, and the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster.

Some U.S. Army soldiers air-lifted into LZ X-Ray.

After leaving active duty, Rescorla remained a reserve, retiring with the rank of colonel. He used his military benefits to study creative writing and eventually earned a law degree from the Oklahoma City University School of Law.
He would go on to teach criminal justice for three years and publish a textbook on the subject.
His teaching career was short-lived and he moved on to the world of corporate security, joining Dean Witter Reynolds at their office in the World Trade Center.
It was during his time there that Rescorla became concerned with the security of the towers. This was prompted by the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland.

The remains of the forward section from Clipper Maid of the Seas (Pan Am Flight 103) on Tundergarth Hill, Lockerbie Scotland, 21 December 1988

The bombing pushed Rescorla to invite his old friend, Daniel Hill, to assess the security of the World Trade Center. Hill was trained in counterterrorism and determined that the basement would be the easiest target for a terror attack.
The two of them used the findings to write a report to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey insisting that more security be added to the parking garage. Their recommendations were ignored due to the costs, leaving the building open to the 1993 terrorist attack.
During the 1993 attack, Rescorla was upset by the poor evacuation of the building and vowed that it would never happen again. In 1997, he became the director of security for Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley and was able to make some of the changes he wanted.

Procession of emergency vehicles at the World Trade Center bombing on February 26, 1993. The Tower is on the far right of the frame. Photo taken by Eric Ascalon from an adjacent pedestrian walkway. 

Rescorla did recommend that the company find different office space due to the vulnerability of the building, but lease obligations made this impossible. This left Rescorla to create an emergency evacuation plan that all employees had to practice again and again.
The emergency plan ensured that Morgan Stanley employees were ready for any attacks. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Rescorla heard the explosion from the North Tower and saw it burning from his office window on the 44th floor of the South Tower.
An announcement from Port Authority came over the PA system telling people to remain at their desks. Rescorla ignored the announcement, grabbed his bullhorn and ordered Morgan Stanley employees to start evacuating.

The north face of Two World Trade Center (south tower) immediately after being struck by United Airlines Flight 175

He directed the employees down the staircase and continued to encourage them when the building lurched as the second plane hit. To keep everyone calm, Rescorla started to sing as he had done for his platoon in Vietnam.

 Rick pushing people out of the building in Sept 11, 2001 saving their lives, this was the last pic that was taken of that man.

2,687 employees of Morgan Stanley owe their lives to Rick Rescorla as they were successfully evacuated. After seeing to this, Rescorla returned to the South Tower to ensure that everyone was out.
He was last seen on the 10th floor heading up shortly before the tower collapsed. His remains were never found and he was declared dead three weeks later.

The exterior support columns from the lower level of the South Tower remain standing after the collapse of the building.

Rick Rescorla was a man who saw battle with two armies and the start of the War on Terror. All but 13 employees of Morgan Stanley were able to exit the South Tower safely because of his leadership and foresight.

 Rescorla's name is located on Panel S-46 of the National September 11 Memorial’s South Pool

One of my favorite pics, it shows the indomitable spirit of the American People.

9-11-2002

"The Battle For Japan, 1944, 1945"

 

From everything that I read about the Japanese Soldier in WWII was that they were fanatical, dedicated, would sacrifice everything for the goals set by their commanders, they were imbued by a form of "bushido" or Martial spirit or the samurai spirit. Please realize that my descriptions are very simple, I could go on for pages if I wanted to do a deep dive.  I respected the Japanese Soldier of WWII for what he could do, I did not admire them  They were often cruel to the people they captured, but that was to me part of the draconian disciplinary system of the Japanese Army, where the lower enlisted were beaten by their NCO's for the smallest infractions, and they were frequently treated with disdain by their officers.  They viewed the west as "weak" especially the United States, the Pacific War was brutal compared to the European war, it matched the savagery of the Eastern front, and in some cases exceeded it because there was no quarters given by either side.  The Americans learned to be very wary of accepting "surrendering" japanese soldiers because it was frequently a ruse to kill more Americans, and if there were any wounded Americans, captured, they were almost always bayoneted by the Japanese. Like I said, very savage. compared to the War in the European Theater.  The Americans had no compunctions of using flame throwers and other weapons on japanese positions during the island hopping campaigns.  It was a very different war.

    I got this off "Quora"

n "Nemesis" The Battle for Japan 1944–45’ by Max Hastings, a British army officer is quoted as making the observation that the Japanese were first class soldiers fighting in a third-rate army.

The soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army were brave, well trained and highly disciplined. They would rather die than surrender and, consequently, fought to the death to avoid the dishonour of being captured. However, technologically the IJA was backward compared to the other key armies of WWII. It lacked a decent tank nor a doctrine of how to use the ones they did have. In open ground warfare where there was space to maneuver the IJA was hopelessly outclassed, as Slim in Burma and the Red Army in Manchuria before and at the end of the war, proved. Moreover, senior IJA leadership were often appallingly incompetent in sending their forces into battle in adverse circumstances and this manifested especially in the manner in which logistical challenges were fatally underestimated, as noted in the question. This stemmed principally from a shocking underestimation of their enemies. It was frequently assumed that the lightly burdened, fast moving Japanese soldiers would overcome their enemies quickly - as they had done in Malaya and early on in Burma- and capture all the supplies they required from their defeated enemies. But by 1943, the offensive weaknesses of the IJA had been more fully recognized, its initial victories notwithstanding. It became clear that whilst the Japanese soldier was a formidable and ferocious enemy when defending in place behind fixed defensive positions, he was much less so out in the open when attacking.

Unfortunately for the Japanese army, in all three battles mentioned (and others besides) its enemies failed to cooperate by collapsing, forcing the Japanese soldiers to retreat with little food and in difficult conditions. The wounded who could not keep up were either killed or left to kill themselves with grenades, hopefully taking a pursuing Allied soldier with them. In Guadalcanal, on the Kokoda Trail and at Imphal/Kohima, the disastrous result of their offensive failures resulted in mass starvation amongst retreating Japanese soldiers as well as death from disease. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers in the Pacific were bypassed and left to rot on scores of islands and atolls as the United States Navy juggernaut continued its inexorable and innovative island-hopping advance towards Japan’s home islands.

A stark example of the hopelessly unrealistic ambitions of senior Japanese commanders, and their inability to comprehend logistical challenges, was the idiotic plan to disrupt British plans to retake Burma by attacking Imphal and Kohima in northeastern India. The brainchild of General Renya Mutaguchi commanding 15th Army, it would compel Japanese forces to traverse some of the wettest and most rugged country in Asia where annual rainfall sometimes reached 800 inches, with only a tenuous logistical lifeline, mounted against an enemy with overall numerical superiority and command of the air. It also came at a time when Japanese fortunes elsewhere had taken a decided turn for the worst. Mutaguchi proved a complete incompetent but his plan was approved in Tokyo after the most cursory examination of its feasibility by higher command, possibly because Burma was considered very much a sideshow.

The result was a battle in which the Japanese soldiers fought for many weeks with their usual ferocity but with decreasing prospects of success. Worst of all the 15th Army’s already weak logistical lifeline was disrupted by Allied air attacks, and they began to starve. After Mutaguchi refused pleas from subordinates to retreat, one divisional commander took it upon himself to order his division to do so. The incompetent army commander finally had no option but to order a general retreat. But by this time the monsoon had set in, tracks and trails had become all but impossible to navigate and thousands of Japanese soldiers died of starvation, disease and/or their wounds. The despised Mutaguchi was eventually fired.

One key consequence of this calamity was that the Japanese forces available to contest Field Marshal Bill Slim’s masterful campaign to retake Burma were greatly weakened , and even their fighting spirit in the later stages of the campaign was significantly diminished.

Logistics undoubtedly proved an Achilles heel for the IJA throughout the war.

"A Field Guide To Hamburgers"

 

Yes I snagged this from "Art of Manliness" and do I have shame about it.....nope.   Now that is settled, lets get to hamburgers.  I am not a fan of "chain burgers", now if I go to some hole in the wall restaurant or some actual restaurant/bar, I will occasionally get a hamburger.  I love hamburgers, but too much beef ain't good for my cardiovascular system.  but I do occasionally imbibe.  Surprisingly Pineapple is good on burgers....and yes I am one of those heathens that like it on pizza....so there  :P  

Americans love hamburgers, and few foods have been interpreted in as many different ways. From Connecticut to Southern California and everywhere in between, cooks and grillmasters have developed their own regional takes, each with a particular ingredient or preparation methodology that sets it apart.

Regional burgers are perhaps a little less rigid than you might expect (especially when compared to regional hot dogs). While some styles have strong traditions around their toppings, most are defined less by a strict list of ingredients than by one key cooking method or signature ingredient: cheese sealed between the patties, peanut butter melted over the patty, or a pile of hot pastrami, for example.

In most cases, what matters is nailing the element that gives the burger its regional identity. Consider this a guide to the essential character of each style rather than a set of hard-and-fast rules. 

The only thing left is to either embark on the great American road trip to test them out or simply do some experimenting in your own kitchen or backyard. Dig in! 

"What would Berlin look like if Germany had won WWII

 

I snagged this off Quora, I thought it was an interesting take.  I recall reading in Albert Speer's book "Inside the 3rd Reich", the Architect and his team had created the future capital of the greater German empire after Hitler had completed his dream of conquest, Berlin would have been renamed "Germania" as I recall and there was a huge model of the capital that Hitler would frequently visit before the demands of the war took all of his time.  Albert Speer was eventually named "Armaments Minister" and streamlined the fragmented German economy and turned it into a wartime economy which should have been done a lot sooner than it was, and he mentioned it in his book,  I read that book when I was sixteen, I snagged it from my Dad, and I still have it.

This was the vision of Berlin presented by Albert Speer, Hitler’s favorite architect. You would see a city of monumental architecture where order would be the rule of the day.

The population of the city would likely be like in the Gulf States today. That means that you would have 3 classes of people. First you would have Berlin citizens, all of which would be ethnic Germans or Austrians. The second class would be guest workers. They would be people from all over the world to do the kind of jobs that Berliners would shun: maids, janitors, construction workers, etc. Third you would have hoards of tourists, business visitors, diplomats, and foreign students who would be there temporarily.

Very likely you would have surveillance cameras on every street corner. Gestapo would be everywhere but they would wear civilian clothing and would likely keep a low profile. Jews and Gypsies would be extinct by now so the main job of the Gestapo would be to keep an eye out for any political dissidents.

Everywhere you would see signs advertising the glories of the Third Reich and urging citizens to behave orderly (don’t jaywalk, don’t litter, etc.). Berlin would probably be the wealthiest city in Europe because all the wealth of occupied countries would eventually flow there. You would have museums filled with art confiscated from other countries, grandiose monuments and statues interspersed throughout the city, and probably at least as many statues of Hitler as you had statues of Lenin in a large Soviet city during Soviet times.

Industry would probably be limited within the city to keep pollution down. Berlin would be a city of administrators, finance, art, and educational institutions. You might have industrial suburbs outside the city but more likely industry would be relegated to other German cities.

Well, that is my projection of Berlin in an alternate universe where Nazis won World War II.

"Thunderstruck"

 Posting this using my cell phone,  normally Today is "Monday Music" but, well kinda, we had a heavy electrical Storm hit several days ago, it fried all my Tv's , the modem, router, several outlets in my house, my laptop power cord, house A/C  and assorted lights.

          Assorted covers of the plugs, blew the covers off of them

        This was my modem plug......

        The surge protector.....yeah, getting replaced also.

          So since I am off from work till tomorrow, can't really post until I get to work.  I have some stuff from Amazon coming, my internet provider is sending a Tech out because the signal coming onto the house is damaged also, so the new modem  and router ain't working because the incoming signal is degraded.  Fun..fun.