The song peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of April 22, 1978, making it Kansas's only top ten Billboard Hot 100 charting single. The 45-rpm single was certified Gold for sales of one million units by the RIAA
shortly after the height of its popularity as a hit single. More than
25 years later, the RIAA certified Gold the digital download format of
the song, Kansas' only single to do so certified as of September 17,
2008.
The guitar line for this song was written by Kerry Livgren as a finger exercise for learning fingerpicking. His wife, Vicci, heard what he was doing, remarked that the melody was nice, and encouraged him to write lyrics for it.
Livgren was unsure whether his fellow band members would like it, since
it was a departure from their signature style. After he played the demo
for the band, there was a "stunned silence" and the band asked him,
"Kerry, where has this been?"
The title of the song is a Bible reference, paraphrasing Ecclesiastes:
“
I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded:
Everything he has accomplished is futile — like chasing the wind!
”
A meditation on mortality and the inevitability of death, the lyrical
theme bears a striking resemblance to the well-known biblical passages Genesis 3:19 ("...for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.") and Ecclesiastes
3:20 (All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all
return.) as well as to the famous opening lines of the Japanese war epic
The Tale of the Heike ("...the mighty fall at last, and they are as dust before the wind.") and from a book of Native American poetry, which includes the line "for all we are is dust in the wind."
Overall I was impressed, I know a lot about the battle, I have blogged about "Midway" a lot in the past. The Movie did touch on how out classed the TBD "Devastator" was against the Japanese and how bad the torpedo's we had. It wasn't just the Aerial Torpedo's that were bad, the Submarine Torpedo's sucked just as bad. It was a group of Submariners taking one of their torpedo's and hoisting it on a crane and dropping the torpedo straight down on the warhead contact .After the non explosion of the torpedo, it finally proved to the ordinance dept that the torpedo's were faulty. The Movie also touched on the conflict that the Japanese General Staff had, you had the Army that was worried about Russia and China and the Navy was concerned about the United States.
The General Staff was locked until the Doolittle raid shook up the Japanese Psyche.
Here is a technical analysis of the Movie. Sure it had technical inaccuracies but it was accurate in a lot of things and it is worth seeing with a bag of popcorn and watch the movie. I will be adding the blue-ray version to my collection.
I never thought one way or another about chickens, except they taste good and definitely not as a weapon of war. The first time I saw a chicken in a wartime setting was in the Gulf War, We were getting ready to go up against Saddam Hussain and the 4th largest Army in the world. We were there from Germany and our stuff was green. You could tell the Stateside Army and the European Army apart, the Stateside Americans had the "Chocochip DCU's" and we had the "Forest Green BDU's". We never got the desert stuff until after the war was over. Well anyway we were gearing up and Biological and chemical attack was a real concern and we as GI's really didn't have faith in our NBC gear, sure the MOPP suits would work, but the detection gear was shall we say "really Old" I surmise that the detection stuff was based on the 1950's and early 1960's technology. Face it, NBC isn't sexy so it doesn't get the big defense dollars or supporters on capital hill. Perhaps it is different now, but back then, that was the feeling. Well anyway We were part of the coalition to get Saddam out of Kuwait, The Czech's being former "Warsaw Pact" knew the ins and out of the Soviet pattern chemicals and delivery systems and they were prepared accordingly and they send all of their "Fuches" or "Fox" NBC detection equipment to assist.
Well to further help us, we got a Chicken.....yep a live chicken...the logic was that the bird being more susceptible to chemicals and biologicals would keel over first giving us additional warming along with the M-8 Chemical alarms we had....Funny about that chicken, after the ground war started, the chicken "vanished". and I had nothing to do with it, someone else beat us to the chicken., dangit, LOL
Landmine: The Cold War was a tense time for Europeans, caught as they
were between the military behemoths of the USSR and the USA.
Both superpowers lined their missiles up from the frozen North to the sunny South waiting for curtain-up in this theatre of war.
But the Russians and the Americans were not the only nuclear powers
in the region. The French and the British were also players in the game
and devised their own, home-grown deterrents to invasion by the Soviet
threat.
A top secret document from 1957 discussing the nuclear land mine plansThe
British had already made their name for warfighting engineering
expertise in the Second World War with successful bouncing bombs and
super-fast spitfire fighter planes.
The threats during the Cold War were entirely different.
Facing weapons of mass destruction and the vast military might of the
USSR’s armed forces plucky Brits came up with a wide range of ideas
that were designed to stop the enemy advance in its tracks.
One such design, codenamed Operation Blue Peacock, was a nuclear
landmine. It was planned to be remotely triggered in order to inflict
maximum damage on advancing Soviet forces.
One problem that the designers could not manage out easily was that
the detonation could not occur if the device was too cold, and buried
underground in Germany’s northern plains, maintaining a temperature at
which the bombs’ electronics could be effective was difficult.
Bunker Complex(getty Image)
Even so, in July 1957 the British Army ordered ten nuclear landmines to be constructed and delivered to West Germany.
The story was that these were nuclear power units for use by the British military forces stationed in the country.
As the mines were to be left unattended, in the case of a retreat by British armed forces, there were anti-tamper devices built-in to the bombs.
The casings were pressurized, which meant that pressure and tilt
switches could be incorporated. Once the weapon was armed it would be
set off if moved, if the casing lost pressure or if it filled with
water.
It was also designed to be detonated remotely by wire from a distance of up to three miles or by an eight-day timer.
While this would work when the electronics were at operating
temperature, there was a very real risk that the harsh winters of the
region could render the weapons useless.
Developers tried and tested many ways to keep the bomb electronics
from freezing, ranging from wrapping the mines in insulating blankets to
the use of live chickens, whose body heat would be enough to maintain
the correct ambient temperature required.
Soviets were a real threat
The birds were expected to live for at least eight days inside the
bomb, which was considered long enough in the event of invasion.
The chickens would be given enough grain and water to sustain them
for the maximum window required for the timing mechanism should the full
term be needed, before starving to death.
The bombs were said to deliver a ten-kiloton explosion that would
result in a crater 375m wide and render a wide area out of bounds due to
contamination, causing considerable impediment to an advancing Red
Army.
Nevertheless, after the production of two prototypes the order was
cancelled amid fears of creating unacceptable levels of fallout in the
atmosphere so close to home.
There were also ethical and political issues concerned with the
installation underground of nuclear warheads in allied territory and so,
in 1958 the British Ministry of Defence cancelled the project.
Fast forward to 2004 and the documents relating to the nuclear
landmine project were declassified. It is not known who was responsible,
but the details of the chicken-powered bombs were released, quite
appropriately, on April 1st.
However, a spokesperson confirmed that this was not an April Fool but
had been a serious proposal, funded by the British government and
developed by the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment
(RARDE).
I ran across this article and it was a fascinating read, the pics are compliments of "google". The Impressment of Americans into the British Navy especially during the Napoleonic wars was extensive. Some of the Seamen that were impressed were British deserters, but a lot of them were American citizens. The British Navy had a history of draconian discipline where flogging was commonplace
.and press gangs would roam British harbor cities and literally "press" or kidnap men for service on Royal Navy ships. If you haven't seen the movie "Damm the Defiant" it is a good movie made in 1962 and for a hollywood production was pretty accurate.
To die for personal honor is a long-vanished
custom of the pre-industrial age. But 200 years ago it still held great
meaning for men, particularly in politics and the military. Many men of
that period would eagerly face death to defend their honor. Commodore
Stephen Decatur was such a man. A veteran of the Barbary Wars and the
War of 1812, he was a naval officer whose fame as comparable to that of
later American heroes such as pilot Charles Lindbergh and astronaut Neil
Armstrong.
Tall and handsome, the Philadelphia native had first
gained fame in the nascent U.S. Navy by leading the small volunteer
force that boarded and burned the captured frigate Philadelphia in
Tripoli harbor in 1804. From that day his fame grew, matched only by
his unquenchable thirst for glory. In March 1820 Decatur died at the
hands of a fellow naval officer in a duel in which he participated to
preserve his honor. The duel that felled Decatur might have been a
conspiracy to commit murder by those who helped arrange it.
The origins of that day go back to June 1807, during
the calm between the first Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. When a
squadron of Royal Navy warships rode at anchor just off Norfolk Navy
Yard in Virginia, several men deserted and made their way into the city.
Some of them took the opportunity to enlist in the U.S. Navy. This led
directly to the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair.
The frigate USS Chesapeake was being prepared
for an extended cruise to the Mediterranean under Commodore James
Barron, a veteran of the Barbary Wars. The tall, aristocratic Virginian
had served with his father as a midshipman during the American
Revolution. Although he joined the Navy in 1797, most of his time at sea
had been in merchant ships. The U.S. Navy had commissioned the 38-gun Chesapeakeat the Gosport Navy Yard in 1800. She was one of the original six frigates that Congress authorized via the Naval Act of 1794.
As preparations for the cruise moved forward, Barron
was informed by U.S. Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith that a number of
men suspected of being deserters from Royal Navy warships had signed on
to the crew of the Chesapeake. Smith asked Barron to find them
and determine their status. Barron spoke with three of these men. He
then informed Smith in writing that he was satisfied that, even though
they were deserters, they also were American citizens. This ended the
matter as far as the Barron was concerned; however, the British had
other ideas.
Lieutenant Stephen Decatur
Before leaving port, the Chesapeakewas
in disarray. The crew had piled lumber, crates, and provisions on the
upper deck and many guns were not mounted. The disarray on the decks
seemed not to bother Barron. On the morning of June 21, 1807, the
frigate set sail for the Mediterranean. She cleared Hampton Roads and
sailed past a British squadron stationed off Lynnhaven Bay. This was
during the Napoleonic Wars, and the British squadron was blockading two
French ships in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Royal Navy squadron included the 74-gun Triumph and the 50-gun Leopard.
They raised anchor and headed out to sea. The Americans took note but
read nothing into it until they were well out to sea. At 3:27 pm the Leopard came to within 60 yards of the Chesapeake and called via speaking trumpet that she had a message for Barron. The commodore agreed to let a boat come over and ordered the Chesapeakehove
to. Even in peacetime, a prudent commander would call his crew to
action when being approached by a warship of another nation. Barron felt
this was unnecessary and waited to greet the British representative.
The Royal Navy lieutenant handed Barron a letter from the admiral in
command of the British squadron at the North American Station. The
admiral demanded the return of every Royal Navy deserter onboard Chesapeake. Barron fumed at this insolence and flatly refused. Again setting sail, Barron saw the Leopard approaching
his vessel. Another hailing call was made, but before Barron could
reply the larger ship fired a shot across his bow. This was clearly a
provocation. Barron was in a tight fix. He had not alerted the crew nor
made any moves toward getting his guns ready for action.
Suddenly, the Leopard unleashed a massive broadside into the smaller American ship, sending splinters and hot iron tearing across the decks. The Chesapeake’s
unprepared crew suffered a large number of casualties. Pandemonium
ensued as the Americans scrambled to load and fire their guns. The
materials stacked around the upper deck hampered their ability to
operate quickly and efficiently. “For God’s sake, to fire one gun for
the honor of the flag I must strike!” roared Barron, who had been
wounded in the leg.
One officer managed to get a coal from the galley
stove and used it to fire a single gun. Barron had no choice but to
surrender. With dozens of men bleeding and dying on the decks he watched
impotently as two boats loaded with officers and armed men boarded his
ship. They found their four deserters and removed them from the ship.
Then, the Leopard sailed off. Afterward the battered Chesapeake, with dead and dying men strewn across its bloody decks, limped back to Norfolk.
The first U.S. Navy officer to board the crippled
frigate the following day was Decatur, the commandant of the Norfolk
Navy Yard. He was horrified by the destruction and chaos, as well as
downright angry. But unlike the rest of the nation, which was incensed
with the unwarranted attack by the British, Decatur reserved his rancor
for one man: James Barron. Decatur believed that Barron had surrendered
to the British without a fight. In his mind, the act was simply
unforgivable.
Decatur was appointed to the four-man court-martial
board convened after a board of inquiry decided Barron should be held
accountable for the disaster. Barron faced death if convicted. Decatur
did not want to serve on the court-martial board because he believed he
could not be objective.
Decatur had known Barron since 1798 when as a young midshipman on the frigate USS United States during
the so-called Quasi-War with France, he had served under Third
Lieutenant Barron. Decatur, who was 10 years younger than Barron,
initially had great respect and admiration for Barron.
Over time Decatur’s opinion of Barron underwent a
radical change. “He is an excellent seaman, but he is no soldier,”
Decatur said. Barron simply did not measure up to Decatur’s high
standards of courage and leadership.
If Barron, who would have to face the court-martial
board, hoped for any leniency from his old protegé, he would be sorely
disappointed. Decatur glared at his old mentor with uncompromising
hostility.
James Barron was court-martialed for surrendering the USS Chesapeake to the British warship HMS Leopard in 1807. Decatur, who served on the court-martial board, glared at his former mentor with hostility during the proceedings.
On June 22, 1807, the board found Barron guilty on all
charges. Yet because of his long service and exemplary past conduct, he
was suspended from the U.S. Navy for a period of five years without
pay. Navy rules stated that after five years, effective January 1813, he
would be permitted to reapply for his commission.
By that time, the United States was at war with Great
Britain. The War of 1812 offered U.S. Navy officers many opportunities
for distinction. Like many others, Decatur hungered for fame and glory,
which he achieved quickly in one of the first naval victories of the
war. On October 25, 1812, he crippled and captured the British frigate
HMS Macedonian in an engagement in the Atlantic Ocean 500 miles south of the Azores.
Barron returned to the United States in December 1818.
During the war, while his fellow officers were actively fighting the
Royal Navy, Barron was conspicuously absent. He remained in Denmark
where he occasionally commanded British-registered merchant ships. It
was also alleged that he had made disparaging remarks about the U.S.
Navy to a British officer in Brazil. Many officers in the U.S. Navy
considered this tantamount to treason.
Although Barron submitted an inquiry about his
commission to the Secretary of the Navy in 1813, he did not reapply for
it at that time. When he did try to regain his commission in 1818, he
found no support for it. Many of the officers in the service opposed it.
The most vocal of these was Decatur.
Barron was at first confused, hurt, and insulted. He
was incensed when he learned that Decatur had said he could “insult
Barron with impunity.” In the vernacular of the day, the expression
meant that Barron lacked honor and was too cowardly to take insult. For
Barron, who had been enduring scorn ever since his court-martial,
Decatur’s dig was unbearable.
He began by writing peevish letters to Decatur outlining his grievances. Never a combative man, as the affair with the Leopard indicated,
he only seemed to want Decatur to acknowledge the insult and apologize.
But these were things that the proud Decatur would not do. This
continued until early the fall of 1819 when Barron’s letter writing
stopped.
At that point, Decatur considered the matter done.
Then, another letter arrived just before the end of the year. Barron’s
earlier correspondence had been mostly self-serving and querulous. But
the new letter was more challenging, almost as if someone else had
written it. What had precipitated the sudden change?
Americans had learned that year that Commodore Oliver
Hazard Perry had died on August 23 of yellow fever while on duty in
South America. Although seemingly unconnected with the Barron-Decatur
dispute, it may well have been the catalyst that led directly to the
duel.
Captain Jesse Elliott, who was well known in the U.S.
Navy for his confrontational behavior, had been second in command under
Commodore Perry during the battle for Lake Erie in September 1813.
Perry, himself a firebrand like his close friend Decatur, was angered at
Elliott’s failure to carry out Perry’s orders to attack the British
ships. He pressed charges of insubordination and cowardice against
Elliott, but the demands of the war compelled the U.S. Navy to defer the
matter until later.
Perry kept detailed records of the incident and never
stopped his campaign to see Elliott court-martialed. The matter had not
been resolved when Perry was sent to Venezuela on a diplomatic mission.
Perry had handed his documents over to Decatur for safekeeping in case
of his death.
Elliott approached Barron in late 1819 and offered his help. He had been a midshipman aboard USS Chesapeake in
1807 and had spoken in Barron’s defense at the court-martial. His
involvement in the dispute coincided with Perry’s death. He knew that
Perry had given his papers to Decatur. Perry was no longer a threat;
Decatur was now the enemy. A man of much stronger will and determination
than the complaining Barron, Elliott was almost certainly influencing
him in the spring of 1820.
Although exasperated, Decatur told Barron that he
accepted his challenge. As time passed, though, Decatur was unable to
find a suitable officer to serve as his second. Commodores John Rodgers
and David Porter, both of whom served on the Navy Board with Decatur,
refused on the grounds that the duel was pointless.
From left: Commodore James Barron, Commodore William Bainbridge, and Captain Jesse Elliott.
Decatur was walking home from the Navy Department one
day in March 1820 when a carriage stopped in front of him. Commodore
William Bainbridge emerged from the carriage with a broad smile.
Reaching for Decatur’s hand to give it a warm shake, he said, “Decatur,
I’ve been a fool! I hope you will forgive me.”
This was totally unexpected and with good reason. In
the early months of 1815, U.S. President James Madison had sent two
strong squadrons of warships to the Mediterranean Sea to force the
Barbary States into favorable treaty terms. Overall command was given to
Commodore William Bainbridge, a hero of the War of 1812 and the captain
of the Philadelphia when she was captured by the Tripolitans.
Bainbridge had every reason to want success and
revenge. His subordinate, in command of the first squadron, was Decatur,
who was to leave for the Mediterranean Sea a month earlier than
Bainbridge. Eager and audacious as ever, Decatur confronted, blockaded,
and threatened the four Barbary States and in less than two weeks had
achieved every goal of the mission.
When Bainbridge arrived with his ships, he found that
Decatur had done the job for him. A proud man, Bainbridge was suddenly
irrelevant. He never forgave Decatur for stealing his glory. Decatur was
not cruel or mean; he simply never gave a thought to Bainbridge’s
feelings. Decatur had made a bitter enemy. When Bainbridge encountered
Decatur in the halls of the Navy Department over the course of the next
five years, he never uttered a single word to him.
Although he was confused by Bainbridge’s behavior,
Decatur invited him to his home. At some point during their
conversation, the subject of Decatur’s duel with Barron arose.
Bainbridge offered to act as Decatur’s second. Decatur, who was relieved
by the offer, gladly accepted it. Bainbridge set off to handle the
duties of the second. He subsequently contacted Elliott and Barron to
arrange the time, place, and other details.
For anyone other than Decatur, the sudden arrival and
friendliness of someone who had spent five years in bitter hostility
would seem highly suspicious. But Decatur, who was an honorable man,
tended to attribute these qualities to others. He was too relieved to
have a suitable second to question Bainbridge’s odd turnabout. But it is
very likely Bainbridge had already been in contact with Elliott.
The seconds established the details of the duel. They
selected a sloping field in Bladensburg, Maryland, that had long served
as a dueling ground. Since dueling was technically illegal, it was
better not to conduct it in the nation’s capital.
The duelists, who would use flintlock pistols, were
told to arrive at 9 am on March 22, 1820. Some of the specifics
established for the duel were unusual. Instead of having each man walk
10 to 12 paces, as was ordinarily done, and then turn, aim, and fire,
Decatur and Barron would stand facing one another at eight paces with
aimed pistols. Firing at each other from eight paces was almost sure to
produce serious, and perhaps even fatal, wounds. This was likely to be
the outcome even with the smoothbore pistols of the day.
Barron, who was over 50 and nearsighted, had asked for
this concession to assure that he had an equal chance against the
younger and steadier Decatur. Bainbridge was to count “one, two, three.”
The duelists were to fire after one and before three.
The duelists, both of whom wore civilian clothes,
arrived on time at the Bladensburg field. Each had come with his second,
but Decatur also had the support of Commodores Rodgers and Porter.
Barron appeared nervous and even reluctant, but Elliott was at his side,
offering support and encouragement.
The two men faced each another. Decatur had told
Rodgers he had no wish to kill Barron. At Bainbridge’s order to present,
each man cocked and raised his pistol and took aim at his opponent’s
hip. “I hope that when we meet in another world we will be better
friends than we have in this,” Barron said.
“I have never been your enemy, sir,” replied Decatur.
Bainbridge began counting. Both guns discharged. Each
barrel emitted a spurt of yellow flame followed by a cloud of white
smoke. Barron grunted and slid to the ground; Decatur swayed on his
feet. The color drained from his face as a bright red stain spread over
his groin. “Oh, Lord,” Decatur mumbled. “I am a dead man.” He too fell
to the ground.
Elliott ran for the carriage. He had almost reached it
when Porter caught up to him and shouted at him to stop. “How do things
fare?” asked Elliott.
Infuriated by Elliott’s flight, Porter said, “Go back and do your duty for your wounded friend!” Elliott never returned.
Meanwhile, Decatur was carried to his carriage. As he was laid inside, Baron said, “God bless you, Decatur.”
“Farewell, Barron,” Decatur replied in a weak voice.
Decatur died in his home later that day. His death plunged the nation into mourning.
Was it a legitimate duel or a conspiracy to kill
Decatur? One point stands out. When Barron and Decatur had their verbal
exchange just before firing, it was a clear sign that each had forgiven
the other. That was the moment that either second should have spoken up
and called a halt, since the duel was no longer necessary. But neither
man did so. They failed to protect the men they had sworn to represent.
The only plausible reason is that each had a motive for wanting Decatur
dead.
Bainbridge wanted revenge, while Elliott sought to
remove the final threat to his naval career embodied in the documents
that Decatur had in his possession. Despite his unerring skill in naval
combat and shrewd dealings with the Navy, Decatur was surprisingly
obtuse in not realizing that the two seconds were his enemies.
As for Bainbridge, he had a strong desire to be
remembered in a favorable light. He kept extensive letters and papers.
Yet on his deathbed, he ordered his daughter to burn all his personal
correspondence. This makes absolutely no sense; that is, unless those
documents contained correspondence with Elliott and Barron detailing how
they plotted to force Decatur into a duel.
Although these theories are now impossible to prove,
the circumstantial evidence is compelling. All three officers had long
and distinguished careers in the U.S. Navy. Decatur is revered to this
day, while Barron is forever tainted as the man who killed a beloved
naval hero. He might just have been a pawn in an even greater infamy.
I am continuing my series of songs that you would play when you see this forming outside your house with your household security camera..as one of the alphabet agencies prepare for entry.
What prompted this like of thought was a discussion on the "Monster Hunter International" Facebook Post "What song would you pick if......."
You go prepare for the event and think....
I knew a bit of Judas Priest from School, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. The kids that wore the teeshirts and played the songs were the "Strange" kids. As I got older I started tuning into their music more. Funny how that works out.
"Breaking the Law" is a song by British heavy metal band Judas Priest, originally released on their 1980 album British Steel. The song is one of the band's better known singles, and is readily recognized by its opening guitar riff.
Prior to releasing 1980's British Steel,
Judas Priest had been making moves toward streamlining their music into
a simpler, less processed sound. That approach came to full fruition on
British Steel. "Breaking the Law" combines a recognisable
minor-key opening riff and a rhythmic chorus as its main hooks. There is
a change-up on the mostly instrumental bridge, a new chord progression
with Halford shouting "You don't know what it's like!" before the sound
effect of a police car's siren leads back into the main riff. More
recent live performances of the song have featured a short solo by
Downing over the bridge. The outro of the song is the main riff played
repeatedly with Halford singing the chorus and Downing playing power
chords.
The lyrics tell of someone at the rock bottom in their life – out
of work, unable to find work, frustrated, feeling that nobody cares if
they live or die, eventually turning to crime for survival.[1]
The song features some sound effects, including the sound of breaking glass and a police siren. The band were recording British Steel at Tittenhurst Park, which was the home of The Beatles's drummer Ringo Starr.
For the breaking glass effect, the band used milk bottles that a
milkman brought them in the morning, and the police siren was actually
guitarist K. K. Downing using the tremolo arm on his Stratocaster.
Directed by Julien Temple, the video starts with vocalist Rob Halford singing from the back of a 1974 CadillacFleetwoodEldorado convertible travelling along on the Westway section of the A40 in West London. The car eventually parks outside an unnamed bank near Oxford Street (the decor suggests it is a branch of Barclays Bank Plc). Halford meets with two men dressed as priests carrying guitar cases and they enter the bank together. For the breaking the law
chorus the two men remove their disguises and are revealed to be
guitarists K. K. Downing and Glenn Tipton. They are then joined by
bassist Ian Hill and drummer Dave Holland. The people in the bank are
incapacitated by the guitars. Meanwhile, the security guard (who has
only just awoken) watches on in amazement on the CCTV
screens. The band breaks into the safe (with Halford showing
'extraordinary' strength in pulling apart the iron bars). Halford takes
from the safe a golden record award for the British Steel album
(the music video was shot before the album went platinum). They soon
leave the bank with the record, get back into the car and drive away.
Concert footage of Judas Priest is now on the CCTV screens and we see
the security guard miming along with a fake guitar very much lost in the
music. The video ends with the full band driving back along the A40
repeating the chorus until the song is finished.
My 1980's M-1 pattern Helmet, the same style since WWII. I have blogged about Helmets before. It is a very identifying way to show who a soldier belonged to.
The question of how effective helmets were and which were most
effective initially arose in World War I. This was one of the first wars
to feature airplanes, heavy use of artillery, tanks, and massive trench
warfare.
The helmet became particularly important as huge artillery pieces
were used to soften positions in rolling barrages before soldiers
stormed the trenches.
Artillery could use various types of shells like anti-personnel and
fragmentation shells that could rain metal on the heads and shoulders of
soldiers in the trenches.
Otto von Bismarck wearing a cuirassier officer’s metal Pickelhaube.The Germans started the war largely using their Pickelhaube or spiked
helmets. These were visually impressive, but they were hard boiled
leather and did little to stop bullets and shrapnel. The spikes actually
made the soldiers easier to identify and target.
The German scientist Dr. Friedrich Schwerd designed the Stahlhelm, a
helmet made of heated steel that covered the head and neck much better.
It was loosely based on the sallet from the medieval period. .Austro-Hungarian soldiers at the Isonzo front with Stahlhelms.After the Stahlhelm’s adoption by stormtrooper units and the general
army at the Battle of Verdun, casualties due to shrapnel dramatically
decreased, some historians estimating by as much as 70%.
Through 1940 and World War II, minor modifications were made to
increase the durability and efficiency of the helmet while lowering the
cost. The helmet became the distinctive feature of the German army
through the war. German Stahlhelm from World War II.
Variations of the helmet are still in use today. It was a simple but
effective tool for dealing with the shrapnel of modern warfare and set a
high bar for other models.
The French and British both saw the need for a helmet and fielded
their own models in 1915. The British inventor John Leopold Brodie
produced the most effective helmet. Illustrated War News Nov 1915, a picture of officers wearing new Brodie helmets.It
was constructed in one piece by pressing one thick sheet of steel. This
made it more durable and cheaper to build than both the French and
German models. It was loosely based on the medieval kettle hat and has a
distinctive wide brim.
This was also used in the interwar period and part of World War II.
Improvements included adding a better liner for the helmet and a
stretchy chin strap until it was replaced by the M1 during World War II. M1917 helmet worn by members of the 13th Marine Regiment (United States).The
M1 consisted of a hard outer shell that removed the wide brim of the
Brodie, which soldiers complained was too sharp and light-reflective. It
also had inner netting that could be adjusted to fit the helmet. It
included two hooks for chin straps. U.S. Army Infantryman in 1942 wearing a Brodie helmet.
There are no direct studies of which helmet was “best” and it often
comes down to a matter of taste. The wide-brimmed Brodie tends to lose
out to the Stahlhelm’s sleek look. A more definitive factor is how long
they were in use.
The British Brodie was phased out in favor of the M1 and models based on it.
The Stahlhelm is still in use today which suggests it still has
substantial value. The Stahlhelm has a harder shell as its production
used a different process to make it tougher (but also more difficult to
produce). M1956 East German Stahlhelms. Photo Bundesarchiv, Bild The
M1 made a trade-off in that it has a slightly less hard shell than the
Stahlhelm but has much better lining and padding inside the helmet. This
helped paratroopers or anybody else receiving a concussion from bumping
their head or having debris from artillery land on them.
Not only did it reduce head trauma, it also helped to save the soldier from shrapnel wounds. Air Raid Warden Village at War Weekend 2012, Stoke Bruerne,
Given the start of the helmet as a way to avoid shrapnel wounds in
World War I, and the tendency of wars after World War II to be more
low-intensity counterinsurgencies, the helmet that provides a good
balance of protection from artillery as well as bumps seems the more
useful.
In the final analysis, the Stahlhelm gets the advantage in World War
II due to its harder shell, but ultimately loses out to the M1 which has
a more useful balance of features relating to the different needs
arising after World War II.
Unmanned tanks have been a staple of SciFi for generations. Now fantasy is reality. I remembered reading about unmanned tanks and BOLO's.
The US Army has a new robotic tank. Called the Ripsaw M5, the
remote-controlled drone replaces the manned Ripsaw MS2 tank which could
hit a maximum of 60 miles per hour with its 600 horsepower engine.
The M5 is intended to be used alongside manned tanks and other combat
units. It is configurable to be used for support, combat, and
surveillance missions.
It can carry an R80D Skyraider quacopter drone which can reach an
airspeed of 31 miles per hour, carry up to 4.4 pounds and stay in the
air for up to 50 minutes. The Skyraider has optical and infrared
cameras. Ripsaw M5 armed with the CROWS-J anti-tank missile launcher and launching a R80 Skyraider tethered UAV.The
M5 also carries an SUGV unmanned ground robot with a manipulator arm
that can climb stairs. It can be used to explore buildings and to peep
around corners with a retractable surveillance turret.
Officially called a “Robotic Combat Vehicle,” the M5 is heavily
armored and can be outfitted with a variety of cannons. This gives it
the option of using the standard 30-millimeter Mk. 44 Bushmaster II
autocannon to engage enemy infantry, trucks and armored vehicles. A
Javelin anti-tank missile launcher can be outfitted instead to engage
enemy tanks. An anti-aircraft missile launcher is also available.
The M5 contains a 360° surveillance turret with optical and night-vision
cameras. The turret is the Kongsberg MCT-30 Protector turret which is
the same turret used on the Stryker Dragoono infantry combat vehicle.
The M5 can be used to clear mines, destroy improvised explosive
devices, or breach obstacles. It has the option to be outfitted with a
plow, ground-penetrating radar, or a launcher which can launch
ground-clearing charges.
This is the latest in the Ripsaw remote operated tanks. The first was
developed by Mike and Geoff Howe, brothers who were stars of the 2010
reality show “Howe & Howe Tech.
The M5 is manufactured by Textron Systems. They debuted the M5 at the
2019 Association of the United States Army exposition in Washington
D.C.
Textron Systems CEO Lisa Atherton said that she is confident that the
M5 is the “ideal wingman” for the US Army and that the company is
prepared to quickly get these vehicles into the field where they are
needed.
Mike Howe said that he and his brother founded Howe & Howe Tech in order to safeguard the United States military fighters. A tethered FLIR R80D SkyRaider drone deployed from a Ripsaw M5(Textron Systems)
The M5 uses sensors from Textron Systems’
partner, FLIR Systems’ Government and Defense business unit. FLIR
Systems Representative David Ray stated that his company’s cameras,
drones and ground robots provide a tactical edge to the US forces by
providing the latest in technology.
The M5 could be used alongside a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle to
go ahead and trigger mines or IEDs before the soldiers reach them. It
could be used to observe the enemy while the Bradley maneuvers to catch
them unaware. If the soldiers are forced to retreat, the M5 could
provide cover fire while they escape.
The US Army tested the original Ripsaw designed by the Howe brothers
from 2010 to 2017 but never bought them in any significant
volume. Textron Systems bought Howe & Howe Tech in October 2018.
It has been a year or two since I have done a "Red Storm Rising" post,. but what prompted this was the spousal unit and I are watching an episode of JAG and there was a story about a rogue torpedo and it reminded me of the British "SpearFish". it mentioned the speed of the torpedo in excess of 80 MPH's and that will catch a Alfa Class Submarine and the prototype Papa Class I had just finished reading "Red Storm Rising" . What can I say, I like the book. Tom Clancy was a warrior Bard in my opinion. But I digress.
The torpedo is driven by a pump-jet coupled to a Hamilton Sundstrand 21TP04 gas turbine engine using Otto fuel II
and hydroxyl ammonium perchlorate as oxidiser. The addition of an
oxidiser improves the specific energy of the fuel by reducing the
fuel-richness of the Otto fuel. The Spearfish, which are capable of traveling at 80 knots (150 km/h; 92 mph),were designed to catch high-speed, deep-diving Soviet threats such as the Alfa-classsubmarine.
A microprocessor
enables the torpedo to make autonomous tactical decisions during the
attack. It has a powerful blast warhead, triggered by either contact
detonation (against a submarine hull) or an acoustic proximity fuze
(for under-keel detonation against ships). A standoff detonation under
the keel enhances blast effects against surface ships through the
amplification of stress resulting from the interaction of the
explosion's products and the flexible structure of the ship.
In a typical engagement, Spearfish will run out wire-guided to the
general vicinity of the target and then conduct a covert passive search.
The high-capacity guide wire system, specifically designed to match
the Spearfish's maneuver and speed envelope, provides two-way data
exchange between the torpedo and launch submarine, maximizing the
submarine's organic sensor and combat control capabilities.
Once at close range the Spearfish uses active sonar to classify
and home in on its target. High-power transmissions and sophisticated
signal processing enable Spearfish to accurately discriminate targets
from background noise and ensure high resistance to acoustic
countermeasures and/or evasive maneuvers
Should Spearfish fail to hit the target on its first attack, it
automatically selects an appropriate re-attack mode until it
successfully concludes the engagement.
The production contract for the Spearfish Torpedo was placed with GEC-Marconi Underwater Systems Ltd (now BAE Systems) in 1983, following a development program lasting several years. Spearfish entered full production in 1988.
When I first saw this article I was thinking "What the hell...?" until I got reading into it. Apparently they are "Impersonators" The first thing I thought was "Damm, those uniforms look like crap and they guys have no military bearing".until I realized that they are "Civilians". I have blogged in the past extensively about Berlin. the only city that I like better than Berlin was Stuttgart, but I was stationed in that area for 5 years and have fond memories of the city and well most all of my experiences in Germany.
I would have loved to have gone through there and have those clowns try to shake me down for money...I remember going through it for real and on the other side were Soviet Soldiers and east German Vopo's.
Actors have impersonated US soldiers at the site for nearly 20 years. GETTY
Actors wearing US Army uniforms have been banned from posing at
Checkpoint Charlie, the famous crossing between East and West Berlin
during the Cold War.
According to authorities in the Mille district of Berlin, the actors
were demanding money from tourists for photographs at the historic site
where Friedrichstrasse and Zimmerstrasse meet.
East and West Berlin were separated by the Berlin Wall from 1961 to
1989. Checkpoint Charlie was one of three crossing points in and around
the city during that time.
The others were Checkpoint Alpha and Checkpoint Bravo. The three
sites were named for the first three letters in the NATO phonetic
alphabet.
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)Checkpoint Charlie connected the American Zone with East Berlin. The American Zone
was one of three Allied-controlled zones in West Berlin. Charlie was
the only point for foreigners visiting Berlin could cross between the
two sides of the wall.
Charlie was famous for a standoff in October 1961 between US and
Soviet tanks. It was dismantled in June, 1990, when German reunification
was nearly complete. Now it is one of the prime tourist attractions in
Berlin.
Germany is celebrating 30 years since the dismantling of the Wall
which had been designed to keep residents of communist East Berlin from
moving to the democratic West Berlin.
Authorities revoked the performing license for Dance Factory, the group of performers who posed at the checkpoint.
According to the actors, they only accepted voluntary payments for photos and souvenir passport stamps.
Barrack, house in the checkpoint Charlie, middle, Berlin, Germany, Baracke, Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. GETTY.But
the city received numerous complaints from tourists about the tactics
of the Dance Factory performers. An undercover operation consisting of
police officers posing as tourists found that the actors were demanding a
€4 ($4.5; £3.5) fee and being verbally abusive to anyone who refused to
pay. The wall came down in November 9th, 1989. GETTYAccording to Stefanie Kunze, a spokesperson for the Mille district,
actors were literally forcing people to pay for pictures with the
performers.
Kunze said that the group was never authorized to pose as US soldiers
and that police had merely tolerated them until now. She said that the
authorities will be monitoring the site and will intervene id any
imposter soldiers try to continue working at the checkpoint.
GETTYBerlin requires groups that charge money to obtain a permit for their performances.
For over 20 years, actors have posed as US soldiers at the site. Many
in Berlin have expressed dissatisfaction with turning the site into a
tourist trap. Among other things for sale in the area are fake Soviet
Red Army fur hats, gas masks, and pieces of the Berlin Wall.
The location of Checkpoint Charlie today consists of a row of bricks
which mark the path of the Wall. A replica of the booth and sign are
there but the original booth and sign are now in the Allied Museum in
Berlin-Dahlem.
Tom Luszeit, the head of Dance Factory, disputes that figure. He told
CBS News that he would be a millionaire if they made that kind of money.
He also disputed that any of the performers abused visitors to the
site.
I am continuing my series of Songs that if you happen to look out your house exterior camera's and you see this...
So you grab a CD or an MP3 and load this song into the stereo and get ready....
I normally do "Monday Music" on Monday but yesterday was "Veterans Day" and it didn't seem proper so y'all get "Monday Music on Tuesday....YAY!!!!
I decided to go with AC/DC "thunderstruck" This song hit in 1990
while I was in Germany and it was very popular, this was one song that
every would play LOUD. Something about good crunching Heavy Metal Rock
and Roll. When we were in the Gulf, we had dedicated this song to
Saddam Hussain and his Republican Guard as they were "Thunderstruck" by
the United States Military.
"Thunderstruck" is the first song on the 1990 album The Razors Edge by the hard rock group AC/DC.
The song was released as a single in Germany, Australia, and Japan, and peaked at No. 5 on U.S. the BillboardHot Mainstream Rock Tracks. In 2010, "Thunderstruck" topped Triple M's Ultimate 500 Rock Countdown in Melbourne, Australia. The top five were all AC/DC songs.
With the exception of new material from an album they are touring behind, this is one of only two songs released after Back in Black that the band still regularly performs live in concert, the other being "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)".
Angus Young stated in the liner notes of the 2003 re-release of The Razors Edge:
It started off from a little trick I
had on guitar. I played it to Mal and he said 'Oh, I've got a good
rhythm idea that will sit well in the back.' We built the song up from
that. We fiddled about with it for a few months before everything fell
into place. Lyrically, it was really just a case of finding a good
title ... We came up with this thunder thing, based on our favorite
childhood toy ThunderStreak, and it seemed to have a good ring to it. AC/DC = Power. That's the basic idea.
The song has sold over a million digital copies since it became available for digital download.
The video which accompanied the single was filmed at London's Brixton Academy on 17 August
1990. The audience members were given free T-shirts with the words
"AC/DC – I was Thunderstruck" on the front and the date on the back, and
these T-shirts were worn by the entire audience throughout the filming
of the video.
I will postpone My "Monday Music". and post it on Tuesday. I couldn't "Do" Monday Music on Veterans Day, wouldn't be "proper".
This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end
All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict.
The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th. Or November which is the 11 month,
the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute. The day was called
"Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."
There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces,
We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving
We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.
And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood
watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans
standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our
people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the
bad people. Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check
to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary.
We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage
and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those
of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us. It is a
unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment
like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions,
meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda
thing. This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means
and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond. Our job as Veterans
is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the
next generations.
Hard to believe that it has been 30 years ago that the wall came down. It was surreal experience for us. We were watching TV and it felt like the "Twilight Zone".
Closeup of my Picture
Map of Wall Location
Piece of Wall
This is a repost of a post that I did back in2014,
it did talk about the fall of the Berlin Wall and my experiences. When
I was talking about the petulant "Boy King" I was referring to
President Obama who was president in 2014 not to President Trump who is
president now in 2019
I have Blogged
about Berlin a lot since I started blogging back in 2011. I have a
connection to that city as I have for Stuttgart. I remember walking
around the city from the West Berlin part to the East Berlin part and
how different they were, the vibrant West and the Dour East.
When
the Second World War was finally over, Germany was divided up into four
occupation zones among the Allied forces. Berlin was also divided up
into four sectors between the USA, the UK, France, and the Soviet Union.
Tensions between the Soviets and America, the UK, and France grew
strong over the following two years which culminated in the latter three
uniting the non-Soviet controlled zones of the city into one to promote
reconstruction in post-war Berlin
As many of y'all that visit my little corner of the internet know
that I spent 5 years in Germany, I got there in mid 1986, and DEROS's
back to the world in 1991 where I mustered out. I spent the first 18
months attached to the 1st Infantry Division (FWD) at Cooke Barracks in
Geoppingen Germany. I then transferred to a corp level asset in 1988 at
Echterdingen or SAAF(Stuttgart Army Airfield). That is where I was when
we got deployed to the Persian Gulf for Desert Shield then Desert
Storm. But I was stationed in Germany when they unified in 1989.
I will intersperse my experiences with some photo's I took of my
souvenirs. You know what they say about G.I's...."We souvenir
anything long time". My first time in Berlin was in 1987 while I was attached to
Wobeck a station near Helmstedt a part of Field Station Berlin. I took
my Mustang down the Helmstedt autobahn, The Helmstedt Autobahn is the
only land route that we as Americans can drive through East Germany to
Berlin. We have to use "Flag Orders" to traverse the Autobahn to
Berlin. We would have to stop at 2 Soviet checkpoints. We would be in
class "A's" uniform, get out of the vehicle, present our flag orders to
the soviet representative at Magneburg and at Potsdam.
This is a copy of a set of flag orders, Mine has my SSN on it and for obvious reasons, I ain't posting that one......
Well when I went to Berlin, it was a surreal experience, this is a link of my travels and various postings,
West Berlin was a 24 hour party and east Germany was very subdued. We
exercised our rights of travel in East Berlin on a regular basis. I
would walk around and explore the sights. I saw scaffolding everywhere,
like they were rebuilding, but the wood for the scaffolding was dry
rotted. the buildings still had bullet pock marks in the wall when the
Soviets took the city in 1945. If we were hassled by the east Germans
we would ask or demand "Ich murste mit eine Soviet Officer mit zum
sprechen". I want to speak to a Soviet officer. Since the Soviets were
in charge of East Berlin and the Western powers were responsible for
West Berlin.
I remembered President Reagan speech in 1987 in West Berlin.
This is when we had a President that behaved like a President rather
than the petulant boy-king we have now. But when the East Germans were
going through Czechoslovakia and Hungary to get to the West and the East
German Government started cracking down and we increased out alert
status because we had doubts on what the Soviets will do, for in the
past they did interfere with protest like they did in East Germany in
1953, Hungary in 1956, and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Poland almost got
invaded by the "Warsaw Pact" in the early 80's during the Solidarity Protest
but the Polish government declared martial law and other draconian
measures to basically placate the soviets so they didn't get the
"assistance" from the Warsaw pact like the other places did.
When the unrest grew, we increased our surveillance to see what
the Soviets would do. when the wall started to come down, we were
confined to garrison for 2 reasons, one to prevent an incident with an
American near the border and in case the Soviets attacked, we would be
able to ramp up to a wartime footing. Luckily such things didn't
happen. But watching the party and celebration on AFN was like being in
the twilight zone, we were watching history before our eyes and all we
could do was hold on for the ride and hope for the best.
We started seeing the ""Trabbi's"
on the autobahns and nothing like doing 130 MPH's and seeing a trabbi
doing 50 mph packed full of "Osters" going to the west to see the
sights.
Well I did collect some souvenirs of my time after the wall fell.
Beer Stein
My flag orders and a "DDR" country tag
A picture of the Brandenburg Tor with British Tanks in front of it. A "SMLM" ID tag in front of it.
A bunch of my Soviet and East German hats, I got a lot of stuff with some dollars and Western Pron magazines.
The Sector sign that is immortalized.
East German hat and helmets.
Yes that is a Soviet and East German flag. My "man-cave" has a lot of stuff from my travels.
I do want to go back to Berlin and Germany to see how things have
changed. I hope to do this journey fairly soon and take my son with me
and he can see how things were and how things have changed. We saw
some exciting times and were on the fore front of history
