2009 in Review/2010 in Prediction

Again, I’m going with dubious grammar choices for the title, but I believe it fits.  Instead of just reviewing the low and highlights of 2009, I figure I’ll go through a list of my greatest hits ’cause for nearly all of them I have goals of faster and more intense for 2010.  So, when you start seeing Facebook statuses (stati?) about how bored I am, you can just send me a link to this page to light a fire under me towards something.  Maybe.  I don’t often admit to being bored in Facebook because it actually doesn’t happen too much.  What’s more likely is that you’ll see statuses (stat–oh, forget it) about me wasting time on something completely inconsequential.  Which is essentially what this blog post is.  Anyways, moving on, in an order where I presume the most interesting to the most number of people is at the top, I present the list:

No, Michael Moore, Just No.

Here’s what started today’s post.

Saw a repost of this on Facebook and went ballistic in a comment but I figure this is important enough to share with everyone else because of the sheer amount of misinformation packed into two sentences. Anyways, here’s how I would respond to Mr. Moore if I was given the chance:

First Impressions

So, a lot of people know that I’m a WWII reenactor/living historian.  We’re all aware it’s kind of a strange hobby and I probably spend way too much time, money, and energy on it.  And I will grant that’s entirely possible.  However, I’d like to take this opportunity to show the world what really goes into this hobby of mine that I love so dearly and what I’ve been working at since last February when Maggie arrived.  Basically I got interested in what war dogs did during WWII and began wondering if I could create a war dog handler (handler being the human who works with the dog) impression.  What’s an impression, you ask?  Good question.  It’s what a reenactor works at most of the time.  It’s putting together the right uniform, equipment, and weapons for a typical soldier in a specific unit during a specific timeframe.  This is something common to all reenacting, whether it’s Civil War, WWII, Roman Legion, etc.  What I’m going to show you in this post is the research and synthesis from the months of reading, looking at photos, and interviewing a WWII veteran, an extremely generous fellow without whom this would not be possible, named Mr. William Garbo.  The synthesis is what’s in the pictures you’ll see of Maggie and me.  After a couple months of research, it took several months to track down the right items and then find them for the right price.  So, this is what I posted under the “Detailed Impression Photos” section of an online forum for WWII reenactors.  Some of it will make sense to you, some of it won’t.  Just skip the stuff that doesn’t make sense and look for something you do find interesting.

“Warts and all”

One of the perks about moving is a new commute and my path to and from work takes me past Eastfield Presbyterian Church.  I think the place recently shut down (maybe the preschool is still going?) but still conspicuous outside is an American flag.  A pretty tattered flag, faded and ragged.  One time while a friend and I were driving past I commented someone should take it down so it could be disposed of properly. We talked a little bit about the fact that there is actually a protocol and a ceremony for “putting down” old American flags and my friend made the comment that a flag burning ceremony seems a bit superfluous for what is essentially a symbol.  I didn’t quite agree, having grown up learning about flag etiquette through the Boy Scouts, but I also couldn’t quite put it into words why it would be something more than just a symbol.  It’s just one of those things that you do.  So, I didn’t quite have an answer, but decided to file the question away to think about later. 

D-Day + 65 Years

As you may have noticed, D-Day is a pretty big day in my world.  But not a lot of people talk about D+1 or D+2 or 3 or 4 and how this mighty gamble was determined to be a success (at least for the time being).  I can’t imagine the sigh of relief then Gen. Eisenhower must have released when it appeared that the beachheads were secure.  I was quite surprised to find, however, that he didn’t rip up the draft of a message he had prepared in case the landings had failed:

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

Gen. Eisenhower's Order of the Day - 6 June 1944

So that the World Could Be Free

As an American and a reenactor, my point-of-view of D-Day has been shaped largely by two things: media and our collective legacy as liberators in WWII.  When I watch Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers or The Big Red One or The Longest Day, I’m identifying with the paratroopers and ground pounders who floated down or waded onto Fortress Europe.  They’re the heroes in this tale and their accomplishment is nothing less than epic.  But on the drive into work yesterday I got to thinking of a certain picture that’s been in my mind since I saw it a few weeks ago.  It’s a picture of a stained glass window in the town church of Ste.-Mere-Eglise.  If you’ve seen The Longest Day you’re probably familiar with the church.  It’s the one where an American paratrooper gets his parachute caught on the steeple while his comrades are engaging the Germans in the town below.  That was an actual incident and if you visit Ste.-Mere-Elgise today, there is a mannequin still hanging from the spire in the same way that paratrooper did on the night of June 5th/6th, 1944.  Anyways here’s shot of the stained glass:

3(WWII)

The last month of 2008 and the first month of 2009 have yieleded 3 WWII movies!  Naturally, I’m ecstatic.  But what has me even more ecstatic than that is that none of them have anything to do with America’s involvement in the war.  What I love about WWII is that it’s a world war and almost no country went untouched by the war’s effects.  That means there are stories everywhere and about all different types of people, not just soldiers.  As Americans we tend to believe that the war began on December 7, 1941 and ended in August 1945.  As soon as you start studying a little history you’ll realize that it began way before that and the U.S. is still in Germany and Japan so the “occupation” is still kinda going.  So, instead of reviews, here is my commentary on the three films, in the order that I saw them, as to how they enlarge our understanding of the war and, more importantly, the people who fought it.

Podcasts I Listen To

As one of those fools clinging to a daily hour commute (total, not each way), I found myself quickly tiring of music every day and decided I needed something else to pass the time.  That was just under 3 years ago and that was perfect timing to be part of the podcast boom.  For those not in the know, a podcast is a piece of audio that’s sent out over the Internet and downloaded to a computer or MP3 player (such as an iPod).  It’s basically the audio version of user-created content on the internet.  Categories range far and wide, as does quality and scope and duration and frequency.  I love the idea of podcasts.  I tend to go through a lot of information on the internet (and by information I mean stupid videos) and podcasts save me a lot of time of tracking down research as I can just let it come to me as I drive or walk the dog or do the dishes or take a shower or whatever it is I’m doing.  So, it’s a beautiful thing and I want to plug the podcasts I listen to and give some feedback.  These are all created by folks who want to share what they know and mostly non-profit.  So, they’re labors of love and I think that’s something great that the Internet can give us.

The Opposite of Right

After many many days of consistent posting, I found myself at a loss for anything to blog about in the last couple of days. I looked at the drafts with nuggets for posts but none of them were anything I really felt like saying at the moment. But, I think I finally hit upon what it is that has been trying to crawl out of my fingers and into the keyboard. And I think it all started with Valkyrie.