John Kettler

This is apparently real, but since I don't collect Pez dispensers... Could this be what you get when someone who has spent decades building wargame terrain gets to build a house to his own design? Regards, John Kettler

It would take only a whiff of change in regime views to land this guy, with his powerful statement art, in deep trouble. It's originally from a site called Sixpencee. A Chinese artist nicknamed Brother Nut, made a brick out of dust he collected from the smog in Beijing in the past 100 days Regards, John Kettler

M1 Garand at work. Taken from the Tumblr 19391945hu which is full of marvelous mostly WW II items. Really like this one. What it cost for weapons and gear for a Marine in 1943. Regards, John Kettler

German WW I lancer in a gas mask. The problem I see is that the horse doesn't have one. Anyone know what those four studlike things are back a bit from the point? Thought at first they might be barbs, but they're straight. It's from a Tumblr called HistoricalTimes. Regards, John Kettler

This is a great article on how a famous museum resolved problems with a diorama depicting colonial times. Nor was the demand for destruction of the offending diorama ever, but a civil and reasoned request to more accurately represent the Native Americans (Lenape) in it. To be clear, this wasn't about inflating their role, but in properly showing them as they appeared and in their customary roles, including that the culture was woman dominated when it came to elders. By museum cost standards, the fix was probably a cost avoidance measure when compared to a major redo of the 1900s vintage work, but I think it was ridiculously overpriced given what was done. See what you think. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/20/arts/design/natural-history-museum-diorama.html?fallback=0&recId=1IplsXOLuNzZwSGIMQahz7xpdfk&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=TX&recAlloc=top_conversion&geoCountry=US&blockId=most-popular&imp_id=991501169&action=click&module=trending&pgtype=Article&region=Footer Regards, John Kettler

Sublime, You're welcome. Would like to clarify something you said, since there seems to be confusion on your end. PRAIRIE FIRE (this is how program names are always typed) is the code name for covert MACV-SOG ops into Laos and Cambodia, apparently originally intended to install IGLOO WHITE sensors after aerial delivery proved futile. IGLOO WHITE included seismic, acoustic and, so help me, urine sniffers, something swiftly countered by putting urine where there were no troops. When a PRAIRIE FIRE team got into trouble, that was a PRAIRIE FIRE EMERGENCY which brought every available aircraft with ordnance to the scene in a total mission override. The extraction teams, what we would call today the QRF, were called BRIGHT LIGHT. You can see this all play out in the two part story from SOF I posted. Funny you should mention the USS Scorpion and K129, for I am expecting a book on PROJECT AZORIAN shortly and need to replace two books on the sinking of the US sub. It appears they were delivered and then purloined or maybe even delivered and kept by the carrier. I think this whole sub & sub recovery project discussion is best done away from this post, indeed off the Forums. I still have your email and would like to communicate that way if possible. Am sure you're up to you eyeballs, so am ruling out phone calls unless otherwise informed. Please advise. There are certain matters quite pertinent I can't get into here, none of which fall in the category of what you don't wish to hear about. Regards, John Kettler

Oops. The mammal in the turtle fortress isn't a nutria but a capybara. Regards, John Kettler

TMI writ large. Wonder how many such friends I have?! Also, does it exfoliate? I like this a lot, but I think there needs to be a discussion of what happened to the study in the first place. I suspect a great deal of the explanation lies in the downsizing of houses, certainly relative to, say, Victorian times. Regards, Only when a certain degree of diligence and mastery is shown does the teacher allow physical contact. John Kettler

Guess the reptile ate already. Else, it would be non nom nom nutria! This nutria has occupied a fortified position. To me, this is bizarre. A young woman was trying to educate interested men in the dos and don'ts of SM interactions with her. She specifically requested men not send her pictures of a certain nature, but the guys simply wouldn't get it. In fact, here's what she got by way of reply. A sight to gladden mine eyes and then make me cry for what was. The very antithesis of B&N. Regards, John Kettler

Sublime, Here is some additional material. The first link is but a small piece of a far larger site, but it defines what Prairie Fire missions were initially all about. http://aircommandoman.tripod.com/id11.html Leaping Lena and Prairie Fire http://www.macvsog.cc/sog,_an_overview.htm A second account of the John Plaster Double Prairie Fire mission, by the pilot of the OV-10 he was in! http://www.usafa68.org/History/ch8.htm Prairie Fire Emergency and Bright Light in the A Shau Valley. Epic in the truest sense of the term. Part 1 https://www.sofmag.com/nva-general-to-sog-recon-team-we-suffered-90-percent-casualties/ Part 2 https://www.sofmag.com/nva-general-to-sog-recon-team-we-suffered-90-percent-casualties-part-2/ Regards, John Kettler

Pets are a serious trip hazard, but these make the problem much worse. https://www.distractify.com/animals/2019/01/21/8qFOwCdBE/cardboard-tanks-for-cats?fbclid=IwAR0VRarYeJwzWCLQR71lQeMiwFWTgZnaUpACQ7Ea4zML5puweAgFrfEPi94 Regards, John Kettler

On rare occasions, tankers have seen a main gun projectile coming right at their tank, in the form of a rapidly growing dot. Fairly sure it was in Crisp's Brazen Chariots, and I believe I've seen at least one other such mention. Have a friend who did two tours in the Marines in Iraq and was manning a guard tower. Said he saw a mortar round come right through the camouflage net and past his face, with the munition apparently landing in a ravine or something so that he wasn't hit directly or indirectly when it blew up. Altogether too exciting for my tastes, but much better than what could easily have happened! Regards, John Kettler

BletchleyGeek, Great vid, and it illustrates some of the points I made in another post regarding projectiles deflecting, prematurely detonating, etc. SlowMotion (but really for those who've only ever known CMx2), BTS had tanks continuing to move after killed but not K-Killed way back in CMBO. It was one of those things which sold me on the game when it was only in Beta Demo. My StuG III acquired, tracked, fired upon (gun recoiled) and nailed a crossing Sherman. It rolled I forget how many tank lengths before stopping. All this was on a screen model smaller than Micro Armour™! Regards, John Kettler

Sublime, Always happy to help, and I wish you all the best in sorting out your employment problems, which I'm sure are downright harrowing with a child in the mix, too! Regards, John Kettler

SlowMotion and Michael Emrys, Wonderful videos. Have shared the first one with the CoC group on FB. Ref watermelon bounced 152 projectile, recall the Russian show where a live shell from a Msta-S was supposed to destroy Russian Fiat sedan clone in DF, but shell hit roof at shallow angle and richocheted, leaving only a dent, before entering a gully not far behind it and detonating. Guys, Great thread! Regards, John Kettler

Thought I'd killed this post as superfluous, but like a Hollywood horror film monster, it refused to die! Regards, John Kettler

Sublime may still have me blocked from a misunderstanding quite some time ago. If he fails to respond, would one of you please let him know what I've provided, or maybe simply quote my immediately above post so he can see it? Definitely info useful to his researches. Thanks! Regards, John Kettler

Sublime, If it helps any, the MACV SOG records have been declassified. Not directly pertinent, though I believe you'll find of interest, is Project Alpha, by Sedgwick Tourison. It chronicles US ops into NVN using RSVN personnel. As for your principal request, believe this'll help. RAND was deeply involved in VN military analyses before and after the war there. The various sources listed should provide you with springboards for further investigations. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1408/MR1408.ch2.pdf Here's a particularly harrowing one, Double Pairie Fire, recounted by John Plaster, whom I know of through his numerous studies of sniping and countersniping. This excerpt is from his Secret Commandos. It is all about MACV SOG ops. He participated in 22 cross-border ops as a MACV SOG NCO team leader. http://doubleprairiefireinlaos.blogspot.com Regards, John Kettler

The REAL reasons to go to Bovington. Thought at first it was PS mischief making. Wonder who makes the beer and the candy? Regards, John Kettler

Guarantee you this will be the most unusual Valentine's Day gift she'll ever get, probably followed by filing divorce papers. That said, a Goth person might be thrilled. I can well understand why she would sue, Regards, John Kettler

No one ever did this to me while napping, but I consciously did this long ago to see what would happen. Fortunately, there were no burrs on that vacuum cleaner pipe, and I did manage to retrieve my lips. Regards, John Kettler

Believe I've found the most unusual percussion instrument ever. Regards, John Kettler

Found this marvelous, heavily illustrated article covering women at war in WW II. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/women-at-war-1939-1945/ Regards, John Kettler

Ah, the American sailor in love at war. He promised her a Jap (so says the text), but shipping proved to be difficult, so instead he did this. Such a thoughtful gift, right? https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/young-woman-japanese-skull-1944/ Regards, John Kettler

She was so mad at him... Have always been fascinated with secret rooms and such. Here's the first pic I've ever seen of the secret stairs necessary to get there. This is in a Victorian house. A trifle awkward to navigate a servant there, I expect, Regards, John Kettler