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gunnergoz

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Posts posted by gunnergoz

  1. From what I read, it was Marine Harrier maintenance guys that did the initial fighting, led by the squadron CO, subsequently KIA, who led them into the fray packing only his sidearm because he'd somehow been separated from his carbine. Guts, through and through. Makes you glad the Marines are on our side. (Which, mostly, they are unless the fleet's in and its liberty call in Oolongapo. :D )

  2. Just heard from a friend who is stationed on the base and was there during the raid. The raid was furthered by a blowing sandstorm which apparently blinded many surveillance cameras. That sounds like either canny TB planning or really good luck, but my bet is on the former. The UK's QRF took 5 hours to get to the scene. The raid took place on their side of the base. My friend, not a Marine himself, thinks things would have gone differently if the raid had been tried on the USMC side of the base.

  3. ... and we care if they come back, and get quite upset if they don't.

    I grok the reasons for the double standard. But it is a double standard we have imposed on ourselves rather than one imposed on us by an enemy. I give credit to the enemy for recognizing it and taking full advantage, but I also recognize that if we were a lot less morally conscious -- or if the outcome of the war were far more critical to our well-being than it actually is -- we could go Roman on their asses and win it in a year.

    If we can't do it in 10 or 11 years, what makes you think "going Roman" is going to do it in a year? We don't have the troops to occupy the entire country without imposing a draft, nor the funds nor national will to stay there as long as it would take to nation build it into a semblance of a stable democracy, which I'd guess would take at least 2 or three generations.

  4. An update from the same site: http://theaviationist.com/2012/09/17/vma-211-commander/

    Apparently the CO of the Marine Harrier squadron was killed in the attack. That really adds to the propaganda fuel for the other side.

    Anything that seems to strike and dull the Americans' technical edge, is potentially like landing a big haymaker punch for the opposition. We tout our technology as being a war-winner and they are showing just how frail and vulnerable that technology can be.

    The opposition's gains from the raid are not based on how much they factually damaged, but in how much the influence they gained with the civilian populace. It is sort of like counting coup by Native American plains warriors. The mere fact you touched the other guy, gives you cred.

  5. Interesting link John. Note the water cooled 50s. Must have had a very long burst capability and been a hell of an anti personnel weapon and it continued into the Korean war. Hope we see them in the game. Georgie

    Don't believe the M-15's were used after WW2 but I could be wrong. M-16's definitely made it to Korea and some of the Maxon mount quad 50's were being used in Vietnam, mounted on trailers and on gun trucks.

  6. I recall some years ago walking past a delapidated 'gate guaridan' at a VFW post not far from my old home town and discovering to my great surprise that it was the full triple AAA gun mount pulled from the M15A1 half-track! Minus the twin .50 cals but you could still sit in the seat and traverse it. How the heck it got all the way up to northern Maine I'll never know. :)

    Probably separated from the HT to make a training aid. And those HT's were particularly favored postwar to make farming utility vehicles/tow trucks, though I doubt they lasted long in that service. From what I hear they were being almost given away by then.

  7. I just got some sort of weird legal letter from Runescape/jagex claiming they plan to sue me for trading something "outside of the game environment." They cite all sorts of intention of pursuing civil action against me.

    The email account they sent the email to is mine, but certainly not one I used to ever contact this gaming firm. In fact, I've never been to their gaming site before today (just to see where the googled url led) or opened an account there, under any email address or identity.

    This seems like some sort of fishing - or phishing - expedition to me. Anyone else here experiencing anything remotely like it, particularly from this firm?

    After verifying the firm exists, I did respond to their email in the negative but it still weirds me out.

    UPDATE:

    It was a phishing email. Verified that through the runescape site and, believe it or not, their legal department actually responded to my email. That address was at least correct. So all ends well, since I didn't click any of the links in the original email, thank goodness.

  8. LOL

    She is of course disguised as one of the crew, right?

    Well, if she disguised herself as the periscope, it might get X-rated pretty quick! :eek::D:D

    While we're talking about good WW2 movies, I have to add to the list the fabulous (IMHO) Bridge Over the River Kwai.

    And while we are mentioning all-time-stinkers, let me tip my hat (and the garbage pail lid) to Battle of the Bulge.

    That is all.

  9. O'Hare??? Where did that come into it? I thought our observer was in Finland, where an overflight by a new Russian plane, whether accidental or deliberate, was quite possible.

    Michael

    The OP that started the thread stated he lived near O'Hare and saw what he thought was a six-engine aircraft flying from it. The subsequent posts were about other sightings. I simply rolled the sightings up into one for point of argument. If the Russians have a new plane that is so hush-hush, they are not going to jeopardize security flying over Finland with it. Chechnya, maybe, Georgia, probably, but Finland? And risk being taken down by some farmer with his grandpappy's Suomi? :D

  10. Whats with the hate for SPR and Basterds?

    SPR has flaws, but at least treats the subject respectfully.

    Inglorious Basterds was simply awful, respecting neither the era, history, the actors or anything else. It was simply an exercise for Tarantino's massive ego to play with WW2 props and costumes. I almost swore off Brad Pitt after that abortion, and I genuinely like the guy and think he's a good actor.

    As for the three films cited by the OP, I'm afraid I can pass on all of them. The Russian film seems to be simply what they call over there a "serial" (multi part TV melodrama) made large - and with no better quality than the rest of the ilk. Which is a shame, because I've seen genuinely good Russian war flicks - this just happens not to be one of them.

    The other two movies to me seem clearly ripping off the some of the stylistic and presentation elements of SPR without any of the redeeming features of acting and historic detail. For one thing, I'm sooo tired of WW2 women being portrayed to look like modern college coeds or someone you want to meet on match.com. Both films look like the best thing that can be said about them is that they gave some WW2 reenactors and tank owners some time to play war and earn some gas money.

    Guess I'm getting awful picky and finicky in my old age. Or maybe I just need to change my Depends. :D

  11. Sorry, I can't agree with you Michael - I don't see the Russians creating some new mystery plane and flying it into O'Hare to show it off and then disappear it again. My conclusion after following this thread is that it is simply the result of observer mis-ID. Sure wouldn't be the first time that's happened.

  12. Personally, I think Chinese history reveals that they will only invest in those projects which have a clear chance of bringing them a decent return on investment in the near term. They may think in long term ways, but their motivation today is clearly what benefits today's and tomorrow's bottom line...not that 50 years from now.

  13. I concur with Dowly and suspect that Soviet experience probably would verify that, as the war progressed and urban combat became more common, infantry AT weapons like the panzerfaust and 'schreck would have been truly ubiquitous threats to tanks. The fact that the faust lent it self to use by quickly trained militia operators made the situation even worse for tankers, since even youths and oldsters could be handed one and be turned into a lethal tank killer, albeit often a suicidal one.

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