Hello All,
Left for Africa last Sunday afternoon and arrived almost 24 hours later. I spent more time on layovers then I did flying. There are not really many good flight schedules to Africa. Turns out it is a little more difficult then catching the NY to LA flights back in the states, not to mention, Africa is a lot further away then it looks on the map. Keep in mind that the continent is 3.5 times as large as the continental US and the country of Sudan is as big as California, Arizona, and Utah combined.
By the time I got to camp and changed over, most of the workday on Monday was over. Did manage to get my email accts and internet up and running as well as find an empty desk to work at. The next three days were pretty busy with meetings, office calls with the branch directors and the Commander (a one star Admiral) and the Deputy Commander (one star Army General).
Before I knew it, Thurs late afternoon was upon me and it was time to leave for Germany. Since a good part of my trip was on Ethiopian Air, my boss recommended that I don't check any bags. He says that they are notorious about losing bags.
Taking my bag as a carry on was no problem the whole way down. For the way back, it was a problem. When I told the agent that I had no bags to check, only carry on, she said she needed to see my bag and put it on a scale. She said it was 5kg over weight and I would have to check it.
In a country with 70% unemployment, no natural resources, a refugee problem, and a central government that is under internal stress, this guy is gravely concerned over my carry on bag weighing 5kg to much to be a carry on. Not sure what the logic was.
Needless to say, I was pissed. After a heated discussion with the supervisor, I made no progess towards hanging on to my bag. I reluctantly checked my bag feeling that I may never see it again. Sure enough, when I got to Stuttgart, no bag. Can't say I was even a little surprised.
What I really dislike about being in Djibouti, is that I always sense a covert hostility from Djiboutians who are in postition of authority like customs, police, security personnel, and this particular pair at the check in counter. Since I had this heated disagreement with the counter people, I figured that they probably just tossed my bag in the corner or in the dumpster after rummaging through it.
I am sure if I gave him some money, it would not have been a problem anymore. Honestly, before I did that, I would have found out what one months salary for the security people was and paid one of them that amount to break the guys hands. If I was African, it would not have been an issue. I saw bags that appeared to be the same size and weight of the one I was forced to check. I always have felt that because I am a Caucasian American, they like to show me who is in charge by f**king with me every change they get. Others have told me the same thing.
Well, I ended up getting my bag about 24 hours later. I was surprised that no one even opened it to spit on my clothes.
I am really happy to be out of Africa and don't think I will have to go back to Djibouti. I really hate it there. If you asked me to tell you something positive about DJ, I would not even be able to think of one thing. It is just a horrible place.
I am sure there are some nice things to see in Africa but I would not waste a penny of my own money to go there. The place will never be anything more then it is right now. They will never move beyond their clan and tribe mentality which permiates every aspect of their cultures and politics. Unfortunately, they have resources we need so we have to engage them or the Chinese will end up with rights to everything.
On a positive note, once I resigned to the fact that I would never see my bag again, I decided that I would go out a buy a new razor since I was out of blades anyway. I had been using one of those Gillette 5 blade deals which provide the best shave I have ever had although I cringe when I buy blades (4 pack is around $12). I decided to upgrade to the Gillette Fusion Power. This is the same as my old razor but it is has a battery that vibrates the head. I don't know the science behind it but I can tell you that this is the best shave in the world. If you don't use an electric razor like me, I highly recommend trading up to this little baby.
Well, next week is Labor Day so we have a long weekend. Not sure what I will do yet. Was thinking I would go to Rome but I would have to fly down. Jodi and I are pretty close to buying a house so I am torn between cutting back here to maximize resources and doing something that I will probably never pursue again, like going to the Sistine Chapel and the Roman Colosseum. If we get a contract on the house we are looking at, it will need a refridgerator which are not cheap.
I will keep everyone posted on the house. Should know more next week.
I also miss my dog.
The Formula One race is starting so I will sign off for another week.
Michael
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Off to Africa
Hello All,
Sorry for the lack of updates. Left for Africa last weekend and now just back. Hope I never have to go back!
This is really to pass a message to my good friend Mike T in Odesa, TX. He is like a brother to me and we shared a lot of time together in 29 palms, CA, in some pretty intense situations.
I have emailed him countless times over the last few months and he has not resonded.
I am going to go to Odesa and I will kick his ass when I get back.
More this weekend.
Michael
Sorry for the lack of updates. Left for Africa last weekend and now just back. Hope I never have to go back!
This is really to pass a message to my good friend Mike T in Odesa, TX. He is like a brother to me and we shared a lot of time together in 29 palms, CA, in some pretty intense situations.
I have emailed him countless times over the last few months and he has not resonded.
I am going to go to Odesa and I will kick his ass when I get back.
More this weekend.
Michael
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Dachau Concentration Camp.
A somber greeting to all,
This past weekend, I decided that I would travel to see the Dachau Concentration Camp. This was not a "fun" trip but one I felt compelled to make. Before I recount my personal experience, a little background is in order.
I will tell you up front that pics I took are posted on Flicker. Each pic has a title which describes what the picture is. If you don't see it, play around with the settings. I think it adds a lot to the photos.
The Dachau concentration camp, established in March 1933, was the first regular concentration camp established by the National Socialist (Nazi) government. The camp was officially described as "the first concentration camp for political prisoners." It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the northeastern part of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in southern Germany.
During the first year, the camp held about 4,800 prisoners. Initially the internees consisted primarily of German Communists, Social Democrats, trade unionists, and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. Over time, other groups were also interned at Dachau, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Gypsies, and homosexuals, as well as "asocials" and repeat criminal offenders.
The number of Jewish prisoners at Dachau rose with the increased persecution of Jews and on November 10-11, 1938, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), more than 10,000 Jewish men were interned there. (Most of the men in this group were released after incarceration of a few weeks to a few months, many after proving they had made arrangements to emigrate from Germany.)
The Dachau camp was a training center for SS concentration camp guards, and the camps organization and routine became the model for all Nazi concentration camps. The camp was divided into two sections--the camp area and the crematoria area.
The camp area consisted of 32 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. The camp administration was located in the gatehouse at the main entrance. The camp area had a group of support buildings, containing the kitchen, laundry, showers, and workshops, as well as a prison block (Bunker). The courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen was used for the summary execution of prisoners. An electrified barbed-wire fence, a ditch, and a wall with seven guard towers surrounded the camp.
In 1942, the crematorium area was constructed next to the main camp. It included the old crematorium and the new crematorium (Barrack X) with a gas chamber. There is no credible evidence that the gas chamber in Barrack X was used to murder human beings. Instead, prisoners underwent "selection"; those who were judged too sick or weak to continue working were sent to the Hartheim "euthanasia" killing center near Linz, Austria. Further, the SS used the firing range and the gallows in the crematoria area as killing sites for prisoners.
Dachau was not an extermination camp like Auschwitz where upwards of 3 MILLION people died. Prisoners were used as forced laborers and an important part of the Nazi war effort. They built roads, worked in gravel pits, and drained marshes. During the war, forced labor utilizing concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production.
Towards the end of the war as Allied forces advanced toward Germany, the Germans began to move prisoners from concentration camps near the front to prevent the liberation of large numbers of prisoners. Transports from the evacuated camps arrived continuously at Dachau, resulting in a dramatic deterioration of conditions.
On April 26, 1945, as American forces approached, there were 67,665 registered prisoners in Dachau and its subcamps; more than half of this number were in the main camp.
On April 29, 1945, American forces liberated Dachau. As they neared the camp, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies brought to Dachau, all in an advanced state of decomposition.
The American troops were so horrified by conditions at the camp that a few killed some of the camp guards after they had surrendered in what is called the Dachau massacre. The number massacred is disputed as some Germans were killed in combat, some were shot while attempting to surrender, and others were killed after their surrender was accepted.
The mistreatment of combatants who surrender is strictly prohibited by the terms of the Geneva Convention (1949) which was signed after the war and also violates the terms of the US military's Law of Land Warfare. We will never know what really happened but I suspect that the US soldiers did kill some of the camp guards after they surrendered. Looking at the pictures of what they saw on the day of liberation, I can say that I understand what they must have been feeling.
Ok, enough with the history lesson, Professor. How did this all make me feel? I felt different things at different times. Walking through the front gate, I felt gloom. Standing next to the wall where prisoners were routinely executed by firing squad, I envisioned how that unfolded every day. The fear and terror those about to be shot must have felt penetrated me. I heard the shots ring out in my mind. I pictured the bodies falling to the ground.
In the interogation room of "The Bunker" (the on grounds prison), I felt anguish. I could hear the laughter of the guards as a prisoner endured another blow to the head, blood and teeth hitting the floor, probably praying for death.
What about those who endured (most often dying as a result of) cruel medical experiments. The torment of being kept alive but also hoping for death. Twisted.
In the crematorium, I felt horror and grief. I was standing in one of the rooms that bodies were temporarily kept awaiting the oven or a mass grave and looking at a picture taken the day the camp was liberated. In the very room that I was standing bodies were piled chest high. ON THE VERY SPOT I WAS NOW STANDING. Disgust was what I was feeling now.
How did the US soldiers feel when they saw 30! rail cars filled with dead bodies when they liberated the camp. Shock? And then rage? That is how I would have felt. Did they murder some of the camp guards who had surrendered. Yes, they were overwhelmed by their rage.
How did I feel knowing that the last camp commandant was hung on the very grounds he oversaw having been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity? It did not bring me joy in a high five sort of way. It was more of a feeling of satisfaction. It lifted my spirits. This was justice for all those who were ever imprisoned there. (It turns out that nothing in the above paragraph is true. I decided to leave in this little piece of non-factual content for impact. I just think it wraps up the piece nicely even though it is not even remotely true.)
At the memorial, I felt pain, grief, sorrow. I felt happy knowing that 32,000 people were freed from certain death. And that was it. Certainly lots to experience and feel in one day.
I was also pleased to find out that so much of the camp had been preserved. It is something that everyone NEEDS to see and experience. It is not until we are pushed out of our comfort zone that we really experience life.
I cannot understand how so many were systematically murdered. It is numbing.
In honor of the Holocaust victims which number between 11 and 17 million including 6,000,000 Jews, Do Not Forget.
Evil lurks around every corner. Evil overcomes good when good men do nothing.
That's it. Be good to each other.
Michael
This past weekend, I decided that I would travel to see the Dachau Concentration Camp. This was not a "fun" trip but one I felt compelled to make. Before I recount my personal experience, a little background is in order.
I will tell you up front that pics I took are posted on Flicker. Each pic has a title which describes what the picture is. If you don't see it, play around with the settings. I think it adds a lot to the photos.
The Dachau concentration camp, established in March 1933, was the first regular concentration camp established by the National Socialist (Nazi) government. The camp was officially described as "the first concentration camp for political prisoners." It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the northeastern part of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in southern Germany.
During the first year, the camp held about 4,800 prisoners. Initially the internees consisted primarily of German Communists, Social Democrats, trade unionists, and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. Over time, other groups were also interned at Dachau, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Gypsies, and homosexuals, as well as "asocials" and repeat criminal offenders.
The number of Jewish prisoners at Dachau rose with the increased persecution of Jews and on November 10-11, 1938, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), more than 10,000 Jewish men were interned there. (Most of the men in this group were released after incarceration of a few weeks to a few months, many after proving they had made arrangements to emigrate from Germany.)
The Dachau camp was a training center for SS concentration camp guards, and the camps organization and routine became the model for all Nazi concentration camps. The camp was divided into two sections--the camp area and the crematoria area.
The camp area consisted of 32 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. The camp administration was located in the gatehouse at the main entrance. The camp area had a group of support buildings, containing the kitchen, laundry, showers, and workshops, as well as a prison block (Bunker). The courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen was used for the summary execution of prisoners. An electrified barbed-wire fence, a ditch, and a wall with seven guard towers surrounded the camp.
In 1942, the crematorium area was constructed next to the main camp. It included the old crematorium and the new crematorium (Barrack X) with a gas chamber. There is no credible evidence that the gas chamber in Barrack X was used to murder human beings. Instead, prisoners underwent "selection"; those who were judged too sick or weak to continue working were sent to the Hartheim "euthanasia" killing center near Linz, Austria. Further, the SS used the firing range and the gallows in the crematoria area as killing sites for prisoners.
Dachau was not an extermination camp like Auschwitz where upwards of 3 MILLION people died. Prisoners were used as forced laborers and an important part of the Nazi war effort. They built roads, worked in gravel pits, and drained marshes. During the war, forced labor utilizing concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production.
Towards the end of the war as Allied forces advanced toward Germany, the Germans began to move prisoners from concentration camps near the front to prevent the liberation of large numbers of prisoners. Transports from the evacuated camps arrived continuously at Dachau, resulting in a dramatic deterioration of conditions.
On April 26, 1945, as American forces approached, there were 67,665 registered prisoners in Dachau and its subcamps; more than half of this number were in the main camp.
On April 29, 1945, American forces liberated Dachau. As they neared the camp, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies brought to Dachau, all in an advanced state of decomposition.
The American troops were so horrified by conditions at the camp that a few killed some of the camp guards after they had surrendered in what is called the Dachau massacre. The number massacred is disputed as some Germans were killed in combat, some were shot while attempting to surrender, and others were killed after their surrender was accepted.
The mistreatment of combatants who surrender is strictly prohibited by the terms of the Geneva Convention (1949) which was signed after the war and also violates the terms of the US military's Law of Land Warfare. We will never know what really happened but I suspect that the US soldiers did kill some of the camp guards after they surrendered. Looking at the pictures of what they saw on the day of liberation, I can say that I understand what they must have been feeling.
Ok, enough with the history lesson, Professor. How did this all make me feel? I felt different things at different times. Walking through the front gate, I felt gloom. Standing next to the wall where prisoners were routinely executed by firing squad, I envisioned how that unfolded every day. The fear and terror those about to be shot must have felt penetrated me. I heard the shots ring out in my mind. I pictured the bodies falling to the ground.
In the interogation room of "The Bunker" (the on grounds prison), I felt anguish. I could hear the laughter of the guards as a prisoner endured another blow to the head, blood and teeth hitting the floor, probably praying for death.
What about those who endured (most often dying as a result of) cruel medical experiments. The torment of being kept alive but also hoping for death. Twisted.
In the crematorium, I felt horror and grief. I was standing in one of the rooms that bodies were temporarily kept awaiting the oven or a mass grave and looking at a picture taken the day the camp was liberated. In the very room that I was standing bodies were piled chest high. ON THE VERY SPOT I WAS NOW STANDING. Disgust was what I was feeling now.
How did the US soldiers feel when they saw 30! rail cars filled with dead bodies when they liberated the camp. Shock? And then rage? That is how I would have felt. Did they murder some of the camp guards who had surrendered. Yes, they were overwhelmed by their rage.
How did I feel knowing that the last camp commandant was hung on the very grounds he oversaw having been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity? It did not bring me joy in a high five sort of way. It was more of a feeling of satisfaction. It lifted my spirits. This was justice for all those who were ever imprisoned there. (It turns out that nothing in the above paragraph is true. I decided to leave in this little piece of non-factual content for impact. I just think it wraps up the piece nicely even though it is not even remotely true.)
At the memorial, I felt pain, grief, sorrow. I felt happy knowing that 32,000 people were freed from certain death. And that was it. Certainly lots to experience and feel in one day.
I was also pleased to find out that so much of the camp had been preserved. It is something that everyone NEEDS to see and experience. It is not until we are pushed out of our comfort zone that we really experience life.
I cannot understand how so many were systematically murdered. It is numbing.
In honor of the Holocaust victims which number between 11 and 17 million including 6,000,000 Jews, Do Not Forget.
Evil lurks around every corner. Evil overcomes good when good men do nothing.
That's it. Be good to each other.
Michael
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Another week under my belt.
Hello all.
Well, I have another week under my belt and 7 days closer to getting back home. I haven't done anything interesting in a while so I need to get out of town next weekend.
I was working this entire weekend as the staff is conducting a staff exercise which is being evalutated by the Joint Forces Command. It is an artifical inject of events which the staff reacts to. The key is to do it according to well established doctrine taking all the proper steps. Interesting stuff, huh?
I will point out a couple of neat features the past two rental cars have had. My last rental, a Mercedes Benz C250 turbo diesel with 6 sp manual transmission, had a feature that, when stopped and going uphill, would keep the brakes engaged while you make the transition from brake pedal to gas pedal. If you have ever driven a manual transmission, you know what I am talking about. It prevents the car from rolling backwards while you work the clutch and gas. Nice feature.
As you may recall, in Germany, if you know you are going to be halted for more then 30 seconds, you are suppose to turn off the engine. On my current rental, a BMW 320i with gasoline engine and 6 speed transmission, when you have the transmission in neutral and the clutch is not engaged, the car shuts off after 30 seconds. As soon as the clutch pedal moves about a 1/4 inch, the engine starts automatically. It is really quite seamless, much to my surprise. I would imagine that if every car in the US had this feature (and Americans actually drove standard transmission cars), we would save millions of barrels of oil every year. Again, a really neat feature.
Well, Summer is in full swing here and I have discovered that Germans do wear shorts. I can tell you that Germans are reluctant to wear shorts for a reason. It is because they do it very poorly. Shorts are really pants that are not quite as long a regular trousers. Americans where shorts that are typically at or above the knee with some sort of sport shoe or sandal.
Germans, on the other hand, were "shorts" that are cut to around mid-calf. If you have ever seen the episodes of the longest running animated series in TV history, "The Simpsons", then picture the shorts the character "Milhouse" wears.
Additionally, if they are usually wearing some weird color socks with their tennis shoes or sandals, like gray. If they don't wear socks (recommended for all readers) they usual have really gross looking toe nails.
Honestly, they need to stick to traditional trousers and proper leather shoes. They do that very well. As I always say, figure out what you do well and do that all the time. At least the Summer season is realitively short here. I hear they do great Christmas festivals thougth as well as Octoberfest, which I will be in country for.
Hope all is well back in my "Motherland".
Until next time,
Michael
Well, I have another week under my belt and 7 days closer to getting back home. I haven't done anything interesting in a while so I need to get out of town next weekend.
I was working this entire weekend as the staff is conducting a staff exercise which is being evalutated by the Joint Forces Command. It is an artifical inject of events which the staff reacts to. The key is to do it according to well established doctrine taking all the proper steps. Interesting stuff, huh?
I will point out a couple of neat features the past two rental cars have had. My last rental, a Mercedes Benz C250 turbo diesel with 6 sp manual transmission, had a feature that, when stopped and going uphill, would keep the brakes engaged while you make the transition from brake pedal to gas pedal. If you have ever driven a manual transmission, you know what I am talking about. It prevents the car from rolling backwards while you work the clutch and gas. Nice feature.
As you may recall, in Germany, if you know you are going to be halted for more then 30 seconds, you are suppose to turn off the engine. On my current rental, a BMW 320i with gasoline engine and 6 speed transmission, when you have the transmission in neutral and the clutch is not engaged, the car shuts off after 30 seconds. As soon as the clutch pedal moves about a 1/4 inch, the engine starts automatically. It is really quite seamless, much to my surprise. I would imagine that if every car in the US had this feature (and Americans actually drove standard transmission cars), we would save millions of barrels of oil every year. Again, a really neat feature.
Well, Summer is in full swing here and I have discovered that Germans do wear shorts. I can tell you that Germans are reluctant to wear shorts for a reason. It is because they do it very poorly. Shorts are really pants that are not quite as long a regular trousers. Americans where shorts that are typically at or above the knee with some sort of sport shoe or sandal.
Germans, on the other hand, were "shorts" that are cut to around mid-calf. If you have ever seen the episodes of the longest running animated series in TV history, "The Simpsons", then picture the shorts the character "Milhouse" wears.
Additionally, if they are usually wearing some weird color socks with their tennis shoes or sandals, like gray. If they don't wear socks (recommended for all readers) they usual have really gross looking toe nails.
Honestly, they need to stick to traditional trousers and proper leather shoes. They do that very well. As I always say, figure out what you do well and do that all the time. At least the Summer season is realitively short here. I hear they do great Christmas festivals thougth as well as Octoberfest, which I will be in country for.
Hope all is well back in my "Motherland".
Until next time,
Michael
Sunday, August 2, 2009
This, That and the Other.
Greetings All,
It was a typical week at work, which is not a bad thing. Little bit of news to pass. I thought I would be in Germany until the end of Nov but now looks like I will redeploy back to NC a little earlier. My new boss at Camp Lejeune has been shaking a few trees to find out when I was coming back and discovered that my replacement is scheduled to be here the last week of Oct and I will travel back to NC during the first week of Nov. A full 3 weeks earlier then I had originally thought.
That means home for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, my birthday, and Thanksgiving. It is a Christmans mircle a full 2 months in advance. He also said my orders were extended until Nov 2010 (another year). I doubt it is in the bag but at least I have the backing of the command which means a lot as opportunities for reservist look like they are drying up. They like me, they REALLY like me!
Stayed close to home this weekend. Did laundry Friday night (really livin it up, huh?). Sat drove about an hour to a French PX which was kind of a bust. Just a small grocery store and small PX area. I had visions of Louis Vuitton at 90% of retail. I was going to buy one of those old time steamer trunks people used to travel with. They didn't have much but I did score a litter of Absolute vodka for around USD $10 and a $5 bottle of French wine. It's French so it must be good. Honestly, the wine prices did seem pretty good, although, I will admint I don't know much about French wine.
Sunday (today) I went to an art museum downtown as well as a limited time exhibition on Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
The art museum was great. Much better then the one I was at in Munich. On display were a several highly regarded Rembrandt paintings including "St Paul in prison", Claude Monet, Chagall, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollack, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhall (last 3 not my thing but worth noting), and my old favorite Pablo Picasso. Long time readers probably remember my last Picasso experience. I am happy to say that there were about 18 "real" painting on display. A much better effort then the penis and testicals (No 2 pencil on white 8.5x11 paper) displayed in Munich. I suspect that once he became well known and sought after, someone threw a lot of money at him to create something special. As a joke, we created those drawing and convinced that person it was an incredible, inspired creation. Probably laughed all the way to the bank.
The Rommel Exhibition, at the history musem next door, was also an unexpected treat. My Military Occupational Speciality (MOS) is Armor (tanks), so my interest was probably a little higher then most people could generate.
This is not a permanet display and is ending this month so I wanted to check it out before it closed. It would have been better if they had English translations next to the displayed items. Each piece at the art museum had and English discribtion which made such a big difference.
As some of you know, Erwin Rommel was considered an one of the greatest tacticians in WWII. It was his masterful leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign that established the legend of the Desert Fox. He is generally considered to have been the most skilled commander of desert warfare in the war. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion in Normandy.
Rommel is considered to have been a chivalrous and humane officer, in contrast with many other figures of Nazi Germany. His famous Afrikakorps was not accused of any war crimes. Soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been largely treated humanely. Furthermore, he defiantly ignored orders to kill captured Jewish soldiers and civilians out of hand in all theaters of his command.
Between his brillant tactics and the vastly superior German tanks, the Allied forces struggled to contend with him in Africa.
Late in the war, Rommel joined the conspiracy against Adolf Hitler , but opposed the failed 20 July plot of 1944 to kill the dictator. Because of his great prestige, Hitler allowed him to commit suicide. He was buried with full military honors, but the real reason for his death didn't come to light until the Nuremberg Trails.
He was given two choices that day, commit suicide and save his family name, as well as his pension for his wife, or go to trial, be found guilty and hung. He called his wife a few minutes later to speak with her one last time and 15 minutes later, he was dead.
I can't help but wonder how the world would be different if that plot succeded. The war certainly would have ended earlier and fewer people would have lost their lives. At any rate, the war would rage on for another 10 months before the unconditional surrender of Germany on VE Day, 8 May 1945.
On display were numerous documents as well as many of his personal and uniform items. It is always eerie getting that close to real history. It was the same feeling I had when I rode the elevator up to the Eagle's Nest and stood on the deck of the Mighty Mo on the exact spot Japan surrendered WWII. The same feeling I had when Jodi and I visited Fort Sumter where the Civil War started.
Well, that is about it from here. Have some travel to plan since I am only going to be here for 3 more months. I suspect I will not see everything I hoped to.
Cheers,
Michael
It was a typical week at work, which is not a bad thing. Little bit of news to pass. I thought I would be in Germany until the end of Nov but now looks like I will redeploy back to NC a little earlier. My new boss at Camp Lejeune has been shaking a few trees to find out when I was coming back and discovered that my replacement is scheduled to be here the last week of Oct and I will travel back to NC during the first week of Nov. A full 3 weeks earlier then I had originally thought.
That means home for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, my birthday, and Thanksgiving. It is a Christmans mircle a full 2 months in advance. He also said my orders were extended until Nov 2010 (another year). I doubt it is in the bag but at least I have the backing of the command which means a lot as opportunities for reservist look like they are drying up. They like me, they REALLY like me!
Stayed close to home this weekend. Did laundry Friday night (really livin it up, huh?). Sat drove about an hour to a French PX which was kind of a bust. Just a small grocery store and small PX area. I had visions of Louis Vuitton at 90% of retail. I was going to buy one of those old time steamer trunks people used to travel with. They didn't have much but I did score a litter of Absolute vodka for around USD $10 and a $5 bottle of French wine. It's French so it must be good. Honestly, the wine prices did seem pretty good, although, I will admint I don't know much about French wine.
Sunday (today) I went to an art museum downtown as well as a limited time exhibition on Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
The art museum was great. Much better then the one I was at in Munich. On display were a several highly regarded Rembrandt paintings including "St Paul in prison", Claude Monet, Chagall, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollack, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhall (last 3 not my thing but worth noting), and my old favorite Pablo Picasso. Long time readers probably remember my last Picasso experience. I am happy to say that there were about 18 "real" painting on display. A much better effort then the penis and testicals (No 2 pencil on white 8.5x11 paper) displayed in Munich. I suspect that once he became well known and sought after, someone threw a lot of money at him to create something special. As a joke, we created those drawing and convinced that person it was an incredible, inspired creation. Probably laughed all the way to the bank.
The Rommel Exhibition, at the history musem next door, was also an unexpected treat. My Military Occupational Speciality (MOS) is Armor (tanks), so my interest was probably a little higher then most people could generate.
This is not a permanet display and is ending this month so I wanted to check it out before it closed. It would have been better if they had English translations next to the displayed items. Each piece at the art museum had and English discribtion which made such a big difference.
As some of you know, Erwin Rommel was considered an one of the greatest tacticians in WWII. It was his masterful leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign that established the legend of the Desert Fox. He is generally considered to have been the most skilled commander of desert warfare in the war. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion in Normandy.
Rommel is considered to have been a chivalrous and humane officer, in contrast with many other figures of Nazi Germany. His famous Afrikakorps was not accused of any war crimes. Soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been largely treated humanely. Furthermore, he defiantly ignored orders to kill captured Jewish soldiers and civilians out of hand in all theaters of his command.
Between his brillant tactics and the vastly superior German tanks, the Allied forces struggled to contend with him in Africa.
Late in the war, Rommel joined the conspiracy against Adolf Hitler , but opposed the failed 20 July plot of 1944 to kill the dictator. Because of his great prestige, Hitler allowed him to commit suicide. He was buried with full military honors, but the real reason for his death didn't come to light until the Nuremberg Trails.
He was given two choices that day, commit suicide and save his family name, as well as his pension for his wife, or go to trial, be found guilty and hung. He called his wife a few minutes later to speak with her one last time and 15 minutes later, he was dead.
I can't help but wonder how the world would be different if that plot succeded. The war certainly would have ended earlier and fewer people would have lost their lives. At any rate, the war would rage on for another 10 months before the unconditional surrender of Germany on VE Day, 8 May 1945.
On display were numerous documents as well as many of his personal and uniform items. It is always eerie getting that close to real history. It was the same feeling I had when I rode the elevator up to the Eagle's Nest and stood on the deck of the Mighty Mo on the exact spot Japan surrendered WWII. The same feeling I had when Jodi and I visited Fort Sumter where the Civil War started.
Well, that is about it from here. Have some travel to plan since I am only going to be here for 3 more months. I suspect I will not see everything I hoped to.
Cheers,
Michael
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