My dad sent me a collection of photos from the archive in the university in Trondheim where he has a retirement job. I've mixed in a few of my own. I thought they were fascinating. You might, too. RAF Lancaster bombers, somewhere in Germany. Smoke is from the bombs dropped by the planes that came before. USAF B-29 Superfortress. Dropping bombs in Italy, during the invasion there. Japanese artillery shell explodes near American marine. Somewhere in the Pacific theater of war. British and German fighter planes engaged in dogfights during the Battle of Britain. US Marines pose with the footlocker of a Japanese soldier. The pictures appear to be of his wife and two daughters. Victorious Russian soldiers celebrate in the ruins of Grozny. Chechen war. I saw this one myself. Now-dead Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozin poses in front of two slain mercenaries near Bakmut. The message was respectful. French battlefield, WW1. I think it's Somme. There was no note with the photo. Speaks for itself. American gunner meets a grisly doom. Rare Japanese prisoners of war. Most of them fought to the death. The moment bin Laden is killed. Korean-Americans see to their own defence against rabid African-American mobs during the 1992 race riots. Rhodesian mercenary, somewhere in Africa. Warlord Laurent Nkunda. Congo, 2008. Another photo of a Russian soldier standing in the ruins of Grozny after the defeat of the Chechen rebellion. Unknown. Eastern Africa, by the looks of it. American soldiers in Afghanistan. Secret service member moments after Reagan was shot. IRA member during The Troubles, in Ireland. Would be awesome to see your contributions.
Was there as a Guardsman. Korean-Americans did in fact guard their own business, but the picture shows a LA County sheriff deputy. There are a few on this site that should see what real carpet bombing is.
What? Why? Yes, I think we are both right. Look on the roof, above him. I believe those are the now-legendary Roof Koreans. You were at the 1992 riots? That's a piece of human history.
You got me I didn't see them at first. Yes and it was ugly, but it was a time that changed me a lot as did boot camp a year before. Before both of the those, I had zero real experience with African Americans. And both convinced me that the only difference between me and them was the color of our skin. My Senior Drill Sargent was black and he turned me from a boy into a confident man, in three months. But fuck was I scared of him at first. I owe that man. During the riots I was amazed with the residents, shop owners, ect. Not once did we eat an MRE. People would ask if we were hungry, when we said yes, the store owners would give us food, the KFC did almost daily. One old woman stopped by with her 7 grand children and asked what we wanted, three hours later she and her grand kids came back with a literal feast. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, fried cornbread, greens, soda, lemon aid. Damn near every passing car honked and waved, people would go out of their way to shake our hands, hugs from the women. It was the gangs and dope fiends that were the problem. The good people hated the gangs and I mean Hate.
Some more. Most of these are military-themed. Physical conflict is politics in its most primal element, so I find it fitting for the section. USAF B-25 Mitchell bombers fly past the erupting Vesuvius volcano on their way to bomb Nazi positions. Unknown. Striking contrast. Looks like they are testing equipment. Desert Storm. I don't know if the Abrams is being taken for maintenance or transported to another battlegrid, but I'm guessing the former. Two RAF Harriers fly past a battery of Bloodhound missiles. Bosnia. German or Danish Leopard 2 tanks. Dinaric Alps, Bosnia. I think this Star Wars looking thing is a USAF SR-71 Blackbird. More Star Wars stuff. Don't know what this one is. Looks awesome. Unknown. Early helicopter frames and mountains - could be Korea. Hostomel airport, Ukraine. The story of the catastrophic Hostomel airdrop is a fascinating insight into Russian military planning. Some of the Russian VDV on their way to Hostomel in the very first minutes of the surprise attack on Ukraine. Lot of bravado. Most, if not all of these boys came home in pieces. This is Russian 2-star general Andrei Sukhovetsky, and he is worth honoring. Generals almost never die in combat. This one did. Why? Upon hearing about the Russian Ministry of Defense's plans for the Hostomel airdrop, him and several other officers protested furiously and desperately campaigned for a change of plans. The attack was planned by Shoigu, who is a Putin loyalist, not a soldier. When the attack was decided to go ahead despite his protests, Sukhovetsky joined his troops on the helicopters, unable to live with the grief of having sent them to certain death while he sat home. He was killed by Ukrainian artillery during the counter-attack. The Russians tried to cover his death up as much as possible. Some enemies are worth honoring. American volunteers/mercenaries/embedded (choose one depending on your political leanings) pose in front of a dead Russian paratrooper. The accompanying story is that they hunted this guy in the woods outside of Hostomel after the counter-attack. Can't verify. Ukranian soldier poses with American troops during a training mission in Germany. Chinese troops at the Great Wall. Unknown, but I think its a training operation during the Korean War. Bosnian SOF returns fire at a Serbian sniper. Vietnam. Don't know where or when. The current king of Denmark, Frederik. Famous in these parts for being in the elite Danish Frømandskorpset. They train with Navy SEALS, for some context. Congolese milita operate a repurposed anti-aircraft gun. Don't know which militia. Rhodesian militawoman, during the Bush Wars. Image marked 1975. I've got hundreds of these, and dozens of videos. Fascinating insight into horrors that we are lucky to have avoided.
as Colin Powell famously said, “if you break it you own it”. what do you think of these VT? US foreign policy abandoning the Hanoi helpless 1975. the year i volunteered for the 82d. US foreign policy abandoning the Kabul helpless 2021. seem familiar? fuck.
I was furious at the withdrawal from Kabul, man. Unlike with Russia, Iran, China and by proxy of Israeli allegiance Hamas - I don't and didn't support the occupation of Afghanistan. Neither Iraq. I could take arguments from either perspective on if the US should have stayed there for a couple more decades. I understand the opposition to that. But I think we both agree that Biden could have handled that so much better. American allies stabbed in the back. Lot of US troops took personal steps to get their comrades, especially translators, and their families out of there. Lot of SOF guys in particular. American soldiers are good and loyal people by nature, it is the politicians who hobble and shame them. I've watched a video of a Taliban fighter cutting the throat of a translator's teen daughter in front of him, before he gets the same treatment. As I said, furious. Edit: What experience did you get in the 82nd? Were you a fully fledged paratrooper?
i received a lifetime of experience in the 82d and much of that experience still leads me daily. i joined Mar 1975 and separated from service Jul 1982, and i had a few months of inactive service. honorably discharged, 11B3P MOS (infantry), Staff Sergeant E6, EIB, master parachutist badge and jumpmaster qualified. i could list all of the formal training but it would take some white space best saved for other uses, nothing grand, just run of the mill: jungle training, desert training, woodland training, leadership schools, combat infantry stuff. training, training, training, all of the dadgum time. i always volunteered for training. we’d jump into some place and ruck it until whenever we got “there”. lots of walking. we still ate C-Rations (before MRE’s). looking back fortunately my time was all peaceful and i never fired a shot in battle. at the time i, like everyone else, wanted to get in the shit. good for me i didn’t. my unit, 3d BDE, 1/508th was only called to deploy one time during my service because of Idi Amin in Uganda, 1979. we were at Pope AFB being issued ammo, grenades, and all the kit, only to be told to stand down. i didn’t join the reserve or guard as i completed what was then an obligatory 7 year service while on active duty. no biggie really but it was a fantastic time and i got to participate in some very cool stuff. in keeping with the spirit of the thread here are some personal pictures. my dad. P51 Mustang pilot, European theatre. he’s taking the picture. credited with one win in a dogfight with a Nazi bird. View attachment 3098011 View attachment 3098012 my brother. 19 yo infantry grunt. Vietnam, 1968. View attachment 3098013