Titled “The Old Guard” showing the honour guard at the American Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They remain on duty 24 hours a day every day of the year.
And then there’s this:
I find myself sickened at even putting these together on the same page but they come from consecutive posts at Powerline so I am in good company. Whatever happens on the 6th of November, Obama is no longer president for at least half the country no matter the result.
Disobeying orders: This is via Michelle Malkin:
The Regimental Commander of the U.S. Third Infantry sent word to the nighttime Sentry Detail to secure the post and seek shelter from the high winds, to ensure their personal safety.
THEY DISOBEYED THE ORDER!
During winds that turned over vehicles and turned debris into projectiles, the measured step continued. One fellow said ‘I’ve got buddies getting shot at in Iraq who would kick my butt if word got to them that we let them down. I sure as hell have no intention of spending my Army career being known as the damned idiot who couldn’t stand a little light breeze and shirked his duty.’ Then he said something in response to a female reporters question regarding silly purposeless personal risk… ‘I wouldn’t expect you to understand. It’s an enlisted man’s thing.’ God bless the rascal …
Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment; it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.
Spotted by Mick Gold Coast QLD with thanks.
Here you are, Steve.
Spc. Brett Hyde, Tomb Sentinel, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), keeps guard over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Hurricane Sandy at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Oct. 29, 2012. Hyde lives by the Sentinel’s Creed which in part says “Through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements, I will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability”. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Jose A. Torres Jr.)
kae
30 Oct 12 at 2:55 pm
The Ambassador does not appear to have had a funeral yet. Anyone know what that’s about?
Paul
30 Oct 12 at 3:02 pm
I think they might be bayonets affixed to the soldiers’ rifles.
JamesK
30 Oct 12 at 3:02 pm
He did, I think.
VP BiteMe and Hils attended.
JamesK
30 Oct 12 at 3:05 pm
The US Army’s “Old Guard” has been on duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington without a break since 6 April 1948.
The Tomb has never been left unguarded for a singe moment since then.
Pedro the Ignorant
30 Oct 12 at 3:11 pm
LOL.
No way, I remember the Sun King told us those ships that go underwater have not made them redundant?
Token
30 Oct 12 at 3:12 pm
…have
notmade…Token
30 Oct 12 at 3:12 pm
from Michelle Malkin:
Mick Gold Coast QLD
30 Oct 12 at 3:13 pm
The US Army has more bayonets on issue today than it did in WW1.
Infidel Tiger
30 Oct 12 at 3:14 pm
MISOGYNIST!
Infidel Tiger
30 Oct 12 at 3:16 pm
As the facts are released it is clear there was more than enough information for the admin to know the attack was occuring and to react.
The inactiong is driving people to use stronger words.
Token
30 Oct 12 at 3:17 pm
“. . . . ships that go underwater” quoth Obama.
In Naval tradition, submarines are referred to as “boats”, not “ships” regardless of size.
Of course, that alleged Commander in Chief would not know this.
Pedro the Ignorant
30 Oct 12 at 3:20 pm
Hannity calls out the ugly lies and protectionism from the Obama campaign in a discussion with Ann Coulter.
I trust this will be ignored by the Cat fact checkers.
Token
30 Oct 12 at 3:22 pm
You hit the reason why I included that snarky comment.
Token
30 Oct 12 at 3:23 pm
Pedro the Ignorant
30 Oct 12 at 3:32 pm
According to Twitchy this morning that photo was taken last month. None the less I’ll bet those good men are standing sentry as I write/tap just the same.
Anne
30 Oct 12 at 3:54 pm
I’ve had the great honour of not only watching the Changing of the Guard ceremony at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington cemetary, but also to have a private tour of the guard’s quarters thanks to a couple of friends in the US.
The seriousness and devotion to duty that these men show to their assignment is without equal anywhere in the world.
Something that that ‘man’ (again I use the term loosely) currently inhabiting the White House will NEVER understand…
Brian of Moorabbin
30 Oct 12 at 4:05 pm
Anne, Kae’s post links to a photo of the guard on duty when Tropical Storm Sandy hit.
Cold-Hands
30 Oct 12 at 4:11 pm
If you’re on Facebook, there’s a site for the Old Infantry Guard. They have a current photo which is what I linked to above.
3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
kae
30 Oct 12 at 4:14 pm
Thanks Cold Mitts. Should’ve checked link before jumping in. Icon with sheepish expression to follow…
Anne
30 Oct 12 at 4:39 pm
The sentries often chastise members of the public for speaking, entering the plaza or being otherwise disrespectful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCPbP_a46I
Yeah, I dunno. Ma’am, remain standing? Pretty stupid. It’s not about you, sentry.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 5:13 pm
LOL… Seems a bit over the top, but it reminds me of the Simpson’s down under episode where there is a marine standing guard – and silently at attention – at the US embassy.
Fleeced
30 Oct 12 at 5:24 pm
Wow. Tell us how you really feel:
Father of Slain Benghazi SEAL: The White House Order Was “Don’t Help Them, Let Them Die” (Video).
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 5:27 pm
Some people behave with honour.
Some do not.
Leigh Lowe
30 Oct 12 at 5:29 pm
No, people need to be beaten regularly. The same jerks that would treat the Tomb as an amusement park are the also found in the Sistine Chapel taking videos or using the flame at the Shrine to light incense.
I’d rather they were all shot on site.
Infidel Tiger
30 Oct 12 at 5:32 pm
Yeah true, but a gentleman doesn’t demand that a woman stand up.
The Sistine Chapel, well…
They really have to decide what they want: cash or a pristine Sistine.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 5:36 pm
From Blackfive:
Read on…
Gab
30 Oct 12 at 5:37 pm
The bloke warned off the plaza was wearing shorts, if I’m not mistaken. I would never wear shorts or casuals at that – or our own – Tomb of the Unknown. I’d wear polished shoes or boots.
People today really are fucking idiots.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 5:38 pm
“I think they might be bayonets affixed to the soldiers’ rifles.”JamesK.
Mate, I dips me lid….that’s a cracking pick-up.
RE: The Unknown Soldier’s Tomb…24/7 since 1930.
That is quite simply outstanding.
I knew of the tradition but had no idea it was 24/7 since 1930.
Enduring nations are built on this level of resolve.
Why is this not PROUDLY taught in school ?….every bloody school in every civilised country?
Well,in Australia…for now….we are led by an effete bunch of less than useless pricks, is why.
John Williams
30 Oct 12 at 5:39 pm
Like Brian, I recently watched the Honour Guard and had a very brief glimpse of the guards’ room.
Those visitor slobs who are illiterate or stupid and can’t understand the “Silence and Respect” signs are very quickly bawled out by one of the two guards who will cease marching and briefly lecture them in no uncertain terms.
James of the Glens
30 Oct 12 at 5:50 pm
And we know who the ‘do not’ ones are…
You weren’t so fast at 3:00am, Obama…
Gab
30 Oct 12 at 5:52 pm
And we know who the ‘do not’ ones are…
You weren’t so fast at 3:00am, Obama…
Gab
30 Oct 12 at 5:54 pm
Thanks for the link Gab.
It seems America’s generals are almost as lame as ours. That doctrine pretty much sums up how Aussie regular forces operate these days.
jupes
30 Oct 12 at 5:55 pm
I agree Infidel Tiger…but “shot on site”? Maybe… take them away…and shoot them off site. Ha
Anne
30 Oct 12 at 5:55 pm
Speaking of ceremony…
Flashback:
Michelle Obama: “All this over a damned flag.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKLr1EQpqIo
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 5:56 pm
I’m surprised that John McCain has gone nuclear re Benghazi. He doesn’t willingly burn bridges or go too hard against his opponents, let alone a President.
This is big.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 5:59 pm
Those US soldiers exemplify the true meaning of honour. It’s not surprising that a reporter didn’t understand what they were doing.
jupes
30 Oct 12 at 6:02 pm
No it’s not — read it again.
Walter Plinge
30 Oct 12 at 6:28 pm
In the final presidential debate, President Obama and Mitt Romney discussed military spending.
The president discussed the changing nature of the military, charging, “You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed.”
He continued, “We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.”
JamesK
30 Oct 12 at 6:34 pm
Honestly, I can’t read her lips that clearly.
Fleeced
30 Oct 12 at 6:44 pm
I see three men who know their duty.
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.
– John Milton, 1608-74
Bruce
30 Oct 12 at 7:14 pm
than we did in 1916.
Romney said “since 1916″. So Obama answered a point that was never made.
dover_beach
30 Oct 12 at 7:23 pm
Whatever she said, it obviously wasn’t the 2nd time she was proud of her country.
Token
30 Oct 12 at 7:49 pm
It’s actually sad; a once great nation, now propositional, fielding a professional military desperately clinging to a fine, anachronistic tradition in spite of policy.
Big Jim
30 Oct 12 at 7:49 pm
One of the many lies he told. If the media was in the can he should’ve lost the election of the sequester lie.
Token
30 Oct 12 at 7:50 pm
That’s a rather silly point Dover.
So your contention is that if Obama had said “than we did in 1917” he would have been addressing the issue, but he went off topic by saying “than we did in 1917”?
One isn’t agreeing with Obama’s equally silly original point – and I am not – to realise that protesting, in 2012, that he should have referred back only 95 years, not 96, is not exactly an election-turning riposte.
Tiddly Pom
30 Oct 12 at 7:52 pm
She may have said “This is over, you damned fag.”
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 7:52 pm
Fuck. First comment for months and I get it wrong.
Meant “than we did in 1916”?
Tiddly Pom
30 Oct 12 at 7:53 pm
The Old Guard – 24/7/365.
The finest of the military, with total commitment.
To hold that patrol for 24/7 theyt are the best of the best.
Carpe Jugulum
30 Oct 12 at 8:04 pm
Tiddly Pom, you’ve missed the point. Romney said the size of the Navy today was the smallest its been since 1916, so its including every year between 1916 and 2012. he wasn’t comparing the size of the Navy in 1916 with the Navy today. So, for Obama to then say what he did about aircraft carriers and submarines was simply smartassery that played well to know-nothings.
dover_beach
30 Oct 12 at 8:11 pm
Could you imagine a young soldier being told of their new posting – You have been posted to the Old Guard, you will guard the tomb of the unknown soldier 24/7, are you tough enough.
Do you have the discipline to do this, 24/7
this is the discipline that ,makes these young men hold their heads high and march through rain, hail flood etc.
Carpe Jugulum
30 Oct 12 at 8:12 pm
“The sentries often chastise members of the public for speaking, entering the plaza or being otherwise disrespectful.”
I sure as hell wish this was true of the Alamo. I was there in 1986 and the place was full of loudmouth disrepectful yobbos( or their US equivalent)making a racket and eating their burgers and KFC.
As I was standing there, moved to tears, I considered yelling to everyone to shut up, be quiet and show some respect. The thought of the headlines “Australian causes scene at Alamo” made me reconsider. I’ve regretted that ever since.
Eyrie
30 Oct 12 at 8:13 pm
In the middle of fucking summer? As a civilian?
.
30 Oct 12 at 8:15 pm
Yes.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 8:21 pm
You’re a bit loopy but I have a lot of respect for that.
.
30 Oct 12 at 8:23 pm
Thanks.
I think…
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 8:49 pm
SHorts are for little boys or the beach. Men wear trousers
Rococo Liberal
30 Oct 12 at 8:57 pm
The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey (the priginal such monument) needs no earthly guard, God watches over those bones.
Rococo Liberal
30 Oct 12 at 9:01 pm
The symbolism is resplendent in this….
An ‘elite’ ordered the enlisted men to abandon their post. A post that duty, honor and respect have maintained for decades… and they rejected that order.
That officer’s order was tantamount to ordering them to abandon America. To abandon their duty. To dishonor all who have gone before them…. for a mere bit of comfort.
That these men still recognized their obligation while those that command them have forgotten….. Gladdens my heart. America will not be abandoned. Tradition will not be abandoned. Freedom, honor and duty will not be swapped, for a bit of comfort, while men like these still serve.
J.Hansford
30 Oct 12 at 9:01 pm
Really? CL
Or is this unconditional reverence for women, whatever their awful and lazy behaviour the core reason for the collapse of Christandom and western civilisation?
When rules of decency only apply to one gender the other gender quickly gives up.
Max
30 Oct 12 at 9:04 pm
Fitzroy MacClean and other members of the LRDG wore shots and kicked six shades of shit out of the Nazi scum.
You take that back!
Abu Chowdah
30 Oct 12 at 9:12 pm
Max, how did the sentry know that the woman wasn’t pregnant, anemic or something? The changing of the guard isn’t sacred; the tomb is.
Yes, I like that idea.
C.L.
30 Oct 12 at 9:21 pm
So you admit it’s a theory?
Abu Chowdah
30 Oct 12 at 9:24 pm
“So, for Obama to then say what he did about aircraft carriers and submarines was simply smartassery that played well to know-nothings.”
It was smartassery, but that’s what the ridiculous complaint about ship numbers deserved. Obama was right, it’s about capacity, not numbers.
In 1916, the US had about 11% of the world’s naval strength. Today it has about 50%.
Jarrah
30 Oct 12 at 9:41 pm
Jarrah, that might be because the Royal Navy is now much, much smaller. You disingenuous lying twit.
perturbed
30 Oct 12 at 10:14 pm
Jarrah, stick to economics.
Token
30 Oct 12 at 10:16 pm
I could believe it of her character, certainly… I just couldn’t read her lips that way. Bad Lip Reading vids have taught me how easy it is to read BS in these situations, but even when I try – I just can’t read any of the suggestions people have posted (the lame positive ones included).
Fleeced
30 Oct 12 at 10:22 pm
The spectre gunship over Benghazi that could have protected the US embassy in Libya did NOT disobey orders when it was instructed to stand down. Strangely, now that order has been repudiated, and no one can be found willing to admit responsibility.
At the same time, guards at a memorial who DO disobey orders are touted as heros, and I have to think there’s a bit of a wrinkle in the chain of command showing up here. Not that I have a problem with individuals making up their own mind and doing what they believe in… just part of the eternal human challenge of figuring out the difference between right and wrong.
Tel
30 Oct 12 at 10:46 pm
Perturbed…also think of the Germans and Japanese.
.
30 Oct 12 at 10:55 pm
How did they manage to keep their caps on?
Entropy
30 Oct 12 at 10:56 pm
Tel, there are orders and then their are orders.
Unleashing a rain of death and destruction from a heavily armed aircraft in a foreign country and marching onto a parade ground in defiance of orders is a vastly different matter of degree and intent.
Pedro the Ignorant
30 Oct 12 at 11:03 pm
If you’ve never seen the changing of the guard at Arlington, definitely put it on your bucket list.
Dave in Texas (at Ace’s) had a post on it with a video this last Memorial Day. Worth clicking over to see.
The Obama administration may be completely without honor, but our military – and a large chunk of our ordinary citizenry – is not.
sdog
30 Oct 12 at 11:09 pm
http://youtu.be/YZdTSSQ4cks
Arlington Cemetery Changing of the Guard (Full Ceremony) (~10 min.)
sdog
30 Oct 12 at 11:11 pm
Jarrah is blowing it out thru his arse again
The Quadrennial Naval review recommended 340 ships with 315 odd being the bare minimum.
The are at 285. Reagan had a 600 ship fleet.
Obumma’s sequestration military cuts will go into effect on Jan 1st 2013 and within 5 years they be down to the low 200s and be quite incapable of projecting power across the world and protecting sea lanes across the world.
Jarrah = Leftist Dunce
JamesK
30 Oct 12 at 11:15 pm
That “COWARD” sign is going viral, both on the internet and in real life. I know at least one person who yesterday took the .pdf of it into a print shop and is having yard signs made of it for herself and her friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone puts it on a billboard.
The lapdog media can try all they want to control the narrative on this one, but I think it’s slipping away from them. Watch for them to get even more desperate.
sdog
30 Oct 12 at 11:46 pm
“Jarrah, that might be because the Royal Navy is now much, much smaller.”
Which in 1916, had 34% of the world’s naval strength.
The point stands. You can’t compare numbers and draw any conclusions whatsoever about the state of the navy.
“You disingenuous lying twit.”
LOL. You’ve got nothing, so out come the weird insults.
“The are at 285.”
Higher than under Bush.
“Reagan had a 600 ship fleet.”
So what? In 1945 they had 6,768.
“and be quite incapable of projecting power across the world”
What rot. You don’t have the foggiest idea about the subject.
Jarrah
31 Oct 12 at 12:23 am
Say what you like about McCain’s policies but never forget that he was tortured as a POW in Korea, and understands the military in a way that Obama never could. This war hero can see that Obama’s administration has broken faith with the military and he is incandescent with anger. It would never have happened on his watch.
Cold-Hands
31 Oct 12 at 12:28 am
Exactly right.
Lloyd
31 Oct 12 at 12:39 am
They cannot prevent that and it pleases me sdog. The sign speaks so powerfully.
After listening to Charles Woods I’m really angry that Ozero finds it alright to sacrifice strong young men for his nefarious purposes; and that the gutless generals did not act decisively for their own, or speak for them after they died, as they should.
We’ve just witnessed a vile little man get away with murder.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
31 Oct 12 at 12:40 am
McCain’s been out on the campaign trail for Romney, fronting at a lot of veterans’ & community events. You can’t spend much time with current or former members of the US military and their families without picking up their disappointment and anger, and McCain seems to be doing a good job of using his high profile to telegraph their concerns to the rest of the country.
Yes. He strikes me as a very polite well-mannered Vet with a very long fuse, the slow-to-anger kind of guy who lets a lot of things ride, but once he deems something important enough to get angry over? Look out.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 12:50 am
via Special Ops PAC
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 1:36 am
When President Obama called the Navy SEALs, they got bin Laden.
When the SEALs called Obama, they got denied.
When They Called
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 1:46 am
McCain may look like a doddering old fool, but he was certainly not a POW in Korea.
Scapula
31 Oct 12 at 2:23 am
Vietnam. I don’t know how I made that slip. He endured torture rather than hand the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.
Cold-Hands
31 Oct 12 at 2:25 am
[...] of links. Which say many things. One is a post from BLACKFIVE and the other is from Catallaxy Files. I have alluded to a couple of the points expressed here, and have intended to make a post of [...]
A Solder’s Perspective On Panetta’s Doctrine And Why It Is Wrong | suyts space
31 Oct 12 at 3:21 am
This is a non-post about a non-story. Since when is it noteworthy for GIs to successfully complete a mission?
Perhaps what is noteworthy is that they found Arlington. Their navigation skills must have improved since 40 years ago.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 5:58 am
Interesting how Jarrah backs the Rumsfeld doctrine when it comes to the navy. A plan put into place pre the rise of assertive naval warfare & the emergence of China as a blue water competitor.
Token
31 Oct 12 at 6:24 am
Oh look. It’s the perpetually-angry professional miserablist Numbers Dude. Still bitterly clinging to a brief period of his life 40 years ago when he was required to do something he didn’t especially want to do; gracing us with his presence in order to register his resentment that some honorable and dedicated servicemen are copping a bit of well-deserved praise and respect.
Who would have seen that coming?
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 7:00 am
Shut the fuck up, you rear echelon shitheel.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 7:07 am
@Abu Chowdah
“rear-echelon shitheel” – This is Australia – the term used here is POGO (personnel on garrison operations). My posting was rifleman……
You’re some kind of mug lair pseudo yank.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 7:25 am
Look out, Abu. He’s got patios and he’s not afraid to use them.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 7:30 am
@sdog
At least my patois is local. Your and your ilk are so ashamed of yourselves and your heritage that you have to resort to second hand yank trash talk. Go across the Pacific – I’ m tired of my tax dollar supporting your corrupt lifestyle. Get a job…..
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 7:41 am
You’re some kind of sad has been with his hand on his cock, mate.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 7:41 am
You’re a fuckwit. Your cheap and jealous denigration of the marines would be treated with contempt by any of the service men I know. Oxygen bandit.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 7:44 am
Jealous of the marines? You’ve got to be kidding. That’s where the jailbirds and dropouts finish up – most over rated mob in history. One digger is worth ten marines, and the cognitive capacity of the Marines I encountered rivalled many year three classes of my experience. Recall the phrase “Tell it to the Marines?”
That has its origin in Australian experience during WW2. You could tell them anything – sell them anything.
They probably stayed on post in Arlington because they needed someone to tell them it was raining…..
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 7:51 am
Pardon? “My ilk”? Born-in-America dual AUS-US citizens? “My heritage”? You know fucking nothing about my heritage.
You really are a fuckwit, aren’t you.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 7:53 am
A drop short mate of mine and I went to Arlington to pay our respects a few years ago.
I got in strife for smoking a durrie.
No probs I apologised and put it out, I didn’t realise it was a drama.
The way the guard marched though was something we Diggers smiled about.
They walk like sheilas on a catwalk, one foot directly in front of the other.
How they march like that without knackering themselves I just don’t know.
Just you try it!
I also doubt you’d never get any fair dinkum Digs to parade about 24/7 especially during a storm, they’d say they would , but some would be having a smoke somewhere looking out for the Boss.
All that said, a most sombre place and a constant reminder of the sacrifice endured by our best mates/allies over the years.
God bless the Yanks.
81Alpha
31 Oct 12 at 7:54 am
The Old Guard are not Marines, FWIW. Army 3rd IR.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 7:57 am
@81Alpha
The yanks (especially the Marines) have always been up themselves. sdog (if indeed he has dual citizenship – anything is possible) is a fine example.
I remember R&R in Bangkok in 1970 when another digger and I stayed in the Florida hotel with a bunch of yanks. They behaved like big kids and their ignorance of the world outside was mind blowing. Upside was that we didn’t ever pay for a beer.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 8:00 am
You are such a bullshitter, Patio Boy. It disgusts me that you were a teacher and probably poured that ignorant shit into untold Australian kiddies’ brains.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 8:01 am
You shitbird. The Marines distinguished themselves in Fallujah.
But you wouldn’t know that because you get your ideas from Oliver Stone movies. Fuck me dead, I can picture you in your motorized scooter doing your diabetes checks as you read the Drum to get your political opinions, imagining your time in nashos as a scene from Platoon. You spud peeling chalky arch-fellator.
Two of the blokes I work with right now were in SASR and one is still a sergeant in that outfit. I’ll have to ask him whether I used an approved term in describing you, above. I suspect he will suggest I use a different word, starting with C.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 8:03 am
Sorry sdog – not “were” – I’m still teaching.
Unlike many rigghtwingers I know, no student I’ve taught would have any idea of my politics. But that’s probably a concept that your reptillian brain is unable to grasp.
Don’t worry about it. Go out and get a job……
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 8:04 am
How ironic!
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 8:04 am
sdog is right. You really betrayed your ignorance of the military with that lie. I now suspect you never served, you fucking fraud.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 8:08 am
Wow – abu chowdah actually works and – really truly – someone he works with actually has some time up. That’s probably as close as he’ll ever get to the reality of service, but this somehow qualifies him as an expert on matters military and allows him to put sh*t on ex-service personnel.
Typical of the keyboard warriors who post here – wankers all…..
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 8:10 am
You spud peeling lowrent turd. Never liked them but used them for their generosity. You deserve a good clip over the ears.
JC
31 Oct 12 at 8:11 am
@abu chowdah
My father also served (RAAF New Guinea) and like many Aussies of the time understood well the origin of the phrase. You need to Google “Battle of Brisbane” – you might learn something.
BTW – my service is verifiable on the Vietnam nominal roll – but you’re probably too thick to figure out to use it.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 8:14 am
It’s not just your politics that are trash – it’s your general knowledge base.
It fucking does not.
If you’re making shit up and then shopping it around to kiddies as “fact,” whatever your motivation for doing so, that’s just a disgrace.
Patio Boy.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 8:17 am
The phrase was originally attributed to the UK Marines (they were also characteristically thick) but through common usuage was applied to the yanks (over paid, over sexed, and over here) during WW2. I suggest you check it out with any surviving WW2 veterans who served in the Pacific theatre.
“kiddies” are goats. I work with students.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 8:27 am
I also work with students. And given the poor analytical skills, fallacious reasoning and sheer unmitigated stupidity you consistently display here and elsewhere I am in no doubt that you should not even be permitted to teach goats.
Megan
31 Oct 12 at 8:45 am
Typically, our progressive friend makes merry with the truth.
lotocoti
31 Oct 12 at 8:49 am
Sorry Megan
I’ve been teaching since 1968. I reckon I’d have a better idea of “analytical skills” etc than most of the half wits posting here.
Most of has all the intellectual rigor of year nines texting whilst hiding in the school dunnies…..
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 8:52 am
You should stop. You’ve demonstrated countless times that you are no good at it. Despite 44 years of practice.
Megan
31 Oct 12 at 9:10 am
Dunning-Kruger. It’s not just for breakfast anymore.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 9:14 am
You fucking disgust me Numbers. You claim frontline service to this country, and yet you put down the serving men and women of our armed forces (and those of other nations) constantly.
The only frontline you ever saw was footage from wartime documentaries, and you still pissed yourself in fear during those…
Crawl back under your rock and die, you fucking miserable spud-peeler.
Brian of Moorabbin
31 Oct 12 at 9:15 am
So dim-witted there’s not even a scintilla of insight
JamesK
31 Oct 12 at 9:19 am
Yeah they really kicked arse in Fallujah. Oh wait…
Thanks to the girlymen leading the ADF these days, diggers are kept well away from any danger.
jupes
31 Oct 12 at 9:35 am
NUMBERS would surely attract the interest of the group that roots out faux “veterans” from the RSL and other service organisations.
James of the Glens
31 Oct 12 at 9:44 am
Facebook Censors Navy SEALS to Protect Obama on Benghazi-Gate
I mentioned this when it happened, over on the old Open Forum, but now Breitbart’s picked it up and I think we can expect it to get a bit more traction.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 9:49 am
ANZMI is the group, Australian and New Zealand Military Imposters. These good people are quite efficient at exposing the frauds who use little devices like NUMBERS to imply service, now mostly in Vietnam.
Where they are in person, the frauds will often coyly and oh so modestly claim they still are not allowed talk about their frightfully covert operations.
James of the Glens
31 Oct 12 at 9:59 am
Whereas amazingly, those who have honorably served and have been discouraged from talking about their service… actually don’t tend to talk about their service.
It’s funny how that works.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 10:05 am
Well said Megan. I really do worry about the children that the state has trusted to the bitter old homophobe’s care.
Token
31 Oct 12 at 10:11 am
Anyone with a better idea of analytical skills wouldn’t write such tosh as:
the ruthless efficiency developed by the Americans after years of practice in a wide range of conflicts.
lotocoti
31 Oct 12 at 10:21 am
He also is a victim of the Stockholm syndrome. Libertarians who may have been anti war, pragmatically pro war or conservatives cop his ire, the left wing traitors like Lee Rhiannon who copped $$$ from the Soviet Union and spat of veterans as they arrived home – are now his kin.
What a poor, miserable son of a bitch. I almost feel sorry for him. He also happened to serve in 1966-1968.
What a load of crap. They are an elite unit, and have been sinc before WWII (grenadier gaurds, frgomen, commandos, brigade level amphibious force etc). You’re a lying sack of crap.
What a load of crap. You reckon they’re stuck up? They’ve never had a five star rank. Please tell us how an expeditionary force can operate with its ranks and command full of drop outs and criminal scum.
You’re a rambling deadshit, numbers.
I’m just a civilian and even I can tell you’re full of shit.
.
31 Oct 12 at 10:37 am
Aaaaaand… the former Pacific Fleet chief weighs in:
“In a blistering column at The Washington Times, the former commander blasts the lack of action from the US when the administration learned our consulate in Benghazi had come under attack, writing that ‘courage was lacking’ that might have saved at least some of the four American lives lost on September 11.”
Hi, lapdogs. This is not going away!
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 10:44 am
@ James of the Glens
Go for it Jemes – if you are claiming that I’m a fraud – put your money where your mouth is and refer me to ANZMI.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 11:16 am
Quite so Dot, well said.
Don’t attribute to Bob numbers quite so much vast experience though. He was in Vietnam as a National Service conscript for much less than a year in 1970. The Prime Minister early that year announced Australia was withdrawing and that was well under way then (same with the US troops). The significant engagements had occurred years before.
A 20 odd year old back then was flat out knowing where Asia was, let alone Vietnam, and was ill equipped to form a well substantiated view. A 20 odd year old from Queensland was even further behind the eight ball – the education level here was way behind the southern states and that remained so for decades more because the quality of teachers was simply woeful. One can see why, given numbers’ claim to have been a brave warrior teacher who selflessly gave his life to the children.
As you point out the surly old fool is infected with contradiction, evident throughout his self serving myth making. This one is the type his contemporaries avoid.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
31 Oct 12 at 11:16 am
Well Numbers I can actually understand your rant against the Yanks….of that period.
Now is a completely different matter.
The Yanks have been well and truly re-invented in the past decade or two and have aquitted themselves very well.
You do yourself a dis-service to tar them with a very old brush.
The fact that you were a rifleman in SVN doesn’t exclude you from being a dead set knobber though.
I know dozens of SVN Vets and the fact that they are Vets does not naturally make them good blokes or indeed wise and worthy of respect.
A couple I wouldn’t piss on.
Others are fair dinkum gents.
How you support the side of politics that you fought against says more about your warped reasoning than anything else.
81Alpha out.
81Alpha
31 Oct 12 at 11:33 am
@Mick (of Little Baghdad on the Nerang – whiteshoe capital of Australia – where spivs and mug lairs reside).
You wouldn’t have a bloody clue.
I was 23 when I arrived in Vietnam, having been deferred for 2 years because I was at Uni. By the time I got there I’d read everything available on the war and it’s history. I knew what was going on, and history has proved me correct. Vietnam is prosperous now and peaceful. Most of the population has no knowledge of war. In 1970, they had no knowledge of peace. A lily livered coalition government sent 500 young Australians to their deaths on a lie, and dropped the rest like hot potatoes when it was over. Lest we forget.
@81 Alpha
I vote Green, not Labor, because they are the party which has a value set closest to my own. Better a philosphy of compassion and hope than a mantra that thrives on fear and bigotry. Labor has moved too far to the right for my liking.
I wouldn’t touch the Coalition with a bargepole. They are the party of tax dodgers, materialist leaches and vested interest. They will destroy this country if they get into power.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 2:04 pm
Still here, knob gobbler?
You have no respect for yourself, your country and those who serve. Arsehole.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 2:45 pm
Well a Green is worse so like I said mate, you vote Red, you fly your flag with the enemy.
All that life experience has taught you little.
All that sacrifice in SVN and you piss on their graves with smarmy 20:20 revisionist hindsight.
But you are entitled to your opinion whilst your totalitarian commo mates don’t have things all their own way.
Imagine a grown man voting with the Greens….unbelievably gullible and naive.
You are stereotypical of what’s wrong with our teaching culture at present.
But at least you work and don’t claim TPI for PTSD.
So you get one point out of 100 for that.
Two for the fact you served as a grunt.
Other than that…………..
81Alpha
31 Oct 12 at 2:50 pm
Why is it that Vietnam veterans are the only returned servicemen who boast about their ‘tours’ (usually a year or less), expect people to feel sorry for them and demand a special hearing on all topics based on their service? I’m reminded of that idiot who likes to tell everyone he’s a Vietnam veteran and wants his gay son to be allowed to ‘marry.’ The answer seems to be that they’ve watched just enough television to know they have to ‘scarred’ and “still angry with Uncle Sam” to be afforded some sympathy.
C.L.
31 Oct 12 at 3:02 pm
@CL
Once again, you’re stereotyping. Vietnam vets are no more likely to “boast” about their service than any other group of veterans. They do, however, have to contend with the experience of being largely shunned for 15 years after the withdrawal in 1972.
It took 15 years for them to be recognised, and for many, that was far too late. The disregard of this group (despite the myths promoted here) traversed the political spectrum.
In my case, references to my service only come up when it’s used as a form of abuse. I reserve the right to defend the fact. If I agreed with the whimsical crap posted here, I’d be everyone’s mate.
My tag is my business. I didn’t ask for – but reserve the right to use it.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 3:58 pm
You dissembling fucktard. You reference your service EVERY time you post,it is your handle f’fuxache.
You then complain about being abused for it, then state that you reserve the right to use it.
You are borderline deranged.
Huckleberry Chunkwot
31 Oct 12 at 4:34 pm
Wow, so tolerant.
.
31 Oct 12 at 4:41 pm
That hasn’t been my experience, though perhaps they’ve been pushed to reclaim something they were initially conditioned to suppress.
Was that worse than the Bataan Death March?
Thank the left for that. Not only was it the left that hated Vietnam veterans, it was the left that invented the cultural stereotype of the embittered, broken men who ended up hating their own side. They did that because only broken, embittered, fractious veterans were acceptable to them. ‘First, hate your service, then we’ll give you some sugar.’
I haven’t mentioned your moniker.
I thank you for your service to the country.
God bless you.
C.L.
31 Oct 12 at 4:45 pm
Oh no, the tiresome little numerical twerp is still going…a one trick pony, bleating inanities that he thinks justifies the Uluru-sized chip on his shoulder. In regards to his never-ending references to his military service, he is the poster boy for empty vessels making the most sound.
Megan
31 Oct 12 at 4:51 pm
Numbers
Honest question.
Are you the whiny fucker that keeps bobbing up with his similarly whiny looking kid on various ABC programs announcing he’s a Vietnam Vet and wants his son to be able to marry another bloke?
JC
31 Oct 12 at 4:53 pm
@Huckleberry whatever
Go back through this topic.
I made an oblique reference to 40 years ago in the context of a non-post about a non-story. sdog was the first to reference my service (as a form of insult) and the other sheep join in.
What’s abundantly clear is that the dissonance caused in the narrow minds of the usual suspects posting here by my tag and service is too much to bear, and they go off like prawns in the sun.
In a few short posts I’m called a fraud, abused in the foulest terms, and the point I made (that the guard is hardly remarkable and has nothing to do with the POTUS) has gone through to the keeper.
You really need to take a good look at yourselves.
You’re setting the cause of Libertarianism in Australia (an oxymoron, BTW if you look at our history) back each time you do it.
Any fair-minded individual would be in hysterics.
It’s good entertainment on a sunny drive down the Balonne…..
Remind me to tell you some time why I have such a dim view of yank navigational skills.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 4:59 pm
Not everyone is abusing you, Numerals.
I’m loyal to Australian military traditions, not American ones.
Incidentally, here’s how the changing of the guard takes place at the Australian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier…
Noisily:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1xbBme8OoY
We don’t do carpet-creeping.
C.L.
31 Oct 12 at 5:07 pm
Your activity on this and other blogs is well known. You wear your service history like a battle flag and as noted defend the idiocy of the left, while failing to realize it was the left that ostracized and demonized vets. You are a well known idiot, hypocrite and baby. Fuck off.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 5:13 pm
Thanks for that, CL. It’s hard not to get a lump in the throat watching that or hearing the Last Post and Reveille.
dover_beach
31 Oct 12 at 5:27 pm
it was the left that ostracized and demonized vets
How about an apology from Gillard for that travesty?
Dead Soul
31 Oct 12 at 5:29 pm
@abu chowdah
“the left that ostracised…..”
And you were old enough to remember the early seventies in Australia?
The abandonment of Vietnam vets was bipartisan. I copped as much sh*t from the Young Libs at U of Q in 1972 -75 as I did from the socialist left. The difference was that post 1975 the Young Libs called us “losers” – the socialists “baby killers”. Neither was true. We were disciplined and treated the locals well – much better than the septics, and Phuoc Tuy was largely secure when we left.
Go to Vietnam and speak to surviving members of D445 battalion (the old enemy) and listen to them remember the diggers as “honourable soldiers” and spit when asked about the GIs . On one of my trips back I had an old soldier say “You Uc Da Lois were good soldiers, but you were fighting on the wrong side. If you had been with us, we would have had the Americans out 10 years earlier.”
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 5:40 pm
Ever notice how lefties are obsessed with talking about themselves.
Gab
31 Oct 12 at 5:42 pm
Gawdalmighty. Is numbers dude still blathering on about his stint in Vietnam?
Obsessive isn’t the word. See a shrink, you silly old fool.
Pedro the Ignorant
31 Oct 12 at 7:15 pm
Yes.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 7:16 pm
I’m loyal to Australia, full stop. But I see nothing disloyal in acknowledging the efforts of our allies.
Abu Chowdah
31 Oct 12 at 7:19 pm
But I see nothing disloyal in acknowledging the efforts of our allies.
Couple of weeks ago I watched a series on the Pacific War. At Leyte Gulf, because Halsey fell for a decoy and went off chasing Japanese carriers, a large Japanese flleet slipped through and was heading straight towards the invasion force, which had “jeep carriers” and destroyers only, whereas the Japanese had a couple of battleships, cruisers and many destroyers.
The invasion force had no choice but to turn and run yet had no chance of out running the Japanese fleet. So one destroyer captain broke from the fleet, without orders, and launched a torpedo attack on the approaching fleet, with the other destroyers following shortly thereafter and kept the Jap fleet engaged for as long as they could. The yank destroyers had no chance but their sheer guts preventing the invasion force being wiped out. And Halsey, rightly so, got his ass kicked. Incredible courage by those destroyer crews. Reminds me of what my father said about the “yanks”: great pilots, brave soldiers.
Dead Soul
31 Oct 12 at 7:30 pm
@Pedro the Ignorant
The tag says it all……
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 7:40 pm
Gentlepeople – if you are going to insist on exchanging unpleasantries could you at least attempt to have amusing or witty comments as opposed to what we have above?
Just a thought.
Sinclair Davidson
31 Oct 12 at 8:02 pm
Right. But I don’t like people going overboard about the Americans or the Marines. Our special forces could eat them for breakfast. The USMC is heavily into itself.
As the undertaker said to the Godfather, I love America. But as flashy and glamorous as their ways are, they’re not our ways. Frankly, I find the carpet creeping and yelling at citizens at Arlington kind of stupid. They should also not be wearing aviators with peaked caps. They look like the fucking Village People.
But respect? I have it in spades for the US GI – an instrument of God’s will.
C.L.
31 Oct 12 at 8:29 pm
Numbers is a serial offender and deserves whatever humourless crap splatters all over him from the fan base.
blogstrop
31 Oct 12 at 8:30 pm
“Trash talk” is, of course, American slang.
wreckage
31 Oct 12 at 8:37 pm
It was a tragedy. There are no words to describe it.
No, it did not.
wreckage
31 Oct 12 at 8:42 pm
blogstrop – Conscripts with sense of entitlement were a dime a dozen in the old country. So maybe I have different expectations.
Sinclair Davidson
31 Oct 12 at 8:43 pm
“Conscripts with a sense of entitlement”
Sounds like Sinc is a Pom. No wonder he has such a fundamental misunderstanding of the Australian psyche. Australians have never been inclined to kowtow to authority – conscription has never been tolerated here. Ask Billy Hughes’ ghost.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 9:02 pm
um … No.
Sinclair Davidson
31 Oct 12 at 9:03 pm
LOL Please! Canberra press gallery. ABC. Fairfax. The public in general that expect the “government to fix” obesity, smoking, gambling, bike riding, releasing too may balloons, fishing…
Gab
31 Oct 12 at 9:05 pm
drinking
Gab
31 Oct 12 at 9:05 pm
And yet you seem to have been conscripted yourself and served in Viet Nam.
Sinclair Davidson
31 Oct 12 at 9:06 pm
Why is it a bad thing to respect the traditions of another country?
I’m sure if the Left showed Numbers more respect when he returned from his service to this country he’d not be such a bitter man.
Token
31 Oct 12 at 9:15 pm
Access to recorded history is a bugger, when the re-write doesn’t sound quite right, eh?
… “Wartime”, the Official Magazine of the Australian War Memorial, Issue 45, pages 10-13.
… from a Cairns RSL account. I’m guessing that’d be the “bipartisan abandonment” bit, the speech by PM John Gorton.
Have a look at proud 8RAR fellows marching through Brisbane in November 1970 (http://vrroom.naa.gov.au/print/?ID=tcm:11-24186) and you will see the things my eyes saw first hand in the mid ’60′s to ’70s.
The scene in that marvelous photo was also described thus:
Mick Gold Coast QLD
31 Oct 12 at 9:46 pm
If it was a non-post and non-story then why did you bother posting about it at all? Because you needed to make it all about you, as you do on every single occasion I have had the misfortune to come across your obnoxious blog droppings.
Your experiences 40 years ago, no matter how obliquely referenced, have totally nothing whatsoever, in any way shape or form, to do with the dedication to duty that the members of the “Old Guard” demonstrated in this story. They have more integrity in their little fingers than you have in one full stop on your computer.
Soldiers who are committed to their countries and understand loyalty, dedication to duty and devotion to the fallen clearly frighten the living daylights out of you since you have none of these qualities. Lashing out as you do indicates you are fully aware of your multiple failings. As a soldier AND a human being.
Megan
31 Oct 12 at 10:00 pm
@Megan
The obsequious tone of the original post, and its partisan nature is completely at odds with any concept of duty or loyalty.
Using soldiers as political collateral prostitutes their sacrifice.
Conscription forces soldiers to fight for themselves and each other, and denies them the option to fight for their country.
Given the preaching arrogance demonstrated in your post, I doubt your capacity to understand any of this, and frankly, I couldn’t care less.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 10:29 pm
@Mick etc.
Suggest you read “Fighting to the Finish” – the last account of the official AWM history to understand Gorton’s private misgivings about Vietnam and the manner of our withdrawal. Many diggers died because the armour was brought home early – to make a political point.
These decisions – to expose infantry to bunker assaults without adequate support – was one of many examples of soldiers lives sacrificed to political expediency.
It was criminal – and one of the reasons why the Coalition wanted to forget Vietnam in a hurry.
And whilst you’re waxing lyrical about welcomes, I remember arriving in Sydney at 3am in civvies and being told by a taxi driver to “get f**cked” when I asked him to drive me to a motel out of his sector.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 10:43 pm
Damn shame it was. Would have saved us from having to hear you banging on about it for the rest of your days.
We thank you for your service, sir. Now take a holiday involving sex and travel.
Infidel Tiger
31 Oct 12 at 10:48 pm
Really? He didn’t just jack up the rate sky high, as is standard?
.
31 Oct 12 at 10:49 pm
p.s This might be the stupidest statement ever made at Catallaxy:
Fucking craack up! We’re the world’s most repugnant nanny state.
Infidel Tiger
31 Oct 12 at 10:49 pm
@Infidel Tiger
Rock up to the nearest US embassy and apply for citizenship.
You and the septics deserve each other….
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 10:53 pm
…declares the attention-whore who uses his military service number on every blog comment in a ham-fisted attempt to give his highly partisan and frequently stupid political comments additional authority.
No one is talking about conscripted soldiers except you. Nobody here is arguing in favor of conscription. All of these dedicated, brave and honorable servicemen we are discussing here in this post are proud volunteers.
You seriously need to get over yourself, Patio Boy. Stop living in the past. For less than one year of your long life, you were asked by your government to serve your country overseas, and to your credit you did so. But for some reason, unhappy as you were about serving, you chose to make those 100 days the singular defining moment of your entire life… and now 40 years on you’re still a miserable hate-deranged grievance-nurturing bore, trashing anyone who’s made a better job of their given circumstances than you.
What a waste of a life.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 10:53 pm
Right. But I don’t like people going overboard about the Americans or the Marines. Our special forces could eat them for breakfast. The USMC is heavily into itself.
I’ll take the words of people who fought with them thank you. Our special forces could eat them for breakfast. Bollocks. A close contest perhaps but that claim is just rubbish.
Dead Soul
31 Oct 12 at 10:58 pm
Oh. I thought he used his military service number so people would feel sorry for him.
Gab
31 Oct 12 at 10:58 pm
@sdog
Appreciate your concern, but my circumstances are very tolerable. I have nothing to “get over” unlike those here who blather endlessly (when they’re not pissing in each others pockets) about how poorly they’re treated by the world in general and their democratically elected government in particular.
1735099
31 Oct 12 at 11:02 pm
All I know is that he’s morphed into (or maybe he always was) the exact same kind of dishonorable military-hating freak who spit on returning Vietnam vets. I bet no-one ever spit the kind of venom at him that he’s spent the past 40 years spitting at those who choose to serve honorably.
sdog
31 Oct 12 at 11:08 pm
Don’t kowtow to authority, but don’t criticise your ordained leaders, either.
wreckage
1 Nov 12 at 9:18 am