Argghhh!

Today marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Midway. I've covered Midway before , and the Navy has a good website on Midway , as one would hope and expect. Today at the Castle, our Midway focus is on a warrior whose actions this day and the next in 1942 earned him the Medal of Honor - Richard Fleming, Captain, USMCR. *FLEMING, RICHARD E. Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 2 November 1917, St. Paul, Minn. Appointed from: Minnesota. Citation: For extraordinary...

The post is under my name, but I am not the author, except for the intro and coda. For the nonce, the author prefers to remain anonymous. I've already said what I think - I don't like optional wars, and I really don't like optional wars that you seemingly stumble into, flailing for an anchor. Wars never end up as they are envisioned, and when you start killing people without a clear purpose and end-state in mind - and the willingness and wherewithal to carry it out... then you just shouldn't...

Ta-daaaa! Neffi was mostly correct, and PrimEvil was exactly correct. The Steyr-Mannlicher M1905 automatic pistol. One of the earliest players in the game.Ooops. Scene-stealer.Here. This one is better.This is one of the 6000 pistols made for the Argentine Army contract. If Damncat's head wasn't in the way, you could see where the Argentine crest was ground off the pistol when they were surplused out. Older Argentine weapons have their crests ground off because some surplus rifles ended up...

Anyone who is following (or just heard about) Mike Yon's relentless yapping and nipping at the heels of Soldier's Angels, and are wondering to yourself, "Surely there must be more to the story, and some heft ... whyever would such a seasoned and renowned journalist such as Mike Yon turn into an attack rat?" This is why. Because... in the final analysis, Mike Yon is a seriously damaged narcissist, who just can't handle being caught out in a lie. Here is an excerpt from Greyhawk's...

There are fourteen Medals awarded for actions on this day, spanning from the Civil War to Vietnam - but skipping WWI, WWII, and Korea, which is kind of interesting.

We start with the Civil War, and 23 Medals for the Battle of the Crater (warning - turn your sound down, annoying music). , plus two others for other fights. There are two more Medals for actions at The Crater, which were awarded for multiple actions. I will list those on the day of the last action the Medal was issued for. The Civil War has several battles where a large number of Medals are awarded - because not only was the Medal new (it was established in 1863) it was the *only* award of it's...

Uneasy neighbors. FN-built Israeli Mauser in 7.62mm and a Syrian Serb-built M48 in 7.9mm. You can guess which is which...

Jim Dunnigan thinks so. What does the assembled commentariat think? I admit I have a bias in this which leads me to nod approvingly, as it meshes with my professional experience and study. Other's mileage may vary, alternate views are welcome!by James DunniganMay 10, 2011In Libya, NATO (mainly French and British) fighter-bomber pilots are learning a hard lesson about how effective ground troops can be at hiding themselves from air attack. The Libyan forces have quickly adapted to an enemy that...