#Fort McCoy

[earthlings1997]

Fort McCoy Commander Sheyla Baez Ramirez Suspended After Trump, Vance, Hegseth Pics Removed from Command Board

The recent suspension of Colonel Sheyla Baez Ramirez from her role as the garrison commander of Fort McCoy in Wisconsin has stirred nationwide attention and discussion. This development follows an incident involving the removal—or failure to display—official photos of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on the base’s command board, a standard…

[egonkula]

oh something was going down at the academy and it sure as hell wasn’t friendship

[liminalmemories21]

74! “You're in danger.”

@cecilyv's comment about my attempts to foil the squirrels in my yard today - "that is a sisyphisian task" (spoiler, I lost to the squirrel today)

“You're in danger.” (time stamp - future fic for Kobayashi Maru)

“You are in so much danger,” is the first thing Tommy hears when he wakes up.  Which would be alarming, if he didn’t know Evan was talking to the squirrel on the birdfeeder outside their bedroom window.

Evan’s been waging a war against the squirrel since – well, since long before Tommy actually officially moved into this house.  More or less since he installed the bird feeder.

So far the squirrel is winning.  Easily.  It’s not even a fair fight.

It’s like Evan is Red Sox nation, pre-2004.  Evan 0: Squirrel about a million.

He pushes himself up in bed to observe the latest carnage.  Evan is standing, gloriously naked, hands on his hips, glaring at the squirrel out the window.  The squirrel is carefully perched on the edge of the birdfeeder happily munching away, utterly unconcerned about the imprecations Evan is muttering.  Probably because he knows he’s faster than Evan is.

So far Evan’s tried greasing the pole holding up the bird feeder, changing the bird feeder - twice, coating the sunflower seeds in chili oil, adding cayenne to the mix, adding a baffle to try and thwart the squirrel, adding two baffles, adding spikes.  They’ve never caught the squirrel in the act of getting onto the bird feeder, but he is indisputably there eating the seeds almost every time they look out the window.

Personally Tommy doesn’t care all that much.  But Evan wants to look at the birds.  Hear them chirping.  Hates the squirrel with the kind of passion the Hatfields had for the McCoys.

“Come back to bed?” he says hopefully.  It’s a Wednesday morning.  Neither one of them are on shift.  He can think of other things they could be doing that don’t involve feuds with rodents.  Naked things.  

“The squirrel ate all the birdseed,” Evan says, not turning around.

“Can I persuade you to care about that later?” he asks.  “I promise I will help build a fucking fort around the bird feeder later, if you come back to bed now.”

Evan turns around, lazily eyes what Tommy’s got on offer.  He doesn’t bother trying not to feel smug about the appreciation in Evan’s look.  “I like that offer.”  Turns back to the window for a second to bang on it fruitlessly – the squirrel doesn’t even look up – wags a finger. “You, later.”  Turns back to Tommy, crawling up the bed.  “You, now.”

[saywhat-politics]

The Army suspended a female commander stationed in Wisconsin after portraits of President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were found flipped around. The Army now says the suspension was not related to the incident.

The Army said in a statement Saturday that Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez, the base’s first female commander, had been “suspended” as Garrison Commander at Fort McCoy, Wis.

On April 14, the Department of Defense shared a post on the social platform X showcasing a photo of the wall of the chain of command where Trump, Hegseth and Vice President Vance’s photos were turned around to face a wall.

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of The Giggle - Part One

Excerpt from DWM 599 - Benjamin Cook's interview with David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa:

Typical. You wait ages for a Doctor to come along, then two turn up at once. It’s 22 June 2022 – so many twos! – and I’m seeing double. I’m in the captivating company of not one, but two Time Lords: Ncuti Gatwa and David Tennant. (It’s really, really them! Completely them.) We’re sat in the shadow of the enormous UNIT helipad set at Wolf Studios, on which the Doctors have been busy bi-generating. I’ve nabbed them during a recording break – on The Giggle, the third and most extravagant of Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary Specials. But reports of a bigger budget might have been exaggerated. Money must be tight, because David and Ncuti appear to be… sharing a costume?! It’s a twist worthy of one of the Toymaker’s games. Who got the better deal, do you think? Ncuti got the shirt and tie, socks and Converse, and underpants, but no trousers. (DWM has never interviewed a Doctor in his pants before. Wish us luck.) David is wearing the trousers and – who knew? – the Doctor’s under-shirt. He also got the waistcoat, but he’s shoeless. (DWM has never interviewed a barefooted Doctor before either. WikiFeet will lose its mind.) Before we know it, the two Doctors will be called back to the helipad. So let’s ask them some questions – quick! – before they finish bi-generating. Right now, they’re still cooking. They’re fizzing with residual bi-generation energy. (Try saying that when you’re drunk.) DWM has got ’em while they’re hot. Well, relaxing on canvas chairs in the Cardiff sunshine. Now, someone tell me what the hell is going on here… DWM: Hi Ncuti, hi David. You’re members of a very exclusive club – only 14 actors have played the lead in this show. But a surprising number of you are Scottish. What makes Scots such great Doctors? Ncuti: “The madness.” David: “The chippiness.” Ncuti: “Chippiness, ha. And we’re always up for an adventure. Heh heh. Why is it, though? It’s true, there’s been a lot of Scottish Doctors.” David: “What is the ratio?” Ncuti: “Four. There’s four. Mm. Four out of fourteen. Fifteen?” David: “Yeah, how many Doctors are we now saying there are, ’cos some extra ones have joined the gang. John Hurt. Jo [Martin].” Ncuti: “Which are the Scottish ones? Sylvester McCoy. Peter Capaldi. David and me. Lots of Scots. Yeah, we’re doing pretty well.” David: “We’re punching above our weight.” Ncuti: “We’re just trying to hold down the fort, for the Scots.”

I'll post additional parts in the coming months with the  #whoBtsGiggle tag. The full episode list is [ here ]

[probablyasocialecologist]

Since the Portuguese empire clung to the coasts instead of moving inland to colonize territory, it needed to develop a fluid state for governance of its global archipelago of fortified enclaves. To manage some twenty feitorias on the coast of India alone, the crown appointed a viceroy who, after 1530, would rule that country’s Estado da India (State of India) from a capital at Goa lined with impressive stone structures that had the look of Iberia in Asia. That enclave would also serve as headquarters for a Portuguese community scattered across Asia that eventually grew to some fourteen thousand, half of them Catholic clerics and the rest officials, soldiers, and merchants. This geopolitical array of forts linked by fleets proved reasonably capable of absorbing attacks by massed Asian levies—repelling assaults from stone ramparts, drawing support from nearby ports, and evacuating safely if necessary. The result: an imperial juggernaut that allowed the Portuguese to dominate the vast Indian Ocean with a few dozen ships and several thousand soldiers, neutralizing more powerful Asian monarchs whose enormous land armies were drawn from a vast Indian subcontinent with 150 million people.

Alfred W. McCoy, To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change

[justforbooks]

Rick Derringer

Guitarist and singer who featured on Hang on Sloopy by the McCoys, and went on to collaborate with top artists including Bonnie Tyler and Steely Dan

As a member of the American band the McCoys, the guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer Rick Derringer, who has died aged 77, scored a US No 1 hit with the 1965 single Hang on Sloopy, which also made it to No 5 in the UK. Later he went on to record and perform with some of the most famous names in the music industry over a career spanning six decades.

Hang on Sloopy, with Derringer on vocals, was not the McCoys’ own song; written by Wes Farrell and Bert Berns, it had first been recorded the year before by the Los Angeles soul vocal group Vibrations, and had largely gone unnoticed, although it quickly became a favourite of US garage rock bands of the era. The McCoys’ version made the song popular across the world, and they went on to have a another Top 10 hit in the US with a cover of Fever, written by Eddie Cooley and John Davenport, and a Top 40 interpretation of Come on, Let’s Go, written by Ritchie Valens.

However, two subsequent psychedelic albums failed to build on the popularity of those singles, and when the group disbanded in 1969, Derringer joined the blues guitarist Johnny Winter to play on Johnny Winter And (1970) and Live Winter And (1971). He also recorded with Johnny’s younger brother, Edgar Winter, producing the hit singles Frankenstein (1973) and Free Ride (1973), among others.

That work gained him a strong reputation as a guitarist and producer, and he subsequently worked with Alice Cooper and Todd Rundgren, played slide guitar on the Steely Dan single Show Biz Kids (1973), and a guitar solo on the song Chain Lightning, on their Katy Lied album (1975).

He also worked with Bonnie Tyler, Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf, and in 1986 Cyndi Lauper called on him to provide guitar work for two tracks on her album True Colors. Another powerhouse vocalist, Barbra Streisand, featured him as lead guitar player on her single Left in the Dark (1984), and he played on Air Supply’s Making Love Out of Nothing at All (1983) as well as Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983). In addition he toured three times with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr band, and played in a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York with Paul McCartney to celebrate Starr’s 70th birthday in 2010.

Derringer was born Richard Zehringer in Celina in Ohio, the son of John, a railway worker, and his wife, Janice (nee Thornburg), and grew up in Fort Recovery, Ohio. His family moved to Union City, Indiana, when he was in his early teens, and it was there that he began his music career in 1962, forming Rick and the Raiders with his brother Randy on drums and Dennis Kelly on bass. With expansion and personnel changes, they eventually became the McCoys, and following the success of Hang On Sloopy, Derringer also changed his name – in order, he said, to make it easier to pronounce and remember.

Derringer’s first solo album, All American Boy (1973), featured his composition Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo, which has become a classic of rock radio. The track was released as a single that peaked at No 23 on the US charts, and is featured on the soundtracks of Richard Linklater’s movie Dazed and Confused (1993) and in season four of the Netflix series Stranger Things (2022).

Subsequent solo albums were not commercially successful, but the list of artists that Derringer worked with in the 80s read like a Who’s Who of popular recording acts of the era.

Two of his more left-field collaborations came as producer of the first six albums for the comedy musician Weird Al Yankovic and of two albums of music in conjunction with the World Wrestling Federation, The Wrestling Album (1985) and Piledriver: The Wrestling Album II (1987), both featuring the theme music of various wrestlers. His song Real American was the theme for the tag team US Express and subsequently for Hulk Hogan, and in 2011 President Barack Obama used that tune as walk-on music at the White House correspondents’ dinner while his birth certificate was displayed on a video screen; an irony given that Derringer was a Donald Trump supporter.

With his third wife, Jenda Hall, Derringer later recorded four Christian-themed albums. Two earlier marriages, to the journalist Liz Agriss and then to the singer and percussionist Dyan Buckelew, ended in divorce.

He is survived by Jenda and a daughter, Mallory, from his second marriage.

🔔 Richard Dean Derringer (Zehringer), musician, born 5 August 1947; died 26 May 2025

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[eraserdude6226]

Same thing that Cuba did during the early 80's. The administrations ever then - they sent them to National Guard training camps all over the US to be processed. The unit I was attached to at the time rotated in and out of Fort/Camp McCoy in Wisconsin to secure them.

Maybe this is the answer again!!

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Webcomic Chapter 145 Review

Another Sunday, another review. At this rate, I may just about catch up on my OPM reviews by September! Anyway, it's been a while, so the summary is going to be a bit detailed.

Summary

Cast your mind back a little bit (if you're a lucky lately-come reader reading the story in one session) or a lot bit (if you've been following it chapter-by-chapter). Back then, the three Machine Gods sent to assassinate Dr Kuseno told Genos that the Plan would be happening at the breaking of dawn. Why do I bring your attention to this? Because as this chapter shows, not long has passed since.

We open to a page on which the headquarters of the Hero Association and the Neo Heroes are juxtaposed. While the Hero Association has no idea of what is happening in all the cities under attack owing to the communications going down -- and something else has come to their attentions that looks even more dire -- over at Neo Hero HQ, all is in hand. The first attack has been 'allowed', the Neo Hero teams have been deployed, and it's just a matter of time before the source of the robots is found.

McCoy is shaking with horror. He's all for stunts, but faced with such widespread catastrophe, can't the pro-heroes be given battle suits so they too can fight effectively, instead of being targets?

The answer he receives is even more chilling, as the team overseeing efforts shuts him down in no uncertain terms, asking him to focus and not feel nostalgia for the HA. They also refuse to deploy the S-Class heroes in the Neo Heroes, with Metal Bat still in custody, Super Alloy Darkshine clueless, and Child Emperor deemed too hard to control.

Speaking of Child Emperor, shall we check in on our boy hero? We find him giving a resume of what's happened to date. He's reprising his role in the MA arc, only with a key difference: his chilling notes on what is happening are addressed to himself as an aide to his understanding. He no longer looks to Bofoi, nor indeed to any adult, for help. From him, we understand that the attack started at 05:41 and that the robots would systematically eliminate any sources of local resistance before moving to destroy the cities they were deployed to. He continues his narration as he finally manages to gain access to the data table of one of the captured robots and care it to the database of industrial robots he'd built earlier.

Then he goes white as he bites through his lollipop in horror. Almost at the same time, one of the Neo Hero functionaries comes to summon him, which seems to engender further horror. However, when he swivels around to face the visitor, he is the picture of calm. He shoulders his backpack, sans body armour and declares himself ready to act.

Elsewhere, Suiryu's team is making short work of the robots. Suiryu pays scant attention to them as he thinks of his sister with concern. It looks like he may be paying the Hero Association another visit. This time to tell the heroes there not to come.

Speaking of the Hero Association, we see that Suiko is indeed living up to her brother's prediction and oversleeping. She barely stirs when her 7 am alarm goes off and is only roused by the All Hands emergency summons. She gets ready and dashes to where the rest of the heroes are gathered. She asks where to deploy, only to learn that things are well beyond deploying. With only about 40 heroes on site, none of them Class S, they're all that's left to hold out against the r4 million-- and counting -- robots battering at the gates. Metal Knight's defence robots do their best, but it's not long before they're brought down. The mood is bleak indeed.

In the midst of the gloom, Forte walks off. To feed the dog. He pours the usual ration of food for Rover and Black Sperm and bids them eat slowly. He hopes that Saitama will somehow link up with Blue and come through.

As he eats, Black Sperm reflects on what's going on. He can afford to be analytical: as little monsters, he and Rover are very likely to survive. This is a deliberate push to eliminate the poorly-performing heroes and leave only a predictable group. A group Black Sperm doesn't fear. With Saitama away, the Hero Association is finally out of luck, brought down by an enemy who has prepared very carefully. Works for him.

Speaking of devastation, Blue is coming to a realisation similar to that of Webigaza's last chapter: that 'winning' is hollow indeed in the face of the destruction wrought by the robots. Despite having expended a lot of energy, he calls HQ, asking them to hurry up and locate the source of the robots. He can't save people, restore lives, or repair livelihoods. But he can at least fight.

And finally, speaking of sources of evil, we close the chapter with Genos having arrived at the first of the installations that Bofoi has. As he walks forward, alarms go off an an armed defence boots up. The chapter ends with Genos walking into the howling dark.

Meta: True Enemies

Nothing is as scary as a human being

I'm going to ask you to look at the expressions on McCoy's and Child Emperor's faces. McCoy is looking at the executives of the Neo Heroes as if he's truly seeing them for the first time, while Child Emperor is frozen as if the person who has appeared behind him is an enemy. They've just put it together -- the true enemy is paying their wages.

Not all cyborgs advertise their non-human side. I may not be a betting person, but the entirety of Neo Hero brass is almost certainly cyborgs. There's a reason Erimin and Destro had to take out Koko stat before he rumbled them. Nothing can be allowed to get in the way of The Plan.

That said, it's not the mechanical side of cyborgs that came up with The Plan. It's the greedy, cruel, and entirely human side that came up with an ambition to control the world and worked out how to make it happen. Their being cyborgs is an identity that separates them from the rest of humanity, affording them a vantage point from which they look down on people, and also, as we've learned, you cannot become a cyborg without an extraordinary amount of willpower and self-discipline. This is a plan not only dreamed up by cruel, greedy people (who are common) but by people possessed of extraordinary self-discipline and determination... and money. It's not cheap to be a cyborg. What a terrible combination that is!

Remember way back when Genos was talking about a rampaging cyborg and how hard it had proved to find in the four years since? It starts to make perfect sense now.

Measure Twice, Destroy Once

In earlier chapters, I had thought that the goal of today's attack was to discredit the Hero Association once and for all and establish the Neo Heroes as the true heroes. I thought way too small. Never mind discredit the Hero Association: The Organization is out to erase them completely. Just as they sent 10 powerful robots, at least three of them highly intelligent dragon-level threats, to ensure that one little scientist got killed without fail, they're sending millions of robots to ensure that the HA is made a bad memory.  It's clear that Bofoi isn't responsible for this: with the HA slated for elimination, the best thing for him to do as a collaborator would have been to stand down his robots and open the gates wide. It's not like there are going to be any witnesses to care about whether or not Bofoi betrayed them.

At some point, the attack will end, and at that point, only the Neo Heroes will be left to provide security. Society will be broken, and survivors will have to be grateful for whatever protection they can get.

Bofoi is probably the only source of widespread opposition they could face (where is his robot army?) but it looks like they've got a plan for that too. Unless Metal Knight is a very good talker and Genos is in a listening mood, a gross miscarriage of justice looks set to occur.

There is, of course, a wild card The Organization has kept missing, Saitama. But where is he? What is he doing? And will it be enough to make a difference to people? Who can tell? ONE, where is the next instalment?!

[elle-rosewater]

WIP Title Meme!

tysm for tag @inktail

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Not counting my incomplete longfics The Argonauts (I'm never giving up on you, you are my magnum opus, sweetie) and Steel Can't Carry Me Now, these are the WIPs with the most developed outlines on my reMarkable

Heavy stones fear no weather (Steel side fic)

Vernon (Steel side fic)

Wild Mountain Thyme (LU)

Fort McCoy (Argonauts side fic)

tagging...oh, jeez, is that the time? gotta run

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME! tuesday we watched voy's YEAR OF HELL parts i & ii:

THESE RUUUUULED

firstly, love janeway's new hair. i did come around to the old hair eventually and i liked how long it was but it was always so weirdly shaped around her head. good for her chopping it all off

also, it's wonderful that she can be transfem and still a teensy bit butch, you know? in my mind palace this is bc she is finally settling into the new gender identity and it's also a little bit because seven is really bringing out her inner dyke <3

SPEAKING OF SEVEN. SEVEN AND TUVOK. AUUUUGHGHGHG CRITICAL HIT

tuvok shielding seven with his entire body...tuvok losing his eyesight and seven helping to escort him around the ship...his mirror, broken where he punched it...his shaving with a real razor and also him nicking himself with it.........AUGH

blind just like spock in that one episode. holy god i love tuvok and i love seven and i love that apparently they're gonna be buds now

janeway was so fucking fantastic in this ep...i love womens wrongs. she was so withdrawn and unhappy that the doc LITERALLY TRIED to pull a leonard mccoy and couldnt. and THE WAAAAAATCHH

I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE NEVER GONNA REMEMBER THE WATCH...GOD. KILL ME

i looooved chakotay's stubble. he looked like shit (honorific) and it was a crime to clean him up like that

chakotay and tom paris getting captured together was fun and of the two of them you do kind of expect chakotay to be the one to drink the koolaid...tom paris IS the guy who is gonna say "oh no fuck that it's stupid." like, that guy was all "you're eating the last of my genocide food" and before he had even finished the sentence tom paris had had enough because say what you will about him but the man is not an intellectual. genocide bad end of story. you can't trap him in your ethical arguments because he doesn't <3 have a brain

like, at first i was like this is racist you can't make the indigenous guy drink the koolaid which is still true but i also think chakotay is the optimistic one and the one who values life more, so if given a way to potentially recover all those lives, he would try, particular when it means he could save janeway/voyager at the same time. tom is just not gonna think this through because thinking is not his forte god bless

i just wish everyone COULD remember this year, because it was such a cool episode, and so much character development happened, but it just has to go away :(

that said, i did like the ending, even though i didn't sympathize with the villain at all - if time has moods, and you pissed her off by erasing those people, the only way she'll forgive you is if you yourself get erased. also, janeway doing the suicide run with the watch on her belt WAAAAAAHHHH

TONIGHT: voy's "random thoughts" and ds9's "resurrection" both of these summaries look real bad, so i am Bracing myself

[nickgeezyblog]

Rucking Ocala National Forrest

Back in January I attempted Operation Ocala. I made it to mile 45 at the 3rd checkpoint. I thought I could go on after changing my socks, attending to my blisters, but as I got back up I was locked up. I was with 3 others, and we all made it there together and unfortunately, we all dropped like flies at that CP. I never rucked until 2023 or even knew what it really was. My friend did Operation Ocala 23 and I remember following him with his live track and watching some live videos, it was pretty wild. His blisters were knarly. He later got me into rucking later that year and I did a few rucks. My first long ruck we went for 40 overnight but only made it 26.2. I was dead. All with 25lbs dry weight. That was in early December and Operation Ocala was coming fast in mid Jan. I was able to do a few more 20 mile before Ocala and I felt ready. The biggest things I learned from Ocala 24 were that it's all mental. The feet are going to blister, the pain is going to come. The road to the end is longer than you could ever imagine. That day on the way home I couldn’t ever imagine doing that again. My wife picked me up, I could barely walk. Everything hurts. But by the next day or so I was so motivated to get back out there. I was so upset with myself that I had stopped. I know I could have just started moving again work through the pain and get more miles in. Here I am 15 hours into that ruck. It's roughly 8am. I have just enough time to get to the end at 5pm. I had work in the morning. I had a 2 hour drive home. So many things just stacked negatively for me that ending this was the easy way out. 

I found myself wanting to attempt this again right away. I could not wait a whole year. I remember my other friend Josh asking me that he would ruck with me when I posted some of my training activities online. He had been in the Army and he ran and hiked. I asked him if he wanted to do the trail with me soon, and he said yes. 

We set the date for Feb 24-25, 2024. We had 5 weeks to prepare. I go to the gym regularly so I kept my legs trained well. We did 1 ruck together late jan, 20 miles it went well. We found some hot spots and made some changes. I had new shoes. I was trying Altra Lone Peak 8. My issues at Operation Ocala were that my pinky toes were trashed. My pinky toe naturally goes inward towards that next toe and just gets squished. The Lone Peaks, like most Altra, have a wide toe box. I rucked a few 20s and even a marathon before the next attempt. I played around with toe spacers, toe socks, double layer socks...I knew it was going to be an issue. Some things helped but nothing was going to be a solution. I just accepted that going into it. I knew If I can keep my toes decent I can make this. My cardio was fine , I know how to eat and drink etc. It was all feet for me. 

Josh and I met Wednesday before the ruck and figured out where we would drop water off and planned the logistics of getting there and back. The plan was to take both trucks and park his at the finish line which was the end of the Florida Trail. Then we would take my truck and stop at 3 spots approximately 15-21 miles apart. It was more base on access with the trucks we found the easiest highways where the trail intersected. So the route was, start at Fort McCoy, Check point 1 was 18 miles away, Checkpoint 2 was 21 miles away from there, and checkpoint 3 was roughly 15 miles away then like 12-13 more to finish. 

We had to carry all the food with us, and I had extra water at all times since the checkpoints were 5-7 hours apart. I had 4L of water at all times. We chose to leave for Ocala at 730a. This way we did not disturb our natural sleep and we could complete our morning routines. By the time we got to the starting point after all the stops it was 1130. We wanted to start by noon. We started a few min after but close enough.  

My shoes and feet felt good. I had vaseline on the toes, XOSKIN toe socks, a pink toe spacer on the outside, then Dickies thick boot socks over that along with the Altras. All the layers were sitting well, and my feet felt good. I had about 30lbs total on me. A backpack and a hip sack combined. In my backpack water, food, extra clothes, first aid, emergency tent, bear spray, insect repellent, head lamps, back up batteries, electrolytes. In my hip sack I had phone, batteries to charge phone, cords that were ready to go. This way there was no fussing around when trying to charge phone. I had some more food, compass, bear bell, and whistle.  

Weather was perfect. Clear skies, 68 for the high 40s for the low. Light wind. It was gorgeous. Our pace started good. High 17 min miles which was expected for us. Im not a fast rucker, im not a fast runner. Anything sub 18 for me is great. I do from time-to-time shuffle but I chose not to do so on this ruck.  

The first leg was great. I did almost step on a pigmy rattler which made things a little exciting. 

We got to the first check point , you have so much time to play it in your head what you need to check on, fix, charge, etc. It never seems to go as smoothly and it always takes longer. But we got our water refilled, took a quick break and got moving again, It was a 34 min mile combined on that stop, not too bad. 16-17 min break. 

By this time the sun was setting and the next checkpoint was 21 miles so we set out for the next 7 hours. Navigating the Florida Trail is not too bad. I would say it is well marked. We did get lost in January but I had a better map this time and I knew some of the mistakes we made in the past. I did not want to get lost this time. That was one thing that really tired us out . There is a big lake on the trail and it feels like it takes 3 hours to go around, that's because it does. You see a lot of campers around here, but the trail wasn’t really to busy. We passed less than 10 people the entire time. One thing that was helpful for me is knowing the familiar areas. I knew what was coming and it made it like a connect the dots game. It would be like the hike was mentally mapped out in my head. I knew we had to get around the lake, then later there would be a creek crossing, then a sketchier creek crossing , then a board walk etc. That helped me mentally keep going almost as something to look forward to. 

Again, this is mostly mental. This is what got me here. Do hard things. The mind and body are limitless to some extent. You choose what you can and cannot do. The body will persuade you but the mind is the real boss. You go through moments of ups and downs. Filled with doubts, regrets, runner's highs, sense of pride etc. Pain comes and goes. You think you have something brewing on your feet and then it will work itself out. I tried my best not to mess with my feet, but at CP2 I did a sock change just on the boot socks and I took off the toe spacers. I had some hotspots for sure but was not ready to dive into that.  

The night was probably my favorite part. The weather was cooler, no sun heating up your skin. It’s quiet other than some music I was playing. I think I went from Eminem to country to classic rock back to Eminem then death cab for cutie. I was all over the place but it all helped. There were some parts of night and day where I was so into the music I think I was dancing a singing along, im sure me being delirious helped. 

I mentioned food and drink earlier. Here is some more details. I drank 2L of water 4 hours. In the water were 2 packs of Gator Lyte. Plenty of sodium mag and potassium. I'm not crazy about Gatorade but the Gator Lyte drinks and powders are perfect for me. 

I ate every hour. Protein bars like Gatorade bars, and METrx bars. Swedish fish sugary gummies hit the spot, some pop tarts, and I saved a bag of skittles for the last few miles. I don’t normally eat that crap so It was a nice treat. According to my Garmin watch i burned over 7000 calories and I ate close to 5000 I think. 

I did have a chest strap on too for more accurate heart rate monitoring. Garmin is great for these activities. I cycle, run, ruck, etc. and Garmin is great at tracking all of that. I did use Strava for the map portion. I downloaded a friend that actually completed Ocala24 map and that was extremely helpful. Thank you Clint.  

As the sun rises it’s always a great feeling. We were over the hump. We encountered a burning forest at one point in the night. Not sure if it was prescribed but it was very odd to see these trees burning at night with significant flames. There are so many different areas that you cover. Miles of pine trees over hills you can see for so far, scrub oaks and brush where you can’t see but right in front of you, and everything in between. There were overall many prescribed burns that had just happened so you could see more than normal. Not much wildlife though, not sure if that was good or bad. Many deer tracks not no deer.  

One of my highlights of the night was making it to the spot I quit at in January on Mile 45. It was a dirt road. I told Josh to take a picture of me, I flicked off the camera, had a sense of pride and continued on. I was now going into an uncharted trail for me. 

The morning started great. We made it through the night I was trying to do the math and thought we would finish around 11am. 23 hours total. After the sunrise excitement settled down reality was starting to set in. We were slowing down. I was going as fast as I could but overall, it was about 2 solid min slower and that number was growing. My feet were starting to sting. My shins were in pain. My shoulders were tired. My back had blisters from the pack that were not going away anytime soon. My hip sack was rubbing into my legs. Everything was breaking down as expected. I went into this knowing that it was going to be hard and painful. I did not think that if I prepared good nothing bad would happen. That's where I went south the first time. I was prepared this time to embrace the suck. And that's just what I had to do the last 4 hours. Those last 4 hours 12-14 miles or so were hard. Josh was hurting as well. I had the map and I could see the finish line but I made one small mistake. The Strava trail I downloaded was 66 . 63 miles so I was using that number as the finish line. Strava and Garmin must calculate the miles differently. I did not know this so when you are mentally preparing for that finish line you give it your all. Everything you have but that finish line was further than I was preparing for and I didn’t realize this until the last 5 or 6 miles. We were crushed by now and knowing we had to go further was a lot to digest. I was talking to Josh and myself, or I guess yelling....” This is why we came here , It’s not for the last 60 miles, It's for these last 3 or 4” Everything slowed down. Our pace was hitting 23 min miles. About 5 min slower per mile than how we started. Add that to 4 or 5 miles and it's an additional half hour. Things were just stacking up negatively for us. We ran into some hikers, so we knew the trail head was closer. I asked them how far they had been hiking and they said about an hour or so, someone said 2.9 miles...So we finally knew what we had left. If it took them an hour with fresh legs, what did that mean for us. 1.5 hours...? Now time was a crunch. I know this was an unofficial attempt but I still wanted to be there within 24 hours. I was getting doubtful. Josh was as bad as me. Just shot mentally and physically. Quitting was not an option.  We had trucks 70 miles apart and no other assistance. We just pushed and pushed. “GO ONE MORE”. I had my son write that on my hand. I knew I would need it. One for step. One more min. One more mile. And so on. I looked at it many times during the ruck. I can’t explain how slow time and miles passed at the end. The last mile took the longest. We were so close about ¼ mile away and I felt something pop between my big toe and the next toe. That area had been tender for a while but the blister popped. HOLY COW It stung. I went from a slow pace to a limp real quick. I am grateful this happened the last ¼ mile and not the last 5 miles. I don’t know what I would have done. We limped on and pushed with everything we had and made it to the trailhead at just over 67 miles in 23.5 hours. I told Josh as we had a few miles left, the pain would go away as soon as we got there. We just have to get there. I told him he was a F**king Badass! I said many will never even attempt something like this. I was just trying to be as positive as I could. Every time I looked at my hand “go one more” (got that from Nick Barre) it would choke me up a little.  

The next few hours we ate some pizza. We must have looked like 2 90-year-olds with walkers coming into the restaurant. We had to drive back to my truck. My feet were rough but not as bad as I thought. It's crazy how much pain and stinging can come from a little blister. I guess your body is really good at telling you to stop. I was mentally prepared for that. I knew what was coming.  

The ride home was long, 2 hours 20 minutes from the Rodman trailhead. My wife and son were waiting for me. Dinner was cooking. I limped in, i could barely move. My wife tore some band aids off my back, and I screamed so loud like I never knew I could scream that loud it hurt so much. Then I iced bathed my feet. Another painful moment. I ate and crawled into bed. My feet and legs were swollen and still are (the next morning) I took the day off of course so that's how I have time to write this. I am moving better today than expected though. I will be fine. Josh is doing good too. He will be fine. We will be fine. It was a big commitment to revisit this quest.  

I can now move on. I will continue to ruck but I like trying new things. Ultra running is something I have in my sights. I have never ran a marathon but I just rucked over 2.5 of them in less than 24 hours. It was equivalent to doing 21 5ks. 

I share all this because we have much more potential than we think. We can do anything. It may not happen all at once but if you want something bad enough you can do it. Long distance really lets you dig deep with yourself. Even during training, I went on 7 –8-hour rucks and you can really work on yourself out there. I call it training but it was still a hobby to me or just a fun Sunday morning. Put in your favorite podcasts or music playlist and just start rucking. It’s a great zone 2 exercise. That helps build endurance and just overall makes you healthier and stronger. The mind gets stronger too. You think the normal day to day challenges will even be a blip on my radar after this? That\s what it's all about. Doing hard things. When you raise that baseline of what is hard, the normal "hard' stuff is a walk in the park. Challenge yourself. Embrace the suck and bring some friends with you to enjoy the ride. 

[concentratedtea]

[....]

The plantation is both architecture and the story we tell about it—place and plot. In the mythical story of the European presence in North America, Jamestown, Virginia is narrated as the first permanent—sustainable—English settlement despite its successive failures and eventual abandonment. Kate McCoy attributes the multiple collapses of James Fort (1604) and then James Town (1609) to monoculture crop production—tobacco—that created the acute contradiction of producing profits even while would-be colonists starved to death:

For sustenance, they relied on supplies from England and uneasy trade with the Tsenacommacah. Neither source proved consistent. No gold was found, other efforts at making money failed, starvation was rampant, and mortality rates were shocking. And still, the Virginia Company “never considered the problem of staying alive in Virginia to be a serious one.” Though the settlers likely could have fed themselves, their efforts were focused on making money. They tried olives, silk, pitch, timber, tar, soap ashes, glass blowing, and cedar, but they could not capture an English market. They compromised their relationship with the Tsenacommacah through senseless killings and torture, cutting off their only supply of food from the region. Had it not been for tobacco, settler colonialism may not have taken hold when it did. 9

The European craze for tobacco produced a speculative economy that gave rise to the Southern plantocracy; its repercussions we still feel today. But tobacco is not what sustained Jamestown.

Slavery and land theft sustained Jamestown. In the Black August of 1619, the Virginia Company purchased twenty abducted Africans; they created new laws permitting land held in common to become individualized private property for previously indentured white servants. Thus, Jamestown was sustained by a plantation triad: the invention of Black people as property, the invention of Indigenous land as claimable private property, and the invention of white people as property owners. Sustainability is premised on the expansion of chattel slavery, of land accumulation, of Indigenous displacement, of white emplacement, and therefore the expansion of the plantation.

[girafeduvexin]

J'ai vu les deux des Star Trek de JJ Abrams et je vais sans doute voir beyond bientôt mais avis rapide (avec spoilers) :

J'ai bien aimé... mais bon. J'ai bien aimé comme un film de fan, avec des références, des clins d'œil qui font plaisir. J'ai bien aimé en réfléchissant pas trop.

Quand je me penche sur le film, j'aime beaucoup moins : j'ai beaucoup de mal avec Kirk et son rapport aux femmes notamment, et en règle générale : les femmes dans ces deux films (TNG était plus progressiste). Je ne blâme pas l'acteur mais l'écriture du personnage, ce dragueur casse-cou qui est un stéréotype de perso de film d'action, ce que n'était pas Kirk ! Alors certes, c'est un Kirk plus jeune d'une réalité alternative mais même en oubliant la série originale, il ne se démarque pas de beaucoup de héros Marvel et ça le rend assez inintéressant.

Spock... passe, j'ai un problème avec lui qui dépend du scénario et McCoy est fort bien joué et fort bien écrit mais trop peu présent, tout simplement parce que ce sont des films d'action et pas des films d'aventure ou d'exploration comme l'étaient les précédents, comme l'étaient la série.

Ce que j'aimais dans la série originale, c'est qu'à côté de Kirk, il y avait deux scientifiques, un médecin et un premier officier. La science, le savoir, la connaissance, le soin, tout ça sont des priorités pour Kirk, pour l'Enterprise, pour le futur présenté dans la série. Dans AOS, Spock est bien moins un scientifique qu'un héros plus nerdy que Kirk. Il stratégise un peu mais sa logique a plus d'impact dans ses relations personnelles que dans son travail. Et c'est encore pire pour Bones : ce n'était pas problématique d'avoir comme personnage principal un médecin qui ne sait pas se battre dans la série et les films, parce qu'il y avait de l'action, mais aussi de la réflexion, des débats, des moments où Bones avait une utilité outre ses capacités physiques. Là, il est mis en retrait la majeure partie des films, qu'est-ce qu'il peut faire d'autre ? Il est apparemment plus présent dans Beyond et on verra bien comment il est utilisé mais dans les deux premiers, il était de toute façon impossible qu'il prenne la place, par la construction du scénario.

Après, ça pose un autre débat, et je ne suis pas experte sur Star Trek, je n'ai même pas encore fini TNG, mais c'est quand même un univers qui marche mieux dans une série, parce qu'on peut se permettre de prendre du temps, de faire de l'exploration, de découvrir des nouvelles planètes et de laisser côté les personnages principaux le temps d'un épisode pour mettre en avant une culture alien. Les deux premiers films de JJ Abrams ne sont pas des films sur la découverte et l'exploration de l'univers, mais peut-être que c'était quasi impossible de toute façon.

[sjsmith56]

The 107th - Part 4, From There to Here - Bucky Barnes One Shots

Summary - The 107th get their final leave before shipping off to Europe. Told from the POV of Corporal Dum Dum Dugan it recounts his time off, then reunion with Sergeant Barnes before the rest of the unit arrives. It picks up again on their arrival in Italy, leading to the unit’s capture by HYDRA, and rescue by Captain America.

Characters - Bucky Barnes, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Falsworth, Dernier, Morita, Colonel Lohmer, Dr. Arnim Zola, Steve Rogers.

Length - 4.5K

Warnings - Fears of marital infidelity, capture by enemy, reference of “Limey” about a British officer, violence against POWs, retaliation against sadistic officer, death of character.

Author notes - As in the previous one-shot Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones are part of the 107th Infantry Unit.  Although this series of one shots are primarily about Bucky Barnes, I have a fondness for Dum Dum Dugan and decided to include a little personal scene involving him, his wife and his boys.  The scenes in the factory of Barnes, Dugan, and Jones after being captured are based on a digital comic book titled Captain America: First Vengeance by Fred Van Lente.

<<Part 3

〰️〰️〰️

Sarge came into the barracks hut at Camp McCoy on the morning of June 4, 1943, brandishing a set of papers, one for each of us.  Gabe and I looked at each other and figured this was it, our marching orders had come in.  Over a year's worth of training had made us a well oiled unit of fighting soldiers and now we were declared ready to join the fight in Europe.

"A Company," yelled Sarge.  "Gather around."  He waited while everyone in the hut got close.  "The Lieutenant is at Division and has charged me with giving you the good news.  We have our orders.  Tomorrow morning, at 08:00 you are officially on leave.  You may go home, see your wives, or your girlfriends, or your wives and your girlfriends, your folks and anyone else special to you.  If you're planning on having kids make them now boys, because it will be a while until you're back.  Maybe get married first before you do.  Make sure you have filled out your beneficiaries on your life insurance form.  You can give them to me right up to our embarkation date.  On Saturday, June 19 most of you are expected to report by no later than 15:00 at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn.  There you will receive your kit and await the call for transport to a port in the United Kingdom.  Everything you need to know is in your travel orders which I have right here for you."

He began calling out names and handed out the letters one by one.  I received mine and looked at the top line.  Travel orders for Dugan, Timothy C. A., Corporal, Serial number etc.  I looked at the date where I had to report back and noticed it was different from what the others were told.

"Hey, Sarge, why do I have to report back on the 15th?" I asked.

Those big baby blues fixed their gaze on me.  "Because some of us have to be back early, like me.  I have to be back on the 12th, all corporals on the 15th.  I didn't write the orders ... I just obey them."

"My wife isn't going to be so happy with only ten days," I replied.

"Times are tough, Dugan," he retorted as he kept handing out papers.  "I have about a dozen girls that I'm supposed to see in seven days.  Might have to double them up.  Stewart!"

The Sarge had a reputation as a ladies' man, which I had actually seen proof of in Sparta.  He went through the girls of that town like a man on a mission although he made good friends with a couple of them, like Miss Warren.  She was a real sweetheart, didn't seem to mind that he dated other broads.  He always treated her right and with respect.  She wasn't like some of the cookies he went out with.  Come to think of it he had weekend liberty that week before our orders came in, and when Gabe and I went to the store to say hi to Miss Warren they said she had the weekend off.  We wondered if he took her away, but we always thought she was too smart to fall for Sarge's lines.  Still ....

"Dugan," said Gabe.  "What are your plans for leave?"

"I'm sure my wife has a list a mile long of things for me to take care of," I replied.  "You?"

The handsome black man smiled.  "I'm hitting the jazz clubs," he said, "Been too long since I heard some good music.  Then I'm going to fill up on as much of my Mother's and Aunty's food as I can.  Would have been nice if the Yankees were in town."

I laughed.  "Why you cheer for those losers I'll never know.  You're as bad as Sarge and his Dodgers.  Red Sox, now there's a team."

Other guys got in on the conversation over who the best baseball teams were.  I saw Sarge smile as we jawed at each other.  As long as it didn't come to a standoff or blows he didn't care if we poked harmless fun at each other.  If things did get out of hand Sergeant James Barnes was pretty good at breaking it up.  I guess he would be, having been a YMCA welterweight champion three years running.  That's where I first saw him, fighting a buddy of mine on the undercard as an amateur in 1941, before Pearl Harbor.  Sarge was good, maybe could have turned pro if not for the war.  When I first met him at Camp McCoy I told him about seeing him fight.  We had good talks about Joe Louis, Buddy Baer, and Billy Conn among other boxers of the time.

Early the next day, after morning chow, the three of us, me, Gabe and Sarge, headed out for the bus to the train station in Milwaukee with our duffel bags and travel orders.  There was a lineup of guys kissing their girls goodbye.  I guess Sarge must have done most of his goodbyes already as only Miss Warren was there for him, and they gave each other a rather tame hug, then he did kiss her, kind of sweet like.  She waved at Gabe and me, then left as she had to be at the store for opening.  We got into Milwaukee an hour later and boarded the train right away, finding our spot together, as we knew there would be an issue about Gabe riding with us.  Sure enough the conductor came and said there was a car for Gabe's type further along.  Sarge just looked straight at the man.

"According to the United States Army Corporal Jones is white," he said.  "He stays with us.  You have a problem with that you take it up with the United States Army."

Gabe, who was sitting by the window, let Sarge handle it and he just stretched his legs out so they covered the aisle seat next to me, then pulled his cap down over his eyes.  When another conductor came to try his luck at getting Gabe to move Sarge just pushed his cap up and gave him that intense blue eyed gaze he gave anyone who was messing with him.

"Private Jones is in this unit, and I believe this car as well as several others have been reserved for our unit, 200 soldiers, in fact.  If he moves, we all move with him.  You able to squeeze us all into a single car?"

That shut the conductor up.  Of course, we went through the same thing again when we transferred in Chicago but Sarge wasn't having any of it and we were soon on the train for the long overnight trip to New York.  When we pulled in at 08:00 into Grand Central Station I wasn't expecting my wife and kids to be there but I was surprised to see my neighbour, Mr. Santucci.  He waved at me and was quite excited.

"Timothy, I'm glad you're here," he said.  "Come, I'll take you home.  There's something I need to tell you."

Well, this couldn't be good.  We got out to the street and he flagged a taxi, a taxi, can you believe it?  He gave the address of our building and then sat back. 

"Your wife, Kathleen, she kept a little secret from you since you were last here," he said.  "She didn't mean to.  She meant to tell you in person when you were supposed to be on leave the last time.  I told her she should write about it but she said it was something that should be said in person."

I rolled my eyes.  My leave got cancelled the last time about six months ago after Sarge, Gabe, and I squared off against a few soldiers from the south who took exception to Gabe's presence in our midst.  We all got our leaves cancelled as punishment but the guys from the south got recycled, had to restart their boot camp from day one.  I wondered what could have been so important that Kathleen had to tell me in person and then it hit me.  I looked at Mr. Santucci.  He nodded.

"You have a son," he said.  "Looks just like you, born two months ago.  He'll be a big boy, just like your other two."

I said three Hail Mary's right there in the cab with Mr. Santucci sitting right next to me saying them as well then I looked at him.

"You're not lying to me are you, Mario?" I asked.  "He's my boy?"

"No doubt about it," he replied.  "Your wife is sick with worry that you wouldn't believe her, so I said I would come for you and explain it all.  You know how some women get when they're full of child.  It's like their brain gets all fogged up and they can't think straight."

That did sound like Kathleen.  When she was pregnant with our first she took the subway to Yonkers and didn't know why.  Took her all day to get back.  With our second she went to the grocers and came back with a case of bananas, said it was too good a deal to pass up.  We shared them with everyone on our floor so they didn't go bad but Kathleen did do strange things when she was pregnant.  Until I saw her and the baby I didn't know what I was going to say or do.

Finally, we pulled up in front of the apartment building and I swallowed as I stood there looking up at the front of it.  Three kids in that small apartment.  Mr. Santucci patted me on the back and opened the front door for me.  As I went up the stairs, I was aware of several of the tenants opening their doors after I passed.  Did the whole damned building know?  Finally, I arrived at our door and knocked, as I left my key behind when I went to boot camp.  There was the sound of a baby crying and I almost burst into tears hearing it.  Then the door opened, and I saw my Kathleen standing there, her face fearful but just as beautiful as it had been eleven months before when I last saw her.  Two little shadows rushed out from behind her and grabbed my legs, my older boys, Tim Jr. and Danny.  After kissing them and letting them have their way with me I looked at the babe that Kathleen was holding, and she put him in my arms. 

He was definitely my boy, from the Dugan red hair, to the chubby cheeks and clenched fists that reached for me.  Even if he wasn't my boy I would have loved him because he was so perfect and I loved his mother so much.  When I kissed him she began to cry and I had to put one arm around her.  Mr. Santucci, who had been standing in the doorway smiled and left, closing the door behind him. 

The next ten days passed much too quickly as I played with the boys, helped look after little Liam, as Kathleen had named him after my grandfather, then had tender times with my wife that may or may not have put her in the family way again.  Before I left I made her promise that if she was carrying another baby to write me about it.  Before I left, just after lunch on June 15th I kissed her softly, as tears fell from her green eyes, and I touched her dark hair before enclosing her in my arms.  I kissed all three of my boys and then I carried my duffel bag with me to the train station and got on the train to Brooklyn, where there was a regular bus that ran between the station and the base at Fort Hamilton.  I didn't know then it would be several years until I saw her, our three boys and our daughter Bridget.

After I reported in I was directed to the barracks assigned to our unit.  Sarge was already there going over paperwork.  He took a stack of papers and shoved them across the desk to me.

"Put these in order by date," he said.  "The clerks here have their own system.  I had all the requisitions in, signed by the Lieutenant and everything and they brought them right back to me, date first, then requisition number."

"Hello to you too, Sarge," I said.  "How was your leave?"

"Not long enough," he said.  "Had to date two at a time.  You?"

"I have another child," I said bluntly.  "Kathleen was pregnant from my last leave, wanted to tell me in person but my leave six months ago got cancelled, and she didn't want to put it in a letter."

Sarge howled.  "So, what is it?"

"A boy, Liam, looks just like me.  She might already have another one starting but she promised if she is she would write me."

"How old is the oldest?" he asked.

"Four." 

He howled again.  "You're a cruel man leaving your wife with that many young babies."

"She's a good mother," I said defensively.  "The neighbours are good.  They'll watch out for her.  My mam had me at 17, then three more before she was 21 and she was a good mother."

Sarge just shook his head and grinned.  What did he know?  He was a bachelor and doll dizzy.  Our other corporal, Tommy Malone arrived and Sarge pushed a bunch of requisitions towards him to put into order.  Took us another hour but we finally got them organized like the clerks wanted and Sarge submitted them.  The day our company arrived they would line up at the quartermasters office and receive all their bedding and towels.  The day after they would get their kit, rifle, sleep roll, cooking kit, medical kit, everything we would need when we were finally mustered and ready to be shipped out to our destination.

"Do we have our ship assigned yet?" I asked.

Sarge smiled.  "The Queen Mary," he said.  "They're sending us in style to Scotland, leaving on the 24th.  We'll be training before we go." 

He wouldn't be so happy when we boarded.  They packed over 15,000 troops on that ship plus over 900 crew.  They had beds stacked three high in every part of that floating transport.  Even the officers had to share although they were only two or three to a cabin.  Although it was June the seas were stormy and by the time we arrived in Gourock, Scotland, half the complement were almost dead from sea sickness.  When we disembarked in Scotland, we boarded a troop train that took us from the port, through Glasgow and down to an army base near Manchester.  We had a couple of days there then another sea journey from Liverpool to Algeria where we transferred to another ship that took us to Sicily.  The Mediterranean was calmer but by then most of us were just plain worn out and only barely recuperated when we arrived in mid-July.

We did our best and made good headway when we landed in Sicily in July and took the island just a few weeks later, leading to the ouster of Mussolini.  When the British landed in southern Italy shortly after the Americans landed to the north, hoping to encircle the Germans and fascist Italians that were still loyal to them. 

We chased them to a place called Azzano in northeastern Italy in October 1943.  The fighting was brutal, and we lost the Lieutenant, leaving Sarge in charge.  Surrounded by enemy mortars he ordered Gabe to call in B Company for support.  Before Gabe could do that, we came under attack and the damnedest thing happened.  Suddenly we saw these blue flashes coming out of the dark, hitting the Germans and just ... disintegrating them into thin air.  Within seconds all the Germans were taken out.  We watched as this tank we had never seen the likes of come over a hill, shooting these pulses of blue lights at the German line in the far distance.  In awe, we just stood watching it unfold in front of us then suddenly the tank aimed its cannon at us and began firing.  Taking cover as best we could in the craters left by the mortar blasts we huddled there, hoping to hell that this wasn't to be our last day on Earth.  Then the flashes stopped, and we were surrounded by troops built like machines, dressed in black armour holding these strange rifles on us.

"Aufgeben," yelled the one closest to us and we looked at Gabe.

"They want us to surrender," he said.

Sarge raised his hands.  "Tell them we surrender.  What choice do we have?  We can't fight against those guns."

As we assembled Sarge told me to estimate a head count.  As best I could tell there were well over a hundred of us.  Whether the rest were dead or had escaped from the rear I couldn't tell.  We were marched to an area a couple of miles away and loaded into trucks.  Then we were transported for some time before the trucks were stopped and we were ordered out.  Sarge didn't look well and we closed ranks around him, knowing that a weaker POW could be subjected to cruel punishment by the guards.  They herded us into this building then forced us into an area full of different cells.  They stuck me, Sarge and Gabe in a cell with a Limey officer and a Frenchman.  I made a joke, not a good one, I admit, and the Limey took offence at it.  Well, my people are Irish and I wasn't too fond of the British just because of that and we pushed each other.  I have to admit that he wasn't scared of me, even though I must have outweighed him by 50 pounds, but I still got a few licks in before Sarge ordered me and Gabe to stand down.  The Frenchman said something and Gabe laughed, then answered in French.  It surprised the man and he stood up, offering Gabe his hand.

"I'm Dernier, Jacques Dernier, French resistance," he said, in his heavily accented voice.

Gabe looked to Sarge who nodded his approval and he introduced us.  Then the British officer stood up.

"Major James Montgomery Falsworth," he said.  "3rd Independent Parachute Brigade of the British Army.  My apologies to you Corporal, for being overly sensitive to your joke.  These soldiers are not the usual Nazi vermin we're used to dealing with.  They're worse and they have treated us like cattle.  It has stressed us immensely."

I nodded my acceptance of his apology.  "I'm sorry, sir," I replied.  "We have to work together against these guys, not fight amongst ourselves."

"Where are we?" asked Sarge.

"Somewhere near Kreischberg, Austria,"   replied Falsworth.  "This is a HYDRA facility.  As near as we can tell they were Nazis and now they're worse, looking at Nazis as if they're substandard.  The commanding officer is a sadist named Colonel Lohmer.  Try to avoid his notice.  He has killed several men just for displeasing him."

That was easier said than done when we were forced to begin working the following day.  No work, no food was what we were told.  Sarge, who hadn't been feeling well for some time could barely get up but he did and was assigned a job of moving carts of munitions from one spot to another.  He collapsed while pushing the heavy cart and fell against the munitions, causing some of them to fall.  Lohmer was right there and laid into the Sarge, beating him continually while the man didn't even have the strength to defend himself.  I could feel my hands curl in frustration at witnessing the savagery of the Colonel.  Finally, he stood up, gave a final kick to the Sarge's side and walked away, ordering Lieutenant Kleiber to see to the mess.  Kleiber motioned to me and Gabe to pick Sarge up and take him to the cell.  Gabe examined him as best he could and determined Sarge had broken ribs.  He also had a rattling cough.

"Sounds like pneumonia to me," said Falsworth, standing nearby.  "Kleiber isn't so bad.  He would let your Sergeant recuperate before sending him out to work but Lohmer would just as soon see him die on the work floor.  We need to take Lohmer out and I think I know how."

While we returned to our workstations we looked for a certain substance, it was sticky and if left long enough on a metal surface would weaken it.  The Major, Gabe and I found some, brought it to Dernier and when no one was looking he applied it to the chain attached to a crane carrying bins of scrap to be melted into munitions.  All night that stuff sat on the chains and the guards were none the wiser.  In the morning, Lohmer ordered Sarge to work.  Gabe and I helped him up.  I never knew a man who could tolerate as much pain as Sergeant James Barnes could.  Even though every step was agony for him he refused to show weakness in front of Lohmer.  He loaded scrap metal into a large bin.  When it was full Lieber ordered the crane to lift the bin up.  We all stood back, knowing the chains were weakened.  As the bin rose up high Lohmer walked under its path just as a part of the chain broke, dropping the bin right on top of him.  All of us POWs cheered when the son of a bitch was crushed, then the guards herded us back into our cells.  Again, Gabe and I supported Sarge while he stumbled back.

"You don't have to worry Jimmy boy," I whispered to him.  "Lohmer won't hurt you again."

"Bucky, my name is always Bucky," he mumbled.  "No one calls me Jim, or James."

"Alright, Bucky, we got you," I said, as Gabe and I laid him down on the floor of the cell.

We were there for hours while the guards and Lieutenant Kleiber investigated the "accident" as they finally determined it to be.  When we got our food, Gabe and I took turns feeding the Sarge.  The next day Kleiber agreed that Sarge was too sick to work and he was allowed to stay in the cell.  Even though he rested he seemed to get sicker and sicker over time.  Several days after Lohmer died a scientist showed up, a little guy with glasses.  Apparently he was now in charge.  At least he didn't order any beatings, but there was something about him that gave me chills, especially when he noticed Sarge.  His second day there he showed up at our cell with Kleiber.

"This man, on the floor, why hasn't he been working?" he asked.

"We think pneumonia, plus several broken ribs courtesy of your predecessor," said Major Falsworth.

The scientist turned to Kleiber.  "Why was he not sent to me sooner?" he asked.  "I am a medical doctor as well.  I have treatments for pneumonia.  Bring him to me."

"Yes, Dr. Zola," saluted Kleiber.  "Immediately.  Guards!"

He signalled to several guards and one motioned us back with his gun while the other two took the Sarge between them.  He tried to struggle but there was no strength left in him at all.  I was angry and upset.  Grasping at the bars I yelled at them.

"Don't you kill him, you dirty bastards!"

The doctor, almost out of the room turned back and walked towards me several steps.  What he said chilled me; not just the words but the way he said it.

"I have no intention of killing your Sergeant.  Whether he survives the treatment is up to him.  If it works it will be a new day in science and your Sergeant will never be sick ever again."

With a smile I can only describe as twisted the doctor left with the two guards carrying the Sarge behind him.  For the next few days we heard nothing, except there was another man in charge, an arrogant SOB called Schmidt who upped the production limits for everyone.  Even Kleiber wouldn't say anything about Sarge, and both Falsworth and Dernier shook their heads, saying it was likely that Sarge was dead.  Neither Gabe nor I were going to let his death go unpunished and we talked together about taking on the guards and getting one of those fancy rifles in our hands.  We knew it would likely end up with our deaths and although I was worried about leaving Kathleen a widow with four babies to look after alone (she had written that our last time together had produced another pregnancy) I wanted to die fighting, not as someone's slave.

One night we were sleeping in our cells when the guard on patrol above us suddenly fell over, knocked out.  Some guy, wearing a leather jacket, a toy helmet, and carrying a toy shield took the keys to our cell out of the guard's pocket.

"Who are you?" asked Gabe.

He looked around, shrugged, and said, with a Brooklyn accent, "Captain America."

Then the guy jumped down, proceeded to unlock our cells, and asked about Sergeant James Barnes.  Falsworth told him he was likely in the isolation unit.  The "Captain" told us where the tree line was, to wait there for him, to raise some hell along the way, and he took off towards the unit where Sarge likely was.  We all looked at each other and did what we were told.  We hit them hard, took their weapons, found grenades, found their fancy tanks with the blue flash cannons and gave them hell. 

When we reached the rendezvous point Captain America wasn't there but shortly after the whole factory went up and we wondered if he made it out.  We shouldn't have worried because he showed up with Sarge and we found out that this guy was his best friend from Brooklyn who disobeyed orders to drop behind enemy lines and rescue us.  Cocky little guy, little to me, anyways.  Sergeant Barnes couldn't keep his eyes off of him, as if this guy had undergone some big transformation.  Whatever it was, he had moxie, and there were several of us that kind of liked his style of fighting.  Oh, and Sarge?  I don't know what that Nazi doctor did to him but he was better and his ribs were apparently healed.  It was a miracle, as was our rescue.  For those of us who stuck with Captain America, it was the beginning of some incredible missions.

Part 5>>

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