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| He mad. Why you mad bro? Because we sanctioned your jewelry? |
Alright, the MWR post is back, and this one contains, guns, Aussies, musical tanks, and a brief history of the USS Monitor, and why you should care.
One hundred fifty-one years ago, the USS Monitor (the US Navy's first Iron Clad warship and the second Iron Clad in existence) was lost after sinking in a storm off the coast of North Carolina. Sixteen men were killed when it sunk, finally two of those sailors were recovered and laid to rest.
The USS Monitor faced off against the CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimac) in the first battle between two iron clad warships in human history. The Virginia was a ship whose hull had been refitted with iron plating to resist cannon fire. In the Battle of Hampton Roads, she sank or damaged several ships, including the USS Cumberland. In doing so, she rendered the entire Union fleet in the bay, utterly irrelevant. The union's response was to send their own revolutionary warship against the Virginia. It was the Monitor, and it sat mostly below the waterline, including the crew compartments, and was the first ship to have a full 360 degree rotating gun turret. When both ships engaged each other, neither ships’ weapons could penetrate the other, so the naval battle ended as a draw, with the Virginia withdrawing. The sailors who witnessed the battle had never seen anything like it before, but the impact was tremendous. At the beginning of the American Civil War, no navy believed a ship made of iron could float, (even the Virginia had a predominantly wooden base), but by the end of the war, no navy on earth wanted to be without an iron ship of their own, preferably one with a rotating gun turret.
Paired with the incredible importance of these ships, is the disheartening fate of them and their crew. Both ships did not survive the war. The Virginia was scuttled and set ablaze, and the Monitor was sunk by a storm. The two men recovered from the Monitor, are still unidentified, as was the case with many of the losses in the American Civil War. The war killed anywhere between 618,000 to 850,000 Americans, in a 4 year, undeclared war. The official death count is confirmed 650,000, but total losses are considered to be likely higher due to the amount of people who were simply undocumented or unaccounted for. To put this in perspective, the low figure would put the deaths at a total of 2% of the entire American population at the time. A 2% loss of the current US population would be around 6.6 million dead. The number of injured in the war only goes up from there.
Considering all of the remaining Civil War veterans have been dead for decades, and now even the World War One veterans have vanished, what remains of the people who lived through of some of the most important events in both US and world history, demand our respect.
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| The two sailors recovered |
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| The Virginia is center, and the Monitor is on the Right, Battle of Hampton Roads |
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| Some of the Monitor's Crew, and her Gun Turret |
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| The Monitor's Turret, after the battle, note the minor damage done in the far left frame by the Virginia |
Now for more fun stuff:
Because, we are totally not over-compensating
For thoes of you looking for appropriate combat swag drop pouches.
You know that point in the deployment where you really just stopped caring. These Marines are at that point.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dfb_1359990569
Your tank might be really technologically advanced. BUT, can it be used as a musical instrument?
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| Sounds like music to my ears... |
Speaking of music to people's ears...
This one's just funny. If you've ever had an inter-unit issue. The LAPD picked up Sheriff's deputies back in the 80's, and just to screw with them. The Sheriff Dept. made this video
Finally, this story is just interesting. If your on your way out of service, or facing limited opportunities in the your field, the Aussies might have an opportunity for you. Oi! Oi! Oi!
http://www.stripes.com/news/serving-down-under-australia-offers-military-jobs-to-us-troops-facing-separation-1.176622
SEMPER FILLY!
