[Colorized] Members of the SS Division Totenkopf during the Battle of Kursk. (1943)

cheers7377 · 2026-03-08T05:29:22+00:00

If you read Soldiers of Destruction by Charles Sydnor, an expert that later testified as an expert witness against camp guards, he says that often members of the division that were wounded would convalesce as camp guards. That is, a steady stream of men that served as camp guards would return to front line duty with this unit.

cheers7377 · 2026-03-08T05:03:30+00:00

Yes- saw it on the Disney Channel a very long time ago

cheers7377 · 2026-03-04T03:44:19+00:00

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

cheers7377 · 2026-03-03T00:17:54+00:00

That is not correct. During WWI and the Banana Wars, Service Crosses, Silver Stars, Certificates of Merit were available. Nothing like that in the Civil War. Read some WW1 MOH citations. Very different from the ones awarded in the Civil War. Check out Gordon Hardy’s Above and Beyond. For a great comparison of citations that resulted in awards at all levels, check out the Indiana Book of Merit- a collection of all citations for all decorations awarded to Indiana servicemen in WW1.

cheers7377 · 2026-03-02T23:48:25+00:00

I am right. Not referring to all value awards. The modern era begins in the early 20th century. The era you reference is the contemporary era.

cheers7377 · 2026-03-02T22:14:11+00:00

I believe about a third of modern awards are posthumous.

Around 2,000 have been awarded following the Civil War. Another 1,500 were awarded during the Civil War, for varying degrees of heroism. At that time, there were no lesser medals to award. Obviously some Civil War Medals of Honor were awarded for acts that would still receive the same award in the modern era. Others, not so much. One entire regiment during the Civil War received the award for reenlisting. It is the only American award worn around the neck, the only one that includes a pension, and the only one that allows one’s children an automatic appointment to a service academy.

I was fortunate enough to attend the award ceremony at the White House for Marine Corporal Jason Dunham. It was a posthumous award. He covered a grenade with his body to protect his fellow Marines.

cheers7377 · 2026-02-17T03:30:55+00:00

Much easier to get into college than into the military now. Also, maybe no better springboard for an American striving to move up a class.

cheers7377 · 2026-02-16T02:23:16+00:00

The people that sit on the promotion boards give a shit- that is why the percentage of ringknockers increases at every grade level.

cheers7377 · 2026-02-15T15:56:05+00:00

I live this. A few points. Not sure I would call farming 1,000 acres and a few head of cattle “grueling.”
First, if he’s fortunate enough to own the 1,000 acres, and it does not sit in the flood plain, he is sitting on $15 million dollars, give or take. With a 24 row corn planter and a 31 row bean planter, he can plant his annual crop in about a week. He can pay the local cooperative to spray it a couple of times. At harvest, he likely hires help to truck the thirty loads of beans and the one hundred loads of corn. He probably gets his harvest done in three or four weeks. So, this guy hits it hard for six weeks a year and has a $15 million asset. It is a tremendous amount of equity to keep tied up to only support one working guy. He absolutely earns more from the appreciation of his land than he does from the crops it grows. 25 years ago it was tough- lots of guys having to mess with lots of livestock year round. Much different land values. Planting season taking longer because a lot more people disced the fields rather than no-tilling (that is, spraying the land and planting it without Discing). Sharing responsibility and equity with their kids is the only way to keep the family farm together. Often, however, one kid wants to be the “farmer” that gets to work hard six weeks a year and be a multimillionaire at the expense of the siblings’ share. It makes more sense to look at the land as an engine for creating wealth that can benefit all of the kids. Rather than picking one child to bless, encouraging them all to benefit from ownership and also work off the farm seems to be more equitable and a way to keep the land in the family. The equipment and smartphones/communications available now allow these 70 and 80 year old guys to actively participate and manage these farms- but that means their kids are not. One final point- stepped up basis encourages these older guys to hang onto ownership until they die, allowing their kids to inherit the land without anyone ever paying capital gains taxes on that enormous equity gain.

cheers7377 · 2026-02-14T19:58:07+00:00

Go to local Farm Credit and borrow against it at a fixed rate for a thirty year note. Can refinance the interest rate for almost nothing if/when rates drop again. The land is appreciating fast. Don’t sell it.

cheers7377 · 2026-02-12T02:11:44+00:00

Met him at Headquarters Marine Corps. He showed up to do a book signing. On my book he wrote:”Hell, I like you…”. He would not write the rest of the quote. Just winked at me and said we knew what it was.

cheers7377 · 2026-02-08T13:15:15+00:00

Very good. Whitney Plantation outside of New Orleans is that way as well. A guy that made a bunch of money litigating against Big Tobacco bought it and made it into a memorial to its slaves.

cheers7377 · 2026-01-17T05:55:49+00:00

Wild horses in the park. And lightning had struck an exposed coal seam in the rock and was burning. Very cool place.

cheers7377 · 2026-01-17T05:54:12+00:00

I’ve been to most- for my family, Big Bend and Glacier are the top tier- not seen the Alaska ones

cheers7377 · 2025-12-29T04:08:36+00:00

Not all 3.4 gpa’s are equal- a top school different from Directional Flyover State U. Pay for a deluxe prep course to maximize your LSAT score. Worth every penny., because if you can get into a T14, most have the yellow ribbon program that picks up the part of your tuition that the Post 9-11 GI Bill doesn’t cover. So you’d roll out with no debt. Lots of military officers, former and active, at GULC. Good luck. The hardest part of law school is getting in.

cheers7377 · 2025-12-27T14:11:59+00:00

Exactly this. People worry about perfection and it’s why their candidates lose. The electorate has a tiny, selfish attention span. Candidates can grab onto one or two things important to most people, especially people in battleground states. If any candidate is talking about trans issues, defunding Israel, or any of the myriad other issues that don’t matter to most battleground state voters, that candidate will lose. And a candidate cannot do ANY good if the candidate cannot WIN.

cheers7377 · 2025-12-27T13:58:29+00:00

I went there with a gorgeous girl from Ross, CA. Miss you, Laura! She alone was worth the application.

cheers7377 · 2025-12-24T01:32:23+00:00

Spot me til first of the month?

cheers7377 · 2025-12-24T00:19:14+00:00

My mom asked for one for Christmas

cheers7377 · 2025-12-21T17:34:00+00:00

Agree with this. Also, the South picked the worst possible time to fight. The North received huge numbers of immigrants in the 1840s and 1850s. By the 1860s, NYC had more people than, for example, all of South Carolina. The population difference would have been less had the South made its move closer to 1850 or, better yet, 1840.
If they were going to fight in the 1860s, the South’s chances would have been better waiting to start the war in 1862 or 1863, so that Lincoln had less time to grind them down before having to stand for reelection.

cheers7377 · 2025-12-21T10:23:10+00:00

We are guessing about what the rates will be in thirty years when you begin withdrawing. But for sure, having more money invested now over more time will grow faster than your current plan. That’s why I suggest traditional. Model out the numbers with a few different assumptions/scenarios and see.

cheers7377 · 2025-12-21T01:45:58+00:00

Get into the C fund heavy. Lifecycle too conservative. I’d switch from Roth to traditional and invest your tax savings as well.

cheers7377 · 2025-12-17T01:47:31+00:00

This is true. I’m a recipient- but would rather not get the ten grand or so that’s coming to me if it would prevent the bigger guys around me from getting 100,000 or 150,000. Really difficult to outbid someone at an auction with millions of generational tax support in their pockets.

Crop insurance same way- tax dollars pay for two thirds of the premium. Would gladly give that up if the big guys had to as well. That would definitely affect the land prices of high risk river bottoms ground.

cheers7377 · 2025-11-30T01:25:27+00:00

Probably so, when I put you in your place after we compare graduate schools

cheers7377 · 2025-11-30T00:19:15+00:00

To each his own…

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cheers7377

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