1192: Richard I is captured by Leopold, Duke of Austria, as he returns from the Third Crusade.
1282: The last native prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, is killed by Edward I of England's soldiers.
1941: Adolf Hitler commits one of his biggest blunders by needlessly declaring war on the United States.
Firefights
There were, of course, nights and days on the battlefield just as there were back on the farm or in the cities of America. The difference was that in combat it didn't make any difference.
There were day marches to gain ground, followed by night marches to mask movement. There were night attacks and reconnaissance patrols to be run. There were listening posts and night defensive outposts to be manned. And there were sentry shifts to be stood with no regard for the exhausting activities during daylight.
Sleep became a rare and precious commodity, which GI Joe dreamed about - but only when he was wide awake, marching or standing his post. And then - amidst all this frustration, irritation and agony - GI Joe and his buddies ran smack up against the enemy and the pucker-factor ratcheted up to 'plus four' - or higher.
Small-unit offensive infantry actions on the squad and platoon level tended to fall into two basic types - meeting engagements, in which adversaries bumped into each other while on the march, and assaults on fortified positions.
Sleep became a rare and precious commodity, which GI Joe dreamed about - but only when he was wide awake, marching or standing his post.
The critical issue in each type of engagement was to establish fire superiority over the enemy. This would force them to go to cover or give ground, and then you could manoeuvre to his flanks or rear to take him in a vulnerable spot.
That's plausible, even admirable, on the sand-table, but in a firefight where rounds are snapping near your ears and the ground is being chewed by incoming rounds, the key is to conquer your fear and do something.
You've got to recover from the shock, force your head up from down, spot the threat and react to it. And that's where GI Joe beat his enemies in World War Two.
Americans are generally an aggressive, independent, self-sufficient lot, and nothing in their basic training for combat in World War Two was designed to stifle those characteristics. They knew from their rugged lifestyles on the farms or in their urban schoolyards that you had to be able to take a punch. Or throw the first one and make it count... in order to survive.
That's how they fought down there in the mud and the blood and the gore. While the colonels and the generals waved their hands over the maps, GI Joe waved his rifle in the direction of the enemy, and got the job done in a crude and crass manner without much finesse.
1282: The last native prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, is killed by Edward I of England's soldiers.
1941: Adolf Hitler commits one of his biggest blunders by needlessly declaring war on the United States.
Firefights
There were, of course, nights and days on the battlefield just as there were back on the farm or in the cities of America. The difference was that in combat it didn't make any difference.
There were day marches to gain ground, followed by night marches to mask movement. There were night attacks and reconnaissance patrols to be run. There were listening posts and night defensive outposts to be manned. And there were sentry shifts to be stood with no regard for the exhausting activities during daylight.
Sleep became a rare and precious commodity, which GI Joe dreamed about - but only when he was wide awake, marching or standing his post. And then - amidst all this frustration, irritation and agony - GI Joe and his buddies ran smack up against the enemy and the pucker-factor ratcheted up to 'plus four' - or higher.
Small-unit offensive infantry actions on the squad and platoon level tended to fall into two basic types - meeting engagements, in which adversaries bumped into each other while on the march, and assaults on fortified positions.
Sleep became a rare and precious commodity, which GI Joe dreamed about - but only when he was wide awake, marching or standing his post.
The critical issue in each type of engagement was to establish fire superiority over the enemy. This would force them to go to cover or give ground, and then you could manoeuvre to his flanks or rear to take him in a vulnerable spot.
That's plausible, even admirable, on the sand-table, but in a firefight where rounds are snapping near your ears and the ground is being chewed by incoming rounds, the key is to conquer your fear and do something.
You've got to recover from the shock, force your head up from down, spot the threat and react to it. And that's where GI Joe beat his enemies in World War Two.
Americans are generally an aggressive, independent, self-sufficient lot, and nothing in their basic training for combat in World War Two was designed to stifle those characteristics. They knew from their rugged lifestyles on the farms or in their urban schoolyards that you had to be able to take a punch. Or throw the first one and make it count... in order to survive.
That's how they fought down there in the mud and the blood and the gore. While the colonels and the generals waved their hands over the maps, GI Joe waved his rifle in the direction of the enemy, and got the job done in a crude and crass manner without much finesse.