Chris Boonzaier

Hi, I buy the WW1 scenario... I can understand the infantry being pssed at pilots who spent the night in a bed, but as you say... the pilots may last just 3 weeks... and I bet even the infantry respected then for that.... Fact is... the pilots shared the danger.... hell, even the heavy artillery shared the danger... I think thats what bonds soldiers... sharing a danger.... It may on occasion even bond soldiers on different sides of nomans land in a way if they gain each others respect.... But it is not a brotherhood a drone pilot can buy into.... maybe that is a deeper seated reason why many soldiers block at the thought of this award.... If PTSD is a condition ignored by many soldiers because of a "Macho" thing.... it is a difficult sell to mention to guys who may deny they have it themselves that Droners suffer it as well

I am jealous already.......

You mean wine, olives and Orgies ?!?!?! Man... I missed it!! :-)

Patrick has a good point.... here is a thought... how about a Cavalary Regt badges thread, Inf regt badges Thread, arty badges thread, airborne units thread etc... I dont have much to offer in "Stuff", but would read with interest....

Imagine killing people all day... really close up.... then laying in the rain, in a hole, wondering when you will see your kids again, and if you wife will wait another 9 months, or if she is already screwing the drone operater who is single, lives next door and is always home at 5:00pm... ? Sure the drone operater has more stress than i do.... but surely less than the average guy, married, who knows each day away makes his marriage that little bit shakier... on his 3rd deployment somewhere, wondering if he is going to go home in a bag... I just dont buy the equation..... as far as "exceptional" service goes.... is that Overtime? or is it being the one who hits Target X.... but then, surely that simply means having been on duty at the right time?... if target X had shown up on the next guys shift, he would have gotten the medal?

Wow... that Bavarian Leib is about as nice as a Tunic could ever get!!!

That green glass one is really cool!

Fantastic detail!

Hi, not mine... I just saw the auction....

See this ... http://www.ebay.de/itm/deutscher-Stahlhelm-M18-1-Weltkrieg-WK-I-original-komplett-Glocken-Stempel-/221189673283?pt=Militaria&hash=item337fee9143 comments..... ?

Unfortunately missing a chain....

Here you go... it was new mexico.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Viljoen Boer Colony in Mexico Ben Viljoen was one of the South African refugee officers who formed a farm colony in Mexico with the assistance of Theodore Roosevelt. Help with selecting and negotiating for the property were provided by two men hired by Roosevelt family friend Marshall Latham Bond and the husband of a Roosevelt relative Edward Reeve Merritt. It was located at Hacienda Humboldt in the municipality of Julimes, Chihuahua. [6] United States and the Boer War Circus He left for the United States in 1904 along with General Piet Cronjé (of Battle of Paardeberg fame) to take part in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis, Missouri) and the so-called "Boer War Circus" — portrayals of scenes from the Boer War. After leaving the fair, he settled down in the US. He separated from his wife, Lenie (née Els), who did not really want to leave South Africa and married an American woman, Myrtle Dickerson. Attempts to establish a Boer settlement in the north of Mexico ended in failure. Civic life in New Mexico He returned from Mexico to the U.S. and was instrumental in organising Boer colonies in Doña Ana County at Berino, Chamberino and La Mesa in New Mexico Territory. He became involved in civic affairs throughout the Mesilla Valley, and in 1909 he was granted American citizenship. Viljoen became familiar with both President Theodore Roosevelt and New Mexico Governor George Curry. Viljoen was commissioned as a Major in the territorial National Guard’s First Regiment of Infantry. In 1911, he travelled to Washington, D.C., with Curry and Albert Bacon Fall as part of a delegation promoting statehood for New Mexico. In April and May 1911, he fought with the Mexican revolutionary Francisco Madero at the Battle of Ciudad Juarez.[7] ]]. Viljoen was also influential in agriculture. He introduced new crops and farming practices to the Mesilla Valley. Viljoen was interested in the creation of the Elephant Butte Dam and developed irrigation systems for the valley. For a short while, he was U.S. Consul in Germany, and also acted as military advisor to Francisco Madero until Madero's assassination in 1913. He died in 1917, at his farm in La Mesa and is buried at the Masonic Cemetery in La Mesa, New Mexico.[8] Perception of Viljoen by the English-speaking press For an insight of Ben Viljoen during the Anglo-Boer conflicts (as perceived by the English-speaking press), see the 24 December 1899 New York Times article, "With the Boers at War."

There was something really cool I once read relating to Americans in the Boer war, it was a small group who came from the states to join the Boers, then found it would be easier to join up with a Brit irregular unit... so they did... Nothing like flexibility. One of the most Famous Boer generals moved to texas after the war and his family name has been carried on down there....

I dont find a Schönmetzler in the 8th Inf Regt though. I spent a good half hour looking.. but very possible tunics move within a division.

“Remotely piloted aircraft pilots may stare at the same piece of ground for days,” said Jean Lin Otto, an epidemiologist who was a co-author of the study. “They witness the carnage. Manned aircraft pilots don’t do that. They get out of there as soon as possible.” Ummmm.... so more medals for the infantry as well then? :-)

But Air Force officials and independent experts have suggested several potential causes, among them witnessing combat violence on live video feeds, working in isolation or under inflexible shift hours, juggling the simultaneous demands of home life with combat operations and dealing with intense stress because of crew shortages. But 24 hour gas station attendants and independent experts have suggested several potential causes, among them witnessing combat violence on live video while watching hours of youtube on the graveyard shift, working in isolation or under inflexible shift hours, juggling the simultaneous demands of home life with irate truckers and dealing with intense stress because of staff shortages.

Does anyone have one of these? Does not seem to be a way to put a pull through cloth in it.... or are they just to bang out stuck cartridges?

here is the whole pic....

Hmmmm... can we compare how someone signs on a white sheet of paper to how they would sign on a Photo? The material is different, and any number of other factors... maybe post the complete photos in question?

Hi, Armierungs troops were Labour corps... did things like digging trenches etc, were mostly not trained as soldiers or even armed. They did come under fire though when digging positions within enemy range. There is a fantastic book about armierungs troops, cannot recomend it enough.... A totally overlooked German WW1 Novel, as PaulH says, it is obvious the author was at Verdun himself, anyone who has "done" the battlefields can picture what and where he writes... Readily availible on Ebay in the states... Education before Verun by Arnold Zweig Best Chris http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=education+verdun&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Hi, I picked the photo up on ebay years ago, unfortunately no writing on the back :-(

I read Armierung Batl... I think they may hava a whole different system?

I guess these are from a medical unit.... not my collecting field, they were just in with some WW1 stuff...

Hi, This seems to have come from a WW1 German Soldiers photo group.... Can anyone guestimate if it is Imperial Russian?

This guy must have been quite the combat stud....