tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post5490844230100716769..comments2024-03-22T02:17:34.909-07:00Comments on Weapons, warfare and industrial idiocy: Things that go boomDan brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146234533337885291noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-61071437892812067652008-11-03T19:50:00.000-08:002008-11-03T19:50:00.000-08:00I finally got through The Guns of August. I did a...I finally got through The Guns of August. I did alright through the whole thing, which ends the day before the Miracle at the Marne began. What got me was the footnote in the Afterword:<BR/><BR/>Per population capita casualty rates at war's end:<BR/><BR/>1:28 French<BR/>1:32 German<BR/>1:57 British<BR/>1:107 Russian<BR/><BR/>Here's to the Class of 1914. The back of my grandfather's Victory Medal says it all, "THE GREAT WAR FOR CIVILIZATION". That was 1919.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-55367475650819868202008-10-31T19:39:00.000-07:002008-10-31T19:39:00.000-07:00Interesting stuff. I never really thought much abo...Interesting stuff. I never really thought much about grenades other than how useful or useless they were depending on your perspective.<BR/><BR/>Back in the late 60s I threw more MKII grenades than I care to remember. They were basically a minor improvement on what I believe was called the Mills Bomb used in WWI.<BR/><BR/>I did manage to get my hands on a M16 with what was known as an M79 grenade launcher attached to it during one of my tours of duty.<BR/><BR/>I thought the grenade launcher / rifle combo was a piece of shit. The hand thrown pineapples and the incendiary thermite grenades were much more reliable and effective in a combat situation.<BR/><BR/>I remember a buddy putting a thermite grenade on the intake manifold of a VC troop carrier and the damn thing went right through the engine block and dropped out the bottom. <BR/><BR/>That made one hell of a fire, the gas tank on the damn thing blew up and everything around it started lighting up after that. We got the hell out of there. Our orders were to take out everything we could and I think we did a damn good job of it.<BR/><BR/>I think if someone would have shown me one of your stick grenades and told me to use it I'd have replied with a hearty "Fuck you Sir!"<BR/><BR/>:-)<BR/><BR/>JoeAssrothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14093506505019819353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28891290.post-25464297185287114922008-10-31T13:52:00.000-07:002008-10-31T13:52:00.000-07:00Cool! Yeah, in the beginning the French and the G...Cool! <BR/><BR/>Yeah, in the beginning the French and the Germans all had Plan XX and Plan X. And the British had their own plans. Grenades were not a forethought I suppose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com