Get off the Aussies

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

We don't have many good friends in the world. The left would have you believe that it's because we are evil imperialists who everyone hates for our attempts to dominate the globe. The truth has a lot more to do with envy, competition and ignorance, but regardless. Perhaps our truest ally is the the thunder down under, Australia. They have a bit of the same individualist streak that we do and they have been side by side with us in every major conflict we have fought. Recently their Prime Minister took a moment of time to educate presidential candidate, and noted cakeboy Barack Obama, about the foolishness of announcing a retreat while the battle rages. Obama then made a fool of himself by telling Howard if he wanted Obama's valuable attention he needed to pony up 20, 000 troops, not respecting the fact that Australia's commitment is already quite impressive based on population. John Howard has long been a voice of reason on the international stage, and good on him.

Thinking on the Aussies reminded me of one of my favorite memories. A little bit of fall out from the former British Empire, played out in a beer tent.

The best inter-national scrap I witnessed was at the Nijmegen Marches in Holland. I was stationed in Germany and was training to go to the Special Forces Q course and thought that walking 30 miles a day for 4 days in a row in July would be good prep. These Marches memorialized the fateful "A Bridge too Far" saga from WWII, which was a bold but ultimately tragic attempt to drop airborne troops in Holland and then reinforce them with armor. The marches traveled the ground the American, British, Polish and other allied troops fought and died on.

One day we left at the same time in the morning as a team from the British Army Paras It was a glorious day and the Dutch were all out along the route cheering and waving and sending their kids out with snacks or water or even in one case the ubiquitous Heineken, we all felt great when we got back to the compound where troops from 30 countries were camped together. In true warrior fashion we decided to march directly into the beer tent, dropped rucks at our tables and ordered many Heinekens. Things progressed and an Aussie team marched in and did the same at the next table ordering and enjoying many beers. The rest of the tale, and a few other excellent brawls after the break.

At some point one of the Brits decide to climb the rib of the tent, which was about 25 feet at the peak, and hung the Union Jack to the cheers of all nations in the tent. He then climbed back down and was rewarded with???Yes Beer. More teams came in, more beer was drunk and at some point an enterprising Aussie decided to add their Green Bay Packer-looking flag to the display and started up the same rib the Brit had climbed before to the hearty cheers of the crowd below. He made the peak and hung the flag as the crowd went wild, then rather than just climb down, he cut loose the Union Jack and it was on. Two Brits started from opposite sides of the rib and were climbing up to dismember the offender, the rest of both teams cut loose and there was wicked good brawling. When the Brits got close to the Aussie at the peak he decided to cut himself loose and just crashed down on top of the brawl and of course the Brits would not be outdone and followed suit. We neutral Americans picked up our beers and stepped to the edge so as not to take any collateral damage.

All in all splendid entertainment.

One of the most insane beatings I ever witnessed was delivered by an Irish member of a Scots unit, The Queens Own Scottish Highlanders. They had sent a company to train with my battalion 2/1 SFGA from Ft. Lewis during our annual winter warfare extravaganza.
Each team got one troopie and ours was Tony Moore a 5'8" tall maniac. He was a great guy all the way around but shockingly for an Irishman he got a little crazy when he drank. We were training at Ft. Wm. Henry Harrison in Montana and on the occasions when we had free time we adjourned to the wild night life in Helena, Montana where most of the bars had a sign saying "Check Guns At Door".

This night was fairly standard with beer drinking and s*** talking taking center stage, until the table next to ours began things. There were probably 15-20 of my piezos and our UK allies in a bar filled with 50 or so Montanans. This would have been no problem except that the table next was occupied by a birthday boy and former football hero celebrating his 21st. He was a corn-fed former linebacker used to getting his way and was truly full of himself this eve.

He had three chicas at the table attending to his needs and he was not treating them very respectfully. This started to annoy our friend Tony and eventually he felt obligated to inform the neckless wonder. He strutted over to testosterone boy's table and in the dulcet tones of the Drunken Irishman informed him that he would not tolerate this behavior towards the ladies. This led our intrepid football hero to proclaim "Sit the **** down you dumbass furriner!"

Tony responded with an extended bird but he missed his beer and sat back down. The evening continued normally with Tony and Butkus eyeballing each other and thinking of numerous slights the other must obviously have committed. Until for some reason no one but they could identify they blew up.

Tony jumped up swearing in Drunken Irish about dumbass corn-fed ass clowns and the dumbass corn-fed ass clown was describing how he would rip this punk furriner's head off and beat him with it. From there it went into Warner Brothers cartoon mode and all I remember is Tony climbing him like a lumberjack up a tree and hitting him as soon as he was halfway up. He hit him 200-300 times and rode him over all the way to the ground like a tree freshly cut at which point we jumped up and snatched him off the brutalized brute and hustled him out the door before we had issues with the Montanans or the Law.

The greatest punch I have ever seen came during a scrap between some Air Force varmints and Marines outside Clark AFB in the Philippines. We were in one of several hundred little dives that lined the streets outside the base. Since Clark was populated by the Air Force it was much more civilized than Subic Bay Naval Base where the fleet lands and the Marines usually hang out. They were visiting Clark for some exercise and during off duty hours they were making a nuisance of themselves by annoying and overpaying the local hookers, being loud and obnoxious in the high class drinking establishments and generally acting like Marines. Shockingly this eventually led to fisticuffs and as once again we had no dog in this fight we grabbed our beers and backed up to the wall to enjoy the action. It was a fairly typical mass bar brawl that eventually boiled outside with quite a few heads getting cracked on both sides, but it did appear that the Leatherneck fighting spirit was prevailing. One instance involved a Marine who had a wingnut in a headlock and was alternately bashing him in the head with a fist and berating him regarding the general failings of the Air Force and his parentage. This went on for a bit when the wingnut's girlfriend, another wingnut, noticed the abuse her beloved was enduring and snapped. She ran at them and launched herself onto the Marine's back. This was the first he noticed of her and that was not a good thing for her. In the midst of battle he perceived a threat to his rear and took appropriate action. In this case that involved dropping the now helpless wingnut and wheeling and dealing with the threat to his rear. He spun and clocked the silly girl dead in the jaw and she just flopped out cold, literally teats up. The leatherneck never knew it was a girl until she was already laid out and upon noticing his only comment was "stupid b****" before walking off to find a fresh victim.

Another beer tent brawl I saw was in Augsburg, Germany which is on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich. When I lived there they were celebrating the 2000th anniversary of the founding of the city. I say again the 2000th, which boggled the mind of someone whose homeland had celebrated it's 200th anniversary during his lifetime. It had been a major banking center for a long time and was a very established Old Europe enclave. The Germans have a system where they allow Gastarbeiten (guest workers) mostly Turks into the country to do some of the heavy lifting and crap work. It is similar to what W has proposed with Mexicans subbing for the Turks. The Gastarbeiten have no chance at citizenship and are treated quite poorly by most Germans. This was reinforced vividly at a bierfest in Augsburg when a fight broke out between US soldiers and some Germans over some vitally important issue. The German Polizei have a well deserved reputation for aggression gained in no small part due to some strangely liberal rules regarding police brutality and their development and use of the stagger baton, a flexible whacking stick which if properly employed can be made to vibrate delivering multiple blows. Within the Polizei were differing grades progressing from patrolman to motorcycle cop, with the propensity for violence increasing every step. The motorcycle cops were the lords of their domain and they rode incredible BMW bikes fast as any Porsche they might have to chase down on the autobahn. The bikes were a wicked lime green and they wore Polizei green motorcycle leathers that would be the envy of any cafe racer.

This night the cycle jockeys had responsibility for the tent we were in and soon after the fight started they came barreling into the scene and upon surveying the situation and determining that this was a scrap between Americans GIs and Germans they took appropriate action by grabbing a group of Turks at the next table who hadn't done a damn thing. They snatched them up and stagger-whacked them out of the tent while the  actual brawlers stopped fighting in amazement and ended up making peace christened with quality German lager and leavened with the schadenfreude of someone else's suffering.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2819/16102670

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Get off the Aussies:

» Web Reconnaissance for 02/13/2007 from The Thunder Run
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention. [Read More]

Comments

[Smith]

Great stories! I loved my time with the Scottish Highlanders. They are a good group of hard drinking, fist throwing, manly men who I would definitely go to war with. I have some great memories of tearing up downtown Edinburgh with those crazies. Sneaking women onto the base in Inverness by bribing the gate guards with beer... Oh man. Good times. Can't wait to go back.

[Old Tanker]

Reminiscing about the good ol' days??
I had a buddy at Ft. Hood who was the nicest guy you'd ever want to know. He was the type we all have known at some point, went to the bar to have a good time, never bothered anyone, but trouble always seemed to find him. The only thing was that he was a former Golden Gloves Champion from St. Louis. By the time the police showed up, he was the only one standing with nary a scratch. When the police looked at him, and the pile of bodies laying around, he usually got to spend the night in the Killeen Hilton despite the protests of those who witnessed it.

Here's to Cpl Jackson, one hell of a Gunner!!

[David M]

Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 02/13/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.

[Barry]

Alcohol in action.

My father and his brothers were in the army reserve just after WWII started. As it happened however, Navy recruiters were in town at a time of impaired judgment. The lads were "socializing" at the local watering hole. See mad irishman in Uncle Jimbo's post if yer looking for their idea of socializing.

Come sun up all three were in the navy.

Clearly there was more to the story but none of them could remember a thing. :)

[Mommynator]

I think John Howard hit the nail on the head with his comment about St. Barack. The sainted one is not president yet and is fair game.

Ah, good times, eh? Not my choice of entertainment, but that's why the world is large and varied.

[JOHN RYAN]

Only an idiot would drink Heineken in the Netherlands.
As for Ozzies supporting us/the war in Iraq their polls mirror the same feelings as here support runs 2 to 1 against.

[Uncle Jimbo]

Hey Johnny,

Why don't you bugger off now and avoid the rush.

Cordially,

Uncle "Damn straight I drank Heineken in Holland" J

[JOHN RYAN]

Yeah the older I get the better I was

[T. Shaw]

A bit off point here. B. Hussein Osama's 'wasted' comment hit me pretty hard.

And, I agree with Sen. Scmucker: unless her name is CONDOLEEZA RICE this country isn't ready for a black and a woman president.

FYI BHO: hateful statements like that are why 'they' invented the 'N' word. Go eff yourself!

[White Colombian]

Australia and Britain are our two greatest allies in the world. Insulting Australia's contribution to the world is a disgusting, jaded move that is characteristic of the Liberal left. Should the Democrats come into power (whether it is Ms. Aryan - Hillary Clinton, or whether it is Hussein Obama, someone way too inexperienced to be a successful President)they will alienate all our allies while attempt to make nice with nations like Syria, Iran, and south Lebanon (aka Hezbollah).

[Teresa]

I've always said, if I had to leave the US for some reason, the only other place I'd want to go live is Australia. What an excellent country.

Great stories Uncle Jimbo... and as for Boy Wonder Obama - why does anyone listen to someone who thinks they had done enough in life to merit a biography at the ripe old age of 34! Thinks a little too much of himself.

[Subsunk]

Jimbo,

Those are some of the best sea stories I've heard. I can see them all in my mind's eye, too. You're a fine shipmate, son.

Subsunk

[Blackfive]

Jimbo! - "shockingly for an Irishman he got a little crazy when he drank"

I resent resemble that remark!

[madconductor]

Teresa, you're being too kind. Not only has he done nothing to put in a biography, he merits zero respect.
But I agree with you totally about Australia. My father's dream trip was to drive around Alaska for three months. After he retired, he did - for 9 months. Mine has always been Australia.

Thanks for the stories Uncle J. I love 'em.

[Econ-Scott]

Aussie's have stood by us and fought with us in all our wars of the last 100 years.

They have proven more faithful than all our fair weather allies.

As for polls 2 to 1 against. Those fickle people change and change quickly. I recall long gas lines in 1979. I think if the Mullahocracies gained monopolistic control and jacked up price to $100 bbl spot price, when people couldn't get to work to pick up their kids and their car or suv were a useless piece of expensive un-economic machinery, those polls would change, particularly when they considered what the Mullahs were spending all that unearned oil wealth on ... more murder and mayhem ... and coming to a neighborhood near you.

[Dan_P]

Well, the stories "ring a bell".
Not military situations.

But, my friend "Norm" knew how
to "control" a bar problem.
No brag, just fact.
Motorcyle/car racers hang together.

And, he saved my "life" a number of times.

RIP, Norm.
D.

[Lucky]

Y'all are forgeting about our other big ally in every conflict since the Great War, sure the Tommys and Diggers got our backs, but so do the Kiwis, God bless 'em! They are some of the toughest fighters I have ever seen, and God help anyone who insults their rugby team to their face! I saw that firsthand, and it ain't pretty! Did you all know that the Irish have soldiers serving in the Coalition under their own flag? There is a contingent in Afghanistan, or at least there was back in 2005 for OEF V.

[xformed]

You know, the strange thing is when OBL, Amadinnerjacket, al_Zawahiri, etc, make statements about what the US should do, I don't hear the Dems telling them to keep out of our affairs and stop meddling. Actually, they parrot their points instead.

Yeah, everyone can have an opinion, so long as it matches Obama's....

[Dan_P]

Oops, I forgot what should have been the MAIN idea.

Thank you, Aussies ! ! !

[sean]

Jimbo, please tell me your story about Clark AFB wasn't in 89-90. If that's the case, it's a mighty small world as I regularly heard from my shipmates about clobbering a girl who had the nerve to jump on my back during a scrap with a couple air scouts. To this day, I have no recollection of that incident. (in case NIS is still hot on my trail.)

[Uncle Jimbo]

Dude you have me there. It was most certainly during that time and I will congratulate you now for one heck of a shot. Nicely done.

Just for the record, my team's hangout hangout was El Toro, where we were famous for re-enacting carrier landings, accompanied by you shook me all night long and then some Billy Idol although I don't recall why.

Cordially,

Uncle J

[Econ-Scott]

Uncle Jimbo :

Going OT --

I wonder about the Executives of Steyr-Mannlicher and their two timing beaurocrats in Vienna that allowed this sale of 800 .50 cal rifles to Iran.

While Steyr-Mannlicher arms divisions was up for sale, the factory land was sold to BMW in 2000-2001 and they didn't have enough time for a move without interrupting production for several months.

Was this sale of 800 .50 Cal rifles to Iran sheer profiteering ? Was it a desperate attempt to keep a company afloat willing to deal with the Devil himself ? No matter.

Steyr-Mannlicker Executives & Marketers have sold their souls to the Devil.

When you sell weapons to evil men you know will use them to kill your friends and allies and their sons & daughters, in this case within 45 days, It's a very special kind of black perfidious betrayal. The kind that generates deep emotional commitment for revenge from tens of thousands of people, not just the 170 families (so far) who lost their sons & fathers.

Or is it something longer, blacker and more sinister ? Old Nazi's exacting their own form of score settling ?

That would be a road they and we would be better to not have to go down, to lay it to rest now.

Still .... there are 700 more of those rifles still circulating with the Pasdaran and their proxy murderors.

And Putin's government has taught the Mullahocracy how to manufacture the .50 cal High Explosive, incendiary ammunition with a Tungsten dart at it's core.

Defense Equipment Systems International has their Exhibition in London, Sept. 2007 with Steyr-Mannlicher listed as an Exhibitor.

Write the Steyr-Mannlicher Executive and Marketing staff and let them know You'll be writing to your Congressmen, Military Friends and Ministers of Parliament about their attendance. They may want to carefully prepare their statements begging forgiveness.

[red river]

I had the good fortune to share a room with a Green Beret, aka The Lion, at a joint school.

He was built like an African Lion and walked like it, too. He was also exceptionally well read, well-dressed, very charming, and very, very good looking to the ladies. I was maxing out my PT tests with room to spare and could outdo everyone but him. I was like a light bulb next to the sun.

On the other side of the school was a Marine Top Sergeant, with two purple hearts and a top-ranked boxer in the Corps. And a sister who was drop dead gorgeous.

Now, Top told his Marines that sis was coming to the post to see him graduate and by God no one was to even talk to her or heads would roll. He had all his Marines peeing in their pants with the vision of fire and death he would visit upon them.

For my roommate, this was too much. We tailed Top to the airport and saw his sis get off the plane. The Lion was in love. She was everything a Rock Star would dream out blonde, tall, buxom, bubbly, and knew it - and she had a hot friend with her.

In my mind, I had decided that the Hot Friend would be my date, but after a few minutes of watching them, the Lion just said, "I am going to get them both."

And he did. In our room in the barracks. And he drove her and the Hot Friend back to the airport. And Everyone found out.

Top was pissed. The Lion heard from his Marine classmates that Top wanted a Match in the post gym.

So the Lion agreed and they settled on a date.

Then the CSM for the post found out. The Army CSM, who was an old Green Beret, told the Lion to make sure the fight did NOT occur. He knew the Lion.

The day before the Lion and I got into the ring. We sparred a bit. Some Marines came by. Then the Lion wanted to try some kicks. I held the bag and the Lion kicked it.

Me and the bag went flying out of the ring. I dislocated a shoulder and had to endure a Navy Corpsman treating me in front of all the Jarheads.

The next day Top won the post Iron Man competition because I was in a cast.

The Post CSM dressed me down for getting hurt. "I did not want Top getting in a fight because I wanted us to win the Iron Man fair and square!!!!"

The Lion got the girls, the glory, and the story.

[jordan]

Thanks for the entertaining stories, a nice counterpoint to the deeply disappointing statements, distortions and claptrap being peddled by the Dems in Congress in today's debate.

[Bob]

I was working a civilian project in Indonesia and I met a few Aussies who were training the Indonesian Navy. Dennis was assigned to a base in Jakarta. One day he gave me a few of his "business" cards. Mainly used at the time as a point of introduction and to keep phone numbers handy.

Typically, Dennis and I would hit the local bars on a Friday night just for kicks.

I remember a time when Dennis couldn't make it and I was out on my own. Now, these bars did have a few ladies of talent. Finding myself short of cash, I asked the girls to call me in a few days when I had some cash. Of course, I gave them Dennis's business cards.

His wife had no idea why all these girls were calling the house all the time.

[Smith]

If you guys really like the Aussies, I suggest heading on over to Tim Blair's web page and reading a bit. He covers a bit of everything and the commentors are absolutely hilarious.

[thebronze]

Diggers Rule! And sometimes Brits too...

[Eric Jette , SantaFe , NM]

NASHUA, New Hampshire (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is apologizing for saying the lives of the more than 3,000 U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war were "wasted."

During his first campaign trip this weekend, the Illinois senator told a crowd in Iowa: "We now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted." (Watch Obama announce his candidacy)

He immediately apologized on Sunday, saying the remark was "a slip of the tongue."

During an appearance Monday in Nashua, New Hampshire, he apologized again, telling reporters he meant to criticize the civilian leadership of the war, not those serving in the military.

"Even as I said it, I realized I had misspoken," Obama said. "It is not at all what I intended to say, and I would absolutely apologize if any (military families) felt that in some ways it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice that they'd shown."

Obama made his second visit to New Hampshire on Monday, following his speech Saturday announcing his candidacy in Illinois on Saturday and a visit to first-caucus state Iowa.

==================

Comment: Mr. Bush often remarks upon his ability to "mangle the English language on occasion." but at least he does so in a thoughtfull manner...and considers his words before he utters them.

Obama's "slip" was his thinking at work...and very educational it was to all.

I'm so glad he's running for Prez.

Hell, all the GOP has to do is let the Democrats self-destruct, as they try to deconstruct the working foreign policy of President Bush.

Here's the C-span interview with the President:

http://www.c-span.org/executive/gwbushinterview.asp

[Flag Gazer]

The Aussies are great Allies - always have been!
I sent three cheers to John Howard for his comments!

Want to send a support card to the Aussies?
Address on today's post.

[BMC]

You might also want to check out the blog A Western Heart, some great Aussie writers & commenters there. Just tell 'em BetsyinAmerica sent you :)

http://awesternheart.blogspot.com/rs there

And thank you, Australia.

[Old Tanker]

BMC

Linky no worky, should there be a redirect??

[Old Tanker]

BMC

Oh, and I copied and pasted the link in the URL locater.........

[Peg C.]

ROTFL at the stories. I don't know what it is about Germany, but my brother-in-law was in Army intelligence in Germany in the 60's and from his stories I'm not sure he was sober for 12 hours the whole time he was there.

Obama dropped in my estimation after his misspeaks this past weekend and he wasn't high to begin with. Already he seems to have the same foot-in-mouth disease that Jf'nK and Biden are hobbled by. What is it with these people?

As for John Howard, Instapundit ran a tongue-in-cheek presidential poll this morning that included Howard, and I voted for him. Yes, really! That's how disgusted I am with American politicians.

Aussies are awesome.

[RonF]

Only an idiot would drink Heineken in the Netherlands.

I am informed by someone who's been there that Heineken's status in the Netherlands is akin to Budweiser's status here. Although I'd think that Heineken in the Netherlands is not the same brew as what's exported to the U.S.

[Ghost of Habu, The Pit Viper]

Obama = O'Bambi

He's nowhere near ready for what he's going to be going through.

The biggest concern comming out about "Obambi" from likely voters over & over again is that he just doesn't have the experience. There just doesn't look to be enough "there" there.

So, he's out for the very first time as a candidate for President touching on foreign affairs & he goes out and insults Australia and then ends up talking smack to their PM? Not smart.

This guy needs to get it under control ASAP, because you only get so many passes. And it's way, WAY too early for a candidate to be using all those "passes" up - need to save some of them for later when it counts.

The politics going on right now on both sides are just fascinating....

[ARP]

For those who want to participate in defending the Vietnam Memorial Wall in March against the Jane Fonda, Cindy Sheehan, etc crowd here is the information: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783589/posts

Hopefully, all that can will stand in the gap for our troops.

[Edd]

Beer drinking in Germany surely you jest. To many nights in the club on Flint Kaserne Bad Toelz, and the local Gasthaus' make it difficult to remember the whole tour. Then there was the pub in Fakingham England and many pints there. But the best was the six Navy SEALs who walked into the bar on RAF Sculthorpe during Flintlock. One young Ensign was still wearing his cover. That was an expensive mistake, but I have never seen SEALs so quite and willing to appease. Only about half of 10th Group was there. Our commanding officer looked a lot like the John Wayne type and was as big as the Duke, so when he told the young sailor that wearing his cover in a Military bar was cause to buy the bar a round, the sailor was reaching for the wallet as fast as he could.

[Steve O.]

Uncle Jimbo;
You bring up some great points. And I couldn't agree more.

[SGT Jeff (USAR)]

Ah, I've heard those stories before... and I was stationed in Augsburg from Jan 1991 through Dec 1995, a few years after the events Uncle Jimbo describes.

[maxxdog]

Subic was more or less civilized back in '73 when I was there.
Granted, the Mojo might have fuzzied up my memory a little.
Anyone remember the name of the club up in the hills over by the airbase? I do recall the "Economical" cafe. Good cold breakfast beer before heading back to the boat for muster.

[James Robertson]

Australia's poulation is about 20 million.About 1/15th of the U.S.A.We have 1400 troops in the Gulf, about 800 in Iraq almost all as far south of Baghda as possible.If the U.S put in a similar effort they would have maybe 21,000 soldiers in the region or 12,000 in Iraq. We have not taken any combat casualties the whole war.WE CUT AND RUN FOUR YEARS AGO!!! If you think that's being a good ally you really must be out buddies!

[Ymarsakar]

The numbers don't matter. They never do with quality military forces. It was only the sovies and chinese that believed that there was a quality to quantity all on its own.

If they will fight, then that is good enough for me. All that legal stuff and Geneva Protocols Grim brought up, well that is domestic politics. The Australian military can't change, heck their civilians can't even change the self-defense laws in Australia. So, nothing we can do here in the states.

Jimbo, you SF guys always have the best stories, told in great detail and atmosphere. I remember SFAlphaGeek's training stories, very funny.

Link

[James Robertson]

The numbers don't matter is a ridiculous statement. The numbers aren't everything. Location is also important, which is why P.M Howard chose to deploy the Australians as far from the battle as possible. I'll repeat this slowly in the hope that it may eventually penetrate your
mind. WE HAVE NOT SUFFERED ONE COMBAT FATALITY IN THE WHOLE WAR.This is more than good luck but is due to the fact that the Aussies haven't been in combat in Iraq since April, 2003.

[Mike H.]

James you're obviously not a "Poster Girl (from the wrong side of the world)."

[Aussie_Chic]

This Ass Clown (Obama) wants us to send almost half our troops to one spot....Does he have any suggestions as to what happens to the other countries and regions our troops support???

I have seen clips of this guy and he is a freakin joke. No match for the Aussies.

Step off your high horse Obama and bring it Down Under instead of sniping from your little safe haven across the world.

[Aussie_Chic]

And your freakin point Robertson??

Would you prefer we did suffer combat casualties??

I am curious though, are there Aussie impersonators running around Iraq?? Cos the amount of times American Soldiers have told me they have had Aussie Soldiers help them out of a jam requires more fingers and toes than I can muster right now.

What the hell is wrong with you, knocking the people that defend your country??

Our Soldiers train hard, I know I have lost my boyfriend many weekends to training as well as his full time schedule. They are dedicated, tough and loyal to each other to a fault. They defend each other with their lives and never turn their back on a comrade in arms.

Somehow, I think that is a concept that is just beyond you.

So why don't you just head on back to your little Pansy Ass Whining Corner and shut the hell up.

[cjd]

Chic,

Robertson is off a bit. I encountered Aussie soldiers and civilians during my time in Baghdad. As for the troops in the south, I too spent time in the south, and while being less dangerous in general, it was extremely unpredictable, just ask the Italians who lost 17 dead when their compound in Al-Nasiriyyah was bombed. As for this comment thread, I lived/was stationed for 4 years in Alice Springs. We have few greater friends than Australia, and they are my favorite people in the world. The Aussie friends I've known have given me a bit of justified grumbling that many in America don't recognize the contributions they've made in our military endeavors during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and beyond. Well, this Seppo recognizes them and thanks God for it. Perhaps the most understated compliment came from my Dad, who was a pilot in Korea. He said the Aussie pilots he knew were "good sticks", a fine compliment if there ever was one from another pilot.

[Mary*Ann]

Goooooooo A_C!!

[Tracy]

A_C~You go girl! Tell him like it is.

cjd~thanks for sharing your family's experience with Aussie soldiers.

[jeff]

I am in Baghdad and the Aussies here are great. Good soldiers and good people. They only reason they haven't had a casualty lately is pure luck. Skill only takes you so far.

[Al Maviva]

Lordy. Some good stories there. We used to call the spring loaded sap or baton the "hit me again" stick - bet you can't have just one whack.

Now, these were pretty good brawl stories, but the king hell brawl of all time that I ever saw, was a soccer riot between English and German fans. It was more like a couple dozen brawls, leading up to a full throated international incident. The Cold War was still on and the forces could get discount tickets. So I went with a bunch of British squaddy friends to the game - it was a "friendly." Hah.

There were fights before the game going into the stadium; fights during the game in the stadium, and fights after the game leaving the stadium - squaddies, some bundeswehr, neo-nazis, and plain old yobs. Hard to tell the difference given the haircuts. Then we went downtown to booze in the fussgeratezone, the pedestrian area with roughly two hundred bars in a ten block section of town. Soon enough the Bundeswehr troops found out where the squaddy bars were, the yobs found out where everybody was, and it was on. The sides formed into two massive mobs on two or three parallel streets, and would clash then disengage, clash then disengage. At one point, somebody had ripped all the tops off all the tables along the sidewalks, and the tabletops were getting pitched like frisbees into the opposing crowd, along with cobblestones plucked up out of the road. There was a lot of blood on the street. Eventually, the German cops showed up. Huge paddy wagons backed up the streets, sealing them off. I was near the back of one crowd when the wagon compressed us up the street. When it halted, the doors sprung open, and out jumped maybe a dozen of the biggest, ugliest German cops I ever saw wearing riot gear with Darth Vader helmets. I remember the first guy out the door leaping into the crowd, and hitting three people on the head, knocking them out, before his feet hit the ground. It looked like he was playing the bongos in a Jan & Dean movie... Within two minutes there were unconscious rioters lying everywhere in the streets. Heck, I'd thought these were tough guys, the rioters, but the cops didn't even need to bring out the water cannons, dogs and rubber bullets they used to use on the no-nukes stooges. We were all hauled off to the station, hundreds of us, regardless of guilt or innocence. A bunch of the more recalcitrant fellows who resisted the cops then proceeded to fall down the stairs, bump into doorways, or slip whilst having a drink of water out of the fountain - that's what unit commanders were told to explain the black eyes, broken noses and missing teeth. Only my inveterate boozing saved me from a similar beating - a detective sergeant happened to be a serious drinking buddy of mine and he recognized me as they marched us through the station in shackles. I didn't tell him that I was really only spectating at this particular riot, since he was really impressed that an American would be so thoroughly into the European lifestyle that he'd take up soccer rioting.

Good times. Good times.

[Heath]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and support of the Aussies and God bless all of the troops serving right now! And Obama - I'll give you "wasted" you little prick!! Son of a goat herder my arse!!

[Heath]

Funny enough I was thoroughly enjoying this thread last night and then recieved this email today.. No brawl stories in this one - sorry.. Oh yeah and again Obama - shove it up your arse!

To Kill an American
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is. So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!) "An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,Polish, Russian or Greek.
An American may also be Canadian, Mexican,African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, orArab, or Pakistani or Afghan.
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho,Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as nativeAmericans.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan . The onlydifference is that in America they are free to worship as each of themchooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he willanswer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming tospeak for the government and for God.
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration ofIndependence , which recognizes the God given right of each person to thepursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every othernation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.
When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americanscame with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back theircountry!
As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any othernation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products,the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But theyalso welcome the least.
The national symbol of America , The Statue of Liberty , welcomes yourtired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, thehomeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America .
Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11,2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that theWorld Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries,cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted theterrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did GeneralTojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in theworld. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. BecauseAmericans are not a particular people from a particular place.
They arethe embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to thatspirit, everywhere, is an American. This came from Vegas, going to Texas , Ohio , California ,many places inMichigan , where can you send it on to?