Kira

Guns Up! by Johnnie M. Clark c. 1984 by Johnnie M. Clark ISBN 0-345-45026-4 Talks about his tour with the 5th Marines starting just at the tail end of the 1968 Tet offensive mopping up operations at Hue. Pretty ugly stuff. Definitely a "new" perspective on the war for me. First book I've read written by a machine gunner on the ground. Definitely gives some insight into just what kind of meat grinder the Vietnam war had become by that time, and just how bad conditions were for the line units, particularly the "second hand" Marine Corps, who had to watch the Army get all the good stuff, while they made due with what they had (lots of it WWII vintage), and what they could beg, borrow, or, in most cases, flat out steal. Pretty bad when the gunner tells the new boot (paraphrase) "Don't worry, we'll get you your own NVA pack soon enough, and you can ditch your issued piece of garbage". A particular incident rings in my mind. The night a buddy died because "there aren't any helicopters available". The next morning, they watched the Army go by with a skyfull of bright shiny Hueys ferrying hot lunch out to the 101st Airborne. Oh, and that's after the "too smart to be on the ground with dirty Marines" USN corpsman discovered, at first light, the stomach wound that killed the guy... that he'd missed all night long when it was too dark to see. He's written some other books, too. Looks like I'll have my reading cut out for me on this one.

Why all these militant kitties, you ask? Well... Payback's a b*tch.

American Sniper by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice c. 2012 by Chris Kyle and Scott McEwen ISBN 978-0-06-208235-0 I found this to be a fairly easy read about a USN SEAL sniper (Kyle) who, apparently, is the most lethal sniper in US history. Typical sniper book, with personal background, some training, and then operational history. There are some interesting "inserts" if that's what you call them, by his wife, giving some information on what it's like to be the wife of someone who's basically not there much of the time due to their military service. Some interesting insights there, but I must admit, I skipped a portion of the heaviest of the "lovey dovey, it's tough" section. Wasn't big but it was a chapter title, so fairly easy to spot. As with most elite unit books, this one was written because "If I don't tell it, someone else will, and they'll get it wrong and forget some very important people in the process". Overall, I'd say a good book, worth the read.

Necro-Thread alert! Thought of starting one like this, found it already existed. First one's not a book, but a series. Destroyermen series, by Taylor Anderson. Historic fiction. March, 1942. The USS Walker, an old WWI Wickes class destroyer, finds herself and her crew in the Second Battle of the Java Sea, with Capt. Mathew Reddy in command. As they leave the battle area, a strange squall overtakes the ship. Next thing they know, things are the same... yet different. They find themselves on another world, yet quite similar, in most respects, to earth. Geography is almost identical, and places are almost the same. Without support, they must befriend someone before supplies run out. As they wander around, a huge ship the size of an aircraft carrier, but with three huge masts, sails over the horizon. Crewed by odd lemur like furry beings, the lemur ship is then attacked by an East Indiaman, crewed by reptiles. The Walker comes to the Lemurian's aid, and the story progresses from there, as the crew finds that it left behind one war for another. Without any base, other than the crew's own knowledge and the machinery aboard the ship, they slowly build a military and industrial complex from scratch as the war slowly widens to engulf this world. Currently, it seems the series is incomplete, as the end of Iron Grey Sea leaves little doubt that another book is forthcoming. Books in the series: Into The Storm Crusaide Maelstrom Distant Thunders Rising Tides Firestorm Iron Grey Sea

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/amelia-rose-earhart_n_3682099.html?icid=maing-grid7|maing10|dl18|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D352967

Difficulty settings,Misc, Shared Kills is still switched off? .... Erm, Kira...? One must adjust such settings under the campaign switch before they'll take effect everywhere else... (Works a charm. Thanks FT)

Has anyone gotten partial kills yet? I've set up quick missions with lightly armed fighters against a heavy bomber, making sure they both get many shots in... and it still counts it as a whole kill for one or the other despite the fact that both got many licks in. Ideas?

Dimable reticle and and red lighted map at night (with cockpit lights on)?? Night flying is much more of a pleasure, at long last.

You mean there are people out there who take that stuff seriously??? Sorry, I just read a recent report about how many women leave their husbands who return from war with such wounds. Makes me wonder where I can find one like this lady. Well picked, sir.

Ahhh, shock cooling (and avoidance thereof). Of course. That makes sense.

Anyone ever notice this? What's it for? I was messing around with trim and sliders and got messing with the throttle when I noticed that in the FW-190A4's cockpit, (actually, all 190s have it) the throttle has a detent (okay, really an offset) between 0-22% throttle and 23-100%. Any idea what this was for? My guess would be that lower range would be warmup settings?

FT, Perfesser, got it, it worked... sort of. The only "slider" I have left is the rudder rocker on my throttle (which I don't need as I now have real rudder pedals) so we'll see how well that works. And, not at all C/O the FW-190's beautiful trim gauge. Gotta be a slider or nothing. Oh well. Nice to know and will keep it in mind. Thanks.

Okey, nevermind... (Don't mind us sheep. Hey! Wait. That ones not a sheep!) Oh, hey, she did kinda quarter smile toward the end there...

Dunno, but maybe the lack of facial expression is par for the course for young female guitarists?

What version of IL2 are you using that has this this trim slider? I'm using 4.11.1 HSFX 6.0.17 and there is no trim setting in the joystick settings menu. Does it perhaps need to be manually written in to the .ini before it will display? I, too, have once again given up on the sliders and gone back to 100% across the board. Just have to learn to be more sensitive about the airplanes needs is all. (Sheesh, did I really just say that???)

Good to hear.

Personal oral histories of veterans, WWII, Vietnam, and Korea. Some very interesting stories, with footage. Best to copy the URL, it's not displaying right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN77xfyXiMM&list=PL6AB1D2B9AC87A760&index=1

DO NOT go with Discover. I've seen more than a few places (including one where I used to work) that don't take Discover. Their rates for businesses are too high.

Wow. Love those images. Would be nice to visit something like that someday.

Uh. Aw, shucks. Me too. Damn. I do NOT need another flight sim... Some things are just too good not to have, though.

Money's no object? How about space? Simple answer: One of each. By the way, if money's no object, why not buy your friends some, too? FW-190A8 P-38 Lightning (J,K,L) A-1 Skyraider (H,J) +1 for the F2G Super Corsair! Won't get into the post WWII stuff... Okay, yes I will! A-4 Skyhawk (yes, all of them!) F-4 Phantom II (B,E,G,J) F-14 Tomcat (A,B,D, SuperTomcat 21 [wishful thinking]) AH-1 (F,G) [That's an S in the picture, I think. Canopy frame is definitely late] and OH-6A UH-1 (N) AC-130J, KC-130, C130 to get all the spare parts and fuel there... and protect it all from those who would haul off with it given half a chance! By the way, anyone, in looking through pictures to post on this thread, note just how many pictures are incorrectly labeled? Sad, but not surprising.

Niccceeee!!! Or is that "The epitome of lazy"? Still, funny as hell.

T-34 vs T-90. Love the hippie girls! (I call the readhead.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgJFzcvOIQE

The best part? "Never touch your pets again!" ...Huh? Erm, they're pets. You're supposed to, I dunno, pet them, perhaps? Maybe it's just me. Falls heavily into the category of anyone seriously considering this should probably seriously reevaluate their interest in having pets in the first place.