Returning From My Break

As some of you may have noticed I have not posted since May, I took a break from blogging. Well now I am back and have the full intention to start again and I will hopefully continue distracted.

World War 2 Video Games

I have always had a love/hate relationship with war games, especially World War 2 video games. On one hand they provide hours of entertainment and fun. On the other hand they are strange in a military and historical sense. Since this is a rant I only want to talk about why I hate them.

 Since I am in a good mood today I will start with why I hate them. The number one thing I hate is the way that you are basically a one man army even though there are 50 MILLION other soldiers with you, you have to do everything, but you cant preform basic tasks such as opening a door (like in some games someone has to do it for you) or TALKING! The next thing I hate is how you move so fast (not literally but in a larger military sense). Yeah, last I checked it took the US Army 10 minutes to get off Omaha Beach. You also carry way too many weapons. Last I checked no soldier can easily sprint with a .30 cal, MG42 and a bazooka all on their backs. The soldier you play as also has such military expertise he has to have every job available in the military. For instance in Call of Duty 2 where you get in a tank and you operate it like a expert, even without any prior training (I have operated a tank before it is no easy task). I have always wanted to see a war game were you didn't complete dominate the opposing side, can carry only one weapon, and have to use real military tactics to win.

Sorry Public

I would like to say sorry for not posting in a long time. I have had a busy time in my life and couldn't quite finish a post (i have started multiple ones). I am going to have a ton of free time coming up and will be posting more frequently.
Hope you check back soon!

"Who Cares?"

I love World War 2 movies as much as the next guy, but something that has always ruined a good World War 2 movie for me has been historical accuracy. I bring this up because the other day I was talking with my non-history studying friends about the movie Pearl Harbor, I liked it (especially Kate Beckingsale) but some of the scenes in it were terrible from a historical perspective. For example late war painted Zero's or a U.S Army Air Corps pilot volunteering to serve in Britain (this was against the rules of neutrality). After I stated these facts and others my friends looked at me and said "Who Cares".
I can see how in movies the filming would start, thousands of dollars in pyrotechnics are going off and you see that, lets say someone has the wrong canteen cover but you can't stop the scene to change out the canteen so you keep rolling, or you are making a movie in the 1960's and you have no special effects (which gives no excuse for movies today). These make sense but in, like say The Pacific (which is a great miniseries) the landing craft would never embark from the LST's so close to the beach and head directly in, they would circle around out of the artillery range, form up and head in. This isn't as dramatic as going straight in. That is the reason I put for all historical inaccuracy in movies "This way adds more drama".
I did like my English teachers always told me to do, add a concession it makes you look educated, if I am anything its that I am educated! So now to answer my friends' question, with "I do". I think it is morally wrong to spare historical accuracy for drama, and for the sake of getting more money. In the case of The Pacific I think it would of been more dramatic to see the tension build as the landing craft circled around waiting to head in. Another counter I have heard to this exact statement is "that would be boring", I think circling around would build up the tension as you are anticipating the landing. I also think that in sacrificing historical accuracy you also do a great disservice to veterans and their memories.

French Helmet

I know I promised the german helmet second, but I couldn't stop thinking of writing one for my french helmet. I like this helmet because it was used in both World War I and World War II (and the crest on the top). Even though the french got a bad rep during World War 2 for "quitting" early. Enough talk here is the helmet :

Front shot

Inside of helmet

Top view of the helmet

I got this helmet for cheap since it is missing the liner, chin strap, and the pin that goes on the front. Other than those parts the helmet is in great condition with minor rust on the inside and many places with paint chipped off. I will start a series of post about the restoration of this helmet (as soon as I can find somewhere to buy a french liner) so if you want to keep up with this come back and check my blog.

 

First Helmet!

I have decided for my first real post I will post a picture of one of the helmets in my collection. The first helmet I will show is the first helmet I ever got, the US M1 Steel Pot.

Side Shot of the M1

Shot of the liner

I love everything about this helmet (even though it is a little heavy), the thing I love the most is the silhouette this helmet, it is a classic. I always did find it interesting how the liner looks. It is interesting because its the only helmet to use a web suspension system, (all the other helmets in my collection use leather flaps). The M1 also has a removable liner (no picture of the liner separately, sorry) that you can where as lighter head protection. The M1 is a great helmet as shown by the fact that we used it from World War 2 all the way through to a little after Vietnam.

I hope you enjoyed this little look at one of my helmets. Stayed tuned for my French Helmet overview.

First Post

Hello World,
This is my blog where I will post:
-random facts on World War 2 history
-important dates in WW2
-collecting militaria
-what ever else I can think of that is history related
I hope you enjoy my blog as much as I enjoy making it!