Attention Soldats!

 

Ici. Patria Nostra.

La Mort c'est la Vie,

LSP

PS. How'd that fat guy get through selection?

PPS. Back in the mists of time we had a corporal in HQ Battalion who'd fled the Gloucesters for the 2nd Rep, for "some action" and then caught religion, jumped ship and handed himself in to UKLF. Pending trial for his infamy he served as acting corp, he'd give orders in French, "Soldats!" Good man and now, I believe, an Anglican Deacon somewhere in England. So.

A Bit Chilly

 

Here we are in Texas and it's a bit chilly, with temps pushing 110*. Brrrr. So what do you do? Go out on a recce and notice the streets are empty, yes, the road is your own. And what a road, lying there under an unrelenting sun.

March or die, I thought, putting one foot in front of the other. Do. Not. Give. Up. Ever. Back at the Compound, which has air, I reflected on this wisdom. Whoever said life'd be easy? I recall no such promise.

In related news, UK airports are shutting down because planes are getting stuck in melting asphalt, think tar babies. Thanks a lot, GRU.

Cheers,

LSP

Chaplain General

Everyone knows that priests aren't supposed to go around shooting people, except in World War II when the French clergy were given a dispensation by the Pope, allowing them to join the military as combatants. Perhaps the most remarkable of these recruits was a Dominican priest, Fr. Bruckberger.

Bruckberger served in the French Commandos at the start of the war, was seriously wounded, captured, escaped and served with the Resistance, over which he was appointed Chaplain. A fierce patriot and cineast(!), he welcomed De Gualle into Notre Dame de Paris as sniper fire rang out within the Cathedral.

After the war his superiors transferred him to the Sahara, where he became Chaplain General of the French Foreign Legion. Bruckberger later went on to America and wrote a series of reflections, One Sky to Share.

Here's an excerpt, on the Land in America.

"Here, the land has not yet entered into communion with man, and man has not penetrated the mystery of the immense natural forces that shelter him. This land is terribly in need of blessing. The land is perhaps the promised bride of man, but she is not yet his. Most often she refuses to give herself or submits against her will. The land and man do not know each other in the flesh and in the spirit."

I love that.

LSP