IN MEMORIAM JONATHAN C. RANDALL

Between 1986-1989, during the latter part of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which contrary to the American occupation of Iraq did cause millions of refugees, the US supplied the mujahideen with ample stocks of weaponry and ammo to fight the invaders. In 1991 that same US built and led a giant global coalition to oust Saddam Husseins army from Kuwait, where it had caused death and destruction on an unprecedented scale. And during the late nineties it was again the US which intervened in Europes own backyard on behalf of Bosnian muslims. Thousands of mujahideen must have watched from hilltops how "Christian" US warplanes pounded "Christian" Serb military positions and infrastructure. All that means that in just one decade, America came up for muslims thrice.

Let us never forget how, on September 11th 2001, America was rewarded.




A while ago I came across this web initiative aiming to honor the 9/11 victims by getting as many blogs as possible to shed some light on the lives and personalities of all the near 3,000 victims who perished in the attacks. I signed up, and the name DowneastBlog was allocated was Jonathan C. Randall. Jonathan was a 42-year old resident of Brooklyn, NY. He was a manager at Marsh & McLennan in One WTC. Jonathan seems to have been a nice and kind personality who did not seek the spotlights, which is why I found it hard to collect some hard info on him. Luckily I stumbled on this fitting fragment from an acquaintance which I think comes from the New York Times:

It is late Saturday morning at Kensington Stables, on the edge of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Jonathan C. Randall sits patiently, smoking a cigar, waiting for his 11-year-old daughter, Katharine, to finish her weekly riding lesson. It is a calming routine for both father and daughter, a treasured escape from times made hectic by divorce and a thousand other pressures. It is what Mr. Randall, 42, lived for.

"Jonathan had been bouncing around for a while until Katie was born, but then he got his life together," said Gindy Bladen, his former wife. "He was completely committed to her."

He also got more involved with a local church, the Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brooklyn Heights. He was assistant treasurer at the church council, and sometimes moderated discussions after prayer services.

"He was very definitely a peacemaker," said the Rev. Dr. George R. Muenich, its pastor. "He had that gift."

Mr. Randall also led a Bible study group at Marsh & McLennan, where he was a manager. But he always reserved time for Katie. "Whenever he was with her you could tell that he was totally enjoying the moment," said Matthew Steffanie, a neighbor. "He seemed to have an inner peace."

If you knew John, you might want to add something for an epitaph here.

If you are of Christian faith, please join us in the following prayer for John and his relatives. If you adhere to another religion and are a decent peaceloving human being, you might want to pray in the manner you like:

Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Amen.


MFBB

TANKS IN TOWN!!!

This weekend, Friday 25th, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th, the city of Mons in southwest Belgium commemmorates its liberation by the US 3rd Armored "Spearhead" Divison, event which took place on September 2nd/3rd 1944.



It's always a huge spectacle since Mons and surroundings are every time visited by tens of period vehicles, many of which are US combat tanks of that time: Shermans of course, but also Chaffees, tank destroyers, Honeys, and, a bit erroneous, Pershings, since that type didn't enter action until late February 1945. The photo above gives an impression of Mons' main square taken in completely by all kinds of wheeled and tracked vehicles in use by US divisions in the ETO (European Theatre of Operations) in '44-'45. Responsible for the organization of Tanks in Town, is the Royal Mons Auto Moto Club, and the photos on display here are from them. Unfortunately they are not from this year's event, but of that of 2005. Couldn't make it there.

Mons, pop. 91,000, is quite an amiable place with a picturesque town centre and a fair share of beautiful historical buildings. While there's little industry, it is important as an educational centre since there are a lot of colleges and a university. It is also the centre of the Borinage region, and old coal basin lying along the French/Belgian border. In early September 1944, that border was crossed en masse by rapidly advancing US units which had just all but destroyed a huge body of German armor and infantry in the notorious Falaise pocket in Normandy, France. The photo to the right shows the very first GI to cross the border, PFC James W. Carroll, a scout of the 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion, on his trusted Harley Davidson WLA. Because 3rd Armored had more WLA's in service (some 300 plus) than Shermans, it could be argued that the Spearhead should rather be called the 3rd Armored Hell's Angels division! Actually, Tanks in Town is also made possible by the WLA association, which groups Harley Davidson WLA aficionados from around the world (the HD WLA was the most widely used motorbike by the US Army in Europe).

While the Falaise pocket was real bad for the Germans, with 50,000 KIA and an enormous lot of matériel ruined, the Germans fared little better at Mons, where they underwent a similar catastrophe, albeit on a smaller scale. In the process of liberating the city, the Spearhead and accompanying units bagged some 40,000 troops in the so-called Poche de Mons, including the remnants of the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. While Hohenstaufen offered fierce resistance and its remaining 88mm guns took out a large number of US tanks, overall it was another catastrophe for the Nazis. In just two days, September 2nd and 3rd, they lost 30,000 men either dead, wounded or taken prisoner, including three generals. Among the 10,000 which managed to escape was 9th SS Panzer, now only 3,600 "strong" and guided out of the carnage by its Chief of Staff Obersturmbannfuehrer (Lt. Col.) Walter Harzer, since the commanding general, Sylvester Stadler, had been gravely wounded in battle. Hohenstaufen was so badly mauled that in all likelihood it had no tanks left. Still, its remaining infantry and a few armored cars and self-propelled guns would prove pivotal in repelling the British paratroopers at Arnhem, barely three weeks later. But that is another story. The photo below shows an armoured Tanks in Town column consisting mainly of Shermans on a road just outside Mons, 2005.



Notice how, as time goes by, we so quickly get used to the successive camo and colours of the US military. When I first saw the "pajama" camo now in use by US ground troops I had a little trouble seeing its advantage over the desert camo used during OIF. And now the large kevlar helmets and sandy colours and patterns look almost archaic. Back then, see photo, it was all olive green and khaki. While the olive green for the tanks wasn't that bad, one can guess that at some point some smartass high up in the Pentagon must have concluded to dispense with the large white stars. Too good a marker for an anti-tank round I suppose.


MFBB.