Mike Lask’s Selected Rants And Other Ravings

November 26, 1899 – March 31, 1945

This was America’s other General Patton. He also led from the front, with unending drive and aggression, but without the flamboyance or the headlines. In fact the exploits of his last command, 1rst Army, 3rd Armored Division, were often confused with the exploits of Patton’s 3rd Army, much to the chagrin of the hard fighting 3rd Armored soldiers. As great as Patton’s 3rd Army was, the 3rd Armored Division was every bit as significant to Allied victory, particularly with General Rose leading them on.

General Rose was the son of a Rabbi and the highest-ranking Jewish soldier in the U.S. Army during World War II. Tragically killed in action while scouting the front lines during the last days of the war, he has been buried under a Christian Cross, Star of David, and finally a Latin Cross (he likely had a battlefield conversion to Christianity after being wounded in WW I). Regardless of the nature of his faith, his story is woefully under-represented in the history books. His long and distinguished military career stretched all the way back to the World War I. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart and the French Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre.

By far the best site I found was The U.S. 3rd Armored Division History Website. A whole sub-section within the World War II section is devoted to him, complete with an extensive collection of photos:

http://3ad.com/

The rest of the few sites I could find are just OK…

http://pages.cthome.net/inspector/3rd_armored/mg_maurice_rose.htm

http://www.3ad.net/mg_rose.htm

http://www.3ad.org/wwii_heroes/rose_maurice/rose_maurice_home.htm

And there is also a great History Channel Production on the 3rd Armored:

http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=71052

In my second installment of less well-known military things of note, I bring you one of my favorites from the American Civil War: Berdan’s Sharpshooters. Actually, these Special Forces are rather familiar to Civil War nuts like me but probably unknown to just about everyone else.

The following link is to part of a much larger site, Company "C", 2nd Regiment, Berdan’s United States Sharpshooters. They are a re-enacting unit and their site has a little treasure trove of historical information. You can access the rest by simply going to their home page.

http://www.berdansharpshooters.com/tactics.html

This just about sums it all up, as only Mr. Steyn can:

AND so the "looming Iraqi election fiasco" joins "the brutal Afghan winter" and "the brutal Iraqi summer" and "the seething Arab street" and all the other junk in the overflowing trash can of post-9/11 Western media fictions....


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12107390%255E7583,00.html