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2017-02-19 -Obits-

Day by day the ranks diminish - god bless

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Posted by Bov Flimbers 2017-02-19 04:21|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 Think dad may be last or near last survivor in TLH of Iwo.

Posted by Shipman 2017-02-19 08:43|| 2017-02-19 08:43|| Front Page Top

#2 Can anyone explain to me why a Lt. Gen. (aka 3 stars) ranks higher than a Maj. Gen. (aka 2 stars) when a Major ranks higher than a Lieutenant?

Thx..

Posted by AlanC 2017-02-19 10:49|| 2017-02-19 10:49|| Front Page Top

#3 Shipman, thanks a thousand times to your Dad. I suspect this will have occurred to you, but I hope he's given an oral history to the National WW2 Museum. I think Churchill said this about Midway, but he could have said it about Iwo: "Long may the tale be told in the Great Republic."

We read a lot about the ignorance of our yutes about the country's history. I drive past the Museum once or twice a day, and during open hours there is always a stream of people headed toward the Museum, and sometimes a river. Frequently young parents with kids in tow. I'm not sure what the kids get out of it, but I suspect it more than offsets what they might hear in their college history classes. (The Navy gets shortchanged a bit, since as big as the Museum is it won't accommodate a destroyer-- but there's a Fletcher right up the rive in Baton Rouge.) As you probably know.

Posted by Matt 2017-02-19 11:13|| 2017-02-19 11:13|| Front Page Top

#4 Can anyone explain to me why a Lt. Gen. (aka 3 stars) ranks higher than a Maj. Gen. (aka 2 stars) when a Major ranks higher than a Lieutenant?

Vagaries of the (literally) English language. See Admiral General Monk. They were making it up sometimes as they went along. Did you know the Army used to have ensigns? They carried the flags (national and regimental) circa 1812.

Posted by Procopius2k 2017-02-19 11:28|| 2017-02-19 11:28|| Front Page Top

#5 Thank you P2k. I am not surprised whenever the vagaries of English have to be invoked but I thought that the military might have avoided it.

Posted by AlanC 2017-02-19 12:27|| 2017-02-19 12:27|| Front Page Top

#6 Should have known better. You don't bite that hand that feeds you until after you retire/leave your post.

Idiot.

Posted by Jumbo Unaviting4985 2017-02-19 12:33|| 2017-02-19 12:33|| Front Page Top

#7 AlanC it is a holdover from the old European system.

A lieutenant was the second in command of a unit or a major staffer. Hence you hear a warlord/king having a "trusted Lieutenant". The lieutenant was helping a captain or a general.

In the old rank format, you had a Marshal that was in charge of all forces. He commanded the Generals and the Lieutenant Generals were the XOs. You then had Sergent Major Generals and then Brigadier generals. The Sergent Major Generals did pretty much what our Sergent Majors do, but also were given the office of Quarter Master General. Brigadier generals commanded brigades.

Over time as units grew in size, the term Sergeant Major General fell out of use and became Major General as that rank came to command the divisions. Lieutenant Generals still work with Generals as a staff office at the Corps level just like majors do at division level so they kept their name.

So you have the Be My Little General (Brigadier, Major, Lieutenant, General) structure we see today.

Posted by DarthVader 2017-02-19 13:05|| 2017-02-19 13:05|| Front Page Top

#8 Matt - The WW II Museum (originally the D-Day Museum) may not have a big Navy ship but its original feature was the invaluable, largely ignored, and locally-built Higgins boat.

Posted by Glenmore 2017-02-19 16:11|| 2017-02-19 16:11|| Front Page Top

#9 Darth, you and P2k exemplify why I have stuck with Rantburg since 2001.

The education you can get here is nonpareil.

I found this site by checking out every entry on Insty's blog roll, and now Insty and da 'burg are my only two regular checks. Prosit!

Posted by AlanC 2017-02-19 17:03|| 2017-02-19 17:03|| Front Page Top

#10 The Professor is a fan, since WOT has dropped to nil in "legitimate newsrooms"

Posted by Frank G 2017-02-19 17:09|| 2017-02-19 17:09|| Front Page Top

#11 Rantburg - bringing you the latest in the War on Terror and Poetry

Posted by SteveS 2017-02-19 18:39|| 2017-02-19 18:39|| Front Page Top

#12 My father's uniform is on display in that museum.

Posted by Nero White 3083 2017-02-19 19:20|| 2017-02-19 19:20|| Front Page Top

#13 They had amazing intelligence gathering that allowed them to destroy enemy troop formations very quickly. In one operation, 10,000 Japanese troops were totally wiped out in 20 minutes.

That is why our intelligence apparatus being put back into service of the people instead of a political party is crucial to the security of the people.

Posted by Nero White 3083 2017-02-19 19:30|| 2017-02-19 19:30|| Front Page Top

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