Souvenirs...  

frenchguy38 3/17/2008 11:57 pm	As you get older you remember more, well.. until you go senile, of course. I recall when i was a 16 years old "apprentice" soldier in a military school. We were, for a training exercise, on some deserted place in the east of france. We had to make shelters, each soldier carried his own poncho and some elastic cords, so one soldier would put his poncho on the ground and another put his poncho some 60 cms above it, held onto trees with the cords. This "aesthetic' tents offered some rain protection but the wind would just whip through it as there were no walls. It was cold, from a little corpse of bushes our sergeant came around to inspect our shelter and i recall him saying "What a pity..." while seeing us cover of mud and wet. Me, being a smart a$$, cold and tired replied "Thanks, Sergeant !!" with a big proud smile on my face. During that night, some fools didn't sleep with their rifles in their sleeping bags to protect them from the humidity as it got very icy and cold there. I found that out when i wake-up and my sleeping bag was craking while being frost. The Corporals went around and stole rifles of sleeping "soldiers" during that night. I can remember the sermon they receive the following day. That day, we ran, crawled through mud and deep tranches. We weren't allowed to sleep all night... a couple of guys cuddled to keep warm. I wasn't going to cuddle, that's for survival, a matter of life or death... some guys, as i remember, were a bit too much quick to cuddle... At dawn, we took up positions with our arms, i was at the time the "one", the guy with a AA-52 (a full -heavy- machine gun). then, suddenly, at the bottom of the hill, 5/6 sergeants ran at us shooting (blanks), they weaved and fell to the ground now and again, as we took aim a couple of times and shot the guys. At this moment, it was close to the real thing, as i can imagine... I did hunt rabbits and boars a couple of time but they never shoot back.... Well, i just wrote this post (and souvenir) because today is specific.... First, the last of the First World War french veterans (named "Poilus") passed away and today was a National Tribute for this soldier named Lazare PONTICELLI. But, the most important is, coincidence, the date that my Grand-Father Albert Rene PETIT passed away, when 56 years old, due to complications from wounds received during WW II (and being a prisonner too). I was just 6 years old when it happen and while being so young, i can still remember a man of dignity, simple, fair... I miss him dearly. Love you, Pepe... Have a beautiful day, Frenchguy. Song of the day : CAMARATA AND HIS ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS "Chorus of hebrew slaves"
frenchguy38 799 posts  3/18/2008 1:24 am	Sadly, the pic of my grand-father with my cousin, his little sister and me wasn't allowed by KFF...
korn2020 Ask me for a photo 1871 posts  3/18/2008 1:24 am	Salute !! KORN
frenchguy38 799 posts  3/18/2008 1:52 am	Thx Korn... Have a beautiful day
Daveman_2 30 posts  3/18/2008 2:38 am	What a beautiful story. Although I'm Korean i have a Dutch passport so i had to serve in the Dutch military when i was 19. When we go to the field we had to sleep with our gun (an Uzi) in our sleeping bag as well and if you forgot your rifle at any point you where punished severe. Thanks for bringing up some memories.
frenchguy38 799 posts  3/18/2008 2:08 pm	Hey Dave, True, whoever has served in the army can only brings memories for the future... Thx for your comments. beautiful day to you