Mentoring

On wargames, history and heroes: “this story shall the good man teach his son”

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Last night I was reading Stephen Ambrose’s famous book “Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944”  after having watched an anti-communist movie “Guilty of Treason” (1950). I was thinking about how much I love to read about the bravery of people in the past. I also like to replay their battles, either on the computer or with board games. So I thought I would write about why I like to do that.

I play wargames, because I think that it is important to recognize and celebrate those who have demonstrated good character, whether it be now, or in the past. I think that it is important for us to search out the best role models ourselves, so that they will influence the way we act in our own lives. The second world war was a clear example of good versus evil. Anyone on the Allied side who demonstrated bravery and courage should be celebrated for safeguarding the security, liberty and prosperity that we enjoy today. In the case of Pegasus bridge, the hero is Major John Howard of the British paratroops.

Here is a quick re-cap of his exploits that day from the New York Times:

Maj. John Howard, the commander of glider-borne British infantrymen who seized the strategically vital Pegasus Bridge in the first battle of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, died Wednesday in a hospital in Surrey, England. He was 86 and had lived in Burford, near Oxford.

Under cover of night on June 6, 1944, six gliders carrying 181 officers and men of the Second Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry landed on the eastern flank of a 60-mile invasion front on the northern coast of France. The regiment had a heritage going back to the battles of Bunker Hill and New Orleans, to Waterloo and to World War I. Now its soldiers were in the vanguard of the invasion of Hitler’s Europe.

Major Howard’s D Company was ordered to seize two bridges, one over the Caen Canal and the other spanning the parallel Orne River. If the Germans held on to those bridges, panzer units could move across them in a counterattack isolating 10,000 British paratroopers jumping behind the British invasion beach known as Sword, where infantry forces would arrive at daybreak. And Major Howard’s men sought to strike swiftly to prevent the Germans from blowing up the bridges if they were overwhelmed; the British needed those bridges to resupply their airborne units.

British Halifax bombers towed the gliders over the English Channel, then cut them loose.

Major Howard’s lead glider landed at 12:16 A.M., only 50 yards from the Caen Canal bridge, but the glider’s nose collapsed on impact, knocking everybody aboard unconscious for a few seconds. The soldiers quickly emerged, and over the next five minutes the men directly under Major Howard killed the surprised German defenders.

The nearby Orne River bridge was captured by other troops in Major Howard’s unit, and soon the words ”Ham and Jam,” signifying mission accomplished, were radioed to the airborne.

Two British soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in the operation.

Over the next 12 hours, British paratroopers and commandos reinforced Major Howard’s men, and British forces were able to move toward the city of Caen, their flank having been protected by the capture of the bridges.

On July 16, Major Howard received the Distinguished Service Order, Britain’s second-highest award for valor. On the 10th anniversary of D-Day, he received the Croix de Guerre Avec Palme from the French Government, which had renamed the Caen Canal span Pegasus Bridge, for the flying horse symbolizing the British airborne. The road crossing the bridge was later renamed Esplanade Major John Howard.

Why is this important? Well, it’s important to think on the things that are excellent. There are so many things in the culture that are not excellent that we are confronted with every day. We have to make it our business to do things together where goodness is celebrated. Especially when manly virtues like courage are celebrated. We don’t do that much anymore. And I think there’s a connection between wargames and Christian apologetics that we need to deliberately encourage.

Here’s an excellent passage from Shakespeare’s “Henry V” that makes the point:

This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say, ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian:’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. (4.3.43)

This is from the famous speech in which King Henry charges his men to fight well before the famous Battle of Agincourt.

You can read more about the history of the British Airborne division and Pegasus bridge. The famous historian of the second world war Stephen E. Ambrose also wrote a history of the Pegasus bridge battle, called “Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944“. You won’t find many military historians better than Stephen E. Ambrose!

You might be surprised how many men are interested in military history and wargames, precisely because men instinctively look up to men like John Howard who embody qualities like bravery and courage. We have a dearth of moral character in this society. And we don’t do much to teach young men about manly virtues, even in the church. I think that it is important for us to think of creative ways for us to present good character to our young men.

News

News media silent about jihadi-style shooting attack in Canada

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Big story from Canada is not getting much coverage in the Canadian news. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that the criminal was using firearms, and shouting slogans in Arabic? The Canadian view is that if you give people from the Middle East free stuff (paid for by taxpayers) then they will turn into law-abiding citizens. But is it true?

Here’s a security cam photo:

I’m told by Trudeau-supporters that terrorist shootings never happen in Canada.

Toronto Sun reports:

It’s not every day there is a jihadist-inspired terror attack in Canada related to Israel’s war in Gaza that few seem to know about.

But it did happen and the country is just fortunate no one was murdered in the process. The potential was definitely there.
This was an all-out Gaza-inspired, jihadist terror attack with gunfire and home-made bombs at Edmonton’s City Hall on Tuesday and not a word out of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about it so far. In fact, on X he was talking about being at the women’s professional hockey game in Ottawa.

This was a terrifying incident. Security video shows a man entering Edmonton’s City Hall wearing a Commissionaires Security jacket and carrying a long gun and appearing to shoot it. Police say he was “heavily” armed.

How did he get into the country? Well Trudeau lets in millions of refugees from Middle Eastern countries. And if anyone protests, he calls them “racists”.

There’s a taped manifesto with Arabic language:

In addition to the horror of security video showing the armed man during his attack, a taped manifesto which included Arabic greetings was also discovered. This was one close call to being something nobody could even attempt to downplay.
[…]“At approximately 10:18 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, a male parked his vehicle in the City Hall underground parkade, then entered the building from the parkade access,” Edmonton Police say. “Once inside City Hall, he lit several handheld incendiary devices, believed to be Molotov cocktails, that caused one small fire outside an elevator. He then fired several rounds from a long gun into the ceiling, walls and windows.”

No word yet on whether Justin Trudeau will be cracking down on Jihadi mass shootings the way he did with peaceful protests of his policies by law-abiding Canadians.

Tear gas:

Ottawa Police Gas Cannister On the Ground

Beatings:

Ottawa Police Brutality Fascism Trudeau Communism

Tramplings:

Horse Trampling Woman

Armored vehicles and assault rifles:

An attempted mass-shooting is a lot more serious than what happened when a few dozen truckers protested against the healthcare mandates. But Trudeau doesn’t seem to care much about it. He doesn’t want to confiscate the firearms of the Middle Eastern terrorists he’s been importing. He wants to confiscate the guns of law-abiding Canadians. He doesn’t want to freeze the bank accounts of the Middle Eastern terrorists he’s been importing. He wants to freeze the bank accounts of law-abiding Canadians.

News

Trial begins for 6 pro-life demonstrators targeted by Biden administration

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A lot of people are paying attention to a Canadian court’s ruling against Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada. You’ll remember that the Trudeau administration used armored vehicles, assault weapons, horses, and beatings to break up peaceful protests against health care mandates. Americans like to think that this could never happen here. But it already does.

Daily Wire reports:

The trial for six pro-lifers targeted by the Biden administration for peacefully protesting a Tennessee abortion facility back in 2021 began in federal court in Nashville on Wednesday.

The pro-life activists are accused of violating the FACE Act and civil rights conspiracy for a protest that took place in a hallway outside of a Mount Juliet abortion provider on March 5, 2021.

[…]Eleven of the protesters were arrested for trespassing at the time after local police arrived and dispersed the crowd. In October 2022, the 11 pro-lifers were indicted by a federal grand jury after the Justice Department pursued charges against them arguing that there was conspiracy by the group to stop the women from accessing so-called “reproductive health care” and violating federal law ensuring access to abortion facilities. If convicted, the pro-lifers could face up to 11 years in prison and $250,000 worth of fines.

[…]During the opening statement, the federal government accused the pro-lifers of plotting to “block doors to a health care clinic” and saying that the demonstrators planned on being arrested. The DOJ also said that the demonstration was not a protest, but a violation of federal law.

Police officer testifies:

After the opening statements, the government called on Mount Juliet police officer Lance Scheider to testify. During his testimony, Schneider, who has been a police officer for 24 years, said that police were called to the scene because business was being disrupted. He said that the protesters were “not being violent” and were offering no physical resistance. While he was guiding one woman into the facility, several people did stand in his way and he said he was able to gently move them to the side.

The article talked about one of the defendants, Paul Vaughn:

Vaughn has previously spoken about how the FBI raided his home with guns out in front of his wife and 11 children. He told the Daily Signal that federal agents came to his home “guns pointed at the door, banging on the house, yelling and screaming.”

This isn’t the only time that the Biden administration has conducted pre-dawn raids of the homes of pro-life demonstrators.

The Epoch Times reported on that story:

Jonathan Darnel woke at 5:30 a.m. to fists pounding on his door.

There was a crash as it was torn from its hinges, then shouts of armed men, he told The Epoch Times.

Without warning, FBI agents swarmed in to arrest him.

His crime: participating in what he calls a “peaceful pro-life protest” nearly two years prior.

Similar scenes have played out at the homes of several of the 26 pro-life activists arrested nationwide in 2022 and 2023. Some were given the opportunity to turn themselves in. At least one was arrested at work.

Many of these pro-life activists now face up to a year in prison for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. They also could be sentenced to more than 10 more years for the charge of “conspiracy against rights,” because they were acting in a group.

And another report from CBN:

Mark Houck woke up on September 23, 2022, to an incessant banging on his door. When he opened it, he saw more than 15 FBI agents crowded on his front porch and the front lawn with guns pointed at him.

“They were all the way lined down my driveway,” Houck told The Daily Signal. “I had agents on my porch with long guns.”

Despite putting his hands up and willingly cooperating, multiple agents pointed guns in Mark’s face as his family – including his seven young children – were forced to watch their dad “shackled” and taken away, family representative Brian Middleton told CBN’s Faithwire at the time.

The harrowing experience has left each member of the family with emotional wounds.

I’m paying attention to this story, because people need to understand how far the Democrat party are marching down the road of fascism. They are convinced that they are right, and that they have a right to ram their views down the throats of Christians and conservatives. Remember that when you’re voting in elections. I certainly will.