Karmic Buddha

So Im Back, And Yes I survived! We arrived early saturday morning, and right away we set up camp. Most of my men had arrived 15 to 20 mins earlier. The sky was over cast , but regardless of rain we're always ready to go! Being the 1st Sgt. I over saw, the camp set up while our captain was off with the rest of the brass, calculating our next disaster! lol About 10:45 am we recieved our marching orders and recall was sounded by our bugler. I formed my men on, the street with the rest of the battalion.

Of course like normal military procedure we hurry up and wait. The major marched us up the road a piece and we were put on stand down, near a rural farm. My boys and I leaned on a fence messing with all the cows and various farm animals. Finally after being on stand down we heard "Pepper" off in the distance. ("Pepper" is speratic gun fire.) Just then cavalry came riding up at full galop, requesting infantry support. The major called us up, and we reformed on the street and marched out to battle. Its typical, the cavalry always needs the infantry, it always seems like we are saving the cavalry's asses!! (no pun intended) We arrived on the outskirts of town, and sent out skirmishers in advance, just as the dismounted cav was falling back. Only one company of confederates could be seen. The skirmishers were recalled and the two companies were sent in to the town square. The 119th New York, went off to the right and my company the 14th Brooklyn E.Company went off to the left. We pushed the Rebs out of town. Our captain sent me off with four men to chase down the rebs and do a little recon for the major. Needless to say I chased them down and mowed them down before they could escape. We reformed just as the 119th was being flanked and assaulted by two fronts. We came in support and pushed the rebs back!

As we pulled out of town, the mayor thanked us for all of our hard work in the days action. But being seasoned commanders, myself and the staff knew that it was only the begining. Reports came in from our picketts that a nice sized force of confeds were off the northern outskirts of town near the schenck residence. So we marched off after seeing to the wounded civilians and our fallen boys, both sides at that! Once we reached the field, we came under heavy infantry fire from the tree line, They were waiting for us, and it was a trap! We fought valatly for an hour or so, but the fray was to vicious. It was best to fall back and fight another day. We set up sentries and set up camp. The night was filled with ale and lamentations of fallen comrades and old war stories from years before.

The next morning, we found our major was mortally wounded and would not make it through the day. His last order was for our captain to take command of the army and push the rebels out of the town and out of maryland. So I was appointed acting Lieutenant of the company. I recieved my orders and moved out with the battalion. We arrived on the in town and stopped for water and a rest from a hard march from the south. When towns people said our sentries were under fire in the north field again near the schenck house. The order was given and we moved out at the double quick. We moved like the devil himself was on our heels. When we arrived on the scene our sentries were pretty much desimated, and our beloved stubbs was struck down. The surgeon and I tried our best to save him, but the bullets were like buzzing bees over our heads so we were forced to withdraw.

I took command of my company and marched along side of the 119th. The colors fell many times that day, but everytime they were brought back up. My men loaded and fired faster than any soldier has or had done before! My men had a fire in there eyes, because of the snipers hidden in the surrounding farm buildings kept taking poc shots at our wounded. At first it seemed as though it was a small force but we were then hit by two companies of the Northern Virginian milita. Hard fighters, many a young man lost his life on that field. I moved my company forward only to get pushed back , but the boys kept begging us to push again, this was revenge for the earlier days fighting. We moved up as fast as possible, I ordered the front rank to fire. This unleashed a deadly barrage of fire on the rebs slowing them down only a little. Then my rear rank fired upon them, and pushed them back further slowing them down even more. This went on for a good hour or so. With the help of the 119th New York we successfully destroyed two companies of confed soldiers after a valant charge! I was struck down just as the charge commenced, luckily the lord didn't deem it my time, for the bullet hit my shoulder. I fell but I urged my boys to go on! It brought a tear to my eye, to see the hard training and experince of my boys driving the traitors off of the field. After we pushed them back the cavalry decided to chase the rest off. The surgeon saw to my wounds and gave me laudnum, I felt it was only right that I march back with my men after such a victorious display!

My men made me so proud this weekend. The skill, they posses and how awesome they looked made me proud like a dad. The boys did splendid, and were by far the best on the field. Our volleys and drill was superb and always got comments and applause from the crowd. I would personally like to thank the captain and the men for letting me lead them into battle on sunday! I hope I did right by you all!! And thanks again for showing up and staying through the thick rain and lightening! This event will prove to be one of those times that will have stories that will last for ever!! RABLE RABLE RABLE!!!! Especially when justin ate the WHOLE SLICE OF WATERMELON EVEN THE GREEN SKIN!!! HAHA SICK MAN SICK!!! And Jesse and I scaring the shit out of Justin and Sal on saturday night BOOO IM A GHOST!!!

Sgt. J.B. Tomsey
14th Brooklyn NYSM E.Company

Sept. 09, 1941
U.S. Army Headquarters
Selden NY

Spec. Frank R.

You are hearby reactivated by the United States Army On this date September 9 1941 and assigned to the First Special Service Force. You are to hook up with your section in Long Beach NY. From there you are to move out to Oddessa to rendevous with the Canadian Section. You will be going in behind enemy Lines on this one Frank. Your objective is to go deep into Nazi Germany and gather intel for the OSS, so we back home can assess our options on taking out Adolph Hitler. Thats All the Information we can give you at this time your commanding office will brief you when you arrive with the rest of the section. God Speed Old Friend.

LOL that sounds awesome doesn't it?! Well Im leaving for Long Beach Tonight. (Thanks For The Ride Jennie) Then Jesse, Andy, willie and I will hook up with steve and bruce. I think we're all gonna convo up to "New York / Canada " Its gonna be awesome! But for some reason Im gonna miss you guys back here in the states.. LOL go figure. Im gonna try to pick one of those cheap disposable cameras on the way up there so I can take some photos.. Hopefully someone will have a scanner for me when I return.. If I return?!?! DUN DUN DUUUUUUN! lol Nah Im just playin.... Oh I almost forgot about last night

Well I have returned.. Yes as some of you have noticed I didn't lose my life this weekend hehe. Well the weekend was awesome! Tons of armor, planes and troops! Spending time in foxholes and "Trooping" it across wide open fields. I'm thinner and hungrier than ever ha. Through out the weekend all I ate was A can of Dinty Moore which I shared with my andy, and a can of Chef Bouardee' 'COLD'!! YEAH I love CB cold I just hate it when its warm I think its nasty hot. I fired an amazing amount of rounds, this weekend too. Jesse , Andy and I were all over the field with the force attacking machine gun positions , armor collumns and just full blown running over open fields while under fire from Half Tracks, Planes etc. And Boy Was it F*ckin' Cold at Night man. Thank god for my heavy wool blanket! This weekend was much needed, I haven't been able to go out and play like this in a long time! But it made me realize how much gear I need.. I can't use any of my modern equip. I think Im gonna start a collection.. HAHAH I need $900. for my own tommy :( $240.00 for period Jump Boots and Mountain trousers. Then I need Web gear suspenders and a mussette bag. The rest I can borrow from people, so I need to start saving up my pennies cause the next one is in January!! The battle of the bulge. Its gonna be cold and snowing at this one!

This Is From IRAQ, A friend of mine in the service sent this to me.. And this is why we have a bad name in the middle east!! Killing Civilians....

Well yet another R-day is in the annals of the 14th Brooklyn's History! I believe this was my 8th? Ive been reenacting for so long now!! We left nice and early on Friday, and made really good time getting down there. This is the first time in nearly 6 years that my entire family was in gettysburg (Ma Pa and myself) We had a great time! We marched out on saturday to do the monument dedications. But this year the Captain (poppa dukes) took us the way the Original Fourteenth Brooklyn came on the field July 1st 1863. It was muddy but awesome! We did Mcpherson's ridge and the railroad cut on saturday.

Then we finished up and headed into town. Bruce and found an awesome WW2 store in town. This must be new because I have never seen it before. Needless to say his prices were astronomical, but all and all it was awesome to see original mountain pants and other such stuff! At 12 we did the main parade through town. It was a sight I tell you, 35 red legs marching in unison down the Baltimore Street! Everyone cheering "BROOKLYN!!!" It was great. We then just kinda chilled for the rest of the weekend, I went out to the G-Man with the guys and got shit faced as usual!! The G-man is a bar in town the whole name is the Gingerbread man. Great place, I have to buy one of there shirts... It says "A Drinking Town , With A History Problem" I guess its only funny for history buffs!! Sunday we went on a guided tour like years past, it was fun, although I was mostly staring off into the distance picturing the actual events of July in my head.

Gettysburg is my home, I love it there. I feel at peace and my head seems to clear up once I get there. Maybe its because I love the civil war so much? But regardless Im looking into moving down there in the next year or so. I feel I would be much happier down there, although I would miss all my friends :) I can't wait to go back!!!

Well the Captain knows exactly what memory is my favorite! At the 140th Antietam I was thrust from my usual Sgt position to company commander. And at that time I was still a new sgt. First let me explain the event to you a little. The event up to that point was weak, it wasn't organized properly etc. My company was down there for basically just one battle anyway, "The Cornfield".

The brass woke us up around 3:30 am to get us ready to move. But since there was no water etc, my battalion was standing down. So the entire staff of my company was gonna stand down in support of the battlion. I got angered by this and decided I was gonna go out anyway. I figured I couldn't let my boys fall in under another commander or company. We had a few companies with us so I had a total of 45 to 50 men under my command. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck. Even though company c had a Lt, he wasn't real good in the field. So he told me that in the field he was gonna go to the officers meeting and during the battle he would follow my lead. This made me even more nervous. I mean I've led troops in the field before but nothing of this scale before. On the march to the field it was pitch black, distant cannon fire lit up the night sky. I ran up and down the long line of men checking on each of them.

When we finally arrived on the field we were moved into position. Time and time again my men were moved up and down the field but never into the action. So finally I got fed up, acting like a young war crazed Sgt I screamed to my men. "You wanna Get in this fight boys?!?" Of course they all cried out a huzzah! So I told em to follow me and don't stop for anyone, just keep moving and stop when I tell em to! So we did just that. We crashed through Advancing and retreating lines of Union blue. "Make way for brooklyn" the boys yelled out. As we rushed the cornfield "Give 'Em Hell Brooklyn" was heard from our fellow Union boys.

Well today I recieved my "Overlord" Jump Pants from the quartermaster. Kick Ass! They need to be worn in, because I am not going on the field looking like a newbie. I went through that even after being a CW reenactor for 4 or 5 years. So now all I am awaiting is the order of Jump Boots. Should be here in 2 to 3 days. I can't wait for those because I need to break them in. Going into the bush with brand new combat jump boots is ridiculous. Any ex military or combat vet will tell you the same. The bulge is around a week away, but still I haven't found a way to get to Long Beach for my ride into PA. Im sure I will figure it out. Ive also been thinking to change the whole premise of my blog. I find that its sometimes rough to come up with stuff for a blog. So I was thinking of doing every other day and doing it from a re-enactor prospective on WW2 and Civil War. And maybe down the road, a few other impressions. Let me know what ya think...

NCO Duties and Responsibilities
"The choice of non-commissioned officers is an object of the greatest importance: The order and discipline of a regiment depend so much upon their behavior, that too much care cannot be taken in preferring none to that trust but those who by their merit and good conduct are entitled to it. Honesty, sobriety, and a remarkable attention to every point of duty, with a neatness in their dress, are indispensable requisites ...."

Baron Von Steuben: Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, 1779

DUTIES AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
INTRODUCTION
The success of any military unit ultimately rests on the actions of the private soldier. These actions are direct reflections of his state of training, morale, and motivation to do the job. From time immemorial, the NCO has been the person most responsible for training and motivating the Private. He does this through being trained and motivated himself and passing this on to his men through continual communication. These communication channels stay open only so long as the NCO has the respect of the officers over him and the men in his charge. He gains this respect by showing respect to his superiors and subordinates equally and by presenting a positive attitude especially in the most trying times.

PURPOSE
The purpose of this article is to familiarize the Non-Commissioned Officers (Sergeants, Corporals, and those acting in these capacities) on the duties and obligations inherent in these positions. This will allow you to function competently on and off the field and fulfill your functions of communicating with, training, and motivating your men. These instructions are based on both 20th century Army and reenacting experience. This is certainly not the "final word," but does represent the policies, spoken and unspoken, that the 14th brooklyn Infantry Regiment upholds. These guidelines are based on common sense, courtesy, and the enjoyment of all, and THEY WORK!