rlfj: Blog

Here is Chapter 24. It is about to get very, very real for Grim. This is no longer training. Enjoy!

Grim is now in the Army and has found himself assigned to the Fourth of the Fourth, part of the Second Brigade Combat Team. Just like there is no Matucket County in Georgia, there is no Fourth of the Fourth. The Second Brigade consists of all the units I listed, but only has two infantry battalions, not three (as of the time this was written, 2015; since then a third infantry battalion has been added, just not the Fourth of the Fourth.) Otherwise, all descriptions of infantry squads, platoons, companies, etc. are accurate, or at least as accurate as I can make them. I have tried my damnedest to get it right, and if there is an error, it’s on me, not my editors. They suffered massively helping me!

Enjoy!

I hope you’re all enjoying the story. The world is going to get a whole lot more grown up for our eighteen-year-old hero. Enjoy!

And so we start a new chapter, both in the book and in Grim’s life. Welcome back!

An acknowledgement - I was definitely not a jock. Douglas Fox of the Paradise stories was quite helpful with the football scenes in Book 1

I need to seriously thank my military consultants/editors for the help in Book 2. I couldn’t have done this without the kind assistance of n12614, bumbyb, tangotulsa, and abac2856. After writing A Fresh Start many people thought that I had actually been in the military, since I knew so much. While I admit that I know more than the average civilian, I am a civilian and always have been. I simply knew a lot of guys in the services and went to a school with a lot of guys in ROTC; I got a lot of help then. As far as being enlisted, my personal experience is limited to my brother from the ‘80s and my son in the Navy. Any mistakes you find are mine and mine alone, and I take full responsibility!

My final comments on the word Sassenach: I received an interesting email from a reader who had argued that Sassenach was Scottish, not Irish. I argued that all my research said it was both. He wrote back: “I've now spoken to a fluent Irish Gaelic speaker and you are right and I'm wrong. Sassenach is in common usage in the Gaeltacht (Gaelic speaking regions) in the west of Ireland as a mild insult for Englishman. As they say in my northern English region, Nah then, as bin nobbut a gormless flipperty gibbet (Alas, I have been nothing but a loquacious fool.) Hey, at least I learnt something today.” That’s the end of the Sassenach discussion.

Enjoy!

There has been some comment that ‘Sassenach’ is Scottish and not Irish. Since the only thing Irish about me is the whiskey I drink, and I don’t like Scotch, I had to do a little research. Here’s what I found on UrbanDictionary: “Sassenach: The Gaelic term for a Saxon. Survives in modern day Ireland and Scotland as a derogatory term for an English person.” I found an almost identical listing under Dictionary, with the only differences being in spelling between Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic. Now, if somebody Irish can provide me with an equally appropriate Irish Gaelic insult, let me know. I’m an equal opportunity insulter!

Lastly, this is Chapter 20 and is the end of Book One. I’ll begin posting Book 2 in a few days.