Kids in war movies have it pretty darn difficult, especially when their little fists of fury can’t inflict that much damage against their adult enemies.
What they lack in physical strength, they make up with small stature and stealth — that is, if they decide to.
So check out our list of kids who stood out in the crowd for their bravery.
1. Jamie Graham (Empire of the Sun)
Christian Bale plays a young British schoolboy living with family in Shangai, China, when he gets separated from his parents and now must fight to stay alive during the Japanese occupation in World War II.
(Source: WB/Screenshot)
2. Sacha Filipov (Enemy at the Gates)
Played by Gabriel Thomson, this young Russian character feeds bad information to a German sharpshooter to aid in the victory of his hero, legendary sniper Vassili Zaitsev.
(Source: Paramount/Screenshot)
3. O.D. / Chicken Boy (Schindler’s List)
Played by Adam Siemion, this intelligent and quick-thinking child managed to help Jews get into the “good lines,” lied to German soldiers about clearing a building and saved about a dozen others by blaming a newly murdered Jew for killing a Nazi-owned chicken.
Played by Oliwia Dabrowska, this young girl donned the famous red coat and courageously walked her way through the dangerous streets of a Polish ghetto as Nazi soldiers raided and tossed the area. She made it completely unnoticed to safety.
(Source: Universal/Screenshot)
5. Leon (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas)
Played by Zac Mattoon O’Brien, this brave youngster lives in a concentration camp but sneaks out regularly for small periods of peace. Leon ends up befriending a young German boy who just happens to be the son of camp’s commandant but never uses that against his newly made friend.
A US Army spokesman told INSIDER that the fan had a point but that calculating the exact dollar amount isn’t so simple.
Here’s the backstory.
After defeating Hydra in World War II, Captain America was lost in the Arctic north from 1945 to 2011. During those six decades on ice, he was never technically discharged. As a result (the theory goes), the government owes him payment for those 66 years of service.
Redditor Anon33249038 crunched the numbers and concluded that the First Avenger is entitled to $3,154,619.52, adjusting for inflation.
The analysis factors in the Army’s 1945 pay grade, biannual raises, and how long Cap spent on ice before he returned to active duty in 2011 at the start of “The Avengers.”
Wayne Hall, an Army spokesman, says there’s more to it than that.
“If Capt. Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) were not a fictional character and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and recovery actually real, he may actually be entitled to receive back pay,” Hall told INSIDER in an email. “However, a wide variety of variables would have to be taken into consideration to actually calculate the true amount of back pay to which he would be entitled to receive; given that he is a fictional character we cannot truly capture all of those variables accurately.”
Hall went on to say that the Redditor had some of his facts wrong.
“Yes, it is correct that the O-3 (Army captain) pay grade in 1945 was $313.50; however it was a monthly pay rate vs. quarterly as the original poster indicated.”
The fan theory also “misinterpreted military pay scales” when arriving at the figure for the biannual increase of pay, Hall said, and failed to take in “any potential promotions that may have been bestowed upon Rogers while he was listed in a ‘Missing’ status.”
Whatever the final amount of back pay the government would owe Captain America for his decades of service, it’s almost certain that he would still have way less money than Tony Stark.
Army veteran and USC School of Cinematic Arts Alumni Jordan Michael Martinez has released his 20-minute short film The Gatekeeper on Valorous TV. A psychological thriller that artistically and authentically highlights the real struggles veterans face with PTSD and suicide, The Gatekeeper stars combat-veteran Christopher Loverro (U.S. Army) and U.S. Navy vet Jennifer Marshall (Stranger Things, Mysteries Decoded).
“There’s a proliferation of post-traumatic stress disorder themed films being produced that I feel do not adequately capture the true essence and the reality of the situation facing the soldier who is returning from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Martinez explained. “In fact, advocating for an environment that offers a culture within and out of the military for positive mental health is a much more positive attitude than just merely labeling it as a PTSD problem. I really wanted to present the bigger picture of what many career soldiers and returning combat veterans go through.”
Watch the Trailer
https://vimeo.com/372506708
The film depicts the aftermath of a soldier’s actions in combat, taking particular care to explore relationships between an Army First Sergeant (Loverro) and his wife (Marshall), who begs him not to go back overseas.
“If you really want to help veterans you need to go beyond ‘thank you for your service,’” Jennifer Marshall shared. Telling their stories is a great way to start. Martinez hired veterans in front of and behind the camera. “I want to make a difference and start a conversation. I think The Gatekeeper can save veteran and civilian lives.”
Army veteran Christopher Loverro in The Gatekeeper.
There have been more veteran suicides since 9/11 than combat-related fatalities. Suicide and symptoms of trauma remain significant threats to military veteran’s lives and quality of living. The veteran community is rising up to bring awareness to the need for healing after returning home from military service.
“If you have PTSD or have been affected by an event, you are not weak. Getting help is not a sign of weakness,” urged Loverro, who champions veteran health and recovery.
If anyone reading this is in crisis, please know that there is a hotline you can call for support: 1-800-273-8255 (or anyone in need can send a text message to 838255).
And for anyone else who wants to join in on the conversation or support veterans as they tell their stories, you can watch The Gatekeeper here on Valorous TV.
Well, the coronavirus got one of our favorites. Oscar winning actor, amazing fun guy and a man who has gone out of his way to bring amazing stories about our American heroes to the screen told us late Wednesday that he and his wife Rita came down with the COVID-19 bug while in Australia.
(Yes, we know there are a lot of stories that need to be covered, but we want to add a little levity too.)
We were putting out an article about the release of the trailer to his new movie Greyhound, which featured some amazing action scenes from the Battle of the Atlantic, and wanted to also give a shoutout to Tom by giving a ranking of his top 10 best films.
This was hard. There are too many good ones and a lot of great characters. Not everyone reading this will be happy. Don’t blame us! Blame Tom for making so many great movies. Before we do, we also have to shout out his great TV career before he even became a big movie star. He was on the Love Boat, had the great show Bosom Buddies, and even had a martial arts fight with Fonzie.
Honorable Mentions
On the list of greats but just missing the cut are Sleepless in Seattle, Bachelor Party, That Thing You Do!, Turner & Hooch, Charlie Wilson’s War, Road to Perdition. All great with some awesome scenes, but as you will see the rest are hard to top.
**There are spoilers, so don’t get mad if you haven’t seen a movie yet and continue to read.**
When we were kids we all wanted to be grown up. When we grew up, we kinda wished we could be kids again. Arguably, no movie sums this up as well as Big. The great comedy from 1988 had Hanks as Josh Baskin, the kid that made a wish (Zoltar still creeps me out) and grew up overnight. He realized how good he had it and went back to being a kid, but not before giving everyone the two songs they must try to play whenever they see a keyboard.
“We never turn our back on it and we never ever allow ourselves the sin of losing track of time.”
The FedEx man who was all about time and efficiency, Hanks’ character Chuck Nolan has the misfortune of becoming a modern-day Robinson Crusoe. Stranded on a deserted island with his thoughts and a volleyball named Wilson, Nolan adapts to life alone before realizing he doesn’t want to die alone.
Also, extra props to FedEx for taking the movie and giving us one of the funniest Super Bowl commercials of all time.
Hanks is masterful as Paul Edgecomb, a death row prison guard who encounters a life-changing man in John Coffey. He initially is dismissive of Coffey and tries to ignore him, although he is still drawn to him. As he gets to know him, he realizes that a mistake has been made and now has to deal with the fallout of what he learned. An allegory of the story of Jesus, the movie has moved many to tears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2undcZx2MFo
Captain Phillips get rescued by navy seals movie scene
The line gave birth to plenty of memes (especially for us military types) but the movie is pretty well done. Hanks plays the title character and delivers an amazing performance of a by-the-book guy that keeps as cool a head as he can when dealing with pirates. As cool as the Navy sniper who made that awesome shot.
Philadelphia (1/8) Movie CLIP – I Have A Case (1993) HD
For his role as Andrew Beckett, Hanks won his first Academy Award. Playing a man dying of AIDS who sues his employer for wrongful termination, Hanks gave a performance of a lifetime while educating the world at the time about the humanity of AIDS sufferers (especially in the LGBT community) in the early 90s. His transformation from a young vibrant man to a dying shell of his former self changed Hanks from the comedic actor of the 80s to the powerhouse thespian that he’s been for the rest of his career.
Playing Jim Lovell, Hanks teams up with Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon to portray the almost disastrous Apollo 13 mission. The special effects and cinematography are amazing, it’s directed by Ron Howard so you know its good, and the rest of the cast back on Earth deliver amazing performances (failure is not an option, right?)—but Hanks is the rock of the movie. Showing steady leadership the entire time, from when things are great, to when the shit hits the fan, to when you just have to sit back and pray, Hanks brings it on home.
Jimmy Dugan yelling at poor Evelyn is the icing on the cake for probably the best comedic performances of his career. A drunk has-been, Dugan gets the chance at redemption managing a team of female ball players during World War II. The journey from uninterested drunk to cynical doubter to teetotalling motivational manager is pretty fun to watch until Dottie drops the ball.
In a movie that literally changed the way animation was done, Hanks gave us one of the most endearing and lovable animated characters of all time, and then three more times after that. Playing the favorite (until Buzz shows up) toy of Andy, Woody is the boss of his own toy universe. When we were kids, we all imagined how our toys would be if they came to life. We all imagined they would be like Woody. How much did we love him and his buddies… you know you just about lost it at that scene in Toy Story 3, don’t lie.
Bubba Goes Home – Forrest Gump (4/9) Movie CLIP (1994) HD
You can say Pulp Fiction should have won Best Picture that year. You can say Jenny is a truly evil person. You can say that the movie is overly sentimental. But who cares? It is still an amazing film that shows the journey of America through the life of a simpleton. Hanks is a ping pong player, runner, star football player, shrimp boat captain, and a whole bunch of other things.
But his portrayal of a soldier in Vietnam and his relationships with his friends Bubba and Lt. Dan resonates with every veteran. Holding one buddy in his arms as he dies and being there for another as he lives is a journey most of us can relate to.
That. Opening. Scene. There have been plenty of great war movies over the years, but this one made you feel as if you were there. The opening was so powerful some D-Day veterans had to take a step outside. In the midst of that opening, we are introduced to Captain John Miller. Miller is the guy we wish was our Commanding Officer and the guy we would follow into combat. Follow, because as a true Ranger, he led the way up until the very end. Hanks’ portrayal as the teacher turned warrior is his best performance to date.
In the first-ever Stand Up and Rock Out benefit event, American Legion Post 43 in Hollywood, California, got a heavy dose of comedy and heavy metal; attracting celebs, rockers, and plenty of vets. Held in the new, beautifully remodeled theater at The Legion, the sold-out event featured sets from Bill Burr, Jeff Ross, and Bob Saget and a performance by Eagles of Death Metal.
Rounding out the show was Joe Derosa with American Legion member Jon Stites hosting the whole event.
Jon is no stranger to comedy, having made the rounds all over LA and abroad. Before becoming a professional standup comedian, Jon was a grunt in the Army and even spent a little time as a college language professor. Now, he helps the iconic Hollywood American Legion get the street cred it deserves by bringing them acts like Bill Burr and Eagles of Death Metal. Check out the video above for a taste of the epic jam session and stay tuned for news about more rock shows coming to a Legion near you.
If you want to check out more Jon Stites, catch Mandatory Fun, where he breaks down the most hilarious clips from across the military.
Army soldiers count on the elite medics assigned to air ambulance crews to pull them out of combat when they are wounded. These crews, called, “Dustoff,” fly unarmed choppers into combat and provide medical care to patients en route to US field hospitals. This air medical evacuation saves lives and bolsters the confidence of soldiers in the field.
Photo: US Army Sgt. Travis Zielinski
When the terrain is too rough for even a helicopter to land, hoists are used to lower medics or raise patients.
Photo: US Air Force Staff Sgt. Rasheen A. Douglas
US Army Dustoff crews typically consist of a pilot, copilot, flight medic, and crew chief. Some teams, especially those on the newer UH-72A aircraft, will have a firefighter/paramedic in place of the crew chief unless a hoist operation is expected.
Photo: Department of Defense
Flight medics will train other soldiers on how to properly transfer patients to a medevac helicopter.
Photo: US Army Staff Sgt. Ashley Moreno
When possible, the crew chief or flight medic will leave the bird to approach the patient, taking over care and supervising the move to the chopper.
Photo: US Air Force Staff Sgt. Ashley Reed
This training is sometimes done with foreign militaries to ensure that, should the need arise in combat, the US and other militaries will be able to move patients together. Here, Republic of Korea soldiers train with US medics.
Photo: US Navy Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Lou Rosales
Medics going down on a hoist are supported by the crew chief, an aviation soldier who maintains the aircraft and specializes in the equipment on the bird.
Photo: US Army National Guard Sgt. Harley Jelis
Of course, not all injuries happen during calm weather in sunny climes. Medevac soldiers train to perform their job in harsh weather.
Photo: U.S. Army
The crews also train to rescue wounded soldiers at any hour, day or night.
Photo: Department of Defense
Some medevac pilots even train to land on ships for when that is the closest or best equipped hospital to treat a patient.
Photo: Department of Defense
Dustoff crews also care for service members who aren’t human. The most common of these patients are the military working dogs.
Photo: US Army
The Dustoff helicopters are launched when a “nine line” is called. When this specially formatted radio call goes out, medevac crews sprint to ready the choppers and take off.
Photo: US Marine Corps
The medevac is eagerly awaited by the troops on the ground who request it.
Photo: US Navy HMC Josh Ives
The flight medics can provide a lot of care even as they move a casualty in the air. Most patients will get a saline lock or an intravenous drip to replace fluids.
Photo: US Marine Corps Cpl. Paul Peterson
Flight medics have to deal with turbulence, loud noises, and possible attacks from the ground while they treat their patients.
Photo: US Army
Another challenge flight medics often face is providing treatment in low light or no light conditions.
Photo: Department of Defense
No light conditions require the use of NVGs, or night vision goggles.
Photo: US Army Sgt. Duncan Brennan
Medical evacuation helicopters also face challenges while picking up their patients. The tactical situation can be dangerous where these birds operate.
Photo: Department of Defense
Ground soldiers have to secure the landing zone.
Photo: US Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Justin M. Mason
When the medevac bird returns to the base, the casualty is rushed into the hospital so they can be treated.
Photo: U.S. Army Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
If a soldier’s injuries are severe enough, they’ll be stabilized and prepped again for transport to hospitals outside of the deployment zone.
Photo: Department of Defense
The mission of those under the Dustoff call sign can be challenging, but it provides great comfort to the troops on the ground.
It’s easy to forget that the Vietnam War was originally fought by the French and that plenty more countries came to fight the communists, not just the U.S. One of the other groups deployed to Vietnam was a force of Australian and New Zealand soldiers. A group of just over 100 of them would fight an estimated 2,500 North Vietnamese for over three hours with little support, achieving a victory in the direst of circumstances.
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan – Official Trailer
The Battle of Long Tan is now in theaters, and it tells the story of these soldiers and how a combination of grit, danger close artillery, and gutsy support from helicopters got them out alive. The movie is, appropriately, named Danger Close.
The men of Delta Company, 6th Royal Australian Regiment, were sent out to patrol the area around their base at Nui Dat. The base was established in order to cut North Vietnamese supply lines, and the North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies were super pissed off about it.
So, in August 1966, the Australian command began to gather intelligence that said North Vietnamese troops were conducting reconnaissance in a rubber plantation just a few miles from the base and potentially building up forces for an attack. Senior leaders did not share this intelligence with the men of the 6th Royal Australian Regiment.
This painting is a reconstruction of several different events that occurred during the Battle of Long Tan fought on Aug. 18, 1966, between ‘D’ Company, 6RAR and Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army forces.
(Bruce Fletcher, Australian War Memorial)
On that August 18 patrol, 108 men of Delta stumbled into a fight with an estimated 2,500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in deep mud as massive rains poured onto the men. The company commander, Maj. Harry Smith, positioned his men behind a small rise that provided some cover as long as they were laying down. Bullets would fly over their heads for the next 3.5 hours.
Despite the discomfort of the rain and mud and how dangerously outnumbered they were, the Australian troops did have a few advantages. The rain was hitting hard enough that mud splashed up and camouflaged them, and the light silhouetted the North Vietnamese and helped the Australian troops target them. And, amazingly professional artillerymen fired thousands of rounds in support of them, including numerous fire missions within 60 yards of the friendly infantry.
But the men weren’t equipped for a protracted battle. They nearly ran out of ammunition as the weather kept helicopters on the ground. Two helicopter pilots took it upon themselves to deliver a re-supply despite the dangers, giving the men enough ammo even as the men were firing their last few rounds of what they had carried in.
Reinforcements finally made it to the fight in armored personnel carriers and forced the North Vietnamese back. Eighteen Australian and New Zealand troops had been killed or would soon die of their wounds while another 24 were injured. Meanwhile, they had inflicted at least 245 fatalities on the enemy, and it is believed that the North Vietnamese had suffered many more losses but had carried the dead away to frustrate Australian intelligence collection.
While American and South Vietnamese leaders decorated Delta Company in the years that followed, it would take decades for the Australian government, wracked by protests at home, to commend the men for their bravery.
Now, the movie praising their exploits is available in Australian theaters, and it will soon be available online.
Catch-22 was written six decades ago by World War II veteran Joseph Heller, but change the B-25s to CH-47s and make the sands of Pianosa (an Italian island) the sands of Afghanistan, Iraq, or Kuwait, and all the characters and most of the plots would fit right in.
The new miniseries from George Clooney, which features him in the supporting role of an insane commander of cadets, includes all the best moments from the novel. The funny ones, and the ones that capture the horror of conflict. Moments like these seven: (Spoilers below.)
When a slight error in directions puts a man in mortal danger
When a new gunner shows up to the squadron, he’s bunked in the tent of Yossarian, the main protagonist of the novel and the only one of the miniseries. Yossarian isn’t the most helpful of lieutenants, but he gives the new sergeant directions to the administration tent. A slight miscount of tents sends the sergeant to the ops tent, instead.
So the sergeant, instead of signing in to the unit, gets thrown into the next plane going up on a mission, a dangerous one over Nazi-controlled Italy.
(Hulu screenshot)
When an Army sergeant tries to marry an Italian whore
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: A young Army sergeant meets an attractive sex worker, falls in love, and wants to get married, even though everyone in the unit tells him it’s a horrible idea.
In Catch-22, that’s Nately, and his enduring loves goes to “Nately’s Whore,” an Italian woman with a funny pimp and a clever younger sister. While Nately’s story is a bit cliche, it also features one of the better lines of sergeants loving sex workers.
“Sure, she’s a prostitute now, but she won’t be once I marry her.”
When a piece of flak almost sends the hero home
During one of the bombardier’s missions, he almost gets his “million dollar wound,” the one that would let him go home. Slight spoiler: He’s hit in the nuts by flak. As the American doctor later explains, any man who gives up a nut for his country is entitled to go home. But any man who almost loses a testicle has to fly more missions.
And, spoiler, Yossarian only almost lost his testicle. A piece of shrapnel passed through his scrotum, between his testicles.
When an aviator creates a mock scrotum to ask about his testicles
And how did Yossarian learn that he still had two testicles? An Italian doctor told him. But the Italian man only spoke Italian, and Yossarian only spoke English, so he did a bit of improvisation, just like any soldier trying to communicate with a local would do.
In Yossarian’s case, that was turning a handkerchief into an improvised scrotum filled with two nearby pieces of fruit. Then he pointed at the fake nut sack, said, “Two,” pointed at his own sack, and asked, “Two?” The doctor got the idea, laughed, and confirmed the boys were still present.
(Hulu screenshot)
When the colonel tries to cover up failure by giving an award and promotion
At one point, our hero is so distracted on a bombing run that he goes through the whole run-up, gives all the verbal commands and watches for the release point, but forgets to actually throw the lever to release the bombs. Yossarian, pretty strung out by this point, decides to just get his plane to go around for another pass.
(Major spoiler) But on that second pass, a beloved character is killed, and Yossarian blames himself for making the second run. His bosses blame him too. But when they go to punish him, they suddenly realize that punishing the bombardier would send the message that the mission failed. So, to maintain the perception that the mission was a success, they promote him and give him a medal instead.
(Then, for slightly related reasons, they have him arrested about 24 hours later.)
When the whole world turns dark
But the most familiar parts of the miniseries, and the novel, are the dark moments, when the humor melts away, and the terrifying reality of the war smashes its way in like the world’s most horrible Kool-Aid Man. We aren’t going to list any moments here, because all of them are major spoilers.
But the themes of loss, vulnerability, the futility of war, rampant capitalism, and more are all explored. The “loss” one comes up a lot.
It’s in most of the ads, so you’ve probably seen how Catch-22 works. If not, it’s a piece of bureaucratic genius that sounds exactly like something the Army would come up with.
Flying bombing missions is suicidal and, therefore, insane. Anyone who is insane doesn’t have to fly bombing missions. All they have to do is present themselves to a doctor and ask to go home. Except.
Except that the moment they ask to go home, the doctor is required to take that as the thought process of a rational mind. Rational people aren’t crazy and can’t be sent home for insanity.
So anyone who asks to go home, can’t. Anyone who doesn’t ask can go home anytime, as soon as they ask.
If you’ve got Hulu, you can check out the show anytime. If not, the book is probably better anyway. Sure, you don’t get to watch Hugh Laurie, but there are even more jokes than in the miniseries. And the novel was written by a vet, so it avoids some of the military mistakes like the show makes. (One guy wearing massive sergeant stripes introduces himself as a lieutenant. There’s about one mistake like that per episode.)
We’ve all seen “Saving Private Ryan” and “Band of Brothers,” but here’s a list of facts from World War 2 that you probably didn’t know:
1. The first German serviceman killed in the war was killed by the Japanese.
2. The first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians.
3. Over 100,000 Allied bomber crewmen were killed over Europe.
4. More U.S. servicemen died in the Air Corps that the Marine Corps.
5. Polish Catholic midwife Stanisława Leszczyńska delivered 3,000 babies at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust in occupied Poland.
6. In World War II, British soldiers got a ration of three sheets of toilet paper a day. Americans got 22.
7. In 1941, more than three million cars were manufactured in the United States. Only 139 more were made during the entire war.
8. Four of every five German soldiers killed in the war died on the Eastern Front.
9. Only 20 percent of the males born in the Soviet Union in 1923 survived the war.
10. In World War II, the youngest serviceman in the United States military was Calvin Graham – age 12. Graham lied about his age when he enlisted in the US Navy. His real age was not discovered after he was wounded.
11. Only one out of every four men serving on U-boats survived.
12. The Siege of Stalingrad resulted in more Russian deaths (military and civilian) then the United States and Britain sustained (combined) in all of World War II.
13. To avoid using the German sounding name ‘hamburger’ during World War II, Americans used the name ‘Liberty Steak.’
14. Adolf Hitler’s nephew, William Hitler, served in the US Navy during World War II.
15. Adolph Hitler and Henry Ford each kept a framed picture of the other on his desk.
16. During World War II, the largest Japanese spy ring was actually located in Mexico.
17. The mortality rate for POWs in Russian camps was 85 percent.
18. The first bomb dropped on Berlin by the Allies killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
19. Had it been necessary for a third atom bomb, the city targeted would have been Tokyo.
20. An Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer, who fought in World War II, Hiroo Onoda never surrendered in 1945. Until 1974, for almost 30 years, he held his position in the Philippines. His former commander traveled from Japan to personally issue orders relieving him from duty in 1974.
21. Total casualties for World War II totaled between 50 – 70 million people, 80 percent of which came form only four countries – Russia, China, Germany and Poland. Over 50 percent of the casualties were civilians, with the majority of those being women and children.
In the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen has finally done it. She’s managed to pull off her version of one of “Mad Dog” Mattis’s signature moments — albeit after some serious military blunders and at least one close call.
Early on in the episode “Eastwatch,” Daenerys gave a speech that boiled down to “I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f#ck with me, I’ll kill you all.”
James Mattis, then a Marine general, speaks to Marines in Iraq. (USMC photo)
Well, Randyll Tarly and his son Dickon f#cked with the Mother of Dragons and became crispy critters as a result. The demonstration was effective – in essence, the Breaker of Chains is telling Westeros that they can have “no better friend, no worse enemy” than her.
Not so well-known, though is the fact that Jon Snow is obeying another teaching from “St. Mattis of Quantico.”
In 2010, Mattis famously said:
In this age, I don’t care how tactically or operationally brilliant you are, if you cannot create harmony — even vicious harmony — on the battlefield based on trust across service lines, across coalition and national lines, and across civilian/military lines, you need to go home, because your leadership is obsolete. We have got to have officers who can create harmony across all those lines.
Jon Snow has demonstrated this multiple times throughout the series. He’s managed to stitch together numerous alliances over six-plus seasons – to the point that he now has a coalition of Northerners, Free Folk, Knights of the Vale, and is now carrying out a special operation with the Westerosi version of the “Dirty Dozen.”
Now, for a case of the stupids.
Arya Stark is falling for an “AF is low on water” gambit being run by “Littlefinger” Baelish. Unless Arya can keep calm and ask why Littlefinger wants her to have that specific document, it looks like the Stark girls are headed for trouble – and we could see a fight between Brienne and Arya that is for real.
If you’ve ever served in the Army, you know chain of command is everything. Orders flow down from the Commander, and the success of the mission is a direct reflection of the rigor and discipline with which his or her subordinates execute.
General George S. Patton: good plans, violently executed.
If you’ve ever worked in a gourmet kitchen, you know that chain of command is everything. Orders flow down from the Chef, and the success of the meal service is a direct reflection of the rigor and discipline with which his or her subordinates execute.
Chef Ludo Lefebvre: great meals, violently delegated. (Meals Ready To Eat screenshot)
Cute, right? Yeah, it’s true though. The parallels between a deployed military force and a busy professional kitchen are abundant and revealing. Discipline, hierarchy, preparation, trust in team — it’s all there. And no one gets this more clearly than Army veteran Will Marquardt, who now serves as Chef de Cuisine (second in command) to celeb Chef Ludo Lefebvre in his five-star Hollywood hole-in-the-wall, Petit Trois.
The Lieutenant of Petit Trois, hard at work. (Go90 Meals Ready To Eat screenshot)
Meals Ready To Eat host August Dannehl took the 405 to the 10 to drop in on Petit Trois, where he found a young lieutenant at the top of his game, executing dish after perfect dish with precision, exemplary leadership, and an added dash of creativity.
