03-29-2016, 09:41 PM | #151 | |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: About draftees and other military veterans
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03-29-2016, 09:58 PM | #152 | ||||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: About draftees and other military veterans
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To take a random NPC as an example, he was born in 1918 and was drafted in 1943. He got home in 1946. In 1950, he was still unmarried, age 32, not working in any critical industry. Would he have been drafted again for Korea? Or technically, I guess, called up for service again, because of his reserve status? His military record was unexceptional. If any attempts were made to measure his abstract reasoning facilities or generalised intelligence, he would have scored abysmally, but he was obedient, biddable and not lacking in basic mechanical aptitude. That is, he wasn't any kind of genius mechanic, but he could be taught to make hospital corners, operate a mop, salute, parade and clean his weapon as well as the next fellow. Better, in case of the mop, cleaning and hospital corners, as he didn't have much in the way of irrelevant thinking going to distract him from simple tasks. Quote:
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The Dufresne family and Allen family are very different in that regard. Victor Jude Duresne's great-grandfather was a doughboy in WWI, his grandfather died on Guendecanal in 1942 and his father and two uncles all went to Vietnam, with one uncle falling at Khe San in 1968 and Abel Dufresne, his father, coming back with a Silver Star after his three tours in Vietnam.* By contrast, it is a proud boast of the Allen family that no Allen has ever been chump enough to fight wars for the benefit of other people wearing the uniform of the United States. The first Allen in North America, Clayton 'Clay' Allen did serve as a scout for the United States Army in several Indian wars and the War of 1812, but as he seems to have spent most of his time selling contraband to Indians on both sides and running slaves up to the Canadian Maritime provinces, he can hardly rank as an honourable veteran of the US Army. His son, the first US-born member of the clan, John Clayton Allen, fought with distinction in the Civil War, but unfortunately for Allen posterity, he did so as a Copperhead under Gen. Leadbetter. Sean Danville Allen was too old for WWI and while his oldest boy, Richard 'Dick' Allen, father of current patriarch Clayborn Allen, was at the right age then, a quiet word with a member of the Draft Board prevented any unpleasantness and allowed young Dick Allen to learn his trade at the sawmill and logging sites instead of wasting time in uniform. Clayborn himself had a college deferment, more or less during 1955-1962. The first three years were just a technical college working for an associate degree, but he finally got into a real college (admittedly in Canada, but McGill is a very good school) in 1958. Spends 1958-1960 in Canada. Then in 1964, when the draft for Vietnam really got going, he would have been twenty-seven and married with a pregnant wife. I imagine his draft number was high enough so that the draft ended before he could be called up. *Strangely, very little has been said about the third uncle, other than he lives in Thailand in 1988.
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Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela! Last edited by Icelander; 03-29-2016 at 10:05 PM. |
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03-29-2016, 10:27 PM | #153 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: About draftees and other military veterans
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An NPC born in 1945. Physically and mentally in average health. In 1988, he has a college degree (he's a CPA), but I've not established when that degree was earned. Assuming that he did not succeed in getting a deferment in the mid-60s, perhaps because he could not afford college immediately upon finishing high school, would he most likely have been drafted at age 18 or age 21? Some other age? If he was drafted, he presumably stood a fairly high chance of getting a non-combat MOE, as he certainly did not seek out a front-line infantry position. What would be the most mundane and common thing to do in the military while Vietnam was going on?
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03-29-2016, 10:31 PM | #154 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
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What about someone who wanted to go to war when Korea started in 1950? For an NPC who was born in 1933, did he have any plausible way to join the military at age 17? Legally? What about not-so-legally? Was the bureaucracy good enough by 1950 so that people couldn't lie about their age any more, like they did when joing up for WWII? The NPC in question is 6'3" and 240 lbs. as a man in robust middle age, so I imagine he was a tall and broad-shouldered teenager. Could grow a mustache early and, at least in 1988, has a formiddably hairy chest, enough so that the PCs consider him* an outside possibility for the man/men that the suspect in custody refered to as 'Big Bad Wolf' and 'Hungry Wolf'. *Along with Clayborn Allen, who perhaps best fits that role.
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03-30-2016, 03:14 AM | #155 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Rifle scopes
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Do you mind if I push my luck and check if you might be of even more use? So far, I've equipped a lot of the rifles meant for shooting fox and bobcat in the twilight with the Bushnell Scopechief V, simply because I don't know about any other late 70s/early 80s variable power scopes with an illuminated reticle. There was apparently also a Hensoldt fixed-power 4x scope with a battery illuminated reticle made in the 80s, which I know about because it is mentioned in GURPS Tactical Shooting. I think it was related to or perhaps even the same scope as what the West Germans were putting on military rifles in the late 70s. Do you know if any other scope models came with battery-illuminated reticles in the period 1975-1985?* For characterisation purposes, I would really like Dr. William Pinault to own a different model of scope than resides on the high-quality loaner rifles that the Allens keep for visiting VIPs. The desired attributes are about the same; a variable power scope of 3-9x or thereabouts with good light-gathering capabilities and an illuminated reticle (or the equivalent). In game terms, it will be more or less the same thing (probably exactly the same), i.e. a +1 to +3 Acc scope that reduces darkness penalties by -2 and weighs from 0.7-1.5 lbs. But I'd like Dr. Pinault to own an imported European or Japanese scope**, not an American one with a commonplace (if good) reputation like the Bushnell. On the above list, only the Nickel and Tasco are foreign and neither of them are really the kind of prestigious, pretentious maker names for which I'm looking.*** I'd like Hensoldt, Carl Zeiss, Schmidt und Bender, Kahles, Swarovski or the equivalent if European and something like Nikon if Japanese. Does anyone know if these companies made any model of scope between 1975-1985 that had 3-9x magnification (or 2.75-8x, 3.5-10x or anything similar), 40mm or more objective lens and an illuminated reticle? I suppose illuminated reticle is more important than variable power, if it is in 4x or 6x or so. When were the Kahles Helia scopes marketed? *In 1985, Trijicon starts marketing scopes with tritium illuminated reticles. **Allowing him to wax ecstatic about the quality of engineering 'by these marvellous, organised peoples' in a quasi-racist manner. ***For all of that, 1970s Tasco scopes were reportedly excellent and Nickel has a very good reputation. But these are not pretentious, just very fine products.
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03-30-2016, 07:13 AM | #156 | |||
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
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The other brands you're curious about aren't mentioned at all, probably because nobody was importing them at the time. In fact, there is a quick reference in an article to the fact that Del-Sports, Inc was no longer importing Kahles because the prices had risen too high on them.
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03-30-2016, 11:22 AM | #157 | |||
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Location: Iceland*
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
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03-30-2016, 11:59 AM | #158 |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
I'm not sure what you mean by compact... if you mean like modern tactical scopes people stick on their AR-15s? Then no... there's nothing like that. However, there is the Nickel Supralyt 2.5x listed at retail price of $130, the Leupold M8 3x listed at $68.50, and likely some others. These would be fairly traditional hunting scopes, though.
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03-30-2016, 12:29 PM | #159 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: 1980s American Cars, Guns, Gadgets and Consumer Goods [Atmosphere, look, minutiae
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Basically, most well-designed scopes with low fixed magnification are probably meant to be compact and should be much less of an encumbrance on a 5-6 lbs. plinking rimfire or camp gun than a 3-9x40mm or even a 3-9x56mm scope. Obviously, such guns would be even handier without scopes, but many middle-aged men feel a low power scope is easier to use with less than perfect vision than iron sights, especially as the light gets dimmer when it nears twilight. The Leupold M8 3x scope is actually a perfect example of a 1970s vintage 'compact' hunting scope. I've even equipped Phil Willette with one of those mounted on his Savage 24V Series D rifle/shotgun combination gun in .22 Hornet/20G. But for Dr. William Pinault, I'd really prefer a 'fancy' imported model, even if the stats are exactly the same. Willette is pragmatic and indifferent to fashions. He doesn't pay for brand recognition or unnecesary bells and whistles. More than a decade ago, he got a nice deal on a used Savage 24 in the .22 Hornet chambering, which he found a useful pest control gun around his cabins, and he liked being able to reload his brass. When he was invited on the coyote night hunts some years later, he didn't buy a fancy new 'yote rifle, he just stuck a scope on his old plinker. Not the most expensive scope, but a quality model that suited his purpose. He doesn't mind that he doesn't have the capability for quick follow-up shots, because he takes pride in not missing. Dr. Pinault, however, isn't really an avid hunter or the sort of gun nut who owns multiple gun cabinets. On the other hand, he is very sensitive to clean, attractive lines, understated elegance and perfection of design. He doesn't so much pursue fashions as he seeks to project, or even, ideally, embody, good taste. He will always try to acquire classics, whether they are currently antiques or he believes that they will become classics in the future. When he buys a firearm or a riflescope, he will approach the matter as if he were spending an equivalent amount on buying a tailored suit, Italian leather shoes or a crystal candelabra. He will do research and then he will look at samples for as long as it takes, seeking that elusive perfection.* At a glance, Willette will not be willing to spend more than ca GURPS $1,000 on a scope/rifle combination for a hobby. Dr. Pinault will gladly spend GURPS $5,000+ on a classic gun and scope, but he unless what he acquires is clearly an immortal piece of art, he might not go over $10,000. He could, after all, be spending that money on wine, brandy, paintings or fine dining instead. Of course, Dr. Pinault is left-handed and dislikes intensely shooting right-handed bolt-actions. He is also not fond of brass flying at his face. This somewhat limits his options. He has had success with firearms that eject the spent shell or brass downwards, instead of sideways, and often borrowed Allen's Ithaca 37 Featherlight pump shotgun and his Browning SA-22 semi-automatic rifle. The latter got so bad that Dr. Pinault finally bought his own Browning SA-22, a custom deluxe one in Grade VI, with the safety moved for left-handed use. It's for that gun that I require a compact scope with good light-gathering capability, as Dr. Pinault uses it a lot to plink at small animals and even sometimes shoots at coyote at short ranges, often in poor lighting. *Perfection within his budget, of course. He is not a spendthrift, merely an aesthete. He will set a budget for each purchase that his purse can bear. That might be quite a generous budget, however, as he is a renowned neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins with no family to help spend his disposable income.
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Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela! Last edited by Icelander; 03-30-2016 at 12:37 PM. |
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03-30-2016, 01:42 PM | #160 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: About draftees and other military veterans
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