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Post by TheBo on Mar 7, 2005 11:14:30 GMT -5
I just spent two days on my stomach with an ice pack on my back, so I watched a lot of my tapes of YSS. And I'm thinking to myself, what about those poor soldiers? Running behind their leaders (who are on horseback), trotting to the battle zones, and in their little cloth boots, yet. How could they fight once they arrived? All worn out and panting. I worry about these poor fellows.
And another thing. During any conflict where funds are in short supply (I assume they were, since the court was hogging everything), the foot soldiers generally get short shrift in the boot department, as students of American history may remember from the Revolutionary and Civil wars. I wonder how many of them actually had the cloth boots at all? I wonder how many of them had the uniforms. I wonder how many of them were fighting in straw sandals, freezing their toes off in the snow.
If you did not have an official "uniform" were you likely to get hacked as a barbarian? I'll bet that happened a lot in the heat of battle. The Korean tv industry does a wonderful job of costuming, especially in something like DJG, but is it doing anyone a favor by showing these poor, scrabbling, farmer-conscript soldiers in such finery as they have? It's amazing to me that usually, soldiers fight hard even if they are not getting the benefits of that fighting--let's face it, the foot soldiers really don't--rather, it goes to the aristocracy they are protecting--but that's another discussion.
Just my wandering thoughts.
Bo
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Post by Aging Warrior on Mar 7, 2005 11:52:05 GMT -5
I remember seeing some show about American Revolutionary War recreationists where they participants were amazed at the amount of physical labor, especially hiking that soldiers had to endure. Soldiers, and people in general, used to be in much better condition. They didn't have cars. They had to walk or, if they were lucky, ride an animal. Our advantage over them is modern medicine and (to varying degrees) nutrition.
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Post by Aging Warrior on Mar 7, 2005 12:00:00 GMT -5
I hope our modern medicine helps you feel better soon Bo.  |
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Post by TheBo on Mar 7, 2005 12:29:57 GMT -5
I hope our modern medicine helps you feel better soon Bo. No medicine (well, some Aleve), just good, old-fashioned common sense. Icing for the first injury, heating pad later. And I do feel better. Thanks, AW! Bo |
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generaldu
Senior Addict
The subway charms us so, where balmy breezes blow, to and fro. - Lorenz Hart - "Manhattan"
Posts: 312
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Post by generaldu on Mar 7, 2005 14:33:01 GMT -5
I just spent two days on my stomach with an ice pack on my back, so I watched a lot of my tapes of YSS. And I'm thinking to myself, what about those poor soldiers? Running behind their leaders (who are on horseback), trotting to the battle zones, and in their little cloth boots, yet. How could they fight once they arrived? All worn out and panting. I worry about these poor fellows. And another thing. During any conflict where funds are in short supply (I assume they were, since the court was hogging everything), the foot soldiers generally get short shrift in the boot department, as students of American history may remember from the Revolutionary and Civil wars. I wonder how many of them actually had the cloth boots at all? I wonder how many of them had the uniforms. I wonder how many of them were fighting in straw sandals, freezing their toes off in the snow. If you did not have an official "uniform" were you likely to get hacked as a barbarian? I'll bet that happened a lot in the heat of battle. The Korean tv industry does a wonderful job of costuming, especially in something like DJG, but is it doing anyone a favor by showing these poor, scrabbling, farmer-conscript soldiers in such finery as they have? It's amazing to me that usually, soldiers fight hard even if they are not getting the benefits of that fighting--let's face it, the foot soldiers really don't--rather, it goes to the aristocracy they are protecting--but that's another discussion. Just my wandering thoughts. Bo One immediate precipitant of the Battle of Gettysburg was that Confederate troops were looking for a supply of shoes that they might appropriate. They ran into some Union cavalry and the famous engagement evolved. In field conditions the entire uniform would disintegrate over time. Lee once boastfully "excused" the fact that many of his troops had worn through the seats of their pants by saying that nobody sees the backs of his soldiers anyway. People have greater endurance than horses though. Over great distances riders would have had to dismount rather often to save the horses from breaking down. |
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Post by JPh on Mar 7, 2005 18:20:48 GMT -5
My father was a foot soldier in the South Korean army during the Korean War conflict. He was a 19 year old who got swept up off the streets by the MP's. He was now officially "drafted". He was given 6 hours of military "training", including how to fire a WWI vintage Japanese rifle and was shipped off to the front. And oh yeah, he was given three bullets and some rice balls - that was the average condition of the South Korean army at that time. He recalled the harrowing experiences of trying to dodge bullets, spending more time foraging for food - instead of fighting because they were so hungry and weak. It wasn't unusual for them to go three, four, five days without food and supplies because the South Korean army was so poor.
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Post by MasterCrabby on Mar 7, 2005 23:54:29 GMT -5
No doubt, the lack of good shoes has been a cause of suffering until recent times. I would hope that the current US soldier has appropriate shoes. One problem has been shoddy vendors contracted by the military. In the US Civil War, fraud and substandard footwear were the rule in the Union army also.
One of the prevelant maladies of WWI was trench foot. mud and water rendered leather shoes useless. I don't think that waterproof overshoes were available until recently.
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Post by luvarchfiend on Mar 8, 2005 9:27:18 GMT -5
bo, take care of your back. permanent damage can be life-altering. i hope you are better.
my issue with the running foot soldiers is this: they are often running for many miles, heading straight into battle. how can they possibly have any strength or energy left to fight with after all that running? i wonder about this every time i see this happen. and has been stated, they are often hungry and ill-equiped....it just doesn't make for a ready-for-combat soldier.
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generaldu
Senior Addict
The subway charms us so, where balmy breezes blow, to and fro. - Lorenz Hart - "Manhattan"
Posts: 312
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Post by generaldu on Mar 8, 2005 10:02:50 GMT -5
bo, take care of your back. permanent damage can be life-altering. i hope you are better. my issue with the running foot soldiers is this: they are often running for many miles, heading straight into battle. how can they possibly have any strength or energy left to fight with after all that running? i wonder about this every time i see this happen. and has been stated, they are often hungry and ill-equiped....it just doesn't make for a ready-for-combat soldier. While rushing to the battlefield is occasionally necessary military leaders would much prefer to go into battle with rested and ready troops. Regardless of their feelings for the men the generals own lives and reputations are at stake so it would be foolish to spend your soldiers' energy on the march unless the situation demanded a rapid movement of troops. One age old foot soldier's motto is "hurry up and wait" referring to the prolonged periods of training, camp life and boredom that make up much of the traditional soldier's life broken by the relatively brief and violent episodes of combat. Also, soldiers do learn to "sleep" to some degree while marching. Accounts as recently as WW II attest to this phenomenon, yet another example of how humans adapt to terrible circumstances. |
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Post by Eowyn on Mar 8, 2005 12:04:22 GMT -5
JPh, thanks for telling your father's story.
How horrible things were: starving, and without any munitions.
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Post by BungalowDweller on Mar 8, 2005 14:11:07 GMT -5
People have greater endurance than horses though. Over great distances riders would have had to dismount rather often to save the horses from breaking down. A long time ago I ran on a marathon team with an Indian (native American) guy who dreamed of making enough money and retiring to the reservation and "living Native" he called it. Out in a teepee. He told me that in his tribe, a right of passage for guys was to be able to run long distances (I'm sorry that I don't remember how long) and to outrun the horses. He regularly ran with and outran horses. The guy was amazing. He turned me on to a book entitled "Indian Running" which talks alot about this subject of running barefoot. |
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Post by TheBo on Mar 8, 2005 14:55:00 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, remember poor Zola Budd? In the 1984 Olympics, she ran barefoot and during one race, she managed to trip Mary Decker, who was the American favorite. Everyone seemed to imply it was because she ran barefoot (Zola, not Mary), but one or the other of them was not watching where she was going. I don't think either of them has been heard from since. I think other people have run barefoot since then, but I can't be sure.
Bo
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