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I'm having the darndest time deciding what to do!

It appears that John is striking a very aggressive posture. I think he would like to trap me between Victoria Point and Port Blair airfields to the east and KB to the west. I'd have my carriers and the big airfield at Sabang in between. That's a stout position for the Allies, but John may have concluded this is an acceptable mix.

I have two choices: (1) push my carriers ahead and position two or three hexes from Sabang, to draw some bleedover CAP while the merchants make it to port; or (2) withdraw my merchants towards Ceylon, push my carriers over towards Port Blair to hammer both the airfield and the port, and see what John does with the KB.

Both course of action have merit, but the former is very risky.

After sitting on the turn overnight, I felt a "disturbance in the force" and a "unease in the spirt" when I decided to move the carriers and merchantmen towards Sabang. When I began issuing orders for Plan B, the disturbance and unease departed. So I think I've made the correct decision; or at least the one I can live with. The plan:

1) Sabang hunkers down. All BBs including the three fast American ones, remain in place to prevent enemy bombardment runs. 311 good fighters on CAP (80% to 90%) with range set to zero. Some of the faster merchants to flee towards Ceylon along with three lightly damaged combat ships that can still make very good speed.

2) Carriers move to a position about four hexes west of Port Blair. Most SBDs set to naval attack alternate airfield attack. Most Avengers set to port attack. Fighters set to 60% CAP. The primary objective is to shut down the airfield; the secondary objective is to hit shipping, especially Mutsu. While the latter doesn't pose a threat to the Allies, I think her destruction will have a material impact on Japanese morale, though John may have already written her off mentally. Mainly, though, I would like to address Port Blair and Victoria Point so that John can't squeeze Sabang between carriers and effective airfields.

Over the past few weeks of AE downtime, I've been working on a couple of short articles. Here's one that's nearly finished, though I may end up adding additional "stories" from the "old days" in this little community.

My Favorite Tombstone

This is not my church. These are not my people. Nonetheless, I feel at home.

On a sultry July afternoon, I stand alone on a tree-covered hill, immersed in death. Crows caw irately from the canopies of a southern red oak and an eastern red cedar. A solitary great-crested flycatcher mournfully whistles it’s “weep” call in the deep woods. The dispiriting drone of cicadas fills the summer air. Together, these form a choir singing to a congregation of the deceased, whose modest graves are marked by sunken ground and canted tombstone.

The hilltop cemetery at Mountain Springs Methodist Church in Floyd County bears witness to the all-too-common occurrence of death among the young a century ago. Among the graves are Infant Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Camp, Born & Died 1902; Son of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Beard, Born & Died Oct. 7, 1904; Martha Sybilla Terrell, Safe in the Arms of Jesus, Sept. 9, 1908 – Sept. 10, 1908; and Baby Gail Padgett, Born 5-9-1902, Died 5-9-1902. There are dozens of others, all serving as solemn reminders of the primitive state of medicine in rural areas during that era.

But I’m not here to contemplate death, for this cemetery also holds my favorite tombstone, which celebrates life. The inscription on the wide granite marker under an arching black oak tree lists the names of a husband and wife, H. Grady Terrell and Luna Presley Terrell, but it does not include their dates of birth or death. Neither is there a touting of military rank, membership in any secret society, or an important position in the community. All that is given is the date of their marriage – December 5, 1909 – and the names of their seven children: Sybilla, H. Grady Jr., Vaughn E., Flora E., Paul S.H., Annie L., and Alene A.

In all likelihood, Grady and Luna didn’t mean to broadcast a profound postmortem message, but the emphasis on family is unmistakable. During reflective moments while visiting the cemetery over the years, I’ve often thought that these parents must have fully grasped the counsel of the psalmist: “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.” (Pslams 127:4-5)

Last summer, I decided to find out if this was the case, so I telephoned David Terrell, a Rome realtor. The son of Grady, Jr., David is a gifted storyteller, who for an hour spun tails about his grandparents and life in this community a century ago.

“We loved to get together at granddaddy’s house!” David enthusiastically offered after I had explained the reason for my call. “They were a gregarious bunch; a sweet bunch of people.” When I asked about my hunch that this had been a tight knit family, he replied, “Your take on the tombstone is accurate.”

Times were not easy for the hardscrabble farmers, like the Terrells, who lived in the Flatwoods section north of Rome a century ago. “Daddy spent his life working hard,” David remembers. There wasn’t any bottomland to farm and the soil was mostly infertile. The only factory in the area closed not long after World War I and the railroad went out of business in 1923. Times were hard, cash was scarce, and people struggled to make do with whatever they had.

“If they threw it away,” David explained, “it was past using.”

Growing up on a farm meant that the Terrell boys were accustomed to working with livestock. “One day when daddy was about 14,” David recites, “he was driving a wagon. To allow a vehicle to pass on the narrow dirt road, he pulled over to the side, with two wheels in the ditch. Whenever that horse got into a tight spot it would balk; it wouldn’t pull. So daddy stopped the man in the vehicle and asked, ‘Will you beat this horse with a tree limb while I hold the reins?’ The man said that he wouldn’t, but that he’d be glad to hold the reins while daddy did. So daddy commenced to whaling on that horse. It came out of the ditch like a shot.”

David laughs, “Granddaddy was soft on animals but hard on kids. So daddy had to hide that horse from granddaddy until those whelps went down.”

Not long thereafter, Grady Sr. and Jr. were back in the wagon on that dirt road and pulled over to let a vehicle pass. “Granddaddy told daddy, ‘He won’t pull out, son,’” David smiles. “To which daddy replied, ‘You might want to try him once.’ Well, that horse shot out of the ditch, much to granddaddy’s surprise.”

Grady Jr. only had a second grade education, but his farm work made him wise in the ways of animals. “One day he drove an ox to get butchered,” David says. “He got so far and the ox just sat down. So daddy climbed up on its neck, put his hands over its nostrils, and the ox had to get up.”

The children of Grady Sr. and Luna grew up to be hardworking, salt-of-the earth kind of folks who worked in education, law, and agriculture. As with any family, there was also a sprinkling of disappointment and sadness, but the family always remained close. As David recalls, they “looked for any opportunity to get together.”

Every grave in Mountain Springs cemetery undoubtedly can yield similar stories of life and death, laughter and tears, love and loss, success and failure. But while most of the tombstones are testaments to lives cut short, the Terrell grave proclaims the joy of life with a quiver full of arrows.

Hard work. Cash poor. Meager possessions. A family complete.

Who could ask for more?

Very nice, Dan.

I saw a headstone once, in the silver fileds of Nevada. It had a name, no dates, and stated

"My father. Let no one doubt, this was a Man"

What better way to go, than leaving those behind with that impression. I still ponder on it. Seems I read about this phrase somewhere, but it's still a ...heck...of a way to be remembered by your son.

Thanks for that Dan. I wander graveyards myself from time to time and bet there are thousands of wonderful stories. One of the best graves I ever saw said "Here lie two friends at the end of one life"

Wasn't it Robert Frost who wrote, "There are worse things than to be a swinger of birches"? Similarly, there are worse things than to be a visitor of cemeteries. My work and my interests take me to country cemeteries frequently. I love them.

Back in Janaury of 1996, I was on my way back from a legal education conference in Atlanta when I decided to stop at Mount Vernon Church cemetery north of Rome, Georgia. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning. Angry-looking black clouds were boiling over the mountain that lies just to the west. The wind picked up, tossing about tree branches covered by resurrection fern. That made things spooky, for I was there to take pictures for a story about the 1913 Rosedale Cyclone, which killed 13 people on March 13. Seven of those victims - all children and five of them from one family - are buried at Mount Vernon.

As the wind whipped and thunder sounded, I made my way through the cemetery, dressed in suit and tie and nice shoes. And then the crust of ground over an old, unmarked grave gave way and I fell in. And I shot out of there like a bullet!

There can be worse things than to fall into an old grave, but I can't think of many.

As the wind whipped and thunder sounded, I made my way through the cemetery, dressed in suit and tie and nice shoes. And then the crust of ground over an old, unmarked grave gave way and I fell in. And I shot out of there like a bullet!

There can be worse things than to fall into an old grave, but I can't think of many.

I presume getting hit by lightning is worse so any port in a storm!

BTW, your instincts in moving your carriers away is one I agree with. If you lose carriers it gives him free run to split the KB and blockade. You really can't go toe to toe with him yet. Have to figure a way to get ships in but full coverage by your carriers is too dangerous. Now that doesn't mean you can't afford to lose carrier planes, just not flight decks. If you had another decent airfield or two it would really help, but I guess you know that

That's my gut feeling too, John. I want to move ships in and out of Sabang, but I don't want to risk a carrier battle loss that would give John the ability to impose a blockade.

Here's a map of the Andaman Sea Game of Chicken that shows the proximity of he forces, which is why I got a case of the yips:

The setup for the Port Blair Carrier Raid set for 12/5/42. I think this is the first big carrier raid for the Allies.

He can't stay there forever. Send the subs and pick off a few AO's if you can. IIRC the KB has been a sea a long, long time with at least one high speed run. He probably has upgrades due and the operational damage might be creeping up. If so there are a couple of options. supplement with CVL's and send a couple of CV's at a time back for upgrades or send the mini-KB to keep station and bring the whole KB back. Maybe he does the first one in which case the odds are a bit more even. I think in RA number of CV's is about the same for a long time so might be more able and willing to trade flight decks considering his more desperate position.

"He can't stay there forever."

Excellent point. He was in a position to bushwhack you. Discretion, and all of that, is the name of the game at this point. Sabang can wait a week.

ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

As the wind whipped and thunder sounded, I made my way through the cemetery, dressed in suit and tie and nice shoes. And then the crust of ground over an old, unmarked grave gave way and I fell in. And I shot out of there like a bullet!

There can be worse things than to fall into an old grave, but I can't think of many.

I presume getting hit by lightning is worse so any port in a storm!

BTW, your instincts in moving your carriers away is one I agree with. If you lose carriers it gives him free run to split the KB and blockade. You really can't go toe to toe with him yet. Have to figure a way to get ships in but full coverage by your carriers is too dangerous. Now that doesn't mean you can't afford to lose carrier planes, just not flight decks. If you had another decent airfield or two it would really help, but I guess you know that

I like the pullback of the Allied carriers here, but from a different rationale. If John is intent on bashing shipping at Sabang-and he is showing indications that may be a target of his-let him. Fighter LBA there is quite capable of putting a terrible licking on KBs pilots and extracting a measure of blood for access to the shipping.

Let him bash away at Sabang for a couple of turns, hopefully fatigue his aircrews and exhaust his torpedoes. Then come in, full bore, hell bent for leather with your carriers, LBA DB, and some surface forces. I'd accept a 1:1 exchange to bloody him badly and deplete his aircrews. You oughta be able to get it too, if you let him bash himself about on Sabang's rocks for a couple turns. Plus, you can get under a Sabang-based LRCAP cover when you come in for blood.

For now though, see where he's headed.

By the way, see that you don't get cornered in the Bay of Bengal if he moves to (map) NW to cut off your exfiltration from the Bay.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Wasn't it Robert Frost who wrote, "There are worse things than to be a swinger of birches"? Similarly, there are worse things than to be a visitor of cemeteries. My work and my interests take me to country cemeteries frequently. I love them.

Back in Janaury of 1996, I was on my way back from a legal education conference in Atlanta when I decided to stop at Mount Vernon Church cemetery north of Rome, Georgia. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning. Angry-looking black clouds were boiling over the mountain that lies just to the west. The wind picked up, tossing about tree branches covered by resurrection fern. That made things spooky, for I was there to take pictures for a story about the 1913 Rosedale Cyclone, which killed 13 people on March 13. Seven of those victims - all children and five of them from one family - are buried at Mount Vernon.

As the wind whipped and thunder sounded, I made my way through the cemetery, dressed in suit and tie and nice shoes. And then the crust of ground over an old, unmarked grave gave way and I fell in. And I shot out of there like a bullet!

There can be worse things than to fall into an old grave, but I can't think of many.

Yes, there is. Not getting out.....

There can be worse things than to fall into an old grave, but I can't think of many.

Yes, there is... Not getting out.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
There can be worse things than to fall into an old grave, but I can't think of many.

+1 to those that say 'not getting out' is worse.

When my wife finished her residency, I treated her to a riding vacation in Ireland. We stayed at Kinnity Castle and rode regionally from there. We also took a mid-week day trip to "Ireland's most haunted castle", castle Leap. Classically creepy place complete with stumble steps, murder holes, archer slits and most of the other dirty tricks designed to 'dissuade' castle marauders.

The castle came complete with an oubliette. The losing side of a castle assault would see people dumped down a smooth hole into a windowless, doorless pit at the bottom. The lucky ones would break their neck in the fall. The others...well, 'oubliette' is French for 'oubliere'-"to forget".

The castle underwent renovation and reconstruction some years ago, before the current owners had it. From what the owner said, they carted out three wagon loads of bones from their oubliette when they opened it. I believe them.

12/5/42 - D+25, Operation Des Wallace

Port Blair Raid: What a fizzle! My carriers took position as desired, but the pilots declined to fly...except for 18 SBDs that targeted a DD and missed. I assume it was weather. I hope it wasn't the combination of settings (you know how sometimes if one squadron refuses to fly it seems to affect others). Anyhow, there's nothing particularly menacing around, so I'll try again tomorrow.

KB: The KB moved west, further away from the Sumatra coast. I think John indeed wants to try to come around from the vicinity of Diego Garcia, though he's got to know I'm not going to let him get behind me. There's a small chance he could move on Diego. It's held by only 35 AV behind six forts at the moment, though I doubt John knows that (lots of support units there). I think John will now turn his carriers north.

Sumatra: Fairly quiet. An S-Boat puts to TT into a big AK. Lots of enemy bombers target troops at Sibolga, which also undergoes a CA bombardment. None of the enemy strikes are particularly effective. Sabang airfield is a 6.93, so it will reach level 7 tomorrow. Ching Lee will lead a small bombardment TF against Victoria Point tonight (unless the ships stand off another day, which happens regularly on this partiuclar run).

Canoerebel - I'm shocked by this:

"...Diego [Garcia]. It's held by only 35 AV behind six forts at the moment..."

Don't you usually keep a large garrison at Diego? I guess you really did bring the kitchen sink to Sumatra... After reading your AARs, I think of Diego (and Scoodra) as key fortresses protecting your lines of communications. [:)]

I understand slowing down game play during the Summer; I haven't played in months but will pick my (Allied vs AI) game back up when it starts getting cold. I might take me longer to finish a game than the duration of the actual war.

Happy to see you back, neighbor.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Wasn't it Robert Frost who wrote, "There are worse things than to be a swinger of birches"? Similarly, there are worse things than to be a visitor of cemeteries. My work and my interests take me to country cemeteries frequently. I love them.

Can't say I ever "swang" on a birch but the old Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah is sublime. Absolutely beautiful.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

KB: The KB moved west, further away from the Sumatra coast. I think John indeed wants to try to come around from the vicinity of Diego Garcia, though he's got to know I'm not going to let him get behind me. There's a small chance he could move on Diego. It's held by only 35 AV behind six forts at the moment, though I doubt John knows that (lots of support units there). I think John will now turn his carriers north.

This sounds remarkably like Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania...and you are Meade. [:)]