Infinite Wisdom

"This is not the first time that the Russian people have endured suffering. And on this occasion, with God’s help, they will grind the hostile forces of fascism into dust . . . . Our native land is united by the force of arms, by the common heroism of its people, and by a general willingness to serve our country in this difficult trial. The Church of Christ confers its blessing on all Orthodox believers in their defense of the holy borders of our Motherland."

La Triviata

• Britain’s Royal Marines have been involved in so many actions, usually with considerable distinction, that their colors bear only one battle honor, commemorating their most glorious day, the capture of Gibraltar on July 24, 1704.
• Osman Bayezid Osmanoglu (b. 1924), since 2009 claimant to the Ottoman throne as Sultan Bayezid III, served in the United States Army during World War II.
• In 1783 George Washington and Baron von Steuben proposed that the United States institute a "standing militia" of seven "legions," each of three "sub-legions" of about 2,200 men, each state to provide one or more "sub-legions" from eligible young men serving a set period in the ranks, so that there would always be about 46,000 active militiamen available for immediate emergencies; an idea that was promptly ignored by all.
•  By permission of the Eleventh Duke of Marlborough (who had a small part in the film), Kenneth Branagh’s acclaimed 1996 cinematic version of Hamlet was filmed at Blenheim Palace, built as Britain’s gift to John Churchill, the First Duke of Marlborough.
•  By one calculation, during the American Civil War the average horse in military service lasted about 7.5 months before it was killed or otherwise rendered unfit for duty.
• At the height of the Empire, in the Second Century, each Roman legion had a detail assigned as statores (military police) plus an optio carceres (jailer) and a questionarius (torturer).
• At the end of World War II the U.S. Armed Forces had on hand approximately 495,000 copies of the Purple Heart, which had been stockpiled in anticipation of the invasion of Japan, a supply that has dwindled to about 120,000 as a result of conflicts since 1945, though small lots of new ones have been ordered from time to time.
• Samori Touré, who led Mandinka resistance to the French (1882-1898), sent men to work in French arsenals in Senegal, using the knowledge gained to set up ammunition workshops, which helped to sustain the fight.

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