Old Soldiers

[Seascamp]

Came across this WWI memorial statue and found it a bit interesting. The dedication reads ?32nd Maria Teresa Budapest Regiment?. 1741-1918. Maria Teresa was the Hungarian Queen from 1740 to 1780. The battle history inscription indicates that this Regiment didn?t encounter US forces during WWI, I think. But obviously did use Imperial German equipment. Note the ?coal scupper? helmet, and ?potato masher? grenade. At the time this regiment would have been part of the Austrian-Hungarian Imperial forces. But now, it?s just a memorial on a Budapest back street and probably all but forgotten statue from days long ago.

[Seascamp]

Closer view.

[Seascamp]

Battle History.

[Seascamp]

Speaking of Old Soldiers,

I was talking to this guy in a Budapest Restaurant/Castle and he claims he knows you Col. Scout and says you both served in the same armored outfit at one time. He said that you used tease him about being so horny but didn?t elaborate as to what that was all about. I suggested he could see better if he wore his helmet visor right side up but he claimed he was used to being in the dark, whatever that meant.

[Seascamp]

But then Old Sailors are fated to just become chick magnets. Tough fate but I accept it.

[Seascamp]

Oh well, hard days night eh.

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Yes, it is a heavy burden but somebody has to do it. You seem to be holding up well.

Great pics.!
Think maybe I got issued a helmet by the same guy that was in charge of their's.
That statue...you sure that was supposed ta be a soldier?Woulda taken it for a Darth Vader prototype.Least I'm glad ta see they give him a club ta protect himself from the pideons with.

Uhh...in that last pic...did you happen ta get the feelin you were being watched?Sure hope it weren't one a them gals daddy!Looks kinda pissed.Then again folks who punch holes in brick walls just tend ta make me nervous.

[Robert Ryan]

Seascamp- Yup Sailors have more fun..

[Seascamp]

And Hal, speaking of holes in walls, Hungary has a bit of interesting history that they claim. Prior to the Berlin Wall being breached and torn down, Hungary had thrown open its western border to Austria and East Germans were streaming down through Czechoslovakia, through Hungary, Austria and into western Germany. They gave out some twenty thousand exit visas to the Germans before just saying to heck with it and opening up border points to the fleeing Germans.

The Hungarians claim that this first huge breach in the ?Iron Curtain? made the breaching of the Berlin Wall symbolic but that their act of defiance toward the Soviets was the high risk, big stakes move that made the rest inevitable. Everyone has some history and big moments that they claim and this is certainly a big piece of contemporary Hungarian culture and emphasis. And as far as I can tell from reliable sources at two Budapest Universities, a true account.

Scamp