Fort Snelling

 My Rakkasan
Troy and I met, well, actually because of my mom. If you know her you know how personable she can be (over-sharer!). She was at Retzlaff's (Ace hardware) getting paint when I first moved to NU and just talked a lot. Then in the process of doing the WWI exhibit I was at Retzlaff's, which is right around the corner from the museum, daily, if not twice a day! Troy is interested in history, and military history, so we chatted, and then, Oh, he invited me to the range, then we ended up going to a couple of events together, NU's 4th of July celebration, then the Classic Car Cruise In in Lafayette.....We complement each other well. 

Fort Snelling National Cemetery

 Troy invited me to Fort Snelling National Cemetery for the 'final' dedication of monuments at Airborne Circle. Troy was in the 101st Airborne Division, a Rakkasan.

The Airborne Infantry began in 1940 and the term "Rakkasans" was coined when a translator dealing with local Japanese was trying to explain what their unit was trained to do (and not knowing the Japanese word for "airborne soldiers") he used the phrase "parachute-men" (literally "falling down umbrella men"), or rakkasan. Amused by the clumsy word, the locals began to call the troopers by that nickname. It stuck and became a point of pride for the unit. Yep, Wikipedia.  

I like the sound of the shells hitting the pavement. 

 We also  went to Fort Snelling, aka Fort Saint Anthony. 

 It happened to be WWI weekend, which, since I do not post about work, you would not know that the first exhibit I installed was Brown County and WWI. I have learned a bit about WWI recently.