#deployment 2014

Not exactly a "Then and Now" but I saw this photo and the comparison was cool. My photo is of the inside of a panzerwerk of the Neckar-Enz line of bunkers. Looking towards where the stove would have been.

Panther turrets were mounted in fixed fortifications; some were normal production models, but most were made specifically for the task, with additional roof armour to withstand artillery. Two types of turret emplacements were used; (Pantherturm III - Betonsockel — concrete base) and (Pantherturm I - Stahluntersatz — steel sub-base). They housed ammunition storage and fighting compartment along with crew quarters. A total of 182 of these were installed in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall and Siegfried Line (Westwall), 48 in the Gothic Line and Hitler Line, 36 on the Eastern Front, and two for training and experimentation, for a total of 268 installations by March 1945. They proved to be costly to attack, and difficult to destroy.

There's something futile about placing a tank turret into a permanent fixture. 

The top twp photos I took in Pirmasens, Germany on the westwall. 

TDY in Germany while on deployment. I managed to Urbex a bunker of the Neckar-Enz line. Built in the mid 1930s, this line used two rivers and a series of 450 bunkers stretched along 90km of riverfront. Set back from the later built west wall, the Neckar-Enz line was the last major obstacle to US forces during the last stages of the war. 

Been thinking about things I miss most about being home. I have been gone since last November. That is 2013. Long time. 

1. My daughter. I don't get to see her enough as it is, but being deployed makes it worse. Makes me feel like I am missing so much. 

2. Phone calls with friends. I'm known to be a talker. The art of the conversation is dying. Most folks just wait for their turn to speak. Like two ducks quacking at each other. Worse, now it's all texts. 

3. The morning after one of my friends parties when we ale all very hung over and we get coffee (I usually volunteer) and have breakfast together. Then raid the local flea market. 

4. The hang around time at a reenactment when one or more of us go all goofy. Storytelling in the bunker. Laughing so hard that my gut hurts. 

5. Driving in the fall, colors are in full fury. Windows down, cold air whipping around and music blasting.