They Were All Young Girls

      More Letters From Paradise
      They Were All Young Girls
Most Americans know that women served as nurses in WWI and WWII. But few people know that during WWII, Soviet girls served in all branches of the military. When Hitler's army invaded Russia in 1941, every patriotic Russian quickly ran to recruiting offices. This included girls as young as 16 years of age. Many lied about their age and were accepted. A whole trainload of girls came from faraway Siberia.

Their introduction into military life was swift, and sometimes brutal. Russian girls all wore their hair in long braids. These were cut off and replaced by a short man's haircut. Shirts,pants, coats, hats, long men's underwear, and American-made boots way too large. Size 10 for a girl's foot requiring a size 5. No feminine  products either.
 
After a few months of training, they became drivers of trucks and tanks,  Some became nurse aids and snipers. During the four years of war, many girls were killed in combat. One 17 year girl received the "Florence Nightingale " award for dragging 147 wounded men to safety. Another young girl sniper was awarded the "Red Star" for having killed 75 Germans.

Tank girls wore canvas pants with padded knees and a helmet. When a tank was hit, the crew was most often on  fire, and the girls pulled them out of the burning tank.

When victory came at long last, the men who had fought, received all the credit. The role played by the female fighters was forgotten. Young girls returning home had a tough time. Young men refused to date them as they had soiled themselves by living with men. They were seen as having lost their feminism charm. They were often called whores.

Things began to change when  a book The "Unwomanly Face of War," by Svetlana Alexievich  was published in 1985. She went on to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in  2015. She spent years with her tape recorder talking with the old women who were once young girls. The book was translated into English and published  in 2017. Many women had waited years to tell their stories. Others had tried to forget. Many women refused to either wear or have the color red in their homes. It reminded them of so much blood. Some few married younger men, while others lived alone in apartment houses.

The Russians suffered greatly in WWII. One out of every eight people died in the war. See the battles for Leningrad and Stalingrad for examples. How did these young girls find the strength and courage to fight as they did? We may never know the answer.

    Aloha
    Grant    

I Like Hats

       More Letters From Paradise
             I Like Hats
I like wearing a hat, and that is not just because I am now bald. The sun here in Hawaii can cause skin cancer. I grew up in Northern Michigan where wearing a hat was necessary in winter, covering your ears too. In summer the hat worn, was a baseball hat. You could shape the bill to a curve of your liking. And this leads me to the fact that I firmly believe that only welders,umpires, and catchers should wear their hat backwards. Otherwise for others to do so, there must be a connection with low I Q.
Here in Hawaii hats are sold having a flat plastic bill. Stupid looking and again I suspect low IQ.

As an enlisted man in the Navy we all(except Chief Petty Officers) wore round white hats. These hats could be shaped by sailors to suit their individual tastes. It bothers me when actors in plays such as "South Pacific," wear their hats simply round and stupid looking. The last hat from my years in the Navy, was eaten by Lake Erie during an afternoon sail.

I mentioned to Teena that I would like to have a soft hat that would protect my ears, and could be rolled up and carried in a pocket. The visiting men and women from Australia who have come to our club to bowl, have just that kind of hat. And low and behold, she returned home recently with just such a hat. The hat also has a lanyard with a wood toggle to help keep it on in the sometimes brisk Trade Winds. She warned me that I should not be wearing it when meeting anybody important.

In Dearborn Michigan there was a small supper club called "Toppers." The club featured good food and a small dance floor with a trio of musicians. The walls were all covered with pictures of people wearing hats. Some famous people and others not at all famous. Alas,"Toppers" was bought by some rich hockey player and the pictures were all replaced by mirrors. Teena and I have fond memories of the place.

    Aloha
    Grant

Rat Lungworm Disease

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        Rat Lungworm Disease
There are a host of diseases found in this part of the Pacific. The most recent disease being talked about is rat lungworm disease. State-wide there are l7 cases so far. It is very hard to diagnose. The symptoms are : severe headache, stiffness of the neck, tingling or painful feeling in the skin or extremities, fever, nausea and vomiting,temporary paralysis of the face, and sensitivity to light.

The disease is carried by rats, snails, and slugs. When larvae carried by slugs and snails get into a person's system, they travel to the brain and form worms that shed antigens, or toxins according to the Hawaii Health Department. When it molts, it sheds antigens and that go into the spinal fluid. There is no known cure. The farmer here who contracted the disease reported that an MRI showed that chunks of his brain had been eaten. He is currently living on painkillers and anti seizure medications.
According to John McHugh, of the Department of Agriculture's Plant Industry Division,
" Rats are the main host for this thing, and the state doesn't have enough resources to control rats throughout the entire state. They are are everywhere on these islands."

People are told to not eat freshwater shrimp, land crabs, frogs, or undercooked snails. Inspect and rinse produce, especially leafy greens in potable water. Boil snails, prawns, crabs and frogs for at least three to five minutes.

I feel that it is also very important to choose eating in a restaurant where the lettuce has been carefully washed. Or better yet, avoid eating salads when dining out. As for me, I am being very careful.

All the above information I stole from our local paper "Star Advertiser" Sunday 10/8/17

   Aloha
   Grant

Essex Disaster

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           Essex Disaster            
Generations have read and enjoyed the novel "Moby Dick," by Herman Melville. It is a tale about a mad man named Ahab, captain of  of a whale ship in  search of a giant whale that had taken one of his legs on an earlier voyage. Readers may remember that when when the giant whale Moby Dick was found, a battle ensued, and the whale ship was sunk by the whale. Fiction? sure, but I bet that few people know that the idea of a whale sinking a ship was used by Melville in writing "Moby Dick." The ship's name was the Essex,and in 1819 it set sail for a voyage to hunt whales. Fifteen months later in the South Pacific it was rammed twice by an enraged bull whale, and in spite of its four inch thick oak sides, was sunk.The 20-man crew set sail for South America 3,000 miles away in three small boats. Three months later only eight were left alive, the survivors having been forced to eat the bodies of their dead shipmates. The drawing of lots in a survival situation had long been an  accepted custom of the sea.

But all of what I have written could easily been gleaned by a search on the internet. However, if you are really interested you should obtain a copy of "In the Heart of the Sea," by Nathaniel Phrilbrick, published by  Penguin Books. I have neither the time nor the desire to summarize the book. It is a fantastic story.

Whales are not fish, they are among the largest mammals on earth. They have brains five times larger than man. The female whales give birth to their young, nurse and guide them to maturity. Why were these great creatures of the sea hunted? The answer is "oil." Whale oil was used to light homes, street lights, and lubricate machinery. Whale hunting continued until the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania.Today, whale hunting is outlawed by international treaties. But the Japanese continue to hunt, ignoring the ban, under the guise of "research."

Whale hunting was a dangerous, stinking business. Voyages of two or even three years were not uncommon. The ships would not return to port until their ships were filled with barrels of oil.

When a whale was sighted by a man on the top of the mainmast, four boats containing harpoons, lances and yards of rope, were lowered over the ships' side. Men rowed to the whale, and if it went into a dive, they waited until it ran out of air and surfaced, and threw harpoons into the whale. The whale caught by the harpoons began dragging the boats in what was called a "Nantucket Sleigh Ride." When exhausted, the whale fought for its life, and boats were often smashed, with men thrown into the sea. At last when the whale had been killed by lances, the  dead whale was towed back to the ship. Once alongside, large blankets of whale fat were poised aboard and put into large pots where the fat was boiled for its oil.

A sperm whale was most favored, as the head of the whale contained up to five hundred gallons of spermaceti,a clear, high-quality oil that partially solidifies on contact with air. The whale's intestinal tract was searched for a fatty substance called ambergris, which was used to  make perfume and was worth more than its weight in gold.

The deck of the ship would be slippery with oil, blood and vomit. It was said you could smell a whale ship before you could see it. After the whale was stripped of all it s blubber it was cast adrift.

Sailors on these long voyages without seeing whales, would sometimes scratch pictures on whale teeth or bones, than fill in the scratches with ink, which are called "scrimshaw." Very artistic, and much sought after by collectors.

Living here in Hawaii we see Humpback whales every year. They mate, rear their young and then leave for the long trip to Alaska. And by April they are gone. During the time the whales are here, whale watching trips take place daily. Teena and I have made many such trips.

On our neighboring island of Maui there is a place called "Whaler's Village." Go directly up to the second floor where there is a small museum devoted to whaling. All of the items used in hunting are displayed. But of particular interest are the open books kept by ship captains, containing details such as the type of whale and even ink drawings.

I learned not long ago that Melville, who had served on a whaleship, worked in a store here in Honolulu. I plan to see what I can find about this,if there is any information.

I am filled with information but too tired to continue. Search the internet, or even better, read the book I mentioned earlier.

   Aloha,
   Grant