May 18 RIP

Looks like we're gonna start off in the military field.  Which is usually a pretty cool place to be!  The first one on our list is Robert Rogers.  He is the guy who founded the aptly-named "Rogers' Rangers" during the French and Indian War.  His "rules" used to show up everywhere when I was in the Army, especially among those people who had gone to Ranger School.  In fairness, the Rules were important- I know I was always worried when I didn't have my hatchet on me, and God forbid that I ever went out into the field without an adequate supply of powder and musket balls.  All that being said, his rules are still somewhat relevant today to infantrymen and probably even Boy Scouts.

Next on the list is Russian General Count Alexander Suvorov.  He was a high ranking general in the 18th century army of the Tsars.  He's known for a couple things- one, his book "The Science of Victory", and more importantly, the fact that he never lost a battle.  For the record, the list of men with the latter accomplishment on their resume is a lot shorter than the list of men with the first one.  According to the article here, in fact, you can count them all on one hand.  And not even use your thumb.  As it happens, I would argue that George Thomas should be on the list with an asterisk next to his name- he was "defeated", but only when he was in a subordinate role.  When Thomas was in command of the entire Union force on the battlefield, he won every battle.  At any rate, Suvorov told his men "what is difficult in training becomes easy in a battle".  For good or ill, despite their overlap in careers, he never faced Napoleon Bonaparte, which might well have knocked Suvorov off the list.  Or maybe not.  The many generals he did defeat were not all incompetent either, and he was a firm believer in preparation, as his above quote suggests.  So his soldiers were always well trained and well led.  If anyone was gonna put an end to Napoleon's successes, I'd say Suvorov would have been a good candidate.  Along with Wellington, as it happens.  At any rate, it's all academic.  He died in 1800, five years after Rogers. 

Remember the TV show "Real People"?  Remember Skip Stephenson, the co-host with the sweaters?  He died in 1992.  Do you feel as old as I do?  Elizabeth Montgomery, the -ahem- Mom I'd Like to Frolic in "Bewitched" died in 1995.

The next name on our list is "Andrew Martinez".  HUH?  I hear you ask.  He was the Naked Guy at Berkeley back in the 90s.  His whole shtick seemingly was just that- shtick, as he suddenly decided that clothes were a bad thing when he was 19.  On the other hand, he did die in 2006, apparently of suicide, so it might also have been some kind of early warning of mental illness.  We'll never know.

And that's about it.  Hope you enjoyed it!  If not, then there's not a lot I can do about it.  If so, then feel free to drop me a note and let me know!