The Squad
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| Squad Leader, Sergeant Donald McFarland |
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| Assistant Squad Leader, Corporal Stanley Brice Highschool Math Teacher, Virginia |
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| Private Ronald Aaron Stewart (Ronnie) Farmer, Ohio |
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| Private Joshua Caleb Campbell Hayes (Josh a.k.a. Torpedo) Farmer/Mechanic, Ohio |
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| Private Malcom Isaac Scott (Mac a.k.a. Cat) Carpenter, Minnesota |
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| Private Kenneth Stevens (Ken) Family-owned Bait & Tackle Shop, Louisiana |
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| Private Ralph Stirling Department Store Clerk, New York |
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| Private John Marshall (Jack, a.k.a. Sandy) Sharecropper, Kansas |
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| Private Daniel Asher (Dan) Family-Owned Hardware Store, Indiana |
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| Private Samuel Ross (Sam a.k.a. Carrots) Factory Worker, Pennsylvania |
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| Private James Bly (Jimmy) Soda Jerk (no, that isn't an insult), Illinois |
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| Private Andrew Noble (Andy) Farmer, Iowa |
The longer the pause, the more dramatic the effect.
-Seonaid
If your name is not Emi or Seon and you click on this link, BEWARE THE CONSEQUENCES. They will be grave.
Heyyy, look what I found!! How many times have I scrolled right past this, I wonder??
ReplyDeleteAnyways. Great job on these guys! There’s so much personality in their faces, a person could practically get to know them😄
And all from different backgrounds and states, too…. (Except for Ronnie n Josh, that is ) As fine a Squad as ever I’ve seen!
LOL, I totally thought you'd already seen it, there's like eight views on it!! Okay, stalker, declare yourself!! I did say "exclusive access" after all... 😆
DeleteDuring WWII, they really tried to separate men from the same hometowns and families because you'd get Saving Private Ryan type things happening. Imagine if everyone from a certain town was in the same unit and the entire unit got blown up and then there's just no one to come back home 😳 War is a dreadful thing, I can't believe I'm writing about it...
Anyway. Yeah, I love these guys 😁 The hardest part is writing collective group conversations, because there's nothing more scattered and frustrating than saying five hundred times "Said Sandy" "Said Mac" "Said Josh" "Said Sam" "Said Dan" you get the picture. I'm working on it... 😕
Yesterday, Josh told Sam (Carrots) the sun had bleached his hair pink. And also that Sandy was camouflaged because they are in the desert. I'm not sure if I'm overly-tired and going nuts or is this entirely the characters' faults?? 😆
Oops, sorry!! That really does make it sound like I hadn’t😆 Actually I was just rediscovering it now, (I’m really just so brilliant when it comes to remembering things sometimes) and realized I’d never actually commented😅 Although I can hardly believe it would’ve been 8 times, unless my phone played exceedingly strange tricks.
DeleteAhh, of course. That makes every kind of sense, and now I’m wondering how come that never crossed my mind before!
Because that would be just too dreadful to think about for even moderate periods of time😣
I just have to burst out laughing every time I think of sunbleached-pink hair😂🤣 Poor Sam and Sandy, but Josh…. Well, Josh just plain tickles. Mercilessly😂
Wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they’d taken the initiative all by their own selves😄 Well, not the joke-ees necessarily, but definitely the not-so-innocent parties!
I'll bet Seon's stalking us 😆 I know she's on here.. she's just being too lazy to comment 😏 Because she keeps making up unpublished posts with pictures of Milo Thatch.
DeleteHehe... Josh was being so plain awful to everyone that I had to push 'em to tease him back. Ronnie got him good this afternoon. While in the parking lot at Panera's on lunch break and there are still smears of grilled cheese on this stupid ipad. Ah, the trials of an author!! 😆
They're all getting pretty good at this humor thing... Here's a few...
"Marjie says she's been knitting so much lately that she can do it in her sleep," Ken grinned. "She sent a photo of her and the gals, all with armloads of socks."
"Let's see it," Sam leaned forward eagerly as Ken produced the photo, the others crowding in over his shoulders.
"Whoa, would you look at that?" Sandy let out a low whistle.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Josh nodded in agreement, pretending to wipe away tears of emotion.
"Prettiest sight I ever saw," Sandy went on. "Clean socks. Hundreds of them."
"What about you, Cat? Tell us 'bout your girl."
Delete"I'll bet he hasn't got one," Sandy stretched out full-length on the ground, propping his chin on his helmet. "I'll bet the girls are too scared of ole Scarface." Sandy most likely would've said more, but the murderous glare Mac shot in his direction quelled him instantly.
oOo
"I. Hate. Sand." Sandy replied grimly. "I've got sand in my ears and sand in my eyes and sand up my nose and sand in my boots and sand down the front of my shirt and sand in everything I eat and…"
"And sand in your hair,” Sam snickered.
“You’ve got no room to talk, flamehead,” Sandy shot back.
oOo
"You've forfeited your right to live," Ralph cried. Josh was attacked from all directions at once and tackled roughly to the ground.
"Alright, we've got the traitor," Mac called out, holding Josh in a headlock. "What's the sentence,? Death by firing squad, beheading, or hanging?"
"Turn him over to the Krauts if you want," Ronnie shrugged. "See if they can handle dealing with him."
"Oh no, not that!" Josh yelled in mock horror. "Anything but that. C'mon, help me! I'm too young to die!"
"You're on your own with this one, pal. Good luck." Ronnie saluted the haphazard tangle of soldiers and promptly went back to sleep.
oOo
Also, I'm not exactly sure why this is funny, cuz the situation isn't, but somehow I oddly find humor in it. Warning though, what comes next is NOT funny... At all 😳
"Are you dead sure this will work?" Tom whispered. His quietest words sounded like a roar in the silent darkness to the frantic men around him.
"I'm not dead anything," Ronnie whispered back grimly. "And hopefully I won't be before this night is over.
Phew! If stalked we must be, I’m sure glad it’s you, Seon😂 And Milo too, of course (; Who is…. An honourary member of the Squad on virtue of being almost-doppelgänger with a MC??
ReplyDeleteAnd this is awfully short notice, I know…. But we’re planning to celebrate Anne’s birthday with a Sleepover-ish a la Anne OGG!! Which would be tomorrow. After Julie’s company (; And if in any way possible, we MUST have you. Or our triangle will be missing a point…. And where’s the fun in that??
We’ll have Russets, and Popcorn, and Cherry Blossoms, and ‘twill be perfectly lovely….
Ohh, these guys😂🤣 You just gotta love ‘em and laugh with n at ‘em and desperately hope hopes for ‘em all at the same time!
“Haphazard tangle of soldiers”, that is absolutely priceless (; Hooray for evening up the score a little!! And for Ronnie rolling over and going back to sleep ;) And I can just picture the expression on Mac’s face😂 For some reason Sandy’s, well, sandy-ness, keeps reminding me of the 2nd verse of Tim Hus’s Gravel Pit song🤔😜
I know what you mean…. It strikes me the same way! And I’m not even going to ask what happens next😳 But I hope the conclusions I jumped to were a million miles off course. Or more.
LOL 😆 Yeah, sure I'll watch with you!! Two-pointed triangles must be avoided at all costs 😐 I shall supply the plum puffs and raspberry cordial...
DeleteSo. Julie. Company, eh? Is it Milo, by any chance?? 😁 Also, this Ronnie of yours... and all the other soldiers as well... are terribly handsome *swoons dramatically* And Mac's smile is perfectly wonderful *swoons even more dramatically* But man, wish I could see a picture of the real "Ronnie" *hint, hint* 😆 Okay, jk. Milo's good enough. Wish I knew what you two looked like though 🤔 Or should I just say I wish we all knew each other in real life?!
All very humorous anecdotes and, while I truly am being too lazy to comment, I am LOVING this story, Jules!! Can't wait to read it all 😁 And... um... if Emi won't ask, I will. What exactly is happening to Ronnie?? 😳
I'm just plagued with Milo on every side 😂 But yeah, sure, he can join the squad. 😁 As for him being doppleganger, that is weird. Yes, definitely weird. I didn't intend for both my mc and gwg to be identical to a random cartoon character 😁 And now Seon will never let me forget it.
DeleteYayyy now we're all doing it 😄😄😄 Depending on when company leaves, I'll be starting between 10 and 11, EST. And as for company... uh... yeah, kind of. 😉 My sister's have been driving me nuts 🤦♀️
Speaking of military and all that stuff, I've been listening to a live feed from a youtuber that's in the marines for the past hour... people were asking him about why he joined the military and I finally confessed my own deepest darkest secret... that when I was fourteen I was just desperate to join the Navy 😆 Don't think less of me for that, girls!! It's a long and odd story... 😏
Seon, if you ever did see "Ronnie" or me, it would have to be on a very private page that no one else would ever see, since I'm nervous about my face on the internet. But if we started a googledoc, it'd prob be ok 😏 Just gotta get the dumb thing to work.
Man, I'm talking a lot of slang tonight, what's wrong with me?? Help! I desperately need to read some Jane Austen!!
LOL, that's one of my favorite moments in the whole book, Emi 😁 Especially afterwards when Mac has to deal with Josh. And before that when Ronnie cracks his glasses by flopping down on the ground too hard. I am having way too much fun with this book...
I had to therefore listen to the Gravel Pit song and agree wholeheartedly 😁 Ooh, "therefore" and "wholeheartedly"! My IQ is returning!
As for the end, now I'm curious what conclusions you have 🤔 I can estimate down to the nearest million how many miles you are off. But yeah. That night... it's a rough night. A... lot of things happen. A lot.
As for what's happening to him, Seon, I can't tell you exactly, cuz that would be a spoiler. As much as I can say is that he's in a pretty tight spot. Can't say how he's gonna make it out of there, cuz things are not looking good. And also there are Krauts everywhere.
Hey, Emi! Seeing as we are a trio here, do you wanna become a contributor on the blog?? My only rule is no snooping in my draft posts and pages 😁 But I trust you!! You could post whatever and whenever you want, no limits. Let me know 😁 I'd love to have your fabulous input!!
DeleteHappiest of Birthdays, Annest of Anne’s!!
DeleteI’m either (un) fashionably late, or unpardonably early, one or the other…. How do you take your tea, girls? What say we set the table in Idlewood, lacy tablecloth and rosebud spray china, and hold a regular tea party?? I mean, that’s what we’d do if we didn’t live so ridiculously far apart😆I second that wholeheartedly!
If you REALLLLY want to see what I look like, and you don’t mind taking the long way ‘round…. You could always go to the GlobalPenFriends page, put Canada n 20 in the search section, and look for the girl from the Peace Country😜
Not the greatest pictures, but the only place you’ll find me! (Unless googledocs starts working) Because, like Julie, I’m a bit leery of putting myself online😆
This sounds like a story well worth hearing (; Odd and long makes for the most fascinating sort! ‘Course not (; If you promise never to mention the fact that I wanted to be a NASCAR driver at the same age🤫 (I really cannot be held responsible for what happens when I watch too much Dukes Of Hazzard!)
Nothing very concrete, and quite possibly nonsensical….
But please do correct my course😄 Anyways. My imagination was seeing connections between this and the prologue, and I’m practically positive I recognized the soldier in it…. Wasn’t he quoted right before Josh??
One question…. Did my last comment on the Anne-ish page actually go through, or did I only think I replied?
My goodness😲 You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when I read this😄Yeah, I’d love to!! I mean, I haven’t the foggiest of notions HOW, but I can’t think of anything more delightful…. I’m honoured! Fear not, snooping in journals and private pages is like the Eleventh Thou Shalt Not in my books😜
And I’m dying to ask how things went today😄
Starting AOGG now 😁 You guys might wanna check out the vaguely threatening link at the bottom of this page... 😉
DeleteSplendid! Likewise….
DeleteMIGHT want to. Do cowboys ride horses??? Said horses couldn’t drag me away, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Seon was of a similar bent😉
Oh boy... I never saw the rest of this comment 😆 I only saw the first line and thought that was the entirety of it!! That sounds lovely... a tea party in Idlewood!! Count me in, dearest of friends 😊
DeleteSo... I went to the globalpenfriends thing and you were the first person that popped up from Canada 😄 And I must say, I never pictured you with blond hair!! I always thought of you as looking something like the actual Emily Starr 😁 Names influence me... LOL to be honest, when I first met GWG and learned his name, I was shocked because heretofore, I had always pictured an old man with a long gray beard and priestly robes in link with that name 😆 Think the first high priest of Israel 😏
And now I'm jealous, because you definitely look skinnier than me... and I'm overweight 🤦♀️ To return the compliment, you're really pretty too 😄 And also look like someone who would be awfully fun... but I suppose I'm influenced by the fact that I already know you're awfully fun.
Weeell... how about a post on that?? Because it comes with a video 😆 NASCAR 😳 Wow!! That's interesting 😄 But my story has to be much more shocking... I know it is... it's nuts 😆
Yes... I think you probably did recognize that soldier... And so now you know that he survives D-Day, at least... 😏 Not saying anything about the ending or whether he makes it or not, but he's become the main hero of this story. Although Josh was supposed to be the main character when I began... But, considering the quotes I posted to the blog... he's gonna be involved in something rather heroic eventually...
IDK... I'd have to check the page and I'm typing really fast right now cuz I gotta go get itty bitty ready for bed...
Aha! Well, welcome to the blog, cuz I already sent over an invitation 😁 I used the info from the googledoc I tried to send months ago, so don't be creeped out that I mysteriously got your email 😆
Well, I guess I already covered that on the Behind the Scenes page, eh? I'm head over heels more now than I ever was 😆
I thought that might be it😄 Ohh! Lovely!! Wouldn’t they be an easy habit to get into? I’ve been halfway tempted to play dress up and pretend one for real ever since AOGG Day😄
DeleteNo kidding! How very considerate of it….
If wishes were horses, I definitely would😂 Our interiors are similarly decorated, but alas…. Not so on the outside!
(My “name” was chosen on virtue of it being so close to my rl nickname) They actually lean more towards brown these days, but the rink lights were playing tricks with them just then!
Trust me, it ain’t as great as it’s cracked up to be😆 My version, anyways. There’s thin, and then there’s fence-post me who would dearly love to tack on a few inches in strategic places….
YES PLEASE!! Oh, do ‘ave mercy on them as is gravely afflicted with that most dread malady, Rampant Curiosity…..
Because when there’s a video involved on top of everything- I just gotta find out how shocking this really is, and that’s that!
Now I almost don’t know what I should do first, be thrilled that he survived it (and you have no idea what a comfort that is!)
or go right on into being extremely worried for him😳 Because seriously, what on earth would a certain couple of rapscallions ever do without him?? And like you said, he’s the main hero. Y’know what? I’m just going to blissfully make-believe that since he is such, things have got to turn out alright….
Meaning him or Josh?? Being involved in something heroic, that is.
I've definitely done that myself plenty of times! But somehow it never turns out like the books 🥺 If only I could get a hold of the Imagination Station!! Lol, I'd totally be like one of the major aio villains, infiltrating Whit's End and stealing the station... So I could have Victorian tea parties on PEI 😆
DeleteWell to be fair, my version ain't great either, lol!! I would dearly love to lose a few inches in aforementioned strategic places because honestly, it can be uncomfortable. And sometimes it just plain hurts, lol 😆. Ah well. The grass is always greener, eh?
Lol will do!! 😁 I'll have to dig out !y old camera memory cards... It isn't the video that's shocking though. It's my behavior afterwards that is 😆
Aw... That "do without him" line is making me wanna cry now... 😢 I'm not giving any specifics, of course, but I will say that, while Josh has his moments to shine, it's Ronnie that gets the climax. Ronnie's the one I was talking about, being involved in something heroic... 😉
Quick question, do I put in the name of your blog, or how exactly does this work?
ReplyDeleteLog in with your google account at blogger.com.
DeleteAnd let me know when you get there 😄 Feel free to publish an introduction post and you can make a page, like Seon's, as your home base if you want to!!
DeleteThat’s what I did, but it keeps asking me to put in a name for the blog, and then saying something went wrong….
DeleteDo I just try again?
Alrighty! Sounds great🤗
Try clicking skip, then put your name in as you want people to see it, then click finish. It should be listed on the top left on the dropdown menu...
DeleteI’ll try that…. But it now says the invitation has expired, and to ask you to resend☹️ Sorry to keep bothering you about
Deleteit😆
K, try again, really fast 😆 I'm heading up to bed, switching to ipad, I'm still on!!
Delete