Friday, October 20, 2017
Time With A Historical Figure
By: Donovan Baldwin
At one of the U.S. Army units I was stationed with in Germany, the commander would occasionally use my services as translator when he wanted someone to talk to the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) personnel who ran the base where we were co-located.
The first time I was sent with a message, it was because the person who normally did this refused. She refused because the request was stupid and arrogant. She was a civilian and could get away with that. I was a soldier, and, despite agreeing with her, had to go.
The German Noncommissioned Officer I spoke to, was roughly the equivalent of an American Army Sergeant Major.
He was a nice guy, and, after we agreed that the request was stupid and arrogant, and he helped me come up with a reasonably diplomatic way of saying "get lost" to my commander, he gave me a little history lesson.
In his unit, he was known as "der Spiess", or "the pike", or some might say, "spear". As he explained it, the title dated back a few centuries when it would have been conferred on the lead, or head pike man.
Centuries old.
"Old", historical stuff seems really "cool" to us Americans, even though we think "new" is best.
Still, each day, he moved among his troops, and was addressed by a title hundreds of years old.
One man, connected to history, on a line centuries long.
Maybe not the pope, or the Queen of England, still, interesting...or cool.
Take your pick. Felt very historical to me.
The first time I was sent with a message, it was because the person who normally did this refused. She refused because the request was stupid and arrogant. She was a civilian and could get away with that. I was a soldier, and, despite agreeing with her, had to go.
The German Noncommissioned Officer I spoke to, was roughly the equivalent of an American Army Sergeant Major.
He was a nice guy, and, after we agreed that the request was stupid and arrogant, and he helped me come up with a reasonably diplomatic way of saying "get lost" to my commander, he gave me a little history lesson.
In his unit, he was known as "der Spiess", or "the pike", or some might say, "spear". As he explained it, the title dated back a few centuries when it would have been conferred on the lead, or head pike man.
Centuries old.
"Old", historical stuff seems really "cool" to us Americans, even though we think "new" is best.
Still, each day, he moved among his troops, and was addressed by a title hundreds of years old.
One man, connected to history, on a line centuries long.
Maybe not the pope, or the Queen of England, still, interesting...or cool.
Take your pick. Felt very historical to me.
Labels: army, der Spiess, donovan baldwin, German army, historical figure, history
# posted by Donovan Baldwin @ 1:32 PM 
