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View Full Version : Just finished reading Starship Troopers



Elhuero
01-07-2011, 04:51
So I thought I'd post this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MEJM0cboDg


1. Oh, they've got no time for glory in the Infantry.
Oh, they've got no use for praises loudly sung,
But in every soldier's heart in all the Infantry
Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.
Shines the name — Rodger Young,
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
To the everlasting glory of the Infantry
Lives the story of Private Rodger Young.

2. Caught in ambush lay a company of riflemen —
Just grenades against machine guns in the gloom —
Caught in ambush till this one of twenty riflemen
Volunteered, volunteered to meet his doom.
Volunteered — Rodger Young,
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
In the everlasting annals of the Infantry
Glows the last deed of Private Rodger Young.

3. It was he who drew the fire of the enemy
That a company of men might live to fight;
And before the deadly fire of the enemy
Stood the man, stood the man we hail tonight.
Stood the man — Rodger Young,
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
Like the everlasting courage of the Infantry
Was the last deed of Private Rodger Young.

4. On the island of New Georgia in the Solomons,
Stands a simple wooden cross alone to tell
That beneath the silent coral of the Solomons,
Sleeps a man, sleeps a man remembered well.
Sleeps a man — Rodger Young,
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
In the everlasting spirit of the Infantry
Breathes the spirit of Private Rodger Young.

5. No, they've got no time for glory in the Infantry,
No, they've got no use for praises loudly sung,
But in every soldier's heart in all the Infantry
Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.
Shines the name — Rodger Young,
Fought and died for the men he marched among.
To the everlasting glory of the Infantry
Lives the story of Private Rodger Young.


Young's Medal of Honor citation reads:

Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division. Place and date: On New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 31 July 1943. Entered service at: Clyde, Ohio. Birth: Tiffin, Ohio. G.O. No.: 3, 6 January 1944. Citation: On 31 July 1943, the infantry company of which Pvt. Young was a member, was ordered to make a limited withdrawal from the battle line in order to adjust the battalion's position for the night. At this time, Pvt. Young's platoon was engaged with the enemy in a dense jungle where observation was very limited. The platoon suddenly was pinned down by intense fire from a Japanese machinegun concealed on higher ground only 75 yards away. The initial burst wounded Pvt. Young. As the platoon started to obey the order to withdraw, Pvt. Young called out that he could see the enemy emplacement, whereupon he started creeping toward it. Another burst from the machinegun wounded him the second time. Despite the wounds, he continued his heroic advance, attracting enemy fire and answering with rifle fire. When he was close enough to his objective, he began throwing handgrenades, and while doing so was hit again and killed. Pvt. Young's bold action in closing with this Japanese pillbox and thus diverting its fire, permitted his platoon to disengage itself, without loss, and was responsible for several enemy casualties.

Byte Stryke
01-07-2011, 07:13
Great Men are few and far between and are deserving of our respect and our gratitude

KevDen2005
01-07-2011, 10:01
Starship Troopers got you all motivated didn't it? Now you want to raid a small country by yourself....I get that way too. It's a great book.

ChadAmberg
01-07-2011, 11:30
I really like the political theory behind it, only veterans are franchised.

SNAFU
01-07-2011, 11:40
Now start reading "Hammer's Slammers"

http://david-drake.com/topic/04-hammers-slammers/hammers-slammers-fiction/

Ranger353
01-07-2011, 11:41
It is required reading at some the Marine Corps' advanced leadership courses. The main takeaway is that citizenship is not free, there is always a price to pay and it can easily be lost if you are not vigilant.

theGinsue
01-08-2011, 01:44
Starship Troopers got you all motivated didn't it? Now you want to raid a small country by yourself....I get that way too. It's a great book.


Saw the movie - HATED it.

A buddy gave me the book to read and I took it with no real intention of reading it since the movie sucked so bad, so must the book; right? Wrong. I finally got around to reading it about 2 years ago and thought it was a completely different story than the movie. I too enjoyed the political theories in the book.

Recommend buying and reading the book. Recommend destroying all copies of the movie as it's too painful to watch.

Troublco
01-08-2011, 02:01
I like a lot of Heinlein's stuff. Started reading it in high school, my dad gave me his copy of Ringworld.

The movie was a no brainer action movie, only. Not even a pale shadow of the book.

KevDen2005
01-08-2011, 02:09
Saw the movie - HATED it.

A buddy gave me the book to read and I took it with no real intention of reading it since the movie sucked so bad, so must the book; right? Wrong. I finally got around to reading it about 2 years ago and thought it was a completely different story than the movie. I too enjoyed the political theories in the book.

Recommend buying and reading the book. Recommend destroying all copies of the movie as it's too painful to watch.


The same exact thing happened to me. I wish the movie at least resembled the book...to me its a different story with the same name. I definitely had to add this to my collection and agree that the main take away is the meaning and value of citizenship.

Elhuero
01-08-2011, 04:09
I liked the movie. It's very quoteable (most of that comes from the film tho) but I don't think the book would really translate into a good film.

then again, not a lot of Heinlein stuff would. at least not without taking liberties with the story.

ronaldrwl
01-08-2011, 09:26
Liked the movie for what it was. I also liked the book with all the future weapons and military horseplay. But all the fascist BS was just interesting political fantasy.

Aloha_Shooter
01-08-2011, 11:13
I liked the movie. It's very quoteable (most of that comes from the film tho) but I don't think the book would really translate into a good film.

then again, not a lot of Heinlein stuff would. at least not without taking liberties with the story.

The book would make a great movie if the director wasn't bent on trashing Heinlein's political theories and making him out to be some kind of fascist. The movie was trash and about the only thing it took from the book were the title and the character names. I'm never watching another Verhoeven movie again because of how he trashed that book.

Circuits
01-08-2011, 11:52
But all the fascist BS was just interesting political fantasy.

What did you find fascist in the book?

SAnd
01-08-2011, 11:53
Never judge a book by its movie.

Krasni
01-08-2011, 12:51
Extremely good book. I read it while deployed in the 90's and watched the movie when I got back. I enjoyed the movie in spite of it being nothing like the book. I just figured it was two separate stories.

ronaldrwl
01-10-2011, 10:44
What did you find fascist in the book?

Their whole political system was based on fascism. A utopian fantasy world that would never work.