Tuesday, March 01, 2005

The Guy Who Drew the Short Straw


Flamethrower 6
Originally uploaded by Uncle Mikey.
I like this shot because you can see the napalm at the end of the spray that's not lit yet. I read a WWII memoir by a guy who swore that you hosed down the thing you wanted to burn for a few seconds, getting the napalm in viewing and firing ports, and then lit it from your end and the whole thing would explode. The guys at the reenactment last weekend had an extinguisher hooked up to the rig that they'd use when they wanted it to stop burning, then some more napalm would glop out onto the hillside. It all seemed pretty crazy dangerous, being close to a bunch of other guys with the heavy rig while running uphill over rocky terrain, leaving a trail of unlit napalm behind you. There were four or five of these guys, amid all the tanks and other vehicles and people firing blanks at each other. They looked nervous, and I sure would have been.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Awesome pics herr uncle