Tomahawk and the Sami in Finnish Lapland

Just a few pictures from a past adventure among the Sami in Finland

See you on the trail!

Col. Thos Moore AKA "Tomahawk"

Russian smoke jumpers

Russian Smoke Jumpers Packed in the belly of an Mi-8 helicopter, a battle-weary crew heads back to base. Seven days of fighting wildfire in the Siberian hinterland? Just another week on the job. Holding a fourth of the world's forest, Russia faces a daunting number of wildfires - between 20,000 and 35,000 each year. With more moxie than money, the world's first and largest aerial firefighting force snuffs wildfires across 11 time zones. Fires may burn undetected and unchallenged in the most remote areas, but the country's 4,000 smokejumpers put out thousands that no one else can reach. As many as 20 firefighters can rappel to a fire from a turbo-powered Mi-8 helicopter, but the Russians haven't forgotten their roots. They also parachute from decades-old biplanes, much as they did when they pioneered smokejumping in the 1930s. Jumping is the thrill that gets them hooked. "Two minutes fly like eagle, three days dig like mole,: Valeriy says of the smokejumper's life. Where there's a fire, there's a smoke. Asked whether he would rather run out of food or tobacco, one smokejumper says, "You can catch fish in the river, but cigarettes?" The men don't worry much about getting short-winded - most fires move slower than they do. When flames crown into treetops, it's usually a brief show. Sunlit smoke whispers the firefighter's secret: Life can be beautiful even when the world burns down around you. As fire crackles through a forest's understory, clearing brush and preparing the ground for new life, it's hard for even a sworn adversary not to respect its role in the ecosystem. "Fires are natural," one smokejumper says, "but it's our job to fight them." With budgets tight and boots loose, rags stand in for socks and saplings double as tent poles. "Ten years ago we had more guys, but the equipment was bad," says one veteran smokejumper. "Now we have fewer guys, and the equipment is still bad!" After quickly turning a sapling into a shovel handle, one firefighter attacks with sand while another beats the flame with birch branches. If smokejumpers kill a fire quickly, it adds a bonus to their monthly hundred-dollar pay. With their mismatched uniforms and 50-year-old biplanes, Russian smokejumpers do what their countrymen do so well: make do with less. Fast food, smokejumpers style: Pull it from the river and eat. Raw or cooked, fish is a welcome addition to starchy rations of potatoes and noodles. When downtime comes and cards are dealt, the insults that fly are even stronger than the tea. With helicopter fuel scarce in the post-Soviet economy, firefighters who get left behind when the job is done may have to wait days for a ride out. But even after budget cuts have halved their ranks, an uncertain future doesn't scare men who drop from the sky to do battle with fire. "Put us in the woods with matches and a fishing rod, and we can live," Valdimir says.

Drinking my way across SE Asia

The forgotten Korean "war" of 1871

U.S. Marines stand with a flag captured during America’s first military action against Korea in 1871.


AMERICA’S FIRST MILITARY ACTION in Korea took place long before 1950. The United States fought a brief naval campaign against the Korean Joseon Dynasty 79 years before the UN mission to defeat the communist north.

On June 1, 1871, a fleet of five U.S. warships, 500 sailors and more than 100 marines arrived at Ganghwa Island, just off the Korean mainland. Their mission was to establish diplomatic and trade relations with the then isolationist nation as well as to find any trace of the missing U.S. merchant ship the SS General Sherman.

The Sherman had gone missing in Korean waters five years earlier while carrying a load of trade goods. After a series of misunderstandings with locals, the crew of the armed merchant vessel found themselves in a standoff with Korean authorities. When tensions reached the breaking point, the Sherman ended up firing its guns directly into a coastal settlement. The Koreans retaliated by attacking the side-wheel steamer with fire ships. Flames engulfed the American vessel; the survivors swam ashore and were assaulted and killed by angry villagers.

Five years later, the Koreans were suspicious of this new fleet of vessels flying the Stars and Stripes. After initial contact with locals, the American naval vessels Colorado, Alaska, Palos, Monocacy, and Benicia steamed into the mouth of the Han River, an act the Koreans felt violated their sovereignty. In response, the fort on Ganghwa unleashed a 15-minute cannonade on the American ships. Despite its ferocity, the barrage caused only minor damage.

Playing it safe, the Americans withdrew, but remained in Korean waters. The U.S. commander, Rear Admiral John Rodgers, gave the Koreans 10 days to apologize for the incident. After receiving no such satisfaction, Rodgers ordered a retaliatory assault on the island’s defenders.

On June 10, a shore party of marines and sailors under the cover of the fleet’s guns attacked and seized a series of fortifications on Ganghwa Island, brushing aside the local defenders who were equipped with little more than antique matchlock muskets. Some of the local forces even hurled rocks at the American troops. The battle climaxed with a 15-minute assault on the island’s heavily fortified citadel. The U.S. lost three men in brief the battle, including the lieutenant who led the shore party. Ten more were injured in the clash. Korean loses were higher: 243 were killed and 20 were captured.
The Americans remained in the area until July 3, hoping to return the prisoners in exchange for the chance to open trade and diplomatic relations. The Koreans refused all contact.

Rodgers withdrew his fleet to China – their mission was a failure. It would be another five years before the Americans opened formal diplomatic relations with Korea.

Despite the setback, the U.S. claimed victory in the brief campaign. A total of 15 Medals of Honor were awarded to members of the shore party – they were the first American citations given for an action on foreign soil.

The next time U.S. troops would see action on the Korean peninsula would be 69 years later. That war would last three years and cost the Americans nearly 37,000 lives.