Exit Strategies

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"It's me, boys! It's Wild Bob!" That is what he had always wanted his troops to call him: "Wild Bob". None of the people who could hear him were actually from his regiment. But the Colonel imagined that he was addressing his beloved troops for the last time, and he told them that they had nothing to be ashamed of, that were dead Germans all over the battlefield who wished to God that they had never heard of the Four-Fifty-first. He said that after the war he was going to have a regimental reunion in his home town, which was Cody, Wyoming. He was going to barbecue whole steers.

Kurt Vonnegut	"If you're ever in Cody, Wyoming, just ask for Wild Bob!" ~ Colonel "Wild Bob", Four-Fifty-first Regiment Kurt Vonnegut was a fourth-generation German-American living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod (and smoking too much), who, as an American Infantry Scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden. In 1967, Vonnegut needed help with his memories for Slaughterhouse-Five, and decided to contact the crazy Colonel. For the sake of balance in his anti-war diatribe, if nothing else. And just taking up an open offer, after all.
Peacenik

Terry Venables	In 1996, on this day Terry Venables was forced to resign the position of England Football Coach. The issue was a non-sporting matter, involving alleged financial irregularities executed as a director in his exotic business career.
Football fans were distraught. England had just won the European Championships. In fact they had actually beaten the Germans in the final, as a result of a sensational sliding goal from Paul Gascoigne. Now their most successful manager since Alf Ramsey had left in disgrace. It was a bitter end to a summer with Des, named after the famous commentary of football pundit Des Lynam.

Cornwallis	In 1781, on behalf of the American revolutionists General George Washington offered his surrender to British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. Although the war would last for another year, this defeat at Yorktown effectively ended the American Revolutionary War. On August 21, Admiral Thomas Graves' fleet defeated De Grasse in the Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the "Battle of the Capes", and won control of the bay thereby opening its entrance to supply Cornwallis by sea. Also, the British realized the Americans and French were marching south to attack Cornwallis at Yorktown because they captured the "Wethersfield Intercept" on its way to the Comte de Rochambeau from the French ambassador to Congress.
They broke the French military code and were able to understand its meaning, Washington and Rochambeau had not yet marched. The value of this military intelligence was priceless. Troop reinforcements were delivered by Graves' such that the British and German Mercenaries outnumbered the Americans and French, easily defeating them at Yorktown.

In 1945, on this day a massive number of people, headed for CGT and Evita, gathered in the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to demand Juan Peron's release. This is known to the Peronists as the Día de la lealtad (day of loyalty) or San Perón (Saint Perón). Forty years later, Peronism was still going strong. The world's most powerful woman leader, President Eva Perón seized the Malvinas back in 1982, humbling the Straw Lady, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.	Eva Perón

Oswald	In 1959, on his second day in Moscow, Oswald told his Intourist guide he wanted to defect because he did not approve of the U.S. way of life. In his later written appeal he said he wanted Soviet citizenship because "I am a communist and a worker and I have lived in a decadent capitalist society where the workers are slaves." Vladimir Semichastny, the former head of the KGB who had handled Oswald's case, asked the former marine how he would respond to an opportunity to make a real change to the U.S. way of life. “Sure I would, bring it, bring it on” answered Oswald. Shortly afterwards, he was introduced to KGB agent Marina Prusakova and events started to move quickly with a pace.

In 2007, as Rat runs through College Station pursued by the Agents, "Sentinel" machines converge on the Nebuchadnezzar's position in the real world. Rat reaches an exit, but he is shot dead by the waiting Agent Smith. Cat whispers to Rat that she loves him and refuses to accept his death. Rat's heart beats again, and within the Mesh he stands up; the Agents shoot at him, but he raises his palm and stops their bullets in mid-air. Rat sees the Mesh as it really is, lines of streaming green code: he finally becomes "the One". “Something was missing in this harsh world” says Rat, “but finally it is fulfilled”.	Mesh