OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Alabama
In the Augean Stable that is your humble Scribe's study there is a copy of the Volunteers 1999 “Media Guide.” In that guide there is a section called “Meet the Vols” which has brief bios of all the members of that team. A perusal of those reveals some thirty players who went on to play at the next level.
Alabama has that kind of talent. Until the Vols get back to that level, defeating the Crimson Tide will rely more on luck that firepower.
Luck is not a winning strategy.
* * * * * * * * *
Elton Mackin was a twenty-year old replacement assigned to the 67th Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. He joined the outfit on 7 June 1918, the day after the initial assault on Belleau Wood described previously. Mackin fought with the regiment until the end of the war. He was wounded three times and earned a Distinguished Service Cross and a Navy Cross (duplicate award).CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Private Elton Edward Mackin (MCSN: 105952), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with the Sixty-Seventh Company, Fifth Regiment (Marines), 2d Division, A.E.F., in action near Blanc Mont, France, 4 October 1918. As a runner, Private Mackin carried messages over territory which was subject to constant shell fire, exhibiting singular courage and devotion to duty.
Elton Mackin would survive the war and worked at a variety of jobs finally settling in Ohio in the late 1930s. He passed away in 1974. Mackin left his memoirs in manuscript form and his family had them published in 1993. The result is a searing account of one man's experiences. This work stands with those of Sam Watkins (Company Aytch!), Charlie MacDonald (Company Commander), and Nate Fick (One Bullet Away) as classics of the type. Mackin's book, Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die, is on your Fearless Scribe's personal “Top 10” list. If you read no other book on the Great War, read this one.
One of the most poignant chapters is titled “Two German Boys.”
After Belleau Wood, the 2nd Division was withdrawn to rest. After about a week, they were sent forward once again. The German offensive had been blunted and now the French wanted to retake lost territory. The city of Soissons had fallen and Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch asked Gen. Pershing for two American divisions to carry out the attack to recapture the city. Pershing sent the Big Red One and the 2 nd Division.
On 19 July 1918, the attack went in. Casualties were heavy. Of the 56,000 or so Americans in the two divisions, over 7,000 were killed or wounded. In the lore of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) this became known as “The Charge at Soissons.”
Marine Mackin had been assigned as a runner, carrying messages from the rear up to front line companies. At this point in the war, the life expectancy of a runner in combat was measured in minutes.
Mackin was moving along a trench that afternoon following the line of advancing Marines. The Germans had made a stand here and the detritus of battle was all about. He could have used a nearby road, by the “Wily Hun” had every road, cart path and goat trail zeroed in and Mackin himself had nearly been killed by a shell burst mere minutes before.
As he hurried along he was surprised by movement and drew his Colt M-1911 .45 automatic. The movement was revealed as a badly wounded German soldier trying to stand. The man was unarmed and thus no threat. Mackin holstered is pistol and sat down to figure out what was going on.
The German finally stood and, “came lurching nearer, talking with (his) terror-tortured eyes. (He) wanted only company.”
The German tried to talk to him but spoke no English and Mackin spoke no German. He was silent for a bit and then gestured down the trench. Mackin stood and offered the dying man a shoulder to lean on and they made their way toward whatever the German was wanting to see.
“The objective was a body, one of several. Lowering himself, the dying boy gave his full attention to the dead.
Here was the answer in a still, small figure. Brothers! The same fair hair, light blue, kindly eyes, mold of features. Were they twins?
The German dropped a hand in slow caress across the brow of one with whom he had been in the cradle. He had won to his last objective.”
At the end of another chapter, Mackin writes bitterly, “Little crosses stand above the dead. … They seldom stand alone. Men see to that.”
*********
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Alabama came into the game Saturday expecting to win handily. The Vols HOPED for a victory. Therein lay the difference.
Hope is not a winning strategy.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
The Tide scored at will in first canto. By the the time the shell-shocked Vols got their heads in the game, it was for all intents and purposes, over. That said, the two Tennessee scores in the second quarter made a statement in way.
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don’t let up … PUT ON MORE STEAM!
The Vols never rolled over the way they would have (and did) last year. Better days may, just may, be ahead for the long-suffering Orange-clad faithful.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Guaratano got put out of the game on a hard, but legal, hit. For the big eaters, lining up two- and three-star recruits opposite All-Americans is a recipe for disaster. Getting your quarterback tackled for a safety violates this Maxim in its essence.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
It warms the cockles of this Old Vol's heart to see defensive players actually moving TOWARD the ball. Unfortunately, in all too many cases Saturday, said ball was already 10-12 yards past the line of scrimmage. Phillips's pick-six was a dandy. In total offense, the Tide more than doubled Tennessee's output. Having two of your starting linebackers out of the game in the first half will do that.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
The Vol kickers are still exceeding expectations. The Vol return game, not so much.
7. Carry the fight to Alabama and keep it there for sixty minutes.
Through it all the Vols fought the whole game. This writer is much reminded of the early days of John Majors tenure on The Hill. The talent cupboard was pretty bare then and it took several seasons to really start righting the ship and that was with virtually no scholarship restrictions.
It is difficult to get angry over a game that pretty much played out the way it was expected to. The sun may be peeking through the clouds but the Vols will be struggling through the mud for quite some time yet.
MAXOMG
© 2018 Keeping Your Stories Alive
Suggested Reading:
George B. Clark, Devil Dogs
Douglas V. Johnson, II, and Rolfe L. Hillman, Jr., Soissons 1918
Elton E. Mackin, Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die
Pvt. Elton E. Mackin, 1919. (Marine Corps Association)
