Re: [DL] Butterbars?

["Daniel Gwyn" <dgwyn@colba.net>]

>A General has four silver stars.
>
>During wartime there can also be a five star general called General of the
>Army and he has five silver stars arranged in a circle.
>
Actually the rank of General of the Army is unique to the U.S. Army and was
invented during WWII for Eisenhower's benefit.  European armies had the rank
of Field Marshal which was ranked above a Full General and was supposed to
be awarded only to highly proven generals (i.e. you shouldn't earn one in
peacetime).    Montergomery of the British Army was awarded this rank for
his work in beating Rommel in North Africa.  For political reasons the
United States insisted that Eisenhower be in charge of D-Day, with Monty
under him in charge of the British and Canadian participation in the event.
As Monty would have otherwise out-ranked Eisenhower and the Americans didn't
want to make him a field marshal, they came up with General of the Army.
    Naturally the U.S. Navy then came up with the rank of Admiral of the
Navy.  I believe the USAF also had such a rank.
    Not terribly relevant to Deadlands actually.

          Daniel Gwyn
"But my dreams, they aren't as empty
as my conscience seems to be."
From "Behind Blue Eyes" by Pete Townshend