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431
432

The Pianist (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by Ravenloft

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[–]Ravenloft[S] 28 points29 points ago

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Context: A soldier plays a piano during the Battle of Grozny.

[–]TheTwist 17 points18 points ago

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And that's how I got to spend 15 minutes reading about the Battle of Grozny on Wikipedia

[–]lols 5 points6 points ago

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By mid-afternoon, the first battalion of the 131st MRB occupied the train station, unaware of the 81st MRR's situation and separated from the second battalion which reached the freight station further to the west, and from the third battalion on the outskirts of the city. The unit parked its tanks and armored personnel carriers around the station and awaited further orders. Somewhere within that period of time, a Russian communications officer heard the words, "Welcome to Hell," on his headset.[citation needed] Shortly after, Chechen fighters, hiding in the depot buildings, the post office, and the five-story building surrounding the station, opened devastating automatic and anti-tank weapons fire. The surviving Russian soldiers took cover inside the station, which the Chechens soon set ablaze. Russian commanding officer, Colonel Ivan Savin, radioed for help and artillery fire, which never came.

I don't blame you. This is some crazy shit.

[–]Purehatred 7 points8 points ago

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Guerrilla warfare, it's a bitch.

[–]TheTwist 1 point2 points ago

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just remember it's Wikipedia, and there's [citation needed] next to that

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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And that's how I spent two hours realizing that I understand painfully little about the Chechnyan War...

[–]jamesneysmith 4 points5 points ago

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94-95? Wow. That photo could just as easily be 60 years old.

[–]Slick37c 0 points1 point ago

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Except for the whole gun thing.

[–]jamesneysmith 5 points6 points ago

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I'm not knowledgable about guns but I think they had machine guns in WW2. That particular type (whatever it is) maybe not but that means little to someone with almost no knowledge of guns.

[–]allspark117 2 points3 points ago

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yeah i think this particular soldier is holding a AK74. those werent made until... 1974

[–]RainDownMyBlues 3 points4 points ago

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If you look at the muzzle device, it's characteristic of an AK74. :)

Spot on.

[–]allspark117 1 point2 points ago

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Oh so i was right! sweet! though on another note, most people these days only think they "understand" guns because of the popular franchise Call of Duty. its nice to know there are gun enthusiasts like my self and you that know about guns with our own general knowledge. I salute you good sir!

[–]RainDownMyBlues 0 points1 point ago*

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Haha thanks. I spent a few years as a combat soldier in Afghanistan, that helps. Anything from 47's to 74's to FAL's. But I've always been interested in weapons.

I'm curious as to why you said the 74 as to opposed to the 47 though, if you didn't notice anything actually about the gun? Just time period? He doesn't look like Russian army, and the Chechnians were essentially Guerrilla's. The magazine would be another tip off. The way it's curved. Less dramatic than the 47.

High five for the bashing of 14 year old kids that think they know how weapons/war works from video games though. :)

[–]allspark117 0 points1 point ago

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O.O well I bet i don't have as much extensive knowledge as your self! jeez a combat soldier in Afghan. All i know from my gun knowledge is from history books and just extensive research haha! (plus also going to a gun range helps when it comes to normal standard issue for civilians :P) and the reason why i said 74 was because that this particular gun he had didnt seem so much like a 47. 47s as i would think would be a little bulkier and bigger where as this gun was more compact than usual. and yeah it's banana mag isnt as curved as the 47 so that also gave it away hurrah for actually understanding weapons and not knowing them from war games! :D Also hats off for serving us kind soldier:)

[–]RainDownMyBlues 2 points3 points ago*

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Thanks brother.

I break the typical mold of a soldier though. I'm not a conservative, well actually I take opinions from both sides. College educated.(now going back for CS degree) I also think a two party system if FUCKED. Also our SAW gunner was gay, we all thought he was a fucking badass. He was a small stout, very quiet guy, but when the shit hit the fan we would be the very first to jump at my orders. He would have died for any of us.

Not all soldiers are crazy racists. From my experience, quite a few of us are intelligent, reasonable people. I was just about out when the don't ask, don't tell thing got repealed. We had a little relations meeting. Pretty much everyone in my company shared the view of, "so the fuck what." If you're in a combat unit, that has seen a lot of action, those trivial issues tend to go away. Oddly enough we had a guy from Alabama that didn't like/understand gays to start with. Ended up he and the SAW gunner were always covering each other and making sure the other was O.K.

That will always be my favorite memory of the service. The service may try to break you, but if you can hold up, you can still be your own person. But to see someone's view point change, due to relying on the other to survive, is one of the few beautiful things about war.

[–]budman200 0 points1 point ago

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HEY! dont insalt me jus cause im way more knolegeable then you are about guns. get on my leval! i was totally gon say that wuz a ak74. Itd be way more sik if it had a red dot or grenade lancher on it! Your such a noob allspark

[–]allspark117 0 points1 point ago

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hey dere clm dwn budman, i tke u on lke old skool.

[–]budman200 0 points1 point ago

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hahaha have an upvote sir

[–]wisewizard 14 points15 points ago

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Is it wrong i assume this is a booby trap.

[–]indyphil 2 points3 points ago

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looks more like a penis trap

[–]thebeansdude 0 points1 point ago

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like goonies piano but with a bomb instead

[–]DIGGYRULES 6 points7 points ago

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I have the sound of "Chopsticks" running through my head now.

[–]UnholyEntity 2 points3 points ago

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there are actually no words for it...

[–]so_this_is_me 3 points4 points ago

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It is one of my favourite films.

[–]baconfrenzy 1 point2 points ago

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First thing that came to mind was that ending scene. One of my favorite films as well, absolutely tragic but so good.

[–]Twiggeh-Leaf 0 points1 point ago

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I kept expecting the German soldier to shoot him as he played

[–]ChrisQF 2 points3 points ago

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meanwhile... in Chechnya

[–]v4-digg-refugee 2 points3 points ago

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And then an anvil falls from the sky.

[–]puahennaz 2 points3 points ago

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did anyone else instantly think of band of brothers titles?

[–]canadianman001 4 points5 points ago

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It explodes when you play the high C. Nah but seriously I love this picture. Makes me realise that nonmatter what we are at the moment, wether its a soldier, camera man, or anyone else. The things that make us human are all ways there, even our need to express ourself through music. It just makes me feel human when i look at this.

[–]bloopee 1 point2 points ago

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It definitely tugs at the essence of my humanity

[–]teamramrod456 1 point2 points ago

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For some reason, I just imagine the piano blowing up.

[–]freeload 1 point2 points ago

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Would make a very elaborate IED.

[–]Xprss 1 point2 points ago

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I'd like to see this but with a drum set.

[–]greivier 1 point2 points ago

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suddenly... a piano.

[–]HustlerThug 1 point2 points ago

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Am I the only wondering why the fuck is there a piano in the forest?

[–]thegraverobber 1 point2 points ago

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Pianist is my favorite word.

[–]turtledujour 1 point2 points ago

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grlNm410FCU

[–]adelav 1 point2 points ago

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reminds me of the movie

[–]therewasone 1 point2 points ago

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Reminds me of something I read in Berlin: The Downfall, 1945, by Antony Beever. As the Russians were advancing across Germany, they were doing the usual raping and pillaging, and they captured a few German soldiers, one of whom they discovered was a gifted Pianist. They found a piano, dragged it outside, and forced him to play as long as he could at gunpoint for everyone's amusement. He lasted something like 13 hours before he collapsed sobbing. They promptly shot him.

Extremely fucked up, but fantastic book, especially if you read Stalingrad (also by Beevor) with it.

[–]Breit_Sein 0 points1 point ago

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I was going to type the same thing. I thought i was more like 18 hours. At any rate, one of the saddest stories ive ever read. Thanks for sharing, at least his story can be told.

[–]stonersoup 1 point2 points ago

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turns out he was defusing a bomb... cut the wrong wire.

[–]guitarhammer 2 points3 points ago

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BOOM! Headshot!

[–]Nesman64 1 point2 points ago

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I'll wipe down the piano and move the body, you watch for the next one.

[–]thebeansdude 0 points1 point ago

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BOOM! Granade

[–]TheHarshTruth_ 8 points9 points ago

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The Repost.

[–]nadalofsoccer 0 points1 point ago

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No matter how hard they try to dehumanize us with uniforms for all to look the same, we still find a way to show ourselves.

[–]ramblerman -1 points0 points ago

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we? And who is they?

[–]nadalofsoccer 0 points1 point ago

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The people who decide who we, as people, battle against (from an office, BTW)

[–]themindlessone 0 points1 point ago

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This has been my wallpaper on my laptop for 8 months. Google image search.

[–]Colecoman1982 0 points1 point ago

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Pottymouth!!

[–]MurderSheScrote 0 points1 point ago

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I instantly thought of one of my favorite songs from when I was a teen: Rammstein's "Klavier"

[–]Nater_the_Greater 0 points1 point ago

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Anyone else think of American Pop?

[–]hornytoad69 0 points1 point ago

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There is this guy who walks into a bar and notices a man 12 inches tall playing the piano. He asks what it is all about and the barman tells him he'll tell him later.

So he asks the barman for a drink and the barman says, 'Before you get your drink you get to rub the magic beer bottle and make a wish.'

'OK,' says the guy.

He goes to the bottle and rubs it and, boom, out comes a genie, who says, 'You have one wish.'

The man thinks about it and then wishes for a million bucks. A cloud of smoke fills the room and when the smoke clears there are a million ducks crowding the bar.

He tells the barman, 'Hey, I didn't want a million ducks.'

The barman replies, 'You think I wanted a 12-inch pianist?'

[–]freebass 0 points1 point ago

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Good reading: Assault on Grozny Downtown - Vyacheslav Mironov

[–]yelaina 0 points1 point ago

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He's playing Heart and Soul

[–]JH108 0 points1 point ago

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I would not touch this piano. My booby-trap phobia would kick in.

[–]lipton_lover 0 points1 point ago

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He's playing a nicer piano than mine :(.

[–]lipton_lover 0 points1 point ago

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He's playing a nicer piano than mine :(.

[–]tornglass 0 points1 point ago

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Any story behind it? How did a piano end up there? Maybe some civilians were trying to drag it to a safer place.

[–]wtjones 0 points1 point ago

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Did anyone else think I am so getting a head shot here?

[–]xjeepdotorg -1 points0 points ago

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he better have a pistol in his hand to sling his primary like that

[–]HandcuffCharlie 0 points1 point ago

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Was that a serious comment? Sorry for asking.

[–]xjeepdotorg 0 points1 point ago

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'twas not

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