Neptunus Lex – The Epilogue

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After the Neptunus Lex website went down, shortly after his fatal accident, it very fortunately turned out that someone had saved most of the posts offline.  For the last several years, Bill Brandt has been posting these restored posts, on an almost daily basis, at The Lexicans.

Sadly but inevitably, Bill has now come to the end of the saved posts.  He has some eloquently-written concluding thoughts here.

Great job Bill, I’m really glad you’ve done this.

We can hope that perhaps some additional Lex posts will show up somewhere in the odd corners of the Internet.

19 thoughts on “Neptunus Lex – The Epilogue”

  1. “Pray for the boys over there, they’re doing this for us, they’re doing it for you”¦” On the whole that’s not who US soldiers are used for, not for many a year. Who they are used for is largely a mystery, it seems to me.

  6. @Mike K – last summer I got to meet a Navy base commander. He took me to an on base Starbucks and we talked a bit. I had an epiphany – that when I was in the military a base commander was certainly an “old man” and I realized that I was a good 15-20 years older than him! The military is a young man’s (or woman’s Sgt Mom!) game.

    He certainly remembered Lex and said that he now goes to CDR Salamander.

    Lex touched a lot of people I suspect – more than he could know.

  8. “Have I got this wrong, I sure hope so.”

    I guess I have it right then. What is there to admire here? A couple of thought exercises and off to bed.

    “Hast thou attuned thy being to humanities great pain, oh candidate for light?”

  9. I guess I have it right then.

    Or you are so far off that no one will bother correcting you, especially since you would probably misunderstand the correction as well.

  10. On the whole that’s not who US soldiers are used for, not for many a year. Who they are used for is largely a mystery, it seems to me.”
    ____________

    Have I got this wrong, I sure hope so

    ____________

    Men don’t fight for a cause. They fight for each other. They fight because they don’t want to let each other down.

    And that’s what makes Lex so inspiring.

    He was a man of faith who lived his life with passion. He loved his family, the Navy and flight. “But I always knew that I was a better aviator than an officer”¦”, he said on more than one occasion.

    But personally I think he was also an exceptional officer. He had the humility and introspection to improve in his leadership qualities. He could use humor to illustrate leadership.”

    That’s the way it’s supposed to be, but too often it isn’t anymore.

  12. I think one could describe Lex as a Renaissance Man. I knew one officer like him the Army years ago – at least in his leadership style. He did not have the intellectual curiosity Lex had but we’d have followed him anywhere.

    The bell curve gets pretty small towards the Lex end, I think.

    I would call Lex a true intellectual. I can’t say that I was his equal there.

    “I have learned a lot along the way, and many of you have helped to teach me. I’ve made many friends, only some of whom I have met, or ever will meet. And only, I think, a very few enemies. At least one of whom I have come to think of as a friend, although we have not met and do not share many, if any, of the same opinions about practically anything. I have learned to examine unquestioned certainties…”

    It is all too easy to be wrapped in one’s ego and defend our beliefs to the very end. Without even considering opposing views.

    I think Lex was willing to examine all sides. I think commenting at his site must have been a blast.

    “…he welcomed civil debate on current events and respected some readers who disagreed with him vehemently.

    In fact, he even pointed out that fact to an Internet troll.

    “I deal with dissent. Read the comments in this post from a British journalist who disagrees with me on nearly every fundamental point with respect to the war in Iraq. He doesn’t get “censored” – by the way, governments censor, individuals merely express distaste – because he doesn’t come into the discussion imputing bad faith or “cowardice” upon those with whom he disagrees. That’s dissent, rationally expressed and rationally dealt with. That’s how grown ups talk”¦ “

    In fact, there is a story behind the above story in re: the Internet troll. If he is the same fellow I’m thinking of, he was verbally abusive and threatening to one of the female commentators. Lex and one of the Lexicans traced his ISP address to…..a business in downtown San Diego. Lex paid him a visit in his dress whites and while I do not know what was said, his abusiveness stopped.

    I think he welcomed dissent as long as people were polite and could rationally explain their view.

  13. @Jonathan – @David – I want to also thank you for running such a nice site – I think they are few and far between in the blogesphere these days. One of my few “Must stop bys” every day.

  14. “Men don’t fight for a cause. They fight for each other.” Of course, but who chose where to send them to fight, and whom to fight against?

  15. “Or you are so far off that no one will bother correcting you, especially since you would probably misunderstand the correction as well.”

    I did ask for help. It did not seem that this man you admire so much could be so dismissive of those less fortunate than himself. That does appear to be the case from what he writes. What am I missing?

  16. “Lex and one of the Lexicans traced his ISP address to”¦..a business in downtown San Diego. Lex paid him a visit in his dress whites and while I do not know what was said, his abusiveness stopped.”

    I did something similar once. He stopped posting not long after.

  18. “Pen”¦.I recommend you read the post again, giving particular attention to the first sentence.”

    Yes, he’s not a monster, but the last sentence is damning.

  19. @Pen – he is certainly not being dismissive of the poor mother and child.Nor the other people he saw in there. The scenes bothered him enough that he had to tell his readers about it. I think when he was asking his readers early on if he was writing for us or himself – this is indicative of writing for himself.

    Seeing a sight that troubled him and then being somewhat dismissive of his readers now that he got it off his chest. He had to tell his readers what he saw, and what troubled him.

    The previous day (and the previous link before the Pacific Beach link) is this, towards the end…

    “…Eventually though we made our way from the places where people come to posture for dramatic effect, with tatoos and piercings on several display, to the Goodwill store, where some people come to shop. And to tell you the truth, the whole thing made me feel just a little low.

    See: We were shopping there as a choice. We were slumming, sort of. And there were many, many folks shopping there because that was what they could do, to shop at Goodwill.

    Between dinner at the museum, and shopping at the Goodwill store, there’s something I can’t quite get my head wrapped around.

    It was a strange weekend, that way.”

    https://thelexicans.wordpress.com/2017/11/04/one-of-those-strange-weekends/

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