Dave Howery
March 3rd, 2005, 12:27 AM
while Edgar Rice Burroughs is widely known as the author of the Tarzan and Mars/Barsoom novels, it's not so widely known that he was also a member of the US Cavalry (specifically, the 7th Cavalry at Ft. Grant, AZ) in his youth; he wasn't a particularly good soldier, and was medically discharged before the end of his tour. However, he always had a hankering for a military career, and tried to enlist in the Rough Riders at the outbreak of the Spanish American war. His application was rejected since the ranks were already full... fortunately for his future fans, he never did see any military action, other than the bombing of Pearl Harbor from a comfortable distance.
Let us suppose that his application was accepted, and ERB was taken on as a private in the Rough Riders (actually the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment). ERB would have been one of the few in the outfit with real military background (thin as it was), and it's likely he would seen action at the regiment's moment of glory at San Juan and Kettle hills.
Having seen the horrors of war first hand, would ERB have had anything like the career he had in OTL? It was rather serendipitous that he became a writer at all, having tried a number of businesses before writing; in this TL, would he even make a stab at it? It's unlikely he'd stay on as a military man, being the poor soldier that he was in the past. If he did become a writer of fantasy as in OTL, would he write the highly romanticized novels of OTL, or would he put more grim and realistic warfare in his novels? In any event, it's likely that the literary world would be changed from OTL, by either his changed novels, or lack thereof....
Let us suppose that his application was accepted, and ERB was taken on as a private in the Rough Riders (actually the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment). ERB would have been one of the few in the outfit with real military background (thin as it was), and it's likely he would seen action at the regiment's moment of glory at San Juan and Kettle hills.
Having seen the horrors of war first hand, would ERB have had anything like the career he had in OTL? It was rather serendipitous that he became a writer at all, having tried a number of businesses before writing; in this TL, would he even make a stab at it? It's unlikely he'd stay on as a military man, being the poor soldier that he was in the past. If he did become a writer of fantasy as in OTL, would he write the highly romanticized novels of OTL, or would he put more grim and realistic warfare in his novels? In any event, it's likely that the literary world would be changed from OTL, by either his changed novels, or lack thereof....