Hey y'all. A quick bit of background, this man isn't actually my real grandfather, but is the husband of my grandmother (my grandfather passed away a decade ago). He is completely disabled at this point and doesn't have many people to talk to (due to family arguments over money which are very sad) and I can tell he is bummed out a lot. Over thanksgiving break I was able to talk to him for about an hour and I could tell he really enjoyed telling his stories.

So what I am asking you is to give me some good questions to ask him that I may not be able to think of. Unfortunately I don't know too much about him, but this is what I have (i'll update with more info from my grandmom if there is interest).

He is in his 80s and I know he worked for a long time in the military with satellite equipment - specifically for navigating planes for bombing. He also said he was one of the first to work with computers in the military. He said he'd never seen a computer before, but was given the chance to take a "computer class" where he then went on to learn and work with computers and satellites. I also remember him talking a few years ago about being responsible for an astronaut suit that was used in some space missions back in the height of the space race. He was solely responsible for that one suit.

I'm sorry that this info is so vague, but I just don't know the man very well. I'd love your help with coming up with some ideas for questions he may be able to answer. I want to get to get his perspective on history as well as provide a dying man with an outlet to share some of his stories and to alleviate some of his boredom.

Thank you all very much for any feedback you can give. I'd be happy to document his responses and share them with you if you'd like :)

Mostly curious about the siege of antioch. Stranded in a strange land where alot of people wanted you dead. Could they return home or would they be chased down as deserters? How would they get home and where would they go otherwise?

Were freight trains the more common means of transportation? Were freight trucks similar to what we use today in use? If so, what was the state of the country's fuel network, and was there anything analogous to truck stops?

My apologies if this seems a more basic sort of question than what is usual for this subreddit, but it is rather more complex than my weak google-fu has been able to help me with.

In a more general meta question, I have a bunch of unrelated questions regarding 1950s America, but I don't want to spam this subreddit with them. What is the etiquette here? Should I make one big thread, or space out several threads, or...?

I am currently taking a Medieval Indian history class. Obviously the British East India company is mentioned as it precedes the fall of the Mughal Empire, the last topic we discuss. In my time I have seen the British, Dutch and French East Indian Companies. Why was there so many and how did they all end up with the same name? Seems recent enough for them to have named themeslves or were the named based on what they were doing like the Dutch West India trading company

I can't seem to find a clear answer online: What is a "Prussian bow"? I'm reading Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts, and the Nazi press chief "made a Prussian bow" to the American diplomat as he was leaving. A text I found online mentions a Prussian bow "from the waist" so I'm thinking of the bow made with one hand in front and the other in back at waist height, back straight, bent forward. And what was it's significance? Was it intended as a slight?

Someone I follow on Twitter posted an article where Syrians are reacting to Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US and it made me wonder whether or not my great-grandparents knew of anti-immigrant sentiment when before came here from Mexico and eastern Europe around 1910

Looking at pictures of Stalingrad at the end of WW2 and modern cities in northern Africa and the middle East that are just rubble, why are they so important to control?

I love reading military history, but after the end of linear tactics in WWI, I always have trouble picturing large unit combat, at least outside of urban warfare.

If I'm in the front line at the Battle of Kursk, and I see Army Group South advancing towards my foxhole, what does that actually look like? How many tanks can I see? How many men are in my field of vision, and how far apart are they? After a field army has broken through, what does their advance look like? Are the infantry marching in columns/riding wagons on the road, and if so, what's the largest single group you'd see doing so?

Bowler: (to Raja) So you're a British man who converted to Islam--sorta like Cat Stevens?

Raja: No. Until the early part of this century, India was part of the British Empire, whose government there was called the British Raj, after the Hindi word for sovereignty.

Later:

Raja: Um. I was just um...I'm uh... (he bites the bullet, and dons his British accent) I'm a superhero, Mother.

Mother: A superhero?

Raja: An effete British superhero, to be precise. I am pilfering your tableware because I hurl it. I hurl it with a deadly accuracy. The Blue Raja is my name. And--Yes I know I don't wear very much blue, and I speak in a British accent. But if you know your history, it really does make perfect sense.

Also, apparently throwing forks has something to do with the name and costume:

Shoveler: You're the master of cutlery. You can't throw a knife, sometimes?

Raja: No I can't. You--You can't use a rake, sometimes?

Shoveler: No, I'm the Shoveler.

Raja: Well I'm the Blue Raja. I'm not Stabman, I'm not...Knifey-Boy. I'm the Blue Raja.

So. Is this just a joke, or is there actually some historical precedence for a Limey-fork flinger?

Who ultimately was the person responsible for the killing of Nicholas II and his family? Why would they kill his entire family and not just him? From my understanding, Nicholas II was a decent husband and father but an ineffectual monarch. Was he killed because of something he did specifically or was he just in the wrong role at the wrong time during Russia's transformation to communism?

There were 8 million germans that were forced to flee from that territories, but how did Poland go about resettling these territories?

I am working on a geneology project and I came across one of these for my great grandfather. I do not know what the document is. Could you all help me out?

It's something I don't get, and it makes everything I've learned about Rasputin in the last couple months hard to really understand. I know the commonly told story and what was believed at the time is that he was a holy healer, but I don't think that's something commonly believed today, but nothing I know about Rasputin's rise to infamy makes sense if he didn't stop Alexei's bleeding. Is there a historical consensus to how Rasputin did it if he did at all, or is it just lost information? I know finding out anything about Rasputin is tricky because of all the myths and rumors surrounding him, but I figured it was worth it to ask.

Listening to people talk about this and that army of history fighting, I've been wondering if, as a general trend, the number of people involved in warfare rose at the same rate as the overall human population, or whether it rose faster (Due to a sort of arms' race) or maybe slower (due to the unwieldiness of a larger army) than that.

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