Johnathan Alexander

Major Johnathan Preston Alexander is an officer in the United States Army, tank commander, Armor ace and later, American celebrity. He is one of the principle characters of the Napoleon's Legacy Universe, based around several different real-life World War II-era "Panzer Aces". Many of his experiences were derived from "Tigers in the Mud", the memoirs of German Army tank commander Otto Carius, but his physical appearance and rank are more similar to SS ace Michael Wittmann (Johnathan is a Major at the start of the writings, while Wittmann would eventually make Hauptstürmführer - the SS equivalent of Captain).

Alexander is fairly young for his position, the result of his meritorious conduct and uncommon intelligence. His actions during the course of the year 1962 will see him awarded the Medal of Honor, his nation's highest military decoration for gallantry.

Overview
Name: Johnathan Preston Alexander

Date of Birth: April 22th, 1928 (33 Years Old)

Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Nationality: American

Alma Mater: United States Military Academy at Westpoint

Occupations / Positions:


 * Executive Officer, 1st Tank Battalion, 11th Armored Division, United States Army
 * Commander, M60 Pershing tank #213

Political Party: Democratic Party

Languages:


 * English (Native)


 * French (learned in school, limited)
 * Bits of German and Russian (picked up from foreign soldiers while fighting in Alaska)

Race: Caucasian (primarily English descent)

Height: 190 cm (~6'3")

Weight: 86kg (~190 lbs)

Eye Color: dark green

Hair Color: brown

Author's Notes

 * Of the male viewpoint characters in the universe, Johnathan is the author's favorite


 * His M60 tank, #213, has the same hull number as Otto Carius's original Tiger I


 * Unless Charlotte (being the President of the United States) is counted, Johnathan is the highest-ranking military viewpoint character


 * At 6'3" and about 190 lbs, Johnathan is a rather slender man. This worsens after he is wounded relatively early on in the book


 * Johnathan's awards which he possesses at the start of the book include two instances of the Purple Heart, the Soldier's Medal (for saving the life of his Division's Colonel, Erwin Morrel), the Army Commendation Medal (for his actions during Operation Coca-Cola) & the Silver Star (for leading the rearguard action of the 11th Armored Division during Operation Coca-Cola and covering Colonel Morrel's withdrawal), the Armored Assault Badge in Silver, the Russian Amerika Badge (for participation in combat in the Northwestern Theatre of Operations) and the Prokhorovka Medallion (awarded to all those who fought in and survived Operation Coca-Cola). This does not include his unit's citations or his badge for Pistol Marksmanship.
 * Johnathan's Division - which he will eventually rise to lead - is officially nicknamed "Thunderbolt" but is now more commonly known as "the Ghost Division", after its extremely rapid advances under the command of Colonel Erwin Morrel (which make it difficult for its superiors, and its own logistics element, to track it, like a ghost). This is a reference to the German 7. Panzer-Division, which earned the same nickname under the command of Rommel (the fictional commander of the 11th Armored has a surname that is an anagram of Rommel, Morrel).  However, it will earn even more distinction under Johnathan's leadership later in the writings.
 * Johnathan speaks with a prominent Boston accent, which is non-rhotic (i.e. he would say the famous expression / shibboleth "Park the Car at Harvard Yard" as something like "Pahk the Car at Hahvahd Yahd" - the 'r' in car is usually pronounced because it is followed by a vowel, but sometimes even this is ommitted). As such, he is often asked by his fellow soldiers to speak famous quotations from, or repeat lines from speeches by, John F. Kennedy, since they have similar accents. Johnathan does not, however, say "Cuba" as "Cuber": his accent is not quite as strong and he does not tend to "hypercorrect" by adding Rs where they don't actually exist, at least not as often as many Bostonians.