Sir Edward ReBrook

(Last updated: 2015-10-28 01:04:49 ET)

[Sir Edward Full Achievemevt of Arms]

About me TO ALL AND SINGULAR to whom these Presents shall come Captain William Edward Graf von Ettendorf-ReBrook, IV, Count of Ettendorf Baron of Callerton Knight Grand Officer of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem Sends Greeting! I have had an interest in Knights and Chivalry for as long as I can remember. I can intimately remember my father teaching me about Knights, swords, and poll arms as a child and my first trip to the British Museum in 1991 when I was 11 years old. In fact, it was my exposure to these ancient warriors of old (and my parents' subtle vacation stops at VMI, Citadel, and West Point) that inspired me to join the Army and serve my country. Although I was never a great student, I managed to annoy the West Point admissions committee enough through letters and visits that they took mercy on me and appointed me to the Class of 2003. While at West Point, I studied Military History and joined the fencing team as a Saberist. After commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant in May 2003, I became an Infantry Officer and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and early 2005. I was honored to lead a platoon of soldiers in the two largest urban battles since Hue City in Vietnam, the Battle of Najaf and Second Fallujah. Although I was able to bring all the men under my charge home alive, in January of 2005 I was badly wounded by a roadside bomb while patrolling in Northwest Baghdad. After seven surgeries on three continents and a year of physical therapy, I was medically retired from the Army. Since then, I worked as a defense contractor in the States, Iraq, and Afghanistan, attended law school at night, and am now a practicing attorney in Northern Virginia. It is my aspiration to prove worthy of induction into the Order of the Marshall.

Titles Like Sir William Wallace, I believe that God makes men what they are. With that said, an accident of birth has allowed me to have a title as part of my surname, which is less interesting than it sounds, as all Germans inherit their titles equally rather than through absolute male primogeniture. Also, since the advent of the Weimar Republic in 1918, Germany no longer recognizes nobility anyway. Regardless, I come from a one-time landed family whose seat is, ironically, no longer even in Germany - Ettendorf is in Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen ("Alsace Lorraine"). My distinguished paternal ancestor, Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Ettendorf-Rebrook, was elevated to a Graf ("Count") by Freidrich I, King in Prussia, by letters patent for service during the War of Spanish Succession. Two of his descendants, Heinrich Alexander ("Henry Alexander") and Reinhard Magnus ("Richard Michael") moved to the United States specifically to fight in the American Civil War, one for the Union and the other for the South. The family has long since fallen into obscurity, but I hope to change that through noble deeds. My other title, Baron of Callerton, is a feudal title which was purchased for me as a gift in 2002 (I am an Anglophile of the highest order). Also in 2002, while still a West Point cadet, I crashed the international investiture of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem ("Knights Templar"), an international Order of Chivalry and ecumenical Christian Order of Knights. The following Spring, I was invited to join and was, at the time, the youngest person invested as a knight. To this day, I consider it my greatest honour.

Lawyer I am a practicing attorney in Northern Virginia, focusing on criminal defense, traffic law, general civil law, and estate planning (Wills & Trusts). I run my own practice, The ReBrook Law Office, and am always happy to help my fellow Knights in need of advice. If you wish to know more, check out my website at www.rebrooklaw.com. Okay, enough self promotion. Let talk more about Knights!

Favorite Quotes "Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: "To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods." ~Horatius, Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas Babington Macaulay "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." ~Albert Einstein "The centurion in the Infantry is chosen for his size, strength, and dexterity in throwing his missile weapons and for his skill in the use of his sword and shield; in short for his expertness in all the exercises. He is to be vigilant, temperate, active, and readier to execute the orders he receives than to talk; strict in exercising and keeping up proper discipline among his soldiers, in obliging them to appear clean and well-dressed, and to have their arms constantly rubbed and bright." ~Vegetius