Thirteen years ago. I remember everything. Where I was. Who I talked to. How I felt.
I haven't forgotten.
I will never forgive.
I'm still angry.
I have 2,977 reasons to hate those bastards and everyone that supports them.
Remember. Today. Tomorrow. Next month. Twenty years from now.
Never forget. Never forgive.
This year, at least, I live close to the museum where the Enola Gay is stored. I may pay a visit today, to remind myself that there was a time in history when we visited appropriate punishment on our enemies. When attacking the United States of America meant that you ate hot, flaming nuclear death on a stick.
That time, sadly, has passed.
Remember those who gave their lives that day, some willingly, like the passengers on Flight 93, or the heroes on the NYPD and NYPD and EMS that went into the World Trade Centers to save lives if they could. Knowing that they were facing almost certain death, they went in anyway. Heroes. Big damn heroes. Right up there with all who signed up to serve our country and bring the fight to the enemy. I'm sorry we lost that resolve. We're seeing everything we fought for - that those brave men and women fought for - crumbling as we dither and fret about how the world sees us.
I don't give a hairy rat's patoot if they love us. I don't care if they respect us. I want them to fear us. I want the next terrorist @$$hole who talks about blowing something in America up to be shot by his own compatriots, out of pure unmitigated fear that we might hear about it and come back and do to them what we did to the last group that messed with us.
I remember Vicki Yancey. She was a kind, sweet person (despite being a lefty). She had a husband and two boys that she thought the world of. And she died in a flaming plane crash because some twisted bastards thought they could scare us that way. That we didn't turn their training camp into 50,000ยบ orange glass will someday be viewed as the biggest mistake we made in the "war" on terror.
I hate them. I hated them on September 11th, 2001. I hate them today. I'll hate them on my deathbed.
But it's not all about hate. It's about payback, too:
And:
And:
And:
And:
That one makes me cry. Still. Never forget.
Remember.
That is all.
Showing posts with label Historical Happenings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Historical Happenings. Show all posts
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
I Need to Get to Udvar-Hazy...
Another piece of history is gone.
Enola Gay's Last Crew Member Theodore Van Kirk Dies
Without getting into the ethics of the dropping of the atomic bombs, it's still pretty amazing that these men performed the task as assigned. To take part in such a historic event - the first time an atomic weapon would be used in warfare - has got to make a mark on a person. Given the state of knowledge of nuclear weapons at the time (Exhibit A: Duck and Cover drills), they may or may not have realized the full import of the bombs they were delivering. But they delivered them just the same, and saved thousands if not millions of lives.
Rest in peace, Dutch.
That is all.
Enola Gay's Last Crew Member Theodore Van Kirk Dies
The last crew member of the Enola Gay — the bomber which infamously dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan near the end of WWII — has died in Georgia. Theodore Van Kirk, who was also known as "Dutch," died Monday of natural causes at the Park Springs Retirement Community in Stone Mountain, a manager there told NBC Atlanta affiliate WXIA. Van Kirk was 93.You need to actually *see* the Enola Gay to truly understand the giant brass ones these men had. These propeller-driven aircraft, held together by rivets, carried a single bomb large enough to destroy an entire city. I've had the good fortune to take a look inside both a B24 Liberator and a B17 Flying Fortress. While the B29 is larger than either of those aircraft, it's not by a lot; especially when you realize that a B29 would have a 11-man crew. That's a lot of people to cram into a small metal tube...
When he was just a young man of 24 years old, Van Kirk was the navigator on the Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress, which dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. August 6, 1945, killing 140,000 people. It was the first time in human history that an atomic bomb had ever been used. The second and last instance came three days later at Nagasaki, where 80,000 perished.
Without getting into the ethics of the dropping of the atomic bombs, it's still pretty amazing that these men performed the task as assigned. To take part in such a historic event - the first time an atomic weapon would be used in warfare - has got to make a mark on a person. Given the state of knowledge of nuclear weapons at the time (Exhibit A: Duck and Cover drills), they may or may not have realized the full import of the bombs they were delivering. But they delivered them just the same, and saved thousands if not millions of lives.
Rest in peace, Dutch.
That is all.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Settling In...
So, being that we're only about 15 minutes away, this weekend we took in some history.
National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA.
It's interesting. Living in Massachusetts, the site of the Pilgrims' landing and the birthplace of the American Revolution, we sometimes forget that there's plenty of history outside of our borders. There's Jamestown, older than Plimouth; there's the lost colony of Roanoke; and there are of course all kinds of Revolutionary War attractions.
But there's no Civil War *anything* in Massachusetts.
This weekend we learned about the first engagement in the American Civil war, the Battle of First Manassas, as well as the Battle of Second Manassas in the same field.
We learned about "Stonewall" Jackson - every bit the American hero as Sam Adams, Paul Revere, or George S. Patton.
We discovered Judith Henry, a civilian casualty of war caught, literally, in the crossfire.
Aside from the power lines in the background, it's not hard to imagine things as they were over 150 years ago here.
While it's nothing like a Hellfire missile or a 105 mm Howitzer, the twelve-pound cannon meant instant death - for the lucky ones not shredded by canister shot.
One somber reminder about the toll of warfare: In the battle of Gettysburg, some 50,000 soldiers were killed, maimed, or missing, nearly an order of magnitude more than both the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. Not to downplay the soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course; but to point out the true horror of the American Civil War.
We are not at the point now; after visiting Bull Run, I hope we never reach it again.
That is all.
National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA.
It's interesting. Living in Massachusetts, the site of the Pilgrims' landing and the birthplace of the American Revolution, we sometimes forget that there's plenty of history outside of our borders. There's Jamestown, older than Plimouth; there's the lost colony of Roanoke; and there are of course all kinds of Revolutionary War attractions.
But there's no Civil War *anything* in Massachusetts.
This weekend we learned about the first engagement in the American Civil war, the Battle of First Manassas, as well as the Battle of Second Manassas in the same field.
We learned about "Stonewall" Jackson - every bit the American hero as Sam Adams, Paul Revere, or George S. Patton.
We discovered Judith Henry, a civilian casualty of war caught, literally, in the crossfire.
Aside from the power lines in the background, it's not hard to imagine things as they were over 150 years ago here.
While it's nothing like a Hellfire missile or a 105 mm Howitzer, the twelve-pound cannon meant instant death - for the lucky ones not shredded by canister shot.
One somber reminder about the toll of warfare: In the battle of Gettysburg, some 50,000 soldiers were killed, maimed, or missing, nearly an order of magnitude more than both the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns. Not to downplay the soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course; but to point out the true horror of the American Civil War.
We are not at the point now; after visiting Bull Run, I hope we never reach it again.
That is all.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Twelve Years Ago...
It has been 12 years since the September 11th attacks on the United States. In some ways, it feels like it was yesterday; in others, it seems like the distant past. I still haven't forgotten the images from that day, or since; I'm still angry, too angry for words right now.
So, I think it's best to focus on the heroes of that day. The NRA has a series of profiles of ordinary folks who rose to the occasion that fateful day, stories like these:
I'd rather focus on the heroes; on those that helped their fellow man that day rather than those who planned the slaughter. There were many heroes on September 11th; from those that walked into the towers that everyone else was fleeing to those that lined up around the block to give blood to the victims.
I'd still like to see a flaming orange nuclear crater in strategic areas around the globe, too, mind you.
Never forget. Never forgive.
That is all.
So, I think it's best to focus on the heroes of that day. The NRA has a series of profiles of ordinary folks who rose to the occasion that fateful day, stories like these:
I'd rather focus on the heroes; on those that helped their fellow man that day rather than those who planned the slaughter. There were many heroes on September 11th; from those that walked into the towers that everyone else was fleeing to those that lined up around the block to give blood to the victims.
I'd still like to see a flaming orange nuclear crater in strategic areas around the globe, too, mind you.
Never forget. Never forgive.
That is all.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Independence Day...
237 years ago today...
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
If you see King George today, give him what-for!
That is all.
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
If you see King George today, give him what-for!
That is all.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Three Score And Nine Years Ago...
Operation Overlord began.
From the US Army:
From the US Army:
June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded -- but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler.
The storming of the beaches at Normandy has always fascinated and amazed me. Watching the footage - the first time in warfare that we've seen actual video from the front - it strikes me that the men in the landing craft had to have known that they were most likely going to die that day. They were landing on a heavily fortified and mined beach overseen by pillboxes and towers filled with German heavy machine guns - and yet they still came. They were cut down by the thousands - nearly 10,000 casualties - and yet wave after wave hit the beach, taking on 8mm belt-fed machine guns with M1 Garands.
Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the invasion. Even the youngest of soldiers that stormed those beaches - the ones that came home, not the ones forever residents of France - are well into their 80s. Each year we lose more and more WWI veterans; our connection to that time period and the heroes that went to war to literally save the world slipping ever further away. Old age is doing what Hitler's army could not; these men are falling to the predation of time. Their stories are being lost to the ages, which makes it even more imperative to fully document and preserve their stories.
Take a moment to think about those young men, riding in those landing craft or parachuting down behind enemy lines. Fighting back seasickness, enemy fire, and the very real possibility of that day being their last, they pressed onward and defeated the mightiest army their generation - and generations before them - had ever seen. Man by man, they took down the Nazi war machine piece by piece and freed a continent from fascist rule. Then they came home and saw the US through one of the most amazing periods of technological growth in human history.
Damn. I need an M1 Garand now...
That is all.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Of Milestones, Forgotten...
Twenty seven years ago, we lost the Space Shuttle Challenger some 73 seconds after liftoff. I had to go to the Bismarck Tribune to find any coverage of this seminal event, and an op-ed at that. For a long time, the explosion of the shuttle was the "where were you when" moment for my generation, much like the Kennedy assassination was for the generation before us.
A few years ago I posted my recollections from the day. I can still remember the shock and silence when we heard the news of the shuttle's explosion, even though other events have overtaken the Challenger in scope and tragedy. I know my mom vividly remembers the Kennedy assassination - we revisited it in 1981 during the attempt on Reagan's life - so it seems as though certain events leave imprints throughout a lifetime.
I wonder what the current generation will be remembering more than a quarter century from now?
That is all.
A few years ago I posted my recollections from the day. I can still remember the shock and silence when we heard the news of the shuttle's explosion, even though other events have overtaken the Challenger in scope and tragedy. I know my mom vividly remembers the Kennedy assassination - we revisited it in 1981 during the attempt on Reagan's life - so it seems as though certain events leave imprints throughout a lifetime.
I wonder what the current generation will be remembering more than a quarter century from now?
That is all.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Eleven Years...
Take a pause today to remember the events of eleven years ago. I still can't think of that day without alternating between tearing up and wanting to kill someone, so I'll default to a couple posts I've done previously that I really think capture it:
Angry post.
Contemplative post.
Hug your kids today. Pester a hippie. Go to the range. Say something blasphemous. Speak out against injustice. Flaunt your alternative lifestyle. Be politically incorrect. Eat bacon.
Live.
That is all.
Angry post.
Contemplative post.
Hug your kids today. Pester a hippie. Go to the range. Say something blasphemous. Speak out against injustice. Flaunt your alternative lifestyle. Be politically incorrect. Eat bacon.
Live.
That is all.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Almost Forgot!
Happy Rush Day!
I saw Rush back in the '80s and '90s as part of the "Presto" and "Roll the Bones" tours. One of the things that really impressed me was how close to the studio sound the live act really is - very little "studio magic" or remixing needed for the Canadian power trio! Certain groups (Alice in Chains, I'm looking at yoooouuuuu) just don't have the same sound live as they do on the radio, and seeing them in concert can be disappointing to say the least. But not Rush, not by a long shot.
You didn't know it was Rush Day?? It IS 2/1/12...
That is all.
I saw Rush back in the '80s and '90s as part of the "Presto" and "Roll the Bones" tours. One of the things that really impressed me was how close to the studio sound the live act really is - very little "studio magic" or remixing needed for the Canadian power trio! Certain groups (Alice in Chains, I'm looking at yoooouuuuu) just don't have the same sound live as they do on the radio, and seeing them in concert can be disappointing to say the least. But not Rush, not by a long shot.
You didn't know it was Rush Day?? It IS 2/1/12...
That is all.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
I Fear We Have Awakened A Slumbering Giant...
Seventy years ago today, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on the American fleet in the Pacific stationed at Pearl Harbor.
Some 2,400 American soldiers and sailors lost their lives in the attack (complete list here). The attack would draw the United States into World War II in an official capacity, bringing to bear the entire might of the American industrial machine on the Axis powers. The manufacturing powerhouse of the American worker turned towards making objects of war: tanks, planes, bombs, and guns. Companies that had formerly made typewriters, sewing machines, and jukeboxes were making firearms. American car manufacturers ceased making new car models from 1942 through 1945.
Within four years, the Japanese Imperial Army would surrender, abjectly and completely defeated. Two of Japan's cities lay in ashes, a result of the first, second, and only atomic bombardments in the nuclear age. The power of the atom had been turned into a weapon, with devastating effects on the world stage for generations. From "duck and cover" to "The Day After", generations have grown up under the threat of nuclear annihilation, all traced in part to that fateful day seventy years ago.
And now, Japan is one of our allies and our naval fleet is but a shadow of that which was destroyed - a lot has changed in 70 years...
That is all.
(image courtesy of Some 2,400 American soldiers and sailors lost their lives in the attack (complete list here). The attack would draw the United States into World War II in an official capacity, bringing to bear the entire might of the American industrial machine on the Axis powers. The manufacturing powerhouse of the American worker turned towards making objects of war: tanks, planes, bombs, and guns. Companies that had formerly made typewriters, sewing machines, and jukeboxes were making firearms. American car manufacturers ceased making new car models from 1942 through 1945.
Within four years, the Japanese Imperial Army would surrender, abjectly and completely defeated. Two of Japan's cities lay in ashes, a result of the first, second, and only atomic bombardments in the nuclear age. The power of the atom had been turned into a weapon, with devastating effects on the world stage for generations. From "duck and cover" to "The Day After", generations have grown up under the threat of nuclear annihilation, all traced in part to that fateful day seventy years ago.
And now, Japan is one of our allies and our naval fleet is but a shadow of that which was destroyed - a lot has changed in 70 years...
That is all.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Sign "O" The Times...
Brad_in_MA sends in the following story. It's interesting, being a child of the 70s and 80s, having grown up with the Cold War. Red Dawn, Checkpoint Charlie, MAD, SDI, "The Day After", East Berlin; all of these things are part of the pop culture and societal norms that I grew up with. This story brings a good deal of that to a close...
US's most powerful nuclear bomb being dismantled
As Brad points out from the article, one of the interesting thing about this news item is that the engineers associated with the project have retired or passed on. They've had to essentially re-invent the wheel to dismantle the bomb as so few of the original designers and engineers were still available. The bomb was introduced nearly 50 years ago; this represents the first time in my 40 years that we haven't had a "mega-nuke" in the arsenal.
The gut reaction is to say that this is a good thing; that it's heartening to see that we're pulling back from the brinkmanship of the Cold War that says we need to stockpile enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 10 times over. However, it's tempered by the knowledge that we face a much different enemy today than we did 50 years ago, or even 70 years ago; an enemy that is not stopped by country borders nor kept in check by mega weapons.
On the one hand, my kids might not grow up knowing "duck and cover"; on the other hand, they've always flown with the "free prostate exam with every flight" TSA... Hard to say which is worse, really. While duck-and-cover represented the very worst thing that could ever happen, it was a remote possibility at best, whereas the TSA gropefest has become so commonplace that it's accepted as the cost of doing business.
Well, at least we'll have to work a lot harder to blow up the earth...
That is all.
US's most powerful nuclear bomb being dismantled
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — The last of the nation's most powerful nuclear bombs — a weapon hundreds of times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima — is being disassembled nearly half a century after it was put into service at the height of the Cold War.
The final components of the B53 bomb will be broken down Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. The completion of the dismantling program is a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, and aligns with President Barack Obama's goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.
As Brad points out from the article, one of the interesting thing about this news item is that the engineers associated with the project have retired or passed on. They've had to essentially re-invent the wheel to dismantle the bomb as so few of the original designers and engineers were still available. The bomb was introduced nearly 50 years ago; this represents the first time in my 40 years that we haven't had a "mega-nuke" in the arsenal.
The gut reaction is to say that this is a good thing; that it's heartening to see that we're pulling back from the brinkmanship of the Cold War that says we need to stockpile enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 10 times over. However, it's tempered by the knowledge that we face a much different enemy today than we did 50 years ago, or even 70 years ago; an enemy that is not stopped by country borders nor kept in check by mega weapons.
On the one hand, my kids might not grow up knowing "duck and cover"; on the other hand, they've always flown with the "free prostate exam with every flight" TSA... Hard to say which is worse, really. While duck-and-cover represented the very worst thing that could ever happen, it was a remote possibility at best, whereas the TSA gropefest has become so commonplace that it's accepted as the cost of doing business.
Well, at least we'll have to work a lot harder to blow up the earth...
That is all.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
What I'm Doing Right Now...
...gawking at this:
B17 Flying Fortress, "Nine 'o' Nine".
Life is good.
That is all.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
B17 Flying Fortress, "Nine 'o' Nine".
Life is good.
That is all.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Wings of War, Up Close...
I mentioned last month about the Collins Foundation bringing their Wings of Freedom tour to the area. It's the weekend after next, so if we're going to get a group together, we'd better do it quick. Saturday is out for me, as TheBoy has a football game in the morning and the Mrs. has to work; however Sunday, October 2nd is pretty open.
I've dashed off an e-mail to the organizers to find out the hours of operation and will check back; assuming that they're open something like 9AM to 3 PM, what would folks like to do? I'd be up for meeting for lunch; however I will have TheBoy with me (Mrs. G and BabyGirl G. are doing a cancer walk in Boston that day) so Hooters is out. Sorry...
Give a shout in comments if you'd like to meet up for lunch, see the Wings of Freedom tour, or both!
That is all.
I've dashed off an e-mail to the organizers to find out the hours of operation and will check back; assuming that they're open something like 9AM to 3 PM, what would folks like to do? I'd be up for meeting for lunch; however I will have TheBoy with me (Mrs. G and BabyGirl G. are doing a cancer walk in Boston that day) so Hooters is out. Sorry...
Give a shout in comments if you'd like to meet up for lunch, see the Wings of Freedom tour, or both!
That is all.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Cรฉlรฉbrons!
In the spirit of today's events, I present the only possible accompaniment:
Joyeux Jour de Bastille!
C'est tout.
Joyeux Jour de Bastille!
C'est tout.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Warning: Disturbing Content Inside...
Before I go any further, I want to issue a warning:
Brad_in_ma sends in the following saddening story:
Plane crash involving WWII bomber in Oswego
There is one less Flying Fortress in the skies now. According to this link (also kindly provided by Brad), there are only 12 air-worthy B17s remaining in the world. The bomber that helped bring the Axis to its knees is slowly fading away, much like the members of the Greatest Generation that stormed the beaches of Normandy some 67 years ago.
If you get the chance to see a B17, take it - they will not be around much longer...
That is all.
Caution: Graphic images ahead. Do not continue if you have a love of aviation, military history, or both.
Brad_in_ma sends in the following saddening story:
Plane crash involving WWII bomber in Oswego
...OSWEGO, Ill.—A confirmed plane crash in Oswego involving a restored WWII bomber.
[removes hat for moment of silence]The plane is a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a WWII bomber that was restored and named in honor of the Liberty Belle
There is one less Flying Fortress in the skies now. According to this link (also kindly provided by Brad), there are only 12 air-worthy B17s remaining in the world. The bomber that helped bring the Axis to its knees is slowly fading away, much like the members of the Greatest Generation that stormed the beaches of Normandy some 67 years ago.
If you get the chance to see a B17, take it - they will not be around much longer...
That is all.
Monday, June 6, 2011
We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Sixty seven years ago today was the D-Day invasion at Normandy:
June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded -- but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler.
Watching the grainy footage, the courage of the men in the landing parties is simply stunning. They were assaulting a beach - an open, unforgiving terrain with little to no cover - while German soldiers sat entrenched in hardened concrete bunkers with 8mm belt-fed machine guns. Most of the first waves perished within seconds - the men first off the amphibious assault craft surely must have known they were marching to their doom.
Yet they marched still.10,000 or more casualties. 2,500 to 4,500 killed in the invasion. Wave after wave of soldiers stormed the beaches under withering machine gun fire, bombardment, and aerial assault. The D-Day invasion was the largest amphibious assault in human history, and stands likely to retain that record as modern warfare changes. The invasion was a success because thousands of men gave their lives so that a madman would not triumph in Europe.
And yet Google chooses not to celebrate this anniversary (although they did honor the 92nd birthday of children's author Richard Scarry...)
That is all.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
(Evening) Night at the (NRA) Museum
As the 2011 NRA Annual Meeting came to a close, some of us lucky bloggers were allowed to hang around and fondle gently handle some of the guns in the NRA Museum that were on display at the convention. 2011 being the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Colt 1911 by the US Armed Forces, there were historic 1911s in one case, other runners-up in another. Here are some of the legendary firearms we were allowed to coonfinger handle:
And here are the lucky folks who got to play with the guns:
Remington Rand 1911
The Remington-Rand 1911 was one of the more plebian firearms on display!
Liferaft 1911
This is a WWII issue 1911 that was adrift at sea following a naval battle. It's a little worse for wear (the front sight fell off too!) but we were joking that if we could find a safe backstop, we could insert a magazine from one of the carry 1911s and it would work fine.
Number Four
Yes. You're seeing that correctly. That's the fourth Colt 1911 ever made...
Savage of 1911
That's the other gun considered for service in 1911, the Savage model of 1911. It's an improved Model H, and was found to be easier to strip than the Colt, but less reliable. Interesting how things could have turned out, no?
Colt 1907
Colt 1907, one of the intermediate firearms in the development of the 1911.
DWM Luger
The DWM Luger was submitted as one of the potential designs, albeit reluctantly (they apparently thought we were going to copy the fragile and complicated Luger action - which we promptly did).
Mystery gun
I have to admit I don't remember what this gun was. It's design obviously influenced the Hi-Standard target 22 pistol of later generations, and elements can be seen in the Automag. Anyone know what this is? Tam?
And here are the lucky folks who got to play with the guns:
Bloggers!
Man, that was fun - Many thanks to the NRA for allowing us this rare opportunity...
That is all.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Grim Anniversary...
Brad_in_ma reminded me that today is the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl reactor:
Chernobyl nuclear disaster: Ukraine marks anniversary
Chernobyl changed that metric, with a tangible body count exacerbated by the standard Soviet stonewall of silence. Dozens were dead, possibly hundreds, with thousands poised to swell the body count over the ensuing months and years due to cancer and other nuclear-induced health problems. The Chernobyl meltdown singlehandedly kneecapped nuclear power for well over a generation, with the name striking fear into the hearts of folks not even born when the accident occurred.
Whatever your views on nuclear power, take a moment to remember the victims and the heroes that day...
That is all.
Chernobyl nuclear disaster: Ukraine marks anniversaryUkraine is marking the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident - at the Chernobyl power plant.Chernobyl. The very word exudes the trepidation many feel towards nuclear power. Until the Chernobyl disaster, Three Mile Island was the incident many nuclear power opponents pointed to as evidence that nuclear power was unsafe. In the court of public opinion, though, the Three Mile Island accident, environmentally catastrophic as it was, didn't result in massive numbers of people falling over dead of nuclear radiation sickness.An explosion at one of the plant's reactors sent a plume of radiation across Europe and killed at least 30 people in its immediate aftermath. A disputed number of others died later from radiation-related illnesses.
Chernobyl changed that metric, with a tangible body count exacerbated by the standard Soviet stonewall of silence. Dozens were dead, possibly hundreds, with thousands poised to swell the body count over the ensuing months and years due to cancer and other nuclear-induced health problems. The Chernobyl meltdown singlehandedly kneecapped nuclear power for well over a generation, with the name striking fear into the hearts of folks not even born when the accident occurred.
Whatever your views on nuclear power, take a moment to remember the victims and the heroes that day...
That is all.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
241 Years Ago Today...
The Boston Massacre
That is all.
Hat tip to Patrick at Where Angels Fear To Tread...
The first casualties in the American Revolution started some five years prior, from a snowball fight.On the cold, snowy night of March 5, 1770, a mob of American colonists gathers at the Customs House in Boston and begins taunting the British soldiers guarding the building. The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by a British parliament that lacked American representation.
British Captain Thomas Preston, the commanding officer at the Customs House, ordered his men to fix their bayonets and join the guard outside the building. The colonists responded by throwing snowballs and other objects at the British regulars, and Private Hugh Montgomery was hit, leading him to discharge his rifle at the crowd. The other soldiers began firing a moment later, and when the smoke cleared, five colonists were dead or dying—Crispus Attucks, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, and James Caldwell—and three more were injured. Although it is unclear whether Crispus Attucks, an African American, was the first to fall as is commonly believed, the deaths of the five men are regarded by some historians as the first fatalities in the American Revolutionary War.
That is all.
Hat tip to Patrick at Where Angels Fear To Tread...
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Really Cool...
Found in my inbox today was a link to this video:
That's the only flying B-29 Superfortress in existence right there. That's a piece of history live and direct, in aluminum, steel, and glass. Four engines drive four propellers to get the B-29 airborne and keep her there, and it sported numerous advances taken for granted to day, like pressurized cabins and fire control systems. It's also the model used to deliver the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, adding to the uniqueness of this aircraft - the only bomber to ever deliver a nuclear payload.
Pretty darn cool to see one up in the air.
That is all.
FIFI ICAS Cut from Hangar Workshop Productions on Vimeo.
That's the only flying B-29 Superfortress in existence right there. That's a piece of history live and direct, in aluminum, steel, and glass. Four engines drive four propellers to get the B-29 airborne and keep her there, and it sported numerous advances taken for granted to day, like pressurized cabins and fire control systems. It's also the model used to deliver the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, adding to the uniqueness of this aircraft - the only bomber to ever deliver a nuclear payload.
Pretty darn cool to see one up in the air.
That is all.
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