A Final Toast

B-25J and Texans taxi out April 20th, 2013 for Doolittle fly-by. Destin, FL

This weekend up at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, three of the four surviving Doolittle Raiders gathered for one final somber and sad mission.  Robert Hite, the other surviving Raider, was too ill to attend this gathering.  So Ed Saylor, Richard Cole - Doolittle's co-pilot, and David Thatcher gathered at the museum to break open the 1896 bottle of cognac to salute their departed comrades.  Why 1898?  That was the year Jimmy Doolittle was born.  With this solemn action, another chapter of valour closes.

I was so fortunate to see Saylor, Cole, and Thatcher at the 71st Reunion earlier this year.  To shake their hands and say thank you.  Thank you again Raiders for lifting American spirits when it seemed the future was so bleak.

Previous posts:
Army Pilots Man Your Planes!
A Good Shepherd
60+ Years
Doolittle Flyby
Florida Nose Art

Germany's Ghosts

World War II in Germany is just a flyleaf on a book away. Might be found on a stretch of road.  Or that person sitting next to you on the S-Bahn in Hamburg or Berlin.

Margot Friedlander was rounded up in April of 1944 after being in hiding for 13 months.  She was sent to the concentration camp of Theresienstadt which is now in the Czech Republic.  She met her husband there and they emigrated to the United States after the war.  Since neither had family left in Germany they had vowed to never return.  Time moves on and Margot's husband died.  She wrote of her wartime experiences and even had readings of her story.  A German producer happened to hear one of her readings and invited her to come back to Germany for a show.  She did and then something incredible happened, Margot decided to live in Berlin. She tells her story to German youth who know of the Final Solution only in books.  She gives a voice and face to the horror the Nazis inflicted upon people.

In Aachen Germany the locals are trying to preserve a tangible piece of World War II history.  Aachen was the first German town to fall to the advancing Allied armies.  The fighting was fierce as the Germans tried to hold the Siegfried line, thus casualties on both sides were heavy.  Directing the German defenses of Aachen was the Lousberg bunker.  The bunker still exists but has now been sold to developers who want to turn it into apartments.

Another bit of Germany's Nazi past is about to be paved over.  Near Berlin is the A11 motorway.  About 2.5 miles of the road is still the original surface that was laid down by the Nazis when they first built the autobahns.  After many decades and heavy traffic, the concrete road surface is in such poor shape it will be replaced in 2015.  Thus erasing the last bit of the original autobahn.

Finally there is the story of Jennifer Teegee of Hamburg.  Her mother is German and her father is Nigerian.  Until she saw a book in the library and on the flyleaf a picture of the author she had no idea of her family history. She had been given up for adoption and when she did see her birth mother, Monika never talked about it.  But from that book she learned that her mother was the illegitimate daughter of Amon Goeth, the real life Butcher of Plaszow as depicted in Schindler's List.  Jennifer had seen the movie while in Israel and knew her birth name, but she never made the connection until reading that book.  Since that discovery, Ms. Teegee has embarked on a quest to fully understand her heritage and family history.

Despicable Thuggery

This inscription is found as part of the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C.

"Earned our undying gratitude,"  I wish the current President of the United States and members of the Democrat Party could comprehend such words and honor them.

Instead today we saw a great injustice attempt to be perpetrated upon some of the rapidly vanishing cadre of WWII veterans.  69 years after many stormed the beaches of Omaha, Sword, Juno, Gold, and Utah and others stormed ashore at another place called Inchon some of those went to see the WWII Memorial as part of an effort called Honor Flight.

Veterans from Iowa and Mississippi went to the memorial today to find a very strange sight.  The normally open memorial was barricaded.  The excuse being it was closed due to the government shutdown.  These veterans showed they still had courage even though many are now confined to wheelchairs.  While Rep. Steve King and others launched a diversionary attack that distracted the unpaid Park Police, the veterans breached the barricades to see the memorial dedicated to their sacrifice and valor before they to finally joined their compatriots among G_d's Battalions.

I squarely blame the Democrats for this cheap and tawdry attempt to punish those who risked all to defend this country.  To attempt to score cheap political points by disrespecting these veterans' service.  To be respected, one must earn respect.  Today all the Democrats have earned is an even greater amount of contempt.

President Harry Truman is best know for a few turns of phrase.  But one that applies in this case comes from a citizen.  "Give'em Hell Harry!"  Lets give the Democrats Hell over this.

Full Circle

Well it certainly looks like the United States will be making some kind of military action in revenge for the killing of civilians by chemical weapons in Syria.  Even though the issue remains cloudy as to who did it, the word of the United States is now on the line.

Secretary of State John Kerry has been making the case along with Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel before the Congress on this matter.  I would find the irony delicious that we have John 'Genghis Khan' Kerry pushing for American intervention in a country with far less military and political significance than South Vietnam except the dangers from one mistake in this country called Syria are far greater than any faced by the United States in South Vietnam with a defeat.

I was expecting at some point for Kerry to buttress his argument with one more sound byte - 'It became necessary to destroy the town to save it'

It would have been fitting and encapsulated what could easily become another street without joy.

The Cult of Climate

A few years ago a boffin passing himself off as a scientist, well he did attend courses and was matriculated a few times so technically is a scientist, by the name of Mann rolled out a noteworthy graph.  It even got put into the IPCC report on climate change.  What a wonderful graph it was for it was the one true sign that Man was causing the globe's temperatures to rise. It was called the Hockey Stick.

When other scientists clamored and did beseech of Dr. Mann to release his data and models so they could replicate what he had discovered, a most curious thing happen, Dr. Mann locked the data up and refused to share.  Which caused much vexation and litigation until the sacred instruments of divination were pried from Dr. Mann's jealous grasp.

And like peering under the flooring where the Pythia held audience in Delphi, a most curious thing or two emerged from the liberated instruments that birthed the Hockey Stick.  Namely that any data fed into Dr. Mann's wondrous algorithms always produced the famous Hockey Stick.  Another disquieting fact that snuck out was how tiny the crucial data set was that built the House of the Hockey Stick, no more than a dozen trees in one tiny spot of Siberia it was revealed.

But unlike a true scientist welcoming other scientists ' papers that showed his original premise was terribly flawed, Dr. Mann has acted more like an Inquisitor being questioned on matters of faith by Copernicus.   He has roundly and volubly denounced all who have proven the errors of his beloved Hockey Stick in terms that would have endeared him to Torquemada whilst causing a minor daemon or two to blush.  He attacks not their scientific work but their lack of faith in Climate Change.  He carelessly tosses out the word 'denier' and threatens punitive actions against those he labels such.

For you see dear reader in truth Mann is not a scientist but a high priest of a false religion.

Mitchell Mission

They were turning the R-2600 over using the starter on this B-25J I guess for the film crew.  I learned that you have to turn each engine 9 or 11 blades by hand before trying to start since all the engine oil settles to the bottom cylinders and causes hydraulic lock. 

This was probably one of the most laid back but fun encounters I have had with Warbirds.  Usually airport authority or when on a military base, the cordons will be maintained at all times.  Except for the planes blocked off for filming; the ramp area with the Texans and the B-25J Killer 'B' was open.  Of course when the folks with the planes or the ramp crew asked people to move, the people did.  Everything was perfect including the weather.

This is the CAF B-25J Yellow Rose taking off for the parade flyover.  You can hear how brisk the wind is along with the sound of two R-2600s producing 1,700HP each.  I apologize for the shake-cam but did not bring a tri-pod with me.  Was not expecting to be allowed such close viewing and hence take such footage.

After the parade fly over the B-25s went to visit the air fields used by the Raiders to train in 1942.  If you paid $425 you got a chance to ride in one of the B-25s, be part of the flyover, and the visit.  It was sorely tempting to fork over the money.

Florida Nose Art

Panchito again.  Metal gleaming in the morning sun.

B-25J-32 Killer 'B'

B-25J of the CAF Yellow Rose

SNJ-5 VC-10 6 of Diamonds

Only the SNJs, T-6s, and the B-25J Killer 'B' was available for public inspection.  Yellow Rose, Panchito, and the other B-25J that was painted like a Doolittle Raider were roped off because of a documentary film crew.

Killer B and Yellow Rose were both painted in a North African scheme of sand and green over neutral gray.  Both sported the brief Torch national insignia of a yellow surround to the white star in a blue circle.  Also they had RAF tri-color fin flashes.  Made for interesting contrast.

Doolittle Flyby

 

One of the SNJs was painted as a utility plane assigned to VC-10 in Cuba.

 The Doolittle Raider Goblets and bottle of cognac.

 Doing the heavy lifting here...

 The very polished B-25J Panchito

Whispers of Vipers

I should not be surprised that within 48 hours of the nomination of Pope Francis I to lead the Roman Catholic Church that some think they have found dirt on the Pontiff.  Accusations of Bergoglio being a collaborator with the military junta in Argentina.

The first article is written by Heracio Verbitsky and posted online at Alternet.org, a site funded by the Tides Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Initiative.  The other article is posted online at Huffington Post and is based upon the reporting of another Argentinian journolist Olga Wornat.

Both articles share one accusation, that Bergoglio actively helped the military junta in the kidnapping of Jesuit priests.  Wornat claims to have concrete proof that he was a collaborator including from Jesuits, but does not name anyone.  Verbitsky does name the two Jesuits, in fact unlike Wornat who just says the Jesuits in question worked with the guerrillas, he does go into detail saying Bergoglio told the Jesuits to stop what they were doing when Peron fell from power but they persisted and were picked up by the new military government.  And Bergoglio tried to get them released and after six months of harsh imprisonment the two Jesuits were released.

Verbitsky however must be considered a very biased writer in this regard.  A hostile witness perhaps or the Bill Ayers of Argentina.  He freely admits to being a communist guerrilla and did participate in shootings and quips 'luckily no one died.'  He was also accused of being involved in a plot that resulted in the death of 21 people in 1976, charges against him were only dropped due to the statue of limitations.  Strange for a person living in a glass house to accuse another.

Wornat's critical thinking processes are a bit challenged.  She claims to be Bergoglio's intimate and knows what he is thinking due to a book she wrote.  Which must come as a surprise to the people who have read Bergoglio's books.  Perhaps Wornat is trying to puff up her credentials by lying to the Huffington Post writer?  Looking at her list of publications, Wornat seems more in line with Kitty Kelly - writing unauthorized and titillating books.  Her book on Christina de Kirchner on the other hand seems to be a paean to Mrs. Kirchner.

What is really odd about the interview is Wornat's attitude in the Storni case.  Storni was an Argentine archbishop who had fled the country to seek sanctuary in the Vatican due to molestation charges.  Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, sent Storni back to Argentina to face justice.  Wornat seems to have issue with the Church paying for Storni's lawyer, was she expecting the Church to be unfair and merely throw Storni to the wolves?  Deny him the due process that Verbitsky enjoyed?  What the whole story does highlight is how Rome treated the case most seriously and also of Bergoglio being a fair man.  Hardly the dark past Wornat alludes to.

Saddam's Shields

Saddam Hussein using human shields to ward off Coalition air strikes.  When it turned out to be a PR disaster he let the foreigners go.  This was scanned from Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year : 1992 Edition.

1903

On December 17th, 1903 the first powered controlled flight by a heavier than air craft took place.  The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, had built a revolutionary machine based on a long process of experimentation and testing.

On this day at Kill Devil Hill North Carolina their Wright Flyer made a series of four flights.  The first one was a mere 12 seconds and 120ft.  It would have been enough for the record books, but the brothers flew their plane three more times.  The longest flight being 59 seconds and 852ft.

The original Wright Flyer now resides in a place of honor at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

December 7th

Confederate Air Force B5N Kate

Irrelevant Electoral College

Looking at the epicenters of blue in a sea of red from last Tuesday that handed so many Electoral College votes to Barack Obama even as Mitt Romney seemed to have won the popular vote, the natural question is what happened?  Well besides such things as St. Lucie county in Florida having 141% voter participation which hints at major voter irregularities.

Since 2008 there has been a serious push to make the President of the United States be selected by the popular vote.  That push was lead by many on the progressive-socialist side.  If that had been true on Tuesday we would be talking about President-elect Mitt Romney instead of a re-elected Barack Obama.

Which lead me to look at the map of the results.  At those masses of blue in a sea of red.  Like in past elections, states like California that might have gone red went blue due to population density.  Cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles nullified every bit of red.  Same in New York state, the deep blue of New York City outweighed the rest of the red state.  So both states went blue and all their Electoral College votes went to Barack Obama. 

Best way to truly prove what happened in California and New York is to look for large areas of blue but the states stayed red and gave their Electoral College votes to Mitt Romney.  Two such states are Texas and Mississippi.  Sparsely populated regions in both states went light blue to dark blue.  The more populated areas of both states went red.

This is how the Electoral College is supposed to work.  Each state being a battleground between the candidates.  To ensure each state has a voice and impact on the selection of a President.  But Tuesday it did not happen that way.

So what did happen?  This country has finally been defeated by Public Law 62-5 that was passed in 1911 and then made permanent in 1929.  Under House Speaker Cannon[R-IL] in 1911 the House fixed its size at 433 members plus 1 each for Arizona and New Mexico if those territories became states before the law went into effect in 1913.  In 1929, this law was re-authorized and made permanent by another Republican House Speaker Nicholas Longworth.

Public Law 62-5 fixed the maximum number of House seats and, until another state is added to the Union, set the maximum size of the Electoral College at 535 votes.  Even if Puerto Rico is added as a state, the 435 House seats will be re-apportioned among the 51 states while two more Senate seats will be added, thus raising the EC votes to 537.  Because the Constitution delegates to the House how it runs itself, there will be no change to that 435 number unless Congress changes it or another amendment is added to the Constitution.

The unexpected consequence of this law has, over the intervening decades, made the Electoral College a national popular vote by proxy.  When originally passed in 1911 California only had 11 votes [House + Senate seats = total EC votes] while Mississippi had 8.  In 2012 California has 55 votes and Mississippi only has 6.  So as the population densities migrated to major urban areas, the now limited number of EC votes also flowed there.  So it became possible to win the Electoral College vote by only winning in a limited number of states.

So where do we go from here?  Either we toss away the last bulwark against a scared voting populace and do away with the Electoral College to embrace a national popular vote.  Or the House is forced to add seats and thus re-balance itself and the Electoral College.

Judging by the Progressive Left's attempt to get a President elected by national popular vote or making each state apportion its EC votes according to the vote percentage each candidate received, I do not even think many of them realize what Public Law 62-5 did to the landscape of national politics.  Perhaps most have just assumed the House has always had 435 seats and never thought on it.  If this is true, then the Progressive Left is a very useful bunch of suckers.  And we truly no longer deserve a Republic.

Grandstanding

Or your fifteen minutes are used up.  That is what I think when I contemplate Dr. Karen King's possibly earth shattering discovery.  Dr. King claims this scrap of papyrus has Coptic writing and is from the 4th Century. 

Side note Coptic Christianity is separate from Roman Catholic/Christian and Eastern Orthodox but shares more with Eastern Orthodox.  It is a faith predominately found in Egypt.

Dr. King says this fragment refers to a woman named Mary as being Yeshua bin Yusef/Jesus's wife.  That would be a monumental upheaval to more than one billion Christians worldwide if verified.  Therein lies the rub.  Dr. King has not yet exercised due diligence in verifying the papyrus is authentic.  She has not examined the ink to see if it matches known 4th Century examples.

Until Dr. King actually does some research and investigation, I advise all Christians to treat her 'blockbuster revelation' with a Lot's wife sized grain of salt.  I fear this maybe another Hitler's diaries forgery. Or Talpiot.  If this turns out to be such a forgery, then I suggest Harvard have someone outside conduct a review of Dr. King's other research.  If they do not do that, then they will be under the same cloud as Dr. King.  That of con-artist.

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong poses in front of X-15 #1.  He was one of the test pilots who flew the X-15 to the edge of space.

Today we mark a sad day for the world.  Neil Alden Armstrong has passed away.  Many remember him because of a few words he said on July 20th, 1969.  "One small step for man, one giant leap for Mankind."  He was the first person to set foot on the Moon, so something was required.

How did Armstrong get where he was?  Start in Ohio where he was born and a mother who made sure her children would learn and be happy.  By the time Neil was in the 1st grade he had already read 90 books.  He skipped 2nd grade because he was reading on a 5th grade level.  In high school science and math were two of his passions.  He would tutor others in both areas.  He was an Eagle Scout.  He received his private pilot's license before his driver's license.  Starting at age seven he was working odd jobs like mowing grass.  To pay for his flight lessons, he worked as a mechanic at the airport.  During the Korean War he flew 78 combat missions off the deck of USS Essex.  On one mission a cable strung across a North Korean valley sheared part of a wing off, he nursed the plane back over friendly lines before bailing out.  After Korea he went to Purdue to earn his degree.  Then it was off to Edwards AFB and being a test pilot where he flew the X-15.  He spent seven years at Edwards.  He and his wife Janet restored an old ranger's cabin in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to raise their three children.  This idyllic life was broken when his daughter Karen died of a brain tumor.  Next project for Armstrong was the Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar project, a reusable space plane the USAF want to launch from Titan boosters.  Neil was accepted for astronaut training in 1962 and in 1963 the X-20 was cancelled.

Armstrong's first mission in space almost became his last.  Him and David Scott were launched in Gemini 8 in 1966.  Gemini 8 set a first when it docked with an Agena target, first in space docking.  And then all hell broke loose when an attitude control thruster started mis-firing.  The capsule spun and bucked like a thing possessed.  Only by shutting down the main RCS and then using the re-entry thrusters was Armstrong able to bring Gemini 8 under control.  Armstrong and Scott then executed a pin-point emergency splash down next to the recovery ship.

Gemini 8's nose can be seen in lower left corner.  Center of picture is the Agena target Armstrong and Scott will dock with.

For the Apollo missions, crews were assembled early on.  For Apollo 8, Aldrin and Armstrong were part of the back up crew with Fred Haise. 

Back-up crew for Apollo 8 suit up for egress training. Armstrong and Aldrin.

Apollo 8 was famous for many things.  Launched at Christmas time 1968.  First spacecraft to orbit another planetary body.  And of course for reading a passage from Genesis.  One less known first, LM pilot William Anders was the first man born in Hong Kong to orbit the Moon.  Frank Borman would later run Eastern Airlines.  While James Lovell would command Apollo 13 and lead his crew through a harrowing time when their Service Module was crippled by an explosion.

And then it came time to pick the crew for Apollo 11.  Armstrong and Aldrin were teamed with Collins.  Whether 11 would be the first landing mission depended upon the success of Apollos 9 and 10.  Apollo 9 would test in Earth orbit everything needed for a lunar landing including separating the LM from the CM, have the LM fire its rockets, and rendezvous with the CM.  Then splashing down.  This was a real make or break for the while program because Grumman had been battling so many issues with the LM.  But it came through and the stage was set for Apollo 10.  Apollo 10 should be called the most frustrating mission.  Apollo 10's Command Module was named Charlie Brown while the Lunar Module was named Snoopy. would go the Moon, orbit, two men would climb into the LM, fire the descent stage, and descend within 50,000ft of the lunar service.  Then they would detach the descent stage and fire the ascent motor to rendezvous Snoopy with Charlie Brown.  Reason why 50,000ft was selected is because the engine on the Service Module was powerful enough to to rescue them as low as 50,000ft.  Apollo 10 was a success in every way and the go ahead was given to make Apollo 11 the landing mission.

On July 20th, 1969 millions of people were treated to a grainy black&white image in prime-time coming from the surface of the Moon.  And they saw a gray suited figure set against a perfectly black sky and white lunar surface put his foot down.  And make history as the first human being to set foot on another planet.

Neil Armstrong[shadow in foreground] snaps a picture of Eagle on the surface of the Moon.

Thank yo sir for being such a good person and a trailblazer.  God speed and fair winds.

Flags

Today in the United States of America is recognized as Flag Day.  A flag is used to rally forces, to be able to tell your mob from the other guy's mob in the midst of carnage and confusion.  Children to this day play a game called Capture the Flag, adults also play the same game while armed with paint-ball guns.

When larger and larger groups of people coalesced into nations, naturally some symbol was selected as the flag for that nation.  The American flag was birthed during our revolt from British tyranny.  Each color represents a specific theme while each white star in the corner represents a state in the Union.  For the average soldier sucking down lungfuls of sand in Iraq or freezing in Afghanistan that flag really represents his battle buddies beside him along with the friends and family back home.  The flag is a touchstone.

So while I am pondering all that the US flag represents, across the Atlantic I wonder if our British cousins have the same appreciation of their flag and history.  Thirty years ago, the Union Jack was run up over Government House in Port Stanley, Falkland Islands signaling the end of Argentinian occupation.  Three civilians and 255 members of Her Majesty's military paid the ultimate price for that victory.  So to mark this historic day, the flag of the Falklands is flying over No. 10 Downing Street.

If Argentina decided to follow through on its current demands for the islands, that bit of flag waving would be all Britain could do.  The Royal Navy is a shadow of its former self.  The carriers who helped retake the Falklands 30 years ago are no more, HMS Hermes now serves as an Indian carrier while HMS Invincible last year was sold for scrap.  In fact there is no carrier in active service with the Royal Navy and the Fleet Air Arm has not flown a Harrier in over year, the Harriers are either gate guards or scrap.  The RAF and its small fleet of Typhoon fighters would also be incapable of affecting an Argentine invasion.

Just some things to ponder on this Flag Day.

Update - added a few more links.

Reagan, Berlin, and Now

In case anyone missed it because the media decided to worship their sun god Obama, yesterday was a special day.  Twenty five years ago President Ronald Reagan sounded the clarion call for freedom in what used to be West Berlin.  He demanded of Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!"  Which wall?  Why the Berlin Wall of course, a gray concrete monstrosity that encircled West Berlin in an attempt to prevent people from escaping that paradise called East Germany.  Many paid with their lives in the attempt.

That day in 1987 is fondly remembered in countries of the former Warsaw Pact.  For example Poland and a guy named Lech Walesa struggling to free themselves from Soviet tyranny and dreaded visits by the secret police.  It told them they were not forgotten even when some in the free West, like the rioters in West Berlin protesting Reagan, wanted to forgot so they could 'normalize' relationships with the USSR.  The classic do not provoke the Russian bear least get eaten type.

Just a few years later, many Germans, East and West, were busily smashing those concrete walls with hammers.  And a market for bits of the Wall rapidly sprung up.  Pundits in the West declared it was the end of the Cold War.  One even bravely proclaimed it to the be end of history.

So where are we in 2012.  Obviously we did not reach the end of history that was predicted in those heady days.  As for the end of the Cold War.  Has it really ended?  Looking at things across the globe in objective terms, that answer is also no.

The USSR, the arch nemesis, no longer exists this is true.  Many of the countries it controlled with bayonets and bullets are no longer its satrapies.  But has the country that replaced it, Russia, given up the idea of global ambitions?  With Putin at the helm and supplying such rogue governments as Iran with the means of nuclear warfare along with its efforts to undermine US foreign policy, that answer most definitely is no.

That other communist super power of the Cold War, the Peoples Republic of China, still exists.  And its power and influence has grown whilst that of the USSR has waned.  Even if it's economy appears headed for the wall, the ambition and military might of this country can not be ignored as US re-alignment of its military posture towards the PRC shows.

So now that I have offered evidence that the Cold War has not died but merely changed a few labels, what is the US doing to answer this challenge?  One I have already mentioned, the shift of focus from Europe to the Pacific.  There is also increased interfacing with countries being threatened by the PRC, except in one instance - the current administration has denied Taiwan 66 F-16 fighters.  Meanwhile the US Navy, who would bear the brunt of fighting for the US to assist allies and itself to keep the sea lanes open, is seeing its strength drop from a hoped for 313 ships to 'around 300.'  Aegis cruisers are being retired and $3billion DDGs of the Zumwalt class are simply too expensive.  Meanwhile the Littoral Combat Ship is being produced in two incompatible types.  US Air Force fighters are getting older while the F-22 has finished production and still waiting for the first F-35, which means the F-16 will still roll off the production lines.  Of course a lot of this procurement assumes Washington D.C. will get its act together before mandatory sequestration strikes the Dept. of Defense budget and guts everything.

So while the Cold War seems to be still alive though socialists are loathe to admit it with their constant harping it's over, foolishness and shortsightedness in elected officials in Washington D.C. still seems rampant.  So do not mind me if I am getting a pre-WWII in the Pacific vibe from all this.  Only firm clear leadership can sort out this problem before another Pearl Harbor is experienced

Brilliance Shot With Luck

Seventy years ago history of the Pacific War was changed.  Afterwards Japan would find its ill-gotten gains stripped away during one brutal battle after another until Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Approximately 1025 on June 4, 1942 32 Dauntless dive bombers of VB-6 and VS-6 found themselves over the First Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy.  Also arriving over the same carriers were 17 Dauntless aircraft of VB-3 lead by Lt. Cmdr Max Leslie.  And there were no A6M-2 Zero fighters to oppose them, the valiant and almost futile sacrifice of VT-6, VT-8, VT-8 Det., and VT-3 had seen to that.

So a perfect storm of retribution fell upon the attackers of Pearl Harbor.  When the men of all three dive bomber squadrons pulled up from their dives, they witnessed three carriers in flames.

The butcher's bill had some charges still to add.  The surviving Japanese carrier Hiryu would launch two strikes at the American fleet.  Both times they struck USS Yorktown, finally crippling her and forcing Capt. Buckmaster to order abandon ship.  Just as this was happening Lt. Samuel Adams of VS-5 found Hiryu.

As Hiryu struggled to gather enough planes and pilots to strike at what they thought was just one remaining American carrier, Spruance's dive bombers arrived overhead in the dusk.  Survivors of VB-6, VS-6, VB-3, and VS-5 plunged down in their steep dives.  Soon Hiryu was wreathed in flames and rocked by explosions like Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu.

Lt. Samuel Adams would die on 5 June, 1942 while trying to sink the IJN destroyer Tanikaze.  Amazingly the destroyer escaped without damage.  Japan would soon lose the heavy cruiser Mikuma due to attacks by Enterprise and Hornet air groups; the cruiser had earlier collided with it's sister ship Mogami while trying to evade the US Navy sub Tambor.  Even the surviving TBD Devestators would attack since there were no enemy fighters to defend the hapless cruisers, they still failed to score any hits.

The final casualty of the Battle of Midway would be USS Yorktown herself as IJN sub I-168 slipped through the destroyer screen.  Four torpedoes were fired at the wounded carrier.  Two struck the carrier while a third broke in two the destroyer Hammann.  Yorktown would finally sink the next day, 7 June 1942.  Thus ending a battle that could have easily gone the other way if not for extraordinary actions by men of the United States Navy.

Previous posts on the Battle of Midway:
Moments of Decision
Marine Aviation
A Sea Story?
Midway to Victory
Midway in Color

New web-site to check out:
The Battle of Midway Roundtable.

Recent articles on the battle
Rochefort's Hypo
Victory at Sea

LBJ and Obama

President Lyndon B. Johnson once boasted that they - 7th Air Force in Saigon - could not bomb an outhouse without his permission.

President Barack H. Obama boasts that no terrorist on his kill list can be killed by a drone without him taking it seriously.

Words fail me on how to comment on this.

Solar Energy and the end of the Harappan Civilization

I first discovered the Harappan civilization while reading H. Beam Piper's excellent short story Omnilingual.  Like many other authors, Piper was fascinated with the concept of Martian civilization.  In this story, the advanced civilization of Mars has vanished while leaving tantalizing clues.  Martha Dane is on the first Earth expedition to Mars, she had previously worked on the Harappa civilization in the Indus valley.

So when I run across stories about Harappa, I pause to think of Piper. Then I plunge into reading the newest story on this mysterious civilization that was in some ways far greater than the better known civilizations that rose alongside the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris rivers.

After extensive use of satellite data along with years of geologic sampling where the Harappan civilization flourished, the scientists have come to a possible theory on why it collapsed.  The culprit it seems is the sun.  For several thousand years solar radiation in the Northern Hemisphere moderated the monsoon rains which allowed the Harappan civilization to reach great heights.  And then that same solar radiation caused the fall of the same civilization as the monsoon rains dwindled and the land became incapable of supporting the same population density because the land then dried out.  So the people of Harappa migrated east towards the Ganges and its more reliable monsoon rains, leaving behind a mystery that is now just a bit less mysterious.