Famous squadron -- long lineage ... VA-115 A-A-A-RABs ... small world, Amigo.
I was supposed to go there -- it was changed at the last minute by VAMWINGPAC -- McCormick went instead ... and you know the rest of the story.
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RF-8 Video Clip
- Thread starter Cron
- Start date
I was supposed to go there -- it was changed at the last minute by VAMWINGPAC -- McCormick went instead ... and you know the rest of the story.
Famous squadron -- long lineage ... VA-115 A-A-A-RABs ... small world, Amigo.
I was supposed to go there -- it was changed at the last minute by VAMWINGPAC -- McCormick went instead ... and you know the rest of the story.
Small world indeed! And that hits way close too home. Fortune and fate, I suppose.Mike and Al were in the stateroom next door. They were among the few attack pukes we ever let into our tight and obnoxious little fighter sanctum. Great guys who remain even today, still in my thoughts.
Oct 25 Tailhook Daily Briefing, re the VA-115 Arabs of that cruise, and happier stories.
Cuban Missile Crisis
There is a story told by one of the VFP-62 aviators who flew
recce missions over Cuba about the Cubans' state of readiness.
So the story goes, the Crusaders flew over the same area day
after day. They came at the same time to keep the angles of
sunlight consistant and from the same heading - predictable as
hell.
This particular aviator's route took him over a Cuban baseball
diamond. As he would blast over daily the Cubans would break
running for their AAA emplacements; kicking up torrents of dust
as they ran. Not once were they ever waiting, despite how
easy it would have been. This aviator is convinced that this
particular group, at least, did not want to go to war with the
yankees.
There is a story told by one of the VFP-62 aviators who flew
recce missions over Cuba about the Cubans' state of readiness.
So the story goes, the Crusaders flew over the same area day
after day. They came at the same time to keep the angles of
sunlight consistant and from the same heading - predictable as
hell.
This particular aviator's route took him over a Cuban baseball
diamond. As he would blast over daily the Cubans would break
running for their AAA emplacements; kicking up torrents of dust
as they ran. Not once were they ever waiting, despite how
easy it would have been. This aviator is convinced that this
particular group, at least, did not want to go to war with the
yankees.
Piracy...
A4s, u be wunna doze "Yankee Air Pirate River Rats"?
One of my fellow IPs in VA-125 ('64-'65), was later a CO of VA-115. Can't remember his last name (CRS factor), but first name Jim, wife's name Gail??? Your era?
BTW, enjoyed a GREAT Veterans Day lunch at Applebees with my son & his tribe. Got there at opening bell (1030) so no seat probs. The meal & staff were 4.0, GM personally came to every table to thank the Vets.
Afterward in the parking lot, it was like a tailgate party with total stranger Vets from all wars, shaking hands, hugging, high fiving, thanking and even swapping sea & TINS "tales"! MADE MY DAY...
arty_125
BzB
300-400 kts ??? ... in daylight ???
Pish-tosh ...
A4s, u be wunna doze "Yankee Air Pirate River Rats"?
One of my fellow IPs in VA-125 ('64-'65), was later a CO of VA-115. Can't remember his last name (CRS factor), but first name Jim, wife's name Gail??? Your era?
BTW, enjoyed a GREAT Veterans Day lunch at Applebees with my son & his tribe. Got there at opening bell (1030) so no seat probs. The meal & staff were 4.0, GM personally came to every table to thank the Vets.
Afterward in the parking lot, it was like a tailgate party with total stranger Vets from all wars, shaking hands, hugging, high fiving, thanking and even swapping sea & TINS "tales"! MADE MY DAY...
arty_125BzB
The RF-8's going in was the only watchable part of that movie, though I think Bruce Greenwood is a very underrated actor who did a good job of portraying Kennedy without devolving into caricature.
But on the whole, the movie clearly swallowed RFK's version of events (it was based on his book) and perpetuated the hagiography of JFK. The magnificent president was the only thing standing between his warmongering generals and WWIII and all that. I'll be the first to agree that Curt LeMay was a strange mammal, but no historians have ever been able to find any evidence that - as the movie and JFK's apologists insist - he and the rest of the JCS were damn near conspiring to get a war started behind JFK's back. Shit, the Kennedys had an obsession with toppling Castro that amounted to a personal vendetta.
The scene with Robert the Strange MacNamara shouting down Admiral Anderson and schooling him on how the world works was complete horseshit. The suggestion that the Chief of Naval Operations doesn't understand rules of engagement or the political implications of a blockade...I mean, come on.
* Though Admiral Anderson's line to the effect of, "The Navy's been doing blockades since John Paul Jones," essentially telling MacNamara to fuck off and quit micromanaging, really did happen. Of course, the movie spun it to make CNO look silly and clueless.
But on the whole, the movie clearly swallowed RFK's version of events (it was based on his book) and perpetuated the hagiography of JFK. The magnificent president was the only thing standing between his warmongering generals and WWIII and all that. I'll be the first to agree that Curt LeMay was a strange mammal, but no historians have ever been able to find any evidence that - as the movie and JFK's apologists insist - he and the rest of the JCS were damn near conspiring to get a war started behind JFK's back. Shit, the Kennedys had an obsession with toppling Castro that amounted to a personal vendetta.
The scene with Robert the Strange MacNamara shouting down Admiral Anderson and schooling him on how the world works was complete horseshit. The suggestion that the Chief of Naval Operations doesn't understand rules of engagement or the political implications of a blockade...I mean, come on.
* Though Admiral Anderson's line to the effect of, "The Navy's been doing blockades since John Paul Jones," essentially telling MacNamara to fuck off and quit micromanaging, really did happen. Of course, the movie spun it to make CNO look silly and clueless.
Catmando: Great website. Even in the tortured translations of Russian-to-English, this makes absorbing reading. Has a real "we-was-there" feel, and it's always interesting to read history from the other side's point of view. Thanks.
It's probably either Presley or Hower ... I knew Presley, but I don't remember Hower.
Not Elvis Presley, however ... but his 1/2 brother David & I worked together in Texas
... and 1/2 brother David was/is a no-load. Hat tip to 'da KING.
From Tailhook Daily Brief:
http://tailhookdaily.typepad.com/
http://tailhookdaily.typepad.com/