instapinch.com

I think I have a new header picture for my Moonbat posts. It used to be this poor lady here, obviously taken advantage of by the evil Bush Family Evil Empire (BFEE):

But the latest to break on the scene is this cover article of the magazine OC Weekly out in Orange County, California:

Now, readers of the Instapinch know that I am usually very reserved and conservative in my comments (right, John?) regarding individuals with different perspectives from my own.

But these two morons deserve all the manure and derision that can be heaped upon them.

And to start off with, the moron on the left, yeah - the one with the hat he can’t put on straight - is the absolute SOB who suggested the bodies in the Pentagon were previously frozen cadavers that had been trucked in and pre-positioned in the building. I wish he would personally tell that to the relatives who had husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters killed there in the impact and resultant devastation of American 77.

Anyway, Nick Schou of the aforementioned OC Weekly did an article on these two lunatics that was pretty spot-on in its analysis. The two idiots, Craig Ranke (I think that’s his name - he also goes by Lyte Tripp, but that might be a stage name for his equally unimpressive musical career) and Aldo Marquis (call him Alpo - he loves that. Indeed, Schou, the author of the articles, calls Marquis a “a heavyset guy who didn’t talk much.” Alpo hasn’t missed many meals, that’s for sure) were obviously hoping for a favorable article that highlighted their claim that the Bush administration was behind the Pentagon attack and the military was responsible for the whole grand charade. No plane impacted the Pentagon, they say, but rather explosives were set off to create the damage, frozen cadavers were pre-positioned to take the place of aircraft passengers, and the US military was behind the whole thing.

Schou did the world a favor, however, by seeing through these charlatans for the CD-selling hucksters they are. Here is a good snippet that explains how stupid these idiots are:

How witnesses who saw a second plane high in the skies above the Pentagon could possibly be part of a conspiracy to fool the public into thinking that a plane that nobody saw fly over the Pentagon actually crashed into a building is a question that is as ridiculously convoluted and inherently illogical as the very theory embraced by Marquis and Ranke. In fact, other than a few interesting interviews with people who saw a plane fly on one side of a gas station when the official data places it on the other, ThePentaCon includes no evidence of anything whatsoever, just a lot of questions and innuendo set to an ominous hip-hop beat.

That pretty much sums it up. The Idiots are whining about this article is a “hit job” and how Schou didn’t even look at their “evidence”, but how can you examine “evidence” when any junior-varsity brand new judge on the most remote bench in America would throw it out because it doesn’t amount anything in anyway shape or form, doesn’t make any sense, in any event and would be a complete and utter waste of the people’s time?

I’ve engaged these Idiots before, on their “discussion” board and others that talk about these sorts of things. They are close (if you know what I mean) with the other Idiot I have talked about before, the moron Rob Balsamo, who I wrote about here on the Instapinch on his “Pilots for 9/11 Idiots” discussion board and on Blackfive. To put it nicely, these moonbats have no case, no clue, no idea, no plan, no “witnesses”, no nothing except a marketing scam to sell DVDs of garage-quality EXPOSES(!) and cute little baby-doll string-strap tee-shirts for that cute little conspiracist in your life.

They are, in short, disgusting human beings and oxygen thieves.

Go read it. These Idiots are always clamoring for press - well, they got it!

Anyone know any good retirement quotes?

24 years of active and reserve naval service will come to an end next month.  The time has come, as the Walrus said, to talk of other things:  of shoes–and ships–and sealing wax–of cabbages and kings.  And planes.  (apologies to Lewis Carroll)

We’ll get to writing about those things in due time, but wanted to let you folks know that the ol’ naval career is down to a month or two.  It has been an absolutely fantastic ride - both literally as well as figuratively, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

We’ll keep posting here on the Instapinch as before - perhaps a tad more - who knows?  Nothing will change with that.  After all, this is only a “reserve” retirement, so I still have the day job to contend with.

My dad retired after 25 years when I was 18, so when you add in my own 24 yrs, I’ve been in and around this navy family for 42 years.  That’s a long time by anyone’s standard.

It has indeed been a priviledge and an honor.

The pic on the left was after my winging in 1986.  The one on the right was last week.

I like the one on the left better.

Update:  National Review has some good analysis, as well.   Specifically, Jim Robbins’ piece is worthwhile.

__________________________________ 

Good info on tactical happenings can be obtained from Information Dissemination, a navy-centric blog that I hadn’t highlighted before (thanks to reader (and writer) Frank for the hat-tip).

Also, Blackfivehas some great analysis and OP-FOR has a bit, as well.  Thomas Barnett’s is here - if you can make sense of it.  Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit has multiple links to good info - just head there and scroll.

Personally, I’m of the mind that Russia, like an old, gnarly and faded silent-movie star, is trying to get her mojo back by invading and bombing the hell out of Georgia.  Remember the resumption of the Bear and Badger flights up and down the east coast and along US airspace outside of Alaska?  The Georgia invasion is the same thing but taking it a number of deadly steps further.

I know the Libs will hate this, but we need to give Georgia as much support as we can - up to and including military hardware.  Georgia has been wanting to join NATO for a long time, and this underscores what that nation is and where it wants to head.

Its funny…..the old Soviet Union used to say their iron boot on the necks of the satellite countries that made up the old USSR (Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, etc) was because of their long-held fear of being invaded again.  Someone needs to get into Putin’s face and tell/show him that the iron boot deal doesn’t work anymore with sovereign nations.

Oh.. and I tried to get some pretty current and experienced information on this from my ex-wife (from 7 years ago) who has made more than a few dozen trips to Georgia in the last 8-10 years as a Coast Guard and Customs analyst.  I sent her this email:

What do you think about what is going in Georgia? From what I’ve read, things look pretty bad up north.

She replied:

Why would you want the opinion of someone who - as you said - has mental problems?

I don’t think she’s over the divorce yet. 

One of the longest serving training jets in the world, I would venture, has had its last flight.

The T-2 Buckeye, last seen training future naval aviators and naval flight officers in Pensacola, slipped the surly bonds of earth for the ultimate time this past Friday, 9 August.  The Pensacola News Journal had this report:

Bye-bye, Buckeye

Sailors get wings on plane’s final flight

Sean Dugas
sdugas@pnj.com

The T-2 Buckeye has trained many of the U.S. Navy’s finest pilots in the sky above Pensacola.

After serving as the Navy’s workhorse for nearly 50 years, the Buckeye’s era came to an end Friday at Pensacola Naval Air Station.

Lt. j.g. Dave Chun, 33, and 1st Lt. Brian Miller, 29, were the last student aviators to fly the iconic jet.

Chun reflected on the historic moment after receiving his pilot’s wings, following the successful completion of his final exercise.

“This is the third best day of my life,” he said, holding a freshly opened bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion. “My wife and my baby, those are the only things that beat this.”

The Navy’s Buckeyes have flown a combined 3.4 million hours, making it one of the Navy’s most used jets. Since its introduction to the fleet in 1959, nearly every Naval aviator trained in Pensacola flew the Buckeye in preparation for aircraft carrier landings.

“It’s going to be different not to see the Buckeye flying over Pensacola,” said Cmdr. James J. Crittenden, the 13-year flight instructor who flew with Miller during his final training. “It’s hard to grasp the historic nature of the day.”

As the Buckeyes taxied off the tarmac for the final time, two Pensacola NAS fire trucks sprayed a torrent of water over the planes, symbolizing their retirement.

The aircraft will be sent to Arizona’s Davis Monthan Air Force Base, affectionately nicknamed “The Boneyard,” said Lt. Cmdr., Doug Drew, commanding officer of the VT-86 reserve training unit.

“The Buckeye is the last of the old stick-and-rudder airplanes,” he said. “It’s time to upgrade to something more modern. We’re moving from the 20th century to the 21st century.”

The Buckeye will be replaced with the Navy’s T-45 Goshawk, which students began flying in March. Drew said the Goshawk has more advanced aviation electronics than the Buckeye and better simulates the aircraft Naval aviators fly.

The official retirement ceremony for the Buckeye is scheduled for Aug. 22 at Pensacola NAS.

A quick look at the log book has me with almost 15 hours in the jet back in 1985. My dad was an instructor in the T-2B, a version that had much less powerful engines in it, back in the early 60’s in Meridian. The new version of the jet, the T-2C, came out in the early 60’s and went from a single engine (with around 3,400 lbs of thrust) to 2 GE J-85 engines with almost 3,000 of thrust each. Talk about a different aircraft! Unfortunately, doubling the thrust still didn’t make it easier to look at:

Not that the T-2 was a *bad* aircraft, it just wasn’t…cool…to look at.

The thrust was always an interesting thing.  I mentioned above that the thrust in the original Westinghouse engine was around 3,000 lbs….that is the thrust of the Phoenix missile, for cripes sake (you can see a phoenix loaded on the static Tomcat in the header pictyre)!  I can’t imagine trying to fly a whole plane with that little poop coming out.  Compare that Westinghouse 3k lb thrust with the latest F-35 engine - a single motor pumping out over 40,000 lbs of thrust at full blower.  Yeow!

The T-2 was sold to 2 other countries, Greece and Venuzuela, so if we ever do get into a scrap with Hugo at least we know what theose boys trained in.

I think some Hamlet is in order here (apologies to Will Shakespere):

Good night, sweet Guppy. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

“Runnin’ down the wings….balls up, caps on”

U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Darin K. Russell. 

So the narcisistic, never-walked-past-a-mirror-he-didn’t-like, lying, 2-American hypocritical *sshole cheated on his wife (perhaps when she was at chemo?  Correction.  Edwards said his wife was in remission when he had the affair.  That makes it ok, I suppose.  Especially if you are a democrat.)

Why am I not surprised?

And he kept up his campaign after this affair!!  Imagine what that would have done had it come out after the convention had he won!

Not only hypocritical….but stoopid, to boot!

And why am I not surprised that the Dems  are brushing this off as something just between he and his wife?

Divorce him, Elizabeth!  Divorce him and take that 27,000 square foot house and every penny of his millions!  That SOB deserves it.

With this story breaking the track record of the National Enquirer is markedly better than that of the New York Times or the LA Times or a host of other newspapers.  Doesn’t surprise me in the least.

Updated:

let’s see what some of the topic headlines are on that wonderful Apex of the Lunatic Left, Democratic Underground!

- Every human man on this planet wants…a wife, a mistress and a girlfriend (this one is great.  Just a few tidbits of moral foundation from this post:)

-Until we all realize this to be the case, we will continue to get our panties in a twist

-I personally find it to be ridiculous that there are adult humans who have ANY reaction other than “Good for him… he’s getting some.”

-Seriously… anyone who is surprised and/or disappointed that a really attractive guy like John Edwards gets a little on the side is deluded and should seek professional help from someone who understands how the planet REALLY works.

- Gingrich served divorce papers on first wife while she was being treated for cancer.

- Hey, I don’t give a flying fig about other people’s sex life

- Let he (or she) without sin cast the first stone.

- Sorry. One more: Name a 20th century President/Major Pol who DIDN’T “cheat ” on his wife.

- All this I hate Edwards stuff is really aggrivating (sic)!

Moral relativism at its finest.  If it were a repub who did this, what are the odds you’d see the same topics?

Idiots.

(yeah…I’m still around - more posting this weekend)

Reserve buddy Jake the Snake Eater emailed me about the sacking of the USS George Washington CO and XO because of the fire that occured a few months ago.  I hadn’t heard about the “reassignments” - been busy taking pics up here in Nova Scotia - like these:

Osprey out on Bachman’s Beach.  I had the motor drive function selected and a 2 gig card in.  These two were arcing around and hovering - no diving, but I’m sure that was in their mind.

The nest (first pic) was atop a power pole out towards Riverport.  Larry, Curly and Moe (as I call them) sat there for about half an hour.  I was waiting for one to take off, but they didn’t - until I was driving away.  Timing is everything.

A reader named “Michael Jordan” left this brilliant gem of a turd in the comments of the Sept 11 Pentagon Moonbattery post from a few years ago:

I have a hard time believing that the headquarters building of the world’s most powerful military simply has no facility air defenses. Do you really think a simple 1940s-style kamikazee attack could actually succeed on such an important facility? Do you realize that if a plane can hit the Pentagon successfully, then so can a cruise missile? I thought the Pentagon believed in “defense”. The leadership there is not that stupid. There are countermeasures in place for incoming artillery, missiles, and aircraft. The US Embassy in Baghdad even has them. Use your head — the Pentagon is HQ. It’s not that easy to attack.

Isn’t there some sort of law against proving beyond all reasonable doubt how stupid you are by posting such an absolutely asinine comment like this? Apparently not.

There are countermeasures in place for incoming artillery

Ok…I can see the bad guys rolling up I-395 or possibly down George Washington Parkway with a stolen 155mm howitzer they either snuck through customs or liberated from the DC Arsenal and (assuming the DC Arsenal has such hardware) and taking pot shots at the building and having the Pentagon engage their COUNTERMEASURES that have been in place because the likelyhood of the aforementioned attack is so freaking high.

There are countermeasures in place for incoming aircraft.

There are 800 aircraft operations (domestic and transborder commercial activity as well as general aviation and military) happening at Reagan National Airport, a mile away from the Pentagon, daily.   Those “countermeasures” have sure worked perfectly for decades on millions of airliner flights that pass within a mile or closer to the building - wortked perfectly EXCEPT FOR 9/11!  Imagine that.

There are countermeasures in place for incoming missiles.

Mr. Jordan must think prepping, fueling, flight programming and launching an 18 foot, 3,000 lb cruise missile disguised as a 155 foot long, 124 foot wingspan, 180 ton American Airline 757 is an easy thing to do or something that happens regularly here in the US to the point where the Pentagon must…MUST install “countermeasures” to defend against such a thing.

This is a classic example why I derive so much…..FUN exposing and talking about how stupid these people are.  They’ll sit there and defend these absolute idiotic ideas as “just wanting to keep an open mind!”, which leads me to quote this saying I saw posted on the door of a prof at Acadia University, my alma mater where I stopped by yesterday to visit:

“There’s this thing called being so open-minded that your brain falls out”.

Too late.  It already happened.

More later.  Home tomorrow.

We’re up here in Nova Scotia for a well-deserved break from the rigors of life in the belly of the beast (Wash DC) and came across the below bumper sticker as we were heading thru the airport parking lot to grab the rental.

I know this might be a Yank ex-pat or someone like that, but Canada’s socialist streak is alive and well:

I swear…..rarely (if ever) have I seen such adoration for a political entity that has less substance than this man.

John Kerry comes to mind, and Obama’s “I am a world citizen” speech yesterday in Berlin underscored the similarities.

You all need to get a load of what this disgusting moron wrote concerning the Pentagon on 9/11.  You need to know that there are “people” out there who are spewing this sort of trash - they actually believe it and are actively trying to get some traction with this crap.

The opening question was thus - about a new book that highlighted firemen and rescue teams and searchers in the Pentagon immediately after the impact of AA 77 and what they came across, and if/how the previously discussed (here and here) Pilots for 9/11 Truth” would reconcile those witness statements:

Having read from various sources a little bit of the description of the recent ‘Firefight’ book I wondered if it had been read and considered by anyone involved with Pilots For Truth. The book is apparently a detailed account of the experiences of firefighters to the Pentagon incident. I haven’t read it myself, but short excerpts from the book seem to document bodies of passengers, luggage, plane parts etc, which obviously is potentially contradictory to a flyover theory.

Which led one “Aldo Marquis” of the “Citizens Investigation Team” (one of the moonbat organizations who claim the US government is behind all the events of 9/11) to opine the following:

The Pentagon was under “renovation” in the EXACT section that was allegedly hit by a jet filled with “passengers, luggage, and plane parts”. The “renovation” was scheduled for completion that week and there were lots of UNOCCUPIED spaces at the Pentagon. This would allow the perfect opportunity to plant incendiary devices or projectiles within or outside of the Pentagon and would allow them to plant even the most simple of things such as luggage and plane parts. The most puzzling would be passengers in seats, and again this could be a lie, a mistake, or they actually went so far as to plant a section of seats with cadavers waiting to be blown up or engulfed in flames. Obviously they were bringing in large pieces of equipment and furniture, so a large crate with freshly unfrozen cadavers being wheeled into an unoccupied room could go undetected the day before 9/11.

You can follow this thread the crackpot forum “Pilots for 9/11 “Twoof” “here.

A sane, healthy mind could never make this up.  I swear.

People still ask me why I highlight this stuff - why I write about it and give them the publicity they crave (such as it is on a  small place like this).  Thing is, this one isn’t funny.  You can’t make fun of someone who exhibits such a depth of utter moral depravity and decay, not to mention the absolute stultifying absence of any intellectual content.

As I said over on Blackfive, you need to shine a light every once in a while into the dark corners of society to make sure the cockroaches don’t gather.

And then step on them.

Received this morning.  I moved the last sentence to the top:

“All of this and some SOB says, “getting shot down and captured does not qualify someone to be president” - but supposedly another with 143 days in congress does qualify?  What a country - but how long will we stand at this rate?”

Some very interesting stats….

Subject: Room #7 Hanoi Hilton Alum list

In late 2000, CdrAirGroup (CAG) Jim Stockdale, Room Seven Senior Ranking Officer (SRO) asked his old friend, By Fuller to provide a list of the roommates of Room 7, Hanoi Hilton as of Christmas 1970.

The roommates of this room were extraordinary, both at the time of incarceration, and then later in freedom.

Room 7 had the first organized church service to be held in the prisons of North Vietnam.  Permission was asked for by Stockdale, and twice denied by the Camp Commander.  The room was warned not to do it.  Room 7 decided to do it anyway.  They even had a choir. Their solemn service quickly caught the eye of the guards and authorities.  Armed guards rushed into the room to break up the “ominous” unauthorized meeting.  Ringleaders, Risner, Coker and Rutledge were led out of the room with guards at each arm (they were headed for more Heartbreak Hotel, solitary confinement and lots of punishment). Bud Day was the one who then jumped up on his bed and started to sing “The National Anthem” and “God Bless America.”  The entire room burst into song.

Then Rooms Six, Five, Four, Three, Two and One joined in succession.These songs of pride and defiance were loud enough to be heard outside the 15-foot walls of the Hanoi Hilton. As Robbie marched out the door, his back straightened with pride.  He held his head high.

Robbie later recalled his thoughts as his roommates burst out in song, “I felt like I was nine feet tall and could go bear hunting with a switch.”

Thirty one years later, on November 16, 2001 a nine-foot tall bronze statue of Brigadier General Robinson Risner, USAF would be dedicated on the central plaza of the United States Air Force Academy.  To Bud Day (principal speaker), Ross Perot (the sponsor of the project), and dozens of Robbie’s Room-Seven roommates at the ceremony, it seemed more fitting to call the statue “life size.” Photos: Dedication of B/Gen Robbie Risner’s Statue - USAFA 16-18 November 2001

CAG, knowing what the VC  reaction would be, was heard to remark something to the effect, “Well, I guess we just can’t stand prosperity.”  Our camp, yet unnamed, from that moment on became known as “Camp Unity.”The guards protested, but the songs continued.  Shortly thereafter, Vietnamese troops entered each room in force.  They had their hats secured with chinstraps in place, they had fixed bayonets, and they were mad!  They quickly backed the POWs against the walls with a bayonet in each POW’s stomach.  The singing immediately ceased as the troops burst through the doors.  The VC later claimed that they had put down a riot.  It wasn’t a real riot, but it was a lot of fun until the soldiers entered the room.  Several roommates of Room 7 were jerked out the next day.  The next day, Orson Swindle in Room 6 tapped the following message on the wall:  “Damn, you’d have to get in line to get in trouble in that crowd!!”

Thanks to By Fuller for the gut work of putting together this  facts sheet. Paul Galanti and Mike McGrath assisted.This historical document is dedicated to a fearless leader, Vice Admiral Jim Stockdale, CAG.

Here’s what the men of Room 7 accomplished:

Roster of “Room 7″ on 26 December, 1970 (Hanoi Hilton):

Name:                                           Shootdown rank:         Days captive:

1.  Brady, Al                                 Cdr, USN                       2236

2.  Coker, George                        Lt (jg), USN                   2381

3.  Coskey, Ken                           Cdr, USN                        1650

4.  Craner, Bob (Deceased)       Maj, USAF                      1911

5.  Crayton, Render                   LCdr, USN                      2562

6.  Crow, Fred                             LCol, USAF                    2170

7.  Crumpler, Carl                      LCol, USAF                     1713

8.  Daniels, Vern                        Cdr, USN                         1966

9.  Daughtrey, Norlan              Capt, USAF                      2751

10. Day, Bud                              Maj, USAF                       2027

11. Denton, Jerry                      Cdr, USN                          2766

12. Doremus, Rob                     LCdr, USN                        2729

13. Dramesi, John                     Capt, USAF                      2163

14. Dunn Howie (Deceased)    Maj, USMC                       2624

15. Fellowes, Jack                     LCdr, USN                        2381

16. Finlay, Jack                         LCol, USAF                      1781

17. Franke, Bill                          Cdr, USN                          2729

18. Fuller, By                             Cdr, USN                          2060

19. Gillespie, Chuck (Deceased) Cdr, USN                      1968

20. Guarino, Larry                    Maj, USAF                      2801

21. Gutterson, Laird                 Maj, USAF                       1846

22. Hughes, Jim                        LCol, USAF                      2130

23. James, Charlie                    Cdr, USN                          1761

24. Jenkins, Harry (Deceased) Cdr, USN                        2648

25. Johnson, Sam                      Maj, USAF                       2494

26. Kasler, Jim                          Maj, USAF                       2400

27. Kirk, Tom                            LCol, USAF                      1964

28. Lamar, Jim                         LCol, USAF                       2474

29. Larson, Swede                   LCol, USAF                       2130

30. Lawrence, Bill                    Cdr, USN                           2076

31. Ligon, Vern (Deceased)    LCol, USAF                       1942

32. McCain, John                     LCdr, USN                        1966

33. McKnight, George             Maj, USAF                        2655

34. Moore, Mel                         Cdr, USN                           2185

35. Mulligan, Jim                     Cdr, USN                           2521

36. Pollard, Ben                       Maj, USAF                         2120

37. Risner, Robbie                   LCol, USAF                        2706

38. Rivers, Wendy                  LCdr, USN                          2715

39. Rutledge, Howie (Deceased) Cdr, USN                      2633

40. Schoeffel, Pete                  LCdr, USN                         1988

41. Shumaker, Bob                 LCdr, USN                         2923

42. Stockdale, Jim                  Cdr, USN                            2713

43. Stockman, Hervey           LCol, USAF                        2093

44. Stratton, Dick                   LCdr, USN                         2250

45. Tanner, Nels                     LCdr, USN                         2338

46. Webb, Ron                        Capt, USAF                        2093

47. Gary Anderson (Deceased) Lt (jg), USN                   2151

Total days in captivity:  108,116

Man-years in captivity:   296.21

Here’s a brief history of the 47 men:

5  Made Flag/Admiral rank (Stockdale O-9, Lawrence O-9, Shumaker O-8, Denton O-8, Fuller O-8).

1 Made General rank (Risner O-7)

40  Others stayed in the military and attained the following ranks:

USMC 1 Col–Dunn

AF 1 LCol–Daughtrey; 19 Colonels–Craner, Crow, Crumpler, Day, Dramesi, Finlay, Guarino, Gutterson, Hughes, Kasler, Johnson, Kirk, Lamar, Larson, Ligon, McKnight, Pollard, Stockman, & Webb

Navy 1 Cdr–Coker; 18 Captains–Brady, Coskey, Crayton, Daniels, Doremus, Fellowes, Franke, Gillespie, James, Jenkins, McCain, Moore, Mulligan, Rivers, Rutledge, Schoeffel, Stratton, & Tanner.

1   Became U.S. Congressmen (Johnson, TX; McCain, AZ).

2   Became U.S. Senators (Denton, AL; McCain, AZ).

1   Was a Vice Presidential candidate (Stockdale).

1    Was a Presidential candidate (McCain).

2    Received the Medal of Honor (Stockdale, Day).  Day resumed his career as a lawyer.

3    Received the Navy Cross (Denton, Coker, Fuller).  (3 of the 4 POWs to receive this award were from this room. Red McDaniel was the 4th  POW to receive the award).

4    Made escapes.  All were recaptured, all were tortured. (Dramesi, Coker, McKnight, Day).

2    Were jet aces from the Korean War (Risner: 9 kills in F-86; Kasler: 6 kills in F-86).

1    Was the first pilot to fly over Russia in U-2 spy aircraft (Stockman).

1    Was shot down 4-15-1944 in Germany.  POW until April 1945.  26th mission in P-47 (Ligon)

1    Shot down 3 German planes during WW II.  Flying British aircraft (Guarino).  Flew 156 missions in Sicily, India, China and Indo-China.

1     Flew 62 missions in Korea War. Got credit for 1 kill, 1 damaged, 1 probable kill against Mig 15s (Johnson).

7    Received the Air Force Cross (Kasler–3 awards; Risner–2 awards, Dramesi: 2 awards, Day, Kirk, Guarino and McKnight each received one award).

4   Were Navy Test Pilots (Stockdale, Lawrence, Gillespie, & Franke).

1    Flew with the Thunderbirds (Johnson).

11   Were USNA graduates (Brady ‘51, Denton ‘47, Fellowes ‘56, Fuller ‘51, Gillespie ‘51, Lawrence ‘51, McCain ‘58, Rivers ‘52, Schoeffel ‘54, Shumaker ‘56, & Stockdale ‘47).

2    Were Landing Signal Officers (LSOs); (Stockdale, Tanner).

1    Escaped the B-52 community and got into combat flying the F-105G (Larson).

1   Has a daughter who is an astronaut, gone into space three times (789 hours).  She is presently in training as a crewmember of the International Space Station.  (Lawrence).

1   Was a Navy Air Wing Commander (CAG): (Stockdale, (COMAIRGRU 16).

1    Commanded a Navy Carrier, USS America. Later became Battle Group Commander ÒCARGRU 4 Commander (Fuller).

10  Were Squadron Commanders (Coskey (VA-85), Day (TBD), Denton (VA-75), Franke, Fuller (VA-76), Gillespie, Jenkins VA-163), Lawrence (VF-143), Ligon (11th TRS) and Larson (469th TFS) when shot down), Schoeffel (VA-83).

5    Were Squadron Executive Officers (Daniels, Moore, Mulligan, Rutledge, & Brady).  They were shot down before they could make Squadron Commander.

10   Authored books:

a.     Day: Return With Honor.

b.     Denton: When Hell Was In Session.

c.     Dramesi: Code of Honor.

d.     Guarino: A POW’s Story: 2801 Days in Hanoi.

e.     Johnson: Captive Warriors: A Vietnam POW’s Story.

f.      McCain: Faith of My Fathers.

g.     Mulligan: The Hanoi Commitment.

h.     Risner: The Passing of the Night.

i.      Rutledge: In the Presence of Mine Enemies.

j.      Stockdale: Courage Under Fire; In Love and War; A Vietnam Experience; Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot.

4    Became Presidents/Commandants/Superintendents of institutions of higher learning: (Stockdale:President of the Citidel and President of the Naval War College; Lawrence: Superintendent of the USNA; Shumaker: Superintendent of the Naval Postgraduate School; and (TBD); Denton: Commandant of Armed Forces Staff College).

2   Built their own airplanes: (Jenkins: Long EZ; Shumaker: Glassair). Pollard  is currently flying sail planes.

1   Was the first active duty Naval Aviator to fly Mach II (Lawrence).

1   Was first Naval Aviator to land on an aircraft carrier in 0/0 fog with a
newly developed Aircraft Carrier Landing System (Gillespie).  Yes, it was an emergency low fuel state!

2    Naval Aviators were in the final selection groups (before shootdown)
for the Mercury Astronaut Program (Lawrence, Shumaker).

Many of the members of Room 7 either served during wars prior to Vietnam, or who saw combat in theatres other than Vietnam

WW II:
Vern Ligon: USA Air Corps, 25 missions, P-47 pilot, POW in Stalag Luft 1, 1944-45, escaped once, recaptured.
Larry Guarino: USA Air Corps, 156 missions in Sicily, India, China and Indo-China.  Spitfires.
Hervey Stockman: USA Air Corps.  68 missions, P-51.
Jim Kasler: USA Air Corps, 7 missions as tail gunner, B-29.
Harry Jenkins and Gordon Larson were Navy V5 cadets and Fred Crow was an Army Air Corps aviation  cadet when WW II ended.
Bud Day: Corporal, USMC, 30 months in south and central Pacific, April 1942-Nov 1945.
By Fuller and Carl Crumpler: Enlisted in US Navy summer of 1945.  Saw boot camp by the end of WW II.
Fred Crow and Al Brady: were Navy dependents at Pearl Harbor, December 7,1941.
Korea:
Robby Risner: USAF, 108 missions, F-86.  Mig Ace with 9 kills.
Jim Kasler: USAF, 100 missions, F-86, Mig Ace with 6 kills.
Howie Rutledge:  USN, 200 missions, F9F-2 as a Flying Midshipman.
Harry Jenkins: Served aboard USS Fred T. Berry (DD-141) off coast of Korea. Flying Midshipman.
Tom Kirk: Flew missions in Korea (we need more information from Tom).
Larry Guarino: USAF, Air Defense Alert missions.
Jim Lamar: USAF, 100 missions in F-80 and P-51.
Wendy Rivers: Served on a destroyer off the coast of Korea.
Laird Gutterson: USAF, flew 60 missions, P-51.
Verlyne Daniels: Flew AD-4 missions, March-August 1953.
Sam Johnson: USAF, flew 62 missions, F-86, 1 kill, 1 probable, 1 damaged against Mig 15s.
Bud Day: USAF, air defense missions, F-84s.
Bill Lawrence: (F2H-3) and By Fuller (F9F-5) arrived off the coast of Korea in October 1953.  They were flying off the USS Oriskany.  Too late the war was over!
Fred Crow: Had various commands stateside during the Korean War.
Carl Crumpler: Flew F-86s at George AFB.  War was over too soon for him to participate.

Magnificent men, whether in a cockpit, in a cell, or at a desk.   Provided
to show that, regardless of the circumstances, some are never defeated, only temporarily delayed.