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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Oct 4 2008, 04:21 PM
EVERYONE knows I’m a Lost fan. And Lost wouldn’t be lost if it weren’t for aviation. Why, one of the main characters, who has been rescued from the island that was his home for several months, spends his weekends flying in hopes of repeating the crash that made him “lost” in the first place!
But Lost isn’t the only movie or show that features aviation that’s been a hit with me. How about the original Tarzan The Ape Man? The plane crashing in the jungle…with an infant onboard, raised by apes. He grows up to fall in love with the beautiful Jane. Not trying to make “apes” the feature, but you can’t forget that King Kong, while on top of the Empire State building was attacked by a plane.
And then there’s Top Gun, with Tom Cruise, or Cliff Hanger with Sylvester Stallone. Or Apocalypse Now with Marlon Brando, Memphis Belle or A Bridge Too Far.
Can’t forget Airplane!, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or Home Alone.
I know, some of these movies have aviation touching them only for a short period of time, while others have them as the main focus. But it was important just the same. The movie wouldn’t have gotten where it was supposed to be without aviation. Just like we wouldn’t be where we are today without it.
Just think where we have come and how quickly since 1903 when the Wright Bros. had their first success.
Aviation.com recognizes that and has put together what they believe are the Great Innovations In Aviation....
Take a look…what do you think?
GREAT INNOVATIONS IN AVIATION
Also, check out the Famous Firsts in Aviation
View scenes from the movie Cliffhanger
HERE
Warning: Viewer discretion advised - language/violence.
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Oct 1 2008, 11:56 AM
Sometimes we’ll take just about any drug to feel better…just because the doctor says it’s the right drug, right now. Drugs go through years of studies now before they are put on the market, but still, we don’t know all the consequences…
Doctors may prescribe certain drugs to their patients depending on which Pharmaceuticals Rep they have…
Back in 1957 a drug, Thalidomide, was put on the market. It was promoted for morning sickness…
It was a horrific disaster.
Read about it at Wired HERE
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Sep 29 2008, 06:32 PM
Like President Kennedy’s assassination, the Challenger disaster, and of course we will never forget 9-11. But there are other things that happen that touch different people in different ways. Charles Manson, Kent State; well there are things on the upside, too…not everything was bad…Woodstock for instance. But today and the next couple days to follow marks the anniversary of an event that, as a very young mother, just put chills through me. I never would have thought there were such randomly evil people in our country back in 1982, but there were, and there were more to follow.
On September 29, 1982, a 12-year old girl named Mary Kellerman, who lived in Elk Grove Village, IL died. Why? She had taken an Extra Strength Capsule of Tylenol. Later that day, in the hospital, Adam Janus died . He was from Arlington Heights. Then, when his family was mourning Adam’s passing away, his brother Stanley and wife Theresa, who had Tylenol from the same bottle, also died. They were from Lisle, IL. Sometime later, there were several more incidents of death; Mary McFarland, of Elmhurst, Paula Prince, Chicago, and Mary Reiner, of Winfield. The obvious link to Tylenol was found quickly, to the credit of investigators, and the public was warned immediately.
I was so disturbed that the family was distraught over the fact that their brother had died, and had taken the Tylenol, and then there were two more victims. I distinctly remember other family members speaking about it on television. About how much stress Stanley Janus was under and the headache he had. It was very sad and painful.
And so, now it began. We no longer could feel safe purchasing medications and food products in the store. Safety protection on all products. No more loose, time-released capsules. Trust no one. Life changed very much after September 29, 1982. I guess there’s something about September.
1982: Cyanide-filled Tylenol cause multiple deaths
"Two brothers and a 12-year-old girl died in two different Cook County suburbs yesterday, poisoned by capsules of pain remedy contaminated with cyanide," reported the Syracuse Herald Journal on September 30, 1982. The Tylenol poisonings killed a total of seven people from the Chicago, Illinois area. NOTE: Although officials believed the tamperings occurred at supermarkets or drug stores, a nationwide recall of all Tylenol products was issued. Several men were arrested for the crime; however, no one was ever convicted of the killings.”
Syracuse Herald Journal, September 30, 1982
Cyanide Found In Pain Killer; Three Dead.pdf
Daily Herald, October 1, 1982
5 Dead After Taking Tylenol Capsules Filled With Cyanide.pdf
(Continued) 5 Dead After Taking Tylenol Capsules Filled With Cyanide.pdf
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Sep 27 2008, 07:05 AM
Oh, my…mommy needs a cigarette break!
Raising baby is a lonely job…all decked out in this house dress with no place to go. The house needs to be spotless, dinner needs to be in the oven and on the table at five sharp, I need to look glamorous, and baby needs to behave. What’s a mommy to do?
Have another Marlboro…that’s what.
Sound familiar?
Well, I made that up...but Marlboro evidently marketed to women back in the 50s...before they targeted men. Just look at those sweet baby faces. What mom wouldn't want to buy those cigarettes?
Click picture to enlarge and go to webpage
Related reading...revisit:
For A Better Finish In Life
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Sep 25 2008, 06:40 AM
Can you say 340 trillion, trillion, trillion?
That's how many addresses the new system for web addresses will have when it is implemented.
You see, the current system is about ready to run out of addresses. Who would have thought the Internet Highway would run out of addresses? Why, the mighty inventor of the internet should have created enough in the first place, don't you think? And we all know who that is...
Oh no..I thought it was Al Gore!
He said he created the internet.
I guess it was really Vint Cerf the "father of the internet."
The world is about to run out of the internet addresses that allow computers to identify each other and communicate, the man who invented the system has told The Times.
Vint Cerf, the “father of the internet” and one of the world’s leading computer scientists, said that businesses and consumers needed to act now to switch to the next generation of net addresses. Unless preparations were made now, he said, some computers might not be able to go online and the connectivity of the internet might be damaged.
Mr Cerf said that internet service providers in particular needed to prepare and that time was running out for a smooth transition.
Every computer and online device is assigned a unique IP address, but the pool of unallocated numbers is about to dry up.
“This is like the internet running out of telephone numbers and with no new numbers, you can’t have more subscribers,” he said.
When Mr Cerf and others founded the internet system in 1977, he set in place "internet protocol version four" (IPv4) which provided 4.2 billion addresses. With the number of internet-enabled devices, particularly mobile phones, soaring, less than 14 per cent of those addresses remain vacant.
It is estimated that IPv4 addresses, each of which is a series of 32 binary digits, will run out in 2010 and possibly as early as next year. A new system, called IPv6, has been ready for implementation for more than a decade.
Continued HERE
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Sep 24 2008, 10:01 PM
They’re here….
It’s debate time!
So let’s debate about debates…
Do they really matter?
Do you watch them?
Do you care?
I know you do! Doesn’t everybody?
We know most are watching to learn about the candidates, right?
No one is watching to see who will flip or flop.
Who will totally fall apart or have a, heaven forbid, wardrobe malfunction.
Who will come up with the next best line…you know, “lock box.”
No, we are all there only for the issues.
Yeah, right...
Sen. John F. Kennedy (r) speaks
and Vice President Richard Nixon
listens during the fourth presidential
debate from a New York TV studio, 21 Oct 1960
The first televised presidential debate was held during the election campaign of 1960.
"The candidates need no introduction," said the debate moderator Howard K. Smith. "The Republican candidate is Vice President Richard M. Nixon and the Democratic candidate is Senator John F. Kennedy."
Kennedy's youthful appearance helped him on television. Nixon suffered from a cold and bad makeup.
"I think in the final analysis, it depends on what we do here. I think it is time America started moving again," Kennedy said.
"There is no question but that we cannot discuss our internal affairs in the United States without recognizing that they have a tremendous bearing on our international position," said Nixon.
Those who watched the debates on television generally thought Kennedy was the winner. Many of those who listened on radio gave the edge to Nixon.
Kennedy narrowly won the election that year. And even though Nixon eventually won two presidential elections in 1968 and 1972, he never took part in another presidential debate.
In the 1976 election campaign, incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford trailed badly in the polls for much of the year behind his Democratic challenger, Jimmy Carter.
Ford nearly came back to win the election that year, but stumbled in one of his debates with Carter when he tried to argue that Eastern Europe was not controlled by the Soviet Union.
"There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration," he said.
While much attention is paid to what is said in the debates, they can also be won or lost based on how the candidates speak and even their non-verbal body language.
Continued HERE Voice of America
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Sep 23 2008, 07:24 AM
U.S. Satellite Vanguard Photo U.S. Navy
Sometimes the path it takes to get somewhere can be long or short, bumpy or smooth…
On December 6, 1957, hot on the heels of Sputnik, the United States Navy readied the first American satellite, Vanguard, for launch. The grapefruit-sized device lofted 3 feet from Earth before it exploded. Press and public jeered, dubbing it “Flopnik.” (“The exact cause is classified,” says the crisp narrator in a vintage video [below] of the attempt.) A red-faced U.S. government redoubled their efforts. Within a year and a half, Vanguard’s replacement took the first measurements of Earth’s upper atmosphere and its successor, Vanguard II, the first scan of Earth’s clouds. Meanwhile, NASA, the agency charged with managing this new technology, was born.
"Oh, what a flopnik! The Vanguard rocket that held the satellite failed miserably, blowing up before take-off."
Spaceborne observation of the planet has come a long way since Flopnik. Today, 150 Earth-observation satellites are in orbit, capturing more than 10 terabytes of information per day. NASA operates, in whole or in part, about 20 of them. The legacy of NASA's first assignment has radically altered our concept of the planet. In the view from space, political boundaries dissolve, Earth’s parts become a whole, and its changes are made visible and real.
Continue at POP SCI HERE
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Sep 22 2008, 07:13 AM
 Julia Ruth Stevens, the daughter of former New York
Yankee Babe Ruth, throws out the ceremonial first pitch
before the final regular season MLB American League
baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, September 21, 2008.
REUTERS/Mike Segar
Last night, September 21, 2008, was the final game at Yankee Stadium…
"They will never forget the time the Yankees opened the gates seven hours before first pitch and let fans walk around the field. They will never forget a 7-3 Yankees victory over the Orioles, a stadium retired on a five-game winning streak. They will never forget the time when the whole Yankees team did a lap around the field, waving their caps at fans who didn't want it to end. "
Stadium Leaves Night To Remember
But, I said this was about the Babe, so I’ll move on. Babe Ruth’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, threw out the first pitch, well, barely. But that’s okay. It meant something to her and to the fans and players. And it would have meant something to Babe Ruth, but not what you think…
"While it was fitting for the daughter of the greatest player in franchise history, Babe Ruth, to open the final game in the house her father "built," Ruth Stevens knew the Babe would have been amused by the sight.
"He knew I didn't throw very well," Ruth Stevens said with a laugh. "But I taught him how to bowl."
Taking the field, out of her wheelchair for a brief moment, Ruth Stevens felt a tremble throughout her body. She accepted the invitation to throw out the first pitch only a day before, and when the moment arrived, it brought upon her three predominant responses.
"Thrilling, exciting and scared to death," Ruth said.
Ruth Stevens still has memories of her father slamming long home runs, starting with 1927 in Yankee Stadium. And even though it's terrible to think the ballpark has reached its final days, she understands that this moment had to come at some point. "
Babe's Daughter Tosses Out First Pitch
Babe Ruth hit 665 of his 714 career home runs as a
member of the Yankees. (Harry Harris/AP)
Babe Ruth 1918 - the 1st year Ruth led the league in home runs.
Because I said this is about Babe Ruth (and not the Yankees), I’ve just got to throw this photo in because I think it’s interesting for those who may not have seen it…
George H. W. Bush, captain of the Yale baseball team, receives Babe Ruth's
manuscript of his autobiography which he was donating to Yale, 1948
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By Janet Evans
Sunday, Sep 21 2008, 08:03 PM
 A small portion of the Gettysburg Cyclorama before its restoration...covered in dirt and grime.
I didn’t think so…
I wish I could be.
Why?
I would love to be at the new Gettysburg Visitor Center on September 26th when the Pickett's Charge in "The Battle of Gettysburg" is reopened.
It has been totally restored ans will be put back on display the way it was intended to be, as a circular painting, or cyclorama. And the restored painting, without the decades of dust and dirt upon it, is a sight to behold.
“The Battle of Gettysburg,” was created between 1883 and 1884 by French artist Paul Philippoteaux, along with 20 other artists. They used original battlefield photographs and maps, along with interviewing soldiers who actually had been in battle in order to complete their masterpiece.
See six slides in a preview of the
"Battle of Gettysburg" painting at Gettysburg National Military Park's Cyclorama Center
HERE
Read...
The Fame of Pickett's Charge
Visit
Gettysburg National Military Park
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Sep 11 2008, 11:50 AM
The Seventh Anniversary of 9-11
from the Daily Perspective - Carr
"The 9/11 attacks originated with Operation Bojinka (meaning "loud bang"), conceived by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Yousef. Bojinka was supposed to begin with the assassination of Pope John Paul II and the bombing of 11 planes. It would then follow with several planes loaded with explosives crashing into the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and other targets. The plot was discovered in 1995 and several conspirators arrested, including Yousef. Mohammed escaped and presented a modified version of the idea to Osama bin Laden in 1996.
By 1999, Bin Laden approved of the modified plot - which consisted of plans to hijack ten or so commercial airliners and fly them into various U.S. targets - and also added a plan to simultaneously crash planes in East Asia. Timing issues later forced bin Laden and Mohammed to cancel this version of the idea.
In mid-1999, training had begun, and a firm set of targets were chosen--the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and the United States Capitol. The September 11 attacks were planned."
Four commercial passenger jet airliners were hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda members today. Two of these planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, causing both towers to collapse. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon just 40 minutes after the second tower was hit. Passengers and crew members tried to regain control of the fourth plane, which crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania.
"It was the scene of a nightmare; people on fire jumping in terror from the Trade Towers just before the buildings collapsed. 'Everyone was screaming, crying, running, cops, people, firefighters, everyone,' said Mike Smith, a fire marshal from Queens, as he sat by the fountain outside the Supreme Court building, shortly after the second tower collapsed," reported The Chronicle Telegram on September 11, 2001. Smith went on to describe the scene as "a war zone".
NOTE: Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of these attacks on America. The Bush administration responded by declaring a 'war on terrorism'."
Click Here for Larger Image
Also read a newpaper article regarding how:
Terrorist Attacks Impacted All 50 States
September, 11, 2002 Chillicothe Constitution Tribune WISCONSIN:
"Less than a month after Sept. 11, the Madison School Board banned administrators from using the Pledge of Allegiance to comply with a state law requiring a daily dose of patriotism, but backed away after an outcry that included an unsuccessful recall effort against one board member."
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Sep 11 2008, 12:38 AM
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 8, 2008
Patriot Day, 2008
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
September 11, 2001, was etched into America's memory when 19 terrorists attacked us with barbarity unequaled in our history. On Patriot Day, we cherish the memory of the thousands of innocent victims lost, extend our thoughts and prayers to their families, and honor the heroic men and women who risked and sacrificed their lives so others might survive.
Since 9/11, we have recognized the threat posed by terrorists to the safety of the American people and worked to protect our homeland by fighting terrorists abroad. We are confronting terrorism by advancing freedom, liberty, and prosperity as an alternative to the ideologies of hatred and repression. Our Nation pays tribute to our courageous men and women in uniform serving around the world and the devoted members of our law enforcement, public safety, and intelligence communities at home who work night and day to protect us from harm and preserve the freedom of this great Nation.
Seven years ago, ordinary citizens rose to the challenge, united in prayer, and responded with extraordinary acts of courage, with some giving their lives for the country they loved. On Patriot Day, we remember all those who were taken from us in an instant and seek their lasting memorial in a safer and more hopeful world. We must not allow our resolve to be weakened by the passage of time. We will meet the test that history has given us and continue to fight to rid the world of terrorism and promote liberty around the globe.
By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress has designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2008, as Patriot Day. I call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe Patriot Day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and remembrance services, to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent Americans and people from around the world who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Sep 5 2008, 10:16 PM
We’ve had some tough presidents…and one, well, Jimmy Carter….
Who were the 5 most badass presidents of all-time?
I'm sure you have your choices…
from Cracked.com...
"As we all prepare to spend a long weekend enjoying Presidential Savings on mattresses and used Toyotas, we could take time to thank some of the presidents who passed bills that protect some of the freedoms your enjoy daily. Or we could spend the day celebrating the presidents who are decidedly more Action Movie Heroes than diplomats. Anyway, guess which kind of president this website decided to focus on? "
View their "badass" five-page presentation
HERE
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Sep 2 2008, 06:40 AM
I love space!
Who doesn’t love looking at the stars on a clear night?
You have heard NASA is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, haven’t you?
You’ve just got to check out this cool animated tour of NASA from the 50s through the future.
Make sure you move your cursor over EVERYTHING!
The site’s out of this world!
Give yourself some time though.
There’s 50 years of interesting history to see!
So
10
09
08
07
06
05
04
03
02
01
Blast off!
Click on the image to go to NASA...and once you are there...click anywhere on the main page.
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Aug 26 2008, 08:58 PM
1978: John Paul I elected new Pope
Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected by the papal conclave to the papacy today. Luciani became the first Pope to choose a double name, that of John Paul I. “They are the names of his two immediate predecessors, Paul VI and John XXIII, and were taken by the 65-year-old Luciani after his election by the 111 cardinals voting in a secret conclave in the Sistine Chapel. His choice indicated he plans to follow in the footsteps of Paul and John and their reform policies,” explained the Syracuse Herald Journal on August 27, 1978.
The new Pope’s reign was cut short however. “Pope John Paul I was found dead of an apparent heart attack in his Vatican apartment today, leaving the throne of St. Peter vacant for the second time in less than five weeks,” informed The Chronicle Telegram on September 29, 1978, “The end of his 34-day reign—the briefest in four centuries—stunned his 700 million Roman Catholic followers, still grieving the death of Pope Paul VI on August 6.
”NOTE: During his brief stint as Pope, John Paul I was known for his gentle demeanor and kindness. He was succeeded by Karol Józef Wojtyla, or John Paul II, on October 16, 1978.
| Papacy began |
August 26, 1978 |
| Papacy ended |
September 28, 1978 |
| Predecessor |
Paul VI |
| Successor |
John Paul II |
John Paul I New Pope.pdf
Tidings of Great Joy.pdf
Heart Attack Kills Pope John Paul.pdf
AND
1920: Women gain right to vote
With the passing of the 19th amendment through Congress today, women gain the right to vote. “Today is a red-letter day for the woman suffrage advocates of this country, for it marks the fulfillment of their long cherished hope for the full enfranchisement of all qualified women as voters,” informed The Daily Northwestern on August 26, 1920.
NOTE: Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment on August 18, securing the required number to pass the bill into law.
Suffrage Ratification proclaimed.pdf
*****************
I found the last paragraph of the news article of much interest:
“The opponents of woman suffrage seem to be bad losers. Even after they have been beaten, they insist on keeping up a fight to delay the women from votingas long as possible.”
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By Janet Evans
Monday, Aug 25 2008, 06:40 AM
I knew the South was more interested in glorifying war than fighting it to win.
And I knew the North was far superior in leadership and just plain common sense.
I've lived in New England and in the Deep South. I had a teacher who kept a Confederate flag hung front and center in his school office when I was in high school.
I think the Civil War is a unique study...and while we think there were only two sides to the conflict, it was really filled with many layers of controversy.
 I
mage: AJC.com
"Generations of students have been taught that the South lost the Civil War because of the North’s superior industry and population. A new book suggests another reason: Southerners were largely responsible for defeating the Confederacy.
In “Bitterly Divided: The South’s Inner Civil War, historian David Williams of Valdosta State University lays out some tradition-upsetting arguments that might make the granite brow of Jefferson Davis crack on Stone Mountain.
“With this book,” wrote Publishers Weekly, “the history of the Civil War will never be the same again.”
Actually, historians have long fallen into two camps in explaining the Confederacy’s demise — one stressing the Union’s advantages, the other the South’s divisions. Williams gives vivid expression to the latter view, drawing on state and local studies done primarily in the past two decades."
Read William's interview HERE
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By Janet Evans
Friday, Aug 22 2008, 06:28 AM
Mona Lisa
(Italian: La Gioconda, French:La Joconde) |
Leonardo da Vinci,
c. 1503–1506 | 1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen The Mona Lisa, the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, was stolen today from the Louvre. No one noticed that the painting was gone until the following day; even then, guards just assumed the painting was being photographed.
"The famous painting hung in the place of honor in the Salon Carre, and not a vestige of a clue was left by the person or persons who took it to aid the detectives and police in trying to trace it.
A search of every nook and cranny of the Louvre, from roof to cellar, only brought to light the valuable frame in which the picture hung and the glass that covered it. These were intact on a back staircase," reported The Washington Post on August 23, 1911.
"Some persons there are who believe that a practical joke has been played, but, nevertheless, the government has set to work its entire force of detectives in an effort to recover the painting.
"NOTE: The painting was finally recovered over two years later. A Louvre employee, Vincenzo Peruggia, stole the painting by hiding in a broom closet until the museum closed and then simply walking out with it hidden underneath his coat. According to the Reno Evening Gazette, Peruggia stole the painting "as an act of patriotic vengeance for Napoleon's depredations in Italy."
Great Picture Stolen Today:
Mona Lisa, of Di Vinci Taken From the Louvre
Fort Wayne News - August 22, 1911.pdf
(actual newspaper article)
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By Janet Evans
Thursday, Aug 14 2008, 11:45 AM
1945: Japan Surrenders
Japan accepted terms for surrender to the Allied Forces today, though Washington officials had not received the official confirmation. "NBC Correspondent Max Jordan reported from Basle, Switzerland, today that a Japanese note will be at the White House in Washington 'within two hours.' Jordan broadcast the report at 4:20 p.m., eastern war time," informed The Sheboygan Press on August 14, 1945.
”A rising tide of joy is sweeping from the Pacific across the United States today,” reported the Sheboygan Journal on August 14, 1945. “Pearl Harbor – scene of the first Japanese attack – set the stage for the celebrations. The tension pent up since December 7, 1941, was let loose as soon as Tokyo broadcast the enemy surrender.”
NOTE: Four hours after President Truman addressed Americans, Emperor Hirohito said in the first broadcast he ever made over the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation network that the atomic bomb forced Japan to accept the first military defeat in the 2,605 years of its history.
Sheboygan Press Newspaper frontpage~ Japan Surrenders.pdf
(actual frontpage - may be offensive)
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By Janet Evans
Saturday, Aug 2 2008, 10:30 PM
Truly a wonderful thing. We really are fortunate to have DNA forensics. What would we have done after September 11th if not for DNA forensics? Tragically, many of the victims of the attack only had bone and tissue left. For the families, this was the only way to identify their loved ones.
Criminals don’t like DNA forensics. Although some criminals have been proven innocent due to this science.
The government has a mission. It is to find and identify soldiers from past wars.
MIAs…
Read the opening and then continue this interesting story from the Boston Globe
Army Major George Eyster didn't know - couldn't know - the two young men whose fighter planes disappeared into the jungle 64 years ago. But Eyster, a 32-year-old combat veteran of the Iraq war, feels like he does.
Gazing down over a sparkling harbor toward the caves where Japanese forces once hid from relentless American bombing, he thinks about the costs of war, then and now.
Eyster flew a helicopter gunship in Iraq, hovering only 50 feet above the charred battlegrounds of the Sunni Triangle and trying to take out enemy insurgents before they could kill American troops. Sometimes he succeeded. Sometimes he didn't.
Now, as a rumbling volcano spews ash in the distance, he stands on the killing fields of another war, where an earlier generation of young Americans sat in the terrifying loneliness of their cockpits, trying to take out enemy fighters defending the main Japanese base in the South Pacific.
Eyster, who traded in his military uniform for a polo shirt emblazoned with the signature black and white POW/MIA flag, came to Papua New Guinea to lead a group of soldiers - most of them Iraq and Afghanistan veterans - to try to find the remains of two World War II fliers who were just 19 and 25 when they were lost in 1944.
The expedition is part of the Pentagon's ambitious new initiative to locate tens of thousands of MIAs from World War II, many lost for decades in terrain that was considered unreachable, masked by unforgiving jungles or closed off by hostile regimes.
Armed with new technologies that can extract DNA from mere shards of tooth or bone, the searchers are trying to bring closure to a war that is starting to recede from living memory. For Eyster, the feeling of connection is palpable: The two men his team is endeavoring to find - Marion R. McCown and Allan S. Harrison III - might as well be the pilots he led into battle in Iraq.
"I think to myself, I have been in command of 18- and 19-year-old men - and women, in fact - flying helicopters across Iraq," Eyster says. "One of our aircraft was shot down over Baqubah, and we lost the two pilots in there.
"Both of the World War II pilots, McCown and Harrison, now belong to military history. Neither has any known descendants. No one is waiting at home for the recovery of their remains. Eyster and his fellow soldiers are undertaking this mission for the pilots - and for themselves.
"In our own minds we are doing what we would want to be done for ourselves," Eyster says. "I have seen guys break their backs for the idea that we are going to bring this little shred of evidence back home because he is a comrade-in-arms, he is a buddy."
Continued...
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By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Jul 29 2008, 11:51 AM
I was at a wedding for the best friend of my daughter back in May. It was a beautiful wedding, up in Green Bay. I was very surprised, though, that the bride chose to recite ultra traditional vows, regarding submitting to her husband.
Today is the anniversary of the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Princess Diana chose to buck tradition and not recite totally traditional vows. I’m sure the Royal family wasn’t very happy…but there was a lot they were not happy about with Diana.
1981: Prince Charles and Diana wedDiana Frances Spencer and Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, were married at St. Paul's Cathedral in London today. It was estimated that 500 million people watched the ceremony on television. "After the 80-minute Church of England ceremony, the royal couple rode back to Buckingham Palace in an open carriage, wending through a crowd of almost one million people who roared their good wishes and waved a sea of Union Jack flags. Church bells rang across the realm," reported the Syracuse Herald-Journal on July 29, 1981. "The union of the 32-year-old prince of Wales and Lady Diana, the 20-year-old kindergarten teacher with the captivating smile, was the first time in three centuries the heir to the British throne had married an English-born woman.
"NOTE: Although the occasion was one of the largest royal events in decades, Diana did not agree with all of the usual customs. Before the wedding, she removed the word "obey" from her wedding vows. She also declared that she would not walk one pace behind Charles or refrain from using his first name in public.
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By Janet Evans
Wednesday, Jul 2 2008, 12:18 PM
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 2, 2008
President Bush Discusses 2008 G8 Summit
Rose Garden
10:31 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Next week I'm going to travel to Japan for the eighth and final G8 summit of my presidency.
At recent summits, G8 countries have made pledges to help developing nations address challenges, from health care to education, to corruption. Now we need to show the world that the G8 can be accountable for its promises and deliver results. As I said the other day, we need people who not only make promises, but write checks, for the sake of human rights and human dignity, and for the sake of peace.
Accountability is really important when it comes to our work on the continent of Africa. In 2005, G8 leaders promised to double development assistance to Africa by 2010. America is on track to meet our commitments. And in Japan, I'll urge other leaders to fulfill their commitments, as well.
We must also fulfill our commitments in the battle against HIV/AIDS and malaria. I've asked Congress to reauthorize and expand the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, doubling our funding for this vital effort. It's very important that Congress reauthorize this plan, but in the meantime, we're fulfilling our promises that we made, not only to -- at the G8, but more importantly, to the people of -- on the continent of Africa.
It's important that over the next five years that we support antiretroviral treatment for approximately 2.5 million people, that we prevent 12 million new AIDS infections, and that we care for 12 million people also affected by HIV/AIDS -- including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children. Last year, the G8 agreed to meet those commitments; they agreed to match. They also agreed to help us reduce malaria in affected countries by half. And I just -- I hope that these countries understand the great promise and hope that comes when we help alleviate this suffering. And so one of my really important agenda items is going to -- is going to rally our partners to make commitments and meet commitments.
We'll also discuss additional steps to confront some other challenges, such as the need to train health care workers in G8 partner countries in Africa. It's one thing to say we're going to help people with their -- deal with disease, but a lot of these countries need workers that are capable of helping, of reaching out to people in need. We should se | |
