Save the Memorial Park! Vote No on Measure B ballot June 5th

[Happiness]

Quite frankly. I think my idea of a military museum of the base might be a better idea. (It will take a lot of work to do. Such as red tape. For that reason alone. I don?t think it will happen.)

I honestly think that museum at great park is too small.

Speaking of, has anyone visited the aircraft carrier USS Midway in San Diego? It?s fascinating, made me watch Top Gun again (which is getting a sequel BTW).

When visiting the Midway museum, I especially enjoyed the South Vietnamese Cessna plane on display there. The Midway was off the coast of Vietnam in April 1975 evacuating desperate people as the country was being overrun by the Communists. Suddenly a tiny Cessna made a low pass and dropped a hand written note on the flight deck that said something to the effect of I've got five kids and an hour worth of fuel". The Midway's captain then proceeded to commit several serious Federal crimes by pushing a bunch of aircraft into the ocean to clear a path for the cessna to land which it did safely.  After the Midway became a museum, the Vietnamese Cessna pilot brought his American born grandchildren to San Diego to see the ship that saved their family:

http://www.navyhistory.org/2014/04/the-opportunity-to-make-history-vietnam-war-heros-flight-to-freedom-remembered/

 

[eyephone]

It?s too bad I don?t really care if they brought their family back to the ship.

Maybe we should share Disneyland stories. How it changed people lives.

 

[aquabliss]

Usually in war a kind heart will get you killed.  The story could have easily gone the other way where the midway dumps their best fighter jets in an effort to save a family while they are attacked from behind and the ship is sunk because of their vulnerability and inability to scramble enough defense aircraft. 

Would we still have put a plaque and told a story about the Captains warm heart?  He probably would have died in the bombing and no one would be able to tell the story about the note dropped.  He?d go down in history as a traitor who dumped his fighter jets into the ocean so the enemy could sink our carrier.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

The story says the pics of the family are at an event in Florida so not sure if they ever went to San Diego.

The Captain dumped helicopters, not fighter jets.

The amazing part is Ly being able to land his plane on the deck without a tail hook. When we were at the USS Midway, they explained how the tail hook/cable system is crucial to landing planes on such a short landing area, and being able to get the right angle of descent and speed without knowing how to use the "meatball" light system is crazy... esp because the landing strip is diagonal so if the carrier is moving, you have to adjust for that sideways motion too.

@eyephone: Bad comparison. Space Mountain wasn't the home to courageous soldiers during the war(s).

 

[eyephone]

Happy has so much compassion about the US warship. Why doesn?t he show the same compassion when it comes to Russia? Russia recently poisoned multiple people in the UK.

Correct me if I?m wrong.

 

[Happiness]

The story says the pics of the family are at an event in Florida so not sure if they ever went to San Diego.

The Captain dumped helicopters, not fighter jets.

The amazing part is Ly being able to land his plane on the deck without a tail hook. When we were at the USS Midway, they explained how the tail hook/cable system is crucial to landing planes on such a short landing area, and being able to get the right angle of descent and speed without knowing how to use the "meatball" light system is crazy... esp because the landing strip is diagonal so if the carrier is moving, you have to adjust for that sideways motion too.

@eyephone: Bad comparison. Space Mountain wasn't the home to courageous soldiers during the war(s).

The event in Florida was in 2014 at the place where the actual Cessna is displayed. There was another event in 2015 at the Midway museum in San Diego where Ly and his family attended. The Cessna on display at the USS Midway museum is a replica. As the docent on the Midway museum explained, Captain Chambers was the first black person to command a US carrier. He fully expected to be met at port by FBI agents with handcuffs but reporters on board had already got the story out and he was hailed as a hero instead of arrested. The US military was so demoralized by the collapse of South Vietnam that they needed a feel good story and this was certainly a feel good story.