The Rest of
the Story
Japan bombs mainland
USA! Army Air Corps becomes Army Air Forces, The Americans. Interesting,
inspiring, unusual stories generally like Paul Harvey's "The
Rest of the Story."
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The Missionary who saved them
The Rest of the
Doolittle Raid Story
We all have heard of
the daring raid on Tokyo. But have you heard the "Rest
of the Story?"
Click
the Star
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Doolittle's Crew
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Does this look like the entire US Congress?
Well, in case of nuclear war, this was it!
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sheltered room would allow the entire Legislative branch
of government to meet after a nuclear exchange. It is
in the (no longer secret) "Bunker" under the
famous 5-star Resort The
Greenbrier. Click the star |
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"The Japs weren't on Iwo
Jima . . . they were in Iwo Jima"
The Emperor's Reluctant
Warrior
This Japanese General
didn't want a war with America, but he answered the
call from his Emperor. He changed Japanese tactics from
this point on in the war. Did this change actually win
the battle for Iwo Jima? Read this excerpt from Trinity
For
Gen. Kuribayashi's story click the star.
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Suggested
by Col. Norm Gertz, USMC (R) He was there!
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". . . the most horrible
campaigns in the history of man"
An Invasion
not Found in the History Books
The Planed invasion of Japan
Anonymous
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Ever wondered how the Pacific
war would have ended if not for the atomic bombs? Well, here's
an answer. The plans for Operation Downfall have been pulled
from the archives. It would have been "the most horrible
campaigns in the history of man." General Douglas MacArthur
estimated American casualties would be one million men by
the fall of 1946. One million young men of the "Greatest
Generation" wouldn't have come home to build the greatest
nation ever known.
But what about Japan? "Japan
today could be divided much like Korea" "The
cost in human life that resulted from the two atomic blasts
would be small in comparison to the total number of Japanese
lives that would have been lost by this aerial devastation."
Don't miss this story! It has
been hidden away in the archives for decades.
Click the star . . .
Suggested
by Tom Kercher, Florida 
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Masonic emblem of U.S.-Australian friendship from 1908.
Click for a larger view
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Why I love America
A Day Brightener
David Cooper, a mate
from Australia, remembers a terrifying time in Australia
when their army was in Europe fighting for England and
Japanese forces threatened a brutal invasion. Then the
Americans came. Click the star for the story.
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USS Oriskany's
BURIAL AT SEA
This beautiful, magnificent,
corpse will "lie in state" at the municipal
pier in Pensacola Florida untill it's "burial at
sea" some 22.5 miles offshore. Watch here for details!
Click the star for the story.
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Hero's
son heard a different drummer
What
Happened to Hero's Son?
Eric Shackle sets out to find the
beautiful child that his wife, Jerry knew in Australia
in 1942. The youngster disappeared after his father,
General Douglas MacArthur, returned to the US from another
war in Korea
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General MacArthur, Arthur MacArthur
IV, and Jean. American Caesar, Little, Brown and Co.,
1978
Click Image
for larger view
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The Army Air Corps
became the Army Air Forces on June 20, 1941, six months before
Pearl Harbor.
This seems to be universally unknown. As you can see from
the poll results below, the answer least selected was, actually
the correct one. I have spoken to many who served in the Army
Air Forces during WWII who still believed they were in the
Army Air Corps. Why is, perhaps, stated best by The
Army Air Forces Historical Association.
"World War II Air Corps personnel
had a strong sentimental attachment to their branch. The Air
Corps had an aura about it that seemed to set it apart from
other Army branches. Now, sixty years later, many WW II servicemen
still proudly identify themselves as veterans of the Air Corps.
However -- although the Air Corps was their branch -- they
actually served and fought in the Army Air Forces! "
My thanks to the The
Army Air Forces Historical Association who's excellent
site gives details and the history behind the move.
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The One Dollar Bill Explained
.
The Dollar
Bill
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Click any picture
for a full size view
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Take out a one dollar bill
(older version) and look at it. The one dollar bill you're
looking at first came off the presses in 1957 in its present
design. This so-called paper money is in fact a cotton and
linen blend, with red and blue minute silk fibers running
through it. It is actually material. We've all washed it
without it falling
apart. A special blend of ink is used, the contents we will
never know. It is overprinted with symbols and then it is
starched to make it water resistant and pressed to give
it that nice crisp look.
 If
you look on the front of the bill, you will see the United
States Treasury Seal. On the top you will see the scales
for the balance - a balanced budget. In the center you have
a carpenter's T-square, a tool used for an even cut. Underneath
is the Key to the United States Treasury.
That's all pretty easy to figure out,
but what is on the back of that dollar bill is something
we should all know. If you turn the bill over, you will
see two circles. Both circles, together, comprise the Great
Seal of the United States. The First Continental Congress
requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come
up with a Seal. It took them four years to
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and another two years to get it approved. If you look
at the left hand circle, you will see a Pyramid. Notice
the face is lighted and the western side is dark. This
country was just beginning. We had not begun to explore
the West or decided what we could do for Western |
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Civilization. The Pyramid is uncapped,
again signifying that we were not even close to being finished.
Inside the capstone you have the all-seeing eye, and ancient
 symbol
for divinity. It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't
do it alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could
do anything. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is on this currency.
The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means "God
has favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid,
NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means "a new order has begun."
At the base of the pyramid is the Roman Numeral for 1776.
If you look at the right-hand circle,
and check it carefully, you will learn that it is on every
National Cemetery in the United States. It is also on the
Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell, Florida National
Cemetery and is the centerpiece of most hero's monuments.
Slightly modified, it is the seal of the President of the
United
States and it is always visible whenever he speaks, yet
no one knows what the symbols mean. The Bald Eagle was selected
as a symbol for victory for two reasons: first, he is not
afraid of a storm; he is strong and he is smart enough to
soar above it. Secondly, he wears no material crown. We
had just broken from the King of England. Also, notice the
shield is unsupported. This country can now stand on its
own. At the top of that shield you have a white bar signifying
congress, a unifying factor. We were coming together as
one nation. In the Eagle's beak you will read, "E PLURIBUS
UNUM", meaning "one nation from many people."
Above the Eagle you have thirteen stars representing the
thirteen original colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding
rolling away. Again, we were coming together as one. Notice
what the Eagle holds in his talons. He holds an olive branch
and arrows. This country wants peace, out we will never
be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants
to face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns
toward the arrows.
They say that the number 13 is an unlucky
number. This is almost a worldwide belief. You will usually
never see a room numbered 13, or any hotels or motels with
a 13th floor. But, think about this: 13 original colonies,
13 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 13 stripes
on our flag, 13 steps on the Pyramid, 13 letters in the
Latin above, 13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum ",
13 stars above the Eagle, 13 plumes of feathers on each
span of the Eagle's wing, 13 bars on that shield, 13 leaves
on the olive branch, 13 fruits, and if you look closely,
13 arrows. And for minorities: the 13th Amendment. I always
ask people, "Why don't you know this?" Your children
don't know this and their history teachers don't know this.
Too many veterans have given up too much to ever let the
meaning fade. Many veterans remember coming home to an America
that didn't care. Too many veterans never came home at all.
Author unknown (if you know,
please email me)
Thanks to Tom Kercher, Florida
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The
largest airborne operation in history!
Operation
Market Garden
Operation
Market Garden was as an attempt to free occupied Holland
in September 1944. It was billed as the largest airborne
operation in history (see sidebar Quizlet Results).
But don't
take my word for it. Read a translation
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Quizlet
Results
What
was Operation Market Garden? It was a an attempt to
liberate the Netherlands in September 1944. Had it
succeeded, the war might have ended months before
it did. As to the answer that it was the largest airborne
attack in history, there was a little trap here. It
was billed as "The largest Airborne operation
in history." Operation Varsity landings in Northern
Germany (March 1945) were also billed as the largest
airborne operation in history. It is possible that
they were both correct. Operation Market Garden was
the largest up to then and Operation Varsity perhaps
broke the record six months later.
There were 295 respondents in 2 weeks.
1. Attempt to liberate occupied Holland ----------
56%
2. Largest airborne attack in history. ---------------
26%
3. MI-6 try to destabilize Nazi Government-------
05%
4. Escape Attempt from Stalag 43 - Poland------- 05%
5. Attempt by U.S. spies to assassinate Hitler-----08%
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from a web site in the Netherlands discussing
it. Thanks to Jeroen Cornelissen for this translation of the
Operation Market Garden web site. At the end of his translation,
he gives the address of this and another, the Wings
of Liberation Museum (in English) for more information.
Click
here for the translated web site
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The mainland US has
never been bombed from an enemy aircraft . . . Wrong!
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A special July
4th Message
by Robert Pappas
Editor's note: Robert is a retired
U.S. Marine Colonel who flew two combat tours in Viet Nam.
He was shot down over enemy territory once, but evaded capture
by ejecting out to sea. He earned the Purple Heart, Navy
Commendation Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star,
Air Medal (26) and two stars, Distinguished Flying Cross
(2) and the Legion of Merit (2). (He insists on adding an
old saying, "It's not what we get, but what we give
that measures the worth of the life we live.")
After retirement he became Regional Director
of Banking and Finance, Northwest Florida Region with offices
in Pensacola, in 1995; Acting District Administrator, District
10, Department of Children and Families in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida; and Regional Director of Banking and Finance, Southwest
Florida Region with offices in Fort Myers, in December 1999.
Click here to read Robert's message
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O'Hare Airport
and the WWII connection
During the course of World War II,
many people gained fame in one way or another. One of these
was Butch O'Hare, a fighter pilot assigned to an aircraft
carrier in the Pacific. On one occasion his entire squadron
was assigned to fly a particular mission. After O'Hare was
airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone
had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. Because of this, he
would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get
back to his ship. His flight leader told him to leave formation
and return.
As he was returning to the mothership, O'Hare could see a
squadron of Japanese Zeroes heading toward the fleet to attack.
With all the fighter planes gone, the fleet was almost defenseless,
his was the only opportunity to distract and divert them.
Single-handedly, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes
and attacked them. Butch dove at them and shot until all his
ammunition was gone, then he would dive and try to clip off
a wing or tail or anything that would make the enemy planes
unfit to fly. He did anything he could to keep them from reaching
the American ships. Finally, the Japanese squadron took off
in another direction, and Butch O'Hare and his fighter, both
badly shot up, limped back to the carrier. The American fighter
planes were rigged with cameras, so that as they flew and
fought, pictures were taken so pilots could learn more about
the terrain, enemy maneuvers, etc. So, even though O'Hare
told his story, it was not until the film from the camera
on his plane was developed, that they realized the extent
he really went to, to protect his fleet. He was recognized
as a hero and given one of the nation's highest military honors.
O'Hare Airport in Chicago was later named after him.
During the gangster era, in Chicago, there was a man called
Easy Eddie. He was working for a man you've all heard about:
Al Capone. Al Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic, but
he was notorious for the murders and crimes he'd committed.
Easy Eddie was Al Capone's lawyer, and a very good one. In
fact, because of his skill, he was able to keep Al Capone
out of jail. To show his appreciation, Al Capone paid him
very well. He not only earned big money, he would get extra
things, like a residence that filled an entire Chicago city
block. The house was fenced, and he had live-in help and all
of the conveniences of the day.
Easy Eddie had a son. He loved
his son and gave him all the best things while he was growing
up: clothes, cars, and a good education. And, because he
loved his son he tried to teach him right from wrong. But
one thing he couldn't give his son was a good name, nor
could he be a good example. Easy Eddie decided that this
was much more important than all the riches he had given
his son. So, he went to the authorities in order to rectify
the wrong he had done. It meant he must testify against
Al Capone, and he knew that Al Capone would do his best
to have him killed. But, he wanted most of all to try to
be an example and to do the best he could to give back to
his son a good name. So, he testified. Within the year,
he was shot and killed on a lonely street in Chicago.
Do
these stories seem unrelated . . . ? Butch O'Hare was Easy
Eddie's son.
Thanks
to John W. Greenley
This is not completely true according to Snopes. Thanks to Terry
Hostetter. See her letter at:
"It's
still a good story even if it isn't all true"
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The first time the haunting, sad Taps was played
It all began in 1862 during the
Civil War when Union Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his
men near Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The Confederate army
was on the other side of the narrow strip of land. During
the night Captain Ellicombe heard the moan of a soldier who
lay mortally wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a
Union or Confederate soldier the Captain decided to risk his
life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention.
Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire the Captain reached
the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment.
When the Captain finally reached his own lines he discovered
it was actually a Confederate soldier but the soldier was
dead. The Captain lit a lantern. Suddenly he caught his breath
and went numb with shock. In the dim light he saw the face
of the soldier. It was his son. The boy had been studying
music in the south when the war broke out. Without telling
his father, he enlisted in the Confederate Army.
The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission
of his superiors to give his son a full military burial despite
his enemy status. His request was partially granted. The Captain
had asked if he could have a group or Army band members play
a funeral hymn for the son at the funeral. That request was
turned down since the soldier was a Confederate.
Out of respect for the father they did say they could give
him only one musician. The Captain chose a bugler. He asked
the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found
on a piece of paper in the pocket on his dead son's uniform.
This wish was granted.
This music was the haunting melody we now know as "Taps"
that is used at all military funerals.
THESE ARE THE WORDS TO "TAPS"
Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lakes
From the hills
From the sky
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh
Thanks
to Tom Kercher, Florida
Note from the editor: Since Tom sent
this moving tale of Taps, new information has been received
from Bruce Deeter who wrote:
"I was doing some research on inspirational stories,
actually searching for links on the "Butch O'Hare - Easy
Eddie" story and found your "Rest of the Story"
site. From what I've read a Major General Butterfield is given
credit as the composer. I suggest you check out some of these
links:
http://www.west-point.org/taps/Taps.html
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/taps.htm
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/tapsproj.htm
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/taps-pro2.htm
Sincerely,
Bruce Deeter
To read Bruce's entire letter, see the letters
page.
Another email debunking the Taps story. This
one from Mac Smith. Too bad, it was a beautiful story.
To read Mac's entire letter, see the
letters
page.
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The
Unlucky Saga of the Willie Dee
The Ill-Fated
USS William D. Porter, DD-579
By Kit Bonner
Reprinted from The Navy Times (1995)
From November 1943 until her bizarre
loss in June 1945, the American Destroyer William D. Porter
was often met with the clever greeting, "Don't shoot,
we're Republicans!" when she entered port or joined other
naval ships. The significance of this expression was almost
a cult secret of the United States Navy until the story resurfaced
and received wide publicity after a ship's reunion in 1958.
More than half a century ago, the "Willie
Dee, " as the William D. Porter was nicknamed, accidentally
fired a live torpedo at the battleship Iowa during a practice
exercise on November 14, 1943. As if this weren't bad enough,
the Iowa was carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Secretary
of State Cordell Hull and all of the country's World War II
military brass to the "big three" conferences in
Cairo and Teheran. Roosevelt was to meet with Stalin of the
Soviet Union and Churchill of Great Britain, and had the W.D.
Porter's successfully launched torpedo struck the Iowa at
the aiming point, the last 50 years of history of world history
might have been quite different. Fortunately, the W.D. Porter's
warning allowed the Iowa to evade the speeding torpedo and
historic events carried on, as we know them.
The USS William D. Porter (DD-579) was
one of hundreds of big war-built assembly line destroyers.
Although smaller than current destroyers, they were powerful
and menacing in their day. They mounted a main battery of
five dual-purpose 5-inch, .38-caliber guns, and an assortment
of 20 mm and 40 mm AAA guns, but their main armament consisted
of 10 fast-running and accurate torpedoes that carried 500-pound
warheads.
The W.D. Porter was placed in command
on July 6, 1943 under the command of LCDR Wilfred A. Walter,
a man on the Navy's career fast track. In the months before
she was detailed to accompany the Iowa across the Atlantic
in November 1943, the W.D. Porter's crew members learned their
trades, but not without experiencing certain mishaps that
set the stage for the "big goof." The mishaps began
in earnest with the mysterious order to escort the pride of
the fleet, the big new battleship Iowa to North Africa. The
night before it left Norfolk, Virginia, the W.D. Porter successfully
demolished a nearby sister ship when she backed down along
the other ship's side and, with her anchor, tore down railings,
a life raft, the captain's gig and various formerly valuable
pieces of equipment. The Willie Dee suffered merely a slightly
scratched anchor, but her career of mayhem and destruction
had begun.
The next event occurred just 24 hours
later. The four-ship convoy, consisting of the Iowa and her
secret passengers, the W.D. Porter and two other destroyers,
was under strict instruction to maintain complete silence
as they were going through a known U-boat feeding ground where
speed and silence were the best defenses. Suddenly, a tremendous
explosion rocked the convoy, and all of the ships commenced
anti-submarine maneuvers. The maneuvers continued until the
W.D. Porter sheepishly admitted that one of her depth charges
had fallen off of the stern and detonated in the rough sea.
The safety had not been set as instructed; Captain Walter's
fast track career was fast becoming sidetracked.
Shortly thereafter, a freak wave inundated
the W.D. Porter, stripping everything that wasn't lashed down
and washing a man overboard who was never found. Next, the
engine room lost power in one of its boilers. And, during
all, the captain had to make reports almost hourly to the
Iowa on the Willie Dee's difficulties. At this point, it would
have been merciful for the force commander to have detached
the hard luck ship and sent her back to Norfolk. But that
didn't happen.
The morning of November 14, 1943, dawned
with a moderate sea and pleasant weather. The Iowa and her
escorts were just east of Bermuda when the president and his
guests wanted to see how the big ship could defend herself
against an air attack, so the Iowa launched a number of weather
balloons to use as anti-aircraft targets. Seeing more than
100 guns shooting at the balloons was exciting, and the president
was duly proud of his Navy. Just as proud was Chief of Naval
Operations Admiral Ernest J King, large in size and by demeanor
a true monarch of the seas. Disagreeing with him meant the
end of a naval career. Up to this time, no one knew what firing
a torpedo at him would mean!
Over on the Willie Dee, Captain Walter
watched the fireworks display with admiration and envy. Thinking
about career redemption and breaking the hard luck spell,
the captain sent his impatient crew to battle stations, and
they began to shoot down the balloons that, missed by the
Iowa, had drifted into the W.D. Porter's vicinity. Down
on the torpedo mounts, the W.D. Porter's crew watched and
waited--and prepared to take practice shots at the big battleship,
which, even at 6,000 yards, seemed to blot out the horizon.
Torpedomen Lawton Dawson and Tony Fazio were among those responsible
for the torpedoes and for ensuring that the primers (small
explosive charges) were installed during actual combat and
removed during practice. Dawson, unfortunately, forgot to
remove the primer from torpedo tube number three.
Up on the bridge, a new torpedo officer
ordered the simulated firing and commanded, "Fire one."
"Fire two," and finally, "Fire three."
There was no "Fire four." The sequence was interrupted
by a whoooossshhh - the unmistakable sound made by a successfully
armed and launched torpedo. LT H. Seward Lewis, who witnessed
the entire event, later described the next few minutes as
what hell would look like if it ever broke loose. Just
after he saw the torpedo hit the water on its way to the Iowa,
where some of the most prominent figures in world history
stood, he innocently asked the captain, "Did you give
permission to fire a torpedo?" Captain Walter uttered
something akin to, "Hell, no. I, I, iii, aaa, iiiii ---
what?!" Not exactly in keeping with some other famous
naval quotes, like John Paul Jones', "I have not yet
begun to fight," or even Civil war era RADM David Glasgow
Farragut's, "Damn the torpedoes - full speed ahead!"
although the latter would have been appropriate.
The next five minutes aboard the Willie
Dee were pandemonium. Everyone raced around shouting conflicting
instructions and attempting to warn the Iowa of imminent danger.
First, a flashing light attempted a warning about the torpedo
but indicated the wrong direction. Next, the W.D. Porter signaled
that she was going in reverse at full speed. Despite
the strictly enforced radio silence, it was finally decided
to notify the Iowa. The radio operator on the destroyer yelled,
"Lion [code word for the Iowa], lion, come right!"
The Iowa operator, more concerned about improper radio procedure,
requested that the offending station identify itself first.
Finally, the message was received, and the Iowa began turning
to avoid the speeding torpedo.
Meantime, on the Iowa's bridge, word
of the torpedo firing had reached President Roosevelt. He
only wanted to see the torpedo and asked that his wheelchair
be moved to the railing. His loyal secret Service bodyguard
immediately drew his pistol as if to shoot the torpedo!
The Iowa began evasive maneuvers, yet trained all guns
on the William D. Porter. There was now some thought that
the W D. Porter was part of an assassination plot. Within
moments of the warning, a thunderous explosion occurred behind
the Iowa. The torpedo had been detonated by the wash kicked
up by the battleship's increased speed. The crisis was over,
and so were some careers. Captain Walter's final utterance
to the Iowa was in response to a question about the origin
of the torpedo. His answer was a weak, "We did it."
Shortly thereafter, the new state-of-the-art
destroyer, her ambitious captain and seemingly fumbling crew
were placed under arrest and sent to Bermuda for trial. It
was the first time in the history of the United States Navy
that an entire ship and her company had been arrested. The
William D. Porter was surrounded by Marines when it docked
in Bermuda and was held there for several days as the closed-session
inquiry attempted to find out what had happened. The outcome
was delayed for a couple of days until Torpedoman Dawson finally
confessed to having inadvertently left the primer in the torpedo
tube, which caused the launch. Just after the torpedo left
its tube, Dawson had thrown the primer over the side to conceal
his mistake. The truth was eventually pried out of him, and
the inquiry drew to a close. The whole incident was chalked
up to an incredible set of circumstances and placed under
a cloak of secrecy. That's not to say that the Navy
took no action. Captain Walter and several former William
D. Porter officers and sailors eventually found themselves
in obscure shore assignments and Dawson was sentenced to 14
years of hard labor. President Roosevelt intervened, however,
and asked that no punishment be meted out as the near disaster
had been an accident.
The destroyer next found herself in the
upper Aleutians on patrol. It was probably thought that this
was as safe a place as any for the destroyer and those around
her. But before being reassigned to another area in the Pacific,
she accidentally, but of course, successfully, lobbed a 5-inch
shell into the front yard of the American base commandant.
When the William D. Porter later joined
other ships off Okinawa, the destroyer did distinguish herself
by shooting down a variety of Japanese aircraft and, reportedly,
three American planes! She was generally greeted by, "Don't
shoot; we're Republicans," and the crew of the Willie
Dee had become used to the ribbing. However, the crew members
of a sister ship, the USS Luce, were not so polite in their
greetings after the W.D. Porter accidentally riddled her side
and superstructure with gunfire. On June 10, 1945, the hard
luck ship met her end. A Japanese "Val" bomber,
constructed almost entirely of wood and canvas, slipped through
the defenses. As it had very little metal surface, the bomber
was not unlike our present-day stealth planes. It did not
register on radar. The bomber, a fully loaded kamikaze, headed
for the ship near the W.D. Porter but, at the last moment,
veered away and crashed alongside the unlucky destroyer. There
was a sigh of relief as the plane sank out of sight without
exploding. Unfortunately, it then blew up underneath the destroyer
and opened up the ship's hull in the worse possible location.
Three hours later, the last man, the captain, jumped to the
safety of a rescue vessel, leaving the ship that almost changed
the face of the world and national politics to slip stern
first into 2,400 feet of water.
Miraculously, not a single soul was lost
in the sinking. It was almost as if the ship that had been
so unlucky chose to let her crew live. The saga of the USS
William D. Porter was over.
Thanks
to Tom Kercher, Florida
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 "The Americans"
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It was June 5, 1973. The United
States had just pulled out of the Vietnamese War which ended
in defeat. It was a war condemned daily on TV, over radio
and in the press. The war had divided the American people.
At home and abroad it seemed everyone was lambasting the United
States. The American president was being investigated and
it seemed that all American institutions were being torn down.
It was a sad time in America. That's why this broadcast was
immediately flashed across the U.S. It was received by a grateful
America -- finally someone with something nice to say about
us.
Gordon Sinclair, in his noon-hour
broadcast rose to the defense of the American people. His
voice was heard around the world as no Canadian has before
or since. Years afterwards, his words are repeated over and
over again. They were read into the U. S. Congressional Records
several times. They keep reappearing because they are true
and because it is so unusual for someone to defend America.
I'm proud to repeat them here again
Gordon Sinclair's "The Americans"
- Original Script "LET'S BE PERSONAL" Broadcast
June 5, 1973 CFRB, Toronto, Ontario
Topic: "The Americans"
The United States dollar took another
pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning,
hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany. It has
declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks
it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous
and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.
As long as sixty years ago, when I first
started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow
River and the Yangtse. Who rushed in with men and money to
help? The Americans did.
They have helped control floods on the
Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich
bottom land of the Mississippi is under water and no foreign
land has sent a dollar to help. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser
extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of
war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and
forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is
today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the
United States.
When the franc was in danger of collapsing
in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their
reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris.
I was there. I saw it.
When distant cities are hit by earthquakes,
it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua
Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this
spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes.
Nobody has helped.
The Marshall Plan .. the Truman Policy
.. all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged
countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing
about the decadent war-mongering Americans.
I'd like to see one of those countries
that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar
build its own airplanes.
Come on... let's hear it! Does any other
country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo
Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas DC-10? If so, why
don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except
Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth
even consider putting a man or women on the moon?
You talk about Japanese technocracy and
you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you
get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you
find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and
safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans
put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look
at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They
are here on our streets, most of them ... unless they are
breaking Canadian laws .. are getting American dollars from
Ma and Pa at home to spend here.
When the Americans get out of this bind
... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the
hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the
Israel bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams
or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.
When the railways of France, Germany
and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans
who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New
York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose.
Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the
Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble.
Can you name me even one time when someone
else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there
was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone and
I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked
around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high.
And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at
the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
I hope Canada is not one of these. But
there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians. And finally,
the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting
in New Orleans this morning that it was broke.
This year's disasters .. with the year
less than half-over… has taken it all and nobody...but
nobody... has helped.
(c) 1973 BY GORDON SINCLAIR
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Thanks
to Ray Hildebrand, Florida
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