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BUMMER, MAN!!!!

I wanted to post this perspective before the political side gets even worse and forces Ross to lock this thread.

Just to put some perspective on Woodstock, during that time I was finishing up my 18 month military assignment on the tiny island of Guam in the Pacific. While there I worked ground communications for B-52s (Air Force Bombers) that were working hard and heavy delivering previously unexploded ammo to North Vietnam. I saw two of these bombers crash on takeoff (normally with a crew of 6 to 8) with no survivors. My next door neighbor was supposed to be on one of those flights but was bumped at the last minute.

I communicated and helped one B-52 limp back to the Philippines with only four of its eight engines operating. At the time it was thought that B-52s could not stay in the air with less than 5 engines operating. The last communications I got from them was as they approached Clark Air Base in the Philippines at less than 1500 FEET with more than a mile to go. I later found out they did make it but 2 of the 6 crewmembers did not.

Because of all my security clearances and frequent ?peeing in the bottle?, nothing stronger than alcohol ever touched my lips during my entire military career. So while the hippie movement of free love, drugs and great times were going on, I, along with 100s of thousands of other young men and women, were out there defending their freedom to do such things.

Such is life.

PARTY ON!!!!!

May God Bless,

Danny :)
 
gadgetman said:
BUMMER, MAN!!!!

I wanted to post this perspective before the political side gets even worse and forces Ross to lock this thread.

Just to put some perspective on Woodstock, during that time I was finishing up my 18 month military assignment on the tiny island of Guam in the Pacific. While there I worked ground communications for B-52s (Air Force Bombers) that were working hard and heavy delivering previously unexploded ammo to North Vietnam. I saw two of these bombers crash on takeoff (normally with a crew of 6 to 8) with no survivors. My next door neighbor was supposed to be on one of those flights but was bumped at the last minute.

I communicated and helped one B-52 limp back to the Philippines with only four of its eight engines operating. At the time it was thought that B-52s could not stay in the air with less than 5 engines operating. The last communications I got from them was as they approached Clark Air Base in the Philippines at less than 1500 FEET with more than a mile to go. I later found out they did make it but 2 of the 6 crewmembers did not.

Because of all my security clearances and frequent ?peeing in the bottle?, nothing stronger than alcohol ever touched my lips during my entire military career. So while the hippie movement of free love, drugs and great times were going on, I, along with 100s of thousands of other young men and women, were out there defending their freedom to do such things.

Such is life.

PARTY ON!!!!!

May God Bless,

Danny :)
Click to expand...

I also thank you!

Take this thread lightly Danny. It's just to remember a time in our lives, not to draw political divisiveness into it. I appreciate your prospective of the times also.
 
skeptic49 said:
A friend and I planned to drive up to Woodstock in my jalopy, a 1950 Plymouth sedan. Jim
Click to expand...

Jim,

My first car was a 1950 Plymouth 4 door sedan, with the ship emblem on the big hood. The old flathead six did not like moisture of any kind. I swear someone could sneeze close to it and it wouldn't start. I drove that car hard. The front springs had grown weak with age and it sat down in the front end. Even though the engine was stock, everyone just KNEW I had put something else in it.

May God Bless,

Danny :)
 
Ross said:
I also thank you!

Take this thread lightly Danny. It's just to remember a time in our lives, not to draw political divisiveness into it. I appreciate your prospective of the times also.
Click to expand...

Ross,

Nothing negative meant by my post. I just looked at those times thru Air Force Blue Glasses instead of Rose Colored Glasses. :p;)

I also think the perspective of History will take a more gracious look on these times we are now living in. No matter what your personal thoughts are of the man, our Commander-in-Chief has never waivered, no matter what the polls have shown. IMHO, a lesser man could have put his finger to the wind (not the middle one) and did things different just to raise his standings in the polls. Unfortunately, a true leader must make the unpopular decisions and stand by them, no matter what.

I also take those thanks for my (and my brothers and sisters in arms) service humbly. I volunteered for the Air Force only because it was either that or be DRAFTED into the Army. When I first signed those papers I never dreamed I would serve for 26 years, 2 months and 26 days (but who's counting:D).

Putting my soapbox in the basement with Bubba. :rolleyes::p;):D

May God Bless,

Danny :)
 
Achtung Danny...!

Achtung Danny...!

skeptic49 said:
Politics aside, all citizens owe a debt of gratitude to our veterans. Thank you for your service, Danny.

Best wishes,

Jim
Click to expand...

Gadgetman, Mr. Danny - I would like to echo Jim's wishes of gratitude to our veterans who unselfishly continue to give it all even in these times.

The man who lives under this roof with me also is a Vietnam Veteran along with his brother - two brothers, one joined the Navy and one got drafted into the Army (need I say more..:() Just last night we watched natgeo and the special on "Inside the Vietnam War" where more than 50 veterans provided firsthand accounts of the Vietnam War, one of the longest and bloodiest battles in U.S. history. Yes, I remember the body bags like it was yesterday.

The boy I rode to college with quit school, volunteered and has his name engraved on the Wall in Washington.

You, along with ALL people who have ever served and who are serving now have my utmost respect and appreciation and you always will.

I like to poke fun at politicians and really it isn't even very hard..:D So, since this is an old hippie thread, how 'bout this gal?!?!:D
 
Isn't It Amazing....

Isn't It Amazing....

How some of us, even though we were little doll hugging ladies, or little shavers like myself can remember some of this stuff. I know I do...you have to admit, some of it was sooooo wild that it's impossible to forget.....Mind you, not that it was all that bad, just memorable:D:eek::D Harrybaby:D
 
gadgetman said:
Ross,

Nothing negative meant by my post. I just looked at those times thru Air Force Blue Glasses instead of Rose Colored Glasses. :p;)

I also think the perspective of History will take a more gracious look on these times we are now living in. No matter what your personal thoughts are of the man, our Commander-in-Chief has never waivered, no matter what the polls have shown. IMHO, a lesser man could have put his finger to the wind (not the middle one) and did things different just to raise his standings in the polls. Unfortunately, a true leader must make the unpopular decisions and stand by them, no matter what.

I also take those thanks for my (and my brothers and sisters in arms) service humbly. I volunteered for the Air Force only because it was either that or be DRAFTED into the Army. When I first signed those papers I never dreamed I would serve for 26 years, 2 months and 26 days (but who's counting:D).

Putting my soapbox in the basement with Bubba. :rolleyes::p;):D

May God Bless,

Danny :)
Click to expand...

Ok, gotcha. Just thought something different when you mentioned locking of the thread.

Speaking of drafting---Can you believe back in the day that my Dad who just retired was drafted and myself, just entering first grade also got a draft notice? :eek: Just goes to say how screwed up things were then too. :)
 
skeptic49 said:
Debussy called Wagner's music "a beautiful sunset that has been mistaken for a sunrise." Likewise, the late 60s was, we thought, a lovely sunrise of beauty, optimism, and love...the "dawning of the age of aquarius," that ultimately turned out to be a sunset.

Jim[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
Click to expand...

Rarely do I read something so sad , beautiful and true.

I was about 3 when Woodstock took place.Later I nagged at my mom ....
"why didn't you take me?!" She replies that she didn't think it was a good
environment for kids. And I say " But there were alot of kids there!"
Of course I was teasing but the feeling behind it was true-I felt gypped!
I missed the 60's! I don't know if others like Ross or Harrybaby feel this way.
But some of my friends did,and we tried to recreate it in a way...the
fringe jackets,mocassins,Indian jewelry and the music,etc.
In spite of some negative connotations , I will always see that time as
a positive.
Dina:)
 
Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

Danny, I respect the sincerity of your fighting for freedom view. I just wonder quite whose freedoms you actually were fighting for. Haliburtons maybe?


Dwight D Eisenhower, hardly a military hating pacifist, saw the writing on the wall and said so in 1961. I quote him.


'A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present

* and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.'
 
gadgetman said:
My first car was a 1950 Plymouth 4 door sedan, with the ship emblem on the big hood.
Click to expand...

Danny,

I actually owned TWO of them. I bought my first 1950 4 door Plmouth sedan, a grey one, in 1964 when I was 15 years old. It was the "DeLuxe" model. I paid $35.00 for it to a man who worked with my father at the Atlantic Oil Refinery in Philadelphia. I couldn't get my driving learner's permit until I was 16, so I parked the car in front of our row house and worked on fixing it up (the floor was rotted out in the back seat area.) When I did get my license, I used it to drive myself and my brother back and fourth from high school. A few years later, my grandfather gave me his green 1950 Plymouth that was a "Special DeLuxe" model, and I sold the grey one to a farmer in South New Jersey.

You're right, the flat head six engine was sometimes difficult to start. In the winter I used to have to push the car then hop in and pop the clutch to get it to start. I couldn't do that today:D Another memorable thing about these cars was the vacuum driven windshield wipers that stopped operating when you had to accellerate to go up a hill.

Those were the days!

Jim
 
Bonzo Dog said:
Danny, I respect the sincerity of your fighting for freedom view. I just wonder quite whose freedoms you actually were fighting for. Haliburtons maybe?
Click to expand...

I think we know the answer.

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex."

Thanks for posting the Ike speech. Too bad we didn't heed his advice.

Jim
 
Bonzo,
I assume the cautionary example of British colonialism always looms in your thought process?
 
26 years of service? Thank you, brother, you got me beat!

One thing about the 1960's that I recall, it was not all love and kisses. Riots, both race and anti-war, the ongoing war in Viet Nam, politics pulled to the extreme, Bobby killed, and then there was Kent State. There was a time along about 1969 or 1970 when the phrase "American Revolution II" was heard often. There were times when I began to wonder back then if this nation was going to slip into armed conflict with itself, and that was not a pleasant idea.
 
Mary said:
Bonzo,
I assume the cautionary example of British colonialism always looms in your thought process?
Click to expand...



:D Ah you mean the good old days when Britain ruled the waves.
There was no need to lie about greed. No need to invent weapons of mass destruction. Just blatantly and unashamedly exploit overseas countries. Rip off their natural resources and if they don't have any just kidnap the population and sell them for profit in N. America and the Caribbean. The East India Company , an upfront commercial organisation ran India for hundreds of years with the open blessing of UK government and crown. Think of them as a Haliburton of yesteryear. The East India Company flag may look familiar to you. ;)

British_East_India_Company_Flag_from_Rees.jpg
 
and from a Canadian perspective - the Hudson Bay Company, did much the same in Canada as the East India company did in Asia, but with more history on exploration and possibly less on governance - they left that to the Jesuits:eek:
 
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