“The second B-25 was actually known to have crashed in Papua New Guinea’s Madang Harbor. Residents and scuba divers had seen the wreck over the past 30 years, but no archaeologists had surveyed the site. Six crewmen were on board that aircraft when it went down. Five of them survived and were taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese. The sixth is believed to have gone down with the plane and is listed as MIA.
“It’s because of that sixth crew member that Project Recover made it a priority to properly document the wreck site. Their scientifically precise documentation will be of paramount importance to the US military should they attempt to locate and recover potential remains of the missing airman or any other soldier associated with the information about the wreck.
“Project Recover also enlisted the aid of oral histories from local residents who heard the wartime stories passed down from their fathers and grandfathers. These accounts proved invaluable to researchers. Not only did they learn about the downed B-25s, but they also learned of burial sites on Papua New Guinea and another airplane that crashed on land instead of in the ocean.
“In the cases of the B-25 wrecks as with all such finds, Project Recover forwards all information about the craft, any identifying information and all possible crewmen associated with the wreck to the Department of Defense’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). It is the DPAA that pursues all potential recovery and repatriation of MIA remains and that notifies surviving family members.”
http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/47482
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Tiny houses
My wife said of the tiny house craze on TV: "In five years most of them will be parked in the back yards of real houses, as storage buildings."
Hank Hill and his mistake about George W. Bush
Hank Hill (King of the Hill) was a supposed big fan of Gov. George W. Bush. In one episode, Hank had the opportunity of meeting Gov. Bush in person. Hank stood in line with his wife, Peggy, all excited at meeting the governor. Hank’s time came; he and Gov. Bush shook hands. Hank walked away, stricken, saying, “George Bush has a weak handshake.”
Watching from my chair in the living room at my house in Sulphur Springs, Texas, I said (loudly), “He does not! I have shaken hands with George W. Bush, and he does not have a weak handshake!”
Weird thing: At no time did I consider it strange to yell at a cartoon character on a TV show. Hank Hill was wrong, and he needed to be told so.
Watching from my chair in the living room at my house in Sulphur Springs, Texas, I said (loudly), “He does not! I have shaken hands with George W. Bush, and he does not have a weak handshake!”
Weird thing: At no time did I consider it strange to yell at a cartoon character on a TV show. Hank Hill was wrong, and he needed to be told so.
Weird dream
I was making my way through a crowd at a filled-stadium baseball game, when former President George W. Bush appeared in front of me. We shook hands. I said, “Mr. President. How are you doing?” Bush said, “I’m doing fine, just fine. How are you doing?” I said I was doing fine. Bush clapped my shoulder and we both went on our ways.
I came upon a woman I knew. She was sitting down. I shook her hand. She said, “Bob, do you remember when you were in jail and I brought you peanut butter cookies?” I said, “I sure do.” She said, “I’ve been there. You were right. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Right then, Bush walked up. He heard the conversation. He said, “What was that all about?” The woman said, “Bob was in jail and I took him peanut butter cookies.” I said to Bush, “We were both in jail,” and then quickly added, “Not at the same.” Bush said, “Why were you in jail?” I said, “I was a voting judge, and the justice of the peace wanted me to close voting an hour early so the votes could be counter quicker. I told him voting hours had been set by the State of Texas, and he did not have the authority to change them. So he had me arrested. He had me released next day, so no charges were ever filed.”
Woke up.
I came upon a woman I knew. She was sitting down. I shook her hand. She said, “Bob, do you remember when you were in jail and I brought you peanut butter cookies?” I said, “I sure do.” She said, “I’ve been there. You were right. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Right then, Bush walked up. He heard the conversation. He said, “What was that all about?” The woman said, “Bob was in jail and I took him peanut butter cookies.” I said to Bush, “We were both in jail,” and then quickly added, “Not at the same.” Bush said, “Why were you in jail?” I said, “I was a voting judge, and the justice of the peace wanted me to close voting an hour early so the votes could be counter quicker. I told him voting hours had been set by the State of Texas, and he did not have the authority to change them. So he had me arrested. He had me released next day, so no charges were ever filed.”
Woke up.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Hemingway and the Russians
Saturday evening I watched a C-SPAN rerun in which a historian talked about Ernest Hemingway. Some of the talk was on Hemingway as a well-known seeker of danger. Much of the address concerned the possibility that Soviet intelligence agents recruited or attempted to recruit Hemingway after the Spanish Civil War. The speaker concluded Soviet intelligence put out feelers, but were unsuccessful. An FBI file, the speaker said, had in Director J. Edgar Hoover’s handwriting a note that Hemingway was not a Soviet agent.
Phrasing of all too many questions from the audience indicated a belief that some sort of logic permeated Soviet NKVD, NGB and KGB. Doctrine and Stalinism, yes. But logic? No.
Other questions from the almost all over-55 audience showed that some people cannot let go. The enemies of the past – Eugene McCarthy, the House Un-American Activities Committee – are the enemies of now, in those old minds.
Phrasing of all too many questions from the audience indicated a belief that some sort of logic permeated Soviet NKVD, NGB and KGB. Doctrine and Stalinism, yes. But logic? No.
Other questions from the almost all over-55 audience showed that some people cannot let go. The enemies of the past – Eugene McCarthy, the House Un-American Activities Committee – are the enemies of now, in those old minds.
Hector -- A small town
Hector, Ark., was hometown for PO2 Kevin R. Bewley. The town’s Facebook page -- https://www.facebook.com/CityOfHector/ -- has a picture of PO2 Bewley, who was killed 5 November 2007 in Iraq. Bewley was with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11. Read more on PO2 Bewley here:
http://www.eodwarriorfoundation.org/memorial/warrior/kevin-r-bewley
PO2 Bewley is buried in Crossroads Cemetery, Appleton, Ark., southeast of Hector.
Other towns near Hector include Buttermilk, Jerusalem, Bullfrog Valley, Tag and Lost Corner. Hector is in Pope County and sits just south of the beginning of the mountains that reach all the way into Missouri.
In 1950, 23,291 people lived in Pope County. Estimated population for 2013 was 63,390. Hector has not seen the same growth percentage. The 2010 census counted 450 residents, a drop of 56 from the 2000 census.
Almost 97 percent of Hector’s residents in 2000 were white. In Pope County, the white residents totaled about 94 percent. Nine percent of the families in Hector lived below the federal poverty line in 2000. For Pope County, the family poverty percentage was a 11.6 percent.
Glenn S. Pound, former acting chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was born in Hector in 1914. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1940. He was dean of the UW College of Agriculture from 1964-79. He died in La Jolla, Calif., in 2010.
The town’s web site -- https://www.hectorar.com/ -- notes Hector “is situated in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains surrounded by beautiful forests and clear streams.”
http://www.eodwarriorfoundation.org/memorial/warrior/kevin-r-bewley
PO2 Bewley is buried in Crossroads Cemetery, Appleton, Ark., southeast of Hector.
Other towns near Hector include Buttermilk, Jerusalem, Bullfrog Valley, Tag and Lost Corner. Hector is in Pope County and sits just south of the beginning of the mountains that reach all the way into Missouri.
In 1950, 23,291 people lived in Pope County. Estimated population for 2013 was 63,390. Hector has not seen the same growth percentage. The 2010 census counted 450 residents, a drop of 56 from the 2000 census.
Almost 97 percent of Hector’s residents in 2000 were white. In Pope County, the white residents totaled about 94 percent. Nine percent of the families in Hector lived below the federal poverty line in 2000. For Pope County, the family poverty percentage was a 11.6 percent.
Glenn S. Pound, former acting chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was born in Hector in 1914. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1940. He was dean of the UW College of Agriculture from 1964-79. He died in La Jolla, Calif., in 2010.
The town’s web site -- https://www.hectorar.com/ -- notes Hector “is situated in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains surrounded by beautiful forests and clear streams.”
Sunday, May 28, 2017
So glad my ancestors left Britain
Cambridge party-goer:
“It was about 10pm and the music may have been a little loud but it was before 11pm. Someone must have made a complaint, and a police officer attended our address, at which time a song from YouTube called the Bin Laden Song came on.
“This police officer said she took offence at the song and pressed her panic button on her body cam and that’s when about ten police turned up and the police helicopter.
“They are now investigating it as a racist crime. It is ridiculous.”
Police have seized the karaoke machine.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/27/police-helicopter-dispatched-garden-party-song-making-fun-bin-laden-offended-officer/
Link at http://knuckledraggin.com/2017/05/police-helicopter-deployed-karaoke-machine-confiscated/
“It was about 10pm and the music may have been a little loud but it was before 11pm. Someone must have made a complaint, and a police officer attended our address, at which time a song from YouTube called the Bin Laden Song came on.
“This police officer said she took offence at the song and pressed her panic button on her body cam and that’s when about ten police turned up and the police helicopter.
“They are now investigating it as a racist crime. It is ridiculous.”
Police have seized the karaoke machine.
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/27/police-helicopter-dispatched-garden-party-song-making-fun-bin-laden-offended-officer/
Link at http://knuckledraggin.com/2017/05/police-helicopter-deployed-karaoke-machine-confiscated/
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