Yaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn .................
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NEC SOLI CEDITComment
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At the risk of you throwing around the race card yet again, I saw an interesting letter cited by another fellow forum member that is relevant to our thread:Originally posted by RelicHunter View Post
"This letter was not written for publication, but to enlighten you and you and
your staff about some of the errors and misleading information you continue to publish, Perhaps it should be published to set your readers straight. As a WWII Historian and former 8th AF fighter pilot flying 87 missions over Europe during WWII, I am dedicated to factual reporting about the air war in Europe and aviation in general, and I take issue with the media (and not with just AJC) continuing to publish untrue and/or misleading statements about the Tuskegee Airmen (T/A).
Although I have great respect for the pilots and achievements of this WWII
Fighter Group, I do not appreciate the continuing repetition of myths and
untruths about their military record, the latest example in the obit on Lt. Col
Charles Dryden in today's paper, repeating the same errors which appeared in his obit story a few days ago.
For more than 60 years the myth that they "never lost a bomber they were
escorting to an enemy fighter", was their primary claim to fame! Then, several
months ago, their Historian, William E. Holten, announced that his research
proved that this was not true, that they had, indeed, lost some 25 bombers to enemy fighters. This myth still gets published occasionally, but far less frequently since he made this disclosure, thank goodness. Lies told often enough tend to become truths in the minds of many. However, it now seems to have been replaced by another false claim, i.e. that the Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 combat missions. ALSO NOT TRUE!
Their own official records indicate that the T/A only flew 311missions. Their
so-called 15,000 "missions" were actually 15,000 "sorties.". Apparently, none
of your reporters know the difference between a "mission" and a "sortie," so let me define these for you and them. Combat Mission is an assigned flight to accomplish a military objective. This can be flown by one pilot or a squadron or
group of pilots flying together. It is recorded as one mission. Combat Sortie.
When, for example, 48 or 64 pilots fly together on a combat mission it is recorded as 48 or 64 combat sorties.
The T/A did not fly 15,000+ combat missions - as stated in your articles about
the demise of Col. Charles Dryden. They flew 15,000+ "sorties". To have flown that many "missions" during the time they were in combat in the MTO, they would have had to fly about 25 missions a day everyday they were in combat. Do the math. That's one mission every hour, everyday they were in combat. Impossible! Weather alone would have prevented this, not to mention the problem of keeping all of their aircraft flyable everyday over that period of time. FACT: Their official records indicate they flew only 311 missions, a far cry from 15,000 claimed. Please advise your reporters of the difference between a mission and a sortie so that another T/A myth is not appearing in every mention this Fighter group.
The Dryden story also stated that the 99th Squadron of the T/A was "the most
successful squadron in American history." NOT SO! It would be more correct
to say they have been the most publicized squadron in American history, however, thanks to a fully-paid public relations staff in Washington, D.C., the only such office of any military unit other than the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard..
Although I do not have complete combat statistics on all the fighter groups
flying out of Africa and Italy (the MTO), I do have the stats on all of the 16 fighter groups flying in the Eighth Air Force over western Europe. And, when these records are compared, the Tuskegee Airmen rank at the bottom of the list despite the fact that they had four squadrons to only three for the 8th AF groups. FYI, and one of the reasons the T/A exploit their 15,000+ sorties (which they call missions) is that on a normal mission they would put up 64 fighters compared to only 48 for the 8th AF groups. And, since they did mostly ground support missions rather than bomber escort missions, the average length of their missions was about half that of the time in the air flown by the 8thAF fighters. Re the above mentioned stats, I would be delighted to provide these for your information if requested. Another gross error in your first story on Colonel Dryden is that the implication that he was, individually, awarded the Congressional Gold Medal recently. ALSO NOT TRUE. Through the efforts of the New York Senator, this medal was awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen, authorizing all Tuskegee Airman to receive this award. It was not awarded for individual achievements, as implied, but for the role played by the T/A in breaking the color ban for pilots, a civil rights accomplishment, not for their military achievements. Had this award been given for their military achievements alone, it should also have been awarded to each and every other fighter group in WWII whose records exceeded those of the Tuskegee Airmen. In my opinion, this was a "political award" instead of a military award. No other bomber or fighter units have been awarded this Medal, only Unit Citations. These are facts. Check them out, and here's to more factual reporting and a better AJC.
Most sincerely,
Robert H. Powell, Jr.
Author/Editor/Historian/Pilot 352nd Fighter Group
1545 Rainier Falls Dr
Atlanta, GA 30329
404-636-3747 "When you go home
Tell them for us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today
--Inscription in the 5th Marine Division cemetery,
Iwo Jima 1945Comment
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Just saw it today with my wife and daughter. Frankly, i was hoping for a better show. At times i felt like i was watching a cartoon!! I guess thats what happens when once again, historical events are turned into "entertainment". The computer graphics were great but the overall experience left me scratching my head.
Once again the Germans were played off as clumsey, arrogant near criminals. I saw no attempt to portray any of them as anything close to human beings caught up in a fight for their lives as well. Some of the scenes like the German airfield were almost comic book in appearance. I could go on but whats the point. I had hoped i'd be impressed...sadly i wasn't.
Sorry Mr. Lucas...these pilots deserve far better treatment than what was given them IMHO.
best, richComment
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I think there are a lot of pilots out there that deserve better.Originally posted by armorrich View Post
I acquired a set of pilots wings from a local woman a few years ago and I asked how she came by them. She said they were her uncle's who had died in the 80s. I did some research on his name and discovered that he was an ace with 9 kills to his credit.
I had a shadow box made up with his picture, his wings, and his accomplishments and donated it to the local county museum. I would venture to say that this same story has happened all across this country quite a bit.Comment
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Good job Bro.Originally posted by DennyB View Post
that was an amazing gesture...and you are probably right about the other stories...sad but true. Just want to say thx for what you did.
MikeComment
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Oh dear, Red Tails sounds dreadful..
I don't even want to watch it now.
I can't remember how many times I've looked forward to a new War movie only to be very disapointed..
War Horse is another one, so sickly sentimental it made me puke.
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I saw Redtails last night, and actualy enjoyed it; not as a historical movie, but as a sort of science fiction movie. Perhaps I also enjoyed it because I was expecting something absolutely dreadfull.
If you watch it with the same frame of mind as you would watch Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, then you may take a bit of pleasure.
The worst scene was the very first action scene, th sounds were ridiculous, the 50 cal machine guns making the sounds of laser guns, etc.
But then it got better.
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