#Tinian Mission

[monkeyssalad-blog]

B-29 Fu-Kemal-Tu by TK622 Via Flickr: B-29 S/N 42-24720 of the 676th Bomb Squad, 444th Bomb Group, 58th Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force. Photographed early in its career with just a few mission markers on its nose, likely while still deployed to the China Burma India Theater. The nose only shows two camel markings for crossing the Himalayas, nicknamed the Hump. Later images taken while deployed to Tinian show it with three camel markings. On 30 August 1945 Fu-Kemal-Tu was ditched in the Pacific while returning from a POW supply drop mission. The entire crew survived.

[petermorwood]

Interesting to see this post cross my dash again.

I was watching a movie late last night and, with that post's criticism of unbroken long speeches and suggestions of how to break them, here's an example of how a very famous one was done.

The movie I was watching was "Jaws", and the long speech is The Indianapolis Monologue. There are several YouTube clips, but a couple of them leap straight in at the start of the speech.

The clip below has the lead up to The Speech which, IMO, matters a lot in preparing for what follows; there's not just a Mood Whiplash - cheery drunk to OMG Whut - to make the viewers pay attention, but also what I mentioned in the other post, an entirely legitimate reason for an "As You Know" speech.

One character, Hooper, knows the significance of "USS Indianapolis" - his shocked-almost-sober reaction makes that very plain - but the other character, Brody (and the audience he represents), doesn't know and needs told.

In addition (also as mentioned in the other post) despite being a single-character monologue, the speech is "broken" by cutting away from the speaker, Quint, to reaction shots from the other characters present. Even when Quint is on-screen he isn't centre-screen, Hooper is visible in the background where his silent, apprehensive attention accompanies the story he's hearing.

*****

This can be done in words, too: inserting other actions or reactions by means of paragraph breaks is the equivalent of visual cut-aways, and serve the same functions - making a lot of words from one character into several smaller groups of words, while showing the cumulative effect of all those words on other listeners.

Even a soliloquy with no-one else listening benefits from occasional breaks describing what the speaker is doing, how their emotions show, where they are etc. It's all far better than A Wall Of Text.

The entire speech is 438 words, and Robert Shaw delivers them over 3 min 34 sec.

I've got three PDF versions of the "Jaws" screenplay, all different, and this speech varies in every one but are never what's in the movie, so I constructed mine as a transcript from several listenings, and have used paragraph breaks to try matching Shaw's delivery.

Also, as an Exercise For The Scholar (me, anyway) I've inserted and timed the cuts where Quint isn't on screen or speaking to show how short they can be.

Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. Just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen-footer. You know how you know that when you’re in the water, Chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know ... was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh.

CUT TO BRODY (3 sec) then BACK TO QUINT WHO TAKES A DRINK (2 sec)

They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it’s ... kinda like old squares in a battle, like you see in a calendar, like the Battle of Waterloo, and the idea was, shark comes to the nearest man, that man he start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin’, an’ sometimes the shark go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at you, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites you, and those black eyes roll over white and then, ah, then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in an’ they... Rip you to pieces.

CUT TO BRODY (2 sec) then BACK TO QUINT

Y’know, by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I dunno how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I dunno how many men, they averaged six an hour.

CUT TO BRODY (3 sec) AS QUINT CONTINUES OFFSCREEN

On Thursday mornin', Chief...

BACK TO QUINT

I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Bosun's mate. An’ I thought he was asleep; reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up an’ down in the water, was like a kinda top. Upended... Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist.

CUT TO BRODY (2 sec) then CUT TO HOOPER (2 sec) then BACK TO QUINT

Noon the fifth day, Mister Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us - a young pilot, a lot younger than Mister Hooper. Anyway he saw us and he come in low, and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

*****

For comparison, down below is what it looks like without any paragraph breaks, speech instruction (gravely / incredulous etc.) or screen direction (track right / dolly in / close on / match cut etc.).

(BTW, some of these effects can be used when writing prose, to good effect, but that's for another time.)

This is the Wall of Text effect, and it sometimes turns up on the internet, courtesy of people who don't know how to use Enter except when they're sending a post.

I'm not saying this is how the speech would have looked in the real shooting script, but it might. From my own screenwriting experience, actors don't like being told how to deliver their lines and directors don't like being told how to set up their shots.

There's a bit more flexibility when writing animation, but in both cases crafty writers write so that the way they want a thing done works out as the best way to do it.

Sometimes this trick even works... :->

*****

Here's the Wall Of Text:

Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. Just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen-footer. You know how you know that when you’re in the water, Chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it’s kinda like old squares in a battle, like you see in a calendar, like the Battle of Waterloo, and the idea was, shark comes to the nearest man, that man he start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin’, an’ sometimes the shark go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at you, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites you, and those black eyes roll over white and then, ah, then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in an’ they rip you to pieces. Y’know, by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I dunno how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I dunno how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin', Chief I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Bosun's mate. An’ I thought he was asleep; reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up an’ down in the water, was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mister Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us - a young pilot, a lot younger than Mister Hooper. Anyway he saw us and he come in low, and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

[victusinveritas]

Robert Shaw has one of the greatest monologues ever in the history of American film:

"Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We’d just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes.

Didn’t see the first shark for about a half-hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that in the water, Chief? You can tell by lookin’ from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn’t know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’ by, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. It was sorta like you see in the calendars, you know the infantry squares in the old calendars like the Battle of Waterloo and the idea was the shark come to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin’ and hollerin’ and sometimes that shark he go away… but sometimes he wouldn’t go away.

Sometimes that shark looks right at ya. Right into your eyes. And the thing about a shark is he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn’t even seem to be livin’… ’til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all your poundin’ and your hollerin’ those sharks come in and… they rip you to pieces.

You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don’t know how many sharks there were, maybe a thousand. I do know how many men, they averaged six an hour. Thursday mornin’, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boson’s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water, he was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he’d been bitten in half below the waist.

At noon on the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura swung in low and he spotted us, a young pilot, lot younger than Mr. Hooper here, anyway he spotted us and a few hours later a big ol’ fat PBY come down and started to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945.

Anyway, we delivered the bomb."

[shake-your-money-maker]

One of, if not the greatest, monologues in cinematic history.

Brody: "What's that one?"

Quint: "What?"

Brody: "That one, there, on your arm."

Quint: "Oh, uh, that's a tattoo, I got that removed."

Hooper: "Don't tell me, don't tell me...'Mother.'" [he roars with laughter] "What is it..."

Quint solemnly clamps a hand on Hooper's arm: "Mr. Hooper, that's the USS Indianapolis."

Hooper immediately stops laughing: "You were on the Indianapolis?"

Brody: "What happened?"

Quint: "Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen-footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water, Chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know... was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Heh." [he pauses and takes a drink] "They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. Y'know, it's... kinda like ol' squares in a battle like, uh, you see in a calendar, like the Battle of Waterloo, and the idea was, shark comes to the nearest man and that man, he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin', and sometimes the shark'd go away... sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. Y'know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'... until he bites ya. And those black eyes roll over white, and then... oh, then you hear that terrible high-pitch screamin', the ocean turns red, and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces." [he pauses] "Y'know, by the end of that first dawn... lost a hundred men. I dunno how many sharks. Maybe a thousand. I dunno how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin', Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland- baseball player, boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep, reached over to wake him up... bobbed up and down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well... he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. Young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and come in low and three hours later, a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. Y'know, that was the time I was most frightened, waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a life jacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out, and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945." [he pauses, smiles, and raises his glass] "Anyway... we delivered the bomb."

- "Jaws" (1975)

[acquaconlimone]

“Un sommergibile giapponese ci mise due siluri dentro la pancia. Stavamo tornando dall’isola di Tinian, avevamo portato la bomba, quella che scoppiò a Hiroshima. 1.100 uomini finirono in mare… la nave affondò in 12 minuti. Il primo squalo si fece vivo dopo una mezz’ora, un tigre di 4 metri. Sai da cosa ti accorgi se uno squalo è grosso quando sei in acqua? Dalla distanza fra la pinna dorsale e la coda.

Noi non lo sapevamo, ma la nostra missione era talmente segreta che non era neanche stato mandato l’S.O.S. Per una settimana non si accorsero che eravamo spariti. Insomma, alle prime luci cominciarono ad arrivare gli squali. Noi ci eravamo riuniti in gruppi stretti, una specie di quei quadrati che si fanno nelle battaglie, quelli che si vedono nelle stampe della battaglia di Waterloo.

L’idea era che quando uno squalo si avvicinava a un uomo, quello si mettesse ad agitare l’acqua gridando a squarciagola. Qualche volta lo squalo se ne va, qualche volta non se ne va per niente, ti fissa dritto negli occhi. Sai che cos’hanno di strano gli squali? Hanno degli occhi senza vita, sono palle nere senza luce dentro, e quando qualcuno ti si avvicina non credi neanche che sia vivo, finché non ti morde.

Quelle palle nere cominciano a roteare e poi… a un tratto senti un urlo acutissimo e terribile, e l’acqua intorno diventa rossa… e in mezzo a quella schiuma e a quel casino ti arrivano tutti addosso… e cominciano a farti a pezzi. Insomma, quella prima mattinata (ansima) perdemmo 100 uomini. Non so quanti fossero, forse 1.000 squali, si mangiavano una media di 6 uomini ogni ora.

Giovedì mattina capitai accanto a un mio amico, un certo Harby Robinson, di Cleveland, un giocatore di baseball, era il nostromo… Credevo che dormisse… allungai un braccio per svegliarlo e lui si capovolse come una specie di trottola galleggiante… era a metà.

Eh sì, se l’erano mangiato vivo dalla cintola in giù. A metà del quinto giorno, un Lokid Ventura ci avvistò, passò a bassa quota e ci vide, era un pilota giovane, molto più giovane del signor Hooper. Comunque ci avvistò e venne a guardare, e tre ore dopo arrivò finalmente un grosso PTY che cominciò a raccoglierci… e vi giuro che quello fu il momento in cui ebbi più paura mentre aspettavo il mio turno.

Non mi metterò più un salvagente addosso. Insomma, eravamo finiti in mare in più di 1.000 e uscimmo in 316, gli altri se li erano mangiati gli squali, era il 29 giugno del ’45. Comunque, avevamo consegnato la bomba.“

#Jaws

[usafphantom2]

U.S. approves sale of 300 air-to-air and anti-radiation missiles for Taiwan's F-16 jets

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/02/2023 - 14:00 in Military

Taiwan has received U.S. approval to receive HARM anti-radiation missiles and medium-range AIM-120C-8 air-to-air missiles for its F-16 jets, with which it can hit Chinese aircraft if they threaten its airspace.

The U.S. Department of State approved a possible foreign military sale to the Taipei Office of Economic and Cultural Representation in the United States (TECRO) of F-16 ammunition and related equipment for an estimated cost of $619 million.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the necessary certification by notifying Congress of this possible sale on Wednesday.

Taiwan requested the purchase of 100 AGM-88B High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM); twenty-three HARM training missiles; 200 Advanced Medium-Range Air-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) AIM-120C-8; four guidance sections AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM; and 26 LAU-129 multifunctional launchers.

Also included are LAU-118A missile launchers with Aircraft Launcher Interface Computer (ALIC); HARM missile containers; Control sections and AIM-120 containers; AIM-120C Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); simulated air training missiles (DATM), integration and test support and equipment as well as spares and support.

The proposed sale will contribute to the recipient's ability to provide the defense of their airspace, regional security and interoperability with the United States.

China has been flying regularly with its fighters and bombers near Taiwan's air defense identification zone, in an obvious move to intimidate the small island nation.

Beijing has threatened Taipei with vigorous unification. After Russia conquered a part of southern Ukraine, fears arose that Beijing might be inspired by its former communist "older brother".

Tags: AGM-88AIM-120 AMRAAMMilitary AviationRoCAF - Republic of China Air Force/ Taiwan Air Force

Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work throughout the world of aviation.

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[historydailyfrancischappellblack]

FREE ARTICLE - Medal of Honor Action of Radio Operator Staff Sergeant Henry ‘Red’ Erwin. April 19, 1945.

Subscriber Content Add content here that will only be visible to your subscribers. Image: Staff Sergeant Henry E. Erwin. In the lead B-29 on a mission to Koriyama, north of Tokyo, he was tasked with releasing white phosphorus smoke bombs through a chute to assist with the assembly of 167 bombers from Guam and Tinian. There were initially no issues, but one phosphorous bomb exploded prematurely…

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.26 (after 1940)

1941 – World War II: Battle of Grand Harbour, British forces on Malta destroy an attack by the Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS. Fort St Elmo Bridge covering the harbour is demolished in the process. 1941 – World War II: In response to the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands freeze all Japanese assets and cut off oil shipments. 1944 – World War II: The Red Army enters Lviv, a major city in western Ukraine, capturing it from the Nazis. Only 300 Jews survive out of 160,000 living in Lviv prior to occupation. 1945 – The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election of July 5 by a landslide, removing Winston Churchill from power. 1945 – World War II: The Potsdam Declaration is signed in Potsdam, Germany. 1945 – World War II: The USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian with components and enriched uranium for the Little Boy nuclear bomb. 1946 – Aloha Airlines begins service from Honolulu International Airport. 1947 – Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into United States law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of Defense, United States Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the United States National Security Council. 1948 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981, desegregating the military of the United States. 1951 – Walt Disney's 13th animated film, Alice in Wonderland, premieres in London, England, United Kingdom. 1952 – King Farouk of Egypt abdicates in favor of his son Fuad. 1953 – Cold War: Fidel Castro leads an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution. The movement took the name of the date: 26th of July Movement 1953 – Arizona Governor John Howard Pyle orders an anti-polygamy law enforcement crackdown on residents of Short Creek, Arizona, which becomes known as the Short Creek raid. 1953 – Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment repel a number of Chinese assaults against a key position known as The Hook during the Battle of the Samichon River, just hours before the Armistice Agreement is signed, ending the Korean War. 1957 – Carlos Castillo Armas, dictator of Guatemala, is assassinated. 1958 – Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched. 1963 – Syncom 2, the world's first geosynchronous satellite, is launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta B booster. 1963 – An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia) leaves 1,100 dead. 1963 – The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development votes to admit Japan. 1968 – Vietnam War: South Vietnamese opposition leader Trương Đình Dzu is sentenced to five years hard labor for advocating the formation of a coalition government as a way to move toward an end to the war. 1971 – Apollo program: Launch of Apollo 15 on the first Apollo "J-Mission", and first use of a Lunar Roving Vehicle. 1974 – Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis forms the country's first civil government after seven years of military rule. 1977 – The National Assembly of Quebec imposes the use of French as the official language of the provincial government. 1989 – A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. for releasing the Morris worm, thus becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. 1990 – The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. 1993 – Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashes into a ridge on Mt. Ungeo on its third attempt to land at Mokpo Airport, South Korea. Sixty-eight of the 116 people on board are killed. 2005 – Space Shuttle program: STS-114 Mission: Launch of Discovery, NASA's first scheduled flight mission after the Columbia Disaster in 2003. 2016 – Hillary Clinton becomes the first female nominee for President of the United States by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. 2016 – Solar Impulse 2 becomes the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth.

[wausaupilot]

Today in History: Today is Tuesday, July 16, the 198th day of 2024.

On this date: In 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida on the first manned mission to the surface of the moon.

By The Associated Press Today’s Highlight in History: On July 16, 1945, the United States exploded its first experimental atomic bomb in the desert of Alamogordo, New Mexico; the same day, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis left Mare (mar-AY’) Island Naval Shipyard in California on a secret mission to deliver atomic bomb components to Tinian Island in the Marianas. Also on this date: In 1790,…

[future-nevada]

F-16s Reload at Tinian Airfield for Strategic Missions

[monkeyssalad-blog]

B-29 Princess Eileen II with crew by TK622 Via Flickr: B-29 S/N 42-24462 of the 678th Bomb Squad, 444th Bomb Group, 58th Bomb Wing, 20th Air Force. Pictured here with 20 combat missions and 30 trips over the hump marked on her nose. Most likely photographed while the unit was still deployed to the China Burma India Theater. Later photos taken on Tinian show her with more Hump crossing camel marks. Judging by the numbers and letters written on top left of the photo, it seems to be a photo taken by a unit photographer. Reclaimed at the Armarillo Army Air Field on 30 June 1946.

[defensenow]

Collaborative Mission: JASDF & USAF Airdrop over Tinian

[victusinveritas]

“Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We’d just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes.

Didn’t see the first shark for about a half-hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that in the water, Chief? You can tell by lookin’ from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn’t know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’ by, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. It was sorta like you see in the calendars, you know the infantry squares in the old calendars like the Battle of Waterloo, and the idea was the shark come to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin’ and hollerin’ and sometimes that shark he go away… but sometimes he wouldn’t go away.

Sometimes that shark looks right at ya, right into your eyes. And the thing about a shark is he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn’t even seem to be livin’… ’til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah, then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all your poundin’ and your hollerin’ those sharks come in and… they rip you to pieces.

You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don’t know how many sharks there were, maybe a thousand. I do know how many men, they averaged six an hour. Thursday mornin’, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boson’s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up and down in the water; he was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he’d been bitten in half below the waist.

At noon on the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura swung in low, and he spotted us, a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper here. Anyway, he spotted us and a few hours later a big ol’ fat PBY come down and started to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a life jacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945.

Anyway, we delivered the bomb.”

[cavenewstimes]

Air Force general who predicted war with China leads ‘unprecedented’ training exercise

ONE THOUSAND FEET OVER TINIAN ISLAND, Northern Mariana Islands — U.S. Air Force Capt. Brenden “Biggie” Small peers out the window of a C-130 as roughly a dozen other aircraft deploy parachutes carrying supplies to a small group of troops assembled below. The mission is part of a training exercise involving 70 aircraft and more than 3,000 airmen from seven countries — the largest readiness…

[writer59january13]

The Limerick, Pennsylvania Nuclear power plant siren wailed

yesterday at 1400 hours December the fourth and probably broadcast further east, west, south and north. That shrill ear-piercing emitted sound quite painful despite measurable diminution regarding my audiological ability, which loss of hearing linkedin to senescence. Nevertheless, yours truly startled in his cockpit seat (actually a rickety metal stool) regarding: semi-Annual Test: which penetrated and filled the volume of ether for two minutes, which seemed like an eternity scheduled to occur (based on Google) at fourteen hundred hours the first Monday in June and first Monday in December. A monthly, (albeit abbreviated) test also assails ears in general, (minus those not yet hard of hearing) courtesy the auricle (pinna) the visible portion of the outer ear. It collects sound waves and channels them into the ear canal (external auditory meatus), where sound amplified. The sound waves then travel toward a flexible, oval membrane at the end of the ear canal called the eardrum, (equipped with a pair of invisible cymbals) or tympanic membrane assaulting delicately jiggered linkedin magnificent network courtesy deafening blare subjecting surrounding suburbia to a monthly test, which sounding of siren also occurs at fourteen hundred hours on the first Monday of every month, except June and December. Worse case scenario regarding nuclear power plant would constitute 'China Syndrome" or more horrifying disaster synonymous with Chernobyl disaster, but no doubt humanity since acquired greater sense and sensibility without pride nor prejudice in tandem with developing fail safe technological ingenuity to prevent global radiological fallout. Offtimes I marvel at the longevity of unbridled Western Civilization,

ingenious methodologies at warfare in general,

and killing each other in particular whereby webbed wide world of humanity analogous to veritable ticking time bomb subsequently impossible mission to remain psychologically calm most certainly no escaping the threat even livingsocial within Guam (though located among Pacific Islanders), cuz Naval Base Guam ranks as strategic U.S. naval base located on Apra Harbor and occupying the Orote Peninsula. In 2009, said American military outpost combined with Andersen Air Force Base to form Joint Region Marianas, which serves as Navy-controlled joint base. The Ship Repair Facility, Guam, conveniently located next to Naval Base Guam, along Apra Harbor, and above named spit of land natural result of subsurface tectonic terrestrial processes. Geologists have stated that the island of Guam and the Marianas Islands created millions of years ago by active volcanoes. Guam constitutes the largest of the group which includes Rota, Saipan, Tinian, Agrihan, Anatahan, Alamagan, Pagan and Aguijan; the only uninhabited island among the group.