"Combat Citizenship"

For a couple of years, I have been promoting the concept that non-US citizens serving in combat as members of the armed forces should have expedited opportunity to become citizens. Recently, I wrote on the topic to the president, CJCS, all service CoS and secretaries and AUSA, AFA and Navy League.

Responses from the CNO and SAF/PAC gave the welcome information that such procedures already exist. SAF/PAC sent a copy of pages from the website of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They detail the expedited procedures under which a member of the military can become a citizen, even (and especially) in the AOR and also after leaving the service.

I encourage anyone who knows people in this situation to check the USCIS website at http://www.uscis.gov/. Go to Services and Benefits and look for the title Naturalization Information for Military Personnel. There are two pages that could be printed and sent to those who would benefit.

Don Coyle gone west

Don Coyle passed away at about 0545, 2 Feb 2008, in Turtle Creek, PA. His daughter , Colleen, passed on the information. He had been suffering from cancer for some time. His passing was quiet, though, after an evening of good conversation. Don served at Dover from 1958 to 1962. He became a standardization pilot and chief of the simulator. Among his experiences were a 1958 flight through a West Texas hail storm that nearly totaled 62009 and nearly 100 engine restarts between Goose and Prestwick, when water trapped in the fuel iced up the injectors.

I will be happy to pass on any messages to the family. Just send them to firstfleet@aol.com and I'll bounce them to Colleen.

C-133 Pilot & Author, Lou Martin

Lt. Col. Louis J. Martin, USAF Retired, was a 39th ATS pilot from '64-'70, with 4,700 hours in C-133s. His 22 years in the Air Force were only part of his extensive flying career, after which he's published two books on his adventures:

Wings Over Persia, in 253 pages, a visual aid map and 35 photos, is a pilot’s true story of intrigue and adventure of flying as a charter pilot in Iran during the overthrow of the Shah (1976 to 1979). The book (revised in 2007) was rated the best aviation writing for 2004 by the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame. Autographed copies are available for $17.00 (which includes S & H).

Close Encounters with the Pilot’s Grim Reaper, recounts exciting flying experiences and entertaining anecdotes experienced by the author and aviation colleagues. It includes a detailed description and historical background of aircraft like the T-6, C-82, C-54, C-119, T-33, F-100 and C-133 to name a few. The book (revised in 2008) in 503 pages and 80 photos, presents an interesting chronicled autobiographical account of a pilot who spent 22 years in the Air Force (including 169 combat hours in Vietnam), five years as a captain for Japan Airlines, three years as a charter pilot in Iran and 19 years as a FAA B-747 inspector pilot. Autographed copies are available for $25.00 (which includes S & H).

Send check to: Lt.Col. Louis J. Martin USAF (ret.), 13268 Huntington Ter., Apple Valley, MN. 55124. Tel: 952-891-1250 E-Mail: Pilotlou@aol.com.

Check out his bio and book reviews at: Close Encounters with the Pilot's Grim Reaper, and Wings over Persia.

DE Crab Cake Feast

Last fall, a few colleagues held a "mini-reunion" at Rick Spencer's beautiful "hideaway" on Miller Creek, just below Bethany Beach. Rick and his wife, Sue, hosted the event for Jim & Charlotte Dugar, Dick & Diane Hanson and their Golden Retriever, Billie Jo, and Bob & Gail Miley. The setting was special, the crab cakes fabulous, the MATS cake divine, and the memories grand!

January Book of the Month

THE INVENTION OF PEACE:
Reflections on War and International Order

By Michael Howard

Yale University Press, 113 Pages, published 2000

Several years ago while visiting the Museum of the USMA at West Point I noted in the history section a quote by Thucydides the Greek (471 – 400 B.C.), “… peace is an armistice in a war that is continually going on….” Given our experiences during the 20th century that may seem self-evident; but it has not been the teaching within modern Western Civilization. I began to think seriously, “What actually is peace?” Michael Howard, a leading British military scholar over the past 50 years, takes this question on in a short but powerful essay explaining why peace is a far more complex affair than war. So complex that it often seems beyond humanity’s reach.

Howard’s thesis is that the idea that a Society could be organized without war was something developed during the 18th century Enlightenment and ultimately became the accepted view of Western societies. Then, during the 19th and 20th centuries the philosophy of social Darwinism and its ensuing ideologies suggested conflict is inevitable; that one must either conquer or be conquered; and that fighting was necessary and desirable. That sense was further enhanced by the First World War and carried into WWII. Dominate or be dominated!

One of the most interesting arguments put forth by Howard relates to the Cold War and it is of particular interest to C-133 crew members as we played a part in it. We all viewed in wonderment during 1989 as the War came to a sudden and dramatic end with the demolition of the Berlin Wall by the inhabitants of East Germany. That act alone left no international doubt but that the West won. But, why without another catastrophic worldwide conflict as witnessed twice before in the 20th century?

Howard’s view is that the United States, as opposed to the Communist countries, could set the pace for rapidly evolving weapons technology at an acceptable cost to its national economy. But, the Soviet Union could only keep pace by starving its population and reversing any improvement they may have had in their standard of living. With the then new and developing era of information technology that was leading to greater military effectiveness it became clear to the Soviets that keeping the military balance was an unacceptable cost. The Communist system had not delivered upon the promises for its citizens while capitalism was flourishing throughout the free world. Communism then vanished as an alternative ideology to that of Western Democracy.

After the collapse of Communism many opined that the newly established world order would be forever peaceful. What could take its place to create another worldwide international conflict? Note that THE INVENTION OF PEACE was published in 2000. Howard’s last thoughts in his essay are, “…although it is tempting to believe …a new and stable world order will come into being, we would be unwise to expect anything of the kind.”

And, on September 11, 2001, came a direct attack upon our soil and we entered into a worldwide conflict against Islamic/Fascist terrorism. At this time no one knows where it will lead; we just know that we are up against an implacable enemy dedicated to the destruction of our way of life. Most serious students of military history do not think it will lead to a nation upon nation conflict but decades of Iraq and Afghanistan type military actions. But, it again raises the question of whether peace is so complex that it is beyond humanity’s reach and is merely an invention of the international bourgeois community. Maybe, Thucydides was correct in his analysis and a modern version of his quote would be that “History has shown that peace is merely the interlude between wars?”

Reviewed for C-133 crew members 
by Richard Spencer
39th ATS  1962-1965

To find out more about this enlightening book, and buy it for $4.04,
click on: THE INVENTION OF PEACE

Beaver Tail Fitting

Sandy Sandstrom provided the following photos and information about the completion of C-133B, S/N 90536 at the AMC Museum in Dover. Taken during the fitting on 02 Aug 2007, the fiberglass beaver tail has since been painted to match the airplane.

Thanks to C-133 Crew Chief Erich Hausner for facilitating this final piece. He broke through the "stone wall" to get prints for the tail cone. Boeing couldn't be bothered with old Douglas airplanes, so Erich called some of his contacts, and the lady in charge of the library and a retired engineer who volunteered there went to work and found them. Then a company in Elkton, MD, manufactured the piece.

Whoever cut the original cone off destroyed the stringers, so Sandy made the new ones that provide the necessary support for this exact replica.

On a related note of trivia, Sandy offered a "Did you know?" The CPI and flight deck recorders now required on all commercial aircraft were developed from the very first use on the C-133.

The guys in the following photos are Doc Adams (shorty), Hank Baker (bigger), Rick Vetter the builder (tall slim one), and Sandy Sandstrom (khaki shorts or black jeans/gray hair):

Beautiful New Model

Thanks to Harry Heist, we have a great photo and description:

This picture of a C-133A model came from Chris Mikesh of Nostalgic Plastic, a model mail-order company. The kit is a Nostalgic Plastic 1/144 scale C-133A/B Cargomaster, available from the website. The resin kit contains markings for C-133A 54-0143 ‘State of Delaware’ , 1607th ATW (first C-133A at Dover); C-133A 56-2008, 1607th ATW, Dover AFB (record setting aircraft now at USAF Museum) and C-133B 59-0536, 1501st ATW, Travis AFB (now on display at AMC Museum).

Click on this related link to buy one: Anigrand C-133 Kit

50,000 Names Carved in The Wall

Especially for those of us who've "been there," and/or have friends who never came home, this is powerful! Click on: 50,000 Names Carved in The Wall.

Our Tired Air Force

The following disturbing report from the Air Force Association was provided by our colleague, Ted Feindt, Navigator, 1st ATS, '61-'65:

January 16, 2008

AFA members and Congressional Staffers, many of you have commented favorably on the "elevator speech numbers" I sent you.

It's January ... so here are some revealing data on the "State of the Air Force."

Fighter Aircraft - average age: 20 years; average flight hours 5400+

Bomber Aircraft - average age: 32 years; average flight hours 11,400+

Tanker aircraft - average age: 44 years; average flight hours 18,900+

C2 Fleet - average age: 22 years old; average flight hours 32,000

ISR Fleet (excluding UAV) - average age: 30 years old; average flight hours 18,000

Key Groundings/Restrictions

F-15A-D - 163 of 441 are grounded for structural issues

B-52 - 6 are grounded - past due PDM grounding date - authorized a one-time flight to the bone-yard.

EC-130 - 2 of 14 are grounded due to center wing box cracks

C-130E - 3 are grounded and 13 are restricted due to Service life and wing cracks

KC-135Es - 26 of 86 are grounded due to engine strut corrosion.

AC-130U - 4 of 17 are restricted due to lack of 30MM weapons

B-2 - entire fleet is restricted due to windshield bolt hole cracks

C-5s - 39 of 108 are restricted due to crown skin restrictions (weight limiting)

Additionally:

219 of 223 F-15Es have training restrictions due to vertical stab structural issues

Majority of Block 25/30/32, block 40/42, and block 50/52 F-16s need structural modifications

All 356 A-10s will need new wings and new aircraft skin - many have landing gear issues ... and all need new engines.

C-130Hs have Center Wing Box issues

C-32As have bulkhead structural issues.

Looking across the FYDP - between 2008-2013 - the Air Force will divest itself of 749 aircraft and procure only 698 aircraft (260 of which are UAVs).

To give you the idea of the scale of all of this:

• When the AF grounded its 600+ F-15 fleet, it grounded more aircraft than the entire F/A Navy. The F-15s it presently has grounded equate to a bit more than 3 aircraft carriers of aircraft.
  
• The 356 A-10s that need renovations equates to more aircraft than the fixed wing USMC
  
• The Air Force has about 5800 aircraft ... and presently about one-third are either grounded or restricted in one way or another

The central important part of this data is that this is not a third-world Air Force ... And the question we should ask ourselves, why don't we fund it to ensure our children and grandchildren are safe and secure?

2^nd Subject -

Chief of Staff White Paper - Gen Moseley published an exceptional White Paper ... which lays out the strategic foundations for the Air Force of the future. If you haven't seen it, you can find it on the AFA website: http://dailyreport.afa.org/NR/rdonlyres/868196FC-AABB-4230-84EA-F5358B0C4B34/0/CSAF_white_paper.pdf

My favorite quotes in it are:

• "No modern war has been won without air superiority. No future war will be won without air, space and cyberspace superiority." Page 2.
  
• "With the oldest inventory in history, battered by 17 years of continuous combat, the Air Force's ability to fulfill its missions is already being tested." Page 2
  
• "... our reliance on assured access to space will increase exponentially." Page 8
  
• "The Air Force is smaller in December 2007 than it was in December 1941." Page 10

For your consideration.

Mike

Michael M. Dunn, Lt Gen (Ret)
AFA President/CEO

Control Tower, this is MATS Propjet 62002!

Actual exchanges between pilots and control towers

Tower: 'Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock , 6 miles!'
Delta 351: 'Give us another hint! We have digital watches!'

*************************************
Tower: 'TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees.'
TWA 2341: 'Center, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?'
Tower: 'Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?'

*************************************
O'Hare Approach Control to a 747: 'United 329 heavy, your
traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock , three miles, Eastbound.'
United 329: 'Approach, I've always wanted to say this..I've
got the little Fokker in sight.'

***************************************
A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight.
While attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked,
'What was your last known position?'
Student: 'When I was number one for takeoff.'

**************************************
A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly
long roll out after touching down.
San Jose Tower Noted: 'American 751, make a hard right turn
at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not
able, take the Guadeloupe exit off Highway 101, make a right
at the lights and return to the airport.'

**************************************
A Pan Am 727 flight, waiting for start clearance in Munich
overheard the following:
Lufthansa (in German): ' Ground, what is our start clearance
time?' Ground (in English): 'If you want an answer you must
speak in English.' Lufthansa (in English): 'I am a German,
flying a German airplane, in Germany . Why must I speak
English?'

Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British
accent): 'Because you lost the bloody war!'

**********************************
Tower: 'Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure
on frequency 124 7'
Eastern 702: 'Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By
the way, after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal
on the far end of the runway.'
Tower: ' Continental 635, cleared for takeoff behind Eastern 702,
contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report
from Eastern 702?'
BR Continental 635: 'Continental 635, cleared for takeoff,
roger; and yes, we copied Eastern... we've already notified
our caterers.'

************************************
One day the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to
hold short of the active runway while a DC-8 landed. The
DC-8 landed, rolled out, turned around, and taxied back past
the Cherokee. Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew
got on the radio and said, 'What a cute little plane. Did
you make it all by yourself?'
The Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by, came
back with a real zinger: 'I made it out of DC-8 parts.
Another landing like yours and I'll have enough parts for
another one.'

***************************************
The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are
renowned as a short-tempered lot. They not only expect one
to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there
without any assistance from them. So it was with some
amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following
exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British
Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206.
Speedbird 206: ' Frankfurt , Speedbird 206! clear of active
runway.'
Ground: 'Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha
One-Seven.' The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and
slowed to a stop.

Ground: 'Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?'
Speedbird 206: 'Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate
location now.'
Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): 'Speedbird 206,
have you not been to Frankfurt before?'
Speedbird 206 (coolly): 'Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark
and I didn't land.'

************************************
While taxiing at London 's Gatwick Airport , the crew of a
US Air flight departing for Ft. Lauderdale made a wrong turn
and came nose to nose with a United 727. An irate female
ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew, screaming:
'US Air 2771, where the hell are you going? I told you to
turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta!
Stop right there. I know it's difficult for you to tell the
difference between C and D, but get it right!'

Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now
shouting hysterically:'God! Now you've screwed everything
up! It'll take forever to sort this out! You stay right
there and don't move till I tell you to! You can expect
progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour, and I
want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you,
and how I tell you! You got that, US Air 2771?'

'Yes, ma'am,' the humbled crew responded.

Naturally, the ground control communications frequency fell
terribly silent after the verbal bashing of US Air 2771.
Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller
in her current state of mind. Tension in every cockpit out
around Gatwick was definitely running high. Just then an
unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone,
asking:

'Wasn't I married to you once?'

YC-121F and R7V-2

Predecessors of the C-133 were turboprop mods of the C-121C. Four were built for the navy, modified on the production line. Two later transferred to USAF and the 1700th Test Sq (Turboprop). Now, Roland Berger, in Germany, has done a great Flight Sim version and Carl Kaesar has put together illustrations for the sim. Check out (click on YC-121F Sim or copy the following URL and paste into your internet browser/access program) http://www.avpages.net/priv/yc121f/scr15nov2007/scr15nov2007.html for pics of the sim airplanes. The flight sim files are at www.AVSIM.COM
or at Flightsim.com.

Cal Taylor

December Book of the Month

THE ROAD TO SERFDOM

Fiftieth Anniversary Edition

By F.A. Hayek

with a new Introduction by Milton Friedman

The University of Chicago Press, 1954

For a closely related documentary video (appears to be from PBS in the same vintage about 50 years ago), click on: Milton Friedman on Limited Government.

THE ROAD TO SERFDOM, by F. A. Hayek may be the most important book of political philosophy written during the lifetime of C-133 crewmembers. Its message was a revelation particularly to the young men and women who were in the armed forces during WWII. Their recent experiences with Fascism and Nazism enhanced their appreciation of the value and meaning of individual freedom. They saw the horrors of socialism as not leading to a utopian State, but to a State besieged with tyranny and criminality.

The Road To Serfdom was first published in England in March 1944, followed by its American debut later that year. In the fifty years since its publication, over 250,000 copies have been purchased. Hayek dedicated the book "To TheSocialists Of All Parties." Hayek noted that in America those intellectuals within the academic institutions, and the New Deal rejected it out of hand as a malicious and disingenuous attack on their finest ideals. He also noted that a large part of the American intelligentsia had caught "the infection" in spite of the experimentation of the New Deal.

Ten years later these same countries that officials had held up as a model for central planning were now being called "totalitarian" and we had entered into the "Cold War." William Rehnquist, a future Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, read it as a Sergeant in the Army Air Force and deemed it probably the most influential book of his professional career. During the post war years it led him and others on the road of knowledge and understanding that personal freedom and economic freedom can be achieved only through individuals pursuing their own objectives. And, most importantly, the free market is the only mechanism that has ever been discovered for achieving participatory democracy.

Hence, the present hope and seeming success of globalization. Democracies have never been known to pursue a war with one another.The concept of free markets continues to infuriate those who believed in the simple and seductive false argument that collectivism (socialism, central planning) would create a utopian world order. In 1945, here and through out the world, it seemed there would be a continuing and steady growth of the state at the expense of the individual, and a steady replacement of private initiative and planning by the state. However, this was a socialist road to abject poverty for the ordinary man and it was rightly checked in the free world: Central planning was sacrificed rather than individual liberty; and, collectivism was too inefficient to mange enterprises. Government failed then as it does now in such central planning endeavors by becoming mired in bureaucratic confusion.

Those countries that continued to pursue socialism had to build fences to keep their citizens from leaving. Presently, reformers in old core western societies, including the U.S., have created a "hodgepodge of ill-assembled and inconsistent ideals" that has largely replaced socialism with the Welfare State. Hayek suggests that achieving (by coercion) these ends is not compatible with the preservation of a free society, as it tends to subordinate personal and economic freedom to the demand of the State. Almost all elections are about the redistribution of personal and business income by the State and that restricts one's freedom. The Road To Serfdom rose from a cry in the wilderness for individual freedom to now become an integral part of the philosophy and governance of the newly freed Iron Curtain countries throughout Eastern Europe. Most have overthrown past collectivist failures to become free market democracies with rapidly growing economies propelled by individuals pursuing their own economic and personal objectives.

While teaching Economics in an MBA program during the 90's, I used The RoadTo Serfdom as required reading. Every week the students were to write a one-page summary of each chapter and to report about personal discussions they had with others. They consistently expressed their amazement that this extraordinary published work had never been brought to their attention during their undergraduate years. They were simply stunned by its enduring truths and its personal applications.

I urge you to read this compelling, timeless message between individual liberty and government authority, as it was the great fight during our life and military service. The Road To Serfdom may be more relevant today then when it was written. Enjoy!

Reviewed for C-133 Crew Members by

Richard L. Spencer

39th ATS 1962-65

To find out more about this enlightening book, and buy it for $5.05, click on: The Road to Serfdom

Splash Landing

Here's my first attempt at posting a video......you don't see this every day!!
Click on the Play arrow, let it buffer, then play it straight through......

Really Big Airplane!

Comfort in the air............A380-style!!

Your log book is valuable

My log book entries from C-133 days helped a friend, LtCol Pietro DiSantis, get a VA 100% disability. He has a whole host of prostate problems and associated issues and did not have some documentation of being in-country. He was my AC on two trips, and an excellent man to fly with. I copied the pages from my log book, showing the two trips with him as the pilot. He just sent me a card to say that those pages, along with some other documentation, got him the upgraded disability.

Over the course of writing the book, I have had several contacts from people needing documentation that they were in Vietnam. Because our flight orders did not, in most cases, suffice to prove a person actually landed in Vietnam, it has been difficult for folks to prove it, in some cases.

The point, which I have made to a young loadmaster friend; keep a log book and copies of your flight orders and finance vouchers. They are truly worth money, even after many years.

Cal Taylor

November Book of the Month

THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM
Crimes, Terror, Repression
Authored by
Stephane Courtois, et al

For those our age, throughout our military service and most of our civilian lives, we were actively involved in the containment of Communism. And, after reading THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM, it was for good reason. Communism was the great and evil story of the twentieth century and at its zenith, ruled a third of mankind. It seemed poised to spread indefinitely and then it collapsed like a house of cards. It violated one of the basic tenets of civilization, "Thou shalt not kill."

The book is so revealing of the crimes, terror, and repression of this world wide totalitarian movement, that the authors, all past proponents of Communism, "ten years before would not have believed what they then had to write." The turning point was the collapse of the Soviet Union and the opening of its archives. Advocates could run, but they could nno longer hide from the hideous and devastating truth their beliefs engendered.

The authors and many others wonder why so many on the Left are still unwilling to admit to Communism's cruelty and its failure; especially, since new research makes it look more despicable every day. Such findings are dismissed by the Left as "right-wing, anti-Communist rhetoric" and further explained by the author as encountering one intractable obstacle: "That any realistic accounting of Communist crime would effectively shut the door on Utopia." Unlike Nazism, they conclude that it will be a very long time before Communism is accorded its fair share of absolute evil.

To fully digest what you are about to experience through the reading of THE BLACK BOOK, I recommend that you begin with the Introduction, skip to the Conclusion, then begin the study of the text in full. That allows one to better understand the ensuing depiction of the twentieth century as it was; a century filled with human catastrophes an bloodthirstiness beyond all others. The scale and gravity of Communism's crimes against humanity is estimated at 100 million civilian deaths alone!

Click on the following link for a full accounting of civilian and war deaths: HOW MANY DID COMMUNIST REGIMES MURDER?

The authors attempt to answer some fundamental questions that all ask: Why did Communism immediately turn into a system of bloody dictatorship and criminal activity? Why could its aims only be achieved through extreme violence? How could such crimes be thought of as a part of normal procedure for so many decades? Socialism seemed to beget violence; and power was achieved and held through the terrorizing of its citizens.

Throughout Communist history, supposed enemies of the State were pejoratively labeled as leeches, rats, enemy agents, and capitalists. Such derogatory classifications of the enemy created the justification for terror, and totalitarian states need enemies to survive. There was no need for citizens to actually have done anything at all; extermination was in order to discipline and punish; enemies were to be killed. Trials, famine, and concentration camps were organized in the strictest secrecy and legitimized as a method.

The last remaining matter posed by the authors is why have scholars neglected the crimes committed by the Communists while names such as Himler and Eichmann are infamous? Why as the academic community neglected its duty to speak the truth? Why do Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and even Stalin enjoy a surprising reverence among them?

The answer revolves about the concealment of the misdeeds by the perpetrators and the systematic attack against all who dared expose the crimes. But, the indifference of contemporary scholars to the criminal dimension of Communism and to their fellow humans can never be forgotten. It borders on criminality itself.

I have often thought about the twentieth century without the worldwide spread of Communism. Would there have been something even more evil with which to deal? What would our lives have been? How powerful would America have needed to be? What would the world be if the twentieth century had not been so bloody? What effect would Nazism have had?

There are many insights to be gained by thinking of the paths not followed; some good and some bad, but it was what it was and we lived it. As for the U.S., one scholar noted that "Democracy is hard or everybody would have it." After reading THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM, we should never think of Democracy as being too onerous, but more a joy of life to be protected to the last man. Thank you, and your comments are well appreciated.

Reviewed for C-133 Crew Members by
Richard L. Spencer
39th ATS 1962-65

To find out more about this enlightening book, and buy it for $15.49, click on: The Black Book of Communism

A Great Idea!

From Sandy Sandstrom

When you're making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington,D. C. 20307-5001

And while you're at it, please pass it on to your e-mail list.

West Coast Reunion Planned

From John Burnet-

.
The next west coast reunion will be 17-18 May 2008. Let John know, if you are interested

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Friday May 16 , 2008 PICNIC Pena Adobe Vacaville, CA

Saturday May 17, 2008 DINNER Hampton Inn Vacaville, CA

Details will be mailed out in late January or early February


Hope to see you in May. John and Jetta Burnett jnburnet@cwnet.com

Cal Taylorfirstfleet publishersThe C-133 Projecthttp://www.angelfire.com/wa2/c133bcargomaster/home.html

S/N 90536 has a Beaver Tail!

Congratulations to the Crew at Air Mobility Command Museum, Dover AFB, DE, for completing another project in the restoration of ol' 90536! Sandy Sandstrom says, "The airplane is now complete with the exception of the right landing gear problem. We are having the main support beam machined in the shop, so everyone is holding their breath until that is completed." Here are some great photos by Harry Heist II, Archivist/Editor Hangar Digest, AMC Museum.

Tail cone was installed 30 August. Those who worked on the installation are: Jimmy Nolan, Ted Marshall, Larry Phillips, Hank Baker, Ed Barnes, Doc Adams and Garry Burris --- on the high reach is MSgt Rick Veller

October Book of the Month

LIFE AND FATE

by

Vasily Grossman

Vasily Grossman (1905-1964) was born in present-day Ukraine and was a combat correspondent for the Red Star during WWII, covering from the defense of Stalingrad through the fall of Berlin. He then wrote the first ever account in any language of a German death camp. During the War Grossman¹s Red Star articles were of great importance to the Soviet population; and, as a morale booster, soldiers at the front would read aloud from a single copy. His articles were particularly relevant for the truthfulness that was knowingly in short supply. According to historians, there really was no journalistic parallel in the West to Red Star's role on the Eastern Front. From these combat experiences was born LIFE AND FATE.

The initial manuscript was seized and suppressed by the KGB in 1960. Grossman was then advised by the chief ideologue from the Khrushchev years that it would be another 200 or 300 years before such a novel could be published. But, as we know, history intervened; and, since its translation, LIFE AND FATE is considered a masterpiece. Grossman died before its publication and is now praised as Tolstoy's heir apparent. Grossman is considered the only Soviet writer to change his spots completely: "The slave in him died and a free man arose." He was known for his courage during the years of the Great Terror and in 1938 confronted the State's executioner about his wife's imprisonment. Thus, this fearless man began his move toward dissidence as well as his search for the absolute truth. He would write only what he thought through, felt through, and suffered through.

LIFE AND FATE is centered upon the defense of Stalingrad and is probably the most significant account of this bloodiest battle of the 20th century. It has been conservatively estimated that Stalingrad cost the lives of 2.7 million to include military and civilian. That number is now being increased as records previously closed to researchers are opened. Russia's ultimate victory in defending Stalingrad from German capture is considered by many military historians a major, if not the major, turning point in the War. Amazingly, Grossman is able to chronicle the War between these two fascist States in its most destructive horror and at the same time detail the characteristics of the slow demise of the civilian populations at the hand of their fanatical leaders and functionaries.

The novel's structure is similar to WAR AND PEACE as the life of an entire country is evoked through a number of subplots involving members of a single family. A list of chief characters assists greatly during the reading. Grossman felt through his writing it was his moral duty to speak on behalf of the dead. That brings us to this final, stunning irony: In victory, Communism ultimately became the mirror image of National Socialism, sinking rapidly into crime and terror. No heresy could have been more shocking for the deceased defenders of Stalingrad than the Soviet Union ending up much like Nazi Germany. In the end, the people of Stalingrad's brave fight for freedom was nullified as personal horror and criminal activity became the Soviet norm.

Lastly, THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM has recorded and analyzed the worldwide crimes of Communist regimes lying to rest the myth of well-intentioned founders. The significance of Communism in the hierarchy of violence that is the history of the twentieth century is unparalleled. LIFE AND FATE speaks directly to those 25 to 30 million civilian deaths at the hands of the former Soviet Union ruled by Communists. No one can now claim ignorance about the criminal nature of Communism and Grossman was the first Soviet writer courageous enough to reveal its evil.

I found LIFE AND FATE to be the best novel I have ever read. Grossman was so unflinchingly true in his ability to depict the tragedy of WWII that one lives every scene. He clearly portrays the confrontation of the "Individual versus the State" that only a Russian could write. This novel should be of particular interest to C-133 crewmembers as many were WWII veterans and we were all part of the Cold War that ensued from Communism's ugly desire to rule the world.

Enjoy!

Reviewed for C-133 Crewmembers by Rick Spencer
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To find out more about this enlightening book, and buy it for $12.07, click on: LIFE AND FATE