Comments on Murderous Musings: Summer Shorts: Death On A Sandbar

Chester, I keep getting my wars mixed up. The Kore...

2009-07-13T14:56:53.033-05:00

Chester,
I keep getting my wars mixed up. The Korean truce was signed in 1953. I thought the F86 came along for Viet Nam.

Remembering my own life -- war was the last thing on my mind in 1957!

Incidentally, my old Fresno Skywriter has an article about Air Force Secretary James H. Douglas who was talking about the promising future of a "new, long-range, supersonic bomber" as opposed to missiles.

Pat B.

Pat, the F-86E was our answer to the MiG-15 in Kor...

2009-07-13T10:54:14.608-05:00

Pat, the F-86E was our answer to the MiG-15 in Korea. My job in the Estimates Division of the Directorate of Intelligence at 5th Air Force Hq was to follow enemy air activity. I had to read all the pilot debriefing reports from any missions tht encountered hostile aircraft. The F-86s pilots did a great job against the MiGs, though much of the time the MiGs flew at high altitude to avoid contact.

Mark, I have a "Fresno Skywriter," the PR paper pu...

2009-07-13T00:06:10.333-05:00

Mark,
I have a "Fresno Skywriter," the PR paper put out by North American Aviation when I worked there in the mid-fifties. It's dated Aug.30 1957 and is mostly about neatness, safety, the bowling team, etc. but there are a few mentions of the F-86D Sabre Jet. Fresno was a test facility but nobody talked about the planes.

I filed the daily performance reports without ever looking at them. What did I know? The test pilots were treated like royalty when we all got together after work at a place called The Outpost.

Pat B.

Marvin, Elizabeth -- I have a brother-in-law who ...

2009-07-12T23:59:39.872-05:00

Marvin, Elizabeth --

I have a brother-in-law who won't even say the word "Korea." We family members never bring up the Korean War. He won't watch war movies of any kind -- no matter which war.

Jean, I think it was Gen. Sherman, the guy who burned Atlanta on his "march to the sea."

Pat B.

Unfortunately, the Korean War is still going -- yo...

2009-07-11T17:36:03.028-05:00

Unfortunately, the Korean War is still going -- you just don't hear much about it. I spent a year over there flying the F-4, prepared to die defending South Korea. Tensions have always been high on both sides, but North Korea's missile launches have elevated that even more.

The interesting thing about visiting post-war locations is nature's indifference to mankind. In spite of our many indiscretions, nature's beauty always manages to prevail.

War is hell! (Can't remember who said that). My el...

2009-07-11T10:20:44.507-05:00

War is hell! (Can't remember who said that). My eldest brother was stationed in Korea and said that he and his comrades had holes in their boots because the supply sargeant sold their replacements on the black market.

That must have been horrifying to live through. I ...

2009-07-11T08:07:37.970-05:00

That must have been horrifying to live through. I can certainly imagine being haunted by those images for the rest of your life...

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Love your shorts. Ooops - erm, that didn't come ou...

2009-07-11T06:41:36.979-05:00

Love your shorts. Ooops - erm, that didn't come out right - lol. Seriously, well written. I have an uncle who fought in the Korean war and he described it as hell on earth.

The Old Silly