The Military Thread

[Susquehanna Birder]

for thousands and thousands of years, man still hasn't been able to figure out a way to settle their differences without bloodshed.

Don't forget...

[Diomedes]

I thought to post pics of them both but kept it to mlk for the sake of brevity.  There have been others after these two greats as well. 

My balls for example are doing wonderful things for humanity.

[shorebird]

TED KENNEDY!

[shorebird]

I'm a few days late on this, but it's still worth posting.

Tuskegee Airman and WWII flying ace, Lt. Col. Lee Archer passed away on Jan. 27th. His funeral was held at Arlington Cemetary on Feb. 12th. Lt. Col. Archer graduated no. 1 in his class at the Tuskegee Cadet Training Facility at Tuskegee, Alabama. He flew missions over 11 different countries flying cover and escorting long-range bomber groups. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and received special citations from Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson, along with the Director of the CIA. He was also considered to be the only black ace pilot who also broke racial barriers as an executive at a major U.S. company

more...

If any of you have never really develed into the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, it's a great, inspiring story. It's really amazing how good these men were. Most attribute their amazing skill with an airplane to the stringent qualifications they had to meet, due to the racism they encountered by the military. Their squadron was almost done away with before it was even formed. But, you can believe that by the end of the war, they had earned respect from their fellow airman. Their planes were distiquished from other groups by a red tail painted on their planes. The Allied bomber groups who flew with them dubbed them the Redtailed Angels. Their awards as a group and individuals are too many to mention here. It's said, though this is widely debated amoung  Air Force personel, that they'd never lost a single fighter to combat. You can click the link for more, but here is a quote from wiki.

While it had long been said that the Redtails were the only fighter group who never lost a bomber to enemy fighters,[13] suggestions to the contrary, combined with Air Force records and eyewitness accounts indicating that at least 25 bombers were lost to enemy fire,[14] resulted in the Air Force conducting a reassessment of the history of the unit in late 2006.

The claim that no bomber escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen had ever been lost to enemy fire first appeared on March 24, 1945, in the Chicago Defender, under the headline "332nd Flies Its 200th Mission Without Loss." According to the March 28, 2007, Air Force report, however, some bombers under 332nd Fighter Group escort protection were shot down on the very day the Chicago Defender article was published.[15][16][17][18] The subsequent report, based on after-mission reports filed by both the bomber units and Tuskegee fighter groups as well as missing air crew records and witness testimony, was released in March 2007 and documented 25 bombers shot down by enemy fighter aircraft while being escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen.[19]


Men of the 332nd Fighter Group attend a briefing in Italy in 1945.The St. Petersburg Times in 2008 quoted a historian at the Air Force Historical Research Agency as confirming the loss of up to 25 bombers. Disputing this, a professor at the National Defense University said he researched more than 200 Tuskegee Airmen mission reports and found no bombers were lost to enemy fighters. Bill Holloman, a Tuskegee airman who taught black studies at the University of Washington and now chairs the Airmen's history committee, was reported by the Times as saying his review of records did confirm lost bombers, but "the Tuskegee story is about pilots who rose above adversity and discrimination and opened a door once closed to black America — not about whether their record is perfect."

[ice grillin you]

tuskegee airmen rocked tuskegee experiment did not

[Sgt PSN]

a little known fact about the tuskegee airmen is that every time they shot down an enemy aircraft they yelled "booyah" on the radio which is what inspired stuart scott's sportscenter catch phrase.  kind of tragic how a once proud war cry has been forever tainted by that lazy eyed son of a bitch.   

[Susquehanna Birder]

a little known fact about the tuskegee airmen is that every time they shot down an enemy aircraft they yelled "booyah" on the radio which is what inspired stuart scott's sportscenter catch phrase.  kind of tragic how a once proud war cry has been forever tainted by that lazy eyed son of a bitch.   

Dude needs to have a stare-down with Forrest Whitaker.

[shorebird]

The Tuskegee Airmen's P-51 Mustang



Today, the Alabama Air National Guard paints the tail of at least one of their fighters red to honor the Tuskegee Airmen of WWII.



Remember Obama's photo op fly by of New York city? He was escorted by the same F-16 Fighting Falcon.



...and this is just a cool pic for anyone who like aviation. Air Force 1 is one bad ass 747.

[mpmcgraw]

This is gay

[PhillyPhreak54]

P-51's were some bad ass planes.

[shorebird]

Friggen' right they were. The first ones were underpowered at high altitude though, using a American made Allison engine that up until the 70's was still the main engine for unlimited hydroplanes like the Miss Budwieser. Later model P-51's were fitted with the 1300hp Rolls Royce Merlin engine, same engine as was in the Supermarine Spitfire and what is considered the best aviation engine of WWII.



Amazing considering it was produced so many years ago.

[Susquehanna Birder]

Is that one of the AF1 photos they took while they were scaring the shtein out of the people in NYC?

[Drunkmasterflex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_T9cPv_dg

No two ways about it this was a bad man right here. 

[Diomedes]

what a bunch of Hoydas

[Seabiscuit36]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9_T9cPv_dg

No two ways about it this was a bad man right here. 

makes ya dam proud to be american.