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Post by Registrar on Jul 30, 2014 10:40:00 GMT 8
A further report, received today:
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Post by Registrar on Jul 25, 2014 7:58:14 GMT 8
Those designations are just fanciful tinsel for amusement, not at all a serious designation, and are based on the numbers of posts made on this forum only. Thus, even if a noted expert from another forum joins, he is a still a newbie, or plebe. I cannot recall the promotion points, have had a look but can't find them, but thought they were around 20, 50 & 100. A feature which I prefer people would make use of, is the ability to use their own avatars, or logos. That tells more about a member than the mere number of posts.
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P.S. I have found the change points. Candidate 2, Applicant 3, Plebe 10, Trainee 20, member 50, Buff 100.
Another feature I would like people to use more often than they do is the "thumbs up" button when you see a post that you believe deserves it, for whatever reason. A lot of effort goes into some of these posts, and they deserve some recognition.
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Post by Registrar on Jul 10, 2014 12:26:52 GMT 8
This isn't a direct parallel, but seeing "almost" parallels in history does concern me. Recently we have lived through what happened when four men were declared expendable in Benghazi, and could not be saved for all the power of the United States. Recall the criticism and blame-calling which followed upon that incident - that the State Department had placed its Ambassador and three others in harms way, and left them hung out to dry. Imagine, if you will, the government-shaking magnitude of criticism which would attach were an entire Army defeated in the field, surrendered and led into captivity. Isn't that something Washington, with all its newspaper and media influence, would tend to pull every string it could to spin, to obfuscate, and to misdirect the country's attention elsewhere? Even 72 years later?
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Post by Registrar on Jul 1, 2014 9:17:10 GMT 8
"JPAC is already working to screw things up." Sounds like similar form to the bad leadership, systemic failures and corrosive culture of the VA. Hush yo' mouth, John, in case somebody at Fox News cottons on that there's a pattern here. I wonder how much JPAC's management received across the years of maladministration by way of bonuses and conferences, whilst elsewhere bleating like lost sheep for more operational funding. Ah, the joys of government employment!
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Post by Registrar on Jun 5, 2014 5:19:00 GMT 8
Does the pure-oxygen trick work? I'm not a doctor but some authorities say it doesn't, and that any hangover reduction is wishful thinking or a placebo effect. Others suggest anecdotal evidence that people who have used pure oxygen after a night of heavy drinking have reported that they were able to decrease headaches, fatigue, and nausea. It might not reduce blood alcohol content in the slightest but it may well reduce the headache and nausea associated with the hangover. You may be no less drunk, but you surely feel better about it. The episode is just a wry little footnote to history. Everything points to the conclusion that had a mission been flown, the early models of B-17 would not have fared well at all, and that few of the men would have survived. The B-17 was a sophisticated weapon, and the circumstances in which it was expected to perform were primitive at best. Even in the ETO the heavy bomber concept needed time to develop and to expect that something effective would have come of the first use of the weapon in the SWPA is staggeringly unrealistic. It is quite conceivable that had the mission been flown, that there was a high chance none would have returned. When you do read into it further, you might also note the different standards which seem to apply to the loss of the B-17's at Clark and the withdrawal of the Navy's submarines from Philippine waters. At this point, the United States had much to learn about the capabilities and competence of its armed forces, and the overconfidence of its leadership. American ground forces in the Philipppines, bolstered by the Philippine Scouts, always gave a good accounting of themselves throughout the campaign, whereas the USN did not begin to fare well until it was forced to clean house after being soundly beaten at Savo and Tassafaronga in Guadalcanal. I am often reminded of the quote attributed to Churchill (though it is nowhere identified in his writings or recorded speeches,) "The Americans can be relied upon do the right thing… after they've exhausted all the alternatives."
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Post by Registrar on Jun 4, 2014 14:18:40 GMT 8
Concerning your statement "On the other hand, nobody can explain away why the balance of the 19th BG B-17s were not at least removed to Del Monte.," that as been at least partially explained. The more worldly pilots and crews had delayed their deployment to Del Monte so as to attend Gen. Brereton's birthday party at the Manila Hotel on Saturday night, 6 December. (The Manila Hotel had a reputation as being one of the best nightclubs "this side of Minsky's.") Although having all been ordered to Del Monte, the senior crews had taken it upon themselves to stagger the departures on a pretext. Having given the order some days earlier (I cannot recall how many days, offhand), MacArthur naturally assumed that his orders had been complied with and that the aircraft were safely at Del Monte, and out of known Japanese range. I have described MacArthur as one of the most "lied to" generals of WWII, and this is but one more example.
What also followed from this was that the crews, inebriated, had raced back from the party to Clark, and had used an Air Corps hangover cure cure - sitting in their aircraft and breathing pure oxygen. This rendered the aircraft less able to take off until all the aircraft could be replenished, a process which was delayed as there was only one oxygen cart available.
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Post by Registrar on Jun 1, 2014 8:09:59 GMT 8
Information received has it that the Sound and Light Show has been removed from Malinta Tunnel. Removed, not fixed.
The info is unverified. I don't know if pieces of it only have been removed, or in its entirety.
As an analyst of what happens on Corregidor through the years (we all are in one way or another) I cannot help but assess that the removal of the S&L Show - if it is indeed a full removal - would be a grievous loss to the income stream of the Corregidor Foundation Inc. In the peak seasons, this feature was the means of earning significant daily income for the Foundation, several hundreds of dollars a week, which is not chump change in anyone's language.
I would have thought that had the S&L merely broken down, blown a vacuum tube or whatever, it would have been quickly fixed. Surely there was some maintenance contract or some such, it would have been courting disaster not to maintain a good relationship with the supplier for just such a contingency as this. That it hasn't been fixed, and appears to have been removed instead, has got to hurt.
The financial hurt is not too bad just now, because the rainy season is just about to arrive, and the tourist stream will slow to a trickle, which is normal. If the S&L isn't up and earning good as new (or entirely renewed) by next season, the income stream will be hurt. As the Foundation (presumably) uses the income for payment of island staff, maintenance and grass cutting, there may be changes, not always for the better. Nothing can be inferred from the lack of any announcement or press release, for it is also normal that the Foundation keeps much of what is happening behind closed doors, as that is the management style there. This may not be the right style for running what is essentially an attraction designed to appeal to the tourism trade, but it's the way things are done in Manila, and the island belongs to them, not to us.
So this information raises more questions than can be answered.
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Post by Registrar on May 27, 2014 8:57:55 GMT 8
I am posting this for "Pagoda" who has recently joined us from somewhere in Kansas. In his (or her) intro, he (or she) writes:
Hello..I am registering to inquire about the missing main guns on FORT DRUM. I just viewed a recent photo and the guns from the upper turret have disappeared. These were large (12"-14") and while were sitting out of battery, they were easily visible & could not have been moved or taken by casual thieves. A CRANE seems to have been used. As this is so easily seen from shore, this undertaking must have been seen by someone in authority. Is there no one down there assuming the responsibility for the protection of these historical artifacts (Ft Drum guns being the last to be fired before the surrender) I write this on Memorial Day, which just peeves me even more.
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Post by Registrar on May 25, 2014 14:01:23 GMT 8
Joey,
Could you first ADD to the record by recording (ie taking a statement) of what those who survive have to say about their own survival experiences. Thus we are not being asked to deal with hearsay about what someone else recalls happened to someone not them-self. Essentially, if the record needs to be re-established, this is something you have to propel.
This is not by any means a criticism. You are in a difficult position where an historical record needs to be corrected. All the more credit goes to you that you should embark upon that task.
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Post by Registrar on May 12, 2014 12:50:36 GMT 8
Despite my attempts so far, I have been unable to getestablish any satisfactory connection with the jeep owners fraternities here.
Plus, I am leaving Manila for some months - so I have no one who can run with the concept. I may make one last attempt at getting to MD Juan, who manufacture replacement WWII jeep bodies here, and whom I believe would be the natural people to pursue the idea. However, without a promoter to hustle other sponsors, obtain permissions via the infrastructure of the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation Committee, etc., I think this is an idea which is bogged - even if MD Juan do try to get behind it and tow it from the mud. Shame, it would have been nice to see a WWII Jeep convoy pull up Espana and into UST. I felt that it would have been so extraordinary, it would have made a front-page photo, and a TV News item.
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