Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
How about a tail hook for carrier landings?
I've been reading my paper back copy of Bill Mauldin's "Up Front", this time paying more attention to the text than the cartoons. His characters "Willie" and "Joe" typify the soldiers of all nations who stoically endured the hardships of war.
Mauldin tells of the times he got into hot water with the brass hats over some of his cartoons and the support he got from one Officer who told him that when he did not get flak from the brass, he should quit as he wouldn't be doing his job right.
Is there a repository of his work we can tap into for a daily dose of "Willie & Joe Up Front"?
Mauldin tells of the times he got into hot water with the brass hats over some of his cartoons and the support he got from one Officer who told him that when he did not get flak from the brass, he should quit as he wouldn't be doing his job right.
Is there a repository of his work we can tap into for a daily dose of "Willie & Joe Up Front"?
Admiral Wags, the cocker spaniel mascot of the USS Lexington (CV-2)
It was early in May, of 1942, a 33,000 ton American aircraft carrier had just taken part in the Battle of the Coral Sea, and now the gallant Lexington was in trouble.
To Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman, then captain and commanding officer of the carrier, and even to the newest seaman aboard, it was obvious that the ship was doomed.
Admiral Sherman gave the order to abandon ship!
As the men began to slide down lines over the side of the stricken vessel, the admiral remembered his dog. Admiral Wags, a cocker spaniel.
Wags originally belonged to Sherman's son, but after the boy went away to boarding school the dog attached himself to his sea going master and had been his constant companion on tours of duty for several years. He wore two stars on his collar to designate his rank.
When the fireworks started, Wags had scampered into the admiral's emergency cabin on the bridge and hid under the bunk.
During the excitement of the action, Admiral Sherman completely forgot about his pet. Now, as the commanding officer hurriedly made his way through the increasing and nearly suffocating smoke, he was worried.
The admiral groped his way into the emergency cabin, which was filled with smoke and acid fumes, and he later recalled that "for a brief moment I feared that the dog had suffocated."
He made a quick search of the cabin, but Wags had vanished. Admiral Sherman soon spotted him, however, taking refuge on another section of the bridge, a very frightened pup, waiting anxiously for his master.
It was a happy and quick reunion. Admiral Sherman nestled the little mascot under his arm and quickly went down to the flight deck, where he gave Wags to an orderly, who tied a life jacket around the dog and lowered him over the side.
True to naval tradition, Admiral Sherman remained aboard until the last man was safely off the Lexington. Then as he slid to safety down a line from the deck into a waiting boat, the torpedo locker exploded with a terrible roar. The admiral had escaped just in time.
The brave ship was then sent to the bottom with gun fire.
Admiral Wags was taken aboard a destroyer. Admiral Sherman was carried to a cruiser. Several days later, the pet was transferred at sea to the cruiser. Wags was overjoyed at being with his master once again, and needless to say, the feeling was mutual.
Admiral Sherman for his heroic act, received a medal from the American Humane Assoc.; Wags also received a medal for his participation in the Coral Sea Battle. It was given to him by the Tailwaggers Club of America, an WW II organization of dog lovers.
Wow, poignant image, thanks for sharing. I'm First Generation Canadian - my mother grew up in the immediate Post-War Berlin, and I spoke with many others who were children in that time as well. Virtually all of them had stories of 'playing' with abandoned 'chattle' left over from the war.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
That picture is on the endpaper of the old Reader's Digest "Canadians at War" two-book series. Poignant indeed.
India's MiGs:
The MiG 25 always had an "Arrow" look about it to me. Maybe around the intakes...
That picture is on the endpaper of the old Reader's Digest "Canadians at War" two-book series. Poignant indeed.
India's MiGs:
From the top: MiG-25RB Foxbat B, MiG-27M Flogger J, MiG-29 Fulcrum A, MiG-23MF Flogger B, MiG-21bis Fishbed N
Thanks! One of my favourites is the one where Willy pulls back the flap of the hootchie in a pouring rain to reveal a shivering, skinny mutt. Joe says - "Let 'im in, I gotta see something I can feel sorry for."
I learned to hate the rain in NW Europe as a Signal Corps Lineman. Sleeping and working in the rain became my version of hell. The odd bit of heat and dust were much preferable. We envied the radio operators in their nice dry, heated 3/4 tons.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Maudlin's appreciation for how rotten infantrymen on both sides had it was pretty open-minded back in the day:
No question who's gonna win that one, but one kinda hopes they don't have to shoot the poor, bedraggled, worn out Landser.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Brilliant stuff, that:
http://1.bp.########.com/-udJy4UWk_0c/WVo_xu7isxI/AAAAAAAAldo/E0yhYsfpCbs-2mCVIuTqGfQzXNojy5rdACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Bing-cartoon-2.jpg
http://1.bp.########.com/-udJy4UWk_0c/WVo_xu7isxI/AAAAAAAAldo/E0yhYsfpCbs-2mCVIuTqGfQzXNojy5rdACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Bing-cartoon-2.jpg
