U.S.S. America . . . sunk 05/14/05

[pa28]

www.landings.com/_landings/pacflyer/jun6-2005/Jn-99-carrier-sunk.html

"The USS America, a steam-powered aircraft carrier commissioned in January 1965 and the first and only such ship to land a U-2 spy plane, was sunk off the coast of North Carolina last month."

Nice. Not like I'm reading too much into this but you would they would have a better grasp on symbols than to sink the U.S.S. America during wartime.

[Swamp Rat]

1. Yep

They should've renamed it the "USSA Dumsfeld."

[Ragnar]

2. That reminds me of a story my dad told me.

One of his few war stories form Vietnam involved the America. He was an aviator on the Intrepid. He flew f-8's...really mean looking planes with extreme hydraulics controlling the wing pitch. On one mission, he was hit with anti-aircraft fire. His commander told him to return to the carrier, because Dad was losing hydrausic fluid. My father, the cowardly liberal he was, requested permission to complete the mission, flying cover for low altitude surveillance aircraft.

By the time the photography runs were complete, the wing adjustments were impossible due to the loss of hydraulic pressure in those lines. Because the Intrepid was a short-deck carrier, he was forced to make an emergency landing on the America. For successfully returning a seriously damaged aircraft, for completing a mission under extraordinary personal danger and for excellence in flying my father was awarded several medals for his actions.

I'm sure if he ever had run for President, there would have been the "F-8 drivers for the truth" spouting about how his plane was not even hit, and that he might not have even been on the mission in question. After all, My dad was a liberal and to some that precludes the possibility he might have been brave and patriotic.

In Memory of my father 1941-2000.

the F-8 Crusader: