Guess who's book I just found on my shelves? "Duke" Cunningham's!

[DemoTex]

Randy "Duke" Cunningham wrote Fox Two with Jeff Ethell in 1984. It is the story of Cunningham's F-4 Phantom exploits in Viet Nam in 1971-71. Not a bad read. Cunningham became this country's first ace in the Viet Nam war by shooting down MiGs. When he got to Washington as a US Representative, Duke forgot the fighter pilots' mantra: CHECK SIX! Corruption got on his tail, and it might as well have been the legendary (if not mythical) North Vietnam ace Col. Tomb. Cunningham was "winchester" and Corruption was loaded for bear. Pride goeth before the fall, it is said. Cunningham was proud to a fault, and fall he did. Spin, crash, and burn, Duke baby. I hope he can get a copy of his book in the prison library to look back at those so very high times.


MiG-17

[DS1]

1. Excuse the Prison joke, but I think his six is about to become a seven

:hide:

[MADem]

2. He coasted after his Vietnam period

The only reason he didn't get shitcanned was BECAUSE of it. After that brief, shining moment, he did very little, and others had to take up the slack. He sure didn't go too far, rankwise, despite his exploits, and IMHO, he achieved more promotions than he deserved.

[DemoTex]

3. Yep. By the time Cunningham got to Washington he was "winchester."

Jim Stockdale (Ross Perot's VP candidate) was kind enough to define "winchester" during the VP debates of 1992: Out of bullets. Other than one memorable dog-fight, I have never been very impressed with Randy Cunningham. When I met him at a party at my sister's in Washington in the early 1990s, I found him an obnoxious asshole. Since he and I were just about the only two Viet Nam vets in the room, and since my sister had just introduced us, I made small talk by asking him about a certain MiG encounter with Willie Driscoll. His smug response was, "Did you read my book? You need to read my book." He wouldn't give me a straight answer to a single question and he was damn sure not interested in what I did in Viet Nam. From that day on, my attitude toward Cunningham was Fuck You. I saw him at a few more D.C. parties and functions (like the Wright Memorial Dinner) and went out of my way to avoid him. Cunningham is a bigger jerk than most people will ever know. Pity his cell-mate.


"Duke Cunningham is a hero,” Tom DeLay said during a press briefing Tuesday. “He is an honorable man of high integrity." (The Hill, June 15, 2005)
http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/061505/delay.html

[MADem]

4. Your experience validates mine

I crossed paths with that guy a few times in my USN career. I was trying to be a bit circumspect in my characterization of him, but I found him to be, if not the biggest shitheel I had to deal with, easily in the top ten. Words like blowhard, arrogant, useless, bullshitter, and fuckwad come to mind when I think of him.

Gee, is that a bit unkind? Heh, heh...

He's a "Get out of the way" type, to my mind. As in, either lead, follow, or yo, you useless turd, GET OUT OF THE WAY!

I'm not alone in this assessment, either. The majority of the wardrooms who knew him felt the same damn way--they just kept their mouths shut, because that guy was a shit-stirrer of the first order. He didn't have to be at a TAILHOOK convention to make an ass of himself, either.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. Refresh my memory

but winchester is jargon for low on fuel, right? If so, you got it dead on.

[DemoTex]

6. "Winchester" means out of ammo.

"Bingo" is the dreaded low-fuel state.