Fighter pilot poetry

[Barrett]

Forum Folk:

Enclosed is a bit of fighter pilot poetry recently sent to me by one of The Usual Suspects from the realm of Tailhook. I'm granting him anonymity, but will say that he was a genuine commie-bombing, sampan-strafing Skyhawk pilot who later became a Sierra Hotel F-8 driver. He's one of the triumverate currently working on The Greatest Great War Novel, "Duel Over Douai."

L’audace

Arcing around a warring sky
I knew this day
I could not die

Madly maneuvering, the enemy
finally forced
in front of me

Firing fiercely from the sun
until flaming, falling
he was done

Knowing better he than me
knowing my moment of
immortality

Then polished brass and boots and band
make the salute, as in front
I stand

And then the forest of the night
circling around my
medal bright

Are lovely creatures, wine, and song
and all are mine
for just as long

As another day, another sky
and another flier
in flames must die

Hello,Barrett. Good Heavens! "Commie bombing, sampan strafing..."(McCarthy....?)! There's a hell of a lot of civilians who died in that so-called "commie bombing" and "sampan strafing" and I sincerely hope that you don't subscribe to the view that the only good commie (or Nazi, or Jew, or Muslim, or Injun, or whatever) is a dead one!! I am not a communist myself, but have friends who are, and sincerely believe that each person is entitled to his or her beliefs, however divergent they may be from ours (take this very site....we have dissimilarly similar people from all over the world). Also,I don't think we should forget who finally won that unfortunate war. Forgive me, but I just HAD to say this. Sincere regards. Mukund.

Tally up the scoresheets of all the killers of noncombatant innocent folk and the 'commies' win hands down, They even beat Hitler on that account. McCarthy is no hero of mine, but how many folks did he kill? I'm sure Stalin and Ho Chi Minh may have him beat on the old kill innocent folks scorecard. Marxists have a nice theory of how the world works, unfortunately humans don't always conform to theoretical models, and marxists seem to have a tendency to violently eliminate the nonconformists. We all have misguided friends I'm sure, but when Barrett talks about bombing commies I think he is referring to engaging in combat an avowedly communist army which is also doing its best to destroy its enemy. That is a far cry from tossing a satchel charge at the nice old marxist associate professor who lives next door, and I would be disappointed to find someone who would imply that 'commie bomber' in the context in which it was given means 'murderer'.

Sorry, I don't have any poems for this thread either...

[Barrett]

Well, that's the great thing about the internet: you never know when somebody will take things (a) too seriously (B) too flippantly, or © miss the point entirely.

For what it's worth, I'm pleased to say that NONE of my friends are Communists.

Wow! That's a great poem.

I'll buy the book, if it's as good as the poem. (Will they sign it for me too?) )

Melinda
(whose only Communist friend is Bill the Cat)

Hello, there, guys. Nice to know that even though technology may attempt to bring the world closer, prejudices still manage to remain small-town! I'm sure the head-shrink boffins will find that interesting! Strange, that none of those prejudices managed to win that most unnecessary and unfortunate war! Also strange that the top scorer in each of the world wars was a German! Never mind. My commiserations. And a ball of wool for Bill the Cat!!

[Shooter]

Barrett:

It's okay...I have always believed that Communists have always looked more natural when viewed through a range finder.

Bill
[email protected]

[mike_baram]

How many did McCarthy kill?
The McCarthy era was one of the saddest periods in our history....a milder version of the Communist purges of the 30s. Don't forget the people whose careers and lives were destroyed, sometimes to the point of suicide, by innuendo or unfounded accusations.
I was too young to understand it all at the time, but I had relatives who were idealistic Socialists/Communist/whatever during the depression, and they lived in fear that their former associations would come back to haunt them. In some cases they did, resulting in lost jobs and careers.

Agreed, McCarthy destroyed many lives and was indirectly (or perhaps directly) responsible for a few suicides as well, on the whole, however, people persecuted by McCarthy got off rather lightly compared to anyone noticed by communists when they held power...To say McCarthy killed dozens of innocents would be a stretch, but lets say he did just for the sake of argument, then lets stack it up against what Stalin did...I dislike McCarthy, but if I'm choosing bugbears, I have quite a few candidates among communists before I reach him.