Re: Developers and historical artifacts....
The fate of the USS Ling may not be unlike that suffered by the DL&W RR Dansbury Depot in East Stroudsburg PA. Even though it is (was) on the National Register of Historic sites, the site had been "eyed" by developers for a new 4 story building. The community was opposed to its removal, but, strangely enough...it caught fire in the middle of the night, and of course, there are no resources to rebuild it....So the remains were sold to the developer.....:damn:

It is a good thing that there are games like this out there I am pretty sure that they alone raise interest in the real history behind it.I know when I was younger I got interested in WWII because of "Black Sheep Squadron" it had its cheesy bits I know but it did spark an interest I went to the library and found that it had the entire collection of Time-Life books on WWII and I went though them all that was when I was 9 or 10 that was just the start.

Also now a days internet sites about military history/history are a good thing.I guess disinterest is caused by own modern society many people are so caught up fiddling with their I-phones and I-pads(that some Chinese person works 14 hours a day getting paid $1.00 a day) they probably don't have much concern about the past or future so long as their gadget will work in it, the first EMPs of WWIII will kill a lot of people if it ever happens.

Yes, indeed. It's called self-absorption.
My father got me into watching Black Sheep Squadron when it first aired on television. I used to watch it all the time. I suppose it reminded him of his days on the carrier in the Pacific. You know, reminded him of his youth.

Me and couple buddies made a bet with this younger co-worker that we would give him $100.00 if he did not use his i-phone except for legit phone calls and messages no playing with app or surfing online things like that fro a full work week he gave up a Thursday almost made it.:damn: He just could not take it.But he did start to use the thing a lot less after that at least.


I know that Pappy Boyington was a "technical adviser" for the show even he said that it was loosely based on reality. I read some place that Pappy met a Japanese pilot who claimed to have shot him down in 1943 while he was working on Black Sheep.I also heard that some former VMF214 members did not like the show very much because of how "they" where portrayed in the show.

Yes, one could guess that they were offended by being portrayed as bunch of druken brawlers. I mean, I doubt they acted like that ALL the time. :arrgh!:

Actually in real life they where highly disciplined there really was not very much to do in the PTO on the front lines to get you into much trouble anyway. I dont recall the name but the XO of VMF214 had to "keep" Pappy in line as he was very bad alcoholic he sometimes flew missions with a very bad hangover but still was able to effectively lead his pilots and still got kills! he also had issues with authority so if anything the other men in 214 had to keep Pappy civilized when he needed to be and used that aggression in combat where is was needed.

He actually had a lot of trouble for most his Marine Corp career besides WWII which is why he flew with the AVG early on they looked for his type of personality good fighters that don't like to comply with normal military regulations but can be counted on in real combat his saving grace was that his was an outstanding fighter pilot and some of his traits where inspiring to his men so the Corps just barely tolerated him.

Only been to the USS Drum in Mobile, AL several times, as it's not far from my hometown in Florida and I pass through Mobile often on way home.I plan to stop by to see her when I head home for winter break in a few days.

I am going to SF in Feb, plan to see the USS Pampanito.

I've read a lot about Boyington and he was just a natural top notch aviator, but not the career type officer the corps wants, which I admire in a way.Boyington was just Boyington, he did his own thing but still got the job down.Sure some real problems, he was a pathological liar and alcoholic to boot which caused him many problems pre, during and post war, but it seems he was an overall good person.Having said that, I bet partying with him was a hell of a lot of fun! lol