Fifth Avenue Forum

The Red Menace had to be stopped at all costs, I guess. Hindsight is 20/20, but there was a real fear of a Communist domino effect.

At the time there was a popular concern that the communists would corner the rubber market; one of Vietnam's abundant natural resources.

The Red Menace had to be stopped at all costs, I guess. Hindsight is 20/20, but there was a real fear of a Communist domino effect.

At the time there was a popular concern that the communists would corner the rubber market; one of Vietnam's abundant natural resources.

I had never realized that Michelin had operated the largest rubber plantation in Vietnam since the 1920s. There was a lot of fighting around the plantation during the war, and of course once the VC won, they nationalized it. I wonder how much money Michelin lost when they lost that.

The Red Menace had to be stopped at all costs, I guess. Hindsight is 20/20, but there was a real fear of a Communist domino effect.

That's one of the things that jumped out to me: Actual contemporaneous writings, like private memoranda and notes-to-file kind of things, indicate nothing more than lukewarm support at best for the falling domino theory amongst the cadre of decision makers in Washington regarding involvement in Indochina right back to 1946 when the first American serviceman was killed there. (Yes I know 1946 pre-dates the term Domino Theory) It took fully 20 years to spin this up into open conflict, and even at that there was no real consensus. I mean, the goal of the North and VC was not the spread of communism, it was independence for Vietnam.

Speaking of the Domino Theory, TIL that the person that first used the term Khmer Rouge was the two time king of Cambodia.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk

Craziest thing? His two terms were 1941-55 and 1993-2004 His son is king now.

The Navy wants to retire the USS Harry Truman early, as there are fears these CVs can evade Chinese anti-ship missiles. This, of course, won't go over well in Congress.

https://breakingdefense.com/2019/02/pen ... eet-to-10/

That...... no.

Would be surprised if it happens. While there might be some legitimacy to wanting to avoid the expense of a RCOH and put the savings toward other naval endeavors, but "rising anxiety over whether the US Navy’s thousand-foot-long flagships could evade Chinese missiles in a future war" is one of the dumbest sentences ever written. Carriers are massive. They can't evade ****. Their weapons systems are a last line of defense, which is why they never travel alone and even if some of the CSG breaks off, there's always a fast attack there to keep **** on lock.

Yeah, that anti-ship missile stuff has always kind of given me a chuckle. The current hypersonic weapons that are giving everyone vapors only have a range of -200 nm. In terms of modern naval warfare, that's effectively a knife fight, and puts the launch platform well within range of the CVW long before the battle group itself is at reciprocal risk.

Although, it does occasion a funny mental image if you try to picture a 100,000-ton CVN bobbing and weaving in the middle of the sea trying to dodge a missile. More likely to run itself aground.

(Think Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest ducking and rolling on the alien planet because that's how he did it in 'the historical documents'; imagine that in aircraft carrier form.)

I am now imagining that in aircraft carrier form and I **** love it.

Drachinifel just did an extended video on the Battle off Samar, which is one of the finest—if not the finest—moments for the US Navy:

The USS Pittsburgh (SSN-720) just completed its final deployment and will be decommissioned later this year. It was the fourth ship to be named after Yinzerville.

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/311916/us ... deployment

For the second day in a row, an F-117 Nighthawk has been photographed and filmed traversing through Star Wars Canyon in Death Valley. Today it was solo, yesterday it was caught being trailed by at least one 2-seat F-16D with markings from Area 51. Which makes that sighting something of an albino unicorn in the world of military aviation.

A good friend of mine who is a Vietnam vet is in Vietnam this week "making peace" with himself, etc... and it has been pretty tearjerking as posts stuff and pics.

Today he is going to his Forward Operating Base, where he won a Bronze Star in 1968.

What unit was he with, and where is he visiting? As someone who was born like a week before the American War ended, going to places like Hoa Lo prison and Hue was pretty intense just as a dopey tourist. I can't imagine the kind of response you'd have going back as a veteran.

Tell your friend xin chào from California.

Will do. I don't know his specific unit, but he's been staying in Saigon and went on a several hour bus ride up near the Cambodian border/Ho Chi Minh Trail.

U-1206 was sunk in late WWII by its own toilet:

Long, excellent read on the search for the U.S.S. Wasp, sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/maga ... rrier.html

The letter from the sailor to his son to open the piece...man.

The last EA-6B Prowler in service (Marines, naturally) retired and was transferred to the Smithsonian Annex out at Dulles.

https://www.facebook.com/9739297796/pos ... 97?sfns=mo

Again, if you have a long layover at Dulles, it’s definitely worth checking that museum out.

I have never been to Udvar-Hazy, and that sucks.

When my Dad lat moved out of the infantry he ended up in a Prowler squadron. Was neat we still had them in service when I went to Iraq in '09.

Ben Skardon, 101 year old Bataan Death March survivor, walks the memorial death march again: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2 ... 195633002/

found some pictures of my grandpa from the war over the weekend. Thought this was pretty cool. I have no idea what kind of plane that is.

That's awesome stuff