Dudley Henriques wrote:

[....]

I'm fairly convinced that the original
poster (Bogels) pushing all the videos
has motives that are not totally up front.

[....]

It is my hope that the hotel owner (Honek)
will eventually change two remaining things
on his site, if not for me personally, for
those who have died in the videos he has...
"cool stuff"...[and "ENJOY"]....


Dudley,

Reading this thread, I have thought back over the losses of friends and
associates and wondered, since I was not present at their destruction,
if I now had videos of their final seconds would I -- could I -- watch
them? Maybe I could, but I probably wouldn't -- not without some very
important goal in mind, perhaps to work directly with others in order to
prevent a similar future occurrence. And it would always be hard -- always.

Have I watched videos of other fatal crashes? Sure, and I will again --
and I can when I don't know the people involved. I want to know how
airplanes come apart, what others at those moments would have witnessed,
and a host of other curiosities -- some professional and some just
human. But when the victims are introduced to me posthumously, in
descriptions by those who knew them, and especially when they are
described as decent competent people, the feeling changes and I become
uncomfortable with the viewing.

In fact, the older I get the less pleasant is the viewing even of old
combat footage. Though I applaud our aerial victories, I am sobered by
the implications, as I now have a better developed sense of the ultimate
reality of the images on the film. Maybe some of it is from an
understanding of how easily my own end could have been similar. Or maybe
it's just knowing how small are the differences between us, no matter
what uniform we wear.

I remember when our squadron lost an F-100F with one fatality and one
very badly burned. At the crash site, where a crowd of locals had
gathered, it seemed so wrong to me that these gawkers could just stand
nearby and watch the removal of our victims in their awful state. I
wanted to herd them all away from the site so that viewing of those
damaged bodies could be prevented. It seemed so disrespectful of my
squadron-mates and friends that outsiders, who knew nothing of their
character and their accomplishments and probably little understood the
value of such men to our nation, should be present at such an awful
moment. But now, who knows? Some of the onlookers may have understood as
well as I, but back then it seemed they couldn't possibly comprehend or
accept the obligation such knowledge placed upon them. And it sure hurt
at the time.

These feelings are not unique I know, and I suspect that they are like
yours WRT to the subject of the crash videos. If pictures of the last
moments of my friends were displayed on a web-site, I would _at the very
least_ want there to be some solemnizing of the display and a strong
indication of a sincere desire to avoid the slightest suspicion of
exploitation. Though I think you may have gone overboard a bit in
Honeck's case, I respect your need to seek Justice, or what passes for
it on USENET.


Jack