Possibly apocraphal story about Enola Gay display

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "G.R. Patterson III" said:
David CL Francis wrote:
We were understandably trying to stop any ships from supplying France
but we went too far after capturing American ships in forcing their
crews to fight for us on our ships!

then. The attitude of the British government on the matter was not the
least
important to those captains. So the kidnappings continued.

I thought the attitude of the British government was that since the
American seaman being impressed were likely born as British citizens, it
was all legal and above board?

That sounds more like a lame excuse governments typically use, given that
the seamen were generally in their 20's and the US had been a nation for
over 30 years.

Paul Tomblin wrote:

I thought the attitude of the British government was that since the
American seaman being impressed were likely born as British citizens, it
was all legal and above board?

No, both Parliament and the King had repeatedly told the Admiralty to stop the
practice of impressment from American ships.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

Cub Driver wrote:

As to the rest, if
Yasukuni is not in Tokyo nor a shrine to war criminals, I would assume that Ms Chang
was not referring to Yasukuni.

Not at all. Iris Chang was wrong, plain and simple.

Well, I have seen no indication that you are correct.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

The British Queen is a constitutional monarch. She has no control over
Canada and almost zero over the UK. She is a figurehead.

I was under the impression that the Crown still had veto power over
Parliament?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In a previous article, "Jay Honeck" said:
The British Queen is a constitutional monarch. She has no control over
Canada and almost zero over the UK. She is a figurehead.
I was under the impression that the Crown still had veto power over
Parliament?

If the Crown ever tried to exercise that power, they would soon find
themselves out of a job. Look at Fiji - the Queen didn't even dare say a
word when the democratic government was overthrown by a military coup. Or
Australia, which is probably going to become a Republic real soon now
because the Governor General had the audacity to refuse to recognize a
government.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
[Once in a lifetime opportunity] is simply a veiled reference to the staff
contract termination procedure, which involves a sunny wall, a single
cigarette and some middling to average marksmen... -- Dan Holdsworth

On Mon, 31 May 2004, Jay Honeck wrote:

The British Queen is a constitutional monarch. She has no control over
Canada and almost zero over the UK. She is a figurehead.

I was under the impression that the Crown still had veto power over
Parliament?

Technically, yes. The Governor-General (the Queen's representitive in
Canada) can technically send legislation back to Parliament, and even
dissolve Parliament (forcing a general election).

In practice, it's wildly unlikely to happen. The government of the day
appoints the GG (who is then approved by the Queen), and actual exercises
of power by the GG *against the will of the current government/Parliament*
don't happen much.

The Queen (or her reps, the General- and Lt- Governors) reigns, but does
not rule. More or less. Being based on the UK's largely unwritten
constitution, constitutional monarchy is a bit fuzzier than, say,
American-style constitutional republicanism. (small-r republicanism...)

Brian.

On Mon, 31 May 2004 15:35:22 GMT, "G.R. Patterson III"
wrote:



Cub Driver wrote:

As to the rest, if
Yasukuni is not in Tokyo nor a shrine to war criminals, I would assume that Ms Chang
was not referring to Yasukuni.

Not at all. Iris Chang was wrong, plain and simple.

Well, I have seen no indication that you are correct.

Yasukuni is a shrine to Japanese war dead, and appears to be located
in the "Kudan District of Chiyoda ward, Tokyo." See:

http://www.geocities.com/gatoesmuchogor/

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2321.html

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

On Sun, 30 May 2004 at 22:15:26 in message
, Morgans
wrote:

Nice place, isn't it? Many years ago, I used to spend a lot of time there,
and at the winery, but mostly used sailboats as my transportation. Everyone
knows sailboats are better to drive than airplanes, when you have a snoot
full! g

Indeed it is a splendid place. I took quite a lot of pictures. We
walked as far as the airfield and watched a couple of take-offs - I was
interested to see what the margin was over the trees at the end of the
runway!

Sailing is something I used to do many years ago. I was no good at any
activity that needed a ball - sailing was fine.

Was the Ford Trimotor still doing regular runs out to the islands?

I did not see it nor any publicity about it but we were there near the
end of the season. What it is like when all the golf carts are in
operation I can't imagine!
--
David CL Francis

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...
Small museums are great, while I was walking around NE Air Museum at
Windsor Locks, I noticed that there was a stairs set beside the
Corsair on display. I asked the docent about this, and he said that
every week? they had tours for schoolkids so they could sit in the
cockpit. I went into major whine mode, and sure enough he gave me the
nod to climb in. I could never have pulled that off at NASM.

If anyone wants to sit in a Harrier, the famous company demonstrator
G-VTOL no less, come to Brooklands Museum. Whenever we have
enough volunteers to open it up, you can go and sit in it and make
screeching/
roaring noises and fiddle with the nozzle lever and throttle if you like...

http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com

Paul

wrote in message . ..
I can't vouch for the authenticity of this story. I was talking with
an acquaintence I don't see often and he asked me: "You're a pilot
aren't you?" I told him I was, that I'd gotten my PPL last August.

He then launched into this story he'd heard from a relative who worked
at the Udvar Hazy Center down in Washington.

He told me that the director, an ex general, was squiring a group of
Japanese journalists around the center (date of this incident not
mentioned). When they passed the Enola Gay, some of the journalists
spoke up and said that they were offended by the display, saying that
the bomber had dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.

The ex general asked them what they thought about Pearl Harbor. The
Japanese, all journalists, were bewildered. "What about Pearl
Harbor?" They asked.
snip

Ever been to Perl Harbor on Oahu? When I was there last fall I would
estimate between 50% and 75% of the tourist on the boat ride to the
Arizona Memorial were from Japan.

I really don't believe that all the Japanese journalists didn't know
about Perl Harbor. I'm sure if you asked a sample of Americans to name
the city's we drop Atomic bombs on to end WW2 they could not come up
with the correct answer. However they do know it happened.

I work with a lot of people from Asia including Japan. I have to
admit that their knowledge of military world history is
limited/skewed.