November 22, 1963
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Yes, this article is about BDSM -- but like the BBC-TV program "Connections" with James Burke, you have to go all the way to the end to see how all of these points form a nexus of events. The first two paragraphs have been written to give you, the reader, a little feel for the world of 1962 and some background.
World War II
Before the beginning of WW II, the Japanese had invaded China and declared the entire country to be part of the Japanese Empire. The Japanese had built biological and chemical nerve agent labs on the Chinese mainland and used Chinese citizens as test subjects. [Note 1]
JFK & PT-109
Many Americans were affected by his death, but I think there was a special linkage between JFK and most American sailors. JFK had been a member of the Navy during WWII, piloting a Torpedo Patrol boat, the PT-109, based at Rendova Island in the South Pacific.
The PT-109 was sunk when it was rammed by the Amagiri, a Japanese Destroyer, on August 3rd, 1943. The crew of PT-109 was in the water for four hours until they were able to swim to Plum Pudding Island. JFK swam an additional 4k to find a better place, having food, water, and places to hide from the Japanese Navy. He was able to move his entire crew (minus two men lost during the ramming) to Olasana Island and to await rescue four days later. To avoid the capture of his crew, JFK traveled to a prearranged rendezvous point to meet with PT-157 and PT-171 on August 7th, 1943.
JFK became a naval hero and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
The Cold War World
Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Chinese people during WWII, was a US ally and helped defeat the Japanese on their western front. After WWII, and after Chiang Kai-shek had regained control of the Chinese government, Mao Tse-tung and the "Red Chinese" took control of the country, and set up the "Peoples Republic of China" (PRC). Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan and set up a new anti-communist, Chinese government on the island of Taiwan. The Taiwanese referred to themselves as the "Republic of China" (ROC).
Because Chiang Kai-shek was "fighting communism" (the PRC), and he was an ally during WWII, the US government poured millions of dollars and a lot of "advisors" to help support Taiwan. As part of this support, the US Seventh Fleet provided an on-station Task Force to show naval strength in that part of the world.
The Taiwanese government and the Republic of China (PRC) disputed the ownership of two islands, Quemoy and Matsu, in the China Ocean between the two powers. These islands were an international trigger point, and it was thought (at that time) the fight over the ownership of these islands just might trigger an all-out war between China (being supported by Russia) and Taiwan (being supported by the US), causing an all-out worldwide nuclear war.
Since Quemoy was about eight miles offshore, it was well within the range of land-based big-bore guns. Starting in October 1958, and for quite a few years thereafter, the PRC would fire onto the islands on a regular basis.
The US government under President Eisenhower poured millions of dollars in aid to support the Taiwanese and their "fight against Communism in the region". Anti-aircraft missiles to clear the air of Russian-built MIGs were "loaned" to the Taiwanese. Several eight-inch guns capable of firing nuclear-tipped shells were installed. Hundreds of amphibious vessels used during WWII were sold to the Taiwanese, ostensibly for "scrap metal". Instead of breaking these ships up for scrap metal, they were upgraded. They were outfitted with much more weaponry than the US had ever designed these ships to carry.
When the USS Duncan visited Kaohsiung, I was amazed at the number of 20cal, 40cal, three-inch and five-inch guns that were mounted atop almost every building in the city. Most of us in the Navy at that time used to joke that we were there to "Keep the ROCs on the island as opposed to keeping those PRC's on the mainland".
In 1960, one of the primary debating points between Nixon and Kennedy was "Should the US Government continue to support the Taiwanese government?".
November 22nd and 23rd, 1963
If I ask you where you were on November 22nd, 1963, you would look at me totally askance, and say "I haven't a clue! Why?" or "What happened on those dates?" Having read some of the previous paragraphs, you probably have several clues to my answer to this question.
Most of you reading this body of work are probably too young to remember that John F. Kennedy was shot while in Dallas, Texas.
Now, I'm not going to rehash all of the theories, conspiracy or otherwise, about JFK's death. I am going to tell you about my experience on these two dates.
Personally, I was stationed aboard the USS Duncan, and we were in the Taiwan Straights with Taiwan to the East and Communist China to the West. We were part of the naval task force with an aircraft carrier as its centerpiece. My duties included maintaining a long-range (300 miles plus!) AN/SPS-43 radar system.
On the 23rd of November, 2023, our Carrier task force received a top-secret communique from the Pentagon notifying us of the JFK assassination. At 0300 (3 am), the entire ship was brutally awakened with a "Men of Duncan" announcement. [Note 2] We immediately went to "General Quarters" (GQ) and we remained there for nearly seventy hours since it was not known if JFK's death was a single-point event or if it was but a harbinger of an impending all-out global nuclear war event.
When GQ was announced, the Duncan went to a closed-up, tight as a drum status to defend against any type of attack. The entire crew was at "white-knuckle action" (WKA) for several hours.
Civilians seldom experience WKA; unless you have been a pilot trying to land an aircraft on a pitching carrier deck or in at an enemy airport in really bad weather; a driver in those few hundredths of a second just prior to an impending auto accident; or the victim of a major earthquake or tornado: a true life and death event.
Imagine yourself in a large, locked Dumpster with a dozen chaotic, sociopaths inside shouting commands and a few dozen psychopaths on the outside waiting to get in and do you great, grievous bodily harm. (See How to Simulate Navy Life)
– Robin Roberts
After being at "WKA GQ" for several hours, it became "almost obvious" that the JFK assassination was a single-point event. We remained at GQ, but we were released from WKA. We were allowed to open a few hatches (doors) to get some fresh air and start a crew rotation for bathroom breaks on a rotation basis. The galley/kitchen opened, and they started making sandwiches, orange juice in boxes, and coffee for the remainder of the crew. As I said, we were at GQ for nearly seventy hours.
Those seventy-plus hours meant being forced to stay in one place, contemplating the potential for our deaths and the beginning of World War Three. GQ is a time of weighing life, death, and mortality. A Marine chaplain once said, "There are no atheists in a foxhole." For those moments, minutes, or hours of danger, your body undergoes a tremendous transference of stored body mass into muscle-driving energy. It is not uncommon for people under stress to lose several pounds of body mass in a fairly short period of time. The second problem comes weeks or even months later. Depending on the level and length of time a person is subjected to stress, a person develops Post-traumatic stress disorder. During WWII, they called it being "shell-shocked".
When I talk to people who have actually faced potential life/death situations, I have always found it amazing how many people change their entire viewpoints of "what is important to me" and of life in general. I think that people who have been faced with these issues fall into three categories:
- those who "confront their memories," overcoming the event and becoming stronger,
- those who "avoid their memories," retaining repressed memories that they won't even talk about and,
- those who "bury their memories" and are ultimately crushed by the event and develop PTSD.
One of the things I discovered about myself during those seventy-plus hours was that I genuinely, personally wished to be in control - it reinforced my "Master persona." I, as a person, enjoyed the idea of being the dominant person in my relationships.
I also decided that I did NOT like the idea of not knowing what was happening. I vowed that if those in power should choose that I should survive, I would strive for knowledge and intellect. I would become the one in command, the "answer man."
I also found that I wanted to treat friends and family in a positive, constructive manner and that I, as an individual, am charged with protecting those around me.
I discovered that I truly enjoy adrenaline as a drug of choice. I enjoy flying and driving sports cars, teaching, working with explosives, and involvement in 'Search and Rescue'. I also enjoy the power that being a Master allows me: the feel of a female kneeling at my feet.
Over the years, I have also found that the heights of your emotional experiences are defined and limited by the depths of those emotional experiences. You can become accustomed to your emotional or psychological environments.
A little historical trivia
- During WWII, Claire Chennault developed "Flying Tiger Airlines" to fly war material (and Curtiss P-40 to provide fighter support) from India (over Japanese-held Burma) to provide support to the Chinese government being led by Chiang Kai-shek. This flight plan required flying over the Burmese mountains and was known as "flying the hump."
- In 1942, Chennault and his group of Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk aircraft (with their distinctive tiger teeth painted on them) and their pilots were inducted into the US Army Air Force.
- After WWII, many of the air cargo pilots remained in the Orient, forming the "Chinese Air Transport" (CAT), an obscure reference to "Flying Tigers".
- The CIA regularly hired CAT to fly supplies (in "surplus" C-119 Flying Boxcars) to "various agencies that the US wished to support", including the besieged French garrison at Dien Bien Phu in Viet Nam. (Hiring CAT also allowed a certain amount of deniability on behalf of the US Government.)
- When the US Government wanted to provide support to the civilian Vietnamese, they hired CAT to fly supplies to the "freedom fighters," and CAT was to become "Air America" and work for the CIA when they needed project deniability.
- As the US buildup began, it was obvious that more supplies were needed than aircraft could deliver. Evergreen Marine was formed with support from the CIA.
- Today, Evergreen Marine is the world's fourth-largest private shipping company and holds a stake in Evergreen Airways.
A Personal Note from Robin
For me, the date of JFK's assassination presents a problem. Kennedy was shot at 1230 on the 22nd of November, 1963, Texas time. I was near Formosa and across the international date line, so Kennedy was shot at 0300 on the 23rd of November, Formosa time. This year, November 23rd, 2023, falls on Thanksgiving Day, so I guess I will have to celebrate for two days.
Reference
Notes
- ↑ Unit 731 (Japanese: Nana-san-ichi Butai), short for Manshu Detachment 731 and also known as Kamo Detachment, and Ishii Unit, was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) of World War II. Estimates of those killed by Unit 731 and its related programs range up to half a million people.
- ↑ "Men of Duncan" is a message (used only by the Captain) and only in life and death emergencies to get 'EVERYONES' immediate attention
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