And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thursday, November 18, 2021
US Navy personnel freeing a PBY-5A ‘Catalina’ aircraft from frozen waters in the Aleutian Islands at Kodiak Bay, US Territory of Alaska, sometime during the period between June 1942 and January 1943
I've stood in the exact spot this picture was taken. Enough of the background in it to recognize how it looked in 77/78 when I was stationed there. Now? Not so sure. The base has been rebuilt since then.
My dad worked on Catalinas at about that time, fortunately he was in South India and Ceylon. He told an amusing tale of the time the Cat was on a leaks when someone tripped a depth charge release. The ground crew swam ashore so fast dad swore they were aqua planing. Dad sat watching them pi**ing himself laughing. The lake wasn't deep enough for the depth charges to be triggered.
I've stood in the exact spot this picture was taken. Enough of the background in it to recognize how it looked in 77/78 when I was stationed there. Now? Not so sure. The base has been rebuilt since then.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long it took for those soldiers to once again find their 'nads?
ReplyDeleteI'd seen this picture before, that does not look like fun...
ReplyDeleteMy dad worked on Catalinas at about that time, fortunately he was in South India and Ceylon. He told an amusing tale of the time the Cat was on a leaks when someone tripped a depth charge release. The ground crew swam ashore so fast dad swore they were aqua planing. Dad sat watching them pi**ing himself laughing. The lake wasn't deep enough for the depth charges to be triggered.
ReplyDeleteRead The Thousand Mile War by Brian Garfield about the war in the Aleutians. It'll make you shiver your timbers.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Mile-War-Aleutians-Classic-Reprint/dp/0912006838
That was COLD!!! Kudos to them!
ReplyDeleteLooks like some ignoramus left her at the strand line at low tide.
ReplyDelete