As a controller who worked through the strike, I can assure all that your views on the matter are wrong on many levels.
Do tell.
Facts are stubborn things. The stories recounted are unvarnished.
A little aside: about a year later, I was talking to one of your counterparts who worked through the strike. He agreed with my assessment, and told me that on that day, he noted in the log that most of the shift didnt show up for work, and that it was a minor problem.
Was there extra work, mistakes made? Yeah. I recall following a Frontier jet who was told to go around because the local contoller made an error clearing the departing traffic to go in front of him.
So tell us: where did Reagan make his mistake? should he have let PATCO dictate policy and hold the country hostage?