Posted on 07/17/2019 1:17:15 PM PDT by fugazi
I came across an old photo while digging into the history of the Apollo 11 astronauts, which oddly enough dates back to 1916. Lt. James Lawton Collins served as an aide to Gen. John J. Pershing during the Philippine-American War and the Punitive Expedition into Mexico just before World War I. Lt. Collins would go on to serve in both World Wars, ultimately becoming a major general.
Collins served in the 8th Cavalry Regiment, and this was back when troopers still rode into battle on horses. Apart from when they began carrying firearms in the 18th Century, cavalry hasn’t changed a great deal since humans began riding into combat on horseback. A cavalryman from 1916 could easily go back 50 years and fight Apaches and the 1866 trooper wouldn’t have much trouble chasing down Pancho Villa’s men.
But 50 years later, American cavalry was seemingly light years ahead and had long since abandoned horses — now riding into battle in Southeast Asia on helicopters. By 1966, Maj. Gen. Collins had retired and his son Michael had flown jets, rocket planes, walked in space, and would soon orbit the moon.
What a difference 50 years made. Utilizing airplanes and motorized vehicles in combat was brand new when Pershing took his men into Mexico. For most of human history, people’s lives had been limited to how fast a man or horse could travel and how much they could carry. Unless he boarded a train, which wasn’t too common since the first transcontinental railroad wasn’t even 50 years old by the time of this picture, Lt. Collins couldn’t travel any faster than George Washington, Julius Caesar, or King Leonidas. Lt. Collins watched his world transform from marches and cavalry charges to tanks, Wright flyers to X-15s, air travel to space travel. In 50
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Exactly.
The 20th century saw a HUGE leap in technology affecting ALL aspects of life, and that is largely due to the greatness of America.
A fun notion to ponder is, what is the earliest decade you think you could handle without feeling too out of place?
“Computers at home”, it’s much more than that. Personal access to the internet on your phone, the phone itself, GPS, Phone books are mostly gone, Car engines that tell you what needs fixing, paperless business, Gen IV night vision, Viagra, E-cigs, browsing the online sears catalog for a woman or a man, etc., Medical advances to increase life expectancy.
In our 50 years since 1969 we have computers but space travel has restricted by our politicians. Where is the warp drive?
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