Posted on 12/26/2005 2:02:18 PM PST by Covenantor
Description
American Gunfight is the fast-paced, definitive, and breathtakingly suspenseful account of an extraordinary historical event -- the attempted assassination of President Harry Truman in 1950 by two Puerto Rican Nationalists and the bloody shoot-out in the streets of Washington, D.C., that saved the president's life.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Hunter, the widely admired and bestselling novelist and author of such books as Havana, Hot Springs, and Dirty White Boys, and John Bainbridge, Jr., an experienced journalist and lawyer, American Gunfight is at once a groundbreaking work of meticulous historical research and the vivid and dramatically told story of an act of terrorism that almost succeeded. They have pieced together, at last, the story of the conspiracy that nearly doomed the president and how a few good men -- ordinary guys who were willing to risk their lives in the line of duty -- stopped it.
It is a book about courage -- on both sides -- and about what politics and devotion to a cause can lead men to do, and about what actually happens, second by second, when a gunfight explodes.
It begins on November 1, 1950, an unseasonably hot afternoon in the sleepy capital. At 2:00 P.M. in his temporary residence at Blair House, the president of the United States takes a nap. At 2:20 P.M., two men approach Blair House from different directions. Oscar Collazo, a respected metal polisher and family man, and Griselio Torresola, an unemployed salesman, don't look dangerous, not in their new suits and hats, not in their calm, purposeful demeanor, not in their slow, unexcited approach. What the three White House policemen and one Secret Service agent cannot guess is that under each man's coat is a 9mm German automatic pistol and in each head, a dream of assassin's glory.
At point-blank range, Collazo and then Torresola draw and fire and move toward the president of the United States.
Hunter and Bainbridge tell the story of that November day with narrative power and careful attention to detail. They are the first to report on the inner workings of this conspiracy; they examine the forces that led the perpetrators to conceive the plot. The authors also tell the story of the men themselves, from their youth and the worlds in which they grew up to the women they loved and who loved them to the moment the gunfire erupted. Their telling commemorates heroism -- the quiet commitment to duty that in some moments of crisis sees some people through an ordeal, even at the expense of their lives.
I would think so. So, what is your explanation for them not being in some jail somewhere right now?
They were ski masked, Puerto Rican terrorists caught red-handed in Puerto Rico, throwing Molotov cocktails at 'Gringos', by other Puerto Ricans.
They were probably given medals. They sure as hell weren't punished.
If it had been the other way around and 'Gringos' were throwing Molotov cocktails at Puerto Ricans, the residents of Puerto Rico would have instituted the death penalty.
The Bush administration not only doesn't say 'boo' about it, they turn around and give the terrorists 11,000 acres of U.S. Taxpayer owned property and BILLION$ of dollars in infrastructure at Roosevelt Roads, PR in addition to honoring Clinton's deal to giveaway 24,000 acres on Vieques.
What does Bush care? The U.S. Taxpayers are made out of money and dodging firebombs is good practice for our servicemen and women in Puerto Rico. >/sarcasm
wow, puerto rico has had their problems with the us military, but their are a lot more puerto rican soldiers in the armed forces than these little wanna be che guevera's (spelling??)
not even looking at that fact, u seem really nasty towards puerto rico in general
is there some other axe u have to grind?
or do u normally have such a pleasant disposition?
There are a couple of thousand soldiers of Puerto Rican descent in our armed forces.
Therefore, these terrorists should go unpunished?
How does that make any sense?
"There are a couple of thousand soldiers of Puerto Rican descent in our armed forces"
I don't usually reply to this troll and won't do so here directly, but for the record, I must set him straight on this one (since he thinks he writes with great authority).
On the island itself, there's over 10,000 soldiers and airmen in the Puerto Rico Army and Air National Guard alone. Add a few more thousand in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard Reserves. Again, that's on the island alone.
You're on the island. You can see by yourself the thousands of names engraved on the granite wall on the south side of the state capitol. Those are all KIA while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
There are over 200,000 living veterans on the island. Okay, that number icludes many mainland veterans who retired here, but the bulk are native PR's.
There are four Medal of Honor recipients (all posthumously) who have PR as their birthplace.
This 4F person obviously has never served in the Armed Forces. When he states that there are a couple of thousand soldiers of Puerto Rican descent in our Armed Forces, it is obvious too that he has never stepped into a military base. In my 20 years in the Armed Forces I have served with and/or met well over a "couple of thousands" of PR's along the many bases I have been stationed at or gone through.
Just so we get our numbers straight.
"The Bush administration not only doesn't say 'boo' about it, they turn around and give the terrorists 11,000 acres of U.S. Taxpayer owned property and BILLION$ of dollars in infrastructure at Roosevelt Roads, PR in addition to honoring Clinton's deal to giveaway 24,000 acres on Vieques."
I don't reply to this troll directly anymore but from time to time I must set him straight, for the record. He claims that Clintoon and Bush gave away umpteenth thousands of acres of federal lands and infrastructure after the Vieques fiasco of the late nineties. That is not true. The lands in Vieques were turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for housekeeping (until they're needed again).
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station - This base has been closed and reopened seven times throughout its history. This time around the Navy left out of spite. Only one access road to a small beach has been turned over to the local government. Wetlands are under the care of the USF&WS. The infrastructure is being refitted for Joint Operations. Some Army and Air Force units, as well as some Homeland security agencies are at various stages of moving in.
If you think I take as gospel everything some reporter writes, you'd best think again. Every story I've ever read, where I happened to have either personal knowledge of events, or a general background in the subject matter, has been so full of errors, from simple to really rather complex fabrications, that am forced to read between the lines, and no so much read what was written. You look for what they don't say, or tell you about. Most of the time it's stuff that could be easily determined with a few questions. They either don't ask them, or the answers don't make it into the story.
Your post and the two posts prior to yours contain the "...really rather complex fabrications,..."
The description of the terrorists and their attack on U.S. Navy personnel is pretty straight forward.
All of the terrorists are named. They were caught red-handed. What more do you need?
the brilliant 4 freedom wrote
"Let me see if I can understand your logic.
There are a couple of thousand soldiers of Puerto Rican descent in our armed forces.
Therefore, these terrorists should go unpunished?
How does that make any sense?"
no, that doesn't make sense to me, probably because I didn't say it!!!
I was responding to your statement about the island reeking of beer and pampers, remember that little brain nugget of yours?
listen, if some hot puerto rican chica said "no papi" to your best come on line,
don't tar all conservatives with your dim-witted statements
some people cause more damage in the process of "helping" through their own ignorance than any enemy would be capable of
thanks for supporting the stereotypes that people have of conservatives
I never knew this....ashamed to say
There was another deadly ambush of a military van full of unarmed sailors around 1980 I believe. The "brave" terrorists machine-gunned the sailors trapped in the van and fled, killing several. I don't remember the details.
There have been a number of POTUS since and prior that keep personal firearms in their private quarters and Reagan was known to even keep a walnut cased 1911A1 presentation gift in his oval office desk.....with the magazines loaded.....:o)
The USSS basement range in the old executive office building is a place where the POTUS past and present like to visit and shoot.......
Did you see direct quotes around what I wrote? Try not to be so hysterical.
"listen, if some hot puerto rican chica said "no papi" to your best come on line, don't tar all conservatives with your dim-witted statements"
Now, what are you implying? That we should make Puerto Rico a state and support its ungrateful residents with $20 to $30 billion U.S. Taxpayer's dollars, and more every year for all eternity, so you can score with some "hot puerto rican chica"?
Start thinking with the head on your shoulders, as a Conservative should, instead of the head Bill Clinton does his thinking with.
LOL!
I am simply replying that your broad based comments about puerto rican people seem a little ignorant, if u find my writing hysterical, thats not my problem! thats an issue u have to deal with
there are some dumbass puerto ricans, but the majority that I have met in my everyday life over here are quite upstanding american citizens and are proud to be, more so than some mainland cities I've been in
Dude, why do u not address the issue that I was pointing out?
narco= "listen, if some hot puerto rican chica said "no papi" to your best come on line, don't tar all conservatives with your dim-witted statements"
4free= Now, what are you implying? That we should make Puerto Rico a state and support its ungrateful residents with $20 to $30 billion U.S. Taxpayer's dollars, and more every year for all eternity, so you can score with some "hot puerto rican chica"?
Start thinking with the head on your shoulders, as a Conservative should, instead of the head Bill Clinton does his thinking with.
LOL!"
yes, yes, LOL, LOL
i'm LOLing actually at why u confuse my distaste of your comments on Puerto Ricans in general (and my admitted assumption on where this resentment stems from with me somehow advocating statehood for PR??
now answering my question with a completely irrelevant reply to a non-existent proposal, now thats hysterical!
ok, here's my last try,
There are some jackass PRicans, without a doubt, but the overwhelming majority of them are decent people who don't live in a "diaper and beer" reeking craphole
try not to respond with your recipe for chimichangas, or your favorite color, or any other irrelevant attack
(including statehood, or which head bill clinton does his thinking with, or whatever else tourettes sydrome may cause)
to summarize, yes, I, Narcoleptic, am advocating that the US spend 30 billion dollars a year so I can get even more tail in PR
very cleverly deduced by you, 4 free, I am impressed with the reasoning used to come to that conclusion!
Just keep in mind that Puerto Rico's rate of Hepatitis B infection is 6 times the stateside rate. AIDS and just about any sexually transmitted disease you can think of is way up there, too. Call yourself whatever you want, but when you want to spend OPM on your selfish, personal desires, that's as Liberal as it gets.
The world's full of nice people, but that doesn't entitle them to a single U.S. Taxpayer's dollar that they didn't earn.
We can't go donating $30 BILLION dollars per year to every nice bunch of Socialists you find out there.
There's over 6 billion people on this planet that don't live in the United States.
Do the Math.
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