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Posted on 06/05/2003 5:35:53 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.
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"Run to the Wall:" Into the 21st Century and Riding On They say the sound brings it all back. If you stand in Washington, D.C. the day before Memorial Day and face the Memorial Bridge, you will hear it for yourself. When it begins it's just a distant rumbling, more a feeling than a noise. Then the bridge itself seems to tremble and something big shimmers on the distant horizon. They say there's only one thing on earth equal to the din of B-52s in carpet-bomb formation. They say it's the sound of Rolling Thunder's Run to the Wall.  What began as a drive to champion what really happened tom abandoned U.S. prisoners of war under the murky veil surrounding the Vietnam War has evolved into a uniquely American cause to protect and aid all U.S. military personnel then, now, and in the future. There's no denying the noise generated by more than 250,000 motorcycles riding wheel to wheel as they do each year in support of their mission is enough to get anyone's attention. But what's really impressive is the impact the group has had on a national and international level. To appreciate how far they've come, you really have to go back to where and how they got started. That would be a smoky little diner near Summersville, New Jersey in 1987. A couple of Vietnam vets had crossed paths when they discovered each was doing the same thing on their own. "We were just two guys going around putting up flags," recalls Artie Muller of his meeting at the diner with co-founder Ray Manzo. "It was Ray's idea to do the motorcycle run. As for the name, there's nothing that sounds more like the B-52's carpet-bombing than a large group of Harley-Davidsons!"  "I was in the U.S. Army," Muller, now Rolling Thunder president, states matter-of-factly. Today, it's no big deal to tell strangers your military affiliation. But Muller remembers clearly the very different world he and fellow vets returned to after serving in Vietnam. "People would spit on us. Literally. Some called us names like 'baby-killers.' Basically we were treated like hell. I know guys who came home and just went and hid out in the woods. "Most of us just came home and put our uniforms away. Didn't talk to anybody. Just tried to get back to a regular life. That was the best you could do. But there were guys who were, who still are, having a hard time with it." The sting of being shunned by the very nation they had gone to fight and lay down their lives for was bad enough. But the pain of learning how politics of war had betrayed them was far worse. "There were - so many guys - who went their first day into combat and got sent home in body bags the same day. They just weren't being trained what they needed to know to stay alive," Muller recalls.  "I was combat infantry, Sergeant E-5. I extended my stay another three months to keep these guys alive - to train them, the guys just coming in, so at least they'd have a chance." For many, including American POW patriots left behind in captivity, the right to at least have a chance seemed to be a little too much to ask. In the aftermath of troop withdrawal, the government seemed more eager to save face than to salvage the lives of those who served. Muller can explain Rolling Thunder's history in a few well-chosen, heartfelt words: "We found out the U.S. government lied to everybody and we were very aggravated. We got involved in Washington passing bills to protect armed forces left behind after conflicts. We help servicemen get their VA benefits and steer them in the right direction to get the help they need."  In the beginning, there was a march as well as the motorcycle run, to bring attention to the Rolling Thunder cause. Neither Muller nor Manzo were used to being the ones on the demonstration line, and had no clue the response they might have that first year. "None of us ever did anything like this before," Muller says of the first event. "We applied for the permits and got them OK. That part went pretty smoothly. But when we got there - we didn't know what to expect. We didn't know if anybody would even show up." Hearts soared when the first motorcycles appeared. Then more cycles came and kept on coming until some 2500 motorcycles joined in the unmistakable roar of unity. In addition, upwards of 5000 marchers showed up, too. The crowd, it turned out, wasn't just Vietnam vets, but ordinary civilians as well. It was as if the American populace, silent all those years, had suddenly found voice. The vets, who had served without thanks and suffered without support that day received a long overdue vote of confidence from a tardy nation.  Suddenly, being a Vietnam vet was no longer a mark of shame, but a badge of honor. Out of the woodwork came droves of would be heroes claiming to have medals in a war they never fought, some even too young to remember. Despite the oddness of the 1980s turnabout, Rolling Thunder has never wavered from its cause. Muller cites the hero mentality as one he strives to overcome in dealing with vets who belatedly have to come to terms with a war without closure. "Veterans, all of them, did their part, whether they were in combat or not. Whether they were loading cargo in planes, trucking food into the guys or flying in supplies, they all deserve credit. I don't think it's right for guys to feel they weren't vital just because they maybe weren't in combat." After the first few events, the march portion of Rolling Thunder's demonstration was dropped, but the motorcycle motorcade continues to swell in rank and number. The year 2000 Memorial run included over 250,000 cycles and about 400,000 attendees in support of the group.  Ask any serviceman how you close a military mission, and you'll hear the same words "Leave no one behind." It might have started out as a limited engagement to focus attention on those unaccounted for after Vietnam, but it's become much, much more. Rolling Thunder picked up the banner of accountability its government dropped and carries it with pride and honor into the 21st century.
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They never did execute that POS.
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Air Power |
The F-4 Phantom II was a twin-engine, all-weather, fighter-bomber. The Phantom was first used by the U.S. Navy as an interceptor but also was capable of flying as a ground-support bomber for the U.S. Marine Corps. The aircraft could perform three tactical air roles — air superiority, interdiction and close air support — as it did in southeast Asia. McDonnell designed one of the greatest fighters of the postwar era as a company venture to meet anticipated future needs. Planned as an attack aircraft with four 20mm guns, it was quickly changed into a very advanced gunless all-weather interceptor with advanced radar and missile armament. The aircraft flew every traditional military mission: air superiority, close air support, interception, air defense suppression, long-range strike, fleet defense, attack and reconnaissance.
The Phantom was the first multiservice aircraft, flying concurrently with the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. It is the first and only aircraft ever to be flown concurrently by both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds. The name Phantom II was chosen to declare the aircraft’s lineage from McDonnell’s FD-1 Phantom which was the first all-jet aircraft the Navy operated. Phantom II production ended in 1979 after over 5,000 in 15 different models had been built -- more than 2,600 for the USAF, about 1,200 for the Navy and Marine Corps, and the rest for other nations, including to Israel, Iran, Greece, Spain, Turkey, South Korea, West Germany, Australia, Japan, and Great Britain. The US Air Force purchased more than 2,600 F-4s and, as a result, a large portion of the Air Force's pilots, navigators and maintenance people spent a great deal of their careers around and in F-4s. Used extensively in the Vietnam War, later versions of the aircraft were still active in the US Air Force inventory well into the 1990s. F-4s are no longer in the USAF inventory but are still flown by a number of other nations.
In the 1960s, most of the thousands of McDonnell employees were involved in delivering the Phantom. Between 1966-67, production averaged 63 F-4 aircraft each month. Production peaked at 72 Phantom aircraft a month in 1967. By 1978, production was 4 to 6 aircraft a month. In all, production of the F-4 contributed to more than 1 million man-years of employment at McDonnell.
The Phantom is powered by twin General Electric J79 engines, mounted side by side along the length of the fuselage. Of the engine's sub-models, the most important is the J79-GE-17. Each engine delivers a thrust of 5,385 kg. without using its afterburners, and 8,210 kg. thrust with the afterburners. The Phantom is a two seater, with the navigator/WSO sitting behind the pilot. In case of an emergency, the WSO can fly the plane from his seat.
Specifications:
Primary Function: All-weather fighter-bomber.
Contractor: McDonnell Aircraft Co., McDonnell Corporation.
Power Plant: Two General Electric turbojet engines with afterburners.
Thrust: 17,900 pounds (8,055 kilograms).
Crew: Two (pilot and Weapons system/electronic warfare officer).
Dimensions:
Length: 62 feet, 11 inches (19.1 meters).
Height: 16 feet, 5 inches (5 meters).
Wingspan: 38 feet, 11 inches (11.8 meters).
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 62,000 pounds (27,900 kilograms).
Performance:
Speed: More than 1,600 mph (Mach 2).
Ceiling: 60,000 feet (18,182 meters).
Climb Rate: 49,000 ft per minute
Range: 1,300 miles (1,130 nautical miles).
Armaments:
Four AIM-7 Sparrow and four AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles,
AGM-65 Maverick missiles, AGM-88 HARM missile capability,
One fuselage centerline bomb rack and four pylon bomb racks capable of carrying 12,500 pounds (5,625 kilograms) of general purpose bombs.
Systems:
F4:
APQ-120 fire-control radar [Hughes]
AJB-7 bombing system
ASQ-91 weapon release system,
ASX-1 TISEO (Target Identification System Electro-Optical) Northrup
ASN-63 INS
APR-36 RWR
F4G:
ALQ-87 FM barrage jammer
ALQ-101 ECM pod Westinghouse noise/deception jammer
ALQ-119 ECM pod Westinghouse noise/deception jammer (covering three bands)
ALQ-130 ECM pod
ALQ-131 ECM pod
ALQ-140 IR countermeasures system [Sanders] 
All photos Copyright of Global Security.Orf
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