Top Guns
Headline from nypost.com: “Former Navy pilot Royce Williams shot down four Soviet jets — and kept the feat secret for 50 years.” From the accompanying article by Matthew Sedacca, edited by yours truly: Royce Williams, 97, has received the Navy Cross, the service’s second highest honor, for actions that occurred in 1952. He was conducting combat air patrol over the northernmost part of the Korean Peninsula when seven MiG-15s headed toward his craft and another American plane. After the pair were ordered to get between the Soviet forces and the U.S. aircraft carriers, four of the MiGs began shooting, leading Williams to return fire. In the next half hour, he used all of his rounds. Although there were 263 holes in his own jet, he managed to land on an aircraft carrier. He did not share the story until 2002, when the records were declassified. The Soviets were not an official combatant in the conflict. Wow! Here’s the real Top Gun, who retired in 1975, photo from Google Images:
RIP third baseman, three-time World Series champ, Captain of the Oakland A’s, Sal Bando, 78. Born in Cleveland, he also played football and basketball and ran track in high school. He attended Arizona State University, was a member of the 1965 College World Series champions and was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player. He is a member of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. He was selected by Kansas City, before they moved west, in the sixth round of the ’65 MLB draft and made his pro debut in ’66. A four-time all-star, he spent eleven seasons with the A’s, then signed as free agent with the Brewers. In 16 seasons he hit .254 and socked 242 homers. He was runner up to teammate Vida Blue for 1971 AL MVP, and finished in the top five two other years. After retiring in ’81, he became a special assistant to the Brewers’ GM. He was named GM in ’91 and remained in that position until August of ’99. The team had only one winning season in that span. Bando then went into business. Married 54 years, he was a dad of two sons. Well done, sir.
Question: Why hasn’t the FBI conducted an armed to the teeth raid on any of Quid Pro Joe’s premises?
This may be today’s most amusing headline, from NYP: “Straight outta class: Rapper with dark secret: Lil Mabu is model student at rich prep school.” Don’t let it get around.
Cue Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, NYP headline: “Nancy Pelosi summons priests to exorcise home of evil spirits after hubby attack: report.”
If I were given to conspiracy theories, I would wonder if leniency toward drug use was an effort to curb population. NYC set a record for OD’s in 2021, 2668, a 78% increase since ’20, 17% since ‘21.
Another relatively mild day for January, allowing the floating book shop to operate. My thanks to the gentleman who bought ten DVDs in Russian, and to the young couple that purchased Grandma’s Records, a beautifully illustrated kids’ book by Eric Velasquez; and to the lovely young woman who selected Soul-Purpose: Discovering and Fulfilling Your Destiny (Edgar Cayce’s wisdom or the New Age by Mark Thurston & Charles Thomas Cayce; and to Mr. Conspiracy, aka Steve, who took home The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution by Eric Foner.
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