Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:22 pm
Signed. Good work Eric.
S
S
Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:37 pm
DONE.
Respect from the UK - Eric, you are not forgotten here.
Respect from the UK - Eric, you are not forgotten here.
Re: Let's bring Capt. Lorence home
Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:01 pm
vg-photo wrote: He is still officially listed as MIA.
On April 15, it will mark 21 years since he has disappeared. His son was 8 months old when he left for that mission.
Eric,
Signed today. Having my father going MIA and not recovered until 12 years later, I can share his son's feelings. I was 9 months old when my father was lost.
Dave
Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:21 pm
I am in #609
Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:31 pm
I have signed it and am passing it on to the rest of my friends.
God Bless Him !!!
God Bless Him !!!
Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:45 pm
I just signed Eric. Thanks for the post. You going up to Shafter?
Dan
Dan
Thu Apr 12, 2007 9:22 pm
Thank you all for your signatures and support. When I posted that message last night, there were 551 signatures on the petition. As of 7:15 Pacific time, there are 630! Keep the word going.
As an example that these petitions work, in February, I found a petition to save the Red Arrows. It seems the government in the UK was considering canceling the funding for them. You had to be a British national to sign the petition. I'm not, but I knew a few folks that were. I spread the word to them, they spread it on further. Well today, I saw this:
So spread the word. Thanks again!
As an example that these petitions work, in February, I found a petition to save the Red Arrows. It seems the government in the UK was considering canceling the funding for them. You had to be a British national to sign the petition. I'm not, but I knew a few folks that were. I spread the word to them, they spread it on further. Well today, I saw this:
The petition on the Number 10 Downing Street website asking the Prime Minister to ensure that the Red Arrows continue to be funded appears to have worked.
As of now, 57,222 names have been added to the list, and although the deadline for signing is not until July, the sheer weight of numbers has brought about an early response from Tony Blair. (The peititon is currently at number four on the overall list).
"I am pleased to be able to give you good news," he says. "There are no plans to change the funding for the Red Arrows, let alone to disband them."
He points out that the MoD does have to keep an eye on its spending, but also lists reasons why the Reds are a good use of resources.
"So I am pleased to assure you that this government fully intends to keep the Red Arrows flying."
So spread the word. Thanks again!
Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:21 pm
I have just become number 631 on the list! There is no reason why the Captain's remains should not be returned to America at once! I truly hope that your effort is successful.
That mission has a lot of significance to me on a "not nearly as personal" level. I worked from 1980 through 1999 on the AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti Radar Missile) program at Texas Instruments / Raytheon. I built and maintained the electronic test equipment that was used to run factory acceptance tests on the HARM guidance section. The Libyan strike was the very first time that HARM was used in combat, and I had actually handled the guidance sections from a couple of the missiles that were fired on that strike. Our missiles performed flawlessly, but the aftermath of that mission brought us a big scare. It seems that the Libyans found a mostly-intact aluminum bulkhead from the rear of a guidance section which was silkscreened, "For warranty service, return to Texas Instruments, Lewisville, Texas"!!!
A photo of that item appeared on the front page of the Tripoli newspaper the day after the attack! Direct threats were issued from "somewhere over there" against TI, so almost immediately, earthen berms were built around our plant along the highways that bordered two sides of the property (to keep "bad guys" from being able to take pot-shots at the building from passing cars), all entry/exit gates were blocked off except for the main gate, and Pinkerton guards armed with submachine guns were put on patrol around the property! Those were some tense times at the ol' TI-Lewisville plant! Eventually, things returned to normal (thankfully!).
I later met one of the F/A-18 pilots who flew that strike. He was with his Hornet at an air show at the old Dallas NAS. The public were allowed to climb up the boarding ladder and peep into the cockpit while he stood on a maintenance stand on the other side and explained things. When I told him that I worked for TI building HARM, his face lit up, he told me that he flew that mission and fired his HARMs, and then he invited me to sit in the cockpit!
After about five minutes, I figured I'd better get out and let the rest of the (now somewhat angry) crowd have a look. When the next guy tried to climb into the jet, the pilot stopped him. He said, "But you let that other guy get in!", to which the pilot replied, "Yeah, but he was a friend of mine!" I walked away from that jet feeling like I was ten feet tall!
Epilogue: Raytheon closed the Lewisville facility in 1999 and consolidated the operations mainly into their facilities in Tucson. It's now an office park. I got out of the missile business and moved on to another Raytheon plant in Dallas.
Cheers!
That mission has a lot of significance to me on a "not nearly as personal" level. I worked from 1980 through 1999 on the AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti Radar Missile) program at Texas Instruments / Raytheon. I built and maintained the electronic test equipment that was used to run factory acceptance tests on the HARM guidance section. The Libyan strike was the very first time that HARM was used in combat, and I had actually handled the guidance sections from a couple of the missiles that were fired on that strike. Our missiles performed flawlessly, but the aftermath of that mission brought us a big scare. It seems that the Libyans found a mostly-intact aluminum bulkhead from the rear of a guidance section which was silkscreened, "For warranty service, return to Texas Instruments, Lewisville, Texas"!!!
A photo of that item appeared on the front page of the Tripoli newspaper the day after the attack! Direct threats were issued from "somewhere over there" against TI, so almost immediately, earthen berms were built around our plant along the highways that bordered two sides of the property (to keep "bad guys" from being able to take pot-shots at the building from passing cars), all entry/exit gates were blocked off except for the main gate, and Pinkerton guards armed with submachine guns were put on patrol around the property! Those were some tense times at the ol' TI-Lewisville plant! Eventually, things returned to normal (thankfully!).
I later met one of the F/A-18 pilots who flew that strike. He was with his Hornet at an air show at the old Dallas NAS. The public were allowed to climb up the boarding ladder and peep into the cockpit while he stood on a maintenance stand on the other side and explained things. When I told him that I worked for TI building HARM, his face lit up, he told me that he flew that mission and fired his HARMs, and then he invited me to sit in the cockpit!
After about five minutes, I figured I'd better get out and let the rest of the (now somewhat angry) crowd have a look. When the next guy tried to climb into the jet, the pilot stopped him. He said, "But you let that other guy get in!", to which the pilot replied, "Yeah, but he was a friend of mine!" I walked away from that jet feeling like I was ten feet tall!
Epilogue: Raytheon closed the Lewisville facility in 1999 and consolidated the operations mainly into their facilities in Tucson. It's now an office park. I got out of the missile business and moved on to another Raytheon plant in Dallas.
Cheers!
Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:40 am
Very cool, Dean. Thanks for your work on that, it helped keep our crews safe.
Fri Apr 13, 2007 9:44 am
#645
Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:39 am
hope they get the guy home soon ....he deserves nothing less <S>
Libya
Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:52 am
Eric, is there any reason that you know or that Libya gave on why the remains were not returned when the other pilot's were? Have they made any official statement about this, or anything through any channels in those 21 years? It is always tenuous for a westerner to use our logic for another govt or culture; but here is a suggestion out of the blue. If, as this may be, it is a big political issue to the Libyans, perhaps the wording should be "return the remains to his family", rather than specifying burial at Arlington. I sort of recall that one of our attacks missed Kadahfi, but killed his children. If this is so, they may not want to return remains to, in effect, honor this mission. As for him undergoing some sincere conversion to some form of good guy now, I guess anything is possible, but I wouldn't put too much faith in it.
Fri Apr 13, 2007 12:09 pm
Signed, thanks for posting!
Fri Apr 13, 2007 1:11 pm
I belong to an organization called American WWII Orphans Network (AWON). AWON is comprised of several hundred members from all over the nation - sons and daughters and other family members that are orphans of an American who was either KIA or MIA in World War II.
http://www.awon.org/missions.html
I have posted Eric's message and link to AWON's List Server, giving our members the opportunity to add their signatures to this petition. So far, the reponse has been positive.
IN THEIR MEMORY,
Dave
http://www.awon.org/missions.html
I have posted Eric's message and link to AWON's List Server, giving our members the opportunity to add their signatures to this petition. So far, the reponse has been positive.
IN THEIR MEMORY,
Dave
Fri Apr 13, 2007 1:21 pm
Thanks Dave! It really is appreciated.
Bill, I am not privvy to all of the information about the case. I do know that Captain Lorence's helmet was displayed on Libyan TV just after the raid, and there are reports that his flight suit was seen. As far as the petition wording, it is not my petition. It was put together by a friend of Capt. Lorence. I was only spreading the word and trying to get more visibility into this. It is time to get him home, bottom line.
Bill, I am not privvy to all of the information about the case. I do know that Captain Lorence's helmet was displayed on Libyan TV just after the raid, and there are reports that his flight suit was seen. As far as the petition wording, it is not my petition. It was put together by a friend of Capt. Lorence. I was only spreading the word and trying to get more visibility into this. It is time to get him home, bottom line.