Some people have asked me what “Oscar Mike” actually means for me. I wanted to share a bit about what that means at certain times. Here we go.
Braintree Rotary Golf Tournament
It was my pleasure to support the Braintree Rotary by doing a LiveCast at their Annual Golf Tournament. “Service above Self”, was said by everyone I talked with during the livecast. I feel that Veterans could benefit by participating or joining the Rotary. You can find out more about the Braintree Rotary by visiting their website – https://braintreerotaryclub.org/
69th New England Irregulars Summer Kick Off
I talked to Scott Libby in New Hampshire for Episode 97 – https://oscarmikeradio.com/2018/06/14/episode-97-new-england-69th-irregulars1/ – Getting to see the 69th take off with Cookout was amazing if you had seen all the work Scott has done behind the scenes. This is just the first of many events and it was so good to see the Veterans having a good time.
Wild Hearts Horses for Heroes 10th Anniversary Gala
10 years of being in existence is a major accomplishment for any non-profit. Julie Lovely has been working in equestrian therapy and it was amazing to see the demonstration conducted by one of the Veterans she works with. Happy for Wild Hearts Horses for Heroes.
Thanks to my sponsor Joyce Asack for supporting Veterans!
As I said in the podcast, I was watching a Sopranos episode when this got me thinking. Tony, Paulie, and Christopher were in Italy, and when an Italian found out Paulie was an American, he said something to the effect, “Your plane cut our ski lift.” and walked away.
That got me thinking, and then looking around. I remembered this happening while I was in the Marine Corps. A USMC EA-6B Prowler cut a ski lift line in Italy and killed all 20 people on the lift. It was significant because the pilots were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marine-jet-severs-ski-lift-cable-in-italy
Not guilty? No guilt at all for killing 20 people? The pilot, Captain Richard J. Ashby was flying about 300 feet off the ground. 300 feet was well below the mandated 2000 feet for operating in that area. Also, the pilot, Captain Ashby and navigator, Captain Schweitzer destroyed the video flight recorder.
While they were acquitted of the charges for manslaughter and homicide, they were found guilty of obstruction of justice. The end result being they were kicked out of the Marine Corps.
Captain Ashby argued that equipment failures on the aircraft led to the ski lift being compromised. Suffice to say, the Italian government did not see it the same way. I would say that an experienced pilot knows the difference between 300 and 2000 feet altitude wise.
The fact that the flight video recorder was destroyed leads me to believe that there was some measure of guilt. I don’t know, and I can’t really understand how these pilots were found to be not guilty. I am sure the families involved still have a difficult time answering that question. OMR sends
