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2 September 2008

Graf Spee Scuttled

German Pocket Battleship <em>Admiral Graf Spee</em>

This is a modern postcard published by WW2cards.com, which seems to be defunct. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the Graf Spee and her final battle:

From September through December 1939 Admiral Graf Spee, under the command of Hans Langsdorff, sank nine British merchant ships in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Britain formed eight hunting groups in the Atlantic and one in the Indian Ocean to look for her, totalling three battleships, two battlecruisers, four aircraft carriers, and 16 cruisers (including several French ships).

On 13 December 1939, she was located by the British Hunting Group G, consisting of the 8-inch gunned cruiser HMS Exeter and the 6-inch gunned light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles, and the Battle of the River Plate ensued. During the battle, the Graf Spee inflicted heavy damage upon the Exeter, forcing the latter to break off the engagement. Later in the exchange, one of Graf Spee‘s shells caused some casualties on the Achilles. In return, the Graf Spee was hit repeatedly by the 6-inch shells of the light cruisers, which could not penetrate her armour but nonetheless inflicted significant topside damage.

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This is a modern postcard published by WW2cards.com, which seems to be defunct. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the Graf Spee and her final battle: From September through December 1939 Admiral Graf Spee, under the command of Hans Langsdorff, sank nine British merchant ships in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean. Britain formed [...]

25 August 2008

SAC Headquarters, Offutt Air Force Base

Peace Through Superior Firepower

Lest there be any doubt: The Cold War did not end, it was won, and it was won by these guys. The aircraft at the top of the postcard is a B-52, while the headquarters building is pictured below.

I was stationed here from August 1986 through November 1989, and worked in this building (though not the part that you can see above ground in this photo). I loved the work; it was always comforting to know just how many minutes I had to live (usually about 12) on the off chance that the Soviets decided that their submarines were getting too heavy and needed to release some of their missiles. But Bellevue, Nebraska was not the most exciting locale for a young airman.

We had a saying about Offutt Air Force Base: once you get on it, you never get Offutt — but I needed to. Finally, I decided that the only way I was going to PCS out of there was to put an 88 on my dream sheet — that is, volunteer worldwide. I quickly received new orders — for Southwest Asia.

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Lest there be any doubt: The Cold War did not end, it was won, and it was won by these guys. The aircraft at the top of the postcard is a B-52, while the headquarters building is pictured below. I was stationed here from August 1986 through November 1989, and worked in this building (though [...]

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