The expression was often used in cowboy movies when someone fell to the ground wounded or dead, but its origin comes from much earlier than those movies. “Lick the dust” to describe being wounded or killed is in the Bible, including in the King James Version in Psalms 72. A 1750 translation of The Iliad by Samuel Butler contains the line, “…that full many of his comrades may bite the dust as they fall dying around him,” although there is some argument that the words were from Butler and not Homer. One reason for that belief is that a Scottish author used the term “bite the dust” in another 1750 publication.
The Looming Tower, Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11–Part I
This book by Lawrence Wright should be required reading for anyone who thinks the term “War on Terror” is insensitive or politically incorrect. The book describes the history of al-Qaeda and the disturbing story of how the failure U.S. intelligence agencies to cooperate assured that they wouldn’t detect the plans to fly airplanes into the Twin Towers, Pentagon, and White House. I intend to do the review in at least four parts, and this part will focus on the origins of al-Qaeda. The doctrine of the modern Islamic movement was developed by Sayyid Qutb (pronounced “Kuh-tub”), who at the age of 42 was a student for six months at what was then the Colorado State College of Education in Greeley, Colorado. He was an Egyptian, a fervent nationalist, and anti-communist who was radicalized by the British occupation of Egypt. He and other Arabs admired how the immigrant nation of America was “…the anticolonial paragon…,” but felt betrayed when America supported the Zionist cause beginning with Harry Truman endorsing the transfer of a hundred thousand Jewish refugees into Palestine. Qutb was influenced to join the Muslim Brothers that had been founded by Hasan al-Banna, and he gained fame as an Islamic thinker by his writings. Qutb found Greeley to be beautiful, but he was scandalized by the behavior of the students and especially the open sexuality of the women.
Qutb withdrew from classes, but spent another eight months in America. He became even more radicalized, and wrote that “The white man crushes us underfoot…” Gamal Abdul Nasser had overthrown King Faruk after Qutb had returned to Egypt, and Nasser invited him to be an advisor. Qutb advocated that the country be controlled by religion, and Nasser believed in control by a strong military. Nasser eventually threw Qutb in prison, released him in three months to be the editor of the Muslim Brothers magazine, and then shut the magazine down after several critical articles by Qutb. The Muslim Brothers attempted to assassinate Nasser and he had six hanged and thousands of others, including Qutb, imprisoned in concentration camps. Qutb smuggled a manifesto titled Milestones that would have a major influence on radical Muslims, including Osama bin Laden. Qutb plotted from prison to overthrow Nasser with money and arms supplied by Saudi Arabia. He was released from prison, but his plots were revealed. He was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. He declared after the sentence, “Thank God, I performed jihad for fifteen years until I earned this martyrdom.” Nasser knew Qutb was more dangerous dead than alive, and offered to spare him if Qutb appealed his sentence. He told his pleading sister, “My words will be stronger if they kill me.” He was hanged on August 29, 1966. Continue reading
Whole Nine Yards
I intended to post this today as a companion to the blog about a military reunion, because I had always heard the expression originated from a military expression about firing nine yard long belts of machine gun ammunition in WWII planes. A target had to be important to justify expending the “whole nine yards” of ammunition and leaving yourself without anything to defend the plane from attack. However, written references don’t pop up until the 1960s, which casts suspicion on it originating in WWII. The consensus is that the term did originate in the military, but several sources think it came from the Vietnam era. The Montagnard hill tribes that supported the U.S., and were commonly called “The Yards.” Robert L. Mole published The Montagnards of South Vietnam: A Study of Nine Tribes. Being supported by all the tribes would include the “whole nine yards.” Others speculate it might have come from a concrete truck delivering an entire load to one location, although concrete trucks usually are smaller or larger than nine yards. Still others speculate that the term comes from the amount of material used to make a custom suit, a wedding veil, colonial dresses, or burial shrouds. However, the actual amount of material used to make those usually isn’t nine yards. I think I’ll stick with my original thought and use the Montagnard explanation as a backup.
The Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant I Remember; Its Rise and Fall
This book by Clayton Lagerquist could be considered a companion to my book, “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats, Urban Myths Debunked.” We write about many of the same subjects and issues. However, I was careful not to identify other people and he was careful to identify everyone he could remember. I worked with Clayton after I was transferred from production support research and development to the environmental and health organization in the early 1970s. (He calls himself “Clayt” in messages, so I’ll begin using that name.) He is an interesting person who holds numerous technical degrees, and much of the book is about his role in the early days of Health Physics Department and the people in that organization. He is complimentary to most of those people, but there are others who receive less than glowing reviews. He refers to one manager “an arrogant ass.” He describes another manager as “easy to dislike.” But then he writes, “For some reason, I liked him.” Clayt’s assessment of the FBI raid and ensuring fiasco is quite blunt. He writes at the end of the Introduction, “The Federal Government closely supervised all activities with an on-site office and conducted numerous audits using outside experts. I say all this to remind everyone that in the end, the Federal Government sued Rockwell International for environmental misconduct in federal court and won. This has to be the most colossal act of arrogant stupidity that I have ever seen.”
The book would be of interest to anyone wanting to know more about the people of Rocky Flats and the constant efforts to improve the technology for monitoring external and internal dosimetry. There are descriptions of an unfortunate incident involving a gentleman who lost a thumb and forefinger from an explosive reaction between plutonium chips and carbon tetracholoride in the glovebox where he was working. There are details about the actions that followed to treat the worker and measure the extent of plutonium contamination in his hand and body. Clayt writes that he spent considerable time with the injured man, “…and was amazed at the patience he exhibited during this time. He was a first case in many ways and was willing to go along with all suggestions even though it involved inconvenience to him.” Clayt also writes about the autopsy program and the research program using beagles to investigate how plutonium translocates in the body following a contaminated puncture wound. Continue reading
Military Reunion After Action Report
I was one of the 240 young men who reported to the 52nd Company of the U.S. Army Infantry Officers Candidate School (OCS) in September 1966. Candidates were assigned to platoons mostly alphabetically, and I had the good fortune to be assigned to the Third Platoon. I say good fortune, because the platoon had an incredible assortment of talented candidates led by the most demanding Tactical (TAC) Officer, Lt. Paul R. Longgrear. The platoon dominated the weekly honor platoon competition, and scored the highest in other training competitions. About half of the candidates made it through the intensive six months of training and were commissioned as Second Lieutenants in a graduation ceremony held March 7, 1967.
Most of the new Army officers were assigned to the Infantry, but some of us were given commissions in branches such as the Chemical Corp, Army Intelligence Service, Military Police, and Finance. Most would serve at least one tour in Vietnam. A few of my fellow OCS graduates began working a few years back to locate everyone and gathering as many as possible for reunions. They especially wanted us to remember and honor the eleven young men, including one TAC officer, who died in combat.
Some of my fellow candidates from the Third Platoon recently arranged a reunion at a wonderful location in the area of Colorado that was the setting for a Zane Grey book “Riders of the Purple Sage.” Ray and Kathy Heaton have a wonderful bed and breakfast about 6 miles from Dove Creek in Southwestern Colorado called Winterhawk Lodge B&B. The attendees were, alphabetically, Carl Jones, Kathy and Ray Heaton, Sheryl and I, Bob and Margarette (Butch) Holt, Dave Huebner, and Allen Hyman. Carl and Dave won the distance driving award with their 2300 mile round trip. The Heatons provided us wonderful meals beginning with chili-frito pie the first evening (chili on top of fritos and topped with an assortment of condiments), cooked to order breakfasts including farm fresh eggs, sandwiches for lunch, and a delicious brisket the second evening. There was always plenty of coffee, tea, and lemonade. The hummingbirds were busy at the feeders all day, and a small herd of deer arrived one evening. You could safely say we had escaped the hustle and bustle of the city.
Winterhawk is in the center of much Southwest Colorado history. Ancient Puebloans had numerous settlements in the area, and Ray gave a tour to Hovenweep (a Ute/Paiute word that means deserted valley) National Park. There are remains of cut stone buldings estimated to have been constructed in the 1200’s. (Someone commented that the ancient ruins brought TAC officer Longgrear to mind.) The Anasasi (a Navajo word meaning Ancient ones or Ancient enemy, and a name not preferred by modern Puebloans) continue to have an influence on modern day Colorado. Beans cultivated from a several hundred year old stash left by the former residents are still grown in the area. The grain elevator in Dove Creek has a large painted sign that says, “Adobe Milling, Home of the Anasazi Beans.” Locals of the Dove Creek area say that the beans are good cooked with “collards and critters.”
Ray led another tour to Dolores Canyon Overlook, which is called the “Grand Canyon of Colorado.” We happened on Ray’s cousin Al Heaton with some ‘wannabe’ cowboys on a trail ride. Al operates the “East Pines Ranch,” which is over 100,000 acres. His crown jewel offering to guests is to let them do the hard work of helping him and his real cowboys move his cattle to winter range on a five day trip down the Dolores River (which brings to mind the two “City Slickers” movies).
Sheryl commented it was interesting to hear conversations about different memories of specific experiences during our six months together. There were also fasinating stories of what the different attendees did in service of the country and afterward. It was an honor to be with a few of my comrades for a short time again. Winterhawk is an ideal destination, and we will have fond memories of the reunion. I will close by quoting some words from the front of the pamphlet from the 40th anniversary reunion that was held at Fort Benning, “All gave some…some gave all.”
Meantime
Our daughter had an injury when she was quite young, and an emergency room doctor said they would treat the injury, “…but in the meantime, keep her calm.” She told us later she thought “meantime was when the big bad wolf comes.” Of course that made me curious about the origin of the expression. Apparently, the origin is a mystery, but “mean” can refer to middle or intermediate. The expression refers to doing something in the interim (intermediate) while waiting for something expected to happen.