The Awesome S65 AMG was debuted at the Detroit Auto
Show. 0-60 in 4.2 seconds. Details next month.
CurtÕs Newsletter
January 2006
© 2006
No part of this newsletter
may be reprinted elsewhere including internet websites without written
permission from the author
2007 S550 Demo
We
have an S550 in stock (before the car has been released) for test-driving and
demonstration purposes. YouÕre
welcome to come by and see/taste/fondle/drive it. An appointment would be appreciated.
IÕm
learning it bit by bit. ItÕs a
really neat car, big, powerful (0-60 in 5.4 seconds), very comfortable, and
very high tech. Fortunately,
probably learning from BMWÕs error with i-Drive, the high tech features in this
car are easily controlled. If the
first i-Drive was a DOS computer, the Mercedes system is a Mac with the latest upgrades. Where BMW revels in complexity and
difficulty of operation so the people who figure it out can feel superior. (ŅI just bought the ultimate driving
machine! I must be the ultimate driver! What did I just hit?Ó) Mercedes seems
to have seriously tried to make a myriad of features simple to operate in this
car.
Navigation,
for example, is voice controlled. or it can be controlled with the ŅmouseÓ on
the console. For those of us who
are accent challenged, most of the commands are just numbers. YouÕre given a list, and you choose
one. You do need to be able to
spell words like Texas and Westheimer.
2007 S550 Details
Standard Equipment:
Comfort/Convenience:
į COMAND System with AM/FM/ WD/CD Player
(available with SAT Radio only If -listed as optional Equipment).
į Full Leather Upholstery and
Hand-Polished-Wood Trim.
į GPS Navigation system with 20GB
onboard-hard disk
į 14-way adjustable heated seats with
memory feature for seats, steering column and exterior mirrors
į 14-speaker, 600 Watt harman/ kardon
-LOGIC7Ø Surround Sound System.
į 6-Dlsc In-Dash Changer.
į Memory Card Slot.
į Interior Ambient Lighting Feature.
į Power Rear Window Sunblind.
į Power Glass Sunroof with Tilt
and Express Open/Close
į Dual-Zone Automatic Climate
Control System
į BI-Xenon Headlamps with Active
Curve illumination Include cornering Lights and heated washers
į Electronic Parking Brake with Automatic
Release
į Digital Tire Pressure Monitoring
System
į Integrated Telephone Kit with
Voice-Control System
į Power door and trunk closing
assist
į Infrared reflective/noise
insulating glass
į Auto dimming rear/drivers side
mirrors
Performance/Handling:
į New Generation 5.5 Liter V8
engine
į 382 Horsepower@ 6,000 rpm
į 391 lb-ft @ 2,800 - 4,800 rpm
į 0-60 mph 5.4 seconds
į Top Speed 130 mph
(electronically Limited)
į 7-Speed Driver- Adaptive
transmission -with new DIRECT SELECT gearshift
į AIRMATIC suspension with Adaptive-Damping
System (ADS II)
į Power assisted speed-sensitive
rack-and-pinion-steering
į Front Brakes: Internally
Ventilated and Cross-Drilled 13.8" discs with 4-piston fixed caliper
į Rear Brakes: Internally
Ventilated 12.6" -discs with single piston floating caliper
į 18" 9-Spoke Light Alloy
Wheels
į 255145-R-18 All Season Tires
Safety/Security:
į New Vehicle 4 year/5O,OOO Mlle
Warranty
į 24 hour Roadside Assistance
Program
į Mercedes-Benz Maintenance System
į Owner Information Kit
į Tele Aid Emergency Calling and
Communication System
į 10-way protection from 8 airbags
į Full-Length Head Protection
Curtain
į Front Passenger Occupancy Sensor
į 4-Wheel ABS Disc Brakes with Brake-Assist
System
į Electronic Stability Program II (ESP
II)
į PRE-SAFE System with extended functions
į Baby Smart System
į Antitheft Alarm with Engine
Immobilizer
S550 Options
Option Packages:
321—AMG Sport Package
į 19Ó AMG Wheels
į Sportline
į $TBD
325-Rear Seat Package
į Electronic Rear Seatback
į Active Ventilated Seats/Rear
į Climate Control Rear Compartment
$3,500
P1A-Premium 1
į Active Ventilated Seats/Front
į SIRIUS Satellite Radio
į $1,250
P2A-Premium 2
į Parktronic
į Active Ventilated Seats/Front
į SIRIUS Satellite Radio
į Keyless Go
į $2,850
P3A-Premium 3
į Dynamic Rear View Monitor
į Parktronic
į Active Ventilated Seats/Front
į Dynamic Multicontour Front Seats
w/Massage feature
į SIRIUS Satellite Radio
į Night View Assist
į Keyless Go
į $6,550
Individual Options:
218-Dynamic Rear View Monitor — $750
220-Parktronic — $1,120
233-Distronic Plus — $2,850
289-Wood/Leather Steering Wheel — $550
297-Power Side Window Sunblinds — $700
401-Active Ventilated Seats/Front — $600
413-Panoramic Sunroof — $1,000
432-Dynamic Multicontour Front Seats w/Massage feature
— $1,800
443-Heated Steering Wheel — $450
487-Active Body Control — TBD
536-SIRIUS Satellite Radio —$510
610-Night View Assist — $1,775
881-Electronic Trunk Closer — $520
889-Keyless Go — $1,100
R31-18Ó 5-spoke Alloy Wheel — $0
R47-19Ó Multi-Spoke Alloy Wheel — $0
R67-18Ó Chrome 5-Spoke Wheel — $0
2007 Phone Systems
S-Class:
The
S550 comes 100% factory installed.
Dealer installs Cradle or Bluetooth-adapter. (Handset not included)
CL, SL, E, CLS, R, GL, and
M-Class
Pre-wiring
is not available. A factory phone
kit is offered in various P1/P2 Packages.
The factory installs the complete phone system, while Dealer installs
choice of Cradles or Bluetooth-Adaptors.
If package that includes the phone is not selected when the phone is
ordered from the factory the phone cannot be retrofitted—vehicle will
not have the necessary wiring. THIS IS A MAJOR CHANGE.
CLK, SLK, C-Class
Prewire
offered only in option packages.
Stand alone option not available.
Factory phone kit not available.
Provided vehicle has been ordered with option package that includes Ņprewire,Ó
the customer can order a Ņdealer installedÓ phone and choice of cradles or
Bluetooth Adaptors. If vehicle
does not have option package with prewire, the phone canÕt be retrofitted.
As
most of you know. I wish that we werenÕt involved in the phone business at
all. I believe the concept of the ŅCar
PhoneÓ is obsolete. People wear their phones now, and the
addition of a $79 Bluetooth earpiece makes it voice activated and hands free. Most have speakerphone capability. Having to plug the phone into the car
to have those capabilities is a thing of the past. Additionally the phone companies are trying to make your
phone obsolete every 2 years. Our
cars will last 100 years. This
means your phone will be obsolete very quickly. In the past itÕs not always been possible to update the
phone system to the current requirements.
At least a Bluetooth adapter will allow you to use the current phone of
choice – until they replace Bluetooth with Purplegum or whatever comes
next.
But
there is one major reason to have a car phone, Infrared filtering
windshields. The S550 has that as
standard equipment, and it comes with some packages on MLs and Rs. Your hand-held phoneÕs antenna wonÕt
work very well inside those cars.
Additionally, of course, you canÕt charge the phone unless itÕs plugged
in. A Bluetooth adapter will be
available for 2007s, and thatÕll work fine for cars without Infra-red filtering
windshields.
Bluetooth
The most common question IÕm getting these days is, ŅIs
it Bluetooth?Ó When I say no, the
conversation ends, and the prospective customer goes looking at other
brands. Since some of those brands
use the same windshields we do, I suspect thatÕs why theyÕre having Bluetooth
reception problems.
The New Breed
Starting in the fall of Ō04 we started getting the new
breed of Mercedes, the ones with the new, 4-valve, 4-cam, variable valve timing
low emission engines, and the ones designed and built to stop corroding the
three-pointed star with poor quality control.
SLK350—came out fall Ō04 and
sold like gangbusters. It still
is. IÕve never seen one here for
anything but routine service. Additionally
the styling, handling, ride, and acceleration are superior to the previous,
very successful SLK. The car
magazines called the previous one a ladyÕs car, and now they give men
permission to buy this one. I, for
one, wasnÕt fazed by the ŅladyÕs carÓ title. Women buy a lot of cars, and men wanting women bought a lot
of SLKs.
SLK55 AMG—men afraid of being
accused of driving a ŅladyÕs carÓ should try this one, joining a well-balanced
group of owners who have discovered this thing is REALLY fast, and nothing
seems to break. Like all AMG
vehicles it can idle in heavy traffic on a hot day and not even notice it.
E350—Then spring of Ō05 the Ō06
E350 came out, faster than its predecessor with similar fuel economy, it almost
obsoleted the E500. The V-6 has
268 hp. The V-8 has 302. A lot more buyers opted for the
350. If there were any problems
with the car theyÕve stayed below my radar.
SLK280—came out as an Ō06. ItÕs misnamed. It has a 3.0 liter, 228 hp engine and
goes 0-60 in 6.1 seconds. Men walk
past it, sure their wives have to have the big engine. ItÕs underrated and underpriced. ItÕs not slow.
C230, C280, C350—If there was anything
wrong with the C-Class, adding power sure fixed it. Now no one can look down at the C230 and say, ŅItÕs a four
cylinder, isnÕt it?Ó with the expression that youÕre smelling something
foul.
The
old ŅKompressorÓ engine was great, low maintenance and high fuel mileage and
189 hp. The new 2.5-liter engine
has 200 hp and good mileage and less maintenance. The C280 replaces the C240 and gains a bunch of horsepower,
more than last yearÕs C320. The
C350 makes a very fast C-Class, with 268 hp. Were I driving a car instead of an ML, I would want a C350
Sport model with the rare 6-speed stick shift.
CLK350—This did the same for the CLK
that it did for the C, more power!
Power is good. Absolute
power is better.
ML350 and 500—came out in the spring of
Ō05 as Ō06s. A few had the wrong
hose clamp installed at the factory, but it was well handled. We sent a flatbed to the ownerÕs home
or business, brought the truck here, fixed it, and took it back, and Mercedes
paid for it. If you say, ŅGee, isnÕt
that the way all warranty service should be handled?Ó IÕll say, when IÕm king
of Mercedes-Benz it will be. But IÕm
not, and I wonÕt be. Since then
the MLs just go out and donÕt come back until the dash reminds you that your
year or 13,000 miles is almost up.
I have had zero complaints from buyers. (Non-buyers complain about the lack of seats. They want 7. When the GL gets here, theyÕll want 9).
CLS500 and 55 AMG—when this car came out
women came in and bought it for its looks alone. The used car department became adept at getting good bids
for Jaguar trade ins. Men bought
it in droves, too. A E500 or E55
AMG under the skin, the bugs were ironed out in 2003, so they just work. I love it. IÕve never faded less heat from angry customers.
R350 and R500—mechanically like the ML
series, they started off debugged.
Mercedes did a lousy job of explaining what the vehicle is, and most
people see it on the showroom and ask, ŅWhatÕs that?Ó
But
sales are slowly climbing. The
R500s are selling as well as the R350s.
The demographics are such that people who buy it usually want it loaded. Grandparents and parents who waited to
have children are the prime buyers.
Now
weÕre awaiting the new S-Class, the new GL-Class, and the replacement of 500
engines with the new 550 engines.
Cars that now have 302 horsepower will have 382 for the 2007 model year,
and theyÕll be cleaner to boot. WeÕre
also eagerly awaiting the new breed of V-6 diesels that meet draconian new
regulations coming into play January 1, 2007. With luck weÕll have 50 state E320 diesels, ML320 diesels,
and R320 diesels.
If
only they would pay us to sell them again, the future would be bright for sales
people as it is for customers and MBUSA.
Tire Pressure Monitors
Things you should know:
1.
They
do not add air to a low tire. (You
laugh? ItÕs a complaint we get too
often.)
2.
The
ones that display the actual tire pressures are sometimes overly sensitive.
3.
They
should be ŅsetÓ when the tires are cold.
4.
If
you get a failure message that a tire is low, the first thing you should do is
take the tire pressure gauge from the glove box and check that tire. If itÕs actually low, the monitor is
not malfunctioning.
5.
If
you set the tires to 32 all around and calibrated the monitor for that and
leave the car in the sun, the sun side tires will be a pound or more higher
than the other side. The monitor
is not malfunctioning.
6.
They
wonÕt substitute for proper tire maintenance. Owner tire maintenance includes visually checking all 4
tires every time you get fuel, and checking tire pressures with a gauge once a
month.
7.
Tires
lose 1 lb. a month, even Michelins.
Put more in.
8.
Tires
set in July will be several pounds low in December because of air temperature
and density changes and leakage.
Miscellaneous Ravings
Hello Dalai Quote:
Learn
the rules so you may break them properly.
from e-mail wisdom attributed to
the Dalai Lama
Bob Boze Bell Quote
ŅMen
have two emotions, horny and hungry.
If he doesnÕt have an erection, feed him a taco.Ó
Bob Bose Bell, Editor of True
West
You may be giving aid and
comfort to the enemy if:
į
Your
speeches are replayed on Al-Jazeera over and over.
į
You
disparage the military during a time of war.
į
Osama
bin Laden quotes you.
į
You
think hazing of prisoners at Abu Grave is torture, but beheading innocents is
not.
Minor Neurosurgery
Now
thereÕs a word I never wanted connected to my name, but as this is written IÕm
awaiting on minor neurosurgery. TheyÕre either going to repair a herniated disk
or do a brain transplant, IÕm not sure.
I
may never again have much sympathy for a customer who is complaining that weÕre
not fixing his car fast enough. ItÕs taken me 5 months, and the problem
wasnÕt properly diagnosed until early January. It took several days to see my 5th choice in neurologists,
another week to get test results, and then several more days to see the
neurosurgeon, then another week to schedule the surgery.
ItÕs
a simple operation on my spine, no big deal, any intern could probably do it,
so I donÕt know why IÕm being picky.
ItÕs not like itÕs neurosurgery—Oh, wait. Actually it IS like itÕs neurosurgery.
The
surgery is planned for Thursday, January 26, and I should be back at work the
following Monday. So if you get a
message on the voice mail saying IÕm out for a few days, IÕm not in Las Vegas
with a luscious Redhead or off at a shooting match.
I
probably wonÕt be able to work the Houston Auto Show. ItÕll break my heart, but IÕll manage not to cry too much.
The Man in the
Mirror
I donÕt know about you,
but thereÕs something wrong with my shaving mirror. It seems to be okay, but I see the same guy IÕve seen for
all my adult life, the guy who was always too young for the job he was given,
the guy who did a lot of dangerous things (very carefully), the guy who loved
beautiful women and captured the best of the bunch, the one whose parents
thought I wasnÕt good enough for her, (and they were right), the guy who always
felt over his head in most things and eager to learn from people who had been
there, done that. I donÕt know why
I see him. Intellectually I know heÕs
no longer there. I donÕt look like
that anymore. I saw myself on TV
last week, Cowboys, on The Outdoor Channel, and those $100,000 HDTV cameras
captured the real, current me. I
wondered who the hell that old, grey haired guy was that they got to play
Captain Baylor. I distinctly
remember playing Captain Baylor myself, and that old guy is even wearing my
clothes and shooting my Colts. But
he doesnÕt sound like me. He has
an older, more distinguished voice than mine, which, of course, is more Donald
Duck than Orson Wells. Either the soundman
is a genius, or the actor who dubbed it is fantastic. I donÕt know where the other me went. I suppose heÕs on the other side of
that hill, the one IÕve obviously been over for a while but didnÕt know it.
I kind of miss the
uncertain kid, though. He didnÕt
have enough good sense to know it when he was doing something really dangerous,
and his reaction to survival was, Ņcool.
That was fun, but I donÕt think IÕll do that again.Ó I would like to say I donÕt do as many
dumb things as I did back then, you know, yesterday, in 1969. I would like to say that, but it would
be a lie. IÕve learned a few
things, but only a few. These pop
to mind:
1. When your cat tells you to keep the
Redhead, listen to her.
2. The secret to a happy marriage is to
give the beautiful wife everything she wants.
3. A Colt .45 beats 4 aces.
4. ItÕs useless to step on the brakes when
your car is upside down.
5. Dogs and cats are pretty good judges of
character, but sometimes they can be fooled by someone with a chunk of meat in
his hand.
6. Liberals seem to want to take everyoneÕs
gun except the ones used by their bodyguards.
7. All tax breaks are for the rich. The rich are, of course, those who pay
taxes instead of living off them.
8. Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
9. The best military instruction is on the front of a Claymore
mine: ŅFront Toward Enemy.Ó
10. Women and cats pretty much do as they please. Men and dogs better get used to it.
They
say 60 is the new 40. While I
would feel better if it were the new 30, IÕm just grateful that medical science
and technology have progressed to the point that a guy who didnÕt take any
better care of himself in his twenties can still be alive, kicking, and happy
at 60.
Tequila and some old fat dude
wait for the camera guys to get ready so they can evaluate the Taurus
Thunderbolt rifle on Cowboys
on The
Outdoor Channel (photo by Marshal Halloway)
Not all of working on Cowboys was work
Cowboys TV
Speaking of Cowboys, The show is on The Outdoor
Channel, not The Outdoor Life Network.
ItÕs in its third year and is quite successful. The episode I was on is TeachinÕ Ōem
Right, and it
showed in January. ItÕll show
again later this year. But, so
far, nearly all of the episodes have been really good. Some of it is about Cowboy Action
Shooting, but they did an episode on The Winchester Mystery House and one on
the singing group ŅRiders in the SkyÓ among other western subjects. Episodes have been varied and always
interesting. The host is an old
friend of mine, Richard ŅTequilaÓ Young, a 5 times World Champion at Cowboy
Action Shooting. He comes across
as an exceptionally personable guy, which is pretty much the real Tequila. The show won the SASS Wooly Award for
the best western-themed TV show for 2005.
Vietnam Facts vs Fiction
by Major General (Ret.) David R. Bockel, Director
of Army Affairs, Reserve Officers Association.
Vietnam
War Facts:
Facts,
Statistics, Fake Warrior Numbers, and Myths Dispelled
9,087,000
military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from
August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975.
2,709,918
Americans served in uniform in Vietnam Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of
their generation.
240
men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War The first man to die
in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1958. He was with the 509th Radio Research
Station. Davis Station in Saigon was named for him.
58,148
were killed in Vietnam
75,000
were severely disabled
23,214
were 100% disabled
5,283
lost limbs
1,081
sustained multiple amputations
Of
those killed, 61% were younger than 21
11,465
of those killed were younger than 20 years old
Of
those killed, 17,539 were married
Average
age of men killed: 23.1 years
Five
men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.
The
oldest man killed was 62 years old.
As
of January 15, 2 004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the
Vietnam War
97%
of Vietnam Veterans were honorably discharged
91%
of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served
74%
say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome
Vietnam
veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups.
Vietnam
veteransÕ personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more
than 18 percent.
87%
of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem.
There
is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam
Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study)
Vietnam
Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only one-half of one percent of
Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.
85%
of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life.
Interesting
Census Stats and "Been There" Wanabees:
1,713,823
of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August, 1995 (census
figures).
During
that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served
in-country was: 9,492,958.
As
of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam
Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. This is hard to believe, losing
nearly 711,000 between Ō95 and Ō00. ThatÕs 390 per day.
During
this Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served
in-country is: 13,853,027. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE
Vietnam vets are not.
The
Department of Defense Vietnam War Service Index officially provided by The War
Library originally reported with errors that 2,709,918 U.S. military personnel
as having served in-country. Corrections and confirmations to this errored
index resulted in the addition of 358 U.S. military personnel confirmed to have
served in Vietnam but not originally listed by the Department of Defense. (All
names are currently on file and accessible 24/7/365).
Isolated
atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of outrage from
anti-war critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common
that they received hardly any media mention at all. The United States sought to
minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on
civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. Americans who deliberately killed
civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received
commendations. From 1957 to 973, the National Liberation Front assassinated
36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. The death squads focused on
leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the
peasants such as medical
personnel, social workers, and school teachers. - Nixon Presidential Papers
Common
Myths Dispelled:
Myth: Common Belief is that most
Vietnam veterans were drafted.
Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in
Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted.
Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.
Myth: The media have reported that
suicides among Vietnam veterans range from 50,000 to 100,000 - 6 to 11 times
the non-Vietnam veteran population.
Fact: Mortality studies show that
9,000 is a better estimate. The CDC Vietnam Experience Study Mortality
Assessment showed that during the first 5 years after discharge, deaths from
suicide were 1.7 times more likely among Vietnam veterans than non-Vietnam
veterans. After that initial post-service period, Vietnam veterans were no more
likely to die from suicide than non-Vietnam veterans. In fact, after the 5-year
post-service period, the rate of suicides is less in the Vietnam veteransÕ
group.
Myth: Common belief is that a
disproportionate number of blacks were killed in the Vietnam War.
Fact: 86% of the men who died in
Vietnam were Caucasians, 12.5% were black, 1.2% were other races. Sociologists
Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler, in their recently published book
"All That We Can Be," said they analyzed the claim that blacks were
used like cannon fodder during Vietnam "and can report definitely that
this charge is untrue. Black fatalities amounted to 12 percent of all Americans
killed in Southeast Asia - a figure proportional to the number of blacks in the
U.S. population at the time and slightly lower than the proportion of blacks in
the Army at the close of the war."
Myth: Common belief is that the war
was fought largely by the poor and uneducated.
Fact: Servicemen who went to Vietnam
from well-to-do areas had a slightly elevated risk of dying because they were
more likely to be pilots or infantry officers. Vietnam Veterans were the best
educated forces our nation had ever sent into combat. 79% had a high school
education or better.
Here
are statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993.
The CACF is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall): Average age
of 58,148 killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years.
(Although
58,169 names are in the Nov. 93 database, only 58,148 have both event date and
birth date. Event date is used instead of declared dead date for some of those
who were listed as missing in action)
Deaths
Average Age
Total:
58,148 23.11 years
Enlisted:
50,274 22.37 years
Officers:
6,598 28.43 years
Warrants:
1,276 24.73 years
E1
525 20.34 years
11B
MOS: 18,465 22.55 years
Myth: The common belief is the
average age of an infantryman fighting in Vietnam was 19.
Fact:
Assuming KIAs accurately represented age
groups serving in Vietnam, the average age of an infantryman (MOS 11B) serving
in Vietnam to be 19 years old is a myth, it is actually 22. None of the
enlisted grades have an average age of less than 20. The average man who fought
in World War II was 26 years of age.
Myth: The Common belief is that the
domino theory was proved false.
Fact: The domino theory was accurate.
The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Philippines,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand stayed free of Communism because of
the U.S. commitment to Vietnam. The Indonesians threw the Soviets out in 1966
because of AmericaÕs commitment in Vietnam. Without that commitment, Communism
would have swept all the way to the Malacca Straits that is south of Singapore
and of great strategic importance to the free world. If you ask people who live
in these countries that won the war in Vietnam, they have a different opinion
from the American news media. The Vietnam War was the turning point for
Communism.
Myth: The common belief is that the
fighting in Vietnam was not as intense as in World War II.
Fact: The average infantryman in the
South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years.
The average infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one year
thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. One out of every 10 Americans who
served in Vietnam was a casualty. 58,148 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of
2.7 million who served. Although the percent that died is similar to other
wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War
II ....75,000 Vietnam veterans are severely disabled. MEDEVAC helicopters flew
nearly 500,000 missions. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were
American). The average time lapse between wounding to hospitalization was less
than one hour. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded, who
survived the first 24 hours, died. The helicopter provided unprecedented
mobility. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops
to secure the 800 mile border with Cambodia and Laos (the politicians thought
the Geneva Conventions of 1954 and the Geneva Accords or 1962 would secure the
border).
Myth: Kim Phuc, the little nine year
old Vietnamese girl running naked
from
the napalm strike near Trang Bang on 8 June 1972.....shown a million times on
American television....was burned by Americans bombing Trang Bang.
Fact: No American had involvement in
this incident near Trang Bang that burned Phan Thi Kim Phuc. The planes doing
the bombing near the village were VNAF (Vietnam Air Force) and were being flown
by Vietnamese pilots in support of South Vietnamese troops on the ground. The
Vietnamese pilot who dropped the napalm in error is currently living in the
United States. Even the AP photographer, Nick Ut, who took the picture, was
Vietnamese. The incident in the photo took place on the second day of a three
day battle between the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) who occupied the village of
Trang Bang and the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) who were trying to
force the NVA out of the village. Recent reports in the news media that an
American commander ordered the air strike that burned Kim Phuc are incorrect.
There were no Americans involved in any capacity. "We
(Americans)
had nothing to do with controlling VNAF," according to Lieutenant General
(Ret) James F. Hollingsworth, the Commanding General of TRAC at that time.
Also, it has been incorrectly reported that two of Kim PhucÕs brothers were
killed in this incident. They were KimÕs cousins not her brothers.
Myth: The United States lost the war
in Vietnam.
Fact: The American military was not
defeated in Vietnam. The American military did not lose a battle of any
consequence. From a military standpoint, it was almost an unprecedented
performance. General Westmoreland quoting Douglas Pike, a professor at the
University of California, Berkley a major military defeat for the VC and NVA.
THE
UNITED STATES DID NOT LOSE THE WAR IN VIETNAM, THE SOUTH VIETNAMESE DID. Read
on........
The
fall of Saigon happened 30 April 1975, two years AFTER the American military
left Vietnam. The last American troops departed in their entirety 29 March
1973.
How
could we lose a war we had already stopped fighting? We fought to an agreed
stalemate. The peace settlement was signed in Paris on 27 January 1973. It
called for release of all U.S. prisoners, withdrawal of U.S. forces, limitation
of both sidesÕ forces inside South Vietnam and a commitment to peaceful
reunification. The 140,000 evacuees in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon
consisted almost entirely of civilians and Vietnamese military, NOT American
military running for their lives. There were almost twice as many casualties in
Southeast Asia (primarily Cambodia) the first two years after the fall of
Saigon in 1975 then there were during the ten years the U.S. was involved in
Vietnam. Thanks for the perceived loss and the countless assassinations and
torture visited upon Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians goes mainly to the
American media and their undying support-by-misrepresentation of the anti-War
movement in the United States.
As
with much of the Vietnam War, the news media misreported and misinterpreted the
1968 Tet Offensive. It was reported as an overwhelming success for the
Communist forces and a decided defeat for the U.S. forces. Nothing could be further from the
truth. Despite initial victories by the Communists forces, the Tet Offensive
resulted in a major defeat of those forces. General Vo Nguyen Giap, the
designer of the Tet Offensive, is considered by some as ranking with
Wellington, Grant, Lee and MacArthur as a great commander. Still, militarily,
the Tet Offensive was a total defeat of the Communist forces on all fronts. It
resulted in the death of some 45,000 NVA troops and the complete, if not total
destruction of the Viet Cong elements in South Vietnam. The Organization of the
Viet Cong Units in the South never recovered. The Tet Offensive succeeded on
only one front and that was the News front and the political arena. This was
another example in the Vietnam War of an inaccuracy becoming the perceived
truth. However, inaccurately
reported, the News Media made the Tet Offensive famous.
Please
give all credit and research to:
Capt.
Marshal Hanson, U.S.N.R (Ret.)
Capt.
Scott Beaton, Statistical Source
Curt Rich January 2006
This monthÕs Link of the Month:
The Concealed Handgun Law: Ten Years Later
by Commissioner Jerry Patterson
http://www.texasinsider.org/election_watch/Opinion_Jerry_Patterson_1_6_2006_Guns.htm