Key West Lou / PT-109 SUNK

Lt. John Kennedy was captain of a PT boat in the south Pacific in World War II. His crew consisted of 13 sailors.

On August 1, 1943 while on night duty, the PT-109 was cut in half by a Japanese vessel. Eleven survived, 2 died.

Though injured, Kennedy helped save the remaining crew members. His performance that evening and until they were all saved days later would not have occurred without Kennedy’s leadership.

Kennedy’s calm gutsy approach in the PT-109 saga was similar to that he exhibited during the Cuban Missile Crisis. We were on the brink of war with Russia. The U.S. had blockaded Cuba. Russian ships were within several hundred yards of the American ones when the Russians blinked first and turned around to return home.

We need more Kennedys, no more Trumps. We have had our fill of Trump.

I wonder on occasion how Trump’s bone heel chips are doing.

Waddell is a strange name. Key West has a street named Waddell. Louie’s Backyard is located on Waddell.

Did some research to figure how who Waddell was. Quite a while, in fact. It was difficult verifying the little I came across.

Turns out Waddell was named after James I. Waddell who was a banker and twice Mayor in the Key West of the second half of the 1800’s.

The first person I discovered was of course named James I. Waddell also. He resigned from the Union Navy to join the Confederate one. Assuming such to be true, I thought a dissertation of sorts was in order that the name Waddell be removed as the street’s name.

It would be politically correct to rename Waddell based on the fact Waddell was a Confederate naval officer who captained a Confederate vessel that did much damage during the Civil War.

Waddell’s track record as a Confederate captain impressive. He captained the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah. Two hundred thirty feet long, 8 large guns, and a crew of 73.

Waddell’s performance is marked with 2 distinctions.

He did not engage in ordinary combat. His responsibility was to seek out and destroy Union fishing vessels. He was adept at it.

He sailed the south Atlantic, across the Indian Ocean, and into the north Pacific. Even to Arctic waters.

His greatest feat the capture of 10 U.S. whale vessels in the space of 7 hours after the war had ended.

Such was his second distinguishing factor. He kept fighting after the war was over. He never knew it had ended.

He found out when he was in English waters off the coast of Great Britain. He immediately surrendered his vessel to British authorities.

Key West has its exciting moments most years. This year too many. However, tough people we are!

Floridians and Keys residents are accustomed to playing the cards they get. This year coronavirus, hurricanes, dengue fever, and pythons to name a few.

Me thinks Alan Dershowitz complaineth too much! A good lawyer would tell him to keep his mouth shut.

The average age of cars and light trucks still on the road continues to spiral. Now, 11.9 years.

New car sales continue to plunge as they have on a steady basis since the 1970’s. Sales were tough before the pandemic. They are tougher now with the Pandemic.

The 11.9 percent figure is the highest in 12 years. Sales of new cars and light trucks are down 24 percent for the first six months of this year compared to the same time period last year. They are expected to continue sliding in the second half of the year.

It is not only the normal American buying public that cannot afford a new car. The care rental companies are taking a beating. No one is traveling. The need for a rental car down drastically.

Hertz and Advantage filed for bankruptcy this year.

Coronavirus is crippling everyone, except the very rich. The rich are getting richer.

Jared Diamond wrote concerning the reasons why societies collapse: “Societies collapse when elites are isolated from the consequences of their decisions as expressed by the rest of the population.”

Robert Reich wrote on the same day as Diamond: “New York’s billionaire class saw their collective net worth grow by $77,300,000,000 since the start of the Pandemic…..while “the state’s budget deficit for 2020 and 2021 is/will be $13,300,000,00.”

The number of zeroes mind boggling!

Reich’s admonition: “Tax the rich!”

Ian Welch recently wrote: “The personal self-interest of American elites is now so completely divested from American society and everyone else that there is no recovery without a revolution, peaceful or otherwise.”

Enjoy your Sunday! Quarantine, wear your mask, distance 6 feet, and wash your hands frequently!

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