WIX Archives
Re: Authenticity vs. Political Correctness
Posted by erik whipple on Wed Sep 18, 2002 12:20:07 PM
In reply top Authenticity vs. Political Correctness posted by Ryan Keough on Tue Sep 17, 2002 10:00:26 PM
Throughout the history of combat aviation crews have been painting naked women on their aircraft. Many of the most memorable aircraft wore nude nose art- memorable because of their military accomplishments, not the nose art. To depict an aircraft without the correct markings is to my mind an abomination and twist of truth. If any of the PC sycophants think that this habit has changed, then they obviously haven't seen photos of many of the aircraft used in Desert Storm and currently in Afganistan/Persian Gulf.
Comfortable in their tea rooms and on cocktail party balconies, it's easy for the politically correct crowd to criticize the people in our military for things like nude nose art- but when do they ever put their as@es in the grass to defend their freedom of speech and the freedom to impose their views? It's the polar opposite of taxation without representation- the assumption of all rights guaranteed under the Constitution and Bill of Rights without the moral dedication to serve the country that founded them. Keep the Dragon and His Tail the way it is- to do anything else would be a crime against history.
If anyone feels they need to dictate what does and doesn't get painted on an aircraft or armored vehicle then they'd better spend enough time serving their country to attain the level of rank required to impose regulations on the matter. Of course, by the time you spend that much time in the military you come to realize that good morale is what matters most- not technology nor goodie two shoes rose tinted ethics- if you want your people to be successful in combat.
: For over twelve years we have been touring the B-17 "Nine
: O Nine" and the B-24 "All American / Dragon and His Tail"
: across the United States to over 135 cities a year. In tha
: t time, our B-24 has taken on several paint schemes... ori
: ginally painted all around as the "All American"... then g
: etting the right side redone for sponsorship as "Golden Gi
: rl". In its most recent scheme it is painted as a 5th Air
: Force veteran, the "Dragon and His Tail" of the Joseph Pag
: oni crew in the 43rd BG, 64th BS and commemorating what ma
: y have been the last scrapped USAF surplus B-24 as it stoo
: d in Kingman AZ. The nose art is one of the most memorable
: of WWII as it features a full fuselage design of a dragon
: clutching a bare-breasted woman (in cartoon form).
:
: Though we have had the design on the plane for over two ye
: ars, recently we have started drawing criticisms from a ca
: mpaign by a few people to get the nose art changed, citing
: many opinions based around what can be considered some mo
: re right-wing moral thoughts. In this campaign, it has bee
: n called "public pornography" and "a gateway to further de
: gradation of morality leading to deviant behavior". Though
: some claims are very hard to believe, I respect their opi
: nion and am one of many in the CF that have been rethinkin
: g the future of that paint scheme.
:
: My question is where does one draw the line? Ever since ai
: rcraft have been saved from the scrappers torch, private c
: ollectors and museums have applied authentic nose art to t
: heir aircraft regardless of whether the model has clothes
: or not. The owners simply sought to recreate the aircraft
: as it would have been during WWII. The nose art as it was
: applied in WWII was a symbol of the freedom our men were f
: ighting for, and yes, they expressed that freedom by paint
: ing whatever they wanted on their planes. Our warbirds tod
: ay are historic museum pieces cataloging the history of WW
: II or any other conflict... should they not be painted as
: they were?
:
: When hearing recently that John Ashcroft demanded that an
: antique sculpture of a nude which could be seen in the bac
: kground during press conferences be covered or removed, I
: started to wonder how far we have come. Do we now change h
: istory in reaction to a party political moral code? Are we
: to lock down Renaissance sculpture galleries? Will Nation
: al Geographic now be considered pornographic because of an
: article on a tribe in Africa? What are we to do as warbir
: d owners and enthusiasts... do we pick only nose art that
: shows "lighter" subjects or change existing ones by adding
: bikinis or shirts or burlap sacks to them?
:
: Opinions?