Time: Mon Nov 11 09:50:27 1996 To: tab@hollyent.com From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: Re: Thank you Veterans! Cc: Bcc: >I now understand that my Government lied to me . I was 19 at the time (1966) >and had no idea that the Government was not "Of the People , By the People >and For the People ". > >The real reason for the war was in part to make some people richer. > >One side effect was to test a new generation weapons in combat conditions . At a >cost of blood . > >Harry Dear Harry, When I was a political science intern in Washington, D.C. during the summer of 1969, I was able to spend some time at the Pentagon public library, investigating Pentagon weapons mistakes since World War II. One of the more significant mistakes I found was the Sheridan tank (I believe). This tank was designed to ride low to the ground, and the cannons were unique for using combustible cartridges. This meant that the main cannon did not eject a brass cartridge after firing; the whole thing blew out the end of the barrel. There was a "small" problem, however. The cartridge material was highly combustible (had to be), and some of it failed to blow out the barrel. When the crew re-opened the breach, to re-load, this flaming torch came blowing back into the crew compartment, burning hand and faces, and also igniting other shells on the floor of the tank. This, of course, caused the tank to blow into a million pieces, and the crews with it. The Pentagon had put this tank into service before the bugs were worked out, it seems, and they also failed to provide the crews with instruction manuals to deal with these "problems." When the instruction manual finally arrived, it contained directions for enclosing the unfired rounds in rubber bags, complete with their own zippers. Now, what is the one thing that every zipper always does? You got it: they stick. So, you find yourself in an intense firefight, and the zipper is stuck. What now, Robert MacNamara? To make matters worse, the low profile of the tank motivated the designers to put the engine radiator in the floor of the frame, pointing downwards, parallel with the ground. This position caused radiators to entrain brush and vegetation, blocking the air flow, and causing engines to overhead and fail. When the famous "instruction manual" arrived, it contained a directive to stop the tank every 15 minutes, exit the tank, reach under the tank, between the tread wheels, and remove any brush and vegetation which had accumulated. So, now, picture this firefight. You are firing like mad to protect yourself, or your buddies in the neighboring Sheridan, and the zippers are getting stuck. To make matters worse, your fifteen minutes are up, so now you need to poke your head out of the turret, hold up your hands like a basketball referee, and shout, "TIME OUT!!" Whereupon, you will climb under the tank, while the enemy is looking the other way, or taking a cigarette break, and remove all the brush and vegetation which are about to cook your 1000 horsepower supercharged diesel into so much scrap iron. Robert MacNamara, are you listening? Time in. /s/ Paul Mitchell
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