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In reply to the discussion: 1972 McGovern campaign, what would you have done ? [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)27. He didn't use it at ALL. And he wasn't just an excellent pilot! He was a war HERO.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1021/George-McGovern-A-war-hero-who-fought-for-peace
George McGovern: A war hero who fought for peace
Former US Senator George McGovern was a war hero who inspired many in his opposition to the Vietnam War. Always a proud liberal, he was crushed in his 1972 challenge to Richard Nixon.
....The Army didn't have enough airfields or training planes to take him until 1943. He married his wife, Eleanor Stegeberg, and arrived in Italy the next year. That would be his base for the 35 missions he flew in the B-24 Liberator christened the "Dakota Queen" after his new bride.
In a December 1944 bombing raid on the Czech city of Pilsen, McGovern's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire that disabled one engine and set fire to another. He nursed the B-24 back to a British airfield on an island in the Adriatic Sea, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. On his final mission, his plane was hit several times, but he managed to get it back safety one of the actions for which he received the Air Medal.
You don't get either of those decorations for hanging around the barn, and those missions weren't training ones, they were combat missions--he was a doggone war hero.
George McGovern: A war hero who fought for peace
Former US Senator George McGovern was a war hero who inspired many in his opposition to the Vietnam War. Always a proud liberal, he was crushed in his 1972 challenge to Richard Nixon.
....The Army didn't have enough airfields or training planes to take him until 1943. He married his wife, Eleanor Stegeberg, and arrived in Italy the next year. That would be his base for the 35 missions he flew in the B-24 Liberator christened the "Dakota Queen" after his new bride.
In a December 1944 bombing raid on the Czech city of Pilsen, McGovern's plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire that disabled one engine and set fire to another. He nursed the B-24 back to a British airfield on an island in the Adriatic Sea, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. On his final mission, his plane was hit several times, but he managed to get it back safety one of the actions for which he received the Air Medal.
You don't get either of those decorations for hanging around the barn, and those missions weren't training ones, they were combat missions--he was a doggone war hero.
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I voted for McGovern, and would again. However, if Bobby wasn't killed, he would have been the
lostincalifornia
Oct 2013
#1
If Bobby hadn't been killed he would have been running for his 2nd term in '72
dflprincess
Oct 2013
#24
Goldwater was crushed in 64, the right reorganized and 16 years later won it all.
Warren Stupidity
Oct 2013
#7
Of all the things I have done in politics, the thing I am most proud of is working for McGovern.
chieftain
Oct 2013
#12
Air medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, 35 combat missions? He was a war hero (see post 27).
MADem
Oct 2013
#28
McGovern could have also used his bomber experience as an argument to end the war in Nam
OmahaBlueDog
Oct 2013
#31
Shrub could only beat Kerry by "swift boating" him--he had to tell lies about him.
MADem
Oct 2013
#33
They show that you won't send the peons to do something you wouldn't do yourself
Hippo_Tron
Oct 2013
#51
My Navy family preferred the "courage under fire" guy to the "In the rear With The Gear" guy.
MADem
Oct 2013
#76
He didn't use it at ALL. And he wasn't just an excellent pilot! He was a war HERO.
MADem
Oct 2013
#27
I supported McCarthy in the primary but no nose holding was necessary for McGovern.
Tierra_y_Libertad
Oct 2013
#16
Gone back to the 1968 rules committee to not change voting rules so drasticlly
CatholicEdHead
Oct 2013
#19
I will always be proud that the first vote I ever cast was for George McGovern. n/t
dflprincess
Oct 2013
#25
I think that election, more than any election in the last 70 years, speaks to the issue of..........
steve2470
Oct 2013
#36
Yeah. I see it impossible unless Watergate blows up in '72 and even then...
Drunken Irishman
Oct 2013
#37
Greens, socialists and Democrats would have to be on the same side in order for
eridani
Oct 2013
#86
I am explaining why National Party types will NEVER support political insurgencies.
bemildred
Oct 2013
#93
if America knew about the prairie populist, war hero, Methodist minister and history teacher that
Douglas Carpenter
Oct 2013
#44
Hunter Thompson said that McGovern lacked a "streak of Mick Jagger in his soul..."
First Speaker
Oct 2013
#58
Ivoted for him(of course)but wrote him to drop out in primaries.A summary of the posts I agree with:
UTUSN
Oct 2013
#63
If I'd been American and old enough to vote, I'd have voted for McGovern - no doubt at all!
LeftishBrit
Oct 2013
#67