|
e-mail
murphy@murphymartin.com
 |
Murphy Martin Commentary
October 19, 2006
"Cheyenne Memories"
Cheyenne Mountain is going on
standby!
The war room that served America so
well from deep inside this granite mountain is being retired. The
critical work housed in Cheyenne mountain began in the early fifties
during the Cold War. That war room is going on "warm standby" to
save money. A smaller staff will keep it ready to resume operations,
but the critical work is being shifted to Peterson Air Force Base
ten-miles away in Colorado Springs.
We were inside Cheyenne Mountain, in that war room once. It was
awesome! One of those truly once-in-a-lifetime experiences one will
never forget.
The man who enabled my visit was my
longtime friend General Daniel "Chappie" James,Jr. We became friends
while he was at the Pentagon and I was working on the POW-MIA
problems of the Vietnam War in 1969.
General James was already special! The youngest of seventeen
children in Pensacola,
Florida where his father was a lamplighter for the city, and his
mother, Miss Lillie, taught
about 25 African-American children in her home through the
sixth-grade level, to make sure they had a better education than the
public schools offered them at that time.
When General James assumed command of NORAD, he invited us to attend
that change- of- command. We did and there was something more
special than the change-of- command. General James on that day
received his fourth star, the FIRST African-American to receive a
four-star rank in U.S. Military history!
That night after the official events of the day concluded, we sat in
the living room of his quarters at Peterson AFB and he shared what a
journey it had been from those humble beginnings in Pensacola,
through Tuskegee Institute where he was assigned as one of the
guides to accompany Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt on her visit to Tuskegee.
When the First Lady
asked Chappie what he wanted to do after college, he said he wanted
to be in the Air Corps but they were not allowing African-Americans
in pilot training at that time. Mrs. Roosevelt told Chappie that she
would speak to her husband about that problem. And she did, and
Daniel James,Jr. not only got in the Air Corps, he became a much
decorated Fighter-Pilot and along with other "Tuskegee Airmen"
blazed an outstanding military trail in the years to come.
General James spent considerable time in the mid-sixties and early
seventies reminding
young black men that: "It is difficult to accomplish your goals in
life while your hand is closed into a fist of hate. You cannot reach
up to be pulled up, reach down to pull someone else up, or reach out
to shake a hand. Relax those fists of hate and move forward and make
the most of new opportunities!"
Chappie James was also a died-in-the-wool Washington Redskin
football fan. He came to Dallas, spent the weekend in our home . At
the game he enjoyed himself by standing in the suite and singing
Hail To The Redskins loud enough to upset those within earshot
seated in the stadium. But Clint Longley ruined Chappie's day by
finding Drew Pearson in the end zone for the Cowboy's winning
touchdown in the waning seconds. As the Cowboy fans turned and booed
the man that had been singing Hail To The Redskins---this General
raised all six-feet-four inches and in full military dress, standing
at attention, saluted the fans and said "I salute the victorious
Dallas Cowboys!" He received a thunderous round of applause from
those gathered in the stands who heard him.
Just weeks after General James retired as Commander of NORAD in
1978, he died from a massive heart attack. But his name lives on.
One of his sons is General Daniel Chappie James, the third, was
brought to Washington by President Bush after serving as head of the
Texas Air National Guard. Chappie James the Third is a three-star
General. Should he get a fourth-star, like his Dad--well that would
bring smiles of happiness for a lot of people, including his father,
who is gone but not forgotten.
They may reduce Cheyenne Mountain AFB to what they call a "warm
standby" but they can never reduce it's past history, or, one long
visit we had inside that war room arranged by my dear departed
friend General Daniel "Chappie"James, Jr.
Murphy Martin
Your thoughts and comments forwarded to my website will be
appreciated.
e-mail
murphy@murphymartin.com
Previous commentaries:
"How Much Will
It Hold?"
"FOX Controls on
Tenth Birthday"
"Clinton Points
Finger Again"
"U.N. Nuclear
Sparring"
"SRO for Latest
Hall of Famer"
"Katie's Back,
Legs and All!"
"Will T.O. Ride
Bicycle Or Tricycle?"
"Couric News
Carousel Approaching"
"George Was Not
First"
"Cowboy's
Control Canton"
"Despite
Unfinished Business, Congress Takes a Vacation"
"Reality Television Rolls on Sunday"
"The President Speaks His Mind"
"The World Around Us"
"Birthday Time Again"
"Presidents -- Past and Present"
"Expensive Babies"
"Change of Pace"
"Yesterday Katie Said Goodbye to Today"
"Musical Chairs Continue at ABC-TV"
"No Quick
Support for Bush Plan"
"Moussaoui
Meeting with Virgins Delayed"
"What the Hell Happened?"
"His Name is Still Magic"
"The Tallest Pine is Gone"
"Keeping America Free"
"Remembering"
"Christians vs Muslims"
"Bush Bucks Bashing"
"Early Look at 2008"
"Contrasting Memories"
"Reporter's Rough Roads"
"Another Cowboys Loss"
"People, Places and Things"
"Super Bowl Wasn't So Super"
"State of the Union"
"Is God Dead in Europe?"
"Remembering Dr. King"
"This Week in Review"
"New Year, New Challenges"
"The Party's Over"
"Democracy in the Middle East"
"Unfinished Business"
"Merry
Christmas Rules"
"Bush
Unveils Plans"
"Today is Special"
"Border
Security Now!!!"
"Stupidity Loses Financing"
"Crisis Christians"
"They
Led the Way"
"Sadistic Saddam Hussein"
"Bourbon Street Bashing"
"Hurricane Aftermath"
"Standing Tall"
"Never a Dull Moment"
"Another Hero Laid to Rest"
"Blame Game"
"Senior Thoughts For the Young"
"Role Model Challenge"
August 18 - "Network News Anchors"
August 11 - "Now All Three Are Gone"
August 4 - "Trust in the Media"
July 28 - "Television Then and Now"
July 21 - "The Mick"
July 14 - "Forty Years and Counting"
|
