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January 09, 2007
Ezer Was A Savage
I'm partial to war stories and this is a really great one. Ynet News tells about the beginnings of the Israeli airforce. Almost 60 years have passed since that fateful day, but Lou Lenart still remembers every minute of it, as though it was yesterday. Those were trying times for the budding Jewish nation, and Lenart was faced with a task of great importance.Lenart learned to fly in the US Marine Corps. He flew fighter missions in the Pacific against the Japanese. He says, though that flying for the Israeli Air Force had the most meaning for him. A really interesting part of the story is the logistics. The story of how the pilots got trained to fly Nazi S-199 fighters in Czechoslovakia, and then deliver the airplanes from Italy to Israel. You can find that story at 101 Squadron. After the planes and pilots got to Israel they had less than 10 days to get the aircraft assembled and in fighting trim. The Egyptians were attacking towards Tel Aviv and had to be stopped. The airfield where the planes took off from was 20 km (about 15 miles) from where the Egyptians were attacking. Lenart, who had the most expansive operational flying experience in the new air force, led the four pilots. The other three were Ezer Weizmann, Mudy Alon and Eddie Cohen. The four Messerschmitt aircrafts were gathered from leftovers of the Nazi Luftwaffe in the Czech Republic which were reassembled in Israel, and were each equipped with a machine gun and 4 70 kg [150 lb. - ed.] bombs. This was a far cry from the standards Lenart was used to in the USAF.Amazing story. Lenart, who is now an 85 year old producer in Hollywood, is writing a book about his experiences in the Israeli Air Force and is producing a documentary on the action. In addition negotiations are going on to turn it into a Hollywood movie. Lenart was born in Hungary, and emigrated to the USA with his parents when he was 10 years old. After he graduated from high school, in the summer of 1940, he joined the Marine Corps with one target: "killing as many Nazis as possible." He was the only Jew in boot camp. He served as a foot-soldier for a while before being accepted to flight school. He had a bad training accident, but recovered and took part in the battles against the Japanese kamikaze pilots in the Pacific Ocean front. He was discharged as a captain after the war, and came home to discover that 14 members of his family, including his grandmother, who stayed back in Hungary were murdered by the Nazis.It looks to me like Israel could use some savages in command these days. The Olmert government is tired and they have a plumber for defence minister. Not good. In fact let me go further. America could use some savages in the higher echelons and at the helm. Where is Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf when we need him? We have, in many ways, let our savage instincts atrophy. Especially with the election of the Democrats to control of Congress. We too are acting tired. The jihadis have been fighting for around 1,400 years and we are tired after only five. Not good. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon on 01.09.07 at 10:08 AM
Comments
Lenart is a US citizen. He helped defend America and Israel. He was on the first mission of the Israeli Air Force. His presence in Israel made a big difference. In the Pacific his contribution to the war effort was a much smaller fraction of the effort. Why wouldn't he feel that his mission in Israel was more significant? He returned to his native country when his help to the Israelis was not as significant as his initial effort. I see his effort to make a movie out of his experience as a way to support an ally, explain the Arab/Islamic position re: America and the Jews, and to bolster the current war effort in general. I'd like to see more of that kind of efforrt from the multi-culturalists. Belief in America. Support for our allies. It would be nice to find more multi-culturalists who are willing to fight for America. If you read some of the supporting material you would have found that Lenart was the only Jew in boot camp at the time. He didn't follow the crowd. He wanted to serve his country and kill Nazis. Because of his religion, the enemies of America were his enemy. Personally. Interestingly enough it was the same for many Jews in America. My mother and father included. Many blacks at the time felt the same because of Hitler's racialist policies. You might want to look at the career of Jesse Owens and his meeting with Hitler at the 1936 Olympics. It would be really nice if more Americans felt they had a personal stake in our war with the jihadis. Hell, it would be nice if more Jews in America felt that way these days. In any case I do and I'm proud of it. I'm a supporter of America first (US Navy '63 to '67) and Israel a close second. And, as you will note in my posts here and at Power and Control I have criticized both. Including Israel's Treachery to America in the dust up in Lebanon this past summer. M. Simon · January 9, 2007 10:12 PM If you go to Africa and save little flyspecked babies and you say later that it was the most significant experience of your life, does that mean you have to stay in Africa? Even if you were a doctor here and saved lives here, some experiences have a certain resonance. (If this is not clear, imagine that you in the Peace Corps are black, i.e. an African-American.) nichevo · January 10, 2007 03:49 AM American pilots volunteered to fight for the Chinese Government before the US entered WWII, does that make them less then American? No, but it did make them Flying Tigers. Excellent story, I had never heard it before. We don't need savages in uniform, but we do need an American public that will back the military in doing what needs to be done. Right now there are Soldiers and Marines afraid to pull the trigger for fear they will be accused of a war crime, even when it's clear that the target is an enemy soldier doing a hostile act. Israel used to fight every war as if it might be it's last, because they are correct, if they lose, it will be their last. Now, they have bowed to world opinion, and look where it has gotten them. An enemy who seeks nothing less than your annihilation is not one that you can negotiate with, work a compromise with. One can only fight him until he loses the will to fight, take away his ability to fight, and failing those two, must then annihilate him first. We can't, and should not, kill every Muslim on the face of the earth, but we do need to incapacitate or kill every terrorist who seeks to annihilate us. Most AMericans, most Western Europeans don't really see this enemy as implacable, or as a true threat, that is why we still allow half measures in the war we fight against it, and don't fully support it. They still see it as "Bush's War" or the fight of just the Servicemen in combat, but they think that they can remain untouched by the consequences of wothdrawal or failure. SFC SKI · January 11, 2007 12:48 AM SKI, Excellent points! Thanks for the Flying Tigers bit. I had forgotten that. I did fly on Flying Tigers Airlines once on my way to 'Nam. It was an honor to be associated with the name even if for a few hours. I got a personalized laminated Flying Tigers luggage tag at a business convention a number of years later. It was really cool. And thank you for your service! Simon M. Simon · January 11, 2007 07:11 AM |
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Lenart learned to fly in the US Marine Corps. He flew fighter missions in the Pacific against the Japanese. He says, though that flying for the Israeli Air Force had the most meaning for him.
Fine, it's understandable that he felt more passion about flying to defend his people - Jews - than he did flying to defend his adoptive country, the USA. So why didn't he stay in Israel? Why is he a Hollywood producer? We're good enough to use for economic purposes, I guess, but not that exciting to defend from enemies?
The USA as a multi-ethnic, multicultural state is doomed. People just don't feel allegiance to an entity that includes other peoples that are competitors and in some cases quite hostile.