Safety thought for the day

FLAVOR00-NONE-0000-0000-000000000000 ;

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Have you ever wondered if the dollar bills in your purse or wallet were ever in a stripper's butt crack?
If not, you're wondering now. Have a nice day!

Always remember to wash your hands after handling money!

That's my public service announcement for the day.
Thank you very much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Veterans and Social Secruity

Republicans respect no one but the rich.

Today, a coalition of groups, including VoteVets.org, which I support, released a new study on veterans and Social Security. What the findings make clear is that when the far right talks about stripping down Social Security, or even privatizing it, it will absolutely hurt veterans and their families more than maybe anyone else.
After reading the facts below, I urge you to CLICK HERE so you can spread the word to everyone you know. We need to get facts like this spread around, so people know the stakes.

Here’s just a few points from the report:

· Social Security currently pays benefits to over 9 million veterans—about 4 in 10 veterans.

· Over one-third of America’s 54 million Social Security beneficiaries are either veterans or family members living with them, such as their spouses.

· Of the 13 to 14 million veterans—or 6 in 10—who are not Social Security beneficiaries, the vast majority will become beneficiaries in the future.

· The vast majority of the Active Duty community’s 1.4 million members, 700,000 spouses and 1.2 million children, and the Total Selected Reserve community’s 1.1 million members, 400,000 spouses and 650,000 children, are eligible for Social Security’s disability and life insurance benefits if a service member becomes severely disabled or dies.

· Indeed, approximately 771,000 veterans receive Social Security disabled worker benefits, averaging $1,100-$1,200 per month.

· Social Security’s young survivors’ benefits are particularly important to the 4 in 10 active duty members who are married with children and the 1 in 20 who are single parents.

· As of January 16, 2011, the number of American servicemen and women killed on active duty in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was 5,860, leaving behind an estimated more than 4,000 children.

Again, please CLICK HERE to send an email like this to everyone you know. Any move like that would severely and negatively impact so many of our veterans and their families.
Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

This guy wants Senator McCaskill's seat, yeah, that's good for Missouri

From: Congressman Todd Akin [NO REPLY]

Sent: May 19, 2011 03:54 PM

Subject: From the office of Congressman Todd Akin

Dear Daniel: Thank you for contacting me regarding H.Con. Res. 34, the House Budget Committee's FY2012 budget resolution. It was good to hear from you. As you may know, this budget squarely faces the need to reform Medicare and Medicaid in order to keep these programs – which so many rely on – available for the long term. With regard to Medicare, HCR 34 makes no changes to benefits for today's seniors, age 55 and older. At the same time, this budget reforms Medicare for the next generation. The fact is that Medicare will be bankrupt in nine years. Medicare recipients are already being denied access to the care they want because of the financial stress this program is under. In fact, faced with low reimbursement rates, more doctors are limiting the Medicare patients they accept, if they accept new patients at all. Inaction on Medicare has immediate, negative consequences for seniors. For those under the age of 55, this budget phases the out the current Medicare benefit system, and offers a personalized plan that gives tomorrow's seniors the same choices members of Congress have. This is a premium-support system, where Medicare pays private insurers for a plan option selected by seniors. It is also income-adjusted so those who need more help get more Medicare premium support. Over time, this plan will drive down costs and improve care by making insurance companies compete against each other for seniors business. With regard to Medicaid, this budget ends the one-size-fits-all approach to program requirements and enrollment criteria that has tied the hands of state governments. By sending more money directly to the states, based on inflation and population needs, this budget will allow each individual state to offer their Medicaid populations better access to care. The current federal Medicaid bureaucracy produces massive inefficiencies, including a 10% improper payment rate – more than three times the amount of waste that other federal agencies generate. HCR 34 makes no changes to Social Security. It does not raise the retirement age and it does not reduce benefits or adjust benefits based on personal income / net worth. HCR 34 also delivers common sense tax reform that will help many seniors. It makes the tax code simpler flatter and fairer. These reforms will reduce the burden on working families and small businesses, which will spur innovation and job creation and make U.S. businesses more globally competitive. We must stop exporting jobs to China and India because of our high tax rates. Lowering the rates on small businesses – while eliminating certain tax loopholes – will give our job creators the advantages they need to lead us out of our current economic malaise. Current spending rates are digging a hole we will never get out of and passing on a future of debt and despair to our children. In Washington, politicians are used to playing a game of "kick the can down the road." But our country simply can't afford that game anymore. We need a clean break from the politics of the past if we are going to make government more effective and efficient. I believe that this budget makes the hard choices. It does what we are supposed to do, not what's easy to do. And that means a future full of opportunity for all Americans. HCR 34 passed with my support on April 15, 2011. I am confident that these reforms are the most viable way to reform Medicare while protecting our nation's seniors and to preserve Medicaid while providing states with opportunities to explore the best ways to assist low income individuals with their health care needs. Again, thank you for taking the time to contact my office. It is a privilege to represent you and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me regarding any matter where I might be of assistance. Please visit my website, where you can find more information on current issues, share further thoughts with me via email and subscribe to my e-newsletter for updates on issues you care about. For more facts about the 2012 budget plan, you may also visit this House Budget Committee webpage. Sincerely, Todd Akin Member of Congress

Join our online community!

 
Facebook  
 Twitter  
 YouTube  
E-Newsletter  
Please feel free to visit my website at http://akin.house.gov/ to contact me and let me know the issues that concern you.

 

 

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

LITTLE JOHNNY IS STILL AT IT!!!

      LITTLE JOHNNY STRIKES AGAIN! 

  The teacher asked the class to use the word 'fascinate' in a sentence. 
Molly put up her hand and said, 'My family went to my grandad's farm, and we all saw his pet sheep. It was fascinating.' 
The teacher said, 'That was good, but I wanted you to use the word 'fascinate, not fascinating'. 
Sally raised her hand. She said, 'My family went to see Rock City and I was 'fascinated.' The teacher said, 'Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use the word 'fascinate.' 
Little Johnny raised his hand The teacher hesitated because she had been burned by Little Johnny before 
She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word 'fascinate', so she called on him.

 

Johnny said, 'My aunt Gina has a sweater with ten buttons, but her tits are so big she can only fasten eight.'
  
The teacher sat down and cried.

 

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Revoke Big Oil's allowance

From: Senator Claire McCaskill

Sent: May 17, 2011 12:02 PM

Subject: Revoke Big Oil's allowance

		Dear Daniel, There is more hot air around the United States Capitol about deficit reduction than about any other topic right now. If we cannot end subsidies to the five most profitable corporations in the history of our planet, then I don’t know how Congress will make the truly difficult decisions about how to reduce the deficit. Every year, billions of our tax dollars are given away to companies that made $36 billion in profits during this year's first quarter alone. It’s a practice that must stop. That money could be used to pay down our deficit. A proposal I announced last week will take away $2 billion in annual taxpayer-provided subsidies from the five biggest oil companies and apply every dime to reducing the deficit. It is the essence of low-hanging fruit. This is the kind of idea that should receive unanimous support in the Senate. It’s common sense. The big oil companies don’t need the money. Over the last ten years, they've raked in nearly $1 trillion – that’s $1,000,000,000,000 -- in profits. They've broken their own records for the most profitable quarter in economic history several times. Big oil companies are not hurting, but Missourians are. While you pay record prices at the pump, you shouldn't be forced to also provide subsidies to an industry that clearly doesn’t need them. As we address our national deficit this year, there are going to be a lot of tough decisions about how to close gaps wherever we can. Taxpayer-funded handouts to oil companies should be one of the easiest cuts we make. All the best,
Regional Offices & Contact Information
		Washington, DC Office Hart Senate Office Building, Ste. 717 Washington, D.C. 20510 P: 202-224-6154 F: 202-228-6326	Cape Girardeau 555 Independence St., Room 1600 Cape Girardeau, MO 63703 P: 573-651-0964 F: 573-334-4278	Columbia 915 E. Ash St. Columbia, MO 65201 P: 573-442-7130 F: 573-442-7140
		Kansas City 4141 Pennsylvania Ave., Ste. 101 Kansas City, MO 64111 P: 816-421-1639 F: 816-421-2562	Springfield 324 Park Central West, Ste. 101 Springfield, MO 65806 P: 417-868-8745 F: 417-831-1349	St. Louis 5850 Delmar Blvd, Ste. A St. Louis, MO 63112 P: 314-367-1364 F: 314-361-8649
I'm on Twitter, a networking tool that helps me keep in touch with Missourians -- read more about Twitter here. Keep up to date on how I'm working for you in Washington by following me @clairecmc. Reach me on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/SenatorMcCaskill. Read my blog at http://clairecmc.tumblr.com.

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

The Tunnel......Condom Ad..........

This is on the French Riviera, just outside Monte Carlo.
One of the  best advertisement’s ...  ever!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=

 

=

 

 

 

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

5 NUNS IN A BAR

  5 NUNS IN A BAR   

Sisters Mary Catherine, Maria Theresa, Katherine Marie, Rose Frances, & Mary Kathleen left the Convent on a trip to St. Patrick's Cathedral in   New York City   and were sight-seeing on a Tuesday in July.  It was hot and humid in town and their traditional garb was making them so uncomfortable, they decided to stop in at Patty McGuire's Pub for a cold soft drink.  

Patty had recently added special legs to his barstools, which were the talk of the fashionable eastside neighborhood. All 5 Nuns sat up at the bar and were enjoying their Cokes when Monsignor Riley and Father McGinty entered the bar through the front door.

They, too, came for a cold drink when they were shocked and almost fainted at what they saw  

(SCROLL DOWN)

Too cute not to forward...............  

GIVE US A SENSE OF HUMOR, LORD,  
GIVE US THE GRACE TO SEE A JOKE,  
TO GET SOME HUMOR OUT OF LIFE,   
AND PASS IT ON TO OTHER FOLK

'Every Day Above Ground ... Is A Good Day'

 

 

 

 

 

 

" When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane "

             ====Stephen Wright
=============

 

 

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

From the office of Congressman Todd Akin, who is a fucking liar!

From: Congressman Todd Akin [NO REPLY]

Sent: May 13, 2011 02:29 PM

Subject: From the office of Congressman Todd Akin

Dear Daniel: Thank you for contacting me regarding federal funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, I appreciate hearing from you and having the benefit of your views. On April 14, 2011, I joined a bipartisan majority of my colleagues to pass H.R. 1473, the Continuing Resolution which will fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011.  In association with this bill, I supported a separate resolution, H.Con.Res. 36, which would prohibit federal funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPA) and its affiliates.  This particular resolution has garnered much attention because it has been distorted and miscast as a women's health funding issue, when in fact it is an issue of the federal government subsidizing the organization providing the highest number of abortion services in the nation.  It is important to me that women are able to access critical cancer screenings, HIV and STD testing, as well as other necessary health services provided by both PPA and other hospitals and health clinics.  These types of non-abortion services are vital to women and to our healthcare system. There are a number of other local health clinics that offer the same services as PPA while not providing abortions. I am fully supportive of these very vital hospitals and clinics. Unfortunately, PPA has complicated the issue by mingling these critical health services together with a disturbingly prolific abortion practice. PPA is the single leading provider of abortions in the United States, performing over 330,000 abortions in 2009.  PPA's public relations image campaign leads people to believe that abortion is a minimal aspect of what they do.  But the facts reveal that since 1990, the number of abortions performed annually across the U.S. has declined by 25 percent, while the number performed at PPA clinics annually has doubled over the same time period. During this timeframe, PPA has gone from performing only 8 percent of abortions annually to more than one out of every four.  PPA's federal government funding has doubled since 1998, and every year the number of abortions they provide increases.  The claims they make in an effort to buy public approval and legitimacy, such as the idea that "more funding for PPA actually prevents abortions," are factually inaccurate. There has been a long-standing, bipartisan tradition of withholding federal taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortion services. However, approximately one third of PPA's operating budget comes from government funding, and another third comes from the fees they collect for performing abortions. This entanglement of federal dollars and abortion services under the same roof jeopardizes our longstanding tradition, by the federal government's propping up an organization that has made abortion so central to its mission and day-to-day activity.  Again, thank you for taking the time to contact my office. Please know that I will continue to work for my fellow Missourians in the legislative matters I am able to address. It is a privilege to represent you and I hope that you will not hesitate to contact me regarding any matter where I might be of assistance. Please visit my website, where you can find more information on current issues, share further thoughts with me via email and subscribe to my e-newsletter for updates on issues you care about.  Sincerely, Todd Akin Member of Congress

Join our online community!

 
Facebook  
 Twitter  
 YouTube  
E-Newsletter  
Please feel free to visit my website at http://akin.house.gov/ to contact me and let me know the issues that concern you.

 

 

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Bullshit from Senator Roy Blunt

From: Senator Roy Blunt

Sent: May 13, 2011 11:57 AM

Subject: Reply from Senator Roy Blunt

Dear Daniel:

Thank you for contacting me on tax increases for oil companies.

The Obama Administration and others have proposed tax increases on oil companies as a way of funding clean energy development.  Some have even proposed these costly measures to pay for completely unrelated measures.  

Burdening our oil producers with new taxes will only make fuel and all goods and services more expensive for consumers.  I do not support policies that would saddle motorists and small businesses already struggling to make ends meet with increased fuel costs.  Only by creating a business-friendly environment with reasonable tax burdens and restricting overreaching government regulation, can we get our economy back on track.

Again, thank you for contacting me.  I look forward to continuing our conversation on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SenatorBlunt) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/RoyBlunt) about the important issues facing Missouri and the country.  I also encourage you to visit my website (blunt.senate.gov) to learn more about where I stand on the issues and sign-up for my e-newsletter.

Sincere regards,

Roy Blunt
United States Senator 

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Trying end around on FB block re: Pastor's Fake Navy SEAL Career Based on Under Siege

From: Gawker

Sent: May 09, 2011 04:40 PM

To: perez61@windstream.net

Subject: Pastor's Fake Navy SEAL Career Based on Under Siege

Gawker

By Hamilton Nolan Pastor's Fake Navy SEAL Career Based on Under Siege Everyone thought that Jim Moats, a pastor in Newville, Pennsylvania, was a retired Navy SEAL and a Vietnam war hero. He had a plaque to that effect hanging in his office, and he wore the trident medal symbolizing SEAL membership. For a profile in yesterday's local paper, Moats told of being "waterboarded" by SEAL instructors, and of being busted down to a kitchen worker after getting in a fight. "I had almost no discipline. I was as wild as they came. That was my nemesis," Moats said. "They weren't looking for a guy who brags to everyone he is a SEAL. They wanted somebody who was ready but had an inner confidence and didn't have a braggadocio attitude." "They" were wise. It took only one day for Moats to be exposed as a liar, who'd never been a SEAL at all, and who spent the Vietnam war aboard a Navy ship. Don Shipley, the retired SEAL who proved Moats had never been a member "said Moats' story about being re-assigned to kitchen duty and about being waterboarded were lifted from the Steven Seagal movie Under Siege, while his reference to being hit by SEAL instructors was vintage GI Jane." He also said he's seen lots of clergy members tell the same type of lies! (Trend story possibility alert, for journalists!) Moats says he just wanted to be a war hero and he was wrong, etc. We believe him. Look at how much attention those Navy SEALS guys are getting right now. Who wouldn't want to be mistaken for a SEAL, at least for a few days? (Ladies, don't ask me whether I was or wasn't; I just don't talk about it.) But when you feel that temptation, it's useful to remember the words of former SEAL Don Shipley, who puts in perspective why Jim Moats was so wrong here: "He's just despicable. Some of these guys are total criminals. I think just having his ass spanked is enough for him that he won't do it again any longer. He needs highlighted," Shipley said. Don't lie about being a SEAL, because those guys are mumbling maniacs. Who knows what they might do? [PennLive.com via Christian Nightmares. Photo of Moats via cbfcfamily.org] Share this:

May 9th, 2011 Top Stories The Feuding Facebook Mansions of Palo Alto Christina Aguilera's Weave Takes a Turn for the 'Britney' Congressman Aaron Schock Goes Shirtless to Help America Angelina Jolie Hates the Sound of Her Own Voice The Sad, Pink Donkey Who Ignited a Taco-Boycotting Revolution More Stories on Gawker »

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Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Questions and Answers from AARP Forum ';^)

Questions and

Answers from AARP Forum

Q: Where can single
men over the age of 50 find younger women who are interested
in them?

A: Try a bookstore,

under Fiction.

Q: What can a man
do while his wife is going through
menopause?

A: Keep busy. If you're handy with tools, you can finish the basement.

When you're done, you will have a place to live.

Q: Someone has told
me that menopause is mentioned in the bible... Is that true?

Where can it be found?

A: Yes. Matthew 14:92:
"And Mary rode Joseph's ass all the way to Egypt
...."

Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your over-50year-old
husband?

A: Tell him you're pregnant.

Q: How can you avoid that terrible curse of the elderly wrinkles?

A: Take off your glasses.

Q: Seriously! What can I do for these crow's feet and all those wrinkles on my face?

A: Go braless. It will usually pull them out..

Q: Why should 50-plus year old people use valet parking?

A: Valets don't forget where they park your car.

Q: Is it common for
50-plus year olds to have problems with short term memory storage?

A: Storing memory is not a problem, Retrieving it is the
problem.

Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly?

A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.

Q: Where should 50-plus year olds look for eye glasses?

A: On their foreheads.

Q: What is the most
common remark made by 50-plus year olds when they enter antique stores?

A: "Gosh, I remember these!"

SMILE, You've
still got your sense of humor !

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Proactiv response to demands to cease ads on FOX (repaired)

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your e-mail. At Guthy-Renker and Proactiv Solution, we encourage feedback from our customers as it helps us improve the quality of products and services we deliver. I will forward your suggestion on to the appropriate corporate department.

If I can be of further service, please feel free to contact me. If you have any questions or would like to place an order you may also contact customer service at 1-800-950-4695 or log on to www.proactiv.com.

Sincerely,

Francisco
Correspondence Specialist
Proactiv Solution

Original message:
Dear Proactiv, I am writing to inform you that I will not purchase your
products as long as you advertise on FOX News. FOX News is not "fair and
balanced." It broadcasts rightwing extremist slander [1], incitement to
violence, political propaganda, and outright lies to promote its rightwing
political agenda. This is not "news," but rather a never-ending "war on
news." And it is intolerable in a Democracy. FOX News regularly defames [2]
unionized workers, the unemployed (including veterans and 99ers [3]),
environmentalists, feminists, blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, progressives,
scientists, and any other group it disagrees with. These defamations consist
of outright lies or flagrant distortion and misrepresentation of facts. Those
lies and distortions are regularly exposed and documented, but FOX News
rarely admits or corrects its errors; instead it slanders its critics. FOX
News slanders are occasionally directed towards prominent individuals in
groups it attacks, including America's first black President, Barack Obama.
FOX News offended all decent Americans in July 2009 when Glenn Beck slandered
President Obama [4] directly saying, "This president has exposed himself as a
guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white
people, or the white culture, I don't know what it is... This guy, I believe,
is a racist." Activists at ColorOfChange [5], Media Matters [6], StopBeck
[7], FoxNewsBoycott [8], and of course Democrats.com [9] responded with a
boycott of advertisers on Glenn Beck's show. Ultimately over 300 advertisers
pulled their ads from Beck, and FOX was forced to cancel his show [10]
because the boycott cost FOX over $40 million [11]. But canceling Beck's show
changes nothing. Beck's slanderous statements, hate-mongering, provocations
of violence, and political partisanship are fully echoed (if not outdone) by
Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and many other FOX hosts and regular guests.
Since 2009, their incitements are linked to a gun battle that wounded two
policemen in Oakland, the murder of three policemen in Pittsburgh, and the
murder and wounding of nine churchgoers in Knoxville. In these and possibly
other instances [12], defamatory words had deadly consequences. Your
advertising dollars help FOX News engage in slander, incitement of violence,
rightwing partisanship, and outright lies - FOX's "war on news." I demand
that you stop advertising on FOX News immediately, and I will boycott your
products - and encourage others to join me - until you do.
??

All entities that advertise on fox will be off of my shopping lists. Daniel
Perez 61 Duncan Mansion dr. Silex, Missouri 63377

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slander_and_libel
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slander_and_libel
[3]
http://www.the405club.com/post/4680232663/long-term-unemployed-launch-fox-news-boycott
[4]

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Proactiv Solution; Response to demands to cease ads on FOX

-----Original Message---

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

"Boycott Proactiv" for FOX NEWS support

Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the petition: "Boycott Proactiv"

Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in
signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a
difference. We are trying to reach 10000 signatures - please sign here:
http://www.democrats.com/boycott-proactiv?source=perez61%40windstream.net

Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and
family to sign as well.

Thank you!

Daniel Perez,

Democrats.com

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Signed: Boycott Proactiv, for ads on fox news

-----Original Message---

Posted via email from danny6114's Pre- posterous

Amazing WWII Aircraft Facts

 

 

This a must read as it will make you proud of what your  fathers/grandfathers /brothers did for us.    

                                                                                                              

 

 

Amazing WWII Aircraft Facts

 

Most Americans who were not adults during WWII have no understanding of the magnitude of it.  This listing of some of the aircraft facts gives a bit of insight to it. 
276,000 aircraft manufactured in the US .

43,000 planes lost overseas, including 23,000 in combat. 

14,000 lost in the continental U.S. 

The US civilian population maintained a dedicated effort for four years, many working long hours seven days per week and often also volunteering for other work.  WWII was the largest human effort in history.

 

Statistics from Flight Journal magazine.
 
THE COST of DOING  BUSINESS

---- The staggering cost of war.

    THE PRICE OF VICTORY (cost of an aircraft in WWII dollars)

B-17       $204,370.     P-40       $44,892.
B-24       $215,516.     P-47       $85,578.
B-25       $142,194.     P-51       $51,572.
B-26       $192,426.     C-47       $88,574.
B-29       $605,360.     PT-17     $15,052.
P-38         $97,147.     AT-6       $22,952.

PLANES A DAY  WORLDWIDE 

From Germany 's invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939 and ending with Japan 's surrender Sept. 2, 1945 --- 2,433 days.  From 1942 onward, America averaged 170 planes lost a day.

How many is a 1,000  planes?  B-17 production (12,731) wingtip to wingtip would extend 250 miles.  1,000 B-17s carried 2.5 million gallons of high octane fuel and required 10,000 airmen to fly and fight them.

THE NUMBERS GAME
9.7 billion gallons of gasoline consumed, 1942-1945.
107.8 million hours flown, 1943-1945.
459.7 billion rounds of aircraft ammo fired overseas, 1942-1945.
7.9 million bombs dropped  overseas, 1943-1945.
2.3 million combat sorties, 1941-1945 (one sortie = one takeoff).
299,230 aircraft accepted, 1940-1945.
808,471 aircraft engines accepted, 1940-1945.
799,972 propellers accepted, 1940-1945.

Sources:  Rene Francillon,  Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific war; Cajus Bekker, The Luftwaffe Diaries;  Ray Wagner, American Combat Planes; Wikipedia.

    According to the AAF Statistical Digest, in less than four years (December 1941- August 1945), the US Army Air Forces lost 14,903 pilots, aircrew and assorted personnel plus 13,873 airplanes --- inside the continental United States.  They were the result of 52,651 aircraft accidents (6,039 involving fatalities) in 45 months.

Think about those numbers. They average 1,170 aircraft accidents per month---- nearly 40 a day.  (Less than one accident in four resulted in totaled aircraft, however.)

It gets worse.....

Almost 1,000 Army planes disappeared en route from the US to foreign climes.  But an eye-watering 43,581 aircraft were lost overseas including 22,948 on combat missions (18,418 against the Western Axis) and 20,633 attributed to non-combat causes overseas.

In a single 376 plane raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were shot down. That was a 16 percent loss rate and meant 600 empty bunks in England .  In 1942-43 it was statistically impossible for bomber crews to complete a 25-mission tour in Europe .

Pacific theatre losses were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to smaller forces committed.  The worst B-29 mission, against Tokyo on May 25, 1945, cost 26 Superfortresses, 5.6 percent of the 464 dispatched from the Marianas .

On  average, 6,600 American servicemen died per month during WWII, about 220 a day. By the end of the war, over 40,000 airmen were killed in combat theatres and another 18,000 wounded.  Some 12,000 missing men were declared dead, including a number "liberated" by the Soviets but never returned.  More than 41,000 were captured, half of the 5,400 held by the Japanese died in captivity, compared with one-tenth in German hands.   Total combat casualties were pegged at 121,867.

US manpower made up the deficit.  The AAF's peak strength was reached in 1944 with 2,372,000 personnel, nearly twice the previous year's figure.

The losses were huge---but so were production totals.  From 1941 through 1945, American industry delivered more than 276,000 military aircraft. That number was enough not only for US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, but for allies as diverse as Britain , Australia , China and Russia .  In fact, from 1943 onward, America produced more planes than Britain and Russia combined.  And more than Germany and Japan together 1941-45.

However, our enemies took massive losses.  Through much of 1944, the Luftwaffe sustained uncontrolled hemorrhaging, reaching 25 percent of aircrews and 40 planes a month.  And in late 1944 into 1945, nearly half the pilots in Japanese squadrons had flown fewer than 200 hours.  The disparity of two years before had been completely reversed.

 

Experience Level:
Uncle Sam sent many of his sons to war with absolute minimums of training. Some fighter pilots entered combat in 1942 with less than one hour in their assigned aircraft.
The 357th Fighter Group (often known as The Yoxford Boys) went to England in late 1943 having trained on P-39s.   The group never saw a Mustang until shortly before its first combat mission. 

A high-time P-51 pilot had 30 hours in type.  Many had fewer than five hours.  Some had one hour.

With arrival of new aircraft, many combat units transitioned in combat.  The attitude was, "They all have a stick and a throttle.  Go fly `em." When the famed 4th Fighter Group converted from P-47s to P-51s in February 1944, there was no time to stand down for an orderly transition.   The Group commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said, "You can learn to fly `51s on the way to the target. 
  
A future P-47 ace said, "I was sent to England to die."  He was not alone.   Some fighter pilots tucked their wheels in the well on their first combat mission with one previous flight in the aircraft.  Meanwhile, many bomber crews were still learning their trade:  of Jimmy Doolittle's 15 pilots on the April 1942 Tokyo raid, only five had won their wings before 1941.   All but one of the 16 copilots were less than a year out of flight school.
 
In WWII flying safety took a back seat to combat.  The AAF's worst accident rate was recorded by the A-36 Invader version of the P-51: a staggering 274 accidents per 100,000 flying hours.   Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139.  All were Allison powered.
 
Bomber wrecks were fewer but more expensive.  The B-17 and B-24 averaged 30 and 35 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, respectively-- a horrific figure considering that from 1980 to 2000 the Air Force's major mishap rate was less than 2.

The B-29 was even worse at 40; the world's most sophisticated, most capable and most expensive bomber was too urgently needed to stand down for mere safety reasons. The AAF set a reasonably high standard for B-29 pilots, but the desired figures were seldom attained. 

The original cadre of the 58th Bomb Wing was to have 400 hours of multi-engine time, but there were not enough experienced pilots to meet the criterion.  Only ten percent had overseas experience.  Conversely, when a $2.1 billion B-2 crashed in 2008, the Air Force initiated a two-month "safety pause" rather than declare a "stand down", let alone grounding.

The B-29 was no better for maintenance. Though the R3350 was known as a complicated, troublesome power-plant, no more than half the mechanics had previous experience with the Duplex Cyclone.   But they made it work.

 

Navigators:
Perhaps the greatest unsung success story of AAF training was Navigators.  The Army graduated some 50,000 during the War.  And many had never flown out of sight of land before leaving "Uncle Sugar" for a war zone.  Yet the huge majority found their way across oceans and continents without getting lost or running out of fuel --- a stirring tribute to the AAF's educational establishments.

 

Cadet To Colonel:
 It was possible for a flying cadet at the time of Pearl Harbor to finish the war with eagles on his shoulders.  That was the record of John D. Landers, a 21-year-old Texan, who was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 12, 1941.  He joined his combat squadron with 209 hours total flight time, including 2½ in P-40s.  He finished the war as a full colonel, commanding an 8th Air Force Group --- at age 24.
As the training pipeline filled up, however those low figures became exceptions. 
By early 1944, the average AAF fighter pilot entering combat had logged at least 450 hours, usually including 250 hours in training.  At the same time, many captains and first lieutenants claimed over 600 hours.

 

FACT:
At its height in mid-1944, the Army Air Forces had 2.6 million people and nearly 80,000 aircraft of all types. 
Today the US Air Force employs 327,000 active personnel (plus 170,000 civilians) with 5,500+ manned and perhaps 200 unmanned aircraft. 
The 2009 figures represent about 12 percent of the manpower and 7 percent of the airplanes of the WWII peak.

IN SUMMATION: 
Whether there will ever be another war like that experienced in 1940-45 is doubtful, as fighters and bombers have given way to helicopters and remotely-controlled drones over Afghanistan and Iraq .  But within living memory, men left the earth in 1,000-plane formations and fought major battles five miles high, leaving a legacy that remains timeless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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