Flying Home

The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History February 17 - 23.

I’m doing much of this week’s Maundy Monday Newsletter in the airport in Columbus, Ohio, after spending the weekend with my Mom celebrating her 82^nd birthday. I bought a cake.

This cake was delicious!

That's a pretty good job, right? I helped out as much as possible with my Mom and siblings, who care for her regularly. It was good to be home, even though it didn’t seem very long.

Flying back home to Washington, DC, has always been a bit nerve-wracking. Back in 2001, right after the attacks, we used to have to clear the sitting area of the gate and allow TSA and dogs to sweep the space. There's nothing like a SWAT team checking to see if the people are flying with aren’t packing something.

Just a few weeks ago, on January 29, tragedy struck when a Black Hawk helicopter collided mid-air with an American Airlines flight that was descending into National Airport. (I refuse to call it Reagan.) All 67 people were killed. The President of the United States responded in his typical psychotic way – first blaming his predecessor, who apparently allowed the Federal Aviation Association to hire people based on merit but had other traits that typically wouldn’t give them access to secure such jobs. He followed that up by stating he wouldn’t visit the crash site because it was over water. Not sure if he understands how rescue operations work, but at this point, it’s probably better to shake your head and pray the rosary.

Anonymous flew home from a spy mission last week, and when I woke up, she was there, so that’s good. I know Blue was happy. Now it’s my turn. I’m hoping this essay doesn’t turn into some bad karma. Then again, you wouldn’t be reading it if it did.

Why on God’s Green Earth am I bringing it up? Well, lo and behold, a major aviation event took place this week, and it ends with the number zero!

On February 22, 1935, airplanes could no longer fly over the White House. Why? Was it some security gap that we discovered? I mean, it would be a few years when Japanese fighter pilots would be diving into US warships. In fact, this week, Japan began to practice by diving into a dummy ship resembling a US destroyer.

Nope. We stopped airlines flying over the White House because the noise disrupted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s sleep. I’m not sure exactly when this sleep occurred, but I have to imagine it was during the sunlight. It has to be, right?

So while Trump declares amendments to the Constitution null and renames international body of water, never forget we are a country that tells airplanes to stop waking up the president.

Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here's what I got:

1. The United States Marines arrived on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. The Few and the Proud went ashore to take out the Imperial Japanese and wrap up the Pacific Theater of World War II. After fierce combat, the Marines planted the flag with the hand of God.

2. Frederick Douglass died on February 20, 1885. The abolitionist, author, orator was at the forefront of erasing slavery. After the Civil War, Douglass was named to numerous political positions, and in his final years, he moved to Washington, DC. His final home sits atop a hill overlooking the Anacostia River; I have never been. He was 77.

3. The United States upset the Soviet Union in hockey on February 22, 1980. The Soviets were professional hockey players, taking on the best and youngest amateurs the States could assemble. What began as a 2-2 first-period tie, the Soviets jumped to a one-goal lead after the second. The third period featured two goals by the Americans and ended with a 4-3 victory. Two days later, the US defeated Finland to win the gold medal, which no one remembers.

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It will be the last full work week in the office before Anonymous and I take our regularly scheduled and much-needed vacation. You’ll remember the amount of fantastic content I have produced in the past while away. Not sure if I could make this magic happen again, but let’s see how we do.

Okay History also turns four this week! Here’s how we launched it – by ranking the presidents of the United States. I appreciate your support of Okay History. Thanks for showing up week after week. I hope you have a great week yourself!

Okay,

Chris

This is Sméagol. He’s my brother’s dog. He is a sweet boy who is a year older than Blue.