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- BRIGADIER GENERAL ROBERT L. SCOTT JR.
Our students are constantly wanting to hear more stories. So please allow me to share one more.
I have been truly Blessed with many opportunities and adventures. One was as the creator and host of a radio talk show, “On the Line”, simulcast over radio stations including KBLE, and KACC and originating in the studios of KFMN-FM in Abilene. It was in broadcasting that I worked my way through most of my time in college. And I was privileged to interview many outstanding personalities and legendary citizens.
Dr. A at KFMN-FM
One of the truly memorable guests on my talk show was BRIGADIER GENERAL ROBERT L. SCOTT JR. He was introduced to me by a dear friend, Dr. Irby Fox, a wonderful physician and former Professor of Physics at Hardin-Simmons University and another true Patriot, who, in 1942 entered the U. S. Navy and served in the Pacific theater during WWII on board the aircraft carriers USS Nehenta Bay and USS Cabot. read more
Hells Angels, Flying Tigers 1942 by R. T. Smith
Notice airman riding on wing!
When the United States entered World War II in 1941, General Robert Scott was considered too old for combat. But in March of 1942, he volunteered for a secret mission to fly the B-17 bomber in China and met Gen. Claire Chennault, the legendary commander of the Flying Tigers, the first American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force (1941–1942) recruited under presidential authority. read more
In July 1942, at the request of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, Scott was named commander of the 23rd Fighter Group, newly formed by General Claire Chennault when the Flying Tigers were incorporated into the USAAF.
The Flying Tigers
And, he also became fighter commanding officer of the China Air Task Force. He flew an unbelievable 388 combat missions to October 1943, shooting down 13 enemy aircraft to become one of the earliest aces of the war. Interestingly, during this period, he frequently repainted the propeller spinner in different colors to create the illusion of a much larger fighter force in the area than a single aircraft, becoming in effect a “one-man air force” and he flew at least one high altitude mission over Mount Everest.
Following the war, Scott continued to lead fighter units in the United States and overseas. He commanded the nation’s first jet fighter school at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz., before his promotion to general officer and becoming the Director of Information for the Air Force.
General Scott wrote several books including God Is My Copilot, a beautifully written account of his wartime exploits. The book was later made into a 1945 feature-length movie. I highly recommend you purchase this dynamic story and rent or purchase the movie. read more
General Claire Chennault
Needless to say, the longer I interviewed General Scott, the more I came to admire him. And he shared many stories with me. One I wish to share with you.
He told me he was second in command of the Flying Tigers under Gen. Claire Chennault. And one day he reported to the General that a large roll of wire disappeared and he wanted it back. It was needed for small jobs around the base. But the General told Col. Scott to just forget it. He said that Chinese values were such that it should not be addressed. And that was an order.
Scott said, in his interview with me, that he decided to take matters into his own hands, so he reported the loss to General Chiang Kai-Shek. The General looked embarrassed and humbly apologized. He left Scott with his head bowed down in shame. Scott said that later he really thought nothing of it. He just wanted the wire back and he wanted the pilfering to stop. To him it was not a big deal.
Very early the next morning, General Chennault entered his tent, literally kicked him off of his bed and shouted, “Get Up! Did you disobey my order? Did you report the loss of that wire? Did you? Well, Get Up! Don’t get dressed! Just follow me!”
The famous Flying Tigers
Scott hurriedly scurried behind the General and closely followed him up a steep incline to the top of a small hill. When they got to the top General Chennault pointed down the other side of the incline and with a sweeping motion of his hand shouted out, “Was the wire about that long?”
To Scott’s horror, there were dead Chinese soldiers, laid end to end, about the length of the wire. They had been executed. It was the General’s way of making amends, of apologizing. It was Chinese justice.
It was then that Scott remembered that General Chennault told him to just “forget it”, that Chinese values were such that it should not be addressed. And most importantly, that it was an order. Scott told me, in a whispered voice, that he never disobeyed another order and that he lived with the result of his disobedience in his nightmarish dreams ever since.
Yes, values are different within different cultures. And it is one of our great Blessings that we live in truly compassionate society, in America, where human life is highly valued. And we should not forget it. And we should be grateful.
Many lives have been given for our precious American values and our way of life. Not only on fields of battle, but at home, with wives and children and the loved ones of so many left at home to bear their burdens alone so that someone could fight for you and for me. They too have suffered and sacrificed.
No, our Freedom is not free. It is the most expensive thing on the planet. And the price was paid by hundreds of thousands of brave Americans for you and for me.
Scott in 1994 standing next to an oil painting of himself at the Museum of Aviation in Georgia.
Which is why it is so abhorrent to me to hear that we are not adequately providing for the medical and other needs of our Veterans. Why do we keep electing people who cannot do the job of caring for those who cared so much for us, who sacrificed their lives for us and whose families also suffered – for you and me? Why? What a humiliating embarrassment to know we have grossly neglected our courageous Veterans.
Ultimately my friends, it is we, the people, the citizens, the ones who vote, who are responsible. Us! Yes, the very least we can do, is to turn off the television and go vote. And then choose wisely.
Our values have apparently not been well represented (by the way, the approval rating for Congress was 13% last year!). Let’s stop sending so much of our money overseas and spend it here, in our country, on those who have earned it! Yes, we can afford it. What we cannot afford is neglect and abuse of those who defend Liberty. We can, and should, take care of our wonderful Veterans. We are the wealthiest Nation on earth. And we are financially foolish and careless and sinful.
Brig. Gen. Robert L. Scott Jr. after his B-1 flight in 1997. (USAF photo)
The next time you see a Service man or woman or Veteran or family member of one, do as one of our thoughtful students, who I am always proud of, Alden Collins, has been frequently known to do – reach out and shake their hand and thank them.
You owe them your life.
Books written by Scott
God is my Co-Pilot. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1943.
Damned to Glory. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1944.
Runway to the Sun. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1945.
Between the Elephant’s Eyes. New York: Ballantine Books, 1954.
Look of the Eagle. New York: Dodd Mead, 1955.
Samburu the Elephant. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1957.
Tiger in the Sky. New York: Ballantine Books, 1959.
Boring a Hole in the Sky: Six Million Miles with a Fighter Pilot. New York: Random House, 1961.
God is Still My Co-Pilot. Vashon Washington, Beachcomber Books, 1967.
Flying Tiger: Chennault of China. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1973. ISBN 0-8371-6774-4.
“To Walk the Great Wall”. Readers Digest, April 1983.
The Day I Owned the Sky. New York: Bantam Books, 1989. ISBN 0-553-27507-0.
External links available (type in as key words)
Ace Pilots Biography
USAF Biography at the Wayback Machine (archived February 7, 2004)
Biography in The New Georgia Encyclopedia
CNN “WWII fighter ace Scott dies at 97”
Annals of the Flying Tigers
Interview with Retired Brig. General Robert L. Scott – American World War II Ace Pilot and Hero by Jamie H. Cockfield
Burma Is No Paradise, article by Col. Robert Scott, Popular Science, February 1944
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
We are not passive experiencers of the world;
we are the creators of the world we experience.
Immanuel Kant
Why is Coffee Good For You?
Here Are 7 Reasons
By Kris Gunnars
To read full article click here
In recent years and decades, scientists have studied the effects of coffee on various aspects of health and their results have been nothing short of amazing. Here are 7 reasons why coffee may actually be one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.
1. Coffee Can Make You Smarter
The active ingredient in coffee is caffeine, which is a stimulant and the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Caffeine’s primary mechanism in the brain is blocking the effects of an inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine. By blocking the inhibitory effects of Adenosine, caffeine actually increases neuronal firing in the brain and the release of other neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine.
Many controlled trials have examined the effects of caffeine on the brain, demonstrating that caffeine can improve mood, reaction time, memory, vigilance and general cognitive function.
2. Coffee Can Help You Burn Fat and Improves Physical Performance
There’s a good reason why you will find caffeine in most commercial fat burning supplements.
Caffeine raises metabolism and increases the oxidation of fatty acids.
3. Coffee May Drastically Lower Your Risk of Type II Diabetes
Type II diabetes is a lifestyle-related disease that has reached epidemic proportions, having increased 10-fold in a few decades and now afflicting about 300 million people.
In observational studies, coffee has been repeatedly associated with a lower risk of diabetes. The reduction in risk ranges from 23% all the way up to 67%.
A massive review article looked at 18 studies with a total of 457.922 participants. Each additional cup of coffee per day lowered the risk of diabetes by 7%. The more coffee people drank, the lower their risk.
4. Coffee May Lower Your Risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Not only can coffee make you smarter in the short term, it may also protect your brain in old age.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disorder in the world and a leading cause of dementia.
In prospective studies, coffee drinkers have up to a 60% lower risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by death of dopamine-generating neurons in the brain. Coffee may lower the risk of Parkinson’s by 32-60%.
5. Coffee May be Extremely Good For Your Liver
The liver is a remarkable organ that carries out hundreds of vital functions in the body.
It is very vulnerable to modern insults such as excess consumption of alcohol and fructose. Cirrhosis is the end stage of liver damage caused by diseases like alcoholism and hepatitis, where liver tissue has been largely replaced by scar tissue.
Multiple studies have shown that coffee can lower the risk of cirrhosis by as much as 80%, the strongest effect for those who drank 4 or more cups per day.
Coffee may also lower the risk of liver cancer by around 40%.
6. Coffee May Decrease Your Risk of Dying
In two very large prospective epidemiological studies, drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death by all causes.
This effect is particularly profound in type II diabetics, one study showing that coffee drinkers had a 30% lower risk of death during a 20 year period.
7. Coffee is Loaded With Nutrients and Antioxidants
Many of the nutrients in the coffee beans do make it into the final drink, which actually contains a decent amount of vitamins and minerals.
A cup of coffee contains:
6% of the RDA for Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5).
11% of the RDA for Riboflavin (Vitamin B2).
2% of the RDA for Niacin (B3) and Thiamine (B1).
3% of the RDA for Potassium and Manganese.
May not seem like much, but if you drink several cups of coffee per day then this quickly adds up.
But this isn’t all. Coffee also contains a massive amount of antioxidants.
In fact, coffee is the biggest source of antioxidants in the western diet, outranking both fruits and vegetables combined.
Even though coffee in moderate amounts is good for you, drinking way too much of it can still be harmful.
To make sure to preserve the health benefits, don’t put sugar or anything nasty in your coffee! If it tends to affect your sleep, then don’t drink it after 2 p.m.
If anything, coffee may literally be the healthiest beverage on the planet.
And so, my friends, instead of allowing your children to drink deadly and addictive soft drinks, why not introduce them to something healthy? Yes, like coffee.
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