Today marks the 39th anniversary of the assassination attempt against Reagan, barely more than two months into his presidency.

Pertinent to this forum for me personally was that I heard this news early that afternoon just out of my college classes for the day and sitting at one of those tiny, drive-up photo developing ‘stores’ that used to dot the parking lots of various shopping centers back in the day. Were they called PhotoBug or something similar? Anyway, I had pulled up there in my 1970 Ford Maverick that I drove all through college to pick up a roll of prints shot with my AstroCam a few days earlier during the quarter break between winter and spring school quarters.

Of course as we now know, Reagan survived the attack, but what was not completely realized by many was that Reagan — Secret Sevice code name “Rawhide” — came very close to Dying that day.

I was not a fan of Reagan really, having, at the time, ascribed largely to my family’s long standing, more liberal beliefs. As I got older, my beliefs in some ways changed and I began to better appreciate some, though not all necessarily, of what he was trying to do.

Still, like many, I was shocked at the news. And a critical decision by Secret Service Agent Parr to bypass a return to the White House (which was not too far away from the Hilton where Reagan was shot in DC) as originally initiated but instead to go to the closest hospital emergency room likely saved Reagan from bleeding to death internally.

Excerpt from a CBS article:

“As the armored vehicle raced across Washington, agent Jerry Parr's mind was racing, too. Could this have been a so-called decapitation strike by the Soviets? Were other gunmen still waiting in-ambush.

Back at the Hilton, press secretary Jim Brady was gravely wounded - as were Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy and police officer Thomas Delahanty.

At that point, no one knew the president had also been shot.

"My job, then, was to see if he'd really been hit," Parr said. "I ran my hands up under his coat, around his belt line. And I started workin' up, up, up, up in the armpit area. Up into the back of his neck, through his hair and everything. And I didn't see any blood at all.

"But about Dupont Circle, he started spitting up this blood - profuse amounts of red, bright red, frothy blood," Parr said. "And I thought, 'Well, what would cause that?' Maybe landing on top of him cracked a rib. Maybe it punctured a lung."

That was when Parr made the single most important decision of the day: Forget the White House. Get to a hospital.”
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By the time he got into surgery, Reagan had lost nearly 50% of his blood volume. Had they gone to the White House first and THEN headed on to the hospital, the time lost by THOSE actions probably would have cost Reagan his life.

And it was 39 years ago today. Wow, that is beginning to seem like a long, long time ago.

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

39 years hard to believe. I didn't realize it was such a close call.

We had a drive up Fotomat in the Nichols department store plaza. I also had a 70 Ford Maverick. Paid $75 for it. May have overpaid.

Whether you are an fan or not, or a Bill O’Reilly fan, or not, the latter’s book Killing Reagan is a great read. The retelling of the shooting was incredible. I had no idea Reagan was so close to death.

On the subject of Reagan, we visited the Regan Library in Simi Valley, California several years ago. It’s an amazing place. Reagan’s Air Force One is there, perched up on pillars, looking out the massive glass wall of windows into the surrounding hills. Looking thru the cockpit windshield, you'd think you were flying low over the hills.

Check out the video of the Air Force One Pavilion here:

https://www.reaganfoundation.org/li.../air-force-one/

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

Unless the 1970 Maverick was the V8 powered "Grabber" version, paying $75 WAS way too much !
The only car produced by Ford that was worse was the POS Pinto.
I had an uncle that actually and ignorantly loved Pintos.
That crazy fool also thought the boat-anchor junk-motor turd 390 was the best V8 Ford made.

A buddy in high school had a 71 Maverick. Naturally in hideous Peuke-Green color.
I think it had a 200 straight-6 in it with a whopping 1bbl carb. All of 125hp.
For some STUPID reason it had the rear brakes DISCONNECTED.
Probably the slowest TURD I ever had the displeasure of riding in.
A GARBAGE Truck could beat it in a drag race.
In college his Dad upgraded him to an 85 Corvette. More than slightly better.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Yeah, Fotomat was the name of some of them. Seems like they may have gone by PhotoBug or something like that here locally.

I paid more than that for my Maverick, but I did sell it five years later for $75! It was a good car for me, overall. It was cheap as a used car, which was a prime requirement for poor ol’ college student me at the time. Other than routine maintenance, I think the only somewhat costly thing I had to do to it was redoing the brakes, which I did myself.

After five years of driving, I was out of college and working at my first real job and making what seemed to me at the time like a trillion dollars a year. So, I replaced that Maverick with a 1985 Toyota Supra. Talk about automotive technology culture shock! It was like going from an old Ginny bi-plane to an F-16! I loved that Supra and it became my daily driver for 23 years. I racked up over 443,000 miles on that car with the same engine, no rebuilds.

But yes, 39 years ago seems like a long time ago now. I was just a kid then really. Gosh, I was still 18 come to think of it. Much has changed since those days.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

There were three of us in Rob Venneman's Duster heading down Grand Avenue when they announced on WEBN that there had been an assassination attempt. I can remember looking at Grand Towers and thinking "Shouldn't you give him a chance to get started first?" Odd thing to run across my mind. Grand Towers still stands, and I sometimes think of this when I pass it. My freshman year was pretty eventful. Lennon was killed in December, then an earthquake and the Reagan assassination attempt, then in April we had a bootleg fireworks factory explode in Newport. Thinking that 2020 might edge it out, though.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

One of the girls we were hanging out with had the Mercury version of the Maverick. (Possibly the Comet?) She was having trouble with the brakes and asked me to drive it and see if they sounded okay. We were in a Wendy's parking lot, so I took it for a hot lap around the store, but her seat adjuster was broke and she was short, so I hadn't been able to "reach down between my leg and ease the seat back". I went to hit the brakes as I turned out of the drive thru, but I couldn't get my leg back far enough to be able to touch the brake pedal, so I took the turn at full speed. Somehow I managed to keep it out of the manicured hill in front of the store. In all the excitement I forgot to listen to the brakes, but no one was any the wiser when I pulled back around to the other side of the parking lot.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

An aunt of mine had the equally horrible Mercury Comet, which was the Mercury equivalent of the Maverick.
Yes it was the same family with the crazy uncle that favored Ford Pintos and 390 junk-motored old pickups. They had a real penchant for the WORST of all Ford products.
One of their goofy sons favored old POS toyota Tercels and Corollas which were actually WORSE.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Hers had this monster hood scoop on it, strictly decorative. I couldn't believe it when I popped the hood and didn't even find anything resembling a cold air induction system, no matter how rudimentary.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

You should have been given "Fair Warning".
"Come on, Bill. Give me a break(brake)."

1984 was good, but the first album was the best!



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I love sanding.