- What plane did Leo fly during Vietnam?
- Wayland Chang writes: "It was said that Leo McGarry flew an Air Force F-105 "Fighterchief" in Vietnam. The F-105 was officially designated the Thunderchief though sometimes called names like the "Lead Sled" and "Thud". There is an Air Force Museum page about the Thunderchief at
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/modern_flight/mf29.htm."
"A page about the history of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing including
pictures of the F-105 Thunderchief is available at:
http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/1979/f105era.html."
- Is there a Seawolf class submarine named the Portland?
- EB writes: "Two seawolf class subs have in fact been launched; the Seawolf was launched in '97 and the Connecticut in '98, a third seawolf to be called the Jimmy Carter is under construction and scheduled to launch in 2004." He sent us to a link to websites from General Dynamics Electric Boat including: http://www.gdeb.com/programs/seawolf/seawolf.html.
which lists:
Ships of the Class
- USS Seawolf (SSN21)
- USS Connecticut (SSN22)
- Jimmy Carter (SSN23)
and says the class has a complement of "130 officers and enlisted men."
Of course, choosing a fictional name instead of referring to a real entity to which the fictional events didn't happen, is a legitimate change to a fictional world, but it is also good to know what is and isn't fiction.
- Christopher Jones writes to point out that there is, however, a USS Portland. It isn't a submarine but a Dock Landing Ship - LSD. He sent us the following link on the subject from the U.S. Navy Office of the Information:
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/ship-lsd.html
- Could a SR-71 take a picture during a routine flyover in the Gulf?
- As Kevin Lynch emailed us: the SR-71 was "the so-called Blackbird aircraft developed by Lockheed. The last Blackbird squadron was deactivated in June, 1999."
- He sent us a link to a Blackbird Timeline 1990s
- Later we also discovered: Government Executive Magazine said: "Several readers have noted that it's
unlikely an SR-71 aircraft would have taken the reconnaissance photos of Iraq, since that aircraft is no longer in use."
- In The Black Vera Wang, it is said that Fort Myer is in Maryland. We were innundated (well it felt like being innundated) with emails that said NO, IT'S IN VIRGINA!
- Kevin Lynch emailed, "Prior to the Civil War, the property was owned by Robert E. Lee. It is immediately adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery," and he sent us this link Fort Myer, Virginia Community History
- Cynthia O. Smith of the Fort Myer Public Affairs Office wrote: "If terrorists were trying to target Fort Myer in Maryland they'd have a tough time finding it. Even the 'real' President knows where Fort Myer is. Please inform Aaron Sorkin that Fort Myer is located in Virginia, not Maryland. I guess he didn't do his homework!"
- Craig T. Fifer sent us this: "Ft. Myer is in Virginia, not Maryland. This is abundantly clear from http://www.army.mil/installations/Map.htm. Maybe the writers confused Ft. Myer with Ft. Meade, which is in Maryland."
- Kelly S Bishop said, "One of the military targets that they thought the terrorist might hit was Ft. Myer. Only they said it was in Md instead of Va. Somebody get them a map! *Grin*"
- Kathy Thomas wrote "When did Fort
Meyer move from Arlington, VA??"
- Maya Bernstein told us "There is a Fort Myer which is in Arlington, VA, not Maryland. It's *right* across the river from the White House, just near the Pentagon."
- Bea Ishler said, "When was Ft. Myer moved to MD from VA?"
- And so did someone who only gave the name"mcconnell".
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Queries on References to the Military by Third Season
