Guest Post by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
I’m always surprised by the number of Righties who think that John “Duke” Wayne was a great American patriot, since it was common knowledge in Hollywood during the Second World War that he was the biggest draft dodger in the movie industry – his reputation as an American hero coming from all the war movies he made, war movies where the bullets were blanks and the blood was makeup. For Righties though, Wayne was a “hero” since he signed on to every far right cause that came down the road, and the more far right the cause, the more likely he was to sign on.
The above is provided as background for those of you who don’t know where Congressman Randy Cunningham’s nickname came from – it was the radio callsign handle he was given in Navy flight school, in recognition of his admiration of “The Duke.” The fact that this “genuine American hero” would admire an imaginary hero is entirely appropriate, however, since his claim to “genuine American heroism” in an air battle over North Vietnam in May 1972 that pitted “the top American ace of the war” against “the top North Vietnamese ace” is about as truthful as Wayne’s heroism. In the years since, several independent aviation history researchers have determined that there never was any “Colonel Tomb” – Cunningham’s alleged opponent – in the North Vietnamese Air Force, and North Vietnamese records fail to record a missing pilot for the day in question, which is important since the story is that the Colonel died in the fireball of his MiG-17 when it exploded from the impact of Cunningham’s last missile, fired in desperation. Whatever enemy airplane Cunningham did or did not shoot down that day (and overclaiming by fighter pilots has been going on for as long as there have been fighter pilots – in all air forces, in all wars – due to the nature of air combat), it wasn’t an “epic battle” reminiscent of knights errant in single combat, as many fans of aerial warriors mistakenly think such fights are.
Cunningham is also the kind of fighter pilot most fighter pilots don’t like. Tom Wolfe got it right in his book “The Right Stuff,” that the essence of having the right stuff is to not make a big deal of it. One of my more pleasurable jobs as a writer is doing aviation history, which has involved numerous interviews over the years with for-real aerial aces of several air forces; they all play the “humility factor,” and I am personally of the opinion that most all of them sincerely believe it. Cunningham, on the other hand, has built his entire career on being a “MiG Ace.” In fact, once California made personalized license plates available back in the 1970s, he got one of the first ones: MIG ACE. It didn’t go over well at all with his fellow “top guns” at the Navy Fighter Weapons School at Miramar NAS, where he was then a senior instructor.
It’s also of interest to note that in the American Navy when a junior officer distinguishes themselves in combat – as Cunningham did – it takes some really severe professional and personal screwing-up for that junior officer not to retire as a Rear Admiral after 30 years; even with some screwing-up, failure to retire as a Captain (Colonel in all the other armed services) after 25 years would get “second looks.” Cunningham voluntarily retired at 20 years as a Commander – which is a remarkable event, considering his professional background. But then, when you add in all the rest of his antics, it’s not surprising at all, since he managed to break all the rules of the Brotherhood of Fighter Pilots, to general disapprobation within the fraternity. I actually saw this attitude in action during a convention of the American Fighter Aces Association back when Cunningham was still in the Navy – when he arrived at the convention as “the only American ace still on active duty,” a fair number of his peers openly avoided him, and none who went up to him seemed to be doing more than the perfunctory “grab and grin” that one associates with public events. Two very well-known pilots (at least to those of us who think of these people as interesting) who I knew personally made no bones of their dislike of him and why.
The bottom line to all of that is that the recent news about Cunningham the real estate tycoon doesn’t come as a surprise to this observer. He’s a guy who has played fast and loose with the facts for at least 33 years, thus putting the current events completely “in character.”
The North County Times in San Diego has it all
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham demanded a Washington defense contractor pay far more for his Del Mar Heights home than it was worth “in return for being influenced in the performance of his official acts as a public official,” a violation of the bribery statute governing public officials, government attorneys alleged Thursday.
In a civil filing signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge, the government contends that the 50th Congressional District lawmaker sold his home to Mitchell J. Wade for $1.675 million, “an amount far greater than its true fair market value. Cunningham demanded and received this money in return for being influenced in the performance of his official acts as a public official in violation of Title 18, United State Code, Section 201.” Section 201 of the code is the area of U.S. law that describes corruption of public officials.
The government further alleges that Cunningham and his wife, Nancy, used more than $1.4 million of the $1.675 million to purchase an estate-style home in Rancho Santa Fe. That money was obtained by the congressman in violation of the law, the attorneys allege.
For those who’d like to know what Cunningham’s fellow Naval Aviators think of him, go here The Unofficial Randy Duke Cunningham Page.