First USAF Aircraft to Bomb Iraq
Mike Novack
It was a C-141!!
Long before the Bushes got all excited about Iraq, the first US aircraft to drop
anything on it was a C-141.
My ex-father-in-law was living in Tehran working for Boeing. On a short
trip there I had a chance to get together with him. He gave me a giant tin of
Iranian pistachios in exchange for a fifth of some beverage he was unable
to acquire locally.
On the trip back to Germany the next day we started eating them, and didn't stop until they were all gone.
There were shells everywhere in the cockpit and we
sucked them out the sextant port out over Iraq (which was not shooting at us then) with the hose that
Lockheed thoughtfully provided just for that purpose. (It was labeled: Ejector, Shells, Pistachio,
US Govt Part #:234-222-34219). The acquisition cost was probably about the same as one of those hammers
or toilet seats we heard about in the early 1970's).
I don’t know what it feels like to get hit in the head with a pistachio shell
from 37,000 feet, but perhaps that is what is behind our current troubles with this
part of the world. At the time it didn’t look to me
like there was anyone in the whole god-forsaken place anyway, but I guess our
inconsiderate actions are probably the source of all the anger directed at the US today.
Last Updated: Monday, April 10, 2006 09:52 am