libya free / khadaffi's gone / remains of b -24 lady be good

[tom d. friedman]

with khadaffi gone, libya free..... maybe the libyan government would cooperate & send the remainder of the b -24 "lady be good" home to the u.s. to join the artifacts already displayed at the usaf museum in dayton ohio. the last i saw of the lady, what remains of her was thrown into a vacant fenced in lot in some city or province. i would hope the libyan government would take the spirit of renewed relations with the u.s. by releasing her as a gesture of kindness & a fresh start. any ideas how to get this rolling?? contact our / their embassies?? is this a pipe dream?? opinions??

[RandolphB]

Given that the current leader has already declared Libya to now be an Islamic country I am wondering if it's return would have been easier under the last leader. ...? They don't sound as if they want to be friendly with the USA in all the news reports I have been hearing.

[JDK]

Supporting (funding) a museum as proposed previously in Libya for the aircraft would get my irrelevant vote, definitely as against a return to the USA.

It would be a smart move for a US individual or organisation to support such a local initiative, rather than an attempt (however wrapped up) to grab the toys back. Removing it would win friends and influence people in a very short term way at best; the alternative proposed above would have the potential to show some of the better side of American largesse if handled right.

The American Air Museum at Duxford is - among other things - an important reminder to an international audience of the American commitment in the UK during W.W.II. It is not a direct comparison, but there are greater needs for positive exhibitions overseas than having particular aircraft in museums back 'home'. Rather like it would be worth bringing back the Mildenhall Air Fetes; certainly my introduction to many of the better aspects of American culture and Americans.

[tom d. friedman]

you make valid points james!!!

[Russ Matthews]

There was a long thread on this same topic 2 months ago ...

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=42217&hilit=lady+be+good

[JDK]

you make valid points james!!!

Thanks Tom. It's just a view - not necessarily 'right' but trying to think of a bigger picture.

[Invader26]

finders, keepers....

[The Inspector]

And although some may not like it, it is a part of their WW2 heritage and should remain there until, pehaps some day it is offered to be returned. We don't (as far as I'm aware) don't want every P-51 hulk found in a peat bog returned so why should this be any different?

[mustangdriver]

Yeah, let's build an air museum in Libya. That will give them something to bomb. JDK that is not meant as a dig on you, but I don't think that place is real fond of anyone right now. I think the US building something there would make it a target.

[StangStung]

First: I think of all the people on both sides of the pond who have any real sway, Libyan and US, the Lady Be Good is the next issue to be taken care of in about 2035.

Second: Mustang driver, I think you are tarring a lot of people with the same brush. There are a lot of different groups in Libya (and expats who want to go back) with widely different interests which have been suppressed for 40+ years. Lots of people are going to have lots of different things to say because they finally can. And they should. They've earned it. It's going to be messy for a while (our democracy is still messy after a couple hundred years), but I don't think the next thing on their agenda is bombing American/western things...they've probably seen enough fighting for a while. My guess is it will likley be something closer to keeping the lights on, putting roofs over peoples heads and feeding them. Also, from what I've seen, the Commonwealth and German war graves in Libya have been fairly well respected.

Third: JDK is definitely on to something. You don't win people over by isolation and disengagement. There was a time when we had great influence in the 3rd world because either the US or Britain trained their officer corps. This provided order and more importantly, a chance to absorb fundamental ideas of freedom, fairness, security and stability which help foment democracy (there was also a bunch of bad stuff which went along with it--but I won't go into that right now). We are paying the price for our consistent lack of engagement now. And at the end of the day, their history (of which the Lady Be Good is a part) is just as important to them as ours is to us.

All that being said, I'd go out of my way to see her if she did make her way back to the US.

Last edited by StangStung on Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

[JohnB]

Rather like it would be worth bringing back the Mildenhall Air Fetes; certainly my introduction to many of the better aspects of American culture and Americans.

James....
If we ever manage to to meet on one of your trips to America...we've tried a couple of times...I'd be glad to tell you "war" stories on 3rd Air Force community relations efforts during my time in the UK.
They did a lot, but I wasn't the two-star who made the decisions.

[Wilson]

Book yourself a commercial flight to Tunisia. Pay a taxi to drive you into Libya. Find somebody with a truck, get them to load the thing up and drive it back to Tunisia. Ship it home and it’s yours. There is no functioning government. What’s the worst that can happen? I’d say ask Gaddafi, but …

[JDK]

What’s the worst that can happen?

http://www.caslon.com.au/repatriationnote14.htm

http://www.museum-security.org/artcrime.html

Just because a cop's not watching you doesn't make theft legal, or right.

[Dan Jones]

If you were to attempt to smuggle what's left of that thing out of Libya, you'd probably become the latest victim of "the curse".

[tom d. friedman]

the inspector makes valid points........ however, let's not get this post locked if possible.