A Hero Disgraced

[El-Rushbo]

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges involving the sale of his home two years ago to a defense contractor at an inflated price.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/28/congressman.shouse.ap/index.html

Admitting to a judge that he took bribes, Cunningham entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

 

[Deuce130]

Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy and tax charges involving the sale of his home two years ago to a defense contractor at an inflated price.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/28/congressman.shouse.ap/index.html

Admitting to a judge that he took bribes, Cunningham entered pleas in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

Anther case of the old adage, "Power corrupts."

 

[Draginass]

Mr. Cunningham disgraced himself.

We earn our wings everyday, not just once.

 

[AlbieF15]

...You only get one repuatation...so you have to protect it. Absolutely a darn shame. I've put some of Duke's quotes on my boards during briefs as motivation. Still a consumate fighter pilot, but now somewhat tarnished...

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
I was so shocked and saddened to read the news about Randy Cunningham. He was one of my heroes growing up, and I met him on a couple of occasions when I was stationed in San Diego. I guess that power can and does corrupt even the most honorable of souls.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[Skank]

He's kind of in that nowhere place that Pete Rose lives. He may have been a great pilot, but he is now an ordinary criminal. Not much to be proud of there.

 

[Whidbey]

When I was going through Kingsville as a student we were told he was going to be flying in there on his way to some sort of pig hunting trip in south texas, and that he was going to stop in the ready room to talk to us.

Most guys hung out for hours waiting for the plane to land, when it did all the big shots jumped right into the waiting vehicles and hurried off base. Bummer.

 

[A Squared]

Cunningham just picked the wrong state. Ted Stevens took a $.87 million bribe from a contractor for steering a $450 million military housing contract his way.

Nobody in Alaska even blinked.

 

[Toecutter]

I used to think highly of him as well. But that was a long time ago. Apparently he was a good pilot, but a terrible Naval officer. There is some information floating around that the Navy wanted to boot him several times, but his kills saved him. I've read that he once broke into his CO's office to get a look at or possibly change a bad fitrep he thought he was going to get. Also, there is some talk that he wasn't shot down by a SAM during his last dogfight, but instead ran out of fuel after chasing that Mig all over Vietnam in afterburner. Not sure if that is true, but I heard there was some talk going on in the F-4 community about that.

 

[jointops]

I've got a great print "Gathering of Eagles" from 1985 hanging in my son's room. Guys like Boyinton, Yeager and yes Cunningham are represented with a drawing of these "aces", their squadron patches and their signatures.
These men were my Dad's stick buddies and my heroes. What a waste. How do you explain to your child how sick this world can be? Thank goodness my Dad is still worthy of hero status and Spencer's "Grandpa" is someone he can still count on for character.

Happy landings

 

[AlbieF15]

...running a jet out of gas in order to kill another mig may not be good form, but it is forgivable. Taking bribes, however, is another matter entirely. I don't think our ACES are expected to be perfect pilots, but as a Congressman, leader, and retired officer I think we all agree that the ethical breach (heck...CRIME) is hard to swallow.

The higher you get, the harder you fall. Think Bernie Ebbers (Worldcom) who could very well die in jail. There are lots of examples of leaders and big shots who reach too far into the ethical abyiss and lose it all. Probably a good reminder for all of us...

 

[RJP]

Cunningham just picked the wrong state. Ted Stevens took a $.87 million bribe from a contractor for steering a $450 million military housing contract his way.

Point 87 million? As in 870,000 dollars? Or 87,000,000 cents? Confusing.

Either way, Cunningham was a self-absorbed arrogant prick. At least that's the way he came off when he was speaking at UPT graduation. He more or less talked about himself for half an hour. What a guy.......just ask him.

Here's to you DUKE! :beer:

 

[LJDRVR]

What disgusts me even more than an individual like Cunningham taking bribes, is that the only person that gets bad press is him. What I want to know is: Which defense contractors? Which individuals were involved?

Mr. Cunningham did not commit his crimes in a vacuum. More importantly, he has stepped up to the plate to take his lumps. Are the others going to be prosecuted as well?

Probably not.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
I don't think there is any credence to the discussion about Cunningham/Driscoll running out of gas on their 3 kill mission on May 10, 1972. However, it is meaningless in regards to the events of earlier today. I wonder if his RIO Willie Driscoll will make a statement regarding his former pilot.
It is still difficult to believe, but the entire defense procurement/military construction process has always had some level of corruption swirling around it. However, in this case Randy Cunningham used his position to acquire personal wealth and privilege. I guess it's like Pappy Boyington said, "Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum".

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[A Squared]

Point 87 million? As in 870,000 dollars? Or 87,000,000 cents? Confusing.

Yeah, that wasn't very clear was it. It was an $870,000.00 bribe

 

[GVFlyer]

Sad, really sad. First fighter ace in Vietnam, put in for the Congressional Medal of Honor; received the Navy Cross and two Silver Stars, commander of the Fighter Weapons school and the inspiration for the movie Top Gun. A nation needs heroes that don't turn out to have feet of clay. When you've done the trully exceptional things that Duke has done, you have a responsibility to hold yourself to a higher standard. When he demeans himself, he demeans all of us and the entire officer corps.

GV

 

[Occam's Razor]

GV,

Randy "The Crook" Cunningham never commanded Fighter Weapons School. He did command VF-126, an adversary squadron...but never TopGun.

http://www.skyhawk.org/3E/va126/va126.htm#COS

I agree with your post. I was never as impressed with Cunnignham as much as he was. When flying against him out of Miramar, the standard joke was to call "Check Gas!" every 15-seconds in the engagement...just to make sure he wasn't losing track, again!

He was a good driver, though.

 

[jointops]

LJDRVR

The original article I read on the FOX site yesterday certainly named numerous names and gave examples of the incidences of his involvement. Of course, I can't remember their names now. Only his. Figures.

Happy landings

 

[LJDRVR]

LJDRVR

The original article I read on the FOX site yesterday certainly named numerous names and gave examples of the incidences of his involvement. Of course, I can't remember their names now. Only his. Figures.

Happy landings

Yeah, I've since done a little bit of reading. (This post was my first look.) We're all human, but what a bunch of greed and dishonesty. You can't take the "stuff" with you, so it certainly will be nice as an old man to look back on my life and know that I always conducted myself honorably, and that the principles I swore to protect with my life as a young man were not conveniently discarded for something you can put a dollar sign on. Or because it felt good.

Sadly, instead of being held to a higher standard, the ex-Congressman will recieve the lightest jail sentence possible. (If any) Of course, any time he serves won't be behind bars, but will instead be behind the fences of a white-collar "Club Med" facility like the one at Eglin.

Send him to Folsom State Prison.

 

[TransMach]

Duke Cunningham

Well, I just had to cross that guy's name off my list of "True American Heros". He won't get what he really deserves. Sad.

TransMach

 

[RJP]

Of course, any time he serves won't be behind bars, but will instead be behind the fences of a white-collar "Club Med" facility like the one at Eglin.

Send him to Folsom State Prison.

He should get the opportunity to go to a "Federal Pound-Him-In-The-A$$-Prison."

 

[AdlerDriver]

GV,

Randy "The Crook" Cunningham never commanded Fighter Weapons School. He did command VF-126, an adversary squadron...but never TopGun.

http://www.skyhawk.org/3E/va126/va126.htm#COS

I agree with your post. I was never as impressed with Cunnignham as much as he was. When flying against him out of Miramar, the standard joke was to call "Check Gas!" every 15-seconds in the engagement...just to make sure he wasn't losing track, again!

He was a good driver, though.

OR,
You're the second person to alluded to him running out of gas. Were you implying there might be some truth to him doing so on the 3 Mig kill mission? Just curious. I had always enjoyed the end of the story....dodging 18 SAMs (...well, 17) and then barrel rolling out to sea with no hydraulics after killing 3 Migs. I'd never considered it to be anything other than a great display of flying. Now you (and Duke, of course) have got me wondering.
What a shame.

 

[C-150ETOPS]

Sad


After his time, and it sounds like he should do some, he's going to end up selling $5 autographs at car shows.

He's also going to find out that all his "buddies" that were giving him free transcon Gulfstream rides and high end golf dues never gave a chit what he did in the first place. They'll consider him a leper, not for moral reasons, just because he'll be useless to them.

I hope he treated his real buddies well in the last few years.

 

[f9driver]

Running out of gas

Cunningham may be a crook and an egomaniac but it is a bald faced "cheap shot" about running out of gas. He was smoking and on fire and his hydraulics were shot. When you run out of gas in an F4 or any other Navy jet you do not lose hydraulics. The F4, for instance, has a RAT or ram air turbine. Without damage he would simply have glided to minimum altitude and ejected. There would have been no need for the rolling...only would have lost him a lot of altitude.

 

[Occam's Razor]

You're the second person to alluded to him running out of gas. Were you implying there might be some truth to him doing so on the 3 Mig kill mission? Just curious. I had always enjoyed the end of the story....dodging 18 SAMs (...well, 17) and then barrel rolling out to sea with no hydraulics after killing 3 Migs. I'd never considered it to be anything other than a great display of flying. Now you (and Duke, of course) have got me wondering.
What a shame.

I have about 1,500 hours it the F-4. I know what it burns per minute in a dogfight. I know how much fuel it carries. I've heard his de-brief on the mission (load-out, fuel load, altitudes, engagement duration, distance from the ship, etc). I've got an autographed copy of his book.

I'm good enough at math to know what happened.

The unwritten rule was that we never try to dilute the impact of an amazing feat by another fighter pilot. He bagged three in one flight. No question. He had great hands and mastery of a difficult aircraft to fight with.

But the calculator doesn't lie.

A narrative that ends, "...and then we ran out of gas." is not the stuff of sky gods. The fact that one of his wingman (he only had 2 that day, instead of 3) trapped with 3.1 - without a 4-minute engagement with Col Toon - tends to support the theory.

Only "Duke" and "Irish" know for certain.

Whenever any of his peers would bust his chops at 'Hook or at the Miramar O'Club, Duke would hold up his hand with all 5 fingers spread out.

"Five"

So let me make it clear: I wasn't there and have no idea whether he ran out go-juice, ran out of go-juice and then got popped by a SAM...or if he just got popped by a SAM.

Still, there are enough of us with Phantom savvy who know a weak narrative when we hear one. Sam Flynn (another Phantom driver, and MiG killer) told a gathering of us, "If you run outta gas, make sure you've got 3 kills...or they'll hang yer a$$"

 

[scoreboard]

The man is dead to us.

His deeds live on...

Learn from them, good and bad.

 

[cheese]

Still, there are enough of us with Phantom savvy who know a weak narrative when we hear one. Sam Flynn (another Phantom driver, and MiG killer) told a gathering of us, "If you run outta gas, make sure you've got 3 kills...or they'll hang yer a$$"

CAPT Flynn, used to enjoy having him as a sim instructor at Oceana, always good for a great story or a quote (also meant less time in the sim!).

 

[Occam's Razor]

CAPT Flynn, used to enjoy having him as a sim instructor at Oceana, always good for a great story or a quote (also meant less time in the sim!).

I was at Kingsville with Sam Flynn, Bug Roach, and Norm McCoy (F-8 MiG killer). Between the 3 of them, the Club was a great place to hang out!

I don't think any one of them ever bought a beer. All they had to do was say, "I remember once...." and the rest of us would dislocate a knuckle trying to get our wallets out fast enough.

Great guys!

 

[FutureTEDpilot]

Old Greg "Pappy" Boyington said it best:

"Show me a Hero and I'll prove he is a Bum!"

 

[usmc33]

Maybe Duke can learn from ADM Boorda