Purple Courage

jc

I wanted to use a quote from Stephen Crane’s novel “The Red Badge of Courage” to begin this post, but given the current political atmosphere, I decided to stay away from color – unless you like purple. I find it ironic that “enlightened, educated” people shake their heads over the gang wars, and wonder how someone could be killed for the color of a rag they were wearing, yet turn right around and hate their neighbor for the same exact thing… What is it with the colors red and blue anyhow? I have a theory on that, but it will have to wait for another post. Instead, I will use a line out of Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Atticus Finch says, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

Courage is the one quality any hero must possess. The idea for this post came from the latest movie Will and I saw together. “First Man”, the story of Neil Armstrong and our quest to walk on the moon, was excellent. It is worth seeing even if one is not interested in space – because it is the story of the human condition. It is human nature and human curiousity to explore, push envelopes, find limits and surpass them. In the case of Armstrong, it was greater even than an American triumph, though it was one for sure. His moon landing was followed by the whole world – it was a HUMAN achievement, not an AMERICAN achievement. There were a few inaccuracies, as in all movies, but one omission was hard for me to ignore. It may sound petty, but I will tie the two together later on. There was not 1 Corvette shown during the whole movie. The only American astronaut who did not drive a Corvette during that timeframe was John Glenn – probably the most mature of all of them. He chose a station wagon instead.

I am gonna use the best storyteller in modern country music to help tell the tale… Brad Paisley has many songs that tell a story, but maybe none more important than these two.

Between that speech and Apollo 11, seven NASA astronauts died – 4 during flights (airplane), and 3 (Gus Grissom, Edward White II, and Roger Chaffee) in the Apollo 1 capsule fire while on the ground. Before I continue, I will let Brad storytell again – in memory of the seven who paid the highest price.

The USA was and is an experiment, or a dream, that has been paid for in blood, sweat, and tears. That aint just words – it is the truth. I have a fairly strong belief that if you asked Roger, Gus, and Ed – along with millions of others who died chasing the dream – they would do it again. But what are we doing? For one, I am not proud of what I have been seeing. Their memories ask, “What will it take to unite us again?” I do not have an answer to that question. I do know it had nothing to do with red and blue… To put it another way, here is a tweet I posted recently.

I have long held the idea that astronauts, test pilots, race car drivers, bull riders, etc. are wired differently from the rest of us. How could Armstrong, an engineer and logically grounded man, possibly strap himself to a rocket that killed 3 of his best friends? Adrenaline rush? Hardly. In Star Trek, Spock would say, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid – we even had red, white, and blue astronaut wallpaper in my and Jim’s bedroom. Problem was, I was short and fat, and didnt have the intelligence necessary to be one. I consider astronauts, race car drivers, and bull riders cut from the same cloth – and what a beautiful fabric it is. They want to push the laws of physics past the breaking point and live to tell about it. They attempt to conquer space, machines, and nature itself in a quest to test the limit. One of my favorite Eagles’ songs.

I guess I have just always viewed things differently. Did you know that almost every safety advance made on automobiles, from seat belts to anti lock brakes, was designed and created by race engineers? Look it up. In today’s NASCAR events, the cars have become so safe we expect the driver to walk away, no matter how bad the wreck was, or how many gforces were exerted on the driver. Test pilots take aircraft past the limit and make air travel safer and faster for the public at large. (It also helps national security, but that is another post).

Why are the “missing Corvettes” from First Man so important to me? As I have written before, gear heads like myself are obsessive about acceleration. 0-60 times for supercars decrease every year – to the point now that if a car has a slower 0-60 time than 3.0 seconds it is considered slow. Corvettes, from the 1960’s through the C8 midengined Corvette due in 2020, have always been America’s answer to the best the world has. Same performance for 1/3 to 1/2 the price… The words “astronaut and Corvette” combined were as American as apple pie. It is one of the many reasons I have owned one my entire adult life. It is a way of life – a statement of who I am.

https://jalopnik.com/5799011/why-americas-first-astronauts-all-drove-corvettes

All of which lead me to the 3rd story from Brad Paisley. Notice the Corvettes lined up behind him in this video. From r-l, a C6 (2008-09), a C1 (1956-57) and a prototype similar to what the 2020 C8 should/will be. The second half of the story is in the next song. I sent a tweet of both videos to Tadge Juechter (chief Corvette engineer) and Chevrolet begging them to combine the two together and make the C8 AWD. You will see what I mean.

But I digress. Back to reality and Brad’s future vision. Notice the children and all their dreams. What has happened to us as Americans? When did we lose the virtue of working together and building a better future for our children – so that they can be whatever they want to be? I will admit. I am and have become jaded due to our political situation. The chasm and divide is larger today than ever. What will it take for us to pull together again? My children’s generation will be the first in modern history to inherit a lower standard of living than their parents – in all likelyhood. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Folks, it aint about red or blue. It is about red, white, blue, black, brown, green, orange, and purple – and any other color you want to add. Given the fact that humans are a cancer on earth, and are the only one of our Creator’s Creation who cant get along, it may take a monumental effort like colonizing Mars to ensure the survival of the human race to unite us. We are killing the planet folks. That aint a theory, it is the truth.

There are still people with courage – who are all patriots as well. Granger Smith is doing a documentary titled “They Were There” about a few of them… But, I suppose you had to be there to understand.

I want to challenge everyone in my generation and my parents’ generation… Please, I implore you, please do not let the American Dream die due to our pride and arrogance. If you disagree with our current political direction, instead of yelling who is wrong and who is right, take your blue blood, and show love and concern to those you disagree with. If you gotta be red, remember that Jesus’ blood was red. That is a lot of responsibility to carry – and right now your party’s stance is VERY, VERY far away from his example. America is a dream – ask MLK Jr and JFK. Read what they considered important to fulfill the dream. Real change can only come from the bottom up – regardless of what anyone says. Funny, those with the least are the ones who understand that best. Dont let America become a nightmare – or a worse nightmare than it is right now. Remember, if you mix red and blue, they become purple. Thus the title “Purple Courage”. Am I naive? Probably. But until our Creator tells me otherwise I will continue to hold out for hope. As for my future, I will let Brad tell the last story…