Amelia Earhart: Her Physical Disappearance vs. Lindbergh's Moral Vanishing

JF Ptak Science Books   Post 328

[Image source: "Amelia Earhart's palm print and analysis of her character prepared by Nellie Simmons Meier." June 28, 1933. "Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years",  from the Library of Congress.]

"KHAQQ calling Itasca. We must be on you but cannot see you...gas is running low..."

This is I believe the last communication between Amelia Earhart and the rest of creation, as she went flying into the oblivion on low fuel, 2 July 1937.  She was 22,000 miles into her around-the-world trip with her engineer Fred Noonan in a Lockheed L10 Electra, with 7,000 more to go, almost all of which were over the Pacific. That was the last of her, forty years old and world-renowned, and then shrouded in a terrific mystery, and declared dead after massive searches two years later in 1939.  She owned many “firsts” for women in the field of aviation, but still couldn’t seemingly stake them to her own name, burdened with the sobriquet of “Lady Lindbergh”.  It was true enough that being historically coupled with Lindbergh, who was seen by many as the greatest aviator of his day, was a vast compliment; it would have been more complimentary yet to refer to Lindbergh as “Sir Earhart”.  Amelia did, after all, accomplish more overall than Mr; Lindbergh; plus Ms. Earhart did not philosophically spill over into the fascist sphere as did Lindbergh¹, who was just a downright embarrassment with his opinions on the war, Hitler, National Socialism, fascism, and the like.

But I digress.  This image²of her capable and attractive hand just has the quality of disappearing, even though it is right in front of your eyes.  Stare at it long enough and bits of it will go….

Notes:

1. Lindbergh’s story during the pre-war period to Pearl harbor is very problematic for people who admire the man for his aeronautical feats; I imagine that they separate his philosophy from his gained famed much in the same way that Poundians concentrate more on that fascist anti-semitic poet’s early years than his treasonous 1935-1945 decade.  It remains terribly visible though that the anti-intervention, America-Firster, race conscious, Germanophile Lindbergh had so much going on in his confused head that it lead even Franklin Roosevelt to think of him as a traitor. (Roosevelt said to Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenau in May 1940, "if I should die tomorrow, I want you to know this, I am absolutely convinced Lindbergh is a Nazi." ) Once America did get into the war, finally, on 8 December 1941, Lindbergh wholeheartedly supported the war effort.  Still it is hard to forget his years of earlier actions and statements and political rallies that called for American appeasement with the Nazis and hi semi-blind admiration for the new Nazi nation.  He wasn’t a fan of Hitler’s, but he did have just very soft pre-1942 criticisms of his actions.  Kristallnacht, almost 70 years ago today, for example, brought out no condemnation from Lindbergh.   He confided to his diary: "I do not understand these riots on the part of the Germans," he wrote. "It seems so contrary to their sense of order and intelligence. They have undoubtedly had a difficult 'Jewish problem,' but why is it necessary to handle it so unreasonably?"  It seems that there should have been a bit more than pursed lips coming from Lindbergh on this occasion, but there wasn’t, even to himself.  There would be another three years of anti-Jewish and other horrific and morally repugnant actions
from the Nazis, but they all took a giant goosestep back from his principal aim of keeping  America out of the war and being strongly anti-Communist.  Pat Buchanan recently and bizarrely—even for him—defends Lindbergh’s stand during this period as being deeply patriotic.  It is a deeply unreasonable and a bloody mess of historical thinking.

2. The photostat was made on behalf of a quack  palmist who did all sorts of interpretations of the philosophical chinks in her skin's armor.  It isn't worth talking about.

 

Comments

[Rick Hamrick]

Lindbergh was, quite simply, a small man trapped in a role too powerful and dynamic for his meager strength of character to handle. It happens often in our current day, although it seems it is the athletic heroes who fail us more often, perhaps because there are more of them available to fall short. We don't have many aerospace heroes these days.

Amelia Earhart, though, was my heroine when I was in 9th grade. I was somewhat obsessed with her thanks to research done for a speech in a class at school. Even today, when I see some new theory emerge as to what happened to her and to Noonan, I pay attention. My guess is, it was a simple ditching into the Pacific which ended their days. You can, though, find interesting stories of them being held captive by the Japanese on [insert obscure island name here] until they passed away years later.

I don't buy it.

[John Ptak]

That's a superb summation of Lindbergh, Rick--exactly. I'm not sure though how much of this part of him is known; I got really fidgety listening to some puffboy talking (favorably)about Pat Buchanan's book on the radio, which got this whole stinking mess up and rattling again.

I agree with you to on the beautiful Ms. Earhart. Simplest and best explanation is that she ran out of fuel and ditched, and then got swallowed. ("oh the cold black sea waits for me, me, me; the cold black sea waits forever..." Mr. Lou Reed, Magic & Loss.

[John Ptak]

That's a superb summation of Lindbergh, Rick--exactly. I'm not sure though how much of this part of him is known; I got really fidgety listening to some puffboy talking (favorably)about Pat Buchanan's book on the radio, which got this whole stinking mess up and rattling again.

I agree with you to on the beautiful Ms. Earhart. Simplest and best explanation is that she ran out of fuel and ditched, and then got swallowed. ("oh the cold black sea waits for me, me, me; the cold black sea waits forever..." Mr. Lou Reed, Magic & Loss.

[Jeff]

I think that Amelia and Noonan actually landed in Tarawa, refueled, and went back to Australia where they lived happily and secretly until 1964, when John Lennon spotted her during the Beatle's Australian tour. Then, she and Noonan and their adopted Aboriginal children fled into the Outback, never to be seen again.

[John Ptak]

Crickey! I'm lost on the John Lenon reference, Jeff. But its a story worth writing! OR at least its a story that could be told in a one-page poem, no?

[Jeff]

I don't know if John Lennon ever thought he saw her, but it's possible, if she were still alive living with Noonan in Australia with adopted Aboriginal children, since Lennon was there in 1964. I can offer other theories about Amelia, if you like. There's one about her ditching Noonan and making for Chile, where she became Pinochet's older lover for a time. Just tell me what you want ...

[John Ptak]

If we go the dictator route I think I'd like to see her not with Pinochet but rather with Evita, though Che would probably be more to her liking (if we can forget the brutal stuff).

[Jefe]

It's funny you say that, John, since I was going to mention the theory about Peron, which includes an affair with Evita, but you and Rick seemed so in love with Amelia that I didn't want to bring it up. In fact, a scene was shot for the new movie, Amelia, in which Hilary Swank meets Madonna in the night garden, but it was pulled because their relative ages were backward and the historical consultant threw a fit, although he kept the footage of the scene. The consultant, a famous historian, said that if it didn't happen, it should've.