tthe attitude with arnie arnesen the tuesday edition noon to 1pm EST Sept 30

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Sep 29, 2025, 6:05:56 PMSep 29

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The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen

opening thoughts: Tuskegee Airmen

producers: Dave Scott and Stephanie Collins

Chloé LaCasse (the best of the attitude)

streaming live at wnhnfm.org noon&7pm EST on the dial-94.7FM Concord NH

podcasts available at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/attitude-with-arnie-arnesen/id1634055179

opening thoughts: Youngest member of the Tuskegee Airmen dies at 100

Lt. Col George Hardy was one of the first Black aviators in combat. SARASOTA, Fla. — Lt. Col. George Hardy of Sarasota, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, has died at 100. According to the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. National Office, Lt. Col. Hardy was “the youngest Red Tail fighter pilot at 19 to fly his first combat sortie over Europe.” Hardy passed away on Thursday. While Hardy was the last surviving Tuskegee Airman who flew in combat, there are 13 remaining airmen who trained at Tuskegee but never saw combat, according to the president of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. National Office. "His legacy is one of courage, resilience, tremendous skill and dogged perseverance against racism, prejudice and other evils.

Hardy's history as a Tuskegee Airman His life as one of the first Black aviators in combat has been one of service and sacrifice. He joined the military at 18 in 1943, served in three wars and flew a total of 136 combat missions in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. "I flew in World War II. P-51. 21 combat missions over Europe," Hardy said in a previous interview.As a teen, he never considered a military career until the attack on Pearl Harbor, which happened six months before he graduated high school. However, his road to service was filled with racial obstacles. "A lot of people don't realize how segregated the service was then," he explained. "In 1925, they thought that Afro-Americans couldn't fly airplanes really. That they didn't have the ability to concentrate and do things like that."Hardy was referring to the Army War College's 1925 "Negro Manpower in War" report, which said things like, "the cranial activity of the negro is smaller than the white," and that "he cannot control himself in the face of danger to the extent the white man can.""We disproved that theory. In fact, we did a hell of a good job, I thought," he recalled.It was a dual job for the Tuskegee Airmen. Historians and the airmen themselves say they fought two wars: "fascism abroad and racism at home." .... https://www.11alive.com/article/news/nation-world/tuskegee-airman-dies-100-george-hardy-wwii-vietnam-korean-wars/507-61664ba8-3567-48b9-b0c6-9e5841e5f76' In 'Poetry,' The Story Of An African-American Military Family https://www.npr.org/transcripts/272654805

Lonely Eagles by Marilyn Nelson

for Daniel “Chappie” James, General USAF
and for the 332d Fighter Group

Being black in America

was the Original Catch,

so no one was surprised

by 22:

The segregated airstrips,

separate camps.

They did the jobs

they’d been trained to do.

Black ground crews kept them in the air;

black flight surgeons kept them alive;

the whole Group removed their headgear

when another pilot died.

They were known by their names:

“Ace” and “Lucky,”

“Sky-hawk Johnny,” “Mr. Death.”

And by their positions and planes.

Red Leader to Yellow Wing-man,

do you copy?

If you could find a fresh egg

you bought it and hid it

in your dopp-kit or your boot

until you could eat it alone.

On the night before a mission

you gave a buddy

your hiding-places

as solemnly

as a man dictating

his will.

There’s a chocolate bar

in my Bible;

my whiskey bottle

is inside my bedroll.

In beat-up Flying Tigers

that had seen action in Burma,

they shot down three German jets.

They were the only outfit

in the American Air Corps

to sink a destroyer

with fighter planes.

Fighter planes with names

like “By Request.”

Sometimes the radios

didn’t even work.

They called themselves

“Hell from Heaven.”

This Spookwaffe.

My father’s old friends.

It was always

maximum effort:

A whole squadron

of brother-men

raced across the tarmac

and mounted their planes.

My tent-mate was a guy named Starks.

The funny thing about me and Starks

was that my air mattress leaked,

and Starks’ didn’t.

Every time we went up,

I gave my mattress to Starks

and put his on my cot.

One day we were strafing a train.

Strafing’s bad news:

you have to fly so low and slow

you’re a pretty clear target.

My other wing-man and I

exhausted our ammunition and got out.

I recognized Starks

by his red tail

and his rudder’s trim-tabs.

He couldn’t pull up his nose.

He dived into the train

and bought the farm.

I found his chocolate,

three eggs, and a full fifth

of his hoarded-up whiskey.

I used his mattress

for the rest of my tour.

It still bothers me, sometimes:

I was sleeping

on his breath.

part one EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE WASH MONTHLY

PAUL GLASTRIS.

A Different Kind of College Ranking

A college degree is costly, to both students and taxpayers. Here’s the only list that shows which institutions provide good value to both. https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/24/a-different-kind-of-college-ranking-4/

Paul Glastris is the editor in chief of the Washington Monthly. Rob Wolfe is an editor at the Monthly.

U.S. News & World Report will release their annual college rankings this week, on September 26, and if the past 40 years are any indication, it will cater to affluent students and alumni—leaving working- and middle-class families without guidance.

part two: Laura Belin is the publisher, editor, and primary reporter for Bleeding Heartland, a community website focused on Iowa politics. She is also the Statehouse reporter for KHOI Radio in Ames and co-host of the station's "Capitol Week" program, as well as a member of the Iowa Writers' Collaborative.

board puts DSM superintendent on leave, decries "misinformation" https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/09/27/school-board-puts-des-moines-superintendent-on-leave-criticizes-misinformation/

Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts arrested by ICE https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2025/09/26/dmps-superintendent-arrested-ice-ian-roberts-des-moines/86371069007/

Gov. Reynolds calls ICE arrest of Des Moines superintendent “shocking” https://www.kcrg.com/2025/09/27/gov-reynolds-calls-ice-arrest-des-moines-superintendent-shocking/

Zach Nunn calls for clarity after Des Moines Public Schools superintendent arrested by ICE

https://www.kcci.com/article/des-moines-superintendent-ian-roberts-detained-ice-zach-nunn-congress-letter/68096393