A good day for Jack and Nikita - American Thinker https://t.co/B8fyChebRo
— Silvio Canto. Jr. (@silvio_canto) September 12, 2024
In early June 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and USSR Chairman Nikita Khrushchev had an important meeting in Vienna. There are many viewpoints about what happened, but the consensus is that the Soviet leader pushed his way around the new U.S. president. In his book about President Kennedy, Richard Reeves concluded that Kennedy was totally unprepared for the summit. It's hard to believe, but apparently no one told President Kennedy that Chairman Khrushchev was testing him.
Wonder if the two men joked about September 12th or an important anniversary that they shared?
On this day in 1953, John F. Kennedy, then a new senator from Massachusetts, and Nikita Khrushchev, of the USSR, had something to cheer about:
Jack married Jackie. Cardinal Richard Cushing officiated the wedding ceremony at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island. They had a huge reception later. Of course, JFK was elected president in 1960.
Over in the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev was elected leader. He replaced Stalin who died. Khrushchev tried to reform by denouncing Stalin's totalitarian policies at the 20th Party Congress and released millions of political prisoners. He tried to present a new image to the world but the invasion of Hungary by Warsaw Pact tanks in November 1956 ended that.
Years later, the two met in Vienna as the leaders of their two nations. They went head-to-head in the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
They had something to cheer about on this day in 1953! Wonder if anyone reminded them about it?
P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.
Remember all that weaponry Joe Biden’s administration ordered our soldiers to leave behind when we pulled out of Afghanistan? Well we just armed terrorist groups around the world.
Click to read:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/09/guess-who-is-walking-around-with-those-us-weapons/
We remember Jackie Hernández (Jacinto Hernández Zulueta) who was born in Central Tinguaro, Matanzas Cuba, on this day in 1940.
Jackie broke with the Angels in 1965. He played 9 seasons and hit .208 over 618 games. His best season was 1969 when he played 145 games with the expansion Royals. Jackie played for the Pirates in all 7 games of the 1971 World Series.
On September 1, 1971, Jackie made history as one of the 8 black position players who took the field for the Pirates.
After the majors, Jackie played in Mexico and died in Miami in 2019.
The NFL season starts today, and many of us will be watching Tom Brady and the Bucs play the Cowboys on Sunday night. I understand that they played a game on Thursday, but I can't get used to that yet. Maybe I will eventually, but I still think of Sunday as pro football day.
It's also September 11, and talking about heroes is a good thing today. We remember a big hero named Coach Tom Landry, who was born in Mission, Texas on this day in 1924.
On the field, Tom Landry's numbers were second to none. Landry led the Cowboys to five Super Bowls and won two. He coached his last Cowboys game in 1988, but he is still a legend around here. If you travel from Dallas to Ft. Worth, you will be on Tom Landry Highway, or the portion of I-30 that connects both cities. I know of one school named after him in the area and a new stadium in his hometown.
However, most people don't know about his military service in World War II. He flew 30 missions as a B-17 pilot with the U.S. Air Force:
Tom was inspired to join the armed forces in honor of his brother, Robert. Robert Landry had enlisted in the Army Air Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. While ferrying a B-17 over to England, Robert Landry's plane had gone down over the North Atlantic, close to Iceland. It was several weeks before the Army would be able to officially declare Robert Landry dead.
Tom Landry began his basic training at Sheppard Field in Witchita Falls, and his pre-flight training would begin at Kelly Field, located near San Antonio, Texas.
Tom's first experience as a bomber was a tough one. A few minutes after take off, Landry realized that the pilot seemed to be working furiously, and it was then that Landry had realized that the plane's engine had died. Despite this experience, Landry was committed to flying.
At the tender age of nineteen, Landry was transferred to Sioux City, Iowa, where he training as a co-pilot for flying a B-17 had begun. In 1944, Landry got his orders, and from Sioux City he went to Liverpool, England, where he was assigned to the Eighth Air Force, 493rd Squadron in Ipswich. Landry earned his wings and a commission as a Second Lieutenant at Lubbock Army Air Field, and was assigned to the 493d Bombardment Group at RAF Debach, England, as a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber co-pilot in the 860th Bombardment Squadron.
From November 1944 to April 1945, he completed a combat tour of 30 missions, and survived a crash landing in Belgium after his bomber ran out of fuel."
Wonder how many people knew that story of service and valor? I did not. It was not until he became gravely ill that I read about his life and realized that this man Landry was a war hero as well as a famous coach. Maybe this is why he handled adversity so well. I guess that you would if you were flying one of those B-17s and fighting to survive every minute.
Landry died from leukemia in 2000.
