Nikola Tesla the Most Brilliant Mind and US Navy Commander Joseph Rochefort and his decoding team and the Battle of Midway

One of the greatest geniuses of all time and probably the most unappreciated. Even if you split hairs about Marconi and the radio, Edison's DC and Tesla's AC, the fact is that his genius crossed every spectrum and challenged every other inventor. I disagreed when Time said that Einstein was the Century's Greatest Man, Tesla and Gandhi have had a much more profound influence on our lives than the theoretical physics of Einstein. That isn't to say Einstein wasn't in the top 10, but every time you turn on an appliance you are using Tesla's Alternating Current. A great man that  I will always remember and treasure. The bottom photo shows Tesla, unafraid of the immense power of electricity. Braver man than I am. But maybe he knew something I don't. 

Thomas Edison electrocutes an elephant in 1903 to attack Nikola Tesla and the danger of AC Electricity.

Tesla did that after Edison electrocuted an elephant using Tesla AC power, trying to scare people into not using AC Electric Power. Today every powerline and power plant carries Tesla's AC Power. 

Tesla was told that a new invention, by someone else, was based on his ideas. Nikola Tesla responded, good for him, he took my ideas and made them better. He told his friend that he would never sue anyone for doing that. Edison sued everyone and made a huge fortune. Tesla died poor living a modest life. 

 

Though it may be apocryphal, it is an indication of the esteem in which Nikola Tesla was held by people who knew of him and the amazing things he did: Albert Einstein was asked by a reporter how it felt to be the smartest man in the world. He replied that you'll need to ask Nikola Tesla that question.  

The Battle of Midway and Lt. Commander Joseph Rochefort

Too often telling succinct stories leads Hollywood to shortchange the teams which contributed to greater successes. Especially when you have modest men and women leading the effort. Alan Turing was recognized as the most brilliant contributor to the decoding of the Nazi Enigma Encoding Machine at British Secret MI6 Bletchley Park. UK PM Winston Churchill said decoding Enigma was one of the main reasons we won WWII. Alan Turning turned down a lot of honors, always saying it was a team effort, which it was. While it is easier telling the story centering on one person and certainly Oppenheimer and Turing were great men, if you don't remember all involved you are short changing them and US today.

Lt. Commander Rochefort convinced Admiral Nimitz to have the Marine base at Midway Island send an uncoded message to Hawaii stating their water purification equipment failed and they would need fresh water brought immediately by tanker and new desalination equipment. Midway had no fresh water. For days Nimitz and his command waited. Then they heard a message on the Japanese Naval radio traffic, saying AF running out of water. From previous messages, Rochefort and his team had determined AF stood for Midway. 

Admiral Nimitz signing the Japanese Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor

Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor

Japanese bomber's photograph of their attack on Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii, without declaring war, which was a violation of international law. 

     US Losses                   Japanese Loses

4 battleships sunk 4 battleships damaged 1 ex-battleship sunk 1 harbor tug sunk 3 light cruisers damaged 3 destroyers damaged 3 other ships damaged 188 aircraft destroyed 159 aircraft damaged 2,008 sailors killed 109 Marines killed 208 soldiers killed 68 civilians killed 2,403 total killed 1,178 military and civilians wounded

4 midget submarines sunk 1 midget submarine grounded 29 aircraft destroyed 74 aircraft damaged 64 killed 1 sailor captured

The Japanese had almost wiped out the Pacific US Fleet. The only exception, 4 US Carriers were at sea. Japanese Admiral Yamamoto knew that to beat the US Navy in the Pacific he would have to destroy our carriers, oddly enough, that was the motivation for the attack on Pearl Harbor.  

Another example, brilliant cryptanalyst Lt. Commander Joseph Rochefort came up with the key to winning the greatest Naval Battle of WWII, The Battle of Midway. He came up with a prediction where the next Japanese strike at the US would occur, at Midway Island/Atoll, so we could set up an ambush. Midway is halfway between Hawaii and  Asia and of incredible strategic importance. Capturing Midway would make a Japanese Invasion much easier. Though heavily outgunned, we won. Because Rochefort was Catholic, the "old boy network" never recognized him or his contribution and his own modesty caused him to champion his team's efforts not his own. He did not win the Presidential Medal of Freedom until 1986, ten years  after he was dead.

One of the Japanese Fleet Carriers sunk during the Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway

US Losses                                                                              Japanese Losses

1 Fleet Carrier sunk                                                               4 Fleet Carriers sunk  

1 destroyer sunk                                                                    1 heavy cruiser sunk

150 aircraft destroyed                                                           1 heavy cruiser damaged

307 killed, including 3capture sailors                               2 destroyers damaged

                                                                                              248 aircraft destroyed 

                                                                                              3,057 killed, 37 captured

Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith in the Parent Trap (1961) Christopher Walken, Nancy Kulp and the Beverly Hillbillies, Brian Keith

The Parent Trap
There is a very famous, true story about Maureen Fitzsimmons O'Hara and Brian Keith: after their parents got divorced, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball's children, Little Lucy and Little Desi, made their parents take them to see "The Parent Trap" at least ten times; separately of course. They had a very bitter divorce. Lucy said she enjoyed the movie the first few times she saw it, and it is a wonderful movie, but even she had her fill of it. Lucy would change the channel anytime she ran across it on TV. Fortunately, she and Desi also figured out what was going on in their children's heads. For the first time since their divorce, Lucy and Desi, first with each other, and then together with their children, sat down to talk about their divorce. It was very painful for Desi and Lucy to see how hurt their children were.
Lucy once said, that it was at that moment that both she and Desi realized how much their children must have been hurting and decided after an acrimonious beginning, they were going to work very hard to have a friendly divorce. Lucy is quoted on her death bed as having said that Desi was one of the best friends she ever had in her entire life. I was so glad to hear that. Most people may not realize this, but the movie "The Parent Trap" and the explosion in the divorce happened at almost the same time. This movie changed people's lives and perceptions for the better. It is Ms. O'Hara's wonderful, convincing performance in "The Parent Trap", along with Brian Keith's, that I consider their best. "The Parent Trap" is very personal to me because my parents had a very nasty divorce at exactly the same time "The Parent Trap" came out. I always "joke" that there were no survivors after my parents divorce. The tragedy of it is that I was only half joking.
I always wished that I had had parents like Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith. As a child, this thought would always comfort me, and gave me a goal as to what kind of parent I wanted to be. A close friend of Ms. O'Hara said on the A&E Biography that that movie was closest to the real person she was and is; but I already knew that. To change people's lives for the better, and to give others a refuge from unhappiness: for this no one can thank you enough.

Thank You, Maureen O'Hara; and Thank you, Brian Keith.

Brian Keith O'Hara
That really is my name...

 

Speaking of The Parent Trap, Beverly Hillbillies Mrs. Jane Hathaway/Nancy Kulp appeared as a camp counselor.

In case you wondered, Haley Mills played opposite Susan Henning, when the camera was filming from behind. Walt Disney gave her an award for her thankless role. I agree, integral to the movie, which no one knew. 

Haley using a split screen process, where she does play both roles.

One of Brian Keith's best roles as Teddy Roosevelt in Sean Connery/Michael Caine's "The Wind and the Lion" (1976). Brian was every bit as memorable as the two leads. Pictured below with director John "The Maltese Falcon" Houston as Secretary of State John Hay. 

Brian's 8-year-old son came down with a fever, within a few hours Michael was far worse, so mom and dad raced him to the hospital. Before morning Brian's son was dead. Everyone said it broke his heart and he cried without stopping for weeks missing several acting jobs as a result.

Brian made a family show, "Family Affair" which ran until 1971. He became very close to Anissa Jones, who played "Buffy". She came from a broken home, with a domineering mother and an absentee father. When the show went off the air, Brian was given his own show, The Brian Keith Show about a Pediatric Doctor in Hawaii. Brian offered Anissa a role as a nurse if she wanted it, but Anissa was enjoying being a normal kid too much to want to go back to acting. 

The best chapter of the great miniseries "Centennial" (1978) was the 1880's murder by the grifing Wendell family, Anthony Zerbe, Lois Nettleton and Doug McKeon, all of whom were magnificent, of one of their blackmail victims. Mrs. Wendell would seduce their victim, then Zerbe/Mr. Wendall would catch them in the act. This time their victim fought back and was killed. The murder was solved by Sheriff Dumire/Brian Keith, who was every bit as convincing, who was later murdered. In some of the best acting I've ever seen, Sheriff Dumire/Brian Keith engages in verbal fencing with 10-year-old Doug McKeon to ascertain what happened to their last victim, who the family accidentally killed. It should be noted that Anthony Zerbe, one of the best actors in TV history, usually playing brilliant criminals, is as good as an incompetent criminal. It was up to David Janssen, Andy Griffith and Robert Vaughn to bring justice in the case, 100 years later. This is long before the wonderful Lois Nettleton walked in on George Costanza picking a half eaten éclair out of the trash and finishing it off.

Why I haven't watched the Beverly Hillbillies since the early 1970's.   

I will never forget when I turned against the Beverly Hillbillies and later Barnaby Jones. Nancy Kulp/Miss Jane Hathaway ran for Congress from Pennsylvania. She was asked by reporters how her former castmates reacted to her candidacy. She said they were surprised and wished her well. She did NOT say they endorsed her. Buddy Ebsen showed what a petty person he is and made a commercial for her opponent viciously attacking Nancy. Nothing Nancy said was offensive, even, as in the case of Buddy, if he was a Republican and Nancy was a Democrat. I, a Democrat, had a friend of mine run as a Republican for some minor political office. I told them I wish you well, but he pressed me as to whether I would vote for him. I told him I wasn't in his district. At this point he was intrigued and wanted to know if I would vote for him if we were in the same district, so I said which would you rather, I tell you the truth or tell you what you want to hear? He said tell me what I want to hear. I said, I really, really, really wish you well. We both laughed. Nancy said Buddy's commercial hurt her. It would have hurt me too, after working together for 10 years. My loyalty and respect for people I work with runs far deeper than Buddy's obviously. I no longer laughed at Buddy Ebsen, Beverly Hillbillies and had no interest in Barnaby Jones. after his vicious commercial.

Another footnote: I remember one of Jethro Bodine's schoolmates in prep school Armstrong Dueser McHugh III was played by Michel Petit. I saw him being interviewed on Merv Griffin/Mike Douglas and was fascinated to find out he spoke with a French accent and was from Belgium. Just as a kid my own age, it impressed me, that acting he sounded 100% American but in real life had a heavy French accent. 

I read an interview of Christopher Walken who explained his odd speaking cadence and timbre came from growing up in Brooklyn where his family had a bakery. Chris's family were Germans, but his neighborhood, had Irish brogues, Jewish emigres, Hungarians, Poles, Germans, Scots and Russians. He had to be somewhat fluent in all those languages and he would hesitate in speaking to make sure he was using the right words in the right context. I posted this on his Facebook page and he gave me a thumbs up. Right back at you Chris! 

To help his family out, he took acting jobs. Chris is very smart and soon made a favorable impression on casting directors, many of whom found his odd speaking pattern charming. 

Chris's High School Yearbook, yes, his first name is Ronald, but he decided Christopher/Chris sounded better. 

 

Audrey Hepburn was a Great and Good Woman

 

Audrey Hepburn grew up in Arnhem during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Though her mother was the Baroness Ella van Heemstra, her family nearly starved to death during the war.  Her uncle was tortured and murdered by the Nazis. Her brother was repeatedly beaten and tortured as well. After her immensely successful career in Hollywood, Audrey dedicated the last years of her life to UNICEF. During her travels through some of the most impoverished areas of the world her entourage constantly warned her against hugging and holding the sick and dying, including AIDS, Malaria and Cholera patients. She ignored those warnings. Like Princess Diana she knew what was right and actually believed in what she said.

 

When interviewed by Phil Donahue, she spoke of meeting a little girl in sub-Saharan Africa who knew of the tradition of presenting a bouquet of flowers to important guests. Unfortunately, the only growing thing in the semi-arid desert in which she lived was weeds. She proudly presented Audrey a bouquet of weeds. Audrey had a photograph of that gift framed and had it hung on her living room wall.

Phil also asked her if she harbored any ill will against Germans considering her wartime experiences. She said no, the war was over and ended as it should. Germany had returned to the right course and she had visited the country without fear or trepidation.

 

 

It may strike some people as odd, but when I think of Princess Diana I think of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If", written for his son Jack.  It seems to me, that logic dictates that this wonderful poem should apply equally to boys or girls. And it certainly applies to everyone in this post.

 

If by Rudyard Kipling 

 

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling Nobel Prize Winner in Literature

 

 

Jack Kipling, to whom the poem was dedicated by his father, is third from right in the back row at St. Aubyn's School in Sussex, England(1909).

 

And again, second from right, middle row. http://www.kiplingsocietyaustralia.com/newsletter_frame04.php

 

Jack Kipling, in a photo taken right before the Battle of Loos(1915), WWI. Jack had originally been turned down for service because of his extreme nearsightedness. Jack begged his father to pull strings so he could fight in the war.  He was killed six weeks after enlisting. His grave has never been found.