I’m no military aviation expert, but I’ve read a fair amount on the subject. Much to my chagrin, I had not heard of Commander Joe “Hoser” Satrapa (USN – ret.) until McThag linked to his obit.
What a guy. He was one of the leading advocates of fighters carrying guns, instead of relying on missiles. He was also famous as something of a “swashbuckling, authority-challenging maverick”. This obit is full of great stories and quotes:
While flying and fighting in his F-8E Crusader over North Vietnam, CDR. Satrapa was famous for the personal arsenal that he wore on his flying kit in the event he was shot down. According to anecdotes shared in social media by fellow squadron members, Satrapa reportedly carried “Two Mark 33 hand grenades, a Colt Python .357 revolver with 60 rounds of ammunition, a Smith & Wesson 9mm with non-NATO hollow-point ammunition and 3 spare magazines, a custom Randall survival knife and an additional throwing knife over his left shoulder.”
Among other highpoints:
- He was drummed out of the Navy for “administrative deficiencies” in the early 1980’s, only to be reinstated by SecNav John Lehman and President Ronald Reagan in 1981…and retroactively promoted to commander.
- Whereupon he was assigned as an instructor at the Navy Fighter Weapons School: “As a part of his training syllabus, some sources recounted that Joe “Hoser” Satrapa delivered his initial lecture as an adaptation of General George Patton’s famous flag speech.”
- His call sign later changed from “Hoser” to “Toser”. I won’t spoil the story, but I will give a hint: “a pilot without a right thumb cannot fly a jet fighter”.
- During one training flight, he “shot down” two Air Force F-15s…in one Navy F-14…twice…with his gun.
- He nearly caused Japan to cancel their F-15 order.
- After he left the Navy, he went on to fly fire suppression drops in California. One day, an aircraft above him dropped fire retardant on top of him, completely covering his windscreen. What did he do? Read the obit.
How have I never heard of this guy before? And thanks, McThag, for the heads-up.
Also among the dead:
Agnès Varda, French film maker. I’ve never seen anything of hers, though I think I have the Criterion “Cléo from 5 to 7” somewhere, and I remember Roger Ebert extravagantly praising “The Gleaners and I”.
Victoria Ruvolo. Her story is kind of interesting: she was driving home one night with a friend, from her niece’s recital, when a 18-year old man threw a frozen turkey through the windshield of her car:
The turkey crashed through Ms. Ruvolo’s windshield, crushing the bones in her cheeks and jaw, fracturing the socket of her left eye, causing her esophagus to cave in and leaving her with brain trauma.
…
Ms. Ruvolo required extensive reconstructive surgery to her face and months of physical and cognitive rehabilitation before she could return to work as a collection agency manager nine months later.
In spite of this, she forgave the young man, and lobbied for him to receive a light sentence. The prosecution wanted him to serve 25 years: thanks to Ms. Ruvolo’s advocacy, he served six months in prison and five years of probation.
After Ms. Ruvolo’s recovery, she spoke about empathy and forgiveness at schools and programs like Taste (Thinking Errors, Anger Management, Social Skills and Talking Empathy), which holds criminals accountable for their actions.
As part of his rehabilitation, [the turkey thrower – DB] also spoke to Taste, Robert Goldman, its founder, said by phone.
“[The turkey thrower – DB] has a job and is a productive member of society,” said Mr. Goldman, who collaborated with Ms. Ruvolo and Lisa Pulitzer on a book, “No Room for Vengeance …” (2011). “He did everything Victoria challenged him to do and spoke to kids about the mistakes he made.
“That’s her legacy: She’s an example of forgiveness in a vengeful world.”
