No clear answer. I'll see what I can find out. Phil and I intersected once a year for a few years at the Ground Zero Games East Coast Convention and on the Ground Zero Games mailing list. Due to circumstances at home, I haven't made an ECC for a few years and before that there was another gap of years (life happens). So it's been a while since I've talked to Phil.

I once contacted Jerry to pass on my particulars to Phil to catch up and Jerry was gracious. Both he and Phil had such decency and manners. And make no mistake, Phil was proud of the USN and the USA. When a somewhat deranged lady (maybe a 7th day adventist or some such? religious anyway) showed up at GZG ECC and started hectoring the players and organizers (small Con of about 30-40 usually) in Lancaster (she saw the signs as she was walking by), Phil Pournelle verbally took apart her anti-war arguments (we were playing sci-fi miniature wargames so somehow we got her fired up). He wasn't gentle, but he was never abusive, and he had obviously thought a lot about his trade and the justifications for militaries to exist. I was out at lunch or I'd give you a better description, but friend said it was something to watch. The lady eventually left after having some of the air let out of her theories by someone who had obviously thought more about these matters than she.

Phil had some amazing pics on Jerry's site (I believe) that he took when he was XO of a Jervis Bay-class trimaran during Katrina. That ship did fast runs to Galveston for supplies, to the Gulf to carriers for supplies, did airborne replenishment to the deck of their ship from choppers/to choppers, from piers/to piers, and they travelled up the big river next to New Orleans (Mississippi?) and did damage assessments because the trimaran had a very low draught so they could go up rivers better than most USN assets. Phil had pics of entire ships (the river had a lot of large ships on it) literally lifted up and set on the shore several meters up by the storm surge.

Another friend of mine (Bog) was the senior USCG SAR pilot at the time so he got drafted to the USS Iwo Jima in the bay at New Orleans when the USCG took over coordinating all the airborne rescues. He and his team planned hundreds of flights from many different agencies in and out of New Orleans for evac/medical runs. Bob came out of the US 82nd Airborne medevac choppers, then to USCG.

Another great tale of that particular disaster was a story I caught on the net: An old military vet who owned a 5-ton with a snorkel from NY( or PA?) heard about the situation and how a lot of the parishes weren't getting any help so he loaded up his truck with gas and started driving. He managed to pickup some supplies from stores and friends along the way. When he got to the parishes and even into New Orleans, his truck was high enough to manage a lot of flooded roads. Now, this guy was there by himself as a citizen, but the fact he drove an army vehicle (privately owned) probably was why no one ever questioned his passage into those areas. He distributed supplies, picked up people and got them to safety, and actually had a gun battle with hijackers/looters. And the fellow had a heart condition. Eventually, with gas (well, diesel) running low and supplies distributed, and not feeling the best anymore, he finally headed home.

When I think of what exceptionalism in America means to me, those people were exemplary. It's not what the POTUS rambles on about, it is about what those serving their country voluntarily (in the military, in search and rescue, in the hospitals, or as private citizens on their own initiative) do that shows me the real American exceptionalism. (And yes, other countries have such folk too... the world needs every one of them....)

My friend Carlos did 7 years 82nd Airborne, then 18 years US SF. Now he's managing one of the big central hubs (which they stood up in record time with over 200 people reporting to him) for PPE and medical supplies in CT. He explained to me in a rare moment (he's super busy) that the military had taught him to make decisions in a timely manner with incomplete or contradictory information and most medical supply managers and hospital doctors had never learned that so they were struggling and someone like him was necessary to expedite things and to move ahead even knowing things would change dynamically and that they would adapt on the fly.

I have had the pleasure and honour to know many exceptional people.

Tom B