The first passenger plane terror event in

The year 1955 , Harpo Marx makes a memorable appearance on I Love Lucy, the "Quiz Show" craze begins with the premiere of The 64,000 Dollar Question, the World Series is broadcast in color for the first time, the first Saturday morning cartoon show debuts on American television, The Mighty Mouse Playhouse, Submarine Nautilus begins 1st nuclear-powered test voyage, Elvis Presley made his 1st TV appearance. Islamofacism had not yet made its world debut, and Osama bin Laden had not been born.

But, 1955 was the year that the airliner bombing occurred. A mentally disturbed young man, John Gibler Graham packed a time bomb made with dynamite into his mother's luggage before she boarded United Airlines Flight 629. It detonated minutes after takeoff. Link for the story at: The Durango Herald.

In the 1970s, the Federal Aviation Administration's Federal Sky Marshal Program was originally instituted to stop hijackings to and from Cuba. Viet NaM Was winding down and the program drew its personnel from the U.S. military Special forces. The current Air Marshal program was created shortly after the hijacking of TWA 847 in June 1985, during which two Lebanese Shiite Moslems hijacked a Boeing 727 departing Athens and diverted it to Beirut where they were joined by additional hijackers.

During a two-week confrontation, the hijackers demanded the release of Shiite prisoners held by Israel and murdered hostage Robert Stethem, a U.S. Navy diver and a passenger on board the airliner.

Deranged wackos once again started their new reign of terror upon the public. However, the Air Marshal program was cut back considerably in the early '90's because of financial considerations and a lack of interest with the airlines and other agencies.

The events of 11 September 2001 brought it to the fore again, and caused considerable interest among citizens who wished to serve in the fight against terrorism.

Link to information about the current Air Marshall Program at The Gun Zone and the United States Department of Homeland Security Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Technorati tags: terror, bombing, bias,dynamite, sky marshal, and Opinion

Cross-posted: Knickerbocker News, The Bos'un at MSN