Muslim Heroes
In 1926, an obscure, 24-year old U.S. Air Mail pilot named Charles Lindbergh heard about a $25,000 prize (1) for the first flight between New York and Paris. Lindbergh persuaded a group of St. Louis businessmen to help him build a plane to go after the prize. Modern readers may not realize how dangerous an attempt like this really was: during the first half of 1927 forty pilots attempted various long-distance flights over the ocean which led to twenty-one deaths.
At 7:52 A.M. on 20 May 1927, Lindbergh fired up the engine of the "Spirit of St Louis" heavily laden with 451 gallons of gas and left a swirling trail of dust on the runway of Roosevelt Field in Long Island. Packing only four sandwiches and two canteens of water, he landed in Paris thirty-three and one half-hours and 3,500 miles later, the first person to fly the Atlantic alone.
When he returned by ship from his triumphant flight, New York City greeted him with the greatest ticker-tape parade of all time. His courage, stamina, and skill inspired tens of thousands of children to enter the field of aviation and indeed led to a boom in aviation technology.
And what do Muslim children aspire to? What fills their tiny hearts with adulation and inspiration? What audacious feats of bravery and daring do they celebrate? What gallant heart do they welcome as a national hero to the shores of Tripoli?
The main square was lit up in green and blue in preparation
for a celebration that included a feast and laser show
Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
Here he is: Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi. And his acts of bravery and daring? Why, placing a suitcase filled with explosives and killing 270 innocent men, women and children.
And how is he welcomed? Emerging from the aircraft in Tripoli he was hugged by Colonel Gaddafi’s son, then taken in a motorcade where the main square was lit up for a hero's welcome. Al-Jazeera reported that al-Megrahi’s car was held up along the way by the throng (2).
Somewhere tonight in a tiny tent near Tripoli, a small Muslim youth is praying on his rug. He is asking Allah to give him the strength and the will to become just like Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the great slayer of infidels.
ENDNOTES
(1):
Wiki, Orteig Prize
The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors. Orteig renewed the offer for another five years in 1924 when the state of aviation technology had advanced to the point that numerous competitors vied for the prize.
Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at transatlantic flights before relatively-unknown Charles Lindbergh won the prize in 1927 in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh chose to fly solo, although this was not a requirement of the prize and required him to be at the controls for more than 30 hours. Lindbergh was both the first solo pilot and the first American to cross the Atlantic non-stop in a fixed-wing aircraft (rather than an airship), and he promptly became a national hero. His flight was followed by the "Lindbergh boom", as public interest in air travel bloomed and aviation stocks skyrocketed.
Lindbergh pursued a risky strategy for the competition, depending on a single engined plane, instead of the tri-motors most other groups favored. He also developed a plan to fly the plane solo which allowed him to avoid the personality conflicts that helped delay at least one group. To save weight which had contributed to the crashes of other contributors, Lindbergh also dispensed with non-essential equipment like radios, sextant and parachute (although he brought an inflatable raft). The final key to his success was his decision to fly into weather conditions that were clearing but not clear enough for others to consider safe. Lindbergh was quoted as saying "What kind of man would live where there is no danger? I don't believe in taking foolish chances. But nothing can be accomplished by not taking a chance at all."
(2):
Al Jazeera, Libyans celebrate al-Megrahi return
A Libyan man jailed for the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie has been greeted by scenes of celebration on his return to Libya.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a former intelligence agent, landed in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, on Thursday, hours after being freed from prison on the orders of Scotland's justice minister.
...
Warm welcome
Al Jazeera's Amr El-Kahky, reporting from Tripoli, said al-Megrahi received a warm welcome on his return home.
"Thousands of men, many of whom are teenagers, are holding up Libyan flags and banners welcoming al-Megrahi, happy to know that he's finally come home," he said.
"He was taken away in a car and it looks like his health is not so good because... the celebration at a main square in the capital will proceed without al-Megrahi's presence."
