Another July 24 has arrived, and had she somehow lived to this day, Amelia Mary Earhart, born in Atchison, Kansas on July 24, 1897 to Amy Otis and Edwin Stanton Earhart, would be celebrating her 124th birthday. (Boldface emphasis mine throughout.)
Some certainly have lived this long, and much longer if Old Testament Biblical history is accurate. But if Amelia had escaped the wretched fate the prewar Japanese military on Saipan cooked up for her, her lifespan would likely have been similar to her genetically endowed younger sister, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey, affectionately known to Amelia as “Pidge,” who passed away at age 98 in March 1998. Most importantly, Amelia lives on in the hearts of real, freedom-loving Americans, and so we celebrate another First Lady of Flight’s birthday.
Amelia, or “Meelie,” left, was two years and four months older than Muriel, known as “Pidge.” “We never played with dolls,” Muriel wrote, “but our favorite inanimate companions were our jointed wooden elephant and Amelia’s donkey. Ellie and Donk lived rigorous lives which no sawdust-filled, china-headed beauty could have survived. . . . We never slept until the two battered but faithful creatures were on guard at the foot of our beds.”
This season has been particularly lacking in any Earhart-related news, which is a good thing. All the usual parasites seem to be taking a breather in 2021, and neither the Earhart leeches nor the media care about Amelia’s birthday, much less in the truth. This leaves it with us, or most of it, anyway.
In Atchison, Kansas, where the facts about the horrific fates of the doomed fliers are labeled lunatic fringe “conspiracy theory” when it’s considered at all, the tone-deaf members of the “Amelia Earhart Committee” have again capitulated to the Covid lie that’s turned half the nation into cowering hysterics.
The Atchison Globe announcement on March 10, 2021 that the “AE Committee cancels Amelia Earhart Festival for 2021,” marks the second straight year the benighted citizens of Atchison have caved to the irrational terror created by the ghoul Tony Fauci and his CDC minions over a bug that 99.8 percent of the population survives easily, according to the CDC’s own inflated numbers. “The safety and well-being of volunteers and all who would attend are the highest priority,” according to a news release from chief surrender monkey Jacque Pregont, AE Festival Coordinator. Once again, it’s the short end of the stick for Amelia, who, in this age of Covid-obsessed panic, gets no respect even in her own birthplace.
To review the events and the state of the current zeitgeist for several recent Earhart birthdays, please see “July 24, 2012: Happy Birthday, Amelia; July 23, 2014, “For Amelia Earhart, another unhappy birthday;” “July 24, 2017: Happy Birthday, Amelia;” and my July 24, 2019 post, “For Amelia Earhart, it’s Happy Birthday No. 122!”
Since 2017, the only decent, consistent news about Amelia Earhart has come from Saipan, where my friend Marie Castro, now 88, continues her apparently hopeless campaign to erect an Amelia Earhart Memorial Monument at the site of the great flier’s wretched demise. I’ve written often and passionately about Marie’s selfless devotion to the truth, and we’re blessed that this unique woman has the fortitude to stand up and demand justice in a world where lies, greed and cowardice predominate.
AEMMI Inc. President Marie Castro delivers the opening address at the CNMI Museum on Saipan to kick off July 24 events for Amelia Earhart’s 124th birthday celebration.
Today, Marie and her small, devoted group, the Amelia Earhart Memorial Monument Inc. (AEMMI), paid their respects to Amelia and Fred Noonan in a modest celebration at the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Museum. Following a public greeting by Manny F. Borja, Marie began addressing the attendees with the following prepared remarks:
“The Amelia Earhart Memorial Monument”
by Marie Castro, President of the AEMMI Inc.
In 2019, we initiated Amelia’s 122nd birthday celebration for the first time on Saipan in the CNMI.
It has been four years since the inception of this project to build a Memorial Monument to commemorate the two heroes, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan.
I believe that any unusual, significant event that took place on land, either political or non-political, pleasant, or unpleasant should be recorded in the history of that place. Or do we continue to sit and ignore such a significant event on Saipan in 1937?
Most of our people of Saipan do not know the story, perhaps a few have read stories written about Amelia’s plane that came down in the Pacific and disappeared and was believed to be a mystery. But the disappearance and death of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan is not a mystery, the true evidence is found here on Saipan. Our elders’ accounts of what they witnessed of the two fliers’ presence on Saipan were extremely significant and true accounts. Josephine Blanco Akiyama was the first Chamorro woman who saw Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan at Tanapag Harbor.
In 1960, Fred Goerner, a San Francisco radio newsman, visited Saipan four times and interviewed about 200 Chamorros about the two American fliers. A few of the witnesses interviewed by Goerner and later by others were Manuel Aldan, Jesus Salas, Antonio Cepada, Carlos Palacios, Gregorio Camacho, Jesus Boyer and Francisco Tudela. Except for Manuel Aldan who heard the name “Earnhardt,” all described the American woman as having short hair and wearing a man’s outfit. The closest contacts with Amelia Earhart, who I myself knew and interviewed, were Matilde F. Arriola, her sister Consolacion and Joaquina M. Cabrera who washed Amelia’s clothes. Jose Sadao Tomokane attended the cremation of Amelia Earhart.
Members of the Amelia Earhart Memorial Monument Inc. recently gathered at Shirley’s Restaurant in Garapan, Saipan, as they prepared for Amelia’s 124th Birthday Celebration. (L to R) Allen K. Castro, Technician; Rosa P. Powers, member; Remedio R. Sablan, member; Frances M. Sablan, Vice President and temporary Secretary; Herman Cabrera, Architect; Marie S. Castro, President; Manuel F. Borja, Treasurer; Glenn Manglona, member. Missing: Ed Williams, Ambrose and Lillian Bennett, John C. Reyes, Avelina Yamagata, Carlos and Evelyna Shoda, Cinthia Kaipat, Cynthia Pangelinan, Stanley Torres Oscar Camacho, Rita Demapan, Ana S. Teregeyo.
We understand the reluctance and hesitations in our community about building a memorial monument to Amelia Earhart on Saipan; we know very well the doubts in peoples’ mind, and we respect everyone’s opinions and beliefs. But the truth can’t be changed to suit people’s whims or political preferences.
Our culture is deeply rooted in religious ceremony caring for family relatives and individual who departed from us giving the final honor he or she deserves.
Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan sadly met their tragic ends on Saipan, and the fliers have never been given any such honor as human beings. Let us be the first to initiate this recognition as a human community to celebrate their end on July 24, 2021 at the CNMI Museum, celebrating the birthday of Amelia Earhart.
Thank you,
Marie S. C. Castro
Following Marie’s birthday address, the local Marianas High School Choral & Canon group performed the classic hymns “Amazing Grace” and “How Great Thou Art.” After Rev. Michael D. Linden, S.J.’s invocation, he shared early memories of his father telling him about Amelia Earhart.
Next Marie and Mr. Borja treated the gathering to a dual-recitation of a poem, “To Amelia Earhart: The Woman That You Are,” recently composed by Marie, which they read in both English and Chamorro:
“TO AMELIA EARHART: THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE”
The woman that you are,
A role model for us
The path for the truth
By the bravery of your heart.
Always trail blazing,
Looking for adventure
Determined to accomplish,
The goal finally conquered.
Navigating your plane
On toward the Atlantic
Following on to the Pacific
A destination you found.
Unclear on the intent
Of your arrival location
Such unfortunate destination
With Fred Noonan, your beloved friend
You were taken by force,
By the Japanese soldiers
To the island of Saipan
Out of your free will
A deserving recognition
Patiently have waited,
Eight decades of uncertainty
An acknowledgement finally accomplished,
Facing a perilous journey
Unknown to your strength
Bravely endured to the end,
For the love of your country.
Marie Castro
Ed Williams and Marie Castro pause near the Amelia Earhart 124th Birthday cake during the celebration at Saipan’s CNMI Museum July 24.
More music followed, as the Marianas High School Chorale & Canon performed “I’ll be There” and group member Donato Santiago sang “You Raise Me Up.”
Finally, Marianas High School teacher Gina Aquilar led everyone in singing “Happy Birthday” to guest of honor Amelia Earhart, whose life was so tragically cut short on Saipan so long ago, a prewar Japanese atrocity that the U.S. government refuses to acknowledge to this day.
Happy Birthday, Amelia, wherever you are!
Update: On July 26, Saipan’s newspaper Marianas Variety published a story about Marie Castro and the AEMMI’s July 24 event, “Group commemorates Amelia Earhart’s 124th birthday,” by reporters Emmanuel T. Erediano and Bryan Manabat. To read, please click here.
On July 26, Saipan TV did a report on the AEMMI’s July 24 Earhart celebration. To watch, please click here and forward to 16:30.
![This story appeared at the top of page 1 in the July 13, 1937 edition of the Bethlehem (Pennsylvania)-Globe Times. “Vague and unconfirmed rumors that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan have been rescued by a Japanese fishing boat without a radio,” the report began, “and therefore unable to make any report, found no verification here today, but plunged Tokio [sic] into a fever of excitement.” The story was quickly squelched in Japan, and no follow-up was done. (Courtesy Woody Peard.)](https://earharttruth.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/fishing-boat-story-5.png?w=616&resize=616%2C352#038;h=352 "Fishing boat story 5")
Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last 
Greetings to All:
Amelia Earhart’s 40th birthday must have been miserable for her — 22 days after landing the Electra on Barre Island, Mili Atol in the Japanese Mandated Marshall Islands. One can only imagine the terrible, gut wrenching fear, anguish, loneliness, and sense of uncertainty she must have experienced in the hands of the Japanese. Did she still hold out hope of rescue and seeing friends, loved ones, and home again? We can’t know. We can only pray that her soul, and that of Fred Noonan, is at rest and peace.
All best,
William
LikeLike
Marie – God Bless all the work *You have done for Amelia Earhart and the *Monument that will one grace Saipan for future generations to see and understand. Your *DREAM will become a reality and a *inspiration for all who will look upon it. This statue will be a testament to the time, distance and dedication that Amelia’s gave to flight, that would help bridge countries & cultures together and in that vision she so nobly pursued. Happy Birthday *Amelia, We LOVE *YOU. Doug
LikeLike
Mike, I have appreciated your analysis of AE’s disappearance, and consider your book and FG’s to be the best books in the field of AE analysis and speculation. I hate to bring this up, but your digest of July 24, 2021, noting the occasion of AE’s birth anniversary, had what I consider inflammatory and misleading references to Covid-19. First, you stated that 99.8% of the population survives Covid quite easily. Of course, that statistic assumed that the entire population of the US has survived Covid, whereas the official infection rate in the US as of today was 34.4 million cases. I believe that likely understates those who have been infected by a factor of 3 or so. Based on an infection of 100 million in the U.S., the survival rate has been about 99.4%. Many of those that have survived the infection have had lingering side effects, in many cases quite severe permanent damage to their lungs and other organs. Officially, we’ve had over 613,000 deaths due to Covid. Statistically, there were over 900,000 excess deaths in 2020 compared to “normal” mortality rates, and it is reasonable to attribute those to Covid-19. There is no big lie on Covid when one considers the immensity of over 600,000 premature deaths in a year and a half. To me, the big lies are those which ignore the mass of fatalities, which nearly exceeds the deaths of Americans lost in all of the wars in our nation’s history. I am 65 years old, and this is the worst pandemic I’ve seen in my lifetime. I know many who have been infected, and many who have lost family members. Your statements diminished yourself and your integrity. I’m sorry to deviate so far from the purpose of your newsletter, but your Covid references were very disturbing to me.
LikeLike
Mr. Murin,
Eventually it will be revealed and acknowledged that the only people who died from Covid 19 were those who were dying from something else. I know you mean well, but you are a perfect example of the citizen who has been thoroughly propagandized and terrified by the Big Lie of Covid. You are “disturbed” because you have turned over your mind to the State, which really only wants you dead.
MC
MC
LikeLike
Mike, you could not be more wrong. Although the majority of those who have died have had underlying health issues, they died prematurely because of Covid. A basic statistical analysis of deaths shows this, and also shows that there were likely many more premature deaths from Covid than the official totals show. I am an engineer and I am not easily persuaded by unsupported statements and political BS. And I’m afraid that your conspiracy theory that the State only wants me to die, makes me realize that your integrity and perspicacity may not be what I thought. I have appreciated the content of your newsletter for quite some time, but I am unsubscribing now.
LikeLike
No, it’s you that have bought the poison and I will bet taken the shot as well, which is another potentially deadly thing to do. From Tucker Carlson: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-how-many-americans-have-died-after-taking-the-covid-vaccine
“Between late December of 2020, and last month, a total of 3,362 people apparently died after getting the COVID vaccines in the United States. Three thousand, three hundred and sixty-two — that’s an average of 30 people every day. So, what does that add up to? By the way, that reporting period ended on April 23. We don’t have numbers past that, we’re not quite up to date. But we can assume that another 360 people have died in the 12 days since. That is a total of 3,722 deaths. Almost four thousand people died after getting the COVID vaccines. The actual number is almost certainly much higher than that — perhaps vastly higher.
“The data we just cited come from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System — VAERS — which is managed by the CDC and the FDA. VARES has received a lot of criticism over the years, some of it founded. Some critics have argued for a long time that VARES undercounts vaccine injuries. A report submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2010 concluded that “fewer than one percent of vaccine adverse events are reported” by the VARES system. Fewer than one percent. So what is the real number of people who apparently have been killed or injured by the vaccine? Well, we don’t know that number. Nobody does, and we’re not going to speculate about it. But it’s clear that what is happening now, for whatever reason, is not even close to normal. It’s not even close to what we’ve seen in previous years with previous vaccines.
“Most vaccines are not accused of killing large numbers of people. The Menveo vaccine, for example, is given to people around the world, often children, to prevent bacterial meningitis. In this country, only one person died from that vaccine in the entire period between 2010 and 2015. One. So, compare that to what’s happening now. In just the first four months of this year, the U.S. government has recorded more deaths after COVID vaccinations than from all other vaccines administered in the United States between mid-1997 and the end of 2013. That’s a period of fifteen and a half years. Again, more people, according to VAERS, have died after getting the shot in four months during a single vaccination campaign than from all other vaccines combined over more than a decade and a half. Chart that out. It’s a stunning picture. Now, the debate is over what it means. Again, there’s a lot of criticism of the reporting system. Some people say “well, it’s just a coincidence that someone gets the shot and then dies, possibly from other causes.” No one really knows, is the truth. We spoke to one physician today who actively treats COVID patients. He described what we’re seeing now as the single deadliest mass-vaccination event in modern history. Whatever is causing it, it is happening as we speak. So you’d think someone in authority might want to know what’s going on.
“If the vaccine injury reporting system is flawed — and it clearly is flawed — why hasn’t it been fixed? And more to the point, why has there not been an independent vaccine safety board to assess what’s happening. And reassure people who stumble across official government numbers on the internet. But amazingly, none of that has been done. No one even mentions the numbers. And in fact, you’re not allowed to. You’ll be pulled off the internet if you do. The people in charge do not acknowledge them. Instead, they warn us about what might happen if we don’t take the vaccine. Like Joe Biden.”
And Carlson’s numbers don’t begin to tell the story, because he knows anything he says will be closely scrutinized and attacked by the Left. Anyone who takes the shot is a fool who has drunk the Kool Aid. Does the shoe fit?
MC
LikeLike
Thanks for unsubscribing! A lot of lies on the left and right but don’t chose one over the other because both are guilty of so much. I just took a shingles vaccine but still will not take the covid vaccine because of too many unknowns. Thanks Mike for your relentless efforts for the truth about AE and FN.
LikeLike
So something less than 4000 people “apparently” died after taking the vaccines. Did they die from covid or from reactions to the vaccine? His eminence (and brilliant scientist) Tucker Carlson did not discuss that important detail. The vaccines are not 100% effective, and the side effects and effectiveness of the different vaccines vary. But compare that to 600,000+ who have died from covid. Even Fox News and the Republican party leaders are now strongly encouraging folks to get vaccinated. Now, with the delta variant, the cases are increasing most quickly in those states with the lowest vaccination rates. I’m sure that is just a coincidence, or the government and media distorting the data.
LikeLike
The 600K death figure is a flat-out lie, inflated by a factor of 10 and the true number is more like 6K, if that, and someday even that number will be exposed as a lie. Has anyone had the flu for the past two years? Every death is chalked up to Covid! Go away and haunt some establishment site that will welcome you as a new slave to the NWO.
MC
LikeLike
I visited Tokyo seeral times during the 80s and 89s. It’ almost hard to believe they burned the place to the ground during WWII. It looked so modern and big. I bet AE’s soul has long since moved on from the events of 1937 on Saipan. Maybe it’s time for us to move on too?
LikeLike
Eternity is timeless, Ken, and the atrocities perpetrated against Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, as well as countless millions during the war, have never been fully paid for. As soon as the U.S. and Japanese governments admit the ugly truth about what FDR and his cronies allowed to happen, not only to the fliers on Saipan, but at Pearl Harbor and everywhere else they sanctioned murder for expediency, I’ll think about “moving on.” Goerner called it the “Justice of Truth,” and Amelia and Fred have not had it. For them, it’s as if it all happened yesterday.
MC
LikeLike
Greetings to All:
Last Thursday afternoon I was at one of my favorite used book stores perusing the selections in the Military History section when I happened across “One Man Pneumatic Life Raft Survival Kits of World War II,” by Robert S. McCarter and Douglas Taggart (2006) Schiffer Publishing. Wow, talk about a niche subject! I like Schiffer Military History books and have a number of their titles. This one, which retails new for $29.95, was in Very Fine/Like New condition, and for sale for a whopping three bucks. Well, I just couldn’t pass up something like that. The book came home with me. And, on that ride home I wondered if there just might be something about about Amelia Earhart in it.
Chapter 1 is titled, “Background Leading to the Development of Aeronautical Usage of Pneumatic Rafts.” And, sure enough, right there on page 14 is a photo with the caption, “This 1937 news photo was posted prior to departure for the around the world attempt by Earhart and Noonan. The raft is a brand new Type B-1 two-man raft from the Army Air Corps.” The photo depicts a smiling AE giving a last few shots of air to a near fully inflated U.S. Army Air Corps Type B-1 raft with a hand pump. However, the aircraft just behind AE is not her Lockheed Electra 10-E Special, NR16020, but the Lockheed Vega 5-C, bearing the registration NR-965-Y of her 1935 Honolulu to Oakland flight. AE sold NR-965-Y to Seth S. Terry of Reno, NV in 1936. So the photo’s caption is grossly in error.
To my great disappointment, the errors and misinformation continue. Again, on page 14, “Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, planned for such an occurrence [ditching at sea] on their ill-fated trip around the world in 1937. They borrowed a brand new Army Air Corps Type B-1 two-man raft. However, on the longest over-water leg of their trip, in the South Pacific, they decided to leave its weight behind, along with the heavy radios, and some of their navigation equipment they had successfully carried two thirds of the way around the world. Ironically, this Acme News Photo taken for publicity, prior to their leaving, shows Amelia Earhart inflating that very raft with the notation that “in case of a water landing, they would be safe until rescued.” All this equipment weight was replaced with fuel tanks and fuel, and one can only guess as to their thoughts of this trade-off when it became clear they would be landing in the ocean, somewhere out of sight of Howland Island, without it!” Really?!!
We all know that the fuselage fuel tanks were factory installed by Lockheed in Burbank. They were not last minute additions. There is absolutely nothing to support Messrs. McCarter and Taggart’s contention that the “heavy radios,” as well as any “navigation equipment” was removed from the Electra to “save weight.” This is also the case with the life raft. There’s no documentation, or eyewitness account stating that the life raft was left behind at Lae. However, there is this from Mike himself on pages 136-137 in TTAL: “The natives’ description, through [Ralph] Middle, of “the yellow boat which grew” is compelling in its realism, as it so clearly reflects their limited understanding of what only could have been an inflatable life boat produced by Earhart and Noonan after the Electra crash-landed on the reef near Barre Island. No inventory of the plane’s contents during the world flight is known to exist, but several sources support the common-sense idea that the fliers would not have departed Lae without such a vital piece of emergency equipment.” I can only add that after a frustrating morning of pawing through just about every AE book I own, as well as searching the internet, Mike confirmed for me that there’s no definitive list of anything left behind at Lae. About the best we have is from Amelia herself recounted on page 131 of “Last Flight.” She wrote, “Fred and I have worked very hard in the last few days repacking the plane and eliminating everything unessential. We have even discarded as much personal property as we can decently get along without and henceforth propose to travel lighter than ever before. All Fred has is a small tin case which he picked up in Africa. I notice it still rattles, so it cannot be packed very full.” This is presumably the tin box buried under the kanal tree on Barre Island (pg 137, TTAL).
Authors McCarter and Taggart might know pneumatic life rafts and their accompanying equipment, but it’s painfully clear that they didn’t give due diligence to researching AE and FN’s round-the-world flight, and in their ignorance promulgate the government issue “Splashed and Sank” garbage.
On page 15, McCarter and Taggart continue to demonstrate their lack of research and basic knowledge of the U.S. Armed Forces by referring to the U.S. Navy as our nation’s Senior Service. Now, I take nothing away from the Navy. I accord the Navy every honor, respect, and courtesy, but the fact is they are not this county’s Senior Service! The Second Continental Congress, presided by John Hancock and convened on 10 May 1775 in what was then the Pennsylvania State House (later known as “Independence Hall” and home of the Liberty Bell) in Philadelphia established the Continental Army on 14 June 1775 when it authorized the enlistment of expert riflemen to serve the United Colonies for one year — the genesis of what would become the United States Army. Congress would not get around to establishing the Continental Navy until 13 October 1775 — four months later.
All best,
William
LikeLike
Bill,
I think I saw a children’s version of that book on Ebay, titled “Little Yellow Boats That Grew”.
LikeLike
Tom,
You just may have, my friend. It sounds like the title of a “Little Golden Book” from back in the day.
Seriously, “One Man Pneumatic Life Raft Survival Kits of WWII” — A Schiffer Military History Book (ISBN: 0-7643-2435-7) is 174 pages long and measures 8.5″x11″. It covers U.S. and Allied as well as Axis life rafts and survival kits of WWII. It’s profusely illustrated and detailed. However, after authors Robert S, McCarter and Douglas Taggart, to say nothing of Schiffer Publishing’s editors, thoroughly botched the details on Amelia Earhart, I really have to wonder what else they got wrong. Oh well, at least I didn’t spend $29.95 plus tax!
All best,
William
LikeLike