East Meadow, L.I.: Our government seems to be hell bent on ruining itself. A balloon enters its airspace and they shoot it down, then warn citizens not to touch it or go near it. Sounds logical to me, but if you didn’t know what’s in it, why did you shoot it down? I’ve seen jetliners get refueled in midair, I’ve seen ballistic nets shot over a man running on an airstrip you can’t tell me there was not a more nimble way to bring it down.
On Aug. 22, 1972, John Stanley Wojtowicz, Salvatore Naturile and Robert Westenberg attempted to rob a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend. What ensued would go on to inspire a film and become the stuff of legends.