They sent a monkey into space in a spaceship especially equipped with a banana dispenser. His fly-boy buddies knew him as Junior, and as he risked his life for you and me, and all of "mankind", all he ever asked for, was a banana. Junior flew dangerous rescue missions every day in a McDonnell Douglas Tailbiter "Tin Cup" helicopter throughout the Vietnam war.
His father Rex, Sr., was a fighter pilot in World War II.. Rex, Sr. was good pals with, and was in the same fighter squadron as, President George Bush, Sr. Their was a lot of bigotry towards simians in the military back then. That systemic abuse lingered on until Bush "One", enacted the first pro-monkey military legislation. In fact, every military aircraft today comes with a banana dispenser as standard equiptment.
1 comment:
Thank you for this piece. I knew his father Rex Sr. He was the best damn ape I've ever had the chance to serve with. He used to always say that his boy was going to be something else. Who would have thought little Rexie would be the first member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates to make it to outer space!
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