We have three very simple guidelines here at ThinkBlueLA.com: We don’t allow profanity, we will not tolerate personal attacks, and we do not talk politics … ever.

The first two guidelines are self-explanatory. The third, however, is occasionally met with some discontent. Regardless, the reason for it, or at least our reasoning for it, is that we are here to talk about baseball, not politics – period.

I am about to break that third guideline … sort of.

Late Friday night, the world was saddened to learn that former President George H. W. Bush, our nation’s 41st President, had died at the age of 94. And while this theme alone makes this article appear political, it actually is not.

As most Americans know, “Number 41” (as George H. W. Bush was affectionately known so as to not confuse him with his son George W. Bush, our Nation’s 43rd President), lost his wife Barbara (Pierce) this past April at the age of 92. The two had been married for 73 years, the longest wed couple of any U.S. President. The two became engaged just prior to 41 being shipped out for World War II to serve as a Navy torpedo bomber pilot. The couple would later marry on January 6, 1945 while he was home on leave.

It is 41’s military service that many – perhaps even most – American’s are unfamiliar with and is a spectacular story in and of itself.

On September 2, 1944, 20-year-old Lieutenant JG George H. W. Bush piloted one of four Grumman Avengers in the famed battle of Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands about 150 miles north of the more well-known island of Iwo Jima. Chichi Jima was a key target because it housed long-range Japanese radio stations during World War II.

During their attack, the Avengers encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire during which Bush’s aircraft was hit by flak and his engine caught fire. But despite the fire, Bush was able to completed his mission and released bombs over his target and scoring several very effective hits.

With his engine ablaze, Bush flew several miles from the island, where he and one other crew member bailed out. Although Bush parachuted safely into the water, the other man’s parachute failed to open. Bush quickly inflated his small one-man life raft and climbed in it while U.S fighter planes circled overhead to prevent him from being capture and killed by enemy forces … or worse.

Worse, you ask?

Eight of Bush’s fellow airmen had also been shot down during the extremely intense battle and were captured. After being severely beaten and tortured, the airmen were beheaded and Japanese officers then ate parts of the bodies of four of the men.

Worse indeed.

After four hours afloat, Bush was finally (and miraculously) rescued by the USS Finback, a U.S. submarine that just happened to be in the area. Amazingly, the rescue was captured on film.

Lt. George H. W. Bush being rescued by crewman of the USS Finback on September 2, 1944.
(Click on image to view video)

“My life was spared. A lot of other people’s lives weren’t spared in that war,” Bush said, during an exclusive CNN interview in 2003. “But I have now, getting older and much, much, much, much older, and I’m at this stage, I look at all of this as a blessing. I look at all of this as having made me a better man. Little kid made into a man, by a series of circumstances over which he had no control.”

Fast-forward 45 years.

In April 1989, Texas Rangers owner and oil tycoon Eddie Chiles sold his team to an investment group headed by George W. Bush – Number 43 – for $89 million. Although the younger Bush’s equity in the team was rather small ($500,000), he was named Managing General Partner of the new ownership group. He upped his investment an additional $100,000 the following year (to a total of $600,000) but left his position with the Rangers when he was elected Governor of Texas in 1994. He eventually sold his stake in the team in 1998.

Former President George H. W. Bush with Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill during the 2017 World Series.
(Photo courtesy Peter Gammons)

Politics aside, the point here is that George H. W. Bush – “Number 41” – was an American hero, having somehow miraculously survived being shot down during World War II.

While he was president, 41 kept his old Yale first baseman’s glove in a drawer of his desk in the Oval Office. He would oil it regularly and often used it to help him concentrate, putting it on and socking it repeatedly with his other hand, while making decisions that would affect the United States and entire world.

It was on his watch as our 41st President when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein chose to invade Kuwait, leading Bush to the launch Operation Desert Storm – an operation that ultimately succeeded and to which Bush would later declare “Mission accomplished.”

The entire staff of ThinkBlueLA.com sends our thoughts and prayers to the family, friends and colleagues of George H. W. Bush, who is once again at the side of his beloved wife Barbara for all of eternity.

…just as he was meant to be.