Larry McDonald
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Lawrence Patton McDonald
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| In office 1975-1983 (died in office) |
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| Preceded by | John W. Davis |
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| Succeeded by | George Darden |
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| Born | April 1, 1935 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Died | September 1, 1983 (aged 48) near Sakhalin, Soviet Union |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Kathryn (Jackson) McDonald |
| Profession | Physician |
| Religion | Independent Methodist |
Lawrence Patton McDonald (April 1, 1935 – September 1, 1983) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the seventh congressional district of Georgia as a Democrat. He was a passenger onboard Korean Air Flight 007 shot down by Soviet interceptors and presumed dead. He was a cousin of General George S. Patton[1].
A Conservative Democrat, he was active in numerous civil organizations and maintained a conservative voting record in Congress. He was known for his staunch opposition to communism and believed in long standing covert efforts by powerful US groups to bring about a socialist world government.
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[edit] Early life and career
Larry McDonald was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, more specifically in the eastern part of the city that is in DeKalb County. He graduated from Davidson College in 1954, Emory University School of Medicine in 1957 and trained at Grady Memorial Hospital as an urologist. From 1959 to 1961 he served as a Flight Surgeon in the US Navy stationed at the Keflavík naval base in Iceland. After his tour of service he practiced medicine at the McDonald Urology Clinic in Atlanta. McDonald made one unsuccessful run for Congress in 1972 before being elected in 1974. While in Congress, he became the President of the John Birch Society, a conservative organization, and founded the Western Goals Foundation. McDonald served as a member on the Georgia State Medical Education Board, the National Historical Society and the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce and received numerous civil honors.
[edit] Political career
In the elections held in November 1974 Larry McDonald was elected to the Ninety-fourth Congress of the United States of America as a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Congressman in seventh district of Georgia, which included most of Atlanta's northwestern suburbs (including Marietta). He was re-elected four times and served from January 3, 1975, until his disappearance, on September 1, 1983.
Larry McDonald was known for his conservative views, even by Southern standards. In fact, one study named him the second most right-wing member of either chamber since 1937. [2] His anti-communist fervor was probably second only to that of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. He took the communist threat seriously and considered it an international conspiracy. Such a view was later echoed in the words of President Ronald Reagan who called the Soviet Union an "Evil Empire". In another sense, McDonald may be viewed as a precursor of the Reagan supply-side (market liberalization) revolution that swept through the country in the 1980s. An admirer of Austrian economics, he was an advocate of tight monetary policy in the late 1970s to get the economy out of stagflation. He was also a passionate advocate of laissez-faire or market based policies.
His staunch conservative views on social issues attracted controversy. For instance, McDonald is noted for using amendments to stop government aid to homosexuals [3][4]. He also advocated the use of a non-approved drug Laetrile to treat patients in advanced stages of cancer.
In 1979 with John Rees and Major General John K. Singlaub McDonald founded the Western Goals Foundation. It was intended to combat the threat of Communism. In 1980 Larry McDonald introduced American Legion National Convention Resolution 773 to the House of Representatives calling for a comprehensive congressional investigation into the Council on Foreign Relations and Trilateral Commission[5].
McDonald was considering a run for the US Presidency as a Democrat[6].
[edit] KAL 007
McDonald was invited to South Korea to attend a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the United States-South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty with fellow members of Congress, Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, Senator Steven Symms of Idaho and Representative Carroll J. Hubbard Jr. of Kentucky[7][8]. Due to bad weather on Sunday, August 28, 1983 McDonald's flight from Atlanta was diverted to Baltimore and when he finally arrived at JFK Airport in New York he had missed his connection to South Korea by two to three minutes[9]. McDonald could have boarded a Pan American World Airways flight to Seoul, but he preferred the lower fares of Korean Air Lines and chose to wait for the next KAL flight two days later[9]. Carroll Hubbard planned to join McDonald on the flight but at the last minute he canceled his reservations to accept a Kentucky speaking engagement. [10]
McDonald occupied an aisle seat, 02B in the first class section, when KAL 007 took off on August 31 at 12:24 a.m. local time, on a 3,400 mile trip to Anchorage, Alaska for a scheduled stopover seven hours later.[9] The plane remained on the ground for an hour and a half during which it was refueled, reprovisioned, cleaned and serviced.[9] The passengers were given the option of leaving the aircraft but McDonald remained on the plane, catching up on his sleep. Jesse Helms invited McDonald to move onto his flight KAL 015 but McDonald did not wish to be disturbed[11]. With a fresh flight crew, KAL 007 took off at 4 a.m. local time for its scheduled non-stop flight over the Pacific to Seoul's Kimpo International Airport, a nearly 4,500 mile stretch that would take approximately eight hours. [9]
On September 1, 1983, McDonald went missing when Soviet fighters shot down KAL 007 after the plane entered Soviet airspace. McDonald was the only U.S. congressman ever reported killed by the Soviets during the Cold War. A few hours after the shootdown, media reported that KAL 007 had landed safely on Sakhalin Island. Larry McDonald's press aide, Tommy Toles, was informed by the U.S. Embassy in Korea, relaying the report from the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that "the plane had landed safely in Korea". In addition, the Washington based Federal Aviation Administration informed McDonald's press aid that their Japanese counterpart organization , the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau had informed them that KAL 007 had made a safe landing on Sakhalin and "it is confirmed by the Manifest that Congressman McDonald is on board".[12] Within a few short hours, this had been broadcast by the media, only to have, within another few short hours, the media broadcasting that all passengers and crew had perished in an explosion over the waters off Sakhalin and subsequent crash in the sea.
[edit] Reported tracings of Larry McDonald
There have been reports concerning Larry McDonald being alive that have come in to the Israeli Research Centre for Prisons, Psych-prisons, and Forced Labor Concentration Camps of the USSR, directed by Avraham Shifrin. These reports provided the following information:
McDonald had been brought by KGB to Sakhalin Island and then to Moscow. Upon arrival in Moscow, McDonald was taken to the Lubyanka KGB prison where he was given the designation, “Prisoner Number 3.” While at the Lubyanka, he was kept in isolation, taken from his cell only for questioning. He was interrogated several times by the head of the First Chief Directorate of the KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov. Following a number of questionings, Mr. McDonald was moved to the Lefortovo KGB prison also in Moscow for continued interrogation over a period of several months. After a time in Lefortovo, Mr. McDonald was then moved to a “dacha” (summer house) in Sukhanova near Moscow where the interrogations continued. Mr. Shifrin’s sources indicated that they had strong reason to believe that, while in Sukhanova, McDonald was interrogated under drugs that may have eventually resulted in identity loss. He was brought eventually to a prison in Karaganda, Kazakhstan,from which he was moved in mid-1987, by special transport, to a small prison near the town of Temir-Tau, also in Kazakhstan. The wardens of this prison identified him from a photograph that had been computer-aged to show what he would have looked like at the time. It also showed a scar that runs from his left nostril to the left end of his lips. For computer age photo, see [1]. Here he was given special treatment but was not allowed to communicate with anyone. In the summer of 1990, he was taken to the transportation prison in Karaganda. Here, as an unknown prisoner whose file is sealed by the KGB, he remained. As of 1995, all efforts to obtain additional information from the Karaganda prison have failed.
After McDonald's disappearance, a special election was held to fill his seat in Congress. McDonald's widow, Kathy, was a candidate, but she lost to George "Buddy" Darden. Much of the congressional district McDonald represented would later be represented by Newt Gingrich.
[edit] Tribute
On March 18, 1998, the Georgia House of Representatives, "as an expression of gratitude for his able service to his country and defense of the US Constitution", passed a resolution naming the portion of Interstate Highway 75, which runs from the Chattahoochee River northward to the Tennessee state line in his honor, the Larry McDonald Memorial Highway.
[edit] Quotations about Larry McDonald
- "There is a real question in my mind that the Soviets may have actually murdered 269 passengers and crew on the Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in order to kill Larry McDonald." - Jerry Falwell, 2 September 1983, Washington Post
- "He was the most principled man in Congress." - Ron Paul, The Philadelphia Inquirer
- "McDonald has fine credentials: a good education, a successful career as a urologist. But his views on issues are so far out, and his political skill so limited, that he has little impact." - Michael Barone, The Almanac of American Politics 1984
[edit] Quotations by Larry McDonald
- "We have four boxes with which to defend our freedom: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box."[13].[citation needed]
- "The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining supercapitalism and communism under the same tent, all under their control...Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent." [14]
- (Speaking of Carroll Quigley, a history professor at Georgetown University) "He says, Sure we've been working it, sure we've been collaborating with communism, yes we're working with global accommodation, yes, we're working for world government. But the only thing I object to, is that we've kept it a secret."[15]
[edit] Books by Larry McDonald
- Lawrence Patton McDonald, 1976, "We Hold These Truths: a reverent review of the U.S. Constitution," '76 Press, Seal Beach, California. ISBN 0-89245-005-3.
- Rep. Lawrence Patton McDonald, 1977, "Trotskyism and Terror: The Strategy of Revolution," ACU Education and Research Institute, Washington, DC.
[edit] External links
- "Larry McDonald on Crossfire in 1983"
- Larry McDonald at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- "Essay on Character: Lawrence Patton McDonald", by Jeffrey St. John, The New American, September 30, 1985
- The International Committee for the Rescue of KAL 007 Survivors, Inc.
- Description of Larry McDonald
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.jbs.org/node/1053
- ^ Is John Kerry A Liberal?
- ^ "House Amendment 52" (House Resolution 3480), Amendment Passed Jun 18, 1981. Available from: Thomas (Library of Congress), http://thomas.loc.gov; Accessed 8/8/08.
- ^ "House Concurrent Resolution 29". Available from: Thomas (Library of Congress), http://thomas.loc.gov; Accessed 8/8/08.
- ^ http://sandiego.indymedia.org/media/2006/10/119974.pdf
- ^ A War In The Planning for Four Years - How Stupid Do They Think We Are?
- ^ Aviation Articles | Airliners.net
- ^ Shootdown, R.W. Johnson, Viking Penguin, New York, N.Y. 1986, pg. 3-4
- ^ a b c d e Flagpole Magazine, September 3, 2003 http://www.law.uga.edu/academics/profiles/dwilkes_more/his36_flight.html
- ^ Farber, Stephen. "TELEVISION; Why Sparks Flew in Retelling the Tale of Flight 007," The New York Times. Published November 27, 1988. Accessed January 4, 2008
- ^ KAL 007 Chronology of Events
- ^ John Birch Society http://www.jbs.org/node/392
- ^ jimpoz.com - Freedom
- ^ Quotes by Pat Buchanan and Others on the New World Order - Our American Heritage Library - T H E I N T E R N E T B R I G A D E - Official Web Site
- ^ YouTube - Larry McDonald on the NWO May 1983PT2
[edit] Further reading
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John W. Davis |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 7th congressional district January 3, 1975 - September 1, 1983 |
Succeeded by George Darden |
| Persondata | |
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| NAME | McDonald, Larry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Georgia politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1, 1983 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | near Sakhalin, Soviet Union |
