D.B. Cooper, a uniquely American hero

[LAGC]

The legend of D.B. Cooper is a curiously enduring one. On the day before Thanksgiving in 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded a plane in Portland, Ore., and after a drink and a cigarette, slipped a note to the flight attendant saying he had a bomb and was hijacking the plane. Within a few hours, he parachuted out of a Boeing 727 with $200,000 of ransom money and was never heard from again.

Even after 40 years, the FBI hasn't been able to pinpoint his real identity -- until, possibly, this week. The FBI claims to have a new lead in the case: A retired police officer suggesting the real D.B. Cooper died in a car crash in the Pacific Northwest 10 years ago. (So far an attempt to match the man's fingerprints, obtained from an old guitar strap, to Cooper's has proved unsuccessful.)
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Why does this myth captivate the American imagination?

In the cult of Cooper, people see who they want to see. At the time, people wanted to see this man as a hero who could do something that defied the government. It was a way to rid themselves of their own feelings of helplessness. D.B. Cooper was able to seize control and become the director of a great drama. After their houses had been taken from them because of money they owed to the government, followers of Cooper wished they could do that. Who's going to miss $200,000, especially when insurance is paying for it?

It's not like these people were slackers. They were hardworking people. The system and society at the time was becoming so unfair and mechanized, and this guy was able to turn that all upside down. In an airline town, he was able to defeat the airlines. He was able to defeat the government and law enforcement. What his real motives were is an entirely different question that we may never know the answer to, but that's not the story that lingers in legend. Any time you have a legend, you have a hero who serves a purpose. To this day, Cooper serves a purpose.

How so?

There is a rebel in all of us, some more than others. This guy was able to strike that chord. He was able to show us what something bold truly is, and we love that.
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If we think about what is going on in this country at this moment -- the debt ceiling, the recession, high unemployment, failed wars, the increased reliance on technology -- there are some strains of similarity. In approaching the 40th anniversary of this event, maybe we are just in a similar moment where this story is the kind people want to hear about. Maybe this is simply a ripple effect from the history of one man jumping out of a plane in such epic fashion.

http://www.salon.com/news/crime/?story=/mwt/feature/2011/08/02/d_b_cooper_interview

Talk about one classy criminal. Wonder if that fucker's still living high on the hog in some remote corner of America with all that ransom money still stashed under his mattress? (Of course, $200K was worth A LOT more back then, more like a MILLION dollars in today's money, if he invested it, bought a house or something.)

I can't believe the FBI didn't mark the bills or somehow else try to track the money. Of course, if someone tried to hijack a plane in this day and age, they'd send in the SWAT teams and FBI Tactical Response teams and never let the plane back off the ground. Even if it meant everyone getting blown up (if the bomb was real) they wouldn't let the perp get away like they did back then, hostages be damned.

In some ways, I kind of wish I was born a generation younger, if I was still a teenager or young adult around 1970 -- get to enjoy a real counter-culture with the government on its heels all the time from all the bomb threats, a healthy wide-spread disrespect for authority pervading society.

Oh well. We're in a more authoritarian age now. We'll never see another free-wheeling society like that unless society completely breaks down and government fails altogether.

[mriddick]

I think he washed up down stream.

[LAGC]

I think he washed up down stream.

Yeah, there was another news report a few days ago saying some kid found a bundle of $20's half-buried along a river-bed that is said to be suspected to be some of the ransom money... and it was a very stormy night when he jumped out of the plane, so who knows?

But they never found a body. Maybe someone found it -- and the money -- and disappeared both.

[Sidartha]

In some ways, I kind of wish I was born a generation younger, if I was still a teenager or young adult around 1970 -- get to enjoy a real counter-culture with the government on its heels all the time from all the bomb threats, a healthy wide-spread disrespect for authority pervading society.

Holy Shit Son!!
You would enjoy saying "give me what I want or I'll kill a shitload of innocent people".

What the fuck is wrong with you?

How is that different from putting a gun to some poor schmuck's head and demanding he give you all his money?
Fundamentally it's not. You're just setting your sights higher.
:big-fu:

[LAGC]

Holy Shit Son!!
You would enjoy saying "give me what I want or I'll kill a shitload of innocent people".

LOL, no, I was speaking of the broader counter-culture in general: sticking it to the man, living against the grain. Non-conformity.

I probably would have joined one of those hippie communes if I was young at that particular time in our history.

[old Grump]

He was a thief....................how was that classy?

[Solidus-snake]

He was a thief....................how was that classy?

Ditto

[LAGC]

He was a thief....................how was that classy?

He was no common thief. He extorted the government. There's a certain anti-authoritarian ring to that.

Kind of like John Dillinger, stealing from the banks and police stations that he and his gang robbed.

There are criminals... then there are super-criminals. Famous -- or infamous if you prefer -- those that history remembers, as they set the bar that no one else dare follows.

[Solidus-snake]

Guess the Lockerbie bomber was a classy guy too. Killed all those people and lives like a prince, a national hero. Real swell guy.

[LAGC]

Guess the Lockerbie bomber was a classy guy too. Killed all those people and lives like a prince, a national hero. Real swell guy.

Big difference: there's no proof D.B. Cooper's bomb was real. It was probably all for show.

Sure fooled the dumb authorities though... :laugh:

[Justin]

I don't think people remember D.B. Cooper as a hero, I think that he's remembered because of his escape, and I do admit it fascinates me too. He's like a real life version of a "James Bond" villain.

[old Grump]

He was no common thief. He extorted the government. There's a certain anti-authoritarian ring to that.

Kind of like John Dillinger, stealing from the banks and police stations that he and his gang robbed.

There are criminals... then there are super-criminals. Famous -- or infamous if you prefer -- those that history remembers, as they set the bar that no one else dare follows.Stealing money from over 2 dozen banks, four police stations and killed a cop. His gang killed several more including nearly beating a sheriff to death after shooting him. Your hero had gonorrhea, smooth suave and debonair he was. The money he took belonged to hardworking people in the depression back before there was bank insurance. He was robbing grocery stores and automobiles from poor people and that is classy? He deserted from the Navy, another class act. I'm sure the widows of the policemen Dillinger and his gang killed were thrilled that he lost his life to a classy criminal. Are you completely nuts?

[LAGC]

Stealing money from over 2 dozen banks, four police stations and killed a cop.

ALLEGEDLY killed a cop. He was never found guilty of that charge.


The money he took belonged to hardworking people in the depression back before there was bank insurance.

Actually, I think by the time most of their high-profile robberies happened, all the poor people's money was long gone. It was the Great Depression, you know. The only ones who still had money to keep in the banks were the rich, while most everyone else was dead broke and unemployed, kept what little money they did have under their mattresses.


He was robbing grocery stores and automobiles from poor people and that is classy?

That was chump change, before he first went to prison and learned how to be a much more successful criminal. Its all the high-profile crimes he did after he got out that made him famous.

Wiki is your friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dillinger

[coppertales]

was the HMFIC in the FAA in Seattle back then. When DB did his thing, it was a black mark on his carrear, so he says. He would get really pissed when I would ask him how his buddy DB is doing with all that loot. You just can't let a good smart ass remark go to waste. chris3

[old Grump]

ALLEGEDLY killed a cop. He was never found guilty of that charge.

Alleged my aching ass don't play word games with me. The detective died in a shoot out with Dillinger who do you think killed him, a girl scout?



Actually, I think by the time most of their high-profile robberies happened, all the poor people's money was long gone. It was the Great Depression, you know. The only ones who still had money to keep in the banks were the rich, while most everyone else was dead broke and unemployed, kept what little money they did have under their mattresses.

That makes it okay? The people who could pay their bills and hire people and pay wages were stripped of their money and that is okay because they had some. What in the hell is the matter with you?

That was chump change, before he first went to prison and learned how to be a much more successful criminal. Its all the high-profile crimes he did after he got out that made him famous.

Wiki is your friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_DillingerOh yeah, I put a lot of faith in the integrity and accuracy of Wiki.

[LAGC]

That makes it okay? The people who could pay their bills and hire people and pay wages were stripped of their money and that is okay because they had some.

No, Dillinger was definitely a very bad man. I'm not saying what he did was right at all. I was merely pointing out that he was in a CLASS all of his own, like D.B. Cooper. "Classy" criminals. After all, everyone has heard their names and knows who they are. They were both pioneers in their field, as it were. They may have chosen unfortunate professions, but they were very good at what they did.


Oh yeah, I put a lot of faith in the integrity and accuracy of Wiki.

Hey, the cool think about Wikipedia is, if you ever see something that you know isn't true, YOU can edit it and fix it. Better source your facts though, or your edit will be un-done.

[Kadmos]

Infamous, I think is the word you are looking for.

I also agree that these guys shouldn't be considered "hero's" of any kind.

Many might be notable for their crimes, or ingenious in the planning of their crimes.

There is no doubt Cooper was clever.

But he was a thief, and he put a lot of people at risk.

One interesting thing most people don't realize is the number of copycats that incident spurred. The following year about a dozen people did essentially the same thing.

If I recall correctly, all survived, and all were caught or turned themselves in.

[old Grump]

Hey, the cool think about Wikipedia is, if you ever see something that you know isn't true, YOU can edit it and fix it. Better source your facts though, or your edit will be un-done.
What edit? My facts come from books, newspapers and family lore, not Wiki where anybody can massage the articles to their hearts content. Grandma saw him racing down the highway past her houe with a car full of cops chasing him. Shortly after that he had his little rendezvous at the Biograph. Grandma didn't think much of him.