President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam

DEPTEL 243, also known as Telegram 243, the August 24 cable or most commonly Cable 243, was a high-profile message sent on August 24, 1963 by the United States Department of State to Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the US ambassador to South Vietnam. The cable came in the wake of the midnight raids on August 21 by the Catholic regime of Ngo Dinh Diem against Buddhist pagodas across the country, in which hundreds were believed to have been killed. The raids were orchestrated by Diem's brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and precipitated a change in US policy. The cable declared that Washington would no longer tolerate Nhu remaining in a position of power and ordered Lodge to pressure Diem to remove his brother. It said that if Diem refused, the Americans would explore the possibility for alternative leadership in South Vietnam. In effect, the cable authorized Lodge to give the green light to Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) officers to launch a coup against Diem if he did not willingly remove Nhu from power. The cable marked a turning point in US-Diem relations and was described in the Pentagon Papers as "controversial". Historian John W. Newman described it as "the single most controversial cable of the Vietnam War".^[1]

The cable also highlighted an internal split in the Kennedy administration, with anti-Diem officials in the State Department prevailing over generals and Department of Defense officials who remained optimistic that the Vietnam War was proceeding well under Diem. This was underlined by the manner in which the cable was prepared before being transmitted to Lodge.

Background[link]

Ngo Dinh Nhu (r), shaking hands with US Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1961

The cable came in the wake of the midnight raids of August 21 by the Catholic regime of Ngo Dinh Diem against Buddhist pagodas across the country in which hundreds were believed to have been killed and more than a thousand monks and nuns were arrested. The pagodas were also extensively vandalised. Initially, the raids coincided with the declaration of martial law on the day before. A group of generals of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam had asked Diem to give them extra powers to fight the Vietcong but secretly wanted to maneuver for a coup. Diem agreed, so that Nhu's Special Forces could take advantage and attack the Buddhist pagoda while disguised as regular ARVN forces. The raids were instigated by Nhu's Special Forces and Secret Police.^[2]

At first, there was confusion as to what had occurred. Nhu had ordered the phone lines into the US embassy and the US Information Service to be cut. A curfew was imposed on the streets, and it was initially believed that the regular army had orchestrated the attacks. The Voice of America initially broadcast Nhu's version of the events, which held that the army was responsible. This infuriated the ARVN generals, since many Vietnamese listened to the program as their only source of non-government, non-propaganda news. Through CIA agent Lucien Conein, General Tran Van Don communicated to the Americans that Nhu had created the impression that the ARVN were responsible in order to increase dissent among the lower ranks and to weaken support for and discredit the generals in case they were planning a coup.^[3]

Preparation of the cable[link]

Averell Harriman was one of the foremost proponents of Diem's removal and key figure behind the cable.

On a Saturday afternoon, with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and CIA director John McCone on vacation, the message was drafted by a group of State Department officials who were the only ones on duty. These were Averell Harriman, Roger Hilsman and Michael Forrestal.^[4]

President John F. Kennedy was on vacation at Hyannis Port, his family retreat, when Forrestal telephoned seeking to expedite the process with the commander-in-chief’s verbal approval.^[5] Kennedy asked to them "wait until Monday" when all the key figures would be in Washington, but Forrestal said that Harriman and Hilsman wanted to get the cable "out right away".^[5] Kennedy thus told Forrestal to get another high-ranking official to “get it cleared".^[5]

Harriman and Hilsman then drove from their offices to a Maryland golf course where George Ball was playing with Alexis Johnson.^[5] Ball told the trio to meet him at his home after he and Johnson finished their round of golf. Having returned home, Ball read the message but— knowing that the telegram could raise the morale of the generals and prompt a coup—refused to authorize it until his three visitors had gained Rusk’s endorsement.^[5] Those present at Ball’s home then phoned and read the important passages of the message to Rusk. They asked Rusk what he thought of the message if Kennedy was comfortable too. Rusk replied, "Well, go ahead. If the president understood the implications, [I] would give a green light."^[5]

Ball then discussed the matter with the president, who asked "What do you think?" over the phone. Ball said that Harriman and Hilsman were in strong support, saying that his "watered down" version "would certainly be taken as encouragement by the generals to a coup."^[5] Ball said that his group regarded Diem as an embarrassment to Washington because of his "most unconscionable and cruel, uncivilized" actions.^[5] He further cited Nhu’s violence against the Buddhists and Madame Nhu’s verbal attacks as reasons for breaking with Diem.^[6] According to Ball, Kennedy appeared to be broadly supportive of the cable, although apprehensive as to whether a new leader would do a better job.^[6] As McNamara was away, Kennedy told Ball that the message was acceptable if Rusk and Roswell Gilpatric endorsed it.^[6]

Rusk then approved the message. In the 1980s, Rusk said "If Ball, Harriman, and President Kennedy were going to send it out, I wasn't going to raise any questions."^[6] Forrestal then phoned Gilpatric’s farm in the evening and told him that both Kennedy and Rusk had already approved. Gilpatric later recalled that "If Rusk went along with it and the President went along with it, I wasn't going to oppose it."^[6] He washed his hands of the matter, saying that it was between Kennedy and the state department, saying that "In McNamara's absence I felt I should not hold it up, so I went along with it just like you countersign a voucher."^[6] Marine General Victor Krulak also signed off without showing his superior, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell Taylor. Richard Helms of the CIA also endorsed the message without notifying the director John McCone; he later said that he believed that Forrestal was only advising of a resolution that had already been made.^[6] Forrestal then told Kennedy that he had gained the support of Kennedy’s inner circle, so the president told him to send the message. Cable 243 was thus sent to Lodge at 21:36.^[6]

Cable[link]

The opening paragraphs of the cable stated:

It is now clear that whether military proposed martial law or whether Nhu tricked them into it, Nhu took advantage of its imposition to smash pagodas with police and Tung's Special Forces loyal to him, thus placing onus on military in eyes of world and Vietnamese people. Also clear that Nhu has maneuvered himself into commanding position.

US Government cannot tolerate situation in which power lies in Nhu's hands. Diem must be given chance to rid himself of Nhu and his coterie and replace them with best military and political personalities available.

If, in spite of all your efforts, Diem remains obdurate and refuses, then we must face the possibility that Diem himself cannot be preserved.^[7]

The cable went on to instruct Lodge to inform Diem that the US could not accept the raids and to call for strong action to address the Buddhist crisis.^[7] Lodge was told to tell the South Vietnamese military officers that:

[The] US would find it impossible to continue support GVN militarily and economically unless [the] above steps are taken immediately which we recognize requires [the] removal of [the] Nhus from the scene. We wish [to] give Diem reasonable opportunity to remove [the] Nhus, but if he remains obdurate, then we are prepared to accept the obvious implication that we can no longer support Diem. You may also tell [the] appropriate military commanders [that] we will give them direct support in any interim period of breakdown [of the] central government mechanism.^[7]

The cable also informed Lodge of the need to exonerate the ARVN from responsibility of the pagoda raids. It asked Lodge to approve a broadcast by the Voice of America placing the responsibility on Nhu. Lodge was further requested to examine and search for alternative leadership to replace Diem.^[7]

Lodge's response[link]

Lodge replied the next day and endorsed the strong position but proposed to refrain from approaching Diem to suggest that Nhu be removed. Lodge advocated only stating the US position to the generals and in effect to encourage the ARVN to stage a coup.^[7] Lodge's cable stated:

Believe that [the] chances of Diem's meeting our demands are virtually nil. At the same time, by making them we give Nhu [a] chance to forestall or block action by [the] military. [The] Risk, we believe, is not worth taking, with Nhu in control [of] combat forces Saigon. Therefore, [we] propose we go straight to [the] Generals with our demands, without informing Diem. [We] Would tell them [that] we [are] prepared have Diem without [the] Nhus but it is in effect up to them whether to keep him.^[7]

Infighting[link]

U.S. President John F. Kennedy regretted his authorization of the coup.

The decision to authorise the cable prompted significant infighting in the Kennedy administration. This began on a Monday morning meeting at the White House on August 26. Kennedy was met with angry comments by Rusk, McNamara, McCone and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Maxwell Taylor, all of whom denied authorising the cable. Kennedy was reported to have said "My God! My government's coming apart."^[8] Taylor felt insulted by the final line of the cable which asserted that only the "minimum essential people" had seen its contents.^[8] During an acrimonius exchange at a midday meeting, he condemned the cable as an "egregious end run" by an anti-Diem faction.^[8] Hilsman rebutted Taylor by asserting that Kennedy and representatives of departments and agencies had approved the message. Years afterward, Taylor declared

The anti-Diem group centered in State [department] had taken advantage of the absence of the principal officials to get out instructions which would never have been approved as written under normal circumstances.^[9]

Taylor claimed that the message was reflective of Forrestal and Hilsman's "well-known compulsion" to remove Diem.^[10] He accused them of pulling "a fast one".^[8]

Kennedy could no longer stand the arguing among his officials and shouted "This shit has got to stop!"^[8] Kennedy was angry at Forrestal and Hilsman; the former for what he deemed to be incompetence and Harriman for indiscretion. When Kennedy angrily criticised Forrestal for proceeding without gaining the explicit approval of McCone, Forrestal offered to resign. Kennedy acerbicly replied "You're not worth firing. You owe me something, so you stick around."^[8]

In the end, despite the bitter disagreement, the cable was not retracted.^[8] Ball refused to back down, maintaining that "the evil influence of the Nhus" overrode all other factors.^[8] Ball later described Diem as "an offense to America" and said that his government should not tolerate "such brutality and crass disregard of world sensitivities”.^[8] However, he also admitted that he did not know much about the leading figures in South Vietnam.^[8] McCone did not advocate a reversal of policy despite disagreeing with the process in which the telegram left Washington. Taylor also agreed to stand by the original decision despite his disagreement. He said that "You can't change American policy in twenty-four hours and expect anyone to ever believe you again."^[8] Kennedy walked around the meeting table and asked each of his advisers whether they wanted to change course. None were willing to tell him to retract his telegram.^[8]

Colby recalled that "It is difficult indeed to tell a President to his face that something he has approved is wrong and to do so without anything positive to offer in its place."^[8]

As a result, Kennedy chose not to revoke Cable 243, thereby enabling Lodge to proceed in encouraging a coup. The historian Howard Jones called it "a momentous decision".^[8]

According to Hilsman, Kennedy "didn't say anything" with regards to reservations about the coup. Kennedy had unanimous but uneasy and unhappy support from his advisers, although in reality only the decision had been made by a vocal anti-Diem minority who had sidestepped their colleagues and avoided getting a consensus to put in place a policy without thorough deliberation.^[8] The president was angry with himself and his advisers; him for being pressured into a hasty decision and his advisers for their dishonesty.^[8]

Maxwell Taylor,the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, strongly opposed the cable.

Robert Kennedy had discussed the matter of revoking the cable with McNamara and Taylor, but felt pressured into not backflipping on something that the administration had not "fully discussed, as every other major decision since the Bay of Pigs had been discussed".^[8] Taylor felt that the cable broke the solidarity of the Kennedy administration, and created a cold atmosphere.^[11]

Kennedy later described the cable as a "major mistake",^[12] feeling that most of the blame fell at Harriman’s feet. His brother said "The result is we started down a road that we never really recovered from".^[12]

Encouraged by the authorization for Lodge to interfere directly in South Vietnam’s governance process, the critics of Diem from the State Department tried to capitalize on the momentum that they had developed.^[12]

A midday meeting followed at the White House on the same Monday, August 26. Continuing on from Saturday’s activism, Hilsman recommended pressuring Diem to replace his brother Nhu with a combination of military figures and civilians. Encouraged by the administration's choice to proceed with the telegram, Hilsman said that if Diem retained his brother, Washington should move to remove Diem and start a military-led regime led by General Tran Thien Khiem, the Army Chief of Staff and General Nguyen Khanh, who commanded the II Corps—one of four in South Vietnam—based in the central highlands town of Pleiku.^[12]

Kennedy asked Hilsman of the consequences of a failed coup; his adviser said that it would be bad for the US, as Nhu was anti-American.^[12] McNamara agreed with Hilsman, and they thought that only Tung's men and some marine battalions remained loyal to Nhu.^[12]

The advisors thought that the officer corps would mostly be anti-Diem after the pagoda raids, and said that they would no longer fight if the Ngos stayed in power. They thus concluded that if the coup failed, the communists would win, so the Americans had to either leave Vietnam pre-emptively or be forced out if the coup failed, or to overthrow Diem.^[12] Hilsman said that contingency plans for an American evacuation had been made.^[12]

Harriman then called for American moves for a coup, with which Kennedy agreed,^[12] The president also criticized the media coverage of The New York Times Saigon correspondent David Halberstam,^[12] who had debunked Nhu’s false claims that the army had launched the raids, and had been severely critical of the Ngo family.

Kennedy called for "assurances we were not giving him serious consideration in our decision. When we move to eliminate this government, it should not be the result of [The] New York Times pressure."^[12]

Taylor remained opposed to any moves towards the deposal of Diem. Years afterward, he said that Diem was "a terrible pain in the neck", but was a devoted servant of his country.^[12] Taylor called on Kennedy to support Diem until a better leader had been lined up, pointing out that the officers were divided and therefore could not be relied on to plot and stage a coup.^[12]

Hilsman then cited two phone calls on August 24 from Admiral Harry D. Felt, the commander of US forces in the Pacific, calling for backing to the generals to remove Nhu. Felt said that the mid-level officers would not fight if Nhu was not removed. Taylor became angry that Felt had advised the State Department to move against Diem without first consulting the Joint Chiefs of Staff.^[12] Taylor then told Kennedy that Americans would not tolerate their officers selecting the president, and thus they should not usurp the cabinet in doing the same in South Vietnam.^[13]

When pressed by McNamara as to which generals to support, Hilsman listed only Duong Van Minh, Tran Thien Khiem, and Nguyen Khanh, and said that the trio had some colleagues that they refused to name.^[13] Kennedy expressed agreement with Lodge that the Ngo brothers would never part ways, as did officials in Vietnam, but Rusk disagreed, still hesitant to endorse a coup, although he said a decisive action would be necessary either way. Hilsman continued to say that the Vietnamese public blamed the Nhus for the situation and would welcome a coup, which in his opinion, would need support. Rusk said that if Nhu stayed, "we must actually decide whether to move our resources out or to move our troops in".^[13] Hilsman ended the meeting by saying to "It is imperative that we act".^[13]

According to Jones, the policy was "inherently contradictory: It offered Diem an opportunity to salvage his regime by making reforms at the same time that it undercut his regime by assuring assistance to the generals if they staged a coup."^[13]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• State-Saigon Cable 243; source: JFKL: JFKP: National Security File: Meetings & Memoranda series, box 316, folder: Meetings on Vietnam 8/24/63-8/31/63, 1963-08-24, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/vn02.pdf, retrieved 2010-05-30 
• Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-4447-8. 
• Jones, Howard (2003). Death of a Generation: how the assassinations of Diem and JFK prolonged the Vietnam War. New York City, New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505286-2. 

6 inch (15 cm) outside diameter, oil-cooled cables, traversing the Grand Coulee Dam throughout. An example of a heavy cable for power transmission.

Fire test in Sweden, showing rapid fire spread through burning of cable jackets. Of great importance for cables used in installations.

500,000 circular mil (254 mm²) single conductor power cable

A cable is most often two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly, but can also refer to a heavy strong rope. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry electric currents. An optical cable contains one or more optical fibers in a protective jacket that supports the fibers.

Electric cables discussed here are mainly meant for installation in buildings and industrial sites. For power transmission at distances greater than a few kilometres see high-voltage cable, power cables and HVDC.

History[link]

Ropes made of multiple strands of natural fibers such as hemp, sisal, manila, and cotton have been used for millennia for hoisting and hauling. By the 19th century, deepening of mines and construction of large ships increased demand for stronger cables. Invention of improved steelmaking techniques made high-quality steel available at lower cost, and so wire ropes became common in mining and other industrial applications. By the middle of the 19th century, manufacture of large submarine telegraph cables was done using machines similar to those used for manufacture of mechanical cables.

In the 19th century and early 20th century, electrical cable was often insulated using cloth, rubber and paper. Plastic materials are generally used today, except for high-reliability power cables.

Electrical cables[link]

Electrical cables may be made more flexible by stranding the wires. In this process, smaller individual wires are twisted or braided together to produce larger wires that are more flexible than solid wires of similar size. Bunching small wires before concentric stranding adds the most flexibility. Copper wires in a cable may be bare, or they may be plated with a thin layer of another metal, most often tin but sometimes gold, silver or some other material. Tin, gold, and silver are much less prone to oxidation than copper, which may lengthen wire life, and makes soldering easier. Tinning is also used to provide lubrication between strands. Tinning was used to help removal of rubber insulation. Tight lays during stranding makes the cable extensible (CBA - as in telephone handset cords).

Cables can be securely fastened and organized, such as by using trunking, cable trays, cable ties or cable lacing. Continuous-flex or flexible cables used in moving applications within cable carriers can be secured using strain relief devices or cable ties.

At high frequencies, current tends to run along the surface of the conductor. This is known as the skin effect.

Cables and electromagnetic fields[link]

Coaxial cable.

Twisted pair cabling

Any current-carrying conductor, including a cable, radiates an electromagnetic field. Likewise, any conductor or cable will pick up energy from any existing electromagnetic field around it. These effects are often undesirable, in the first case amounting to unwanted transmission of energy which may adversely affect nearby equipment or other parts of the same piece of equipment; and in the second case, unwanted pickup of noise which may mask the desired signal being carried by the cable, or, if the cable is carrying power supply or control voltages, pollute them to such an extent as to cause equipment malfunction.

The first solution to these problems is to keep cable lengths in buildings short, since pick up and transmission are essentially proportional to the length of the cable. The second solution is to route cables away from trouble. Beyond this, there are particular cable designs that minimize electromagnetic pickup and transmission. Three of the principal design techniques are shielding, coaxial geometry, and twisted-pair geometry.

Shielding makes use of the electrical principle of the Faraday cage. The cable is encased for its entire length in foil or wire mesh. All wires running inside this shielding layer will be to a large extent decoupled from external electric fields, particularly if the shield is connected to a point of constant voltage, such as earth. Simple shielding of this type is not greatly effective against low-frequency magnetic fields, however - such as magnetic "hum" from a nearby power transformer. A grounded shield on cables operating at 2.5 kV or more gathers leakage current and capacitive current, protecting people from electric shock and equalizing stress on the cable insulation.

Coaxial design helps to further reduce low-frequency magnetic transmission and pickup. In this design the foil or mesh shield has a circular cross section and the inner conductor is exactly at its center. This causes the voltages induced by a magnetic field between the shield and the core conductor to consist of two nearly equal magnitudes which cancel each other.

A twisted pair has two wires of a cable twisted around each other. This can be demonstrated by putting one end of a pair of wires in a hand drill and turning while maintaining moderate tension on the line. Where the interfering signal has a wave length that is long compared to the pitch of the twisted pair, alternate lengths of wires develop opposing voltages, tending to cancel the effect of the interference.

Fire protection[link]

In building construction, electrical cable jacket material is a potential source of fuel for fires. To limit the spread of fire along cable jacketing, one may use cable coating materials or one may use cables with jacketing that is inherently fire retardant. The plastic covering on some metal clad cables may be stripped off at installation to reduce the fuel source for fires. Inorganic coatings and boxes around cables safeguard the adjacent areas from the fire threat associated with unprotected cable jacketing. However, this fire protection also traps heat generated from conductor losses, so the protection must be thin.

There are two methods of providing fire protection to a cable:

1. Insulation material is deliberately added with fire retardant materials
2. The copper conductor itself is covered with mineral insulation (MICC cables)

Electrical cable types[link]

Basic cable types are as follows:

Shape

• Ribbon cable

Construction

Based on construction and cable properties, they can be sorted into the following:

• Coaxial cable
• Mineral-insulated copper-clad cable
• Twinax cable
• Flexible cables
• Non-metallic sheathed cable (or nonmetallic building wire, NM, NM-B)^[1]
• Metallic sheathed cable (or armored cable, AC, or BX)^[1]
• Multicore cable (consist of more than one wire and is covered by cable jacket)
• Shielded cable
• Single cable (from time to time this name is used for wire)
• Twisted pair
• Twisting cable

Special

• Arresting cable
• Bowden cable
• Heliax cable
• Direct-buried cable
• Heavy-lift cable
• Elevator cable

Application[link]

A 250V, 16A electrical cable on a reel.

• Audiovisual cable
• Bowden cable for bicycle
• Communications cable
• Computer cable
• Mechanical cable
• Sensing cable^[2]
• Submersible cable
• Wire rope (wire cable)

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• R. M. Black, The History of Electric Wires and Cables, Peter Pergrinus, London 1983 ISBN 0-86341-001-4
• BICC Cables Ltd, "Electric Cables Handbook", WileyBlackwell; London 3rd Edition edition 1997, ISBN 0-632-04075-0

External links[link]

Look up cable in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cables

Larry the Cable Guy
Larry on June 10, 2007
Birth name	Daniel Lawrence Whitney
Born	(1963-02-17) February 17, 1963 (age 49) Pawnee City, Nebraska
Medium	Stand-up Television Film Radio Books
Nationality	American
Years active	1991–present
Genres	Character comedy, redneck comedy, country comedy, observational comedy, satire
Subject(s)	Culture of the Southern United States, obesity, human sexuality, political correctness, self-deprecation, family, personal hygiene
Influences	Steve Martin,[1] Don Rickles,[1] Milton Berle,[1] Henny Youngman,[1] Jeff Foxworthy, Charlie Callas
Influenced	Billy the Bass Man
Spouse	Cara James (2005–present; 2 children)
Notable works and roles	Blue Collar Comedy Tour Larry McCoy in Delta Farce Himself in Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector Larry in Witless Protection Mater in Cars and Cars 2
Website	Official site

Daniel Lawrence Whitney^[1] (born February 17, 1963), best known by his stage name and character Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, country music artist, voice artist, and former radio personality.^[2]

He is one of the members of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also includes Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Jeff Foxworthy (with whom he has starred on Blue Collar TV).

Whitney has released seven comedy albums, of which three have been certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies. In addition, he has starred in three Blue Collar Comedy Tour-related movies, as well as in the films Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, Delta Farce, and Witless Protection. He is widely known for voicing Mater in the Cars franchise. Whitney's catchphrase "Git-R-Done!" is also the title of his book.

On January 26, 2010, the TV channel History announced that it was ordering a series starring Whitney called Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, in which he would explore the country and immerse himself in different lifestyles, jobs, and hobbies.^[3] The first episode of the series aired on February 8, 2011.^[4]

Early life[link]

According to a CMT biography, Whitney grew up on a pig farm in Pawnee City, Nebraska.^[5] He went to college at the now defunct Baptist University of America.^[6] He credits his roommates from Texas and Georgia for inspiring his imitation Southern accent.^[7] He dropped out after his junior year after trying his hand at comedy.^[7]

Career[link]

Radio career[link]

Whitney started his career in radio as a disc jockey in Blue Springs, Missouri. He became known in the early 1990s when he made regular radio appearances via phone on programs such as The Ron and Ron Show, The Chris Baker Show on KOOO and KEZO's The Todd and Tyler Show in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as the Kirk, Mark, and Lopez morning show on WIYY in Baltimore, Maryland. He was also a frequent guest on the The Johnny Dare Morning Show show on 98.9, KQRC, Kansas City. He also did appearances on WJRR in Orlando, Florida, on the Monsters in the Mid Day (presently the Monsters in the Morning), as he was a personal friend of BlackBean (Carlos Navarro) with whom he had done voice-over work. He was brought to New England on Greg and the Morning Buzz on WHEB 100.3 and WGIR 101.1 in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire, respectively, doing two commentaries a week.

Stand-up career[link]

He became famous developing the Larry character, a personality that he now maintains throughout his stage act. The Larry character has a stereotypical redneck appearance and a thick Southern accent, recounts stories about his "family," and uses, among other common expressions, his own catchphrase "Git-R-Done!" A part of Whitney's routine is his affected Southern accent. He says in interviews and in his autobiographical book GIT-R-DONE that he deliberately "turns on" the accent both on and off stage, because he may forget it if he kept his normal accent intact.^[8] He uses catchphrase humor, including "Git-R-Done", "Lord, I apologize, and be with the starvin' Pygmies down there in New Guinea. Amen." and "I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there" after certain jokes. He appears in Nutrisystem commercials with Dan Marino. Marino delivers the catchphrase "Git-R-Done", and is shown dressed in Whitney's trademark attire, including a pair of jeans, a cut-off, untucked flannel shirt, and camouflage hat.

His first two comedy albums, Lord, I Apologize (2001) and The Right to Bare Arms (2005), have both been certified gold by the RIAA. A third album, Morning Constitutions, and its accompanying TV special were released in 2007.

Other work[link]

In 2006, he was approached by Comedy Central to voice a character for an as-yet-unnamed animated series. The show would involve his character as one of two owners of a small cable channel (the other, a high-classed, high-attitude woman). A half-hour pilot was ordered by the network, but has yet to air.^[9]

Whitney was roasted in a Comedy Central special on March 15, 2009.^[10] During the roast, he can be heard greeting roasters out of character and in his normal speaking voice, as well as being called "Dan" by Bill Engvall.^{[citation needed]}

On Tuesday, February 8, 2011, the première of his newest travelogue series, Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, was broadcast on the History Channel. A total of 4.1 million viewers, 1.7 million adults 25–54, tuned in, nearly doubling the total for the "Top Shot" season 2 opener.^[11] During season two in the episode "Larry Goes To Washington", Larry was the first on-air talent from a non news crew allowed in the War Room, also known as the Command Center, as he explained during the program.

A company in North Dakota developed a line of Larry the Cable Guy food products, such as boxed hamburger dinners. It is sold in Big Lots stores, and the packaging states proceeds from sales benefit his "Git-R-Done Foundation".

Personal life[link]

Whitney resides in Lincoln, Nebraska. He married his wife Cara in 2005. They have two children together, a son, Wyatt (born August 2006), and a daughter, Reagan (born October 2007). In 2010, Whitney and his wife disclosed in an article that their son Wyatt has hip dysplasia.^[12]

His home town of Pawnee City, Nebraska has a street named after him. Whitney also donated money to buy new theatrical equipment for the local high school.^[13]

He is an avid Nebraska Cornhuskers fan and his signature camouflage hat has the Nebraska "N" emblazoned on it.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2010, Dan donated $5 Million to the Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Florida. The huge gift was for further development of the International Hip Dysplasia Institute at the Orlando hospital. After Dr. Chad Price at Arnold Palmer Hospital helped cure their son, Wyatt of his dysplasia when he was an infant, Whitney and his wife, Cara, made private donations to the hospital and Whitney raised money through appearances on "Family Feud" and "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" The Hospital Opened a new wing called the "Wyatt Whitney Wing" of the hospital. The construction was complete in May 2012.^[14]

Radio shows[link]

Whitney was a radio personality on:

• KKAR 1290 AM in Omaha, Nebraska
• KGDE 101.9 The Edge in Omaha, Nebraska
• KEZO "Z-92" in Omaha, Nebraska
• KQRC 98.9 FM "The Rock" in Kansas City
• KMYZ "Z104.5 The Edge" in Tulsa, Oklahoma
• WYNF 94.9 FM "95YNF" in Tampa, Florida
• WJRR 101One in Orlando, Florida
• WDIZ in Panama City, Florida
• WPLA "Planet Radio" 107.3 in Jacksonville, Florida
• WIYY 97.9 "98 Rock" in Baltimore, Maryland
• WPYX in Albany, New York
• WHEB in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• KTPI-FM in Tehachapi, California
• WPBZ 103.1 "The Buzz" in West Palm Beach, Florida
• Blue Collar Radio on Sirius XM Radio

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

• Larry the Cable Guy: Git-R-Done (2003)
• Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie (2003)
• Blue Collar Comedy Tour: Rides Again (2004)
• Blue Collar TV (2004–2006) as Various Characters
• Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (2006)
• Cars (2006) as Mater
• Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the Road (2006)
• Delta Farce (2007) as Larry
• Witless Protection (2008) as Deputy Larry Stalder
• Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales (2008–2011) as Mater
• Comedy Central Roast (2009)
• Larry the Cable Guy's Hula-Palooza Christmas Luau (2009)
• Larry the Cable Guy: Tailgate Party (2010)
• Cars 2 (2011) as Mater
• Tooth Fairy 2 (2012) as Larry Guthrie

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Larry the Cable Guy

• Official website
• Larry the Cable Guy at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Larry the Cable Guy about Cars 2

Lyvonia Albert "Stump" Mitchell (born March 15, 1959) is an American football coach and former running back. He is currently the head coach of the Jaguars of Southern University.^[1]

Early years[link]

Mitchell's football career began at Camden County High School, Camden County, Georgia.

Professional playing career[link]

Mitchell was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 9th round of the 1981 NFL Draft. A 5'9", 188 lbs. running back from The Citadel, Mitchell played his entire NFL career with the Cardinals from 1981–1989. His best year as a pro was during the 1985 season when he rushed for 1,006 yards and 7 touchdowns. As a kick returner and running back, Mitchell accumulated over 10,000 career all-purpose yards, and holds the Cardinals franchise record for all-purpose yards.

Coaching career[link]

Mitchell served as head coach at Casa Grande Union High School in Casa Grande, Arizona from 1994 to 1995. He was the head coach at Morgan State University from 1996 to 1998, compiling a record of 8–24. He then served as the Running Backs Coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 1999–2007. He took the running backs coaching position on the Redskins staff in 2008. Mitchell accepted the head coaching position at Southern University on January 11, 2010. In 2010, Mitchell led Southern to a 2-9 record.

Personal[link]

Mitchell is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. His nickname came from the fact that he played football with guys two to four years older than he was when he was a kid. Being from a small country town they said he was tougher than a stump. He does not have part of his ring finger missing as was previously stated.

References[link]

External links[link]