Far too many to list... I've been honored to visit some of the great battlefields...Oriskany, Antietam, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, the skies of Europe...it seems everyday I remember a few of our heroes.
From my home I see a mountain and recall that over the years it claimed a B-29 and two KC-135s...casualties of the "Cold" war. When my father retired at the conclusion of his 27 year career, his last official duty was going to the funeral of a friend, killed in the crash of a T-33.
Then there are family members, you won't read about them in books...but they did their part...my dad began his career as a B-17 pilot; an uncle who flew gliders into Normandy, Southern France and the Netherlands; another uncle who was a B-24 and -17 navigator who became a POW; a brother who spent time in Vietnam, and almost apologetically, my own 20 year career. When people thank me for my service I'm quick to say I'm not a hero, no one ever shot at me. A couple of years ago at an event, Col. Bud Anderson asked if I had served. I replied that I spent a career in the Air Force. He thanked me for my service. Coming from a man like him, it meant something. It was a privilege to work with many fine people. With your interest in aviation history, and likely family history, you probably won't have to look far to remember those who served. For many of us, every day is memorial day.
_________________ Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
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