Thursday, June 2, 2016

Farewell Number 6

I was enjoying a late meal with the family over the holiday weekend in downtown Pensacola. Inside the establishment we here a loud roar which anywhere else might have created a little bit of panic. Not here. No it was just local flyers returning home. The local flyers being the famed Blue Angels. Sadly today one plane won't be returning home. You can read the news here.

The Blue Angels our the home town heroes in these parts. Old  Blue Angel A-4 Phantoms greet visitors at a rest area just outside of town and at the airport. Pensacola has a minor league baseball team with a beautiful stadium, they have a minor league hockey team, and they have a major league fly team sporting the Blue and Gold!

Yes I compared them to pro athletes. The hours they craft their skills in the aircraft and the physical training they undertake in my opinion rivals that of a pro athlete. They do their mission with Pride. What is their mission?

"The mission of the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron is to showcase the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country through flight demonstrations and community outreach." That is from their site.

I might be a bit biased. I see them when I'm fishing..



I've seen them flyover my house and fly around when I am driving to work. I've seen them post about a far away show and see them return hours later.

I'll stand beside them..




My daughter has their back...



The Navy, the Marines, the community, and the fans mourn the lost. The Marines fly one of the planes it is tradition. Fitting they fly one. "The few, the proud, The Marines." Sadly he flew my daughters favorite plane, the number 6 plane. I think the article I link talks about the pilot the world lost. Not saying anything on my blog about the name due to respect. Farewell Number 6! That pilot lived the mission to the end.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is so sad. A friend sent me photos he took when they were in New York, a few years back. The video was heartbreaking, Mike. Thank you!

Janie Junebug said...

I love the Blue Angels. I didn't know we'd lost one. So sad.

Love,
Janie

Jeffrey Scott said...

That's too bad. They perform here in Milwaukee every year and I'm downtown by the lake so when they practice, I hear them for two days straight. Like you, we've learned not to be alarmed when we hear them zooming past.
Sad loss.

Liz A. said...

Always so sad when something like this happens. It must be amazing to get to watch them practice all the time.