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I hoped the OG would be back by now…here’s a little something to keep you busy. It’s a straight copy from my BLOG, but something to read nonetheless.
I’m not quite sure how to put into words what I’ve experienced over the last two days. Our school brought in a special panel of guest speakers to share their experiences with us, and I must say, it was impressive, exciting and very humbling. I was truly in the presence of American heroes. Each one of them gave a personal, first-hand account of their experiences. Here are some of them:
- A WWII triple ace, who destroyed 16 1/4 enemy aircraft while flying the P-51
- A member of the initial cadre of the 99th Fighter Squadron – the Tuskegee Airmen
- A WWII B-17 bomber pilot who flew 52 missions deep into Germany. On one of his missions, his aircraft took off as 1 of 20 B-17s in his squadron…his was the only one to return that day.
- Two men who earned the nation’s highest award for valor – the Medal of Honor
- An astronaut who made 5 trips to space, including a 6 month stay on the International Space Station
- And to top it off, I ate lunch with 1 of only 12 men to have stepped foot on the moon
With so many heroes in one place, you almost take for granted what each one of them accomplished. It would have been an honor to hear any one of these people speak, but to get them all together in on room for two days is an event that I will probably never experience again. Since many of the WWII veterans are in their 80s, I was especially thankful that I got to hear their stories – from them. All that will soon be left is a history book and it’s a lot more satisfying to learn about military heritage from a person rather than a book. Thanks to these men and women that made our country great!
Pilot #1