Two Pilots & an LSW: Honor

Three things from today to fit the bill.

Today is SMA Awareness day, the Saturday when SMA families light a candle at 7 pm in their time zone, in honor of SMA kids here and passed. I used to collect everyone's photos and put up a web page of them all each year. I don't do that any more, but I don't forget. My candle is lit.

Today was also the funeral service for Lt. Robert McIntosh. I can't remember what I said here already, so, he was a 23 year old fighter pilot in a P-38 who disappeared in Italy after a mission. His family never knew what happened to him. Recently his remains were discovered and recovered. He had hit a mountain, during probable poor weather. His remains were shipped back to Tipton for burial with his remaining family, and it was a pretty big deal locally. It meant a lot to the family. He was driven to the plot with a cavalry of horses, which is cool. The family requested a fly-over. Nathan put together five folks with T-6s, and today's weather was being a bit uncooperative. One of the T-6s couldn't make it because he'd just learned of the death of a friend. A second of the T-6s, down by Indy, tried to get out, but the heavy rain and low ceilings just pounded his home airport. Nathan and I were north where it was clearer, but a line kept moving towards where we were going, supposedly to hit right about when we were to be there. The last guy was from Terre Haute, and weather was all along that path, and I figured there'd be no way he'd make it if the guy from 20 minutes away couldn't get in. I was wrong. He came landing in just in time, unsure of whether we could even get the flyover done or not with the weather, flew an hour or more round trip on his own dime to help out. We were happy to see him. That made three of us, which is good. We were a little rushed because of the weather and timing. Steve was on the ground as air boss, helping us time it. When he got to the funeral at the time he was supposed to, they were already well under way, and he was behind. They had no good way of giving us more than 1 minute 15 seconds of warning. So we took off, were flying around, Nathan checked in, and then Steve said "GO GO GO GO NOW" And off we went. They did the 21 gun salute, then played Taps, and as the last note was fading, we hit the top of them. As we flew away, the bagpipes started playing. It was more luck than skill, but apparently it hit at a most excellent time and went very well. The Kokomo Tribune put up an article about the services, and included a picture of us as we went overhead.

I tried to then take the T-6 down to Metro where it belongs, but the owner texted me right then (he must be psychic) and said "Don't come back here, see you tomorrow if it quits raining". I said "I'm in the air now, was going to see about working my way into there." He said "Heavy downpour of rain and thunder here. Don't worry about getting it here, we can do it whenever." I said I wouldn't mess with thunder and heavy rain, and turned around and went back to Kokomo.

Steve drove up from Tipton then, and brought with him a pair of diamond earrings and a nice purple dress shirt that Kaylee had given him to give to me to wear when we went out to eat tonight. He'd made reservations down at Cicero on the Lake, because I was supposed to fly the T-6 down there and he was going to drive down and pick me up. Well, I didn't end up flying in there, but we decided to go down and go to the restaurant anyway. Why not. And Steve was dressed in a nice shirt from going to the funeral, so he wanted to bring me a clean shirt so I wouldn't come out of the T-6 all sweaty and rumpled and in a Glenndale shirt when he was dressed nicer from the funeral. So Kaylee picked out what she wanted me to wear and gave it to him. I was originally going to bring a different shirt than that to change into, because it's a little snug right now, but when I combed my hair, put in the earrings, touched up the face, and put on the shirt and showed Kaylee, she lit up, got a huge grin, dimples and all, and said I looked beautiful, and I just couldn't sneak another shirt and change after that. So I wore the ensemble and we had a nice dinner down there on the lake . :)

I was actually leaving the Kokomo airport when I got a text from a lady at the CAF. She said "Laura. We are putting together a core group of CAF women pilots to start a WASP unit. D. K. is rounding everyone up. Don't worry, not an all girl club. We need your email address." I'm not sure what they are planning on doing, what it means, what it will entail. She knows me well enough to know I'm not a big fan of all girl groups in general, particularly not when they get bent out of shape over all male groups, because you can't have it both ways. But in this case...the WASPs were unwanted but needed, put through the wringer, used, dropped, ignored, and largely forgotten, while doing a duty to their country. They weren't even allowed military honors until most of them were dead. I'd never heard of them until way later in my own life than should be, and I'd been interested in flying for a very long time. They deserve to be remembered and honored for their service. The Tuskegee Airmen finally saw the recognition they deserved, and men of color usually come before women in the rights department in history. (Right for black men to vote: 1870. Right for women to vote: 1920.) Well, it's the WASPs turn. I look forward to learning more about what they want to do, and how I can help, if I can. It would be an honor.

Here's a video clip from today. We're just a quick go by, but...