"Blue" Weekend

Chris again, as guest commentator. Even though I was working nights, when Liz and I found out about the Air Force Memorial dedication, we decided we would go. I got home from work at 630am, slept until about 10 and then we got ready and left. What an opportunity! Neither of us would have missed it for anything. Living in the DC area has its perks occasionally. It's a fantastic memorial adjacent to both the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery (when visiting, you actually get to it through the cemetery).
A little chilly and somewhat windy, Liz, Austin and I packed up and headed to the Metro as the Pentagon has very little parking. The amount of spectators was amazing. What was even more amazing was that we actually saw quite a few people we recognized.
They had set up a lot of static displays, but one of the most interesting was the Air Force Academy display. They brought 2 Falcons (real living ones, not stuffed). This is Aurora (cool name), the 'official' mascot. She let us pet her. Those of you who know Hannah know how much she likes "birdies." This is one birdie Hannah doesn't want to mess with.So each Major Command had a tent, with pictures and discriptions of the missions etc. We were walking through the Space Command booth (actually looking to see if any of Liz's photos were used and if we knew anyone in the pictures) and we found this cool little montage of missiles and space stuff. I recognized a picture of what looked like an MPT (Missile Procedure Trainer). Sure enough, it was.....so I took a closer look and......Turns out, there was a picture of Matt Hlivko and his deputy. Congrats Matt, there's your 15 minutes of fame!!
The official part of the ceremony was moderated by Bob Schieffer formerly of the CBS Evening News. He is actually a former Air Force Captain....who knew? He did a great job.
My favorite part of the day was the parade of aircraft. More aircraft than this actually flew, but not all of the pictures came out. In order of old to new, on display were everything from a Stearman biplace, to the B-2 and F-22. Above is the B-2 Spirit.
A B-17, who actually flew in formation with a B-24. This one was all shined up and on such a beautiful day it really stood out!
A 4-ship "heritage" flight. In the lead, an F-86 of Korean War era, in the slot, an F-4 from Vietnam. On either wing, an F-15 and the newest in the inventory, the F-22. (Pretty cool)
Another heritage flight. On the right, the airplane that taught so many World War II pilots how to fly, the T-6 Texan and the namesake the the aircraft on it's left wing, the Air Force's newest trainer the T-6 Texan II. I guess when you have a good deal going it's best to stick with it.
The president showed up and said some nice words about the Doolittle Raiders and the history of American Air Power. Unfortunately, due to the small size of the memorial itself, only a small group of people were allowed to sit at the site itself. I was wondering what you had to do to get tickets up there. I saw a lot of "stars" walking around where we were, so apparently even rank doesn't necessarily have its privileges all the time. I know several former Chiefs of Staff were there, along with a lot of former Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force. Secretary Rumsfeld was there, the secretary of the Air Force, General Moseley the current Chief of Staff of the Air Force. The current Chief Master Sergeant, Chief McKinley among others. It was well attended. All I can say is, "Thank God for Jumbotrons."
Of course, the Thunderbirds flew in order to properly commemorate the event.The Thunderbirds' commander, had a camera feed going on and said a quick little blurb. I thought it was pretty cool.
For those of you who look at the memorial and wonder, "what the hell is it supposed to be," maybe this will help. Compare the above and below pictures. I think the architect (who passed away last year before it was completed) did a really nice job.
After the ceremony was over, Lee Ann Womack starting singing. Being a big military supporter, she was having a free concert. We stayed for a minute, but Austin wasn't having it and she forgot the words to one of her songs, so we left and decided to take a nice long walk. That will probably be the next post, but we'll have to save it for later.