Memorial Day 2007

[h2co-pilot]

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

REMEMBER "ONCE A DAY, EVERY DAY, THANK A VETERAN"

after you do that then THANK A TEACHER, THANK A FIREFIGHTER and THANK A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER...

[GLBLWARMR]

To all my brothers and sisters, you may be gone but not forgotten.

A special rememberance to all my Marines who have gave the ultimate sacrifice. SEMPER FI!!!!!! In true Marine fashion . This one is for you!!!

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

Originally Posted by GLBLWARMR

To all my brothers and sisters, you may be gone but not forgotten.

A special rememberance to all my Marines who have gave the ultimate sacrifice. SEMPER FI!!!!!! In true Marine fashion . This one is for you!!!

[frenzy1]

RESPECT !

[GLBLWARMR]

Diary Of A Last and Final Flight Home

February 17, 2007, - 0350
I was at curbside at 24th and M, Washington DC . 16 Degrees with a light
breeze. Going home after my second week of freezing temps to my warm home
in SoCal. Take a walk on the beach, ride a horse, climb a mountain and get
back to living. I'm tired of the cold.

0425 aying the taxi fare at Dulles in front of the United Airlines counter,
still cold.

0450: engaged the self-serve ticket machine and it delivers my ticket, baggage
tag and boarding pass. Hmmm, that Marine over there is all dressed up in
his dress blues a bit early this morning... "Good Morning Captain, you're
looking sharp." He says, "Thank you, sir."

Pass Security and to my gate for a decaf coffee and 5 hours sleep. A quick
check of the flight status monitor and UA Flt 211 is on time. I'm up front,
so how bad can that be? Hmmm, there's that same Marine. He must be heading
to Pendleton to see his lady at LAX for the long weekend, all dressed up
like that. Or maybe not. I dunno.

The speaker system announces "Attention in the boarding area, we'll begin
boarding in 10 minutes, we have some additional duties to attend to this
morning, but we'll have you out of here on time."

The Marine Captain has now been joined by five others. BINGO, I get it,
he's not visiting his lady, he's an official escort. I remember doing that
once, CACO duty. I still remember the names of the victim and family, The
Bruno Family in Mojave - all of them, wow, that was 24 years ago.

On board, 0600: "Good morning folks, this is the Captain. This morning
we've been attending to some additional duties, and I apologize for being
10 minutes late for push back, but I believe we'll be early into LAX. This
morning it is my sad pleasure to announce that 1st LT Jared Landaker,
USMC will be flying with us to his Big Bear home in Southern California.
Jared lost his life over the skies of Iraq earlier this month, and today we
have the honor of returning him home along with his mother, father and
brother. Please join me in making the journey comfortable for the Landaker
family and their uniformed escort. Now sit back and enjoy your ride.
We're not expecting any turbulence until we reach the Rocky Mountain
area, but we'll do what we can to ensure a smooth ride. For those inter-
ested, you can listen in to our progress on Channel 9."

Click Channel 9: "Good morning UA 211. You are cleared to taxi, takeoff
and cleared to LAX as filed."

4 hours and 35 minutes later over Big Bear MT, the AB320 makes a left roll,
a steep bank and then one to the right-Nice touch. Nice tribute. Five
minutes out from landing, the Captain comes on the speaker: "Ladies and
Gents, after landing I'm leaving the fasten seatbelt sign on, and I ask
everyone to please yield to the Landaker family. Please remain seated
until all members of the family have departed the aircraft. Thank you for
your patience. We are 20 minutes early."

On roll out, I notice red lights, emergency vehicles approaching. We're
being escorted directly to our gate, no waiting, not even a pause. Out the
left window, a dozen Marines in full dress blues. A true class act by
everyone, down to a person. Way to go United Airlines for doing things
RIGHT, Air Traffic Control for getting the message, and to all security
personnel for your display of brotherhood.

When the family departed the aircraft everyone sat silent, then I heard a
lady say,"God Bless you and your family, and thank you." Then a somber
round of applause. The Captain read a prepared note from Mrs. Landaker to
the effect, "Thank you all for your patience and heartfelt concern for us
and our son. We sincerely appreciate the sentiment. It's good to have
Jared home."

After departing the a/c I found myself along with 30 others from our flight
looking out the lobby window back at the plane. Not a dry eye. It was one
of the most emotional moments I've ever experienced. We all stood there
silently, and watched as Jared was taken by his honor guard to an awaiting
hearse. Then the motorcade slowly made it's way off the ramp.

I realized I had finally seen the silent majority. It is deep within us
all. Black, Brown, White, Yellow, Red, Purple, we're all children,
parents, brothers, sisters, etc - we are an American family.

Official Report: February 7, 2007, Anbar Province, Iraq .. 1st LT Jared
Landaker United States Marine Corps, from Big Bear California, gave his
life in service to his country. Fatally wounded when his CH-46 helicopter
was shot down by enemy fire. Jared and his crew all perished. His life was
the ultimate sacrifice of a grateful military family and nation.

His death occurred at the same time as (*) Anna Nicole Smith, a drug using
douchebag with a 7th grade education of no pedigree who dominated our news for
two weeks while Jared became a number on CNN. And most unfortunately,
Jared's death underscores a fact that we are a military at war, not a
nation at war. It has been said that Marines are at war. America is at the
mall.

1st LT Landaker, a man I came to know in the sky's over America on 17
February 2007, from me to you, aviator to aviator, I am unbelievably
humbled. It was my high honor to share your last flight. God bless you.

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

Originally Posted by GLBLWARMR

Diary Of A Last and Final Flight Home

February 17, 2007, - 0350
I was at curbside at 24th and M, Washington DC . 16 Degrees with a light
breeze. Going home after my second week of freezing temps to my warm home
in SoCal. Take a walk on the beach, ride a horse, climb a mountain and get
back to living. I'm tired of the cold.

0425 aying the taxi fare at Dulles in front of the United Airlines counter,
still cold.

0450: engaged the self-serve ticket machine and it delivers my ticket, baggage
tag and boarding pass. Hmmm, that Marine over there is all dressed up in
his dress blues a bit early this morning... "Good Morning Captain, you're
looking sharp." He says, "Thank you, sir."

Pass Security and to my gate for a decaf coffee and 5 hours sleep. A quick
check of the flight status monitor and UA Flt 211 is on time. I'm up front,
so how bad can that be? Hmmm, there's that same Marine. He must be heading
to Pendleton to see his lady at LAX for the long weekend, all dressed up
like that. Or maybe not. I dunno.

The speaker system announces "Attention in the boarding area, we'll begin
boarding in 10 minutes, we have some additional duties to attend to this
morning, but we'll have you out of here on time."

The Marine Captain has now been joined by five others. BINGO, I get it,
he's not visiting his lady, he's an official escort. I remember doing that
once, CACO duty. I still remember the names of the victim and family, The
Bruno Family in Mojave - all of them, wow, that was 24 years ago.

On board, 0600: "Good morning folks, this is the Captain. This morning
we've been attending to some additional duties, and I apologize for being
10 minutes late for push back, but I believe we'll be early into LAX. This
morning it is my sad pleasure to announce that 1st LT Jared Landaker,
USMC will be flying with us to his Big Bear home in Southern California.
Jared lost his life over the skies of Iraq earlier this month, and today we
have the honor of returning him home along with his mother, father and
brother. Please join me in making the journey comfortable for the Landaker
family and their uniformed escort. Now sit back and enjoy your ride.
We're not expecting any turbulence until we reach the Rocky Mountain
area, but we'll do what we can to ensure a smooth ride. For those inter-
ested, you can listen in to our progress on Channel 9."

Click Channel 9: "Good morning UA 211. You are cleared to taxi, takeoff
and cleared to LAX as filed."

4 hours and 35 minutes later over Big Bear MT, the AB320 makes a left roll,
a steep bank and then one to the right-Nice touch. Nice tribute. Five
minutes out from landing, the Captain comes on the speaker: "Ladies and
Gents, after landing I'm leaving the fasten seatbelt sign on, and I ask
everyone to please yield to the Landaker family. Please remain seated
until all members of the family have departed the aircraft. Thank you for
your patience. We are 20 minutes early."

On roll out, I notice red lights, emergency vehicles approaching. We're
being escorted directly to our gate, no waiting, not even a pause. Out the
left window, a dozen Marines in full dress blues. A true class act by
everyone, down to a person. Way to go United Airlines for doing things
RIGHT, Air Traffic Control for getting the message, and to all security
personnel for your display of brotherhood.

When the family departed the aircraft everyone sat silent, then I heard a
lady say,"God Bless you and your family, and thank you." Then a somber
round of applause. The Captain read a prepared note from Mrs. Landaker to
the effect, "Thank you all for your patience and heartfelt concern for us
and our son. We sincerely appreciate the sentiment. It's good to have
Jared home."

After departing the a/c I found myself along with 30 others from our flight
looking out the lobby window back at the plane. Not a dry eye. It was one
of the most emotional moments I've ever experienced. We all stood there
silently, and watched as Jared was taken by his honor guard to an awaiting
hearse. Then the motorcade slowly made it's way off the ramp.

I realized I had finally seen the silent majority. It is deep within us
all. Black, Brown, White, Yellow, Red, Purple, we're all children,
parents, brothers, sisters, etc - we are an American family.

Official Report: February 7, 2007, Anbar Province, Iraq .. 1st LT Jared
Landaker United States Marine Corps, from Big Bear California, gave his
life in service to his country. Fatally wounded when his CH-46 helicopter
was shot down by enemy fire. Jared and his crew all perished. His life was
the ultimate sacrifice of a grateful military family and nation.

His death occurred at the same time as (*) Anna Nicole Smith, a drug using
douchebag with a 7th grade education of no pedigree who dominated our news for
two weeks while Jared became a number on CNN. And most unfortunately,
Jared's death underscores a fact that we are a military at war, not a
nation at war. It has been said that Marines are at war. America is at the
mall.

1st LT Landaker, a man I came to know in the sky's over America on 17
February 2007, from me to you, aviator to aviator, I am unbelievably
humbled. It was my high honor to share your last flight. God bless you.

[Agriv8r]

Originally Posted by h2co-pilot

great pictures...

Taking a moment to reflect on true meaning of this holiday.

[wpage]

God Bless our Troops. Freedom is not easy!

[bparker]

/salute