[D-fendr]

Wow!

Thanks..

[jocon307]

Great pix and captions too!

[raygun]

ping

[CrawDaddyCA]

Anyone know the name of the old sailing vessel? What a beauty, not many left.

Your a squid and don't know the name of this fine Naval vessel? You should be ashamed!!(Just kidding!)

She is the USS Constitution, 'Old Ironsides', whose image appears on the Navy Flag. I've had the privilege of taking a tour on her while working in Boston. She's a beauty.

Happy Memorial Day, from one squid to another.

[La Enchiladita]

Loved the photos and the captions. Thank you!

Awesome pilots and amazing machines!

[EasySt]

Absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks!

[dk/coro]

Thank you so much, Babu.

Brings back alot of memories.

As an aside, you realy hit a magic chord tonight with these snaps of the Blues.

We have Nine \(9) Naval Aviators in the family -- including the deceased. (Two were killed in aircraft accidents years ado, when carrier work was not so forgiving.)

Two Blues in the Family: Cdr. Cliff Skelton (nephew) who was also a White House Fellow -- Took retirement and is now a senior Corporate VP with BofA)

The other Blue is Captain "Irish" Raney, who relinquished Command of Carrier Air Wing Two last December; opted for retirement and joined Cliff at BofA.

My brother Richard Pope flew for me in the early 60's at Pensacola. I brought him down from VW11 as a JG to put together the Basic NAO School at Sherman Field. The outfit flew 30K accident free hours its first three years in operation and was the nucleus of the NFO program. I wrote my brothers fitness reports -- and gave him his green card instrument checks for two years.

Six of the Nine are still kicking, and I am sure we all miss the carrier work more than anything else.

Happy Memorial Day, Fellow Freepers...and thanx for the wonderful pictures!!!

[orlop9]

Great Memorial Day Post

[Coldwater Creek]

Thanks for the pics. My husband is a former naval aviator, but is now blind. I am passing this post on to our son who is an avid Blue Angle fan.

[Coldwater Creek]

Thanks for the pics. My husband is a former naval aviator, but is now blind. I am passing this post on to our son who is an avid Blue Angle fan.

[Coldwater Creek]

Angel--correction

[blu]

Thanks for the reminder to look up the Angel's schedule. Again this year, northern Michigan gets to see them. They fly over Grand Traverse bay for two days. We drive in to FudgieTown (Traverse City), grab a piece of the beach, and get awed by them.

They are so sneaky! Every time they're here, I KNOW there's a maneuver where most of them are over the bay, in sight, doing some really cool stuff. The crowd is totally focused on them...we all have stiff necks because we don't want to miss anything...all eyes forward. Then, BANG! ZOOM! One of those sneaky planes comes up behind us and scares the you know what out of us! How the pilot can keep his plane so quiet until just the right time...how I know it's coming, and it still scares me...it's just too cool!

This year, we'll get to experience it with our little grandsons. I think we'll watch from one of the hills surrounding the bay, maybe it won't be so intense. Then, of course, we'll go out to the airport so we can see the planes.

My favorite part is the week before the air show. The Angels come in a few days early, and all us locals get to see the practice show without the crowds (can you tell I'm not a Chamber of Commerce member? :) )

Thanks! I will start working on changing the boys' nap schedules!

[garyhope]

If you've ever been fortunate enough to see The Blue Angels in person, you're lucky. It will make you feel damn proud (and lucky) to be an American.

The technology, the skill of the pilots, the beauty of the planes and flight and the great almighty boom! of them flying overhead will be deeply impressive.

America has created much, does much, can still do more and is a great country with a big, kind heart, head and soul. The Blue Angels are representative of our greatness.

Who else can do so much?

[The Great RJ]

The Blue Angels will be in South Dakota in July ...how about a fly by photo with Mt. Rushmore?

[GretchenM]

Bumping the thread
with a big thank you for posting it.

[avg_freeper]

Check out these videos of an AJC staffer getting knocked around while riding with the Blue Angels:

Steve, STEVE.... are you still with us??