Posted on 11/10/2007 5:10:17 AM PST by radar101
CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune Students watched as a Cobra helicopter, at top, prepared to land yesterday at Carrillo Elementary School. Eight Marines and two Marine Corps helicopters visited the school
CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune Maj. Matt Nisbet chatted with Camille Sosa, 6, as she checked out his ride from the pilot's seat. Students took pictures of the two helicopters, and they were allowed to enter the Huey and peer into the Cobra.
CARLSBAD – As the whirring sounds grew louder and drew closer, students smiled, cheered and waved at two Marine Corps helicopters.
The aircraft – a Huey and a Cobra – flew over the basketball courts, circled and landed on a grassy field. The children couldn't restrain themselves and moved from sitting to kneeling.
“I love Marines,” said Hannah LeBeau, 7. “It's just so fun to be with them. It's good they're in California. They're letting us be free and everything.”
What the eight Marines saw was a horde of students dressed in red for Red Ribbon Week, an anti-drug and alcohol campaign, at Carrillo Elementary School. The Marines were on campus to talk about Veterans Day. Two have children at the school.
Lt. Colonel Rick Bowen, a squadron commander at Camp Pendleton, told the children that the national holiday honors the men and women in the armed forces who served in the past and present so that everyone can be free. Bowen described the Cobra as a two-seat attack aircraft; he said the Huey generally carries four people and is more of a utility helicopter.
The two types of aircraft usually fly together, but one clearly impressed the students more. They said they preferred the Cobra because it has a tougher image.
“It's the one that actually helps us with war,” said Matthew Hamparyan, 9, a fourth-grader. “It would be really really cool if I could fly one of these someday.”
Bowen answered questions about the patches on his uniform and why it's green. In response to one query, he described why his branch of the military is unique. Army personnel can be called soldiers, Bowen said, Navy men and women sailors, and those in the Air Force fliers, but “a Marine is a Marine.” Parents and teachers laughed.
In closing, Bowen told students to avoid drugs and to study. “If I didn't know how to read, there wouldn't be any way I could fly a helicopter,” he said.
Bowen and Lt. Colonel Tom Mackie, a defense contractor who flies F/A-18 fighter jets as a reservist, have children who attend Carrillo, which is in Carlsbad but part of the San Marcos Unified School District.
On Veterans Day, Mackie will meet a 16-year-old whose father died while serving in Iraq. Mackie has coordinated a ride Monday in a L-39 jet for the teenager through Snowball Express, a nonprofit organization that supports the families of fallen military personnel.
The boy's father had wanted to fly, said Mackie, a Snowball Express board member, and the son plans to take civilian flight lessons and become a pilot.
At yesterday's demonstration, students got to see the helicopters up close and take pictures. They were allowed to enter the Huey and peer into the Cobra. Many of the older boys asked about the power of the guns on the Huey, and some made shooting noises as they swiveled them back and forth.
Sgt. Kenton McGowen said one of the memorable questions had nothing to do with the aircraft and smiled as he was retelling it. “A boy asked if our boss (Bowen) was mean,” he said. “We said, 'Go ask him.' ” -------------------------------------------------------- Linda Lou: (760) 737-7574; linda.lou@uniontrib.com
Pinkos gonna love this one ... ha, ha, ha.
Oorah!
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