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Presidewnt reagan's Missing Man Formation
Former President Reagan's sunset burial had a dissonant note for me. The Navy
flew a missing man formation over the site, and as is traditional the second element lead position (the airplane that would have been represented by your ring finger tip as they flew in finger tip formation) left its position, representing the missing man. For this man, this president, tradition should have been broken. The missing man was a Leader. The lead position should have been the vacant one. |
#2
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For this man, this president, tradition should have been broken. The
missing man was a Leader. The lead position should have been the vacant one. Not intending this as any political statement,, just an observation - Perhaps the reason they do it that way for a president as well, is that typically presidents usually order the military to war and the president stays behind while the soldiers actually go into the battle, that is, the president doesn't physically lead the soldiers into battle themselves. On a side note: I can't claim to be one of Regan's political fans, but watching his draped casket come down the stairs with his widow waiting was indeed a somber moment,, looking at Nancy standing in the rain under the umbrella. While watching the latter, I did encounter a curious errant thought that passed through my mind while watching that casket being carried down the steps with music playing; how, maybe at that same moment in some part of our country there was a widow standing alone by a graveside with only herself (all her friend's and family had passed on), the body of her spouse, a couple of cemetery workers and the minister in attendance and there was no fanfare or special music, yet her loss,, to her,,, was crushing and deeply profound - but most people would never know of the loss of her lifelong partner and would never hear her husband's name. Just the way it is.......... -- -- =----- Good Flights! Cecil PP-ASEL Student-IASEL Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond! Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com "I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery - "We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet" - Cecil Day Lewis - |
#3
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On a side note: I can't claim to be one of Regan's political fans, but watching his draped casket come down the stairs with his widow waiting was indeed a somber moment,, looking at Nancy standing in the rain under the umbrella. While watching the latter, I did encounter a curious errant thought that passed through my mind while watching that casket being carried down the steps with music playing; how, maybe at that same moment in some part of our country there was a widow standing alone by a graveside with only herself (all her friend's and family had passed on), the body of her spouse, a couple of cemetery workers and the minister in attendance and there was no fanfare or special music, yet her loss,, to her,,, was crushing and deeply profound - but most people would never know of the loss of her lifelong partner and would never hear her husband's name. Just the way it is.......... There are too many such lonely people looking at caskets, at holes in the ground. I'm not sure the presence of others nearby makes their grief less profound, just more public. Some of us are luckier than others, we have lovers and friends, and in this forum at least many of us have felt the load on the wheels lighten as the wind lifts us, and as John Gillespie Magee Jr. wrote, touched the face of God. All of us know this poem, but from time to time it's worth rereading. Here it is. "High Flight" Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God. |
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All of us know this poem, but from time to time it's worth rereading.
"High Flight" Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God. Thanks, Tony. FYI: Dwayne O'Brien (Grammy-award-winning musician, accomplished aerobatic pilot) has put "High Flight" to music. His rendition takes an already touching poem and adds a musical poignancy that's hard to describe. I highly recommend his disk of flying music. It's one of the six CDs playing in our lobby 24/7. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#5
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I'll have to check that out. The late, John Denver, put the poem to music
in one of his albums as well. -- -- =----- Good Flights! Cecil PP-ASEL Student-IASEL Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond! Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com "I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery - "We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet" - Cecil Day Lewis - |
#6
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I'll have to check that out.
Hear a one-minute sample of it at http://www.flightsongrecords.com/sample.htm Click on "High Flight"... -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#7
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#8
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[much cut] All of us know this poem, but from time to time it's worth rereading. "High Flight" I've come to prefer works such as: An Irish Airman Foresees His Death by William Butler Yeats I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love; My country is Kiltartan Cross, My countrymen Kiltartan's poor, No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before. Nor law nor duty bade me fight, Nor public men, nor cheering crowds, A lonely impulse of delight Drove to this tumult in the clouds; I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance with this life, this death. Although I appreciated reading this, the mental attitude it suggests is inconsistant with most pilots I've been privilged to know. My thoughts flow more to how amasingly lucky I have been to live my life in these times. |
#9
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On 13 Jun 2004 01:25:41 GMT, emoove (tony)
wrote: inconsistant with most pilots I've been privilged to know. Well, Yeats was a poet, not a pilot all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com Viva Bush! www.vivabush.org |
#10
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tony wrote:
An Irish Airman Foresees His Death by William Butler Yeats I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love; My country is Kiltartan Cross, My countrymen Kiltartan's poor, No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before. Nor law nor duty bade me fight, Nor public men, nor cheering crowds, A lonely impulse of delight Drove to this tumult in the clouds; I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance with this life, this death. Although I appreciated reading this, the mental attitude it suggests is inconsistant with most pilots I've been privilged to know. But then how many Irish airmen fighting for the British in World War I have you been privileged to know? ; I'd say it reflects very powerfully the feelings of a number of combat pilots, especially those who fought to defend another nation against its enemies. I feel that I know exactly what Yeats is saying, though this poem, and several others which Yeats wrote in memory of his friend Major Robert Gregory, carries more meaning than any one of us is likely impart to it out of his own experience -- like all good writing. See: http://ireland.wlu.edu/landscape/Group1/index.htm http://ireland.wlu.edu/landscape/Gro...rt_gregory.htm "Robert Gregory, the son of W.B.Yeats's friend Lady Gregory, was a well-rounded man. He studied at Harrow, New College, and the Slade, and he excelled at bowling, boxing, and horseback riding. He worked in Jacques Blanche's design studio and had his own exhibition of paintings in Chelsea in 1914. In 1915, he joined the war effort and became a member of the 4th Connaught Rangers. He then transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1916, and he became Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1917. Gregory earned a Military Cross 'for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.' He died tragically at the age of thirty-seven when an Italian pilot mistakenly shot him down. "Robert Gregory's death had an lasting effect on Yeats, who wrote four poems about him: 'In Memory of Major Robert Gregory,' http://www.bartleby.com/148/2.html 'An Irish Airman foresees his Death,' http://www.bartleby.com/148/3.html 'Shepherd and Goatherd,' http://www.poetryconnection.net/poet...ler_Yeats/1530 'Reprisals' [If you find a copy on line, _please_ share the URL] ----------------- Jack "All things can tempt me from this craft of verse One time it was a woman’s face, or worse The seeming needs of my fool-driven land." -- All Things Can Tempt Me, William Butler Yeats |
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