Bullhunter
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318th FIS Jet Shop 1975-78
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Post by Bullhunter on Feb 10, 2010 12:12:13 GMT 9
Just awesome.
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Post by Jeff Shannon on Feb 10, 2010 22:56:09 GMT 9
Thanks to Barney Barnes for forwarding - this is a keeper. Capt Jerry Coffee, USN (ret) wrote:
One night during a bombing raid on Hanoi , I peeked out of my cell and watched a flight of four F-105s during their bombing run. As they pulled up, it was obvious that lead was badly hit. Trailing smoke, he broke from the formation and I watched the damaged bird until it disappeared from sight. I presumed the worst. As I lay there in my cell reflecting on the image, I composed a toast to the unfortunate pilot and all the others who had gone before him.
On New Year's Eve 1968, Captain Tom Storey and I were in the Stardust section of Hoa Lo (wa-low) Prison. I whispered the toast under the door to Tom. Tom was enthralled, and despite the risk of terrible punishment, insisted that I repeat it several more times until he had it committed to memory. He then promised me that when the time came, and they were again free men, he would give the toast at the first Dining-In he attended. For you civilians, a “Dining-In” is a dreary formal affair with drinks, dinner, and forced joviality and comradeship where officers get to dress up like the head waiters in "The Merry Widow" -- that's the American version; I've heard that the Brits, who created the damn things, have a rollicking good time. Tom's first assignment following release in 1973 was to the U.S. Air Force Academy. During that same year the Academy hosted the Annual Conference for General Officers and Those Associated Dining-In. The jovial clinking of glasses accompanied all the traditional speeches and toasts. Then it was Tom's turn. Remembering his promise so many years earlier, he proposed Jerry's "One More Roll." When he was finished there was total silence.
We toast our hearty comrades,
who have fallen from the sky,
and were gently caught by God’s own hands
to be with him on high.
To dwell among the soaring clouds
they have known so well before,
from victory roll to tail chase
at heavens’ very door.
And as we fly among them there,
we're sure to hear their plea:
Take care, my friend,
Watch your six,
and do one more roll for me.
A toast to all our comrades -- POWs, missing in action, living or dead, whatever their duty, whatever their war, whatever their uniform. Bless them all.
Pat P.
Thanks Pat, reading the toast sent chills up my spine!! :salute :salute
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Post by Jim on Feb 11, 2010 1:28:36 GMT 9
Were this to be set to music, it would be as tearful as "Amazing Grace", and a fitting prayer for all military, not just pilots.......... Thanks Pat. The Old Sarge
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Post by jimpadgett on Feb 11, 2010 4:12:13 GMT 9
Thank You for sharing that Pat.
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Post by jimpadgett on Feb 11, 2010 7:15:48 GMT 9
A exCoast Guard friend of mine suggested this:
The Coast Guard guys like this one to be read at special occasions
Alfred Tennyson, Lord Tennyson Crossing the Bar
SUNSET and evening star, And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness or farewell, When I embark; For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.
Semper Paratus Iustus In Theca
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