Posted on 10/07/2006 9:42:02 PM PDT by SmithL
Thousands of onlookers, from toddlers to seniors, gathered along San Francisco's waterfront Saturday under brilliant skies to watch aerial stunts and precision flying as part of Fleet Week.
"We've come every year for four years," said Erron Garibay, 32, of Antioch as he sat with his wife, Dawn, and their three children, ages 5 through 12.
"It's just togetherness, bringing our kids out here to let them see all the jets and everything our military has," Garibay said.
The events continue today with an Italian Heritage Parade from Fisherman's Wharf to North Beach beginning at 12:30 p.m., followed by an air show at 1 p.m. that will again feature the Navy's flying team.
After arriving from Chicago for a vacation with two friends from grammar school, Pat Gilbert, 66, of Loda, Ill., essentially stumbled onto Saturday's event -- which included a parade of U.S. and Canadian warships and had the Blue Angels as its centerpiece.
"We didn't know it was scheduled until we heard them yesterday practicing," Gilbert said as she and her friends reclined on a park bench. "The Blue Angels are in Chicago every summer, but when you live in Chicago you don't go down to watch -- there's a million people there. But this is nice."
Roland Laureta, 23, of San Francisco, an airport security staffer at San Francisco International Airport, stood smiling as the air show got under way.
"There's just something about the Blue Angels," Laureta said. "When they do that head-on one -- one's coming this way and one's coming that way -- and they just break off at the last second, it's pretty cool."
Laura Clark, of the Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California, watched the aerial display as she handed out free earplugs to attendees.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I'm shocked that the peace-loving City of San Francisco would allow such a blatant display of warmongering, imperialist fascism within it's borders! (sarcasm) The lefties outhere must be throwing a fit.
After all, didn't they reject the docking of the USS Iowa on it's waterfront because it was a symbol of war?
No seamen jokes, please.
Those are some great pictures!
Off the blotter: A group of Marines in town for Fleet Week was walking along the waterfront Monday night when a woman jumped into the bay near Pier 19.
The 11 Marines leaped into action, forming a human chain, dangling from the rotting pier and using their belts to reach the woman.
Somehow they managed to bring her back to land, where she was taken by ambulance for treatment and psychiatric evaluation at San Francisco General Hospital.
That done, the unassuming Marines went back to their night on the town.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/08/BAGS3LL5AC1.DTL
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