Wow. Kind of bittersweet in remembering right now. Our youngest son was a Cherry Point Marine some years ago. He joined the USMC just after 9/11 as a 17 year old high school senior, going to Boot Camp after graduation and then on to Cherry Point and two deployments in Iraq in dangerous times.
The other day he quietly said to us, “It is 15 years ago today that I arrived in Afghanistan.” After his four years of active Marine duty he went to Bagram Air Base for a year as a DOD contractor. He won’t talk much at all about those years. We are so thankful he came home, but we HURT for all those who did not come home alive and well. He has been very sad this past week.
Send him my personal salute. I’m a Cherry Point veteran. I fixed a Blue Angel (Phantom) once that was having troubles there. I remember an air show put on for the troops and their families. We were all on the edge of the flight line. Spectacular! A captain from our squadron roared down the runway at extremely low altitude, kicked it up 45 degrees and did a climbing spiral. I still imagine the amount of g’s he pulled that day for the crowd. He earned my respect. A Harrier pilot did some things only helicopters are capable of. I even got to debrief a two star one time, lol.
Please pass on My Thank You to Him for His Service.