On the flight line at Whiting Field {long ago and far away - Fall of 1961 to be precise} was a small Blue & Gold sign setting forth naval aviation's modified statement of the rule, to wit, 'The sky, like the sea, is not inherently dangerous, it is merely unforgiving'. The fatality rate during the nine months I was there underscored the point - even for a nineteen year old MarCad who considered such events to be Naval Air Breaks.
Whiting Field?
Was that the one in south Alabama?