Posted on 09/17/2004 10:52:14 AM PDT by islander-11
Due to extensive damaged caused by Hurricane Ivan to Pensacola, Fla., the hometown of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, the precision flying team’s scheduled performances at the Nantucket Air Show this weekend have been canceled.
At a press conference Friday at the Nantucket Inn, Nantucket Airport Commission Chairman Foley Vaughan announced that all of the Blue Angel’s performances have been canceled, but that the rest of the air show – including aerobatics performances and wingwalking demonstrations – will go on as scheduled.
“Due to Hurricane Ivan and the devastating losses suffered in Pensacola, Fla., the Blue Angels have been forced to cancel their portion of the Nantucket Air Show,” Vaughan said. “Their concerns are now about the well-being of their families and their personal property. The distress this cancellation causes us here pales in comparison to the distress the Blue Angels and their families are presently experiencing.”
Blue Angels Commander Russ Bartlett, who was a driving force in bringing the act to island where he grew up, also answered questions at the press conference and expressed regret about having to cancel the show.
“Things have just started to flow out of Pensacola and almost all of the structures on our base were damaged or destroyed,” Bartlett said. “Eighty percent of our personnel have houses there and five of our families’ homes have been destroyed as well. The best word I can come up with is unprecedented.”
Bartlett added that the remainder of the Blue Angel’s performances for the season have been canceled, and that on the orders of the Commanding Officer of the Naval Education and Training Command, Vice Admiral Harms, he and the rest of his staff were headed for New Orleans immediately to get back to their families.
“The Nantucket Air Show, its planned events, including all additional performances, will go on as scheduled,” Vaughan said. “The Friday evening barbecue at Sankaty Head Beach Club and the Gala Event at the Nantucket Memorial Airport Terminal will also take place as scheduled.”
Commander Russ Bartlett, the leader of the Blue Angels, made this air show happen. He was one of my childhood friends. He and his family left the Island when he was about 13. Russ went to the Naval Academy, then to Pensicola for flight school. He flew off the deck of the Teddy Roosevelt in the first Gulf War (100 plus sorties). He then went to the Naval War College, where he helped develop the Predator drone. Now he heads up the greatest flying group in the world.
When I got to see him after all these years, I thanked him for his service and for making me feel like a complete loser...
On one of the four days the Angels perform, we rent a ferry and take the wives of the Blue Angels out on Lake Washington. Up on the bow of the ship, we put two huge blue flags so the pilots know exactly which boat to show off to.
I have to say....I don't think I'll ever forget this years performance. At one point the Solo did a high speed pass about 75 feet off the bow of the ship....we could see the shock wave forming on his wings.
Those airframes are just beautiful.
I'm a little old for hero worship, I suppose, but Russ is a true American hero.
I know that the Armed Forces of this great country are filled with heroes. I am grateful for all of them, past and present. They are all in my prayers as well.
It pisses me off so much to see the venom of the left directed at the people that put it all on the line to keep us safe.
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