Well, at least he had the ba!!s to apologize. However, you would think that a Navy man and Viet vet would have a little more "tolerance" and appreciation, especially living near an air base.
I've never been in the military (4F), but I live in close proximity to 1.) a major Army installation and 2.) a major Air Force base. It is not unusual to have my house literally shaken, for hours at a time- at all hours of the day and night- by the howitzer explosions from our troops training at the Army base. The concussions are so heavy that I shrugged off the last major earthquake we had here as probably just some of the army training explosions- until the shaking lasted way longer than any series of artillery shells last.
Being in the flight path of the Air Force base, we are constantly having fighter jets, C-130's, C-117's, etc. flying over. A small four-ship contingent of F-16s making a flyover would hardly catch any attention here.
Many times, when listening to the explosions or aircraft at 1:00 am at night, I think "there's the sound of Freedom again". I am not in the least discomfited by the sounds and I would never write a noise complaint about any of it. I'm rather proud of the fact that we have the finest military on this planet, and if it means putting up with a little noise sometimes, it's worth it. Beats having the explosions and rifle fire in our local streets coming from those who would take our freedom away from us.
I'm certain that Mr. MacRae regrets writing his letter now, but maybe he should have had a little patience and remembered back to his days of active service. And if he doesn't like the "noise" of being close to an air base, then maybe he should consider moving.
And I really appreciate Lt. Col Scott Pleus' well-tempered response to Mr. MacRae's ill-thought diatribe.
My greatest and heartfelt gratitude and thanks go out to all of the men and women- and their families- who are serving their country and laying their lives on the line so that people like Mr. MacRae can live quietly without having the explosions of the enemy artillery and flyovers of enemy aircraft disturb his morning coffee.
It never ceases to amaze me, the hutzpa of a-holes who move next to an airport, military base, racetrack or other "noisy" facility, and then who complain unceasingly about said noise.
As a great philosopher once said, "What a maroon!".
Not only that, but you'd think that having been a Vietnam Vet (like John Kerry, right?) he'd have recognized the formation. It isn't like they started the tradition yesterday.