Major Gregory D. Young
Oregon Air Guard
Posted on 06/27/2007 9:38:17 AM PDT by jazusamo
The pilot who was killed when his F-15A that crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Tillamook head Tuesday has been identified as Maj. Gregory D. Young, 34, St. Helens, Ore.
Oregon Air National Guard identified Young in a news release this morning.
"On behalf of the 142nd Fighter Wing. the Portland Air Base, and the Oregon Air National Guard, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family of our fallen Airman. He was a very talented young man with many years of dedicated service to the protection of the freedoms we enjoy today. He will be deeply missed by our entire Air National Guard family" said Col. Steven D. Gregg, Commanding Officer, 142nd Fighter Wing.
U.S. Coast Guard announced earlier this morning that it had recovered the remains of the pilot, whose plane spiraled into the Pacific Ocean off Tillamook Head during training exercises, overnight.
More information about the recovery is expected to be released at a press conference scheduled for 9 a.m.
"It's hard, it's really hard right now," Maj. Misti Mazzia, Air Guard spokeswoman said this morning.
Young's F-15A went down during an air combat training exercise pitting four Oregon fighter pilots against Texas Marines.
The search involving Coast Guard cutters and helicopters and other military planes started right after Young's plane went down Tuesday about 1:30 p.m. and went into the night.
Searchers looked through an area 50 miles west of Cannon Beach where a "significant debris field" was found, said Capt. Mike Braibish of the Oregon National Guard.
The crash occurred under mostly clear skies. Young was flying with three-other Portland based pilots training with Fort Worth, Texas-based Marine Corps Reserve pilots flying four F/A-18 Hornets.
All the other jets returned safely to Portland. Mazzia would not say Tuesday if any other planes were damaged.
In July 2004, two U.S. Marine Reserve pilots flying out of the Portland Air Base died while training near Arlington in Eastern Oregon after their two F/A-18 jets collided. A third pilot survived with minor injuries. The three men were from the San Diego-based Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 134.
The area off the Oregon Coast is a routine training ground for pilots based in Portland; the Texas pilots had been training with the Oregon Guard for about two weeks.
On Tuesday, Braibish said the pilot of the downed plane and three other pilots each were flying an F-15 out of the Portland base in a combat drill about 1:35 p.m., squaring off against the four F/A-18 Hornets in standard combat training maneuvers.
After the crash, Col. Steve Gregg, the commander of the 142nd Fighter Wing, said two Air Guard F15s patrolled the air above the site.
The U.S. Coast Guard searched the area using a HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Astoria; a HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from North Bend; and a Coast Guard C-130 Hercules from Sacramento. The cutters, Active from Astoria, and Osprey from Port Townsend, Wash., also helped.
The Coast Guard originally believed a pilot in a second F-15 saw the pilot of the downed jet eject, but later said the second pilot had not witnessed the ejection, Eggert said.
The Oregon Air National Guard base in Northeast Portland is home to 19 F-15 fighter jets. Their mission is air defense of the Pacific Northwest from Canada to Northern California.
RIP Maj. Young, thank you for your service
God Bless him and his family.
God bless our defenders, and may He keep the fallen in His loving care.
And may their nation always be worthy of their sacrfice.
Many times, I have watched the ANG aircraft landing and taking off at Portland International. Such a spectacular sight to watch the F-15s and occasionally other aircraft joining them for maneuvers. Always wondered about them as they disappeared up into the haze over the coast....
RIP Major Young. One of America’s finest.
I was just reading one of the articles.
Sighh.
Blue Skies and Tailwinds.
What frosts my ass is all the "heartfelt" tributes to the Iraq fallen that the media provides. All the major media have databases on their websuites. It's all BS because it's just transparent politics on their part.
Maj Young paid the same high price to be ready to defend us, yet you'll never see a drop of ink from the New York Times/Washington Post or a second of airtime by CNN/ANC/NBC/CBS/MSLSD in rememberance of this Airman or the many others like him.
Next time you see some moonbat qioting the number of fallen, reading names, holding a vigil, ask how many American POWs are their from the Iraq war. They won't have a clue. It's not part of their script.
Thank you for your sacrifice and service Maj Young.
Agreed...The only coverage that I saw on this was local Portland and a couple of short AP pieces in OR and WA papers. It should have been national news.
We just prayed on the air for the soul of Maj. Gregory D. Young and his family.I saw this ping just in time,Fatima
R.I.P. Good Major. go with G-d.
I knew Maj.Young. I worked on his jets in Mtn. Home, which was his previous assignment. This is the risk one runs flying for the military, but he as a Great guy, and he will be missed. Thanks Grumpy for your service to our country. Once a Boar always a Boar!
-SRA Schave
Thank you for your post and welcome to Free Republic, cschave.
Were all going to miss you at the 142nd ‘Grumpy.’ Will everyone remember him and his family in your thoughts. Fly Free and rest in Peace Major Greg “Grumpy” Young.
From the 173d at Kingsley Grumpy and his family are in our thoughts and prayers too!
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Thank you for your post and welcome to Free Republic, Hawkeye84B.
Thank you for your post, Archie Bunker on steroids.
Friends and family honor pilot killed in F-15A crash
Video-KATU 2
Eulogy for a shining, fallen star
Military pomp, heartfelt speeches -- even some humor -- celebrate the life of Maj. Greg Young
Friday, July 06, 2007
MARK LARABEE
The Oregonian Staff
ST. HELENS -- When Gov. Ted Kulongoski spoke Thursday at the memorial service for Oregon Air National Guard Maj. Gregory Dean Young, excellence was an appropriate description for a man at the cutting edge of a dangerous and demanding profession.
Young died June 26 when his F-15 Eagle jet crashed off the Oregon coast during a combat training flight. He was 34. His death ended a life filled with dedication to family, friends and country.
From the stories told by friends and comrades to a packed gym at St. Helens High School, it was always Young's place in life to shine. He was an honors graduate at St. Helens and went on to Oregon State University, where he earned a degree in civil engineering, again graduating with honors. He was commissioned by the Air Force through the university's ROTC program and was selected to attend the prestigious Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. He went on to be a program instructor.
Reflecting on these lofty accomplishments from such a young man, Kulongoski reminded people that Young knew and accepted the risks of his job willingly because he was a patriot and a dedicated pilot.
"Only by taking risks with his own life would he be ready to defend our nation from the risks presented by our enemies and from terrorism," Kulongoski said. "Major Greg Young was an Oregon Air National Guard pilot who fell from the sky but who will never fall from his true place of honor nor from our loving grace."
The cause of the crash, which happened while the veteran pilot and others from the Portland-based 142nd Fighter Wing were dogfighting with Marine Corps pilots from Texas, is under investigation.
The father of four was a St. Helens native. Friends and family mixed with a sea of Air Force blue during the ceremony colored by photographs, military pomp and meaningful speeches.
Photos of his life flashed on a big screen. They showed him with his wife, Tonya, and children, Dane, Gage, Chandley and Kaitlyn. They showed him holding large salmon, freshly killed deer and birds. And there were a few from the cockpit.
An Air Force color guard marching to the somber tune of a single bagpipe carried in his ashes, setting them prominently on a table with flowers and two folded American flags. A minister read a prayer.
Addressing Young's parents, David and Carol Young, and St. Helens at large, Kulongoski said: "Who he was, you made him. How he lived, you taught him."
Major Gen. Raymond Rees, who heads the Oregon National Guard, said Young's unit had gone 18 years without a fatality and had flown a combined 77,000 hours without a mishap.
"Why couldn't that have gone on forever?" he asked. "In losing Greg we are given a painful reminder that ours is a dangerous business but is a danger we must accept if we are to secure our rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness."
Aaron Vance, a friend since age 12, said Young approached friendship with 100 percent dedication. The two lived together in college, and Vance joked that he never needed an alarm clock because Young was up at 5:30 a.m. every day for ROTC training.
"And he was whistling," Vance said. "If you've ever heard him whistling, it wasn't a pretty sound."
Both Vance and another friend, Josh Komp, said Young was truly humble. When they would ask about the Air Force or flying jets, Young would always turn the conversation back to them, or talk about his own family. He never bragged.
"Greg was like a brother to so many of us," Komp said.
Young was posthumously awarded the Air Force Meritorious Service Award and the Oregon Exceptional Service Award. Outside, on the football field, he was honored with a 21-gun salute. A bugler played taps, and his wife and parents were given folded U.S. flags.
Above them, four F-15s flew by slow and loud, a space for a fifth left empty in Young's honor on the right wing of the formation. As the jets passed overhead, one turned straight up, lit the burners and disappeared into blue sky.
Thank you for this, jaz. Prayers up for this defender’s family.
It is sad....today the 173’d recieved the remains of a young marine killed in Iraq. All present on base were asked to stand in formation as the casket went by....these young troops need to know what this is all about.
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