Posted on 12/09/2008 7:32:38 PM PST by dayglored
SAN DIEGO - A Korean immigrant who lost his wife, two children and mother-in-law when a Marine Corps jet slammed into the family's house said Tuesday he did not blame the pilot, who ejected and survived.
"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," a distraught Dong Yun Yoon told reporters gathered near the site of Monday's crash of an F/A-18D jet in San Diego's University City community.
"He is one of our treasures for the country," Yoon said in accented English punctuated by long pauses while he tried to maintain his composure.
"I don't blame him. I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could," said Yoon, flanked by members of San Diego's Korean community, relatives and members from the family's church.
Authorities said four people died when the jet crashed into the Yoon family's house...
Yoon named the victims as his infant daughter Rachel, who was born less than two months ago; his 15-month-old daughter Grace; his wife, Young Mi Yoon, 36; and her 60-year-old mother, Suk Im Kim, who he said had come to the United States from Korea recently to help take care of the children.
Fighting back tears, he said of his daughters: "I cannot believe that they are not here right now... I know there are many people who have experienced more terrible things," Yoon said. "But, please, tell me how to do it. I don't know what to do."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
The showed the location of the house on the news. It looks like it is at the top of a hill and behind it is an empty ravine. Looks like the pilot was aiming for the ravine and unfortunately couldn’t get the plane a little higher. Maybe 50-100 feet higher would have cleared the neighborhood.
This poor man, Mr. Yoon, who has lost his family deserves all the prayer and respect he can be given by all of us.
A military pilot in service to his country should not be placed in this situation. This air base was around for many years with more and more houses built close to it over time, making such a tragedy inevitable.
Amen.
Some of the best Americans are those that immigrate here legally. I feel bad for him.
Amen. He, his family and pilot are in our thoughts and prayers.
He has the heart of a true Christian...an inspiration for all. May God hold him in the palm of his hand.
You may be correct as well. I cannot imagine how one copes with such a tremendous loss.
The question to me is why wouldn't he bail out? He has done all he can to avert the crash, what good is served by him dying in the crash? We can't know for sure, but he might well have stayed with the aircraft to make sure it went down in a less populated area rather than downtown.
Mechanical things malfunction all the time. My toaster burned my bread to ashes the other day, I can't turn my TV off from the remote control any more and my car had a dead battery last month. It's just a lot more dramatic when it happens to a 20th century military aircraft.
That pilot represents a huge investment of taxpayer's resources. I don't think it makes sense for him to receive a death sentence because his aircraft developed mechanical problems and became unflyable.
It's certainly not my intention to take you to task for asking the question, but I feel there's more to it than just his decision to punch out and avoid certain death. My guess is he would had ridden the plane to the ground if he knew it would save those lives.
Thanks!
So, my post saying that perhaps God should have given the guy grace BEFORE the crash gets deleted (post #19) but this idiot can call me scum and it stays?
I'll post wherever I feel like it, thank you very much. You don't own this board. By the way, I'm not the one calling people scum.
Oh, my heart goes out to this poor man. What an unspeakable tragedy. God help him.
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Most Koreans here do.
You're right, I don't. The Admins, however, generally remove inappropriate comments from prayer request threads. And no it was not me who hit Abuse on your #19 comment.
> By the way, I'm not the one calling people scum.
True, and I thought MiniPax's namecalling was inappropriate, which is why I made my comment about please fight elsewhere.
Anyway, this little skirmish is over. For Mr. Yoon, on the other hand, a lifetime of grief has just begun, and we shall return to what really matters.
Why do you use the term “idiot?”
This incredible man makes me feel shame for all the petty annoyances in my life where I reacted in anger.
All of my prayers for the family.
God Bless Mr Yoon
My family prayed for him last night and we will remember him in our prayers.
He is what Christians and Americans should be.
I Thank him for his example.
Still searching for a memorial fund. No replies from the San Diego Union Tribune.
Prayer service
Pastors at Korean United Methodist Church of San Diego invite the public to attend a service for Don Yoon and his family
When: 7:30 p.m. today
Where: 3520 Mount Acadia Blvd., near Mount Abbey Avenue in Clairemont
Info: (858) 569-4069
Good find — Thank you!
Because anybody that calls me scum is an idiot.
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