Free Republic

LANCASTER [CALIFORNIA]- For the men and women flown in to the Antelope Valley to accept a little marble-and-brass immortality on the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor, flying is all it was ever about. Each of those attending Saturday's ceremonies expressed love for the bright sunshine and clear blue skies over Edwards Air Force Base. Each knew the joy of the high-flying exploits best described in Tom Wolfe's classic of narrative journalism, "The Right Stuff," which celebrated the calculated cool, courage and humor of test pilots and astronauts. Ask retired Col. Joe Schiele. He piloted the C-141 Starlifter jet transport on...

LANCASTER - Lancaster's 15th annual Aerospace Walk of Honor festivities - set for the third anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - will combine honors for those who served in the skies above the Antelope Valley with remembrance of that tragic day and its significance. "Three years ago, on Sept. 11, the United States was attacked by terrorists in a way we never imagined," Mayor Frank Roberts said. "In the weeks, months and now years since the attacks, Americans have been reminded of the liberty that we enjoy and the price it costs to preserve that liberty." With the...

LANCASTER - The five latest additions to Lancaster's Aerospace Walk of Honor will bring to 70 the number of aviation pioneers honored since the walk's inception in 1990. The experience of this year's honorees - James D. Eastham, Robert C. Little, Bruce Peterson, the late Russell M. "Rusty" Roth and Rogers Smith - all flew in the skies above the Antelope Valley during their careers in a series of firsts. Eastham tested and developed the world's first three Mach 3-plus aircrafts, the A-12, YF-12A and SR-71 Blackbird and Little took the F-101A Voodoo supersonic on its very first flight at...