tommy76

This was an email sent to me, that I thought was pretty good. God bless our troops!!



Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were.

A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.


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The complaint:


'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base:

Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special? Any response would be appreciated.


The response:

Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets' (Letters, Thursday):

On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship flyby of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques.. Capt. Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day.

At 9 a.m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of the flyby, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured.

A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the Air Force pays to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects.

The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air show?' The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr.

USAF

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Lock_it_Up

Wow. That guy who wrote the complaint is a fucking ass.

Even if wasn't a memorial service he still would be a dick head...who complains about jets flying over a shopping mall?

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KnowNothingGuy

Love that response. And it's not uncommon for jets to fly over that particular mall. The person that wrote the complaint needs to get a life.

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Trent_D

I don't think anyone could have replied to something like that any better than the Lt. Col. did.

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olinerules87

hope he feels like a dick after reading that response

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IronReload 04

damn good response

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MadenTexas

This reminds me of something I saw at Six Flags. While in line for a popular rollercoaster i noticed a young girl and her mother or relative sitting in the front car. They went for their ride and when they pulled back they seemed like they enjoyed it, no big deal. Well they never got up to load new passengers they decided to stay for a second go. Needless to say one particular person took it upon themselves to yell at the attendant saying that they already went and they needed to get off. Well this poor young attendant, no more than 18, walked over and politely said they some patrons were complaining and asked for them to leave. With a puzzled look on their face they agreed. The mother exited first and walked over the side platform where she brought back a wheelchair for her paralyzed daughter. Park policy stated that a severely handicap person can ride twice because of the long waiting lines. The young man apologized profusely asking her to stay. They politely refused stating that they didn't want to upset anyone else. Other than the young worker, no one else apologized.

Dante'sDisciple

damn liberal hippies always complaining about the military, when its our military that has given them the right to complain

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For every one hundred men you send us,
Ten should not even be here.
Eighty are nothing but targets.
Nine of them are real fighters;
We are lucky to have them, they the battle make.
Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior.
And he will bring the others back.
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Dante'sDisciple

that sounds like an honest mistake though. thats like when I am in the right turn lane and am honking at the car stalling in front of me when its a green light, only to realize someone was crossing the street, so I feel like a complete ass

but in this particular situation, it was blatantly obvious that some military operation was going on, and the tree hugger still had the nerve to complain. well that hippie can kiss my

__________________
For every one hundred men you send us,
Ten should not even be here.
Eighty are nothing but targets.
Nine of them are real fighters;
We are lucky to have them, they the battle make.
Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior.
And he will bring the others back.
- Heraclitus

the_warrior

^^what he said

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SuperD

I think everyone could work on their tolerance. Often it seems there are opportunities to become irrate that on many levels are legitimate and justified. However there is, I believe, a higher level...
A level where we realize that on any given day anyone can make a mistake, say something inappropriate, or in any other way step out of line.

Personally, I no longer stand in line with the first stone in hand.

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MadenTexas

Good point. Also, I personally love it when a multimillion dollar piece of aeronautical equipment flies low enough to make me appreciate its power and amazing decibel level. When I worked out on a navy base and the jets would take off it was some cool stuff.

brineal

WOW, im going to file this one under "crass and ignorant statement of the year" (i guess if we are going to be using derogatory terms to describe the democratic party then from now on, we'll call republicans imperialistic conservative fascists -- although both descriptions are a far cry from reality)

yes this guy was a total jackass, but i must have missed the part of the story where he identified himself as a "liberal hippie.." maybe you know him personally?...

im sorry to go off topic, but your comment has nothing to do with the topic and was probably better left unsaid..

Lock_it_Up

lol. I think DD was just poking fun. He's a military man, so I guess he gets tired of some stuff. I don't think he really wanted to start a morality debate or anything.

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"strap up or wrap up and get in position--then look down at the ground and grit your teeth whisper/mutter this to yourself and believe it--"Im the baddest motherfucker in this gym, Im a goddamn human forklift, and I own this shit"


My journal.

Beefsalad

Everybody needs to chill out. Why do so many people sweat the small stuff? Anyway that story about the f-16s is just an example of someone that is miserable with too much time on their hands. What purpose was that letter going to serve anyway?

brineal

im not too worried about it, its not really that big of a deal. it was just ignorant and had nothing to do with the story or discussion, so i dont really feel it had anyplace being said.

btech

Good observation. Although, I myself enjoy the stereotypes.

I tell people that cuz I can squat 400 and deadlift 500, there's no way possible that I am a liberal. But, I have an excellent taste in music as well as perfect pitch, so there is no way I am a conservative But, they're just stereotypes....

Besides, who said the one who made the complaint is a man? When reading the complaint, I myself pictured the person as a woman or an overly sassy man.

eggwhites

I agree.

Writing a complaint about the jets = liberal hippie? Come on now...

Going back to the topic though, very good response from the Lt.

teezlr

If four jets flew over me at 500ft the only thing I would be doing is screaming and jumping up and down with an adrenaline rush!!!

TimB

Well said. It's so easy to get irate, and so hard sometimes to be patient. Yet in a couple of examples in this thread (the rollercoaster and the F16s flying in formation) the patience would have been so much better a response.

theskaz

I stayed in Luke AFB for a while. We were acting as insurgents for the seals and recon. 4 nights one week we were "raided" by the special forces. I'm sure someone bitched about that. 2am 10 CH-46s 6 CH-53s inserting and extracing sailors/marines.... good times.

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jesus rocks

You've made alot of good posts over the last couple of years but this one takes the cake. Great post man.

I have tried very hard to REMAIN on that level. It seems that life has a way of trying to pull you off of it.

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