“…ENOUGH TO BURY THOSE THAT DID NOT RETURN”

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying:

“Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.”

Gilbert “Gil” Brice
May 15, 1927 – April 11, 2009

Charles Nelson Valentine
January 8, 1925 – January 6, 2009

William R. “Bill” Hartill
August 24, 1924 – December 12, 2008

Charles Evans Miller
July 4, 1932 – October 10, 2007

Jerri Lyn Fleishman
December 12, 1946 – June 29, 2007

Col. Bob Reiss, 1939-2005
A biography of the late Robert E. Reiss,
member and benefactor of our Wing.

Col. Joseph “Joe” Peppito, 1924-2015

MSgt Jari A. Villanueva, USAF Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

“TAPS”
Day is done…
Gone the sun…
From the lake…
From the hills…
From the sky…
All is well…
Safely rest…
God is nigh.
Thanks and praise…
For our days…
‘Neath the sun…
‘Neath the stars…
‘Neath the sky…
As we go…
This we know…
God is nigh.

Missing Man Monument, Hawaii

An American cemetery in France

Flanders Field
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved.
And now we lie In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch! Be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep,
Though poppies grow… In Flanders Fields.
by John McCrae, 1915

“And high above the fray the lonely bugler grieves”
Greenville Mellen,
“Ode on the Celebration of the Battle of Bunker Hill”Lord, guard and guide the men and women who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair;
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!

WE REMEMBER…

Col. Gilbert Brice
Col. Sharon Wilson
Col. Annie Valentine
Col. Vern Gibson
Col. Keith Wester
Col. Charles Miller
Col. Kenneth “K.D.” Johnson
Col. Merle Smith
Col. Malcomb Stratford
Col. Jerri Fleishman

Col. Charles Valentine
Col. Frank “Buddy” Joffrion
Col. Robert E. Reiss
Col. Clint Yoakam
Col. Bill Wachter
Col. Phil Most
Col. Bill Benner
Col. Edward James “Jim” Modes
Col. Jim Tierney
Col. Les Bedding

Col. Bill Hart
Col. Phil Eatherton
Col. Charles W. “Chuck” Lefever
Col. Jack Ferdinand
Col. Robert Herbert Jacobson
Col. Bill Mains
Col. Cliff Brown
Col. Joe Peppito