Jack Devine

My Feedback: (6)

The Boeing Museum of Flight in Seattle is paying a special tribute to the men of VMF 214 the Black Sheep this Memorial Day weekend and I spent the day down there yesterday. I had the privilage of meeting 13 men from the original Blacksheep Squadron. My wife and I sat through a 2 1/2 hour panel discussion with members of 214 that served under Greg Boyington telling about the experiences they had in the campaign to take the Solomon Islands on the way to Japan in 1943 and 1944. Most of these men are well into their eighties and I was humbled to see many of them come to the point of tears as they talked to us about those terrible days during WWII. I also saw that fire that burns in all Military pilots and how proud these men are of who they are, of the contributions they made, and the price they paid to defend this country and keep us free.

They talked about life as fighter pilots in the south pacific and the terrible living conditions and the hardships they faced. One of them Retired Col Bruce Mathison told us about the mission they flew that claimed Pappy Boyington and how difficult it was for all of them to loose their leader. They did't find out until much later that Boyington had survived and they talked about the big reunion they all had at the end of the war. Col Mathison described Boyington as a hardcore leader and in his opinion the finest fighter pilot this country has ever had. His leadership had kept many of them alive and it was really fitting to see those men honor a man that they new and loved and one that had showed them how to survive in a fighter.

Each of these men signed a print of a Corsair parked on an airstrip in the South Pacific for me and it will occupy a special place in my Warbird room. It's a treasure and a reminder of what it cost to keep this country free. I'd like to take a moment and Salute the veterans of our Armed Forces this holiday weekend and say thank you. Too often they are forgotten and it's sad that more of our young people don't take time to find out what a real hero is and what they gave when this country called on them to serve. May God bless and keep each of you.
Jack Devine

SDCrashmaster

Here, here! I second that!
True heros one and all.
Paul

t_burley

My Feedback: (59)

Nice,
Thats nice Jack, I had the privalege last weekend at an airshow
here locally to meet a couple of the Tuskeegee Airmen. That in itself was a wonderful experince, I got them to sign a book for me. I was able to talk with the both of them for almost an hour, and having them tell me wonderfull as well as said stories that they had endured. These are men that soon will not be with any longer, and these are great times and memories for me to have.

Todd

stevta

My Feedback: (1)

Todd and Jack,

This was great for both of you, please pass down your experiences to the younger generations and take pride that you are personally responsible for promoting the heros who have served us so well.
Thanks
Steve

JohnVH

My Feedback: (38)

Wow, that is cool, if I knew about that I may have drove down.

Hey Jack, load up them pictures and your trailer full of planes and come up to our big bird event in bellingham at our Bell Air field, look in the calander for details.

Or anyone else in the state for that matter, itll be fun!

Davis

Thanks for your story on the visit with the Black Sheep. I still enjoy the re-runs on TV, as true as they may be. Over the weekend I went to the Castle AFB fly-in. They have an excellent air museum. On Memorial Day, the museum had open cockpit day on their aircraft. It was excellent with SR-71 pilot telling stories, with many others, and my favorite a B-17 pilot. He was also in his eighties, and was shot down over Germany by flack. The B-17 turbochargers were not working right on his aircraft was 1000’ below the others. Flack killed the Co-pilot, bombardier, and flight engineer. Knocked the nose off the airplane and took out three engines. He bailed out and spent few years in a German POW camp. This was before the fighter support times. It was great to have his show us his favorite airplane. In his word “THE BEST AIRPLANE EVER MADE.” I got to sit in the pilots seat with a real B-17 pilot in the other seat. I think he was 21 years old at the time. To add to his story his son was a B-52 pilot in Vietnam and was telling his stories at the 52. Castle AFB air museum next Memorial Day, I’ll be there.

bmustang

My Feedback: (4)

Jack, very well said. 2 years ago I had the privilege of meeting 9 of the Tuskegee Airmen, including Lee Archer and Roscoe Brown at an event at the Bradley Air Museum in Connecticut. At the book signing I got all their autographs and said a special "Thank You" to each one. Nowadays I say "Thank You" whenever I meet a WWII vet because I was born during that war and was one of the babies whose future they were fighting to save. I have had a good life because of what they did and it has occurred to me what a nightmarish world this would have been if the Axis powers had ever won WWII. Thanks to the sacrifices that "greatest of generations" made, the nightmare never happened.

But eternal vigilance remains the price of liberty and human nature being what it is, new threats to our liberty exist. And a new generation of heroes is rising to the challenge. The spirit of the kind of people who make this country great will not die. God Bless America and especially the excellent men and women who defend her and those who protect our lives and property.

Tom