October 12-16

I wanted to keep this section separate since it deals with Brian's flight over the Air Force Memorial...

On Thursday, Oct 12, we met Brian in Washington. After dinner we went to the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. It was a BEAUTIFUL night to walk around and look at the monuments.

On Friday there was a “rehearsal” for the ceremony that would take place on Saturday. We went to the south parking lot of the Pentagon and watched the practice. It was another beautiful day! After that Brian met up with us and he got to visit inside the Pentagon! We were showing him our photos and the video of the “rehearsal” and an armed guard came up and asked us if we were taking pictures of the Pentagon! We explained what we were doing and showed him the photos. Then we all had a great conversation for about 15 minutes! After that we walked up to the Air Force Memorial and met up with Grandma Etta, Aunt Betty and Uncle Joe. We talked and talked at their hotel while we waited for Faith and Leon and Siena to get there. Then we had a nice dinner together.

On Saturday, Oct 14, we took the subway to the Pentagon metro stop and walked the very short distance to the Pentagon South Parking Lot for the Air Force Open House and to get seats for the Dedication Ceremony. We got to walk into an Osprey through the back “door” and out the front. We were allowed to spend as much time as we wanted and to view the cockpit. Ditto for a big CH-47 helicopter. They had 40,000 chairs set up and expected 60,000 people in the South Parking Lot. The really important people were actually up at the Monument for the ceremony. There were lots of big screens and lots of speakers so that we could see and hear the Dedication Ceremony very well.

When it was time for the fly-over, an Air Force Officer read a dialog while the Air Force Band played music written especially for this ceremony. It was VERY VERY well done! The first plane to fly over was the PT-17 Stearman, and it took FOREVER to get across! The other planes followed as the officer read the appropriate words. The planes were:
T-6 (WWII trainer) and T-6A (current propeller driven trainer); B-17 and B-24 (WWII bombers); C-47 (cargo plane which flew “over the hump”); B-2 (WOW!! Stealth Bomber that is almost invisible on the horizon); then the best of them all, the C-17 (which needs no explanation!); then a flight of 4 fighter airplanes (P-51 WWII fighter, F-86 Korean War fighter), F-15 (Desert Storm fighter) and the F-22 (newest fighter). After that the Thunderbirds flew over in a 6 plane diamond formation which was beautiful. Then, after the President “dedicated” the Memorial, four Thunderbirds did a “high bomb-burst” with smoke and a fifth plane went up the center through their smoke. The purpose of this was to imitate the actual Memorial which is 3 beautiful silver metal spires that look like the upwards flight of an airplane. The whole ceremony was great!

After the ceremony we walked up to the Memorial to go inside. We were not allowed inside on Friday. Inside there are marble walls with inscriptions and quotes from Air Force officers. There is also a bronze 4 man “Honor Guard” with each man being 8 feet tall. All of the Air Force Medal of Honor winners are listed on another marble wall. The spires are definitely the focal point of the whole Memorial!

Brian flew away after his fly over to do “low levels” in the Appalachian Mountains and then some more training in South Carolina so we didn’t see him again.

On Sunday, Oct 15, we flew back to Columbus to come “home” to our motorhome.

We sure are proud of Brian and really enjoyed the weekend. We were happy to spend time with Grandma Etta and Betty and Joe. And we sure LOVED spending time with Siena and Faith and Leon!!