It is so exciting to see all the faces in the audience this week. So y’all, to my PA, help him out, help him out.Īll right, so hello AFA. Maybe some DMX, but it has to be the clean version. So, by the way, to the folks in the sound booth, if we’re going to key music to our Airmen that we highlight, let’s keep it with this theme. But I thought that some heads, especially in the front row, might actually explode. There’s no one better to walk us through now, how we get there than there is from our own 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass. That’s why it’s so critical to develop that force to be stronger leaders who are capable of taking on the many threats that are facing our nation. Today, more than 75 percent of our brave Airmen also are in the enlisted force. These Airman, these two are just an example of those that have made us the success we are today. DeBellevue, Medal of Honor recipient John Levitow, who also served in the conflict of Vietnam, who sacrificed and almost sacrificed his life to be able to save his aircrew and his heroic effort during that timeframe. Ladies and gentlemen, throughout our 75-year history, brave Airmen like Col. The bar was the watering hole, the main meeting place after flying, and we’d always toast those that didn’t come back, knowing that tomorrow was just another day.Īir & Space Forces Association’s Gerald Murray So when we took losses in the future, yeah, it was bad. Take a look at the guy sitting next to you.” So you and your buddy looking at each other and he says, “He might not be coming back” and you go, “Damn, can I have your stereo gear?”Īnd matter of fact, we didn’t lose anybody that day. At the end of the briefing, Gabriel gets up and says, guys, because in those days we just had guys flying for us, he said “Guys, we’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Gabriel, Wing Commander, walks in and sits down and they pull the curtains right on the board and pointed to Hanoi and said, “Gentlemen, target today is downtown.” You could hear a pin drop on the carpet. The curtains, the briefing boards are covered. And it’s about 4:30 in the morning and nobody knows what’s going on. I will tell you that the first day we, first day of Linebacker on the 10th of May, they recalled the squad in the Wing and we were sitting in Intel. Once we got started going into Hanoi every day, we took losses. DeBellevue, which I got closer to right that time in my Southern accent. Airmen yesterday, today, and tomorrow.īefore we get started and being able to introduce the next great leader that we have, I want to share a short clip from a wonderful video our Air & Space Force Magazine team put together from the Mitchell Institute interview with Vietnam Ace and AFA Central Oklahoma Garrity chapter member, Col. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to know that we are here to talk about Airmen. It is so great to see such a grand audience and I will tell you the excitement as I walked the hallways here, the selfies and all the groups taking pictures and all and just the excitement around here, it is so wonderful to see.
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