I remember it as a typical day at sea. I recall that I was walking across the middle hangar bay towards television control on the 01 level. Flight ops were going on overheard, the galley was cooking below and the ship was busy everywhere else.
Then, “AIRCRAFT IN THE WATER!”
Never the words you want to hear aboard an aircraft carrier at sea. Everyone wondered in unity, “What happened?”
The worst thing possible…another sailor just died.
Lt. Kara Hultgreen was the pilot of that aircraft, the first female, carrier based fighter pilot. Her call sign was “Revlon.” She received it after a television interview where she wore noticeable make-up. She was killed on October 25, 1994.
Upon approach, she found that she was overshooting the centerline. She attempted to correct this by yawing the aircraft, which lead to the left hand engine to lose power because of a compressor stall. She aborted the approach, and hit the afterburner on the right engine. This caused the jet to roll.
The radar intercept officer (RIO) ejected when he saw the aircraft was becoming uncontrollable. Hultgreen was ejected less than half a second later. While the RIO survived the ejection, Hultgreen didn’t. In less than half a second, the plane rolled enough to point Hultgreen below the horizon. She was only 150 feet above the ocean, and was ejected into it at “nearly three times highway speeds.“
There are many people on both sides of this incident pointing fingers at each other. All that politics is lost here. This isn’t about that. This is about remembering a sailor who wanted to serve her country. And she paid the ultimate sacrifice for it.
She’s one of the chosen ones. She was buried in Arlington National Cometary with full honors, as so many before her who gave all they had:
As I write this, I am listening to the video above, and hearing the words of Trace Adkins, it brings tears to my eyes. I remember so many memorial services in just a small five year span of service. I remember crying at a memorial service in the ship’s forecastle, for an aviator I didn’t know.
I wasn’t alone.
I remember seeing the missing man formation flown over Alameda Naval Air Station for another aviator who gave all. Again, the sacrifice, and the loss brought tears to all our eyes. Too many, too soon.
They give so much, and ask so little. Remember her, and all the others, who show their love of country with their lives, not only in combat, but in routine, everyday activities. Don’t just do it on Memorial Day. Do it everyday. They deserve it. They earned it.
God bless the American military, and God bless America.
Update:
Gateway Pundit linked here. Thanks Jim.
And Jimmie Bise, Jr. of the Sundries Shack linked here from the American Issues Project blog.
Thanks guys.
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