[BlueStreak]

I drove my Sister to the VA Hospital in Richmond this morning. She's being checked out for an irregular heartbeat. Not surprising after having had no less than five open-heat surgeries.

Anyhow,

While sitting in the waiting area with a bunch of other veterans, we got to talking. Asking each other about where and when we served. Turns out there were two Navy guys besides myself and Sis, an Army Vietnam Vet and a Marine who served in Korea and Vietnam. We actually had a pretty good time talkin' about our experiences.

When I got back to the car, and I was alone.......I cried. Because the older gentleman spoke of a fellow Marine he lost in an accident after surviving both wars.

See, in 1983 when serving aboard the USS Coral Sea, a small group of us were headed across the flightdeck at the fantail to do some troubleshoting on one of the F4 Phantoms, as an A7 swung its tail around at us. Now, the jet blast coming from the tail end of an A7 is quite strong, even at idle. The pilot goosed it a bit to roll forward after the turn. When this occurs, you kneel, cover your face, grab ahold of a padeye and hold on tight.

Behind me was a young Philipino kid we called "Aggie", which was a shortened version of his name which none of us could pronounce. Aggie was a good man, a hard worker and an excellent mechanic.

To get to the point,

When the jet blast faded and we all stood up and I turned to speak to Aggie and he was gone. The A7 had blown him overboard and into the ships prop wash. At the time, we were just west of the Aleutians and the water was very cold. By the time the alert helicopter crew located and plucked him out of the water, he was dead. A combination of the propwash sucking him under and hypothermia meant he never stood a chance.

Fair winds and following seas, Aggie!

You are not forgotten.

Dave