Give Thanks...Honoring Those Who Flew

I saw the ad weeks ago, an ever-increasingly rare opportunity to see up close a vintage aircraft, but not just any planes, symbols of war and the quest to end a war.

No, I did not go. 

The planes, a B-17 and a B-25 were on display at the Logan Airport for a week. I had seven days to drive the twenty or so miles east (and a little north...) to see the planes. For several hundred dollars, I could have flown in one. Since we moved, traveling over the mountain into the next county has been an almost weekly event. Since gas prices have exploded and will likely go higher, like many of us, we've begun analyzing these casual trips...wondering if we really need to go.

On Friday, while out, I spotted the B-17 flying almost directly overhead. I heard the prop engines first, a sound you don't hear everyday. I snapped a short video of the plane thinking I might get to see it close up in a matter of hours.

Then, I thought about why I was going, and decided against it.

I'm not shy about telling whoever is interested (and even if they're not...) about my dad, that he was part of a B-17 crew during WWII over Germany. Thinking about going to see the plane, I could imagine myself looking up, taking picture after picture, and casually telling people, "That's my dad's plane." I might even get to talk to those in charge, those responsible for keeping the flying museums airborne and let them know as well.

I've had the opportunity of seeing one of these incredible machines up close. Years ago my friend and I drove to the Salt Lake Airport when one was parked there for the same reason...giving people rides. My friend and I actually got to climb inside. I still remember the feelings I had looking at that small space, the minimal surroundings, what horrors those brave men went through thousands of feet in the air.

No, I didn't need to go to get more pictures, to tell people my dad survived the war as a tail gunner in a B-17. I didn't need to go to somehow raise my status in the eyes of strangers. No, I stayed home and thought about the plane and the men who flew, their families who support them, and the people who still fly so that we may never forget. I'm grateful to those men, those families, those planes...

And I pray as few people as possible will ever do it again.