The U.S. Air Force extends the funeral honor of having their aircraft fly past for a very few accomplished individuals (high ranking generals, Medal of Honor winners, P.O.Ws and fighter pilots who have shot down at least one enemy plan).
Lt. Col. Grady Davenport was honored on Friday with a solo F-16 flight.
Davenport flew 104 missions in P-47 over Italy in WWII and another 80 over Vietnam in jets.
His life gives new meaning to the term “Flyover Country.”
TCM recently ran a series of Docu-movies made during WWII, one of which provides a look at what it was like to fly those missions over Italy called Thunderbolt.
What a storied career! My favorite generation to admire. They WERE the right stuff!
May God grant you eternal peace, Sir.
Knoxville, Tennessee will have burial services tomorrow for Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, USMC. He was killed in action on Tarawa and buried with other comrades on the island. The cemetery was some how “lost!?!?” The graves were rediscovered and he is returning home and will be placed beside his parents. Lt. Bonnyman posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
When stationed at Offutt AFB in the mid-seventies, I joined the Honor Guard detail which did military funerals in Nebraska and Iowa. One such funeral was in Sac City, Iowa for a young AF pilot who died in a crash. The AF did a fly by with four F-4 Phantoms. As they fly past, one of them peels off to symbolize the loss of the deceased pilot. It’s very moving and a great tribute to a brother-in-arms. You can’t forget the sound of four Phantoms streaking directly overhead.
As a young man in the Navy I was a Plane Captain (crew chief) in an F-4 Phantom squadron VF-114. And yes F-4’s do have a very distinctive sound unlike other newer fighter planes. I think it’s because they had so much sheer raw power for a really great airplane. But I’m biased towards F-4’s even though I would have liked to work on F-14’s but they were brand new when I was in the Navy in the early to mid 70’s when the F-4 Phantoms still ruled the skies.