Sky Watch - Up, Up and away

Last October, the Collins Foundation visited Frederick with three of its World War II vintage planes: B-24 Liberator, B-17 Flying Fortress and P-51 Mustang. This year they toured the west coast, then headed east and are now in Indiana. For a few bucks you can look through the planes. For a few hundred bucks you an go for a short flight. I posted some shots of these planes at the airport and took some more as the B-17 and P-51 departed. As the planes departed, they turned west and circled back over the airport heading east to their next destination. Recently I pulled up a P-51 shot, cropped it, and made it my header. I imagine that there are a lot of Brits who saw the last image in 1943 - 1945.

The previous posts are War Birds, Sky Watch - In to the sky, and Window Views - World War II windows. (Some of the images on this post also appeared in the older posts.)

PhotoHunt - Written in stone

Window Views - WW II windows

B-17 Pilot's window

Last Wednesday I saw a B-17 Super Fortress heading for the Frederick airport, and I soon followed (by ground transportation). The Collins Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour had stopped here for a 48-hour visit. The tour also includes a B-24 Liberator and a P-51 Mustang. For a small donation, one could get close to the planes and inside the bombers. For a larger donation, one could take a short flight. (I opted for the small fee tour.) Of course I took lots of pictures, including the windows that are a little different my previous Window Views posts. I posted more shots of the planes on Lew's Pics and Lew's Favorite Pics.

B-17 nose window

B-17 Top turret window

Looking out B-24 side gunner's window

B-24 Nose gunner's, bombadier's and pilot's windows

B-24 tail gunner's window

PhotoHunt - Veterans

Arlington Cemetery from USAF Memorial, February 16, 2008

When I saw the PhotoHunt theme for this week, I knew that I wanted to recognize the men and women who have served in combat to protect us over the years. I also wanted to recognize one particular veteran of Iraq who is near and dear to me. Though I did not serve in the Armed Services, my work over the years has often been in support of the US military. The first two images are of Arlington National Cemetery. What looks like show through the middle of the above image are the 300,000 headstones. Approximately 28 funerals a day are conducted at Arlington. Some are veterans of WW II, Korea and Vietnam; others are veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Section of Arlington Cemetery, May 30, 2004

My oldest daughter is the individual I want to recognize. During her freshman year of college, she called me and said "Dad, I got an ROTC scholarship." She wanted to be a doctor so when filling out the Army paper work her senior year, she wrote "medical" as her preference. Army Personnel wrote back with "signal." After serving her required four years as a Signal Corps officer, she took the admission tests and was accepted at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Upon graduation and completion of her internship, she served as medical officer in Korea and then entered surgical residency. She also completed a vascular surgery fellowship. During this time most of her patients were retired military. In January 2004 she deployed with the 31-st Combat Support Hospital to Ibn Sina Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. During this time the team treated US and coalition wounded, Iraqi civilians and enemy prisoners.

Promotion to LTC atop Ibn Sina Hospital. October 23, 2004

photograph by member of 31-st CSH

Upon her return we had a family reunion in Hershey, PA. (She wanted chocolate! It doesn't survive the heat in Iraq!)

Reunion with Dad, Hershey, PA December 4, 2004

photo by Marianne

Since returning from Iraq, her work has focused on the wounded warriors, first at Fort Sam Houston and now at Fort Hood. The shootings Thursday at Fort Hood are tragic, especially since the shooter was one who had dedicated his life to helping others. We were able to talk to her briefly after the first news here and learned that she is okay but very busy. Last night I reread the journal she kept while in Iraq. I was reminded again how much our soldiers have sacrificed and the complete dedication of the medical professionals who care for the wounded. The person who committed the terrible acts Thursday is an aberration.

Ginny, I am so proud of you and I thank you for the service you and your colleagues have given and are giving to our country.