thedrifter
04-08-03, 05:37 PM
April 08, 2003
Pilots gladly take on task of flying Old Glory during missions
By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer
AT AN AIRBASE NEAR IRAQ — For the thousands of Marines and airmen who probably will never see Iraq, there is an intense demand for a new, must-have war memento.
American pilots here are fielding a barrage of requests from men and women on the ground who want their American flags flown on combat missions over Iraq as a keepsake of the war. Pilots are being buttonholed on shuttle buses and in chow halls by Marines and airmen playing supporting roles here, and the big question is: “Can you fly this for me?”
It’s a discreet bit of flag-waving in a war in which U.S. commanders have ordered troops to remove American flags from buildings and vehicles in Iraq because they want to lessen the impression among Iraqis that the Americans are invading conquerors.
Nonetheless, American troops still want their flag to, quite literally, fly over Iraq.
Lance Cpl. Christopher Dow, 22, said he wanted a flag that had flown over Iraq for his father, who owns a bar in Williams, Ariz.
“My dad wanted something from the war and I thought this was the coolest, most patriotic thing I could get for him,” said Dow, with Marine Air Logistics Squadron-11. He’s going to put the flag in a shadow box with a certificate of authenticity and his father is going to hang it in the bar, “The Smoking Barrel.”
Air Force Maj. Dave Morris, an A-10 pilot from the 110th Fighter Wing in Battle Creek, Mich., flew a pair of flags during his Monday mission over Baghdad for an enlisted mechanic in his unit. The flags will go to the mechanic’s father, a Korean War veteran.
“Every single chance I get to do that, I do it,” said Morris. “It means a lot to people, and it means a lot to me that they’d ask.”
Fighter attack jet and helicopter pilots alike have already flown hundreds of flags. There is even talk of loading pallets of the flags onto a KC-130 Hercules refueler plane to meet the increasing demand.
Astronauts have flown flags in space for years, and the Air Force has been doing it here for the last 12 years during Operation Southern Watch, the missions that enforced no-fly restrictions on the Iraqi air force.
But now there are thousands of U.S. troops here who want to bring a piece of the war home. If they can’t get a bottle of sand from Iraq or a hat from an Iraqi soldier, then an American flag flown at 20,000 feet is the next best thing.
The flag has played a nearly non-existent symbolic role during this war. There will be no Iwo Jima-style tableau of Marines erecting a flag in Baghdad and already there have been instances when exuberant Marines have put flags up on buildings only to be told to take them back down again.
One Marine put a flag on the back of a Humvee at a Marine forward operating base in southern Iraq. As he drove through the compound, a Marine colonel spotted it and told a subordinate to get it removed.
“It breaks your heart to tell a guy to take down the Stars and Stripes,” said Col. Robert “Boomer” Milstead, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group-29, of New River Air Station, N.C. “But it’s about perception. The flag that needs to fly is an Iraqi flag, a free Iraqi flag.”
But even if they can’t actually fly the flags in Iraq, they can fly them over it.
Staff Sgt. Lisa McKnight is coordinating the “flag flying program” for her squadron, VMFA-225, an F/A-18D Hornet squadron based at Miramar Air Station, Calif., and she’s almost at the point of where she has to turn Marines away. She’s received 200 requests so far and expects her squadron’s pilots will have flown close to a thousand flags by the time the war is over.
“I’m trying to keep a handle on it, but it’s hard,” she said.
McKnight has a clipboard full of names of Marines requesting the flag be flown and, like any military operation worth its salt, the program has its rules. Flags must be folded in a certain way and put in a Zip-Loc bag. A form must be filled out with the name of the requesting service member, the pilot who will fly the mission and other information about the flight. Crew chiefs stash those flags in the airplanes and then remove them after the mission, print a certificate of authenticity, and return the flags to the service members.
A Marine Hornet backseater pilot, call sign Mumbles, said he has already flown about 15 flags and was on the hook for two more.
“For the Marines who don’t have the opportunity to go out to the frontlines, it’s something they can put in their shop,” he said. “We can’t fly out without the Marines on the ground.”
The captain said he had already purchased flags at the local base exchange for himself and his son, and might buy more for his neighbors and other supporters.
“It’s giving back to the people who give to you,” said Mumbles.
The pilot will take two flags over Baghdad for Staff Sgt. Steven Nash, 40, who works in the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing’s logistics shop. He’s collected flags for nearly everyone in his department.
“I know they’ll keep it for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Staff writer Gordon Trowbridge contributed to this story.
Sempers,
Roger
Pilots gladly take on task of flying Old Glory during missions
By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer
AT AN AIRBASE NEAR IRAQ — For the thousands of Marines and airmen who probably will never see Iraq, there is an intense demand for a new, must-have war memento.
American pilots here are fielding a barrage of requests from men and women on the ground who want their American flags flown on combat missions over Iraq as a keepsake of the war. Pilots are being buttonholed on shuttle buses and in chow halls by Marines and airmen playing supporting roles here, and the big question is: “Can you fly this for me?”
It’s a discreet bit of flag-waving in a war in which U.S. commanders have ordered troops to remove American flags from buildings and vehicles in Iraq because they want to lessen the impression among Iraqis that the Americans are invading conquerors.
Nonetheless, American troops still want their flag to, quite literally, fly over Iraq.
Lance Cpl. Christopher Dow, 22, said he wanted a flag that had flown over Iraq for his father, who owns a bar in Williams, Ariz.
“My dad wanted something from the war and I thought this was the coolest, most patriotic thing I could get for him,” said Dow, with Marine Air Logistics Squadron-11. He’s going to put the flag in a shadow box with a certificate of authenticity and his father is going to hang it in the bar, “The Smoking Barrel.”
Air Force Maj. Dave Morris, an A-10 pilot from the 110th Fighter Wing in Battle Creek, Mich., flew a pair of flags during his Monday mission over Baghdad for an enlisted mechanic in his unit. The flags will go to the mechanic’s father, a Korean War veteran.
“Every single chance I get to do that, I do it,” said Morris. “It means a lot to people, and it means a lot to me that they’d ask.”
Fighter attack jet and helicopter pilots alike have already flown hundreds of flags. There is even talk of loading pallets of the flags onto a KC-130 Hercules refueler plane to meet the increasing demand.
Astronauts have flown flags in space for years, and the Air Force has been doing it here for the last 12 years during Operation Southern Watch, the missions that enforced no-fly restrictions on the Iraqi air force.
But now there are thousands of U.S. troops here who want to bring a piece of the war home. If they can’t get a bottle of sand from Iraq or a hat from an Iraqi soldier, then an American flag flown at 20,000 feet is the next best thing.
The flag has played a nearly non-existent symbolic role during this war. There will be no Iwo Jima-style tableau of Marines erecting a flag in Baghdad and already there have been instances when exuberant Marines have put flags up on buildings only to be told to take them back down again.
One Marine put a flag on the back of a Humvee at a Marine forward operating base in southern Iraq. As he drove through the compound, a Marine colonel spotted it and told a subordinate to get it removed.
“It breaks your heart to tell a guy to take down the Stars and Stripes,” said Col. Robert “Boomer” Milstead, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group-29, of New River Air Station, N.C. “But it’s about perception. The flag that needs to fly is an Iraqi flag, a free Iraqi flag.”
But even if they can’t actually fly the flags in Iraq, they can fly them over it.
Staff Sgt. Lisa McKnight is coordinating the “flag flying program” for her squadron, VMFA-225, an F/A-18D Hornet squadron based at Miramar Air Station, Calif., and she’s almost at the point of where she has to turn Marines away. She’s received 200 requests so far and expects her squadron’s pilots will have flown close to a thousand flags by the time the war is over.
“I’m trying to keep a handle on it, but it’s hard,” she said.
McKnight has a clipboard full of names of Marines requesting the flag be flown and, like any military operation worth its salt, the program has its rules. Flags must be folded in a certain way and put in a Zip-Loc bag. A form must be filled out with the name of the requesting service member, the pilot who will fly the mission and other information about the flight. Crew chiefs stash those flags in the airplanes and then remove them after the mission, print a certificate of authenticity, and return the flags to the service members.
A Marine Hornet backseater pilot, call sign Mumbles, said he has already flown about 15 flags and was on the hook for two more.
“For the Marines who don’t have the opportunity to go out to the frontlines, it’s something they can put in their shop,” he said. “We can’t fly out without the Marines on the ground.”
The captain said he had already purchased flags at the local base exchange for himself and his son, and might buy more for his neighbors and other supporters.
“It’s giving back to the people who give to you,” said Mumbles.
The pilot will take two flags over Baghdad for Staff Sgt. Steven Nash, 40, who works in the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing’s logistics shop. He’s collected flags for nearly everyone in his department.
“I know they’ll keep it for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Staff writer Gordon Trowbridge contributed to this story.
Sempers,
Roger