thedrifter
05-13-03, 05:13 PM
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
'The 'Bolts are back in town'
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT: VMFA-251 pilots return from Iraq; rest of squadron follows today
By Rob Dewig
Carolina Morning News
Four women stood along the edge of the flight line at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort Monday afternoon, practicing singing the national anthem.
The Australian national anthem.
They were getting ready to greet their friend, an Australian fighter pilot who was returning home from the war in Iraq, where he flew an American fighter jet.
He left in February as a Royal Australian Air Force pilot flying an American jet, part of VMFA-251, "The Thunderbolts." He returned Monday a full-fledged hero.
And the women, his "drinking buddies," made sure he had a hero's welcome.
The pilot was Flight Lt. Dru Davidson, call sign "Dusty," now a combat veteran and full-fledged Thunderbolt.
The women were Shirley Smith, Cynthia Cook, Mary Patrick and Bonnie Thompson, Americans all, Davidson's neighbors in the Barnwell Bluff condos in Beaufort.
"The other guys have cute wives or girlfriends. He gets us," Cook said, adding by way of comparison that she and her friends are all 39 years old, wink, wink.
So the four stood there, waiting on their friend, waving American and Australian flags as his jet and nine others flew overhead. Patrick made the Aussie flags on her computer, so they were only printed on one side.
"I think we're ready for the chorus of 'Waltzing Matilda' if called upon," Patrick said, then sang it to prove it.
And then the jets were down, their engines off, and families were cleared to rush out to greet their loved ones. The four strolled along behind, wanting to see their friend but not wanting to get in the way of the wives and children racing to greet their loved ones.
Davidson simply couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that his entourage, if not as passionate, say, as his fellow pilots', was probably bigger than most others.
"How are you?" were his first words.
The ladies took their turns hugging him, kissing his cheek, welcoming him home.
"Ah, it's good to be back," Davidson said, when the hugging subsided. "I have no family here at all. These people are my family. It's funny to think that my mother's going to be jealous that they were here and she wasn't."
Davidson's parents and girlfriend are back home in Australia, and couldn't make it for his Beaufort homecoming. But the women had kept in touch with their friend's family, and let him know they'd be there for him.
The women didn't tell Davidson that they couldn't start the battered old Ford Mustang he'd asked them to look after. Thompson said the car started just a few days ago, but wouldn't on Monday. Patrick said he could use her car, if he needed to.
"Now I just want to rest up a bit, take it easy," Davidson said. "We were, especially with the war in mid-April, moving nonstop. The squadron worked pretty hard."
The first couple of weeks of the war were the worst, Davidson said, when the squadron simply didn't know the terrain it was fighting in. But by the end they moved like clockwork, sitting through short briefings, bombing Iraqi targets for a couple of hours, then sitting again through short debriefings, he said.
Then the routine began again.
The weather was the worst part. It was cold at first, "freezing cold," particularly at night, he explained.
"You had to rug up," he said, using an Australian expression for using a blanket. Then it got hot, and there was no air-conditioning. And there was dust everywhere.
"You should have seen these things a week ago, dust all over them," he said, waving at the gleaming grey F/A-18 behind him.
The pilots, the first of VMFA-251 to return home, flew the past few days from Kuwait to Spain to Maine. On Monday, they flew the rest of the way home.
"What's that song, 'The 'Bolts are back in town'?" sang Beth Woodring, whose husband, an ordinance officer, is scheduled home with the remainder of the squadron today.
Two of the squadron's 12 jets were left in the Mediterranean area with mechanical problems, said Col. David Peeler, the squadron's Beaufort-based overall commander. He said they should be home later this week, and would receive a similar welcome.
The reason an Australian pilot, by the way, was flying and fighting a Beaufort jet, is an exchange program the two allied countries have with each other, said MCAS spokesman Capt. Don Caetano.
Colonel Peeler said, "251 is a strong squadron and they completed their mission well, not one burp or glitch. They did very well."
Reporter Rob Dewig can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 107, or by e-mail at rdewig@lowcountrynow.com
Copyright 2002 Carolina Morning News.
Sempers,
Roger
'The 'Bolts are back in town'
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT: VMFA-251 pilots return from Iraq; rest of squadron follows today
By Rob Dewig
Carolina Morning News
Four women stood along the edge of the flight line at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort Monday afternoon, practicing singing the national anthem.
The Australian national anthem.
They were getting ready to greet their friend, an Australian fighter pilot who was returning home from the war in Iraq, where he flew an American fighter jet.
He left in February as a Royal Australian Air Force pilot flying an American jet, part of VMFA-251, "The Thunderbolts." He returned Monday a full-fledged hero.
And the women, his "drinking buddies," made sure he had a hero's welcome.
The pilot was Flight Lt. Dru Davidson, call sign "Dusty," now a combat veteran and full-fledged Thunderbolt.
The women were Shirley Smith, Cynthia Cook, Mary Patrick and Bonnie Thompson, Americans all, Davidson's neighbors in the Barnwell Bluff condos in Beaufort.
"The other guys have cute wives or girlfriends. He gets us," Cook said, adding by way of comparison that she and her friends are all 39 years old, wink, wink.
So the four stood there, waiting on their friend, waving American and Australian flags as his jet and nine others flew overhead. Patrick made the Aussie flags on her computer, so they were only printed on one side.
"I think we're ready for the chorus of 'Waltzing Matilda' if called upon," Patrick said, then sang it to prove it.
And then the jets were down, their engines off, and families were cleared to rush out to greet their loved ones. The four strolled along behind, wanting to see their friend but not wanting to get in the way of the wives and children racing to greet their loved ones.
Davidson simply couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that his entourage, if not as passionate, say, as his fellow pilots', was probably bigger than most others.
"How are you?" were his first words.
The ladies took their turns hugging him, kissing his cheek, welcoming him home.
"Ah, it's good to be back," Davidson said, when the hugging subsided. "I have no family here at all. These people are my family. It's funny to think that my mother's going to be jealous that they were here and she wasn't."
Davidson's parents and girlfriend are back home in Australia, and couldn't make it for his Beaufort homecoming. But the women had kept in touch with their friend's family, and let him know they'd be there for him.
The women didn't tell Davidson that they couldn't start the battered old Ford Mustang he'd asked them to look after. Thompson said the car started just a few days ago, but wouldn't on Monday. Patrick said he could use her car, if he needed to.
"Now I just want to rest up a bit, take it easy," Davidson said. "We were, especially with the war in mid-April, moving nonstop. The squadron worked pretty hard."
The first couple of weeks of the war were the worst, Davidson said, when the squadron simply didn't know the terrain it was fighting in. But by the end they moved like clockwork, sitting through short briefings, bombing Iraqi targets for a couple of hours, then sitting again through short debriefings, he said.
Then the routine began again.
The weather was the worst part. It was cold at first, "freezing cold," particularly at night, he explained.
"You had to rug up," he said, using an Australian expression for using a blanket. Then it got hot, and there was no air-conditioning. And there was dust everywhere.
"You should have seen these things a week ago, dust all over them," he said, waving at the gleaming grey F/A-18 behind him.
The pilots, the first of VMFA-251 to return home, flew the past few days from Kuwait to Spain to Maine. On Monday, they flew the rest of the way home.
"What's that song, 'The 'Bolts are back in town'?" sang Beth Woodring, whose husband, an ordinance officer, is scheduled home with the remainder of the squadron today.
Two of the squadron's 12 jets were left in the Mediterranean area with mechanical problems, said Col. David Peeler, the squadron's Beaufort-based overall commander. He said they should be home later this week, and would receive a similar welcome.
The reason an Australian pilot, by the way, was flying and fighting a Beaufort jet, is an exchange program the two allied countries have with each other, said MCAS spokesman Capt. Don Caetano.
Colonel Peeler said, "251 is a strong squadron and they completed their mission well, not one burp or glitch. They did very well."
Reporter Rob Dewig can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 107, or by e-mail at rdewig@lowcountrynow.com
Copyright 2002 Carolina Morning News.
Sempers,
Roger