Well today just sucks
I'm literally sick to my stomach today. Just a few minutes ago, I shared a picture on Facebook that I wish I hadn't seen, let alone shared, but the story along with the picture was important, and sadly, the picture answered a question a lot of my friends probably had on their minds.
It's kind of a surreal thing for me to hear the news that a KC-135R crashed today. The photo shows what was left of part of the tail of the aircraft which tells what base it was from. Sadly, that picture also tells the story that whoever was on board today likely died in the crash. A friend of mine who still flies on these things made a comment about the video of the 747 crashing in Afghanistan earlier in the week that it reminded him of GK, which is the location of the last -135 crash, some 14 years ago. I was there shortly after the crash and the opportunity was there to visit the crash site. The tail section of the aircraft had not been removed at that point. It was an opportunity I never regretted not taking advantage of and today's photos illustrate to me why that is.
According to some news reports, there is video of the aircraft on fire in the sky. It's one of those things I don't want to see, thank you.
When you spend all but the last three years of your entire adult life in the tanker business, for lack of a better expression, things like this hurt because it hits close to home and reminds you that the business you're in carries quite a bit of risk. I never forgot that and carry that over to my job today working on different airplanes.
It's a job that you need to bring your "A" game to every day and I'd rather take a day off work when my personal struggles get the better of me than to place someone's life in jeopardy because my problems had more of my attention than the task at hand. I owe the people that have to fly and fly on that airplane more than that.
So please keep the families of those involved, and it's a family; it affects everyone in the -135 community, in your prayers today. Pray for God's comfort for the families of those lost and pray for the safety of those who put their lives on the line every day to keep us free.
And there's more sad news. My very first Governor's Day as a member of the Utah ANG saw General John Matthews appointed to the Adjutant General of the State of Utah. He passed away earlier in the week. General Matthews was an Air Guard General and I had the opportunity to meet him on a couple of occasions. He worked hard for us and it's sad to see he's passed. Please also pray for God's peace for his family.
I had a different story planned for today but today let's just reflect and mourn with those who mourn. Whatever else I was going to talk about will keep until the weekend.
It's kind of a surreal thing for me to hear the news that a KC-135R crashed today. The photo shows what was left of part of the tail of the aircraft which tells what base it was from. Sadly, that picture also tells the story that whoever was on board today likely died in the crash. A friend of mine who still flies on these things made a comment about the video of the 747 crashing in Afghanistan earlier in the week that it reminded him of GK, which is the location of the last -135 crash, some 14 years ago. I was there shortly after the crash and the opportunity was there to visit the crash site. The tail section of the aircraft had not been removed at that point. It was an opportunity I never regretted not taking advantage of and today's photos illustrate to me why that is.
According to some news reports, there is video of the aircraft on fire in the sky. It's one of those things I don't want to see, thank you.
When you spend all but the last three years of your entire adult life in the tanker business, for lack of a better expression, things like this hurt because it hits close to home and reminds you that the business you're in carries quite a bit of risk. I never forgot that and carry that over to my job today working on different airplanes.
It's a job that you need to bring your "A" game to every day and I'd rather take a day off work when my personal struggles get the better of me than to place someone's life in jeopardy because my problems had more of my attention than the task at hand. I owe the people that have to fly and fly on that airplane more than that.
So please keep the families of those involved, and it's a family; it affects everyone in the -135 community, in your prayers today. Pray for God's comfort for the families of those lost and pray for the safety of those who put their lives on the line every day to keep us free.
And there's more sad news. My very first Governor's Day as a member of the Utah ANG saw General John Matthews appointed to the Adjutant General of the State of Utah. He passed away earlier in the week. General Matthews was an Air Guard General and I had the opportunity to meet him on a couple of occasions. He worked hard for us and it's sad to see he's passed. Please also pray for God's peace for his family.
I had a different story planned for today but today let's just reflect and mourn with those who mourn. Whatever else I was going to talk about will keep until the weekend.
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