I thought about Orwell's quote today as we toured the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, possibly for the last time, and saw all the men and women in uniform and camouflage that serve our country. Jeff's father, Lieutenant Colonel Joost van Bastelaar, served in the National Guards on that base until his untimely death in 1997.
This air force station will no longer be flying any planes and so today they held an End of an Era day and ceremony where both soldiers and their families came to celebrate the base's history.
It was wonderful for the kids to be able to experience a little bit of what their Opa did in his life. They were able to sit in jet simulators and try on pilot masks.
They were also able to explore different aircraft with their cousins.
This is our niece, Kassie, peaking out an opening in a KC-135.
Our nephew, Paul, along with Joost and Grace had a good time exploring the inside of the KC-135.
Joost and Paul even had the chance to fly the plane.
This picture shows half the family. You can see Jeff's mom (in the middle) and his brother, Sean, with his family along with us.
Jeff's dad flew an A-10, just like the one he's standing in front of.
At the end of the day, there was a ceremony that honored those members of the 111th Fighter Wing that died while serving their country, including Jeff's father. There was an A-10 flyover that happened during it. It was loud and awe inspiring.
Another exciting part of the day was to see the A-10 that was dedicated to Jeff's father. The whole family is standing in front of that jet.
It was a lovely way to honor Jeff's father and others who have given their lives to protect fellow citizens and it was a great day to culminate the flying history of an air force base that has served the country well for 86 years.
4 comments:
What a special day!! I got a little teary eyed thinking about Jeff's dad. Even though I didn't even know him, I feel proud of him.
By trying Google for 111th Fighter Wing blog entries, this evening (European time) I just found your very interesting private (and very family-related) Blogger post.
I already hot-linked your post to my world-wide unique A-10 Blogger blog http://warthognews.blogspot.com/
See: http://warthognews.blogspot.com/2010/06/end-of-111th-fighter-wing.html
Would you give me permission to post all of your related pictures on my world-wide unique A-10 blog?
Kind Regards
Joachim Jacob
Warthog News Editor
Oh my gosh. I accidentally came across your blog and realized I think I knew your father-in-law and mother-in-law. My husband Roger was a classmate of Joost's at USAFA and they entered pilot training together at Reese AFB. We were so sorry to hear of Joost's passing all of those years ago. Please give Sharon our best. I often wondered what happened to her. You have a beautiful family!
Hello, I served with the 103rd Fighter Wing along with LTC Van bastelaar, LTC Mike Griffin and LTC Hoying. All great guys, nice people and fantastic pilots. They will ALWAYS be remembered in the hearts of the 111th family.
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