The year was 1951. It was pitch dark on a road seldom traveled at night. Thank heaven someone else was driving. I kept wondering, "What had I done to be sentenced to this unforgiving location full of snakes, gators, sand flies, and mosquitoes by the billions?" And then we were there. Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, known just a few years earlier as the Banana River Naval Air station. It has been a part of my life, one way or another, ever since my first arrival. I was married in the base chapel.

That was the past. Today it is an entirely different Patrick; headquarters for the 45th Space Wing..responsible for the Air Force's missile and rocket launches as well as the safety of NASA's launches..plus one unbelievable air show. The most recent show was the first time the Air Force Thunderbirds, the Navy Blue Angels, and the Army Golden Knight Parachute team all appeared together. And the advance publicity did the job: an anticipated crowd of 100,000 turned into an estimated 200,000.

Of course, this was an Air Force project. But the word "project" does not suit the Thunderbirds show. It would make any Hollywood producer proud; a well choreographed performance, synchronized to music and narration. Watching these young men wheel and soar left no question that both the Angels and the Thunderbirds are the elite.

Between the major events there were performances by the stealth fighter, the F14 Tomcat, the Warthog, the C-17 Globemaster and other aircraft, plus static displays. You could even take a ride in an Astronaut training simulator, courtesy of the nearby Kennedy Space Center. In short, there was literally something for everyone and every age.

Kudos to Patrick for a great show. Every person in the crowd realized and appreciated that America is in good hands with every branch of the U.S. military. I'll be back next year..providing I don't have to sit in traffic for an hour and a half again.

--Bill Larson
2003

Don't go away; Bill took a lot more pictures. Click to continue.