Lest we forget: The Lessons of “Noise Complaints”!

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being
surrounded by civilization that complains about the
noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it
was there long before they were.

Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near
Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a
group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall.
When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB
officer, it must have stung quite a bit.

The complaint:

"Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do
we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at
precisely 9:11 a.m., a tight formation of four F-16
jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing
west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet.
Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes
feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to
impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special?
Any response would be appreciated."

The response:

Regarding "A wake-up call from Luke's jets"
(Letters,Thursday): On June 15, at precis ely 9:12
a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship flyby of F-16s from
the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew
over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques.

Capt. Fresques was an Air Force officer who was
previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was
killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9 a.m. on
June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland
Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a
husband, son and friend.

Based on the letter writer's recount of the flyby, and
because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the
21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the
widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them
their son's flag on behalf of the President of the
United States and all those veterans and servicemen
and women who understand the sacrifices they have
endured. A four-ship flyby is a display of respect the
Air Force pays to those who give their lives in
defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and
take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the
letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to
pay their ultimate respects.

The letter writer asks, "Whom do we thank for the
morning air show?" The 56th Fighter Wing will call for
you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents
of Capt. Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was
in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable
formation of their lives.

Lt. Col. Scott Pleus

CO 63rd Fighter Squadron

Luke AFB





- Great job, Colonel!! Let ‘em have it!!

amen!!!!!!!

catchme,
thank you, as a retired member of the air foce at first i thought this was gonna be a complaint fromyou and i was getting ready for a response.
once i started reading i had to change my mind on that response and tears came to my eyes. we all need a reality check sometimes.
i know what i have to say may not mean much to most, but thank you for the support you and everyone else gives our troops, sailors, airman, coast guard and marines.
they do a job most would not want to, and unfortunately some must pay the ultimate price.
thanks, for the post!!

Hi Don, Welcome to the site, I'm Lisa..

Thank you!! You are one of my heroes too!!

I have a friend in the Airforce now in special forces in NC.
They're trying to send him back to afghanastan (sp) for the 3rd time..

I Always suport Our Troops!

Not only have I had many friends in the Service, Anybody that has given any part of themselves to protected us are my heroes.

& as I read your words it brought tears to mine too!!

I get alot of these kind of things & I'll post them. I don't get into the debate stuff on here at all...

keep posting them.
somedays i need something to make me smile early in the morning.
as for the debates, i'll say what i must and go on from there. some people will never see the big picture and thats the way it is.
i just started a thread under this topic on terrorism. give it a look and tell me what you think. i've got to start getting ready for work but i'll check back before i walk out the door at 6:30CDT.

omg!! you want me to post on a thread down here???
eeeckk!! OK! no worries!

i have lived outside air bases most of my life and i don't even notice the noise.nice post..

UUhm, I worked with Jeremys dad and had met Jeremy at our Christmas party

back when the old wurtsmith AFB was still open they ran manuevers all the time but the only problem we ever had was when a pilot got drunk one night and took a plane up without permission. we were sittin in our living room and the next thing we heard a loud bang. the house shook for a moment and all the glass was rattling. i don't think that pilot ever got to fly a plane again.

Sorry hotandspicey!!!!

I'm really don't have blonde roots!!

No worries, just wanted to commiserate...the article caught me off guard and brought up a lot of memories, cause this was the nicest kid I ever met, good looking and just the light of his fathers life, it was a tragic loss.

Hotandspicey If you would like send this to him, the whole thread if you like & let him know how sorry I am for his loss...

no I don't want to send it to him, I'm actually hoping he never heard about it, cause you know...on top of the loss this would be too hard to take. Had me bawling...so no thanks. but I appreciate yur condolences; as would he.

We are so OUT OF THE PICTURE when it comes to this dam n war that no one probably EVER considered what might have been happening.
That just ticks me off.

A wake up call indeed - don-chya know we could all use a loud one.