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As well as the ceremony at the Beirut Memorial, my husband’s squadron hosted a reunion dinner. And as you can imagine, being surrounded by old Marines telling stories is just about my husband’s favorite place to be.
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From left to right… Corporal, Gunny, Captain.
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The next day it was a picnic at the marina on base.
More old comrades, more stories.
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And while they were on the air station? A chance to refamiliarize themselves with the big toys.
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The V-22 Osprey, an 80 million dollars per nightmare of an aircraft. My husband worked on this program when the Marine Corps first adopted them to replace his beloved CH-46 helicopter. 30 years of R&D and they were still falling out of the sky. We had one crash down the road from our house when we lived in North Carolina and Marines were refusing orders to fly in them. Meant to assist troop deployment in the Middle East, it was discovered the intake clogged with sand which rendered it virtually useless. I’ve read they’ve finally worked out the kinks. Time will tell.
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A CH-53 Sea Stallion. The first heavy lift transport helicopter to be refueled in the air. I’ve been in one of these, they’re beasts.
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The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, otherwise known as the Huey…. the workhorse of the Marine Corps and beloved by Vietnam Veterans like my husband.
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The twin engine AH-1W Super Cobra with its blades folded down. This is a lean, mean, made for attack machine.
(Believe it or not yours truly can identify which of these choppers is flying over her head by sound alone. That’s what you get from living in a military town for 16 years.)
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River's world..... 
I do believe it. We have Chinooks and C-130s flying over. I can tell they’re coming long before we can see them. We also have C-5s flying too high to see, but I know they’re up there. Great planes, helicopters and great men. Thank hubs for me.
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I rather miss the whomping of rotor blades…
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We used to have constant fly overs from Long Beach Naval, Tustin Marine Corp, and El Toro Marine Corp bases. Now they’re all gone.
I hope yout hubby had a great time!
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I do believe that I saw your hubs almost crack a smile while with his buds there. I live right next door to an Army base and have helicopters fly over my house all times of day and night. It’s gotten to when if I’m asleep, I don’t even hear them anymore.
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There was a huge sign on the Air Station where the husband worked , it said pardon our noise, it’s the sound of freedom.
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Hells yeah!
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In his element! You can see it on his face. I’d enjoy a visit with those beastly whirlybirds myself.
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My parents can identify jumbo jets by airline based on his stint with American Airlines. “Ahh, it’s 1:30. There’s the Delta flight to Phoenix.”
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You are a woman of hidden talents.
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Hidden is a good word. My husband calls it weird…
😉
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