The United States Air Force celebrated its 66th birthday on Wednesday, September 18. The USAF was born from the National Security Act of 1947, creating a separate service for aerial warfare from the Army Air Corps.
Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!
Merline Lovelace, Air Force veteran and romance novel legend, offers her thoughts on this special celebration:
Can't believe our Air Force is 66 years young. Or that I was part of it for a third of those years! Actually, if you count the time my dad, my husband and I all served, we've got a total of 73 years in Air Force blue!!!!
I loved my time in uniform. I was so proud to wear the uniform - even in the dark days of the VN war, when the protesters and draft dodgers would throw blood at us and call us baby-killers. Thank goodness those days are gone and America welcomes their military home with open arms.
My all-time favorite assignment was as the Support Wing Commander/Base Commander of Eglin AFB, in Florida. I had all the support functions - the hospital, military police, airfield management, civil engineers, fire & rescue computer systems, logistics, personnel, etc - plus a test wing, a TAC fighter wing and Special Ops wing all located on my base. It was nonstop, 24/7, and I loved every moment of it!
It's almost as fun now to craft novels featuring men and women in uniform. My 90+ novels have included Roman centurions, Athenian trireme captains, cavalry troops, U-2 pilots, and NOAA's hurricane hunters, to name just a few. And I'm particularly excited about the new series I'm doing with Lindsay McKenna featuring men and women in Special Ops. The first book in the COURSE OF ACTION series comes out in November of this year.
Merline
merlinelovelace.com
Mahalo, Merline, for your service! Do you know anyone who has served (or is currently serving) in the USAF?
Mahalo,
Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City
