Presidewnt reagan's Missing Man Formation

emoove (tony) writes:

Although I appreciated reading this, the mental attitude it suggests is
inconsistant with most pilots I've been privilged to know.

My thoughts flow more to how amasingly lucky I have been to live my life in
these times.

I don't think the attitude expressed in your last sentence is
inconsistent with the attitude of the poem. It is our willingness to
understand and accept the ambiguity and apparent meaninglessness of
life which leads us to finally truly appreciate what we have.

As youths many of us believe the cliches about how to succeed and be
happy, but at some point we cannot ignore the lessons of reality
itself:

"I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift
and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the
wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for
time and chance overtake them all." Ecclesiastes 9:11

There are those who refuse to acknowledge this, and continue to
believe in a Disneyland version of life. Others do see reality but
become bitter and cynical at its seeming unfairness. And finally some
accept life as it is, and are grateful for what they have, knowing
that "time and chance overtake them all."

On a side note: I can't claim to be one of Regan's political fans, but
watching his draped casket come down the stairs with his widow waiting was
indeed a somber moment,, looking at Nancy standing in the rain under the
umbrella.

Evidently you're not the only one. In the daily Rasmussen tracking
poll, Bush & Kerry had been stuck at 45/45 for days. Two days ago that
changed to 47/44 in favor of Bush, and it was the same yesterday. I
can't think of anything else to explain the bounce save Reagan's death
and the consequent TV coverage.

Por mi parte, I haven't watched the TV since Baghdad was secured in
April 2003.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! www.vivabush.org

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 05:11:38 -0400, Cub Driver wrote:

Por mi parte, I haven't watched the TV since Baghdad was secured in
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
April 2003.

well, there happened some things in the meantime .... :-)

#m
--
Martin!!! Maaaaartiiiin!!! Can you please flame this guy for me?
'HECTOP' in rec.aviation.piloting

Evidently you're not the only one. In the daily Rasmussen tracking
poll, Bush & Kerry had been stuck at 45/45 for days. Two days ago that
changed to 47/44 in favor of Bush, and it was the same yesterday.

47/45 on Saturday night. (The Raz polls interview 500 people a night,
and each poll gives the breakdown of the previous three nights, or a
total of 1500 people.) Kerry's slight move up came from the Not Sure
vote.

53 percent of those polled believe Bush will be re-elected.

54 percent prefer Bush on national defense.

49 percent prefer Bush on the economy. Both these last two are
increases over previous days.

43 percent give Bush good marks on Iraq.

41 percent say Bush is doing a good or excellent job on the economy.

And 67 percent have a favorable view of Ronald Reagan!

I have become addicted to the Rasmussen Tracking Poll. I check it
every day at this page
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/Pres...cking_Poll.htm






all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! www.vivabush.org

+ or - 3 points. Not statistically significant.

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 05:11:38 -0400, Cub Driver
wrote:


On a side note: I can't claim to be one of Regan's political fans, but
watching his draped casket come down the stairs with his widow waiting was
indeed a somber moment,, looking at Nancy standing in the rain under the
umbrella.

Evidently you're not the only one. In the daily Rasmussen tracking
poll, Bush & Kerry had been stuck at 45/45 for days. Two days ago that
changed to 47/44 in favor of Bush, and it was the same yesterday. I
can't think of anything else to explain the bounce save Reagan's death
and the consequent TV coverage.

Por mi parte, I haven't watched the TV since Baghdad was secured in
April 2003.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! www.vivabush.org

While watching the latter, I did encounter a curious errant thought that
passed through my mind while watching that casket being carried down the
steps with music playing; how, maybe at that same moment in some part of our
country there was a widow standing alone by a graveside with only herself
(all her friend's and family had passed on), the body of her spouse, a
couple of cemetery workers and the minister in attendance and there was no
fanfare or special music, yet her loss,, to her,,, was crushing and deeply
profound - but most people would never know of the loss of her lifelong
partner and would never hear her husband's name. Just the way it
is..........
snip

Damn,,,, your depressing.... ;-)

"tony" wrote in message
...

Former President Reagan's sunset burial had a dissonant note for me.
The Navy flew a missing man formation over the site, and as is traditional
the second element lead position (the airplane that would have been
represented by your ring finger tip as they flew in finger tip formation)
left
its position, representing the missing man.

For this man, this president, tradition should have been broken. The
missing
man was a Leader. The lead position should have been the vacant one.


Is the missing man formation a tradition for Presidential funerals at all?
It's traditional for a fallen aviator, but I don't recall it being done for
previous Presidents. Reagan did serve in the USAAF, but not as an aviator.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
nk.net...


Is the missing man formation a tradition for Presidential funerals at all?

No. The tradition in America dates back to 1938 (the RAF invented it for the
funeral of Manfred von Richtofen), but it did not become popular until the
1970s. Reagan is the first President to have died since then and requested
military honors. No doubt it will become a permanent tradition for those
Presidents that request it.

As Commander in Chief of all the armed forces the President is entitled to
honors from any branch of the military that he wishes.

Not all Presidents request a military funeral like Reagan's; in fact the
majority of them do not. Reagan felt that Presidents have a certain
ceremonial obligation to honor their office this way, even though in life he
was a rather private individual. He felt that the President has a role in
society that the individual serving in that office must honor despite
personal preferences. Some other living Presidents undoubtedly feel the same
way. Both Carter and the elder Bush likely feel that way about the dignity
of their office.

As for flying the missing man formation with the lead plane missing, it
would look odd and possibly be dangerous.

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...

No.


I didn't think so.

"tony" wrote in message
...
For this man [blah blah blah]

Always someone, isn't there? Just can't help posting their off-topic
political crap to an aviation newsgroup.