Air Force Memorial

Today we had the great pleasure of attending the dedication ceremony for the new USAF Memorial located in Arlington, VA, on a ridge overlooking the Pentagon.  To get there, we drove to Vienna, VA, and rode the metro into the Pentagon which was the only viable option for getting anywhere near the ceremony. 

Once there, we were able to browse around at many exhibits, which included static displays of aircraft such as Global Hawk and Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, a CV-22 Osprey, and F-16 Fighting Falcon and a mock-up of an F-22 Raptor.  We watched the ceremony along with tens of thousands of others on several big screen displays while seated in a massive outdoor viewing area set up in the South Parking Lot of the Pentagon.  

The ceremony itself was narrated by Bob Schieffer of CBS news who was once a Captain in the USAF (a fact I was not aware of).  It was a tremendous ceremony featuring a keynote address by President Bush, remarks by the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield, and remarks by the Chief of Staff and Secretary of the USAF to name a few.  It also included a wonderful aerial fly-by display of vintage and modern day aircraft to include a B-24 Liberator, an F-15 Eagle, a B-2 Spirit, a C-17 Globemaster, an F-22 Raptor, and many more. 

The high point of the ceremony was the keynote address by President Bush, followed by the USAF Thunderbirds flying in tight formation around the memorial site with smoke on, and then conducting the famed bomburst maneuver after which the memorial itself is modeled.  It was a stirring sight on such a beautiful blue sky day.  After the ceremony, country star Lee Ann Womack performed a free concert.  See the video highlights below!

We tried to leave immediately following the ceremony but were thwarted by the huge throng of humanity crushing the metro system.  So, we walked over to Pentagon city and had a late lunch/early dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  Mmmm!  We finally were able to get on the metro system and take the blue and orange line ride back to Vienna.  All in all, a great Air Force day!

Video coverage of the event is provided below for your viewing pleasure, compliments of the USAF.  Simply click the Play Now link associated with the clip you would like to view.  Unfortunately, they haven’t posted the actual fly-by videos…..so I have included the practicve fly-by videos.  As you can see from the Thunderbird clip, practice was done on a cloudy day.  The actual fly-by was much more impressive against a clear blue backdrop!  If the actual footage gets released, I will post it here later!