From time to time I find something in my web browsing that strikes me as interesting, well done or poignant.  I found this video set to one fo my favorite songs by Nickelback and honoring Capt. Lewis Nixon of Band of Brothers fame.  As this would be Capt. Nixon’s birthday, I thought today a fitting day to share the video with all of you.

Capt. Lewis Nixon served with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division during World War Two.  He was one of the few men to complete three combat jumps by participating in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, Operation Market-Garden and Operation Varsity as well as his involvement at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.  During the war and until his death in 1995 he was best friends with Major Richard “Dick” Winters. 

Flightline Fabrications offers a wide variety of original products related to the 506th PIR, 101st Airbrone, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge and World War II in general.

Flightline Fabrications is proud to bring you original “Light Painted” photo prints of militaria created by award winning professional photographer Jeff Hinds of Portland Oregon.

“Light Painted” Photo poster prints come in various sizes perfect for the World War Two or military enthusiast, historian, or serviceman and would look splendid on your wall.  These photos are perfect as a gift or addtion to any room.

3 Different Style Prints Available

Sizes:

• 8×12
• 12×18
• 16×20
• 20×30

*These are photographs, not computer generated printouts and are created using professional photo developing equipment.

• America Supports You is a Department of Defense program that provides opportunities for citizens to show their support for the US Armed Forces.  The program was launched in 2004 in an effort to highlight citizen support for our military men and women and communicate that support to the members of our Armed Forces at home and abroad.
• America Supports You connects individuals, organizations and companies to hundreds of homefront groups offering a variety of support to the military community.
• The program alsoconnects military service members and their families to homefront groups that provide assistance.
• The America Supports You website, www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil, provides a one-stop location for citizens and service members to connect with hundreds organizations eager to help.
• America Supports You homefront groups show support in many ways including writing letters and e-mails, sending care packages, offering scholar­ships and helping the wounded when they return home.  Dozens of corporations, recognized on the website, are also America Supports You supporters.

Flightline Fabrications supports our troops! : THANK YOU!

September 18, 1947 – After years as a branch of the Army, known as the U.S. Army Air Corps and later the U.S. Army Air Forces, the United States Air Force is formally founded as a seperate and autonomous Military Service.  The USAF falls under the Department of Defense and is the most recent branch of the United States Military to be formed. 

The National Security Act of 1947 states that the purpose of the Air Force is:

In general the United States Air Force shall include aviation forces both combat and service not otherwise assigned. It shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The Air Force shall be responsible for the preparation of the air forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war except as otherwise assigned and, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of the peacetime components of the Air Force to meet the needs of war.

This purpose is further defined in §8062 of Title 10 US Code (10 USC 8062) as:

• To preserve the peace and security, and provide for the defense, of the United States, the Territories, Commonwealths, and possessions, and any areas occupied by the United States;
• To support national policy;
• To implement national objectives;
• To overcome any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of the United States.

The stated mission of the USAF today is to “deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests — to fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace“.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

September 17, 1787 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 35 men who will come to be known as this country’s framers adopt and sign the Constitution of the United States of America.  This document is the supreme legal foundation of the United States Government.  It defines the three main branches of the Government – Legislative, Executive and Judicial.

The United States Constitution does not grant, but rather identifies and guarantees certain “inalianable” rights that the framers believed all men possess from birth.  It sets the rights and responsibilities of the Federal Government as well as defining the limits of the Governments powers.

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, Mrs. Powel (wife of Philadelphia’s mayor at that time) anxiously awaited the results, and as this nation’s elder statesman Benjamin Franklin emerged from Independance Hall, asked him directly: “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”  Franklin responded “A republic if you can keep it”.

I am certain that I am not alone in my gratitude to these wise and brave men who formed this nation in drafting this living Constitution.  These men were leaders, directing the course of our young country with foresight and consideration for the future needs of the people.  Their work has been the foundation for the subsequent constitutions of several other nations as many strive to obtain some measure of the freedoms enjoyed within the United States.  Freedoms made possible and protected by this Constitution.

I strongly urge you to read the United States Constitution for yourself.  Do not let others tell you what it says or what it means, educate yourself.  This document belongs to each and every one of us.

September 17, 1944 – Allied airborne troops parachute into The Netherlands in the “Market” portion of Operation Market Garden.  The operation combined airborne and ground armor and infantry units in an attempt to capture key bridges across the Muess and Rhine rivers to outflank the Siegfried Line and allow rapid advancement of Allied troops into the Ruhr Area of Germany.

September 17, 1976 – NASA unveils Enterprise, the first Space Shuttle.

September 11, 1941 – Ground is broken for the construction of the United States War Department’s new home:  The Pentagon.  The oddly shaped building situated in Arlington, Virginia across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, will become the largest office building in the world and serve as headquarters for the U.S. Military.

September 11, 2001 - Members of the Islamic terrorist organization Al-Qaeda hijack four commercial aircraft with the intent of crashing them into targets within the United States.  Two of these aircraft impact and destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.  One aircraft is flown into the west side of The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The hijckers of the fourth plane, intending to crash into the US Capital building,  are overcome by the passengers and the plane crashes in empty fields near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  The day would see the deaths of 2,998 innocent people (not including the 19 hijackers) and awaken the righteous resolve of the American people.

There is little that we can say that has not already been said by people more elloquent than me.  While part of America was roused by this action, a part of America died as well. Not only her people died, but a touch of her innocence perished as well.  At Flightline Fabrications our hearts go out to all whose lives have been touched by the events of this tragic and infamous day and the legacy which continues even now, seven years later.

September 11, 2007 – Russia tests the worlds largest conventional weapon, the “Father of all Bombs”.  The weapon, dropped from a Tupolev Tu-160 heavy bomber is reported to be four times as powerful as the U.S. military’s GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) or “Mother of all Bombs”.  The weapon is designed to replace small nuclear weapons in the Russian arsenal.  

September 7, 1940 – On the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing, 300 German bombers raid London.  The bombing attack which will continue until May 1941 is called the “Blitz“, short for the german word “blitzkrieg” (lightning war).

On this first night of the Blitz, 337 tons of explosives are dropped mainly on he London docks though several errant bombs fell on the poorer neighborhoods in London’s East End.  As a whole the Blitz was designed to soften the British resolve and prepair the way for Operation Sealion – the invasion of the British Isles by German forces.  The plan failed, England’s resolve held firm and the invasion never happened.

September 7, 1997 – The first flight of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor takes place.

While there incredible discipline and training is an awe inspiring sight, those who serve as Sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery are not mere window dressing.  Members of the 3d US Infantry Regiment “The Old Guard” these soldiers are unwavering protectors of their hallowed charges – three American soldiers, known but to God.

In this brief video a civilian tourist crosses the railing and is immediately confronted by the alert sentinel. 

Video courtesy of YouTube and wyldsydeDOTNET

Noli Me Tangere

“Gray Eagles” is the story of one WWII P-51 Mustang Ace, his grandchildren and the bond that is formed when history comes alive set againt the backdrop of one of the most admired WWII fighter planes in history and the pilot who flew one of these P-51 Mustang fighters.

Jim Books was a young, soft-spoken farm boy from Virginia when America entered WWII.  Like so many other Americans, Jim enlisted in the Army Air Corps and eventually became a P-51 Mustang pilot and Ace in the European Theater of Operations.

While Jim Brooks’ fellow aviator Chuck Yeager’s story became the stuff of legend, Brooks’ story never made the history books and sadly, as in ever-increasing number of WWII-era pilots pass, his story is fading from our history as well.

Following the War, Brooks moved to Los Angeles and became a test pilot for North American Aviation. He met, then married Martha Tilton, a popular Big Band singer of that era. Together they raised a family, worked hard, and like so many thousands of other veterans, established what would become the model for the generation of Americans that followed.  - GRAY EAGLES.com 

Gray Eagles has put together a tribute video about Jim and his family, this video is worth the time to watch.