Why would anyone join the CAF? Because I/ we love it! Heat/cold/humidity/rain storms/ dog tired at the end of the day do not bother us. Why? Because of our love of the planes and in my case for the past 10+ years, talking to and working with the Veterans of our greatest generation and giving back to them. I have laughed and cried with them, taken them up in our planes, walked them around the aircraft listening to their amazing stories. Every time I fly with our group I’m reminded of this and imagine these young men and women risking their lives day in and out to bring a close to the war. My favorite story is about a vet I was helping walk around the plane in Alabama and he was shaking and crying and we were at the tail of the plane where he was the tail gunner (his plane was shot down and spent the last year of the war in a POW camp). I had asked him if I could take a picture of him with the plane and was turning around and lifting my phone to take some pictures when I found him moving towards the plane’s tail and he leaned over and kissed the plane and started crying which of course made me cry. I somehow got a couple of pictures of him kissing the plane and to this day they are my favorite pictures I have ever taken. He mentioned to me that he, “wishes I had done that a long time ago.”
So I do have a personal connection to this paper as H.V. is my great uncle and Amy and Vance are my cousins! I live down north of Houston now and I really miss all the past family get-togethers and reunions. If you get the chance come out and see our planes! John L. Elliott
Advanced Technical Support Specialist