Fascinating information about the "Riderless Horse" ...

[Deb in IA]

Thanks for the info -- and the history, Saffron!!

Although I was only 4 years old, I also remember the riderless horse with JFK's funeral. But what I remember most was the drumbeat going on and on and on. How sad.

I would LOVE for my 13 year old to be able to see the funeral on TV on Friday. A state funeral is such a moving event, and so rarely happens these days. The pagentry, the symbolism, the reverence and respect are all lessons that are so important to today's young people.

We were watching the procession at the Reagan Library the last few days. Jennifer was confused; she asked, "Why are they all going there, just to see a flag on a coffin?" I explained that it was not much to look at, but it was a gesture of paying your respects to someone who led our country for 8 years, and helped to bring an end to Communism in much of the world.





Saffron, did you find anything on the "missing man" fighter jet formation? That always brings a lump in my throat also . . .

 

[Eeyore1954]

I found this info about the Missing Man Formation:

Looking heavenward you cannot help but shed a tear... mournful... lonesome... a hole that screams out almost as loudly as the roar of the engines that pass overhead.

This is The Missing Man Formation... perhaps the most magnificent and solemn aerial manuever ever seen. Whether flown with the wingman spiraling off into the great beyond, or, flown consistently with that awful hole where a buddy should be... this dignified, almost painful to watch manuever is a part of POW-MIA and combat history.

The genesis of this manuever is one shrouded in years of faded memories, long fought battles and countless missions almost a century old.

Rumored to have begun when British fighter pilots flew over the funeral of Manfred 'The Red Baron' von Richthofen as a sign of respect by his fellow aces, the formation does find its birth in World War I. At some point during the Great War, the RAF pilots created an aerial manuever known as 'The Fly Past'... whether this was before or after the alleged von Richthofen loss is unknown. But it is British in origin and it was used infrequently and privately during the War.

The 'Fly Past' remained a private affair... returning aircrews signaled to the ground their losses upon their return. The first written account of the manuever shown publicly is by the RAF in 1935 when flying over a review by George V. Prior.

During World War II, it morphed and evolved into a ceremonial tradition as part of RAF programs. The US first began the tradition in 1938 during the funeral for MG Westover with over 50 aircraft and one blank file. The 8th Air Force with her legion of Flying Fortresses, the Bloody Hundredth and other combat weary groups adopted the manuever when returning home from a 'milk run.' Again, it signaled to those on the ground the losses incurred during the last mission... and held a place of honor for their fallen comrades.

The Missing Man formation, as used in the United States, was rarely if ever seen by the public. Only those privileged to attend military funerals and ceremonies were familiar with it. But during the Second Indochina War, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the public at large got its first glimpse of this sobering moment.

The first time a military aerobatics unit ever performed the Missing Man Formation was during the war in 1969 when the USAF Thunderbirds flew the manuver for the first time to honor the men and women who were then POWs in Vietnam. Other aerial demonstration squadrons, both military and civilian, have adopted the formation and perform it during ceremonial events such as National POW-MIA Recognition Day, Memorial Day, during funerals and at the interrment of repatriated remains of Prisoners and Missing. Aside from the fixed wing manuever, a rotary wing version is flown by National Guard and Reservists with exceptional beauty and solemnity.

Perhaps it is fitting that the true history of this exquisite yet sad tradition should be unknown... its history with those whom it honors and is named for... Missing.

 

[Saffron]

Thanks Steve! That's very interesting too!

Do you guys remember that salute after the first shuttle blew up? Remember the one man's wife fainting when the planes flew over head and the "missing" one spiraled off into the unknown?

Oh my gosh! I almost got hysterical crying. That's another of those beautiful, heart wrenching, touching tributes to fallen loved ones.

 

[Eeyore1954]

I read some other websites about this and found this which I thought was interesting.

If the Missing Man Formation is flown as a fly-away (where one plane leaves the formation mid-way through the fly over), it is always the #3 plane that pulls away from the formation. The pilot should ascend gently but majestically and to the west. According to what I read, the missing man plane ALWAYS heads west. This signifies the soul of the honored person heading west into the sunset.

Somehow with all the references to "sunset" with Mr. Reagan, this seems all the more appropriate.

The Missing Man Formation can also be done as a simple fly-over, where plane #3 of the formation is missing. This is less dramatic. I hope they perform the fly-away for Mr. Reagan.

 

[Deb in IA]

Speaking of the Challenger, Saffron, do you remember Reagan's speech memorializing the disaster? I do. Especially the last line . . .


"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."







Even today, I get a misty when I hear those last phrases . . .

Here is the entire speech:
http://www.reaganfoundation.com/reagan/speeches/challenger.asp

 

[Saffron]

I agree Steve, I like the "fly off" as a tribute more than the plane being missing.

Thanks for the link Deb. No, I really don't remember the speech, but I remember Krista McCoulagh's (I'm sorry if I wrecked her name, I didn't look it up and don't remember how to spell it) mom watching the rocket go up, seeing it blow up and the look of sheer horror and fright on her face as she turned to her husband. Then -- when everyone started clapping and cheering (they didn't know ), she relaxed a little, a put on a fake smile, but you could tell she knew. She knew. At that point, the cameras stopped filming.

*sigh*

Sad moments in history, huh?

 

[Saffron]

I agree Steve, I like the "fly off" as a tribute more than the plane being missing.

Thanks for the link Deb. No, I really don't remember the speech, but I remember Krista McCoulagh's (I'm sorry if I wrecked her name, I didn't look it up and don't remember how to spell it) mom watching the rocket go up, seeing it blow up and the look of sheer horror and fright on her face as she turned to her husband. Then -- when everyone started clapping and cheering (they didn't know ), she relaxed a little,