Thank You, Veterans!!
WHAT IS A VET?
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service… a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg – or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul’s ally forged in the refinery of diversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can’t tell a vet just by looking.
What is a vet? He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn’t run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She – or he – is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back another – or didn’t come back AT ALL.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat – but he has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other’s backs.
He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb of The Unknowns, who presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes who’s valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean’s sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket – palsied now and aggravatingly slow – who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being – a person who offered some of his life’s most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That’s all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded. Two little words that mean a lot,
(Author unknown.)
Welcome to the Philippine Wing of the OBA!
Not only has the new German Wing joined OBA with two nearly-flyable OV-10Bs (one should fly by year’s end), now the Philippine Wing (aka the 16th Attack Squadron of the Philippine AF, which is the primary unit for internal security operations of the PAF) is on board! This active-duty unit has flown AT-28Ds from 1974 to 1992 and OV-10A’s from 1992 to present.
Welcome all!!
OV-10 BRONCO ASSOCIATION
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FEATURED NEWS
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MEDIA COVERAGE
Planes of Fame
This show aired on the Speedvision cable network recently and featured the history of COIN aircraft, including O-1s, T-28, Skyraiders, and (of course) a segment
The Bronco Flyer
The latest OBA Newsletter has been sent out (free!) to OBA members, and contains an article on the Yankee Air Museum's immaculate and
Flight Journal
Flight Journal contains a feature about OBA member Jim Moriarty (jim_bob@moriarty.com) on page 16. Jim owns and has restored a now-uncommon historical aircraft
Air International
A few Bronco tidbits, all on page 380. This includes a beautiful shot of the OV-10B (99+24) owned by the lucky souls at
The Gulf Between Us: Love and Terror in Desert Storm
This long-awaited book has finally been published, and is now available via the OBA PX (buy it via this site and the proceeds benefit the
Air Classics
This is an article about the California Department of Forestry (CDF) and its P2Vs. The article includes some OV-10 material and some nice
Air Forces International
AFIhas a rundown on current air power in the south-eastern Asia area, including a bit of info on Indonesia's Broncos and a small
Sport Aviation
Sport Aviation, the EAA-sponsored TV show on the Speedvision network, has been showing a segment lately (late February/early March 2000) from the Weald