To the Airmen
of the United States Air Force,
I am the very proud son of an
American fighter pilot, one of that treasured
group who served in three wars,
built an Air Force, and gave it an enduring
example of courage and mission
success. My dad was a hero. As a young man,
I asked him who his
combat heroes were; he gave me only two names. One was
Major General
Frederick "Boots" Blesse and the other was Colonel George E.
"Bud" Day.
My dad was not easily impressed, so I knew that if they were his
heroes, they
were very, very special men. I was right.
Earlier
this year, my wife Betty and I had the distinct honor of attending
Boots
Blesse's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. And earlier this
week,
I heard that Col "Bud" Day had also "flown west." Our Air Force is
in
mourning. We know we can never replace him, but today, as he is laid
to
rest, we can honor him.
Many of you know his story.
He fought in the South Pacific as a United
States Marine in WWII and later
became the Air Force's most highly decorated
warrior. He was a Medal of
Honor recipient with nearly 70 decorations,
which span three wars and four
decades.
The medals say a lot about Bud Day, but they cannot
capture his unbreakable
spirit, the life-saving impact he had on his fellow
prisoners during his
time in captivity, and the inspiration he has been to
countless Americans
who've been fortunate enough to have heard his story or
shaken his hand.
In Vietnam in 1967, Major Day commanded a
squadron of F-100s, the "Misty"
FACs (Forward Air Controllers). Theirs
was one of the most dangerous combat
missions of the war, and they suffered
high casualties.
On August 26 Day was shot down and
captured. Seven days later, despite
having a dislocated knee and a
badly broken arm, he escaped captivity and
evaded the Viet Cong for 10
days. He was recaptured just two miles from a
US Marine Corps camp at
Con Thien. Getting so close to freedom only to be
recaptured would have
broken the will of most men. Not Bud Day.
He was
eventually moved to a prison camp known as The Plantation, where he
was
tortured daily, and was later moved to the Hanoi Hilton. Due to
his
resistance and toughness, Day became an inspiration to other POWs.
His
roommate at The Plantation, Senator John McCain, wrote, "He was a hard
man
to kill, and he expected the same from his subordinates. They
(his
roommates) saved my life--a big debt to repay, obviously. But more
than
that, Bud showed me how to save my self-respect and my honor, and that
is a
debt I can never repay."
In 1973, after more than five
and a half years in captivity, he was
released. The damage by the enemy
permanently scarred his body, but his
spirit emerged unbroken. A year
later he was back on flight status, he
became vice commander of the 33th
Tactical Fighter Wing, and retired from
active service in
1976.
Col. Bud Day spent a great amount of his remaining years
sharing his story
with our Airmen, young and old. Over the past 22
years, many of those
Airmen have experienced multiple combat deployments
themselves, leaning on
the lessons Col Day passed on to all of us, including
his two sons, who
proudly serve.
He deeply understood
the challenges we face as a military service, "trying
to keep America aware
of the fact that Airpower has been a substantial
reason that we exist as a
free nation."
I spoke with Col Day on the phone a couple of
months ago, simply to
introduce myself and thank him, on behalf of our entire
Air Force, for his
remarkable lifetime of service. I hung up feeling
incredibly proud to be an
Airman, and grateful that my real-life hero was
even more impressive than I
had imagined.
Future Airmen will
honor his name and treasure his story, not because of the
awards and
buildings named in his honor, but for the legendary character,
the
unbreakable spirit and the values he demonstrated each and every
day.
Airmen today strive to embody the same honor, courage, and
integrity shown
by Col Day and those who fought beside him. And we
honor the sacrifices
they made in the spirit of airpower and freedom.
"Push it up" Sir.we're still following your
lead.
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