US Air Force Birthday

Sep 18

Posted by

Thunderbird pilots w/ their planes

Thunderbird pilots w/ their planes

The official birthday for the US Air Force is 18 September 1947 as enacted under the National Security Act of 1947.

Animated-Happy-Birthday-banner-spinning

us_air_force

See the video for the US Air Force 67th Birthday right  Here!

HIGH FLIGHT

by: John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed
and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – 
Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flug
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delicious burning blue
I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Animated-Happy-Birthday-gift
US Army Air Corps,

US Army Air Corps, “Hap” Arnold’s wings

From Andrew Reynolds in our comments, the Air Force Song –

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl3I-fYYaoA&feature=youtu.be

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Air Force Humor – Military-humor-funny-joke-air-force-aircraft-b-52-concert

With all the cut backs - they need to test the new equipment

With all the cut backs – they need to test the new equipment

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Farewell Salutes – 

Jay Angell – Wellsville, NY; US Army Air Corps, SSgt., WWII

May they soar w/ their fellow pilots forever....

May they soar w/ their fellow pilots forever….

John Archer – Boise, ID; US Air Force, Korea, (Ret. 20 years)

David Blatchford – Colorado; US Army Air Corps, WWII

Robert Morris – Glen Ridge, NJ; US Army Air Corps, 2nd Lt., WWII

Edwin Neff – Richmond Hill, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Middle East

Homer Scales Jr. – Newburgh, IN; US Air Force, Korea

James Slayter – Topeka, KS; US Air Force, Korea

P.J. Thomas – Jacksonville, FL; US Army Air Corps, Col. (Ret.), Bronze Star

Leslie Utley – Mayville, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII

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About GP

Everett Smith served with the Headquarters Company, 187th Regiment, 11th A/B Division during WWII. This site is in tribute to my father, "Smitty." GP is a member of the 11th Airborne Association. Member # 4511 and extremely proud of that fact!

Posted on September 18, 2014, in Korean War, Vietnam, WWII and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 93 Comments.

  1. Jeanne Bryan Insalaco | March 12, 2024 at 8:57 AM

    love that pic of the men standing on top of the wings of the B 52. Hubby often talks about standing on the wings snd his he could jump up on the wings when they were empty of fuel upon returning but if they were fuel then he needed the rolling ladder to climb up on the wing.

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  2. spwilcen | August 28, 2023 at 1:53 PM

    My branch. Why I didn’t go Navy like Dad, or Army like Grandad escapes me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • GP | August 28, 2023 at 2:10 PM

      haha, you can’t recall why you chose Air Force?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      • spwilcen | August 28, 2023 at 2:17 PM

        Well, yeah. My best high school bud was jilted by his “one true love” (ah, high school days!) so he enlisted in the AF. I followed suit, never giving thought to Dad’s illustrious Navy career or what Grampa did before him. I don;t regret it. Think all young men should be called upon for a mandatory service stint. My thinking there’d be much more stability and common sense, less tomfoolery running loose now if that were the case.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply
  4. The Emu | September 19, 2015 at 4:49 AM

    Checked out that Video on the 67th Birthday, great recruitment piece, well put together.
    That poetry really sums up a Pilots concept of flying, for some reason I could imagine those words behind the great Pilot fighters during the second World War, defying death at every turn.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  5. Ankur Mithal | September 18, 2015 at 6:40 AM

    Wherever we are, we cannot thank our comrades in the forces enough. Thet are the reason we are able to sleep peacefully at night.
    Quite liked the humour section at the end 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. GP Cox | September 18, 2015 at 6:27 AM

    Reblogged this on Pacific Paratrooper and commented:

    Happy Birthday to all our Flyboys!!

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  7. The Emu | October 7, 2014 at 6:44 PM

    Congratulations on the US Air Force 67th Birthday.
    That poem has a really romantic lilt to it.
    You can sense the pilots love for the skies.
    Emu

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  8. jenorv | September 27, 2014 at 1:20 PM

    Happy Birthday and see you in the Wild Blue someday.

    JEN
    LT COL USAF Ret.

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  9. TX Wordweaver | September 24, 2014 at 3:21 PM

    Happy Birthday to our winged warriors!

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  11. jfwknifton | September 20, 2014 at 8:10 AM

    Happy birthday to the USAF. Our own RAF’s birthday is on April 1st, which has caused merriment over the years. The poem is good. My Dad had as much of it as I could afford, and there was room for, inscribed on his gravestone. Without looking it up, I think Magee was a young Canadian pilot who wrote his famous poem as he descended from 30.000 feet in his Spitfire. Sadly, he did not survive the war, but his wonderful poem certainly lives on.

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  12. hilarycustancegreen | September 19, 2014 at 6:10 PM

    Wonderful poem and love the humour section.

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  13. Mustang.Koji | September 19, 2014 at 6:05 PM

    I doubt their CIC (if you can call him that) even gave them a second thought as he sends them to “non-combat” bombing runs…

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  14. Freedomborn ... Aussie Christian Focus | September 19, 2014 at 5:17 AM

    We know gpcox, that no one has even seen God’s face, let alone touch it but of course John was giving a picture of how high he soared, I like the movement in his Poem and imagery too, Thank you for sharing it.

    Blessings – Anne

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  15. feralc4t | September 19, 2014 at 4:00 AM

    Happy birthday to ’em 🙂 B52 concert – Lol

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  17. Gypsy Bev | September 18, 2014 at 8:56 PM

    Happy Birthday to a fantastic US Air Force. I remember visiting one of their academies out west and there was a sign that caught my attention. It said:

    When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight! Air Force

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  18. Aquileana | September 18, 2014 at 7:23 PM

    Great tribute… Thanks for the reminder and best wishes to you, Aquileana 😀

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  19. disperser | September 18, 2014 at 4:47 PM

    I did not know that . . . then again, I never looked. Thanks.

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  20. Linda Arthur Tejera | September 18, 2014 at 4:26 PM

    Wow, for some reason I thought the AF had been around longer than that! Why, I’m almost as old! Shhh, don’t repeat that! I remember back in the early 70s during Vietnam, I gave my Dad a “heart attack” when I told him I was thinking of joining the WAFs to do my “part”! He said absolutely not, so I went and signed on with the local PD! heehee! In response to your unspoken thought, yes, I was a rebellious child! 😆

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    • gpcox | September 19, 2014 at 6:09 AM

      I hear ya, Linda!! I was rebellious until it came to Dad. Smitty was not strict, but when he said NO, you listened. I wanted Army, also during Nam. (so I was a journalist for a while, and we both got our our way – sort of) 🙄

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  21. quilt32 | September 18, 2014 at 3:28 PM

    I was just thinking about that poem yesterday, but couldn’t remember all of it. Thank you for posting.

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  22. Michael | September 18, 2014 at 3:16 PM

    Thank you for your like on my article on the Southwest Florida Military Museum

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  23. Mom | September 18, 2014 at 12:29 PM

    This photo is SO striking! Love it!

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  24. ibdesignsusa | September 18, 2014 at 11:50 AM

    Happy Birthday Air Force!. Had to smile at the humor section and updating the new equipment 🙂

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  25. http://theenglishprofessoratlarge.com | September 18, 2014 at 11:12 AM

    I remember the Army Air Corps and “Off we go into the wild blue yonder” of 1942.

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  26. Jacqui Murray | September 18, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    I’d forgotten that poem. What a nice reminder to start my day.

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    • gpcox | September 18, 2014 at 2:35 PM

      Good to hear that, Jacqui. I had another one, just appropriate, but much, much longer. Since it is not like me to do 3 posts in a row – I figured I’d give the readers a break and keep it short and to the point.

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  27. swabby429 | September 18, 2014 at 9:54 AM

    I think about how worried our family was during the Cuban missile crisis. My uncle was an Airman First Class in the USAF stationed at SAC in Omaha. Thankfully, he never had to see action.

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    • gpcox | September 18, 2014 at 2:32 PM

      Oh, I know what you mean. I had an aunt and uncle (USMC) already on the island and a cousin on the way aboard ship (Navy) – I think I held my breath the entire time. So, I can imagine how your family felt as well.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  28. Sammy D. | September 18, 2014 at 9:18 AM

    I think the first photo with the red, white and blue colors lined up on the planes is a perfect way to say “Happy Birthday”.

    Poem is quite touching and just a touch of humor in those other shots. Sort of sums up what they are all about!

    God Bless them all and keep them safe.

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  29. Mrs. P | September 18, 2014 at 8:59 AM

    Great poem! Love the images at th e end…lol

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  30. Dr. Rex | September 18, 2014 at 8:33 AM

    Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    This is reblogged to honor those incredible current and past members of the USAF!!!

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  31. weggieboy | September 18, 2014 at 7:38 AM

    “High Flight” brings back memories of a local television station in the late 1950s that signed off with a dramatic video (film, maybe, back then) taken from inside a military jet cockpit and a voiceover reading of that poem. That was followed, of course, with the national anthem, featuring a video of a flag fully furled in the wind. Who was ready for bed after that?

    The other station played a video with a Vivaldi mandolin duet that was more calming till they, too, shutdown for the night with the national anthem.

    As a kid then, guess which one of these signoffs I liked better!

    Liked by 2 people

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  32. valleygrail | September 18, 2014 at 6:39 AM

    A great anniversary to celebrate!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  34. Gallivanta | September 18, 2014 at 6:11 AM

    Happy Birthday. They are being called to do more work than ever before.

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  35. prior | September 18, 2014 at 6:08 AM

    happy b-day air force!! and the poem was such a nice one.
    “Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

    cheers

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