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The missing man salute
- Article from:
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Plane and Pilot
- Article date:
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December 1, 2002
- Author:
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Copyright informationCopyright Werner Publishing Corporation Dec 2002. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A tradition saluting military aviators is kept alive by civilian pilots
On a recent hot summer day, nearly a dozen members of the Missing Man Foundation gather on the flight-line at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., for a short flight in their matching T34s, which were Korean War-era trainers. All of the members, clad in their crisp, black flight suits, stand ramrod-straight at attention by their planes while they're briefed on their mission: to honor a recently deceased Air Force flier with a distinctive feat of precision flying-- the "Missing Man" formation. As soon as the honoree's biography is read, the order is barked and the pilots, all seasoned combat veterans, climb into ...