{"id":1934,"date":"2017-05-29T10:08:08","date_gmt":"2017-05-29T15:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/?p=1934"},"modified":"2017-05-29T16:37:20","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T21:37:20","slug":"memorial-day-tribute-pj-weaver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctoraviation.com\/memorial-day-tribute-pj-weaver\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial Day Tribute to PJ Weaver"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is Memorial Day, 2017.\u00a0 It is a day that we honor those that have died to protect our freedom as Americans.\u00a0 During my 24 years in the Air Force I lost around 13 friends to aircraft accidents in peace and wartime combined.\u00a0 This morning, as I stare out of a window onto a peaceful vista of acres of oaks and maple trees sprinkled across rolling hills, I think back on those thirteen.\u00a0 I thought that I would pay a Memorial Day Tribute to probably the one closest to my heart on this Memorial Day \u2013 Paul J. \u201cPJ\u201d Weaver.<\/p>\n

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I first met PJ Weaver when I was a student pilot at Reese Air Force Base in 1984-85.\u00a0 PJ was a T-38 Instructor Pilot (IP).\u00a0 He had the biggest grin and heart among all the instructor pilots.\u00a0 In many ways PJ reminded me of \u201cHoss\u201d on the TV Western Bonanza — A big man with a big heart.\u00a0 Everyone, commanders, fellow instructors, students, all liked and respected him \u2013 a rare combination.<\/p>\n

When he taught one of my academic courses I learned more about him as a person.\u00a0 The most interesting was his love for GI Joes.\u00a0 He had played with them as a boy and collected them as an adult.\u00a0 He made it a habit to buy the newest model when it came out.\u00a0 One day he came into our Aeronautics class, and was really frustrated, visibly upset.\u00a0 He shared, \u201cI am so angry, I went to buy the new GI Joe last night and it is the environmental GI Joe.\u00a0 The package says, \u2018returning from the debacle in Vietnam, GI Joe turns his attention to environmental matters\u2019.\u00a0 GI Joe isn\u2019t an environmentalist, he\u2019s a warrior, this is ridiculous\u201d.\u00a0 We all got a chuckle as PJ\u2019s face slowly faded from red.<\/p>\n

This episode revealed PJ\u2019s deep love for his country and his desire to protect it.\u00a0 I later learned that PJ had returned, voluntarily, to be a T-38 IP to prove something to himself.\u00a0 He had wanted to fly fighters when he graduated from pilot training in 1980.\u00a0 However, as the assignment process unfolded, he was given a C-130.\u00a0 Though he loved the C-130 he wanted to prove to himself that he was capable of flying fighters.\u00a0 Hence he volunteered to return as a T-38 IP.\u00a0 Two things you should know.\u00a0 It is rare for an active duty pilot to volunteer to return as an IP (an IP has to watch others fly, an active duty pilot does most of the flying themselves).\u00a0 Second, the T-38 is very much like a fighter plane.<\/p>\n

Content that he had proven something to himself in the T-38, PJ returned to the C-130 (Herc) World.\u00a0 He eventually ended up in a Special Operations Unit at Hurlburt Field in Florida.\u00a0 His AC-130 would be involved in the most dangerous and important missions.\u00a0 In the early morning hours of January 31, 1991 while supporting Marine ground operations near the Kuwaiti border during the liberation of Kuwait in the First Gulf War, Major Weaver\u2019s AC-130 took on heavy ground flack and crashed into the Persian Gulf.\u00a0 There were no survivors.\u00a0 The AC-130 operations are designed to occur at night, PJ and his crew had lingered into daylight to make sure the ground troops were supported. That was so typical of PJ.<\/p>\n

To this day, I carry two parachute spacers in my flight bag.\u00a0 One of them has the initials, \u201cPJ\u201d.\u00a0 They were PJ Weaver\u2019s at Reese Air Force Base in 1985.\u00a0 I consider them as one of my most highly prized possessions.\u00a0 Men like PJ Weaver have helped make America great.\u00a0 It remains to be seen if we will stay that way.\u00a0 In the meantime, as a fellow follower of Jesus Christ, I look forward to catching up with PJ some day in Heaven.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

PS For more information about PJ, including his motorcycle and judo exploits, please see the following website: https:\/\/www.findagrave.com\/cgi-bin\/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=17906340<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is Memorial Day, 2017.\u00a0 It is a day that we honor those that have died to protect our freedom as Americans.\u00a0 During my 24 years in the Air Force I lost around 13 friends to aircraft accidents in peace and wartime combined.\u00a0 This morning, as I stare out of a window onto a peaceful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":338,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[39],"tags":[271,42,275,274,276,225,269,268,270,272,273],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMemorial Day Tribute to PJ Weaver - Doctor Aviation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Memorial Day 2017 tribute to PJ Weaver. 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