Greeting Loyal Airmen, sorry we are late getting this week's Flight Log up and running.  Seems our servers have been getting zapped by shifting power surges.  Our son, Scott, runs those servers and he lives down in Conn. where all this funky electrical stuff has been going on.  So here it is Friday afternoon and we're hoping we can log this in before another such surge shuts him down again.  Here we go.

             
                 Mom & Dad 1945
What with Father's Day coming up this Sunday, the Air Chief's thoughts have been giving this fatherhood thing a lot of thought.  He was blessed from the get go with one of the greatest dads ever, George J. Fortier.  Sadly he passed away in 1976, and although he lived to see Scott, Kevin and Heather born, he never had the chance to be a grandfather to them.  Which is one of the reasons the Air Chief wrote that play about how he and Mom met and fell and love.  So that my own children might get to know him a little bit better.  Most boys do grow up idolizing their dads and memorizing in their hearts all the stories they tell them.  The Air Chief was no exception and recently the U.S Post Office has been instrumental in helping us relive one of those facts.

You see, when George Fortier was a teenager he got a job as an usher in the local movie house.  That would have been in the mid-1930s and he loved it because he loved the movies and now got to see them for free.  Easily his favorite genre was westerns and his favorite cowboy actor was Tom Mix.

         
               Western Super Star Tom Mix
Dad would go on and on about Mix and his Wonder Horse Tony and the fact that they once made a personal appearance in the nearby town of Rochester when he was very young.  Over the years Dad would become a fan of all the great cowboy stars from Randolff Scott and Joel McCrea to the Duke, John Wayne.  But in his heart, there was never anyone to hold a candle to Tom Mix.  

             
So you Loyal Airmen can all imagine the Air Chief's thrill when a few months ago the U.S. Post Office released a set of commemorative stamps entitled Cowboys of the Silver Screen, and they featured four of the greatest ever, William S.Hart, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and ….Tom Mix.   You better believe the Air Chief went right and bought several sheets immediately.  It is such a joy when slapping them on an envelope.  We never look at the Mix stamp without thinking,  “Gee, Dad would have loved these.”

It is funny what little things will bring back the memories of our loved ones.  So as we near this particular family orientated holiday, we want to wish a special Happy Father's Day to sons Alan, Scott and son-in-law Chris, three of the BEST DADS we know.  These men are terrific husbands and loving fathers to our six grand kids. Our family is so blessed to have them and they carry on a rich tradition we are all so very proud off.

To all you Loyal Airmen who are dads, especially my pal and partner, Rob Davis, God Bless you and continue to guide you as you watch over and protect our most precious treasures of all, our kids. 

Ron – Over & Out.