Freedom's ROAR
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on May 17, 2015 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Patience Strawderman, 4, covers her ears while screaming in delight as she watches her first air show on her father Randy's shoulders Saturday on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Wings Over Wayne will conclude today and will likely set an attendance record for the event, as base officials estimated more than 100,000 people attended Day One.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
The Air Force Thunderbirds fly in formation during the Wings Over Wayne Air Show Saturday.
It looked a lot like the school bus they ride every morning -- the deep yellow vehicle making its way toward the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base flight line.
But when a flame shot out of its back end, a smile crept across Jackson Taylor's face.
"That is ridiculous," the 7-year-old said. "That's what I'm talking about."
His 10-year-old brother, Ayden, started laughing.
"Are you kidding me?" he said.
But both were left wide-eyed, for different reasons, when the jet engine-equipped bus shot down the runway.
"I want to ride that thing to school Monday," the younger Taylor said. "It would take like 30 seconds."
Ayden elbowed his little brother.
"No, dummy. That's a reason you wouldn't want to ride it," Ayden said. "Who wants to get to school faster?"
Jackson and Ayden were two of the 100,000-plus people Seymour Johnson officials estimated attended the first day of the Wings Over Wayne Air Show -- an two-day event that will wrap up today with repeat performances by the U.S. Army Black Daggers, Air Force Thunderbirds and dozens of other acts.
Melanie Cook and her three daughters were there, too -- having traveled from Wilson to take in the festivities from a shady spot under the massive wing of one of the military aircraft on static display.
"When they did this a few years ago, we were sweating and dying from the heat," Melanie said. "I remembered seeing some older folks sitting under a plane, so we got here early to make sure we caught some shade."
Her youngest daughter, Elise, didn't seem to mind the sun.
She spent most of her day, Melanie said, "dancing out there with a frozen lemonade in her hand."
"It was so good," Elise said. "I love cold stuff when it's hot."
One airman said that because the sun reflects off the flight line, it likely felt close to 100 degrees for those who turned out for the base's latest installment of Wings Over Wayne.
"That sounds about right," Melanie said. "But we wouldn't have missed this. How often do you get to do something like this for free?"
Andrew Feldman never considered missing it, either.
But it was not the promise of seeing the Thunderbirds or other aerial acts that brought him to Seymour Johnson Saturday.
"It sounds cheesy, but I really wanted to come thank these guys for what they do for us every day," he said. "I couldn't serve because of a disability, but I would have loved to. These guys are my heroes -- and not just the ones with medals and whatnot."
Locally stationed airmen were on the receiving end of plenty of handshakes and thank-yous from people like Feldman.
And 4th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Mark Slocum said he was humbled by the continued support the base, and the men and women who serve inside its gates, receive from those they volunteered to defend.
"It's no surprise. There is such a great relationship (between the base and the community). And I can tell you, all the airmen out here right now are feeling that support," he said. "But what I'm loving, I've got to tell you, is that right now, there's a 12-year-old or a 10-year-old and he or she is on this ramp right now. One of them is going to be a future 4th Fighter Wing commander."
Christian Boykin is not yet 10 -- or 12 for that matter.
And the 6-year-old might be too young to set his sights on commanding one of the Air Force's most reputable fighter wings one day.
But if becoming a fighter pilot is a first step toward that potential reality, he might just be the little boy Slocum had in mind.
"I'm gonna fly that jet. That one right there," he said, pointing to one of the F-15E Strike Eagles parked on the ramp. "I already dream about it."