To 5 Men. And their families…

A couple of weeks back in a piece I wrote about Dead Soldiers I mentioned a dedication I was putting together to 5 guys from our Pilots’ Course whom we have lost over the years since. This is that dedication.

Or my attempt at one.

I did not expect the reaction that the first post got, especially from their families and it made me realise that a lot of us never got the chance to tell their parents, wives or children what we were feeling (and do still feel). So I am putting the dedication up on this blog before the reunion and I have invited the other guys to post comments as an opportunity to do so.

Please allow us the space.

DEDICATION TO CARL, MARK, KOTTIE, HERMAN AND PAUL…

When we answered this calling to become pilots we knew and accepted that there would be friends and colleagues we would lose along the way. We also knew and expected that losing them would be tragic… there are few tragedies greater than someone young dying doing what they love.

What we didn’t know and could never have expected is how deep that loss would cut.

We did not expect the magnitude of the man.

These weren’t ordinary men. Here one day and gone the next. Someone you once met or heard about or even shared a couple of drinks with. They were our brothers!

And this was no ordinary friendship. Or ordinary experience.

This wasn’t about 2 years. This was about almost 800 days. Days of waking up together, preparing for inspection, eating together, running, singing and flying. It was 800 days of shared laughter, disappointments, heart-break and elation.

It was 800 days of firsts.

Beyond the first flights and first solos there were the first loves, first cars, first payslips, first “Dear John” letters. The first bar fights and the first borns. The most significant moments in our growing up happened in those 800 days. Together.

We met as boys, lived as men, departed as angels.

And the reality of it all is this… I cannot find the words to tell you what you meant to us (and still do) and to tell the world what a great man you were. These words don’t measure up to the magnitude of the man.

We miss you.

THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MAN

Do you remember the time?
When you did that and I did this
and you sang that
and I sang this?
and the times we ran
and sang
and ran and sang
and laughed
and flew.

And do you remember the time?
When you failed that and I passed this
then you passed that
and I failed this?
and you were there
for me
and me for you
laughing
flying.

Do you remember all the firsts?
Your first car and my first love
first weekend pass
and our first pay?
our first flight
first solo
and my first child
laughing
flying.

And do you remember the day we lost you?
WE do
crying
flying.

~ by Norm on July 13, 2010.