That’s Not Airplane Noise; It’s the Sound of Freedom!
I would like to respond to James Collins’ letter (“Forget the Military; Tucsonans Need to Preserve Tourism,” July 21).
Collins complains about the possibility of the F-35 Lightning II being based here at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and seems to have a bit of a Chicken Little attitude, fearing that one of those F-35s will somehow crash into the University of Arizona simply because it is a single-engine aircraft. Well, I am from a small town near Fresno, Calif., and for years, the 144th Fighter Interceptor Wing of the California National Guard has operated out of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport as a part of NORAD, mainly with single-engine fighters. Never has one of those crashed in a populated area. Further, the Navy has never lost one of their single-engine jets in a populated area from the Naval Air Station Lemoore, which is also nearby. Hmmm, maybe those single engine jets aren’t so dangerous after all.
Collins also seems to think Davis-Monthan should be closed because he claims there is no proof that there are thousands of jobs at the base. Well, since it’s “innocent until proven guilty,” can Collins provide proof that those jobs aren’t there?
As for the noise Collins complains of, he simply has to change his point of view. That isn’t noise he hears when a jet fighter flies overhead; it’s the sound of freedom, freedom being defended. When I was in the Army in Germany years ago, guarding an ammo dump, we used to be used for mock bomb runs by not only our Air Force, but those of France and Germany, too. Once I thought of it that way, the “noise” didn’t bother me at all.
Charles W. Walker
Ancestors, Descendants … Whatevs
Regarding “Tales From the Outskirts: History Preserved,” July 7: I got a genuine thrill when I realized that the ancestors of Fairbank residents were taking care of the cemetery.
My imagination stretched when I visualized the annual picnic: Me, sitting among the ancestors, eating hot dogs, no doubt.
Fairbank must be a “ghost town” after all.
Elisabeth Roche
Roadrunners in the Parking Lot Were Just Doing the Normal Roadrunner Thing
What you observed is the standard roadrunner mating ritual (“Beep, Beep,” Editor’s Note, July 21).
The male always presents an edible gift to the female. In fact, she will not accept his advances without the requisite edible gift. The male always retains the food item in his bill until the act is consummated. He is supposed to give the food item to the female, though apparently, this is not always the case. (The avian cad.)
I’ve observed mating roadrunners on my property. The male courtship advance can be quite elaborate, with hiding behind small bushes, and shaking and dancing, before finally making the grade with the female. All the while, the male was holding the lizard in its bill.
I doubt there was any omen in the act for you or your staff—just a lucky observance that the next generation of roadrunners is assured.
Susan White
A Theory on the Omen Brought by Those Mating Roadrunners
In two words … we’re screwed!
Alex Maldonado
Struggling Financially? Then Don’t Breed
Hard to feel empathy for John Tsosie when this couple’s irresponsibility is clear in having another child (“Beat the Clock,” Currents, July 21).
David Rodenborn
And Finally, a Bit of Poetry Focusing on the Santa Ritas
I step out in the morning, and face toward the
south,
the mighty Santa Ritas greet my eyes.
Rising from the desert, they gently brush the sky,
guarding the habitats they hide.
Madera Canyon rests in Mt. Baldy’s arms,
a paradise of birds and trees and skies.
In the lower hills, the wildlife roam free.
to feed, to live, to fly.
The Rosemont Ranch lies at the foot of the
mountains.
A vast expanse of desert plain.
That land holds a fortune in silver and copper—
a corporation wants to work their claim.
If we allow that mine, they’ll scrape and scour
the land—
spill and leech their toxins in the ground.
They’ll carve out their hole—a wound upon
the land.
The Santa Ritas—extinction bound!
Wrong mine! A vast open pit.
Wrong place! In the Santa Rita Mountains.
Wrong time! The West is not wide-open anymore!
Wrong mine! No Rosemont Mine! No Rosemont
Mine!
So, people of Pima County, join in the crusade.
Stop this mine from tearing up our land.
Stop ore extraction from all public land—
mine companies will have to understand.
A mining act shouldn’t rule us from 1872—
when picks and shovels mined the mountain
sides.
We need to change the law, and learn to mine
ore right—
but, the Santa Ritas must be set aside.
Dennis Riley
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This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2011.
Charles Walker, I guess you’re right – an air force training flight could NEVER crash near the UofA. What? When? Well, then NEVER MIND.
For pete’s sake, the planes have to go somewhere…get off of DM’s back. I’m no hawk, but I think any complaint about training there is absurd.
What an asinine poem. Just another U. of A. liberal arts doctorate flipping burgers for a living.
Charles Walker might well be “from a small town near Fresno”, but it’s too bad he didn’t take time to study enough military aviation history to know that Tucson has already suffered through a military jet crash thanks to DM’s presence. An A-7 Corsair II piloted by Capt. Fredrick Ashler crashed southeast of the U of A on October 26th, 1978 (Google it and see). Since this is indeed a single engine fighter (which Mr. Walker claims “Never has one of those crashed in a populated area”), one can gauge the overall validity of his letter.
I say let’s ask the Iraqis, Afghanis, Libyans, Bosnians, Panamanians, Yemenis and Vietnamese if the scream of our fighter jets makes them feel free. In fact, if the howl of an American jet engine liberates the listener, one must be compelled to ask why it isn’t standard issue with our UAV Predator drones as killing them silently doesn’t seem to be working. Oh wait, it’s the sound of “freedom being defended”…what freedom would that be, Mr. Walker? The freedom to subjugate oneself under corporate rule? Or the freedom to kill whoever threatens those corporations’ status quo? That’s what the scream of our jets represents to the nations mentioned above. As well as a lot of the people they fly over in this nation, no matter their proximity to ammo dumps or air bases.
I guess Mr. Walker missed the debt/deficit “pseudo-crisis” and the economic collapse caused by dozens of un-funded wars and the posting of American Legions of Occupation all over the world.
He also seems to have missed the facts of Peak Oil and Global Climate Destabilization caused by overuse of fossil fuels. The Pentagon is the NUMBER ONE consumer of U.S. petroleum.
It also seems to have escaped his notice that the F35s he’s defending are overpriced boondoggles designed to fight the F16s that the U.S. has supplied to others while lining the pockets of Lockheed, etc. Or that the brilliant minds of the Military-Industrial Complex will be selling these planes below cost (using U.S. taxpayer supplied “foreign aid” dollars) to other countries and then point and say, “See, they have them too, we must make the next-next generation fighter to defend ourselves!” continuing the Empire’s Death Spiral.
When I hear military jets overhead (and DO, WAY TOO OFTEN), I hear the dying blasts of the end of the Age of Cheap Fossil Fuels coupled with the financial and moral bankrupting of our society by the Permanent War Economy™ and its proponents in the Military-Industrial-Governmental Complex.
I didn’t live here in 1978, but I clearly remember in the early ’80’s one of the Air Force jets crashing into the U of A area…so I guess it’s happened at least twice. I believe the flight pattern was changed after the 80’s crash, so it wouldn’t kill people again. I don’t know the policy or pattern now, though. We need a different economy for 21st century Tucson–that phases out the military-industrial-corporate complex. ChetDude is absolutely correct. Another article pointed out that the Old Pueblo would support a fantastic and viable film industry–exactly the types of “business” we need to grow and support. Many people I talk to are 100% on board with diversification.
Charles W. Walker…can’t you come up with something better than the “Sound of Freedom”. Think we have heard that one before…many times.
On the single engine aircraft crash, you may be right but I do recall the twin-engine crash of an F-18 from Miramar MCAS in December of 2008 killing four in a San Diego neighborhood..two babies, the mother and grandmother.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/04/lo…