A Blue Angel on my Friend's Shoulder

A lighter tale about an old friend and a pilot from an American group called the Blue Angels.

Special thanks to nsula.edu for this image of a Blue Angel's A-4 Skyhawk taking off in the early 1980's

(SALEM) - A close friend of mine in the Marine Corps had an experience with the Blue Angels that I'll never forget, and I would place money on the fact that he remembers it far better than I.

Most encounters of this nature do not have good outcomes.

My friend John Evey was a Lance Corporal, I was a PFC at the time. He was tall and lean and to put it mildly, he liked to stir things up. There is a certain thing that happens to some guys when they join the Marine Corps and that "thing" takes a teenager who already sees himself as nearly invincible, and makes him do things that most rational people would never think of.

John was a tough guy, but a decent guy to his friends and people who treated him well. He had been studying martial arts for years and spent far too much time practicing. He loved to do fake kicks inches from your head as you walked through the barracks. He never missed, I was always glad about that part.

The time was the early 1980's. John and I were tactical flightline Marines at a base that is closed today; the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. As Marines who served on the aviation side, we were part of a busy support squadron under Marine Wing Support Group-37 that taxied fighter jets into the refueling area so we could fill them with jet fuel for the next flight.

Blue Angels flying the A-4 Skyhawk, Courtesy: U.S. Navy

Each year back then, the Navy's spectacular Blue Angels performed at a huge air show at El Toro. Our caveat was watching them practice for several days before the show while we performed our regular flightline jobs. At that time the Blue Angels flew the A-4 Skyhawk which was a plane used extensively by the Navy and, particularly, the Marines, during the Vietnam War.

One day during this time, around 1982, John was walking near the base headquarters area close to the front gate, when he observed a dark metallic blue Navy pick up that belonged to the Blue Angels. I assume that while this vehicle probably carried supplies and possibly transported pilots to their planes, it's main role was as a promotion vehicle.

This is similar to what the sticker looked like Courtesy: fightingcolors.com

So John, totally unable to resist the temptation, "recons" over through the bushes to the truck's door that is facing away from the headquarters building. He then proceeds to carefully begin peeling the sticker off the door. We're talking about a thick, high quality "Blue Angels" logo that is over a foot wide!

It took a while, of course it was well applied, painstakingly I am sure. Eventually the sticker was off and a big round gummy film was all that was left on the door.

In my mind then and now, federal crime or not, I saw it as little more than a childish prank. Of course it was wrong, but the shock value was way up there. Admittedly proud of himself, John started away from the building when his path was cut off... by a pilot.

A Blue Angel.

This guy was the real deal, an officer who flew one of the Blue Angel planes in the early 1980's. John said he froze. Tough guy yes, but not when confronted by a pilot from the Blue Angels. John is well over six feet tall, but he said he still looked up to this hero of the skies. I doubt the guy had to actually be taller to give this effect.

As I recall the story, this was one of, if not the only Marine who at that time flew for the Blue Angels. Remember that even if it is my alma mater, it is a fact that the United States Marine Corps is not an actual military service, but a Department of the Navy.

Marines traditionally have older equipment than the Army, Navy or Air Force, yet they always manage to do more with it than their counterparts. This is part fact, part opinion I admit, but the Marines have always done a fabulous job with what they are given, however humble it is.

The Marine Corps bond is far reaching and I have learned it almost means more after you are out, than when you are in. The sun was shining on John that day, and I don't know if that pilot was kind, shocked, blown away, I'm not sure. But he didn't put John in an immediate headlock and march him into the building. He could have.

Blue Angel's A-4 Skyhawks, Courtesy: U.S. Navy

The Blue Angel told John one thing; he said, "stay here," then walked up the steps into the building and disappeared from sight. John knew he was busted, and this one was going to be bad under the best conditions. Our Sgt Major had a baton behind his desk and while I never felt it, I know John did. His name was Sgt Major Bott, and he passed away quite a few years ago. The baton was called the Sgt Major's Magic Wand.

After a few minutes, John saw the pilot reemerge from the headquarters building. He quietly approached, like he had something up his sleeve that John couldn't quite detect. John just said the pilot had an odd look on his face. He also wondered why there wasn't a trail of other uniforms coming out to catch the guy who yanked the emblem off the pick up's door.

The Marine pilot handed John something that looked kind of like a record album, only in plain brown paper, a big envelope. John looked inside, and there was a brand new, never applied, Blue Angels sticker. John was dumbfounded. He told me later that if there was ever a lesson learned, that this was it. Putting his machoism aside, he said he knew that stealing was wrong, and he felt terrible and happy about it at the same time. It really affected him.

I have no idea what ever happened to John, or Mark Dooling from Spokane, Washington, another Marine that was a close friend of John's and mine. I know Mark could add to this story.

The recent tragedy of the Navy Blue Angels is something we all care deeply about. I am glad to be able to relate a small story that speaks to more than just the official side of the Blue Angels, or to the tragic side, but to the human side of one pilot that could have sent my friend's career in the Marine Corps down in flames, but instead reacted with the patience of a big brother.

Peace, Blue Angels, may many years pass before you have to again report to us the loss of one of your brothers.