Page 13 - DFCS News Magazine Summer 2013

By Chuck Sweeney
The Fourth of July in Coronado, California is always a huge affair with events running from morning to night, and the main event is the annual parade. It is designed to take less than two hours to pass the grandstands, and the crowd was estimated to be between 80,000 and 100,000 very patriotic and enthusiastic people. Once again, everyone was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic responseof the spectators, most of whom stood up, applauded, and cheered. It was very satisfying for the entire group. Lindbergh Chapter President, Dan King, and Events Chairman, Herb Leopold, did another superb job of organizing the entire event.
We were very gratified that Old Town Trolley Tours of San Diego donated the use of their trolley for the second year. Our thanks to Char- ter Manager, Erica Frost. In addition, last year’s tour conductor, Jon Laws, requested to drive the group again. There wasan added fea- ture this year that was very significant, as this particular trolley was dedicated to Vice Admiral Jim Stockdale, who is alsoa DFC Society member. The trolley picks up all of the walkers and riders from an uncongested parking lot in San Diego and brings them to the start of the parade. After the parade route is completed, everyone is then shuttled back to their vehicles, precluding the nightmareparking prob- lem in Coronado on the 4th.
CMOH and DFCS VADM Jim Stockdale’s Trolley - Marching and Riding down Orange Ave in Coronado’s July 4th Parade
Assisting the five walkers and fifteen riders were four cadets from AFROTC Detachment 075 at San Diego State University. They really seemedtoenjoytheexperience,andlikeeveryone,wereanxiousfortheparadetostart. Unfortunately,weweretowardtheendofthe parade so there was a lot of waiting time, but the young cadets were really impressed by the crowds. It was really nice to have some youth with , and they were very much at ease listening to some of the stories. I had met several of them when I spoke at thedetachment’s Dining Out earlier this year. Sid Zimman (WWII SBD gunner, on the left of the banner) always gets a lot of attention from the crowds, especially the younger kids, for wearing his Marine Dress Blue uniform, so this year, Jack King decided to wear his Army Dress Blue uni- form (on the right).
Erica and Jon received pictures from the event ,and Erica wrote a story about the DFC Society in the parade and sent two of the pictures with the story for The Old Town Trolley Tours News Magazine, which will be printed shortly. They are located in Boston, KeyWest, Sa- vannah, St. Augustine and Washington D.C. in addition to San Diego. There is an email version also ,so we will get a little more free public- ity from this.
By Chuck Sweeney
On September 10th, the Lindbergh Chapter members who attended the quarterly luncheon listened intently as Vice Admiral David H. Buss, USN, spoke. VADM Buss is dual-hatted as the Commander, Naval Air Forces and Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet and is called the “Air Boss” ,as he is responsible for all of the aircraft and aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy. VADM Busswas designated a naval flight officer and completed initial training in the venerable A-6 Intruder in 1979 and ended up with over 4,000 hours in the A-6. He commanded VA-34, which was the last A-6 squadron; the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74); and Carrier Strike Group 12,
USS Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, in addition to numerous other leadership roles leading to his current command.
The “Air Boss” is very people-oriented, as was obvious from his presentation and the way he enjoyed talking to the DFCS members on a personal basis. He described the current state of Naval Aviation and where it is going in the future. VADM Buss was recruited to join the DFC Society last year when I attended his change of command. He was a soft sell and has been a strong supporter of the Society since joining. He gave a brief rundown of the action on Janu- ary 31st, 1991 that resulted in his being awarded a DFC with the combat V. This was great to hear in addition to his normal talk. The admiral’s aide said it was the first time he had heard the story. The scenario was really interesting, and his citation is on page 19 in this issue and also on our website. We thought it was most appropriate to present him with a bottle of “Fighter Pilot Red” Zinfandel wine with the DFC Medal and the combat V on the label. The Bella Luna Winery (http://www.bellalunawine.com/) donated a case of “Fighter Pilot Red” to us for the Riverside Convention Auction and a beautifully etched 3 liter bottle of “Fighter Pilot Red” for the Seattle Convention Auction.
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The Distinguished Flying Cross News