Motto:

"SUMMO EST OPPORTUNITAS"

There is Opportunity at the Top 

The RECCE Aircrew

Say what you will about them: arrogant, cocky, boisterous, and fun-loving fools to boot - they have earned their place in the sun. Across a span of more than 75 years they have given this country some of its proudest moments and most cherished military traditions. But fame is short-lived and little does the world remember. Almost forgotten are the wood and canvas "crates" of 1917 and 1918 - whose crews, minus armament and parachutes, served as the eyes of the Allied Armies on the Western Front. Dimly remembered are the achievements of those intrepid reconnaissance aircrews whose exploits paved the way for land invasions from North Africa to the Po Valley, from Guadalcanal to Okinawa, who flew at low altitude in the face of intense ground fire to obtain photographs for the invasion of Western Europe in 1944. Fading too are the memories of the reconnaissance efforts over Korea's uncharted terrain and the Voodoos and U-2's in the Cuban Crisis. And how long will memories last of the Phantoms over "Route Pack Six' and the flak-filled skies above Hanoi or over the desert during the Iraq War?

So here's a "nickel on the grass" to you, my friends, for your spirit, enthusiasm, sacrifice, and courage - but most of all to your friendship. Yours is a dying breed - alone, unarmed, and unafraid - and when you are gone,  the world will be a lesser place.