This year, my wife Kelly and I spent the 4th of July in Colorado Springs, a military town with breathtaking mountain views and a ubiquitous spirit of patriotism.  It’s also the home of the Air Force Academy (a must-see), the Space Force and one of most inspiring museums I have ever toured - The National Museum of World War II Aviation.

Spending Independence Day at the museum was a surreal experience - complete with the ability to take rides in half-tracks, scout cars and other refurbished WWII vehicles- plus seeing the numerous restored aircraft.

A TBM Avenger, a torpedo hunter which was first used in the Battle of Midway, took to the skies for a symbolic reminder of American air power.

Also on display was a P 38-F Lightning, the only successful twin engine air superiority fighter used in World War II.  The P-38 was made famous for destroying over 1,800 Japanese planes, and the one we saw was dug out of a hole in Papua New Guinea not that long ago and fully restored.

But perhaps the “coolest of the cool” things we did that day was spend some time talking with Captain Ken Greene, a retired Navy pilot who was at the museum to see the T-28C Trojan, a training and anti-insurgency plane that he flew during Vietnam.

He described having always wanting to be a pilot and how much fun it was, until he realized that “they shot at you!”

Most of his descriptions need to be left to the imagination; after all, the Patriot is a family newspaper!  

He vividly recalled some of his training flights, and how each test sortie landing in a field on an “outline” of a carrier was graded by his superior officer.  It was definitely a unique grading scale, including the lowest score - FNKA (use your imagination or the internet).  

He was especially clear about his feelings the first time he landed the plane on an actual air craft carrier, the USS Lexington.  It was keenly fascinating to hear him describe an experience that could have been equal parts orgasmic and terrifying.

We were also made privy to some, let’s say, colorful descriptions of U.S. Navy jargon.

Speaking with retired Captain Greene was an honor and an unforgettable experience . . . and it left Kelly and I musing aloud as we left for the day that we had indeed been in the presence of many American heroes.