Grampa passed away last month. Noone was surprised as he had been on the decline from Parkinson's for eight years. Grampa got his wings just as the war was ending and became an air-sea rescue pilot and a lighter-than-air pilot and commanding officer. He flew the last mission of the USN's dirigible force. He came within minutes of losing it all on several occasions, and came through unscathed. The stories his family tells about his adventures and the loyalty he inspired in his men are worth repeating down the generations.

There was a well-documented flight of training jets out of Pensacola that got lost in the "Triangle" and never came back. Only recently were some of the planes found on the sandy bottom. Grampa was scheduled to fly one of those wings, but the night before, a fellow airmen cajoled him to swap engagements with him so he could go on a heavy date; Grampa was always willing to help out. As a result the other guy flew wing in that formation, and became part of the mysterious history of the Triangle.

A