And Another Fine Young American Dies

(CNN) -- A jet flying in formation with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels precision flying team crashed into a Beaufort, South Carolina, neighborhood, causing an "enormous fireball" during an air show, authorities said.

The Navy aviator was killed, Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland said. The F/A-18's pilot is the only known fatality. The aviator's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

My heart stopped when I read this today. The men who become Blue Angels endure a rigorous vetting from literally hundreds of applicants. Only the finest of the finest are considered. And only the very best are chosen from those pickings. These are men who have committed themselves to excellence, dedicated themselves to precision, and have managed to stand out in a sea of exquisite candidates.



One man died today. We do not yet know his name.

But because he was a Blue Angel it is a given: he was the best of the best.

I look out my window and it is raining; perhaps that is fitting for this post. And we as a nation, we are diminished by a fraction. But diminished nevertheless.

One more good man dies. God bless he and his family.

But he died doing what he loved. That much is certain.

And now we must acknowledge: he really is flying with the angels; all of them now. There is a heaven, and he is there. I am unsure why this has struck me so. But it has hit me hard and as I write this my eyes are clouded with tears.

As it has been, as it shall ever be: only our best seem to fall.





BZ