I was doing my ride on the parkway today and just glad for the beautiful weather we’ve been blessed with. Spring is always signified by numerous things here at Meadowood; not just the warmer weather or the buds on the trees, but also the spring finds us occasionally in the flight path of fighter jets and other military aircraft. Don’t know why it is mainly in the spring that they fly over, but it is.

There are those in the U.S. that would complain about the sound of a USAF F-16 cutting through the atmosphere at subsonics speeds pushed by an engine capable of producing some 28,000 lbs of thrust, but I know that sound isn’t an annoyance. It is true that the sound generated is the sound of more horsepower than is generated by the entire starting line up at the Indy 500 (now THAT is impressive!), but it is much, more than that to anyone who’s actually served their country instead of just complaining about it while they reaped the benefits of our service member’s sacrifices.

Back when I was assigned to Ft. Dix, NJ as a Military Police patrol, we got a call in the middle of the night from the commanding general asking if someone had called in a noise complaint. We hadn’t, the desk sergeant confirmed and the general related to him that he had just received a call. You see, back then, the C.G. kept a public phone number so that anyone on or around Ft. Dix could have access to him. It was important to keep up public relations. Well, this night, a self described ‘taxpayer’ whose property was right on the line of the Ft. Dix range area decided to call the commanding general and complain about the ‘noise’ coming from Ft. Dix. See, there were National Guard troops in the area doing training on one of the tank ranges and this ‘taxpayer’ could hear the thunder from their shells landing in the impact area a few miles from him. He didn’t like it. The general explained to him that what he was hearing wasn’t noise at all and he asked him to listen carefully. When the general could just barely make out the rumble of an exploding shell he said “you hear that son?” and Mr. Taxpayer replied that he could. The general then explained to him that what he just heard wasn’t noise; “Son, THAT is the sound of freedom.” and then he hung up. We laughed at that one for quite a while and ever since I’ve come to know any sound coming from any piece of military equipment, from the rumble of a HMMWV or the sound of a soldiers voice as the ’sound of freedom’.

As I looked up at the fleeting silhouette of the F-16 and felt the reverberation of that massive engine pushing it through our freedom laden airspace, I got a lump in my throat and pride swelled in my chest. I am a taxpayer, but after 14 years of service, I know that the members of the Army, Marines, Airforce and Navy don’t work for me; they ARE for me.

Keep on flying over, guys and gals; we love to hear the sound of freedom.