Blue Angels: Part 2

were top-notch and awe-inspiring — it was a turbulent year. in the second part of our 47 abc special report — we introduced you to a blue angels pilot — who shared how fan support helped them through the pain of losing a friend and team member this summer. and tonight — he explains how the air show community rallied around them, as well. here’s 47 abc’s emily lampa with this special report. “there was a period after june 2nd that i kind of had to stay off of facebook and twitter because it was heart-wrenching.” major mark montgomery is talking about this… boost sad music tribute after tribute… people remembering u-s marine captain jeff kuss. through pictures. video… and words of consolation. “today the snowbirds dedicate our performance to our brothers and sisters in blue the united state navy blue angels.” “it was amazing to see the support, but it was just, you’d see these things.you know, the snow birds did a tribute. the thunderbirds…you know, everyone had, lots of fleet squadrons had put the six on their jet people had sixes on everything.the support, it was amazing, but to me at that time it was it was heart-wrenching.” but time has healed some of those wounds. “we’re good. we’re tight. we’ve gone through a lot, so any kind of…you go through bad stuff together, it brings you closer.” speaking of bringing people together… i met senior master sergeant erick stone because of the blues community event at kenwood high school. the air force junior r-o-t-c instructor and i became fast friends — because we had something very emotional in common. we both shared a cockpit with captain kuss — in 2015 — as part of their civilian ride program. “make sure your arms are tucked in…yup…here comes the canopy. awesome yeah, no…that’s how i feel, too. it’s like the craziest thing. yeah, it’s so much fun.” “you develop a bond with somebody, especially when 45 minutes you’re doing some really fun stuff, and a real personable gentleman and he was a good aviator and everybody i knew that knew him thought very highly of him.” “from a personal perspective, a real nice guy, and i was honored to get to know him.” sound of blue angels flying by the flight demonstration teams — from the blues, to the thunderbirds, and even the geico skytypers — essentially work together to be a bridge between the military and civilians. the blue angels mission — “to showcase the pride and professionalism of the united states navy and marine corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country through flight demonstrations and community outreach.” sound of students reacting to major montgomery talking although it can be fun — being a blue angel is military service. and each member of the team acknowledges it’s inherently dangerous. major montgomery addressed the risks with students at kenwood — admitting there have been 26 deaths in the organization’s 70 year history. “as aviators, and again i certainly didn’t fly a fighter jet or anything, but you understand there is a level of danger in these assignments.and you do what you can do, you’re trained very well, and you respond accordingly, however the flying is dangerous and we all accept that.” each blue angel pilot is selected from the ranks of the u-s navy and marines. they’re part of the performance team for 2 -to- 3 years — then they return to the fleet. “i was fortunate enough to get selected and it does mean a lot.” “the officers are selected because they’re very personable, they’re very skilled, they’re very proficient, and they present the image that the military wants to present. and major montgomery says his team will continue to honor their fallen angel — for all those reasons — and more. “you know, each day, we make sure the flights are the way he would want them.he was always hard working.he was always in there, first in, last out.and you know, we make sure we try to emulate that, each day with the flights.” that was 47 abc’s emily lampa reporting. u-s marine captain jeff kuss is survived by his wife and two children. during my flight with him last year — we spoke at length about his family — his love for them — as well as his love for his job and country. 47 abc aired a tribute for captain kuss — the day of his crash. if you would like to see it — it’s up on our website right now — to watch and share. the blue angels team is on break right now — but that means they’ll soon be preparing for a new performance season in 2017. tomorrow night — we wrap up this three-part special report with the blue angels — talking to them about what’s next. and it’s time to award another educator as our “teacher who make