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NEWS PAGE
"I never think of the future, it comes soon enough." - A. Einstein
The war pilot shows the kids how to use night goggles.
www.phillyburbs.com (2005-06-02)
He has navigated his F-16 fighter jet through crashing bombs in Baghdad. Most recently, he helped intercept the pilot who flew into restricted air space in Washington, causing the White House to be evacuated.
And on Friday morning, Air Force Maj. Kevin Kelly received a standing salute from sixth-graders as he entered a classroom at St. Andrew’s Catholic School.
Kelly, an active-duty pilot, spoke to more than 100 students in two classes about his job and the importance of hard work and dedication.
During his presentation, Kelly strapped 12-year-old Chris McConville into heavy equipment, including a helmet and night-vision goggles, to demonstrate what he wears to fly.
"You can always do more than you are capable of," he said. "You have a tremendous amount of potential inside you."
"Pretty comfortable, huh?" he joked as Chris struggled under the weight of the uniform, which included a 60-pound inflatable life vest.
Although most of the students were eager to hear about combat stories, Kelly’s main message to work hard rang loud and clear - he warned students not to give up opportunities by slacking off.
"There’s going to be plenty of doors closed in your lifetime just by the natural course of events," Kelly said. "You don’t want to close doors unnecessarily by not achieving as high as you can."
Twelve-year-old Jordan Devlin was especially impressed by Kelly’s speech to the girls in the class. He told them that just seven years ago, the first class of women fighter pilots joined his unit.
"A lot of people said they couldn’t do it," Kelly said. "Now, they’re part of the team."
Jordan said that since she loves to fly on commercial jets and does it often, she is interested in becoming a pilot and might look into an Air Force career.
Thirteen-year-old Bruce Jenigen was awed by Kelly’s bravery.
"I think I’d be terrified to fly into a bunch of bombs flying everywhere," Bruce said about Kelly’s 1998 Desert Fox mission.
Many of the students were excited about this weekend’s air show at Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Horsham and wanted to know if Kelly would be in the pilot’s seat of one of the Navy’s Blue Angel jets.
Kelly said although he’ll be attending the air show, he’ll be doing something slightly less exciting than tricky aerial maneuvers for the crowd.
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Wednesday, 20 of August
