Pilot Who Flew Bush Onto Aircraft Carrier is Killed

[KBlagburn]

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1078&dept_id=151026&newsid=12857435&PAG=461&rfi=9


One Who Won't Be Returning


September 05, 2004



As expressed in other letters to the editor, I, too, would like to thank everyone for their expression of concern for our troops.
But I am writing this letter for one of the approximately 1,000 troops who will not be returning. How do we show our support to them?
Advertisement


On Aug. 10, Indiana lost one of its finest, a loving father, husband, a person who loved his country, family, and his hometown.

Lt. Commander Scott Zellem was a great kid growing up here in Indiana, later a great student, a great athlete, a great U.S. Naval Academy graduate and then a great military pilot after receiving his wings in 1992 at Pensacola, Fla.

He flew his plane from different aircraft carriers, including the USS Independence and the USS Abraham Lincoln.

He flew combat missions over Iraq during several deployments, including Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, for which he was awarded the Air Medal.

He was such an excellent pilot that he was chosen to fly President Bush onto the deck of the USS Lincoln, where the president gave his famous speech declaring the end of combat in Iraq.

I might add that Scott is the son of Sally Zellem, retired director of the Indiana Chapter of the American Red Cross, who helped hundreds of Indiana County residents during their times of need.

I could tell you story after story about what Scott did to make all of Indiana so proud of him, but my daughter summed it up better than I on the Internet when she was asked to share stories about him along with the rest of his graduation class at Indiana High School.

In these times when all you hear are negative things about our young people it made me so proud to find out how close Scott's Indiana High School class is. My daughter wrote:

"I have thought over the past couple of weeks about Scott, and all my memories lead back to when we were very young. That is 5 or 6 years of age.

"Memories of spending the night at each other's homes. At Scott's home it was always wanting to have his (fuzzy) blanket. I would sleep on a cot next to his bed and he always shared his blanket with me, but he'd never part with it.

"At my home we thought we were special because we always got to eat breakfast at the dining room table.

"As years went by I realized it wasn't because of being 'special,' it was because my dad couldn't stand the sight or smell of the ketchup that Scott always put on his eggs.

"I'll never buy or see another bottle of ketchup without thinking of him.

"Scott was my Mack Park tennis partner, my purse trick partner, my snow-sledding partner, my co-Horace Mann jacks champ and my old folks home square-dance partner.

"But most of all, Scott was my friend. Together we learned at an early age how to act, how to trust others and the true meaning of friendship.

"For that I thank him because he was truly one of my first real friends.

"My husband's father passed away not too long ago and I came across this quote: 'When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.'

"Scott is a precious gem in my treasure of memories." (Angie Henry Hungate)

Lt. Commander Scott Zellem will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on Sept. 7, about 1300 hours with full military honors.

Please join us by taking a few seconds out of your busy life and say a prayer for him, Jennifer, his wife; Tanner, his 1-year-old son; his mother and father, and the rest of his family.

Also during that prayer please keep the other 1,000 military personnel who will not be seeing the yellow ribbons or the rest of the outpouring of support we are showing for our troops.

In the old military movie the question is asked, "Where do we get these wonderful men?" That is an easy question to answer: our God.

Ronald Henry
Indiana

[aquart]

1. We get them from their mothers. We send them to God.

Ain't human sacrifice great?

[ewagner]

2. Damn.......

that's about all I can say.......

[kar_the_terrible]

4. How was he killed??

[newyawker99]

26. Hi kar_the_terrible!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[zulchzulu]

3. Mission NOT Accomplished

Fucking bastard...

AWOL

[IndianaGreen]

5. Crashed into an uninhabited island off Japan

Marine Officer & Indiana Native Killed In Plane Crash

A local naval officer is killed in a plane crash. Lt. Commander Scott Zellem, a native of Indiana, and three other airmen were killed when their S-3B Viking jet crashed on an uninhabited island near Japan. Zellem was a 1987 grad of Indiana High School and a standout player on the football team. The Navy said a memorial service for the crew will be held Sunday aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis deployed in the western Pacific.

http://www.wjactv.com/news/3654952/detail.html

Lt. Commander Scott Zellem, 35, was one of four San Diego-based airmen in a S-3B Viking jet that crashed on an uninhabited island after it had taken off from the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, deployed in the Western Pacific.

The others killed were Lt. Patrick Myrick, 31, of Santa Monica, Calif.; Lt. James Pupplo, 34, of Selden, N.Y., and Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Joshua Showalter, 24, of Fontana, Calif.

Zellem was a 1987 graduate of Indiana Area High School and a 1991 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

He had been a pilot in the U.S. Navy for 13 years. In May 2003, he was a flight officer on the first of two Navy S-3B Vikings that carried President George W. Bush onto the USS Abraham Lincoln, where Bush addressed the nation following the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

According to a Navy public affairs release, Zellem's Viking was flying in the vicinity of the Iwo Jima island chain when communications were lost at about 7:42 p.m. local time Tuesday.

http://www.usna.com/News_Pubs/News/ViewNewsDate.asp?Date=8/16/2004#1

[AP]

7. Nevermind.

[IndianaGreen]

10. The mission was a routine mission having nothing to do with Iraq

or Halliburton. This sort of tragic shit happens a lot more than people are aware of.

Fontana Sailor dies in tragic plane crash

By RUSSELL INGOLD

Many residents of Fontana and beyond are mourning the tragic loss of Petty Officer Second Class Joshua Brent Showalter, a 24-year-old U.S. Navy aviation electronics technician who died in a plane crash in the Western Pacific Ocean on Aug. 10.

Showalter, a 1998 graduate of Fontana High School, was one of four Sailors who perished in the accident.

The Sailors were assigned to the "Blue Wolves" of Sea Control Squadron Three Five (VS-35), based at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., when their S-3B Viking aircraft crashed at Kita Io Jima, an uninhabited island located about 39 nautical miles north of Iwo Jima and 625 miles southeast of Japan.

The Viking was on a routine training mission as part of the Joint Air Sea Exercise (JASEX) '04.

The other victims in the crash were Lt. Patrick Sean Myrick, 31, of Santa Monica; Lt. James Joseph Pupplo, 34, of Selden, N.Y.; and Lt. Commander Scott Allen Zellem, 35, of Indiana, Penn.

http://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/articles/2004/08/20/news/04newsshowalter.txt

On edit:

Our service men and women are risking their lives as they serve around the world. They serve quietly and honorably. I can only express my condolences to the families.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. What happened to this guy?

Did he get killed in Iraq??

[IndianaGreen]

8. Japan

It was an accident.

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. The obit wants to count him as killed in action

Looks like it was a joyride flight instead.

[lazarus]

13. joyride flight?

You make it sound like Navy pilots can just go up and fly around for the fun of it.

This was a training flight. They were killed in the line of duty just as much as any of the soldiers killed in Iraq.

[The_Casual_Observer]

14. " just go up and fly around for the fun of it"

This never happens, right?

[IndianaGreen]

18. You have been watching too many movies

This was in the line of duty. Navy aviators do not go around doing the equivalent of joy riding.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. Ok, so they call it a training flight, i'll buy that.

I suppose that this guy still needed tons of training.

[IndianaGreen]

20. The military trains constantly in order to keep their skills in sharp...

focus. This is particularly true for Naval Aviators because carrier landings, particularly at night, is something that requires a special sort of person.

[Lithos]

21. All professionals need continual training

I wouldn't want a doctor operating on me who hadn't touched a scalpel in over a year, would you?

Same goes with pilots, I wouldn't want one to fly in the military who didn't put in the hours to maintain their full flight qualifications. Contrast this guy with Shrub who did everything to shirk his responsibilities.

L-

[lazarus]

22. I'll head down to the base tomorrow

and tell all his pals to quit joyriding, how about that?

Yeah, I live in San Diego. My wife's a retired Navy Chief. I'm a vet myself.

Trust me, without constant training, our military would go to crap.

How many hours do you suppose this guy needed to fly every year to stay trained? How much training to you think military pilots actually need? None?

I guess it's like riding a bike; once you learn, you never forget. Right?

[oasis]

23. Rove will try to exploit this tragedy. Wait and see.

[Julian English]

9. Very sad--a nice obit

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=12696611&BRD=1078&PAG=461&dept_id=151025&rfi=6

[Sugarbleus]

12. I'm sorry to hear another life was ended.

In this case,I'm sorry for the family most of all. I wonder if pretzel boy has sent along his condolences yet.

The article doesn't say how the airman died.

....And the death toll keeps mounting.... :(

[goclark]

17. Deepest sympathy to the family of

the pilot.

Do you think that he saw or heard something that day of Mission Accomplished that cause him to have a problem with the plane?

[msanger]

15. thank you for posting this.

We should note that this was not an Iraq related death. But it is still a great loss.
<http://www.usna.com/News_Pubs/News/ViewNewsDate.asp?Date=8/16/2004#1">

[IndianaGreen]

16. Zellem: “We are proud to serve our country "

When the Blue Wolves returned to its home port in San Diego from Operation Iraqi Freedom, a proud LTCMDR Scott Zellem was quoted as saying:

“We all feel incredibly lucky being able to come home to our families and friends,” said Zellem. “We are proud to serve our country and are glad that we could do the job we were asked to do, and that we didn’t let our country down. Our thoughts and prayers are with our fallen comrades from this conflict and those who are still in the field of battle.”

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=8394

[Bunny]

24. Think Bush will attend his funeral?

Yeah, right...

[Supersedeas]

27. Funerals only attended when in his political interest--Definitely not here

[Moderator]

25. KBlagburn

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator