3/23/25 was a nice day to fly!  The star of the show was Ed Putnam's F86.  I tried to make a video of all the clips and pictures I took, but I'm not able to upload the darn thing!  So the best I can do is this one clip.  Anyway, here is some history of the "Minutemen."  Enjoy!

F-86F Sabre, U. S. Air Force, Colorado Air National Guard, "Minute Men.

"The Colorado Air National Guard also made a name for itself as the home of the "Minutemen," the Air National Guard's first and only precision aerial flying demonstration team. The team performed across the United States and Canada, including appearances in the then territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and in the Republic of Panama. In the fall of 1956 the National Guard Bureau designed the "Minutemen" as the official team to represent the Air National Guard of the United States. For the next four years, the team flew more than one hundred airshows before millions of spectators. In 1960, however, the "Minutemen" were disbanded due to lack of funding. A fledgling team the Air Force was promoting, called the "Thunderbirds," came on the scene about this time."*

* --------------------------- From the 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard.

"March 12. John Ferrier. John was a skillful and courageous pilot who flew combat missions in Korea and commercial flights for United Airlines.

While in Korea, he earned a medal for bravery when he risked his life to fly cover over a downed Marine pilot.

John was also part of Kanukuk, an organization that runs outdoor youth camps designed to incorporate the Christian principle of God first, others second, and self third into camping experiences that build courage and confidence.

He was also a pilot on the Colorado Air National Guard Minute Men’s official Jet Precision Demonstration Team.

John was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Here’s his story.

Right choices follow right priorities.

Captain John Ferrier kept a small card stuffed inside his wallet. On it was printed a simple reminder: “I’m third.” It was a personal belief he lived out with passion as a follower of Jesus Christ.

June 7, 1958, began like any other sunny morning in Fairborn, Ohio, a small town adjacent to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Skies were blue and the winds calm. Thousands of people from Fairborn and nearby towns were feeling sunny, too. Today—from their own backyards—they would witness one of the greatest shows in the sky.

About nine o’clock, all eyes turned heavenward. The famed Colorado Air National Guard Minute Men would soon streak through the sky. In their silver-and-red F-86 Sabre fighter jets, the pilots would break through the sky at incredible speed and begin jaw-dropping air acrobatics.

They were Colonel Walt Williams, Captain John Ferrier, Captain Bob Cherry, Lieutenant Bob Odle, and Major Wynn Coomer. Colonel Williams led the team and would keep in constant radio contact during their flight.

The elite pilots were charged with adrenaline at every show, but especially now since they had recently received new jets. The pilots were anxious to fly them over an admiring public, as well as a group of West Point Cadets who were guests of honor at the airshow.

Just past 0900, four jets accelerated with numbing power and precision to perform a “bomb burst” maneuver. Just before pull-up, Williams radioed the command, “Smoke on—now.” Forming a diamond shape, the Sabres shot straight up 10,000 feet and approached the speed of sound. The jets trailed billows of white smoke.

High in the sky, the planes suddenly broke apart, rolled to opposite points of the compass, and streamed a ribbon of smoke that resembled a fleur-de-lis.

On the ground, spectators gasped.

But John’s ailerons—the panels near the tip of the wings that allow a plane to roll at a desired angle—jammed. He lost control of the aircraft.

Meanwhile Williams, having picked up speed for a low-altitude crossover looked over his shoulder and saw disaster unfolding. John’s plane was corkscrewing. He was falling out of the sky.

Colonel Williams radioed, “Bail out, John!”

No response. Just a few blips of white smoke.

“Bail out, Johnny, bail!” the Colonel shouted repeatedly.

No doubt John’s two hands were pulling on the control stick locked full-throw right. The quick bursts of smoke seemed to signal he was trying to pull up. There was no time to press the mike button on the throttle.

John didn’t want his pilotless plane to plow directly into a crowd of onlookers in Fairborn. He would control the crash. If he couldn’t save himself, he would die saving others. He would die like he had lived—following the Savior.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NIV).

Johnny Ferrier died a hero.

Major Wynn Coomer was the first Minute Man to land his plane and race to the scene of the crash. He was met with a mixture of shock, sadness, and respect among the witnesses.

Some said they saw the doomed jet heading straight for them. One man tearfully described how he had nearly made eye contact with the pilot before, somehow, the aircraft pulled up over the crowd and crashed into an empty garden. “He died for us,” he said.

After the tragedy, John’s wife found the well-worn card he had stashed in his wallet. “I’m third,” it read. Her heart warmed with pride for a husband full of courage and honor, a man who put God first, others second, and himself last—who wouldn’t choose to live his life—or to die—any other way. The card became the final testament of a man who sacrificed himself so others might live."*

-------------------- * https://365christianmen.com/podcast/john-t-ferrier-us-colorado-air-national-guard/

Ok, I reread the story above and realized this may be a weird coincidence, but I was born in Fairborn Oho in 1954.  My mom told me a story about how she would not let my dad (then a lieutenant in the Air Force) transition to fly jets because she was traumatized when a jet crashed in a field behind our house.  Probably not the same incident, but still ........