During the 4 of July parade, a group protesting jet noise from NAS Whidbey participated. When they passed, my wife and me, both navy vets, we gave them the thumbs down sign, without further comment. One of the members of the group came up and stuck his boombox in my face while we exchanged pleasantries.

Over recent months there have a number of articles concerning this noise, most of them critical. There have been trip to D.C. To speak to representatives of Congress. Support against the noise has been stated by county commissioners, past (Rhea) and present (Jamie). Suggestions have been made to move the activity to another location. Fallon AFB, China Lake and Moses Lake have been mentioned. Not only does this sound like “Nimby,” but these ideas are completely void of any consideration of the expense required to relocate the required infrastructure. It is needless to say that our nation is in serious debt. Furthermore, none of these locales offer a maritime environment in which these aircraft operate.

There has also been talk of additional protest and lawsuits. Those making these threats might want to consider how protests or lawsuits would go over, say, in Russia, North Korea, Iran or with the Taliban. The Growlers are loud, no argument, but the readiness of these squadrons is paramount. For us, we would rather recall the inspirational words of JFK – “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can for your country.” It is time to think less about “ME” and more about “US.”

James Brady

Lopez Island