The pilot of an F-16CG of the 524th FS, 27thFW, Cannon AFB is missing and perhaps dead in Iraq. The pilot was supporting Coalition forces in the area 20 miles north of Baghdad when the aircraft went down. Terrorists in the area claim to have shot the F-16CG down with a Soviet Strela shoulder fired heat seeking missile. There is one report of the aircraft operating erratically before finally crashing. By the time Coalition forces had secured the area, any sign of the pilot was gone. The search continues for the missing pilot.
Al-Jazeera, that bastion of 'objective' reporting claims to have footage of the dead pilot but refused to air the pictures because they are too gruesome. I am going to call foul on this since Al-Jazeera has never before shied away from broadcasting jihadi snuff films. I have to wonder if they are trying to delay or divert while their associates in terror, the terrorists, spirit the pilot off to somewhere more secure for torture.
Lets all pray that the pilot is found alive and unhurt before those butchers work him over. Or maybe for once Al-Jazeera is reporting truth and the pilot is dead and their chums want to milk this with their help for all the PR they can. Remember how the media showed those Somali thugs dragging those Rangers' bodies through the streets? Al-Jazeera and their friends want the US to leave and will do anything to achieve that lets remember that.
Pray for the pilot and his family.
2 comments:
Have you seen any further news? My prayers definitely go out to him and his family!
Clovis News Journal has some more. The pilot is Major Troy Gilbert, an instructor pilot from Luke AFB. His wife Ginger is from Clovis which is near Cannon AFB where the F-16CG Major Gilbert was flying came from. Major Gilbert and Ginger have five children. Possible human remains were found at the crash site and they are being tested to see if they belong to the pilot. The crash itself is still under investigation.
http://cnjonline.com/engine.pl?station=clovis&template=storyfull.html&id=26855
"Donations may be made to the Gilbert Family Memorial Fund, in honor of Maj. Gilbert, whose wife, Ginger, is a Clovis native. The fund was announced Saturday by the Bank of Clovis, the Clovis News Journal and the Portales News-Tribune.
People may drop off their donations either at the bank, 300 Main St., or the newspaper offices, 521 Pile St. in Clovis and 101 E. First in Portales. They will be deposited in a Bank of Clovis account."
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