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Norwegian
Trad climber
Pollock Pines, California
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a sad situation.
i extend my respect to him
and my sympathies to
those whom are struggling thru
this.
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scuffy b
climber
heading slowly NNW
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I'm so sorry, Brad. Best wishes to you and your families.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Our first longer climb was The Nevabe Ridge
great first long day for a fit n00b
sounds like a great time. nice memories
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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The Air Force has announced that Luc is being promoted - posthumously - from captain to major.
I still remember the weeks after he finished flight school almost ten years ago. Like any new military pilot Luc had hoped for an assignment to fly fighters. Instead he was asked to stay behind and become an instructor at the flight school itself. Although he understood what an extreme compliment this was - a judgment even that he had the maturity, expertise and people skills to immediately become a teacher - he was still a little disappointed.
He eventually got his assignment to fighters.
When he did his tour in Afghanistan he placed an American flag in his cockpit during one mission. He gave me that flag together with a certificate that it had flown a combat mission with him in his F-16. The flag hangs on my wall.
I always joked with Luc about him giving me a ride in a two-seat trainer/fighter. His standard response was that he was "still trying" to set such a flight up.
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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RIP
sorry for your loss Brad and Mucci
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Coming from a family of pilots and having had some long nights as a kid not knowing which plane and crew was involved with a crash I know it can be tough, all the more so with this outcome. Always hard to lose someone and someone who lived well. Condolences.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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climbski2
Mountain climber
Anchorage AK, Reno NV
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Military Memorial Sevice
http://www.aviano.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123335298
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
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I grew up on air force bases. When there is a crash fatality they do this thing where four jets come over the base in formation, then one flies straight up and out of sight. Super sad.
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Condolences to family and friends.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Santa Cruz Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
This poem by John Gillespie Magee Jr, is always in a prominent place on the wall of my home where I read it every day.
So sad to lose another kindred spirit.
When there is a crash fatality they do this thing where four jets come over the base in formation, then one flies straight up and out of sight.
I've attended too many of these...honoring all those who have left us, not just the pilots, but all who have gone before us; and reminding what a blessing it is every day to still be alive and able to look across the sky and the waters and the trees and the birds calling out...
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 6, 2013 - 04:55pm PT
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Thoughtfull comments on an untimely death.
My condolences go out to all of the family and friends of whom Luc touched in everyday life.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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It says a lot about Luc that 1,000 people attended his funeral at Aviano air base (God, I hate to even type the words "his funeral").
I read some of Cassy's words, which also say a lot about Luc and quite a bit about Cassy herself:
"If he were here, he would challenge each and every one of you to go climb that mountain you've been waiting to climb, he would tell you to plan that trip you haven't planned, he would tell you to call that friend you've been thinking about, and he would tell you to be sure to tell your loved ones you love them every day. So I challenge you now, for him, and in his memory."
I can practically hear him saying just these words. He lived that way.
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phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
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I am so sorry for your loss and of course my sincere condolences to his family. It hits close to home as my brother flew for many years of his military career, and I visited him at the Aviano base when he was flying missions during the most recent Balkan War. People would be surprised if they knew how many pilots are lost even during "peacetime" manuovers - it's a very dangerous job.
Peace, Phyl
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Mar 16, 2013 - 07:35pm PT
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I got to meet Serene Gruenther today. She's five weeks old. She's so beautiful and very alert. Although I'm a little out of practice for holding such little girls, it seemed to come back to me quickly.
Luc's funeral is tomorrow at our high school.
I attached a blue rubber "live like Luc" wristband to my climbing pack.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Mar 16, 2013 - 11:51pm PT
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I'm glad he's going to have a memorial in his home town as well as far away. That's important for a lot of people.
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mtnyoung
Trad climber
Twain Harte, California
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Jan 28, 2015 - 11:50am PT
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I can't believe it's been two years now.
It's a pretty rare single day that goes by in which I don't think of Luc at some point. His daughter Serene is growing up without him. She is beautiful. She looks so much like him it makes me laugh. And, of course, she is surrounded by loving people; family and friends. But damn it, there is no substitute for her dad who she won't ever see.
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
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Jan 28, 2015 - 01:21pm PT
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