[Update below]
Blue Angel #6, LCDR Kevin “Kojak” Davis, returned to Pensacola yesterday with all due honor and solemnity. A man dear to family and friends has been lost and unnumbered futures will be different than had he not been snatched away so young.
But in mourning a loss of unrealized potential, let us not forget to celebrate a special life of extraordinary skill and dedication, a life that defended our country with all seriousness but also helped to bring the sheer joy of flying to the rest of us.
LCDR Davis, this is for you... and those who loved you.
Here's more from two people on whom he left quite an impression: a navy wife/columnist and a reporter. (video).
UPDATE: Duty in the Desert points us to some fascinating articles about LCDR Davis, and receives comments from those who knew him.
I didn't trust my memory of the name, but recently hearing Davis' voice on a video clip confirmed to me that he was the announcer at the Blue Angels show I attended last year (my very first). I remembered feeling sorry for the announcer because he didn't get to fly in the show, and so I'm happy to hear he joined the six in the sky this season... if only for an all-too-brief time.
[H/T to Cop the Truth for the video, and Instapinch for the photo]
UPDATE II: The original video has been taken down from YouTube, but here is a similar one (same soundtrack and many of the same video shots).
