Cross Over (1960s)

[Music] [Music] rustle the grand finale of a Thunderbird demonstration crossover from the four points of the compass the people of Latin America have gathered to witness the aerial maneuvers of this Air Force team from the United States and the thoughts of the people watching also cross over and are interwoven in a kaleidoscopic pattern of unspoken words the day the Thunderbirds came to our country I was one of the hottest and brightest days I remember many of the people fashion sunshades out of old newspapers or magazines even at that we often lost sight of the plains in the Sun but we soon forgot the slight inconvenience and became fascinated with the aerial tricks we drank our soda and clapped and watched and when the team did the crossover right above us rambha the people were like little children who had just been frightened by a dragon [Music] there was one boy out of many boys in the crowd at Costa Rica my mother did not want me to go to the air show and I had to beg her many times before she agreed she does not understand how a boy feels in his heart about jets today all I can do is watch and listen to the sound of a magnificent engines I have not told my mother as yet but I would like very much to be a pilot [Music] [Applause] someday of maybe I who signs autographs from an aircraft wing or maybe I wave from the elevator of a returning spaceship I wonder what my mother would say then [Music] [Applause] and there was a marimba band in Guatemala and a guru the young pilot seemed fascinated by our marimbas one could try to teach them a little but of course they had no skill with the hammers [Music] my cousin plays very well and makes music that starts your feet to dance but then he could not fly a fighter airplane like my grandfather used to say every man to his own job it is enough to raise grapes you do not need to make the bottles and so I guess we need those who play music and those who keep the world a place in which music can be enjoyed and there were students on a campus in Chile I do not want you to think we are always serious but really I find little time for non-essential matters I take a few minutes today to observe the airmen from the United States in my studies the point of similarity between that country and ours that I respect most is the valley the worth placed on individual personality that is why I like the solo pilot the best to me he symbolizes freedom of the Spirit the desire of every person to express himself as an individual I say Oh lay to the one man in the sky a Thunderbird pilot is helmet of ghostly image on the canopy muses we have an advantage over the normal jet pilot we fly low and that gives us a chance to look over the countryside on our way down to South America I had my first chance to see the big ditch the Panama Canal I'm in the Air Force all right I still can appreciate what this water shortcut means to our Navy and Merchant Marine often up here alone where nothing seems trite or corny I often lacks poetic for below sometimes in bull relief other times but a pattern seen through broken clouds is the land a blend of Hills rivers Plains grasslands and wilderness and the cities of man and his farmers hi snow-capped peaks [Music] the resting volcanoes [Music] superimposed on this mosaic of living birth people proud people you might say that my wife and I are direct opposites I am the realist and she is the dreamer when I look at the Jets I see power in a fine military weapons system when she looks she sees the beauty of movement the pleasing design the contrast of color actually I guess the airplanes are both power and beauty depending on your viewpoint perhaps it is because I live in the high country and there are not many of us that I think as I do once I saw planes write letters in the sky but these airplanes make mystic patterns of smoke and I think they are like mighty condors in lazy flight and scheming threats and there is a giant claw of which bird I do not know painted in the sky now myself I am a bird I fly in the air the earth far below twists and turns and the sky and clouds are closer even than from my mountaintop could I say to myself how good it is to be a bird [Music] and I say unto you ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you of what man is there of you whom if his son ask bread will he give him a stone or if he ask a fish will he give him a serpent therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them I watched the show with my brothers near the statue to bellboy it was a beautiful bright day and from our viewpoint the air machines were like shimmering dragonflies through the palm trees the distant engines like the hum of bees in the afternoon Sun to myself I thought this is the peace the tranquility of life has ensured me and I looked at my brothers and hoped they would never know war that they would always simply watch the birds fly high I would not tell this to anyone inside I feel somehow how should I say it out of date sitting here on my horse as the Jets go by farm is a bit uneasy to the noise of cannons were probably not fighting him at all I try hard to look the part of a horse soldier mainly because my wife and child are watching and they are always so proud when I am out in front of a crowd it is good that some things never change and the organ grinder plays in a continent that is the greatest melting pot the world has ever known I have often said no matter what nationality what race or religion all people like to be entertained [Music] he's good too laughs to be thrilled by the exploits of daring performers I watch the look on the children's faces as eyes upward they follow the aerialists swinging through the sky as if suspended by invisible ropes and like all great performers they have no net below a crew chief of the Thunderbirds stands at attention in front of his airplane and salutes his pilot officer I did a lot of handshaking during our trip to South America I can tell you that but I can also tell you that in the process I met a lot of real flying people [Music] one thing it's kind of hard to learn even though it's real simple people are people no matter where you go a smile a nod the look of the eyes these are universal greetings [Music] but Latin Americans also have a special greeting of their own rich coffee I fancy they call it a Brussels and the way it works you Pat each other gently on the back it sure is a fine way to say hello [Applause] [Music] many times I hear people say that I am a fool for building castles out of sand how long do you think they will last they say I don't always know why I do it I like the feel of wet sand the smell of the ocean and today I am further blessed with watching the airplanes dipped to the waves like seagulls hunting for food I have seen men do more foolish things than I castles in the air' castles in the sand there is no difference all men must have dreams without dreams of a better life of woman children a better country there is nothing yes a man must dream [Music] I've been a fireman for a long time now as the hot blood of youth cools in one's veins you come more and more to believe in prevention this is what I think of as I look at the thunderbirds prevention of war just as we keep our firefighting equipment shined and polished so we need to keep military machines up-to-date in both cases we never want to use them I am happiest when the alarm bell remains silent it is a sad part of life that one's ambitions do not always materialize today I am a soldier but when I was very young I had a great desire to be in the bullring as I watched the airplanes perform and the precision of the maneuvers I think it is like the Cape work of a famous Matador and for a few moments I am in the great arena in Madrid listening to the excitement of the crowd after each pass [Music] the crossover has been made and the Thunderbirds head home the movement from one continent to another continent has been accomplished but the crossover of ideas of values of customs can continue distance today is no barrier as long as we have freedom of the air these planes are leaving the air over South America the air over peoples that allowed the movement in their airspace of jet-powered supersonic aircraft allowed the Thunderbirds to demonstrate in a gesture of friendship as long as we continue to make such crossovers and not retreat in isolationism progress in understanding not die you