Goodbye, Ali Cat! We will ALL miss you. . .

On Aug 5, 2008, Alison Frances Kline was ushered up to the Lord after battling so hard against cancer. She was 27. Ali and Tom have in recent years become a close part of my family and will be deeply missed by all of us.


If you have been reading Kimberly's blog, you will know just how much she and Tom meant to us. Ali and Kimberly were like sisters. I have been reluctant to post anything on my blog for many reasons. However, with the passing of a friend in Afghanistan and a week to ponder many aspects of my own life I have decided to post.


We were very fortunate to come into contact with the Kline family. We met them soon after we moved to SC. They moved into the house across the street in the military housing complex not too long after we moved in. And the rest is history. There are so many memories that we will cherish; the "Tom-fires", the art projects, the holiday festivities. Most of all I am thankful for the way in which they shaped the lives of my little girls and support they have given to my wife while I was deployed. This being my third. They were like family to us and will be sorely missed. I just hope that even though Ali is gone that Tom will stay in contact and be a part of our lives. He is truly gifted in many ways (see Tom's blog in my list of fellow blogers and you will understand why). Our hearts are severely broken for his loss.


Goodbye, Ali Cat! We love you and miss you. But know this, you will live on in the lives that you have touched. I can see the affect of your inspiration, kindness, generosity, and creativity in the eyes of your adopted little girls, Madison and Mackenzie, and in my wife Kimberly. And for this I will always be eternally grateful!

Ali and Kenzie at Thanksgiving, watching a little TV after dinner before we head out side for a "Tom-Fire."

Ali and Madi doing a little jewelry shopping before Tom and Ali move to Indiana.

A crazy picture of Tom, Ali and Me at the last Chili Cook-Off (Oct 2007). Tom allowed me to cut in for a couple of dances with Ali that night. We all had a blast!

Death of a Brother

A Marine Brother-In-Arms was killed in Afghanistan recently. The following article is his obituary in the Beaufort Gazette. He was a member of our sister squadron, VMFA (AW)-224, the "Bengals." Take care, Garrett. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Beaufort-born Marine dies in Afghanistan

Beaufort-born Marine Capt. Garrett Tucker Lawton died Aug. 4 from wounds he suffered as a result of an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan while conducting combat operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

He was killed in Heart Province, which is on Afghanistan's western border with Iran.

Lawton, 31, served as an F-18 weapons and sensors officer and an air officer based out of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

He joined the Corps on July 3, 1996 and was promoted to captain July 1, 2004.

Lawton's military career included two Purple Hearts -- one for the incident that ultimately led to his death and another that he received in May for other injuries he received in an improvised explosive device attack.

Lawton's grandmother Beatrice Sampson, of Beaufort, said she has a picture of her grandson as an 8-year-old wearing a full Marine uniform.

"I mean, he is a Marine," she said. "He was doing what he wanted to do. He loved his country."
Despite being busy with his military career, Lawton always made time for his family, Sampson said.

"He always took time out for us. He was such a loving, kind person," she said.

Lawton, born Dec. 3, 1976, lived in Beaufort until he was about 4 years old.

Survivors include his wife, Trisha; two sons, Ryan, 6, and Caden, 4; his father, David Lawton; his mother and stepfather, Cathy and Cal Peters; his sister, Kenna Hubai; and his maternal grandparents, Robert and Beatrice Sampson.

Services for Lawton will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort Chapel.

Published Mon, Aug 11, 2008 12:00 AM
By ALEXIS GARROBO
Beaufort Gazette

Pictures from Abroad

Here is a pic of the aircrew that flew into Korat Air Base, Thailand. The Thia's greeted us with a lia and a beer. Gotta like that!

These two monkeys are pictured in their natural habitat. I got these for the girls at one of the National Parks while I was delayed in Thailand. They made a crazy monkey noise when you squeeze them. The girls loved them when I sent them home.

Here is an elephant that came strolling up the road while we were headed out to dinner. For a couple of bucks you could feed it sugar cane, pet it, and take a couple of pictures of your buddies getting molested!

This is Kimberly's birthday present and Anniversary present (which are about a week apart). These are the famous black sapphires from Thailand set in white gold. It was a must buy if you ever get to Bangkok.

This is a picture of Singapore as we were flying in from Thailand. The approach corridor goes right by the down town port area. It was a pretty good view of the Nation State.

Here is the hotel that we stayed at in Malaysia. It was right on the ocean! I left there with one hell of a sunburn/tan and a hang over. Malaysia would be a good place to vacation.

Here is a friend I made at work in Malaysia.

This picture was taken after our first mission fighting against the Malaysian MiG-29's. We are on the tanker with one of our adversary's waiting in the background for his turn on the KC-130J.

Here is a shot of both of the Fulcrum's tanking.

Here is a picture of me and one of my former GySgt's. He is actually in the Series photo that is on this blog standing next to me as well. It was good to catch up with him.

On the last day we were there, we got together with the Malaysians for a photo op. We got to climb on and in their plane. Here, Joe and I have a little fun.

I've Been Every Where, Man!

Just like Johnny Cash, I've been everywhere. Or so it feels like it. Well, my last post was from Thailand. I was "stuck" there for an extra month waiting for two jets to be fixed. It is tough to fix jets when you are a thousand miles from home where all the extra parts are. It was fun to get to see Thailand and to learn some of the language and culture.

From there we flew the two jets down to Singapore with the help of a KC-130 to refuel us part of the way. Singapore was beautiful. I stayed there for two weeks and once again got to see and experience yet another culture. Singapore was beautiful and they intend to keep it that way. On one of the customs forms I had to fill out once we arrived it had the usual: "Do you have any prohibited items such as illegal drugs, firearms, explosives or . . . chewing gum?!! Apparently chewing gum is illegal (so is spitting) and can earn you a hefty fine and/or caning. Ouch!! I got to fight the Singapore's F-16's and F-5's while we were there. Very strict flying around there since Singapore is so small and the relationship with the Malaysians to the north aren't that good.

I left Singapore before the Exercise was over and caught a C-130 up to Malaysia to start flying in another Exercise flying with the Malaysian MiG-29's. It was awesome seeing the aircraft which we read about and train to fight. The only other time I have seen a MiG up close was in Iraq. Unfortunately all the MiGs there litter the airfield on Al Asad and are but shells of there former finely tuned selves.

From Malaysia we flew the jets up to Okinawa, Japan. We will be here flying against our own Air Forces F-15s. We will also be getting to drop live ordinance on a couple of Islands that are uninhabited and are used for air-to-ground bombing. This is something that we aren't able to do in Iwakuni. Kadena is pretty nice and is fairly big. You have to give it to the Air Force when it comes to providing nice facilities for it's members.

Once we got here I was able to fly up to Iwakuni and change out some of my clothes and pick up some things. I hadn't been back to my place in Iwakuni since I left for Thailand in April (over 3 months). The rest of the squadron has been back a couple times but since 3 of us were left in Thailand waiting for the jets to be fixed we weren't able to. I am glad I did because the apples I left on top of my fridge were growing beards. We will spend a total of one month here in Okinawa and then fly up to Iwakuni to spend the last month there before we begin the long flight home back to Beaufort. It will take week to fly all the way since we will lay over at every stop for a day of rest before we fly the next leg. It is harder to fly east since we lose an hour every time we fly through a time zone. This time we will be flying our route through Wake Island, Hawaii, San Diego, and then on in to Beaufort.

I will post some pictures of the 3+ month adventure here soon. Stay tuned!

In Thailand . . . Still

Well, I'm still in Thailand. There are two aircraft that were broke down and couldn't leave with the rest of the squadron. The aircrew for the two jets and a hand full of Marines were left behind to fix the jets and fly them back to Japan when they were able to make the journey are all that remains behind. It was certainly nice to have some down time in Thailand, initially, but now we are all ready to get the hell out of here. Thailand isn't bad but it is like Groundhogs Day. Not a whole lot to do besides hang out at the hotel, eat, or visit the local bars. It has gotten very old, very quickly. Not to mention it is a drain on the pocket book.

We have been here so long that we probably will not be headed back to Japan. The rest of the squadron is packing up to launch jets to Singapore and Malaysia. We will most likely have to fly straight from here to Singapore and wait for the rest of the squadron to meet us. That is probably the easiest thing to do but this stay is killing my flight hour program. I am inches away from my 1000 hour mark in the F/A-18. Oh well, it could be worse. :)

I'll post some pictures of our adventures here when I get some decent bandwidth to upload them.

Pictures of My Little Girls

Kimberly took some sweet pictures of our girls and posted them on her blog. I can't help but post some of them on mine. Kimberly and I are so blessed to have such wonderful little girls! Hope you enjoy them half as much as I do.

Thailand Update

Well, I've been here two weeks tomorrow and have gotten to do a lot of flying and also was able to see the some new places. 18 of us took a trip to Bangkok last weekend and all I can say is that it was an experience. We stayed in a very nice hotel. The room was awesome and moderately priced but it was expensive to eat or drink there. They had a bar on the 38th floor that we decided to check out and for a Jack and Coke it was 300 baht ($10). Needless to say, I nursed that thing for about an hour. But we did get the see the sights. We all went to a jewelry store that is a must do I was told. I ended up picking up some nice things for Kimberly's birthday. My beer fund took a major hit. I'm kidding.

Anyway, not too much longer. Off to Iwakuni in another week. I can't wait to see all my fruit and milk that I left in the fridge. However, I would like to cook some of my own meals. The food here is great but there is only so much rice and fried food I can handle. Sounds crazy coming from me, huh, Kimberly! It will be nice having my own place and not have to share a shower and a bathroom with 3 other people. It is kind of fun having roommates. We all huddle around the kitchen table (the "internet cafe") and are either playing online poker or talking to our wives via Skype. And if you have never heard of Skype it is an online communication sight that you can talk to anyone with video for free . Or you can call a land line in the US for pretty cheap.

I will post some more pictures when I download them off my camera. Unfortunately I left it in my helmet bag at work. I am always taking pictures in the jet. Take care.