In the late forties, a flight exhibition team formed to raise public interest in the Navy. Since then, Hellcats and Panthers, Tigers, and Super Hornets have torn across the Pensacola sky.
With microscopic precision, they execute feats of aviation amazement all across the country. The six-plane delta formation from the fifties still wows audiences from Milwaukee to Miramar.
And every Sunday, they fly back home to us. We love to share them, but we’re always glad to see ‘em coming back.
No matter where we are or what we’re doing, we come to a full stop for the Blues.
We look out kitchen windows and front windshields, we put down yard tools and telephones, and we turn to the skies.
For the sound of the roar and a glimpse at perfection.
The hair on our arms always at attention.
And so, for the entire month of June, we will get ready for their July return for Red, White & Blues at Pensacola Beach. We plan our picnics for when we will pack the Sabine. We clean boats and find Koozies. We scope the best spots in balconies and parking lots. We make playlists and friendships. Because it’s in our blood and our identity.
On July 4, we celebrate this country and our freedom. And for the next four days after, July 5-8, we will celebrate the best version of what it can be through excellence and teamwork, excitement and exhilaration.
And it never gets old, because when they tear past, it reminds us of the America we’ve been and the one we still are.
They’re our hope for the future and the solid foundation of our past.
They were built by the Navy and they belong to America.
But their heart will always be here…at home in Pensacola.
