Letter: Marine jets important part of our world

If you moved here next to a military airfield and are now complaining about the noise, what did you expect? The military has been flying at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort since 1943. If you don’t like the noise, you should have moved into one of the manicured gated communities down on Hilton Head Island or stayed home (we are not Beaufort natives either, but originally come from farming towns in central South Carolina and southwest Georgia).

Where else could we live and watch ospreys and dolphins frolic in our backyard with gators loafing out front, and also be treated to a stunning aerial demonstration of the world’s most advanced aircraft?

Over the last half century or so, we have lived and worked on all seven continents, often under less than salubrious conditions. Lest we forget, this is a hard and nasty world teetering on insanity. All that protects us is a paper-thin veneer of civilization shorn up by these Marines and their comrades in the Air Force, Army, and Navy. Every hour they train, they improve their chance of surviving in combat.

So MCAS pilots, when you come thundering through our Lady’s Island backyard on Broomfield Creek, all we say is thank you, good luck, Godspeed — and bring it on around one mo’ time!

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Letter: Marine jets important part of our world."