The Sound of Freedom

Discuss this on our boards!

The Sound of Freedom
by Dave Gibson, Columnist

September 9, 2002

Dave Gibson Over the last several months, there has been a debate brewing here in Hampton Roads, Va. That debate has bee over the U.S. Navy's proposed plan to bring an additional 10 'Super Hornet' squadrons to the Oceana Naval Air Station ( located in Virginia Beach ). The battle which has been occurring is over jet noise, that argument has exploded recently in a series of town meetings that the Navy has sponsored.

The public meetings have been anything but civil. During a meting held a few days ago in Va. Beach, the sign toting, button wearing crowd became rather nasty. Their own congressman, Rep. Ed Schrock ( R - 2nd Dist. ) could barely be heard over the jeers and incredibly vulgar display ( the congressman supports the additional jets ). One woman childishly screamed out..."Why does he get to go first?"*** So much for patriotism...I suppose there is a shelf-life to that commodity.

The people complaining about the noise not only are opposed to stationing additional jets here, but really want the Navy gone completely. Most of these people have purchased upscale homes close to the base. Oceana is a 60-year-old base, it was here long before most of these sushi-eating yuppies purchased their 'dream homes'.

I do not understand how someone can purchase a home less than a mile away from one of the biggest air stations in the country...then complain about jet noise. This is the same crowd who will buy a home on a golf course...then complain about broken windows!

When I hear these whiners complain that they are "forced to live near a jet base", I wish I could call them up and remind them that unless you are an inmate in this nation's prison system (or a member of the U.S. military )...you are not forced to live anywhere. Furthermore, Virginia Beach, Virginia, has the highest property values of any city in the Hampton Roads area. Property values which have grown by leaps and bounds over the last several years, as that base has grown.

The Navy pumps an incredible amount of money into our local economy. They purchase homes, they shop in our stores (they also by the way...build very nice golf courses!), they also tend to volunteer their time to the community more so than the 'natives'. Oh yes, they risk their lives everyday for the rest of us as well.

My wife and I purchased a home in Chesapeake not far from the Navy's practice landing strip (Fentress Naval Auxiliary Landing Field), they use this field to practice carrier landings. We knew about the air traffic before we moved. Our real estate agent also told us it would get heavier over the next few years. She was right, the frequency of the flights has become greater and they do fly at all hours of the day and night. Am I concerned? Definitely...I am always concerned about the safety of those brave pilots!

I have no problem sleeping while the jets roar above our heads. I also slept well when we lived in the city and I knew that there were tough cops patrolling our neighborhood all night. I wish that those selfish people would think of the jets as 'patrol cars' in our skies.

I am ashamed of some of my neighbors and their 'not in my backyard' self-centered mentality. Their attitude shows a lack of respect for the people who are willing to lay down their lives for us. This disregard for the military would not have existed during the 1940's, when the base was built. I simply cannot understand how these people who have benefited so greatly from the freedoms which have allowed them to procure these luxurious homes, can then turn their backs on the very ones who defend those freedoms.

I am disgusted when I see these overfed, overpaid, T-shirt clad baby boomers shuffle up to the podium to whine about being inconvenienced. Unbelievable! What would their parents and grandparents who fought and died for this country think? Probably the same thing I am...turning these crybabies over my lap and teaching them a little lesson in sharing.

The bottom line is this: if the jet noise is so intolerable that it will drive a forty-year old man to behave as though he is a toddler...MOVE!

It looks as though the additional jets will come and with them...more dollars breathed into the local economy and yes, more noise. Noise that I feel is a small price to pay , for freedom. May the jets roar! ***

Photo of Dave Gibson courtesy of staff files
With files from The Virginian-Pilot