School honors fallen Airman, former student

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tammie Moore and Caitlin Schwartz
  • 52nd FW Public Affairs Office
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFNEWS) --  Members of Spangdhalem Air Base gathered April 5 to honor a fallen Operation Iraqi Freedom Airman who graduated from Bitburg High School. 

Maj. Troy Gilbert, a 1989 BHS graduate, was killed when his F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed Nov. 27 while on a mission providing combat support to both an Army helicopter crew that had crashed and ground forces trying to reach the crash site in the Anbar Province, 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Upon completing high school, the major went to graduate from Texas Tech University and was serving as an F-16 pilot with the 309th Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., when he was called to deploy to Balad AB, Iraq. According to an Air Force accident investigation board, Major Gilbert was so focused on the enemy targets that he didn't realize he could not pull the jet out of a strafing dive. 

To honor Major Gilbert and his service to his country, high school members gathered to dedicate a tribute to him. A commemorative plaque now hangs in the school's main entrance bearing photos of the Air Force pilot and quotes from those who knew him. 

During the unveiling ceremony, which included a missing man formation flyover, Airmen who knew Major Gilbert shared their memories of him. 

"Troy Gilbert wasn't satisfied to stand on the sidelines and simply watch," said Col. Thomas Feldhausen, the 52nd Fighter Wing vice commander and a friend of Major Gilbert. "He wasn't simply willing to hope for victory, and he wasn't willing to accept defeat. We dedicated this memorial today to Major Gilbert, but his memorial serves as a greater purpose, it serves to remind us all that freedom requires action; freedom requires sacrifice." 

Colonel Feldhausen was not the fallen major's only friend at the ceremony. Col. William Woodcock, the former 23rd Fighter Squadron commander, also knew him and volunteered to fly in the missing man formation over the school. This flight was also Colonel Woodcock's final flight. 

"To be able to do what I did for (him) today; that's how I want to end my career," Colonel Woodcock said. "If I never fly again, at least I did that for him today." 

"We would not have the educational systems we have today without freedom," said David Carlisle, the BHS principal. "Free societies have not come, historically, without sacrifice. I wanted to make sure we have a constant reminder and a symbol of that sacrifice here in the school. 

"Every one of our military personnel are always putting themselves on the line for something that they really believe in, and it's something that has to do with our core sense of values and who we are as people, as Americans," he said. "I think it's very important that, as educators, we recognize we wouldn't have our educational institutions if we didn't have military personnel out there protecting those rights for us." 

"Troy Gilbert once stood where you stand," Colonel Feldhausen said. "He once dreamed of the future as you dream of the future. He knew what he wanted that future to look like and he dared to stand against those who would deny that future. Each of you must decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong. What is worth fighting for and what is worth dying for. 

"As you walk by this memorial, let it serve as a reminder that what tomorrow looks like will be a reflection of the choices that you make today. Major Gilbert made his choice. He made it for all of us. He made it for our future. He was a student of Bitburg High School. He was a husband, a father, an officer in the United States Air Force, a fighter pilot, and he was a hero. Troy Gilbert was one of our own." 

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