A short thread about someone who sent me a long and wonderful email after my flying story was published. Scott Lidbetter served with my father, Ben Caesar, in the Fleet Air Arm, while both men were stationed at Culdrose in Cornwall. I'm sharing this with his permission. 1/4 https://twitter.com/edcaesar/status/1317406938964152320

Scott told me how my Dad had an outsized reputation at Culdrose as a "legend" and a "larger than life" presence--a pilot who worked hard, played hard, and was a "wonderfully caring" mentor to younger pilots. After Culdrose, my father's and Scott's careers diverged. 2/4

In the early 80s, Scott went on exchange with the US Navy to fly Corsair A7Es. In 1982, while Scott was at NAS Cecil Field, he heard about my father's death. Scott gathered the USN pilots in the bar that night to toast Dad's memory. They read a poem aloud: "High Flight". 3/4

I find it so moving to think of a group of American airmen in Florida, who had never met my Dad, listening to that poem and drinking to his memory. Up, up. 4/4