Hawks to honor veterans with flyover; No Hawkeye dog
The University of Iowa will honor the men and women of the armed services with a pre-game ceremony at Kinnick Stadium.
United States Air Force T-38 Talon jets of the 25th Fighter Training Squadron perform a flyover before the Ohio State game, Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010, at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa.(Press-Citizen/ Matthew Holst)
“We’re hoping our pre-game message lets all of those veterans, who have and continue to serve our country, know how much we appreciate what they’ve done and continue to do in order to keep all of us out of harm’s way,” UI athletics director Gary Barta said in a statement.
Rick Klatt, University of Iowa associate athletic director, said a special Hawkvision video will honor the nine active duty Iowa soldiers who lost their lives in service this year.
“I believe family members of all nine will be in attendance,” Klatt said.
The pre-game ceremony also will feature a flyover from four F-14 jets, Klatt said. Although last year’s flyover before the Nov. 20 Iowa-Ohio State game was lauded by fans, it led to an Air Force investigation after four pilots were suspected of flying too close to the ground.
The Air Force, which concluded its investigation in March found the four pilots had several violations:
– Flying above the speed of 300 knots below 10,000 feet mean sea level for the practice flyover Nov. 19, 2010, and the actual flyover Nov. 20, 2010.
– Flying over a congested area below 1,000 feet above ground level above the highest obstacle within 2,000 feet of the aircraft on Nov. 20, 2010.
– Failing to verbally report the flight deviations to a supervisor or commander within 24 hours of the flight deviation and failing to make a detailed written record within 24 hours.
– Making a false official statement to investigators during the course of the investigation.
The four pilots were disciplined by the Air Force.
Klatt said this year’s flyover will “probably be a little higher, altitude-wise, than last time.”
“It was well-received,” he said of the fan’s reaction to the previous flyover. “We expected a flyover. We didn’t expect it to be that low.”
The incident did not stop the university from requesting another flyover.
Klatt previously said UI officials would like to honor Rockford native Jon Tumilson, who was one of 38 soldiers killed Aug. 6 in Afghanistan when a rocket-propelled grenade shot down a Chinook helicopter in which he was riding.
Tumilson’s funeral gained national attention when a picture of his dog, Hawkeye, lying in front of the casket was posted online and then went viral.
Klatt said this week there was discussion about making Hawkeye a part of the pre-game ceremony but said the dog will not be in attendance.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
Bummer. I was hoping “Hawkeye” would be involved. Great poignant story that would have gone over well with the fans and media. Too bad.
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