Blue Angels Pilot Lost in my Hometown

   Yesterday, June 2, 2016, the Blue Angels, the elite air demonstration team of the United States Navy, arrived in Smyrna, Tennessee for the Great Tennessee Air Show that was to take place this weekend. They flew over downtown Nashville, then headed down to Smyrna, a suburb about 20 miles southeast. They arrived at Smyrna Airport right about 10am. At noon, other performers began pre-show practice. The Angels were scheduled for 3pm. Within a minute of their take-off, the #6 jet crashed. The pilot was USMC Captain Jeff Kuss. The jet went down in a field about a mile southeast of the runway. It was several hundred yards south of an apartment complex. It a few hundred feet from the Sam Davis Home. He did not survive.

This image was taken from Google Maps, I have marked the crash site. In some images you can see a barn and a log building just beside the fence and tree line that he crashed into. This is the log building:

   This is the birthplace home of Sam Davis. Sam was a local hero who was killed during the American Civil War. His home is a local landmark. This log home where he was born was originally located about 5 miles away, but was moved to this site in the 1980s when a subdivision was being built near the intersection of Interstate 24 and Almaville Rd. You can see the fence just to the right in the photo. The photo below is the Sam Davis home, the log home is about 50 yards behind this house.

    That is the "news" view of what happened. Here is my view of the day:
  I live about 4 miles from the airport. Seeing the planes come and go is normal. Seeing the jets from the air shows is also quite normal. The Air Force Thunderbirds routine takes them right over my house several times. In the past though the Blue Angels routine never brought them that close. This next photo gives an idea of how close they are with houses for scale:

   Yesterday morning I had a dentist appointment scheduled. My dentist is located literally across the road from the Sam Davis House cotton field(to the right of the word Google in the image above). However my appointment was cancelled, so my husband and I decided to go shopping. We went to Walmart, located just to the southeast of the image above. Right at 10am we heard them, the whole building shook as they flew in and we knew it was them. We quickly ended our shopping and headed towards the airport. The planes park on the tarmac near the hangers, and it really isn't all that easy to see them from the road behind the hangers. So we went to the road that runs to the west, it leads to the private hangers and a car rental agency. The Breitling Flight team was parked there(same spot that the #7 Blue Angel is in the top photo).

    We admired the jets, took a few photos(I only had my small Fuji, not the Canon with the zoom lens), talked with an older couple who were also looking at the planes. We could see the Angels across the runways, but my camera just wasn't good enough to get any photos. I intended to come back today with the better camera. We left after a few minutes, stopping at the Thornton's Gas Station, also seen in the above aerial image. Then we headed home. With my husband and daughter both home(school ended last week), we sat down to catch up on a few movies. We watched Mad Max:Fury Road, then Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was during Star Wars that we started hearing the planes. Stopped and took a peak outside and saw the F-22 Raptor in the distance. Back to the movie that was only somewhat interrupted by the sound of jets. My husband is former Air Force, we love the sound of jets. And we knew that we would hear them again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
   And then near the end of the movie, we heard them really low and loud. We looked at each other because we knew that wasn't normal but shrugged it off, perhaps they had changed their routine. The movie ended, but I hadn't had my phone near me. I don't get texts often, and usually only from the people sitting in the room with my at the time. But kiddo checks her phone and says that my mom has been trying to text me-a Blue Angel has crashed. WHAT?! I race to the computer and to the local news channels and find that it's true. I am stunned. I am in shock. I am heartbroken because the pilot did not survive. I had feared this ever since we moved to Smyrna and found out about the air shows here. I love to watch them, but they terrify me. I will write more about that tomorrow.
   Today I want to pray for the soldier's family. And think back to the other times I have seen them here at the air show. Here are a few photos from past years:

CSA Monument, Mulberry, TN

Confederate Monument

   This is part of the Confederate Monument at Greenwood Cemetery in Clarksville, Tennessee.

I am going to focus on Civil War sites for awhile, unless I comes across something more interesting in my travels that I want to highlight here. I am hoping to photograph every Civil War soldier monument in Tennessee(not all are Confederates!). If you know of any that are not well known, please let me know where it is!

Snow Day, Not Exactly a Blizzard

   We don't get lots of snow here. And yes, we kinda freak out when we do. I desperately want to live somewhere that two feet of snow at all times is normal. Forgive me for taking a day away from travel photos to post something extremely local. I'd love to get out and take photos around town, but (a) we don't have anything interesting to photograph in the snow and (b) hubby took the Rogue and I'm not driving the little truck on these roads! Sorry.

Forgotten Friday-McFadden Farm, Murfreesboro

   When I first moved to Rutherford County in 2002, one of the first places we explored was the Stones River Battlefield. One of the tour stops is known as the McFadden's Ford. It was in this area on January 2, 1863, near the McFadden's family farm, that the Confederates attempted to cross the Stones River from the southeast to attack the Union forces entrenched on the hills. Cannons pounded and the Confederates were killed by the hundreds.
   Currently at this tour stop you will see a monument, cannons, a small family cemetery, and you can walk down to the river where fighting occurred. But when I first visited(with my non-digital camera) in 2002, there was an old abandoned farmhouse. I took only this one photo of it, thinking I would take more in the future. And then one day it was just gone. I asked a park ranger who said it was removed because it wasn't original to the site. And that is rather sad, because it was still clearly a quite old home.

Back Roads on a Cloudy Day

   Went out for a solo drive on the back roads of Middle Tennessee last Saturday. I do more scouting for places I want to come back and photograph when I'm out solo for a few hours than I do actual stopping. I am usually too afraid to get out alone or can't find a safe place to pull over. Still got a few interesting pictures.

Christmas Lights

Opryland Christmas Lights

Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee

   On December 22, 2008, just north of these smokestacks at the Kingston Clinch River Fossil Plant, a coal fly ash dam of theirs broke. Over a billion gallons of coal fly ash slurry broke free, wiping out houses and flooding the Emory and Clinch Rivers.

   The Kingston Fossil Plant is located near Kingston, Tennessee, on the Clinch River and beside Interstate 40. It was built in the early 1950's to supply the nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory with power, and was the largest coal-fired power plant at that time. The row of smaller towers are the old chimney stacks. They were taken from service in 1976 when replaced with the pair of 1,000 ft tall towers. 

Dec 19, 1862 Battle of Jackson, Tennessee

   Southeast of Jackson, Tennessee, skirmishes between December 11, 1862 and January 1, 1863 between Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry and Union forces took place around this area.

Battle of Nashville Dec 16, 1864

   December 16, 1862 was the second day of the Battle of Nashville. The Confederate troops were entrenched on what would be called Shy's Hill and east to the Peach Orchard Hill. The attack began in earnest late in the afternoon. Eventually, the Union forces overtook Shy's Hill and Hood would be forced to retreat south along the Franklin Pike and Granny White Pike. Union cavalry would pursue, but lacking supplies, and being bested in numerous skirmishes along the Franklin Pike, would slow the pursuit. Eventually they were confronted by Confederate Cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest just north of Columbia, the pursuit was halted. They attempted to send troops on trains to Chattanooga but they arrived too late and Hood was able to escape to Mississippi.

Battle of Nashville Dec 15, 1864

   On December 15, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood's forces were lined up in an arc around the south end of Nashville. The battle began with an attempt to launch a diversion on the far right of the Confederate's line at Granberry's Lunette and then attack full on the left flank. The diversion did not work as the Confederates were ready. However the Union forces were able to overrun most of the positions on the left and capture the redoubts of the Confederates. The South pulled back and reinforced their line of battle along current Harding Place/Battery Lane at Peach Orchard and Shy's Hills, between the Hillsboro Pike and the railroad.

Town of Smyrna, Tennessee

   A charter was granted on December 11, 1845 to connect this area along the railroad to seaports in the south and east. The first railroad depot was built here in 1851, and replaced with the current one in 1873. The town was originally incorporated in 1869, but that was rescinded by the state and the town had to incorporate again in 1915. They had their 100th anniversary celebration recently on June 12, 2015. In the 1940s, the town was home to Sewart Air Force Base, but that closed in 1971 and it is now Smyrna Airport. Smyrna was the home of Confederate Hero Sam Davis. His home is still an tourist attraction.

National Miner's Day

   Today, December 6th, is National Miner's Day. It is meant to reflect and honor those who have sacrificed so much. Mining is one of the most dangerous jobs and yet vitally important to every day life. Thank you to everyone who has ever worked in a mine and continue to do so.

Dec 5, 1933 Repeal of Prohibition in the United States

   On this date in history, December 5, 1933, the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States officially repealed prohibition. Prohibition was voted into law to begin January 16, 1920. It outlawed the production, sale, importation and transportation of any and all alcoholic beverages. There was some hypocrisy in the law because it did not prevent consumption. Wealthy citizens simply stocked up before the law took effect, including Presidents Wilson and Harding.

Christmas Lights

This was at the late great George Jones' home in Williamson County, Tennessee, a few years ago. George's home had some of the best Christmas displays and it was a family tradition to go out and see them each year. George- and his lights- are both greatly missed.

Dec 2, 1864 Captain Theodrick Carter of Franklin

   Captain Theodrick (Tod) Carter

 20th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Smith's Brigade

Bate's Division Cheatham's Corps, 

Army of Tennessee C.S.A.

   Born at the Carter House March 24, 1840 and educated at Harpeth Academy. He was an attorney-at-law and a Master Mason. Tod enlisted in Co H, 20th Tenn. Infantry May 1, 1862. Appointed Assistant Quarter Master on Oct 24, 1862 and served as a war correspondent for the Chattanooga "Daily Rebel" using the name "Mint Julep".

Aftermath of the Battle of Franklin

   Six Confederate generals were dead. The Union army had left Franklin and were headed to join the regiments who were already situated in Nashville, about 20 miles north. The Federals had not lost as many men, but those wounded were left behind. Confederate General John Bell Hood would foolishly pursue them to Nashville where his Army of Tennessee would be devastated on December 15th and 16th.

November 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin

   After the Union troops slipped past General John Bell Hood's Confederate forces camped at Spring Hill, Tennessee the night before, they began building entrenchments at Franklin. Their main line of defense was built across the Columbia Pike and at the home of Fountain Branch Carter. As Hood watched from Winstead Hill south of Franklin, he ordered his men at nearly dusk to charge into the Federal earthworks repeatedly.

Nov 29, 1864 Battle of Spring Hill

   On November 29, 1864, Union and Confederate forces skirmished at the small town of Spring Hill, Tennessee. Spring Hill is located on the border of Maury and Williamson Counties, about halfway between Columbia and Franklin. Confederate General John Bell Hood set up his forces to attempt to stop the Federals as they left Columbia, heading north. There were minor skirmishes along the Columbia Pike, and the Federals lined up west of the pike in order to protect the railroad. Casualties numbered only in the few hundred.