BHS memorializes former student

Published April 12, 2007
By Caitlin Schwartz and Staff Sgt. Tammie Moore
52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, GERMANY -- Members of Spangdahlem Air Base gathered to honor a fallen Operations Iraqi Freedom Airmen with local ties to the Bitburg High School April 5.

Maj. Troy "Trojan" Gilbert graduated from BHS in 1989 feeling a need to serve his country. Upon graduation he left Germany to attend Texas Tech University and pursue his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot.

While serving as an F-16 pilot with the 309th Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., Major Gilbert was called to deploy to Balad Air Base, Iraq. Major Gilbert's F-16 crashed on Nov. 27, 2006, while he was on a mission providing combat support to an Army helicopter crew that had crashed as well as the ground forces trying to reach the crash site in the Anbar Province, 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.

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, Sabers and BHS members gathered to dedicate a tribute to him. A commemorative plaque now hangs in the school's main entrance bearing photos of the F-16 pilot and quotes from those who knew him.

During the unveiling ceremony which included a missing man formation fly over, Airmen who knew Major Gilbert shared their memories of him and talked about the life he lived.
"Troy Gilbert wasn't satisfied to stand on the sidelines and simply watch," said Col. Thomas Feldhausen, 52nd Fighter Wing vice commander and 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 fini-flight.

"To be able to do what I did for Trojan 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."

While the atmosphere of the ceremony was somber, it gave everyone a chance to reflect on the things that allow American's to have the freedoms that they have and to consider the future.

"We would not have the educational systems that we have today without freedom," said David Carlisle, BHS principle. "Free societies have not come, historically, without sacrifice. I wanted to make sure that 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."

While the cost of freedom is not one that is always present the day-to-day thoughts of all Americans the commemorative plaque now hanging at the BHS will keep this thought in the minds of those who pass it.

"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, alumni 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."