On April 23rd, one of Kyle's best friends went home to the Lord. Major Blair Faulkner died in a T-38 crash in Columbus, MS. along with the student he was instructing. He left behind an amazing wife and two beautiful children. We were fortunate to be able to attend his funeral along with about 1,000 others which is a testament to who Blair was. We, like everyone who knew him, are devastated by this loss and will forever have a hole in our lives that only Blair could fill. Please keep the Faulkner family in your prayers as they say goodbye to their precious son, brother, husband, and father.Kyle's part of Blair's eulogy is below:
My name is Kyle Goldstein. I met Blair around 16 February 1999 in Pilot training. We became great friends almost instantly mainly because of a question he asked me in the first 10 minutes of meeting him. We have stayed great friends ever since. Our friendship now encompasses our wives and kids.
Rachel asked me to tell some stories about Blair, so I thought about what Blair would have me say about him?
Would he want me to talk about the fact that of all the aviators I have ever known in my 10 years of flying for the Air Force that he was the best? I don’t think so….of course he would shush me and shoo me away like he was embarrassed about me bragging on him, then when I would stop, he would give me a little hand signal to keep on bragging…that cycle would go on about 4 iterations until I finished talking about his Distinguished Graduate from Pilot Training award and the AETC Wright Brothers award in which he was honored over hundreds if not thousands of pilots. He would not want you to know that we threw him in the bacteria infested solo pool after soloing in the T-37 and then again the next day just for fun, and then one night after coming back from dinner, and then again at graduation. We did it because everyone loved Blair. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for his talents.
He probably would not want me to talk about what a great person he was… About how he was always giving of himself to better others, like a father would do for his son or a big brother for a cherished sibling. One of his good friends at his wedding said it best when he said that Blair is everybody’s one and only best friend. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for his ability to love.
He would not want me to tell the story about his search for the perfect girl. About how he would call me every so often and tell me about a wonderful girl he met (and get me excited for him that this might be the one) and then, call back ten days later and tell me he found something wrong with her, like she painted her toenails the wrong color and he was done seeing her. And when I had just about given up on him finding a true love, he called me up to tell me that he had found the perfect woman for him in Rachel. I knew she had to be something special for Blair to want to marry her….and she is. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for marrying Rachel.
He would not want me to tell the story about when he called me up to tell me he and Rachel were pregnant with Davis and asked me how long it took Carrie and I to get pregnant. I told him and he promptly replied, “Daddy got it on the first shot.” I don’t know if I have ever seen a prouder papa as when Davis and Campbell were born. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for the blessing of his kids.
Unfortunately, this story is all too familiar. My mother lost my grandfather in a similar crash when she was 2 years old. He was an Air Force instructor pilot training a new student. They were taking off his B-26 out of Denver when his plane crashed and he went to be with the Lord. I believe most of his friends did not want to tell stories about Grandpa Holman to my mom in fear of making her sad, but that could not be further from the truth. She and I wanted to hear all about him, just like Davis and Campbell will want to hear all your stories about Blair. This is a story book about Blair. Each year on his birthday (which you always knew the date because he would remind you of how many shopping day you had left), I am going to send the kids another story about Blair on a 4x6 card to put in this book, so they will always have a fresh reminder of how great their Daddy was. I would welcome you to send cards too, if you so desire.
He would not have wanted me to tell you these stories because he knew that all of these blessing were not his doing, but the Lord’s. He would want the glory to go to God and not him. This was because he had a relationship with Jesus Christ. My name is Kyle Goldstein. I met Blair around 16 February 1999 in Pilot training. We became great friends almost instantly mainly because of a question he asked me in the first 10 minutes of meeting him. You see, he asked if I had a relationship with Jesus. Blair knew he was going to heaven when he died, and wanted to be sure I was going there too.
I think Blair would have wanted me to tell you that Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life just like the Lord gave Blair a wonderful life…
April 23 2008 around 1230 p.m. the Lord brought Blair home. The Lord did not blink nor was he distracted. It was Blair’s time to go to heaven and worship the almighty Lord, the Prince of Peace. I miss him, but I know where he is. I love you “Kid”.
Rachel asked me to tell some stories about Blair, so I thought about what Blair would have me say about him?
Would he want me to talk about the fact that of all the aviators I have ever known in my 10 years of flying for the Air Force that he was the best? I don’t think so….of course he would shush me and shoo me away like he was embarrassed about me bragging on him, then when I would stop, he would give me a little hand signal to keep on bragging…that cycle would go on about 4 iterations until I finished talking about his Distinguished Graduate from Pilot Training award and the AETC Wright Brothers award in which he was honored over hundreds if not thousands of pilots. He would not want you to know that we threw him in the bacteria infested solo pool after soloing in the T-37 and then again the next day just for fun, and then one night after coming back from dinner, and then again at graduation. We did it because everyone loved Blair. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for his talents.
He probably would not want me to talk about what a great person he was… About how he was always giving of himself to better others, like a father would do for his son or a big brother for a cherished sibling. One of his good friends at his wedding said it best when he said that Blair is everybody’s one and only best friend. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for his ability to love.
He would not want me to tell the story about his search for the perfect girl. About how he would call me every so often and tell me about a wonderful girl he met (and get me excited for him that this might be the one) and then, call back ten days later and tell me he found something wrong with her, like she painted her toenails the wrong color and he was done seeing her. And when I had just about given up on him finding a true love, he called me up to tell me that he had found the perfect woman for him in Rachel. I knew she had to be something special for Blair to want to marry her….and she is. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for marrying Rachel.
He would not want me to tell the story about when he called me up to tell me he and Rachel were pregnant with Davis and asked me how long it took Carrie and I to get pregnant. I told him and he promptly replied, “Daddy got it on the first shot.” I don’t know if I have ever seen a prouder papa as when Davis and Campbell were born. He would not want that mentioned because he knew he could not take credit for the blessing of his kids.
Unfortunately, this story is all too familiar. My mother lost my grandfather in a similar crash when she was 2 years old. He was an Air Force instructor pilot training a new student. They were taking off his B-26 out of Denver when his plane crashed and he went to be with the Lord. I believe most of his friends did not want to tell stories about Grandpa Holman to my mom in fear of making her sad, but that could not be further from the truth. She and I wanted to hear all about him, just like Davis and Campbell will want to hear all your stories about Blair. This is a story book about Blair. Each year on his birthday (which you always knew the date because he would remind you of how many shopping day you had left), I am going to send the kids another story about Blair on a 4x6 card to put in this book, so they will always have a fresh reminder of how great their Daddy was. I would welcome you to send cards too, if you so desire.
He would not have wanted me to tell you these stories because he knew that all of these blessing were not his doing, but the Lord’s. He would want the glory to go to God and not him. This was because he had a relationship with Jesus Christ. My name is Kyle Goldstein. I met Blair around 16 February 1999 in Pilot training. We became great friends almost instantly mainly because of a question he asked me in the first 10 minutes of meeting him. You see, he asked if I had a relationship with Jesus. Blair knew he was going to heaven when he died, and wanted to be sure I was going there too.
I think Blair would have wanted me to tell you that Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life just like the Lord gave Blair a wonderful life…
April 23 2008 around 1230 p.m. the Lord brought Blair home. The Lord did not blink nor was he distracted. It was Blair’s time to go to heaven and worship the almighty Lord, the Prince of Peace. I miss him, but I know where he is. I love you “Kid”.
All who came in uniform with Rachel and Davis in front
Folding the flag
Unveiling Blair's name on a memorial wall at Columbus AFB, MS.
T-38 flyover at the Columbus AFB memorial service
5 comments:
Carrie, what an amazing man he was. I only have heard the best about him. I am so sorry for the loss of your friend and will keep his family in our prayers!
A
What a wonderful testament to your dear friend and to his loving family. You two are such an amazing source of strength & character. They will forever be in our prayers.
I did not know of Blair but my heart aches just as if I had. Such tragedies hit so close to home; losing anyone to situations like this is almost as though we're losing a loved one ourselves. I'm sorry for your loss and especially for his wife and young children. This post as a whole brought tears to my eyes.
Kyle-
You did a fantastic job! Fitting tribute.
Dan
Dear Kyle,
After so many years of having lost touch with all you guys, I did what most do today, and started googling some of the names of the guys I remembered from pilot training.
Just as I tapped in David's name, I got this nasty surprise.
What a great chap he was, and what a great time we had together, I will treasure all the memories of that memorable year.
It's good to see you have a marvelous family. I assume you're still flying and doing great.
I also have family, live in London and work as a full time musician.
It would be great to hear back from you.
All the best,
Chris Van Hayden
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