Pave Low

I was asked recently on facebook by one of my friends with whom I grew up, "MK, what's Pave Low? I've seen you mention it before but I don't know what it is." I'm not even sure now how I answered his question, but I've thought a lot lately about it. I don't know why I've thought so much about it except that perhaps it is because so many of the people I speak with on a regularly basis on facebook are Pave Low.

So what is Pave Low? Pave Low is a helicopter that Randy flew during probably the majority of his flying career in the air force. It was a helicopter used for infiltration/exfiltration of special forces, with missions being flown primarily under the cover of darkness. Randy was a flight engineer. Pave Low helicopters were first flown during the Vietnam Conflict and were retired in combat in Iraq last year. They will never be flown again. To experience the deactivation and reunion last year, which Randy and I were both able to attend, was almost surreal.

But Pave Low is so much more than just a helicopter...Pave Low is family. Randy shares a bond with his Pave brethren that I cannot even begin to describe. The wives share a sisterhood that is not duplicated...at least not on any level I've been a witness to. It is a family where the officer / enlisted lines are often blurred...never forgotten who is who, but also never forgotten that it took all 6 of them to carry out a mission...TOGETHER. Like every family, it is one that has experienced joy...and loss.

Recently I became reconnected with someone I had worked with while active duty...we knew who each other was but did not 'run' in the same circles. I had lost track of her shortly after she left the Air Force...which was shortly after her husband was tragically killed during a training mission on a Pave Low. Randy and I didn't begin dating until after this had happened so I was not connected to this woman through Pave Low. However, as everyone in the family is so fond of saying...and believing...Once Pave Low, Always Pave Low. I have thoroughly enjoyed being reacquainted with her...and sharing that bond of sisterhood even though we weren't 'Pave' at the same time. The same holds true for the former spouse of a pilot who left before I even entered active duty...she's become a great source of support on my bad days with the girls! She's a single mom of 3 teenagers and I tell myself constantly, 'if she can do it with 3 by herself, I can certainly do it too!' The support of the family, and knowing they are there, and share in a commonality that is too hard to explain to someone not in the community.

I'm not saying that my Pave family replaces my blood family...absolutely not! My two sisters are my two best friends! But it's hard to explain at times to them, it's hard to explain why Randy is the way he is and does things the way he does, to people who don't know first-hand. What is great about Pave Low is that you don't have to explain...they know, they understand, nothing has to be said.

So what is Pave Low? Pave Low is my second-family. Pave Low is a gift. Pave Low helped make my husband who he is today and I'm eternally grateful that I am blessed to be a part of something so magnificent, so wonderful.

And this is their song.

Its all the same, only the names will change
Everyday it seems were wasting away
Another place where the faces are so cold
Id drive all night just to get back home

Chorus:
I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive

Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days
And the people I meet always go their separate ways
Sometimes you tell the day
By the bottle that you drink
And times when you're all alone all you do is think

Chorus

I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back
I play for keeps, cause I might not make it back
I've been everywhere, still I'm standing tall
I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all

I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride
I'm wanted dead or alive
I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side
I'm wanted dead or alive
Wanted dead or alive