09/16/2026
Losing the veteran friends I make never gets easy, especially with those I've spent time around multiple times and traveled with. Last week we lost 106-year-old Art Leach. I was able to hang out with him a few times in Pensacola during Veterans Flight activities in conjunction with the Pensacola Beach Air Show each July. He would get VIP private flights from his home in Illinois down to Pensacola thanks to friends Tom Heenan and Dan Peterson. And up to age 104 would fly in PT-17 Stearmans and T-6 Texans SNJs over the crowded beach. I got to fly in a T-34 alongside him on one of those awesome flights (photo included here). He made the trip to Pearl Harbor with us in the Best Defense Foundation for the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack. Very fitting because he was a fighter pilot in the Pacific flying many missions off the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. I can still picture him telling many a story and giving a sly wink of the eye at key parts. He will be missed. 🇺🇸
Best Defense Foundation
