It's been ten years since I received the news that Carroll F. LeFon, Jr., Captain, United States Navy (retired) had lost his life at Naval Air Station Fallon, NV.
Not a day goes by that I don't remember CAPT LeFon, or Lex as he was known to those of us in the aviation and blogging communities. Why "Lex"? Well, that was the Captain's callsign, which you can read about here.
I first learned of Lex, and his blog Neptunus Lex, while searching for a story online about my son-in-law's squadron back in 2011. I found an article here, which I read with grim fascination. The post answered a number of questions I had regarding what had happened in VFA-136. It also aligned with what my daughter had told me. But more importantly, it introduced me to Lex's blog.
Going there became part of my morning ritual, get coffee, fire up the computer, then see what Lex had to say about whatever was on his mind that day. Always well-informed, always entertaining, and often very amusing. The man had a sense of humor.
The day it ended sticks in my memory as if it was yesterday. It always will.
I only had one contact with him, via email. I had hoped one day to meet him in person, out there in Sandy Eggo as he was wont to call it. I call it that because he did.
Whenever I'm in Sandy Eggo, I go to "his" spot, Shakespeare's (more properly the Shakespeare Pub). where I will have a Guinness and marvel at the fact that Hizzoner (as many of us called him) would "hold court" with his friends there. I've made many new friends in that place where many of us will gather at certain times of the year to remember him.
Ten years.
It feels like yesterday, the pain is ever fresh.
We miss you, Cap'n.
As the Bard said, we owe God a death, I just wish yours had not come so soon.
Ave Atque Vale.
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr
¹ The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth, Act III. Scene II. - William Shakespeare
One of the greatest honors I have ever been accorded, was on the day I got a friend request from him on Facebook. He considered me worthy of friendship!
ReplyDeleteHUZZAH!
I only know of him through you, Sarge - in that, you have suceeded.
ReplyDeleteExcelsior.
Echoing TBB Sarge, you've spread the word.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless a blessing, anniversary days bring a mix of memories. Once read that "you live as long as you are not forgotten". Your story is mindful of stories around the campfire. They bring life to other times and those who "crossed over". I think maybe the ancients where onto something.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Lex? Shucks, my nickel was on Lex having had an encounter with a Lex Luthor type ensign! Good stuff!!
Semper Fi!
Amen.
ReplyDeleteI found Lex via a poorly worded Google search for law of the sea, oddly enough not long after he started publishing, and for years after mornings started with Lex. Witty, widely read, tolerant but not a marshmallow, willing to think when challenged with reason, truly a treasure. A dark day on the calendar every year this is. As a pilot I do fear what cost him - the no-good options moment that can come despite skill and preparation, for flight is a surly beast and wont to act out when least needed.
Sarge, I would add that in many ways this page has become the replacement. The serialized novels, leavened with Tuna, Beans & Juvat, has matured well. Thank you. Now if we could just get that Cowman guy back to speed...
RAS
Hey Old AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteI never heard of him until I ran across your blog, so you have succeeded in spreading the word. I have bookmarked the site. You honor his memory by spreading what he had wrote. You "done Good".
In a previous life, my then employer lost 4 crew in a crash. I knew 3 of the 4 crew. The guy I didnt know was a former cube mate's friend (Flight Test is a small community). Three funerals in two weeks. To this day I hate that damn poem.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I still miss the Captain. It was a daily stop.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the remembrance, OldAFSarge; 'tis small yet bitter pills we must swallow, along with our celebrations of wonderfully lived lives, on our paths to our own victories.
ReplyDeleteI'd had Lex bookmarked for quite awhile, can't remember how I stumbled across him. My fondness for Naval Aviation goes back to childhood, but was solidified by my time on a CVN with these guys taking off and landing on my roof. I ate up his sea-stories, "Rhythms" was specially good. Ten Years... wow, I remember it was like a punch to the gut, and I think he foreshadowed it a week or two earlier with a story about a landing he had to make in the Kafir with too much fuel and not enough runway. (I could be wrong). Sarge, can't remember if I found you because of him or somewhere else, but I'm glad I found you.
ReplyDeleteA decade has passed in a flash, but the time spent viewing Neptunus Lex was among the most enjoyable until the end. Ever since, it has been a joy to reread his wonderful posts which others have graciously retrieved and shared (and I have done some too).
ReplyDeleteWhile Lex can never be replaced, or Breitbart, or Rush Limbaugh, we still are blessed with people whose words mean things and are wonderful to read, enjoy and ponder. I honestly think that Sarge, our gracious host here, is doing an admirable job filling the void.
Thanks, Sarge. And,thanks again to our beloved Lex for inspiring you to step into the blogosphere.
I found Lex after he was linked by either Commander Salamander, or the now dormant Castle Argghhh.
John Blackshoe
I don't remember when I first bumped into Lex's blog, but I do remember I visited regularly (DAILY).
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me was it always made sense... ALWAYS!
I really miss him.
He died doing what he loved, flying fighters. I don't think he would have wanted it any other way.
ReplyDeleten 2004 my #2 son enlisted in the USMC (commissioned after 7 years and is now a Capt.). In looking for military commentary on how the war(s)were going and opinions of same, I found Neptunus Lex. As with so many others here it took no time for it to become my goto first read every morning. I read and digested, sometimes I asked questions (being retired from aviation but no military experience). Lex had a way of writing that immediately captured your interest and sucked you in to the subject. When I first heard that he was a fly fisherman my first thought was to make one of my bamboo fly rods for him. By the time I decided to do it, he had left us. I wish that I hadn't waited.
ReplyDeleteA complex man. I liked him.
ReplyDeleteNever mind, I found it, after a ton of clicking on "Older Post." March 22nd 2012. Fun trip down memory lane with some of those early posts. Lex's passing is a sad way to have inspired your blog, but it's been good inspiration.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like my previous comment didn't get posted. It was something to the effect of - 10 years on and 10 years of the Chant. Sad way to have inspired a blog, but good inspiration nevertheless. When is the anniversary?
Delete22 March 2012 was the first post. Feels like yesterday, feels like a century ago.
Delete