Most of the world has probably heard about the US Airway pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who landed his plane safely on New York's Hudson River last week after a flock of geese was sucked into the plane's engines during take-off and disabled the plane. Because of his skills and the crews training, everyone survived the ordeal.
Today, Sully's hometown of Danville, CA gave him a hero's welcome home ceremony. Since Danville is approximately 45 miles away from me, I decided to attend. Unfortunately, I could not get there early enough, I could only get a vantage point with an annoying pole in the way; however, no heads were blocking my view.
A big banner in front of the town's library welcomes Sully home.
Sully and his wife, Lorrie, arrives to the ceremony.
Sully and Lorrie enter onto the stage.
Lorrie emotionally speaks about her husband's heroic achievement.
Sully speaks briefly to the crowd. If you look closely, you can see Lorrie seated wiping away tears.
Sully receives a flag gift that had flown at the U.S. Capitol.
Sully receives a departmental group photo from the local police department.
The local high school marching band was on hand to lead off the event.
Parking sign for the media.
Media frenzy at center stage.
Several thousand people attended the event. I was lucky to find a parking space.To read more about today's event, click here to read the article published on the San Francisco Chronicle's website.
11 comments:
Thank you! What a great celebration for him. I'm glad you were able to make the celebration so you could share it with us.
Great man, great achievment. Good pictures Karen.
Sue/Adrian: Thank you for your comments. Because of the times we currently live in, it seems like everyone needs a hero to give us hope. I am more than glad to share this experience with everyone. :)
Fantastic series of images from your post here. Great celebration all around
Now that was a genuine hero! I head his speech, and he spoke as hero: "It was the work of the crew".
PS Thanks for the comment - I was probably thinking of the famous jazz guitarist John MacLaughlin. He is from Yorkshire, which is not far from the Scottish border.
That's fantastic you were able to attend. Great shots.
I saw it on tv. I can't believe you were actually there!! He's a real hero for sure.
wow, for someone who was not able to come so close, you still were able to get great pictures. i heard his speech too, watch it over the TV, but you were there to share with us his homecoming, he is a hero indeed. thanks for sharing the pictures with us.
Dot: Rarely something so important and exciting hits close to home so I didn't want to miss it.
Betchai: I wasn't standing in an ideal spot, but I had my 200mm lens on my camera and lots of luck.
Great shots Karen. You were fortunate to be able to see that great event at all.
What a neat thing to attend. He sure fits everything we think of when we think of hero. I have to say the guy has balls.
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