The Blue Angels: Still officially sanctioned terrorism

Letter to the editor in today's SF Chronicle:

Mute the Blue Angels

Regarding "Ground the Air Show" (Letters, Oct. 5):

I very much agree with the letter from Ann and Richard Lanzerotti regarding the Blue Angels. We should not have to put up with the noise for days.

Also, what about people who have pets that are terrified by the noise? And I wonder about people with post-traumatic stress disorder, who might be affected by the noise and sight of the jets.

Couldn't the money spent for the Blue Angels, including the money spent on fuel, be put to better use?

Brian Baum

San Francisco

A letter in the Sunday Chronicle:

Drop the Blue Angels

Those of us who have experienced being bombed---be it World War II, the Korean War or Vietnam---are experiencing vivid reminders when the Blue Angels roar overhead. 

Not everyone loves them!

Agatha Hoff

San Francisco

From the NY Times in 1983:

The Blue Angels, the Navy's aerobatic flying team, buzzed the city for 30 minutes today, rattling windows and residents with sonic booms.

Mayor Dianne Feinstein, whose windows at City Hall shook along with those of hundreds of others, ''got on the telephone to the Navy and ordered them to bring those planes down,'' according to her spokesman, Tom Eastham..

The Mayor's office, the police and the authorities at San Francisco International Airport were flooded by telephone calls as six A-4 fighter jets swooped over the city.

''The Mayor was concerned that so many people were frightened,'' said Mr. Eastham, who acknowledged the Mayor had no actual authority to ban the planes from San Francisco's airspace.

Rob's comment:

We can't honor the Navy without being bullied by its air force? Why not do this in a rural area where the dangerous show won't do as much damage as an accident would in the city?

I suspect the military likes annoying the liberal population of San Francisco.