Philippines Journal
Part of the
Greatest Generation Aircraft family
of historic planes.
Last Mission a eulogy delivered by Jim Terry at Lynn’s Memorial Service
Anyone mourning Lynn Daker?
Get over it!
He finished the race at a sprint.
He was tired, worn out and had nothing left.
He did it all.
We can miss him.
We can be sad because we don’t get to be with him any more, but we can’t mourn him.
We should all be so lucky.
We met Lynn two years ago at the Boulder airport open house.
He started out on a dead run like we had known him all our lives, and in a way we had.
He awed us with his stories.
He amazed us with his pictures and memorabilia.
At that time he had a season pass to the ski area and used it!
He rode in on his 1200 cc Gold Wing, which he traded last year for a new Kawasaki.
But I think Lynn was best described by my son Liam, who said,
“Lynn doesn’t act like an old man at all, he just acts like a normal guy!” and so he was.
From that point on we drug and forced Lynn to fly with us and go to air shows with us.
On one flight with a plane load of screaming passengers he reached over my shoulders and grabbed the yoke.
He yelled in my ear that he just wanted to feel it.
I immediately got out of the seat, he climbed in without hesitation and we immediately dove for the trees.
To the thrill of everyone on board, he soared between the trees and through the valleys, playing the controls like he had just done it yesterday.
He accompanied us to a number of shows after that, always setting up his table under the other wing and drawing the crowds in, always with his jacket and Mae West, always happy, always proud.
During these trips I had the privilege of bunking with Lynn.
He told me innumerable times about his last mission, the loss of 44-29586 and the loss of SSgt Chatney.
He wanted to go back.
We wanted to make it happen.
Last year we sent out flyers and asked for donations, went on radio and TV and in December surprised Lynn with tickets and reservations back to the Philippines.
He left on the 15th of February and at 87 flew halfway around the world by himself. Twenty-five and a half hours from takeoff to landing at Cibu Philippines, another 2 days by van, ferry and back to van again to get to Cadiz Philippines.
It was an exhausting trip, but he never tired. His determination was absolute.
On the 3rd day we arrived by outrigger boat at the exact spot.
I asked him if he was OK and he responded with I can’t believe it.
I just can’t believe we are here!
We searched for 3 days but never really found the plane.
We found what we thought were the engines, but the plane was long gone, scavenged by natives over the years.
SSgt Chatney’s remains were scattered across the bottom of the ocean.
May he rest in peace.
On the last day we placed a memorial on the wreckage site and brought up some sand and silt in a bottle for Lynn.
He said that made him feel close to Chatney and it was worth more to him than a million dollars.
He was satisfied and asked if he could share it with his fellow crew members.
I hope he did.
Lynn was probably one of the most decent men I have ever known.
I never heard him insult a fellow man.
I never heard him utter a bad word.
He missed his wife.
He missed his oldest son and he refused to abuse Chas with his cooking.
On numerous occasions we tried to buy him a beer, but he said he wasn’t old enough to drink yet.
I don’t think he ever reached that age.
And so we celebrate the life of our friend, Lynn Daker and we will miss him.
