The first time I ever saw the Grand Canyon
Our four fighters, in arrowhead formation, skimmed the desert floor for another hundred miles or so until the sandy brown horizon turned to a brilliant blue in the waters behind Glen Canyon Dam. We were going to fly the Grand Canyon from Lake Powell to Boulder Dam. We would not fly over the Canyon; we would fly in it.
Dick Jonas was born and raised in the Suwannee River Valley of northern Florida. He served four years as an infantryman in the Georgia Army National Guard while attending Valdosta State College, then spent 22 years in the Air Force, where he flew 3,000 jet fighter hours in the F-4 and the F-16. During 125 missions in the Vietnam War, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters and the Air Medal with 12 clusters. He is now a full time military folk music producer. His aim is to perpetuate the legacy of the warrior musician — the songs we sang about the planes we flew and the people we knew in the wars we fought. He is a member of the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame in the Class of 2016. Dick and his wife, Mary, reside in Chino Valley, just north of Prescott, Arizona.
