We are thrilled this evening to welcome the programs founder, dan pedderson. He went on to become the senior officer in the group of nine men who formed the navys legendary Top Gun Program at navy air station in march 1969. He served in combat during the vietnam war with the flying crews. He retired as a captain having accumulated 6,100 flight hours and 1,005 carrier landings. For those of you who know his story from the 1986 movie top gun, you will be happy to know that he is producing a sequel which is scheduled to be released in 2020. Peddersons book is available for purchase and signing following this conversation. And here to keep the conversation moving is larry burke, cure ator of u. S. Naval aviation at the national air and space museum. So now please welcome dan pedderson and larry burke. You ready to go . Im going to take about ten minutes to just set the stage here for larry and i to go back and forth in final preparation for the questions coming from you. The assumption is
25yearold in florida making the new concern about copycats, the country on edge. The palace protest after this new footage emerges. Prince andrew now in the spotlight. New questions about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. What the royals are saying this morning. Cruise ship rescue. The quickthinking heroes jumping in to save this woman when her wheelchair rolls into the water. And shark scare. The Close Encounter with a 14foot hammerhead off the coast of florida, and the 9yearold girl attacked in kneedeep water. Theres three marks back here that are, like that torn through the teeth, and then just a couple, two rows of teeth. What she did to survive. , amd welcome to a new week. And it was a very loud night last night. It was. Did you guys hear that . It was a wet and wild weekend for a lot of people. Severe storms hitting the west all the way here to the northeast, bringing dangerous winds, rain and flash flooding. Those alerts on or phone through the early e
In his illustrated talks, he offered a firsthand account of the real story behind its development. The Smithsonian Associates hosted this event. Lauren good evening. Im Lauren Rosenberg with the Smithsonian Associates. And id like to welcome you to this program. To members, im so glad that youre here. Its your support that makes events like this possible. And if youre joining for the first time, an equally warm welcome and invitation to explore the wide range of programs we offer. Now is your perfect time to talk off your cell phone or anything that might make noise during the program. Thank you for doing that. This past march marked the 50th anniversary of the u. S. Navy Fighter Weapons program. We welcome the programs founder, dan pederson. He entered the u. S. Navy in 1953 and went on to become the senior officer of nine men to form the legendary Top Gun Program at Naval Air Station miramar in march of 1969. He served in combat during the vietnam war with the flying crews on the uss
Direction of colonel andrew esch. Present arms. O, say can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we haild at the twilights last gleaming . Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming . And the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o, say does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave . [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, donald j. Trump, and the first lady of the United States, melania trump. [playing hail to the chief] [applause] [chanting usa] [cheers and applause] pres. Trump hello, america, hello. [cheers and applause] pres. Trump the first lady and i wish each and every one of you a happy Independence Day on this truly historic fourth of july. Today, we come together as one nation with this very special salute to america. We celebrate our history, our peopl