By Charles McClure
news@ltview.com
Perhaps Bill Dickson, Master of Ceremonies of the annual Lakeway Pageant, put it best: “We have had some amazing people serve as our Grand Marshal for the parade over the years. We have had congressmen, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, and even astronaut who had literally been out of this world. In spite of the variety, all those folks had something in common — they were all exceptional American citizens who had served our country well.”

With that, Dickson introduced U.S. Navy Capt. Greg Wooldridge (ret.) as the keynote speaker at the pageant. Wooldridge had served with the famed Blue Angels as its Commander on three different occasions — the squadron that may be the Navy’s greatest ambassadors. Born in the heartland of America (Springfield, Ill.), he entered the Navy’s rigorous flight training regimine at bases in Pensicola, Fla., Meridian, Miss., and Kingsville, Texas. In 1971 he earned his Gold Wings. He had multiple deployments on a variety of carriers as an officer and fighter pilot.
For his part, Wooldridge was extremely impressed with the extent of Lakeway’s Independence Day celebration.
“If this doesn’t bring a tear or two to your eyes, I can’t imagine what will,” Wooldridge said. “The recruiters are going to set up outside the auditorium. Some of us will have to fudge a bit on our age.”
The comment drew laughter from the packed house.
His military career was stellar. When he retired, he had more than 8,300 flight hours and more than 700 carrier landings.
Wooldridge noted the U.S. is a nation of exceptionalism.
“I think the notion of exceptionalism is downplayed a little bit, but it shouldn’t be,” Wooldridge said. “One need look no further than Texas to understand just how true it is. This is an exceptional country and it has been brought to that status by the performance of its exceptional citizens.”
He credited the Declaration of Independence, celebrating its 233rd birthday, and the U.S. Constitution as the backbone of why the nation has flourished.
“These documents gave us the opportunity to be exceptional, and now it is so common, that it isn’t unusual to be exceptional in the country,” Wooldridge said. “Today, it is almost the rule, and that is a good thing.”
He said Texas is a fine example of the stuff that America is made from.
“If you drive across Texas, you have driven across one-third of the U.S.,” he mused. “That is pretty amazing. Perhaps nothing says more about Texas than the Alamo. There, 183 men standing in a church facing thousands of foes, chose to fight for freedom. They could have walked out and not fought that fight, but they stayed and died fighting for their cause.”
During his years with the Blue Angels, he flew F-18s all over the world, including many shows in Texas.
“Flying with ‘The Blues’ was a great honor,” Wooldridge said. “Many images flash before me during my tours with them, but none means more than seeing an elderly gentleman with a World War II service hat on standing behind a chain-link fence with tears streaming down his face.”
Just about the time Wooldridge was ready to retire, the Blue Angels called him back for one more tour as squadron commander, which gave him the opportunity to perform an air show in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. His experienced taught him the essence of exceptionalism.
“I was lucky,” he said. “I was given the tools and the training to be exceptional,” he said. “It was fun and challenging.”