F-15 rockets across Middle Georgia, saluting health care workers and first-responders during coronavirus
The lone gray fighter jet thundered into east Macon over the Indian Mounds.
The F-15 dipped a wing as it barreled toward the Ocmulgee River and shot over the Coliseum Medical Centers on a rise along Emery Highway.
“He waved at us,” a woman said as the plane raced out of sight.
At the hospital there, a couple of hundred or so medical workers and a handful of firefighters had greeted and, just as swiftly, waved farewell as the warplane streaked by.
Minutes later, the jet swooped south, looping over downtown and the Medical Center, Navicent Health, before sprinting off to buzz hospitals in Perry and Warner Robins.
The Air Force plane’s appearance was part of a tribute to front-line workers and first-responders in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Similar salutes have happened across the country in recent days, and parades have been held around local hospitals to express community support for health care workers.
The crowd outside the Coliseum hospital, most in scrubs and surgical masks, cheered and clapped as the jet roared past. In 20 seconds or so, it was gone.
Outside the emergency room, an American flag hung from a ladder raised over a Macon-Bibb County Fire Department truck.
Ben Kerscher, a registered nurse in the cardiac unit who had stepped outside to watch the flyover, said the salute was spirit-lifting.
“It just makes you feel good,” he said. “It’s a break in the day as well. ... It gives you a little energy, it gives you a little pep just to know that there’s people out there that care about us.”