After Tragedy, Walk Carefully Toward Recovery

The local community, and Western Nebraska Community College’s Sidney aviation program specifically, was struck hard recently. Make no mistake. This will be a difficult journey.

The aviation program is a tight-knit crew of students fascinated with the many skills associated with flight. Visiting one of their fly-in breakfasts for pilots, I felt like I was invited to a community gathering, something almost family-like.

Even those who bordered on “dysfunctional” put fun in the word. They were students under a common curriculum, but they are also close-knit. They were under the kind of bond that i...