Blue Angels thrill Annapolis with stunts as protesters object to environmental costs

The Blue Angels arrived in Annapolis on Wednesday for Naval Academy commissioning week.

Despite the heat, thousands of spectators lined the City Dock to watch the famous airshow. They pointed at the sky and covered their ears as the jets flew overhead. Parents held their children on their shoulders, people filmed the show with their iPhones, and others dangled their legs off the pier with loved ones while watching the annual show.

Gladys Schultz smiled at the sky. This week was her first time seeing the show. Schultz came from the Eastern Shore to watch the practice flyover.

“I love the Naval Academy and all the midshipmen walking around here and the fact they’re going to be defending our country,” she said.

Not everyone had the same carefree sentiments surrounding the event.

Fifteen feet away from Schultz was a large inflatable elephant with a pink sign that said, “US Military = #1 Polluter,” flanked by climate activists. The elephant represented the “elephant in the room” when it comes to the human impact on climate change.

Ellen Barfield, a Baltimore resident for more than 27 years and an Army veteran, stated that the amount of fuel used by the jets is not good for the environment. After she served in the Army, she found out about Veterans for Peace.

“Each plane’s training and show maintenance consumes millions of dollars of tax money; they’re terribly noisy, and they also glorify war and killing,” she said.

Jack Hogsten, originally from Kentucky, said he was going to enlist in the Army when he saw his older brother did during World War II. Once the time came for him to enlist, the war was over.

“It was a different time back then. It was a much more patriotic time. Our country had never been so together as they were during World War II. A lot of people dropped out of school to join the service,” he said. Hogsten got into activism during the Vietnam War. “But since then we’ve been involved in stuff we shouldn’t have been.”

The protesters stood on the corner of Dock Street and Randall Street, adjacent to the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial. Spectators took their pamphlets and briefly stopped to stare at the inflatable elephant. One woman snatched the pamphlet out of a protester’s hand and threw it on the ground. Another walked by and said, “My husband is a “Blue Angel!”

The event wrapped up around 3 p.m., and the crowds quickly dispersed into the downtown area to enjoy the rest of the day with their loved ones.