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California Air National Guard to salute frontline workers with flyover

Blue Angels & Thunderbirds salute essential workers
Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds give salute in the sky for essential workers 02:15

Doctors, nurses and essential workers on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 will get a sky-high salute from the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing, CBS Los Angeles reports. Four F-15C Eagle fighter jets will flyover a large swath of California starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday passing over medical facilities from Sacramento to the Bay Area to Southern California.

The flyover is expected to reach the Southern California region around 11:45 a.m. The fighter jets will flyover several medical centers, police departments and fire stations. 

The California National Guard urged residents to maintain social distancing guidelines and refrain from gathering in large groups to view the flyover. 

calguard-flyover-wednesday-may-12-2020.jpg
Four F-15C Eagle fighter jets will flyover a large swath of California on Wednesday, May 13, 2020.  California National Guard

In April, the U.S. Air Force's Thunderbirds and Navy's Blue Angels conducted flyovers in New York City and other cities in the Northeast. They, too, saluted frontline workers fighting the coronavirus.

Jennie Drexler, a nurse manager of critical care at Mount Sinai West in Manhattan, expressed gratitude for the flyover.

"The Blue Angels signify such courage to the highest level," Drexler said. "To be honored by them signifies the courage we have shown. We had to step up and rise to the moment In this crisis and we pulled through. It almost signifies the courage of nursing during this virus."

Health care workers in Las Vegas and Colorado have also been honored with flyovers last month.

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