Howard grad makes U.S. Air Force Thunderbird history

When the U.S. Airforce Thunderbirds saluted essential workers in the D.C. area, a trailblazing woman flew in formation. News4’s Eun Yang caught up with Capt. Remoshay Nelson.
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[@petezavala3764]

The color of your skin does not limit how far you go in life. It's the heart, desire and will to succeed at any cost. Great example of hard work and determination. Definitely a role model for all men and women and young children. Your parents did an excellent job of raising you. Kudos to them. 👍

[@erictaylor5462]

"The color of your skin does not limit how far you go in life." Sadly I don't believe this is true just yet. Some people are still judging others by the color of their skin, not the content of their character. And there is enough that they can hold someone back. That is changing, but it is changing rather slowly.

[@debfletcherwins6488]

She is an inspiration to many!

[@marthawarrington7748]

I believe they have always had these women, they are only now giving them the opportunity, the world always had these powerful women

[@stanleydouglas2385]

Congrats to you parents,, even though they were low income workers but they make sure you made it to the top and achieve something, and to fly over your home was the best gift a parent had to watch to know they did a great job by mentoring and bring you up, congrats once again

[@sjcobra84]

What a beautiful and talented pilot.

[@bob80q]

Public Affairs Officer you twit

[@gwest40]

LOL! She's not a pilot. She's the squadron Public Affairs Officer.

[@raphaelmccallister1951]

so proud of her, my brother is a retired c 141 pilot and he met her also

[@wordsofAU79]

No one appreciates her accomplishment more than guys like me who never made it. Love it when competency, ability, and desire rule!

[@virtualsam]

I know right.

[@MikeSmith-fe2np]

What an inspiration!!! Congratulations Captain.Nelson, you're a gorgeous and well spoken younglady!!! # Thanks for your service!!!

[@bernardanderson7569]

Howard University will shine

[@ziggysway]

I am so proud today as a veteran myself on Memorial Day any thing is possible. Now please work with her don't be negative but she can handle it.

[@skjackson24]

Great to hear some positive news. Makes me hopeful for the future.

[@seyley2901]

It's videos like this that provides pride to others abroad such as myself based in England.

[@katd137]

Congratulations from an Air Force mom!

[@farhanabshir9092]

Kathryn any man/woman that can fly those airplane are genius they have insane Iq. People have no idea how hard it is to fly those planes

[@blkwyte]

Representation matters!! I am so proud I can not wait to become a pilot

[@kistyphillips5766]

Thank you for your service!

[@hosaleeparrish1194]

Congratulations, hopefully everyone will get a chance to see you at March ARB, CALIFORNIA some day. Encourage the youth.

[@kwakuagyapong5074]

Congratulations

[@Moore_cookies51]

MUCH RESPECT!

[@aarong.3749]

Congratulations Officer, HU Alumna 🔴🔵

[@bernardanderson7569]

Congratulations Captain Nelson to your Hard work and achievement to serving our Country and public Affairs With the United States Of America Acrobatic team of the Airforce Thunderbirds. See you on the Ramp one day at Andrews Airforce Base

[@selwynjames8415]

Great young lady to god be your glory.

[@douglasboyce4627]

Congrats Mam,

[@robertstaffod2424]

Congratulations!

[@leonnobles545]

Fantastic.

[@nikonrocksnancy]

Congratulations. I admire your accomplishments.

[@naluryder]

You go Captain Nelson👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾

[@WilliamSmith-jc2pp]

Thanks for your service go Air Force

[@willn9950]

Proud of you, Captain👍 and you're a pretty girl🙏

[@artybojangles4153]

you go girl!!!

[@stephenjack5302]

Can't wait for her to become major Nelson .

[@mavrick2224]

So so beautiful

[@estellebibega7343]

Great job❤️

[@popularloner4279]

Amazing!

[@iayyam]

HU!!! YOU KNOW!!!

[@kwilson105]

What an Amazing Story. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@gdavid2483]

Great job Captain.bravo Zulu.. David..US Navy.

[@BigBoss-gq2nt]

You go you Black Queen !!!

[@trommelbiel]

well done daughter.

[@niphodhlamini5974]

Congratulations to her. As of late I also want to join the Air force

[@larrysouthern5098]

CONGRATULATIONS... GOOD FOR HER.. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE BRAVE... PRESS ON!! 🇺🇸

[@leonnoblesnobles6675]

I am so very proud of you 😊

[@charlesvanheningen6865]

Waw wonderful 👏🏾

[@charlesrobert6211]

She is an example of Martin Luther King whose blue print speech included be the best you can be. She is the example of success that kids need to see and follow not the dysfunctional Hollywood sex stars, drug addicts, rap negatives that distort values and pollute their minds.

[@derricktaite7053]

I love it u go girl

[@cindyrolle6476]

Congrats to Captain Nelson. What is painful is that this is 2020. No way in this day and age should the military speak of firsts for African-Americans. Our promotions along with equality should have happened years ago. It’s time the American military branches step up to the plate.

[@mike733544]

Awesome

[@michaeljohnson6315]

Congrats you well done 3:22

[@j.d.peppmeier9041]

Yes the ladies CAN fly jets - and very well too

[@siouxperb5570]

True, but she is not a pilot.

[@erictaylor5462]

Long ago I was dating a black female officer stationed at Mare Island. I was pulled over several times while I was with her because I'm white. The police thinking my GF was a prostitute. It didn't matter how she was dressed, as once we got stopped while she was in uniform. I asked the cop how many prostitutes he'd seen wearing the uniform of a US Navy officer. This was nothing compared to what happened later. I was invited to dinner with her dad (her mother had passed away before I met my GF) and while I very much liked her dad, and he said he really liked me, when she went to use the bathroom her dad carefully explained while he fully approved of me he said I should never come to his home again. He lived in a the worst part of Vallejo. It was a 100% AA Neighborhood, and he was deeply worried about my safety. He'd be happy to meet me elsewhere, just not in his house. I agreed this was probably a good idea, but it turned out my safety was not really a concern. When he started getting death threats over who his daughter was seeing, we both agreed that he had to break things off. I really hated doing that as we both clearly liked each other a lot. It still pisses me off. I'm not sure I could deal with being black, as racial injustice is something I do not deal with very well. Another time years and years before I was dating the Navy officer I invited a black friend to come to my church (Mormon) one Sunday. No one was openly hostile to him, but most of the people in my church either didn't want him to be there, or they were confused as to why he was there. I hadn't noticed before but after I did notice we had no black members. And My ward served the town and Travis AFB, and Travis had people coming from all over the place. But the full gravity of his "welcome" became clear when I went to his church the following week. He'd been the only black person in my church, and while no one was openly hostile, some made it clear they were not happy about one of those people in THEIR church. Every single member of that church shook my hand and seemed genuinely happy I was there. I remember the pastor in particular. He told me my friend had told him I was LDS and when I confirmed this he smiled and said, "Well, we don't worship God in the way you are used to. We like to make a happy noise to the Lord." Boy, he was not kidding. This guy describes the attitude of everyone at that church, though this was a cookout, everyone made me feel the same way kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZjQfKuhh7-thpY On the way home I apologized to my friend over how he was treated at my church. My friend was taken aback. He said everyone was especially nice to him. I didn't agree. I said, "No, being especially nice to someone was how the people in his church treated me. Simply tolerating someone is not being especially nice. Though it was not meant to do this, how he answered made me feel even worse. "Well, they were especially nice for white people." When the hell are we going to start judging someone by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin? It's nearly 60 years! Now I'm all pissed off again. And no, this is not being woke. And if you think it is, then you need to understand, it's a good thing.

[@thedarkknight803able]

Awesome!😯😁😎👍🏿

[@travelingjohn69]

downside to this nation is some people have to work harder than others do to the rate they were born into. I'm proud of her achievements but I do wonder when will the day comes that this will be a norm for my community.

[@oshedricktoomer5274]

Nice looking

[@LawranceGobbell]

A perfect example of hard work discipline the drive to succeed incredible example I'm a woman that applies one of the best warbirds America has to offer in order to achieve this goal that she has you are considered one of the best pilots in the world I salute you ma'am

[@claireearls6622]

🌹

[@rabindrapalai9672]

pls help for O.

[@CherokeeAngl]

🥰❤

[@julianneheindorf5757]

😊👍

[@Venger02]

🔥🔥🔥👏👏👏

[@AR-wt2np]

This is definitely a misleading story. They try to make it sound like she's a pilot, saying she flew in formation over DC and showing her putting on a helmet for a backseat ride, but she's not. She's a public affairs officer, meaning she leads the team's marketing, publicity, and community relations efforts (on the ground). An impressive young officer, for sure, but I'm disappointed in NBC on this one.

[@altonchenier1174]

Trust me she is qualified and she earned the position.

[@altonchenier1174]

@@gwest40 No one said she was a pilot she was just riding in the back seat as a passenger . And from what I gathered no deception was involved I mean you do have to put on a helmet right ?

[@virtualsam]

STFU hater!

[@mauriceboykin4422]

Oh so sorry it wasn't a negative news iam so proud of her

[@SalimSivaad]

It’s the Thunderbirds. Public Affairs Officer is about as mission critical a role as it gets. It takes a team to get the job done.

[@SeanCarter-pv7jk]

❤🎉❤❤🎉❤

[@vadakkayilpramod7613]

💐💐💐💐💎👑❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹🙏🙏

[@Mordalo]

My people? Really? FYI, she wasn't flying that plane.

[@mauriceboykin4422]

Ok and

[@Mordalo]

@@mauriceboykin4422 There is no "and"

[@yerimfall5135]

I am a little bit confused. Is she a public relations officer or a real pilot ? Confusing to me. Kudos to her regardless.

[@MouseAPowers-ql3nv]

Captain Nelson is not a pilot but she serves in the support position of public affairs officer. Even though she is not a pilot, congrats are still deserved because her position in the Thunderbirds was highly competitive. The United States Air Force has very few female pilots and even fewer black female pilots. The majority of women in the United States Air Force serve in support positions. Maybe someday soon we will have a female pilot in the Thunderbirds.

[@yerimfall5135]

Thanks for clarifying. Respect and kudos to her !

[@gwest40]

@@MouseAPowers-ql3nv - The first female Thunderbird pilot was Nicole Malachowski.

[@creolelady182]

Yes but is she a pilot?

[@gwest40]

No. She's the squadron Public Affairs Officer. She is not a pilot.

[@keepitreal6487]

So shes not a pilot but an admin officer, whats the deal?.....Would be big news if she was in the front seat.

[@russouk]

Would be better to hear she was ther first Black Woman Display pilot...

[@mauriceboykin4422]

@@gwest40 right

[@rabindrapalai9672]

no life here 40cr future bal.

[@karong7017]

She's a female black Tom Cruise in real life. 🥰🥰Highway to the danger zone.

[@gwest40]

Tom Cruise played the role of a fighter pilot. This woman is NOT a pilot. She's the Public Affairs Officer.

[@mrquestion8398]

Great. question have they ever had a black man on that team??

[@siouxperb5570]

The Thunderbirds (as well as the Blue Angels) have had black men on the team. Many serving in enlisted capacities, but specifically referring to pilots, the first black Thunderbird pilot was Capt. Lloyd "Fig" Newton, back in 1975 when they were flying T-38s. In January 1982, Capt Joseph "Pete" Peterson was flying number 3, right wing, and was one of four pilots killed when the Thunderbirds suffered the infamous Diamond crash.

[@gwest40]

Google is your friend.

[@jayallen6576]

My comments are not going to be liked I'll give a thumbs up to anybody who can make the Thunderbirds but it was about time for them to pick a black woman first of all she is not from Africa and there is no such thing as an African American it's the same thing as saying well I'm Sicilian American no I'm an American I have Sicilian blood in me and Apache Indian and besides the new minority or men my age over 50 but they're not going to recognize men especially men who have light skin they're not appreciated anymore if you'll look at most of your TV across the country you see very few white men on TV anymore and I say well so what there's a book when people are no longer needed they're going to be flying those things that the Thunderbirds I was in the military but all this hyphenated American BS yeah you don't know anything about Africa and you're not African-American so if people like to eat if they dislike the comments so what I have the first amendment of the Constitution political correctness is taken over Hitler would love modern-day America

[@michaelburnett2164]

Public affairs....hahaha

[@did20fknyears]

She's not actually a pilot though...

[@mofo7689]

I grew up in the Air Force community and met teams as far back as 76. Now retired from my own service career, I STILL can not fathom why there is a constant publicity gimmick race to grab "THE FIRST........" Affirmative Action criteria rather than being recognized as an obviously exceptional officer. USAF ret. Col Kittinger had the "long lonely leap" above New Mexico until that record was broken by a male. It did not get nearly the same publicity drama as "the first black woman to ........", and she was a Public Affairs Officer. The goal is to gain attention to remain in the spotlight as their celebrity career does not fall to the side in the rank and file performance as department heads become oblivious.

[@hosaleeparrish1194]

Congratulations, hopefully everyone will get a chance to see you at March ARB, CALIFORNIA some day. Encourage the youth.