Tampa man recalls his friend Scott Speicher

As a hearse carried the remains of Navy aviator Michael Scott Speicher through the streets of Jacksonville Friday, thousands of people lined the roadways to pay their respects to Speicher as he returned home 18 years after his F/A 18 was shot down on the first night of the first Gulf War.

Speicher's casket was driven past some of the important places in his life. The church where he taught Sunday school, and the high school where he excelled in athletics.

In Tampa, Speicher was remembered as a friend by a man who flew with him.

"We were both in the Navy's largest F/A 18 squadron," said retired Navy Captain Jeff Cathey. "Probably 20 Marines and 30 Navy flight instructors."

As squadron mates, they worked together to train newcomers, said Cathey,

"Taught new students how to fly the airplane," Cathey said. "How to fight it. How to bomb with it. And how to take it out to the aircraft carrier."

As fellow flight instructors, they got to know each other pretty well said Cathey,

"Especially in Key West and out in Nevada," he said. Cathey said he would "go out there and bunk with the guy for two or three weeks at a time and eat with him and have a couple of beers with him."

After their assignment as instructors ended, they went their separate ways, on different aircraft carriers. Cathey said.

"I went to one squadron on USS Eisenhower and he went to another one on USS Saratoga and I knew that. I joined my squadron in the Mediterranean and a couple months later, Iraq invaded Kuwait and we transited through the Suez Canal, parked in the Red Sea and came up with battle plans to go into Iraq."

Later, Speicher's squadron and the Saratoga would come to relieve Cathey's ship. They saw each other again, just before the first night of the Gulf war. Cathey's squadron briefed Speicher's men on the air defense system of Iraq. The two friends also had a chance to sit down and have lunch.

"He was a pretty serious professional with a smile." said Cathey.

The shipboard meeting was the last time Cathey would ever see his friend. Speicher's plane was shot down on the first night of the Gulf War.

"Lots goes through your mind," said Cathey. "First and foremost is, how did it happen? Glad it wasn't me. Glad it wasn't more of my friends. What could it have been? Is the plane survivable? Were his tactics good? Were the squadron's tactics good and they were and so, what hit him?"

It would take years to confirm what happened, but Cathey never forgot about his friend. He participated in fact-finding missions to get to the truth about what happened to Speicher.

"I followed the status changes since then, and had a close-up view of the developments and rumors and official determinations while in the Pentagon and liaisoning with Capitol Hill," Cathey said. He even escorted then-Governor Jeb Bush through the prison at Abu Ghraib as rumors persisted that Speicher had been held as a prisoner of war there.

In the 18 years since Speicher's disappearance there were reports of sightings of Speicher in captivity, reports that Speicher scratched his initials on a prison wall, even reports that he had been taken out of Iraq to another country and was being held and tortured for information.

In the end, Cathey said the evidence shows his friend was most likely shot down by a MIG-21 on the first night of battle.

"I think he took a hit and probably didn't survive all the way down to the ground," Cathey said.

On Aug. 2, the Pentagon disclosed that Marines had recovered Speicher's bones and skeletal fragments . The remains were later identified through dental records.

Cathey said knowing the truth about Speicher's fate gives him comfort.

"For me it does and for his family, you know, I certainly wouldn't speak for them, but any time something that horrific can be avoided, even if it's in the past, then certainly that has to bring some peace and serenity to the family."

Cathey said he will travel this weekend from Tampa to Jacksonville for a squadron reunion of sorts, where he will get together with others who knew Speicher.

They will trade stories, trade memories and trade feelings about their friend who finally came home.