FinalBloodline

Every summer the Colonel would fly up to Boston, bring back crates of live lobsters, and throw his legendary summer lobster extravaganza pool party. He’d buy brand-new metal trash cans just for the occasion and cook everything himself — lobsters, corn, potatoes, the works. His dear friend Fred Hughes and his wife (first two people on the left in the photo, rocking the Budweiser outfits) would roll up with a full commercial Budweiser truck. Taps flowing nonstop while the lobsters kept coming. That’s my mom smiling on the left in the back, and Dad in the bright orange shirt leaning over the table. Pure Colonel chaos — good food, great friends, and zero chill. These nights were loud, messy, and unforgettable. Beer, butter, and laughter everywhere. Still one of my favorite memories from growing up. Who else had a parent that threw epic backyard feasts like this? 😂🦞🍺 #ColonelStories #LobsterParty #SummerTraditions #FamilyFeast #Budweiser #SwampTales #Throwback

The B-52 is still out there doing what it was built to do long-range, heavy-hitting combat missions with mid-air refueling. My Colonel flew the P-47 Thunderbolt in combat over Europe, low, slow, taking the hits and still bringing the fight home. He always had respect for aircraft that could take a beating and keep going. Seeing the B-52 still in the fight after all these years makes me proud. Some legends never retire. 🇺🇸✈️

A B-52 Stratofortress gets refueled mid-air during a combat mission, March 20, in support of Operation Epic Fury.

@airmainengineer My Colonel was a test pilot out of Andrews AFB and flew everything from P-47 Thunderbolts in WWII to high-performance jets. He used to say the best pilots were the ones who could make even a heavy airliner look graceful when it counted. This one nails it. Beautiful flying. 🇺🇸✈️

Air Canada Express 8646 May you forever fly in our hearts Rest in peace to the two Pilots we lost With mirabel_intl

The B-52 flying that low through the mountains is something you really don’t see every day. My Colonel flew the original “flying tank” in WWII - the P-47 Thunderbolt - low and slow, taking the hits and delivering hell on the enemy. He’d look at a B-52 doing that kind of terrain-hugging run and just nod. “That’s a pilot’s airplane.” Some legends never get old. Proud to see her still out there doing what she was built to do. 🇺🇸✈️

This is something you don’t see too often: B-52 flying relatively low level through the mountains

The B-1B Lancer is a beast! Low level, supersonic, and built to deliver. My Colonel flew P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs in combat over Europe and later became a test pilot out of Andrews AFB. He always had respect for aircraft that were powerful, complex, and expensive to keep flying, because the best ones usually are. The B-1B is one of those birds. Beautiful, powerful, and unmistakably American. Here’s hoping she gets those extra 40 years in the sky. Some legends are worth the cost. 🇺🇸✈️

My favorite bomber aircraft! Why does it have to be so expensive to operate? Would love to see it be in service another 40 years.

The Colonel was a test pilot who flew off aircraft carriers, the real deal. This huge framed photo hung in his office for years. The inscription at the bottom reads: “To Jean M. Kossarides with best wishes to a shipmate” He lived that naval aviation life, precision, guts, and a little bit of swagger. Even after all the combat missions and test flights, he still loved being called “shipmate.” Proud doesn’t even cover it. 🇺🇸✈️

An F-4 Phantom assigned to the VF-14 'Tophatters' gets a thorough check from maintainers on board USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) underway in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1966.

The A-10 Warthog is still out there doing what it does best low, slow, and absolutely lethal. My Colonel flew the original “flying tank” in WWII: the P-47 Thunderbolt. Same mission profile, get down in the dirt, take the hits, and deliver hell on the enemy. He’d look at that Warthog and just nod. “That’s a pilot’s airplane.” Some designs never get old. 🇺🇸✈️

WAR: The A-10 Warthog has, once again, proved itself to be indispensable in securing the Hormuz Strait. The 54 year old killer sips fuel slowly as it flies low and slow killing every adversary in the strait.

This reminds me of the time the Colonel somehow ended up as the mob’s pilot out of EWR (New Jersey). They’re coming back from a run, zero visibility, and one of the guys in the back says, “Jean, how the fuck are you flying? I can’t see shit out there!” Colonel, without missing a beat: “I can’t see shit either… I’m flying on instruments.” White-knuckle ride the whole way. When they finally touched down those guys were kissing the ground like they’d just survived a miracle. As a thank-you they bought him a full zoot suit and told him he had to wear it on every flight after that. 😂 Even the mob learned to trust the instruments that day. #ColonelStories #AviationLegends ✈️

Pilot POV landing in reduced visibility — a great example to learn from. What did you notice?

The Colonel wasn’t just a fighter pilot and a ham, he was a gourmet chef with very high standards. Every big dinner had to look like a magazine spread. Tablecloth perfect, candles lit, everything arranged just so. Here’s Mom standing proudly by one of her feasts, while the Colonel does the final touch-ups (yes, he’s literally adjusting individual ears of corn like they’re sculptures). He’d fly in lobsters from Boston, cook in metal trash cans, and make sure every detail was flawless before guests walked in. Of course, he had one unbreakable rule: “Do you know the difference between a chef and a cook? A chef does not clean up the mess.” He’d dirty every pot and pan in the kitchen… and guess who got to be the “cook”? 😂 Me. Every single time. Extra? Yes. Colonel? 100%. Did your family have anyone who turned dinner into performance art while leaving the cleanup for everyone else? 🍽️🧼 #ColonelStories #GourmetChef #FamilyFeasts #Throwback #SwampTales

This reminds me of the time the Colonel had his DC-3 parked at BWI, loaded with top-secret Navy equipment for tracking nuclear subs. Hugh Hefner rolled in with his own plane, they didn’t tie it down, and a strong gust of wind sent it crashing straight into the Colonel’s DC-3. He was not amused. 😂 Even on the ground the man couldn’t catch a break. #ColonelStories #AviationHistory 🇺🇸✈️

New video footage captures the exact moment an Air Canada jet collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport on March 23

My Colonel and mom were on vacation in Jamaica years ago. He pointed out several dark-painted planes that had crashed into the trees. The paint was so dark you could barely see the call letters on the tail. He said they were left that way on purpose, so the owners could come back later and quietly collect them. Drug-running planes. Even on vacation the man never missed a thing. Crazy how these stories keep surfacing. 🇺🇸✈️

Returning a Gulfstream Ill jet that has been abandoned by Drug smugglers in Mexico! 📹: capidlamora

During Desert Storm I volunteered for the “Green Machine”, booking and finding flights to get our soldiers where they needed to be. The ladies at the desk took one look at me and said no. So instead I started sending care packages to any service member who needed one. The conflict ended, I met my future husband six weeks before we got married in June. A year later our son was born. I named him Storm. (And yes… in school when they called roll it was always “Hale, Storm” 😂) We all found our own way to serve. Thank you for the memories. 🇺🇸

"A professional soldier understands that war means killing people, war means maiming people, war means families left without fathers and mothers. All you have to do is hold your first dying soldier in your arms, and have that terribly futile feeling that his life is flowing out and you can't do anything about it. Then you understand the horror of war. Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. And still there are things worth fighting for." -General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.

The Thunderbirds always stop me in my tracks ❤️ My Colonel flew P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs in combat over Europe, then became a test pilot out of Andrews AFB. This is him on the ladder during his test-pilot days, checking every detail the same way the Thunderbirds do when they paint those perfect formations across the sky. He lived that same precision, courage, and excellence the Thunderbirds show every single time they fly. Seeing them in the air feels like watching the next chapter of the legacy he helped write. Thank you for keeping that fire alive in the skies. 🇺🇸✈️

These guys are incredible!

Colonel stories never disappoint 😂 One cocktail party, a few drinks in, Dad spots an ad for Russian wolfhounds, calls the number, and orders one delivered right then so Mom wouldn’t lose her mind. Big aristocratic Borzoi arrives. Colonel’s thrilled: “Look at that aristocratic eyebrow mark!” Then he jets off to Iran for work. Mom, not about that giant hound life in our yard, quietly gifts the wolfhound to their fox-hunting buddy who lived deep in the country. They lived happily ever after. Colonel gets home, stern face: “Where’s my dog?” Mom, deadpan: “It got run over. This is what’s left.” Hands him a 2½-pound Yorkshire terrier puppy named Mimi. He didn’t even get mad — just rolled his eyes. And that tiny fluffball became his ride-or-die companion. The man who used to roll with Great Danes like Marmaduke now had a purse-sized sidekick. We’d go to dinner and he’d order Mimi a rare fillet mignon (human prices), cut it on his plate, and if it wasn’t perfect he’d send it back. Waiter once said, “But sir, it’s for a dog.” Colonel: “I’m paying human prices. Cook it right.” On our 45-ft motorsailer, Mimi rocked a custom captain’s hat (pictured), a tiny life preserver, and a little purse carrier Mom had to tote around. That dog went everywhere — Jockey Club, DC, Normandy Farms weddings… more places than I did. From Borzoi bait-and-switch to Yorkie royalty — Mimi lived better than most humans. Colonel’s last word? “She’s family. Treat her like it.” Who else had a parent turn a prank into peak pampering? 😂🐶⛵ #ColonelStories #Yorkie #DogLife #BoatDog #FamilyLegends #SwampTales #dogs #pets

Post a picture YOU took. Just a pic. No description

@02091942Jay Thank you, Nancy. Being a horse crazy since I was a toddler I can never get enough horse sightings in a day. 🙂

@FinalBloodline That's a beautiful sight.

✨Just Another Day in Rural Florida✨😂 Coming into town today and this is what I roll up on — three cowboys casually riding their horses down the main road like it’s 1890 and not 2026. Western Union, Cuban deli, and horseback traffic. This is completely normal here. Only in Southwest Florida swamps do you see this on a regular Monday. 😂 What’s the most “only here” thing you see where you live? Drop it below! #SwampLife #RuralFlorida #FloridaCountryLife #RealFlorida #HorsebackFlorida #SmallTownFlorida

Young me decided I was going to be a golf pro, so I was out there hitting 4-5 monster buckets a day until my hands bled (moleskin wraps for the blisters were mandatory). Got my handicap down to a 2 and always played with people better than me — mostly guys. One day they asked if I’d join their team. Stupid kid me said “Sure, who we playing against?” First round: bunch of Korean dudes. I crush my drive off the tee and one guy goes, in a thick accent, “No no — she plays from the blues, not the reds!” So now I’m playing the men’s tees like it’s no big deal. We win. Then they want me back every couple days against different groups. I’m just happy my game is improving… until I finally figured out they were straight-up gamblers and I was their secret ringer the whole time 😂 I had no clue. Just thought I was lucky to be getting better so fast. Moral of the story: Never underestimate the quiet girl with blisters on her hands and a Colonel for a dad. ⛳ Still got the swing, just traded the fairways for swamp adventures these days. Who else got hustled (or did the hustling) on the golf course back in the day? #GolfStories #Throwback #FloridaGolf #RingerLife #SwampTales #ColonelDaughter

Dad was a total ham, his office walls were literally covered in framed aviation treasures, from WWII buddies to test-pilot legends. Anything cool got prime real estate; nothing stayed in a drawer if it was worth bragging about. The rule for aircraft photos was crystal clear: • Inscribed to him (like this signed portrait from a shipmate or the faded Gen. Doolittle one, or Scott Crossfield’s X-15 gift → wall-worthy because of the personal connection. • No inscription from anyone else (just his own handwriting or blank) → he personally flew that plane, so it became a silent trophy on the wall. This P-51 Mustang was one of those uninscribed office kings. Only his proud back note: “Ole ‘120’ — The hottest I’ve touched or been in.” Dated 11/17/44 at Eaton, England—smack in his 8th Air Force combat tour. He flew P-47 Thunderbolts on 150+ missions over Europe (DFC with oak leaf cluster, Purple Heart, French Croix de Guerre), rising to Lt. Col. because, as he told me, “everybody was dying around him.” Late ‘44 transitions to Mustangs were happening everywhere for longer escorts—this photo + wall placement means he flew this one too. Combat hop, transition training, or familiarization—doesn’t matter. It was in his cockpit, so it hung on his wall. The Colonel didn’t display planes he just looked at. He displayed the ones he mastered. Pure, unapologetic pilot pride. 🇺🇸✈️ His office walls told his story better than words ever could. What’s the coolest wall item your family has from a legend? Share! #P51Mustang #WWIIFighterPilot #EighthAirForce #P47Thunderbolt #DistinguishedFlyingCross #AviationHistory #KossaridesLegacy #WarBirds #1944

@C_Ross_tt Hey handsome, where the hell have you been?

@FinalBloodline how are you do ma’am? Been a minute!

Mom had long, dark hair forever… then premature gray hit hard. She dyed it religiously for YEARS. One day, fed up with the weekly hassle, she sneaks off to the salon WITHOUT telling Dad (the Colonel) or me. Chops it all off short. Years of dye meant they could only lift it to fire-engine RED on day one. 😂🔥 Colonel comes home from work, no wife in sight. Jumps in the shower, towels off, walks into the bedroom… and nearly has a HEART ATTACK spotting a short-haired redhead chilling on the bed. “Who the hell are you?!” Turns out it was Mom the whole time. She didn’t warn us—total stealth mode. Dad’s face? Priceless. I still laugh thinking about him thinking an intruder broke in to lounge on his bed. Classic surprise makeover gone rogue! 💇‍♀️❤️ (Left pic: final result of two days after bleaching attempts. Right: her classic long dark hair days.) Who else has a parent pull a wild hair transformation ambush? Spill! 😆 #FamilyStories #HairTransformation #SurpriseMakeover #RedheadEra #FunnyFamilyMoments #ColonelStories #Nostalgia #MomWins #EpicFailOrEpicWin