Tonight we're speaking to a Belizean with Dangriga roots who achieved an elite accomplishment: Paul Lopez II became a US fighter pilot, in the Air Force's fastest, most capable jet, the F-22 Raptor.
Now, retired Lieutenant Colonel Lopez is a commercial pilot with United Airlines.
The 43-year-old first officer arrived in Belize to co-pilot a Saturday morning departure. We caught up with him at the Biltmore where he share this inspiring story:
Lt Col. Paul Lopez II (Ret'd.), Pilot
"My origin started here in Belize in Dangriga it is where both of my parents were born, Cynthia and Paul Lopez, you know growing up she spent some time, my journey came through in Dangriga where I stayed on in Foreshore and actually went to Holy Ghost for about a year so I learned discipline and things there."
After that Paul Lopez returned to the place of his birth, Virginia Beach, USA, where his father was in the navy. That's where jets soaring by from a nearby military base set him to dreaming:
Lt Col. Paul Lopez II (Ret'd.), Pilot
"We lived near navy base and I would see the navy jets flying past the house all the time and that inspired me, like, wow those jets look cool, they are flying in formation through the sky."
And after earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and completing many specialized military training courses, Lopez became one of the elite fighter pilots in the US Air Force - flying the world's most powerful fighter jet, the most dominant air-to-air combat aircraft, the F-22 Raptor:
Lt Col. Paul Lopez II (Ret'd.), Pilot
"It is exhilarating I mean the hugest adrenaline rush and not only that but you are working with a team of elite men and women, elite war fighters who are at the top of their game flying the premier aircraft in the world going faster than the speed of sound, which is ten miles a minute, going upside down, flying round the clouds and John Gillespie wrote a poem called High Flight many years ago and one of the lines in the poem I really liked was that you know "you are flying through the un-tresspassed sanctity of space", up there "touching the face of God" and it is just amazing."
"Up into the long delirious burning blue..."
But, while he worked hard and achieved a status of elite fighter pilot, he never let it get to this head:
Lt Col. Paul Lopez II (Ret'd.), Commercial Pilot
"And being a fighter pilot - usually three words I always talk about, being humble, approachable and credible. If you are humble approachable and credible and you show up with a positive attitude everyday to learn then you are going to be successful because you are going to create a culture around yourself that people want to be apart of they will want to pour into you and invest in you because you are displaying hey I need a team to survive I am not greater than the team."
And after 20 years in the Air Force, he retired as a Lt Colonel and transitioned to being a commercial pilot for United Airlines - which is what brought him to Belize on Friday:
Lt Col. Paul Lopez II (Ret'd.), Commercial Pilot
"In this journey of life that fact that I get an opportunity to fly out of the country where my parents are born it is just so humbling to me."
"Looking out the window and seeing just the wilderness of Belize out there you know just the raw land and it's natural habitat with the rivers flowing through the lush green forests and jungles are like, wow this is where it started, this is part of my family roots."
And while he lives in the clouds, this pilot always has his two feet squarely on the ground:
Jules Vasquez
"Do you keep an awareness of yourself as a first of its kind or is that something that is really in the background because humility is the first requirement."
Lt Col. Paul Lopez II (Ret'd.), Commercial Pilot
"Man that is a fantastic question because conceptually like I try to live not looking in the rearview mirror or focus on that but I walk with humility and try to keep the next goal because my goal is I don't want to be, if you are the first person to do something and there are no others falling behind you then you are wrong there should be a trail now and now like a roadmap for others to follow."
"For me it's more form a self awareness standpoint of hey when people come in contact with me like what do they experience you know I don't want them to experience hey this person thinks they are the best in the world or they are the first so they got to be, they are on a pedestal no I am just a person like anybody else, fulfilling my passion and living out my dreams."
And his advice to young persons:
Lt Col. Paul Lopez II (Ret'd.), Commercial Pilot
"You are here for a reason, you're here for a purpose, your ancestors, your parents, your grand parents, your guardians, they sacrificed to get you here and to provide for you, so never give up on yourself, never stop dreaming but not only be a dream chaser be a dream catcher the way you become a dream catcher is you have to set goals, specific measurable, achievable, result oriented goals and because there is a saying that a dream without goals is a wish. So dream those big dreams chase them, catch them and when you face adversity as we all will face adversity reach out and get the help you need to help you catch that dream because I will tell you that I have caught dreams throughout my life on this journey of life and when you catch those dreams it is such a peace and a joy that you have that you can accomplish, that if you accomplish that you can accomplish anything in the world so control your mind, be driven, be disciplined have core values and build a team around you that is going to push you power you through that adversity whenever you face it."
Lopez started flying with United in October of last year.
