--- title: "Air Force Unveils ‘Vegas Strong’ F-15 To Honor Las Vegas Shooting Victims" date: "2017-11-07" modified: "2017-11-07" authors: - name: "Jared Keller" job_title: "Former Managing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller.md" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-las-vegas-shooting/" categories: - "News" --- # Air Force Unveils ‘Vegas Strong’ F-15 To Honor Las Vegas Shooting Victims ![]() Just over a month since Las Vegas was rocked by the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the Air Force — a service with deep roots in the area — has unveiled a unique tribute to honor the victims of the Oct. 1 attack: a custom painted F-15A Eagle. Initially set aside to celebrate [the 70th birthday of the Air Force]() in September, the fighter jet got a new mission, decided upon by the airmen at nearby Nellis Air Force Base shortly after Stephen Paddock opened fire on a country music festival from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino last month, killing 58 people and wounding another 546. The base unveiled the new paint job in a brief time-lapse video [published]() on Nov. 2. The F-15A will appear at the 2017 Aviation Nation Airshow at Nellis on Nov. 11 and 12. The aircraft appears in the video with a coat of the Air Force’s traditional grey tactical color with orange detailing on the undersides of its flaps and horizontal stabilizers. Along the left fuselage, “Vegas Strong” is spelled out in clear, piercing white beneath the left wing reads; “U.S. Air Force” runs along the right side. And a silhouette of the Las Vegas skyline and the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign are emblazoned across the vertical stabilizers; the traditional welcome language has been replaced with “We Are Vegas Strong.” "It really makes us a lot prouder of the work we've been asked to do," Senior Airman Brittany Galloway [told]() local ABC News affiliate KTNV-TV on Nov. 6. "We wanted to bring about something that would bring us together to the community.” **WATCH NEXT:** ## Author Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Facebook]() [LinkedIn]() [Instagram]() ## More - [‘This Kind Of Thing Happens In Iraq Or Syria’: Air Force Surgeon Describes Aftermath Of Las Vegas Shooting]() - [Military Veterans Mourned As Las Vegas Victims, Praised As Heroes]() - [A Marine Vet Stole A Truck To Rescue Las Vegas Shooting Victims. The Owner’s Response Was Perfect]() - [This Marine Vet Stole A Truck And Turned It Into An Ambulance To Rescue Victims During Las Vegas Shooting]() - [Driver of Cybertruck in Las Vegas explosion was a Special Forces soldier, Army confirms]() - [Special Forces soldier behind Las Vegas bombing said he carried ‘burden’ of lost friends]() - [The Air Force just made it easier for service members to get tattoos they’ll immediately regret]() - [The Air Force is putting together an Esports team for an international video game tournament in Las Vegas]()