Nina Schutzman

Poughkeepsie Journal

If you were anywhere near the Hudson River in Dutchess or Ulster counties, you might have heard — or seen — some fighter jets passing overhead around 5 p.m. Friday.

A group of fighter jets had left Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, said Staff Sgt. Julio Olivencia.

The jets were not deployed from Stewart; the base was used as a "pit stop" and the jets are "moving on."

According to a USA Today Network report from Journal News in Westchester County, the jets were four F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 100th Fighter Squadron, one of the historic Tuskegee Airmen Squadrons from World War II, flying over the USS Intrepid in a "missing man" formation.

The Journal News also reported the following:

The jets were part of a ceremonial flyover in honor of a late member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, Dr. Roscoe Brown Jr.

Brown Jr. was a Congressional Gold Medal recipient and one of the first African-American pilots who died on July 2 at the age of 94. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for the combat missions he flew during the war.

The flyover was part of a ceremony that included a private memorial jazz concert and reception on the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum for Brown.

The jets returned to Stewart after the ceremony and were scheduled to depart Saturday, Olivencia said.