Corps general visits east St. Mary

This U.S. Army C-20 (Gulfstream G-3) was hosted Tuesday by Perry Flying Center at the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport near Patterson. The Commanding General of the Army Corps of Engineers, along with several staff members and other experts, were in St. Mary Parish to update and supervise flood control measures that are being performed throughout the parish for the state of emergency declared due to up-river flooding on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. This was not this particular aircraft’s first visit to Patterson; it served as the back-up aircraft to “Air Force II” when then Vice-President Dick Cheney visited St. Mary Parish in January 2004. (Photo courtesy Perry Flying Center)