Why We Fly
The Next Generation Carries the Legacy Forward
There are medals.
There are competitions.
There are training camps, hours in the wind tunnel and young athletes learning to do things most people will never experience.
Those accomplishments matter.
But they are not the reason we fly.
Sometimes the reason becomes clearest when we aren’t competing at all.
For Children of Fallen Heroes, one of those moments happened in Arizona.
We traveled to Scottsdale to honor the life of Detective Ryan So — a Scottsdale Police detective, United States Navy veteran, husband and father of three daughters.
And we didn’t go alone.
We brought generations of the Children of Fallen Heroes family with us.
Detective Ryan So
A Life of Service
Ryan So understood service in more than one uniform.
Before serving the Scottsdale community as a police officer, Ryan served his country in the United States Navy.
He later built a career in law enforcement and became a detective with the Scottsdale Police Department’s Special Assignment Unit.
But the titles only tell part of his story.
Ryan was a husband.
And he was the father of three girls.
Those who knew him remembered a man deeply committed to his family — a father who shared adventures with his daughters, encouraged them and was present in their lives.
On June 13, 2024, Ryan died in the line of duty following an accidental firearm discharge while equipment was being unloaded after a police operation.
He was 38 years old.
Behind the uniform was now a wife who had lost her husband.
And three daughters who had lost their dad.
That is where our mission becomes personal.
Scottsdale
We Went to Scottsdale
When Children of Fallen Heroes traveled to Arizona, our purpose wasn’t simply to recognize another fallen hero.
We wanted Ryan’s family to know something.
They were not standing alone.
Ryan’s wife, Ashley, and their three daughters joined us.
So did members of another family whose connection to Children of Fallen Heroes reaches back more than half a century.
Members of the Golden Knights family whose connection to Children of Fallen Heroes reaches back to the U.S. Army Parachute Team of 1973 came together with us in Arizona.
And standing among them was another generation.
Emma Johnson of the Children of Fallen Heroes Indoor Skydiving Team.
A young athlete representing what comes next.
A next-generation flyer standing beside a family beginning a journey none of them had asked to take.
That image says a great deal about Children of Fallen Heroes.
1973
The Golden Knights Family
Children of Fallen Heroes’ connection to the Golden Knights reaches back more than fifty years.
In 1973, members of the United States Army Parachute Team were lost in the Silk Hope aircraft tragedy.
The bonds formed through that loss never disappeared.
More than fifty years later, members of that Golden Knights family remain connected to Children of Fallen Heroes and the next generation we serve.
That legacy came with us to Arizona.
Not simply as remembrance.
As presence.
Members of one generation of the Golden Knights family were now standing beside the family of another fallen hero.
And alongside them stood Emma.
A young athlete representing a new generation.
That’s what legacy looks like when it keeps moving forward.
The Next Generation
Emma
Emma came to Arizona as an athlete.
But what mattered most had very little to do with medals.
She represented Children of Fallen Heroes with confidence, humility and heart.
Her progression as an indoor skydiver has been extraordinary. Her talent is undeniable.
But talent alone isn’t what we want to develop in these young people.
We want them to understand why they have been given a platform.
Emma performed for a community gathered to honor Detective Ryan So.
Ryan left behind three daughters.
And there was another young girl using something she loved — flight — to help honor their father.
That’s bigger than a performance.
It’s teaching the next generation that their talents can be used for something beyond themselves.
Generations Crossed
Another Legacy With Us
The Arizona gathering also carried another connection.
We honored Dominic Perry, who had previously tandem skydived with Kristen Bertelsen, granddaughter of Golden Knight Jim Rice, during the 50th commemoration.
Again, generations crossed.
The people who came before us.
The families carrying their legacies.
And young people creating the next chapter.
These relationships don’t fit neatly into a program description.
They aren’t transactions.
They are built over years.
Sometimes decades.
And that is precisely why they matter.
The Purpose
Why We Fly
CFH Next Gen has grown.
Our young athletes train.
They compete.
They represent Children of Fallen Heroes nationally and internationally.
They win medals.
We are proud when they stand on a podium.
But if all we teach them is how to fly better, we have missed the point.
We want them to become leaders.
We want them to understand service.
We want them to recognize the families standing beside them.
We want them to know the names and stories that came before them.
And we want them to understand that a talent becomes something much more powerful when it can be used in service to someone else.
That’s why Scottsdale mattered.
It brought together a fallen police officer’s family.
A Navy veteran’s legacy.
Three daughters.
Members of a Golden Knights family whose bonds reach back to 1973.
And a young CFH athlete representing what comes next.
Different generations.
Different uniforms.
Different families.
One commitment to remember — and to keep moving forward.
Carrying It Forward
The Next Generation Carries It Forward
Someday Emma and the other young people of CFH Next Gen will be the adults standing beside another child.
They will be the mentors.
They will be the coaches.
They will be the people telling the stories.
And hopefully they will remember moments like Scottsdale.
Because Children of Fallen Heroes isn’t simply trying to create exceptional athletes.
We’re helping develop exceptional young people.
Young people who understand that achievement comes with responsibility.
That remembrance can become action.
That legacy doesn’t have to remain behind us.
It can move forward through the people willing to carry it.
Ryan So served his country.
He served his community.
Most importantly, he was Dad to three girls who loved him.
We had the privilege of standing beside his family in Arizona.
And Emma had the opportunity to use something she loves to help honor a man she never had the chance to know.
That is CFH Next Gen.
That is what we mean when we talk about carrying legacy forward.
And that is why we fly.
The medals show what they can accomplish.
The stories show why they fly.
Stand Beside the Next Generation
Every young person in CFH Next Gen is learning that a talent means more when it is used for someone else. Support keeps them training, travelling, mentoring and showing up for the families who need them there.
Support CFH Next Gen →Back to CFH Next Gen