WEARING TWO HATS: Though a civilian, Newport...

WEARING TWO HATS: Though a civilian, Newport Beach City Councilman John Hedges still got close enough to the Gulf War to see the smoke. The son of a retired Air Force colonel and the brother of an Army officer in the Gulf, Hedges is a pilot for Northwest Airlines, which had a few of its planes borrowed by the military. Hedges wound up on a two-day round trip to eastern Saudi Arabia, flying in 350 troops and supplies. . . . Hedges reported: “We were close enough to see the activity on the border--the bomb flashes.” As an Air Force pilot before joining Northwest, Hedges flew C-141 Starlifter cargo planes.