Senior Master Sgt Robert Cannon

You might have noticed the three NC ANG C-130s that flew most of Sunday afternoon over South Charlotte. The aircraft were "on station" honoring Senior Master Sergeant Robert S. Cannon who was killed Sunday, July 1, 2012, while fighting the White Draw Fire in South Dakota.

NC ANG C-130s over South Charlotte

The planes flew a race track pattern during the funeral that was held Carmel Baptist Church, beginning at 4PM and they continued as the funeral procession made its way along Highway 51, Interstate 485 and then 77 towards uptown.

Member of the Patriot Guard Riders escort SMSgt Cannon

At one point the motorcade led by a dozen Mecklenburg County Sheriff Deputies and the Patriot Guard Riders stretched from Providence Road all the way to Pineville and I-77

At 6:30 the aircraft departed station for the fly over at the Forest Lawn East Cemetery just west of Uptown Charlotte.

All total the aircraft spent more than 4 hours in the air.

SMSgt. Robert S. "Robbie Cannon

WBTV was also on hand and provided additional coverage of the funeral.

WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

Sgt. Cannon was born June 5, 1962 the son of Robert F. Cannon and the late Ruby L. Cannon. He attended Harding High School and entered the North Carolina Air National Guard on May 14, 1983.

In the late 1980's he deployed numerous times to Panama in support of Operation Coronet Oak.

He was deployed multiple times in support of the Liberation of Kuwait, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn. His active duty deployments took him to a variety of locations around the world and Southwest Asia, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar.

He was last assigned to the 145 Operations Support Flight.

In addition to his father Robert F. Cannon, SMSgt. Cannon's family includes Melanie Russ Cannon, his wife of 22 years; his son, Alex, and his daughter, Madeline; sister, Teresa Wrenn (Eddie), mother-in-law, Alice Whel-chel (Rick), father-in-law, James Russ (Sandy), and sister-in-law, Jennifer Nix (Michael); as well as his nieces and nephews, Stephanie Fowler, Richie Fowler, Abigail Nix and Addison Nix.