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A common meme around the internet involves a quote from a supposed plaque in front of an SR-71 Blackbird airbase.

Image of stealth plane with text "Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death..I shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing! (Sign over the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base Kadena, Japan)"

The meme seems to be extremely popular on the internet, but I can't seem to find an original source.

Most sources I've found online source it to the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.

Is there any verification to this attributed quote?

Oddthinking
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DenisS
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  • So was it a "plaque in front of the base" or a "sign above the entrance"? Underneath this [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/flightsim/comments/607nw1/though_i_fly_through_the_valley_of_death_i_shall/) account of working with the SR-71 is this short comment: *Sign over the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base Kadena, Japan. **XP-10.5 SR71**. Thats it, no other addons*. – Weather Vane Jan 27 '23 at 11:21
  • I don't know, I've seen both stories. – DenisS Jan 27 '23 at 19:16
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    There are lots of photos of Kadena base entrance, and its signs, and lots of citings of the quote, lots of pictures of SR-17 with the quote, yet no pictures of the alleged actual sign or plaque, and in the Reddit post I linked, the guy who was actually on the Blackbird doesn't mention it. – Weather Vane Jan 27 '23 at 19:18
  • Japan? Oh this is obviously wrong. [Death Valley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley) is in California. – candied_orange Feb 01 '23 at 22:45
  • @WeatherVane do you have a picture available? i would accept that as an answer – DenisS Feb 02 '23 at 15:10
  • Pictures of Kadena base entrance are easy to find on Google images, with signs, and one showing a canopy over the entrance without any signs. But that doesn't mean there was no sign when the SR-71 was operational there. I think 'evidence' would be a former aircrew who served there, who can say "that was BS". – Weather Vane Feb 02 '23 at 15:29

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