1 of 1 Márcio Gabriel dos Anjos Sansão in front of a United States Navy jet with his name on it Photo: Personal Archive Márcio Gabriel dos Anjos Sansão in front of a United States Navy jet with his name on it Photo: Personal Archive
The young Márcio Gabriel dos Anjos Sansão, born in Gaspar, in Vale do Itajaí, Santa Catarina, received an award from the United States Navy, where he works. He had his name and hometown engraved on the body of a business jet.
Márcio is 21 years old and works as an airplane captain. “I am responsible for the jets when the pilots are not there, such as refueling and other things. The most important part of our job is checking the jet before and after the pilot's flight. We're checking him for damage and things that could kill him.” “Pilot in danger or millions of dollars in damage,” the young man explained.
Arrival of Norfolkbased jets in the United States
He had known for months that his name would be engraved on jet number 405. That didn't make the honor any less emotional.
“It was an amazing feeling to have my name and the name of my hometown, my state and my country engraved on a U.S. Navy jet,” he said.
The inscription of his name on the plane occurred during Gabriel's trip. The Jets returned to his base where he works on Tuesday (16) and that's when he saw the engraving on the body.
“I have no words to describe how happy I am to finally have my name on this jet. A year full of hard work and dedication,” he wrote in English on a social network about the honor.
“It's quite common for all jets to be named after people who do my job. The rarity is that I am Brazilian,” Gabriel explained.
The young man was born in Gaspar and moved to Sombrio, south of Santa Catarina, at the age of 5. He grew up in this city.
“In 2018, when I was 16 years old, I moved to the United States with my mother. I lived there [estado norteamericano de] Massachusetts for four years and joined the Navy. I now live in Norfolk, Virginia, where the base where I work is located.
Gabriel said he joined the United States Navy in September 2022. After completing three months of testing, he spent another two months studying for the job he is currently doing.
Since April 2023, he has served on the company's aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. With this work, he has visited countries such as Norway, Italy, Turkey, Greece and Croatia.
In the latter country, the company received news of the war in Gaza and the aircraft carrier was near Israel. According to Gabriel, the structure only played a role in the conflict when Joe Biden was in the country. “Only when the President of the United States was in Israel were we responsible for protecting him in the air.”