I spent 4 months on Kadena AFB, Okinawa and the SR-71 taxied through our flightline 2-3 times a week. You could tell when the SR-71 was taking off where ever you were on base. In the open, or in a building the roar of the engines was easily heard. Within a few weeks we were able to determine when it was going to do so by watching what fuel was stenciled on the KC-135s that would also taxi through. The SR-71 was the only one that used JP7. We would see 2-3 KC-135s go by about 1.5hrs before the Blackbird would come through. Once we figured it out, a bunch of us would meander out early with our cameras in our tool boxes.
I got a whole lot closer to it few years later when my squadron was on a guns det. to NAS Key West. We were on the flightline loading our F-5s when we learned that our jets launch time was going to be delayed due to another aircraft declaring an emergency. We all ran to a better vantage point to watch what might transpire. Turns out an SR-71 lost a motor and Key West was their divert. We watched it land, helped pin the landing gear and help get the pilot out of the jet. The pilot waved us away as he assisted the RO(?) out of the aft cockpit. Once they were out we helped get the jet into the hangar and the doors were closed. We all stood around in amazement.
When we arrived at work the next day there was a C-141 on the line and a whole bunch of USAF people and support gear. Once they fixed the jet (closed the panels) they invited us over to take a much closer look. Once they figured out who we were (the movie just came out) we started swaping squadron patches. They let us come close(r) when they did a ground test of the replacement motor. They did a test flight, and the next day it and the maintenance people left.
