Today we headed to the Air Force Museum outside of Dayton, Ohio. This is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world. It is right near the area wherethe Wright Brothers flew some of their planes. The museum is huge so we decided to focus on the World War II and Presidential hangers. There were so many amazing planes and displays. Of note was the B-17F Memphis Belle, an iconic symbol of the air attacks made over Europe, memorialized by one of my favorite WWII movies by the same name. As I looked at the plane, I thought of my friend Bob Keatley who was a radio operator on a B-17. I thought about his 30 successful missions and of all those who did not return. Another amazing moment was having the opportunity to see Bocks Car, the B-29 Superfotress that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan ending WWII. On July 9,1945, Bockscar, piloted by Major Charles L. Sweeney, dropped Fat Man, a plutonium based bomb on Nagasaki killing approximately 35,000 people and injuring over 60,000. As I looked at the plane and the replica of the Fat Man bomb, I thought of my friend Gerry Jones, Marines First Division, who was on Okinawa preparing for the invasion of the Japanese homeland. The devestation of the atomic bombs was terrible, and I pray that we never need to use atomic weapons again in this way, but I am grateful that those who served like Gerry, and my friends Jim, Sol, and Herman who were in the Pacific because the end of the war meant they could come home.
Finally, I was able to see a Catalina. This year I was honored to meet WAVE Carolyn Scott. Carolyn became an aviation gunnery instructor at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Carolyn was one of over 80,000 women who joined the WAVES in World War II. She taught sailors how to shoot and as I looked at the .50-caliber machine gun mounted on the side of the plane I thought about Carolyn muscling the 84 pound gun as she taught sailors how to hit a target towed behind a plane with her paint tipped bullets, prooving her accuracy when the target was checked back on the ground. Those sailors learned from the best!
Our last stop was the presidential hangerwhich houses planes that carried FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. I was able to board the plane that carried Kennedy's body back to D.C. after he was assassinated. Such a sad moment in our country's history. JFK is a personal hero so I was honored to be on this plane and touch this part of our history.
I am thankful to my World War II friends and all those who served and continue to serve. So happy that this trip took me in this direction.
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