The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI

Today was our first day at the Henry Ford  Museum. Since it was raining the choice was easy to stay inside the museum and out of the rain. We decided to take the Insider's Tour and got a great overview of the museum. The museum is huge as Henry Ford loved to collect items related to American innovation and especially items related to the intersection of agriculture and industry. Some of my favorites included seeing all of the Ford cars including the original 1896 Quadracycle Ford first invented to the concept cars of the future. The museum also had a number of one-of-a-kind items such as the Lincoln chair, (where Lincoln was shot), the Rosa's Park bus (I sat in her seat.), many presidential limousines, including the one President Kennedy was killed in, and the prototype for Buckminster Fuller's Dyamaxion House, which we were able to tour.  It was a delightful surprise to find that the museum was hosting a Star Trek exhibit. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, was a pilot during World War II and he successfully completed over 30 missions and earned the Distinquished Flying Cross. After the war, he created the Star Trek series, which was given the go ahead by Lucille Ball's, of I Love Lucy fame, production company. Star Trek has always been one of my favorites as it challenged stereotypes and expanded people's ideas of what was possible as it boldly went, "where no one has gone before." It's amazing to see how some of the gadgets dreamed up in Star Trek back in the 1960s are coming true today. Examples include the cell phone and body scanners. The exhibit was filled with props and costumes used in the series so it was neat to see them in person! Overall, I admire Ford's collection and the museum's focus on innovation and American inventions. 

National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio

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.