My son and I took advantage of free day at our local air museum. They had an open house, open to all who wanted to come, free entry, so hey, we woke up Saturday morn and son said, hey Dad, wanna go see the air field museum, it's a free day, and I said, "Son, you're playin my fiddle, lets go!". So we jumped into the car and headed out to March Air Field Museum and had a wonderful morning, followed up by some fast food on the way back home, burgers and fries with my boy, what a great way to start our Saturday morning!

 

Side note: One of the images you'll see my son standing next to Uncle Sam, he is clearly at attention, this is his first year in AFJROTC as a freshman in high-school. Our son wants to be a medic in the Army, but AFJROTC is available at his high-school. His hair is a tad long, but we fixed that today with a number 1 faded to a number 2. His command will be happy tomorrow.

 

So, here are few images of what we saw. To our war veterans, there are some images of Vietnam and OIF period displays, my intention is not to bring up challenging memories, but to honor our service men and women.

 

Wood props of WW1 Air Planes

 

17th Pursuit Group, 95th Pursuit Squadron, airplane fabric panel. I loved these old insignias, they had a sense of humor back then as well. A burro!

 

Name plate for above panel.

 

The squadron this panel came from.

 

A diorama of Doolittle Raiders take off.

 

Part of an old prop, with an old saying.

 

B-24 Flying Fortress gunner turret

 

 

My son standing at the entry of the turret, for context. One of the curators of the museum, saw my boy, and he stated, that is the size of young man they would have looked for to serve in the turret. The men had to be smaller in size. Where my son's forearm is resting, is basically the seat the gunner would sit on, this thing was very small!

 

It's not often I see a memory of the conflict I served in, it was such a small war relative to our current and past, but it was not small to the families of the American men who were killed in "Operation Just Cause", Panama, 1989. The time I spent in that brief span of my life left a deep impact in me and shaped my life for years after. It was short, but for me, impactful. I was in country months before the invasion, and I was in country a year and a half after the invasion, I'll never forget my time there.

Not too mention, a year after our invasion, I met my beautiful wife in Panama, so really, the impact of my service in Central America, is life long.

 

Son, standing at attention, next to Uncle Sam. He has a good military bearing doesn't he?

 

Vietnam

 

Vietnam war time night vision scope

 

Vietnam war radios

 

The Tunnel Rats, I don't know how those men did it.

 

 

 

Vietnam War

 

What museum is complete without a Wright Bros re-enactment!

 

Remember, the brothers were bicycle builders in the beginning.

 

OIF display

 

Firebase Charlie display, Vietnam War

 

 

 

This plaque belongs to the air craft in the next image.

 

 

 

 

 

Air Cav!!!!!!

 

Many of our Vietnam Veterans will remember these, the Mule. Shuttling supplies to those who needed it, even under fire.

 

This plaque belongs to the air craft in the next image.

 

 

I love these.

 

The War Dog Memorial

 

Thank you folks for following us along, these are only a small amount the displays we saw, I did not whip out my camera as much as I could of, I was too busy enjoying the sites.

 

I Love Airplanes!

 

My first assignment, on my first day in VA-65, was to stand "wheel watch" at the end of the runway, when jets did "crash and dash" practice. I had to watch to be sure the pilot had lowered the landing gear. That day the Phantoms were practicing. When they took off, they would lock the brakes, go into full afterburner then "let'er rip"! The noise from those engines was so loud it was beyond hearing. It actually made your insides vibrate. 

 

When the USS Constellation (CVA-64) did our qualifications for deployment to Vietnam, we lost a Phantom, pilot and RIO off the coast of Hawaii. The F-4 missed the arresting wire and the pilot hesitated when applying full power. The plane when off the angle deck and straight down into the water. They never recovered the two men.