The “Second Annual Gathering of Legends” was held on November 7, 2009 at the Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Aviation Museum located at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona.

Military aviation veterans, including Tuskegee Airmen, Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS), Fighter and Bomber Crews, Fighter Aces and many others gathered in the museum to convey to the public their experiences from WWII through today. The gathering provided an opportunity for the public to thank our Veterans who risked their lives to save our freedom. It also offered the chance to meet and speak with the service-men and women and get first-hand accounts of their sacrifices during the past 60-plus years and what they are doing today in the cause of freedom.

Tributes were made to the B-17 Chow Hound, honoring fallen Airmen and the 91st Bomb Group; the Tuskegee Airmen; the Flying Tigers; the China Burma India Theater; and Women in Aviation, including the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) of WWII. The ceremonies underscored the long American-British bond that was magnified during WWII. About 35 United Kingdom citizens, including nearly 20 returning RAF Falcon Field trainees, mostly traveling from the U.K., were in attendance.

Warbirds on display included the B-17 Flying Fortress “Sentimental Journey,” B-25 Mitchell Bomber “Maid in the Shade,” North American SNJ/T-6 Texans, Stearman biplane trainers, P-51 Mustang fighters, and a British Spitfire fighter, just to name a few.

As a special note of interest, Falcon Field was initially known as Flight Training School No. 4. Shortly after the first class of British cadets reported to the airfield in June 1941, the airfield’s name was changed to Falcon Field after the British sporting bird, the Peregrine Falcon. In all, 23 British Royal Air Force cadets, four American flight instructors and one U.S. Army Air Corps cadet died during training exercises between 1941 and 1945 at Falcon Field. During the nearly five years of flight training, over 2500 cadets were trained, collectively flying 300,000-plus hours. About 40 percent of the cadets died in the war.

Please visit the Commemorative Air Force Arizona Wing Website [ www.azcaf.org ] for more information about the museum, and be sure to visit the museum if you are ever in the Mesa, Arizona area. Better yet, schedule a flight that will take you back in time on one of the museum’s exciting Warbirds, including the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress “Sentimental Journey.”

Following are some of the WWII Warbirds on display and doing flyovers at the CAF’s “Second Annual Gathering of Legends.”

This gallery is dedicated to all our men and women who have sacrificed so much in protecting America’s freedom.

Thanks for stopping by,

Denny_D


PS The gallery for last year’s “First Annual Gathering of Legends” can be found here:
https://pbase.com/denny_d/a_gathering_of_legends_veterans_day__111108