357 Fighter Group reunion

[bobbysocks]

at around noon there was that sweet unmistakable sound of a merlin barrelling in balls out. Billy Strickland buzzed the park probably way lower than the FAA would appreciate. it brought tears to eyes, lumps in throats, and WOWed those who had never seen one before. Ofcourse i got photos....well i tried. i ended up with 1 half a$$ed photo...in every defination of the phrase. i am trying to locate more to post. afterwards the Yoxford Boys had a meet and greet to shakle hands and sign autograghs.

Picture legend:

#1 my sorry @$$ shot of a beauty...

#2 the 4 hoursemen Pat Buzzeo, Jessie Frey, Jim McLane, and Joe Shea

#3 Jessie signs an autograph

#4 Jim signs a a pretty cool T-shirt with a copy of the Ain't Misbehavin' on the back.

[bobbysocks]

last event of the day was a visit to the museum itself. as you can see its quite small. there are plans to add on or move to a larger place. its too bad they didnt start this idea 20 years ago when most of the Boys were alive. they would have had more items donated. it would have been nice to have a better showing from the Boys....maybe Yeager or Bud Anderson and teh others. but as you look at the men who did show it is apparent they arent young bucks any more. many had health issues that prevented them from making the trip....many have passed. the gathering of eagles gets smaller with each passing day...

picture legend:

#1 the Museum sign

#2 Museum from the side

#3 museum from the front

#4 some of the models of 357th aircraft

#5 some of the signed memorabilia

[McQ59]

Thanks for sharing Dale. Really amazing. I bow my head in aw to these men and those who take care of and honour the heritage. May they live forever!

[CrashLanding]

Thanks for sharing.

Watching those fine gentlemen age is heartbreaking. My granddad served with the 146th Signal Corps in the 6th Armored Division and he passed away three years ago this past October. The Greatest Generation is leaving us far too soon.

He didn't tell many stories but one he did stemmed from when he went to Fort Sill after signing up. He wanted to be a tank driver and was running the training course when he saw a puddle. The young farm boy he was, he thought for sure the tank would have no problem with that puddle. After getting the tank stuck, he (or possibly his superiors) decided tank driving wasn't for him.

He's listed in the pages here, which were lifted from a 1945 booklet the signal co. published. We never found him in the pictures, but he's listed among the 20 men who were awarded the silver star (which we knew about) and his at-that-time home address is listed as well.