I e-mailed a copy of the article below to several contacts at the EAA
and CAF. Here's the first reply from the Director of Public Relations
at the Commemorative Air Force:
Dear Mr. Dighera,
Thank you for your interest in the CAF. Our museum here at CAF
Headquarters in Midland has one of the largest repositories of
Oral Histories from the World War II era in the world. These are
tales from the men and women who flew and fought during that era,
as well as from those who stayed at home and sacrificed and from
children who recalled the flights of planes flying over their
homes. At this time, we have collected over 4,200 of these
histories, and we continue -- through a small group of volunteers
-- to collect these at every opportunity. We're always looking
for more volunteers; if you're interested, check out the following
link:
http://airpowermuseum.org/oralhistory/index.shtml
As far as publicizing ourselves to the public -- it's a
never-ending job. Each unit has the responsibility for promoting
their unit and activities -- but they're also trying to keep the
planes flying, arrange events and have normal lives in addition.
We'll keep trying, but I'm sure there will always be room for
improvement.
I'm attaching a membership application, just in case you should be
interested in joining our organization. Thanks again for your
interest.
MEET ME IN VEGAS
July 9-11, 2007
The CAF is celebrating 50 years in 2007!
Join us for our National Patriotic Rally and more.
Ask me for details.
Kay Crites
Director of Public Relations
Commemorative Air Force
(432) 563-1000, ext. 2231
www.commemorativeairforce.org
On Fri, 11 May 2007 17:17:04 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote in :
On 11 May 2007 08:05:30 -0700, wrote in
s.com:
See newspaper story and video at:
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/175617.html
I had an opportunity to explore the CAF's "Sentimental Journey" at
KSBA a few weeks ago. A local WW-II veteran was also there reliving
his experiences of 22 bombing missions over Germany.
Don Detwiler (sp?) was the operator of the belly mounted ball-turret
when his flight was downed over Hanover (or was it Hamburg). His
parachute landing injured his ankle, and he was taken prisoner. Don
told us of some of the "hi lights" of that experience, and what it was
like to be strapped upside down for eight hours (B-17 cruise speed was
158 knots) with the breach of a 50 cal machine gun next to each ear.
He pointed out a small tube on the turret where the empty brass
casings used to be ejected to keep them from filling the cramped
turret. The other B-17 gunners had to recover their spent casings
when they landed.
The CAF really needs to tape the oral histories of these living
repositories of aviation history before they're gone. A
videographer/historian team with a HD camcorder would be even better,
and probably marketable.
The Commemorative Air Force also need to do a significantly better job
of advertising their activities to the local populace. I was barely
able to find them. They need some big banner signs along the highway
to draw the families and enthusiasts. Here's an opportunity for a PR
firm that needs a tax deduction.