Thursday, May 14, 2009

B-17 Bomber

The B-17 Bomber came to visit Redding this week. It was an instrumental part in the American victory during World War II. What an awesome, huge and powerful plane.
They were offering rides on this bad boy for almost $500 to raise money to keep it flying. (There are only a few still flying today.)
Back in January Scott bought a few raffle tickets during a safety seminar at the airport he flies out of...the prize would be a ride in the B-17 when it came to Redding.
Guess whose name was drawn??????
Scott was beside himself because his Dad is a HUGE History buff and especially loves the B-17 and it's story. He COULD NOT wait to give the prize to his Dad!

The day the bomber arrived, Scott snatched Austin up and headed to the airport to watch it land!
After watching the landing, a helicopter came in and the pilot let Austin try out the driver's seat!
They also got to check out another WWII fighter.
Once again, I am sooo impressed with my husband's creative picture taking. Austin was in awe of all the aircraft and had a great afternoon with Uncle Scott.
The next day was the date of the big ride...and to top it all off, Scott's Dad was able to experience it with Two of his sons at the last minute.
This guy with the cane was a bombardier in a B-17 back in WWII. He had a chance to ride in the same seat he sat in so many years ago as a young man. When he got off the plane, all the people cheered and clapped for him and shook his hand thanking him for his service. EMOTIONAL! The two men that brought him were both sons of B-17 pilots. One of the men never met his dad because he went down in one of these planes when he was only 1 year old. The other man lost his dad 2 years ago to the day of this ride.
The boys were able to walk around in the plane and touch things. It was an incredible experience (they have tons of pictures, but they are on Scott's computer).
The following day the B-17 was heading out, so Scott got Shae and Anna from school a little early so they could tour the plane. History really comes alive when you can see what you usually only get to read about.
The cockpit where the brave pilots sat.

Can you imagine how afraid those young men were when they climbed on board, willingly, knowing that they may not return.

How thankful I am for the WWII heroes that fought so valiantly for our country!
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3 comments:

Jennifer said...

Goodness, am I behind on blogging or what?

I cannot believe that Scott's name was drawn! How neat for his dad - such a great story!

And I love the post Shae did for you. So sweet of her to do that on her own knowing how much you love blogging...what a gal!

Hope you guys are doing well!

Kim said...

What an incredible honor and gift for Scott, his dad and brother to share. I love seeing all the pics and hearing how thankful the people still are for the freedom we often take for granted.

Dolly said...

Wow! THis is really cool and you got some GREAT pictures too. This is something you all will never forget!

I loved that sweet little old man with his cane. I would have been emotional listening to everyone clap for him too. Wow!