On our recent trip to Ohio with two of our grandchildren, Kenzie and Lukey, we visited the US Air Force Museum twice. On our first visit, we focused on walking around outside in the Memorial Park.
I have already written about our moment at the Wall of Honor in a previous blog entry so I won't write the whole story again here in this entry but this is one of the reasons we wanted to show the kids the Memorial Park... a Data Plate in my name had been added to this Wall of Honor in a ceremony a few years ago but the kids knew nothing about this honor. When the kids noticed my name on this wall their eyes opened wide and mouths opened in shock.
We meandered around the Memorial Park for about an hour in the unbearable heat and humidity. Fortunately, most of this park is under trees! The monuments and memorials related to my career in the Air Force were pointed out and I offered a few very short stories about these incidents and how they relate to my career.
Lukey, walking along the Wall of Honor...
Shortly before I arrived at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, one of their aircraft went down in a field beyond the end of the runway. This was a "Spouse Appreciation Flight" with spouses aboard. All 21 souls on board were killed in the crash. They had planted 21 trees and dedicated this memorial plaque. The memorial park has grown so much, including all the trees, since I lived in the area that I always need to search a bit for these 21 trees and this visit was no exception. Plus, I could swear they've been moved to a different area. When I arrived at the base, they were still very much grieving this tragedy.
On our next visit to this immense, sprawling museum, we spent the day walking through the inside. I'm still trying to narrow down the photos to show! That will be coming soon though...
Comments
Post a Comment