It had been a while since I rode a school bus, and a longer while since I did it with seventh graders. So fun. So fun. Their teacher had done a nice job getting them ready for the field trip. Among other things, the kids grew (or bought in some cases), plants to give to veterans who were there at the museum to tell of their experiences in World War II, Korea and/or Vietnam. There was one vet there who had served in all three.
We thought the veteran in this photo was probably the most interesting to listen to. He was a light perimeter boat gunner, which meant that he was on a smaller boat that went ahead of the larger ships to lay down cover fire and clear a path. He was there on D-Day, shelling the beach at Normandy for more than two hours before the first land troops went ashore. He said that he was on his boat for 18 months of the war, and only got off twice for two hours each time in that 18 months. He had pictures of himself and some of his comrades on their boat to share with the kids. I was very impressed with how respectful they were.
This is me with the museum's namesake, a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter plan.
This is a 1938 Packard, which was used as an officer's transport car during the war. It was immaculately restored, and I found myself thinking that we ought to get back to cars with this kind of leg room in the back seat.
In addition to the World War II section, the museum had sections for World War I, Korea, Vietnam, and smaller areas devoted to Desert Storm, and even space exploration. It was a pretty cool place to spend a day, even if it was with 50 twelve and 13 year olds.
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