Hangar dance, Spitfire exhibit, D-Day veteran presentation
among weekend's events
The Experimental
Aircraft Association will salute and remember the 60th anniversary
of D-Day, one of the major events of the 20th Century, during
special activities at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh on June
4-6.
Among the highlights of the weekend will be a banquet and World
War II hangar dance on Friday, June 4; new displays of a British
Spitfire fighter aircraft and a Higgins Boat naval landing craft;
and a patriotic ceremony on Sunday morning, June 6, the exact 60th
anniversary of the massive Allied landing and invasion of the
European continent.
"June 6, 1944, was truly a day that turned the history of World
War II and, therefore, the world," said Adam Smith, EAA AirVenture
Museum Director.
"EAA is proud to recognize those who made the sacrifices to
preserve freedom on that day and throughout that conflict. We
are also very pleased to showcase a number of special activities
and new exhibit items during this weekend. EAA has planned
this weekend to be a remembrance, a celebration and an education
regarding this unforgettable era."
The weekend begins on Friday, June 4, with a banquet and World
War II hangar dance at the museum. Special guest and speaker
for the evening is Milo Flaten, a Wisconsin-born infantryman who
was among the very first to land on the beaches of Normandy on June
6, 1944. Following the banquet, the dance will feature
big-band music from the Neenah Ambassadors. Tickets for the
June 4 event are $25 per person and can be obtained by calling
920-426-6880 or e-mailing museum@eaa.org.
On Sunday, June 6, at
10 a.m., a patriotic ceremony in the Eagle Hangar will feature area
veterans groups and recognize the sacrifices made during World War
II. The ceremony will feature fly-bys by the P-51 Mustang
aircraft. It is included with regular museum admission and
free for EAA members.
During the June 5-6 weekend, a number of special displays and
activities will also be included with regular museum admission,
including:
- An L-Bird fly-in at the museum's Pioneer Airport that allows
visitors to see the observation aircraft used during the Normandy
invasion
- A Mk. IX Supermarine "Spitfire" that actually participated in
the D-Day invasion, which will be unveiled for display in the Eagle
Hangar
- A Higgins Boat landing craft, on loan from the Military
Veteran's Museum of Oshkosh, that was used for the Normandy
landing. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower once said that if not for
those landing craft, "...the whole strategy of the war would have
been different."
- Video presentations on D-Day history, including oral histories
from Wisconsin D-Day veterans
- The 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, a World War II
living-history paratrooper group that will set up camp on the
museum grounds for the weekend. They will present authentic
re-enactments of preparations for a parachute drop as conducted
during the D-Day invasion, under the wing of EAA's C-47 transport
aircraft.
The EAA AirVenture Museum is located just off Highway 41 at the
Highway 44 exit in Oshkosh. The Museum is open Monday through
Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. EAA members receive free museum admission year-round and
family memberships are available.
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